Magpie Quilts

Quilters are known for their generosity and the guilds that I have been a part of have made quilts for a variety of causes: premature babies, abused women, homeless people, victims of natural disasters and kids of all kinds to name a few. For me, it's a chance to let total strangers know that they have value as a person and the best way I know to show love is to make a quilt. This quilt was sent to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Take a minute to look it up on your map. Look up, way up and you can find it on Victoria Island. Wikipedia says: " Cambridge Bay is a hamlet located on Victoria Island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is named for Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, while the traditional Inuinnaqtun name for the area is Ikaluktuutiak or Iqaluktuttiaq meaning "good fishing place " The Canadian north has many communities that have vast challenges with a number of issues: lingering issues from the residential school systems, food insecuri...

Pattern is California Dreamin' by Fons and Porter (available here) Fabrics - assorted from my closet California Dreamin' This summer I had the pleasure of having my 10-year old granddaughter come and spend a few days with me. We decided to make a quilt during the time we had together and I didn't really expect to get a lot done past picking a pattern and fabric and a bit of sewing. Laying out the quilt blocks From the magazines I had, she looked and found this pattern from the Easy Quilts Spring 2014 from Fons and Porter. We then photocopied the pattern and went to the fabric closet to pick out fabrics. The 3-D effect of this quilt is from the clever use of warm and cool colours and soon there was a stack of warm coloured fabrics and a stack of cool. More blocks  After a quick introduction to the basics of sewing, we were off and sewing. Between the two of us, we finished sewing and trimming all the blocks needed for a quilt top in the two days she was...

Small quilts are some of my favourite quilts to make. They take very little fabric, allow me to try out different techniques and colour schemes. Straight furrows mini quilt - FOR SALE HERE  This quilt began as a collection of 2.5" squares from a quilt guild retreat. In quilter lingo, these are called mini charm squares and this particular collection is very charming! Mini charm squares  I paired them with an off-white tone on tone fabric and sewed them into half square triangles. And the off-white seemed just a little too plain and I used one of the pre-programmed decorative stitches to accent the lines in the quilt. Decorative stitching  Because I didn't get these fabrics from my own stash, I needed to find a border that would coordinate with the charm squares and I first found a lilac for an inner border and then found a brown fabric for the binding that isn't an exact match, but it does work with the overall colour scheme. Adding borders  The ...

When I get a request for a custom memory quilt, I am torn between fear of ruining the precious clothes from a loved one and excitement at pulling together diverse pieces of fabric into a cohesive looking quilt.  This quilt started as a collection of baby clothes from a client's son.  Some were pastel baby print, others were bright colored.  Superman to forest creatures to jungle prints.  I added some gray squares to provide a little break between the varying fabrics.  And finished it with a gray border. The quilting was a swirl to just add texture to the overall quilt. And I thought I had a photo of the finished quilt, but I can't find it. The client loved the final product and I was so happy to get it into her hands! Do you have some clothes you are saving for a quilt? Email me at magpiequilts(at)gmail(dot)com to see what we can make together! (***not available outside of Canada!***) --Ann

Like most all quilters, I have lots of fabrics in my closet (and bookshelf, and Rubbermaid tubs) and still I save a lot of my scraps. I save the selvage edge because sometimes they are just too pretty to throw out and I save scraps that are at least 1.5" square.  Straight furrows - FOR SALE This little quilt started as a pile of mini charm squares (2.5"squares) left over from a guild retreat. I paired them up with a cream fabric and made some tiny half square triangles and then arranged them in what quilters call a straight furrows arrangement. Straight furrows - click on photo to zoom in  Then, because the cream fabric looked so plain, I used my decorative stitches on my sewing machine to stitch a lilac purple line of stitching along the middle of the cream line. And the same quilt landscape instead of portrait  Super happy with how this one turned out and used up a few scraps in the process! There will be more scrap quilts coming as my scrap bins a...

I am inspired by a lot of things: a stack of coordinating fabrics (the easiest inspiration to turn into a quilt!) Blue Sky by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts Blue Sky Mini Quilt - FOR SALE HERE the colors of my surroundings Prairie Sunrise east of Calgary a photo taken on a hike Looking up in the trees Beside the creek a flower in the garden Sunflowers and Bees Lilacs Inspired by lilacs What inspires you? --Ann

I made this lovely quilt a while ago and blogged about it here . This past weekend I brought out all my quilts for an in-person market and fell in love with it all over again. The Kate Spain fabrics are amazing and the colors are so bright and cheerful! My friend's quilt from the same pattern was also at the market and even thought the pattern is exactly the same, her quilt has an entirely different look.  Blues and tans also look amazing in this pattern. Click on the photos to catch the quilting details. The pattern is called Jelly Girl from Fig Tree Quilts and I just may find another jelly roll to make another one of these lovely quilts! --Ann

Last fall I purchased a combination sewing/embroidery machine ( Brother NQ3500D ) and I've been discovering ways to use some designs in my quilts. I've shared a Christmas quilt with you a while back that used some beautiful red work designs from Bird Brain Designs .   I love the way this quilt combines some of the elements that I really love. The scrappy little squares that form the criss cross of the Irish chain part of the design.  And the swirling quilting that Marie of Blueberry Hill Quilts did on her long arm quilting machine.  This quilt fits so well into our country acreage lifestyle and one of our barn cats wanted to check it out!  Quilts are not just for beds. I will drape them over chairs, stair railings, stack them folded on chairs and just casually throw them over the back of the sofa. I may make this again in a different colorway - do you think I should do black? or blue? or browns? --Ann

This is a pattern I've made many times before and it looks completely different when different fabrics are used.  Apple green and navy are always a good combination and I just love how this one turned out. Made with more subtle colors, this blue and aqua baby quilt without borders is hard to recognize that it's the same block and technique. And made with watercolor prints, the pattern in this yellow and orange baby quilt just blends into the white background and the pattern become secondary to the actual fabrics. Simple and versatile, this technique and block is one of the most pulled out tools in my quilting toolbox.  Do you have a go-to pattern? Or a go-to line of fabrics?  --Ann

I love to create my own interpretations of traditional quilts, often in modern, fresh colors. But I also take on custom orders and sometimes that means a client who has very specific ideas and just doesn't have the means to create them on their own. I have one repeat customer that has challenged me to make interpretations of Disney and childhood characters. These are not something I would make for resale if not for the custom request.   These are machine appliqued. The pictures begin as a coloring page and enlarged using a grid method. It's explained much better here than I could do: https://www.art-is-fun.com/grid-method/ Borders are added to complement the embroidered centres.   The Lion King started with a digitally printed starburst background piece of fabric in royal blue. The challenge was to make the moon look bright and white without having to resort to adding it via applique.  Adding letters to make a statement. This can easily ...