Do you wonder if I have been quilting during my first year of retirement?

Here I am, on the last day of school June 2018, just outside my classroom door. I had worked in that Room 2 classroom for the past twenty two years. In that time, over 500 kindergarten students had walked through that door and together we learned, laughed, cried (occasionally) and played together. It was hard closing the door for the final time! It felt bittersweet, I had a pretty good idea what it meant to be a teacher. After all, I had spent 40 years of my adult life being an educator. I wasn't sure that I knew what it meant to be retired.

My colleagues held a fabulous garden party at our home to help me celebrate . The cake was amazing and so were all the other things that happened in the last months of my teaching career.

A few days later,  I began to do some work in my quilting space . If you look behind my head, you can see the boxes of fabric that are piled rows high. It was getting harder and harder for me to move the boxes, in order to find fabrics to create new quilts. I have arthritis and I have developed some problems with my mobility. After some discussions with my family, my daughter in law, Rose, helped to design a new storage system for my fabric. They are PAX cupboards by IKEA. They have roll out drawers and shelves. Our son, Kevin, assembled the cupboards. Then, it was my turn to go to work-  the beginning months of my retirement were spent folding fabric(again with Rose's help) and - voila I had a completely different work space.
My quilting space needs a new name with its much improved look. ( I still haven't come up with a name for it- any ideas out there?)
 Even when its messy, its much neater than before. The part I love the most, is that I can find things more easily now.  I also know what fabrics that I have and which draw it might be in. I no longer need my spouse to come and move 4 or 5 boxes so that I can get the potential fabric that I might use. My previous box system was not unorganized (all the fabrics were color coded or theme labeled) but this new system allows me to physically pull out the drawers and actually see what is  in them.
 Do I wish that the quilting space was bigger - sometimes- especially when I am wanting to cut and sew but I have worked in smaller spaces and this one is just great .
You can see that the fabrics are color coded still!  We still could put doors on it but for now we are leaving it this way. I like the accessibility of it and the room is sheltered by large trees and the front portico of the house so I don't get an excess amount of light in my space.

Once we got the quilting space organized, I found I had some time to actually work on projects that had been on the back burner for a while. This quilt was a retirement gift for my teaching grade partner. We worked together for a dozen years. She had retired in June of 2016.  The fabrics were done by Jackie Robinson (she created a fabulous quilt pattern called Weaver Fever many years ago) I chose these fabrics because the wild flowers had lots of lupins in them. My friend, Doreen grew up on the eastern coast of Canada in Nova Scotia. She loves lupins and  I was thrilled to find this fabric line with a floral border and coordinates that included lupins. The quilt  pattern is Sideliners by Maple Island quilts. (They are known for their BQ patterns. You can find their patterns on line- I have enjoyed making a number of them.

The back of her quilt is almost as interesting as the front of it. I saw the Lupin fabric in a magazine and was able to order the fabric from Hancocks of Paducah By chance, I found the backing for the quilt while checking out their sale section. I ordered enough to back the quilt easily. I pieced the bottom of it so that the flowers could go on and on. Doreen is also fond of the mountains so I knew that she would enjoy having mountains, rocks and the flowers of nature all together. A little farther down you will see some photos of some table runners. If you look carefully in the pile, you will be able to find the table runner I made for her as a Christmas/ birthday gift for her as well.

One of the other projects I  finished last summer, were two wedding quilts . They were a kit that came from Connecting Threads in Vancouver, Washington. The Move Over pattern by Mari Martin came as a kit. It was generous enough that I got both of the quilts out of the one kit.
Both of the quilts have the same fabrics except for one black fabric(my cutting error). The borders are different on each quilt. It was an interesting pattern to make because I don't usually work with such light colors.
 I quilt all of my own quilts - you can see my Babylock quilting machine on my table.The machine has an extended bed on it to make quilting easier.  I have free motion quilted a king sized quilt with this machine, without any problems.

By the time early fall came I  had completed the wedding quilts and Doreen's quilt .  One morning in my email in box, I saw a request  from a lady who was looking for people to pattern test a pattern that she had designed for a quilt.
When we bought our house in 2016, we bought a king sized bed. Most of the quilts that I made in the past, were large queen sized quilts so we no longer had a quilt that was really large enough for our bed. I decided that I should make myself a retirement quilt.
The photo below shows some of the strip sets that made the strippy part of the zig zag for the quilt.

In the end, I made over 600 blocks that were cut into 4 and half inches square. I have no idea how many scrap strips I used but there were a lot of different fabrics - a few were as old as 30+ years old. I got rid of lots of fabrics when we moved house, and again ,when I culled the collection so that I could more easily fit the fabric in the new cupboards. However, I did have a drawer of strips and small chunks of fabrics that I had saved for sentimental reasons. Most of those pieces were left over scrap fabrics from family quilts that included a baby quilt that I had made for our son.
I used 6 yards of background brown /black fabric for the alternate zigzag pattern. I actually ran out of background fabric, so I had to find an alternate fabric for the inset triangles on the border. It was an interesting challenge. This quilt came completely from my fabric stash so that was a very satisfying feeling as well. I have the back of this quilt prepared - Next I will spray baste it and then quilt it on my machine.  It is definitely a king sized quilt  so it will take a while to quilt !                                                            

It will look fabulous when it is completed!

The back fabric  needed some piecing as the fabric was not quite enough for the large quilt. I though a set of blocks that were left over from the front was the perfect solution for quilt back. 

                                                                            

 I wanted to find a simple Christmas gift for family and friends so I made these 10 minute table runners. ( I also made a few bowl cozies for wrapping a bowl in to keep your food warm.)
All these fabrics came from the fabric stash too! I altered the design a little by making them a little bit bigger than the original dimensions of 9 inch center strip with  18 inch fold over. Most of them are 10 inch centers and 20 inches on the fabric fold overs. I did put batting down the center I also quilted around motifs in almost all of them. You can find tutorials for these table runners  on You tube under 10 minute table runners.
Also the bowl cozies pattern is on You tube!
In the end, I made around thirty of these table runners - I gave them all away to others - so I need to make some more if I want to have one for our table in our living room!

Below you can see Doreen's tablerunner  which is bigger again because I used the border motif for the center of the table runner. I did quilt around all of the flowers in the central panel so it took more than 10 minutes to complete . LOL

Since Christmas I have made 4 quilt tops -

 These quilts are another pair in a series of convergence quilts I have made, using the Ricky Tims Convergence Quilt pattern. You can find the pattern in his book" Convergence Quilts" - my variation uses larger squares for the quilts but the technique is the same. These quilts are about the size of a big throw or twin sized quilt . Unfortunately the light in our great room does not always make for excellent photos.  In each case, I am quite happy with the color combinations. If you look at the top right corner of the one on the left, you will find a bold print with all of the other colors in it. I have used it as a border for the outside of the quilt.

I love the Spring Easter egg colors of this one on the right. The top left corner is a batik with the other three colors in it. The challenge with convergence quilts is always to make sure you get enough color differences so that you don't get mush. I think they are both happy quilts. I have found fabrics for backs and will get the backs made up this week so that I can get quilting on them. 

 I love Sunflowers and this another version of the Sideliners pattern that I used in Doreen's quilt. I have done a few quilt series - using jelly rolls, this Sideliner pattern, a twisted flower design, and the convergence patterns. I love that you can use different fabrics and the quilts all look different The BQ patterns tend to showcase the fabrics so if you have some large fabric prints that you want to show off then BQ patterns are great for that purpose..Some fabrics are better contrasts. Athena the cat gives her cat approval to all my quilts . It is important to test drive a quilt you know :)

You can see the colors better in this photo below and you also can also see the big sunflower border that I added to complete the top on this one.

 I have made many many of these burrito baby wraps. With the first ones that I made, I tied them together rather than quilted them. I used  flannelette  for the one side and cotton for the other side. I first made this pattern from a McCalls Baby book of quilting in 1982.
 This one was the most recent one that I have completed. It was made last fall for a friend's baby. It has a minkee insides but it still looks like a cloverleaf when it is opened. The baby's mom is very fond of squirrels so I was thrilled to find squirrel fabric for it. They work great in a car seat or for wrapping a baby against the weather.





This larger children's quilt is for someone special - a young child that does not yet have a quilt from me. It was a quilt kit that has the Very Busy animal stories of Eric Carle. It is quite a large quilt and will take a little while to quilt . My summer plans appear to include some quilt projects that need to be completed. 

So this is the end of my quilting journey from the past year. I still have many pieces to finish quilting, From this post, it appears that there was some quilting happening in my first year of retirement. Quilting was not the only thing that I did during my first year, but I will post more about my other projects in my next blog post.
When I am not quilting these days, I have been busy taking some on line courses  and attending some movement classes to help me with some mobility issues that have come from having arthritis. I am getting out with friends for lunch or coffee, and trying to find a new rhythm in my retired life.
It is a change of pace- occasionally busy, but I get to have more choices about when and how long  I have to eat lunch etc. I have time to have bathroom breaks too which is great as well.
 Life is simpler and I am learning to take the time to smell the roses. Still, I am not sure what my new purpose or focus in life will be- For now, I am finding  a new way of living as a retired person.
 I hope that you too take the time to enjoy life's daily pleasures. Look around and enjoy, Next time I will share a little more about other projects in my retirement life.  Stay well .
Warmest regards,
Anna 

Everyone needs a new spring outfit. I bought this one recently at my favorite consignment store.

It is spring isn't it? or is it?

They say it is spring time here in Alberta  but Mother Nature has other things to say about it , and while the calendar says its the first  week of May, we have continued to have had snow arrive on and off the past few days. I, probably should not complain ,as other parts of Canada and the US, have had to deal with serious flooding.  Each day when I go out , I wonder do I still need a heavier coat etc but I know that this too shall pass..  In the meantime, the trees look beautiful  but we are tired of Winter and really do want spring.

 Bruce has been out walking on the trails in the St. Albert area these days. He often sends me photos of the beautiful things that he sees. My arthritic body is not up to walking the distances he is walking so I appreciate him sharing the natural habitat and animals that he comes across on his daily treks. My daily treks involve exercises and movement classes that are making me more mobile - at least on most days. The whole point is to keep moving in what ever way one can . Some of these photos are ones that I am collecting in a file to perhaps paint one day. I especially love these ducks and the branches beside them  and I intend to paint them one day soon.

Below is a photo of my most recent completed painting of a flower and butterfly. It is my second oil painting of choice. It is a very different medium than acrylics or watercolor (watercolor is a little too intimidating for me right now)  I have been taking an oil painting class all winter . I am starting to  make some progress in my ability to see shapes and value. It is different than quilting but somewhat the same. You do need to be able to see light , medium and dark  values in both. It is interesting to train your eyes in other ways. Perspective is particularly challenging.

  I have just begun a new floral piece with orchids.It is probably hard to see but I have started the under- painting. It is drawn using  a grid and then all the details are shaded in, by under painting the piece.  You have black and white and get to mix all the shades of grey.- and there are many shades of  grey.
 For me, the drawing is still very painstaking and I find myself continuing to add additional lines as I start to see the values. I thought that painting would be less time consuming that quilting but that is definitely not so. Both of these pieces are done on canvas that has been gessoed and measure 16X20 inches . Learning brush control is another interesting challenge.

 Just in case, you thought perhaps I had abandoned quilting , I thought I would post my newest top that has been completed. It still needs a backing made and to be spray basted together so that I can quilt it. It is a Maple Islanders Quilt Pattern called Sideliners . All the BQ( big quilt blocks) patterns showcase the fabrics so nicely.  I have made others of this pattern but am particularly pleased with this one- Sunflowers are my favorite flower and this one was partially cut out. Athena the cat is generally a fan of all the quilts. Below you can see the additional borders that were added to complete the top.

  Earlier this year, a couple of friends and I attended another Mixed media workshop ( the Instructor Darlene , was the same lady that taught us how to make the mandala in one of  earlier posts) . My piece is the one on the right .
 I used a variety of found materials  in my piece including a skeleton key, a cat earring , clay, a wood sign that says "Embrace the Journey", and a metal sign with the word" Family".  The baked clay has quilt like imprints with a lettering piece on top that has the word Love . The story totems are intended to reflect things that might be important to the individual.
 My friend did a beautiful  intricate heart where she added some detail painting using wax paints and special inks on it. There are so many ways to express one's self through different artist mediums.
My hope is that you take the time to find ways to express yourself through an art form.

I have started another convergence quilt so I will share that with you next time. A friend posted some convergence quilts from a recent workshop, and it gave me the urge to try another. I have the luxury in retirement of trying different things and  sometimes, it is fun to return to old ideas and make them new. Each of these projects feed my creative spirit..
Spring is coming isn't it- hopefully we soon will see some green grass and spring flowers blooming . Stay warm and dry wherever you live. Until next time, be well. .. 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....