Van Gogh's Starry Night

 Seven years ago I started cutting 1 1/2" squares from various Kona cotton fabrics to sew this pixelated version of Van Gogh's Starry Night painting.  The pattern is from Carolina Patchworks by Emily Cier.  The pattern diagram was divided into sections with 10 rows each and one section of 5 rows at the bottom.  I divided each section into four and worked on one section at a time using my Singer 15-88 treadle sewing machine.

I had intended to quilt this wall hanging myself, but at 70" x 55" and just thinking about quilting through all those seams, I finally approached Len Adams at Quilt Mason for some advice.  He has a computerized long arm machine and was very excited about quilting this.  I sent him a picture of the original painting and he used that to plan out the quilting, using Van Gogh's brush strokes, which really brought the quilt to life!  I was so happy with the results.  He did an amazing job.  It was very fun to have the quilt on display at a lovely little quilt show at the historic library theatre building in Aylmer, ON.

When I bought the pattern, I had no idea that it was so big!  The only wall in my house that works to display it, it is in my sewing room. I'm happy that it's finally hanging up!

 (click on the pictures for a larger view)

Beautiful quilting done by Len Adams

The Quilting from the back!

I had a few squares left to make up a matching label

Enjoying my view while sewing on my trusty Singer 15-88 treadle sewing machine.

Starry Night hanging in a show at the Aylmer, ON library Quilt show in September

 

Stretching....

I took a workshop with my small guild yesterday to do a collage project!  That stretched me somewhat!  Lots of fiddly cutting and messy scraps using steam a seam.  But, I'm happy with the cup and saucer that resulted.  I am going to do some stitching around the rim of the cup and saucer yet and then quilt it. It will likely be the only collage project I complete ☺.

Pas de Deux stitch along

 Last year, Rachel Hausser of Stitched in Colour, hosted a stitch along for a quilt she designed called "Pas de Deux".  I totally loved the colours she used and used similar colours from my stash for each section.  This quilt was a challenge and used many different techniques, from paper piecing, to piecing, to applique, y seams and inset seams.  It was amazing how the quilt came together at the end!  It was totally made from my scraps.  Here is the finished quilt with some closeup photos of the various sections. It was quilted by Chris Bogart.  Click on the photos to enlarge for a better view.

The finished quilt

I had a piece of an Anna Maria Horner print leftover from another quilt and pieced it for the backing.

 

Another Senior's quilt

Awhile ago, I found this wonderful panel at a quilt shop which had old hymns printed on it.  I started with this Amazing Grace panel and added colours around it from the panel.  The flying geese were from a pattern called Panel Pizzazz by Patti Carey and worked well for adding a fairly wide border.  This quilt is going to another senior from my Church.  I was happy to find all the fabrics I needed in my stash ☺.

The finished quilt.  The colours are a little off, but it was too snowy and cold to take pictures outside!

I loosely mimicked the pattern in the panel for quilting in the blank space.

I found a batik piece in my stash that matched the colour in the panel perfectly.

 

One Block Wonder Tulips

 I picked up this tulip fabric at a quilt shop quite a few years ago.  I really didn't need any fabric, but I walked by it a few times, then picked it up and carried it around and the rest is history.  I bought enough repeats to make a one block wonder.

 The shop also had beautiful fabrics to go with it and I picked up a lot of fat quarters just in case I might 'need' to make cubes to go into the quilt.

The cubes are definitely going into the quilt!

I tried various layouts, but nothing was really speaking to me.

I liked the clusters of cubes in it, but it wasn't large enough yet for a nice lap quilt.

After much rearranging, I was happy with the layout.

A closeup of the lovely quilting that my friend across the street, Chris Bogart does for me on her long arm machine.  It is bound with the original fabric and a piece is also incorporated into the backing.

 

Bonnie Hunter mystery top finished

 A friend of mine, Deb and I did the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, "Chilhowie" this year.  It really helped doing it together as we kept each other motivated.  Deb suggested that we get the tops done for our small guild meeting in February!  A lot of sewing, but great to have a deadline.  It was another great mystery and we both loved the way it turned out.

Here is Deb with her quilt top

My quilt top all finished!

The two tops together.  Now to get mine quilted.  I found backing which I need to piece yet and it will go to my long arm quilter.

 

I did most of the sewing on my trusty 15-88 Singer treadle from 1951

These little baskets which are available at dollarma are great for keeping the units organized.  Bonnie suggests clipping them together in sets of 10.

I also needed to test a FW so the 9 patches were sewn on that machine.

My baskets of fabric possibilities.

Jamie and Deniece's baby quilt

 My nephew and his wife came to visit us awhile ago and I had leftovers from another quilt from these jelly roll strips so I finished this baby quilt for them.

The print is like a Little Red Riding Hood theme

I quilted it with simple loops

I had enough yardage left to put together a backing and a binding

Disappearing 9 patch

 In October, my friend Els,  came for a two week visit from Holland.  We had a lot of fun in the sewing room and gallivanting to quilt shops in the area.  One day, Rachel of Stitched in Colour, posted the Disappearing 9 patch! I've done a lot of disappearing 9 patches cut straight, but had not seen the diagonally sliced method.  I showed it to Els and we decided to give it a try.  You know you have too much fabric when we had no trouble finding a huge stack of floral FQ's to easily make a lap quilt.  The quilt was very quick to cut and sew together and in no time, we had the top together.  A very fun project to do with the two of us.  

My neighbour across the street, Chris Bogart, quilted it for me on her long arm machine using a lovely butterfly motif and I used a stripe for the binding that went with the line of florals we used for the blocks.  The quilt turned out lovely and is heading for our local chemo unit through the Hearts and Hands Quilt guild I belong to.  Each person going through treatments for cancer in our local hospital gets to choose a quilt from the stack we make all year.

This really did make a happy quilt!

The lovely butterfly quilting.