Category Archives: Ladies of the Sea

I am no sailor!

Posted in Hand-Quilting Techniques, Ladies of the Sea, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by

Although I spent 2 weeks last January on a sailboat, I do not consider myself a sailor!  Almost every afternoon, our Captain and his wife would quiz us about the parts of the sailboat.  We learned what the pulpit is, what the head is used for and what to do when someone yells “Grab the painter!”  So, I was pleasantly surprised when I actually remembered the parts of the sailboat as I stitched the first block of Sue Garman’s “Ladies of the Sea”.  For those of you who are not familiar with the basic parts of a sailboat, this should help!Sailboat Parts 4The sailboat on the first block is Canada’s own “Bluenose”, surrounded by a wreath of maple leaves.  (Makes me proud to be a Canadian!)  Although I prefer the starch and freezer paper method, I decided to do needleturn for the leaves.

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Once the wreath was finished, I added the crown.

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Now, on to the parts of the sailboat…the masts and boom are really skinny!

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So, here is the mast, mainsail, the boom and the jib…

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…and all the rest of the parts!  I have only marked the rope lines with a Frixion marker.  I am not sure if I will use 1 or two strands of embroidery floss to stitch them.  I will figure that out tomorrow!

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Til next time…

Kerry

The Sun is Shining!

Posted in Circle of Tulips, Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Quilting Tools, Ladies of the Sea, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by

The sun is shining, so I ran to get my camera so I could finally take a picture of “Circle of Tulips”.  I find the handquilting shows up really nicely in the bright sun!   The only time I hand-quilt is in the evening.  I like to sit down around 9 o’clock with a pot of tea and stitch the night away and contemplate life in general!   You can download the pattern for “Circle of Tulips” on my website.  It’s free!  You can also check out the new video for the second installment of “Peggy’s Puzzle”.

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Finally finished stitching the fruit bowl from Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”.  This could possibly be one of my favourite blocks!  One more block left!!DSCN4918

I used Ultra-Suede for the little frilly green things on the strawberries and blueberries.  Ultra-Suede is a life-saver for these tiny, tiny pieces.  I also love the little bit of texture that it gives.DSCN4919

I was going to wait til I completely finished the fruit bowl before I started Ladies of the Sea, but I couldn’t help myself.  Curiosity got the better of me.  I just wanted to see what the colours would look like against the background.  Dandy!

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Til next time…

Kerry

OK…where was I?

Posted in Civil War Bride Quilt, Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Applique Techniques, Ladies of the Sea, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by

Now that I have finished Civil War Bride, I have some spare time on my hands.  What will I do?  Will I work on finishing some neglected UFO’s or start something totally brand new?  Well…since I like to work on a number of projects at once, the answer is…both!  I am going to work on finishing up Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore” and I am going to start Sue Garman’s “Ladies of the Sea” tomorrow.  I have been wanting to start this quilt for a while now.  I showed the pattern to my son a couple of years ago and told him I would like to make it for him.  He said “Sweet”.  A couple of months ago, he actually asked me if I had started it yet.  I said I hadn’t.  Last week he asked me again if I had started it and I told him I was getting ready organizing my fabrics and I would start it soon.  He said  “Sweet.  Make sure you make it long enough to cover me”.
(He is 6′ 5″.)  I was torn between mortified and ecstatic.  Mortified because he wants to use the quilt.  Ecstatic because he wants to use the quilt!

I try to keep all of my unfinished projects organized in clear containers.  That way, when I am ready to pick up where I left off, I know exactly where everything is.  How is that for organized? This is “Friends of Baltimore”.  I have just 2 blocks left, then I can start the borders.  (Have you seen the borders? Yikes!)

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So, the fern block is finished, but still needed a bath.  You can read more about “Washing My Blocks”   here.

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While that block was soaking, I started the next block, the fruit bowl.  First, I traced the pattern on to my background with a Clover water soluble marker.  I used my light box to do all of my tracing.

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I started with the base of the bowl.  All I can think about is how nice it would be to go whale watching right about now!

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Next, I added some circles.

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Now I was ready to add some leaves.  I have been thinking about leaves lately.  Probably because we have been raking them up before the snow falls.  Leaves come in more colours than just shades of green.

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I have been keeping my eyes open for some really different leaf fabrics to add to my stash of applique fabrics.  Check these out!  I especially like the second one from the left and decided to use that one in this block.

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Here it is….DSCN4848

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Til next time…

Kerry