Wedding Anniversary Flowers

Twenty eight years ago on Boxing Day (December 26), I married the love of my life, Bruce. Together we have raised a son to adulthood and enjoyed many adventures along our journey. I have been very fortunate to marry a good friend - Bruce has supported my interests (and I, his) all through our married life.


I made this paper pieced cuddle quilt using a a wall hanging pattern by Eileen B. Sullivan as the central medallion. I then added a number of borders and its finished size fills up our love seat. I love all the beautiful Christmas poinsettia prints one can find now.



When I wanted to choose my wedding flowers it was a bit more complicated than some wedding plans because of the date. We were married in a candlelight ceremony with the church full of colors of Christmas. My sister is a horticulture designer and turned my silk bouquet into a lovely basket. It looked wonderful and we had it as a Christmas decoration for many years. Alas, like many things, it had got tired looking and then lost some of the blossoms- This year, My sister has made me a new basket of poinsettias as an anniversary gift. The new floral arrangement is gorgeous and we will be able to enjoy it to for many years to come.

We went to visit my family(my parents and 3 siblings and their families) in Red Deer for the past few days. Red Deer is about a hundred miles south. We had two Christmas dinners with wonderful turkey and all the trimmings. We were more fortunate, than some other travellers across this country, who experienced difficulties getting onto planes. The roads were good - clear and dry though we ran into a skiff of snow on our way back earlier today.

While I was there my father took me down to the quilt store, Sew you Like 2 Quilt. It has moved from the place that Pam http://pamcave.blogspot.com/ and I visited in the summertime. It is a lovely little store and I found some wonderful Laurel Burch fabrics on sale. They will be used to make a new Christmas quilt ( a next year project) LOL. I was tempted by lots of other of the beautiful Christmas fabrics but I resisted - there were many gorgeous poinsettia fabrics too..

During this second week of holidays I am looking forward to a few days where I get to use my sewing machine. I plan to make a texture quilt for my mother in law. I saw the pattern for it on http://quilting-diva.blogspot.com/ in early November. I have been collecting different textured fabrics for this quilt for awhile. It is a long time since I sewed with fabric that was not cotton. I will either use a fusible interfacing or use a foundation . The design is simple- just large squares of different fabrics . I thank Julie for the idea- I hope that I can get it finished quickly and off to the West Coast so my mother in law can enjoy using it.

The crockpot is full of chicken soup and our dog Dusty has been curled up here as I have written this post. My husband and I have been watching the hockey game on television and the Christmas tree is brightly lit... Life is good..

I had a request to see Dusty our dog- Mars the cat is posted on the blog header and can often be found playing in the quilts. The only photo I have of Dusty was taken last summer prior to her first hair cut. She is looking pretty motley in the photo and is cuter with her hair trimmed. I will try and take a new photo of her one day soon. She is a schnoodle dog who is 7 years old.

Mars, the cat and Dusty, the dog along with the rest of us from Quiltmom's Household want to wish you a very Happy 2009.
With best Wishes,
Regards,
Anna

The clock is ticking - Hope and inspiration

It is the beginning of Christmas break and my thoughts turn to actually getting our home ready for Christmas- such is the way it is for me, at this time of year. I did put up our Christmas village and the Christmas stain glass a couple of weeks ago, and we have some beautiful Poinsettias sitting on the dining room table. However, the baking and presents and wrapping and putting up the Tree are now moved to the front of our agenda for the next few days. As I said before, buying for the two most important men in my life( my husband and son) has only begun... I am still looking for inspiration or maybe the belated Christmas letter to Santa...:D)

The weather has turned even colder with significant wind chill, so I am happy not to have to go out except for one big shopping trip. I know that the shopping will get done and so will our tree. We have always had a real tree in our home. Some years, we have had a big tree trimming gathering with many friends. This year we will have a scaled down version and invite a few people to come and decorate it. Life brings changes and sometimes keeping things simple is the best way.


http://with-heart-and-hands.blogspot.com/2008/12/thankful-for-those-who-rekindle-my.html


My friend Michele has tagged me so I will do my best to play the game.

I have posted about this quilt before- it was an anniversary quilt for my inlaws 63rd wedding anniversary that I made two years ago. It happened to be the fourth picture in the fourth file of my photos. The other photo is a picture of a sweater that my mother in law received that same year. My inlaws loved birds and the border of the convergence quilt so matched the quilt- it was astonishing.

According to the rules of this tag game, I was to choose the fourth picture of the fourth file in my photos. I was then asked to choose four bloggers who inspire me- that is a bigger challenge.
I have been inspired by many quilters over the time that I have been commenting on the blogs. I was a lurker long before I began my blog in September.I have found that quilters are keen to share their ideas and projects. If one is looking for new ideas, or to see the newest techniques and materials, blogland is the place to visit. I have seen many quilters who post daily and produce wonderful pieces of work. There are people who create gorgeous art quilts and others who create equally beautiful pieces that are meant to be used- both will be treasured by those who are fortunate who come to own them.
My side bar has a long list of bloggers that inspire me each and everytime that I visit them. There are quilters and non quilters alike who are from all over the globe. I am going to take the simplier way out and suggest that anyone who would like to play the game consider themselves tagged- I like Michele's concept of Heart math- the more the merrier I say.

This past week I was fortunate enough to win a giveaway prize from my friend Deb who is a quilter who lives in Alaska. She makes beautiful art and I am honored to be a winner of one of her prizes. You can find her here: http://akquilter1.blogspot.com/
Last post I shared a pinwheel quilt that I gave to my friend Jan. I thought you might be interested to see two of the other quilts that are the same design but look quite different.
The batik one is owned by my father. He is a fabulous gardener and loved the bright colors. I think he was very surprised when I gave it to him a few Christmas's ago. The other one is owned by a dear friend S.- It is seems muted compared to the batik versions but is not as soft as the one that Jan had. The fourth one in this series is a slight variation to my father's and is owned by the man who was the best man at our wedding.
My husband Bruce and I will be married 28 years on Boxing Day(December 26th.). More about that in my next post..
Today I will close with a wish for all who visit this post- May you find yourselves surrounded by your family and friends enjoying happy times with one another this holiday season.
To me Christmas is about Hope and Wonder... It brings the promise of the New Year...May you find yourself filled with Hope and Inspiration during this Christmas season...
Time to make my lists... check it twice ...
Seasons greetings to one and all.
Regards,
Anna

Quilts of Friendship...

Boy it is cold outside today (-25 Celcius and there is a cold north wind)and yet, my dear friend L.,and I braved the cold and wind and did some errands and had lunch and tea together. We did visit some of our favorite quilt stores (though not all of them) and I managed to buy (mostly anyway) fabric, that has a particular purpose for some more immediate quilts. I even managed to go into a fabric store, twice in the last two weeks, without buying any fabric or sewing items.(Now that is some kind of a miracle...LOL or, maybe I have reached fabric stash satisfaction/satiation HMMMM....)

Today, I also got some Christmas shopping done, and found some things that will be part of my Secret Santa gifts for our Secret Santa week at work. I still am struggling to find things that I would like for my husband and my son- I have things for other dear people- I guess I am saving the best for the last...

My friend L., is very generous with her time and we always have fun looking at fabric and checking out patterns. I can hardly wait to see the current quilt that she is working on. It is a pattern called The Long and Winding Road (The Quilter magazine- January 2004),that, I have made twice before. The pattern is a bargello pattern that makes a generous queen sized quilt. L.'s fabric choices are all batiks and I am sure that it is going to be stunning. Another day I shall post my versions of this particular quilt.



Today I have posted a quilt that is soft and muted. It was part of a series of 4 pinwheel quilts that I made around 2004-2005. I started out making floral pinwheels and this particular quilt ended up being a very light quilt. It was a template quilt, where I happened to get overzealous cutting the pinwheels. I ended up with enough blocks for two quilts that were floral pinwheels and two that had batik pinwheels.(I need to practise my counting skills :D)

I gave this version to a dear friend, Jan, who has since lost her battle with ovarian cancer. It will two years this week since she left us and I still miss her presence in my life. When she was first diagnosed, we were preparing for some fundraising events so that our boys could go overseas to attend a Boy Scout Eurojam being held in Chelmsford, England in the summer of 2005.(My son did end up attending the jamboree and loved it. Unfortunately her son, was not able to enjoy that same experience).
During the last two years of her life, Jan and I spent many happy times together enjoying old movies, cups of green tea, and endless conversations about our families, life and the world around us. She taught me many lessons about the importance of living in the moment and appreciating the beauty in that surrounds us in everyday things. I miss her sense of fun and interesting observations.

Making quilts for others is a pleasurable experience for me- Today I bought fabrics for a texture quilt that I saw posted on adventures of a quilting diva blogspot(link is on the sidebar). I want to make this quilt for my mother in law, B. who has Alzheimer's. The fabrics I bought are not the typical kinds of fabric I would buy for a quilt- there are sparkly fabrics and bumpy fabrics and lacy ones too -most of them will not be cottons- It will be an interesting challenge for over the Christmas break.

Last night I had the privilege of going to a concert with my good friend, V. We enjoyed some wonderful seasonal music and time together. Bruce kindly acted as our chauffeur as I do not enjoy driving, especially when the weather is inclement and unpredictable.
The signs of the seasons are beginning to surround us- the houses in the community around us are covered in Christmas bulbs and decorations. Pink and red poinsettias provide rich color in our home..

I feel blessed to have such wonderful family and friends- They fill up my life's quilt with sumptious colors and patterns. The caring and kindness of loved ones is the true gift of this special season - I hope that your circumstances are equally as fortunate...

Happy Quilting
Regards,
Anna

The season of Traditions

It is a snowy wet day here in Alberta and I enjoyed the day out with my friend, L. shopping and having a belated Birthday Lunch. The lunch was delicious and so was the time spent with a good friend. I did some Christmas shopping and checked out a local pottery guild sale. I found some very nice things for very good prices so I have a few pieces of pottery for friends and family on my list. Christmas shopping is something that I do all year round. As well. I like to keep some things on hand for gifts in case I have forgotten someone's special day. My mother has always had a gift box and I seem to have carried on that tradition.

I have a harder time having gift box items for my main man and the boy. It is harder for me to buy for my immediate family than anyone else. Sometimes I run out of ideas and so I fill up their stockings with things that they need- socks, underwear,coffee coupons for Tim Hortons- a popular Canadian coffee house(we do have Starbucks and Second Cup coffee places too), and other things that are consumable.
Yes even socks are consumable- at least they seem to be in my house- We have a large bag of one sock wonders that seem to have lost their mates. Does anyone else have that problem? I buy the males in my house socks in sets of 6 pairs that are all the same and that still doesn't solve the case of the disappearing socks. Maybe the dryer eats them or the dog or......

Our son will celebrate his 21 birthday next week. I am not sure where the time has gone... He is wonderful young man just finding his way in the world... We are still looking for that special birthday gift that recognizes that he is officially an adult.

In the meantime the Christmas buzz permeates life... My school children are excited and reflect the anticipation of the season. The joy and innocence of young children and their overwhelming belief in the spirit of Santa Claus fills me with warmth and pleasure each and every year. in the meantime, my students are busy learning their song for Christmas concert- "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth". They will look so cute all dressed up and singing on our school stage.

Today's quilt is a quilt that I showed in a local guild show around 2004. It is a double wedding ring quilt that is large enough to use as a cuddle quilt or on the Christmas table. I made this quilt to honor my father's mother, Olive. My grandmother was a quilter who made quilts out of whatever was available. She was a farm woman who was a great canner( she would put up 300 jars of wild fruit in a year) and baker( my mother still uses her dark fruit cake recipe for Christmas). Olive worked hard all of her shortened life- she passed away when she was 43. She had many health problems and unfortunately she died before I was born. Grandma Olive would have used feed sacks and recycled clothing to make pieced arcs instead of the continuous arcs of this double wedding ring quilt. She would have pieced and quilted her quilts by hand as they did not have electricity in the farm house that was my father's childhood home. I had the benefit of using acrylic templates and a rotary cutter- her tools would have been cardboard templates and scissors. Our technology may be more developed but the techniques would have been similar.

I would love to have one of her quilts, but I don't think that there are any of them left. I like to believe she would have liked this quilt even though is a modern take on a traditional quilt. Personally, I am very fond of the rich colors and the way the flowers lay in the rings. If I did another one, I would have fussy cut the centers of the quilt pieces. The binding needed to be true bias binding to go around the scallop edges.

Its been a while since I made a new Christmas quilt I have some gorgeous Laurel Burch fabrics gathered for a Christmas quilt but it will have to wait until after Christmas.

There are some really beautiful Christmas quilts out here in Blogland. If you have time, do check out some of the links on my sideboard- you will find some really wonderful pieces of work that people have lovingly created.

Last week I mentioned that my husband, Bruce went looking for pieces of the meteor that fell on the prairies in November. For those of you who might be interested in checking out my husband's meteorite adventure you can find photos of it here...http://skyriver.ca/astro/bruce/meteorite.htm


In the meantime, I will be preparing some snacks to share for our last quilt class on Monday and shopping for my loved ones. Oh and making nuts and bolts and making the odd bracelet with beads and putting up some more Christmas decorations and....the list grows by the minute... I did get the Christmas Village up as well as the Stain glass in the dining room window- Next to find the Christmas Santas and Snowmen for the mantle..

'Tis the season of traditions and celebrations...Remember to take time to savor the time spent with family and friends - to me, that is really what I hope our season will be all about..

Happy Quilting,
Regards,
Anna

A Traditional Quilt

Tomorrow is the first day of December and the Christmas season will soon be in full swing. Here in Alberta, the snow has not yet arrived, but the spruce, fir and pine trees to be decorated are out in the tree lots. The weather has been mild and pleasant. Without the snow, it does not feel quite right that I should be thinking about Christmas. However, I am beginning to think about decorating my house for Christmas. ,Perhaps today I will ask my son to bring up the Christmas village and the Christmas stain glass for the dining room window. At school, we are busy preparing for the school Christmas concert and making decorations for this event. All these things tell me that Christmas is coming all too quickly- I need to start getting some more family Christmas shopping done.

This quilt was made around 2000 and is a double Irish chain. It is owned by inlaws who would have celebrated their wedding anniversary on the
8th of December. They would have been married 65 years this year. For some reason,this quilt does not photograph well- the colors are not quite right- The base is a beautiful burgandy color and the Irish Chain has bird fabric with gold and a lovely leaf green. I learned some interesting lessons trying to make the outside border continuous. It took a little finagling to get the corners ending up joined properly.


My parents have a ,design mate to this quilt. It is black and red, with a big rose print, and has a very different feel(more artsy somehow) even though it is the same traditional design as this quilt. My inlaws quilt looks more traditional than my parents. I am still working on a way to get my print photos into digital format-so it may be awhile before you see their quilt. I often have made more than one quilt of the same design- It appears, that I have a hard time creating only color palette so I often end up with two or three quilts of the same pattern.:D)

This week in the mail I was fortunate to receive a giveaway prize from Michelle at Tales from the Raspberry Rabbits. In the box, there were two lovely quilted tree decorations- a stocking, and tree, as well as a beautiful Christmas stocking. There was a nice cup of raspberry tea and piece of Ghiaradelli chocolate to eat. Thank you Michelle for your lovely gift. Do check out Michelle's blog-
http://theraspberryrabbits.blogspot.com/ She is one talented lady.

My husband and some friends have gone looking for some meteorites- Last week, a large fireball was seen here on the prairies and some of the meteorites have been located. We think quilting takes us on interesting adventures.... but I can see that having a hobby may take one to many different places and introduces you to many wonderful people..
I hope you are having some good weather and fun times as you prepare for the Holiday season..

Happy Quilting,
Anna

Trying to post about a great giveaway

Robyn is a lovely Australian quilter who is celebrating her first bloganniversary - she posted a tutorial about how to do this hyperlink. Click on the image to see her wonderful giveaway.
Some things on the computer for me are quite mysterious...and quite simple when you know what you are doing..
Anna

Time Marches On and an Old Quilt

Yesterday was my birthday.. It was not a particularly special number although my mathematical husband said "that oh yes it was" - It is the same number as there are weeks in a year and there are that many cards in a deck- To me it is just a number-It was a particularly lovely birthday- you can see the lovely collection of gifts from family and friends- People seem to find me the things that I love- glass baubles to wear(there is a pendant that looks like a spiral galaxy from my dear husband) and fresh lavendar scent bags and earrings and a new teacher's Boyd's bear for my collection at school. There is a truly lovely Aboriginal angel that I will take to school to decorate my room and then put on our mantel during the Christmas season. She is wearing beautiful regalia and has a dream catcher to chase away bad dreams. There are gorgeous panda puppets to do stories with my school kids and a new sewing machine light that bends so my work area can be well lit. I felt truly treasured by one and all. The best gift of all was the time spent with good friends and family- those are the moments that are truly priceless.


In celebration my birthday I thought I would share one of my earliest quilts made in the Fall of 1997).I finally managed to take a picture of it. Here is my original lone star-(that I referred to in an earlier posting). As you can see it is quite long, as both my son and my husband are tall men. I remember making this first quilt with many of the same group of women with whom I still quilt. We have foraged great friendships and spent time creating many many quilts over the last dozen years.

One of the biggest challenges with the lone star is to find the right background - this quilt had two or three different fabrics auditioned for the cornerstone blocks. One needs quite a bit of fabric for the corners (about 4 yards)and I began my stash then and there. As an inexperienced quilter, I struggled with color and value. My quilts have gradually become more colorful with stronger contrasts and more vibrant focal fabrics. I enjoy creating the combinations that make the quilt my own creation. I am not much of a kit person preferring to use the pattern of my jumping off point.

Having said that, my friend L, and I went west of the city yesterday to visit a couple of quilt shops. In the second shop I found a kit for a Lonestar that was half price- I so loved the fabrics that I bought the kit. I still will alter it in some way -I will probably change the last border as I find the one in the kit too busy. We went west because I thought I would be less tempted to add to the stash-LOL well let's just say that wasn't the most successful strategy... There are some beautiful new fabrics in my ever bulging stash...
My most successful stash busting is when I go upstairs in my sewing room and pat the stash - That is easier on my pocket book.... but not as much fun...

The lone star has two borders of mini lonestars on each end. It was my first venture into adding borders but certainly wasn't my last. I have continued to play with borders when I get the opportunity. I like frames on my quilt - to me its like framing a picture. The borders can be a design challenge but how long I play with the borders is determined by when I need to have the quilt finished. A quilt will often tell you when its finished- there is a certain feeling one gets when it is complete. Sometimes you have to leave a quilt for awhile to so you can figure out how to finish it. I find that is especially true when I am adding borders.

How do you make the quilt so it reflects you? Do you enjoy the creative challenge of design? Do you like playing with borders? When does an addition to the quilt end up being a distraction from the body of the quilt?

This quilt may be one of my older ones but it is well loved- Its the way I feel after yesterday's birthday celebrations. Thank you dear friends and loved ones for making this middle aged lady feel treasured.

Keep on playing and have a great week!
Regards,
Anna

Blogging Award

BLOGGING FRIENDS FOREVER

My friend Pam at Pam's Pages http://pamcave.blogspot.com/
sent me a very nice Blogging award that I am still learning how to link to my blog. I had the good fortune to meet Pam in Person last summer. We had a grand time checking out a couple of quilt stores in the city that I grew up in. My home town, Red Deer, is a city 100 miles south of where I live now. When I was growing up it was a town of 25,000 people- 30 years later it is a city of 85,000 people. Pam and I found some great deals in the quilt stores: we shared an enjoyable lunch together.
Meeting Pam was a wonderful experience, and I encourage anyone who gets the opportunity to meet another blogger to try it out.

I was a lurker or as I preferred to be known AFWAB( a friend without a blog-This is Kim's acronym) long before I was a blogger. I have enjoyed reading other people's blogs - there are so many talented quilters out there who are sharing their love of this artful craft.

Some people that I want to pass on this blog award to are:

Micki http://thedote.blogspot.com/ lives in Ireland and is passionate about quilting and embroidery. Check out her lovely blocks and bags.

Kim http://kimsbigquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/ lives in Northern California and is the person who coined the label AFAWB. She is a prolific quilter and has a wonderful blog that are truly full of her daily adventures.

Eileen http://myquiltingporch.blogspot.com/ is a lovely woman who takes care of her beloved husband and continues to hand quilt. I was very fortunate to win a piece of her hand quilting from a special giveaway. Thank you Eileen for your generosity and for sharing your love of quilting with us all.

Sharon http://redgeraniumcottage.typepad.com/my_weblog/ is a beautiful quilter that lives in Southern California- Her and her Sistas share their love of quilting with a zest that is easy to enjoy... They have many wonderful adventures too.

There are many many other blogs that I continue to read when I can- Do check out the blogs that are listed on the right side of my blog.. They have given me many hours of reading enjoyment. Some of them offer wonderful patterns and share their expertise as well as being terrific writers. I could have given this award to everyone of you.

Whatever reason that you blog- you have made my life richer by sharing your thoughts and extending your hand in friendship out here in blogland.

Happy quilting,
Anna

( I don't think I did this in the correct way but I finally managed to get the picture of the award on this posting :D)

When the lines converge

( Pictured here are my beloved inlaws enjoying a morning under the covers reading- December, 2006)
A few summers ago I discovered Ricky Tims and his book "Convergence Quilts." The book has some wonderful examples to spur ones creative juices. There are some more complicated designs that use curves and registration marks to join them together.If you get a chance, check out his website at rickytims.com and you can see the many wonderful Harmonic Convergences as well as his Caveman Quilts. His quilts are heavily quilted with beautiful detailing.

Now, I am a practical sort of girl and while I admire other people's wall hangings and art quilts, I usually don't make them( there are a couple of exceptions-one that I have played a little bit with is the Snippets Sensations by Cindy Walters). I wondered if it was possible to use the technique to make a large enough quilt for a couch. The first one I made is a wall size and remains unfinished. Perhaps one day I will use it to explore adding some embellishments and such..

Since that time I have made a half a dozen larger ones- It has been fun to explore how to put the colors together so that you don't get mush- I have an unfinished one that is mush - there was not enough contrast in the fabrics and just didn't work. It was destined for a special someone that deserved better than an ugly quilt so it sits in pile to remind me to get the values and contrast right..
I loved making these quilts- it was a little bit of a puzzle to see how it might come out.

This middle quilt was made for a dear quilt friend - How often do we make quilts for loved ones but not for our quilt friends because we know that we can make beautiful quilts themselves? My friend loves purple and green and I was really happy how the fabrics worked together- (My profile has another view of this quilt).

This last one was made for my friend K's 50th birthday - I called it Black and White and Red all over- I am the person on the right... It was a surprise for her and I know she is quite fond of her cuddle quilt.

I have also made the same quilt for my sister, and two friends as wedding presents. I often find the most challenging thing to do is to figure out how to border it. Often I have extended the square so that it has a small stop border and then used the same fabric from the body of quilt and used in each of the four quandrants. It can be a challenge to find a good border fabric.

Ricky Tims has so many wonderful designs ( Kaleidoscope, Chantelle Flower, and Rhapsody come to mind)- I was given his Rhapsody Quilts book and I would like to make that pattern too. I have a Kaleidoscope quilt made that just needs to be quilted- Hopefully during Christmas vacation....

Life sometimes gets in the way of quilting time- not just because of the demands from other parts of my life but I don't always have any energy left when I do have time to quilt. There are so many quilts that I would like to make... I have the technology and the materials but sometimes find it hard to find the time and the motivation for creating.. perhaps you do too..

Time to go and do a little work for school next week and then have the rest of the weekend for family and quilting... Have a great week...
Regards,
Anna

Quilted Memories

When I first thought about creating a photo quilt, I was intimidated by the whole process- What would make a good design? what pictures should I use- should I turn them all into sepia or black and white or should I use the color pictures? On and on went the questions and there didn't seem to be any clear cut answers. After awhile,and with the time ticking away, I decided to just take the plunge. My in-laws quilt was the result- Mars the cat certainly approved of it - She would make us laugh, because, when I would lay it out on our loveseat, she would lay on our families' corner( and only on our corner) of the quilt.


The blue photo quilt is the second design that I came up with for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. The original quilt design was one where we were all in coffee mugs. I thought it could hang in my parents new redesigned kitchen. A friend of my parents had even sent me a palette of colors so that it would fit with the new decor. I decided that I wanted to see the flimsie in their kitchen, before I finished it. It was a good decision- I hated it, when I saw it in their house. It was too large, and too cutsy, and when I think about it now, I realize that a wallhanging in the kitchen would have needed frequent washing. I am not sure how the photos would have withstood regular washing.

Have you ever got a quilt top together and decided that you hated it? What did you do? Did you finish it? Does it still sit abandoned because your idea didn't live up to the corresponding result?

Do you ever get stymied by a design and just can't get the rhythm of that quilt? I have a tumbling blocks quilt that is in a bag waiting for me to finish. The fabrics are beautiful batiks but I just haven't figured out the pattern so there it sits...hopefully one day because I think it would be really beautiful- right now it is just a bunch of triangles and flags....

In my parent's photo quilt,I really liked the original quilt fabrics that I chose, but the colors didn't work and the design didn't work, and I knew that everytime I looked at that quilt I would want to rip it off the wall. I didn't want anyone to see that I had created something that was that ugly!!!

I wanted to use the pictures so I took out the pictures and started all over again. My immediate family is in the top left hand side of the quilt. My son is the top left picture and my husband is the left center. I am between the two of them. My parents photo that was taken around their 50th wedding anniversary. The other pictures are of my nieces nephews and in laws. The four inner photos are of me, my two brothers and my sister. We are in the central square around our parents.

The photos were printed in a tight weave white cotton meant for photos. The lady who printed them knew lots about printing photos on fabric (much more than I) and did a fantastic job with the photos. The second version is much better. The quilt was based on a pattern(I think it was called Come Paris) from the Australian Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. It needed some adaptation, but was the perfect number of boxes for photos of all the members of the family. It looks very handsome with the bed quilt hanging on that beautiful quilt rack over the bed.

I am not sure when I will try my hand at photo quilts again. I have seen people use them for graduation gifts and memory quilts.. Perhaps there will be another occasion that warrants photo memories..but then again perhaps not...

Happy Quilting,
Regards,
Anna

To Honor Dad

Today is a day of Remembrance for our family- it is the anniversary of my father in law's passing. It does not seem possible that it is a year ago today. My father in law, Sherburne, was a wonderful man- a loving husband to my mother in law Betty for 63 years, a devoted father to five children, four in law children and 9 grandchildren and a passionate educator. He loved music,sports and politics and would have been glued to the television waiting with baited breath for the results, of the American election. He was like a second father to me for nearly 30 years of my life and I miss his zest for life. Only a few days before he died, he went to a Halloween party and dressed up in a grass skirt so that my mother in law would wear a Halloween Hat..

Dad made many contributions to make this world a better place. Among them, he helped develop a wonderful music program at a local college and spearheaded a festival for Bach's 300 anniversary called TriBach.

I love the photo of my inlaws together in front of the photo quilt that I made for them for their 60th anniversary. I used a pattern called "Delectable Log Cabin" from one of Evelyn Sloppy's books "Log Cabin Fever". In the center is a photo of my in laws at the time of their marriage and their four children with their families in each of the triangles. In the center block at the top, is a photo of their son David who died in a car accident in 1975. I had the quilt embroidered by another quilter, as I do not have an embroider machine. This quilt now hangs in my mother in laws room. I like to think it helps her remember her loved ones.



The second quilt was made for my inlaws for their 63rd anniversary. It is a Convergence quilt(a Ricky Timms technique) and has my father in laws favorite birds- Cardinals. He was a dedicated St.Louis Cardinal Fan since the early '40s when he watch Stan Musial play ball. The convergence quilt was intended to be a large cuddle quilt for an afternoon nap but they used it to cover the top of the double bed. I really like making the convergence designs and have used this pattern for a half a dozen cuddle quilts. One of them is in the picture on my profile.

One day I would like to make some of Ricky's more complicated designs- I love his medallion designs and have his Rhapsody Quilt book that I enjoy looking through from time to time. I have pieced a Kaleidoscope quilt using his technique - I just need to quilt it. It is a wall hanging size but somehow keeps getting put on the back burner- hopefully soon.

Today I celebrate the life of a man who contributed much to all who knew him. We miss you Dad.

Lone Star Baby

I love Lone Star quilts and this one belongs to my parents. The baby is a lovely little girl who happens to be my folks second great granddaughter. J. is now 14 months old and has begun to walk around. She is too cute for words but here she was a wee one- only a few weeks old.

I made this quilt for my parents to honor their 50th wedding anniversary, which was three years ago last July. My mother is of Swedish descent so the blue and yellow combination was in tribute to her Swedish heritage. It is a soft looking quilt that has a small diamond border with the main star floating on a sea of flowers. My parents have other quilts that I have made but this was the first large one I created just for them. My Folk's quilt was my second Lonestar.

The original Lonestar quilt is a pink and green one- that we happen to own.It has small stars at each end of the quilt as I wanted it to be extra long. I will try and take a picture of it some day soon- the only pictures I have of the original lonestar(made in 1997) are on film and I have no idea how to transfer them to digital format.(My guess is that it involves a scanner and we don't own one). There are so many beautiful Lonestar variations now but I think I am a traditionist- I like the simplicity of the big star and I love them with graduated shading of colors.



Here is another view of it with its mate- a photo quilt that has pictures of all my family at the time of my parent's 50th anniversary. The photo quilt is truly a snapshot in time -since its creation, my parents have added two new grandson inlaws and a baby to their brood. Making photo quilts often pose some interesting dilemmas about who is included and the arrangement of the pictures. That is a topic for another day...

Isn't the quilt rack that the photo quilt hangs on beautiful? My parents are good friends of a couple who are talented artists. S. is a fabulous painter who paints wonderful pictures on almost any surface you can imagine. Her husband B. is a fantastic carpenter who designed and built the quilt rack to display the photo quilts. I love how the two quilts look together..

I have been busy trying to keep up with my schoolwork -lots of paperwork related to November report card writing. I can not believe that we are already at the beginning of November. Where has the fall flown?

Yesterday, my school students were dressed so cute for Halloween- there was a crocodile, giraffe,fairies, princesses and Hulks,Spiderman, knights and Batman. Halloween is always so exciting for my little ones. They were so ready to get to go out trick or treating.

This week I will introduce some new concepts about Peace to prepare for our Remembrance Day Assembly ( November 10). We will honor our veterans and service men who help us live in a more peaceful world. Peace is such a difficult concept to make meaningful for them- maybe that is true for us all...

I plan to get a little quilting done this week too. I had my sewing machine into the shop last week - it had stopped working but fortunately it only needed a tune up. I am getting behind on my Winding Ways Quilt and need to get moving on it. It is hard for me to find the balance between work and play.. Everyone needs to play to relax and rest so that you can be productive and efficient at work ...yet it is a struggle for me- Perhaps for you too?

Hope you are having a nice weekend and get a chance to enjoy time with your family.
Happy quilting!

Regards,
Anna

And now for the Babies

This past week has been a busy one for me, and one of the things that happened, was that my school staff had a baby shower for one of our colleagues. The baby is a handsome young lad named Cole. He is a big baby- about 15 lbs and he just turned 3 months old. He reminded me of my son, K who was also a big baby. K. is now a football player sized man even though he much prefers to play hockey. You think that it takes them forever to grow up but it feels like it was just yesterday when my boy was the same size as Cole.

The photos are two pictures of the more recent versions of the baby wraps that I have made. I first made this baby wrap around 1982 and have made it for two generations of babies- my son's and the next ones. I think I have probably made over 50 of them since I first made one for a cousin's baby. The pattern came from a McCall's book that had items to make for babies. Originally, I tied the quilts and the inside layer of the quilt was flannelette. I now make them with minkee or fleece and I meander them together. Some friends' children would drag them around until they were tattered and worn- a sign of a well loved quilt. The design is quite useful as it fits nicely in a car seat to wrap around the baby. I have used eyelet and lace as trim and it takes about 4 yards to go around the perimeter of the quilt.

Every now and then I think I should retire the pattern and make something different but then another baby arrives and I go back to the same reliable pattern. Do you go back to the same pattern over and over again or only make a design once because there are so many wonderful patterns to try and make?

The star fabric quilt with lace is Cole's and the other one belongs to Pam's http://pamcave.blogspot.com/ grandson Hunter. Hunter's was the first one that I had ever bound like a standard quilt. Pam posted him wrapped in it earlier in the spring (the beginning of May) on her blog.

The bears in the middle are a photo of the bears on my filing cabinet at school. I took the picture because Meggie http://lifesfreetreats.blogspot.com/ asked to see them so here are my collection of ceramic bears. Many of them came from my students and friends over a large number of years.

Today the wind blew and created havoc where ever it went. It brought with it some snow flurries and the temperature is quite cool tonight. We have been fortunate to have a very pleasant autumn but the drop in temperature makes me wish for my own baby wrap to curl under... How about you, what do want to do when the weather is inclement? I go looking for a good book, a warm shawl and a cup of....

Until next time - keep warm ...
Happy quilting,
Anna

A Game of Tag

Micki tagged me. This was indeed a challenge as I had not a clue how to link it so we will hope that it worked!

The game asks you to tell 6 little known things about yourself.

1. I collect teddy bears and children's books - the collection continues to expand which I enjoy sharing with my kindergarten students. The collection of china teddy bears began when a student gave one to me. I love Boyd's Bears and have a nice little collection that includes a teacher bear and bear brooches to wear.

2. I am quite hopeless at word games such as scrabble and pathwords. I am not good at seeing the patterns even though I am a reasonably articulate writer. I also terrible at for crossword puzzles...

3. I have made Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls but have never made a fur bear- perhaps one day - I have always wanted to try making one. There are some great doll makers out there. Check out Nicole's Annies if you like dolls: http://www.nicoleellison.typepad.com/

4. My favorite holiday is Christmas and I usually manage to decorate the house nicely for the holidays- complete with a village that has a ceramic man looking at the stars( I wonder who he reminds me of ...:D). Sometimes Christmas decorations are up for a long time in my house.

5. My favorite flowers are sunflowers though I love most other flowers. I love how bright and cheery they are - they look like they are smiling at you. I also love Van Gogh because of his sunflowers and Irises. I have made a snippets sunflower wallhanging that one of my brother and sister inlaws have- I will find a picture one day to post...

6. I don't like pudding, yogurt or other mushy foods because of their textures and am not a huge fan of cake either (exceptions are Cheesecake and carrot cake) . The same goes for dumplings or other foods that have mushy texture.

I know that some people like to play games and some don't ... If you would like to play please consider yourself tagged.

On a different note, a beautiful package arrived from Loulee - all the way from the Isle of Mann, United Kingdom. Check out her wonderful blog to see all the lovely things she sent me on her giveaway. I am one lucky lady.... I am still thinking about the potential projects. Here is the link: http://www.loulee1.blogspot.com/
You will have to go back to October 16th post to see all my treasures.

Yesterday a good friend, L. and I went on our own little fabric hop- everyone needs to have a quilting friend or two. I have been fortunate enough to quilt with the same group of women for more than a decade. They are among my closest friends;and I know that I can count on them to care about me and listen, as well as giving me the opportunity to hear about the things that are important to them. Do you have some special quilting friends?

My friend L. and I always have a lovely time together - When I return from our adventures, I always feel upbeat and know that I have spent the time with someone who has given me the gift of her time and friendship for the day. My life is richer(even if my pocket book is a little bit poorer :D) for our times together.
As for the fabric shopping, and like many times before,I made my quilt stash a little bit larger with some more lovely batiks and one cool chicken fabric.
Did I need more fabric - no but I did find some beautiful fabric for such a good deal-I just couldn't resist -The pieces will make a beautiful quilt or two or... Some of us are self identified fabric-oholics - What other kind of collection can you pet or make into something useful?

As for that chicken fabric,I purchased it because I was inspired by a great quilt that Kim has made. Do go and check out Kim's funky chicken quilt. I have read Kim's blog for a long time and visit her regularly. Her blog is as fun as her wonderful chicken quilt. You can find it here..http://kimsbigquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/
Kim posts daily, so you may need to go back to her earlier posts this week. She makes wonderful quilts too so I am sure that you will be inspired by all her lovely work.

Time for me to do a little bit of work around the house and for school- a girl has to do what a girl has to do... and I need to quilt a baby wrap for a colleague that we are having a baby shower on Thursday .. More about the baby wrap next time....

Happy Quilting,
Anna

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

Today we celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving- it is a time for a family dinner and in my house, to sing Happy Birthday to my husband. We are having a low key day- it is raining outside and the sky is kind of drab looking. Bruce took this picture(I think on a walk when he was in Victoria last fall) but I loved the fall colors with the berries and the leaves. I love the rich colors of the fall..

Bruce is a man of many talents- a wonderful writer,a good cook, a passionate astronomer, a lovely photographer and my best friend. He is getting the ham ready as I write.. We will have ham and potato bake(a dish from his mother's cookbook)and my favorite vegetable- turnip. You think it was my birthday and not his..

I am not sure if a couple of our son's friends will be here or not but, if not, it will be a small family dinner. Some years we have gone to friends or to one of our family's home for dinner - this year it may simply be us. However we celebrate it is nice just to be together.

Just a postscript regarding yesterday's star coin quilt. The pattern is from a book called "A World of Quilts" by Beth Ann Williams. The pattern name is African Coins. There are other lovely patterns in that book too- it was published by Martingale in 2003.

I wish one and all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING. May you find yourselves enjoying the company of good friends and loved ones.

Starry Starry Night

Its a starry night outside; a crisp and cool evening that is part of autumn in Alberta. I finally managed to download some of the photos of the last wedding quilt that I made this summer for friends of my husband. Like Bruce, they are amateur astronomers who enjoy the beauty and wonders of the celestial universe. This quilt is a coin quilt that has 50 different star fabrics in it. It is a simple design as I wanted to showcase the beautiful fabrics- it worked pretty well don't you think? I had been collecting star fabrics for awhile but,I also was the benefactor of some generous friends, who shared some other star fabrics with me so that there could be lots of variety in the strips. The strips are separated by rows of bars that have a faint star boxy braid down them. I chose to make it faint so it did not distract from the bands of stars. It is a large couch quilt meant for the happy couple to wrap around themselves and enjoy the night sky. The back fabric of the quilt looks like a big star field that you would see in a telescope or binoculars.

Like most of my other quilts, it has a handwritten label on it.It has the names of the recipients as well as the reason it was given to them. I usually name my quilts- this one I called STARRY STARRY NIGHT because of all the star fabrics, and because I love Vincent Van Gogh. It seemed to be the perfect name for a quilt given to a couple of starry eyed lovers.

Do you put labels on your quilts? The only ones of mine that don't have labels are the ones that I keep for our house- someday I will put labels on them too. The labels are handwritten that identify me as the maker and include the year that I made the quilt. I also have a journal of photographs that record my quilting journey but I am falling far behind in recording the information about the more recent quilts.

I am now beginning to look at other star patterns - perhaps I will make a new star quilt. There are so many star patterns to choose from that it will be hard to pick only one. I have made two lonestar quilts to share but that is for another post...

I hope that you are enjoying a starry night with loved ones.
Happy quilting,
Anna

Life is full of surprises these days

This week I am attending a conference on the early years - working with young children. Today was the first day of the three day conference and I went to the registration desk to pick up the conference materials. Imagine my surprise when I read my name tag and found the prefix- Dr in front of my name. I started to tell the woman that there must be some mistake and she stopped me and said there had been a mixup on some of the tags. It seems that a number of us had magically attained the esteemed label of Dr( at least for the next three days). I promise I won't get a swelled head but, if I do, I can always check to see if there really is a doctor in the house....VBG

Recently I have been fortunate to be the winner of a couple of blog giveaways. One of them was from Eileen at My Quilt Porch http://myquiltingporch.blogspot.com/. She sent me a gorgeous hand quilted piece. It has lovely cable on the outside border. I did not own a piece of hand quilting nor do I handquilt so this lovely piece of work will be treasured. She has a wonderful blog where she shares her life on the porch and her beautiful quilts.

I have a surprise coming from Manx girl. You can see her blog here: http://loulee1.blogspot.com/ I want to thank LouLee for her lovely giveaway gift. She had asked the question " How do you get some me time? Loulee is currently working on some lovely fans- Do check out these lovely women's blogs- you will be glad you did.

My other surprise is the lap top with pictures is temporarily out of service so no pictures to post today. My techie son thinks that we will have to send it off to be repaired so I will have to try and get some photos loaded onto this computer.

Life is good.
Happy quilting,
Anna

Do you have a Helper?

Mars asleep on a whirling pinwheel quilt made around 2004

I have a feline helper named Mars that has had a couple of adventures in the last few weeks. She can often be found laying in my fabric piles, or sleeping on my chair in the sewing room. When ever I am busy making a quilt, Mars is definitely around checking out the blocks, new flimsie or finished quilt. Sometimes, Mars will visit me when I am cutting strips or,if she is feeling even more adventurous, when I am stitching on the machine. The needle moving up and down draws Mars like a moth to a flame. She loves to stir up the blocks if I have arranged them on the floor (my little house does not have a good space for a design wall). Have you ever tried to distract a determined cat?

My favorite picture of her is posted on my header with three of my quilts: the Golden Leaf quilt, the brown back of a bargello quilt and a mystery quilt named Bear in a Cabin. The golden Leaf quilt is from an Australian Patchwork and Quilting( 2001-2002) Magazine and the Mystery Quilt I believe, was a pattern taken from McCalls in 1999.

This week we took her to the Vet's as she had a leaky red half closed eye. Mars does not like riding in the car so this was not to be a relaxing trip. She meows loudly throughout to indicate her displeasure. Fortunately the eye problem is not serious, and, after a return trip in the car, a couple of serious attempts to hide and a hundred dollar bill she is safely home. Giving her eye drops is a bit of an adventure; but manageable... We are not sure what caused her eye problem.

Mars is an indoor cat but lately she has taken to trying to sneak out of the house. One evening, I went to see where she was at,at bedtime. I could not find her in the house so I attempted to call her-(unlike dogs, cats can be counted on not to respond to being called VBG) What was I thinking??? However,I opened the front door and in Mars pranced- which was fortunate for her, because it gets plenty cool here on an September night. A couple of nights later, Mars managed to sneak out again but for some reason, she meowed to let us know she was on the wrong side of the door. Thankfully she has stopped trying to having her nightly adventures and her eye is looking much better. I am sure she will find other ways to be entertaining- Mars always does!

I know when the sewing machine is out and the blocks are being made- my helper will return. Glad to see your feeling better, Mars.
Do you have a helper?

No you are not seeing double!

When I first made this quilt pattern it was made as a wedding gift for a friend's niece and her husband in the summer of 2007. I did not know the young woman and I wasn't sure what kind of quilt she wanted but I knew that her aunt wanted something special. After emailing back and forth I was able to ascertain the colors and designs she liked. C. was very fond of a design by Ricky Timms called Summer in the City. My goal was not to copy Ricky Timms(I am a huge fan of his designs-especially his kaleidoscope and rhapsody designs)I do not claim to have made one as beautiful as his original design but his quilt was my inspiration.) After looking at many patterns the closest design I could find was this Paperweight pattern by Aardvark Patterns, Kansas.
My niece and her husband received the leftover blocks(not bad for leftovers :-) I kind of got carried away making blocks to audition in the first quilt. My quilting friends would tell you that I often get carried away making blocks.VBG
However,I did have to make more blocks as my niece's quilt is a queen sized quilt where as the first quilt was a big couch quilt.

Do you do this, make more blocks than you need in the hopes you will get the perfect combination? I tend to make quilts in sets of two or three. Why make one of the design when you can make three? LOL I think it is because I don't enjoy counting squares and fall in love with all the color combinations. Or maybe its because I like to practise until I get the pattern just right. Whatever the reason, my quilts often have mates or parts of a series... They are rarely stand alone quilts...

I know both couples loved their quilts. Which one do you like better? The smaller one with the border? The larger one with more color variation and no border? (See earlier post for picture of larger one.)

Creating a quilt is an interesting process- sometimes it takes time to satisfy one's creative bug! I hope you enjoy the process as well as the product.
Happy Quilting,
Regards,
Anna

Happy Birthday Mum!

Today is my mother in law B.'s 86th birthday. For her 85th birthday last year,I made her these quilts. The quilt is a pattern from Fons and Porter magazine- July/August of 2007. I believe that the name was Summer Star. The matching dolly quilt is a half size block and I added prairie points to make is large enough to cover the doll.
My husband took the quilts to her as she lives on the West Coast(about 1000 miles away) in a care facility. It is a wonderful homey place where she is well cared for and her needs are being met- You see, she has Alzheimer's and needs a protected environment. Alzheimer's is a dreadful illness that robs loved ones of the person - not in one fell swoop but by taking them by inches at a time. It is difficult to stand by and watch the changes.
However one comes to appreciate and value that she is able to live in a comfortable and caring environment. Mum is well liked by the nursing staff,often spending time with them while they are having coffee. Some days she is bright and connected to this world and other days it is as if she is visiting another place. As her children, we miss the vibrant bright articulate woman that she was. She was a devoted wife,loving mother,friend to her in law children, family oriented and oh so many more things. B.loved to paint,sew, make bread, share recipes,listen to classical music and read. She grew up on Canada's eastern seaboard and loved things from the ocean. B. collected rocks and shells,things from the natural world, books and for a time,fabric. B loved baskets and boxes and put her collections in them so that they could be lovingly displayed. She enjoyed puttering in the garden and was very fond of violets and pansies. B loved soft blues and green and the pastel colors that sooth one's soul. She experimented with painting on silk and created lovely watercolor pictures. B. made some lovely artsy quilts for her oldest grandchildren. She and my father in law had a rich life together- even after he suffered a major stroke because of her steadfast support and determination to help him recover. Dad often attributed his recuperation to her assistance and caring. He passed away quite suddenly last fall- we miss him still. My inlaws were devoted to one another and,as the Alzheimer's progressed,my father in law held fast determined to care for her in spite of her growing needs. Through it all, Dad was her grounding wire. As a family, we were able to help provide support, especially my husband's sister and her family who shared a house with them. While the Alzheimer's continues to steal away her language,it can't take away the many gifts that she has blessed us with through out her life. Now we treasure her moments of clarity and the small pleasures she finds in her daily living environment.

My husband will be going away next week to visit his mum for a few days. He is looking forward to enjoying some time with her. Here's to you Mum- I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Regards,
Anna

I am overwhelmed!!!

Thanks so much for all your kind words and the warm welcome to Blogland. I hope that you will continue to want to stop by for a visit. I will post when I can... Life as a teacher is a steady stream of upcoming events and I have learned after 30 years to plan ahead- at least some of the time. VBG

Making a quilt is sometimes like that( needing it for a specific purpose) and other times the quilt just gets to evolve on its own time. The last few years, I have been busy making quilts for people that are important to us. I think that quilts are gifts given from your creative soul, and I remember struggling to part with the first ones that I gave away. I often would worry about whether it was something that the person would enjoy and find pleasure from, when they were wrapped up in the quilt. I wondered whether they would like the colors and pattern, and if it would suit their decor. Now,after parting with many quilts, I am learning to let it go and give them without some of that angst. Once they are given they no longer belong to me. I have made them with love and found pleasure in the creative process (at least most of the time). Has anyone else struggled with this dilemma?

Today's quilt was my second wedding quilt of the summer. It is owned by another lovely niece and her new husband who loved the color blue. As someone who loves color I did not want to just use blue (even though there are many beautiful shades of blue). When we gave it to them I hoped they would love it even though it was colorful and fortunately they did (see there still is abit of angst in giving). The pattern is a pattern called "Paperweight" by Aardvark Patterns, Kansas. It is similar to a spiderweb pattern.(I need to give credit to the creator of the pattern- I hope this is the right way.)

I have just begun two quilts - this September is indeed a time of new beginnings. For the first time in a long time, I am making quilts that I want to make just because- Right now they have no particular destination yet. One is a Winding Ways Quilt that is made from batiks. I hope it will be a beauty, as I so love batiks. The other one is the Wonky Tiles pattern from Mary - scraps from a stash blogspot. Right now they are just a pile of cut up pieces and some blocks. I have been collecting fabric for quite awhile, and like many other quilters, am amassing quite a stash. Both of the fall quilts are made from the stash- Maybe I could become a stashbuster! Nah I love collecting fabric too much..LOL

Soon I hope to add a list of blogs that I have enjoyed reading and figure out how to leave a link to other blogs in my post.
Until next time,
Regards from Western Canada,
Anna

Do I really want a blog?

Blog or not to blog, that is a question that I have been pondering for many months. I have enjoyed being a reader of blogs for well over a year. Many times I have been asked where is your blog and I have responded " I am content to be Anna NO Blog". I am still not sure about this decision to be the writer rather than the reader. Some of my reluctance comes from my limited knowledge of the technology that goes with being a blogger and the rest of it stems from whether I want to quilt or to spend my leisure time blogging rather than quilting. Like most people, I have a busy life that is filled with the demands of work ( I am a kindergarten teacher by profession) and home. Balance is not my middle name!!!!

However, it appears that I have chosen to leap into the blog world so I hope that you will bear with me while I find my way with the technology.

I first started quilting as a younger woman when I was pregnant with my son. He is now 20. My first attempts to make a quilt was a log cabin "quilt in a day" (more like two years for me) pattern. I used double polyester batting as the center layer. Quilting it was like wrestling with a bear to stuff it through my sewing machine arm space. After that, it was a good while before I quilted again. My son got bigger and I wanted to do something that I could do for my own pleasure so I returned to quilting - this time a little more seriously and I have been playing with fabric ever since. I have been an active quilter since 1996. I have tried a number of techniques, but I guess you would say I am a traditional quilter who makes colorful bed quilts - often large bed quilts . Remember what I said about balance!!!! I have lost count of how many - perhaps one day I will sit and figure it out for you :D

Picture: This queen sized quilt was made for a niece and her husband as a wedding gift in June. It was the first of three wedding quilts this summer.

Until next time,
Regards from a Western Canadian Quilter,

Anna