Friday, July 5, 2013

Let's get Acquainted Blog Hop - Hilltop House Edition!!!

Plum and June

Well, HELLLLOOOO all!!! And welcome...what fun to have you pop over for a visit. Wish I could offer you a cup of tea (I'm on a bit of a green tea blitz right now) but you know, the internet and all makes it a bit of an inconvenience! How 'bout I just start right in with a formal introduction and give you a bit of a tour??! Sound good? Ok, let's get at it then.

My name is Lisa - I am a teacher by day (little people - K and Grade 1) and a quilter by all other hours. I also loooove to cook, bake and preserve whatever I can get my hands on (usually in the summer, which is now in my neck of the woods, so look out if you are in this area!)


I live in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. Which is about an hour away from Vancouver, BC - many of you may know/recognize Vancouver (and Whistler) as we hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. For those of you that live in the U.S. it may help to give you a locale - we are about 2.5 hrs north of Seattle. Lots of trees - it is very green and pretty here. The picture above is my current view out my back porch. Actually, we are very lucky here, we have both ocean and mountains in Vancouver, so we get the best of both worlds! My house is actually on the top of a hill - hence the blog name!

A while back, Melissa from Melia May Quilting (Hi Melissa!!!) tagged me in a game of blog tag and I posted my responses to her questions here. If you click on over you will find more info about me.


And just a few more details...I would like to include some quilty info:

What is on your cutting table right now?

Weeelll...I just chopped up a ton of these little critters...



And I am planning on making them into more of these.



Because I just did not get enough of this quilt.


I am also still pining away some ideas for my sashing for these blocks. Read my plan here.


I did manage to find some tone on tone prints and I have chopped them into strips, but I am still trying to work out the 'herringbone' part of my idea. Wish me luck! (Luckily I had planned to give this quilt to my friend in the summer, otherwise I would be a little late as she works with me at school!)


When did you start quilting and who taught you/how did you learn?

I started quilting in the beginning of 2010. I had ALWAYS wanted to quilt - my husband gave me a machine for Christmas 2009 (best gift ever!). I left it in the box for a month or so - terrified of it and then I signed up for a beginners class at a local quilt shop (which is no longer in my town, so sad) and never looked back. All the rest I have learned from bloggers (thank you!!!) - tutorials, advice and of course my own trial and error. My very first ever post on my blog goes into more detail on my sewing inspiration - you can read that here.


What type of sewing machine do you use?

My machine is a Janome 4030 QDC - this machine is my friend. Seriously. It works like a little work horse and does everything I need/want it to do. It is meant for quilting and crafting, so it came with the feet I need, needle up/down and a few other little tricks.

You can find a post about my sewing room here and if you look closely you can see it nestled on the table in this pic.


Recently I had to take my machine in for an overdue tune up/cleaning and I had a really, really hard time parting with it (even though I knew I was going to be out of town for most of the week it was going to be in the shop). I was so sad, that the man behind the counter asked me teasingly if I would like a moment alone with it before I left. Haha!


What is you favourite/least favourite part of quilting?

I love ALL of it. Every single little bit. Yes - even basting haha! It's true, I actually like pinning all those little pins. But my actual favourite part is the quilting. I absolutely love quilting and right now I am on a straight line quilting gig - cannot get enough of the straight lines (and LOTS of them too, I like to quilt very densely).

And I loooove the scraps and saving the snippets. Who knows what I will actually do with them - but goodness, they just can't be thrown away! Late last year I finally organized all my scraps and that felt really good. You can find my organization post here. I loooove to organize and keep things where they belong, I think this is part of what attracts me to quilting - because it seems such an organized and precise art to me.


Do you have any favourite quilting notions?

Definitely my quilting gloves. As you can see in this picture, I use them a lot. I find they keep my hands from getting cramps when gripping/wrestling the quilt through my machine. Obviously, I need a new pair. Any suggestions??? I love these ones, but the fabric store doesn't carry them anymore and I wonder what you all use, if anything???




Do you have any tips/tricks to share?

Labels, labels, labels. Label your quilts. They truly are a part of you. Quilts are our paintings - a label is our signature. Before I used labels, I found my quilts quite hard to give away (it made me feel sad to let them go). Now that I use labels, I find it much easier as I know they will always be marked with my 'signature' and not just out in the 'world all alone' haha! I use labels from Hobbytime on Etsy. They are the 'satin folded care labels' which are the first item featured on the shops home page. They are printed with my blog name on one side and my name on the other. I just sew them into the binding as you see here...





I will leave you with a mosaic of my latest sewing endeavours. Thanks for the visit. Hope you all have a fabulously wonderful weekend - spending time doing your most favourite activities (sewing included here I am sure!!!).



If you have a moment, do visit my friend Martha over at Weekend Doings (have you seen her cookie recipes??? Not to mention her quilts...!!! Both soooo yummy.). This week she is sharing some new blogger advice. Thanks Martha!

Have fun visiting the other bloggers this week on the Let's get Acquainted Blog Hop.


Friday, July 5
Christa @ Christa Quilts!
Stephanie @ Quarter Incher


A BIG shout out goes to Beth from Plum and June - the brains behind this amazing hop. Thanks Beth for your time spent planning and organizing this fab event. I am so pleased to be a part of it!


~Lisa


49 comments:

  1. You have such great style, Lisa! I can see I'm going to be spending a lot of time looking around here. Have you tried Machinegers gloves? That's what I've been using based on Leah Day's recommendation and they seem to work well.

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  2. You give me so much hope! Your quilts are beautiful and I just figured you'd been quilting for several years, not just since 2010! I just started quilting this past winter and wonder if I'll ever be that good. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. What a wonderful introduction, I have the upmost respect for K and 1st grade teachers. My son just finished K. I love your gardens. Your work in your mosaic is inspiring, nice work.

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  4. What a great post! Very fun. I just love the pic of your sewing room. Man I so need to clean mine. I swear that I spend more time searching for things lately than sewing!!!

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  5. It has been a pleasure to gain a little more insight into your quilting life. I, too, think that my sewing machine, also a gift from my husband, was the best present ever!! I cannot believe that you have only been quilting since 2010......my, my.....your lovely quilts appear to be ones stitched by someone with a lot more stitching years under their belt!!

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  6. Hi nice to meet you. I am a new follower on bloglovin. I buy gardening gloves to quilt in. my last pair were just £1. They have the same non-slip bobbles on them.

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  7. Hi Anne! Nice to have 'met' you through the new blogger hop! It is great to hear about where you are in the world and see all the great quilts you have made. But I REALLY adore that hat!!! PS. I have your machine's little brother, Janome 2030QDC!

    Lorna:)
    http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com

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  8. Such a great post! Love the quilting gloves pic! And great sewing room!

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  9. Lovely to meet you. My favourite picture of yours is the heart quilt which is right in the 'heart' of your mosaic!

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  10. Great blog hop post Lisa! Your sewing space looks so relaxing and the advice about the labels is sound.

    Jenny @ Note to Follow Sew
    http://notetofollowsew.blogspot.co.uk/

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  11. Labels are something I have been contemplating for ages and can't decide on what to put on my quilts. I recently started just embroidering them on the binding itself..but I do need to get labels.

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  12. Hi Lisa, nice to meet you, I love your heart quilt! I'm waiting for my first batch of labels to arrive - can't wait! :-)

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  13. Nice to learn more about your quilting journey. Your quilting/crafting room is delightful and you have a wonderful machine. I like how you describe your labels and what they mean to you. I also spotted your Moda Pinwheel baby quilt sitting there too - very nice.

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  14. love the photo of your sewing room...using the towel rods to hang quilts is so clever! such a great idea!

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  15. I'd love that cup of tea, thank you! You do great work-thanks for sharing!

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  16. Lovely to meet you! That heart quilt is gorgeous!

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  17. You have some really great projects going on! Wonderful to meet you! I love my Fons and Porter quilting gloves. They're easy to get on/off, and let my hands breathe. Best of all, they're pretty inexpensive.

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  18. Lovely to find your blog through the hop and so nice to meet you! I enjoyed looking at your various projects and your photos make me wistful for the lush green of the lower mainland. I've never tried quilting gloves but am thinking it is about time as I do find it challenging to get a good grip on a larger quilt. Thanks for the great post.

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  19. Wow - I love your work and your photos - stunning! I use cheap lightweight gardening gloves for quilting - they cost about $6 which seemed like a much better deal than the gloves that are specifically marketed as quilting gloves.

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  20. Hilarious about the machine! And looove the projects you've shown (I'm here via the hop). And oh my about your gloves! I use Fons & Porter gloves, but the look the same (except blue) so I'm not sure if they would be any better than yours! Something like 8 bucks though, so quite affordable. And I'm dying for the black and white background fabrics in that star block....

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  21. I truly loved this post! It was great to get to know you. I feel your pain when leaving your baby for service! Mine needs to go in, but when? Thanks for sharing a small part of your quilty world with us!

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  22. Great to come by for the blog hop. Love those colourful blocks with the the text print too and those star blocks are looking really great too- that's a promising pile of triangles!

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  23. Goregous Projects. Love your post. Hi from a blog hopper ;-)

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  24. I really enjoyed reading your post. You have a beautiful backyard. My husband is originally from Panama and so I have been to the Canal several times, but never through it on a cruise ship. I would love to see it from that perspective! Love what you're doing with the PB&J. I have a stack of this waiting on me to cut into it.

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  25. Great post Lisa! I really enjoyed learning more about you. Your sewing room is fabulous, we have similar sewing machines, mine is a QDC by Janome too (and it was a gift from my husband).
    I can't wait to see more of those star blocks. They are going to make a gorgeous quilt like the other one (love it!)

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  26. It's so nice to meet another teacher/quilter! I enjoyed reading about your venture into quilting, that's my favorite part right now, getting to know how others got started. Your work is beautiful and I look forward to seeing more but don't you find it difficult to work inside when it is so gorgeous outside?

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  27. Hi Lisa, great to read a bit about you..I'm very jealous of your garden. I visited BC years ago, it was beautiful. I LOVE your projects especially the star quilt..I made my first little stars over the weekend it was great fun! Totally agree with what you're saying about the scraps, I can't bear to part with mine. I'll probably never use them but they're all saved in little bags!

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  28. Hi Lisa! My favorite quilting gloves are Machingers. They have excellent grip. Love your work. The pinwheel quilt with the prarie points is so cute. I am getting me some of those labels....no more excuses!

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  29. Lisa would it be forward of me to suggest that we should be friends? Reading your blog was awesome. I live in western canada, quilt on a Janome, just went to NYC recently, oh the list goes on. I'm so glad I found you on this blog hop. Consider me a follower :)

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  30. Lisa,
    Loved reading your post and I am excited to be a new follower of yours!

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  31. So glad to be following you now! Found you through the Blog Hop :) I totally agree with you on the labels. I have some old quilts I need to get back to and label.

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  32. I agree with you on the labels also. I just started doing that and it DOES make you feel different about letting something go. Great colorful projects!

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  33. Lovely works all round! And you have definitely used up your glove! Nice meeting you on the bloghop!

    Can't wait the projects on the table getting done. They look lovely already!

    Amira @ http://littlemushroomcap.blogspot.com

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  34. Nice to meet you:) I live in WA and have been to Vancouver, very beautiful. We live on the eastern side of WA so i miss all of that green. Such lovely projects, I can't wait to see what becomes of your pb&j quilt, love that fabric. Also, thanks for your link on the labels, that's something i've been thinking about lately:)

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  35. So nice to meet you! Your little space in the world is beautiful!! I love your mosaics and you have some beautiful quilts! I love your heart quilts! So cute! Did you use a pattern to make those hearts?

    I use quilting gloves too and they are a lifesaver. I think mine are Fons and Porter ones...I cut the tips off because I can't stand not 'feeling' the quilt. ;) But they are one of my favorite tools!

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  36. Love your brights with darks! Found you via the Blog Hop :) I think your scrap organization has my brain spinning. I'd love to organize them!

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  37. Hi! A great blog post! Your work is beautiful! I love your labels (thanks for the link.). I hand sew down my binding on the back....the labels should still work don't you think?

    Looking forward to following you!

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  38. Love your star quilt! I have one of those on my to-sew list! I really love your sewing space, it makes me realize that I have a lot of organizing to do!! Looking forward to following along!

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  39. It's nice to meet you through the blog hop! I love the labels you use--I will have to check out the Etsy shop you mentioned. Your projects are lovely!

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  40. Sorry it's a little late, but definitely glad to be visiting from the Hop! I really love both of those heart projects that appear in your mosaiac and I think I need to start using gloves like yours to get more control during my quilting. Great to get to know you better!

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  41. I have a Janome 3160 QDC and I love mine to bits and pieces too. (I bought it in desperation after wrecking my old cheapy Singer two weeks before I had to gift two quilts! The woman at the store was like, you need this one. Don't even try others. She was totally right.) You do such nice bright colorful work! Nice to learn more about you.

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  42. Lovely post. It's nice to get to meet you.

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  43. What beautiful work you do! Love the star quilts/blocks and the heart mini! I am a new follower now. Sorry I am late getting to your blog on the hope, I wanted to spend some time actually looking at people's blogs not just visiting for visiting sake - and life gets in the way sometimes. It looks like you live in such a beautiful place. You are very blessed

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  44. What a great post, love all of your recent makes, but especially the paper pieced blocks- beautiful!

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  45. I love love love your mosaic! The cityscape black & white fabric is great too. Thanks for the hints on the labels, I'll be ordering some shortly :)

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  46. So nice to meet you, I'm jealous of your awesome back yard and sewing space. And all of your projects are absolutely gorgeous :)

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  47. Hi Lisa! It was nice to meet you! You have some lovely makes. i do not use quilting gloves, but i did buy a pair at local gardening store.

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  48. Ooh ooh as I finished two quilts this past week I was so disappointed that I didn't have any labels to sew in. I was about to start a mission to find some and then LGA leads me to your blog, and it's right there. Brilliant! Thanks so much and sparkle on!

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