Julie at the Tartankiwi has released her Elephant pattern

This is a nice BIG elephant. 24" square. I made it for my son as he has an elephant collection. The final pattern has been edited using the tester feedback so is not exactly the same as this one but close. To see Julie's comments about the pattern or to buy your own copy see her blog (here) for details. Piecefully, Joanne

A test I can talk about

Jan at The Colorful Fabriholic posted graphics for this quilt and a sample of each block component. At the end of her blog post she asked for testers and I volunteered. I love the clean modern lines for this quilt. This one is the smallest size (39" square) and will make a perfect Project Linus donation once it is quilted. You can visit her blog (here). Thank you Jan for a delightful easy to follow pattern. Piecefully, Joanne

My recent retreat adventure was productive

My local guild, the Kincardine Sunset Quilters Guild, held a retreat last week at Crieff. From past experience I know that mindless is my best option. So I took several bags of blocks that were ready to be assembled into quilt tops. My efforts are shown pinned to the design wall. We had show and tell Wednesday evening. In total I got 7 scrap quilt tops assembled.
Crieff is south of Guelph. The work room is spacious and very well lite. The accommodation is somewhat spartan but the group that runs it makes up for that in the dining room where the food is delicious, plentiful and nutritious and they provide options for most know food allergies and conditions. So whether you are vegetarian, need lactose free or are diabetic they provide for you. Needless to say when the list went around for next year I signed up. Piecefully, Joanne

It's a wonder I got anything done last week

This is the view looking at the home we worked at last week. Our group got one of those perfect fall weeks. We gathered on Monday and sewed until Thursday. Lots of UFO tackling, charity quilt assembling and a couple of applique projects. The floor to ceiling design wall got a work out too. Each one of us was assigned a meal. I took Turkey Vegetable soup and Flax Seed bread and made an apple crisp for dessert. Three of us thought apple crisp was a good idea. It reminded us of the year everyone brought bananas. Our group has been meeting for 25 years now. So wonderful to have girlfriends.
On Friday I packed up my car and drove a short distance down the road to St. Mary's and enjoyed a day playing with Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mabley and a whole lot of colour. My personal jury is out regarding my project but the end of the day critique of each project that Kaffe did was worth the price of admission.
This week has included some stash enhancement, sadly due to the impending closure of two nearby quilt shops. And tidying up after Thanksgiving. Still working on left overs despite the kids taking some home. Piecefully, Joanne

Sometimes Lightening Strikes Twice

This beautiful display of fabric is the new Tidal Lace line for Windham textiles, coming to a quilt shop near you in January 2015. Why you might ask is it in a photo on my blog??? Well I was, for the second time, allowed the opportunity to make a mini quilt for their display booth at Quilt Market. My little mini is almost ready to leave home. FedEx is coming tomorrow to pick it up. The fabric is wonderful to work with and the design is stunning. If you check Windham's web site you will see that there are 17 fabrics in the line. I got a fat quarter of each piece. The challenge was to make an 18" square quilt that showcased the fabric. Once my little quilt has had it's debut at Quilt Market then I will post a picture.
I am now trying to pack for a few days away with the girls for a little sewing time. I probably have enough projects to work on for a two week retreat and not just four days. but it is always better to have something in reserve. Sadly I will miss the Kincardine Sunset Quilters meeting for the second month in a row.
The physiotherapy is helping my knee and that's a good thing.
Have a great week. Piecefully, Joanne

October already? How did that happen?

In emailing back and forth with my daughter I described life right now as crazy busy. I think that sums it up. We are approaching finish it up season. If I could only not be tempted to start new things. I have my samples from last week's workshops to get quilted and then I can donate them. I tested for a new designer, or at least new to me. Finished the top this morning and really like it so add one more to the "to be quilted" pile.
Canada has Quilts of Valour (with a u). Canadian spelling. I discovered this week that a very nice young man that I have met through my local gym has not been the recipient of one of the QoV so I am putting that very close to the top of my TO DO list.
Looking forward to next week with some time away with the G7 sewing and then a Kaffe Fassett workshop on Friday. Then it is turkey time and both our kids and the grandsons are coming up. So it does not look like things will be slowing down soon. Piecefully, Joanne