It is Block of the Month Time with Linny D Vine

It is time for my next Block of the Month pattern. This month I selected a painting by Canadian artist Linny D Vine. The title of the painting is Prairie Red. I would like to thank Linny for allowing me to use an image of her painting on my blog and in the pattern.

Linny's work is whimsical and wonderful and full of joy and light. In her artist statement she writes "I love the magic that happens as imagination and inspiration dance together while I paint". I can think of no better way to describe her work other than "happy". I particularly love her paintings of grain elevators. Although the painting is tall and narrow you can feel and see the big, open Saskatchewan sky and I can hear the wind in the grain. You can read more about Linny and view her galleries of extraordinary paintings here.

The block that this painting inspired is a half rectangle triangle (HRT). If you can make a half square triangle I guarantee you can make a half rectangle triangle! I chose a pale blue for the sky and red for the elevator. The finished block measures 4" by 6". I can envision all sorts of design possibilities for this block. They could be used to make a fabulous 54-40 or Fight block! Or how about  three columns made entirely of HRT on their side and each column separated by a strip of solid fabric? This is a fun and fast block to make and I hope that "magic will happen as imagination and inspiration dance together"! You will find the pattern here.

If you make a quilt with this block I would love to hear about it as would Linny!

I'm off on a field trip today so it is a short post. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have more time and have something creative to share! Until I post again, happy sewing!

Karen H

Tobogganning time and a new block of the month pattern

Yesterday we got a big dump of snow and it is still snowing!

I love the look of snow on the wisteria.

It reminds me of Santa Claus and his beard!

All this snow means it's time to get out the toboggans for some winter fun! You and your friend climb to the top of the hill, get on the toboggan, take a deep breath and the guy on the back pushes off!

Whee! Down the hill we go! So much fun!

Today I've put up a new block of the month pattern. The featured artist is Frank Johnston, another member of a Canadian group of painters know as The Group of Seven. Unlike the others, Johnston's preferred medium was tempera. It is a flat paint so you don't see the texture that you get with oils. My father was a commercial artist (as were many of the Group of Seven) and he used tempera in his professional work. This paint has a unique smell to it and it evokes memories of my Dad.  I've selected Johnston's painting Hubert Lake as my inspiration for the block. Hubert Lake is located in northern Ontario almost 100 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie.

The blocks are made of half square triangles and they can be arranged in all sorts of  ways but the first one is how I envisioned the quilt. You will find the pattern here.

 

I continue to work on the 2014 QAL quilt. So far I've used these three fabrics. Today I'll add a fourth and maybe fifth, sixth seventh, eighth and so on! I plan to launch the first installment of the free pattern on January 1st or 2nd.

Until I post again, happy shovelling, tobogganing and sewing!

A Few of My Favourite Things (the reveal) and a new Block of the Month pattern

I was able to get outside and photograph These are A Few of My Favourite Things. Let's start with the border. It was a challenge. The instructions for the entire quilt fit on a single page!

For the border they read "Join each row in the border" and then "when each block has been sewn, sew and join the whole". That was it! There was a diagram of the entire quilt on the page but it wasn't a lot of help.

These are the instructions for the corner. Not a lot to work with!

I spent many hours with a pencil, eraser and graph paper working out the border to make sure that it fit perfectly! And here it is.

Here you can see the corner resolution.

And now the reveal....These are A Few of My Favourite Things! It was entirely hand quilted. There are some creases in the quilt because it has been folded for many years. I'm going to give it a light pressing and then refold it on the diagonal.

It is time for the Block of the Month pattern. Each month I select a piece of Canadian art and reinterpret it as a quilt block. This month I selected a painting by Edward Malcott Richardson. Richardson was English and while I normally select a Canadian artist, Richardson painted watercolours of people and places he saw in British Columbia. As a young man he succumbed to the allure of the Cariboo Gold Rush of the early 1860s. Did he make his fortune? You'll have to read his bio in the pattern to find out! Richardson was a watercolourist. His painting Indians at Williams Lake is the painting that inspired the block.

The block is based on a half square triangle. You will find the pattern and the artist's bio here.

There are all sorts of design possibilities for this one! Here are three of my favourites.

Last month's pattern was also based on half square triangles. In case you missed it here is a picture of the blocks. I would alternate them with an old fashioned bubble gum pink or a soft blue as in the picture below. You will find the pattern along with a picture of the painting that inspired the block and the artist's bio here.

I'm off for a day of sewing with Mom! Until I blog again, happy sewing!

October Block of the Month and a new Gallery of my work

It's time for a new block of the month pattern! As always I draw my inspiration from Canadian artwork. This month the painting I selected is Paul Peel's The Young Gleaner also known as The Butterflies. You can see the pattern here.

This is a fast easy block that makes good use of scraps. The block finishes at 6" square. My pattern calls for soft buttery yellows for the butterflies and browns, beiges and greys for the remaining patches. It would be fun to swap half square triangles OR swap 3 1/2" brown patches with friends to add variety to your blocks.

The blocks can be alternated with soft tone-on-tone blue squares that measure 6 1/2". The quilt would work up very quickly and I think it would make a great non-gender specific quilt. I hope you enjoy this pattern.

My collection of Tiny World Make-Do Pincushions is growing (it is a small neighbourhood at this point) so I thought they deserved their own page on this block. I've set up a new Gallery of my little house pincushions and will add to it as my world grows! To view all of the pincushions just click on the tab Tiny World Pincushion Gallery at the top of this page.

 

My Lazy Punk quilt is quilted and just needs to be bound. I'll post pictures tomorrow! Until I post again, happy sewing!

Three more down, thirty-five to go and a new Block of the Month pattern

I finished appliquéing three more Lazy Punk blocks yesterday evening. Selecting the fabrics for the wedges and arcs was a cake walk. I just did a bunch of rough cuts of both and then started matching them up. Occasionally I had to look for a specific fabric but for the most part it was serendipity.

 

Now selecting the fabrics for the centres is an entirely different exercise. I did rough cut a selection of fabrics for centres but now am at the point where the remaining blocks will require some thought as to what goes in the centre. I'll continue to appliqué the blocks and when I think of a fabric that will work as a centre I'll put it out and cut the centre.

Now that my Guild year has started up again the Block of the Month program has resumed. This month the block is very simple but fun. I drew my inspiration from a painting by Pegi Nicol MacLeod. This one is titled "Beauty Parlour #1" and was painted in 1944. Pegi was commissioned by the National Gallery to paint the lives of service women during the Second World War. Although she was an ardent opponent of the war she accepted the commission and created over 100 paintings. She portrayed service women performing their duties but also in their day to day lives as it the case with this painting. You'll find more information about Pegi her bio which is part of the September Block of the Month pattern.

So what block did I come up with? This block is made up of eight half square triangles. The shape of the block reminded me of the cone hair dryer in the painting.

First set of two blocks

Second set of two blocks

Until I post again, happy sewing!

New Block of the Month and Cherry Blossom Quilt

Today I've put up the next Block of the Month pattern and it was inspired by this untitled painting which hangs in my home. The Block of the Month tab needs some tidying up so that is on my to do list. I am learning as I go so please bear with me!

I love this painting which I purchased it at a garage sale for a few dollars about fifteen years ago. Taped to the back of the painting is a clipping with a picture from 1971 of Mrs. Murphy at age 89.

I have no how old Mrs. Murphy was when she painted the lovely scene. It isn’t perfect; the perspective is wrong but to me it is the happiest of paintings! Look at the man in the wagon waiving at the man cutting the grass! Doesn't it make you smile?

I can’t tell you anything about Mrs. Murphy. I wonder what inspired her to paint this scene. Was it pure imagination or a scene from her girlhood? Did she hang the painting in her home, give it as a gift or sell it? I just don’t know. And this made me think about my quilts, most of which have a label on the back with the name of the quilt, my name and the date. Sounds a lot like Mrs. Murphy’s painting! Fifty years from now will one of my quilts show up at a quilt guild meeting and the new owner will say she bought it at a garage sale for few dollars! She’ll say she loves the quilt but all she knows about the quilt is its name, my name and the date it was made! If the quilt like Mrs. Murphy’s painting gives joy and pleasure to others maybe that’s enough!

I used this painting as my inspiration for this month’s block of the month pattern. I selected a block that would have been used to make the type of quilt that one would find on a bed in a farm house like the one is the painting!

 

 

This block is fast and easy to make and it makes great use of scraps! I think it would be nice finished with a simple sashing and a nice wide border! I hope you enjoy the pattern!

Today I am going to work on a nine patch quilt that I call Cherry Blossom. It will eventually become a free pattern. I'll post pictures of my progress tomorrow. This quilt is made with 3" pink nine patch blocks and red nine patch blocks. There are a few yellows and oranges tossed in for a little sparkle. This is going to be a pretty summer quilt! Here's a little teaser.

Until I post again, happy sewing! 

Two Block of the Month Patterns and More Delightful Embroideries by Anne H!

I had an email from a read my April 7 post and she liked my quilt "Jack". I had mentioned that I have a Block of the Month pattern for a simple block that was inspired by the same painting and that if there was any interest I would be happy to post the pattern.  So Janet, your request is my command. It is now posted it in Block of the Month (see April 2012). Please note it is not a pattern for this quilt but rather a simple block that was inspired by the same painting that inspired this quilt.

Jack, 2013

I’ve also published a new block pattern that was inspired by a painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, a painter who is known for his paintings of frontier life in Quebec, Canada. Go to Block of the Month and see May 2013 for the pattern. I saw a quilt that made me think of the painting. It is by Kathie Holland and you can see it here. I checked Kathie’s blog but the quilt was posted in 2009 and it doesn’t appear that her blog goes back that far.

It is a long weekend so I want to get out and have some fun! I'll leave you with a few more close-ups of Anne H (my Mom) embroideries! These are all original designs based on her flower garden. At almost 93 she is still an avid gardener. I find it interesting that she does such pretty, little (3" x 4"), old-fashioned embroideries and also the lively and colourful African quilts and wall hangings!

Bleeding hearts

Goldenrod and one lonely snail

Coral bells

Pink shooting stars (they will be blooming soon)

Until I post again, happy sewing!

New Partial Seam Tutorial, Nine Patch Quilt with Baskets and one more curio

I’ve posted a new tutorial on partial seams. The tutorial demonstrates this simple technique along with instructions for the simple 9” block shown above. The concept of a partial seam can be applied to a blocks that appear to have a piece that is set in. I hope the tutorial is fun and informative. I used this technique in a block of the month pattern that I did for my Guild. My inspiration for the patterns is Canadian art. Maurice Cullen’s The Bird Shop, St. Lawrence Street was the inspiration for this pattern. I’ve posted the pattern and a write up about Cullen under the Block of the Month tab. Enjoy!

I may have already mentioned that I am hooked on 3” nine patch blocks and have made thousands of them over the years. This humble block is made up of nine squares.

 

By simply changing the placement of light and dark the blocks become more interesting.

 

 Fussy cut one square and put it in the centre to create even more interest!

 

Try setting them on point for yet another look.

 

 

 

Directional prints such as stripes or bits of border prints add yet another dimension.

 

 

Nine patch blocks are in my view a perfect block for beginner and experienced quilter alike. The construction is simple but they can be made to look more complex through fabric choice and fabric placement. They are beautiful and there are endless possibilities for turning them into a quilt!

 

 

There are literally hundreds of nine patch blocks in my stash and I add more blocks every time I sew! Recently I did a demo at my Guild. I showed the members how to build a nine patch stash and I went home all fired up! Isn’t it funny how sharing with others can renew your excitement! Anyway, I pulled out my stash of nine patches and promptly made three quilt tops! It barely put a dent in the pile of nine patches! This is the first of the three quilt tops.



It is based on an antique quilt. I drafted a pattern based on 3” blocks. I selected blocks made in muted colours to give the quilt a aged feeling. A border of baskets on three sides finished the top. I experimented a little and was able to come up with a simple way to construct the basket blocks. I used my homemade spray starch on the fabrics and that ensured that the blocks were precise. I like to have at least one complex element in a quilt and since the main part of the quilt is relatively simple I think that the baskets add the right amount of intricacy and they contrast nicely with the humble nine patches.

And now it is pinned and ready for quilting! I really like the softness of this quilt but think it would be striking made up in bright, modern, vibrant prints!

And now for a curio. What the heck is it? It looks like it was at one time attached to something but what? I found it at an antique sale – I was buying a pitcher and and asked the price if this "thing" and the man threw it in for free. I absolutely love the birds and berries motif and think it would be a starting point for an applique piece. If you have any ideas as to what it is, please post a comment and let me know! Or just take a guess as to what it might be!

 

 

That’s it for today. Time to get cracking on that nine patch with baskets quilt. So until I post again I leave you with one more close-up of Flora and Fauna. Happy sewing!