Canada Quilt Archives - Daydreams of Quilts Blog

July 30, 2018July 30, 2018

Canadian Summer Quilt Along Coastal Majesty Block

Coastal Majesty quilt block depicting British Columbia's majestic trees.

Hello and welcome to week 8 in the Canadian Summer Quilt Along! This week we have a beautiful foundation pieced block designed by Jean of Sophisticat Fibre Art Studio called “Coastal Majesty.”

Jean’s block is inspired by the beautiful trees around Vancouver in British Columbia. In her pattern she writes, “This block symbolizes the majesty of those trees growing in the mountains.”

I lived in Vancouver for four years as a child while my Mom was doing her master’s degree. The trees in and around Vancouver truly are awe inspiring. Many happy days were spent climbing trees there.

I remember one time my brother, sister and I were up in a tall cedar tree and we saw our Dad who was doing maintenance on the roof of one of the buildings at the Vancouver School of Theology (where my Mom did her masters). We were eye level with him and he was on the fifth floor. We called to him “Hey Dad!” He looked around on the ground for us but couldn’t see us. “Over here! In the tree! We’re waving a branch at you!” The look of shock on his face was funny to us at the time but as a parent I can imagine the feeling he must have had now. He stayed very calm but said sternly “You kids are up too high. You climb back down now.” Ah, good times in Vancouver.

Anyway, I digress. 🙂 Here is my version of Jean’s Coastal Majesty block. Dara of Stitched Quilting Co. did a beautiful job of the quilting on my block.

Normally I find foundation paper piecing so challenging that it’s not fun for me but I really enjoyed this block and it’s very possible to achieve even if you are a beginner at this technique. Jean also suggests using “improv strata” for your trees. This is basically creating fabric pieces by sewing together small strips (or you could slash and insert strips as well). Jean has a photo of this on her Instagram post (second photo).

Trees or Mountains paper pieced quilt block — Coastal Majesty before quilting to get a better representation of the fabric colours in my block.

Jean was having some technical issues with her website so she said she would try to have a tutorial up on her Facebook page if not on her site.

You can download the free Coastal Majesty pattern on Craftsy.

Giveaway: Post your blocks on Instagram using the hashtag #canadiansummerqal for a chance to win my most popular PDF pattern the “Pixel Heart in a Pixel Heart” pattern. Jean also says if you tag her on your post @sew_catstudio by August 15th she will also be offering a prize.

July 23, 2018July 21, 2018

Canadian Summer QAL Blue North Strong and Free Block

Welcome to week 7 of the Canadian Summer Quilt Along! This week we have a block pattern designed by Céleste of Meerkat Shweshwe.

Céleste imports Shweshwe fabrics from South Africa and sells them here in Canada. She is my wholesaler for the Shweshwe fabrics I bring into my shop. She sells to both wholesale and retail customers and gives great service!

Meerkat Shweshwe is sponsoring a giveaway this week. Post your Blue North Strong and Free block in the hashtag #canadiansummerqal on Instagram and tag @meerkatshweshwe for a chance to win a bundle of four fabrics that Céleste used in her block.

Four fat quarters of Shweshwe fabrics are the prize for this week.

You can download the Blue North Strong and Free block pattern for free from either Céleste’s shop or from Craftsy. Céleste tells a bit about the inspiration for her block inside her block pattern.

Have fun sewing this block! I thought of it as like a Farmer’s Wife block as I was working on it.

June 4, 2018June 10, 2018

Canadian Summer Quilt Along Starts in One Week

Exciting news today! The Canadian Summer Quilt Along starts in one week on June 11, 2018! Start gathering your scraps so you can sew along with us. I have made all the blocks using my stash. We have 16 blocks so you can make a 3 x 4 block quilt or a 4 x 4 block quilt. Read a bit more about it and check out the schedule on the main Canadian Summer Quilt Along page.

I have an idea for sashing to share with you today as something to consider for finishing your top. This is completely optional but it will increase the size of the quilt.

My idea is to sash between the blocks with 6″ x 12″ (finished) Canadian Flag sashing blocks. And then just have 3″ vertical sashing strips between the vertical rows. I have done a little quilt layout diagram in EQ7 to show you this idea. I wasn’t planning on sashing above and below the blocks just between the four rows of blocks but I don’t know how to get EQ7 to let me show that so just ignore the top and bottom sashing rows (or go ahead and make that many flags if you like the top and bottom sashing).

Canadian Flag Quilt Sashing — Sashing Option to increase the finished quilt size of the Canadian Summer Quilt Along Quilt.

Here is my finished quilt top:

If you like this idea and want to make flags for sashing you can use this template: Maple Leaf Template

Cut your centre squares 6.5″ from white fabric and the bars on either side 3.5″ x 6.5″ in the same colour as your leaf.
Use the template to make fusible applique leaves using fusible web such as Heat n Bond. Place fusible web paper side up over the template and trace the leaves. Then fuse to the wrong side of your fabric following product instructions and cut out leaves with sharp paper scissors.
Centre the leaves on the white 6.5″ squares and fuse in place again following product instructions. Blanket sitch or zig zag stitch around the edges. (Or leave to stitch when quilting.) Here is a link to a little YouTube tutorial video I made on how to hand blanket stitch.
Sew the 3.5″ x 6.5″ rectangles to either side and press seams towards the rectangles.

And there you have your flags to sew between the blocks. This template also works for this Canadian Flag Pillow Tutorial and this Canada Day bunting flag tutorial.

The vertical sashing and border strips are cut 3.5″ by width of fabric. You will need 14 strips if you make a quilt with 16 blocks.

I hope you will join in and sew with us in the Canadian Summer Quilt Along.