The Quilt Mafia Meets Again

Another wonderful day with the "Quilt Mafia", a group of quilters who just love to get together, share ideas, share their work and enjoy a good lunch! We met today at the St. Stephen's Community Centre in Chester, a great space with lots of windows (no stairs!) and easy access to the Kiwi Cafe for a take out lunch.

Kate, Linda and Jamie

Penny, Celeste and Laurie

Deb, Laureen and Alex

We came from far and near, some quilted, some pieced and embellished, some knit. We laughed, we shared and we missed those who couldn't be with us. The day just flew by, we shared our works in progress and I began to realize that the SAQA show that the Atlantic chapter will put on for the CQA conference in late May will be a wonderful one! Such creativity, great care and thought as to the theme "Rooted". I can't wait to see this exhibition which will be at the Mary E. Black Gallery on the waterfront in Halifax. 

Laureen's piece for "Rooted".

I am so humbled by this group of creative and gifted women, grateful to be a part of this group and to call them my friends. More pictures can be found in the Flickr link to the left.

Plans are underway to have another gathering in the spring at the Maritime Fibre Arts Retreat at the Atlantica Hotel, Oak Island and then a road trip to Cape Breton for a retreat in the Margaree Valley. Can't wait! Thanks everybody for coming!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Hallowe'en was always a big deal in the Robson household. When the kids were little, we lived in a great neighbourhood with lots of other kids and Hallowe'en was one of the highlights of the year. Lots of planning and decision making with regard to costumes and makeup. No store bought costumes at our house! Come to think of it I don't think you could go out and buy much, the retailers hadn't discovered this market yet.

1984 was the year of the bathroom wall (most likely in Paris!) and the 2 sided boy - one a tramp the other rather distinguished! For Kate it was those checked tights she had to have when we saw them in a shop in Toronto. She got a lot of mileage out of those over the years. Andrew's costume came from a stash of costumes from my parents that were all based on burlap and which were a great source of inspiration for us over the years.

Then Hallowe'en began to appear in my quilt world and I couldn't resist.

This wallhanging Hallowe'en Memories came from an old issue of Miniature Quilts magazine (issue #11, Fall 1993). Orange was also a colour of cotton fabric that was hard to come by in those days.

 I love the bat with those beady eyes! The wall hanging is machine pieced and hand quilted. It was pieced the "old fashioned" way with templates and scissors, the squares are 1". Rotary cutters hadn't hit the quilt world yet when I made this one.

This wallhanging is called Pumpkin Trio and is from a pattern by The Rabbit Factory.

Now the next generation loves Hallowe'en as much as their parents. This is Evan's quilt Hallowe'en Hijinks. I took a spider web quilt class from Heather Stewart and decided not to go scrappy but to use some of the Hallowe'en fabrics I had been collecting.

Ben's quilt came next and I used the Disappearing Nine Patch pattern. There are lots of versions of this online and it was fun to make.

Hallowe'en Surprises was machine pieced and machine quilted. I made the same one, re-arranged the fabrics for Molly and soon I will have to make another one for our soon-to-arrive grandson (yes, we know Molly is going to have a brother, any day now!). Happy Hallowe'en!!

Finally!

Finally, I have my sewing machine at the right height. I have been struggling with just the right set-up for such a long time. I have always wanted to have my sewing machine down into my table so that the bed of the machine was flush with the table top. A Horn Cabinet was out of the question, I have too much Scottish blood in me to spend the money!

This is what my sewing machine used to look like, sitting on top of my table.

While in Calgary a few months ago we popped into Sewing World/Sewing Sensation (thanks Cheryl) to pick up some legs for my portable quilting table. They are Canada's top Pfaff dealer and I have a Pfaff 2046. While there we looked at the Horn Cabinets and chatted with one of the salespeople who suggested we look at the Lee Valley Sewing Machine Lift. My sewing table is built in, attached to the wall so this seemed like a great idea. So when we got home one of the first things we did was head to Lee Valley in Halifax and buy the lift. In no time Peter had it installed and I am thrilled! It took a bit of work as it doens't come with much in the way of insructions. Luckily, after an offhand chat with the owner of NS Building Supplies in Blockhouse, Peter was able to get them make a plexiglass insert to fit in around my machine. So I am in business and it works great!

Now I have adjusted my chair so my knees are at right angles, my back is supported and I am comfortable! I have also been following Elaine Quehl's advice and have taken off my right foot shoe and am sewing in my socks! I really like it!

And here is the below table shot, a bit of a mess but I love my space and my view, soon the lobster boats will be back to keep me company.

Now to get caught up on a few projects and start a new baby quilt for our new grandson who is due mid November.