These are the new Kona palettes I’ve been cutting for the shop. From the top – bright, dark, pastel, classic and dusty. There are 20 colors in the dusty palette, and 25 in the others. As well as the fat quarter bundles there are design rolls (2½” strips) and charm packs (5″ squares) in each palette.

I’ve also got some project ideas to go with, which I’ll be sharing with you here in the coming weeks.

I had to play a bit more with last week’s star block. I toned down the scraps a bit – using 8 scraps only for each star. I’m quite happy with the result, and am going to leave this experiment for now. It might get turned into a quilt or maybe a wall hanging. And since this may be the year when I actually try some hand quilting, I’ll need something simple to start on. This would be perfect!

It was demo day at the Kanata Guild meeting yesterday and I was asked to demonstrate a technique for making stars from strips (there’s a video from Missouri Quilt Co. here). I thought it would be fun to substitute some scrappy strips (inspired by Scrap Republic) for the jelly roll strips, and you can see the result above. Maybe it will be the start of a new quilt.

Stars are everywhere this month – like the Sparkle Punch Quilt-Along with Elizabeth Hartman, and thought and found‘s Oh My Stars! quilt-along. Are you seeing stars?

In January I came across this binding tutorial from Rita who blogs at Red Pepper Quilts. Now I know how to get a nice smooth binding all the way around (after years of not quite getting it right!)

The Cherry House Quilt Along in February was the impetus for a small group of friends to meet weekly to learn how to quilt. Bonnie, Sandra, Millie, Astrid & I finished our quilts, and continued to meet for show and tell the rest of the year. Now we’re trying to get organized for a more ambitious sampler project in 2012.

I subscribed to Fat Quarterly, a fantastic e-zine that publishes 4 times a year, with a bonus issue last fall. Full of great projects and ideas for modern quilters, delivered straight to your inbox! I also discovered their quilt along from 2008, which was a great way to use some jelly roll strips I had on hand.

I became a convert to Aurifil thread, using a heavier 28 wt for machine quilting and a lighter 50 wt for piecing. Bytowne Threads right here in Stittsville is my supplier. I also switched from grey to beige for piecing after seeing Grace Whiting’s presentation at the Kanata Quilt Guild. The beige blends better with the lighter colors I favor, and is less likely to show a shadow through the stitched seam.

Quilt Ontario took place in London at the end of May, and it was a truly memorable experience. I met many wonderful people from all across the country. It was the first time I’ve seen a juried quilt show, and I was blown away by all the quilting talent to be found here in Canada. I’m already looking forward to Quilt Canada in Halifax later this year.

In June, Kate Conklin’s fun slack and stash tutorial inspired me to make this black and white beauty, one of my favorite finishes from the year. I’d love to try more of Kate’s patterns, which are available as PDF downloads at Kate Conklin Designs.

After all the busy-ness of the winter and spring, things slowed down a bit for the summer. I ordered in a crop of new-ish quilting books for the shop, and thoroughly enjoyed going through them all. Block Party – The Modern Quilting Bee by Alissa Haight Carleton and Kristen Lejnieks stands out as a particular favorite, and I’ve started work on a quilt top using one of the blocks shown in the book (which I promise to share soon).

The best thing about August is always our family vacation at Red Pine Camp. It’s been part of our summer for 13 years now, and I can’t imagine a better place to kick back and relax. This year I brought along a newly finished quilt for my bunk. The fabric from Denyse Schmidt and the pattern from Jaybird quilts was a winning combination!

The Mad About Patchwork summer sew-along finished up in September … 7 projects in 6 weeks. You can find links for all the projects here.

I was off to Toronto in October for another Creativ Festival. In spite of the travel and long hours, I always enjoy the opportunity to meet my customers from south-western Ontario.

Two weeks after I got home from Toronto, I was back on the 401, this time to visit the London Friendship Quilt Guild. I set up shop and also showed some quilts at their regular Thursday night meeting, and then taught a workshop on Saturday (a first for me!) I even made some new friends, as often seems to happen whenever quilters get together.

December is sometimes a difficult month to get any real work done as preparations for Christmas take over. I did manage to squeeze in my own version of quilt-til-you-wilt to finish off a number of small projects. I also signed up with Pinterest, an online pinboard to “organize and share the things you love.”  I think it’s going to prove very useful for keeping track of all the interesting things I come across when browsing the internet.

And that’s about it … 2011 was a terrific year, and I’m looking forward to more in 2012!

Volume scrap quilt flimsy, from Scrap Republic by Emily Cier.

1. I love the way the colors cascade through this quilt. I followed the pattern exactly, because that’s who I am. I suspect you could play a bit with the colors and it would still look wonderful.

2. I love that I used only scraps to make this quilt. And little bits at that. In the process my scrap buckets were organized (at least by color) and I’m completely ready to tackle another scrap project.

3. I loved the process of making this quilt. There was no need to over-analyze the color choices and placement, and the piecing was more or less improvisational. It was gratifying to see how the individual color strips came together so beautifully (thanks Emily!)

What are you doing with your scraps this year? (You might want to check out the Scrap Attack that’s happening over at Stitched in Color for more inspiration.)

Into this?

Try this!

I’ve had a lot of fun organizing my scraps and turning them into cute little rainbow slices. It’s been a great project for the holidays, and has helped me deal with the stresses of the season. Just a few minutes here and there and I’m more than half way through the piecing for my scrap quilt. I find that a bit of time playing with my fabric and sewing every day keeps me happy.

I want to thank all my blog readers for dropping by in 2011. I’ve got a coupon code just for you – CELEBRATE12 – which will save an additional 12% on your entire order (including already reduced items!) It’s good for three days – December 31 thru January 2, so be sure to visit the shop before the weekend’s over.

Happy New Year to you all, and see you in 2012!

The countdown to Christmas shows only 3 days to go … and I am so not ready!! I’m off to finish my shopping and then back to whip the house into shape for company. In the meantime, my warmest wishes for a joyous holiday season to you all!

I asked about your favorite tool. And although many people mentioned their rulers and rotary cutters, I think we all have a love/hate relationship with our seam rippers! What would we do without them? And from 286 comments on the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway, the random number generator has picked a winner … #35. Audrey will be getting an email from me shortly so I know where to send those Jaybird quilt patterns.

I also wanted to know what your favorite Christmas music was. From the 182 people who left comments, there were plenty of Michael Bublé fans, and White Christmas probably got the most nods as favorite song. As for me, I’ll be adding some Sarah McLachlan, Sting and Hawkley Worksman to my playlist this week. The winner of the Threaded Pear Studio patterns in the Blog Hop Party was #156 … Daisy. I’ll be sending an email to get your contact info.

I thought I’d finish with my top 5 music picks for this Christmas, with help from my family. The first is River, a Joni Mitchell classic. I heard Suzie Vinnick in a live performance a few years ago, and fell in love with it all over again. For Emily, I’ve got Pink Martini’s version of Santa Baby. Tom weighs in with The Christians and The Pagans by Dar Williams. My favorite traditional carol makes the list … Still, Still, Still has such a beautiful melody it can be sung by anybody you choose. And finally, for Anna & Alex I’ve added Chiron Beta Prime, an offbeat Christmas ditty by Jonathon Colton that’s getting lots of playtime on our piano this year. Enjoy!!

The year end clearance sale continues in the shop, with savings from 20 – 50% on fabric from Riley Blake, Freespirit, Timeless Treasures, Benartex and more. This week’s feature fabric is Michael Miller’s Aqua Red Color Story, marked down 20% until December 28th. Isn’t this combination of red & aqua fresh and fun and oh-so-irresistible?

And speaking of irresistible, check out this lively combination of Robin Zingone’s Stockholm and Ann Kelle’s Remix from Robert Kaufman. It will be coming to the shop in January, just in time to brighten our long winter.

The Sew Mama Sew Giveaway will close later today, and the Blog Hop Party Giveaway tomorrow. Get your comments in now!! Winners for both giveaways to be announced back here on Sunday.

It’s here! The Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day starts today and runs all week. Here’s what I’m giving away in the sewing supplies category:

You can win a set of 4 modern quilt patterns from Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts. I made two of them earlier this year … Hugs and Kisses and Off The Rail. Julie’s detailed instructions and illustrations make it easy. All the patterns come with multiple size options from baby to King.

This giveaway is open internationally. For a chance to win, just leave a comment on this post. I’d love to hear about your favorite tool in the sewing room. Or maybe what tool you’d most like to add to your kit.  The giveaway will close on December 16th, and the winner will be announced here on the 18th. And don’t forget to check out the other participating blogs for more chances to win great stuff. Good luck!

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you for taking the time to comment. The random number generator has picked a winner … #35. I hope Audrey enjoys the patterns.