The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.

Friday 16 December 2016

Linda B's Quilting Projects

A few years ago I decided to offer a beginner's quilting class, and I created Linda B's Quilting. The first class brought me 3 registrations and we created a lap quilt. I had a lot of trouble finding a space, reasonably priced, where we could set up each week and create. I finally managed to secure some space in a church through a friend - as a result she was gifted the sample quilt from the class.

Here are a few pics of our class projects.

Class #1 - Playful Pinwheels - made with holiday fabrics. This was an all inclusive class, all materials provided, instruction for a quilt, start to finish. In this class we covered all the basics, from squaring our fabric, to cutting, to sewing creative blocks. We worked through the entire quilt, start to finish, and created masterpieces.




Class #2 - Sampler Quilt. This time each student provided their own fabrics. Each week brought a pattern, instructions and demo. We are still waiting for a few quilts to be completed! 
mine...


For this class we expanded our block patterns/techniques and increased our quilting vocabulary. I think there were seven registrants.

Laura's...
Dot's...

 Angie's...
 Leanne's

 Carol's...
 Sister Carol's...
 Marge's...

Class #3 - Variety Class - this time a variety of projects were offered. Not all students chose to complete all the projects. Again, students received patterns, instructions and demo's to complete each item. I believe there were about 6 people in this group.

Zipper accessory bag

Dresden Tote






Appliqued Table Runner



Hexagon Tree Skirt (or table topper for the smaller project)



Class #4 - Stars of Bowness - this is my design. I created a sampler and then my own large Stars quilt. Again, each individual chose their own fabrics. Each week gave them patterns, instructions and block construction demo. Again, there were about six people in the class.

Sample Stars of Bowness


My Quilt

From here on, we decided to break from teaching classes. I could see that everyone had developed their skills and were creating their own styles. We talked about it and decided to continue forward as a club rather than classes. Each individual would be working on their own projects, we would meet regularly to discuss projects, trouble shoot and encourage each other. Plus, to maintain a group focus we would create some charity projects - whatever we could bring to the discussions.

The QB's were born out of this - we have about 7 or so members in the group. One has moved to B.C., so she maintains connection through our regular group emails. We have not only grown into fellow quilters, but we have become friends.


Tuesday 10 May 2016

Bags for Baggies

Yes. Finally! A bag to hold the baggies. Don't you just hate walking the dog only to discover the bag stash in your pocket has been depleted? Or even worse, no pocket so you're carrying around a handful of bags? Simply attach to your leash and you'll never be without...


I made this one for me using hemp fabric and batiks. Here are a few more...




Receiving Blankets

I have also been busy sewing a few more items for babies... I love the double receiving blankets and really enjoy using the self binding method. Quick and easy.













Beer Soap

Yes, that's correct. I used beer in this soap recipe. The soap already has such a nice smooth texture, I can't wait to try it. Oh, and it does not smell like beer - not even a little bit.

I took the advice of fellow soapers and brought the temps cooler before I mixed my lye beer solution and oils. Then I placed the soap in the fridge to keep it cool avoiding the circle of gelling.

I like it...

Citrusy Beer Soap - 2 lb batch
  • 9.6 oz Coconut oil
  • 9.6 oz Canola oil
  • 5.76 oz Olive oil
  • 5.76 oz Shortening
  • 0.64 oz Castor oil
  • 0.64 oz steric acid
Additives included approx 1 tsp Poppy Seeds, approx 1/2 tsp Tumeric, approx 1/4 tsp Fuller's earth.
Essential oils used were grapefruit, sweet orange, lemon grass and peppermint.



Sunday 3 April 2016

Soaping continues

Oatmeal Honey Soap - 2 lb batch
  • 25% olive oil
  • 20% shortening
  • 20% coconut oil
  • 15% shea butter
  • 15% almond oil
  • 4% castor oil
  • 1% neem seed oil
  • water/lye 
  • Additives included honey, ground oats, tumeric, oatmeal/milk/honey EO, vanilla bean spice FO


I found this to be a nice creamy soap at light trace. As soon as I began adding in the extras the soap traced heavily rather quickly. After doing some research and checking with my soaping buddies, I have come to the following realizations...
  • oatmeal speeds up trace
  • FO speeds up trace
  • honey speeds up trace, and heats soap

 You will notice the soap has a dark center in each piece. This is due to the soap being too warm as it set. It is called 'gelling'. Some people like the gelling as it increases the richness of pigment. Some people prefer without as it makes the soap look more natural and rustic. I usually go for the non-gelled look, however, this time I will have to settle, as it may fade but will never disappear.

I achieved gelling by not cooling the soap as soon as I poured it - if I had placed the molds into the freezer I may have avoided it. Also, I believe I mixed my soap at a too high temperature. I should have let both components cool a little more before mixing. I believe I mixed at around 140 degrees and should have let it cool to at least 90-100 degrees.

Live and learn!

Avocado Soap 2 lb batch
This soap was created with a 6% superfat rather than the default 5% for extra moisturizing.
  • 11.20 oz avocado oil
  • 9.60 oz coconut oil
  • 6.40 oz shortening
  • 4.80 oz olive oil
  • 12.16 oz water
  • 4.95 oz lye
Additives included 1 tsp yellow macha tea powder (added to the water), 1 tsp ground oats, grapefruit seed extract, sweet orange EO, eucalyptus mint EO.






Bath Bombs

These are whats left of my bath bombs. They still smell amazing, and I made them about 6 months ago.
  • 1 cup baking soda
  • 1/2 cup citric acid
  • 1 Tbsp melted shea butter - I made a mixure of melted shea butter, almond oil and about a drop or two of vitamin E oil, but used 1 Tbsp total of the mixure.
  • drops of EO or FO
  • drops of colour (optional)
  • a few spritz's of water/witch hazel
One batch makes about 8 bombs the size pictured. My mold was from a multi pack beads, so each mold is about 1.5" wide by 2.5-3" long and about 3/4" deep or so.



  • Please note, if anyone wants to use my recipes, please be sure to run them through a soap calculator before you begin, just to double check my numbers. 
  • Also, all soap measures are by weight, not liquid measures
This is my prefered soap calculator program.

.http://soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp