We spent National Quilt Day in Las Vegas ..

My husband Bruce, has been an ardent hockey fan since he was 6 years old . We have been huge hockey fans together for the near 40 years that we have been a couple. In fact, when we first went out, Bruce already was the owner of  two season's tickets for the Edmonton Oilers hockey team. ( He had  tickets beginning in the late 1970s throughout the 1980's) . He first had season tickets with them when the team was not NHL, but belonged to the WHA.  By choice, his two seats were not together- one was at one end of the ice and the other was at the other end of the arena ( He liked seeing the game from different vantage points.) One of the seats was part of a trio of tickets with friends, and the other was a single seat. When I would go with him, he would sit in the single at the other end of the area for part of the game and his two friends and I would sit at the other end of the arena. Between periods, we would meet on the concourse and sometimes, one of his two friends would go and sit in the single seat and Bruce and I would  get to sit together. It still makes me smile thinking about our first hockey game dates!  Later we did have some seasons where we had our seats together when we still had season's or partial season's tickets.  The cost of tickets escalated and life priorities changed ..

These days we get the opportunity to go to an occasional game thanks to the generosity of others. Attending a game live is a  different experience but our recent experience was  indeed unique!  In January  we were offered an opportunity to go to see a game in March in Las Vegas!
 First we had to get on a plane- something that I had not done for many many years for various reasons. After some thoughtful deliberation on my part, and, me actively seeking a passport, we found ourselves boarding an early morning plane to  Las Vegas on March 16. This meant that we had to get to the airport by 5:30 am which meant leaving our house at 4:45 am! Here we are on board the airplane at 7:30 am. I am pretty sure that I am still half asleep!

We stayed in a very nice Hotel called the Aria Hotel and Resort   Like all the big resorts on the Las Vegas strip,there is a huge casino on the main floor. It also had numerous restaurants and a high end shopping area called Crystals that included shops like Harry Winston, Gucci, Hermes etc
-Here is sunrise from the 22nd floor of our hotel room on Sunday Morning. The view was spectacular and we enjoyed seeing all the flashing billboards and lights on the Strip.The city is an amazing  happening city with lots of things to see and do, if you have the time, money and energy. 

  One of my favorite things in life is to look at Art. The hotel and resort area has 20 different art installations . Bruce is sitting in one of the 3 chairs that were called  a Turtle Dove chair ( though they reminded me of pigeons which  made me think of a series of children's books by Mo Willems  that include a story named " Don"t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus") It was a nice space in front of the hotel and a great place to people watch :)

T- Mobile Arena is a vibrant place- there were cheer leaders and show girls with feather head gear, lots of very loud music , noisy fans and lights displays throughout the evening .It happened to be St. Patrick's Day, as well, which added to the ambiance. Before the game, there was a big tailgate party in the area outside the arena. The crowd was large and filled with many hockey fans wearing their team jerseys and/or green or both!
 While the Oilers lost, it was a never to be forgotten experience.  Earlier in the day, our group went off to see the Welcome to Las Vegas sign - here we are standing  proudly wearing our NHL Jerseys- The Oilers have had a mediocre season and are not likely to make the playoffs, but this year will be a special one for Bruce and I . It is not every year that you get to go to a different  NHL city to see a game -  what a fabulous opportunity it was, as a fan of the sport of hockey.  I highly recommend the experience! For more complete analysis of the game, you can check out this link to Bruce's hockey post!https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/cult-of-hockey/edmonton-oilers-greatest-weakness-among-several-candidates-poor-transition-game-stands-out

 The Saturday that we arrived in Las Vegas it was  also National Quilting Day! I wanted to post some photos of a quilt that I have been working on this fall and winter to honor my quilting passion. I have made a number of retirement quilts over the past years for friends . Our family has lived in our current house for over two years and it was time for me to make a quilt for our bed in this house.

Here is my Retirement Quilt for us. I started it to test out a pattern that is currently being written by Janellea MacBeth.  This photo shows the quilt without the final borders. In the ones below, you can see where the final borders have been added. My version is a king sized quilt and it is totally scrappy.  Some of the scraps go back to when I began quilting in the mid 1980's. There are scrap bits from the over 100 bed quilts that I have made since that time- Fabric is really like a memory keeper- I found pieces of our son's baby wrap that  I completed over 30 years ago.
 The background fabric is all the same until the borders. I used all 6 yards of  fabric in the background in the body of the quilt.  I had to search my fabric stash for something that would work for the set in triangles  without trying to compete with the zig zag strips.  (The quilt is put together on point so you end up with zig zag edges.) I think I found a subtle batik that works well !

g z

I chose a red stop border to float between the two border sections. Athena the cat obviously approves of the newest quilt. As always, she enjoys coming to check out my quilts - Isn't that what quilt cats do?  Now I just need to find backing and get it spray basted so that I can quilt it!

I will close with one last photo of Las Vegas. There was an enormous Henry Moore stone sculpture that was in the courtyard area at the Hotel. It is a fabulous piece of art that represents a mother and child. It is really beautiful and so enormous.. I can not imagine how many hours it took him to carve this massive stone work!

There are more quilty things I want to show you but I will save them for another day! When we returned to Alberta late Monday, there was still lots of snow on the ground.  Warmer weather has arrived and  the piles have melted away this week.  Soon we may  get to see some spring flowers.  I am really looking forward to that.. Until next time stay well and be Happy! Warmest regards, Anna

Remembering Moe and his quilt

Our family's heart is broken-
This is my Uncle Moe - Yesterday on March 4- he left us after battling with Cancer for the past 8 months. Moe had just celebrated his 74th birthday. He was a big man with a big heart and a big laugh. If I close my eyes,I can hear his big rumbling laugh that  so reminded me of my beloved grandfather, Henry.  The photo above is a few years ago when I had the privilege of going to lunch with my parents, and two of my uncles and one aunt. Moe always had that cookie duster mustache, twinkle in his eye and that big smile that lit up his face. He was my mom's younger brother, who loved to tease and joke and have a good time. Moe enjoyed playing his guitar and a lovely voice- He was always willing to sing around the fire at camp out. Uncle Moe lived in the mountains for many years of his life- but he had deep prairie roots. 

The photo on the left, is of my two uncles together ( Uncle Gary and Uncle Moe.) The one above is of my Mama, Dolores, with her beloved Mini Moe. .These photos were taken at a celebration honoring the 100th anniversary of the completion of New Hill School.in 2012.  My great grandfather Nels was responsible for building a one room school  in the farming community where  my mother and her  siblings grew up. As in most farming communities, there were many connections to all who lived there. My mother Dolores is the matriarch of her clan. My grandfather had 2 brothers and a sister. The 3 brothers ( my grandpa and his two brothers) all raised their children in the same farming community so, while my mother had only 3 siblings, in reality, she had many more, because her cousins were all like siblings. To this day, they maintain close connections with one another. My heart mourns with all this family too.

 As a quilter, I have enjoyed making quilts for my family. This quilt is my Uncle Moe's quilt. It was a BQ pattern called Sideliners .
I entitled his quilt " Man from the Prairies- even though he spent the later part of his life in the interior part of British Columbia.
The corner blocks of sheaves of grain.

When I think of him, I am flooded with memories from my childhood. He was always generous to others. My brother and I went to visit him once when I was still in university.   Gene( my brother) and his wife Kris have spent many summers going to spend time with Uncle Moe. My uncle was a great mentor and supporter of my brother and they had a very special connection right until the end.

   My uncle gave me a great gift these past two years , He brought my parents up to visit us in our St. Albert house. It is a most treasured gift.The first visit was when I was sick in the fall of 2017 and home recovering from gall bladder surgery.  Uncle Moe was out visiting for the third time that summer and we had not had the opportunity to visit.  I was thrilled to have him come and see our home and meet our pets . He loves cats and our son and his wife have 5 of them so that was an added bonus for him :)
He returned with my parents in July  2018 and these photos are from that day.. He, my parents and one of cousins ( Stan and his wife Doreen) had an afternoon of visiting and family time. We had so hoped to have another visit this summer but that was not to be unfortunately.

I had spoken to him on the phone  a couple of times in the past few months .My family- (particularly my Mom, my auntie Janet and my brother , Gene and his wife, Kris and other cousins) had frequent phone contact with him in his last days. Some family had visited him last week while he was in hospice care.  He was blessed with very good friends who supported and cared for him in his last months.
 This  photo of our last hug and kiss goodbye is filled with the joy that I felt having time with him. It is a very treasured memory indeed. There are many more stories and vignettes that I could tell ... of play houses built on the farm and other tales ...
The pain in our hearts is great and we mourn his exuberance and zest for life. Rest easy dear Uncle - You were well loved and will be greatly missed.. Much love , Anna Me....