My Favourite Snips and More Farmer`s Wife

It was a very sad day in my sewing room yesterday...my favourite thread snippers are on their last legs.

The spring is not working well and the little clip that closes it is loose and catches when it is not supposed to. I have had my beloved thread snips for well more than 10 years, maybe closer to 15. 

At least Fiskars still makes them so they can be replaced! I'm on the lookout!

While I was fighting with the snips. I was working on some more of the Farmer`s Wife blocks.

When I first got the book, I drafted all the blocks into my EQ7. I had bought fat quarter packs of Thimbleberries Village Green fabrics in Dawn, Dusk and Midnight so I downloaded all the fabric swatches for them to use in EQ7. My thought was to preplan all the blocks but I have ended up just grabbing from the pile. It is great though to have a general feel for the project right in my EQ7.

 My Aunt Sharon`s class is doing Blocks # 8, 18, 80 and 90 so I got right to it ths weekend.

The class is only doing 24 blocks in all, and I plan to make the queen size quilt so I have started from Block #1 and will slowly do them all. I did #6 and #7 yesterday as well. That's 14 blocks done!

I have plans for three more blocks today and a bit more Christmas present making as well!

Happy Stitching!

EQ Newsprint and...Bamboo Batting

A few weeks ago I won a package of the new EQ Newsprint from their blog! Thanks EQ! The packaging says it's for paper piecing and machine quilting. I thought I would test it out and show you my results!

The first thing I need to say is that I LOVE the packaging! It comes in a resealable bag. What a great idea!

I printed off some paper foundations and a couple of quilting designs right from EQ. The paper fed smoothly through my good printer and the persnickety printer as well. A good start!

Then I did the paper piecing. I tried 2 different stitch lengths- 1.5 and 2 on my machine. Both were excellent and tore very smoothly when I was done. This EQ newsprint worked much better than the paper I have been using ( I don't remember that brand now). I even had to tear out a seam and redo it. It held up well!

Next up on the test was to try machine quilting. I just pinned down the paper and followed the lines - well mostly followed the lines!

Then I just tore off the paper. I am really pleased with how smoothly this paper tears. There was minimal pulling of my stitches and hardly any shredding of the paper.

So the big question is would I keep this paper well stocked in my sewing room? A BIG yes! And now that I have tried it for machine quilting I can see me using a lot more of it!

So now that I have given a great review how about a bad one?

Do you remember that Redwork Santa? Well I started to hand quilt it using a new batting.

It is a cotton and bamboo mix and it feels so very soft to touch it. It is also thin enough to hand quilt BUT it is horrible to hand quilt. My quilting needle actually gets grabbed by that dastardly batting. I have never had that happen. At first I though maybe it was my needle, so I switched out the needle to not just a new needle but a different brand. Then I thought I might be crazy but I didn`t think so...

Finally I decided to stick it out and see if things got better. After all it is a Christmas project so it will only be out once a year. Well I finally gave up trying (and I mean trying with no success) to keep my stitches even so now they are what they are. If this had been any larger I would have torn it all out.

So I won`t be using bamboo again for hand quilting.

Hope you enjoyed my reviews!

Happy Stitching!

A smiling laptop!

Never heard of a smiling laptop? Mine is completely happy, excited and ready to create! This morning in the mail was a very exciting surprise....

I swear my sweet computer is humming and I must admit I did a little dance myself!

I can tell this is going to take away some sewing machine time but it is worth every second! I can't wait to try out the new features so the first thing I'm doing is going carefully through the manual. Watch for a few new designs coming soon!

THANK YOU  Electric Quilt!

Happy Designing!

And the winner is....

I am so excited to announce the winner of EQ7!!! Ever since this contest started all I wanted was for it to end so I could email someone and say...You WIN!!!!

I was thrilled that so many quilters came to my blog and entered the EQ7 contest and so many more sent me designs and pictures of quilts! I have spent hours browsing your blogs and you all are so wonderful!

Here are all the entries! It doesn't look like many but it was!

So I know you are excited to know who won but first I want to introduce my Dad  who did the actual picking, so here he is picking the winner (and he made the woodturned bowl by the way- I'm just a little proud!).

And the winner is....a very excited...

Marguerite a.k.a. Rafael's Mum

You can visit her blog http://www.adventuresinquiltingandsailing.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Marguerite! I am so very happy for you!

Happy EQ7ing!

Blueberry Fields!

Blueberry Fields is done! The quilting was an adventure. I had just enough thread to do the design in my head....but it didn't work quite the way I thought it would. I suppose there is a case to be made for doing at least a quick sketch before forging ahead!

I had decided on a grid and in my head I knew exactly where all the lines would cross...but they didn't. So this is a Plan B quilt! But it worked! I had just enough thread to finish it.

And it is so cute! Thanks Lori at Humble Quilts!


And just 3 days left to enter to win EQ7! I am so excited! I can hardly wait to see who wins!

EQ Contest Samples!

We have just a week to go before I announce a winner for EQ7. Many of you have sent samples of your designs and I wanted to share just a few. You are all so creative! I couldn't show every design people have sent me for the contest so I just chose some random quilts designed in EQ or by hand! It always amazes me that people come up with such different designs!  Enjoy!

This one is from Amy. I love how 2 classic blocks work so well together!

Emma sent me this one...doesn't it feel beachy?

Carol sent this Storm at Sea. I've always wanted to make one!

Rhonda did this feathered star. That's another one I've always wanted to make!

I feel my list growing...not good!

Lisa designed this as a T-shirt quilt. I love the shadows!

Gene made this unique quilt called Belt Buckle!

Sandi sent this design. I think this one would make a great guy quilt.

Claudia designed this unique pineapple!

This is a great purse from Joyce designed in EQ!

And Delores is hoping to win EQ7 so she can stop doing this by hand!

I hope you all liked the show and tell! Isn't everyone amazing?

Happy Stitching!

Quiltalong and EQ7

I can't believe so many wonderful people have visited my blog hoping to win EQ7! I've been visiting so many of your blogs! This quilt blogging world is so rich with kindness, creativity and amazing people! I am so pleased to be a part of that!

A few people that have responded to the contest have had private emails and I have no way of reaching you. I have to have your email if you want to win EQ7 so please make sure you add it to your comment or email me through my profile if you want to keep it private. I really want everyone who enters to have their chance at winning!

As I have been nursing my nasty spring cold the last 4 days I finished piecing my Strawberry Fields quiltalong from Lori at Humble Quilts. Mine is now officially called 'Blueberry Bushes'! I had some leftovers from my charm packs so I added a 1/2" border and then a 2" border of the blue. I used up almost every square inch of that background! I have no idea what I'll use for binding. I'm hoping to start quilting it tomorrow so in a few days I should be finished. I really love it! And finally...

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I made my Mom a Mothers Day card so I thought I would show and tell. Because I was big on sick and low on creativity, Papercrafts magazine came to the rescue. I used to make so many cards but I haven't been lately. It was fun though and most importantly my Mom loved it!

Happy Stitching!

Win EQ7!!!

This contest is now closed. To see the winner please go to the May 21st blog entry! Thanks everyone for entering!


Hurray!!! I am so excited to announce that I am having a contest to give away the all new version of the Electric Quilt - EQ7. Thanks to the generousity of the Electric Quilt Company 10 bloggers were chosen to have contests to give away EQ7 and I was one of them! I am so excited to be doing this. EQ has been a part of my life for many years and it is an incredible quilt design tool. I am thrilled that I am able to give someone the chance to love it as much as I do! Check out all the new features! This is a quilt design program for every level of quilter and every level of computer user! It is a design tool no one should be without!


So a contest we will have! I know you are all excited to win so this is how you enter!

Just leave me a comment and tell me whether you have a previous version of EQ and what you want to design - traditional quilts or contemporary quilts. It's that easy. Please just one comment per person!

Do you want bonus entries? Here are 2 ways to get bonus entries!

1)  If you have a version of EQ right now then design something and email me the image of your quilt and I'll give you one bonus entry. If you don't have EQ then you can draw a quilt design, take a picture of it or scan it and email that to me. I may post your image on my blog too!

2) If you post something about this contest on your blog with a link to my contest then I'll give you a bonus entry too! Just send me an email with a link to your blog!

And for anyone who may not know, you can find my email in my profile!

All comments and bonus entries are due by Wednesday May 19th and the random winner will be announced on May 20th!

Good luck everyone!

EQ7 is coming!

I am so excited! I think the Electric Quilt was the first program I bought when I got my first computer. That was EQ4! Every upgrade was more and better! I can hardly wait for all the details on May 3rd! So make sure you check it out at the Electric Quilt website. Much more fun and more designs! And my favourite thing...it actually comes with a manual!

Quilt out of my box with 'The Quilt Show' Challenge - Episode #104 Part 2

I am finally finished! The finished quilt is 22-1/2" square. The fun in this challenge really was the design and to see what you can do with coloring, flipping and rotating. When I had everything cut out and had started sewing I wished I had used a slightly darker green but I didn't have enough red and yellow to recut so I kept it as it was. Now that it is done I like the green just fine! Now I need a design wall where I can take pictures straight on. This quilt was on the floor so it looks a little crooked.

Now I am on to the next challenge - 'The Quilt Show - Episode #105' .

I'll be away from my sewing room for a week or two so this one will take a while. While I'm gone I'll try to post about a few other projects that I have on the go...it's really more than a few!

Happing Stitching!

Quilt out of my box with 'The Quilt Show' Challenge - Episode #104 Part 1

In 'The Quilt Show' episode #104 the challenge is mainly about design and color. I am not sure how Cheryl Malkowski managed to stop making quilts with this simple and versatile block! I started playing on EQ6 and soon found out that the possibilities truly are endless. The challenge turned out to be when to shut my computer down.

I did make sample blocks in both the 6" and 3" size. I really liked how Cheryl constructed them. I often use the same idea to make a block a bit bigger and trim it to size (it only works on the simple blocks though).

Here are just a few of the designs I produced with the help of EQ6. I colored them all in greys mainly because I had to decide on just one to reproduce and I didn't want color to affect my choice.

These are my favourites of the bunch. So which one do you like the best? Which one will I re-create?

Stay tuned for the reveal ! I have all the blocks made now and just need to sew it all together.

Happy quilting!

Quilt out of my box with 'The Quilt Show' Challenge - Episode #103

This challenge started with 'The Quilt Show' Episode 103. What a great show this time. Joen Wolfrom was quite inspiring. After watching all I wanted to do was go look through pictures and get color inspiration. And watching Ami Simms talk about her Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative was inspiring as well. Quilters really are an amazing and giving group of people.

I decided with this challenge to combine both these and make a quilt where the colors are inspired from a photo and then donate it to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

Here is my inspiration for this challenge. It was taken this past October quite early in the morning. I love the colors in it. It was such a breathtaking morning. Snowy, cold and refreshing! These are not colors I would normally quilt with so I had no idea what was going to happen when I started.

From here I started playing with EQ6 and got a few ideas. As I played with the colors I realized I needed to add some more color. This is what I settled on...at least until I hit the stash!

It already looks so different from the picture but  I remembered that the photo is a starting point. And really only the green was not in the photo. In the original photo there were taupes, dark brown, white, grey and blue - just not in the same proportions. Then I went to my stash and refined it a bit.

Here is my finished quilt. I actually made two of them because I loved the colors so much I couldn't bear to not have one of my own. It measures just 8-1/4" x 10-1/4" and I am very smitten with it!

I was thrilled with this challenge. These are not colors I would have ever put together myself. This project has opened up many possibilities in my quilting life! And I am very pleased to be able to donate this little quilt for a very worthy cause. As of right now I am just waiting for a confirmation email of my registration and then I'll be putting this in little quilt in the mail.

So will I use this method again? Yes! Yes! Yes! It got me right out of my color box. The only downside is that I will have to spend more time taking pictures! I hope that doesn't take away too much time from my other pursuits.

Now on to Episode #104! Happy stitching!