Snow Days = Sew Days

This was the view in my back yard last week! Okay Mother Nature....we've had enough now! Where I live on Vancouver Island we normally have very MILD winters. The grass stays green and we only have a few days of cold weather. 

But this year has been DIFFERENT and I mean WHITE different!  We had another snow storm earlier this week and there is no green grass to be seen.

I have been feeling a bit 'house bound' this week so took the opportunity to quilt some small quilts so I can share with the Parksville Quilt House Guild next week as part of my Northcott Fabrics Lecture.

Here are the 3 quilts I quilted last week during my Snow Days.

This is Galaxy, designed by Sue Beevers. Sue used Northcott's ColorWorks Concepts fabrics for this small quilt. This will be a fun donation to my Guild's Baby Quilt program.

The next quilt is Route 66. This uses the UrbanElementz collection by Patricia E. Ritter.  This quilt uses pre-fused applique shapes designed by Patricia and she has lots of other appliques available too.  I think this will be perfect for my daughter's small trailer when they go camping in the summer.

For this quilt I used some new Longarm Templates that I got at Quilt Market last fall.  These are Oval CTemplates by HandiQuilter.

And this is where I used the centre oval for custom quilting:

 

The third quilt has been quilted and I just have to add the binding.

This is Shattered Crystals by Pine Tree Country Quilts.  It showcases an amazing Digital Panel fabric called Expressions.  I used SuperiorThreads MicroQuilter thread and a pantograph for this one.  This thread is ON SALE and it is great for texture without 'in your face' thread colour.

I have the same quilt with black accent and hope to work on that one next week.

This fabric will be delivering to quilt shops in April. There are some wonderful projects you can make with this collection!

I had a fun week making use of my time while the snow fell outside. The rains have come and I'll see that green grass soon!

Choosing Thread....

for my new project. Three Superior King Tut threads....which one to choose?

Travels - St. George, Utah

I have just returned from a vacation/teaching trip to Las Vegas. Since Las Vegas is SO close to St. George, Utah, the 'WORLD HEADQUARTERS' of Superior Threads.....I just had to go for a visit and to pick up some thread for projects for my next book (and a game of golf).

I was welcomed by Heather (Mother Superior) Purcell and her husband Bob (theThread Professor). Heather and Bob lived in Japan for several years and they have some wondeful kimono in the front office area.

Bob took me on a tour of the warehouse. The floor of the warehouse is carpeted (and vacuumed every day), and has racks with row upon row of perfectly aligned boxes of thread. There is a separate area for shipping, a room for packaging Texture Magic and Dissolve stabilizer. I met several of the staff members as we walked through the various areas, including the lady who packages all the kits for the Block of the Month program for The Quilt Show (with Ricky Tims & Alex Anderson). Those kits looked so inviting! She also ships many of the books by the authors who have appeared on the show.

Along with the warehouse, Superior Threads also has a School of Threadology. This is housed in an addition to their original space and includes a huge room dedicated to mid-arm and long-arm machines. You can take classes with the top educators in the industry. More machines are coming - so they will have every brand for students to use.

Another large room has been outfittted for 'home machine' students. Bernina USA has supplied the classroom with Bernina 730 machines and special classes all about thread and workshops with the world's top teachers are presented here.

Thank you to Heather and Bob (and all the staff) for welcoming me and my husband. I am excited to use my new thread for my next Give & Take Applique projects.

Oh yes, I bought lots of thread - I just couldn't resist! I also picked up some more Texture Magic for Satin Moon Quilt Shop. My next 'Pillowcase Party' shows you how to make a pillowcase with a textured band. Class is on April 15.

We did go golfing as well!

Stamping Silk

I've been 'heads down' for the past 3 weeks preparing samples for my classes and presentations at Quilt Festival in Houston. The techniques include Bobbin Quilting with Thick Threads, Stamping with Paint & Ink and a mixed media session I call 'Print, Peel & Stick'. I have tried to create samples that will show at least 2 of the 3 topic areas (to save room in the suitcase!).

Here is my latest project - a cellphone cover for my new phone and a matching book cover.

I had some scraps of silk in my colours, I stamped them with paints, cut them up and fused them to light Steam-a-Seam 2. Added batting and a backing and then did a bit of stitching to hold everything in place. I added a few fun beads around the top of the cellphone case and used Razzle Dazzle thread by Superior Threads to bobbin quilt the book cover. I'm pleased with how these turned out!