Quilty Pleasures Quilt Retreat 2015!

Finally finding time to post about this year's retreat! The day was a wonderful time of sewing, chatting and of course eating.

It's always so much fun to see what everyone else is working on, different types of quilting and other sewing. Here are a couple of the projects we worked on:

During the day we had a couple of fun games, like the Fat Quarter Toss. We each took turns picking a fq, then attempting to toss it into a basket. If successful, the tosser got to keep the fq, if not, they joined the end of the line.

We had a great response from sponsors who donating everything from fabric bundles to notions to candy! And every one of our sponsors this year was Canadian - follow this link to see a list of all the shops and businesses that helped us put on this year's retreat. Thank you so much to all our wonderful sponsors:

A couple of the lovely doorprizes that were donated:

Friends stitching together. In the background can be seen some of the beautiful previously finished quilts, pillows, table runners and other items people brought to share.

The quilts we made together for charity from last year's blocks were displayed as well. Suzanne and I put them together this year, with layout help from Jess. 

A few of the attendees also generously donated quilts and crocheted blankets they had made during the year, so we have a nice bundle to bring to the Pregnancy Care Centre again this year!

Some of the very cute blankets and quilts that were donated.

This year's charity block was a cross on a white background. Should be fun to see how they all come together!

...Twins?

Yep - twin quilts!

Suzanne helped me plan out the best usage of these gorgeous fabrics donated by Fat Quarter Shop and then I pieced them, and then we each quilted one. Such pretty fabrics so we cut the pieces nice and big. The gray is Connecting Threads' solid "Silver Lining" - love it!

Binding is the same gray, and the backing is actually a bright pink, very soft home dec fabric that I think is probably meant for drapes, or maybe jacquard tabling? Anyway - perfect use, straight from the stash, and wide enough that I didn't have to piece it.

The back of mine - I did a small meander with a slight wave in it in each block, leaving that sashing unquilted.

Wanna see my new extension table for quilting?? Woohoo for cardboard, Xacto knives and contact paper!

Suzanne did the other quilt with a larger all-over daisy meander - love it!

Both of these are last quilts we finished for the Pregnancy Care Center sew along. Wouldn't it be sweet if they went to twin girls?!  

And I wanted to show the big stack of quilts, blankets, clothes, bibs, and burp cloths that everyone did for the sew along! More will be joining this stack as it comes in too. So happy we could do this! 

Owl Tea Party quilt & GIVEAWAY

Update: The pattern packs we're going to give away from Birdiful Stitches (see below) will be chosen from these patterns:

Sofia's Holiday Party Dress
The Comfy Tunic
Mari's Playdress
I Heart Bowling set
The Traveling e-reader wristlet
Interchangeable knitting needle case
Padded E-reader sleeve
Padded E-reader cover
Structutred E-reader/Tablet cover
Lens Luggage padded lens pouch
The Traveler Luggage Tags
The Traveler Passport Wallet

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Another finished quilt for the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew-along!

Pattern: Quick Strippie Quilt with some sizing modifications
Fabric: Three colourways of Cherry On Top by Keiki for Moda, all donated by FatQuarterShop, plus some quilting blenders
Backing: Flannel

More free-motion fun! I started with the aqua sashing, just a wave, then did the doodle-y flower meander in the big strips. Then I did the loops in the brown sashing. Not perfect, but fun to try anyway.

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The Pregnancy Care Centre Sew-Along is nearly finished - the deadline for entries in the Flickr group is the last day of February. My friend Berritt of Birdiful Stitches has generously donated some pdf pattern packages for me to give away to those who have sewn along! 

Berritt has a great selection of digital sewing patterns, ranging from patterns for soft toys and cloth diapers, to camera accessories, e-reader and tablet covers and carriers, and children's clothing. I've used some of her patterns myself before, such as the Sophia Holiday Party Dress twice, several sets of luggage tags, an Ipad messenger bag, and quite a few Fattycakes diapers.

Giveaway Details

• Each item entered in the PCC Sewing Flickr Pool will be entered to win one of three pattern packs!
• Just comment on this blog post (be sure I can contact you) and mention what your Flickr username is and if you've added photos there.
• If you prefer not to enter your photos on Flickr or don't have a Flickr account, you can also submit photos to me via email or send in your finished items (contact me at laura@craftyhour.com).
• Contest is open to anyone anywhere who has done some sewing to donate either to the Edmonton Pregnancy Care Centre or to a local pregnancy care or crisis centre.
• Contest closes Friday, February 28.

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Look how cuddly this one is! Hopefully some little girl will be happy with a soft owl tea party quilt to snuggle with! Thanks, everyone for sewing along! Can't wait to see the last entries show up in the Flickr group!

Doodling Flowers

Robots & Pluses

(...or is that Plusses?)

I couldn't bear to cut up these friendly robots (donated by Fat Quarter Shop)...

...so I just backed the whole panel with some soft dimple minky from the stash, quilted parallel lines (my walking foot takes all the pain out of working with minky!), and bound in a bright red/orange splash cotton donated by a quilting friend.

I'm pleased with the binding - entirely machine bound! Such a time saver. I cut it at 2.25", press in half, and then stitch on with 1/4" seam allowance, mitering the corners. Then I press the binding away from the quilt top, flip it, and press the binding down at the back. I got a nice crisp edge on this one because it's not very thick. I only pin the binding at the corners and stitch in the ditch from the front of the quilt. I can feel a little ridge next to the "ditch", which lets me know if the binding is going to be caught in the stitching or I need to adjust a little. On a thicker quilt this is a bit trickier as more of the binding is taken up in the fold, but same idea.

This one was fun too! A Plus Quilt, using the pattern from For The Love of George. The floral was given to me a few years ago - nearly 4 yds! It's a difficult print to work with so I'm happy to have found a use for it. Dimensions: 38" x 52".

The white is Kona Snow and the blue stars and purple foliage-y print are quilting cottons from my mother-in-law (thanks, Mom!) -- happy accident that they coordinate!

The fabric was a bit wider than normal, I think about 44", so no piecing required to use it for the backing! See what I mean about difficult to use? :/

I quilted 1/4" inside each plus with cream thread -- thankful again for my walking foot. I had barely enough fabric to do the binding so had to hand-stitch it down, too narrow for the machine.

And finally a nice stack of bibs! They are all flannel Yo Gabba Gabba print (donated by our local quilt shop, Quilt Essential Co) on the front, lime cotton chenille on the back. I did the first two with bias tape, as called for in Alisa's pattern, which she kindly donated for the sew-along.

The other six I added 3/8" seam allowance to and turned and topstitched. I quilted each very simply along the lines made by the chenille. They all close with a poly-resin snap.

All in all, another good stack to add to my pile for the Pregnancy Care Centre!

Flowers & Sunshine

Finished this soft, pretty quilt yesterday!

Very simple. My friend Annette had cut the flannel squares previously so all I did was chain-piece them, arranging in a basic checkerboard pattern. The backing is also flannel, the batting is a leftover chunk of high-loft poly batting from years ago, and the binding is a striped cotton print.

I quilted it in with straight lines one direction through the squares and wavy lines the other way, just for fun. As with some of the other quilts for the Pregnancy Care Centre, I'm practising machine stitching the binding on - not perfect, but pretty good! First time I didn't have to go back and redo a corner. I think it helps to press the binding away from the stitching on the right side, and then press around the edge toward the back, before sewing it down from the front.

Soft and cuddly, reminds me of flowers & sunshine on this snowy day!

Sock Monkeys and Pirate Sharks

First quilt finish of the year, and first for the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew-along!

Made with sock monkey fabrics donated by FatQuarterShop plus a few coordinates. I love that I get the chance to practice free motion quilting on these! This is a pretty little baby quilt, so not too intimidating and bulky to do on my domestic machine.

It's not perfect - have to work on getting my meandering even, but at least I figured out (by accident) the best settings on my machine to free motion! When it turns on, the sewing machine defaults back to left needle position. I'd only ever tried centre position before, but forgot to change it once when I turned it back on, and it was smooth sailing! Suzanne is quilting the second sock monkey quilt.

And just sewed the buttons on this little baby shirt:

Also from fabric donated by FatQuarterShop. I had to cut everything with 1/4" seam allowances, a little tight, to make it fit, plus I cut the underside of the collar as well as the sleeve placket and back hang loop in aqua.

Details
Pattern: #8 Ringmaster from Ottobre Winter 6/2013
Fabric: Shiver Me Timbers by Jamie Wood for Clothworks, contrast aqua cotton/poly blend
Size: 62 (3 months)
Mods: Underside of collar in constrast, added hang loop in the yoke seam.

I loved the details and accuracy of this pattern! It was a joy to sew up - lots of details, so it took some time, but worth it. The sleeve placket binding is something I've never tried. The directions were very clear and it turned out very well.

Next up: receiving blankets and flannel quilts. Happy to stash bust for a good cause!

Pregnancy Care Centre Sew-Along 2014!

Fenna over at FABulous Home Sewn is hosting another sew-along for the Pregnancy Care Centre! This is a worthy cause, an organization that provides pregnancy information, adoptive and post-abortive support, as well as maternity and baby items to women and babies in need. For ideas of what to sew:

"Part of what we provide for our clients is a big baby hamper full of blankets and clothes. So it is really up to you what you would like to donate. We love receiving quilts, toques, clothes to add to our layettes and all our clients love them as well."

I'm joining in again this year! So far here's what I've got - 2 sock monkey quilts on the go, pieced mostly from the fabrics FatQuarterShop generously donated last year! Suzanne and I plan to finish them together.

Fenna's also planning some giveaways during this two-month sew-along, so keep checking her blog for more details. There's also a Flickr group where we'll be sharing what we've sewn.

The Places You'll Go!

Finished another quilt to donate to the Pregnancy Care Centre! This makes the fifth, three of which were made mostly from fabrics generously donated by Fat Quarter Shop. The others were an I-Spy Quilt, Flannel Rail Fence, Disappearing 9-patch, and Green Eggs & Ham. Some babies and their mamas are going to be cheered up, I hope!

The fabric is some random Dr. Seuss fabrics by Robert Kaufman, plus some coordinating semi-solids. Suzanne very kindly quilted it with an all-over free motion loop pattern. Dimensions: 33" x 48.5".

The backing is pieced together of all the leftover pieces of Dr. Seuss fabrics. Nicely quilted, isn't it? Thanks, Suzanne! :)

Green Eggs & Ham

Last finish for the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew-Along!

This is one of my favourites! It was super fun to put together, using mostly a Green Eggs & Ham panel by Robert Kaufman and other Dr Suess fabrics donated by FatQuarterShop, and a few coordinates from Suzanne. Fairly straightforward, except that the panel was printed a little crooked so each piece needed to be trimmed quite a bit.  I'm hoping this one can be used as a baby quilt and transition to a toddler quilt, as it's a fair size at 33" x 46", or even a play quilt.

The back is all the leftover pieces pieced together! You can really see my quilting on the back of this one - white on red. I did some straight-line quilting, corner to corner on the rectangles, zigzagging back and forth up the quilt, then filled in a diamond shape in each section, and then did free-motion spirals in the centre of each diamond.

Disappearing 9-patch

When we had our local quilt retreat back in February we asked everyone to bring two 7" 9-patch blocks, done in blues, greens, and white/cream. When Suzanne and I got to the piecing, we weren't sure how to give it a cohesive look. Suzanne came up with the idea of a disappearing 9-patch - new idea for me! Basically you cut all the blocks in quarters and rearrange them. The only "rule" we used for the layout was alternating light and dark corners on the blocks. Worked out pretty nicely!

The blocks before:

Finished quilt:

She cut them all, and then we did assembly-line style piecing - I stitched and she passed and pressed and laid them out. The backing was pieced from some donated fabrcis, and Suzanne quilted with a large meander. I just finished the binding yesterday! Dimensions: 27" x 40".

Ready to add to the stack of things for the Pregnancy Care Centre!