Fresh Mini Quilt Club | May 2013

Hello -- happy Tuesday! Today I'm sharing May's mini quilt from the Fresh Mini Quilt Club. In case you missed it, here are the March & April (and here!) mini quilts. If you aren't familiar with the club and/or you'd like to join, check out this post for more details. You can sign up right here!

May's mini quilt features five Ohio Star quilt blocks. My version was made using Art Gallery Pure Elements. These are quickly becoming one of my favorite solids -- the colors are so vibrant + saturated! You can find the Art Gallery Solids at Pink Castle Fabrics & Fat Quarter Shop.

This mini quilt was quilted with my BERNINA walking foot using wavy organic lines, varying from 1/8" to 1/4" apart, and Aurifil thread (2021). Wavy organic quilting is a quick + easy option, and very forgiving!


The finished mini quilt measures 22" x 22".

xo, Megan.

Fresh Mini Quilt Club | April 2013: take two

Playing around with fabric placement is one of the simplest + quickest ways to get an entirely different look out of a quilt block/pattern. Yesterday's Electrify mini quilt, from the Fresh Mini Quilt Club series, was made using two prints + a background fabric. The block layout resulted in two pin-wheels, of sorts!



After finishing the first mini quilt I wanted to play around with the same block design, this time using scraps!  Each block uses one jelly roll strip (2 1/2" x WOF) -- I can't wait to make a bigger version using an entire jelly roll bundle.

I straight-line quilted the mini quilt using a neutral Aurifil thread & my walking foot -- it's my go-to quilting combo. The lines are 1/4" apart -- not  quite as close as the original mini quilt! I love how the quilting pops on the back of the mini quilt -- especially with the brown stripe binding fabric.  




The 4 x 4 block layout finishes at 32" x 32".

I hope you are all having a great week!
xo, Megan

Fresh Mini Quilt Club | April 2013

Hello, there! I love social media -- photographing + sharing in an instant is such a great thing. Except that things have been a little quiet on the blog lately! So I'm on a mission to start sharing more here -- starting with the mini quilts from the Fresh Mini Quilt Club. The Fresh Mini Quilt Club, a 6 month mini quilt series, started in March & the June pattern was sent out over the weekend. Remember, you can join at any time!


April's mini quilt, Electrify, is a play on the traditional flying geese block. Each block is made up of four flying geese + a two fabric color palette, which makes for an interesting overall mini quilt design! Playing around with fabric placement can quickly + easily change the look of a quilt. I used Art Gallery Pure Elements solids in Coral Reef, Snow, & Ash for the quilt top. You can find them at Pink Castle Fabrics & Fat Quarter Shop.




Straight-line quilting is my favorite -- there's something so therapeutic about it! I quilted lines about 1/8" apart using my BERNINA walking foot + Aurifil thread (color 2021). This match-stick quilting results in some fabulous quilted texture -- and it's relatively simple! Check out my post on Straight-line Quilting for tips + tricks. 





The binding + backing fabric is from Vanessa Christenson's Simply Color Line from Moda Fabrics. This basic blender print makes great bindings & comes in several great colors. You can find Simply Color at Pink Castle Fabrics & Fat Quarter Shop.  

The Electrify Mini Quilt measures 24" x 24".

Tomorrow I'll be back with another variation with the same block & different fabric placement. Talk then!
xo, Megan 

ETA: Linking up to the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge with Ellison Lane Quilts. 

Spring Quilt Market

Spring Quilt Market was this past weekend in Portland, Oregon, full of inspiration + fun + very little sleep. This was my second Quilt Market and a little less overwhelming than the first! I left the Midwest on Wednesday morning just in time for a quick trip to IKEA and booth set up with Jeni and Christina.

We painted, assembled IKEA furniture, and laughed our butts off every step of the way! Jeni was deputing her upcoming fabric line with Art Gallery Fabrics, Nordika -- it's adorable! Turns out I didn't take any pictures of the finished booth -- whoops. Luckily Jeni shared a few pictures on Instagram -- here, here, and here. George bunny even came along to Quilt Market!

Thursday I spent most of the day helping my Iowa pal Vanessa set up her booth in the Moda Fabrics section. Her new fabric, Simply Style, should start shipping in the next month or so! This color + print is my favorite from the entire collection!

Vanessa & I shared a room together -- which was super fun, until one night when we both lost our hotel keys. I think we had everything (plus the kitchen sink!) in our bags + purses except that darn room key! Ah, well -- memories made!

It was great getting to see + spend time with online friends, new & old! Especially when a Ryan Gossling look-a-like shuttles you around the city. Hey girl, I'd love to shuttle you around Portland for Quilt Market.

One of my favorite booths was the Art Gallery + Pure Elements booth. Simple + clean + rainbow color <3 <3 <3 What do you think the boyfriend will think of a rainbow butterfly installation like that on our wall?

The cutest booth award goes to Jodi & her daughter Jemma of RicRac. Not only do they make the most adorable plush softies but they also have the best Australian accents! I could have sat & listened to them talk for hours!

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. I walked away with new friends + inspiration + motivation. The number one lesson learned from this past week: make it happen.

Happy Sewing!
xo, Megan

Lately | Snapshots

Good morning & happy Monday! These last few weeks have been full of sewing (lots of it!) + deadlines. Today I'm sharing some of the Instagram snapshots from the last few weeks -- I'm @canoercreations.

This finished quilt hit the mail a few weeks ago & I can't wait to share the entire thing with you later this fall. The fabric is Constellations by Lizzie House for Andover Fabrics and can be found at Pink Castle Fabrics. I quilted it using a 50 wt. Aurifil thread (color 2021) & used my BERNINA walking foot to make wavy organic lines. 

This is April's mini quilt from the Fresh Mini Quilt Club -- which I have yet to share on the blog, soon! These quilted lines are about 1/8" apart and the resulting texture is an added bonus. Pretty little quilted stitches are my favorite!

Here's another version if April's mini quilt that I'll soon be sharing. These quilted lines are 1/4" apart  -- still great texture! Using my walking foot + straight-line quilting is my absolute favorite, so crisp & modern.

More quilting! This little snap shot is of May's mini quilt from the Fresh Mini Quilt Club & again I quilted it using dense + straight-ish lines. 

Do you see a trend happening? Straight line quilting + Aurifil tread = <3 <3 <3

I'm also working on making my Starburst block pattern into a complete quilt pattern -- from baby quilt to bed quilt. Look for the pattern to be release early next month! I'm making this sample for my LQS for the All Iowa Shop Hop happening June 2013. 

Here's another snapshot of a few blocks -- rainbow order is the best! 

Talk soon!

xo, Megan