Five Quilts on One September day...what a day that was..

Aren't these gorgeous!!!! Recently a friend left the flowers on my desk at school for me- Just because-- I was so touched by her thoughtfulness and they have made me smile all weekend long . I love the colors- they would make a beautiful quilt- pink and purple with a bit of green are some of my favorite colors together. The pinky red leaves are quite splendid too . I really am blessed with some terrific friends.

 

Have you ever decided that you wanted to do something for loved ones, and you weren't sure if you could pull it off or not? Earlier in the summer, I realized that September and early October were going to be two very full months of events. I discovered the Sideline pattern, and decided that it might be the perfect pattern to make for some special people in our lives. My goal was to make 4 couch sized/ twin bedsized quilts, as well as two baby wraps for the new babies, that were arriving in our family. It was a fairly lofty goal considering that I was going back to work in late August and September, and school is often very hectic at the beginning of the year - well and for the rest of the school year but the fall is usually more so. Never the less, I was determined to see if I could pull it off ... Well I am happy to report that I was indeed successful in completing the quilts- the biggest one( the Sunset pattern) I had completed earlier in the summer, but the rest of the bed sized quilts I had not started until early August. I have three more that are tops( shown in a previous post) that are waiting to be quilted and bound. I hope to get back to that before Christmas, but it will depend on how well I can balance working and playing... LOL
Here is the first of the Sideline quilts that Bruce delivered in Victoria. Bruce recently went to celebrate his mother's 90th birthday there.  Here is my mother in law's quilt on her bed. The quilt above the bed is a wall quilt of family photos. The colors are not the most accurate in this photo, but you will get the idea of the design.

 Here, Mum is studying the knubbly back of it- Her quilt is the only one that I used minkee on the back.On all the others, I used cotton backings. The minkee was just the perfect width for this quilt. Mum always loved earth colors, so it was easy to choose these fabrics for her. Happy 90th birthday Mum- May it keep you warm and give you a big hug each and every day.. In the photo below, you  can see the richer colors of the batiks.

In my last post I shared the story of my great grandfather, Nels Linneberg who was given the task of  building the one room school in his community. On September 23rd,they had a grand celebration at the school to honor the 100th anniversary of his contribution to the community of New Hill. Here is the rock and plaque that was unveiled at the party. My mother and her cousin participated in the ceremony and together removed the covering from the stone. A cousin and one of my uncles, who also attended this one room school, had earlier attached the plaque to the rock.  

In this photo, you can see that the school still stands. It is used for local community events. The people in this photo had all attended school at New Hill. The school closed its doors as a school in 1956, but it still is part of the community fabric. The school is in pretty good shape, considering that it has been moved from the original field stone base and placed on a different foundation. Many of the people in the front rows are cousins on my mother's side of the family.

This was quilt #2 that was delivered a couple of weekend's ago, when we attended a special 50th wedding anniversary. This quilt was given to my aunt and uncle, to belatedly celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. The pattern is called Sunset- the original design had a light background. There are many scraps from my other quilts in this quilt- some bits left from my mother's, sister's and grandmother's quilts. I know that my aunt will especially enjoy looking at all the bits from the different quilts. It is a double/queen sized quilt and has a dark chocolate background.

 Here is James with his parents- he is so sweet and has such long fingers. His mother has those same long fingers.

All new babies need a baby wrap( I am sure I have made at least 100 of them since 1982 when I made the first one) . His mom, Sarah, is showing off his wrap with all those cute little dogs on it.

I am sure that James is going to love dogs because his mama does- the back of it is bright orange and is also minkee. I like how soft the minkee fabric is for baby wraps.

 

allWe have another new grand niece named Sydney Reece ,who was born to my brother's daughter, and her husband on October 2nd. She has a big sister named Whitley and we are pleased to add Sydney to our clan. I did make Sydney a baby wrap too- it has Paddington bear fabrics on it- It was not yet know whether Sydney was a boy or  girl when I made  the baby wrap to give to our niece, so I tried to choose fabrics that could be used for either a girl or a boy. Sydney is a sweet little girl. I hope she will love Paddington bear.

And now for the second Sideline quilt- This one  has a prairie theme for a man from the Prairies. It was made for my mom's brother Moe and has Cowboy hats, field grass, and wheat fields. The outer border is a nostalgic piece of fabrics with red wagons, dogs and other old toys. It is a pretty fun quilt and I hope that Uncle Moe will enjoy cuddling under it on a cold winter's night. He lives in the mountains now but still has those farm roots.

 

Here is the final quilt of the day-it is the last of the three Sideline quilts- it has Asian flavored fabrics that have butterflies on it. The back is a gold stripe, which seemed appropriate for a Golden Wedding Anniversary Couple. I really liked this combination and I hope that the Golden Couple will know what a golden pair they are...May they enjoy some time cuddling together under The Golden Ways.

So  there it is - on a Sunday two weeks ago- I gave away 5 quilts- 3 bigger ones and 2 baby wraps- an event not to be repeated any time soon. I am now in the throes of school work, so it will be awhile before I have any new work to show you. I have a couple of quilts on the back burner for now..

I haven't  had too much time to read many blogs lately, but I was very lucky, and did win a copy of Jennifer Chiaverini's new book "The Giving Quilt". I have read all of the other books in her Elm Creek Quilters Series. I have enjoyed all of the stories very much and particularly liked the Aloha Quilt. If you have not read any of the series do check her out- I am confident you will enjoy her stories.

We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving last weekend with a turkey for two. We have been enjoying the leftovers ever since...-a small turkey goes a long way with just the two of us, to eat it.

Yesterday my beloved celebrated his birthday- I took him out for dinner (we thought it was delicious) and then we went to a house concert, to see two musicians Dale Ladouceur and Nathan Aswell, who both played an instrument called a Stick. Dale plays a Chapman Stick and Nathan plays an (Ned Steinburger) N/S Stick. For those of you who are fans of Peter Gabriel's music - you will be familiar with Tony Levin playing the Stick. It is a string instrument that has roots with a bass guitar, but one taps the 10 strings. It has a great sound-and it was a very nice evening.

September was a full month and we are half way through October already- Life is indeed busy these days.
 Happy creating dear friends- Thanks for stopping by-  do leave a comment- I always enjoy hearing from by blogging friends and reading the comments from you all.
Warmest regards,
Anna

Celebrations and " Just Because."..

Summer time flowers need to include Lilies- Stargazer lilies( the ones with the pink centers) are among my favorites..They were also the wedding flowers of the dear couple in my last post, who will soon celebrate their wedding anniversary.. Anniversaries and birthdays should be celebrated.... More about that later...

In early June, my spouse and his friend,John, travelled way up north to Yellowknife area(15 hours drive)_ to see the Transit of Venus. Here they are, having a celebratory drink after successfully viewing some of the 4 contact points, where Venus seemed to cross the face of the sun. (By the way, there are some significant sun spots to be seen these days and solar flares that can be viewed, through welder's glass.)

Bruce brought back this lovely memento for me. It is a piece of the Canadian Shield with a silver bead representing Venus crossing the sun's face.I love it's beautiful gray green color.I do not mind that they took some artistic license with the Transit angle. In today's post, a pair of earrings to match the beautiful pendant, arrived at our door. Bruce knew how much I loved the pendant and thought I should have the earrings" just because."..

Alberta continues to enjoy some very hot weather, though, we had a bit of respite today from the heat,as we had some serious rain yesterday. I am not very productive in this hot weather, but did manage to get a new quilt cut out. It is a Moda Bakeshop free pattern. You can see the spiral like blocks in the picture. I am not sure how it is going to work out because the cream is quite stark in the two blocks I have made. The pattern is called "Etchings Quilt by Andrea Harris".

I have managed to make a few pendants and continue to knit the frilly scarves.I gave away a few of them last week, when I met with some long time friends for dinner. It was fun to see which pendants and scarves my friends liked best. These are a few of the leftovers. It was my turn to do something fun just because....

This is my forlorn looking Babylock quilting machine- I have another quilt to quilt, but right now, it is too hot upstairs in the gables of the house( even with the fans on) to consider quilting.

I did finish up the Sunset quilt- You can find the pattern here Sunset was originally done on a light background so the contrast is quite different. I made the binding for this second one,quite late one evening, when I could face the heat of the iron. I just need to add a label to this quilt. You can see a bit of the backing in the photo.

My dear friend, Valerie who celebrated a special birthday last Thursday, gave me this gift" just because"... She said it is a Happy Summer present - She knows how much that I love tea pots and this set is very funky looking-It is made by a potter named Eva Gordon. I do love it- it is a treasure just like my dear friend.

July is a month of celebrations for our family and friends. We have a few friends that have birthdays this month. As well, two of nieces and nephews, our good friends Valerie and Alister, and, my parents, all celebrate their Wedding anniversaries. Today is our nephew and niece, Jamie and Sarah's, 7th wedding anniversary. This Tilted log cabin was their wedding quilt... It is a log cabin (1 1/2 inch strips) framed by some wonky tilted strips. It gives the effect of spinning logs. I loved the way this quilt turned out. The happy couple are enjoying some time travelling down south together. Happy Anniversary Sarah and Jamie- may you enjoy many more happy years together.

This summer holiday began with our schnoodle dog, Dusty, needing some serious attention from the vet. She was clearly uncomfortable, and Bruce took her in to be checked out. Some serious money changed hands to get a golf ball sized bladder stone removed from this little 20 pound dog. She is now nearly recovered - She can no longer eat dog treats, and must eat special dog food so that we can lessen the chances of her getting another one. Her night time snack now is pea pods, bits of apple or carrot- Even old dogs have diet restrictions LOL.. We were astounded at how large the stone was, and wondered how long she must have had it- poor thing... Dusty also has an appointment with the groomer this week, so that she can have her summer s hairdo. She must be desperately hot these days and will be glad to be have her curls shorn...

Did you check out the blog hop on Jane's site. It was a fun hop and I know that there will soon be a Christmas one going on. One of the best things about the blog hops is that they can introduce you to some great little projects and new to you blogs...
This is the beginning of week 3 of summer vacation- I best get going on my projects if I want to get some more quilts finished..I am enjoying the time spent with friends and family - I hope that you are too... Happy Quilting and Creating.... Until Next time... Warmest regards, Anna