Seams French

The centre of the baby quilt takes the same block that I used for the butterflies (see blog post of December 3rd), and turns it into scoops of ice-cream. Cone Call: Auditioning fabrics for the cones. Made the cut: Ice-cream cones ready to perform!

A celebration of French fare at our last French class at the Little Sorbonne School. Perhaps not many "Seams" involved in this endeavour, but certainly a lot of "French"! le menu du jour. l'etudiants tres gentils. le professeur extraordinaire! Merci Olivier. Joyeux Noel!

Baby Quilt in progress. Strings of machine appliqued 1/4 circles, fluttering in anticipation. Soon they will emerge as the wings of a butterfly. Wing segments in a rainbow of colours. Each piece of fabric is cut into a square of a pre-determined size. Using a template, the applique line is marked onto the wrong side of the fabric. It is then cut into a semi-circle, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. A freezer paper template is placed onto the wrong side of the fabric, shiny side up, matching it with the pre-marked line. The 1/4" seam allowance is clipped and carefully pressed over onto the shiny side of the freezer paper, where it will adhere temporarily. This piece is then pressed onto a square of white background fabric, cut to the correct dimensions, and machine appliqued into place. Next, the freezer paper is carefully removed. Completed rows of butterflies, getting ready for flight.

Linda, Laura, Cindy,Cherie and Caroline (missing from photo). In 1997 these 6 women (myself included), met at a local quilt shop in Winnipeg. We connected and bonded around our love of needle and thread. We became friends over "Samplers", "Piecemakers", "Little Brown Birds", "Baltimore Bouquets", etc.. We are the "Material Girls" from Winnipeg. Working on this quilt, I was always reminded of the warmth and friendship of these women and how much I miss them. To friends to inspire. To friends who encourage. To friends who share hugs liberally. Thanks guys! This quilt's for you.

It's been a long time coming, but my "Baltimore Bouquets" quilt, ( from a pattern by Mimi Dietrich), is finally complete. Every stitch is hand crafted; from the applique and embroidery, to the piecing and quilting. The 9 blocks were appliqued and embroidered between the years of 1999 and 2000. Set aside for the next 4 years, I again picked it up in the year 2004, when I completed the border applique and much of the quilting. Thus it had been stored until January of this year, when I again "unearthed" it and made a determined effort to complete it before years end. The last stitch was made this past week. Hurray! The intricate applique required in a traditional applique pattern, such as the Baltimore Bouquet, deserves to be treated in the traditional manner from time to time. There is great satisfaction in completing a piece entirely by hand. Although much of my current work is done entirely or partially on the sewing machine, hand work is still my first love. ...

When designing a new quilt, the first element of design that I consider is colour. Colour, even more then design, determines the mood and energy of a piece. My vibrant, bright colour selections for this quilt symbolize the joy and delight that a new baby brings into a family unit. To achieve this, I chose to work with the primary colours (magenta, yellow, turquoise) and the secondary colours (orange, violet, green) from the Ives Colour Wheel. Bursts of these electric colours on a crisp, fresh, white canvas will best convey the joy and excitement that I would like the quilt to portray. These were my initial focus fabrics. Three of them did not make the final cut, but they did provide a guideline for the eventual choices. The process of interviewing the candidates.It's always great fun to go through the stash and play with all of the colours. Using the primary and secondary colours of the Ives Colour Wheel, the final selection was made.

We are Family, I Got all My Sisters with Me. We are Family, Together we Stitch on Boutis! .........(with apologies to Sister Sledge)