We're in the second month of
The Canadian Sampler and we have enjoyed seeing your lovely
Keep'n Warm blocks &
Pacific Stars blocks.
February's blocks are Thousand Islands Star
by Nellie Holmes & Christine Baker from
Upper Canada Quiltworks Publishing and
Canada by Code by
Michèle-Renée Charbonneau from Quiltmatters.
Thousand Islands Star
by Nellie Holmes & Christine Baker from Upper Canada Quiltworks Publishing
Twelve years ago, designers and friends Christine Baker (Fairfield Road Designs) and Nellie Holmes (Originellie's) formed a joint
company,
Upper Canada Quiltworks Publishing Co. so that they could publish books and patterns that they co-design.
Their first book, Rag Bags©, released in May 2004, was a huge hit and featured patterns for 12 different tote bags all made using the rag technique. Their second book Rag-a-Muffins© (2005) contains lots of projects to make for children such as rag quilts, fusible appliqué wall hangings and accessories.
This year they released their third book “Celebrate Canada” which contains lots of projects using Northcott’s “Oh Canada” line of
fabric. It is available now in quilt shops across the country.
Collectively they have designed over 200 patterns.
They currently have 56 patterns that they have designed jointly for
Upper Canada Quiltworks and Northcott Fabrics and have just released their first block of the month quilt pattern called “Tweets and Twinkles”.
They also design patterns for many major quilt magazines. Christine and Nellie do trunk shows and workshops for quilt guilds and they teach at local quilt shops. They have often been
exhibitors at International Quilt Market and Quilt Canada. They both live in Brockville, Ontario.
Follow Nellie & Christine on their
website and their blogs -
Fairfied Road Designs &
Originellies.
Inspiration for Thousand Islands Star
We live in Brockville, Ontario which is located in the beautiful Thousand Islands. During the summer, the St. Lawrence River is the centre of almost all of the activities that occur in our area. Much like the flying geese blocks that join together to form arrows which point towards the centre of our block, all of the activities in Brockville in the summer point to the river. From sailing and kayaking on the river, camping and picnicking on the islands, beautiful restaurants at the waterfront and festivals and gatherings in the parks along the water, the St. Lawrence River and the Thousands Islands form the centre of our
community.
You can
join the fun! Sign up for
The Canadian Sampler today and make this gorgeous quilt to Celebrate Canada's 150th Anniversary!
Please Note: We will be closing registrations for this round of The
Canadian Sampler at the end of February. All registrations March 1 and onward
will be enrolled for Round 2 of The
Canadian Sampler starting July 2017.
