Fellow Quilters,

Anyone who knows me also knows that I really like quilting – I like designing quilts, sewing quilts, and I especially like quilting them.  My heart sings when I am at my long arm machine.  I have not had much opportunity to quilt regularly this year – it’s challenging to fit a long arm machine in your luggage while travelling (LOL).  While helping my colleagues prepare for our Spring Quilt Market booth, I got to quilt 12 quilts designed by other Northcott pattern designers, and that was interesting, not to mention therapeutic!  I rarely quilt things that I have not designed.  Last week, I got the opportunity to finish a quilt top that has been waiting to be completed – it is the lap-size version of my Tiles & Lattice pattern, and it is a workshop sample for my upcoming class at my local shop, The Quilt Store in Newmarket (I am teaching it October 6 & 20).  The pattern uses the STRIP-R and No-Sew Circles from Stonehenge Gradations, so I had very few seams to quilt around.  Here are a couple of pictures of the quilting.  I wasn’t sure what to do in the open areas around the perimeter, so I used the melon shapes in the No-Sew Circles for inspiration.  The binding is made with the scraps from the No-Sew Circles that weren’t used in the sashing.  There was virtually no waste!

In addition to the Tiles & Lattice class, I am also doing several other workshops at The Quilt Store:

Borders & Bindings on August 24

Easy Lone Star on September 9

Fast & Fabulous Bargello on September 28

Creative Machine Quilting (free-motion) on October 1

If you’re in the area and are interested in taking any of these classes, please give The Quilt Store a call.  I am also presenting my Interesting Quilts trunk show at the guild in Bobcaygeon on September 13 and in Georgina on October 4.

I have been doing a lot of designing lately, using new Northcott collections, and that has really got my creative juices flowing.  Sometimes it takes time to get back into a groove or mindset.  I often get asked how I come up with so many designs, and the answer is that I design regularly – the more you do it, the easier it is.  That’s true for so many things, though, isn’t it?  The more you practice something, the better at it you become.  Designing quilts is no different.  It will be interesting to see how rusty I am when I jump on my snowboard in a few months.  Not having snowboarded at all last winter, I will be more than a bit apprehensive.  I hope to spend a lot of time on it this ski season, so maybe my skill level will increase.

One of the projects that I designed recently is a row for another Row-Along, happening in September.  Last year I participated in an EQ Row-along organized by Marian at Seams to be Sew.  The theme for Marian’s Row-along this year is The Road Home.  Each of the participants designed a row reminiscent of their home or the area where they call home.  I chose Toronto.  Designing my row was a learning experience for me, since my row includes some appliqué and that is not one of my areas of strength in EQ.  I am looking forward to making my row, and posting pictures of it on my day to post.  It is a vertical row, because Toronto has a very tall landmark.  Can you guess what it is?

Since I have been doing a lot of designing, it means that I also need to do a lot of pattern writing, so I had better get back to work.  I hope you can find some time for your passion this summer, whatever it may be.

Cheers,

Patti