Wednesday 27 April 2011

I do I do I do (well not me anyway)

Hello Everyone! It has been a while since my last blog. Since My last blog I have gone and went from Las Vegas. What a great place to visit. We had such a great time. When I got back from Las Vegas I had to get ready for a co-workers wedding. When I say I had to get ready it is not because I was in the wedding party or anything. I had arranged for all our co-workers to chip in and I made her and her new husband a quilt. They day after the wedding they were already going on their Honeymoon. I was really excited to give my co-worker Laura her quilt. Some of the fun of giving someone something is to see there reactions. With her leaving how can I ask her to call before she goes to Jamaica. I really needed to know if she liked her quilt or not. The day of her wedding Laura was making her rounds to all the guests. The sweetest word came out of her mouth "would you like to come to the gift opening" It was like she read my mind. OF COURSE! I want to go the gift opening.This is the first quilt I made that I am actually giving away. The next day I went to Laura's mom house and joined the gift opening.


Laura reading the card signed by all of us.
 I was on pins and needles. My sister Natasha helped picked the colors and we did not really know her color scheme for her house so we were taking a chance.


Laura picking out form her quilt.

With much relief she loved the quilt! The first words from her husbands mouth."How did you know the colors of our bedroom?" I didn't we took a guess and we came out on top.

To Laura and Adam:
I wish you many years of happiness together and thank you for letting me be a part of your special day!
Now you need to have some little kids so I can make some baby quilts.
Love Miriam
Here is a close up of the fabrics. On the back is georgus brown minky fabric.

Wednesday 6 April 2011

Have Quilt, will travel

Hi Everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful Wednesday. Today I am getting ready to take a quick trip.My sister Nastasha, Mom and Myself and some of our friends are going to Las Vegas for our Mom's 60th Birthday. We fly out from Victoria tomorrow afternoon. I love to travel so I guess it helps that I am a travel agent. Like a quilter that works in a fabric shop. Several years ago whenever we travelled my sister always brought a quilt along. I would think why would you pack that with you? Then I started to get into quilting and now I understand why she packs a quilt with her. It is a little bit of home while you are not at home. I made my self a flannel quilt and now i take it everywhere. I did a work trip to Jamaica in September and all my co-workers shook there heads when in the airport on a lay over I whipped out my quilt. Next thing i know there was 6 of us cuddled under that quilt for a few hours. Here is a picture of my travel quilt.
This quilt has been with me all over. Her first trip was to Disneyland. Then it came with me all over Italy,stayed in the Disneyland DreamSuite,Jamaica and now Las Vegas.
Along with my quilt I have one more thing that comes with me while travelling. Its my lucky travel hat! I love hats and while travelling i hate having to do my hair so I have this one hat I wear. It was funny while in Italy with my Mom she wanted some pictures with out my hat. So i did not wear it. The tour director thought they left me behind because he always looked for My hat.
In the Disneyland Dreamsuite.

In Jamaica


Mom and I on The Isle of Capri in Italy
Doing "Time" in San Sebastian Mexico

On a tour of San Fransisco

 Until next time friends!

Monday 4 April 2011

I saw that pattern and said " I fancy That!"

Hello Bloggers and thank you for the warm welcome to the world of blogging!
This is a quick post. Last week there was a quilt show in our area. A friend of mine had a quilt in the show. Grace made a quilt with a pattern called Slideshow. I loved the style of the quilt and her colors that she chose. When I saw it I thought Hmm I Fancy That and it would be great in Halloween prints. Here is a picture of Grace's finished quilt

I like her colors so much! I told her how much I loved her quilt  and where she bought the pattern. So I could go run and buy it. She had bought the pattern in Sisters while on the bus trip we did together. She offered to loan me the pattern.I was so excited! I can't wait to get going on it. In turn for Grace lending me her pattern I dug out my beading stuff and made Grace some stitch markers for her knitting.
I hope she enjoys them as much as I enjoyed making them for her. There is no greater joy then making something and having someone who appreciates what you have made them.
Until next time!

Sunday 3 April 2011

The First Post

Hi Everyone! This is my very first post for my new blog. I have so many ideas going through my mind on what I want to blog about.I will start with the how I got involved in Quilting.
I am a new quilter and let me tell you I am hooked! I love the fabrics . I like to think I'm a quilter but it turns out quilter is also a fancy word for fabric collector. I do not mind one bit. I think the finding of the fabric  is just as fun as the finished project. I love the joy I feel when I find that one fabric that is a just have to have. For myself it is usually a Halloween fabric as I love Halloween. I am also loving the Dr Seuss fabrics that are out now. The colors are just so vibrant and they bring me back to when I was a little Miriam.
As quilters we all start somewhere. My sister Natasha is an amazing quilter. She has a blog as well. If I was clever and knew what I was doing I would put a link to her blog here. I do not know how to do this yet. Her blog name is Joy of Quilting. Having a sister who designs her own patterns and every quilt she makes looks amazing with all her seems matching, can be daunting to someone who is new. About 2 years ago I took my sisters beginners quilting class at the Cloth Castle in Victoria BC. When I take her classes people think because she is my sister that she goes easy on me. ( Or they think i know what I am doing) In both these situations they are both false. The beginners class was 6 weeks long and we learned how to make a quilt from start to end. She even gave us homework (GASP) But by the end we had a lap size quilt done. I started to really enjoy the art and the Fabric collecting began. That August her shop did a quilt challenge. People paid $20 to enter and then the public came and voted for the best quilts. The challenge was the 4Patch quilt. I thought I think I can make one of those quilts. One day as I was fabric collecting I came across this amazing fabric that was postcards from around the world. I love to travel and so I thought this would be perfect for me. In the back of my mind as I was thinking about the quilt challenge. How can I make a quilt that will be up to par with the my sisters. She has a reputation and people seem to think we should have the same talent. One day as we were driving I thought about my travels and where I have been and also where my friends have gone. For a few years as people I knew travelled and myself I would ask them to bring back a patch from the country that they have visited. I have lots of patches and thought there has to be a way I can put these on my quilt. So the planning began. My sister helped me picked out the fabric.Ok she picked it all out and gave my nod of approval. Who am I to argue with the person who actually knows what she is doing when it comes to quilting. So I started my project. I was careful on all my cutting and sewing. It wasn't until I started sewing the quilt that i realized every fabric that was chosen was a directional. This is where i became best friends with my seam ripper. I took my time and Natasha encouraging me the whole way. I got my quilt top done.The day of the show people came and voted. I was so proud of my quilt and when the Tally's were added Natasha came in first but imagine my surprise when I came in third! To me it felt like first. So it began. I was a quilter.
This will be a blog about the things I enjoy. Quilting,knitting,beading,cross stitch,embroidery,sashiko and my favorite thing Candy. If you stay tuned.. Until next time.