Carli The Quilter

I have finished the forest fire rebuild quilt for our friends. Its going in the mail , now that Canada Post has unfortunately been ordered back to work. We are hoping it arrives before Christmas, fingers crossed. Its getting done in between challenges and other projects I have on the go. These blocks were hauled around all over the country side while being worked on. I love Dresden Plate blocks. I began this quilt a long time ago. This quilt is intended to be finished by end of November ready to begin hand quilting on this treasured quilt. With the goal to be complete hand quilting by summer of 2019. I've decided that instead of in the ditch or some 'overall' hand quilting like clams, I will do something different. Different from clam design below. This quilt is so toasty, we use it only when its really cold outside. I'm actually considering unpicking the entire thing. Have you done this kinda crazy thing? Its going to be ...

When I began to write this progress report on my "365 Circles" that began so long ago I suddenly realized that circles have been a huge part of everyday life. Bowls to holes and all in between circles are the way life goes, in a circle! This lovely table runner went to a local charity raising funds in an auction. Three Dresden Plate Fans made into this Modern Dresden Table Runner I made this upcycled bath mat way back into the 1990's and have not looked back on the upcycling front. This fire ball was an exercise in exploring Ms. Carlson book. Quilting hoops around my house are a constant distraction for my family as pins and needles managed to escape and no one drew any blood in this exercise. When you begin a project I don't usually have a plan, to be completely honest. I just usually start with some sort of vision in my head and if I don't get it onto paper soon, it goes by the way of the Do Do Bird. I have...

This project did at first make me think, "Oh ya, I can do this, really quick!' but then it was suddenly daunting with a whole king size quilt to machine quilt in a quick way.  It meant I'd have to have an attendant to help me move the big quilt through my home machine and I really enjoy hand quilting more than that.  I would need help with pinning it on the floor, OMG, this means I must wash the floor!  Just joking, but it started to feel a lot like a more work. And as I get older these questions do arise with each new quilt I make, so I look for easier ways to do things. So I cut it all up! Yes, the freedom feeling that it gave me was instantaneous and I felt a lot better being able to really calculate how soon I'd have this quilt complete and in the mail.  Of course, I didn't count on Canada Post going on strike. So, I elected to do Free Motion quilting and QAYG on each block and then sew each block together again using Marti Michells...

Last summer was one of the busiest on record, buying, moving and two weddings! While the summer was very busy, I started on some more autumnal colored circles for the first table runner for Monique. You know I've recently had to put them aside as its all way tooooo addictive. Who knew I'd love hand applique of simple circles, as much as I do? And her husband to be wanted something in red and blue.  And as I look back on it, its a total wonder how I managed to make anything with my sewing womb a total uproar. I'm culling and giving away to local good charities and still I have too much stuff! But this Denim Wedding quilt was a 2017 finish and it completely went right by me!  Again, between moving and then buying, it was a hectic summer and I envy of you quilters who are so organized. But slowly I've gained ground with all this culling, its actually quite freeing and is allowing me to focus on what's important to me. Getting out into the na...

I am happy to report progress is  happening on several projects. Fall is upon us now, suddenly summer went without so much as a "see ya later" as I lay my head down to sleep one night. The  next day it was fall. I know my hubby will laugh and say "You always say fall is here and its only September!" but my bones know for sure. I have decided to add my contribution over at AHIQ:Improvisational Quilts to this year's challenge. Map Challenge. You can tell its fall with this awful photo! Dark, grey days of rain is the only outside light and my sewing womb overhead light sucks! These blocks were just the beginning of my expression of Mind Mapping trails of my childhood. When I started this challenge, I was thinking memories of my fond days as a child walking and playing in the wild bush of Northern B.C. Its that time of year when dog pads need to be refreshed, cleaned and repaired. Rusty seems to need a little help with positioning. Her lates...

Its clear I love a challenge, which is evident in the diverse array of quilts I've made so far. I have trudged on through mud and flowers in my quilts. But as quickly as this challenge took a great leap in my head, I stitched away with a picture in my mind, but life got in the way of it and now, its gone into a treaded bin! Its not working for me, the flow is gone and so I was wasting a bit of time reading other blogs and I read through Kaja's long post that made me think. Maybe that is my problem, I'm over thinking this thing. You know we all do that sometimes. And while my spare time for any quilting it hitting an all time low, I am peristant! Kaja's flow is interesting where she gathers fabric together in color selections that appeal to her. It doesn't mean anything at the beginning she says, but then the muse visits and voila! But her process of restacking, adjusting to make bundles of colors, prints and solids all in one batch that really caught ...

From time to time we meet new quilters from across the globe. Sometimes, its at a retreast and sometimes at shows, but I've had the good fortune to meet all sorts of new quilters by participating in Benita's Quilters Meet and Greet. For some of you, the link didn't work, so I'm including the same link above to visit ALL the fabulous quilters who have joined Benita to officially launch Benita new blog. Please do pop over and see the enormous amount of interesting things that Benita's Membership offers and to enter her One Huge Prize. Now, moving along to my Klassen Forest Fire Quilt. I've come down with a back attack that has convinced me that I can only do the free motion quilt as you go method. So I have cut up the entire quilt seen  below into blocks. I know what caused this back attack. I had a wee visit from vertigo which needed the Epley Manuever done to me to stop the vertigo. In fact, while on the table getting the manuever done, the tabl...