I'm Back From QuiltCon!

I am home from QuiltCon!  My friend, Christine, and I had a wonderful time meeting quilters from all over the world, attending lectures, looking at all of the quilts and shopping!  I have participated in the #makeaminimakeafriend swap at QuiltCon twice in the past and signed up again this year.  This past fall, I was told my swap partner was Katie in Oregon.  I asked her to make something that told me about where she lived and she told me she likes fall colours. I did not pick out fabrics or do any sewing until January but I was spending time before that mulling over a design.  I found some fabric for the background at a quilt store in January and that led me to picking the colours below for the quilt...four greens, four yellow/gold and four orange/red solids from my stash. 

Then, I got busy making a 6.5" churn dash in each colour. 

For the centre, I made a 12.5" churn dash in a churn dash block in two shades of gray. 

I quilted this project with my walking foot, using the background fabric from the front as the backing for the quilt. I did a poll with some Quilty friends regarding the colour of the binding and there were equal votes for gold, orange and green so I had to cast the winning vote for gold. 

All of the swappers met up on Friday night and exchanged their quilts with their partners. Katie and I hit it off right away and both of us were thrilled with the quilts we received from each other.  The quilt that Katie made for me features narrow strips sewn together into the shape of the state of Oregon and a Riley Blake Designs Oregon print on the back. Perfect!

Friendship bracelets were a popular giveaway/trading item at QuiltCon this year.  Katie made me the one on the left and I received the other one from Corinne Sovey. (Corinne is speaking via Zoom at the Oxford Quilter's Guild in March!)

It was a two day drive to Raleigh and lots of stitching was done in the car as we travelled.  I am working on the last motif on my winter/Christmas cross stitch project. Maybe I will get this done by next weekend...

Many modern quilt guilds from around the world participated in the annual Community Outreach quilt project and these quilts were on display at QuiltCon. Each year, there is a palate of colours and a theme to be used in these quilts. You can see the colours below and the theme was Symmetry. As a member of the Toronto MQG, I made four identical checkerboard blocks. Several other members were also given two fabrics to make four identical blocks.  There were no repeats in the blocks and once they were gathered up, a group put them up on a design wall to decide on a layout.  We just happened to be at the quilt when another member of the TMQG was there--Meg.  Christine took this picture of us pointing to our blocks. 

One of the advantages of going to QuiltCon is the weather--it's warmer and we get a taste of spring!  The camellias were in bloom. 

Downtown Raleigh has an oak tree and acorn theme.  

While in line for a lecture the first day, we met these modern quilters from Scotland.  They belong to the Glasgow and Edinburgh Modern Quilt Guilds.  It was fun to chat with them and we saw them several times throughout the show. Their fun sweatshirts and bags caught our eye! When I was in Glasgow several years ago, I saw the actual Duke of Wellington statue with the traffic cone on his head.

We saw our friend, Karen Brown of Just Get it Done Quilts, at the show too.  The three of us sat together at a quilting retreat several years ago and we saw her every month on zoom during the pandemic as members of the Toronto Modern Guild.  

Finn sent us this picture while we were away so we would not forget him!

We had a great time in Raleigh at QuiltCon and now we are inspired to sew!  Christine and I are off to a Guild retreat this weekend.  My bags are packed and I have lots of projects to work on. 

One more quilt--this was made by our friend, Barb.  She hosted several swaps that we participated in a few years ago and she spoke at our guild and led a workshop on pineapple log cabin quilts.  Barb's quilt was at QuiltCon but she wasn't.  Maybe we will get a chance to meet her in person some day!

We drove along part of the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way home.  Beautiful views!

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers on Sunday morning. 

Secret Sewing

 Almost all of my sewing time this week was spent making a wall hanging for a swap which will take place next week.  I have spent months ruminating over a design and colours and fabrics.  I am really pleased with the end result and am in the process of adding the hand stitches to the binding and hanging sleeve.  I will show my finished quilt and the quilt that I receive from my swap partner in my next blog post. 

I did a bit of cross stitching this week, adding lots of the variegated purple borders as well as starting the bird motif.  It doesn't look like much yet, but these are the tail feathers.  If you squint, you might see it!!! LOL. 

Finn says he has a nice tail, but no feathers!  This is what happens when his kong goes under the couch. 

This project is nearing completion.  When it is done, I will go back and finish my sunflower picture.  I have taken my spring rabbit cross stitch in to be framed and have been told it will be ready before Easter. 

Finn likes to lie on his quilt and blanket under my daughter's desk while she works from home.  She requires his constant close supervision. 

My husband and I started a new puzzle this week--this was a Christmas gift from Finn and my daughter. I think I would like to visit this shop in person. 

I'm off to work on my binding.  Happy slow stitching Sunday, everyone!  I will link up with Kathy in the morning. 

Stitching Report

You may have noticed I was missing in action last weekend...I was visiting my daughter and Finn for the weekend!  Finn and I hung out together while my daughter participated in a curling bonspiel. He didn't mind snuggling up to me as I did some cross stitching.  We went for a walk every day too. 

I have added three more motifs to my winter cross stitch project.  You can see the cardinal and the pinecone above and this week I finished off the evergreen tree. 

There were very nice sunbeams in the afternoons while I was visiting.  Finn took full advantage of them!

You may remember that I replaced the binding on my daughter's University Quilt at Christmas time.  I finished hand stitching the new binding while I was at her place.  This is a well loved quilt!

Here is a picture of when this quilt was new in 2009. 

Finn approves of the repairs that I did. 

A friend has four grandchildren and she wants to make quilts for each of them using leftover fabrics from PJ's that she has made for them over the years. She brought the fabrics for the first one over one night last week.  I showed her how to make a disappearing nine patch block.  We figured out how many squares she will need of each fabric and she will get them all cut out and sewn into nine patches over the next couple of weeks.  Then, we will get together again to figure out the layout.  She has lots of flannel chunks that we can piece together to make the back of the quilt.  Once this quilt is done, we will figure out a design for the next one.  There are lots of fun winter themed fabrics in this quilt. 

I added the border to my crumby stars quilt top and I purchased a piece of flannel to use for the back. I have some ideas floating around in my head about how to quilt this using my walking foot.   Stay tuned. 

I have another quilt underway but can't share anything about it yet in case the recipient is lurking here.  I will be working on it this week to get it done before the deadline. 

Another picture of Finn... I hope you are not getting tired of seeing him!

My daughter's mystery cross stitch is coming along. Finn doesn't mind being a cross stitch model. 

I celebrated a birthday this past week.  Finn and my daughter sent me flowers.  There have been three restaurant meals with friends and and family--with one more extended family dinner tomorrow.  I am feeling well loved. 

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.  Someone decorated a tree by the walking path with hearts this past week. 

 I made this at a recent retreat. It is on our mantle. 

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers in the morning.  This is a group of bloggers from around the world who share their hand stitched projects each week.  We all encourage and support each other as we slowly make progress. The link to Kathy's blog is in my sidebar.