Let’s Get Acquainted Blog Hop

After a long wait, it’s finally my turn on the blog hop.  I signed up for this hop at the beginning of June, and it seemed like my turn would never come, but it’s finally here.  My tutorial, My Granny is a Star, is in the post directly following this one.  I have another tutorial that I made this summer, Kentucky Chain, that you can check out if you like.

I made up a mosaic of some of the projects that I’ve completed lately.  They are, from l-r, Deco Shimmer, Mod Pop, Community Quilt, The Tree, Cathedral Stars, Boys’ Ties, Road Trip QAL, Urban Nine Patch, and an unnamed WIP.  I am far behind in adding my completed projects to the page on my blog that is designated for them, and if you read through some older posts, you will find more than is pictured here.  I’m just too lazy to make two mosaics.

Beth, the host of this blog hop, gave us a list of questions to answer, so I’ll get started on that.

How long have you been quilting?:  I started quilting about 6 years ago, in 2006.  My sister, who is an excellent seamstress and quilter, taught herself how to quilt using books from the local library.  I was very intrigued by what she was doing, and eventually caught the bug myself.  My husband is often out of town for work, and quilting keeps me company while he is gone.

Favourite quilting tip(s):  Make sure that when you are cutting your fabric, that you are as accurate as possible.  When I started out, I wasn’t such a stickler for accurate cutting, and I always wondered why my seams never seemed to line up.  Accurate cutting in conjunction with accurate piecing, are the backbone of quilting.

Favourite blogging tip(s):  Don’t worry if you haven’t blogged for awhile.  If you pressure yourself to blog more frequently than you actually want to, blogging will become a chore and not be fun anymore.  If you need to take a break from blogging, do that.  It’s supposed to be fun, and when it’s not anymore, then you need to reevaluate why you are doing it.

Favourite fabric (or wish list fabric):  Recently, I’ve really started to fall in love with solids, as is evidenced by my tutorial, which uses only solids.  Something that I really want to get, but haven’t yet, are Oakshott shot cottons.  I love how they seem to glow.

Favourite craft book:  I just got some craft books in the mail the other day.  My favourites of the bunch are Word Play Quilts, by Tonya Ricucci, and Sunday Morning Quilts, by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison.  There are definitely some techniques and patterns in those books that I am going to try.

Favourite book (or book you are currently reading):  I am currently re-reading The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde.  It’s an eclectic mystery book in the Thursday Next series.  My favourite books tend to be old classics like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice.  I don’t like thillers or books that are too explicitly gory.

Favourite children’s book:  I love anything by Bill Peet.  I read those books to my kids all the time.  If we’re talking older children’s chapter books, then the original Boxcar Children are my favourite.

Favourite quilting tool:  Probably my rotary cutter.  I know everyone seems to say that, but if it were not for the rotary cutter, I don’t know that I would be quilting today.  It makes life so much easier.

Favourite music to listen to while quilting:  I’m not sure what to put down for this one.  If my husband is around, we tend to listen to rock music since that’s what he likes.  I listen to whatever I’m in the mood for.  Sometimes it’s Christmas music, other times it’s opera or something else classical, and sometimes it’s just pop.  It totally depends on my mood.

Favourite TV show while hand stitching:  Lately I’ve been watching Once Upon a Time.  It’s filmed near my old home base in Vancouver, BC.  I actually had my wedding reception in the building that they use as their town hall.  I also enjoy Castle, Call the Midwife, and Downton Abbey, which is starting again soon!

Binding – by hand or by machine?:  Always by hand.  I find hand stitching to be a very soothing activity.  I’m hoping to hand quilt a smaller project with perle cotton one of these days.

If I’d only known – what you wish you knew about blogging before you started your blog:   I thought about blogging for quite awhile before I finally decided to take the plunge, so there’s actually not too much that I didn’t sort of know about.  I do wish I had known how to take nicer pictures when I first started, but I’m getting better at that now.  There are so many helpful places online to help you out if you’re struggling with the code side of blogging, that the answer I need is typically just a quick google search away.

That’s all for the questions.  As I mentioned earlier, the tutorial is in the next post.   Here’s a link, if you need one.  Be sure to visit the other bloggers who are on the schedule this week.  The blog hop is coming to a close soon, and it’s been a great ride.  Many thanks to Beth for organizing it all!

Oct 30
Janice from better off thread
Shena from Apple Pie Patchwork
Nov 1
Kelly at Live. Love. Create
Wendi at Bethadee Zoo