Friday Favourites - I'll Cut You Pillow

Isn't this an awesome pillow. So cheeky. (But also a deeply held sentiment by any a sewer who's had their scissors taken and, gasp! had paper cut with them.)

It was my first decorative purchase when I moved into my little basement studio. Frankly, it's one of the only decorative purchases. I think it was my sister-in-law who saw it first and sent me a link. I had to have it. Such a little treat!

Earth Cadets

is the name of the Etsy store where I purchased the pillow. They have a lot of sweet items, but this is definitely my favourite. Did I mention it comes in other colours?

Sewing Machine Quilt Reveal!

Sewing Machine Quilt 

50'' x 50''

It feels like I should have a more creative name for this quilt, but that's exactly what it is. Truth in Advertising. I'm so excited to share this with you. And the news that the pattern for this quilt should be coming in the next month, if all goes well with pattern testing and printing. The pattern will have both improv and precision piecing instructions.

I owe a lot of credit to this quilt for bringing me out of a long slump. For months I was down and not terribly excited about sewing. Sure, I was still sewing, but it was like going through the motions rather than fun. I met my deadlines and plugged away at projects, but I wasn't feeling a lot of joy. But with this quilt I felt joy and excitement. I may have jumped up and down a little even.

A friend of mine pointed out that it was telling that it was quilted sewing machines that got me excited again. You know, I never thought of that! It's so true though. I'm not generally one for symbolism, but this can't be ignored. The sewing machine is how we do our work, where so many of us find peace, and the main tool of our craft. For me to get my mojo back via a sewing machine is about as perfect as it gets.

I revealed this quilt in The Modern Quilt Guild's Webinar I delivered: Improv With Intent. In the presentation I went into great detail about the process for creating this particular quilt (and another one I'll share next week). Look for the Webinar to be posted for Modern Quilt Guild Members on their site later this week.

This quilt was done quite quickly for me. From start to finish in a month. I can't remember the last time I worked so fast! But

when that inspiration takes over

you have to run with it. It helps that

I had long arm time booked

and a desire to play with that new tool. It also helps that Le Tour was on when I had hand stitching on the binding to do.

Because this is an improv quilt each sewing machine is a bit different. That's the joy! But it does become a challenge to make them all still look like sewing machines and to solve any little glitches on the fly. Perhaps that's why it got me so jazzed, the little blips in sewing that improv provides are tiny little hills that you have to push yourself just a little bit more to get over. They aren't frustrating, only motivating. And you are always rewarded with the results!

The block below is one of my favourites. Most of the fabrics I chose are favourites, but this one especially so. I've got quite a bit of it hoarded and pull it out often. So glad it is in here.

Don't be afraid to tackle a new idea. Get your fabric out, sketch out the idea, cut and get to sewing. Even if you never make more than the one block you will be rewarded!

Sherbet, Take 2

Last month I had the privilege of teaching at Quilt Canada. This is the national event of the Canadian Quilters' Association. I've already spoken about

my amazing experience in my Improv class

, but I also had the chance to teach my Sherbet quilt.

Sherbet is a quilt from

A Month of Sunday

s

. It is a straightforward quilt design, but it takes a few steps to get there. Strip piecing, cutting, sewing together, long strips. A day wasn't nearly enough to get the whole top together, unfortunately. But my students sewed and sewed and cut and cut. I pressed for them and cut for them (I'm a hands on teacher!). And we chatted all day. I had a lot of fun, I hope they did too.

The quilt that I cut is destined for one of my nephews. He's a bright, energetic kid who loves colour. So we went quite the opposite of low-volume for him. Not to toot my own horn, but this just goes to show that just because the quilts in the book are low-volume, it doesn't mean you have to stick to low-volume fabrics to make them yours. Turn it up!

Check out the fabric choices and work of my students.

This one is destined to be a king sized bright and pretty version. We played with the math of the pattern to size it up, making the columns a bit longer and adding some. But I can't wait to see a finished top from this!

My modern quilter in the group had an amazing fabric selection for her quilt, paired with this grey. The longer I am in the industry the more excited I get when I see people using friends' fabric in quilts. She had so many fun fabrics and the purple, navy, pale blue, and grey combo was dreamy.

Bright fabrics in candy colours with a pale blue background. This comes very close to my original inspiration for this quilt. I saw a store window from a cab. I couldn't say exactly what was in the window, but the bright colours hanging down are what caught my imagination.

I am a total sucker for a green and white quilt. That's why there is one in

Sunday Morning Quilts

and one in

A Month of Sundays

. Needless to say I was thrilled when this student started her quilt! What a great version of the design.

Sherbet is a bold quilt. It isn't difficult so you get great impact for straightforward techniques. But it takes a bit of time. Now that I have all my fabric cut, I just need to sit down and sew. That's the best part anyway!

Giant Dresdens

How fun to start a new project. It's been a while since I started something brand new, right from the fabric pull. (I have another project that I'll share next week too).

This project is destined for the lap of an almost 90 year woman. I don't usually take commissions, but my closest cousins asked if I would make something for their Baba on the other side. I had an idea I wanted to try and some

Allison Glass fabric that has been sitting around forever

that I wanted to use. Those two things combined into a yes to the project.

And so I'm playing, experimenting, trying something new. I'm in love. These are giant Dresdens. I had a

Fat Cat ruler

in my QuiltCon swag bag. I'm not exactly likely to make a cat block, but the same ruler works perfectly for 30 degree wedges for a Dresden Plate. These completed Dresdens measure about 26'' in diameter! And it only takes about an hour to cut and sew each one. Pretty good time investment for big impact. Just need to get some background fabric and sew these down. But maybe I'll make at least one more first.