Carli The Quilter

Phuef!  Easter is over and it was lovely to visit, eat and share our backyard with family and friends!  But I must admit, the gardening to be done has taken over my life, a wee bit. Its always a push in the spring time to get ready for planting. I had sort of forgotten about how fast weeds invade as soon as the spring warmth returned to the soil.  Without much in the way of freezing temperatures over the winter, I dreamed of the brocolli , kale, and tomatoes to  be grown in my new garden space, but its been kinda soggy here this spring I'd say! Our days have mostly been cloudy with just a rare glimpse or two of sunny skies. And its not so very different from the spring time in the Bulkley Valley of Northern B.C. minus snowy days of rough driving conditions and shoveling snow for sometimes 4-5 months.  And its quite lovely to be able to experience walking without ice. But quite frankly, we've lost the access to the backroads and wild parts o...

I upcycled all sorts of fabric into my "Beach House Crazy Quilt" and it was selected for the 2013 Quilt Market "Oh, Canada" exhibition in Houston and LA. When I began this blog back in 2007, I wanted to educate about reusing cloth, now called "Upcycling" of all types of fabrics that we didn't normally see in quilts. I love the to play with color, texture and style. But believe it or not, but in 2007, I struggled to have anyone see anything I wrote about upcycling and I did have to make the concession to including more new fabric. This gorgeous table runner sports Dresden Plates handmade from scraps of all ages of printing, some as far back as 1980. These scrappy Dresden Plates sit on a light blue background which is new organic 100% cotton while the backing is upcycled curtain material. Myrtle and I made matching bags from a pattern she purchased and it was so much fun! And so as you read this most auspicious post, start think...

As the last bit of a chill is hovering over the Cowichian Valley, the ground, plants, trees and birds are just bursting at the warmth of spring to come. Its just not planting weather yet. I have been enjoying my altered clothing experience! I highly recommend it for anyone who knows how to sew! The purple/blue plaid shirt purchased from Hudson's Bay store in Victoria shrunk badly after the first wash. I love these colors and wanted to get more use from brand new shirt. The shirt after washing and hanging to dry was too short. I didn't want to lose the cowboy shirt rounded front style but I think most of us would prefer a little more belly coverage than this length offered me? This upcycling adventure was not the first altered clothing I had done since in my late teens. I learned upcycling from a German trained tailor while living part time on Long Beach before it was a National Park. I was quite dissapointed when I took this shirt out of the washer. I ...

Hi everyone! I woke up this morning in the Cowichian Valley to a chilly -5 C. I know to my northern friends this is "no big deal" of any real kind of chilly. But to me who craves less cold, its a chill! I was up this Monday morning to the visit my new quilting friends, women of a wide age category, wide experience in all forms of quilting and many that are Canadian Snow Birds. But none the less, they are now my support for conversations, questions, idea exchange and sharing of our mutual love of quilting! But alas, time is getting away from me again. Up first is my finished on my dining table from last week. My African Violet Craz Quilt table runner. My husband now affectionately calls it the Black Hole table runner. Over the weekend, I did get some time to actually get started on the finishing of this Mexacali Heat Quilt. I have begun making the Nine Patch Blocks for the broders. As you can see, its coming along. I found that as I cut, se...