wedding quilt

Another point I would like to follow this year is to try to carve out some time to make more things. It is only January but 2014 is shaping up to be an exciting year with a lot of really exciting shoots coming up! Making time to do some creative work for myself will give my mind some momentary refreshers during the really hectic times.

Jane shared this post on facebook over the holidays and everything Renate Hiller said about working with your hands really resonated with me. It lit a fire in me to finally make use of all the leftover fabric I used for bunting flags from our wedding 5 years ago. I remembered that this was one of the main reasons I wanted to learn how to make a quilt in the first place, so I could use up these flags!

This will be the biggest quilt I have ever made (big enough to actually cover 2 adults!). I am aiming to finish it by our 6th anniversary in September! Wish me luck!

(top photographs taken by Gabriel Li at our wedding in 2008)

a sewing success

Now that Eloise is starting to notice objects around her, she is starting to play with the soft blocks Juli and I made so long ago. It makes me a little proud!

And during Eloise's naps, I was finally able to finish her ombre cross quilt. I finished hand quilting and binding the quilt before she was born but it took me some time to put her label on. While we had her first name decided well before she was born, her middle name took us some time. Since she is half Chinese and half Korean, we wanted her middle name to be her Chinese/Korean name that would work in both languages. Both Jin's parents and my parents put their heads together and came up with something that sounded beautiful in Chinese and Korean.

For now, we do a lot of tummy time on the quilt! I'm excited to see how she'll use it in the future!

Baby Quilt Top: Finished!

When I was looking for inspiration for this quilt, two things came to mind. I have always loved the simplicity of Pia Wallen's Cross Blanket and I couldn't get this ombre sweater I saw on Erica's Pinterest out of my mind. I simply put the two together and came up with this! I like how the crosses almost disappear on one end of the quilt.

I mentioned how I love looking at the back of the quilt (the side that no one sees) and I love holding the quilt top up to the light and seeing the structure behind shining through. It reminds me of Korean Pojagi patchwork, something I really want to learn how to do one day.

The girls at the The Workroom helped me pick out the cutest fabric for the quilt back and I am hoping to baste it together in the next few days! I am thrilled with how it turned out and I look forward to sitting on the couch and hand quilting it together over the next little while! I will be thinking of our little girl with every stitch.

black, white and grey

It has been so nice around here lately because I actually had time to start on a baby quilt.

The last time I finished a quilt was almost 2 years ago!

It took me quite some time but I finished cutting all the pieces for my new quilt and I am excited to start sewing it together. I really enjoy every stage of quilting. It is slow, but quite relaxing.

Pansies for Pandora

Pandora's quilt is finally complete. I started it more than a year ago and I worked on it at an even pace. When it was finally done, I was really sad to see it go.

I was inspired by the Pansies I planted in our flower box when I made the pattern for the quilt top. I later found out that the name Pansies is derived from the French word "pensée" (to think) (correction! It means 'thought/mind'. thanks Danielle!), and the meaning of the flower is "you occupy my thoughts".

I was able to incorporate that into her quilt, her embroidery is what I was working on when I was sitting in the park. It is very true, I always think a lot about the person I am making a quilt for.

back to it

Lately, I have been able to set some time aside, and work on my second quilt. The last time I left it, I finished the quilt top, and basted all three layers together. From then till now, I have been working on hand quilting the yellow triangles, and I finally finished them! Now I am able to sit down for several hours at a time and hand quilt in straight lines to my hearts content! I can finish a row in one sitting, two if I am quick! With any luck, I can finish this by christmas.....but it looks like my schedule is starting to get busy again in October and on! We will have to see!

I still have to choose a fabric for the binding. I love this one so much, but I am afraid it would look terrible with my quilt, because I already have the purple version of that fabric in the quilt body.

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I forgot to mention this in my last post. Sandi posted about my little blog, in her lovely blog. I just wanted to say, merci Sandi!

Thank you for the lovely lot of comments on my previous post on correspondence! We should send more letters in the mail. I would love to see pictures of your pretty packaging you send to your lucky friends!

finished quilt top

Remember this post? Well, this is the progress I have made so far.

I drew what I wanted my quilt to look like on a grid, and I referred to it many times so that I would know which square to sew together next. It is my only copy, so I am glad my cats did not swipe it away before I finished the quilt top, or I would have to try to remember my design again, or make a new one.

I finished the quilt top last week. I already have the fabric for the quilt back, and Jin helped me baste it together.

It is hand quilting time! My favourite!

the next project

We planted a box of flowers on our front porch. Pansies. I love that it comes in so many different colours! I wish I was one of those people who could make a beautiful arrangement with various different types of plants in one planter, but the variety of colours in these pansies amaze me for now!

I am starting a quilt for my friend, and she requested a purple and yellow quilt. Definately not my most comfortable colour combination. But I looked to my colourful box of flowers for inspiration.

I keep changing my design, hopefully it will settle soon, and I can show it to you.

A little collection : Inspirations for patchwork

Gee's Bend Quilt Exhibition via elizabeth



2008 Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival via Karyn



Rie Elise Larson



"sugar" by Vanilla Bug via Joanna



Fun Makes Good via Design*Sponge



"tiles tiles tiles" by famapa

Gathering ideas for my future quilts to come.

Gee's Bend Quilt Exhibition blew me away with patchwork forms I have never come across before!

I love the prominent quilted stitches from the quilt in the 2008 Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival, and quilts by Rie Elise Larson

gathering inspirations from objects and art like "sugar", Fun Makes Good, and "tiles tiles tiles"!!

The Connor Quilt

After our wedding, I had a lot of red and blue scrap fabric, and I thought the best way to use them up would be to learn how to do some patchwork, and some quilting. So, I took the presto nine patch class at the workroom with Nav.

This was the first quilt I made outside of class, so I didn't spend any time on design. I wanted to try making one on my own, and seeing what problems I would run into. I saw Sharilyn's amazing quilt for her daughter, and I knew I wanted to try it. And, it was red and blue! I liked how she arranged her squares very much.

For my quilt, all the red and blue squares were recycled from our wedding. Nearly 4 months later, I finally finished it. All I have left to do is wash it, and give it to baby Connor, the son of the best man at our wedding.

I still have a lot of scraps left over, and that will be made into a quilt for Jin and I, and it will be our wedding quilt. But before I do that, I promised my friend Pandora a little quilt. I am already looking for inspirations on a design!

quilting by hand

I quickly decided to quilt by hand after I saw the destruction my little old sewing machine did to my quilt after machine quilting a good chunk of it. I took it all apart (it took me a day, and Jin thought I was crazy!), but after I showed him how much better hand quilting looked, I hope he thinks of me as less crazy.

I thought I would get bored of quilting by hand. But I enjoy it SO MUCH! I like to watch the colours of my thread change as I go along. I want to make another quilt, just so I can sit on my couch with Mea, and quilt some more. Thanks to my precious needle book from Anabela, my needles cannot be stolen by curious little Mea. It really is a life saver.

This Sunday is quilt sunday! I can't wait! I freed up my schedule, and I should be able to make it this time!

goodness at my doorstep

My package arrived today from etsy seller A Little Goodness. I bought some fabric for quilt binding on a baby quilt I have been working on for what seems like.....a very long time. But I am sincerely enjoying it so much!

My quilt is mostly white, with red and blue squares on it. I promise to show some photos of it. I chose this random dot fabric from A Little Goodness' store to bind my quilt. I couldn't find anything locally that I liked in red, and I was adamant for the binding to be in red. Toronto is so lacking in the polka-dot department for fabric. I am so glad she had this red polka-dot fabric in her store! I am eyeing some other things in her store, like the newest Sylish Dress Book! But I have not even made anything from the first book yet, so I think I should hold off!

I told my mom I was making a baby quilt, and when I told her it was for Jin's friend, she was shocked! I think she thought I was making it for me. But no, I will make a different quilt if/when that time comes. Ok, there has been too much baby talk lately coming out of me. I will stop now.

The baby's name is Conner, and I am thinking of a way to put his name on the quilt. Ideas?

The guests bring dessert

We are going to May and Gabe's place for dinner, and I am going to attempt another pie for dessert. Gabe told me yesterday that there is going to be some guest participation in preparing their dinner. I am very curious as to what that means!

I am attempting pear and cranberry pie, the first pie my brother and Catie brought for us from Wanda's Pie in the Sky.I ate it, and said "I want to make it!"

Have a great weekend!

(the pears are sitting on a baby quilt I am making for our friend. I can't decide whether I want to machine quilt it, or hand quilt it...I am leaning towards hand quilting. My sewing machine is getting old.)