Have you seen it?

The much anticipated premier issue of Modern Quilts Unlimited Magazine arrived in the mailbox yesterday:

And I'm in it!

My quilted table runner is the first project in the magazine. It's super quick and easy to make, I promise! Do let know if you try it out. I would love to see it in other colors or with print fabrics too!

It's a privilege to be featured alongside some really great designers whose blogs I read regularly like: Faith Jones, Jacquie Gering, Alexandra Ledgerwood, Alissa Haight Carlton, and Angela Walters, to name  a few.

Teaching

Since the month of September, I have been teaching at a local quilt shop:  Quilting 101, Sewing 101, as well as a couple of sewing workshops. While I've enjoyed teaching every one of these classes, I was really excited a couple a weeks ago when I got to teach a scrappy star quilt class; A class which I have been trying to fill for about a year. 

Many of the customers of this shop are not familiar with my way of working, which is improvisational and a little wonky. My scrappy star quilt and my improvised log cabin quilt (seen below) have been a bit of a hard sell.

The students who took the class, however, were very enthusiastic and really embraced the process and they seemed eager to learn more about improvisational piecing. Here are pictures of some of their work:

A husband and wife team are considering combining their blocks to make one larger quilt.

I look forward to seeing the finished quilts at an upcoming show and tell. 

Feel free to drop in if you live in the area. You'll get to see what the customers are making as well as what the instructors are planning for upcoming classes:

Courtepointe Claire

Monday, Nov.5th, 5pm

More fun with words...

And a scrappy heart!

MMQG Swap

Last week the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild held it's first meeting since summer break.  This was the biggest gathering we've had so far (I believe we were ten). Considering we are still in our infancy stage, I'd say that's pretty good! 
After the official business-y stuff was taken care of, we exchanged projects from our first swap.  Four of us participated.  Before summer break we each exchanged a small bag of scraps with which we had to make a small quilted project.

Jennifer (of Mr. Chicken and the Ninja Kitties) picked my name and made this sweet little mug rug from my fabric scraps:

I love quilts featuring houses, and this one has little 'wooden' shutters that open to reveal a little surprise:

How brilliant is that!?

There won't be any mugs resting on this rug. It has found a special place in my sewing room alongside a favourite print and a teddy bear that was made by my son when he was just 5.

Josée(of The Charming Needle) was the person I picked to make something for. Coincidentally, I too, was inspired to make a house quilt. 

I wanted the mini quilt to represent the community that we are building with the guild. And I was inspired  by the book Word Play Quilts  by Tonya Ricucci (of Lazy Gal Quilting).  

Those letters took some time to make but it was a very enjoyable process.  And I was glad to have picked Josée's name. She was the one to reach out to me many months ago expressing an interest in starting a guild.  I'm glad she did.  

A New Online Fabric Shop!

I received an email a few days ago from Karen Chan, owner of a brand new  online fabric shop.  

My Fabric Spot is a Canadian-based fabric shop specializing in modern fabrics. Karen has a large selection of Kona Solids (you know that makes me happy!) as well as Robert Kaufman's line of Pure Organic Solids at the same price as the Kona solids (will have to try those!).

Karen was kind enough to send me and Josee (The Charming Needle) a fat quarter bundle of the latest line from Denyse Schmidt and Tula Pink. 

I received Denyse Schmidt's new Chicopee line in the Relish colorway.

My son, who opened the package for me, was immediately drawn to them.  Many of the fabrics are very masculine looking.  I see a manly quilt in my future! I'll have to add some solids to the bundle, as you know I'm not accustomed to working with that much print.

Be sure to visit the shop.  It's a lovely site and I love what Karen has to say in her 'about us' page . I'm so glad to have another Canadian resource for modern fabrics and I am always happy to support a family-run business. Good Luck Karen and Congratulations!

I Love You This Much!

After spending a few hours un-picking several rows of quilting stitches (31 to be exact), this little quilt is finally done!
(previous post here).

 I originally quilted it with horizontal lines from the bottom  all the way up to the bottom of the heart. But somehow that didn't work out.  I think I hadn't pinned it properly.  

The second time around, I decided to stick to my tried and true crosshatch quilting lines. I'm always pleased with the results I get with this design.  Neat and simple with a lovely texture. The lines are spaced 2 1/2 inches a part.  

I carried the red I used for the heart to the back. I think it's a really nice contrast to the front. The binding is a Michael Miller polka dot. I love polka dots! I think they always look cheerful and playful. 

The stacked 'boxes' are also polka dotted.

Picking a name for this one was easy:

"I Love You This Much" is equally suitable for a boy or girl. 

I've listed it on my Etsy Shop (here).