Devotion for the week... I spent the weekend at a church women's retreat with a friend and more than 500 other women. It was fantastic! On Saturday, during a prayer session, the speaker asked us to raise our hands if our husband wasn't a believer. Hands went up all over the room. Then asked those whose children weren't believers to raise their hands. More hands went up. Then she asked those whose parents weren't believers, then siblings, then extended family, then friends. By the time she was done, every woman in the room had raised her hand. I had another devotion for today, but standing th ..read more

It's time to turn some WIPs into finishes! The WIPS-B-GONE challenge is back for another year and I can't wait to see the finished projects start to pile up ? You can click here to join the challenge. In case you're not familiar with WIPS-B-GONE, this is my annual challenge to help us finish up lingering works-in-progress so we can free up space (physical and mental) for new things. Those newly finished projects can then be used, displayed, gifted, donated, or sold - any of which is better than sitting unfinished in a cupboard or closet. There's no set rule for what counts as a WIP - you dec ..read more

July was very Christmassy in my sewing room, between the Merry Mini QAL (I still haven't put the bindings on my minis!) and the Stash Artists BOM sample I was making that I'm finally taking the time to blog. Meet Joy ? The letters and the holly are each made up of a different classic quilt block, pieced in one colour (mostly) so the piecing stayed subtle. Designing this one took a long time because at first I tried to use a phrase, but it would have made a really big and oddly proportioned quilt. I tried a bunch of different variations before giving up on that version and switching to using j ..read more

It's no secret I love scrappy quilts and quilts made from my stash. I created a membership based on stash-friendly quilts, after all, and I'm having so much fun designing and making alllll the scrappy quilts ? This newest Stash Artists pattern is no exception! Allow me to introduce you to Tiered Treasure. The name is a nod to both this being my take on a classic coin quilt and the fact that our stash is every quilter's treasure.  I've been looking at coin quilts for a while, thinking about making one, but not really wanting to just have simple stacks of 'coins'. When I turned alternate ..read more

It's September and that means it's the start of quilting season! Okay, yes, every season is quilting season around here, but I tend to spend less time quilting in the summer because a) it's too hot in the house (no air conditioning) and b) I'm out hiking, walking, reading under the tree in the backyard, or spending time by the ocean. With September comes cooler weather and back-to-school, which also means the return to regular routines and schedules, and probably more time spent in my sewing room.  So, let's have a QUILTING SEASON sale ? From now through Monday, September 9th, everything ..read more

Devotion for the week... I'm currently reading through the book of Acts in my morning devotions and one day last week I read chapter 7, in which Stephen addresses the Council after they arrested him on the testimony of false witnesses. I burst out laughing when I read verse 53, which says, "You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels." It's not at all a funny verse, but for a moment that morning it sounded like James Earl Jones had suddenly appeared in my kitchen to reprise his role as King Mufasa! There's a line in The Lion King where Mufasa sa ..read more

Happy last Friday of August! I hope you enjoy this Labour Day long weekend ? The last Friday of every month is My First Quilt interview day, and this month Lori De Jarnatt is sharing the story of her first quilt. Lori lives in Central Oregon with her hubby and 4 legged dog. When she's not quilting or teaching quiting, she's hiking, backpacking and traveling.  You can connect with Lori at her website and her shop, on Instagram, and on Facebook. Lori's first quilt is an impressive one, that's for sure! What year did you make your first quilt? What prompted you to make it? 1993&nbs ..read more

Welcome to week 5 of the Merry Mini QAL! It's the final days of this Christmas in July party! I managed to get caught up last Monday afternoon, stitching my tree rows together and then adding them to my three quilt tops. Then they all just sat until Friday afternoon, when I finally got them all basted. It took less than an hour to baste them all, so why did I keep putting it off??? Saturday morning I started the quilting. I quilted diagonal lines in all the red squares on all three, then lines in all the tree trunks, then more diagonal lines in the green squares and wishbones in the trees. T ..read more

It has been a busy July here in Devoted Quilter land, with the Merry Mini QAL and the work I've been doing on other patterns, not to mention starting a new job as a virtual assistant. Whew! No wonder it feels like the last Friday of the month snuck up on me quickly! It is the last Friday of the month, though, which means I get to share another My First Quilt interview ? This month Jenny Kae Parks is sharing the story of her first quilt. Jenny Kae Parks is a quilting teacher and designer. You can connect with Jenny at her website, on Instagram, on Facebook, and on Youtube. And now ..read more

Welcome to week 4 of the Merry Mini QAL! How is your Merry Mini coming along? I have to admit that this past week I fell behind on my own QAL. I was doing really well, even with three mini quilts underway, but then we decided to go hiking twice this week. No regrets, both hikes were great! It just means that now I have some catching up to do. (And if you'd be interested in seeing some of my hiking pictures, you can follow me on Instagram!) Even though I don't have my Merry Mini quilt tops finished, I do have all my trees made! I love this little forest. Week 4 - Quilting If you haven't al ..read more