July Morning Make 2022

Frankly, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to try my hand at the classic red and black Ukrainian embroidery. A first generation Canadian on my Dad’s side with a Baba (grandmother) who never spoke English and spent her summers gardening and winters with a needle, I honestly never felt the need. I mean, we have oodles and oodles of her stitching in our homes. And that doesn't count the suitcase full an aunt stole and the probably hundreds of pieces she gave away to churches, family, and friends. (Much like it will be with my quilts when I die.) With the war in Ukraine and some pride in my heritage, plus a desire for some hand stitched over the summer, I decided to pick up the floss.

For patterns I dug into my stash of supplies I have from my Baba - books, papers, and patterns. I recognized pieces and fondly recalled the decoration she would make for our blouses in Ukrainian dance. All patterns, no instructions. Without her here to guide me I turned to the modern teacher: You Tube.

In the end I finished 4 small bits of embroidery. I didn’t set out to ‘make’ anything. For one, I had no idea how long it would take. Two, I figured it would get tedious to do the same repeating pattern for an entire month. And three, I don’t really need more pieces of embroidery in the house. All four pieces could, if I wanted to, be turned into bookmarks.

I found the whole process quite relaxing. Challenging at first, just because of the counting and need to follow patterns. Once you got into a rhythm, though, it became very soothing. I don’t know that I will do it again, but it was special to go back to my heritage this month.

March Morning Make 2022

Isn’t this so freaking’ adorable?

For Morning Make in March I made this little penguin ornament by hand. It is one month of Betz White’s Ornament of the Month Club. Betz was gracious enough to gift me a subscription so I could make ornaments this month.

I’ll be honest, I was unsure about this. I’ve long admire Betz’s felt work and her ornaments but was overwhelmed by the handwork, worried that it would all be too tedious. Participation through her online classes took all the fear away. Betz broke down every single step in a straightforward way, making it easy to understand and handle. One stitch at a time! For a Morning Make process, following along with her videos and tutorials allowed me to work a bit at a time. Again, making it more manageable.

And the end result is so cute!

Unfortunately, Covid hit me hard mid month. I was finished the penguin and had plans to make another ornament or two. With quarantine, however, I had no access to a printer to get the pattern. Bummer. (I chose sleep over Morning Make for the remainder of the month.)

Betz releases a new pattern each month in the club. Yes, they are ornaments, but they are not all winter/Christmas themed. I’m looking forward to getting those patterns printed and trying my hand at making a few more. I can’t resist, they’re just so cute!

Faye

Faye

72” x 72”

Years in the making. Like her namesake. A fearless woman, tenacious, and patient. She knew her time would come. Moved to New York with a dream. Moved through New York with relentless energy. Meeting people, making herself just that much more, ignoring the naysayers. She persevered and found her beauty and her success.

Faye, the quilt, began life in the follow-up to making the Alturas quilt. Carolyn Friedlander’s book, Savor Each Stitch came out and I fell in love with the graphic pattern. She’d already got me hooked on needle turn appliqué so this seemed like a logical step. I started the first block back in the fall of 2014. This finish is indeed a long time coming.

One block led to two and then I might as well do four, right? The initial pattern in the book calls for one block and a great use of negative space. I never follow a pattern anyway. So over the course of a few years I worked on the blocks. Looking back, it took me about 6 hours to baste each block, then who knows how many to stitch. Appliqué is not for a quick finish. Then again, nothing is a quick finish for me.

The finish for Faye come very recently though. Our family wanted to gift a quilt to celebrate a wedding. The gift was long overdue and we decided that this quilt top matched the couple’s personality. I will admit, I had a moment of selfishness for her. Then I realized that my love for her came in the making more than anything. It was time to set her free and share that love.

I always have a hard time with quilting an appliqué project. It’s a battle between accentuating the appliqué and ease. At least, it feels like a battle. In the end I went for a straight line quilting pattern. For one, Carolyn has done this a lot in the past and it works. It provides texture and security without taking away from the graphic design. Secondly, I am hoping this will be a loved couch quilt so I wanted dense quilting to help keep her strong.

The whole quilt is divided into quarters with an X through the middle. Then I echoed that line between each triangle. I chose a pale yellow/cream Aurifil thread in 50W (2311). It isn’t harsh on the backing but disappears for the most part on the front. It might seem odd to use a creamy colour when there is so much bright white, but the reduction in contrast on the coloured fabrics makes it worthwhile and you don’t even notice it on the white.

You know me and my love for a contrast binding. This bright yellow might seem like a funny choice, but almost all of the blocks have a bit of yellow in them. Black, my other thought, seemed too harsh. I had just purchased this yellow Spectrastic by Giucy Giuce from Keystone too. It was meant to be! Such a fun pop to finish this off.

The whole quilt really is a collection of some favourite and treasured fabrics. I started the whole thing with Samarra Khaja’s amazing New York illustrated fabric. Combined with a much loved Charlie Harper print that first block set the tone for the rest of the combinations. I stuck with the New York fabric when I realized I had enough of it, then paired it with some hoarded Heather Ross unicorns, the Stendig calendar print, and a gorgeous purple from Carrie Bloomston. On the back I shared another Charley Harper treasure.

Hopefully I will get to visit Faye in her new home.

The Big Blue Blanket

While Improv may be my Love Language I have a kid who is all about physical touch. That means she loves anything soft and cozy. Fleece, yarn, or anything fuzzy. Sadly, quilts don’t make the grade. Despite having 2 giant robes, an Oodie, and two faux fur blankets she felt the need to make herself the blanket above.

With nine skeins of super thick acrylic yarn from the big box craft store and this short You Tube video she made herself a blanket in an afternoon. She loves it so.

This blanket would make an excellent gift, and she has done that for a friend. I strongly recommend finding all the coupons when buying the yarn though, the cost can add up.

This blanket provides an excellent amount of coziness. And it is a hug, truly. She is curled up with it currently as she deals with Covid and the subsequent quarantine this week. She’s double vaxxed and only experiencing symptoms like a bad cold, thankfully. We should all take comfort in anything we can these days. So if a big blanket of synthetic but soft yarn is the thing you need, then so be it. It also helps that Mama is delivering you treats on a tray every few hours.