Postcards from Muskoka

Many moons ago (2014) I posted about a shop hop I went on with my friend (Part 1 and Part 2 posts). Well, I finally finished all of the blocks.

The quilt pattern, called Postcards from Muskoka, was designed by Joni Newman of Quirks and Quilts. Here is what her original version looked like:

Image taken from Quirks and Quilts blog

I love the look of stained glass and have done a number of stained glass projects now, but this is one of the ones that got me started. Joni has a tutorial on her website for how she does the stained glass technique that is very helpful.

Beach umbrella

I decided to complete each block separately instead of finishing them as a single wall hanging.

Muskoka chairs

I also decided to do a little experimenting about how I finished the quits.

I tried a blanket stitch as well as a zig-zag stitch (both in black and in a thread colour that matched).

I also experimented with whether I stitched just through the top and then quilted separately or not.

Pine tree

In the end, I decided that my preferred method was a straight stitch in a matching colour that went through all 3 layers to both stitch down the pieces and provide the quilting.

I did a few of these - enough to get my feet underneath me, and then I moved on to a few other ones that had purposes and timelines.

Heart-shaped in the sky.
Fabric just worked out that way.

I dusted them back off during covid and continued to work on the ones I hadn't done yet.

Northern lights

Speaking of covid, when we were set home over 2 years ago, for what seemed like it was going to be a short amount of time, I decided that I didn't need the shoes I kept at my desk (and my winter boots), but I did take these wall hangings that I had completed off the wall at work and brought them home (priorities :D). 

Cabin

They're a great project because they don't require a lot of planning (just picking fabric) and are a fairly quick finish (if you own the right thread).

Loon

I used batiks for most of the panels, but I did find on the loon that I wanted a few black and white fabrics and didn't have a batik that fit the bill. Instead I picked a couple fabrics out of my gramma's stash when I was up there :) (that's starting to be a theme of my blog :D)

Campfire

I like all of the blocks, but I think the campfire and canoe are two of my favourites.

Canoe

I used some of my more plentiful batiks for the backs of the projects.

I haven't decided how exactly I'm going to hang them (especially since I no longer have a wall at work to put them on). But here is the whole set.