Carli The Quilter

My attention taken with unpacking and culling, I find the moments of sorting and culling from my art supply stash brings me joy. But soon this whole box of brand new Organic Cotton Yardage is going to be sold. If you live anywhere near Duncan, yardage at $10/meter.  I remember sorting and doing our first cull in advance of our move and have since done this three other times until this recent sort and cull. So many others are on the move as well as well. Travellers relocating to my local area are posted everyday on our local Used.com classifieds . Many are looking for both, jobs and housing.  We now live in a real Earthquake zone called Pacific Ring of Fire.  The small town I live in is right overtop of this massive fault line that covers the population of hundreds of thousands other people, so I am not alone. The Ring encircles the whole Pacific Ocean. and the western part of Canada is on the Pacific Ocean.  But am I prepared to live for at least...

I love to read some of my favorite blogs and one is Sew Slowly by one lovely lady who could very well be another me. I know, who knew? I identify with her words and wished we lived closer.  It was her blog that I first found the 365 Circles  movement of sorts. Now, getting back to why Sew Slowly is my favorite blog is because her work speaks to using up the numerous fabric odds and ends we quilters accumulate. I am very aware of how many bins and boxes my husband has faithfully carried around for me, this being 32 years coming up for our 2017 anniversary so I know he really loves me! :) I made a new cell phone bag this summer before moving that hasn't been shared here. It was made after making my nephew's wedding quilt close up below. We also bought a Persian Rug for our new home and love it. As you can see this wee table runner with circles on it is becoming a new wedding present for good friends. Entirely hand sewn and slow as can be in making it. I a...

I started with a whole bunch of different wales of recycled corduroy. I cut them using a 6 inch square of cardboard from a cereal box. I used the cereal box because I found it quite hard to use my wide blade rotary cutter.  Tip: When recycling clothing into new quilting projects, remove all seams and press as best you can before cutting out your shapes. I had a bunch of ties that I had collected over several years to make this quilt. I decided to cut either ends of each tie and applique these down onto the cordduroy blocks. This is my start of this little quilt. This is really like Christmas. I had almost completely forgotten this little quilt. Catch ya later! 

Hi everyone, I know its been an age since you've heard anything from me. I apologize for this tardyness, but as you know a move has been underway and I'm thrilled to be now living in Duncan, B.C. Its really like Christmas while unpacking at our new home. My new back yard and garden calls to me. But it has to wait till I have some room to move. Its really quite lovely, but really needs lots of TLC. Next year for that. We feel really lucky to have found a home that suited our needs and was a price that a normal person can afford on Vancouver Island. The high priced housing in Vancouver caused the government to impose a 15% foreign buyer tax just redirected those buyers to Victoria and the Saanich Peninsula. So we suddenly found ourselves in an extreme search to find a good home, which we did and we love the laid back cultural quiet of Duncan. No, my new sewing room is no bigger than I had back home in Quick. But I will get it all organized soon....

This happy little quilt is finally reaching a point where I can call it a quilt top, almost! For those of you just popping in to my blog, I've been working on the Scrappy Dresden Blocks for several years cleaning up scraps from my numerous boxes of scraps! Yes, its true, if you are frugal quilter, you acquire scraps from other projects and thousands of us are using the scraps in new projects or by donating the scraps to a local thrift shop. I am still working on 365 Circles Quilt top. Making bright and cheerful Scrappy Dresden Plate Blocks are not a new obsession to me, I've made a few quilts before. The quilt below is my "Canadian Birds Quilt" for my husband back in 2011 I think. Yeah, I was stumped for awhile over the early summer months of 2017 with what to do on the corners! I really like the striped scrappy approach used in Quilty Folks blog mentioned below. But was wondering about a crazy quilt corners and still thinking about th...

Crazy Heart CQ started some time ago. Truth be told I had begun the inner 'heart' while I was mulling over getting started on the Smithers Centennial Quilt which was the early days of 2012. How time flies! I decided again this spring of 2017 it was time that 'Crazy Heart' found a home and direction. I had originally used some fringy braid that was hand sewn around the outside edge of the heart. But when I reviewed this peice, the fringy braid had to go. It was this initial start to remove the fringy braid that I realised underneath the braid, the heart was simply hand sewn with a light hand. The new trim I chose to use was brown and black varigated wool. I did a quick and rustic whip stitch twice over to couch it down to the center of the quilt. I have been working on this quilt in hopes of getting it done for my sister's birthday, but missed that deadline and so it goes. But only time will tell me when its done! In the meantime, here...

Hello to all my quilty friends! Super excited that I'm finally able to get into some new fabric and some new quilts. More on that later. But just received some fun project supplies from www.fabricspark.com. A few years ago I was inspired and fell in love with Jen Kingswell designs! My work on her pattern "Midnight in the Oasis" gave me pause for a whole bunch of reasons. I have done so many quilts that pausing has been good for me and my aspirations. I lingered on modern versions of crazy quilting using machine stitches and machine embroidery. But I love hand stitching, so..... I journeyed deep into the cool pool of water. We all come forth via water. I paddled upstream and downstream and got caught in a tidal pool or two. I find now that I am fearless! I know I can't help it, I go around sharing my inner thoughts as if we were having a tea on the deck. I hope you are not bored? Since moving, I have been overwhelm...