Carli The Quilter

This is a new project and its still in the process of coming together. I know most quilters start with a plan, perhaps even a sketch or two on graph paper on your IPhone. But I prefer to begin where I am, still desiring the perfect improv quilt. This is the first one hand appliqued onto a lime green okshot cotton, I believe. Its not linen, but feels strong but softer some how. I'm guessing on the origin of this fabric as it was thrifted from a set of luxury curtains. More later, have a happy day!

I did indeed feel some sense of a renewed pride in my quilting abilities. Enough said, I've had a time readjusting to life with a crappy back. Pat will  be really happy to know that this is first whole quilt I've made since the Centennial Quilt. And that I've begun to get back into the love of my life outside of hubby's of course :) Each feather is completely different, more on that in a future post.  And I did take on this quilt with renewed vision and experimental attitude.  I fell in love again with Free Motion Quilting, even though its the ONLY quilting I've ever known. Circles cozy up with barn door triangles. Oh, yes, squared off edges as I exclusively use a quilted section style of quilting, even before it was popular in blog land. But thanks to bloggers quilting in free motion, I have a community :) I'm in a groove again and its been many thanks to my followers who have commented even when my posts we

Pat's quilt is growing steadily everyday. I started out traditional and soon was way off course doing my own modern thing. Pat will love it! This corduroy quilt with the use of men's ties will be up soon in a tutorial Our son and his girlfriend bought a  home and this is going to their house warming gift with matching curtains. Its a pattern from "Fresh Quilts- Modern Sewing Fun" but its fast becoming my favorite magazine. Its published by Harris Publications. I'm not sure if this magazine is still running or not, nothing on their FB page since fed/14 and I couldn't find it on Harris's magazine listings. It must be tough to be magazines. This is where I've got to so far and I'm really liking the look of it and soon I'll post the quilting part. This is all for my Sunday, its spiked to a  hot 22 C today and I'm feeling the heat of summer and loving it. Hope your weekend has been great and you got lots o

OK, so if I could see Jian all the time, I might be not quilting anymore and become a groupy! Yep, that is so right. First of all, as my mother would say "He's got those "go to bed" eyes, you watch out for him!" so of course, that is my mother!! He's got the best daytime and night time radio and travels to places like the USA touring with his morning show to open the eyes of the listening public in the lower states and a whole different country. Wow, now that might not sound like much of a feat, but when you live beside a country with enough population to swallow whole, it can be a little daunting for musicians to get a foot hold in the American market. So, he's not just a pretty face and sexy sounding voice on the radio, he hits some topics that are controversial and makes you think! Happy Quilting, Carli

I few years ago, I was listening to my usual CBC radio and enjoying Q with Jian Ghomeshi, our time of day is 10 am with Jian. I'm a faithful listener of CBC and he's opened my ears to many great new artists that practically flying off the shelves of Canadian Music. We've got so much talent for tiny population of 40 million its crazy!! One rising star is the talented Serena Ryder and you'll really know some tiny little part about the great talent coming out of our Canadian soil! Its more than great wheat! Happy Quilting Carli

A few years ago I purchased a quilting book that I just had to have. I learned the authors techniques for stacking layer upon layer of fabric squares. Then slicing it and resewing the strips together. I made a bunch of table runners this way.  On this stack I started with five fat quarters, cut random slices because I was just learning about the technique.  Then you shuffle the rows.  Once sewn together into blocks, they are squared off and there you have a fast quilt!  For this quilt I decided on linear path and so it was quilted that way.   I chose to make the back side modern, as I was just learning about that too! It was later donated to the local gift basket for new moms.  Since then, I've become more courageous about messing up and have sliced a second time and resewn strips a second time.  Its on the table again with another simple table runner. You can see I've made more than a few quilts, using this technique

I love to listen to Serena Ryder when I'm having a bummer day with pain and even if I'm sitting with a heat pad on my back, I can close my eyes and imagine I'm at one of her concerts and I'm rocking!! Get ready to rock where ever you are! Happy Quilting  Carli

Some of you might be looking for a great tutorial on a zippered pouch, while some of you may have made a zippered carry on for discreet items in our purse or  your gym bag.  But I'm really proud to tell you that I found the perfect, the  most well written, strategically photographed tutorial over at one of the blogs I follow! My Half Dozen is a one woman SAHM who homeschools and is raising 6 kids all at the same time!!We home schooled two sons and I was crazy busy, so I love to help out my fellow Canadian Bloggers and Carla has written a super tute for this cute and simple zippered pouch! As I've written, Carla has a keen sense of writing in clear language and I'm sure this comes from teaching her wee ones with integrity. I urge anyone to visit her blog  http://halfdozendaily.typepad.com/my-half-dozen-daily/about-me.html I can't be more happier than a pig in mud, this was fast and complete. I do warn you to read the writing of her tutorial as goin

I have followed Connie over at Quilting By The River blog for several years now and she is really an innovative quilter, always coming up with new ideas for her blog posts and mostly I enjoy and don't usually participate. But recently she posted this gorgeous flower  block and the scrappy use of little pieces caught my eye.  Connie is participating with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2014.This gorgeous flower block is of her own design and I thank her so much for sharing this simple but stunning block. I intend to use it my latest king size summer quilt for our bed. My husband has his king size wool lined winter quilt as shown below. So its only fair that I create my own with styles and colors of my own choice. So I started making the nine patch snow ball blocks a couple of years ago. As I read further in Connie's post of her Flower Blocks, I realized this creation was her version to participate with So Scrappy's blog called Rainbow Scrap Challenge .

I love finding new modern quilters who are doing things I like to read about and of course, when it comes to hexie project, this modern quilter caught my eye. This project comes from "A Quarter Inch from the Edge" out of the Maritimes of eastern Canada.

This little project is for a good friend who lives on the other side of Canada. I miss friend the most of all my friends who have moved away. Life controls our mutual and individual directions and sometimes we have to just miss our friends and stay in touch in our online lives. Like the lovely and talented B.C. blogger, Holly who is very involved with the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild and a busy mom too! She posted she very cool triangle based quilt back in July. Holly blogs at   http://hollysredbike.blogspot.ca While I sought the guidance of my many quilting magazines that provide me hours of pleasure leafing through the hard copy pages. I must be getting old, as I really do prefer the printed version to the digital versions I've subscribed over past years.n My old friend Louisa Robertson was whipping up a new version of Quiltmaker's  Scrap Quilts from the past summer. Check this out for triangles! By Louisa Robertson of Merritt, B.C. I'v e be

I was determined to grow a sunflower this year. With so many uncertain life changes in the mix, it was my desire to see if they grew to maturity in the Bulkley Valley? And grew they did. I estimate 7 ft for the tallest one and 5-6 ft for the others!! Just a few photos from my garden. I plan on roasting these seeds, so I'll keep you posted!

Our son and girlfriend made room for us in the living room at their home in Victoria, B.C. This lovely traditional style quilt was made by Micaela's grandma and its hand quilted. Wow, its like a step back in time, hand stitching impeccable and straight as an arrow. Jon's grad quilt is still being used and loved, I made this one back in 2005 and its holding up really well. It was a lovely 23 C. each day and I noticed a bunch of tourists wearing parka's. It must have felt a tad cold to them. But we still went for lunch to our favorite lunch spot, the famous Sam's Deli. Yummy sandwiches and great staff!! I totally recommend this place for lunch whenever you are visiting Victoria, B.C.  Arbutus Cove Park is one special spot and has a gorgeous pebble beach that is quite and great swimming too! Happy Quilting everyone, I've also been canning my brains out and going between the heat pad and the kitchen to get it all