Carli The Quilter

I'm so tickled to finally be nearing the half-way point of My 365 Circles quilt. A few years ago I made my husband a quilt of his own. This is a really special quilt because I used my favorite method of the Slice and Dice Dresden Plates from the fabric using all Canadian Birds that are going extinct. My husband is a bit of  birder, not a complete addict or anything, but he fell in love with the fabric and the project began there. I took a class with my good friend Louisa Robertson from the Okanagan. Anyway, this  Canadian Birds  quilt is really warm for those cold winter nights when a wool lined quilt is the best comfort going. But it's a little warm for other parts of the year. We needed a new king size quilt. I have fallen in love with circles. I love crazy quilting, but this simple circle, yet complex set of circle shapes make things happen. You know? Take the following "circles" google search and you'll likely stumble o...

When I started this blog in early 2011, I really had no idea of how much fun I'd have writing, composing projects and reading the comments left by followers. Followers? I had no idea if anyone might be interested in what I had to say and truly when I started, it was all about confirming in my own mind I could write an interesting blog entry on a regular basis. Now, I have 50 followers and I've written 150 posts! I like those odds! So I thought I'd start this post with a look back. Wow, as I started to compose this post, I realized I have a lot of photos! Looking is not always an easy thing to do and appreciate all the new followers I have discovered over this last two years. I am just getting started! All the best, Carli

This New Modern quilting tutorial got started after I heard from several locals and received some emails from my blog readers that they are confused with the "New Modern Thing" and rightly so. I kind of knew something about the use of 'negative space' on quilts, as in this pillow cover I made many years ago now. Who wouldn't be if you have been learning how to make quilts the 'old fashioned way' and then came along the gadgets, rulers, etc. So I've had some time to reflect on this and did suggest in previous posts that some tutorials were coming and here is one! Modern Quilting has taken a great run at the the establishment of traditional quilters! Modern Quilting seems to be driven by young women and men that like to use 'negative' space in their quilt making process. There is nothing wrong with this, its just what it is. The same rules apply if you are looking for a great quilt that will last many generations and be ha...

This little quilt became a winner for me! It was made a really stressful time of my life. Without going into all kinds of this and that of why it was a stressful time, trust me, it was! I was struggling to find solace in my life. I don't have daughters and sons were only so interested in quilting. My husband married me without knowing the quilt addict that lived inside me would erupt and take over many parts of me.  This quilt is special because its one of the first quilts that I made using only cotton fabric. Most of the cotton fabric had  been hand me downs from wealthier quilters than myself. I could buy new fabric and make lovely quilts as is evident in my batik paper pieced center piece below. It was 1997 and I had had a major run in with the Quilt Police! I admit it, I was a newby and committed a big crime in my new quilt guild at the time. I had used thrifted cottons! "You can't be a quilter using thrift store crap" one whispered! ...