Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Quilting Again

In early June I was focused on the garden so I didn’t quilt or blog much.  Hurting my back while focusing on the garden stole the last couple of weeks of the month.  This weekend I finally felt like my usual self again but steered clear of gardening and visited the sewing machine instead.
Since Canada Day was on Sunday it seemed appropriate to work on my “Canada Quilt”.  I hope I’ll find a better name for it eventually but in the meantime I finally gave it borders.
IMG_6154
Most of the fabric is “Greetings from Canada” by Thimbleberries.  The log cabin block centers were fussy cut from a print of postcards from various landmarks, one for each province.  The lighthouse and sailing ship represent Canada’s coasts, there are a delectable mountains block for the Rockies, wheat blocks for the Prairies, pine trees for the forests, and I’m saying the flying geese borders are Canada geese.  Of course I needed maple leaf blocks in there as well!
The strip to the right of the quilt top will go on the back. I don’t have quite enough of the backing fabric I bought last summer.  It is just long enough, but not wide enough, so I will cut it lengthwise and insert this pieced strip to make the backing wide enough.

IMG_6152This is the backing fabric.  The flowers are the provincial flowers of Canada’s 10 provinces and 3 territories.
Now I need to take a deep breath and try to make a straight 68 inch long cut!  I’m procrastinating, even making my binding first.I usually never get around to making the binding until I’m ready to put it on.
Once I do that, this quilt will go back into its bin to wait its turn for hand quilting.  Whimsy is only about one third quilted, and it is just too hot here these days to want to sit under a mass of quilt to move it along.  I’m guessing that I’ll start quilting the Canada Quilt next winter sometime.

10 comments:

  1. That is so beautiful! I love your fabric choices and it has such wonderful meaning. You did a great job! I get cold when the air conditioning is on, so even in the heat of summer I like the warmth of sitting under a quilt while I stitch it. I'm weird that way! it will be gorgeous when it is finished. Enjoy working on it.

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  2. What a lovely quilt! It has many elements to depict the special parts of Canada. And your backing is going to be great too. I've never done a fancy pieced back like that with blocks in it, but I love them. I'm usually in too much of a hurry to make extra blocks.

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  3. You've done a great job piecing all those different blocks together! I love that each one represents special places or things in Canada, and I'd recognize those Canadian geese anywhere! *wink* It already is a beautiful quilt, and will be a treasure when completed. ---"Love"

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  4. Perfect quilt to represent Canada.

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  5. I agree with Karen...this is a treasure!

    :) Carolyn

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  6. I believe the last time we saw that quilt it was in larger pieces, but not all together. It's wonderful and I love how all the blocks represent Canada in one way or another. (Oh wait, Love said almost exactly that! Still true, though.) And I'm glad to hear you're feeling better again.

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  7. I hope your back is feeling better. This is a marvellous quilt and that is lovely backing fabric. ann :-)

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  8. Well done! You really put alot of thought and creativity into that quilt and it really shines through! A tip: Instead of trying to make a straight 68 inch long cut, just tear the fabric. Make a cut in the center, tear down, then wash both pieces again to straighten the grain and then trim the torn sides even.

    Liri

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  9. It is good to see another Canuck quilter. I love the provincial flower fabric you used for the backing. What is it called? I would love to get some.
    Here's hoping it's not out of stock or date or just plain out, eh?
    Thanks for the inspiration.
    Lynda

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    1. The fabric is from Thimbleberries' "Greetings from Canada" collection. I think it is two or 3 years old but my mom was able to find more for me last winter. I hope you can find some! Thanks for dropping by :)

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