A Warm Thank You Card

One of the first quilt blocks I ever made with my sister was a Maltese Flower Cross, hand appliqued quilt square we did for a block of the month in the Quadra Island Quilters group we belong to.  I thought it made a very festive looking block that using Christmas colors would fit right into being a Christmas thank you card! Its as close to a paper piecing card that I’ll ever make (really don’t like fiddling around too much with cards…the quicker the better is my motto)
Here is where I got the inspiration!

I downloaded the pattern and copy and pasted it into my Silhouette Studio Program… traced the outside edge, digitally colored the pieces, and resized them to make an approximately 5 inch square card.  I made a background piece with a word border which repeated “Thank you” (you could have lots of fun with the program doing this, or opt to hand write a message around the edge too.
Here are the two screens in my Studio program showing the pieces ready to print and cut.

It looks complex, but it is really assembled quite easily… Attach with glue or double sided tape as necessary:

1. Cross the green stems, corner to corner and centered…
2. Put the crown like golden flower petals down, almost touching both sides of the green stems.
3. The center red circle should just cover the bottom of all of the golden flower petals.
4. Arrange the  golden buds topped with the white strips on the arching stems
5. Attach the leaves and red flower buds on the remaining stems towards the corner.

All in all, I think it will be a special card for someone on my list who loves quilting

I’ve really been enjoying what other card makers have been posting on this theme at the Card a Day Blog, I hope you have too!

Quilting! Quilting! Quilting!

Last week was inspiring! First off, I was able to attend the Quadra Quilters’ Guild Meeting on Tuesday! My a quilting thanksgiving post shared some of the quilts that were shared there.  I also signed up for the block of the month. It is a hand applique square called Topeka Rose.  Today, I was able to finish it!

I still have to hand wash (very gently) and steam it, but am so happy to have got it done with time to spare before the next meeting!

The other quilting event that was inspiring to me during the past week, was attending the 2011 Hands Across the Water (or HAW) event at Powell River.  It is a meeting of the quilting guilds between Denman Island and Port Hardy (North Vancouver Island), including the Sunshine Coast of the BC mainland.  Over 200 quilters attended! There were at least 5 vendors set up, and it was so hard to choose what special thing to splurge on for myself to commemorate attending the event! I ended up getting a Clover Fabric Folding Pen. I’m sure it will come in handy for my paper crafts too!

We were inspired by the guest speaker at HAW…. Courtenay Pollock, a tie-die artist. You can see some of his artwork at his website. He had 5 huge samples of his work hung on the walls. As you can see, they covered at least an 8 ft square section of wall each!

 

Below, from left to right:  Arlis, myself, & our “adopted MOM” Margie.

 

Quilts from the different guilds, for a show and tell.

 

We were also blessed to see a special quilt that Margie made. There are over 28 different fabrics in it, and it took over one year for her to make! It is absolutely stunning! Some of the squares are as small as 1/2 inch by 2 inches! And it is a King Size quilt! One year I hope to have been able to make a quilt that special for myself too!

 

And finally, off to home. After this week, I can hardly wait until next year!

Until next time!

Shelley

A Quilting Thanksgiving!

I feel so blessed to have been able to visit my sister and her family this Thanksgiving! We were able to stay two nights and three days. The first day was glorious, and sis & I took Cody for a walk around the neighborhood. Cody totally impressed us when he leading us out of the woods (we were bushwhacking, trying to go through the woods to my sister’s place). It doesn’t sound that impressive, except for the fact that this is the first time Cody has ever bushwhacked, and he led us out exactly the way we went in… Every time I thought we were getting lost, there was another sign that we had been there before, and we landed right on the trail we bushwhacked from!

One of her neighbors had the cutest mailbox.

Thanksgiving day was full of preparation. . . We all left the table full, happy and content. Just the way Thanksgiving is supposed to be!

Today, Arlis & I spent at the Quadra Island Quilting Guild’s meeting. My sister is the secretary, and has got me involved in it too – my only regret is that work keeps me from going to the meetings.  I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting, and the opportunity that we had to work on our quilt square for the upcoming Hands Across the Water event at Powell River, this coming weekend!

I’m closing this post with a series of pictures from the show and tell from the meeting.  I regret that I don’t know everyone well enough to be able to credit them. . . but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying their hard work, and hopefully being inspired yourself!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy! And make sure to check out my blog later on this week! I have a post scheduled for the Card A Day Blog, and will have a post or two relating to my sister & my adventures this week (we plan to go to Port Alberni, and then Powell River for HAW!).