Cuddle Quilts

I make many quilt tops and blocks that never become finished quilts. Rather than allow them to sit in the cupboard, I give them to the local Sudbury & District Quilting and Stitchery Guild for their Cuddle Quilt Committee.

My friend Deanna kindly sent me this photo of a Cuddle Quilt she completed using my donated Morning Glory blocks.

Morning Glory blocks by Janet Rice-Bredin,
quilt by Deanna Weiler

She also shared the following photos of her garden:

Purple Poppy

Purple German Bearded Iris

Orange Double Poppy

Last but best of all, 8 yr old Zoe who has taken to crawling under the kitchen table. What a beautiful girl :o) Thanks Deanna!

Two New Patterns!

Veggie Seed Packets and More Veggie Seed Packets are hot off the press! These are the two new quilt patterns I've created using a combination of Mark Lipinski's Oakdale and Elements fabric collections from Northcott Silk. I designed 4 veggie blocks, then decided I was missing too many other favorites, so I created a second quilt. All the blocks are interchangeable.

The first, of course, is Veggie Seed Packets. The Wall Quilts measure 21 1/4" x 25 1/4". I've also included instructions on how to make the blocks into individual Little Quilts, which measure 7" x 9".

Veggie Seed Packets Wall Quilt,
Mark Lipinski's Oakdale and Elements fabrics

Peas Little Quilt, done in fabrics from my stash

Tomato Little Quilt, Mark Lipinski's fabrics

The Veggie Little Quilts all fit Ackfeld's Watering Can Hanger

More Veggie Seed Packets Wall Quilt,
Mark Lipinski's Oakdale and Elements fabrics

Corn Little Quilt done in fabrics from my stash

Radish Little Quilt,

done in fabrics from my stash

I used Superior Threads Brytes threads to machine blanket stitch around the cream circles and topstitch around the veggie shapes. These threads are a 30 wt and show up beautifully on the fabric, plus the colours were perfect. That shopping trip at their warehouse in February was SUCH a good idea!

The patterns will be available next week for purchase. Please email me for distributor, wholesale and retail details.

Mark Lipinski is Distracting Me

I should be doing this:

But all I want to do is play with this:

This is Mark Lipinski's new fabric line called Oakdale (on the left) and his basics line called Elements (right). Mark designs for Northcott, which shipped the fabrics to me last week.

I've had a quilt pattern idea for over a year now, but hadn't been able to find the right fabrics to express it. I wanted something Country-ISH, but not Country-Cute (to which I am allergic). I also needed the correct scale of print, and complex colours that were fun and funky without being too crayon bright. When I saw Oakdale, I knew it would be perfect! And Mark's Elements line also fills the colour variety I needed for my new pattern.

Chickens!

Mark is an award-winning television talk show producer and programming executive who has taken the quilt world by storm with his magazine Mark Lipinski's Quilters Home, his no-holds barred blog, and his dynamic fabric collections. I've heard him speak, and he's a hoot!

So Mark, my strawberry garden calls out for me. And on a gorgeous sunny morning in June I am inside the studio, playing with you.

Lilac Lane Quilts

I visited Lilac Lane Quilts this weekend. This is a lovely quilt store in Alliston, Ontario. It was the perfect weekend to visit, as the lilacs in Alliston were in bloom and the fragrance was wonderful! Owner Liz Schueler has a large display of my quilts and patterns.

Tree Frog Peekaboo Bed and Wall Quilts, Hibiscus and Porcelain Wall Quilt, and the very popular Pansy Wall Quilt!

Small quilts, patterns, and kits

Lilac Lane Quilts carries all my patterns, as well as many kits. Liz's husband Carl quilted the Tree Frog quilts on their long-arm machine, and did a beautiful and very creative job. Carl also made a sample of my Sugar Maple Dance quilt, which hangs in the shop. I think his sample is nicer than mine!

Liz is planning on having me teach a class on Tree Frog Peekaboo sometime this year. She's working on kitting the patterns, and I'll post the class on my website when we settle on a date.

CreativFestival Spring 2009

CreativFestival is the largest retail craft show in Canada. I've visited as a customer in the past, but this spring I took the plunge and had my own booth.

My friends Sherri Hisey of Border Creek Station Pattern Company and Jean Boyd of Patterns by Jean Boyd occupied the booths on either side of mine. Our husbands were all there to help, as well as visiting with each other!

Sherri peeks during booth set-up day

My Botanical Art Quilts booth, view #1. My new Tree Frog Peekaboo quilt on the right was a big hit!

Botanical Art Quilts booth, view #2. I had patterns, kits, beads, and many other products related to my designs for sale.

An action shot of Jean Boyd in her booth. My daughter Sarah plays hookie from helping me to browse through Jean's beautiful memory quilt samples.

Sherri Hisey demo's her techniques to make her gorgeous designs.

Despite the economy, we all had an incredible opening day. The shoppers were lined up to start, and we didn't slow down until 5:30 pm. In fact I sold out of several items by noon!

The next two days were slower, but we still did well. All in all, it was a great success.

How to Photograph Quilts Outdoors

My new pattern, Tree Frog Peekaboo, is a single bed size quilt and matching wall quilt. I needed to photograph the bed quilt for the pattern cover, so my hon came up with this great idea!

Materials: 2 sheets of rough plywood (cost - $15.77 each)
- 1 cotton painter's drop cloth (available at hardware or paint supply stores)
- wood tacks to attach the drop cloth to the plywood
- deck screws to attach the plywood to the deck railing
- a deck (if you don't have one, ask your hon to build one for you or build it yourself)

Tip: photograph on a bright overcast day - avoid direct sun, hot spots and shadows.
Bring your dog with you so you can take a photo like this:

Lilac Lane Quilts Teaching Trip

I had the pleasure of giving my lecture Healing Stitches and teaching the Botanical Art Small Wall Quilts workshop for Lilac Lane Quilts of Alliston, Ontario this weekend. Liz and Carl Schueler were perfect hosts, and organized a wonderful event for their customers.

Liz had a busy table, selling the many items used to make
my quilt patterns.

Mary Margaret, who swore she didn't like applique, made a beautiful Pansy block. She then purchased my Sugar Maple Dance and Leaf Magic Little Quilt patterns. I think we have a convert!

Diane made the Asiatic Lily, Shirley made the Bearded Iris and Wendy made her own artistic interpretation of the Asiatic Lily. I met Wendy in 1998 when she took my Monet's Garden workshop at Quilt Canada in Vancouver. She did her own fabulous thing in that class, and obviously she hasn't changed a bit!

Wendy's block - what you can't see are the embellishments she has already added (beading and embroidery).

Our class had accomplished these blocks by the middle
of the afternoon.

The women were wonderful and the food was scrumptious (Liz you're awesome). Thanks to everyone who made this such a successful event!

Floral Celebrations Table Set

I just finished remaking my Floral Celebrations Table Set pattern in Northcott's new Tulip Time fabrics which are their Quest for a Cure 2008 collection. These fabrics are so beautiful, I couldn't resist! Ro Gregg is the fabric designer. I'm going to change the pattern cover to showcase this version. I'll be teaching the placemat pattern in my Take & Teach classes at the Portland International Quilt Market in less than 2 weeks. Northcott has generously donated all the fabrics for the kits.

Floral Celebrations Table Runner

Floral Celebrations Table Topper

This is the information Northcott has on their website about the Quest for a Cure program:

Commited in the Fight to Cure Breast Cancer

Northcott is donating a portion of the purchase price for every yard we sell of selected collections to Breast Cancer Research. Participating collections will be identified by the Quest for a Cure™ logo. This logo can be found on hang tags on the bolts supporting this cause in your local quilt shop.