Quilts – Page 2 – Juanita Collins

May 27, 2015

Tyler’s Quilt: Indomitable Spirit

Warning – this post has lots of pictures!

I have a quilt finish to show off today! This is the quilt I recently made for my second-youngest nephew, Tyler.

A quilt is never finished until it has had its official photo shoot, and this quilt had two photography sessions! First, we took it on a beautiful nature walk to Margaret Falls. This was the perfect place to photograph this quilt.

Look at how the shapes in the landscape compliment the shapes in the quilt. It makes my little quilt-photographers heart sing!

The second photo shoot was just up the road. I really wanted to have the quilt photographed with horses (don’t ask me why, I really have no idea. Well…maybe because my nephew lives in Montana. And you know, Montana…horses…)

Sadly, the horses weren’t as interested in the quilt as I thought they should be. Actually, they were afraid of it. Big piece of fabric – boo, scary!

Happily, two girls came riding by and consented to help.
So I did get a shot of the quilt with a horse after all.

And of course who could resist this shot? Love, love, love the long view down the valley.

Every quilt has a story. Including this quilt. Keep reading, here it comes.

Tyler turned 18 last week and is graduating from high school this year.

While I am happy that I finished the quilt in time for his birthday and graduation, I actually was inspired to make him this quilt because I wanted to honour his accomplishments in in Taekwondo.

This young man has two black belts and is working on his third. I am so proud because I know how much focus and dedication and practice that goes into mastering a craft at any age.

Each of the coloured blocks represents one of the belts he had to master. The quilt is backed with simple white cotton to represent the outfit the practitioner wears.

I chose the wonky cross-hatch block for this quilt because the shapes of the lines reminded me of the shapes drawn in the air and the shapes that the body makes when doing martial arts.

…and also because it’s just a fun and funky pattern that is uber-suitable for a young man of 18.

I named the quilt Indomitable Spirit, which is one of the tenets in the Taekwondo code. I don’t think I could have chosen a better name.

Indomitable Spirit measures 50 x 74 inches and is hand quilted. I quilted it free-hand, without a frame and without marking. The first time I’ve ever done either.

My stitches are what I prefer to call “organic,” (meaning they’re uneven, being the first time I tried quilting that way). I like to try something new whenever I can, and I wanted to try free hand quilting. So it was a bit of a learning curve for me. Appropriate, too, since this quilt honours accomplishment, which requires taking a first step and giving it your best.

Nothing you accomplish in life comes without practice, right? Like a black belt. Like learning to hand quilt free-style.

Congratulations, Tyler – your spirit is truly indomitable.

Live long and prosper!

May 11, 2015May 11, 2015

Two more Because you Matter quilts!

Do you remember a while back when I told you about the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge? And that Because You Matter Quilts for Kids is this years Canadian recipient? It’s in this blog post here if you want to refresh your memory.

Well, the first quilts have arrived! It’s absolutely thrilling!!!

Thank you to Anita, who sent these two beautiful quilts:

Green frogs for a little boy (ribbit! ribbit!)…

And a pretty string quilt for a little girl. Hand tied!

And the back of this little quilt is so sweet, too!

Together, we can be the change that we want to see in the world!

Now! I`m off to pack up the camper. We`re traveling North to the Yukon for a few weeks to spend some time in our little Fox Lake cabin.

April 6, 2015

E is for Elephant

Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts recently hosted an elephant-along.

When I saw the pattern, I just had to make it.

I haven’t finished it yet. These pictures are of just the flimsy (the un-sandwiched, un-quilted top.)

My version is a bit bigger than hers, which makes it too big for a toddler. And I don’t know…the pattern is childish for an older kid or adult. So I don’t know who it will go to. Maybe I will keep it for myself, lol!

Maybe someday there will be grandchildren and we can all snuggle under it out on the porch swing on a cool spring morning. (If I build it, they will come, maybe?…it worked for Kevin Costner, after all!)

I think I’m going to embroider tails onto all the elephants.

Lorna has generously made her very sweet elephant quilt pattern available for anyone to make for free! The directions are on her website, here. And check out this linky party to see all the cute variations people have made.

I’m participating in the Blogging From A-Z challenge. One blog post for each letter of the alphabet, each day of April (except Sunday).

March 15, 2015

2015 Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge

Happy 5th anniversary to the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge! It’s being organized by Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. High Five, Sarah! It’s a lot of work to organize a challenge like this!

Quilters are invited to make a quilt and donate it to one of the charities listed on the Hands2Help website. (But don’t worry if you can’t afford to mail the quilt, you do have the option of donating to a local charity. There are no barriers put in your way if you want to participate.) The object of the challenge is to get quilts wrapped around the shoulders of those who need them.

Extra exciting is that this year, Because You Matter Quilts for Kids is the Canadian recipient! That’s me!! Canadian quilters who don’t want to mail their quilts across the border can mail them to me as an option (if they don’t know where to donate locally or want to contribute to Because you Matter specifically.) How cool is that? !!! Thank you so much, Sarah! I’ll also be posting the quilts I’m making as I go along. I have a special project in mind for Because you Matter this year and I’ll be telling you all about it soon.

Sarah has arranged lots of sponsors and lots of prizes, a linky party, free patterns if you need ideas and all kinds of fun for participants, so head on over to Hands2Help and sign up. Registration opens today!

January 19, 2015February 4, 2015

The Friendship Garden Quilt

Warning: this post is photo intensive!

Let me introduce you to The Friendship Garden Quilt!

It comes by its name honestly, because it started out life as a bee block!

I am part of a Flickr group quilting bee with 5 other ladies. We call ourselves We Bee Canadian. We each make 2 blocks for the month’s Queen Bee.

When it was my month to pick a block (a couple of years ago!), I asked everyone to please make me two bow tie blocks using garden-themed fabric.

Because we were all pretty much beginners, nobody’s 1/4″ seams were very good and the blocks didn’t square up very well. There were an awful lot of mismatched seams.

Then I had an idea!

I decided to cover some of the wonky seams with English paper pieced rosettes. Perfect! Before you knew it, I had hand-appliqued a flower in every single blank square, wonky or not!

Because a garden should be an absolute riot of colour, don’t you agree?

I used a bed sheet on the back. I think it would qualify as a vintage sheet. I remember having sheets like this on my bed in the 70s.

The quilt is hand quilted in circles.

I don’t think I’ll try to do hand quilting through a bed sheet again. I actually bent needles and had to use pliers to pull the needle through the layers. Ouch!

Mr. C. did a marvelous job behind the scenes, don’t you think?

I used black for the binding to set off the colours. Oh, how I love this quilt! It is so cheerful and bright and sunny! A bit of summer in the depths of winter.

I hope it will be as loved in its new home as it is in mine 🙂

These photos were taken at the sweet little Notch Hill Community Hall and Church on the only sunny day in January.

Linking up with the binding blitz at Julie Quilts and Lets Bee Social at SewFreshQuilts.

January 16, 2015January 16, 2015

Sam is in the Doghouse

My name is Samson J Collins and I did a Very Bad Thing.

Do you remember the beautiful twisted tea time quilt that my friend Gully’s mom Dee made for my mom a couple of years ago?

Well, I was snoozing in the sun the other day when I heard an awful sound! It came from my mom! It sounded like Arrrgghhh!! and then I heard her say, “Oh, Sam, what have you done?” I jumped right up and ran to investigate.

Oh. That.

Um…well… obviously I must have had something to do with that little incident. I wish I could remember! Maybe I was left unsupervised during a thunder storm? That quilt helped me get through a rough time!”

I am very sorry.

I know! I’ll make amends by helping my mom out in the sewing room!

Yesterday I held down the quilt sandwich so Mom could baste it.

Just when I thought I was done, my Mom laid out a second, larger top to baste that very same day! I had to recruit Misty to help. This was too much quilt for one little dog to hold down all by myself!