Oh Canada! Quilting Details

Considering that I am heavy into some heavy quilting these days (no rest, no new starts!) I thought it only appropriate to share some details from my Oh Canada! quilting. These details got washed out in the photography when shooting a white background on a snowy day. Hopefully you get the idea here.

Love the way the Aurifil 50W in white made such tiny stitches on that white background. The quilting pattern was completely inspired by Carolyn Friedlander and her intense machine quilting. It was perfect for filling the space around the maple leaf and not difficult to do at all.

The leaves were done with an outline - that also held down the edge of the appliqued leaf - then echoed inside the leaf. The sides of each flag were stitched in the ditch and then covered with wavy lines.

Totally intense and worth every minute of effort.

From the back you can get some idea of the stitching too. I intentionally picked this favourite fabric in hopes that it would hide the changes in thread colour. You see it if you're looking for it, but otherwise things just look quite nice and textured on the back too.

The pattern for Oh Canada! is going to print this week. PDF patterns available shortly. In the meantime, locals can sign up for a class on how to make the block.

June 20, 2013
6:30-9:30 pm
Traditional Pastimes

Friday Favourite - Coral

Somewhere between pink and orange lies the color coral. Sometimes bright, reminiscent of the dream coral of the ocean. Sometimes soft and not quite peachy. Whatever you do, don't call it salmon.

I'm on a coral kick lately - picking, gathering, and hoarding my new love. From light to dark, soft to bright, coral makes my heart sing. Dreams of swimming in the sunshine of the sea carry forward. Blooms that capture the central part of the sun's rays. Or just the tempting blush of a smile.

Coral.

(Don't be surprised if you see some coral added to these blocks.)

Clear the Decks

So, remember that WIP list? It grew. I couldn't help myself! But the more I talked about that list the more embarrassed I was. Not so much overwhelmed, but shamed by it. Was I that incapable of finishing something? What was I avoiding by constantly giving in to my impulse to create new things? (Oh the therapy required...) Really, though, I just get excited by new ideas and put all things aside to create. I know I'm not alone in that.

I also know that I was putting off quilting a very large quilt. The literal elephant in my sewing room was my anniversary quilt. King sized, already basted, thread in hand, and the dread of quilting that on my home machine. Totally doable, but daunting in thought. I also knew that finishing it would be freeing, not to mention kind of me since this was an anniversary present for our anniversary last year.

So I grabbed my specially purchased pink thread. (Thank-you Andrea for helping me pick it.) I loaded up my bobbins and some Downton Abbey. And I also cleaned off my design wall and packed away the WIPs I've been playing with. No distractions! I think that was the hardest part. And the most necessary.

So, this morning, after a few hours of quilting I don't feel like I made much of a dent in the quilting, but I started. And I'm not even sitting at the table to type this. I am not taking that quilt off the table until it is done. I swear. No new projects until the label is on this thing and it graces our bed.

Hold me to it.

Homemade With Love (Weekend Reads)

Both the joy and annoyance of knowing someone writing a book is the anticipation. As an author I know the work, struggle, and excitement of producing a book. The time lag between the emotions of writing and the actual publication. Then the revisiting those emotions. When you know someone else going through these things the empathy is strong. So is the joy when that book is given to the world.

Jennifer Perillo recently published her first book, Homemade with Love. A testament to her from-scratch cooking as much as it is to love. It is filled with both stories and good food, the kind that make you wish you had doughnut pans and a food processor and extra long arms to hug everyone. I've had the book for about a month now and have made at least a half dozen recipes (including the incredible Golden Vanilla Birthday Cake seen above and currently covering half my cake stand). All have worked wonderfully and tasted like they cared about me.

The book is, of course, tinged with both happiness and grief. This is the book Jennie always wanted to write. And then her husband suddenly died, plunging her and her girls into an unimaginable world. She writes of her grief in snippets in the book (more so on her blog, In Jennie's Kitchen). What you see in the book - even in the photography - is the light that comes from food, from making and sharing food cooked with love. And that light can shine through grief.

One day I hope to meet Jennie in person, to cook with her and laugh over wine. I have a feeling she has a lot to teach me - about honest motherhood, food, and dreaming big. We can talk writing and 5 year old girls. And I will toast her and this wonderful cookbook, one of my favourites in a long while.

Take some time today to laugh with your partner and share a piece of homemade cake.