Carli The Quilter

Hello everyone, thanks to those who emailed me inquiring about my whereabouts! That is so cool, that people are paying attention and wondered about me, so sweet! I am back and have this fun little quilt that is coming out in a new pattern next week!   This little crazy love started out as a fun crazy project and suddenly it became a table runner. I've put my book aside until the new year. This frees me up to concentrate on gift making and finishing up a few other projects too! I have only one small area to finish up with the hand quilting, then I'll move onto the outer border with free motion machine quilting. This has been really fun to do and so many ideas popped into my head doing this one. The cream fabric is 100% organic cotton from my shop long ago and the darker fabrics are from Daisy Janie line. And this little quilt top became a table runner because as a baby quilt, it just didn't do anything for me! Even though many of you thought the c...

T-shirt quilts are such a pleasure to make, really, they go together quite fast, once I finally had to time to get to work on these two.  Two brothers will be the recepient of these t-shirt quilts and I'm so grateful to my client who was in no hurry for them and for that I thank you! When you make a t-shirt quilt, you get to know that person just a tiny bit. Its such a proactive way to relive the memories of the t-shirts themselves. Some shirts have 3-D parts to them and you must find a way to incorporate these features as well. Sorry these are so crappy I was under pressure to get this photo  before it rained again. The backs are not the same and offer different affects to each. I was really proud that this past post on the giveaway was so popular and its reminds me that I really do have followers. And while I'm on that point, I didn't realize this earlier but my settings were  wonky and if you didn't have a Google + ac...

As you know I completed my first finish of this year with Pat's Triangle Quilt and compared to last year, my year is a total winner so far!  I really had a great time playing with the layouts of Pat's Triangle Quilt and using up fabric that was hard to match up with from the 1980s and earlier.  As you can see, I really felt brave when I used my flexible carpenters ruler to get a nice curve for the feathers! I know, feathers! And I had not hardly quilted much since spring time of 2013 and even then it was tiny projects at best. Its a blessing to feel better and alive again. And I'm sure if you can see my feathers are not uniform, you'll might be wondering did I just have a bad day or what? When really, its all relevant to the creation you see as you start onto the quilting of any project.  I'm sure lots of you have time and days to think and scheme and make decisions on who or how you'll quilt your project. I'm not big on mailing out a tre...

Earlier in the days of too little time to sew and quilt, my husband commented that I never seem to finish anything. This may still be true, but every once in a while I do finish something. These two pieces above were finished up this 2014 and destined for two grand daughters of my friend Myrtle. Finished! Then there are the various beaded earrings that I've finished and this is again in 2014. Then of course there is the finished quilt destined for Prince Edward Island. Pat's triangle quilt is really done. I tried to encourage my husband to remember all the quilts I have completed. But somehow his music called louder and so it goes. I chose a natural colored backing fabric and I will simply write in permanent marker on the back a nice little quilt label, that is still in the making, perhaps today while its raining outside. I realized that I have some how forgotten to post my "Finished Quilts" on my blog. And I was thinking of...

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...

Hello readers, friends and followers from far and wide. This year I'm hosting a Crazy Quilt Along 2014. Its going to be an awesome fun time as I teach Basic Crazy Quilting for a group of quilters who signed up in early December of last year. I was slightly surprised by the immediate response of interested quilters. I have begun a 2015 waiting list, so leave me comment if you want to be involved with 2015. Crazy Quilting is not a process that I plan out, get busy on the sewing machine and have my quilt done in a few days!  My Purple Crazy Quilt took me several years to complete. Now that is not constant work on the same quilt. I get carpel tunnel syndrome if I don't pay attention to varying my activities. You may too, if  you don't take care of your fingers, hands and wrists. Machine embroidery enthusiasts might love to make crazy quilts on an embroidery machine. Like this rose I did with an embroidery machine on teh Smithers 2013 Centennial Qui...

Sometimes you feel like your crawling along with so little progress. You know what I mean don't you? Then this past weekend I had two days off work and my mind, body and soul was in 'quilting' mode. But then my hubby reminded me had a trip to town to take care of and it wasn't until 2:30 we were home. My heart was sinking with the feeling like I'd never finish this mega centennial thinga-ma-jig quilt. I was on a rant! I am not angry or anything, just impatient. Suddenly, I had to retreat, go to my 'woom' and settle into a nice little rythum and all would be well again. And I did get into a nice little rythum. The pieced black/grey prints that form the background are good to do, they require patience and allowed me to get into a good rhythm.   So the "Flying Geese' blocks were coming along nicely and the bonus of my flying geese is always the triangle corners become a half triangle pieced block too! I always draw a second line and ...

  Sometimes I just get so excited by working with my hands, needle in hand, stitches patiently settling into their new home on my crazy quilt. I do use a machine occasionnally if I'm in big rush and the item is going to be washed numerous times. But the machine stitches doesn't give you the same feeling of meditation. The stitches slowly and proudly taking their place in my art. Recently, I found a beautiful crazy quilted piece on a Quilting Fiesta, where the work was so lovely, I asked if I could use her photo in one of my posts and this is the post. But first, lets take a snowy walk to my house and see the various crazy quilted pieces made and sold over the years. Such as this one above. Its now in a private collection here in the Northwest. Most of the lovely satin and brocade fabrics are straight from elegant clothing.  Beads, thread, wool and buttons adorn this piece, even my first attempt at 'rauching' I think its spelt like this. The little biege flowe...

My start was all 'high hat' style of course and then my life changed dramatically with one phone call. I got a new job! So as the days that I'd scheduled for work on this little project blog tour participation dwindled with chaotic new work schedules, the drama increased!  My plan was to create a new piece with Carol's Bowls With Borders paper piecing. Where I live is a constant influence in my art, my life and my choices for recreation. In the photo above, I actually hand sewed the paper piecing. I bet that is a first! They turned out really well, but the hand stitching wouldn't let me tear away the paper. I imagined a modern piece, the graph paper told me so and I continued. I free hand drew my version of a sockeye on the back side of iron on stabilizer on red linen.  I am a fisher as you all know by now! I've been out to the lake on my days off work harvesting sockeye salmon and enjoying the hot summer sun as we baked in the boat on...

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...