Thursday, February 28, 2013

Guild Friend part 2

Like I said before I love the resources that my guild has to offer.

If you have been following me lately you know that I went to a local studio to learn a bit about long arm quilting.  Then the following week I actually used the machine to quilt two tops.   You might be asking yourself where did I do this?  

Well it was here  @ Loopy D's Quilting Studio. Lucky for me she lives close by!


Deb is an awesome instructor for free motion quilting and quilting in general. Her knowledge is second to none.  Oh the things that I learned.  She is a very modest about being an exceptional artist.  Here custom quilting is unbelievable.  Her attention to detail is amazing.  She loves to throw in a little quirkiness too.  She is generous with her time and her quilting.   She was featured on our local and National news recently.  She generously donated her time to quilt the Calgary Stampede Centennial Quilt. Each block was quilted differently. This one is definitely a show stopper! You can read more about it here

She has travelled all over North America taking courses on quilting; perfecting her style.  
You must stop by her website Loopy D's Quilting and Long Arm Studio

or you can catch her on Facebook  

or on her blog as well. 

If you stop by to see this incredible women's work, tell I sent you, you won't be disappointed.

Happy stitching,

Lee

p.s. I did get Deb's permission to highlight her and use her photos in this post.



Sunday, February 24, 2013

Guild friends

I have belonged to a local guild for over two years now.  The Millrise Quilt Guild. We are a group of 60 some ladies, meeting twice a month.  I have enjoyed the meetings and get togethers they offer.  I especially like the demonstrations and trunk shows.   However, it is the knowledge that is within our guild that I love the most.

For instance, my friend Kim (as opposed to my son's girlfriend Kim) from Chatterbox Quilts is a wonderful resource for embroidery patterns, stuffy
 patterns, quilt patterns and instructional videos.  She is a pattern designer and great embroiderer.  She has her own website:
and online store

  In addition, you can find her on YouTube with great videos about setting up a studio, or the ins and outs of fabric and more.  

And we can't forget about Facebook too. 

She has been published in Quilt Connections and Irish Quilting magazines.   

She offers free patterns such as these:

Flourishing Hearts

Vintage Hearts

The best part for me, she is my friend and we get together now and then to stitch and bounce ideas back and forth.   So go check out what she has to offer.  She is always coming out with something new. 

 If you stop by her blog/Facebook tell her Lee sent you!

p.s. I had Kim's permission to post about her and use her photos


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Almost done.....

My machine came back on Friday afternoon.  I got busy on Saturday FMQing on Orca Bay.  My plan was to stipple around the flying geese and something in the white inner border. 

But I would be damned it still wasn't working right.  Upon closer inspection my 'new' (from end October) darning foot was broken.  GRRRRR!  A quick phone call to my LQS to be sure they were in stock.  Yep they were.  Hubby graciously offered to go get me the new one and they did a straight exchange.   Now I was ready to hit trail running...so to speak. 



After a few more hours on Sunday and Monday,  I am happy to say that all the quilting is finished on this monster.  The binding is now sewn on and if I can sneak in an hour or two here and there to stitch it down this will finally be completed.   

Linky up to Needle and Thread WIP Wednesday

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Quilting in Heels

I will be attending some business dinners with hubby next week.  I am totally not used to dressing up and wearing heels.  So I started walking around the house in my heels today to get my feet use to them.  I was even doing some FMQ'ing in them.



This is more my style, comfortable and warm. 
What's your favourite footwear?


Sunday, February 17, 2013

A Good Read Needed

I am coming up to some spare time (tell you more later) and need a good book or two.



Do any of you have a great recommendation?  I will be downloading them to my eReader!  

Thanks

Lee

P.S. My machine is up and running.  I am in the process of stippling around all the flying geese of my Orca Bay quilt.  Then all that is left is the inner border and to stitch on the binding (its all ready to go)

Thursday, February 14, 2013

A Valentine Vote

If you happen to be blog surfing this weekend, could you hop over to the Quilting Gallery and vote for my Valentine's Quilt. 



Thank you 
May you and your sweetie have a great weekend.


Quilters’ Show and Tell

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Waiting


Waiting and it is really hard to do.  I was on such a roll finishing up my UFO's, but then guess what?  My machine decided it needed attending to.  So while we wait (impatiently) for it to be fixed.  (something was up when I was FMQing and it would get snagged and not let me go any further.)  Any other stitching was ok., but all I wanted to do was FMQ.

This pile sits and waits. 
 Don't you love the bottom backing fabric? I found it in the clearance section at my LQS.
 It goes with this old UFO:


I miss my machine!


Patiently waiting,

Lee

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Finished


I confessed about my UFO's here.  I am  very, very happy to say I have another one finished!








Look who's peaking around the corner!



Yes that is snow on the ground. It has been here since October 30th and will probably stick around a couple more months.  Spring is slow to come to Calgary.  Our days have been above seasonal and sunny which makes it bearable. 

Do you have a finish this week?

Monday, February 4, 2013

My marathon day of quilting



Continuing on with my promise to not start any new projects until my UFo's are done means I have lots of quilting to do. Slowly but surely I am making progress.  The older they are the newer they seem so it is a nice balance. 
 Last Thursday I went to Deb's @ Loopy D's to use her long arm machine for the day & evening.  My plan was to get two queen quilts quilted.   I arrived at 8:30am and got started right away. 

First up was the quilt that is suppose to go on my bed.  Started in 2009 with Crazy Mom Quilts 9 patch quilt along.    

 In order to get use to the machine and to get this done I chose an all over pantograph design. 

loading
groovy board
progress
beautiful swirls
all finished by 1:00ish

I had to stop quilting from 4:00-6:00 to go watch DD# 2 play basketball, serve dinner and get her to dance.
Orca Bay loaded up
love the backing fabric
almost finished too!

free motion stippling on the inside. 

inside area all done  
I am going to tackle quilting the borders on my own machine.  All those flying geese need to be quilted down.  I unloaded this around 8:30pm.  I was beat by then and couldn't even see straight. 
"I fought the machine and the machine won!" 

What have you tackled lately?

Happy Stitching 

Lee


WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced