I got mail♥♥♥

I love mail....especially when it relates to quilting and look what was in my box today! Perfect end to a perfect month! Now it's time to plan for June projects!

Summer Tote Swap

Kris from Dandelion Quilts is having a Summer Tote Swap. She makes the most beautiful bags and even has one as a prize for a draw. Check it out on her site ....here


This is.....

the first bag I ever made (last summer) 2009.

Quilting history

I learnt to sew from my mom and a very special aunt who happened to be my Godmother. (This was the thread and thimble my Godmother used to sew my first Prom dress with "now" DH in 1966

First Sewing Projects :

In my teens I made all my clothes and unknown to me back then, designed them also because I never used a pattern only the ones I would draw on old newspaper . I had seen my mom and my grand-mère sew quilts but to me that was too tedious and too time consuming . I liked to sew in the morning and wear it in the evening!

Quilting began for me not by desire but I would say by necessity.....
In 1994 my DH and I decided to build an apartment on our house for my mom and dad. Both were very well at the time but four years after their move my dad's physical health deteriorated. Mom tended to his needs and I became worried about my mom's mental health because her social life was limited. So I asked her if I sewed a quilt (my first)

if she would be willing to quilt it? DH set the frames in the apartment and there she was able to hand quilt and look after dad's needs . I had submitted this story on another post which you can read here

Other Crafts....

I always got involved in the craft of the day; cross Stitch, needlepoint, paper tole, painting and on and on..... but always came back to sewing. Sewing clothing is passé....but quilting is always in motion.

First pre-cut Project
In 2007 I had my first experience sewing with a jelly roll : "Chelsea Boutique" Pattern.... Vanilla Star from the and that began my love of pre-cuts!



Fabric Shopping
Somehow??? I found this on line quilt shop... (I don't believe in coincidences by the way...) and this is where I met..Kelly and I started communicating via e-mail. Not being computer savvy it never entered my mind to create my own blog but Kelly inspired me and with her enthusiasm and support; Ouvrages d'une Acadienne (Projects of and Acadienne) came to be!

Honored...

I was so honored when Kelly asked me to become co-host of the...

and there I met some wonderful ladies who soon were added on my friends' list. Some I communicate with on a regular basis, Michelle, Kris, the Carols Carol, René, Allie, Cindy, Erin, Dianne, Darlene and the list goes on.......

Kelly decided to expand her talents and becomes a quilt designer

she names one of her designs... "Acadienne " ... what an honor.!!... watching my mom and grand-mère quilt, I thought quilting was just about cutting and sewing little pieces of fabric back together!!!! Was I wrong!

Remarkable friendship .

Kelly and I communicate on a daily basis and I have come to know her as part of my family and I love her as my own....we never met in person, but we do sew together via Skype on Friday afternoons that our schedules permit. There has been many times in our busy lives I would have loved to reach out and give Kelly a real hug of support or vise versa; (receive one from her)... well this is about to happen!!!!!!!!

Road Trip.....

On June 25Th DH and I are leaving for San Antonio Texas on a bus tour.... we stop in Boston, Washington DC and the third day in Knoxville Tenn.... this is where I will get my hug... yes, yes, yes from ♥♥♥KELLY♥♥♥!

Kelly and Studly will be joining Gerald and I for dinner that evening... Can you believe this?????? (Between her and I we will have lots of pictures) I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am... This is the ultimate adventure for me and such a wonderful tribute to my quilting journey! How many more sleeps?

And the Friendship continues....

To connect with fellow Canadian quilters is wonderful Anne, Ariane, Mandy, Shelley, Katherine, Joanne, Marlene, Jilly and one I had the opportunity to meet in person... designer Karen Neary My sister and I attended one of Karen's classes last October and made the project "Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend". You can read about this adventure here

May the journey never end!

I have met and made wonderful friends through blog land and the CG&GQC and my dream would be that we all meet on a sewing retreat someday!

Quilting, blogging and the CG&GQC has opened a small world into a huge universe!

I have loved and still do love the journey!

What to do with these goodies?

This was in my Christmas stocking and I could not come up with a pattern that I could use them in ... until a fellow Canadian Marlene Biles at Sipiweske Quilt Designs shared this
wonderful recipe on Moda Bake Shop I choose the Bar Harbor pack for my first Garden Charm Table Runner. for the buttons I used....H♥E♥A♥R♥T♥S

For the binding I used Nova Scotia Tartan.... (the first Provincial tartan in Canada and represents the important contribution of the Scots to the founding of Nova Scotia)
Voilà! I mentioned this was the first Garden Charm Table runner but it will not be the last... I still have some goodies in my Moda Bake shop box and I can't let them get stale!!

Thank you Marlene!

(Oh my! I just realized I had not rounded my corners!!! )

Jelly Roll Block #7

for theI think this is my favourite! The color is not very good.. The background is yellow , with aubergine ( dark purple) polka dots and the centre is light and medium green in the "April Cornell"

Support and Inspirations

As a follow up of the Texas Truffle post I titled this post "Support and Inspirations". After I had forgotten the challenge that came with making the Texas Truffle I saw this pattern and just had to make it... I ordered the Glacé by 3 Sisters and put it in my to do basket. I was talking to Kelly one day and told her about the Texas Truffle I had made. This conversation inspired me to get my Glacé fabric out and start the "Starlight Express". As you may remember a few weeks ago I showed you the one block of the quilt I had done......
and how I was not motivated to make the other three? Well with all your inspirational comments and support here it is...all done...

(I cannot count how may pictures I took of this quilt and this is the best one??? With all the seams it appears all wrinkled and dull when it fact it is very vibrant)

I will update this project after it is hand quilted.

Thank you so much for your encouragement in completing this quilt. I just could not let you down!

Spring Quilt Festival 2010

After much debate I decided to enter a quilt in the
The reason I had that debate is I have a few quilts which I would consider favourites
but this one comes to the top of the list everytime I am asked this question ....

"Texas Truffle" in Chocolat by 3 Sisters.
I started this quilt in 2007 and finally finished it a year later.
This was my first appliqué project after I attended my appliqué class.. and the start of my love for appliqué. I always admired "Lone Stars" quilts and of course the fabric was a big reason why I just had to have that kit! The challenge was remarkable but well worth it!Pillow shams done and the ensemble is complete and displayed proudly below the angel headboard I painted.

Bingo

It's bingo time again!

Click on the graphic above and it will direct you to the instructions for the Spring Fever Bingo...Fun! Fun! Fun!

Sewing week-end....

Saturday was the perfect day to sew, (rainy and a tad chilly), and bake, so I did both....
I made pies.... Everyone in the family has a different favourite pie so I made some to tickle every one's fancy. Apple, cherry, lemon meringue and chocolate cream are the choices for the family dinner tonight.

Then it was off to the sewing room where I had started with the "Old Primrose Inn" jelly roll and after carefully and regretfully unrolling it... I had decided to go back to my block in the ....

"Faith in Migration" quilt andmade these.....

This fabric is very different than what I usually am use to using, so, as I was working with it I almost developed a permanent frown ):
I came up with this ensemble. Keeping with the Migration trend I used flying geese in between the blocks.

Finished it looks like this.....

You know when you make a project and you have someone in mind in which that project would be perfect for? That was the case with this quilt.

I think there was a Divine intervention because there were no snags in making this project. (After working on my "Starlight Express"; this was a piece of cake or should I say pie?)

I have a friend who is a nun and these colors would be perfect for her. A while back she told me she never owned a quilt.. In my book that cannot be!!! Agnes will do her magic and I will happily deliver this quilt to my friend !

Schnibbles Times Two Contest at...

and is participating as an online quilt shop.....
Check Kelly's website for the post with all the instructions, the rules and and how to enter the contest ...
For all who enter ... good luck and enjoy!

Work in Progress....

This is one of those projects that was in my "to-do" bin.....and I am thinking I should have left it there.... I have been struggling with the idea of just making the one block rather than four..but it is a quilt, after all, and not a table topper, so if I do that, I will always look at it as a UFO..........Oh well challenges are good... Right?

"Starlight Express" in the Glacé by 3 Sisters in progress....

My stash...

Kelly has a and felt a bit lonely because she was the only one motivated to blog about her stash. One of the CG, Polly, challenged us to join Kelly... Right on Polly, I'm in !



I have a basket that I keep my "extra" fabric in and when it is full, I package it and give it to a group of quilters who make quilts for me for the "Blanket of Love". This is a program I sponsor at our local Health Center for the Mental Health Unit. So there is nothing in my inventory that I can swap or sell at this time.... however I will share with you my stash.....

This is where it all begins.... The choosing of a pattern.

Then the little basket of things that are not to be put away.. ready for immediate use....

This is my basket of leftovers... when there is significant fabric left over from a finished project, it goes in here to be used shortly for little projects.

This is my jelly roll bin. The first pre-cuts I ever used.. and I think still my favourite of all the pre-cuts that are out there.

Next is my Charm Pack bin

This is a new bin for me ... I just recently started buying Layer cakes and Fat Quarters
... like them a lot!!!!!
This Storage case is filled with the little pieces used for appliqué

And this is what it looks like... they are stored according to the color of the fabric.

I have storage cases for each BOM
And as I decide on the projects I want to make they go in "the future project bin".
This is one of my kit bins!

And #2 kit bin....

My fat quarters bin...

This cupboard holds the pieces that are leftover from the finished projects and are big enough to be used for other projects.
This is my stack of yardage ( still in its perfectly packaged bag) that matches with the pre-cuts and ordered specifically for an already chosen pattern.

and last this is my bin of finished projects ready to be quilted and the bindings waiting to be sewed on.

There it is ...

I am off to Kelly's to let her know she is not alone and will be checking out blogs for more "stash busters"!

Which reminds me of a great challenge for later.....