Cardmaking - small slim cards featuring focal elements from used cards

I made up some slim cards as an experiment and they turned into Father's Day cards and a birthday card!!  I cut the cardstock from 8.5" x 11 cutting two strips about 3 3/8" wide and 11" long.  I used the scrap that was left over to add pieces to the bottom of the fronts to make them the right size.  I used regular tape on the front to keep them in place.  The tape will be covered by the decorative paper.  I added decorative paper to each of them  - had to piece together the one for the flower card.  I added little fishing images from another card on the three cards and added a greeting as well.  I added a strip of rose cardstock to the pink one to which I had added a bit of white seam binding folded over and secure with a flower and brad.  This element was positioned below the focal element to finish off the card.  

I was really glad to find a way to make slim cards with 8.5" x 11" cardstock!!

Therese

 

Cardmaking - a dryer sheet flower with a brad and sequin over an arty background

A card for someone special on one of their special days!!!  I made a dryer sheet flower and painted it blue and yellow.  I embossed a strip of vellum which I embossed with a plaid embossing folder.  I mounted the flower with the gold brad and then found some green yarn to make the stem and leaves.  I pierced the vellum with a needled about every half inch along a very lightly drawn  pencil line on the back and then used a piece of green embroidery thread to couch the yarn to the vellum.  I used the remainder of the yarn to make a leave on each side and a bit of greenery on the bottom also stitched in place.  I like it!!!  I found a green and blue decorative paper which I cut and then tore in two pieces.  I adhered them to my yellow card after adding paper piercing all the way around the outside edges of the two pieces.  I used double sided tape to secure the vellum to the front of my card which is discreetly hidden by the flower and leaves.    Therese

 

Sewing - a set of three little chicken pin cushions

 I worked on these little chicken pincushions this week.  I found some quilt squares which I have acquired over time and chose several to make these cute little chicken pin cushions.  They are constructed from two squares of fabric with some flannel (batting) which I stitched to them following the stitching lines on the squares.  I did peruse several places on line to find instructions and settled for ones with beaks, tails and combs.  The bottom is stitched with an opening for stuffing later, the front is where the beak goes (prairie point), the comb goes on the top and the tail (larger prairie point) in inserted in the back.  You stitch starting with the bottom, then the front and the top.  Then you line up the side seams, insert the tail and stitch this last side. It creates a very cute little triangle shape.  I stuffed them with my "stuffing" and it worked really well.  I did add about an 1/8th of a cup of rice at the bottom before hand stitching the opening closed which gives them a bit of weight.  They sit very nicely - about 3" tall!!!  I stitched on two black beads for the eyes which worked perfectly!!!   A fun experiment which I will likely try again with squares of my own creation next time!!  Therese

Stuffing created using lofty fabrics which I trimmed out for cardholders

 I acquired several pieces of fabric while checking out our Trash to Treasure event.  Items you no longer want but are still useable are set out near your front walk with FREE sign and people can come around and see if there is anything there they want to take home.  We put out a variety of items and all were rehomed.  We had put out 3 toilets but because they are ceramic which if broken would present a danger to workers were not allowed to be picked up by the city after the event so those were brought to the landfill the following week.  I used two little pieces of fabric I picked up and washed to make batting for my card holders!!  I cut up the scraps into bits to use as stuffing!!   No waste!!  Therese

Quilting - four blocks for a memorial quilt for my Mom

I made these quilt blocks a while back and had set them aside so I could hand stitch the little yellow hearts to the houses.  I finally got to that task today!!  It was suggested at a get together last year at my sister's house that we should make a memorial quilt in memory of our Mom.  There were several suggestions and ideas were presented by several of us (I am one of six girls) and it was finally left with these parameters - blue, yellow and white and any quilt block would be fine and that anyone who wanted to do hand stitching could.  It was revived by one of my other sisters recently as we are having a family reunion in July this summer and we have invited everyone who wants to make a square to contribute to the quilt.  Several of my sisters are experienced quilters and several of us seriously dabble and quite often are less than traditional with our approach.  In the extended family the same situation exists - some more serious than the others.  So we are hoping that many will take on the task of remembering our Mom in the making of a quilt square.  These are the four that I made.  My flying geese instructions make four flying geese at a time so I made four of them.   They become the blue sky and white roofs of my houses.  I added yellow and blue strips in a log cabin (generally - but not precisely) manner around the houses until they were 11" square.  Our Mom was the heart of our home and the most important square in the log cabin block is the central block - the heart and hearth!!!!  The blue swirl fabric came from one of my Mom's blouses which I acquired when she passed away.  I am so looking forward to seeing what my family members will be making for squares for this quilt.  One of my sisters provided the quilt block information to be passed on to all of the family through email.  She will be collecting the blocks at our reunion in July and then putting them together into a quilt top and then finishing it.  It will be returned to our next reunion as a silent auction prize.  

Therese

 

Art Date - Dying fabric with paint with my sister

 My sister, Sylvia, was here for a few days and we played with dying fabrics with paint.  We tried a variety of different mediums and techniques which all worked out well.  We washed our fabrics and found that several did lose colour while others did not at all.  It seems more connected to the fabric we used rather than the paints.  We used a variety of white cotton fabrics.  It was a very fun experience and Sylvia is looking forward to using some of these for hand stitching for handmade cards and as background for artwork for shows.  Therese

Cardmaking - embossed pearl backgrounds with butterflies and greeting for IWIN

 I have incorporated some of the pearly backgrounds I made last week into cards for IWIN.  I got the butterfly diecuts at a garage sale a while back thought they would complement each other well.  I dusted the pearl background with a bit of powder to ensure they would release well from the embossing folders and then added fiber or cardstock strips then adhered them to coordinating card fronts.  I then added the butterflies with 3D foam tape and the layered "Thinking of you" greetings with double sided tape.  They turned out really beautiful and I know they will bless those who receive them.  IWIN  rescues persons from human trafficking and gives them a chance to start a new life.  Therese

Cardmaking - pearl acrylic paint backgrounds on white cardstock

 I worked on backgrounds last week in an effort to sort through some of my paint stash.  I used up some pearl acrylic paint housed in fine tip bottles meant for a variety of techniques.  I found more than a half dozen which had solidified beyond use and several that still had viable paint so I tore apart some cardstock postcards that I had in my stash and used those as substrate for these fun backgrounds.  Generally, several colours of coordinating colours of paint dug out of the bottles and smeared with my fingers into some painterly backgrounds.  I spritz water on those who were too thick to spread well and then mixed in other colours which made some very cool backgrounds.  So in the end, several bottles were put in the trash and the others returned to their bins with more room.  I will be making more of these as time goes on!!  They are very pearly!!!  Therese

Cardmaking - a rainy scene with a man with an umbrella

A fun card featuring a man with an umbrella in the rain!!!  I am sure everyone is wishing for rain and this person loves to garden so I am sure they are wishing for some!!  The background is from Morgue File and has been sitting in my stash for a while!!  It thought it was perfect to simulate a storm.  I added rain with a clear glitter pen!!! I added "Joie!!" in glitter as well on the orange strip as that is how it feels when you get want you want!!!  

Therese

Cardmaking - a harlequin background created with squares and a fussy cut rose in a large circle

I started by fussy cutting the rose and its colours inspired the rest of the card.  I trimmed a green card and then dug into the stash for the little baggie of red squares.  I laid them out roughly and they seemed to work reasonably well for making a harlequin background.  So I played with the squares until I was happy with the lay out, drew some vertical lines where the points of the squares would line up and then just glued them into place one row at a time.  Worked out perfectly!!!!  I adhered my rose to a round circle and added a dashed line in green pen all the way around.  That inspired the wiggly lines in the green squares.  I mounted the focal element to the front of my card using 3D foam tape.   Love the card!!!  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - a leather oak leaf on an embossed tag over a collage background

Another card for a family occasion!!!  I started with a dark brown card.  I pieced a decorative paper background -  I like the spots of colour it adds.  I added a strip of brown cardstock at the top and added four pewter eyelets.  I muck one but I could not get it out with wrecking everything so I left it in.  I stitched the leather oak leaf to the embossed tag (birch trees) and then added it to the decorative paper using a letter brad  I adhered this large layer to my card front to finish off my card!!  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - embossed tree with a maple leaf punchie over a striped background

Working on cards I need for June!  It is fast approaching!!

I started with a dark brown card and cut some striped decorative paper into strips and adhered them into place.  The embossed tree is an element I had in my stash which I then created a background using scraps of cardstock.  I added paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel around the edges of the image and then on the green edge of the layer.  I trimmed the green edge along the line of paper piercing. The tree needed a bit of something so I added a piece of cording which I tied on the front and then overlaid a maple leaf punchie.  That was much better.  I layered it onto the layer I had created and mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  I added some white brilliance ink to the top of the tree with a stamp pad.  Adds some dimension!  

Therese
 

May Card Club - Card #3 - fun little trees made with the chevron punch over some funky word patterned paper

For our third card we assembled these fun cards!!  Wanting to use my chevron punch I had done an internet search to see what others had created.  I found these fun little trees which were trimmed from green cardstock strips (1.25" wide) which were punched repeatedly or not using the punch.  The pieces created with mixed up and reinserted into openings in trees of different colours.  The tops and bottoms were trimmed to give them their tree shape and the little trunks were fashioned from scraps of brown cardstock.  We embossed our trees to give them some texture and little more character.  We tore our background paper into two pieces and adhered them to our light colour card fronts.  Added our trees and then their trunks.  We generally added 3D foam to at least one of them for a bit of dimension.  As a final touch we added a yellow moon (1")!!  Done!  Everyone liked this interesting and different take on trees!!  It was a fun evening and fortunately a beautiful evening.  Several just walked home as they live close by!!  No cardmaking sessions this summer though we may have a creative gathering to make some handmade paper!!  Therese

 

May Card Club - Card #2 - dryer sheet flowers over handmade paper

For our second card we played with making flowers using used dryer sheets!!!!  So fun!!  I have made some of these before but on a smaller scale on these cards.  After ironing (low) them smooth I cut the dryer sheet to approximately 3" x 4" rectangles - a sheet into four pieces.  We folded them in half along the length and then then three times across the new length.  Next, we folded that sandwich in half with the fold at the bottom.  We then trimmed the top with all the single edges into a nice round shape starting at about half way up the side and finishing at about half way on the opposite side which creates the petals.  It is only one option - they could be skinny, pointy, wavy, etc. as petals on flower can be very many different shapes.    We opened up the sandwich to be flat again and gathered the width in the center and tied it off in the middle with thread.  We then coloured our flowers to coordinate with our handmade paper backgrounds.  They got very wet so I had the heat gun setup on LOW so we could dry them before we went to the next step.  It is possible to colour them flat but it is harder to estimate what they will look like!!  We added a gold brad to a coloured flower sequin and inserted the brad into a hole in the center which we had made with a push pin.  We used the push pin to make a hole in our background as well and installed the flower.  To finish off the flower we hand cut a stem and leaves from scraps of green cardstock.  Once they were glued into place we adhered this large element to our card fronts.  Therese

 

May Card Club - Card #1 - bright punchies, white seam binding over an embossed grid

It was so great to see everyone again!!!  We started our creative cardmaking session with this card which features little punched shapes - flowers, butterflies, leaves, hearts, etc.  I punched these from glossy paper which had been coloured with ink pads by tapping the pad on a piece of plastic packaging, spritzing water on the ink and the placing the piece of glossy card into the puddle.  Totally fun and unpredictable but always fabulous decorative paper for creating with!!!  I decided on a grid for the punchies so I used a plaid embossing folder and cut the white cardstock to be just the size I needed for 12 space with a border all the way around.  We added white seam binding to the middle strip of squares, added a short piece and then installed at square brad to keep everything in place.  Easier said than done but we got it done!!!  We added the shapes any where we wanted on the remaining space - generally in the remaining squares.  We did add a bit of detail to our shapes with glitter pens just to give them some character.   

I finished the top five cards with butterflies and flowers and will be adding these to my stash of cards for IWIN.  The fall will come sooner than we think and it is fun to add cards as I create others as they then all have different looks which makes it easier to suit the people who will be receiving them.  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - March Card Club kits made up - serendipity birds, butterflies and flowers over sanded backgrounds

The balance of the March Card Club kits which I found when I started prepping for May Card Club!!!  Amazing that things get put off for so long!!  I made these up this week so I could put in my current card kits along with my supplies and tools!!!

Theresse
 

Cardmaking - extra card kits from March Card Club made up - strips and long slim images

I also found these card kits in my March Card Club box which has been sitting for a couple of months!!  

It was fun to finish up these cards and I went looking for more horizontal images in my stash to replace the Easter ones I had with two of the card kits - a bouquet of flowers and some dragonflies!!  Works well for spring which has finally arrived!!! Adding these to my card stash.  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - more cards from March Card Club kits

 I am prepping card kits for my May Card Club and I found the box from March Card Club with all the leftover cards and kits!!  Life has been busy!!! 

These ones featured fun pinwheels for the background and lovely little circle images layered onto scalloped circles.  These will be added to my stash!!

Therese

Quilting - a scrappy potholder quilt using some orphan blocks and pieced pieces from my stash

I made up this potholder quilt this past week.  I cut the backers from a light green cotton sheet and hand dyed them to give them a bit of texture and interest using diluted green acrylic paint. Worked very well!!!  

A note to say that I did not do a traditional potholder quilt.  My mom assembled her squares by sewing the backers to each other and then doing the self binding to the front with each row and then doing the same for each long row and then finishing the outside edge the same way - self binding to the front.   The fronts were all made up from orphan blocks or pieced sections which I have inherited from a variety of places.  I store them in a ziploc bag so I can use them as a base for quilting squares, potholders, or any other project.  I made four different dimensions of blocks (6", 8", 10" and 12") all 10" wide with 12" backers.  It allowed for being able to offset the seams and made for a bit more of a scrappy look in the whole quilt.  I just picked through my strips to make up the area around the block/piece until I had the right length.  Once the fronts and backs were all ready I trimmed some polyester batting to the same size as the front, laid them onto the backers and added some lines of quilting to hold them all together.  After getting them all done I started piecing the vertical rows that were 10" wide into rows self binding as I went and them stitched the rows to each other and used the same technique to bind them all together.  To finish off the quilt I did the self binding all the way around!! 

Here is a close up of one of the blocks. The pieced front with the quilting lines and the binding on the piece all the way around.  

It is somewhat of a quilt as you go technique.  

Another one to go to Linus project!!

Therese

 

Sewing - hand dyed fabric for the potholder quilt backers

 I have been working on a potholder quilt in the same manner by Mom made them.  I cut the backers from a cotton sheet and they seemed to bland so I hand dyed them with green acrylic paint.  It deepened the colour some and gave it a bit of texture.  Better!!!  Therese 

Quilting - a bright quilt with slow stitched squares framed with strips log cabin style

 I have finished this fun little quilt (34" x 45") this week!! It started with a dozen little off white wonky squares which were precuts I acquired somewhere along the way and late last year I cut out a colourful little heart for each one and then added slow stitching in a variety of ways to secure them to the squares as a slow stitching activity.  Once they were finished I then added them to a substrate square (from my stash) and stitched on a variety of bright strips all around them in a sort of loose log cabin manner.  This past week I trimmed them to 8.5" square which was the smallest of them and then added royal blue sashing between them.  My daughter had brougth along some fabric when she came a few weeks ago and I thought that this green stripe would work very well for the backing.  I added a single layer of cotton between the top and the back and stitched rainbow thread all around the squares to attach all the layers to each other.  I brought the backing to the the front and bound the edge with it.  I love how it worked out.  It was fun to work on this quilt from the slow stitching to the final step of sewing down the binding.    It is headed to Linus Project!!  Therese

Slow stitching - some red fleece poppies

 The computers have been giving us a bit of grief in the last few weeks since the last windows update and with several "computer" tasks that were a no go I decided to head downstairs and keep my hands busy.  I cut out some circles from this dense red fleece to be used when I am making more card holders.  I just thought that there must be something I can do with the off cuts so I searched for what I could do with scraps of red fleece and found a tutorial on making poppies.  Seemed like something worth doing so I drew up a template and cut some petals - quite a few actually!!  After cutting out all the petals I stitched them together - five at a time using a running stitch on the bottom edge and pulling it tight then tying off the threads.  I found some black fleece and cut some small circles which I added to the centers of each flower.  They turned out better than I had expected and I will now have to find a purpose for them in one of my next projects.  Therese

Cardmaking - beautiful photos with layers over seam binding and decorative paper backgrounds

 Two more cards for the mother's of our grandchildren!!  My daughter loves sunflowers so I made up this card for her using a sunflower photo which I cut off of last year's photo calendar which my sister gave me for Christmas.  I use so many of those phots in my cards!!  I layered the 4" x 4" photo with green and then added it to my card front which features a piece of yellow decorative paper with a length of green bias tape.  I tied a short end to the long one to with a single knot to simulate a bow.  

For my daughter in law I made a similar card with a different photo - tea cup - and coordinating papers and seam binding.  They are ready to go!!

Therese

Cardmaking - a quick and easy card using colour printed image over a layered background

 

This was a last minute card as I had my daughter's birthday card and realized I had not made up my Mother's Day cards yet though it was wise to send them at the same time.  So I made up this small card to fit in the larger birthday card!!!  

A laser printed rose image with paper piercing on all the edges which I layered onto a blue piece of cardstock which I trimmed with scalloped decorative scissors and paper pierced.  I added a green strip to the pink embossed and border punched layer.  I added the layer to a small white card and added the rose with 3D foam tap.  

Therese

Cardmaking - fun collage backgrounds with coloured paper lace and serendipity flower die cuts

After a bit of clearing out of things a while back I found this fun collage paper which I created using old calligraphy newsletters.  It was totally fun and so nice to find the paper again!!!  I highlighted the trimmed backgrounds with coordinating inks to match the flowers I had chosen.  I added a fun little flower embellishment in the center of the top flower which I added over the watercoloured paper lace.  LOVE it!!!  

For my second card I added my layered flower over the watercoloured paper lace using a glue dot.  I added a pink decorative paper before adhering this large layer to my brown card front.  

Therese
 

Cardmaking - a fun anniversary card with a woven background and a butterfly on an embossed background

Another couple!!  The top one has a gold embossed background which I had to tone down with a bit of yellow.  I embossed a strip of brown with a script embossing folder (SU), adhered it to the background and then added two eyelets and tied in some fiber.  I adhered this large element to my brown card and added a die cut butterfly.  It was made from a piece of serendipity paper from a while back. 

An anniversary card for a couple celebrating 50 years!!!  The hearts on a string was just right and I trimmed the top and bottom with a with a wavy line and added some paper piercing.  I added bows to the string with a black marker.  I created a woven background using pink and yellow scraps which is close enough to gold for me.  Worked out so well!!!

Therese  
 

Cardmaking - pieced backgrounds with images layered on embossed layers

 Another couple cards for family!!!  The first one features a couple of pieces of this fun card paper (gift wrap) which I pieced, adhered to my brown card and then added a green strip.  I watercoloured the leaves added some paper piercing and layered them onto a duo coloured embossed layer of cardstock.  I added this focal element to my card front using 3D foam tape.  For the second card, I created a background using strips of all the same paper this time and added some black faux stitching to the pieces.  I added some paper piercing to the wreath and layered it onto an embossed piece of coordinating cardstock.  I added it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  Therese

Cardmaking - pieced backgrounds with layered focal images

 A couple of cards for special occasion for my family members!!  I decided to use up a stash of brown card and envelopes which have been there for a while.  For the first card I added a pieced background using strips from my stash. The heart is a focal element I found in my stash which I layered with a green circle (nestibilities). No record of where the image came from.  The second card used a diamond background paper on a brown card . I cut it in two and added a strip of contrasting paper.  I added torn piece of vellum which I embossed with diamonds (oops!  diamonds are going the wrong way). I added this cup (Melonheadz) which I had watercoloured and fussy cut in a previous cardmaking session and found that the colouring did not coordinate as well as I had planned.  Worked really well here!!!  Therese

Sewing - table topper in grays and soft greens - GA

 I have finished up this project which started as a strip of quilted fabric that came in with donations to our Fabric Sale happening on Saturday, April 25, 2026!!  I took on the piece thinking it might make potholders but it did not have enough batting for that purpose so I started looking for a coordinating fabric to make it into a table topper/runner.  I found gray one in the pieces that one of the ladies working with quilting cottons had set aside and asked the GLA Makers group to choose from to be saved for future projects.  I brought it home and started to figure out how to add to the borders on each side which also needed batting.  I cut wide strips and sewed them first to the front and then folded them over to the back. I cut batting to fit inside before stitching it from the back to the front.  I worked out well.  I did the short ends first and then added the long edges.  I had picked the thread from my stash and when I ran out I was lucky enough to find another that matched perfectly from a different company!!  Blessed!!!  It is off to our bins for our upcoming events.  Therese 

Cardmaking - reusing images with 3D embellishments and punched borders

I worked on cards last week and started with a few for my stash to prime my mojo into cardmaking.  I reused card fronts that have been donated to me and added punched borders, cardstock buttons and paper piercing.  It was fun to be making cards again and I have added these to my stash for my next donation.  Therese

 

Sewing - medium hot pad with a removeable and washable cover with four different fabrics

Another hot pad with a removable and reversible cover which features four different fabrics!!  This one is just a medium size 10" x 12" and will certainly work better for anyone with a smaller table.  I used the same fabrics as the last one - subtle Christmas, green with maroon and ochre flowers, red poppy with black and a shaded maroon.  Again, the hot pad has cotton batting, insulbrite, and a knitted wool batting encased with dark flannel.   

Therese

 

Sewing - large hotpad with a removable/washable cover that features four different fabrics

I have made a cover for this large hot pad which I made a while back. I used four pieces of fabric all the same size about 3/4" or so larger than the hot pad and sewed them into a tube by leaving an opening on one of the sides when I sewed them together.  It allows for the cover to have four "different" looks.  The one that is folded over is a very subtle Christmas print that went well with the other fabrics.  This way you can simply wash the cover and reuse it for next time.  Less wear and tear on the hot pad and another cover could certainly be made up if this one should have an "accident".  You can see the other two fabrics in the photo below.  

Therese

 

Sewing - bowl cozies made from cotton fabric and batting and stitched with cotton thread

 I made up another bunch of bowl cozies for the Gramma Link Africa group.  They are 100% cotton - fabric, batting and thread.  I use two layers of cotton fabric (10" squares), two layers of cotton batting(9.5" squares) and cotton thread to stitch all the pieces together (even to piece batting if that is necessary).  I  had done most of the cutting and sorting of materials previously which allowed me to get so many done this weekend.   Therese

Slow Stitching - some fun and colourful card holders made with scraps and CDs

I made up some card holders on the weekend.  I had all the supplies cut out and ready to go so in a few hours I was able to get 12 of these made up.  They are not complicated - 6.5" circles  (2), 5.5" of lightweight batting (2), used CDs (2) and buttons (2).  I hand stitched a gathering thread on the outer edge of each fabric circle, added a batting layer and a CD then pulled the thread to secure all of these pieces to each other.  Repeat for the other side of the card holder.  It is wise to use strong thread for this process because if the thread breaks you have to start over.  Next, you place your two sides with the good side facing out on both sides and stitch a button on each side through the center openings in the CDs.  This required heavyweight thread because it is the crucial part of the substructure that makes the card holder work well.  I collected some bright buttons from our stash for the fabric sale which were perfect for most of these cardholders.  I have come up with a little trick to hide my thread in the process of securing the two sides together.  After clipping my two sides together with a bull clip I insert my needle through the holes in the center of the CDs on one side leaving a length of thread and then thread through one button from the bottom, back through the top and through the two sides again.  I usually do three layers of thread and before sending  my needle back through the last time (to the side where I started and I have a length of thread) I insert a wire below the button right up to the threads in the center  When I insert my needled through this sandwich I make sure that the wire is between the threads and the needle and I pull it through.  Next, I pull both ends of the wire which brings the thread with it.  I pull until I have enough thread to tie off (2-3") and then cut the thread.  This way I can tie several knots with the two ends which makes it quite secure.  I then trim the threads close to the edge of the button and scoot then until the edge.  Keep both sides nice and tight to each other and secures the button very well.    These are off to our inventory bin for our Gramma Link Africa which will be for sale at our events this coming year.    These sell very well as they make holding a large amount of card very easy and also enables little or shaky hands to manage any amount of cards.  

Therese

Sewing - table topper in blue, green and pink with a variety of quilted squares

I also managed to get this table topper (15.5" x 25.5") made up.  I had chosen all the fabrics and already sewn the little quilted squares.  They were placed in our cotton scraps bin which will be available at the Fabric Sale on Saturday, April 25 at Gaetz United.  They were bagged and some of the smaller parts were already sewn so I simply made up six squares from what was in the collection of pieces - hence none are the same.  I framed them in a solid coordinating green cotton and then added a cotton knit batting and a blue backing.  I added some of the backing on both ends to get a few more inches of length for this table topper.  I added quilting lines around each square to secure the three layers to each other.  It will be added to our inventory for our table at the Spring Tea at Gaetz United on Saturday, May2, 2026.  

Therese
 

Quilting - a baby quilt featuring hand stitched stars in yellow thread on white squares with pink, green and yellow pinwheel squares

I made up this baby quilt this weekend.  The squares had all been stitched up so it was a matter of sewing them together, adding a cotton batting and a flannel backing which were already cut to size.  It took the better part of the day but it is now done.  The pink and yellow are cotton scraps that we acquired last year for our Gramma Link Africa fabric sale.  Those solid cotton scraps will be packaged for our Fabric sale this year which takes place on Saturday, April 25 at Gaetz United Church in Red Deer.  There are variety of colours and some of the scraps are quite large.  This is my first "real" quilt where I cut all the pieces and stitched them into squares.  I framed the hand embroidered stars with pink cotton and then stitched them all together to make a quilt top.  I put a pink themed flannel on the back that features a teddy bears in pink , yellow and brown.  Worked really well with the front.  I brought the backing to the front for a self bound edge and them stitched in white around the stars and added diamonds to all the pinwheels in green thread.  I also over stitched all the horizontal lines as well which should provide enough quilting for this baby quilt.  It measures 39" x 48".  It will be available at the Fabric Sale as an example of what can be done with the cotton scraps we will have for sale.    Therese

 

Quilting - scrappy diamond quilt

A scrappy quilt made up from a LOT of diamond shaped pieces of a variety of different fabrics!!  Some were already sewn in strips and I stitched the remaining to finish up the quilt top.  They were not all the same size and all on the bias which is always tricky to sew so I did not bother trying to match the seams.  I made a very scrappy look which I like.  It came out to about 35" x 69".  I found a piece of fleece that would accommodate the size trimmed it to fit.  I pinned the fleece to the front of the quilt and then stitched all the way around leaving a 4" gap.  I trimmed off the extra triangles left on the edges and bottom and then turned it inside out.  I top stitched all the way around which secured the opening.  Next, I pin basted it to keep it as flat as possible and quilted it by tying knots from the front to the back in every second diamond in each row.  It does not show very much from the front and there are lots of fuzzy ends on the back which contrast with the fleece.  It finished at 34" x 68" which makes this quilt the perfect couch blanket!!! It will be off to its next home this week!  Therese