Mystery Quilts and A Weekend Well Spent !

Here is another older quilt that was a mystery quilt called "Bears in Cabin" that I began piecing in 1999. I finished it a couple of years later. If you look closely on the right side you will see another little blue and pink wall hanging that was a mystery quilt too.

The large Bears in a Cabin quilt is part of my header. The tiny toenails of the bearspaw part of the pink and turquoise quilt, are indeed quite small- the half square triangles measure 3/4 of an inch finished. The other little pink one I chose the colors for it( I am sorry that I don't know the name of it.) The Bearspaw Cabin colour combination was chosen by the store. I gave the quilt store some idea of the colors that I liked, and they came up with the combination. The one thing that I added was the outside borders after the central top was made. Now, I prefer picking my own color combinations but it is much harder when it is a mystery quilt. I have thought of making some of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts http://quiltville.blogspot.com/ but have only ever managed to cut strips in the time others have completed the quilt.
I have decided that I have just too many quilts and techniques that I want to do- perhaps I should make a list of upcoming quilts to make. :D)

Do you like to pick your own colors or make quilts from kits? Do you change/adapt the pattern to make it your own? I like to add borders to my quilts when I have the time too. It has been awhile since I have done a pieced border on a quilt - maybe it is time to do a quilt with a pieced border too.

For the first time in a while, I haven't had to complete a quilt for a specific person. I have made quilts as wedding gifts for nieces, and family quilts for quite an extended time period. The more recent quilts were created for the person based on designs and colors that I thought the person for whom I was making the quilt, would like. When I began quilting, I would finish a quilt and then give it to someone who I thought would like that quilt. The process is quite different, and it is nice to make a quilt, just because I like the pattern and fabrics. I am sure that one day I will again make a quilt for a special someone, with their preferences in mind but right now, it is fun to be experimenting with my own choices of the colors and fabrics.

This weekend has been quite pleasant with some time with my family and some quilting time too. Today ,I finished quilting a Disappearing 9 patch quilt that I started last spring, but I haven't trimmed it yet. I will post it with a couple of other quilts that I have finished up recently. I am very happy to have another quilt quilted up- I was having some trouble with the thread breaking, but I persisted and the quilt looks quilt lovely. The fabrics are sunflowers so it is this sea of sunflowers. Sunflowers are my favorite flowers - they always make me smile. I have made a snippets Sunflower wallhanging that hangs in Bruce's brother's house. It was made from a Cindy Walter's Snippets book- it is a fun technique to experiment with, that uses fused fabric to create a picture collage.

Yesterday I went with my husband, Bruce to our local library where he gave a talk to a group of people about the History of the Telescope. People loved all the wonderful photos from the Hubble Telescope. Bruce brought a small piece of the Buzzard Coulee meteorite that he and a friend found in Saskatchewan recently. It is always a joy to see him share his knowledge and passion about Astronomy with others. This year is the International year of Astronomy so there are lots of special events happening in our community to celebrate Astronomy.

We then went and did some grocery shopping so the fridge has some fresh produce in it. I made a nice green salad and he made Beef Stroganoff so we had a delicious dinner. My friend Lou had lent me the movie Mamma Mia so we watched it.
ABBA music is always fun and it was a nice movie to end off a full Saturday.

This week I received a lovely giveaway prize from Deb in Alaska http://akquilter1.blogspot.com/ . It was a beautiful vellum square book with an art collage picture in the front that Deb created. She does beautiful purses and art quilts- do check out her blog and be inspired by her lovely work. Thank you, Deb, for the lovely book and planner- It will be treasured and enjoyed.

Tonight I am watching the Edmonton Oiler's Hockey game. My spouse and I are hockey fans , and in earlier years we spent many hours in the hockey arena watching our son play minor hockey. Bruce also had NHL Oiler hockey season tickets for a number of years, when we were first together. Tonight's game was a trip down memory lane, as they retired one of my favorite player's, Glenn Anderson's sweater. Glenn came to visit my school when I was a much younger teacher. He gave back much to the community, while he played hockey here. I am glad they finally were able to retire his sweater.

I found one of my favorite pink bracelets that I thought was lost forever so all in all - it has been a productive enjoyable weekend. I hope that your weekend was too.
Happy Quilting to one and all,

Regards,
Anna