The season of Thanksgiving and quilt finishes...

Life is full of big rocks- rocks that provide stability and sometimes create challenges. I love rocks and stones and this one has a pretty cool story. My dad used to hunt and fish when I was growing up- well for a long time after that too. One time he and a friend found this beautiful chunk of petrified rock and hauled it home. This was no mean feat, as I can barely move it across the living room floor! My dad would have packed it a couple of miles back to his vehicle. It still sits in their home. I wonder what stories the rings of the rock could tell???

I know it has been awhile since I have posted - I have lost the rhythm of writing and got out of the habit of sharing here. Today is Canadian Thanksgiving. On a day where one is Thankful for all the things that one has in their life, I thought it was fitting that I took some time to write.  Its not that I have not been busy- quite the contrary. Summer and fall have been busy productive times. I completed 5 quilts this summer. All of these quilts came from my stash- I didn't go out and buy anything new to make these quilts. I did buy some batting and invisible thread from Connecting Threads to augment the stash. I did have a couple of fabric adventures over the summer, with my friend Lou, but I mostly added some neutral fabrics to add to the stash.  I don't often buy neutrals so that was my summer challenge to myself.
The BQ 3 quilt below went home with my brother in law, Earle,  when he visited here in September. It was a relatively fast quilt to make- I love the greenery in the central blocks. There is more than one way to layout this quilt, but I preferred this one (the other layout was to form large pinwheels but the block looked too clunky to me). I hope he and his wife,Tracy get many years of enjoyment using this quilt. I do like the BQ patterns- by Maple Island Quilts. They are fun designs and make lovely quilts. I did a series of the Sidelines patterns by the same company. This was a belated wedding gift, in time for their first wedding anniversary. - I am getting close to completing my wedding projects( my son and his wife's quilt has risen to the near top of the pile LOL)

Speaking of wedding quilts, here is my friend, K. with her signature quilt. She was pleased with the results of  all the signed wedding blocks. I am the short one at the back( I am not that short but both of the other ladies are tall women.LOL)

Above is the third wedding quilt- I did enjoy making these jelly roll quilts and this wedding quilt is made from a jellyroll created by the Laundry Baskets designer, Edyta Sitar.I love the vibrancy of the colours in this quilt. I hope that Fred and Mirta find it a cheery and comforting quilt.

This second jelly roll quilt I call Sea and Sky. It had such vibrant blues and I found a wonderful batik border in my stash. Here is Athena the cat making herself at home on the quilt. She does love to check out my quilts.

This was the last of the three jelly roll quilts that I completed. You can see how I spray basted it so that it was easy to quilt. It is quite a fast process to tape it/ clamp it to the tables and then use a fabric spray to glue it together temporarily. Our dear son did not have any of my quilts in his home so this quilt went home with him when he came to visit in September. Hopefully it won't be too long before I get their wedding quilt completed. I spray basted these quilts in the same church building where  I go to quilting  workshops.

At the end of that afternoon I spray basted the four quilts The top one is the back of the brown and blue quilt. The black diamond like shapes is the back of the Edyta Sitar quilt. The bright blue is the back of Sea and Sky and the other blue is the back of the BQ quilt. I had already completed the signature quilt.

 While Kevin was here visiting we took the opportunity to take a few photos including this one. Dusty the dog figured she needed to be in the photograph too.  

Last week we had a reading event at school. My husband, Bruce came out and read to my students. It is always is fun to listen to him read to the little ones in my class. He is sharing one of our favorite books, that he read to our son when he was little" The Elephant and the Bad Baby."by E. Vipont.

Fall has truly arrived in Alberta- I love the contrast of the blue sky and yellow leaves. We don't get as much color out here in the west - our leaves are definitely, orange, yellow and brown with a little red. It was a marvelous Canadian Thanksgiving weekend here in Alberta- Nice weather and beautiful blue skies. This is our apple tree in our front yard.

It would not be a post without a photo of flowers on our table. I love the contrast of the stargazer lilies and the hydrangeas. There is a massive leaf on the left side of the bouquet. Mother Nature does create some amazing colours and designs of her own.

I had hoped to make some more baby wraps this weekend as I know some friends and loved ones who are soon going to have a new member in their family.. Somehow the time got away from me.
The weekend time was well spent in other ways-  I did get out to have lunch with a friend and got a bit of school work done. I also started another jelly roll quilt( well it was my own jelly roll collection of star fabrics).  I think that the wide blue will be the border on the jelly roll innards. I am still searching for the stop border for this one.

Happy Fall dear friends.  I hope you had a lovely weekend and shared  a great meal with family and friends if you celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving.  We made a very nice dinner of turkey, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, dressing , and turnip. It was indeed yummy...
Warmest regards,
Anna