mystery and pinwheel quilts

In the fall of 1996, a group of us went to the St. Francis Xavier Quilt show. It was really inspiring, and they had great desserts! We met their core group of quilters, each of them had made a mystery quilt and they were on display. We thought this would be alot of fun! They mailed us the fabric requirements and then several sealed envelopes, each one containing one of about eight steps. There were four of us who got together at each others homes during the winter to reveal the next step. By the time we started we had completely forgotten what the original looked like and our completed quilts were a surprise!

As you can tell if you've been reading my blog, I was now quilting once a year at the club, quilting with a smaller group of neighbourhood women once or twice a year, quilting on my own, going to quilt shows and quilt stores, and enjoying a couple of really good quilt shows on TV. My kids were now in school, Taylor was in grade one and Carson in kindergarten. We were still living in our little bungalow so it all worked, and I was having alot of fun!

This Pinwheel quilt was a nice, simple pattern to quilt make. By now I had learned to do some free motion quilting, so I decided to machine stipple this lap size quilt. It was was also the first quilt that I made prairie points for, too (you fold a square of fabric into a triangle to make these). 

As you can tell from the label I did the stippling during a freak April blizzard that dropped a couple of feet of snow on Winnipeg. I remember walking down our main road, Osborne, literally down the middle of the street, there were no cars because it took a couple of days for the roads to be cleared. The front streets were finally plowed, but all of us parked in the backlane. Being housebound was fun for a few days but finally with no snowplow in sight all the neighbours shovelled out the backlane.

more quilt memories

A group of about eight of us each made a Christmas Village Tree Skirt in October of 1995. This quilt pattern was paper pieced, where you sew your fabric onto a paper foundation which has the pattern printed on it. Each of the trees, houses and the church were a separate paper piece. My father passed away in September of 1995 at the age of 65. He loved wearing plaid shirts so I used pieces of them in this quilt. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to quilt so soon after, but it actually helped with the grieving and the healing.

A close up detail of the church square, including a little metal bell. Though this was supposed to be a tree skirt, it was so much work, none of cut the slit in it to make it go around the tree!

This is a photo of my mom and dad in about 1953. Today would have been his 82nd birthday. He was a really fun dad and I still miss him. Happy birthday Dad.

Someone brought a book full of Amish quilts to one of our quilting events. I had never seen an Amish quilt before and was immediately fascinated by them. Being a graphic designer I was drawn to the simple, bold colours and patterns. The Amish use only solid colour fabrics, patterns are considered worldly. They use lefover fabrics from their clothing. If they run out of a certain colour hue a lighter or darker piece of fabric is used in its place, using up whatever they had on hand. Often there is a patch that is different or an intentional mistake, a reminder that only God is perfect.

For our fourth quilting weekend, in 1996, we made an Amish Nine-Patch. I knew when I was making mine that it would hang on the covered front porch of our "new" house, so I chose the colours to match the paint of the house. We moved from our 1925 bungalow, across the backlane, to our larger 1916 home the summer of 1997 and it was so much fun to hang it up. I had always wanted to have a quilt hanging on the outside of the house. 

the next three quilts

Hauling out all my quilts from their various storage spots and then photographing them and trying to remember all the years I made them has been quite a trip through memory lane.

At our third Quilt Weekend, in 1995, we made the Triple Irish Chain. For some strange reason I made a queen size again. This time I only had to pick out 2 colours which made it easier. I remember the orignial pieces were small so I made my strips wider, which turned out to be a really good thing. I machine quilted this whole quilt, including the free motion areas in each large which centre.

It seemed the more quilt weekends we had the more of us were getting hooked. Sometimes smaller groups of us got together at the club to work on quilts. The quilt below is one where 6 of us from the neighbourhood found a pattern called Cinderella. It is completely made from scrap fabric. The pattern was labelled as being Quick and Easy, neither of which was true, but we had a really great time. Each of us made some squares, which we shared, so each one of us took home basically the same quilt. This was the last quilt I hand quilted.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

choosing a name

About 17 years ago, we decided to plant an ornamental tree in the frontyard of our first house. We wanted something that had bright pink flowers and no messy fruit to clean up. We planted our first Muckle Plum tree there. We weren't disappointed, it was beautiful!  When we moved across the backlane to our current home we immediately planted two Muckle Plums. These photos are from this year.

Muckle Plum trees only grow 15' tall, which is great if you have a small space that needs some colour. They turn a bright orange in the fall.

Years ago I made crafts and sold them at the Riverview Christmas Craft Sale at our community club. This is the tag I designed (I drew this plum even though the trees don't have fruit). I just love the way Muckle Plum sounds so that's what I named my blog. Good thing I already had both of my kids or one of them might have gotten that name.

the next two quilts

The following year I eagerly signed up for the quilt weekend at the club! This time we were making a Log Cabin Quilt. I wisely chose to make only a twin size this time. I remember that Barry and I and Taylor and Carson all drove down to Winkler, Mb to the great quilt store they had there to buy the fabric. The choosing wasn't any easier this time. After machine piecing the top I hand quilted it together and it was on Carson's bed until he finally outgrew it a couple of years ago, he's 6'3" now.

The Log Cabin square is one of the oldest quilt designs. It has been found it quilts from the British Isles in the 1700's. The centre square is traditionally red, to represent the hearth (fireplace) or the heart of the home. The fabrics on one side are lighter representing the sunny side of the cabin and the darker fabrics the shady side.

The same year I felt brave enough to tackle a quilt on my own and made this heart quilt for Taylor. I found the pattern in Grand Forks while we were on a little family holiday. I used scraps from my first quilt and from Carson's quilt and added a few more from quilting friends.

The beginning

I had enjoyed sewing over the years, all except that hideous gingham apron that we made in Grade 7. I had even progressed to sewing Vogue patterns for myself. My mom bought me a sewing machine when I got married but after the kids were born it hadn't been used.

My fascination for quilting began in 1992, when my son Carson was a baby. A popular feeding time was 3am. In those days there were not alot of shows to choose from, mostly black and white old movies and Twilight Zone. But I soon discovered a great quilting show! I actually got to the point where I didn't mind those 3am times as much. Little did I know it then but I was getting hooked!

When Carson was about a year old I saw an ad in our local community newsletter for a Quilt Weekend at my neighbourhood Community Club. I signed up and that was the start of my obsession. The quilt pattern was called Trip Around the World and I needed to choose six co-ordinating fabrics. Honestly, that was the hardest part. I remember being in Fabricland for about 2 hours! There were about 25 women at the club on the Friday evening, I don't think I knew any of them then. We learned how to rotary cut all of our strips of fabric. It was tons of fun. (and Barry was looking after Taylor and Carson for two days!) Thanks Shelly for organizing this (she had a newborn at the time!

Attempting a queen size quilt for my first one was not the smartest idea. But, I did finish it and have enjoyed having it on our bed. The day I took this photo our cat Simon was enjoying it, too.

more turquoise things

I really do love the colour turquoise as you could see from my spring quilts. I realized after I posted it that I forgot to include the quilt I finally finished for our bed. I pieced it, but had someone machine quilt it for me. I named it Beach Glass, I didn't follow any pattern for this quilt, my quilting friends will tell you I never really follow the patterns anyway, I always need to change something!

I also wanted to show you my turquoise pottery collection. Non of the pieces are valuable, I try not to spend more than $20 per piece. There are pieces from the 1930's until today. When I'm on a holiday I try to get to a least one antique store and add a piece!

I have a very small collection of Vase Heads as well. I found the first one (the white one) in Moose Jaw 11 years ago. In perfect conditon they can cost $70-$120. But I just collect them because I like them so I only buy ones that are chipped and priced around $25. The turquoise lady on the left I bought this spring in Fargo. The blue one I bought in Winnipeg this winter. They are made in Japan and were produced in the 1930's and 40's.