Carli The Quilter

 "Bat Girl Goes Out" started out as the original Hexie Flower in the center. These pretty little Hexie flowers were purchased on Ebay. They are vintage and quite fragile. I placed this one on a bold lime green  background of linen scraps. Appliqued the Hexie flower on and then made it into a Snowball block. I played around two summers ago with "15 Minutes of Play" over at Bumblebeans.com and came up with the outside borders of making fabric chunks and onto the original block they went. It's so much fun to just go for it and experiment.  I am constantly inspired by Freeform style of quilts being made and that made me think of my upcoming e-book "Artisan Crazy Quilts" really does show the reader how I start and go towards an unknown, unplanned finish! I ventured on like a Sherman Tank, doggedly designing as I went, its so fun quilters! Bat Girl made her first appearance after hand drawing this bat free hand ont

Let me apologize, I don't think I have the right settings in place on my phone to add this link into my Blogger posts. So having said this, Sujata Shaw is an American quilt book author that I just love!!

Table Runner's are great and pretty simple to make if using the Improv methods out there in Blogland. This one got started using up left over blocks from  Burkley's Quilt  which I made for my newly minted Grand Nephew. In my learning of how to create these blocks using Sujata's methods of improv methods from her book, Cultural Fusion Quilts. The blocks that didn't quite turn out correctly in my opinion, were the base of this Modern Table Runner. I had no real plan and soon these blocks became a very long table runner and I knew exactly where this new table runner belonged. But more on that later. this is going to be machine quilted today! Yeah!!

Hello quilters, wherever you are, I hope it's lovely outside! Today, I awoke very early in the morning and our cabin was a little chilly. The woodstove warmed up the inside really fast and I sat down to a coffee and a hand quilting project. I've decided to do hand quilting because this quilt has so much cream solid color in it and I thought it would be really fun to make the dark areas pop up. I've added a 5 inch border of cream solid colored cotton to the borade and now those crazy blocks just popped! But for some reason that photo will not load! I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Network today! Happy Quilting Everyone!

When you live somewhere as beautiful as the Bulkley Valley of Beautiful British Columbia, you can be overtaken with a new realization of our spectacular home. This photo shows the most prominent of all mountains, Hudson's Bay Mountain. Home to powder skiing, x-country and downhill only minutes from down town. This photo was taken in about January one year, not much ice frozen on the river this year. This photo show the Babine Range in the background and this small but lovely set of cabins is a great place to catch lake trout. Thanks for visiting!

Hello everyone, thank you to my followers and those just passing through! Don't forget to tell me about what you think of my post? I am thankful to report that Grandma has pulled her skirts up and is kicking up a storm in recovery! I am so thankful for that. She is one very special Mother in Law. I just knew that, when I looked into her eyes with tears in mine that somewhere in there my beloved Mother in Law was still with us!! She squeezed my hand hard and seemed to stare intently at me, I spoke of encouragement and blessings she has brought to my life. She has steadily improved with eating, breathing and getting over her stroke one  bit at a time. Before Thanksgiving urgent Grandma phone calls and trips and more trips, I'm finally getting back to my little wee Halloween project. To be completely honest, I've never really gotten the whole big deal about Halloween! Really! I grew up in the Northern B.C. area south of Prince Geroge, the largest city in

I've had the beginnings of this modern art project sitting around for eons. I decided it would be perfect for a Halloween quilt. I love free form quilting, I really do. It leaves me open to other possibilities that don't become apparent until you sit down and focus. Now, you might think that this looks kinda crazy right? I've not decided if the Modern crazy patch making of fabric is the same as real Crazy Quilting. What do you think about making of fabric from scraps and do you think its a kinda crazy? I'm finishing this one today. Check back tomorrow for this gorgeous and creepy finish. \ Happy Quilting everyone!

Earlier this summer, someone commented about "finishing" and it was very cute to get that comment and here's why? This observant reader had noticed that finished pieces of my crazy quilted art are missing from my blog. Only a few existed until this year. I giggled and felt as if I'd been caught red-handed in the cookie jar. You, see, I needed time to finish all the extensive embellishment and hand and machine embroidery on my pieces included in my upcoming book. Writing a book or magazine that you produce all by your lonesome self is well, lonely. But I've been keeping busy with free motion machine quilting! Finishing my crazy quilts is something quite unusual and has taken on a whole life of its own. Finding the right finish is quite a whole story in itself. One cannot just slam a finish together and quit there.  So as time went on, I realized that my unusual finishes were really very special and drew a bunch of comments from my friends and

I first posted these as we were traveling through B.C.'s beautiful Fraser Canyon, this 84 Km length is a photographer's dream at any time of day. It was the ONLY way through to the Northern Interior of B.C. until a decade or two ago when the B.C. Ministry of Transportation made a second route over the mountains to Merritt, which is also lovely, but can be deadly in the winter. Its really a great highway, but because the mountains determine the weather so much, it is one to miss in winter if you're a visitor. This time of year is really colorful with all the trees turning golden and brown. But its the friendly people and drive by markets that make it really special. (Thank You Wiki for this photo.) If  you are planning a trip to B.C. in the coming years, please do make this part of B.C. on your itinerary! Just click on the link above for all the information links you'd require. If you are planning a trip, I also recommend visiting l

Many years ago, I bused from Vancouver Island to Smithers. I struck up a conversation with an woman on the bus. She lives in Clinton, B.C and we talked almost all the way about quilting.

As life would have it, we "wait" sometimes more than we "do" sometimes. We drove, taking turns. We witnessed a special moment of wild California Big Horn sheep grazing along the road. Our valley is turning brown before the snow begins to fall. Brown takes over from the glorious gold. Bulkley River levels are up and down with the rains that come first. And then I read the kind comments of all of you, who sustain my creative spirit until I return. Thank you kind friends from all over the world. I'll be back again creating and your thoughts and prayers will stay with me forever. Thank you!

I'm no expert in this field, but I do love to learn! I first discovered that "content" is very important back in 2009 trying to improve my blog's standing in the Search Engine's of the Internet. Yes, what you write is what will get you attention of the intricate web of fingers inside the The Internet's various search engines.  SEO always looking for great fresh content and I joined up with Google Analytics.  I'm still learning alot from my sons who help me to understand how and why its needed to succeed with attracting and keeping followers or visitors to your blog. You do need a google account. I found this video very helpful on understanding more about Google Analytics. Now, onto exploring how to write your best content.  #1- Get Organized I have a husband who has used gantt charts for years in his work. When I first asked him questions on how to get myself more organized he suggested this link. The work I've been doing since 2009 must

This little craft station is the one I had until I lost it somewhere over the summer. I made the first one many years ago before I started blogging. I find it to be perfect for using as a craft station on my lap. I can quickly put it aside when I need to move and it keeps everything in place. Portable Craft Station Supplies beyond the cardboard and batting: (4)  4 1/2 x 16 in.strips of alternate fabric for flaps on sides (2)  2 x 16 in. strips complementing the craft station background fabric (2) 16 x 10 3/8 in fabric for craft station background (2) 2 by 7 in. small pin cushion fabric (2) 16 x 1 in. rug binding (2) 4 x 11 3/4 in batting for flaps spray adhesive and tape -Start by cutting out the cardboard and batting for the craft station base. -Then using tape, secure all the sides together, I wanted the bounce in the cardboard, but if you like, you could use spray adhesive between the cardboard layers. -Then spray down each side of the base and glue down the

Hello folks and welcome to my latest installment of my experience with online publishing. Content is very important. Its the 'stuff' makes a viewer become a buyer of your stuff.  Here's why: Content on our blogs can be successfully written in Word, crafted "fine tune like" as if you are blogging for millions of viewers, much like A Beautiful Mess. Emma and Elsie the creators of A Beautiful Mess didn't start out with millions of viewers. They were in love with their ideas and knew beyond a doubt they had something special. Many up's and down's shrouded the two in the beginning. I've been following them since the beginning. I've read the heart ache and the goals these two set all while finding love and loosing love. It was a very personal expression of their journey. For me reading all those years ago, I was studying their start and their struggle. I wanted to learn. I was one lucky reader who really worked with their early years of

When I started Mr. Rooster he was supposed to be a fast made Fall Fair themed decor art for my booth at the 2011 Bulkley Valley Fall Fair . It was a really fun event and one that I'd sure like to do again. I was busy trying my interest at selling organic 100% cotton. And it does contain some awesome photo's of the whole booth for your interest by going to the post published back in 2011. This summer Rooster I See You gained more attention and I decided that I didn't like it that this poor rooster had no neck and background. I began fusing feathers of all free form simply hand-drawn feather shapes onto various similarly colored prints. This is where I've got so far today. I think he looks a lot better and I'm dreaming up a Fall Fair themed background maybe. I'm not sure so if you have ideas, please share them in a comment. Happy Quilting everyone.