Maritime Fibre Arts Retreat 2012

Another Maritime Fibre Arts Retreat has come and gone. We gathered at the Atlantica Hotel at Oak Island for 3 lovely days. The event has been held there for the past 3 years and it certainly is a very suitable venue. Most of the 186 attendees gather in the large room overlooking Mahone Bay. The light is excellent with windows all along 3 sides.

I love the way the room is set up with the spinners in the middle froming a circle, around them are round table where knitters, rug hookers, felters and weavers gather. Then around the outside are long tables for the quilters (close to electrical outlets!). It works really well and is a beehive of activity. This year there were so many spinners they had another circle in the adjoining room. It was wonderful to walk through there and hear the hum of the wheels and the chatter of the spinners. I must say I was thrilled to see so many "young" spinners and knitters at the Retreat. I wish we could get some young quilters to join us!

I am part of a wonderful group of (mostly) quilters fondly known as the "Quilt Mafia". We try and get together several times a year to see what we are up too and catch up on exhibitions we have seen, books we have read and fabric we have acquired.

Alex, Barb, Linda, Laureen and Betsey

Of the 20 or so members of the Quilt Mafia there were 14 of us at the Retreat! We had a wonderful time, lots of chat, lots of wonderful food, great stories and liquid refreshments! Once again we have all booked for next year...can't wait.

I was actually able to get quite a bit done this time. I finished the beading on my Cove Quilters challenge, I finshed the binding on a Christmas wallhanging and I started a new circle project for my class that I am teaching at Quilt Canada. 

My challenge - we had to blindly chose a chocolate bar from a bag and use that as our inspiration. I drew the Mars bar. I used stitches on my sewing machine I have never used before and did some beading. I am thinking of calling it "My Very Educated Mother..." (Just Showed Us Nine Planets) with thanks to Linda and Donna who taught me the mnemonic! I learned another one "Mount Vesuvius Erupts Mulberry Jam Sandwiches Under Normal Pressure".

Be sure and check my Flickr page for lots more pictures, with thanks to my daughter Kate who is a wonderful photographer.

Penguins, Quilts and Little People

We are back by the sea after a couple of weeks breathing the mountain air in the wild west, otherwise known as Calgary, home of our grandchildren! It was a busy 2 weeks getting to know our 4 month old grandson Marcus (who is just a delight!),

Marcus and his new quilt Cars and Trucks and Things That Roar. We celebrated granddaughter Molly's 6th birthday.

Six big candles!

We visited the new penguin enclosure at the Calgary Zoo (well worth the hour and a half wait) and visited the new Telus Spark Centre. We also managed 2 visits to the wonderful Calgary Farmers Market and 4 of the Calgary quilt stores, one of which I went to twice!

I had a lovely lunch and visit with Calgary quilter Cheryl Arkison who gave me a copy of her wonderful new book Sunday Morning Quilts. I was fortunate to be asked by Cheryl to test one of her patterns which I really enjoyed doing. 

T Quilt, machine pieced and machine quilted by Cheryl.

Dream Big, machine piieced and machine quilted by Cheryl

A big highlight of the trip was going to the Saddledome for an NHL game, the Calgary Flames vs the Winnipeg Jets. This was the first time these 2 teams had played each other as they play in different divisions.

Andrew and Molly singing O Canada with 20,000 other fans!

The atmosphere was electric as the arena filled with almost as many Jets fans as Flames fans. Molly is a keen hockey fan and was dressed appropriately in her team jersey with purple pants and accessorized with pink cowboy boots (with fringe!). The highlight for her was 2 hugs from the team mascot "Harvey the Hound" and getting on the Jumbotron!

Molly waves her Flames flag on the jumbotron. Oh, Calgary won 5-3!

I could write a whole post on the Calgary quilt stores. As always Traditional Pastimes was as welcoming and enticing as ever. They had just received a huge shipment of fabrics and there were bolts everywhere. The staff is always so interesting to talk to and always very helpful. I can't believe I forgot my camera, I had every intention of going back but the 2 weeks just flew by too fast.

But I think the highlight for me this time was Out of Hand, Deirdre, the owner, always welcomes us with open arms and has remembered us each time we have been there. What impressed me so much this time was their stock and display of ribbons!

Love the black and white floor!

Beautiful silk ribbons!

It was fantastic! I was so overwhelmed by the choices, colours, patterns and designs. Ribbons were stacked and displayed in every nook and cranny! I declared that Out of Hand wins the award for the best use of space of any quilt store I have ever been in. Be sure and check out all my pictures on my Flickr page (link to the left) and see if you agree. And if you are ever in Calgary, visit Out of Hand, you won't be disappointed and say hello to Deirdre for me!

Narrow 1/4" Borders - a "How To"!

I learned how to sew these narrow borders many years ago from my quilting friend Kay Phillips. Since then I have used this technique on almost all my quilts and wallhangings. I have passed the technique on to many people but this is my first attempt at sharing a "how to" on my blog. If you have any questions, email me! But my best advice is to try this first a couple of time with 3 strips of fabric, one for the "quilt", one for the 1/4" border and one for the next border.

1. First border - any width - sew on as usual and press seam towards outside edge.

 1" strip being sewed, this will become the 1/4" finished border

2. Second Border - 1/4" (finished width) - cut border 1" wide - sew to first border with 1/4" seam allowance. Press seam to outside edge.

 1" strip has been sewn on all 4 sides and pressed

3. Third border - Cut desired width BUT allow an EXTRA 1/4" seam allowance. To sew the third border on - lay your piece wrong side up (i.e. the side with the most information), the third border strip is underneath (probably the opposite to what you would instinctively do). The stitching from the last seam sewn will be visible - line up the left edge of the presser foot so it will run against the stitching of that earlier seam. It should be 1/4" away. Stitch. Sew opposite sides on first, in same order as your 1/4" border.

The next border is underneath, sew at the edge of the previous seam, 1/4" from the stitching.

Trim away the excess seam allowance

4. That seam will have a 1/2" seam allowance and can be trimmed to 1/4", after sewing, to reduce the bulk. Press to outside edge. 1/4" border can be reduced to 1/8" simply by trimming the second border seam allowance to 1/8" after you have sewn it. Then using this 1/8" seam as your guide, stitch as in the instructions for the third border and you will have a 1/8" border. Great for minis! Care to try 1/16"!!

 Sew opposite sides of borders on first, then trim ends. For wider borders draw sewing line by lining up your ruler with the edge of the seam allowance.

 Sewing line is marked

Last border is added, seams are pressed to the outside

The finished quilt "Cars and Trucks and Things That Roar" which is based on the quilt "Building Blocks" which can be found at the Moda Bakeshop. The quilt was designed by Hyacinth Designs Another example of this fun pattern can be found on this post. As much as I like Moda's pre-cuts both these quilts were made from fabric in my stash, cut to the requirements in the pattern.

If you would prefer a pdf of this technique please email me.