Inspired

After being on vacation in February and recovering from a hysterectomy I am using my downtime to get inspired. I have chosen five classes at the Machine Quilters Exposition  www.mqxshow.com in Rhode Island, 2 at the CQQ cqq.ca exhibit in Montreal and another at the Vermont Quilt Festival www.vqf.org. There is a tremendous variety at each exhibit making it a challenge to narrow the selections down.

IPad Case

I designed this IPad case using some of the techniques I learned at the Machine Quilters Exposition in 2011. The case is made from silk fabric and stitched with So Fine thread.

Block of the Month

Do you like Block of the Month projects?
www.craftsy.com offers a Block of the Month that started this month. There is video instruction, a place to take notes and ask questions. The best part, its free!

2012, here I come!

I have two main resolutions for 2012:

1. Practice 'Creative Meditation'.
2. Set monthly goals in order to accomplish personal quilting projects.

My goal this month is to finish binding a quilt and order labels for all my finished 2011 quilt projects.
Ginette Vallieres from Ontario makes beautiful machine embroidered labels. What a perfect way to complete a fabric project, very professional!

Now to research and download a meditation session. Let me know if you have a favourite.

Resolutions?

It's that time of year when many of us make resoutions. I've been considering a few 'quilt' related ones this year. My Vimeo post from November, "29 Ways To Stay Creative" seemed like a good starting point for ideas. Two points that will make my short list are to finish something and clean my workplace. Are you making a resolution this year? Post them in the comments section, I'm looking for inspiration.

Tis The Season

Each year I add a new Christmas decoration to my collection. This year these cute little snowmen adorn my studio wall. I found the pattern in a magazine which, sadly I am not able to credit as I can't locate the darn magazine. I just love the candy cane binding and the snowflakes in the border. My friend, Margaret, let me loose in her embellishment collection to choose the eyes and other decorations.

Pet Peeve

As a longarm quilter things usually run pretty smoothly and there are few frustrations within the job.  My pet peeve is the Hobbs batting that comes rolled and in a bag. This batting has gathers, folds and puckers that make it very hard to sandwich. This example is a wool batting by Hobbs that was folded and rolled into a bag. I unroll it to let it relax over night and then lightly spritz it with water to relieve some of the folds but it still doesn't totally solve the problem.

Hobbs produces batting sold on a roll (I keep it in stock) and it is a far superior product which is much easier to work with.  Dream is another favourite batting sold in most quilt shops and I love it.
A lesson in 'you get what you pay for'.