Spring brings some new projects..

On this Easter afternoon, the sun is shining outside, and these purple carnations brighten our table. I have been busy with some projects this weekend- making my rotary cutter work extra hard, or at least hard enough, that it will soon be time to replace the blade in it. My new square(16.5 X 16.5 inches) was perfect for squaring my blocks for the lattice quilt. I was lucky enough to find the ruler on sale half price this weekend at Fabricland. The square was perfect,and made the trimming quite easy. The blocks are ready to be joined together into a top. I still have to find the right fabrics for the borders but I have a few choices now.

This pile of fabric and batting will soon be 4 more baby wraps. Mars, our cat, loves to shred the batting if she can, so I have to make sure that it is well hidden from her, or I have chunks torn out of the batting. This time it was more challenging to make the baby wraps as I had to piece some of the batting and the minkee and minkee like material, in order to make the wraps. I used pieces of leftover batting from larger quilts for inside the baby wraps.

I have a couple of colleagues and friends that are expecting babies soon. It is easier to just cut a bunch of the baby wraps out all at once. I will spray baste them and then quilt them on my smaller Elna's Quilter's Dream machine.

I have cut the matching binding as well, so that I have everything all ready to go- I will sew the bindings together and press them, so that I will be able to apply them, when they are quilted . I am a little concerned that there will not be enough strips of the truck binding to bind it - I only bought a yard of it, and the top of the wrap takes almost the whole yard. Sometimes when I order fabrics from the States, I only order a yard, forgetting that it is slightly less than a meter(39 inches). That three inches of fabric can really make a difference sometimes!

I have returned to another past time recently- knitting. I love these new frilly scarves and found out how to make them. Its all in the yarn. This is the second one that I have made in the last couple of weeks. I am not sure how well I like the turquoise/blue one. It is very flouncy- Like fabrics, there are a number of different kinds of yarn but lots of the brands are not easy to find locally. You can find some of these yarns on Mary Maxim or Herrschener's needlework websites. I did find some variety at a local yarn shop called River City Yarns. There were many different kinds of beautiful yarns, there to touch and see. If you need a place to be inspired by color and texture, go and visit a yarn, fabric or bead shop. You are sure to leave such places inspired!

In some ways this newest return to knitting is my mother's fault. She had given a beautiful orangy red one scarf for Christmas. I knew that my mom wanted to have a black and white one, so I went in search of the black and white color combination.There is a sparkly thread that runs through this black and white yarn. The yarn has a stiffness about it that makes it hang nicely. I love the black/white one on my mom. My mom will soon celebrate her birthday so this was an early birthday present for her. I hope that you have a terrific birthday Mom!

Don't you think that this yarn is kind of strange looking stuff? It is like a lacy ribbon that you knit into the top holey areas. I didn't have too much trouble knitting with it, once I figured out where I was supposed to knit. There are some excellent you tube sites if you want to make one yourself. Google frill seekers or sashay yarn. You can knit or crochet with it. You only need one 1 or 2 balls to make a scarf. Here is the next one that I am going to knit. I love the color purple, so I had to make at least one purple scarf. I am going to make it while Bruce and I watch our favorite TV shows. We have been watching The Good Wife for a while now as well as Game of Thrones and Mad Men. Sunday night is TV night in our house!

We were at my folks not long ago and I snapped this photo of my parents with their beloved dog Tammy. Like all dogs, she is a big fan of my father. He has a great way with animals- I have never met a dog who was not crazy about him. It is my father's birthday today. My sister will be having them for family dinner- Life has been quite hectic around here this past few weeks, so we decided not to go south this weekend. Happy Birthday Dad ! I hope you have had a fabulous day.

This is one that I gave to my dad a few years ago now. It is a quilt made with a template but quite an easy quilt to put together. The fabrics are all batiks and I love the way the flowers look like they are spinning. I am not sure what is the name of the pattern. My parents have a number of my quilts now - each one made with love.

For his last birthday, I made my dad this nature scene quilt.It is a quilt that I designed by looking at other quilt patterns that used panels in them. I found a great background fabric that helped to join the animal panels together. I know that it is a well loved quilt in my parent's home!

For the first time in many years, we did not have many Easter treats floating around the house. We hope that you and yours have spent an enjoyable day doing the things that celebrate the arrival of spring. Last week's spring Alberta snow storm has been melting away quickly. Soon I will can look forward to seeing the daffodils and tulips show their faces. Spring flowers are among my favorites, as they signal the rebirth of life.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Spring Season, Warmest regards, Anna

Fall is coming

Life has been a bit of a blur in the later part of August. My father is a wonderful gardener and on our last visit home I took this photo of his front flower garden. He has some beautiful verbena,phlox, snapdragons, portulaca and petunias growing in the front flower bed. This years flowers are particularly lovely. Recently I scanned some of my older quilts into my computer. In the coming weeks, I plan to share some of them. This golden leaves is one of my favorite quilts that I have made on my 15 year old quilting journey. The pattern was taken from an older issue of the Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine. I made it in 2002. It is made with template pieces and it can be found gracing our living room in the autumn.

It is a large quilt- queensized and has a maple leaf border that I added to the original design. The photograph below was taken in my grandmother's house- she has since passed away- It will be 8 years that she has been gone on the 10 of September. How she loved my quilts... and how I loved her...

The prairies are a beautiful place to live- One of the most striking characteristics is the huge big sky- On a clear day you can see for miles. The crops are starting to turn golden and they are a stunning contrast against the blue.Those large bales weigh about 1500lbs.

Over the summer, a friend's daughter gave birth to this beautiful baby boy, Sam. He sure looks cosy in this baby wrap.I loved the Golden Books fabric and thought it would be a great choice for the wrap.

One of the things every quilt should have is a label- Here is the one that is on the back of my father's nature quilt. I named it " Over the hills and through the woods". The fabric was the perfect backdrop for a label.

And finally this quilt graces a bed in my parent's house. I was very pleased the way the quilt quilted up. It is more densely quilted than some of my quilts. I tried to outline all the animals as well as adding clouds and waves in the background.

Just a bit closer look at the animals in the wild..

School has begun and this weekend I have been doing some school work and projects related to school. I sewed up 4 clothing bags for my students. A few years ago I made 25 cloth sacks for my students to store their belongings neatly on the coat hooks. I have more than 25 students right now( 27) so I needed some bags repaired as well as a few additional ones. I just have to add the cording around the top and we will have enough bags to start off the year.

This upcoming week my quilting group begins again. I would like to finish the top of the tesselation quilt tomorrow(see previous post for a look at the tesselation quilt). Monday is a holiday here in Canada called Labour Day. My current plan for the holiday is to do a little school work in the morning and then get quilting. The weather is pleasant and September will be full. One has to take the time to quilt when one can.

Wishing one and all some good quilting time,
Regards,
Anna

Where has our summer gone- well let's see...

Perhaps you may already know that I love flowers- This is a bit of color that is growing in a flower bed around our house. They are a root of my grandmother's day lilies and somehow I have managed to keep it growing- it must be a testament to my grandmother's hearty plants rather than my gardening skills
If you follow my blog,you might be wondering where I have been this past month- This week I am enjoying some time visiting my parents in my home town which is 100 miles from where I live. This past month has been a blur- full of travels and events mixed in with some changes on the home front.
Here is my father's quilt which I have since quilted as well as completing the final step- the label. My dad's quilt was the last of four large queensized quilts that I have completed since the spring.Dusty the dog has come along to test out the quilt- usually it is Mars but it appears that Dusty does not want to be left out of the quilt process.
Dusty is usually so keen to participate in my quilting adventures but this time she decided to help me with the binding process after I had finished quilting the quilt. I am not sure having her weight on the quilt is of great assistance but she is certainly doesn't care.

This family photograph was taken the morning our son and his girlfriend completed their move to Charlottetown PEI. Charlottetown is on the eastern seaboard of Canada and we live in Western Alberta-about 4000 miles between the two places. Kevin will be going to school in Charlottetown. We sure are going to miss him and Roseanne and know that it was a difficult decision for him to make. My husband and I have truly become empty nesters with our cat and dog to keep us entertained.

Just prior to Kevin and Rose's departure, Bruce and I headed to Victoria, British Columbia to attend a family wedding. We decided to make the drive to the West Coast. Over the four day trip we travelled about 2600 kms. It is a beautiful drive through the mountains but it meant two long days of driving. At journey's end on the Friday, we stayed with a friend of mine from high school in Vancouver. It was lovely to spend time with Eileen. I had not seen her for probably 5 years, but it was like time had stopped and we picked up where we left off. Thank you, Eileen, for your warm and generous hospitality!
The next morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast( thanks Ron) and then headed off to the ferry to Vancouver island. It is a lovely boat ride - complete with views of the US shores and Mount Baker. The two days on the island were full of visits to see Bruce's mother, as well as connecting with his siblings, his uncle, and nieces and nephews. Of course the primary event was the wedding, but it was so nice to see so many of our family members.


After a hectic two days on the island we headed back across the ocean on the last ferry. Night time on the ferry is very different and quite beautiful in its own way.


I managed to complete the music quilt in time for the happy wedding couple. Both ladies love music and the quilt is entitled "Love is the Music of the Heart". It is always satisfying to see a quilt go to a home where it will be enjoyed and loved.
In this photograph I am spray basting the music quilt. It was a bit of a challenge to get it to lay flat. This Kaffe Fassett pattern is not complex but it is made with a number of pieces with bias edges.I found it tricky to get the right measurements for the last set of large triangles. I wasn't certain how it would quilt up but it quilted up beautifully- no tucks to be found.

Mars always has to check out my quilts. At one point in July, our living room was quite full of the kid's things waiting to be transported to PEI. Mars loves boxes and this pile was just too hard for her to resist.

I thought you might enjoy a close up view of some of the music fabrics- I hesitated to use the red binding but it seemed like the perfect balance to finish off the quilt.

On Sunday prior to the wedding ceremony( it was held in the couple's backyard and was officiated by my husband's uncle) we took a drive around Victoria. Victoria is a beautiful city- everywhere is lush and green with gorgeous vistas and views of the sea. We found a little park that was a few blocks from the house and took a quick walk through the flowers. Victoria is the home of Butchart Gardens which is an extraordinary place. Unfortunately we did not have more time in Victoria to take in some of the lovely places to walk on this trip.
There were beautiful birds as well- even the lowly seagull looks majestic on the island. We did not see any herons or eagles that are often present there.


My last summer quilt was a queen sized quilt that we took to give to Bruce's brother Earle. The Wonky rail ties pattern is available on Mary Johnson's website "Making quilts from the stash". My brother in law lives in Newfoundland and it was a belated birthday present.



This summer has passed so quickly and I have been away from my computer for chunks of time.
There are a couple of giveaways going on that you may want to check out- one is for a Go Baby on the loveaffair with my brother blog. I keep trying to win one of those nifty machines but so far no luck. Perhaps you will get lucky, if don't!
The other giveaway is Kim who has written a wonderful post about Moms and is sharing a gorgeous heart shaped necklace with the word "quilts" in it. The jewelery designer has created some wonderful pendants with beautiful words in them.

As for me well the summer has passed by so very quickly. I would like to get some more quilting done, but we shall have to see whether I can get my new projects up and going. I plan to spend a bit of time at my school next week, in order to get the classroom set up. I know that the painters have finally come and painted my book shelves so I will be able to get the books back into the shelves. Wahoo is all I can say about that...
Thanks for dropping by - I promise to post a little sooner..
Warmest regards,
Anna