Toast to the bride. . .

The daughter of a very good friend of ours got married on Saturday - - - we've known her from before she was a twinkle in her daddy's eye!  Rebecca (Becky) was a beautiful bride, the wedding was lovely, and pretty much a perfect day all around! 

I made this French Braid quilt as a gift for Rebecca and her new husband . . . what I didn't know when I made it, was that the wedding colors were light teal blue and black . . . perfect!!! (Glide thread; Quilter's Dream 70/30 batting)



Wedding Quilt - French Braid



Wedding Quilt - close up of borders

Wedding Quilt - Feathers

Wedding Quilt

Wedding Colors - perfect!!!!

Fall is in the air in Alberta.  The temperature has been very close to freezing the last couple of nights . . . it happens every year!

PPP . . . .

PPP - if you don't know stands for Practice, Practice, Practice . . . it's just like driving a car, you need to just do it over, and over until it becomes effortless.  So, I pulled out this quilt top that I've been meaning to do something with for months and voila . . . (p)feathers!!!  (that's Claudia speak for feathers).  This was a very easy pattern to piece - it's really just jelly rolls strips cut into squares, then cut into quarters, and then sewn into squares again . . . easy peazy!!  I took Claudia's tips on quilting back-tracking (p)feathers, added a bit of ribbon candy in the sashing, and some penguins in the borders . . . Fil-tec Glide thread, Hobbs Wool batting . . .

Ribbon Candy and (p)feathers



ppp

ppp - hanging out!

ppp - close up

On Tuesday morning, I thought I'd take some photos of some of my flowers around the house . . . the sun was just right and made the flowers so beautiful!  Good thing . . . because Tuesday afternoon we had a freak storm - hail pounded my flowers to almost nothing, ruined the crop of oats and soaked the hay that was just about ready to bale . . . oh well, what can you do?  At least I have the pictures!!

 

I have two awesome wedding quilts on the go right now, but will have to save them til after the nuptials  ;)  Enjoy the last few weeks of summer . . . .

Out of the Darkness . . . . and the amazingly talented Claudia Pfeil!

My new customer, Pat, pieced this quilt over a period of years.  The pattern is called "Out of the Darkness" by Pam Bono.  I think Pat said it has over 4,000 pieces, and I'm not doubting that!  Pat did a great job of piecing, and after all that time with it, she just wanted it quilted so she was able to use it.  We chose to do an all over design in the centre, with some flowers/leaves in the borders . . .



Out of the Darkness




Out of the Darkness




Out of the Darkness - hanging out



As you can see, this is a very large quilt - it's going to have a very special place in Pat's home!














Last week I spent 4 days at Sparrow Studioz in Edmonton taking classes from the amazingly talented Claudia Pfeil.  Both her quilting and teaching styles are just what each of the students in the class was  looking for to help take our quilting to another level.  Her internationally award winning quilts are true works of art -  this is just a sampling of Claudia's work - if you'd like to see more, go to her website - www.claudiapfeil.de .  I met a great group of Long Armers . . . and made a few new friends - WIN-WIN!


Turnabout - Claudia Pfeil

Turnabout - Claudia Pfeil (close up)

Arabesque - Claudia Pfeil

Parrot's Island - Claudia Pfeil

Parrot's Island - Claudia Pfeil (close up)

Turtle Bay - Claudia Pfeil

Little Mermaid (I think I have the name right - not sure tho) - Claudia Pfeil

Back (!!!!) of Little Mermaid - and Claudia!

Claudia preparing to work her magic on a practice piece

Claudia's "autograph" in the infamous Sparrow Studioz bathroom!



 





I have seen Claudia's quilts "up close and personal" - and believe me when I say the pictures do not do them justice.  

A little birdie told me that Sparrow Studioz is expanding to the Calgary area!  That is so exciting for all quilters in southern Alberta - and particularly exciting for Long Armers like me.  When I get more details, I'll pass them along.