Logging with Sally!

Sally was the first customer to play on Lolah in June 2014. At that time, I hadn't decided to take photos for the blog so I don't have anything to show.

Files and photos (2014) saved on that dead hard drive are being recovered (I hope successfully) by our son who brought it home with him. We'll know soon if the drive was damaged beyond recovery! It looks promising after diagnostic testing so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Sally returned with a colorful log cabin pieced by her friend Hollie. We had a long thread-choosing session which, to me, is always fun because the color you think you'd like is sometimes not the one you end up using. Sally chose FilTec Glide in Celery, a pale green and a wool batting.

How do you quilt words on a dark fabric? Do you freehand? Do you mark it with a white chalk pencil? Sally wanted to write "Blessings are all around us" on all four narrow borders. In order to keep the spacing and lettering the same size, we made a template in Word, and traced the blessings on Glad Press & Seal, and "pressed" it on the border. The idea is that you can quilt over the Press & Seal. It worked but it was a little difficult to see the lettering perhaps because of the reflected light off the surface. So Sally used the template mainly for spacing.

And off she went... working freehand...

Sometimes, one handed...

Lights off... except for Lolah's lights...

Hollie kept busy making another apron...

We do have fun...

The backing is quite lovely!

But look at this beauty!! Hollie had left before Sally was done quilting so we had to enlist some help to hold up the quilt for photos! 

Writing adds a personalized touch to any quilt... this one is extra special to Sally! 

Well done Sally! This will keep your guests warm this winter!

The barn progress was spotty over the holidays but we are thrilled with how it looks. The garage doors have been installed, the power has been hooked up, all the siding is applied as well as insulation, the geothermal units are in although not connected (grrrr....) but the building is secure, and we've been able to move in some boxes from the farmhouse in time for our children to arrive! The wood paneling has been delivered and will be first order to finish the walls upstairs so we can continue to empty house and trailers. Sorting, tossing, keeping, and donating will be a bear! 

In this photo, the siding is not yet on the north wall... the two openings will get barn doors fabricated to look like the garage doors by our contractor using some siding planks. This should keep the north winds from wrenching the doors from our hands when opening them. 

I hope you all enjoyed a great holiday season! Happy New Year everyone!

Toodles,

Lorette

2015 and Annabelle's quilt!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

It's hard to believe we're already in 2015! This time last year we were in the packing mode as the house had sold and the movers were coming the third week in January! A lot has happened since then...

Our 4 children and their spouses (except one) were home for the holidays. It was great to have them all under one roof again... it was a wonderful Christmas! They've all gone home now so yesterday was spent sprucing up the house and shop, getting it cleaned in time to ring in 2015!

Now it's time to catch up on blogging! Time has slipped away and I'm late with a few posts! Sorry about that! 

A while back, Marie was in to quilt a special quilt, one for her grand-daughter Annabelle's new big-girl bed. Frozen was the panel of choice and since her favorite color is blue, Marie chose King Tut #915 called Suez, a variegated thread of blues, purples and aqua. 80/20 batting made it soft and warm!

I was asked to keep this post secret until after the quilt was gifted.

The pantograph Marie quilted is called Cotton Candy Vanilla Cream... Marie has since decided it wasn't her favorite pantograph. There will be a greater choice of designs in the near future! Lolah needs variety!

Marie takes great pride in piecing her quilts; she's a perfectionist! The quilt lays flat and square! I love how she made this beautiful panel larger.

Look at the border fabric too... 

It was a fun day working with Marie! Anyone who knows Marie, knows that she is always warm. Sleeveless year round while I wear sweaters year round! So it was no surprise to have her change into capris and take off her shoes! 

The border fabric is also the backing! Gorgeous!

Well done Marie... Annabelle's quilt is beautiful!

We hear Annabelle sleeps better cuddled under the new quilt grand-maman made!

Happy New Year everyone... I wish you all a great year of health, happiness and lots of sewing time!

Thank you for taking the time to read the blog, visit the shop and come in to show us your creations! We've enjoyed a wonderful start to Spruce It Up Quilt Shop and plan to continue to provide you with quality goods at affordable prices.

Keep an eye on the Show and Tell page... some new photos will be added soon! 

Toodles,

Lorette

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