Blogathon Canada Day!

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt-A-Longs by StaceyinStitches

Welcome Everyone from the Blogathon Canada Blog Hop!!

My name is Stacey, and I live in Beautiful British Columbia, Canada. I have been blogging here for just over a year now. I love to quilt, and Paper piecing stars and compasses are my favorite. I am a founding member of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild, and I love it! I am a self-described Hybrid Quilter, not fully traditional, not fully modern, but fully a quilter! I love to write patterns, and I work as an X-Ray Technologist to support my quilting addiction.

I hope you enjoy your visit.

I am so excited to share my newest quilt with everyone- Sherbert At The Beach!

Sherbert at the Beach

Sherbert at the Beach is my Michael Miller Cotton Couture Challenge quilt. I gets its name from a memory of the summer, when I took my little guy to the beach on a hot day. We had ice cream and it dripped all over the sand, too fast for us to catch it. It was a great day that I will always remember. When the challenge was announced at the August guild meeting the bright, citrus palette immediately brought the idea of bright fruity sherbert to mind and the memory of that day. Having only worked with Kona solids at that point, the Michael Miller Cotton Couture was a pleasant change for me. I like the texture and the weight of the fabric. It is almost a voile weight. Very light, easy to sew. I chose a Free Spirit Designer Solid in Sandstone as by background color to keep the colors popping without looking like a neon sign. I also used it for the backing and binding, and threw my extra blocks onto the back. WHAT?! A Pieced back you say! That’s right, I finally did it!

The quilt consists of 16 Disappearing Nine Patch blocks. Those were a lot of fun to make once I got over the fact that I was technically making each block twice. I chose random color placements and some I even cut off-center for some variety. Overall it worked out great and this quilt is probably the most truly modern thing I have ever made.

Quilting Detail

I chose an overall meandering square design for the quilting. I saw the design used by Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting some weeks ago, and I immediately thought if it when I was preparing to quilt. I free motion quilted mine however, and getting those points perfect takes some practice! Not all the lines are perfectly straight, which I think gives it a great organic feel. I used a YLI Coated Cotton Quilting thread in Rose for the top and Mettler Metrosene for the bobbin. The balance between the two threads was amazing and you cannot see the colored thread on the back.

YLI Coated Cotton Thread in Rose

I was very impressed with the thread. I was afraid that the weight combined with the coating would not go over well, but it is specially made for machine quilting, which definitely shows when you are quilting. I highly recommend trying some out!

Quilting Detail

Thank you everyone for for coming over for a visit! There will be lots of exciting things happening here at Stacey in Stitches over the next few months, so feel free to follow along!

As promised, here is the free pattern I promised you all! Some of you may recall the Quilted Clock I made for my FLiRTS swap partner. There was enough interest to turn that clock into a pattern. Enjoy!

Quilted CLock Pattern

Quilt CLock Templates

Happy Stitching,

Stacey

14Sep2013

August Recap

Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt-A-Longs, Tutorials and Patterns by StaceyinStitches

Well, it is well into September now, I guess its time to finish up with August =)

The last couple weeks have been busy around here, but not much sewing getting done. I have a few nifty things in the works that I cant wait to share with you, but you will have to be patient!

Monday night is the monthly Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild meeting. I am excited for this one, it is in our new venue at teh Trout Lake Community Center. For those of you who have been to or live around Vancouver, BC, its a lovely spot in East Vancouver with parks, playgrounds, and a big bright new center. This month we are having a brown bag tote swap. Members who want to participate make a tote bag, put it in a brown paper bag, and put it on the table. Then you randomly chose a bag. No partners, no worries, just make a bag and go!

I decided to use the Renegade Tote Bag Tutorial from Renegade Seamstress. I loved how simple it was to put together, but with the right fabric it really wows! Since we were on vacation, I took the opportunity to purchase some new fabrics from the local quilt shops, and I found this beautiful Amy Butler print that screamed “MAKE ME INTO A BAG!” So of course I had to. When fabric screams, you listen! Its the Gothic Rose print from her Belle Collection in Burgundy.

Belle Gothic Rose in Burgundy

It paired well with a chocolate canvas and webbing. I still opted for stabilizer even though I was using the canvas, and I am happy with the results. The bag holds itself together well.

Belle Bag

At this point in our vacation my camera was almost dead, but I did get some lovely pictures on the patio at my parents house. I love this bag so much that I am making a second one. I have just enough fabric left over. The pattern is quite generous.

Belle Bag

The lining is a bright pink blender that I pulled off a sale rack. I think it is Disco Dots but I cannot remember for sure.

I also FINALLY finished my best friends wedding present. She got married in February and to my regret I was unable to attend. Her photos were amazing and the venue was breathtaking, and so inspiring, that I made her a photo album wall hanging.

Photo Album Wallhanging

I Love all her photographs. the contrast beween the whites and the blues and greys, I loved every minute of making this quilt.

I also managed to finish up some more City Sampler blocks. They haven’t seen the hot side of an iron yet, but they are done! You can find them in the Tula PInk City Sampler QAL Album.

Keep your eyes peeled in mid-October for a little something fun!

Happy Stitching!

Stacey

5Aug2013

Tula Pink City Sampler Quilt-A-Long

Posted in Quilt-A-Longs by StaceyinStitches

Last month I decided to join the Tula PInk City Sampler QAL hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.

I ordered my book and have been slowly collection various Tula prints. I decided to sew every block by hand. Why am I so crazy you ask? Its mostly because I have been sew busy working for other people that I haven’t had much time to work on any projects for myself. I had all my beautiful fabric just sitting there and the book calling my name, I could not wait to get started. Now that I have, I am so glad I chose this route. The blocks finish 6 1/2″ square, and I have a lot of commute time and lunch breaks that I can use to sew. Its like meditation for me, the needle weaving its way in and out of the fabric, keeping hte tension just right, and watching the block come together.

I have almost caught up, I am currently working on Block 19. I hope to catch up in time to link up for August.

I will be posting all my blocks in their own gallery. Check back often to watch the progress =)

Blocks 1-5

Round two!

4Feb2013

Starburst QAL Week 4

Posted in Other, Quilt-A-Longs, Starburst QAL by StaceyinStitches

Today marks the first day of week 4 of the Starburst Quilt-a-long, which is block construction. I am totally in love with my blocks! I was unsure at first about the first one put together, but after. 30000000000000000000000000000000000000

ha ha ha, Harry helped me with that. He is just tall enough to reach the keyboard. He hits the keys and runs (crawls) away.

As I wa saying, after I got them all together and laid out, I love the look and how they flow together. I have 2 high impact blocks and 2 low impact blocks, which balance out nicely. Even better is there is one in each colorway, Heartbreaker and Dreammaker! I love accidental symmetry!

I did work ahead on the next week because I am going to need more time for the final stretch of quilting and binding. I am very excited to finish this one off!

I also got my star blocks done for Linda in the Star Block Bee. She asked for 3 12″ blocks. I hope she likes them =)

Now I am off on a grand adventure to the parents house, so I will see you all in a week!

Stacey

22Jan2013

Starburst QAL Week 2

Posted in Quilt-A-Longs, Starburst QAL, Works In Progress by StaceyinStitches

QAL Update! Week two was making the Goose in the Corner and the Half Square Triangles. A nice easy week, I actually managed to finish early. OKay, okay, I have a couple more HST to square off. But I am super happy with my background choice. The Pure Elements is super nice to work with and it feeds through beautifully. Its also making the colors pop. I can’t wait to get onto the next step. I might even try to work ahead!

QAL week 2- Finished!

19Jan2013

Starburst QAL -Week One Finished

Posted in Quilt-A-Longs, Starburst QAL by StaceyinStitches

Just a quick update =)

I finished week one of the Happy Quilting Starburst QAL. Week one was cutting out all the fabrics. Once I finally decided which prints out of my bundle to use. I decided that i didn’t want to make a full size quilt. I figured out the cutting for making a wall hanging instead. my blocks will be 16″ finished instead of 24″. I almost went smaller, to 8″ but then you would lose the overall feel from the larger prints. So 16″ it is. It will be 38″x38″ when I am done.

This is the first quilt I am doing in all Art Gallery Fabrics. I found a great sale at The Quilted Castle. I love the fact they have an Owl on their logo. They had 6 yards of Art Gallery Pure Elements in Caviar for $6.99/yard. So of course I bought it all. I really wanted the weights to be similar, because the AGF are so light and have a very specific feel to them. The Pure Elements are beautiful and the color is very saturated and glossy, not flat, so I really like it. The black background will really make the fabrics pop.

I ended up with 2 stars in each colorway of Rock N Romance, HeartBreaker and DreamMaker. I have a hard time choosing a favorite, but I think the most striking is the bottom left grouping.

I did my grouping like Melissa did, organized by light, medium and dark tone. The dark will be the inner star, the medium the star surround, and the lights will be the burst points. Simple. Fun.

All my fabrics are cut out, in a bag, and waiting for step two. I thought about moving ahead, but I am going to try and take it easy and keep pace with the QAL posts, which are up every Monday.

Also, there are some exciting happenings coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled! There is definitely some fabric in it for you *wink*

Until then,

Happy Quilting!

12Jan2013

Starburst Quilt-A-Long from Happy Quilting

Posted in Quilt-A-Longs, Starburst QAL by StaceyinStitches

Many of you know by now that there is nothing I like better than a Quilt-A-Long. Except Maybe another QAL!! This next QAL is from Melissa over at Happy Quilting. We will be making her Starburst original design in any of the three sizes. So head on over and nab all the details on the Happy Quilting: Starburst Quilt-A-Long!

Starburst Pattern from Melissa of Happy Quilting

I have a fat quarter bundle of Pat Bravo’s Rock N’ Romance from Intrepid Thread just waiting for me to cut into it. I purchased it a few months ago specifically for the Starburst quilt and got so busy I never had time to start it. I am still looking for the perfect background. I want to use the AGF Pure Elements, but it is proving hard to find and delivery can take up to three whole weeks! I may cave and either drive 45 minutes to the Fabricana in Richmond and hope they have a similar weight solid, or 45 min to the Point Roberts Border crossing to my mailbox and have it delivered there. Decisions Decisions.

On a very exciting note, one of my very good friends is getting married this year and she asked me to be a bridesmaid. The wedding is in…..MEXICO!!! Woot woot!! Its not like I need an excuse to go someplace warm and sunny during the cold winter months here in Canada, but now its a for sure instead of “oh, if I find time/not working/place to stay…..” Of course the little Moo Man will be coming with me, I thought about letting him stay with his Grandparents but I might miss him too much! On the other hand an unattached week might be nice and he will be old enough for a long stay….we will see.

Until next time,

Happy Quilting!

15Oct2012

Phew, what a week! Lots to share!

Posted in Cathedral Window QAL, Other, Quilt-A-Longs, Tutorials and Patterns, Works In Progress by StaceyinStitches

Hello everyone! It has been a very busy week here, so I haven’t had time to do much blogging. I say week but in reality the last 15 days have been go go go!Between play-dates and appointments and pick ups and drop off I have had time to finish up all my 3×6 bee blocks and get them in the mail, catch up on my Modern Mystery Quilt, keep up with the Cathedral Window QAL, and make/hunt down some props for my little man’s 6 month photo session today. Throw in some grocery shopping and a sudden change in the weather read: from Indian Summer to torrential rain overnight and voila! Lots of excuses not to vacuum….. =)

I realize that this is the west coast, and normally by the start of October the rain has moved in, but it was so beautiful for so long. Thanksgiving weekend was so warm people were still out in shorts. We were going to go to the Pumpkin Patch and have ourselves a grand old time yesterday, but record rainfall coupled with a rainfall warning quashed that faster than you can say “eh?” I did get to try Harry’s snowsuit. I don’t think it fits quite right yet……but it sure is warm!

Do I look impressed?

Can you tell I don’t like the rain? I’m from Northern Alberta. It may be -40, but at least the sun is shining and your not soaked! Anywho….onwards!

It seems lately that everything I make heads out the door. I feel like I have been sewing like a madwoman but have nothing to show at the guild meeting tonight.

Here, this is my stack of finished blocks that need more to complete whatever I was going to do with them, 1/2 of the checkerboard for a show quilt, and all the pieces to a mystery quilt that I can’t for the life of me figure out how the end result will look….*chirp chirp*

However, I do have a cute little project that I whipped up last night as a photo prop that I can take with me. If Harry is going to be a dragon for Halloween, he needs a Princess to kidnap (and probably try to eat).

She looks so happy, just wait until the dragon starts gumming her head =)

The dress fabric is my favorite colorway from Treasures of the East by Hoffman. The teal/aqua colorway was the challenge fabric in 2010. I also picked some up in the fuchsia and sunset colorways. I can’t seem to find them anymore, so If anyone comes across either colorway, please let me know! Poppins Quilt Parlour in Penticton, BC still has the challenge fabric for anyone looking to nab some. They do phone orders!

I drew her face on with Sharpie markers. I think she looks suitably princessy!

You can find the pattern here as well as the tutorial. I just winged it with mine.

I was also doing some pinning while watching TV the other night. This is why you don’t leave your pin box where the cat can get to it!

Luckily I found them all (magnets are wonderful wonderful wonderful!) and I have yet to be stuck with a pin! It did inspire a pincushion design however, but more on that to come!

Tomorrow I will be posting my Scrappy Star block pattern, no tutorial yet though, so please be patient with me! I start a temporary job as a nanny for my friend who just welcomes their little boy yesterday morning. I have all the fabrics for her new baby quilt, I just need to get to it!
Happy Quilting!

9Oct2012

Cathedral Window QAL- Blocks 2/3

Posted in Cathedral Window QAL, Quilt-A-Longs by StaceyinStitches

Here are block 2 and block 3 of the Cathedral Window Quilt A Long. This is turning out to be a very fun project, and so far the construction has not been overly taxing. Cathedral Windows are by nature time and fabric consuming because of the pressing and folding involved. You can follow along or join, there are still 6 tutorials left. All you have to do is join the Flickr Group.

Block 2 from My Crafty Crap

Block 3 from Made With Moxie

As I was taking these pictures my husband came over and mentioned how my block reminds him of the Pittsburgh Steelers logo. *sigh* Now that is all I can see when I look at it. I still really like the technique though, and I will be utilizing it in a few different projects . I am still on the lookout for more of that spring green print as well. It is Robert Kaufman Fusions 10 (5574). The only place that has any stock is Fortunes and Fairies in Richmond, NSW, Australia. I ordered 5 meters of Fusions 10 in various colors from them two years ago. It was a real eye opener to fabric costs. In Canada we pay about 30% more for fabric than our neighbors south of the border. In Australia they pay DOUBLE what we do. It was $23.00/meter, plus the international shipping. I still have most of it, but this particular color is no where to be found now! I wrote to Robert Kaufman, so hopefully they will put this blender back in production.

Until next time, Happy Quilting!

2Oct2012

Cathedral Window QAL

Posted in Cathedral Window QAL, Quilt-A-Longs, Works In Progress by StaceyinStitches

Yesterday marked day one of the Cathedral Window Quilt A Long Blog Hop! Sara of Sew Sweetness gave us our first tutorial, the Layered Cathedral Window, and I love how her block turned out! I have decided to use a consistent color scheme throughout the QAL. I am going to be using Limes, Aquas, Teals and Yellows. There are 9 blocks in this QAL, so I hope I have enough fabric! Ha ha ha, like that’s really a problem for me…

Here is my finished block! I ended up ripping 2 portions apart and placing the fabrics in a different order, but I am so happy with the result. There is some definite movement in this block! I love the lime green! It is an almost impossible to find Robert Kaufman Blender. I ordered it from Australia 2 years ago (the only place I could find it) for $20/meter! But I love it so much! I will use it in all my blocks, though maybe I should have picked a different color, Cathedral Windows do use up a lot of fabrics! There are 5 layers to sew through on each side of this block. I pressed my seams open using my heaviest iron, lowering my board, applying a TON of pressure, and STEAM. The result is a nice flat block with no seam bubbles! Hurray!

A huge thank you goes out to Bree at My Crafty Crap for hosting this QAL, and to all the sponsors for the wonderful prizes! You can find the QAL rules, blog roll, and prizes there.

I can’t wait for the next block!

Happy Sewing!