.....And Still Growing

Quilt Front

Quilt Back

I Paint Like I Quilt / I Quilt Like I Paint

• Lots of colour
• Lots of improvising
• Little planning
• Lots of emotion

I painted this about seven years ago, after spending a sunny afternoon in Burano.  
The warmth of that day never left me.
 Some day, I might have to use it as inspiration for a quilt.

QAYG .....Pushing it to the Edge

I like taking a method and pushing it to the edge....so that it becomes a design element, rather than just a more convenient way to quilt. I don't necessarily want to hide the QAYG components or have them form the typical QAYG grid. Rather, I want to embrace the advantages of QAYG, since it lends itself to greater quilting control and results in some pretty interesting quilts......front and back......along the way.


The interesting thing is, I started pursuing QAYG to avoid stuffing the whole quilt, under the machine. I now own a long arm, but still find myself exploring this method because it has some distinct characteristics and advantages all of it's own.

Quilt back, of the scrap play quilt, I'm working on.

Quilting detail.

Quilt front.....so far.

A quick peek at my new goodies.

The words....I'll take whatever is left came out of my mouth a few times. Aren't they lovely??

And On It Grows

Back to a little more piecing....the wide stripes, on the right, were pieced a few years ago. It's amazing the treasures hidden away in ones fabric bins. After I make a new piece I usually try it on different edges of the quilt. Quite often it ends up on the opposite side that I planned.....see what I mean about leaving a few things to chance.

Trying out the striped piece.

Here is the that same striped piece on the other side.

Also, I would like to introduce you to a new site where us Canadian Quilters can post about our 
WORKS IN PROGRESS.

It's Like Drawing on Your Quilt

Quilting makes the quilt come to life....it really is a little like drawing.

QAYG makes that so much easier because you are quilting small sections of the quilt. That in itself, gives you the opportunity to be creative, with so much more ease, as Dan from Piece and Press discovered the other day. It's looking fantastic, Dan..... if you have moment check it out. 

Look even my quilting gloves match the quilt.....a little fussy are we???

The quilt is so easy to maneuver this way.....the walking foot is all I need.  Also because I can stitch right off the edge, that means very few starts in the middle of the quilt to deal with. I shorten my stitch length as I get to the edge to keep everything secure...I'm a bit of a worrier (actually my kids will tell you I have a  permanent worry line between my eyebrows....my husband got the grey hair, what can I say??)

 A quilting close up.

Another close up.

As you can see, my quilt is still in sections.

Here is the  back.....I have a thing for nice quilting on the back.

Not only is it still in sections, but half of it isn't pieced yet.......but look at the interesting strip sets I found in my fabric bins. Hmm, I wonder what's next???

Another Day of Scraping........sort of

My husband is off sailing for a week so you can guess where I've been hanging out......


I started out using scraps but as you can see I'm also digging into quite a few larger pieces of fabric (is that cheating??)....needless to say there is fabric strewn all over, every possible surface, floor included. I'm probably creating more scraps them I'm using!!!!

Those slivers of light purple are almost the last of it.

The strip set in the bottom of the right hand corner is from a few years ago.......feels so  good to be actually using  it.

It's An Odd Process.....this

When in doubt, sometimes I just start quilting. It's an odd process this QAYG thing. The quilt almost grows organically....taking on a life of it's own.


 Thanks to everyone's wonderful advice, I thought would just keep going. Every swatch, does not a quilt make....and that's just fine. I relaxed as soon as I realized I had just made a few swatches and if some get used great and If some don't, that's fine too.

It almost seems backward to start quilting so early on in the project.....but something almost, magical seems to happen, when the  quilting starts.

It's almost as if the quilt takes on a life of it's own.

Quilting in smaller pieces lets the quilter have so much more control. I also ended putting this piece, on a different side of the quilt, than planned....I love leaving some things to  chance.

I'm happier with it, than I was the other day....I'll see where it takes me next.

Alright, So I Got a Little Scissor Happy

I think I may have gotten a little carried away, I'm really not liking this very much.

Maybe a lot carried away!

Where the heck am I going with this anyway....a plan may have been a good idea.

So Exhilarating......When You Don't Know Where You're Going

Scary.....but exhilarating!

Nothing like a crazy ride in the unknown, to get the creative juices flowing again.

Yup....still no idea.

Warming Up with a Little Scrap Play

Since I haven't touched my machine for most of August, I thought I would kick September off, with a little scrap play. I just grabbed some of my scrap buckets and started cutting and sewing. I've been inspired by the 15 minutes play idea. 

Sometimes 15 minutes is all it takes to get me going.  I often use this same strategy in other areas of my life...If I just do 15 minutes of paperwork or whatever else I've been putting off..... I can quit after 15 minutes. This way, at the very least, I start...and starting is usually the stumbling block for me. I rarely quit after 15 minutes especially if it's quilting.

Once I started I didn't want to stop....but company's coming for dinner.

I set up my machine so I could sew standing up. This makes it easy to cut a few pieces, sew a few pieces and press with just a few steps....plus the design wall is right next to the iron. Robin from Simply Robin mentioned that she does this when doing improvisational piecing, so I thought I would give it a try. I think it might be easier, if I use one of my of machines, that can sew without the foot pedal...I'll have to try that next.

My thinking is if I have an area, always set up, ready to do a few minutes of scrap piecing, I might actually make a dent in my ever-growing scrap bin. Well one can always dream....

Empty Boxes...Alberta Bound....Fresh Sewing Day

All my boxes are empty....I've taken as much as I dared from the  old  place and brought to the  new

I've got some order going...but all the art and most of the good stuff is still at old place....have to stage it to sell it.

I did manage to set up a temporary sewing corner.

Of course most of my fabric has been moved...I didn't say all.

And here is me packing yesterday, as we were once again Alberta bound.

And I said all that, to say this.....I have not touched my sewing machine all month...I was just a little busy and it is once again

at Lily's Quilts 
I have nothing to show this month, but plenty of other quilters do.....so If you have a minute check it out.