
It’s spring here on Vancouver Island with blossoms, green trees and active marina life. Having moved to the island 11 months ago from the prairies I am in awe of all the differences ocean life has to offer. What a thrill to participate in this blog hop and to share my original design and pics from my new home.
I am a mom of 5 creative, curious and comical kids ranging from 6 years to 15. This September I entered a new phase of motherhood, all my children are in school full-time allowing me mostly uninterrupted quilting time during the day rather than from 9 pm-2 am like I have done the past 2 years. I am a professional long arm quilter who loves transforming amazing quilt tops into something unique and even more amazing-er! I call myself Stitched Quilting Co and can be found under that name of Instagram and Facebook here and here.
Planning this quilt was a challenge because there are SO MANY beautiful colours with SO MANY colour combinations with SO MANY quilts that I want to make. I decided to select the colours and guesstimate the amounts of required fabric and then upon receiving the fabric, allow myself to play with the designs and patterns. There are so many amazing quilts out there but these were some of the quilts I was really loving: 9 Patch, IIrish chains and dresdens, thanks to all you creatives who share your work on Pinterest and Instagram. As I created the different elements of some of my go-to designs I was able to create this beautiful quilt, if I say so myself!
There are so many elements to this quilt that I love: the first is the open spaces for the quilting, my favourite part. Second the beautiful complimentary colours of spring. Third, the joy of creating a quilt from my head with these beautiful solids from RJR Supreme Cotton Collection.
Mermaid 393
Nothing Hill 309
Iceberg 377
Orange Crush372
Cantaloupe 209
Peachy 278
Redwork 222
Bandana 367
Tropicana 339
Horizon 354
Gift Box 291
Jadeite 390
Nile Green
Grove
Sunny Delight 326
Citrus 384
Sea Glass
The backing was Sea Monster in the sprinkles line by Sarah Watts.
When I first started quilting and after making several larger quilts and taking them to a long arm quilter I found that when I got them back I lost my love of the quilt because it was so longer 100% made by me. Can anyone relate? It wasn’t that my quilting on the smaller projects was spectacular, but when I gave the quilt (90% of the quilts I make are gifts) it didn’t represent me. So I decided to learn how to quilt these labour of loves the way I wanted them to look. I started with doodling on paper and then transformed old sheets or unwanted fabric into quilt sandwiches and just went for it.
I am on my third long arm in the past 7 years. I consider a day well spent if I am able to have a portion of it on my long arm or creating a project that will end up on my long arm. Being a mom with very athletic and busy schedules I tend to stretch my day by going to bed late into the night so that I can have that creative resurge that the quilting does for my soul.
I constructed this quilt so that I would be able to maximize the quilting opportunities. The open dresdens are a new design for me. Originally I was going to have layers of dresden’s so I created these triple shade beauties. However, after auditioning and asking my dear friend Julia Wentzell she agreed with the open dresdens.
Quilters are industrious people and I could not have these beauties sit around with all my other UFO projects so I decided to use the Chocolate Chip Cotton and Steel basic as a background for the dresden to shine. I had enough to create the mini and quilt shown.I was compelled to make them although I did not have a specific purpose for them. Then on April 6, 2018 there was a devastating crash killing 16 people total: coaches, hockey players and staff of the Humboldt Broncos. There are so many affected by such a tragedy that I wanted to give something to show those devastated by such a loss that there is hope by the quilts given them. I decided to be brave and host an auction to raise funds for batting and backings for all the blocks that will be pouring in. I was able to auction both the quilt and the mini which raised $1430. How heartwarming this was for me and for my family to know we helped, we make a difference.
Mother Theresa said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create man ripple”. What an empowering thought. No matter where we live or our circumstances, we can help.
I had way too much fun quilting this quilt. Whenever I don’t know how to quilt it, I just divide up the space and start by quilting that one space, and then I move on. I seldom have the entire quilt planned out. I enjoy the challenge and the process it allows me.
I used two layers of batting to create the loft. The wool was backordered so I went with the bottom layer being Hobbs 80/20 and the top being polyester. The combo creates a lovely loft. I am in love with So Fine thread.


I hope you enjoyed the walk on the beach with me my husband and son as we explored the rocks, barnacles and star fish and got lots of stares and funny looks as we proudly paraded my cherished quilt up and down the beach. My sincere thanks to RJR for this wonderful opportunity to create this beautiful quilt with their dreamy solids. I also really enjoyed the backing fabric ‘Sea Monster’, when I was contemplating the backing, I just could not resist the name!

So for an opportunity to win your own bundle of {Open Dresdens} fabrics, follow @stitchedquiltingco and @rjrfabrics and tag a friend on the giveaway post. Did you know that when you sign up for my newsletter you receive a free colouring book with my doodles? Please do and thanks again for stopping in.
Stitched Quilting Co would not be possible with out the help of my devoted husband and children, so I feel compelled to share some of the ‘outtakes’ of our photoshoots. Keeping it real.

