Le Estcwicwey: the Missing

May 23, 2022May 23, 2022 / valerieraye / Leave a comment

May 23, 2021 brought horrific confirmation from the Tk’Emlups te Secwepemc first nation that they had found 215 unmarked graves on the grounds of the Kamloops Residential School. And we all knew if this happened at one that there would be more. It’s been one year since that confirmation. At the school the children were each known by a number. Out of respect for these found children they could not keep calling them “the 215.” They are instead remembered as Le Estcwicwey , the Missing. As sad as I felt and still feel, I cannot imagine the pain and heartbreak that continues to be throughout their community.

Creating helps me process & try to make sense of what I’m feeling. I had always been intrigued with Indigenous blankets, especially the Chilkat & Star blankets. June 01/21 I decided to make a miniature Star blanket and use my collection of abalone shell buttons to represent the Missing.

The pattern is made of small diamonds pieced together in eight sections. These sections join together to create the eight-point star. The pattern of the star quilt is inspired by the Morning Star. The Morning Star is the last and brightest star in the eastern horizon before dawn. It is believed the Morning Star represents the way the spirits come to Earth and serves as a link between the living and those who have passed. The points symbolize kindness, humility, honesty, respect, healing, forgiveness, wisdom, and love. The points face outward which represents the relationship with family, friends, and the community.

The piece I’ve made is a 12″ square with an added 2 1/2″ border. I chose the colour orange for Orange Shirt Day, “to witness and honour the healing journey of residential school survivors.” The piece is machine quilted & finished with a flanged binding. I had been collecting hand cut abalone shell buttons for years with the intent to make a red & black Haida blanket. I figured here would be a much better use for them. There are 215 buttons attached onto the piece. One for each child found.

Last July I was fortunate to see a replica version of Carey Newman’s Witness Blanket at the downtown library. The Witness Blanket is a large‐scale art installation made from hundreds of items reclaimed from survivors and their families, residential schools, churches, government buildings, and traditional and cultural structures across Canada. It is truly amazing to see and heart rending at the same time. I was also able to get a book about this from the library and would definitely recommend it to you to read. When I can, I will go see the original piece. I’ve also seen the video of the making of this blanket. I have attached a link to that. https://humanrights.ca/story/picking-up-the-pieces-the-making-of-the-witness-blanket

Also attached are some links to the breaking news and stories of Orange Shirt day and reconciliation.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tk-eml%C3%BAps-te-secw%C3%A9pemc-215-children-former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-1.6043778

https://foundrybc.ca/stories/orange-shirt-day-history-of-residential-schools/
https://www.orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story.html

Reflecting on #EveryChildMatters….Valerie Raye

I Spy another…Binding, Bear & Baby

May 13, 2022 / valerieraye / Leave a comment

Wow! Here we are nearly halfway through May. April took off like it had somewhere to be. When I started this new blog I had good intentions to write at least once a month. But in order to do that I would need to have some things completed to write about. Perhaps I should rethink that strategy. I was gone for half of April and in doing so didn’t complete any quilting/sewing projects. I did however enjoy parts of our most #BeautifulBC. I spent 10 days hanging out in the Shawnigan/Mill Bay area with the Great Cowichan Valley Trail and the scenic Malahat loop. Then another 6 days on #Walkabout in Vancouver.

Before I left on adventure I had started working on an I Spy quilt for a June baby. It was on the design wall for several weeks waiting for completion. With the way days speed by I was (I’m sorry) happy for all the rain we have been experiencing. It allowed me to complete the quilt and make a Honey Teddy bear to accompany the quilt. I had used some yellow and gold solid fabric from my stash for the lattice & borders so was looking for a binding fabric to make the quilt pop. I had a half metre of Funky Chicken by Sandy Gervais for Moda fabrics in my stash. It was going to be perfect, especially if I made it bias with the stripes adding some “diagonal interest.” Below are the steps to make a continuous bias binding.

When I first learned to quilt I was taught how to make continuous bias binding. What makes this technique awesome is the cutting before stitching. It’s amazing how much binding you can get out of a fat quarter! An 18″ square will yield 110″ of 2 1/4″ binding with only two seams to sew! As an aside, has anyone ever tried to get that thread off their design wall? I looks so, so messy!! 😀

Make the fat quarter square and then make a diagonal cut from the top left corner to the bottom right corner. Take the bottom edge of the left triangle and match it to the top edge of the right triangle. Stitch 1/4″ seam along this edge.

**Seam pressed open & 2 1/2″ lines marked**

Press the seam open. From the outside long edge mark lines at 2 1/4″ increments. (2 1/2″ if you prefer wider binding) Cut off any excess fabric. Also mark a 1/4″ seam line along the two shorter edges. In this seam allowance number each marked strip #1 thru #5 on both ends. Using a rotary cutter, cut along the marked lines leaving at least 1 1/2″ of fabric uncut on both short sides. Match the short sides, right sides together, shifting the top seam marked #1 to the left. If you do not shift the seams you will end up making RINGs. This means that the top seam #1 will NOT be matching the bottom. (This will be the beginning of the finished binding.) Top seam #2 will match bottom seam #1 etc all the way across. Pin in place using the marked lines and seam allowance as a guide. Bottom seam #5 will not have a match. (This will be the end of the finished binding)

Stitch 1/4″ seam allowance and press seam open. Using your cutting shears cut across the seam allowance. Fold and press the binding in one long strip to complete the process. I prefer the 2 1/2″ binding when I’m applying the binding by machine on both sides. I do this on most quilts that are going to be used and washed regularly. The piece I started with was 22″ square and made 180″ of bias binding.

I seem to have become attached to the Funky Friends Factory “Honey Teddy Bear.” I’ve been making them from the leftover Fireside backing and they are so soft and snuggly. ❤ ❤ ❤

The I Spy quilt that I made is very similar to the one I made my great nephew, Maverick, last Christmas. I decided to cut the I Spy pieces 4″ x 6.” His was a 7 x 7 block layout and this one is an 8 x 6 layout. So many different ways to make I Spy quilts. The colour of this Fireside is “chocolate.” It has been making me crave dark chocolate all week. I figured that since I rode my bike to the fabric store for the backing I could ride to the chocolate shop? 😉

This quilt and bear are ready to make their trek to Victoria. Wishing Kristie & Myaun the best of times when their little bundle arrives in June!

Happy quilting…Valerie Raye

CPCH Legacy Quilt

March 30, 2022April 8, 2022 / valerieraye / 3 Comments

It’s been awhile since I’ve made a Canuck quilt. For ten years I made sure that Canuck Place Children’s Hospice had at least 16 quilts to give the children and their families before the start of a new hockey season. ( http://mapleleafquilters.ca/blog2/?p=5629 and http://mapleleafquilters.ca/blog2/?p=5712 ) Of those 16 quilts I would make anywhere from three to six depending on how many quilters I had for a particular year. I made 48 of the 164 Canuck Place quilts. I loved every stitch of it! ❤ ❤ ❤ Our last campaign was in 2020. Needless to say it felt really weird not making any last year and even more so this year. Every year I would design a new pattern. Some years we had to turn down requests to make these same quilts for Canuck fans. We held the belief that these quilts were specific to Canuck Place and it didn’t feel right to make them for anyone else. Late last year a dear friend and ex-colleague asked me if I would make a Canuck quilt for her soon to be one year old granddaughter. The family are diehard Canuck fans living in Alberta. <–That’s sad on so many fronts. 😉 I thought about it and decided it would be okay because I planned to give the $$ to Canuck Place Children’s Hospice. Judy requested a block with Pettersson’s name as well as the Stick in the Rink crest. I understand that Pettersson is a favourite player of someone in the family. The 50th anniversary of the Vancouver Canucks saw a change to their jersey’s and crests. No white around the sleeves and bottom part of the 3rd jersey and more white in the crest. I laughed after getting a response back from Judy saying “who knew?” Details matter to diehard fans & fans who are quilters! 😀

There are 8 large white blocks waiting for appliques. In all the years making Canuck Place quilts I’d never made a hockey net. This was fun to do and the netting was courtesy of my Janome Heirloom stitch #84. I think I might have to make more nets. Johnny Canuck is not on the new versions of the jerseys but he’s cool and been around for a long time. All the appliques on this quilt are hand drawn and appliqued. I cannot for the life of me draw anything with pencil and paper and be satisfied that someone will know what it is. For some reason it is different when I use fabric and thread. Must be the medium that brings the artist in me out. 😉

^To document for blogging I tend to take lots of photos. Sometimes things are added to the photo. The block here is called “Shots Shots Shots!!!” That is #3 Kevin Bieksa (in Lego form) who said this to Scott Oake. The only reason that sound byte sticks with me is that it was said in May 2011 and the Canucks were on their run for the Stanley Cup, where the #IBelieveInBlue quilt campaign began. Anyway, I just liked the idea of hockey pucks being shot not the song that he was referring to in his between period interview.

This little guy is my take on Flat Stanley. While Judy & I worked together at Community Living Place in Powell River we discovered him through books by Jeff Brown. We used the little guy in our stamp club, mailing him across the country and having him go on adventures with friends and family. (I once was entrusted a Flat Stanley dressed in his 2010 Team Canada uniform. He never made it home from Molson Canadian Hockey House. 😦 So Sorry!) Anyway, over the years he has been on a Bieksa’s Buddies quilt (the 2013 lockout year), Canuck Buddies in 2015 (sponsored by CLP Staff), For the Love of Dan Hamhuis 2016 and now our Captain, #53 Bo Horvat. I’d considered making him #40 but I was feeling annoyed at the “noise” around who should be the captain of the Vancouver Canucks. He looks happy and I think everyone else should be happy too!! Also, notice he is wearing the 50th anniversary jersey. In case you were wondering, #IBelieveInBlue and #IBelieveInBo!!

This quilt is made from the last of the #IBelieveInBlue2020 fabrics. A true legacy quilt. It is 45″x57″ and backed with blue Fireside, making it soft and cozy. I hope that Natalie enjoys her new Canuck quilt & wearing her jersey while cheering on the Vancouver Canucks. Happy 1st birthday too!

Thanks to Judy for all the years you supported the #IBelieveInBlue quilt campaigns for Canuck Place Children’s Hospice. This was a blast from past and I’m happy to continue to support CPCH.

Happy Quilting…Go Canucks Go!!…Valerie Raye

I Want to Be a Maple Tree

March 26, 2022April 3, 2022 / valerieraye / 3 Comments

This is another “what’s old is new again” quilt. The original quilt was a 2004-05 Timberlane Quilter’s Guild challenge. The challenge was to make a self portrait about what you’ve been and what you’ve done. To start, I am a very proud Canadian. I see the maple leaf as the ultimate Canadian symbol, making the leaf one of my favourite quilt patterns. I decided I’d make a maple tree, alternating fabric photos with maple leaves to create my portrait. There were 34 maple leaves and 28 fabric photos used to describe what makes me, Me.

For as long as I can remember I have spent my free hours with a needle and thread making clothes, gifts and quilts for family and friends. This left me with plenty of scraps to make my maple leaves and begin my portrait of “Me.” (I kept these scraps separate from the main scrap bin) The oldest piece of fabric here was a purple corduroy from 1969, a project from my grade 8 home economics sewing class. It did not make it into the repurposed version making the yellow with big gray flowers the oldest from 1970. I had lots of wall space in my home on Maple Avenue but not so much anymore. It has been in the cupboard for a few years and I wondered what would become of it. After much pondering I decided to take it apart and remake it. Of the 34 original maple leaves only 30 made it into the new quilt. There are so many memories in each one of these leaves, dating back fifty three years. 😀

In January 2022 I started to reassemble it using Snow White grunge fabric. Most of the maple leaves were 5″ square, six of them were 3 1/2.” There was lots of math to make everything fit together properly, keeping everything squared. It was definitely a build it as you go quilt. I was beginning to think about a backing. I had lots of solids and had also been playing with my selvage edges. The backing would be another build as you go project and turned out to be a lot of fun to make. I made five selvage edge squares to make the maple leaf, added two 2 1/2″ borders before adding the large triangles to finish it. I then stitched selvage edges out to the corners. So many more memories of all the quilts I’ve made and given away are here too. The backing finished a bit wider than the top so I added a 1/4″ zinger before adding a second border. Creativity…no pattern…no problem.

Maple Syrup Pantograph
Maple Leaf Quilters
Wool batting

It’s not a big quilt, 50 x 54, but I didn’t want to quilt it. Canada Post delivered it to Maple Leaf Quilters and as always Joan worked her magic. ❤ Since “I Want to Be a Maple Tree,” I figured I might as well have the Maple Syrup pantograph with tumbling leaves. Wool batting makes the pantograph leaves POP! Sea Mist is the thread colour.

Just a few lovely leaves
Selvage Edge corners

This quilt is so much fun to look at. These four maple leaves have eight different people attached to them. When I look at the selvage edges I can see more people. This is like an I Spy quilt. 😀 I can’t wait to snuggle up under it while taking a walk down memory lane.

This quilt, that once was a tree, encompasses the last 53 years of my life, all that I’ve been, places I’ve seen and most importantly, the people who have helped shaped me into ME.

Happy Quilting…happy memories…Valerie Raye

INTERWOVEN: West Coast Inspired

February 22, 2022April 1, 2022 / valerieraye / Leave a comment

Last summer I made wedding quilt. It was made and delivered five years after the wedding. But that was not all solely on me. The quilt in question is for my son Sean and his wife Kayla. I had asked them if they would like a wedding quilt and they said yes. I didn’t want to assume they wanted one and pick a pattern and colours that weren’t to their liking. Their job now was to pick a pattern and choose their colours.

The reason for asking this was my finding a discarded Double Wedding Ring quilt in Value Village for $24.99. I wrote about it in May 2016 on the Neighbours in the Hood blog: After work one day last week I made a run by Value Village to drop some stuff off and decided to go inside the store for a quick look. I found this wonderfully made, awesomely scrappy, double bed size Double Wedding Ring quilt. It had been pulled off the linen rack and left in a heap on some furniture. It caught my eye and I wondered as I walked towards it if it was one of those pre-printed quilts or one from a quilt store that sells quilts from China for cheap. Not so, to my surprise! It was a beautifully pieced and quilted quilt! Amazing binding and a great label. Two aunts had made this quilt in 2005 to celebrate a relative’s wedding, I hope they never find out that it was discarded 😦 And, yes I did buy it and it has now gone to a home of a person who has loved this quilt design for a long as she can remember. 🙂

In January 2021 they finally gave me some answers to what they wanted. It was only after they kept asking why their friends were getting quilts and they hadn’t received their wedding quilt. They sheepishly remembered that I was waiting for their input. 😀 Last spring I made mention of a UBC study “about de-stressing, happiness, lowering your carbon footprint & enjoying the process long before the finished product (or purchase).” Well this was another one of those projects that contained all those steps.

Sean & Kayla decided on the Interwoven pattern from Lo & Behold Stitchery. There are two different versions, traditional and modern. Of course they chose the modern one. There are fifteen different colours in this version. Three quarters of a yard of each one. The background fabric required 9 3/4 yds. (The traditional version requires 5 3/4 yds of two colours.) They wanted it to be an accent piece for their king size bed so we decided to make the twin size. (Whew!!) There was a lot of thought that went into the types of colours they wanted and didn’t want. Kayla’s vision was to have this quilt represent the west coast from the clouds & sky to forest & ocean. The next part of the exercise was to find the fabrics. During this Covid-19 pandemic we were finding limitations in the stock available. Fortunately for us my sister Joan & niece Emily were going to a warehouse on the lower mainland and would scout out the best possible pieces for us. It took them several hours and for that we are very thankful!! After lots of texts between them, Victoria and Nanaimo we got what we needed to start. Of the fifteen fabrics only one didn’t make it into the finished quilt. (It was replaced with another green.) All fabrics were batiks.

The pattern uses 1 1/2″ strips. Yes, that was a lot of fun. 😉 For the background colour we purchased a full bolt as this size quilt called for 9 3/4 yds. I needed 228 background strips so spent the first day cutting them. I had 12″ leftover. My plan was to cut the strips of colours I needed and then assemble the blocks. After cutting the first six colours I had to give up on this plan. My hands were not happy with me! Plus I was itching to start sewing blocks together. In the end it turned out to be the best thing. There was a lot of waste. I have eighty six 1 1/2″ strips left. That’s 3.3m!! There is also enough coloured strips to make the throw size version.

Block 2
Block 3
Block 4

Does anyone remember how hot it was last summer? The heat dome we lived in? Fortunately I live in an air conditioned home and enjoyed staying inside and stitching without sweating! It took 27 1/2 hrs to cut the strips and assemble the blocks. Four different blocks make up the interwoven design. Another 10 hrs to assemble the rows and complete the flimsy. After looking at a host of these finished quilts, Kayla and I decided we wanted a geometric design for the pantograph. Bauhaus worked brilliantly. It was quilted by Esther of Quirky Quilts. Binding took another 2 hrs. Started July 10th and finished August 24th. 72″ x 100″ I had a goal to have this quilt finished before their 5th wedding anniversary in September. It was realized on August 28th, just in time for a baby shower.

Here is a look at the completed version. We had a heck of a time photographing this quilt. I’m not sure if the actual design of the quilt mixed with sunshine and shadows was the problem or just the camera operator. 😉 And of course no photo ever does justice to the quilt. I guess the next thing to do is make the smaller version of this quilt with all the leftover fabrics, after all the background strips are all ready cut!

Happy Quilting…Valerie Raye

What’s Old is New Again

February 13, 2022 / valerieraye / Leave a comment

Do you have any of your first quilts? Do you ever take them out and have a close look? Remember who, when & what you were doing with it? When does a quilt become an heirloom? I’ve had a few chuckles reading what others have said about what makes a quilt an “heirloom quilt.” I remember the first time I heard the “it’s too good to use” statement when I made a baby quilt. I’ve always said it’s made to be used, loved & worn out. To me an heirloom is the handing down of something from one generation to another. It used to be that people had family homes & properties to hand down. For me I’d just like to have something passed on that connects family with memories of generations past.

Hand applique
English paper piecing
Machine piecing

My grandmother ❤ and I made our first (and her last) quilt together at an evening quilting class taught at the Bowen Park Recreation centre in Nanaimo in 1984. This class was designed to teach hand quilting, hand applique, English paper piecing and machine piecing. Everything was cut by hand. The original project was a wall hanging but we decided to make it into a baby quilt.

Boy is this quilt ever poorly made! 😀 The flowered fabric is not quilting quality and it shows. It was minimally hand quilted, although the stitch length would be considered “modern” these days…lol. But the thing here is that it holds a ton of family memories. I got to spend quality time with my 80yr old grandmother, Elsie, who taught me the love of sewing. We used leftover fabric from a dress (red) I had made my daughter Angela. The quilt was given to my sister Patricia for her baby boy, my nephew Guy. I’d say that this is an heirloom quilt. Yes, it’s a mess but it connects family and that’s all I want.

Another quilt in my cupboard was a baby quilt I’d made for my sons, Ryan & Sean. I wanted to pass it on to my soon to be granddaughter but not so much in the state it was in. It’s a whole cloth quilt that was hand quilted with a self binding. In 1985 I did not know if I would have a boy or girl so I chose to make it, and all those things in the nursery, yellow. It was that or green. 😀 I decided to repurpose this piece. There was definitely lots of broken stitches as it was well used and loved. ❤ I removed all the hand quilting. I considered cutting the top into pieces and mixing them with new fabric but it didn’t feel right. The backing would have to be replaced as it was stained with baby oil and such things that babies leave behind. 😀

**Honey Teddy Bear made to match “Daddy’s Girl” quilt.**

I had thought about pink for a backing as I new it was for a girl, but it didn’t look or feel right. Instead I chose Fireside’s Ocean Spray. We are, after all, a very west coast island living bunch! I decided that I wanted it to be almost the same as the original piece. I retraced the original quilting lines, but this time by machine. I did get some pink in there when I decided on a flanged binding. (42″ x 45″)

So this takes us back to my original musings about what makes an heirloom quilt. One comment that cracked me up was “one that is old and has managed to survive.” I say that both these quilts I’ve been talking about are old and have survived. If I was to believe this comment “one that may have a lot of applique, made of “better materials,”, have lots of hand quilting,” the first one would be disqualified from an heirloom label. 😀 This last comment “An heirloom is a family possession that’s handed down from one generation to the next. So any quilt that has been handed down within the family is an heirloom,” is the one that I prefer to use.

Ask Google: What is the difference between heirloom and heritage? As nouns the difference between heritage and heirloom: is that heritage is heritage, inheritance, legacy while heirloom is a valued possession that has been passed down through the generations.

I’m thinking that an heirloom quilt can be an inheritance as well as a legacy. And now, what’s old is new again. 😉

Happy Quilting…Valerie Raye

Maisy’s Art

February 3, 2022 / valerieraye / Leave a comment

I was intrigued with the description of the colouring pages my great niece was giving to her Nana, Judy. I had never heard of the “LOL Surprise” dolls before. I mean, having sons and grandsons kind of shields me from what there is out there in the little girl universe. 😀 Judy sent me photos of these pages and I immediately thought about replicating them onto a quilt for Maisy. They reminded me of the paper dolls I used to spend hours cutting out and hoping that I didn’t cut the tabs off the clothes! 😀

I started by having two sets of copies made. One in black and white for cutting up and the other in colour to match Maisy’s colours. I had lots of scraps and thread colours on hand along with a white on white print background. Maisy’s favourite colours are pink and purple.

😀 Waiting for stitching 😀 Maisy’s art 😀 Stitched & quilted 😀

I loved making these applique dolls. The hardest part for me was to stop adding details. Like the braiding in the hair, eyelashes and shoelaces. I tried hard to match the colours to Maisy’s own vision.

Originally I had nine different pages to work with. Five of these were the above version, small bodies with large heads. The other four were more in the line of a Barbie doll. I decided not to mix the two types, choosing my favourite ones to work with. I decided to set the dolls on point and then built the quilt from there out. I was working from my stash and found just enough purple for the block sashing. It worked out perfectly as it framed each piece of Maisy’s Art.

I found a perfect border fabric from a recent inheritance of fabric. Free Spirit presents MODERNIST by Joel Dewberry PWJD139 Prismatic. I purchased pink Fireside backing to make it nice and cozy and free motion quilted it for the most part. I find that stitching in the ditch around each block is best. Finished at 44″x44.”

This was the most fun project. So colourful. So cheerful. I also got the most amazing thank you letter in the mail from Maisy. “Dear Great Aunty Raye. Thank you very much for the quilt. I love it! Love Maisy.” This is what quilting is all about. Seeing the joy it brings to the recipient.

Happy quilting…Valerie Raye

For the love of Seaglass

January 14, 2022January 14, 2022 / valerieraye / Leave a comment

In September 2020 I made my first Seaglass quilt. It was an online course lead by Allie McCathren of Exhausted Octopus. I have as much fun cutting “seaglass” as I do hunting for it at the beach. Definitely easy to become addicted to this process. I had a variety of colours cut but chose to use mostly blues and greens, leaving me with lots of reds, oranges, golds and browns. These would go in the next quilt.

On March 17, 2021 I went to the beach to specifically hunt for green seaglass. After all it was St Patrick’s Day!! After a rather successful hunt I felt the need to start another seaglass quilt. This one would be for my daughter Angela. It was to go under glass on her coffee table. Approximately one quarter of the quilt would be blue & green.

These improv quilts are so fun to play with. The most difficult thing to do is to STOP moving the fabric around. You just know that once you have the pieces placed that they are going to move on their own. 😀 Next time I believe I will peel off the backing before laying the glass out. One less step to prevent the eventual “self” moving of the glass. It’s kind of like watching a wave come in a grab your seaglass before you can. 😦 This finished piece measures 20″ x 46.”

It’s a new year and I’ve yet to go on a seaglass hunt. First we had snow for days and days and then the King tides hit taking away any chance of a beach. I’m sure that with the next hunt will be the next urge to make Seaglass #3.

Happy Quilting…Valerie Raye

Goals for 2022 #TraditionalRugHooking

January 13, 2022January 13, 2022 / valerieraye / Leave a comment

We’re going into the way back machine as this particular project started in 2008. For as long as I can remember I’ve always gravitated towards textile arts of various kinds. While spending a month touring the Canadian Maritime provinces I became intrigued with traditional rug hooking. It seemed everywhere we stopped there was a frame set up with scraps and hooks for those interested in trying their hand at hooking. Many, probably most, were using strips of t-shirts and other scraps of fabric. This trip out I didn’t get to Cheticamp on Cape Breton Island but there they hook with yarn. They also hook with yarn at the Village Acadian Historique in New Brunswick.

Hawthorne House Brigus, Newfoundland.
Cape Bonavista Lighthouse
Village Acadian Historique, New Brunswick

While in Nova Scotia we made a point of spending time following the Economusee Network map. It shows you the places in Atlantic Canada where you can see working Artisans. It was in Mahone Bay where I purchased a very simple rug hooking kit and hook from Encompassing Designs. http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/index.html. We also stopped by Spruce Top Rug Hooking Studio and purchased some hand dyed wool pieces. After we returned home I started working on the rug, a 14″ square log cabin chair pad. I was able to get the center of the rug complete using a hoop. I tried building a square frame to hold the burlap so that I could complete the project but that didn’t work out very well! 😉 Life got a little bit more in the way and hooking took a back seat to quilting.

Moving forward to 2012 I inherited my mother-in-laws rug hooking supplies. Included was a Puritan frame with a floor stand. I pulled out my rug and thought I’d get busy and get it done. That didn’t last long. For some reason I just couldn’t get the hang of attaching the rug to the frame with any kind of tension. It wasn’t until I talked with another rug hooker that I realized this was a common problem. I decided I would attach it with straps and adjust it as I went. I believe I got a couple of squares completed but was still finding it awkward and couldn’t get into the rhythm of hooking. It felt like using two fingers to type. Not very productive. 😦 Back into storage it went.

In 2018 I was on another trip to the east coast and this time was able to get to Cheticamp and see the rug hooking there. Oh my. Inspiration galore. We toured Tapisseries Chefs-d’oeuver wide eyed and in awe of the workmanship. So many amazing pieces of art. WOW!! While there in the community I purchased some 2 ply hand dyed yarn and a small hook to one day attempt this technique.

As you can see 10 years have gone by and I still haven’t written about that 14″ square chair pad! 😀 In December 2021 I decided that my 2022 goals would start out by completing some long left projects. As well as getting hooked on #TraditionalRugHooking. My little rug was getting a bit dusty from waiting on the sidelines. It was time. I was over half way done. I began by pulling out the instructions on how to use the frame. There is no way that I can sit with this particular frame on my lap. I’m pretty sure the model in the information brochure was just pretending to hook. This frame does have a stand but I haven’t the slightest idea where it has gone. (For awhile there I was contemplating buying one of those big wooden floor stands but if I’m not going to be serious about this then not a good way to spend my money.) I found that placing the frame on my cutting table works well. I stand and hook for awhile. Over the course of ten days I completely finished by first rug!! When the hooking was complete, I watched a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHNGNtbPjk0 video by Ribbon Candy Hooking on how to steam/block your rug. Well that was steamy, hot work but I smiled all the way through the 20 minutes of steaming. Bonus: steam removes dust!! Next comes the trimming. I found cutting the burlap to 1 1/4″ worked best. I folded that in half and stitched in down by machine before I handstitched the rest of burlap binding down.

I think the “getting hooked” part won’t be a problem. I’ve already pulled out the next piece. It is a Joan Foster pattern entitled Outport House. My friend Leslie gave me the piece and I have plenty of wool from my MIL’s stash. Can’t wait to begin…and finish.

Happy quilting…Valerie Raye

Lost the Neighbours, Found the Rayne

January 12, 2022January 13, 2022 / valerieraye / Leave a comment

Hello! Welcome to 2022 and our new blog. Back in June our Neighbours in the Hood blog blew a plugin and we have been down since then. James & Eric over at Telus Hosting Solutions were able to recover the 10 years of posts from the old Neighbours in the Hood blog. Unfortunately there is some sort of glitch that has lost some of the photos and links and made posting new photos impossible. After many hours of frustration I’ve decided to move over to this blog Quilting in the Rayne. It is still a work in progress as I’m still learning how to use this particular format. But like learning any new technique it’s going to work out in the end. The primary reason for this inaugural post is to get photos, tags and categories up and running. Right here is where you’ll continue to find “Adventures in Quilting & Friendship.”

In the meantime, the last quilting post I wrote was about some quilts I’d made last spring. Above are bindings from Crows in the Garden and the I Spy with Riley Raye quilts. Both quilts have been delivered and very much loved. The third binding picture is from an Interwoven quilt that I made over the summer. I’ll write about the 1 1/2″ strips used to make this a little later in the month.

Happy Quilting & Welcome to Quilting in the Rayne…Valerie Raye

Crows in the Garden
I Spy with Riley Raye
West Coast Interwoven