Sunday, March 10, 2024

Getting Sentimental

A couple of years ago a dear friend of mine was diagnosed with bone cancer. Despite a valiant effort, she succumbed to her illness last fall, leaving a huge hole in many, many lives. She was determined, practical, no nonsense, funny and very caring and we continue to adjust to life without her. 

In the last months as Lynne went about organizing her affairs, she passed a few items along to be cared for by others, including this quilt. She had no plans for it, she simply wanted to see it completed. Since early January, several of us have been sharing a sentimental journey as we quilt it.

These charming gals with their parasols were made by her mother decades ago and never quite got finished, so that became our task. We added borders and set about bringing everything to life.

Each dress and bonnet is beautifully coordinated and you can imagine the maker selecting just the right combinations. Not surprisingly, there appears to have been a little 'make do' in it as well. If you look closely, the floral print in the bonnet differs every so slightly from the rest of the dress and the parasol.

It's been fun to pick our favourites - this gal in blue is mine.









After adding a few defining line to the skirts and umbrellas the bulk of the stitching is crosshatching. This is the block that I worked on this past Friday.

With any luck it will be wrapped up by the end of this week. Our hope is to get it bound in time for Easter weekend so that it can be given back to her daughter as a memento of both her mother and grandmother. She doesn't know that it's coming, which will make it doubly special....M

Friday, March 08, 2024

Spring Baskets and Tiny Brights

A trip to the lake for a visit with Jane always generates lots of ideas and gives me a chance to get caught up on some of her creative ventures. This time I got to see her new basket quilt coming together and help provide a little art direction too.








Lovely pastel plaids from men's shirts that are decades old combined with beautiful blue florals create a soft and charming bundle of 8" baskets with a genuine vintage feel.








She's also incorporating remnants from a quilt that she made several years ago. It's like that yellow and blue HST picot border was made with this quilt in mind. Her next decision is what to do at the corners.

My visit reminded me that I have photos of several of her recently finished projects still sitting on my phone, so let's get caught up a little, shall we? Back in July, I shared the flimsy of her colourwash, which is now quilted and enjoying pride of place tossed over one of her living room chairs.


The colours are so vibrant and the circular panto (whose name I forget) is ideal against the structure of all of those tiny boxes.

It has SO much texture!

And she wasn't shy when it came to picking her backing either. It's bound with the same fabric.

Such a beautiful example of why we hang on to those tiny scraps - a little bit goes a long way....M



Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Morning Star

I've developed a very bad habit of taking lots of photos of my friends quilts and leaving them to languish on my phone. I love scrolling through then periodically but they won't easily be shared that way! Case in point, this sweet star quilt that Anne finished up last year using remnants of the Snow Goose that she started in 2019. I'm calling it Morning Star.

Her Snow Goose palate was centred on rich teal and gold with softer blue accents.

Its leftovers have since found their way into this cozy little lap quilt. It's amazing, all she did was strip out the golds and it has such a different look.

Using the Nine-Patch blocks that anchored the corners on Snow Goose, she created these tiny star blocks. It was a peaceful hand stitching project.

The snowy blue and white backing and tumbling snowflake panto keep everything quite soft and dreamy. 

This is just one of many quilty treasures stored on my phone. I'll make a point of catching you up on some of the others over the next little while....M


Sunday, February 25, 2024

Sunday is for Visiting

I have many wonderful memories of Sundays when we were growing up. It was a quieter day - the one day of the week that the shops weren't open - and we often went visiting or would have company in to catch up on life and have some fun. As I quilt Minnie and come across fabrics that I had forgotten about, I feel that I'm enjoying a visit with so many dear friends - all those precious bits that came together in my hexies.

Tiny remnants take me back to exactly where they came from or what they represent, like the soft blue-grey floral hexies that run across the top of this diamond. I was thrilled when Jane gave me a 1.5" strip of it to include in my quilt. Ah, the joy of someone else's stash!

Or this red and white diamond that I stitched on Canada Day several years ago.

I'm loving the texture that is beginning to appear. It makes me want to quilt all day long just to see the next large diamond emerge....M