Merry & Bright - Christmas Joy Quilt

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I've been busy sewing up Christmas projects since September.  I finished up my Christmas Joy Quilt this weekend...right on time to bring it along to the Christmas tree farm for some festive photos!  What could be a more perfect backdrop for showing off a Christmas quilt?

We had a fun family afternoon picking out and cutting down our Christmas tree, then enjoying hot chocolate and cookies around the fire...followed up with sledding!  It happened to be the first day of the first year that this tree farm was open.  So glad we have a tree farm nearby to carry on this tradition in the years to come!

This quick and fun pattern is from Lo and Behold Stitchery.  Fabrics are Bella Solids by Moda.  See more of my Christmas projects (tree skirt, advent calendar) on my Instagram account, @prairiembquilter

Where To Find Me

I guess it's no secret that I have abandoned this blog over the past few months.  I blame life...with two toddlers it's hard to find time for blogging!  What I have found time for is quilting.  It's become my new passion, and I'd rather spend my time at the sewing machine than at the computer.

I have set up a public Instagram account to share my quilt work with social media and connect with the incredible quilting community.  I have found endless inspiration and ideas through this outlet.  If you would like to follow my quilting work you will find me at @prairiembquilter.

The photographs in this post are of my most recent quilt top finish.  The pattern is the Meadowland Quilt from Then Came June patterns and it was SO FUN to sew together.  I will be quilting this one as soon as the thread I need arrives in the mail!

I've driven by this abandoned farmhouse countless times and always wanted to photograph a quilt on it.   This quilt and this house are perfect together.    I like to think of connecting the present with the past -- what quilts did the women who lived in this house sew or use?  Quilting is a skill with history and tradition.  That's why I love these photos so much.

This quilt is 80" x 80".  It is fat quarter friendly.  I used Essex Linen in Oyster for the background and a mix of black, white, blue and beige fat quarters that I had a lot of fun collecting from many different quilt shops...I even picked up a few on our road trip this summer.

I loved making this pattern so much that I might even sew together a smaller, bright and colourful version to use as a summer picnic blanket.  Find the Meadowland Quilt pattern at Then Came June!

And follow me @prairiembquilter!

Hello Spring!

"With the coming of spring, I am calm again." - Gustav Mahler

Yes.  Yes.  Yes.

Welcome, spring...and a fresh bunch of tulips for my table.

Tiny Tile Quilt

I am thrilled to share finished photos of the Tiny Tile Quilt -- the quilt that kept my evenings and weekends occupied through the heart of winter!  This pattern is free from Purl Soho, and I purchased the quilt kit through their shop.

 I love the colour palette and random placement of the tiles that make it feel fresh and springy.

There were a TON of tiny pieces to cut for this quilt, but the tiles came together pretty quickly and it was super fulfilling to watch it take shape.

This quilt is made from 120 tile squares...it felt like a stack of accomplishment once they were all made!

 Watching it come together!

So in love with this quilt!  I had a bit of fabric leftover, so I improvised a sawtooth star mini in the same colour palette.  I used this sawtooth star block tutorial to make 8" blocks.  I love how it turned out.

The Tiny Tile Quilt is a free pattern through Purl Soho.

February

So, it's been crickets chirping on here for the last six weeks or so, but that's not because there hasn't been anything happening in life!  Life has been pleasantly busy for being the heart of winter, and I suppose blogging just fell to the wayside.  Here's a few pictures of what we've been up to, aside from me finishing up a BEAUTIFUL throw quilt, which will follow in a separate post.

My kids are such goofs.

We had a GORGEOUS hoar frost that lasted two days a few weeks ago.  I had to stop and take photos driving home from work!

Social media filters have been very entertaining for the kids.

On Valentine's Day the weather was beautiful and we had a class skating party followed with homemade slow cooker hot chocolate and Olympics!

A highlight of February was heading to Winnipeg on the long weekend to spend a night at a hotel and visit the Ice Castles.  They were spectacular!  Ari loved it so much that I had to bribe him with hot chocolate to get him to leave!  The kids also LOVED the hotel pool and playing in the hotel room.

My school went to the Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg for a field trip.  We had a beautiful day with lots of winter fun and a bit of learning about Metis culture too.

A sunny and snowy day for a sled ride.

The snow started to melt last week and the kids were SO excited to get out their rubber boots and play in the puddles! Ari also found last year's bubbles and was thrilling his sister with them.

And today we woke up to a snow storm and had a snow day, so it's back to winter boots and snow pants for the time being.  While it's been a good winter, I am more than ready for spring to arrive!

Valentine's Day Mini Quilt - Weekend Project

Valentine's Day is coming up, so I thought I'd put myself into a spring-like mood and sew myself a Valentine's mini quilt as a fun weekend project using soft, feminine fabrics.

I used the Mini Hearts Quilt pattern tutorial from Coral + Co and a variety of Art Gallery and Cotton + Steel fabrics to make my quilt.  It finishes at about 12x12 inches, so super cute and tiny!

This was a quick and fun project to complete over a weekend, and it now is hanging in my classroom, where we celebrate Valentine's the most!

Find the tutorial for this quilt pattern here.  Enjoy!

Maris' Big Girl Room Tour

My baby girl is going to be 18 months old this week!  And along with that came a few changes in her bedroom.  I've felt during the last few weeks that her room still felt like a baby's room, and she wasn't a baby anymore.  Being on holidays from work at the moment, I took the opportunity to do some shopping and rearranging to transform her bedroom into an oasis for a toddler girl.

The first thing to do was to dismantle the crib and assemble her new toddler bed.  We purchased the vintage looking Minnen bed from IKEA.  I love that it (and the mattress) is extendable to three different lengths, so it can grow with her.  We currently have it at the shortest length, which is as long as a crib but as wide as a twin bed.  Some new toddler bedding from Target completed the look.

We also bought another IKEA Trofast toy storage unit.  This one doubles as her night table and has a nice surface for playing and displaying her pretty toys.  She also chose the cute owl lamp from IKEA.

We kept the Hemnes (also IKEA) chest of drawers and change pad as we are still using diapers...she's not that grown up yet!

I took the armchair, lamp and side table out of the room to make more space for her to sit and read and play with her toys.  She is such an avid reader and loves taking books off her shelves to sit in the rocking chair or on her bed and read.

And that's her new room!  It's the tiniest room in the house, so we'll see how long she's happy in a small space, but I love that it's updated now to suit her growing needs.