January jelly roll and Convergence quilts.

It is a nice January day outside but I am enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon with my favorite Chai tea from Second Cup in my favorite snowman mug. The sun was shining earlier and there were people out walking their dogs. We watched some Sunday sports (curling, hockey and NFL football) and I finished up some school work.

Yesterday I cleaned out most of the vestiges of Christmas- there are a few things left - The Winter village and this lovely poinsettia plant will be around for awhile yet. I dusted shelves off, vacuumed the floor and generally got rid of the debris that had been collecting in our living space. It looks a lot nicer and now I can concentrate on the things that I need to for this week.

Bruce brought home some fresh flowers to decorate our table.I especially like fresh flowers on the table in the winter. It just brightens up the living space.We have been enjoying the music of Frazey Ford, who is the lead singer of a band called The Be Good Tanyas. I just got a collection of their music from 2000 - 2012.  Frazey Ford has a new album called Indian Ocean that has some terrific pieces on it.

I have been getting some quilty things accomplished. Last Sunday I quilted, squared and bound this jelly roll quilt. It has turned out quite lovely. Today's goal is to add the label so that I can give it to a friend who is soon leaving our school staff. I hope that she will enjoy cuddling under it on a winter's night. I really have enjoyed making the jelly roll quilts. They are faster than most quilts and this one is about the size of a small twin bed sized quilt.

Athena the cat definitely has given the cat seal of  approval.   She looks lovely on this particular color combo. Athena is becoming a much more sociable cat with us- Her latest friendly ??? move is to come at night, and sleep behind my husband's head. She is quite taken with his head and will lick his hair- Pets really do such funny things to express their feelings and friendship.

This lovely piece of art was a gift from dear friends for our 34th wedding anniversary which we celebrated on Boxing Day. It is the work of a Newfoundland artist named Cara from the Grumpy Goat Gallery. I love the bright colors and the funky way she creates movement in her designs.

I want to find a frame for this card that came with the canvas picture- Don't you love the quilt and the tops turvy  curves . I especially like the clothes on the clotheslines. They both make me smile when I look at them. You can find the Grumpy Goat Gallery  blog on my blog list and if you are on Facebook,  she also has a facebook page.

I am making progress on the wedding quilt. It is not speedy but here is a box full of over 300 half square triangles made, for the next 80 quilt blocks. These ones are all pressed and now I am trimming so that they are all 2 and 1/2 inch square so that they will fit together more accurately. I don't have a firm date of completion, but I am making progress, and the quilt has risen to the top of the pile.

I am really excited about an upcoming event that is happening here in Edmonton. Ricky Tims is coming to Edmonton and I am going to get the opportunity to see him in person. These are some of the quilts that I have made using his techniques and designs. I know I am going to be inspired and enjoy listening to him talk about his process. He came to Calgary a couple of years ago but we were away on holiday so I was not able to take in his session. The photo above is my version of his kaleidoscope pattern.

One of my favorite techniques is his Harmonic Convergence quilts. This one I called Black, white and red all over. I gave it to a friend who was celebrating her 50th birthday.

This flower is called Chantelle Chanson- It was my first sort of improvisational quilting- we use it for a table top cover in our living room. It intentionally has wobbly curvy borders and the points cut off.

And here is another variation of the Convergence quilts... I did a series of them. The original pattern was a wall hanging size but all of mine ended up bed sized quilts.  I have done 7 other posts about the convergence quilts but am not sure how to link it here. I know that they are labelled as such, so perhaps if you are interested check the labels for convergence quilts.

My friend Michele recently posted this piece on her blog about the Harmonic convergence quilts. Michele is an amazing lady who creates really beautiful pieces for others.(if you click on the highlighted words above it will take you to her post). She was very involved in the Alzheimers Art Quilt Initiative that raised money for Alzheimers. Amie Simms spearheaded this project which has now reached its completion. Do go and check out Michele's blog - you will find lots of patterns and links on it .

Bruce and I are going to a concert with Basia Bulat and Harry Manx later this month.  We may go out and see some winter fireworks at the University that is part of Winter festival.  As always there is lots going on at work to keep me busy.  We have been lucky so far here in Alberta - the weather has been relatively mild for January with only a few indoor recess days. The days are getting lighter which always lifts my spirits.
I hope this post finds you all well and that you are  having some time to create beautiful quilts.
Perhaps in the next post I will have some more wedding blocks put together..
Stay warm if you are in the Northern Hemisphere and cool if you live down South.
Warmest regards,
Anna

Pets on Quilts Blog hop- Mars Cat on quilts..

Once upon a time there was a cat named Mars. She is a little orange ginger cat who is definitely the queen of our house. We love her dearly and, are entertained frequently, by her antics. Mars is not quite as lively as she once was, when she was a kitten,(she soon will be 14 years old). However, she is not immune to adventures both quilty and non- quilty.. This spring she decided to check out the world outside for a couple of days. She is an indoor cat so we spent a couple of days being frantic for her safety. When she returned, she just sauntered up to our back door, oblivious to all the mayhem  she had caused.  As you can see, she is the queen of all she surveys...Why would you lay on one quilt when you can lay on four or five.. By the way, her favorite quilt is the leaf quilt..

Sometimes Mars likes to come and help me cut- you can see she was a terrific assistant while I was using my cutting board. Occasionally, she likes to sew too (unfortunately I can not locate the photo of her checking out my sewing machine while I was piecing).

A number of years ago I created this cat wall hanging as a gift for these dear friends. It is a pattern from a book called Rotary Magic by Nancy Szeboro Johnson. There are 10 cats included  because it was a gift for their 10th wedding anniversary.

I used a number of different notions to add details to the individual cats- there are buttons, lace, beads and embroidery flossed used to add detail. They are supposed to be looking out the window- something that Mars loves to do..

Sometimes Mars likes to sleep on the end of our bed- This star quilt was made for the International Year of Astronomy as a gift for my husband.

Often Mars turns herself into a doughnut shape on my quilts. This quilt is an anniversary wallhanging made for my in laws. Mars always was found laying on the photo of our family. Can cats discriminate pictures? I don't know, but I do know, that she never chose to lay extended on it, nor did she lay on my husband's sister's family who are in the right bottom corner of the hanging.

Mars loves to lay on the top of the loveseat or back of the sofa.. Perhaps its the vantage point, or maybe its because she usually finds a quilt to lay on in those places. Mars also likes to crawl under the quilts when I have them laid out on the love seat. We only know that she is present, because we will see the tip of her tail or the tell tale bulge in the quilt, as she runs underneath the quilt. She test drives all of my quilts - this one lives with my uncle and aunt. It is called Twisted Strips and is a pattern freely available from Bonnie K Hunter's quiltville website Quilts and quips.

You know the expression" let sleeping dogs lie"?- Well, I think it should read Cat is sleeping do not dare to disturb!! Here she is laying in her favorite doughnut pose. The quilt is made from 2 batik layer cakes and the pattern is a 10 minute block. It was a very fun quilt to make..

When our son moved to Charlottetown area last summer,we had a number of large boxes in our living room. At the time, I was working on this Music of my heart wedding quilt( pattern from one of Kaffe Fassett's books). Mars didn't let the height of the boxes deter her from her typical daily laying around.

Mars can often be found laying in boxes, bags or baskets.. She likes to lay with my fabric and will choose the piles of fabric in my sewing room or my cut strips like these bits in this basket. Mars doesn't care whether the basket is big enough or not- she will just make her body conform to the size of the container. Like all of us, this was once an easier thing for her to do, when she young and more agile...

Well here she is - The Princess and the pea has got nothing on Mars- The top wall hanging is a Chantelle flower based on a Ricky Timms technique. As long there are a pile of quilts or fabric, Mars is guaranteed to find it. It will be her chosen place to have her daily 20 hours of napping.. A girl has to do what she can to maintain her beauty sleep!!!

"Mars and our quilts" is my contribution to the Pets on Quilts blog hop. I am including a couple of photos of our schnoodle dog, Dusty, just so you know that we are sort of an equal opportunity family- both cats and dogs have our hearts. Dusty is laying on some cat mats I made for our son's cat tree.The quilt behind her is a coin quilt that I made for Bruce.

Dusty has her own idiosyncrasies  - unfortunately for her she is terrified of thunderstorms. This summer we have had a number of them . Here, she is hiding behind the sofa nestled up against the pillow and quilt. We have yet to find another way to help her feel safe during a storm. 

Dusty and Mars are tolerant of each other's existence. Our Venus dog and Mars were great buddies - Mars and Dusty- not so much. This photo says it all!
Notice how they face opposite directions from one another even when they nap.

" Click on the icon here or on the top right corner of my blog for a link to the schedule for the pets on quilts blog hop.

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There are two other blog hops going on right now- they are of a different nature- They focus on Christmas kinds of blocks.  You may want to check out http://lesleythecuddlequilter.blogspot.ca/2012/07/think-christmas-blog-hop-schedule.html- It is partially over but there are some great blocks to be seen and some giveaway prizes chances available too.
The other one you may want to visit is http://henryglassfabrics.blogspot.ca/  where a number of designers are sharing some Christmasy ideas too. I think there are some prizes for this blog hop as well. One of the things I love best about blog hopping is that I get introduced to some new ideas and new to me bloggers.

I am working on a couple of new quilts- This weekend I am attending a workshop where I am going to try out my new to me featherweight- It will be fun to piece on a machine that is even older than me.. LOL

I was planning to write about our recent trip to the mountains where we checked out some stores in the Canadian Rockies - more about that next time...

Until then- stay cool,  or warm- if you are in the southern Hemisphere. Thanks for dropping by- I hope you will come and visit again soon.

Warmest regards,
Anna

Some quilting influences., inspiration ... and Life...

Its the middle of March and today is Pi day- so I thought you might want to enjoy a yummy piece of pie while you stopped by to visit. Mathematical equations and patterns are a particular interest of my husband's- So here is to a little PI today!

The middle of March always makes me stop and remember some loved ones who have passed from this life. Today would have been my grandfather's 101 birthday(it is also our nephew's birthday). My grandfather was born to Swedish immigrants in 1910. He saw many changes over his lifetime. I miss my grandfather's dry sense of humor, his deep voice that I am reminded of when I hear the character,Eeyore speak in the stories of Winnie the Pooh, and his love of farm, music and family. Most of all, I miss his stories..


Tomorrow is the Ides of March and a day of remembrance for my husband and his siblings. Their beloved brother David was taken from them in 1975 in a car accident. He was just 22 years old. I made this photo quilt for my in laws around 2003 to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary and wanted to include David as part of the photo grouping. He is in the middle at the top of the wall hanging. I know that my in- laws loved that quilt and were glad that all their children were in it, including David. ( Mars the cat is sitting on our pictures).

I know that it has been awhile since I posted - Life at home has been busy. Our son, Kevin, his girlfriend Rose and their cats have been getting set up in our basement. They have made some wonderful changes to the space and everyone is getting used to our new arrangement. The main floor of the house still needs some work to find spaces for some things and the tossing of other things. I was remarking to a friend that my life has been full of de-junking spaces both at home and at school( last year with our school renovation). This is not without stress for me, as,I am by nature, a collector of things. However,one lesson that I have learned is to stop and think before I add more stuff to my spaces( except for fabric and childrens' books LOL) Now if I could only be more organized- I am working on it but it does not come naturally..

March is also the time of year when I complete the second term report cards and updating of my at risk kids programming. So now you know why I have disappeared from my blog writing for a short time...

I don't have much new quilty to show you. I did give away the other BQ quilt to a special lady - she has had some health issues and I wanted her to have a quilt to wrap herself in -just like a warm hug on the days she was feeling under the weather.

I also made some cafe type curtains for the basement windows. I have one more of them to make to complete the ones for the downstair's space, but I may make one for the laundry area and my husband's little office area too.

Did I tell you that we went to the art gallery to the opening of the Emily Carr and Haida show? The opening was so packed (there must have been over 1000 people)that we did not try to get into her exhibit but we are going back this week to hear a lecture about Haida art. We will go and look at her exhibit then as well. My dear friend Val and I went to see Carr's work in Calgary a few Christmases ago. It was fantastic and I am thrilled to get an opportunity to see some her works again.

A friend from work brought me a gift from a quilt store she had been in Jasper. It was a lovely bag with one of Ricky Tims Rhapsody quilts on it. I am a big fan of his work and did a week course one summer a few years ago that used his designs.
I have really enjoyed exploring his Convergence patterns and have made a number of them as throw quilts. The beginning convergence quilt I made was just a small wall hanging and I wondered why I couldn't turn it into a throw size quilt. As you can see from the photos below, that is exactly what I did.
I do like the way the colors meshed in this convergence- the owner is a big fan of green and purple and the fabrics are all batiks....


This " Kool Kaleidoscope pattern is now a book by Ricky. It is fairly large wall hanging or table topper and easier than some other Kaleidoscope designs. His book is well done and has some good visuals should you want to make one of your own Kaleidoscope quilts.

This Chantelle flower is a free form flower that was easy to do. We played with the borders to make it asymmetrical. I am not an art quilter - that is, I like making functional pieces for using in day to day life. Sometimes its fun just to play with the fabric- perhaps one day I will do something with some of the crazy quilting strips I have created. Or another snippet? or another Kaleidoscope?

Two other convergences for you - one that is red and white and black all over..

This one is more subtle- I don't think that the photo does this quilt justice- I loved the soothing color combination - Did you know that red can be soothing???

So who are your influences- do you like particular designers ? Kaffe Fassett? Valori Wells? Ricky Tims? Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston? The women of Gee Bend? These are a few of mine.. I am inspired by their use of color and lines...What inspires you???

And now for some blogging friends who are having giveaways:

Sherri of'A quilting Life" has a great book called Art Quilt Collection by Linda Seward. It is a very nice book and great to look at for inspiration..
the material girls are giving away some great fabric- go quickly they will draw on the 16th.
Liz of Quilterie is giving away a Kaffe Fassett book called Quilt Romance- Its a very nice book indeed.

Carolyn of Veggie Hunter- she's a local quilter that I am looking forward to meeting sometime soon) has a few more giveaways for you to check out as well as one of her own.

Susan
in Texas is having a wonderful fabric giveaway for her 3rd blog anniversary. She has a very nice blog that I am going to add to my blog list. So many blogs not enough time...

Thanks for staying with me ... I hope you will go and check out Tanya of Taniwa blog. She is a terrific lady(a fantastic quilter too) who lives in Nikko Japan. Her story is reflective and she shares what it is like living in Japan just now.. My heart goes out to all those areas who are struggling with the after effects of floods and earthquakes.

We have had a couple of beautiful days here in Alberta- Do I dare say that maybe we might have spring....

Thanks for stopping by- I promise to come back sooner. I hope you will too.
Regards,
Anna