Behold the Pomegranate

Some days when nothing else will calm my anxious mind, I know what I have to do... create something.

I have always loved pomegranates, the taste, the shape, the colour.  When travelling in Spain I visited Granada and they were everywhere, decorating every possible surface...



My only regret is that I did not purchase a small silver pomegranate pendant with red stone seeds at the Alhambra. One day I will go again :)

To construct this piece, I sewed strips of red together (like with the tomato), cut the shape free hand, decided on a fabric for the opening, cut 12 seeds and 12 bits of batting and several bias strips to finish edges. As I quilted I decided these bias strips were too fussy and small to properly outline the fruit, and my fingers were at risk trying to hold the bias in place so they went to decorate elsewhere.




The piece was appliqued on the long arm using the quilting to hold everything in place.  It was a interesting experience.  I will definitely do it again.

Here are some details...

There are tiny circles of batting under the seeds to make them pop up a bit...

I used Superior Threads for the quilting... 
variegated Fantastico and So Fine #30 for the dark purple blue stitching - worked like a charm !
http://cottonmillthreadworks.danemcoweb.com/

My pomegranate is to remind me of abundance and wealth.  Time was I viewed finances as a source of unending struggle and perpetual hardship.  However from the moment I started to create this, I had decided my lack state of mind was not serving me anymore and I was so very tired of it.

To abundance !  In all the forms it visits us...

Jessie's Afghan - Update ! ... what can I say I am on a roll...

Sketching for colour and quilting ideas... I hope to come up with a pattern that looks like crochet stitches

Decided to make the strips 2" finished, the block ends up 18" finished - I could have made the blocks smaller but that would be more work than I was looking for, instant gratification is the name of the game

So far, so good... unfortunately I am new to taking photos and getting the colours right is a bit of a challenge

And one more to conclude our slide show... honestly Falter is making me look like a crazy cat lady... how does he always know when I am taking pictures?

Scrappy Swiss Cross - Update !

Here are a few pictures of my Scrappy Swiss Cross sewn together, maybe not perfectly straight but you get the idea.  I have the thread, and the backing, now to decide on a quilting pattern.

Without a flash and with a cat... Falter

With a flash, shows colours more crisp?

Found a fabulous thread with Anita @ Cotton Mill Threadworks (see link at the bottom of this post)

Superior Threads - So Fine! - #717 - Outback

If you would like to check out all the delicious threads that Anita carries... cottonmillthreadworks.danemcoweb.com

Happy St. Patrick's Day !

Luckily my Scottish Mum has no idea how to use her iPad or the internet so I can safely post something St. Patrick's Day related !  And besides, my children have their Grandma McKenna (on their Dad's side) so I must celebrate for their sake too :)

Here is the result of an afternoon a couple of years ago playing with scraps of green fabric...

Honestly who can go into a Dollar Store in March (well February sometimes) and not want to pick up something festive and green to celebrate?  And any excuse to buy Guinness helps, though really I need no encouragement on that front.

And here are a few of the crocheted shamrocks I love to make... we can all use a little luck, in whatever form it may visit us.

Scrappy Swiss Cross

Sometimes the urge to play is overwhelming.  What starts as a let's see turns into piles of fabric everywhere as I seek, not of course knowing what I am looking for.

I have seen scrappy swiss cross quilts on Pinterest... I never thought I could become so addicted to pretty image after image after image.  After spending entirely too much time ogling other people's creations, I wanted to see what I could do.

I have a pile of 5" squares cut from scraps.  That was where I started but of course as these things go... what is immediately to hand is seldom enough so additional fabric fell to being cut into more 5" squares.  I played until I came up with two options.

The IKEA fabric as the background was OK but not stellar.

Then I found a bright yellow linen fabric that I knew was just the ticket, the golden yellow ticket if you will.

This is as far as I managed to get... I did pick the squares up off the floor in neat piles, safe from marauding cats, ready to be sewn together, soon.

One more thing to mention, I found that using a camera is an excellent way to see the composition of your quilt.  It somehow condenses the image and lets you see it as a whole.  Neat.

Jessie's Afghan

One project I have been mulling over for some time involves one of my Grandma Jessie's crocheted afghans. From what I know my Grandma was a creative woman who had little time to indulge in her endless ideas. She cooked, baked, gardened, crocheted, rescued furniture for refinishing, read, wrote and kept a list of her favourite quotes!  How silly of me to think I was the first and only woman in my family to follow these paths.

One part of Jessie's creativity extended to colouring with crayons and pencils to come up with combinations for her afghans.  I believe this afghan was one such project... brown, coral, green, aqua, lavender and yellow.  As long as it has been draped over a chair in my studio it has looked like a quilt waiting to happen !



It was a plan that was just that, a plan and so it waited...

Until the day I visited the Quilted Cardinal in Beamsville - www.thequiltedcardinal.ca

They have a lovely selection of solids and as I had brought my Grandma's afghan with me.  I was able to match the colours nearly perfectly.  Quite an accomplishment seeing as the colours my Grandma chose were probably from the 60s or 70s.

My next step... break out the crayons and pencils and start drafting the pattern :) Jessie style !

And because I have a passion for history along with quilting, here are two photos of my Grandma, Jessie Hay, with my Grandpa, Jim Denyer.

If I am learning anything about my Grandma it may be this...