Quilts and Pillows and Softies, oh my!

Hi everyone:

This past week-end we travelled up to Edmonton to visit Sarah at university - and to take a look at a vintage Singer sewing machine, but that's another blogpost! This trip reminded me that I had promised to tell you about the other items that I made for Sarah to have in her residence room.

Since residence rooms are not very homey, I thought that some soft furnishings would be welcome. As Sarah is a huge Harry Potter fan, the subject matter was obvious; I just had to decide what to make. 

Sarah's quilt

Since I'd already made her a quilt, I thought that a throw pillow would be nice and decided that I would use the same orange flannel backing fabric from the quilt to make the pillow back. Well that was easy, but what about the front of the pillow? Again, Harry Potter to the rescue! I traced a Deathly Hallows symbol on a plain fabric background and embroidered it using a chain stitch. You'll notice a slight difference in the symbol - this is how Sarah always draws it, incorporated the lightning bolt through the centre of the design. Borders added around the outside, back completed, pillow form inserted and the pillow was done.

Pillow with Deathly Hallows symbol

But this was not quite enough yet. Sarah had drawn a small Dobby figure and partially completed the embroidery before grade 12 activities took over. I finished the embroidery and made it into a little softie. I enlarged the outline of the figure and cut the embroidered fabric and backing fabric to this shape. These pieces were stitched together, right sides together, leaving a small opening at the side to turn. I then turned it right side out and stuffed Dobby and then whipstitched the opening closed. I think he turned out very well and is now a companion to the Harry Potter softie that I had previously made for Sarah. 

Dobby front

Dobby back

Dobby nestled in a sleeping bag (sleeve from a sweater)

Things are looking a bit more homey in Sarah's room now.

I had to make sure that Dobby had his sock - he is a free elf, after all!

University Bound with a Quilt, of Course

Hi everyone:

There have been a lot of changes this summer in my household and suddenly it's much quieter around here. Why? My daughter has started university and is now cozily ensconced in her own private room - with private bathroom - at Campus Saint-Jean at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Although she isn't the noisiest one in our household (I think my son and I are tied in that respect), it is definitely quieter around here. It could be that with one child out of the house, the remaining one isn't able to carry on the sibling discussions that have been so popular in recent years. In any event, it was time for Sarah to take that big leap into adulthood and we reluctantly drove her up to Edmonton to settle into university life (yes, mea culpa: I did encourage her to accept that university's offer). 

I used the "Wordplay" panel for the centre of the quilt

When she graduated from high school at the end of June I decided to make her a quilt. Although I had grandiose ideas of what I would design for her, I realized that I probably wouldn't have that quilt made until she had graduated from university, so I opted to use a panel to make her quilt. It was a great idea as I actually finished the quilt in time for her graduation. Yay! I think it turned out quite well and I used an orange flannel for the backing as that is her favourite colour. 

A sample of the quilting on Sarah's quilt

When it came to the quilting, I really wanted to do something special, so I decided to free motion quilt a saying from Harry Potter (actually from one of the movies, for those purists out there) around the border as Sarah is a huge HP fan. 

I was pleased at how the words turned out

I wrote out the words in the appropriate scale and then traced then onto the quilt and machine quilted over them. I was pleased with the result - I didn't want the words to overwhelm the quilt, but to be rather in the background for the viewer to discover. 

"Always"

If you're wondering what I quilted, it is: "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light" Albus Dumbledore. I also stitched a Deathly Hallows symbol on the border.

Quilting details on the back of the quilt

While I was pleased at how this project turned out, I then realized that Sarah would probably need some other quilty items for her birthday and dorm room. More projects to think up and create! I'll tell you all about these projects in a future blogpost.

Charlie approved

Hi everyone:

Happy Civic Holiday to all my Canadian friends! Hope you enjoyed your long week-end and beautiful summer weather.

Now that I'm back from vacation I've been going through the photos we took and looking for quilt inspiration. 

Hootie enjoying a rest while in Orlando

I can't go anywhere without noticing designs or colours that I think would make great quilt designs. While this causes great annoyance for my children – not another quilt idea! – I find it adds an extra element to our vacations. Will I see something that inspires me? Surprisingly enough, the answer is always an emphatic "yes!"

Compass on the cobblestones in Hogsmeade
This was a spot that could be activated with the special wands you could purchase there

While driving in Orlando, I noticed these hexagon shapes on the side of some of the overpasses. Was the designer a quilter or just fascinated with geometric shapes? I think you know the answer!

Hexagons on an underpass in Orlando

Geometrics were also prevalent in the Morocco pavilion in Disney's Epcot Centre. Lots of intricate mosaics and beautiful colours. While I'm not really a fan of English paper piecing, I could certainly see lots of design possibilities for this technique in any of these photos.

Fountain in the Morocco pavilion at Epcot

Mosaic detail on fountain at Epcot

More mosaic detail around the fountain

I found lots of ideas for colour combinations, even at the Kennedy Space Centre. There was a Saturn 5 rocket suspended in one of the buildings and I thought that the combination of grey, aqua, white, red and a splash of yellow (never want too much yellow!) would be great in a modern quilt design.

Lots of colours around the Saturn 5 rocket at the Kennedy Space Centre

The colours in this photo in the Africa section of Disney's Animal Kingdom were so lush and brilliant; I loved the contrast of the yellow flowers on the tree with the blue sky and the cream of the adjacent building.

Would love one of these trees in my backyard!

Apart from the colours and shapes that I discovered on our trip, there were also some quilty, stitchy items such as the tape measure cat in the window in Hogsmeade in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, 

Tape measure cat in Hogsmeade shop
Sorry about the quality; I had to press my camera
against the window to avoid the glare

the vintage sewing machine (apparently even Wizards have to do some sewing from time to time), also in Hogsmeade, 

Tailor's shop in Hogsmeade

and the patchwork placemats in the Moroccan section of Disney's Epcot Centre.

Some of the textiles for sale in the Morocco pavilion

Have you noticed any quilt inspirations when you've been on vacation? Please share them in the comments below.

Welcome Summer Vacation

Hi everyone:

Have you noticed me missing? I've been on vacation and just getting back into the swing of things quilt-wise. After school finished at the end of June, my family and I set off on vacation to Orlando, Florida. I know, what were we thinking heading to hot, humid Orlando in the summer? 

Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom

Gardens outside the Japanese pavilion at Epcot Centre

We were thinking about Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, that's what we were thinking, especially about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the potential opening of their newest area, Diagon Alley. 

Heading into Universal Studios, Orlando

View of Hogwarts Castle on the Hogsmeade side of
the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

You see my daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan, having read all of the novels and watched all of the movies many, many times. What could be better after writing grade 12 diploma exams than to take a trip to the closest-you-can-come-to-Hogwarts? So off to Orlando we went!

Entrance to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride on the Hogsmeade side

While we were excited to visit Potterworld (as I call it), we also spent three days at Walt Disney World, visiting all the parks there. I also did a bit of shopping at Downtown Disney one day. We interspersed visits to the two parks (Universal and WDW) with a trip to Kennedy Space Centre and a day to visit a quilt shop and Cocoa Beach. All in all it was a very busy vacation with lots of walking. 

Entrance to Kennedy Space Centre

The real Atlantis space shuttle

The best part of the trip was that we were able to view Diagon Alley and take the Hogwarts Express (train) from Hogsmeade (the older area) to Diagon Alley (the new area) before the grand opening on July 8. 

We were fortunate enough to be at the right end of the park when Universal held their "soft opening" a few days before the official opening date. We were able to ride the Hogwarts Express and even visit the newest area, Diagon Alley, before the official opening date.

Hanging out with the conducer of the Hogwarts Express

Hogwarts Express pulling into Hogsmeade Station before
heading back to King's Cross Station in London (Diagon Alley)

This did not mean that we weren't there for the grand opening on July 8, of course. While we didn't arrive at the park before sunrise as some fans did, we did arrive early and waiting over 90 minutes just to be admitted to Diagon Alley. 

The dragon atop Gringott's Bank in Diagon Alley - lots of noise and heat!

It was definitely worth it and we marvelled at the attention to detail in every aspect of this part of the park. 

A glimpse at Hogwarts on the Hogsmeade side

We sampled butter beer (both the regular and frozen variety), watched some of the free shows and bought just a few things. It was worth standing in the 35 C weather (which actually felt like 43 C with the humidity) and the butter beer ice cream was certainly welcome. My daughter was thrilled and so pleased that our vacation coincided with the official opening - a date that wasn't released until long after we'd booked the trip. I'm sure she'll remember this trip for many years to come.

Entrance to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey in Hogsmeade

Some of the colourful candies in Honeyduke's in Hogsmeade

I did manage to fit in a quick visit to one quilt store, The Quilt Place, on the day we visited Cocoa Beach. I managed to pick up a few fabrics even though I was in the store for less than an hour. I could've spent longer in this lovely shop, but unfortunately time - and hot kids - didn't allow for a longer visit. 

Now that I'm back, I'm working on a new on-line video class for Curious.com, which I hope to be shooting in the next few weeks. If you haven't yet checked out my videos on Curious.com, please do so and let me know what you think of the platform. I'm very excited to be working with them and can hardly wait to show you the class videos. 

One more thing: even though I've been away, there have been new videos posting weekly to my Youtube channel. Become a subscriber and you'll be immediately notified when new videos are released. 

WIWOW - July 13, 2011

Hi everyone:

Here's what I was working on the past few days. Very preliminary in this photo and you'll have to wait a bit until it's completely together and I've photographed it. Or, if you're in the Calgary area, you'll be able to see this project at Country Creations quilt show this upcoming Saturday from 10:00 until 4:00, where I'll be promoting my upcoming Let's Get GO!-ing class. I'll be teaching this pattern at Bow Bench Retreat this October. I can tell you that it uses GO! dies and is super quick to construct. I'll have more photos of this pattern on future blog posts.

Also this week, in anticipation of the Calgary premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, my daughter, Sarah, has created an embroidery set consisting of Harry, He Who Must Not Be Named (Voldemort) and her own version of the Deathly Hallows symbol.

Harry Potter - notice the HP props - no
shortage of these in our household!

Not only did she create the designs, but she stitched up the samples too. I must admit that her hand embroidery is better than mine (but don't tell her that!). She was very diligent in finishing the samples so we could get these up for sale. You'll find the set at Chatterbox Quilts should you be a Harry Potter freak fan and embroiderer, such as Sarah. 

How was I involved in this pattern, you ask? Well, who do you think did all the pattern instructions? Sometimes I think it's easier to actually make the projects than to do the computer work, which always seems to take longer than it should. Or maybe I'm just a little slower than I should be at it :)

Off to finish up my sample so it'll be ready for the show on Saturday. If you're there and see me, be sure to say hello.