Carli The Quilter

Its time again for the Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2013 hosted by Amy's Creative Side , thanks Amy for doing all this to organize it! I thought maybe, I'd enter my favourite quilt in the category of: Favorite hand quilted quilt Please vote for my Canadian Birds in the category of Hand Quilting. You may have seen this one in past posts of mine and its really a dream come true to have in on my bed all winter long. I'm itching for snow to come, then it can come permanently on the  bed for the winter. My hubby and I have a 'thing' about 'warm' quilts. He's the furnace and I'm the chillin cold feet person. This quilt entitled "Canadian Birds" is my own design, hand quilted by me and it took me about 6 1/2 months of hand quilting in the evenings only, to complete the whole hand quilting. But there is so much more to this quilt. It endured 5 home relocations across one end of British Columbia and many starts...

I love a round robin quilt-fest! You know where you gather a bunch of quilters, exchange fabric, except this is all online, isn't the Internet wonderful!! And you just make it and quilt along, yeh for quilt alongs. Midnight Over the Oasis by Jen Kingwell . This lovely quilt is the quilt I'm joining up with to make. I fell in love the first time I saw it somewhere on the Internet. Then you know how it goes, other interesting blogs came along and I forgot about it. Then I purchased July/August of Quilt Mania, my favourite quilting magazine. And there it was, the pattern to Midnight Over the Oasis.  This is my assortment of fabrics mostly from Art Gallery Fabrics . I've got a green chunk of Kaffe Fassett and Cloud 9 Organic Fabrics too. I will talk to you soon! Have a great Thanksgiving weekend for those of us in Canada. Carli

You know how it goes, you see an interesting block and you make just one. Then you decide its not really for you. It goes to live in the 'block orphanage" where sometimes you don't go back to visit for quite some time. I have a new friend and what a generous lady she is. First, she has begun teaching me about making jewelry, beading and now knitting. Almost every time we meet, she has made another lovely gift for me. I am embarrassed without any gift to give back! This will not do for a quilter! Meet Mertle, a Gitsan woman from Hazelton, B.C. Beader extraordinaire! So far, Mertle is not a quilter, because you know how that goes, suddenly the quilt bug bites and you're off to the races! I decided that I just wanted to make an example of the crafting that I do and so I began to reach into the block orphanage to see what I had there. Just maybe something fine, lovely and generous, just like my new friend Mertle would emerge? This is what I ...

Time is flying by and the t-shirt quilt orders are coming in. You knew that I made all sorts of quilted items and making T-shirt quilts are so personal. This one was made for a  young woman who loves to ski! Her Mom commissioned me to make this in crisp winter colors for her daughter's home in Whistler. When I make t-shirt quilts its like I get to know the person a little bit. Simply by the choices in t-shirts they buy. And the varied backings I use to finish my t-shirt quilts. Here is a recent starting place for another t-shirt quilt. I am  not a production line type artist, I take the time each quilt needs to speak of the full spirit of the person the quilt is intended for, such as this next one is for a young lady who is environmentally focused and I'm so pleased that she picked me to make this special going to university quilt for her. This photo is just the starting point of where I've stabilized the t's and starting to make decision...

 My quilt is done for the Pipeline Art Exhibit around the protest of Enbridge's Proposed Pipeline through pristine wilderness, farms and communities, rivers are our life blood!  My home  is located on the beautiful Bulkley Valley. The rich, alive and responsive Bulkley River runs alongside our river campsite, at our home. I'm so lucky to have such a peaceful, tranquil place to live. We are surrounded by wilderness, ranchers, miners and families. We have plenty of open space, wild areas minutes from downtown Smithers, BC. We have lots of industry, mining and forestry and tourism. We have a few unemployed folks, but most are employed and moving ahead with their lives in the beautiful Bulkley Valley. Unfortunately, The Bulkley River is one of those rivers that you might have heard about that is threatened  by potential spills from crude oil being transported from Alberta tar sands to the BC coastline by Enbridge for freighter trips across the Pacific Ocean. ...

1. Start with 3 Fat Quarters, 1 focus fabric, 1 complimentary and 1 sparkle fabrics, lay each on top of each other in a stack.  2. Make two slightly off kilter cuts across and through the whole stack. 3.  Take the first one from the bottom of stack #1 from the left side, place it on top of same stack. 4. Take the bottom two from the center stack and place on top of center stack. 5. Leave the last stack alone. 6. Sew each layer as the fabrics are laid out and make into slightly off kilter blocks.   7. Trim the blocks to whatever size the layered stack is, making sure to use as much of the fabric as possible. You may have to peak into the layers to be sure you've got all three layers.  Once the blocks are sewn together, they form a nifty, fast table runner! Yeh for fast when you're called upon to make a fast donation product or as a last minute gift!    I used about 1.5 m. of one of the same fabrics for the backing. W...

I'm sure if you are aware, but some of the fabric that I'm using in my studio is from Cloud9 Fabrics. Without a doubt it is the texture of this organic cotton that I love and the colors and designs are stupendous. I made this Sea and Sand last year with mostly Cloud9 Fabric organic prints and organic solid cotton. This quilt is one of my upcoming tutorials. Its very easy and goes together in a flash.  I am a firm believer in using only organic cotton. It just makes sense to me that a certified organic standard cotton is the best to use.  For more information on why they are eco-friendly, click on the link below. http://cloud9fabrics.com/faq.html I really love the Miscellany collection of Cloud9 Fabrics.  I made this lovely little table runner with a Fat Quarter pack. Then when I heard that my husband's office was needing a donation item for their annual fundraising efforts for good causes in the community, I made this baby quilt. ...

Wow, spring is in the air, its been really sunny and its feeling like springtime! My hubby and I had a great day ice fishing recently and caught some awesome rainbow trout!  My friend Wanda is ooooing the giveaway I'm selecting for this Blog Hop Party that starts on March 17th.  I'll be posting more as the time gets closer, but to give a tiny hint, my give away is a selection of hand picked fabrics from my stash of enough fabric to make a quilt top! This crazy quilt above is called Beach House and its for sale.  More on this later, spread the word. Thank you so much for following me and I'm really pleased to tell you that soon, I'll be posting some awesome new patterns for you to check out.

Now, you may be aware that I use organic fabrics in my quilts. I don't make a big deal about it, I'm a designer and have to stock some bolts or I wouldn't have anything to use in the amounts I need. But I just love the quality of Cloud9Fabric, the print designers are really awesome, fresh and new. I'm really happy to tell you that a Fat Quarter Bundle  Give Away is happening at Cloud9 Fabrics.   You can enter this contest by simply visiting their blog and leaving a comment. Do read the post, follow their blog too! http://cloud9fabrics.blogspot.com/ What I'd do with this Fat Quarter bundle if I won is make a new quilt pattern using this fabric! Yeh, I love contests!