Marilyn, Odette, and Lolah!

Marilyn came with Odette for a session with Lolah! She brought 2 baby quilts with her. 

The first one was a darling little girl quilt done in soft pastels using the Circle of Geese paper-piecing pattern. The borders and backing are a lovely Kaffe Fassett fabric which coordinates perfectly with the pastels. 

Odette worked her magic with Lolah and quilted the Cotton Candy panto using FilTec's Glide in Pink.

Marilyn was a little shy to try Lolah...

 

What a very pretty quilt. 

Marilyn's second quilt was a bit smaller... this time, she chose FilTec's Glide in Mango and the Cotton Candy panto which works really well on baby quilts. 

Odette started quilting...

then Marilyn gave it a go... 

 

Well done Marilyn!! Lolah isn't such a bad girl after all although she is intimidating at first.

 

Such a great team effort!

I absolutely love this little quilt!

The red backing is difficult to photograph! I believe this will be well received! It's just adorable.

You ladies rock... looking forward to your next session!! I always enjoy your visits!

A gentle reminder of our holiday hours: if in doubt, call first! 

Closed December 24th through 28th. Open Dec 29-30th. 

Closed Dec 31st and Jan 1st. Open Jan 2nd.

Merry Christmas and Happy Stitching!!

Lorette

Sale of Ornaments...

UPDATE!

It pleases me greatly to announce the closing of the ornament sale!

THEY ARE ALL SOLD!!

Thank you so very much to everyone who contributed to this successful challenge and sale!

The cheque is in the mail!! 

I'm sure the MS Society will be very happy to receive our donation.

Merry Christmas!

Toodles,

Lorette

Odette's Shirt Quilt!

Odette was commissioned to make this next quilt... one made with the shirts belonging to a recently deceased man for his widow. A friend collected the shirts, was shown how to salvage the fabric and the buttons. 

It took Odette a few months and 2450 pieces to create this one! I just love this... this is right up my alley... scrappy-looking and it comes with a story. Working on this type of quilt can be emotionally draining... however, since she didn't know the man who wore these shirts, Odette says there was no feeling of loss associated with the process. 

She chose Soft Touch batting by Fairfield and FilTec's Glide in Teaberry which is a soft plum color... after all, this is going to the widow... 

Look at these shirtings...

The pantograph is called Cotton Candy... something soft...

I love Odette's relaxed style... she is consistent in speed, no rushing. Lolah appreciates that! :)

A peek at the back before we flip it over...

This is a beauty! Something the widow will no doubt appreciate!

It's hard to photograph the whole quilt on the porch... here we had to resort to a clamp on the shelf for help. What a beautiful quilt!

Well done Odette. You and Lolah work well together.

Contrary to what you see on the tree beside Odette, recent sales of the Christmas ornaments leave us with only 5 more to sell... Please have a look and make your donation today... I would love to mail off that cheque to the MS Society before Christmas! Call or email me and I will set it aside for you or send it to you by post.

The barn is well on its way to being finished! A recent delivery of the wrong color of siding has now been rectified. Do you like our color choice? Wicker and Autumn Red!

The road leading to the barn has been a mud path due mainly to the weather. It's not been cold enough to freeze the ground and the recent torrential rains have turned the land into a soft, muddy mess. Heavy machinery like delivery trucks make it worse. Our road man has been busy upgrading the surface but he's also been hired to restore some country roads that were washed out by the heavy rains.

Christmas is fast approaching... our 4 children and their spouses and grandson start arriving tomorrow night. There will be some hustle and bustle around us again as we prepare to trim the tree, prepare the feast and enjoy the visit. 

Our holiday hours are as follows: if in doubt, call first! 

Closed December 24th through 28th. Open Dec 29-30th. 

Closed Dec 31st and Jan 1st. Open Jan 2nd.

2015 A Graceful Winter Block of the Month is now ready for pickup!

Happy Stitching!

Toodles!

Lorette

Hollie's threesome!

Christmas ORNAMENTS update....

Before I launch the next session of Lolah's friends, I want to tell everyone that there are still a few ornaments left to purchase... hurry... go have a look and make your donation today. You can call me to reserve yours or email me your request! I'll set it aside for you! PLEASE!!

On with the show...

I first met Hollie in the summer of 2013 at the Lupin Quilt Fair & Sale. I purchased 7 quilt tops and several were Hollie's. As the show was drawing to a close, I went to pick up my purchases; Hollie came up to me and introduced herself. I love her work, she's an expert piecer and she has a great sense of color. We seem to like the same fabrics/colors/scrappy look.

If you've been to the shop in the last few months, especially if there was someone on Lolah, you might have met Hollie. She is a local crafter who grew up in the area; she's very productive and sells her crafts at many local shows and at the craft shop in her village. 

Hollie is a dedicated hand quilter. I remember the first time she came to visit the shop and she looked at Lolah with skepticism. Not her thing! As she worked with those who came to quilt on Lolah, she became anxious to try her hand at it. Soon she was so excited to try Lolah that she even dreamed about what and how she would quilt.

She came armed with 3 lap-sized quilts... not shy at all about the process! Her first quilt is called: To Ryan; she chose wool batting and FilTec's Citron Yellow Glide Thread, a perfect green color thread that seems to glow in black lighting. 

We turned the overhead lights off, turned on Lolah's black light. She quilted this quilt in no time at all. 

Sweet... Hollie is looking for a black light for Ryan's room! How cool would that be for a little boy to sleep under a glowing blanket?

The backing is flannel.

This quilt was done by 10:30am.

What a lucky little boy!

Wasting no time, we loaded quilt no 2 and then the shop got busy. I don't have pictures of Hollie quilting on this one but we have the finish. 

Quilt no 2 is a gift for her mother-in-law for Christmas. This one also has a wool batt and it was quilted with FilTec's Mango Glide thread. 

Beautiful birds on this fabric... all free-motion quilting. Did I tell you that Hollie prefers free-motion to pantographs? She has tried her hand at the latter and she doesn't care for it. 

The backing for quilt no 2 is this gorgeous Christmas fabric... I spot a butterfly... the thread looks gold on the backing! Very good choice Hollie.

Her two quilts...

By the time she finished the second quilt, it was 11:30 am and lunch time. Customers were still in the shop and after they left, we loaded top no 3. This is a Santa panel to which she added a series of borders pulling fabrics from her extensive stash to coordinate with the colors in the panel... very clever. I recognize some, drool over others. 

Hollie brought this panel to the shop one day to find the right fabric for the outer border. This tree fabric was perfect. That day, I thought the panel looked familiar... I reached on one of the shelves under Lolah and took out my Santa panel... exactly the same! No wonder I like her fabrics! 

We turned out the lights again... wool batting made these quilts so soft... this time she used FilTec's Graphite Glide... the color name sounds grey but it looks blue on this quilt.

I took the following picture to record her start time... 

Hollie was anxious to try some ruler work... as a hand quilter with years of experience, she has developed a sense of how she will quilt the top she's working on. That is a big help when it comes to working on a longarm. Here she's quilting it the same as what she intended to do by hand. Only it took her less than 2 hrs instead of a week.

There was a lot of rolling back and forth to work around the quilt which is much easier to accomplish with a helper.

Hollie went looking in her stash and found this plaid for the backing. She's made it a point to use up some of her stash and made a pledge to refrain from purchasing ANY fabric in 2015!! Now I couldn't do that!! 

Well done Hollie! Three quilts completed each taking less than 2 hours. 

All the time she was quilting, she was dreaming of her next session... stay tuned for her second visit! Didn't I tell you she was productive? I wasn't joking!

Toodles,

Lorette

SALE of Christmas Ornaments

The Christmas Ornaments are now for sale. 

After much thought and consideration of where the money is going, we decided to price the ornaments at $10 each. 

Consider it your donation to the MS Society.... every little bit counts.

As the ornaments are sold, the page will be updated. 

Spruce It Up Quilt shop will MATCH your donations dollar for dollar! Make this a successful drive... purchase your ornament today!

Toodles,

Lorette

Betty returns...

Betty returned for another turn at Lolah. This time it's a beautiful batik collection and a snazzy chili pepper backing. Choosing the thread color was a cinch.  She chose King Tut #906 (Cotton) Autumn Days variegated which is a blend of oranges and greens and yellow.

I could stand there and admire those fabrics all day... what fun it is to work on such a collection of batiks!

This quilt is expertly pieced... and it lay flat and square.

Cotton Candy pantograph made for stress-less quilting.

She had this top quilted in no time at all. I love Betty's approach to Lolah: she works at a steady pace, no rushing, no sudden movements and Lolah loves that. 

Isn't this gorgeous? Betty donates to a hospice/palliative/long-term care facility. This one will surely keep someone warm and brighten his/her days.

I just love this backing... chili peppers!

Close up of the batiks... what gorgeous fabrics!

Can't wait to see what she brings next!

I'm trying hard to catch up with all those who have come to quilt on Lolah... bear with me... I'll get there! One is a secret so I must wait until after Christmas or after it is gifted before I can post. So we'll skip one for now...

Update on the barn... the metal roof is on... and not too soon either... I came home to snow after a few days spent Christmas shopping with my sisters. Fabulous time with family is always rejuvenating. These pictures were taken before the latest dusting.

Looking forward to heat in this building...

Toodles,

Lorette