How do I say Thank You !!!

I found the photo of the second bargello- It is owned by my sister in law, J. and looks like a completely different pattern because of the colors.It has an old fashioned feel, I think - I do so love this pattern and am considering making another one. I have made another bargello pattern called Melinda's Heart. It is a beauty too. Bargello patterns are some of my favorite designs. It is always the challenge of time - which pattern do you make first?

This week was the end of holidays and the return to my kindergarten children. It seems like they grow so much when we are not together- or maybe you just notice things with fresh eyes - I am not sure which... The weather was not overly cooperative, so my students and I had a week with very little outside time-it was just too cold...The crazy carpets( a plastic carpet used to go sliding in the snow) remained rolled up in the box until Friday afternoon when there was a break in the weather. The weekend has been warmer and we hope that it will hold for a few days so we can be outside this week. Cross your fingers for us won't you?

My friend Pam asked me what kind of sewing machine I use to quilt my quilts. I have a babylock quilting machine- It is like the Juki Kim has which is bigger than a regular domestic machine-It has more space and an extended table than your standard machine so that it makes it easier to spread the quilt over the tabletop. The aperture is higher so you have more space under the arm of the sewing machine.

The first full sized bed quilt that I ever made, was a queen sized log cabin that I used double polyester batting inside( I wanted it to be a puffy quilt you know). In 1987,it felt I was trying to wrestle with a bear getting it to go under my first sewing machine(a Kenmore that I bought in 1978).

Another thing that I like about the Babylock, is that it goes like a Hot Damn - 1100 stitches a minute so it makes meandering quite fast. Bruce has bought both my newer machines as gifts:I piece with an Elna Quilter's Dream that he bought around 2000, and quilt on the Babylock that I received as a Christmas present in 2002 or 2003. They are both lovely machines, and I have used them alot in the time that I have owned them. I sew in a small room so it is not practical to consider owning a long arm machine and my machines more than adequately meet my quilting needs. If I were dreaming about more machines, some day I might like to try an embroider machine as there are some gorgeous patterns with embroidery- then I wonder if I would use it enough to warrant the cost- or perhaps a featherweight machine to take to quilt class- A girl has to have dreams though...

Last Sunday my goal was to get some quilting and beading done before I went back to class. While I didn't get quite as much done as I had planned that day, I did get the textured quilt quilted and two other smaller wall hangings quilted. As well, I got three bracelets made so, all in all, it was a productive Sunday. I still have to trim and bind all three quilts but I was quite pleased to have completed as much as I did.I haven't quite decided whether to just use cotton binding or whether I should use something different on the edge of the textured quilt(shown in the above picture). I was quite pleased how well it quilted with the walking foot. I did not put any batting in the texture quilt- it is plenty thick without batting. Last Sunday, I started quilting one of the three larger quilts left up there to quilt but I kept breaking my needle and the thread kept breaking too so I decided it was my cue to stop. I had hoped to get back at it today but somehow it took longer to get the living room tidied up.

My husband returned from his trip to Yellowknife on Tuesday. He brought me a lovely Inukshuk pin and a little bear pin too. I love brooches and have quite a collection. Bruce survived the cold (Yellowknife was -42C when he arrived on Friday night) and enjoyed watching the meteor shower in the warm of the car through the moon roof.

A most special Christmas present was given to me on Tuesday from my dear friend Lou. She made me a quilt - a lovely quilt with some autumn colors in it. To say that I was gobsmacked, would be an understatement. It is a very special thing to be given a quilt- as a quilter I know how much time it takes to create one. Lou and I have a great deal of fun having lunch and collecting fabrics for our stashes from our local quilt stores. We share patterns, books and magazines and have a wonderful time talking about quilting with one another. One of the things that she did in my quilt, was try her hand at some intricate quilting in the the quilt. I am honored that she would take the time to make a quilt and give it to me. It is a most treasured gift and "Thank you" does not seem adequate express my gratitude for her generosity or thoughtfulness.

The coloring in the close up is more accurate than the full view - We really tried to photograph it during the day light but it took awhile to remove the vestiges of Christmas from our living room.

On Friday evening, we spent a lovely time with our friends,V and A. who are like family. We had our Christmas exchange and there were more wonderful things that were given with much thought and care. And, so we come to the end of our Christmas season. I took down my Santa display yesterday and we removed the tree do today, so the Christmas seasonal decorations have disappeared from our home for another year. What remains is the generosity of others - I am truly fortunate. To my dear friends and family - you make my life rich with your caring and kindness- I am indeed a wealthy woman.
Right now, the snow is blowing around outside but it is warm in my home and in my heart.

Have a great week - Happy Quilting,

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

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

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