I've started .....

It is windy and raining outside today. We have already completed the first week of my summer break. I don't have much to show for my week. I have spent my time searching the magazines,patterns and books for a quilt pattern to make a quilt. After much deliberation and scouring stacks of patterns I checked out this book off my book shelf:
This book was a gift from my brother in law a few years ago. I love looking at Kaffe's books just so that I can drool over all the beautiful fabrics. Inside I found this pattern called ""Mossy Radiation and thought it work quite well with my group of fabrics:
Earlier today I started pressing all the fabrics that I have, that were music related fabrics. It took awhile but if a girl wants to accurately cut the fabrics then one better press the fabrics. Some of the these fabrics came together in a bundle that I bought when Carolyn and I went to the guild show recently. They had a nice little market mall with the show. (Check out Carolyn's blog if you want to see some of the things she found when we went to the Guild garage sale. After a bit of playing and auditioning fabrics, I made the center block followed by a bold musical print for a border.( I wish I had a little more of those bright musical notes)

Next step was for me to cut many strips and lay them out in a sequence. Now I have to decide whether I want to add red and blue strips or to use just the neutral prints and only have the bright colors in the borders....

You can see that there are lots of black, grey, cream and white combinations in the strips and only a couple with colored backgrounds. In the original design Kaffe Fassett used gradations of color but added a couple of zingers in it..What would you do? add color or just go with neutrals and then have more colorful borders ?

I do have a bit of color to add to it but I haven't decided whether it the bright print will only appear on the back or if it will put in an appearance on the front.

In the meantime, I have been trying to stay dry as the rain has pelleted down today. The weatherman is predicting more rain this weekend. In between times, it has been very hot and unfortunately very buggy ( swarms of mosquitoes- you need bug spray just to get to and from your car) Bruce and I went out to a local restaurant with some friends last night but decided not sit on the patio because of them) The mosquitoes do like to exact a donation of blood - biting little critters that they are...

I have read a couple of books this past week- "The 19th wife" and " The Sky is Everywhere " by Jandy Nelson. I just got " A Vintage Affair " as well as Sarah's Key from the Library. I also got a few books from Amazon but they are mostly professional books with the exception of a book called "The Help". I highly recommend reading it, if you haven't already. The movie is suppose to come out next month. Kathryn Stockett is the author of the book " The Help."

On Tuesday, my friend Lou(no blog) came in from her cottage on the lake. Off we went on a local shop hop. I found a few things but mostly we enjoyed some time catching up with one another. Don't you love spending time with good friends - its one of life's special gifts!
In blogland, some blogging friends are off to Sisters Oregon to see the annual quilt show. What fun those quilters will have seeing the Gee Bend quilters and viewing some great quilts from around the US. Watch for posts about the show - Valori Wells will share her photos from the Sister's show that she and her mother Jean have worked together to put on for many years now. Perhaps some day I will get there- They bring in such wonderful quilters to share their passion for quilting.. It would be a great place to find inspiration..

Do you dream about attending an internationally known show or festival like the one's held in Paducah, Houston or Sister's? What makes a great show for you?

Happy quilting,
Warmest regards,
Anna

Summer Plans... or ....

School is out for the summer and I have just begun to switch gears.. The last couple of weeks of school is full of finishing things up. The kids are excited and ready to be done and one races around getting this and that completed for the deadlines. Then you stop - suddenly it is over and the summer begins.

My husband is an amateur astronomer and he loves to watch all sorts of sky phenomena. These noctilucent clouds(commonly referred to as NLC) occur near the summer solstice or the early part of our summer. They make the coolest designs in the night sky and can only be seen at more northly latitudes.
So what does a girl do when she first begins summer break- first she sleeps a little, and reads and ponders what to do to get some things done in her time off. This pile of patterns were only a fraction of ones that I have gone through lately in search of the new project. I have fabrics chosen but not the pattern- My usual process is the opposite.. It has a bit of a time crunch so I better pick something soon and get making it..

Here in Canada, our postal workers were on strike recently but have now returned to work. On the first day we received mail, this great envelope of scraps came from Kate Spain who had hosted a giveaway of some of her latest cutoffs. I was one of the lucky ten who won a large envelope of strips. These are all from her line called Terrain. Thanks so much Kate for sharing your talents and your scraps.

Not long ago I went shopping on line- not intentionally but I saw the New Very Series of Eric Carle fabrics and it was a very good price - too good to pass up. I love his books and want to make the quilts for my classroom. His classic is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". The shop- The Fat Quarter Shop is in Texas. Their prices are good and the fabric always comes protected and wrapped up so nicely. Their blog is the Jolly Jabber and often offers a giveaway of some sort. While I was there I added a few more Kaffe Fabrics to my collection and another piece of Sock Monkey fabric because it is perfect for a baby wrap. Do you have a favorite on line shop that you buy fabrics or do you just buy fabric locally? I have to say my preference is to buy locally for lots of reasons but I do buy some on line because of the prices and the variety that is available that I can't find locally.

A very kind lady Terry from her blog Aviya Glass sent me note and awarding me this Versatile blogger award.


Thank you Terry for your kind gesture and thoughtfulness. I am not very good at awards and I read so many fantastic blogs so I can not choose 7 bloggers. There are just too many deserving blogs that I enjoy reading.

However I will tell you 7 random things about me:
I am left handed and do not like left handed scissors- I can't make them work.
I have no middle name- my proper name is Anna Marie but rarely use it.
I am a prairie girl through and through and sometimes wish I could live in the country.
I hate making lists and do so only when I am feeling like I need to remember all the things I need to get done.
I have pockets of things that I organize but my filing system would be confusing to others.
I love children's books, soft toys like bears and jewelery.
My mother is a fabulous cook - she bakes, cans, makes jam and once upon a time made homemade fudge and donuts. I can cook but I am hopeless at most baked things and I long ago gave up on canning- I did not get her cooking gene. I would rather be quilting. LOL

Last week, before I finished school, I laid out my dad's quilt to spray baste it. See how it filled all my kids tables! I had a pair of great assistants(aka as fellow teachers) who helped me, and together, we got it and another quilt spray basted.

Now I best get to work on some other projects today..
I want to cut some charm squares to experiment with two block possibilities for my next project and finish my current book and..... do some laundry...
What about you - what are your summer plans?
Happy Fourth of July to my American friends and family,
Warmest regards,
Anna

A Golden Celebration.....

I just checked the date of my last post.. Wowser it has been awhile - much longer than I intended.... Life just has been on warp speed I guess.. Since I last wrote I finished this quilt for my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. Their two daughters and families hosted an afternoon party for them in the community hall in their farming community yesterday. Bruce and I spent a very nice Father's Day celebrating this special occasion.

I wasn't sure if I was going to get the quilt finished as their anniversary was in the middle of my report card writing season. However with three days to go I put my pedal to the metal..On Thursday I spray basted the queen sized quilt after I finished the final read of the report cards. On Friday night I made the binding and on Saturday I free motion quilted it and bound it. I finished the last stitching of the label as we drove towards their farm on Sunday around lunch time.... Nothing like pushing it to the last minute...VBG
I think that they will enjoy it and I was very happy to give it to two special people in my life..

I auditioned a few border fabrics before I found one that worked for me. The winning border choice was strong enough to hold it without being too floral or busy... I named the quilt "Golden Ways". The pattern is from Bonnie K. Hunter's quiltville website and she calls it "Twisted Strips." The scrap quilt has lots of different memory fabrics in it- some that come from the beginning of my quilting journey.


Now I must apologize to two lovely ladies who sent me two wonderful prizes just before the mail strike happened here in Canada.(There is some talk of the post office being legislated back to work this week)
I want to give a big thank you to Kelly from Bluebird Sews blog. She sent me these very fun Red and black fabrics. I love them and am sure that I will find a project to use these terrific paisley and print fabrics. She also included a nifty pin cushion and little pouch that she made. Thank you so much Kelly.. Do go and visit her blog- I know that you will enjoy reading her posts.

Nina Lise is a lovely Norwegian lady who sent me a wonderful handmade wallhanging along with some beautiful blue fabrics. I love the little panel that she also included. Nina Lise is a quilt pattern designer too and does some very interesting art quilt pieces. Do check out her link.
My mother is of Swedish descent but she has connections to some lovely Norwegian ladies so I know my mom is going to love seeing the special things that Nina Lise sent in her parcel. Thank you so very much.


Summer solstice is tomorrow and school will finish next week for summer break. It will be nice to slow down a little and get a few things done around our home. The summer will bring change as our son and his girlfriend are moving to Charlottetown PEI which is on the eastern coast of Canada in early August. There will be much to do before then including some new quilt projects to complete.

Last weekend a quilting friend Carolyn
ventured out to a the local guild quilt show. It was a wonderful show with a very nice sized market mall. We found a few treasures to bring home to add to the stash. I look forward to more adventures with Carolyn.
With summer here another dear friend ,Lou will come back from her home in Calgary to a lake house close by. I am sure that we will also have some fun quilting adventures too. Time with some good friends is a special part of my summer vacation.
I will leave you with two photos of two important men in my life. I was very happy to have the opportunity to spend time with my dad yesterday. Here is the sight I came upon as we arrived at my parent's home after the party.

When I think of my father, the images in my mind usually include ones of him with my mom or with his dog,Tammy(or both). My dad loves to garden.. It was nice to spend time with him on Father's Day.

This is the other man in my life- my spouse, Bruce of 30 years. Here he is with his great niece Anni.
I hope that both men know how much I love them and treasure the gifts they bring to my life. Belated Happy Father's Day!
Next time - perhaps I will have a new quilt on the go or other quilty things to share.
Warmest regards,
Anna

Spring has sprung - the dandelions doth rise...

Our grass is growing and so are the dandelions right now- they are a bloody nuisance that I will be very happy to be rid of... Dandelions do have a pretty yellow flower - not as gorgeous as these yellow sunflowers that are currently residing on my table. My school children often like to bring in bundles of them from the school field. Perhaps I should bring them to my house as field trip and we can pick my backyard clean..

June is just around the corner and I am trying to keep up with things at home and school.. At present I feel just a little overwhelmed by it all..Good thing that I have some nice sunflowers to admire- they do make me smile...


Recently, I made a list of school things to do and then started to feel my blood pressure grow- I stopped to take a deep breath.... Does that ever happen to you- everything is happening at once and your not sure where to begin or what is the most important thing to get done first...
However, this weekend I tackled two kinds of reports that needed to be completed so that feels like progress...

This lovely collection of things come from a blogging friend's giveaway that I won last month. Terry of Aviya Glass sent me this gorgeous handmade pendant along with this collection of beading pieces ( two black hearts, a double glass heart pendant and some more toggles to bead with)It was a treasure trove of lovely things. Thank you ever so much Terry- you do beautiful work!


A couple of weekends ago I went to a quilt retreat and started working on this quilt. It is now a queen sized body (121 blocks worth) and I have the borders fabrics chosen. Ideally I would like to get it spray basted and quilted in the next couple of weeks but I am not too hopeful. I wish that I had magical powers to do it all, but right now the report cards have to come before my quilts.. The pattern of this quilt" Twisted Strips" is from Bonnie Hunter's website. She has a number of free patterns on her site. As well, she has published three books. Do check out quiltville if you are not familiar with her website- She has a great blog- hers was one of the first blogs I ever read. She spends a lot of her time these days traveling the United States, to share her talents and love of quilting with others.

You may remember me talking about making some baby wraps. Here are two that I have completed. The one above was given to one of my colleagues at work who had a beautiful little boy in late February. We had the baby shower last Thursday.

These two beauties are our niece Beth and her daughter Anni. They were here visiting a couple of weeks ago and I was able to see Anni all wrapped up in it.

There is lots going on in blogland these days -Quilters do have big hearts and are busy trying to help all those who find themselves affected by the natural disaster in Joplin.
Judy Laquidara of Patchwork times is raffling a quilt for donations to the Red Cross for the Joplin Tornado victims. Mary is also having her own raffle quilt to raise money for Joplin folk. Do check out these ladies sites and help out if you can.
In my home province of Alberta, there were some terrible wild fires at Slave Lake which decimated the area. Over 400 people lost their homes. The Red Cross is accepting donations to help these families. One of our local quilt stores Sew Divine accepted quilts as well, but I do not know if they are still accepting them or not.

Summer is coming and there will be time for other things. In the meantime, I best get back to the reports and the dandelions- not sure which are causing me the most stress right now.....
Warmest regards,
Anna

Amy's Blogger Festival May 2011

Bargello is one of my favorite techniques. This quilt is called the Long and Winding Road and the pattern was in a magazine called "The Quilter" around 2003. I love how the design moves across the face of the quilt. This quilt is a queen sized quilt that is machine pieced and machine quilted. I usually meander quilt my quilts and these bargello quilts are no exception. I have a very nice Babylock quilting machine that is one size bigger than the standard domestic sewing machine. The bigger aperture and extended table gives enough space to quilt even a large quilt.

Often when I am choosing the fabrics for a quilt I have a difficult time limiting my choice to one color variation. I liked this design so much that I made two versions- The pink version is owned by my sister in law and the blue was used to help in a fund raiser for my son's Boy Scouts group. So which do you like the better - pink or blue? I still can't decide- Pink???
Blue?????


Recently my husband Bruce, was writing an article for an astronomical journal- He used this Long and Winding road quilt to illustrate the slight variations of an Eclipse Saros cycle. The length of the 18 year cycle is slightly variable,stretching in some places and compressing in others.

There are so many beautiful bargello designs- Some designers you might want to check out include Chris Timmins of Australia who has some marvelous Twisted Bargello patterns and Derek Lockwood of the USA. Derek's patterns are gorgeous too- I have not made any of his yet but, I do own a couple of his wonderful creations.
Another designer is Heidi K. Farmer, who designed an absolutely stunning Bargello heart pattern that I made as a wedding gift for a dear friend a few years ago.

Amy of Amy's Creative side is hosting her Spring Blogger's Festival. There are many stunning quilts to view and interesting quilt stories to read.
I hope you enjoyed reading about bargello quilts and will return again.
Enjoy the Festival
Regards,
Anna

Happy Mother's Day - Life is busy these day.....

Happy Mother's Day to all who are the caregivers in a family- some of you might be both mother and father, others might be grandmothers or aunties, that provide hearth and home to your loved ones. Whatever name you go by, I honor and celebrate the things that you do for the children around the world to provide them safe loving homes.

Here is a picture of my mother and me taken last fall. For those of you who read my blog regularly, you will know that my life has been rich with the love of some very special women. I do not know if I can describe my mother in words. She is the most kind and thoughtful person I know - generous with her time, and giving to all that come within her sphere. One could not wish for a better role model or a more loving Mom.
I'm sorry I have been away so long from my blog- I don't know where April went- well I do sort of (quilting, working visiting friends,catching up on some reading and family), April just seemed to have melted away like the snow on my front lawn. I am happy to say that the spring flowers are beginning to bloom and the snow has finally disappeared. Bruce brought home these beautiful little tea roses(I think that is what they are called). In the background, you can see my father's quilt- I have made more progress on it.
I laid the quilt on our bed to check and make sure that it will fit my folks bed- Wahoo its a fit(even Dusty the dog approves). Now to get the quilt pressed and spray basted so that I can quilt it!

Here is a close up of the borders that I added- I did not have enough of the original green so I added a different green and brown border to the outside but I am quite happy with the way it looks. One of my blog commenters, Needlewings suggested that I quilt some trees in the border. This fabric would be a good background for such a quilting design. I hope to finish it for Father's Day, but we shall see- I have a few projects going on right now- One thing is for sure is that before summer's end, I plan to have it completed.
In this photo you can see a better view of the additional borders- the light brown one has bears all over it, so it is very fun, and works so nicely with the central motif. I am not sure how I am going to bind it, as I do not have any of the green left- but I do have more brown bears or I may make a combined binding of the different fabrics in the quilt. I try to have the binding made ahead a time.

I have been busy quilting this past month and I did get 6 baby wraps made(5 of the 6 are actually quilted too) One of our nieces had a baby a couple of weeks ago, and so did a friend at work - Now they need to be bound. I want to get them off to the babies before the babies are too large and the blanket no longer useful.

These bindings are all bias bindings because of the curves on the baby wraps-It sometimes is a bit tricky to get enough binding out of the meter of fabric that matches the fabric in the quilt. I have made lots of these baby wraps over the past 25 years. When I first made them, I tied them and they had lace or eyelet around the outside. Now I use minkee on the inside of the quilt, so it is hard to quilt without puckers if you envelop sew them together(you sew them with the right sides together and then pull them through the space left before you quilt). I think they stay better by being meander quilted together. I like how soft they feel with the minkee. The shape works great in a baby's car seat.

Above you see a collection of 2.5 inch strips. I am taking a workshop next weekend and the quilt requires 2.5 inch strips.(84 DARK AND 84 LIGHT for a queen size quilt) I made all these strips just out of the scrap box- no new yardage. It feels like a found quilt when you do that.
I may cut one large piece of yardage of lights because I always have more color in my collection than I have neutrals.
Today I need to get some of these strips put together into the strip unit. I am not able to go to the workshop on Friday as some former staff members and I, are off to help a colleague celebrate her retirement.
For the last few weeks, I have had a few social things going on- A colleague had a Pampered Chef party (fancy cooking tools). It was fun- the food was delicious and there were lots of interesting tools for making cooking easier- a pineapple corer, apple wedger, a mango peeler, shredders, cutters etc. My sister in law gave us some Pampered chef stoneware pieces a few years ago now. They are quite lovely to use though I find them heavy now. I am not really into cooking but I can see how having the right tools makes it easier- just like quilting. Do you have a favorite quilting tool?
I have been reading other blogs and commenting this month- I won a very nice giveaway from Terry of Aviya Glass. She is a beautiful bead maker and I got to choose which piece I might want. Making such a decision was not easy I can tell you. When it arrives I will post a photo.
A picture of Mom and me taken recently(not long after I had a haircut_ LOL)

Happy Mother's Day Mom- I love you!

This spring has been a busy one- hopefully I will return next weekend after the workshop to show you how I progressed with the strips. We are off to the art gallery this afternoon and then I plan to quilt. Plans sometimes get changed though. I hope that you get a chance to spend some time with loved ones. Happy Mother's Day one and all!
Warmest regards,
Anna

It's still not finished...the Journey Continues...

When I posted last I was still struggling with how to put together the body of animal panel quilt for my father's 80th Birthday.. Well its not finished and dad's birthday came and went last week ( more about that shortly) but here we are having a look at the quilt in its current state...( The miniature Collie is my parent's pride and joy- her name is Tammy and she is a lovely dog.)I could have chosen different animal panels for my dad- horses and dogs would have been equally appropriate as the ones that I chose.

My dad is a real outdoors man. He has been a hunter and fisherman all of his life. I can remember him teaching me about the names of some of the birds like pheasants, and ptarmigan. I did not find either of those birds in panels, but there are some beautiful eagles on it. Each fall he and some friends would go hunting for wild game and we ate deer, elk and moose in the winter time that they brought home to fill the freezer. Summer time was spent camping in the west country in tents. The Alberta Rockies are absolutely stunning. The vistas glorious and the lakes a gorgeous green. I was pleased to find that mountain background for his quilt.
When I think of camping in the mountains, I think of clear cold water, the occasional surprise snow storm and my dad bringing home some trout to cook.
There is nothing better than fresh brook trout cooked in butter in a cast iron frying pan over a fire.. Yummy it makes my mouth water just thinking about it...



My father was quite pleased with the quilt even without the quilting. After some discussion it was decided that my parents would like it for a bed quilt rather than a couch throw or something to hang on their wall. I now need to add some more borders for it to fit their queen sized bed. Its current size is about 75 inches X 72 inches so its a bit tricky. I think that I will add some more of the rusty brown next followed by a larger border of the brown bears. The first three borders are about 7 inches in total so I don't want to overwhelm the quilt with a really wide border of bears. I am sure that there is a rule of proportion but I am guessing that the second bear border should not be wider than 5 inches. I don't have anymore of the olive greenish fabric but it would be possible to order a little more from Connecting Threads.LOL I do have enough of the bear fabric that I could bind it with it.

Here I thought that the top was complete- oh well its lots closer than the last posted photo- Do you remember that I was not sure how to put it together last time?- well instead of cutting the background into strips, I machine appliqued the panels onto the background. The panels were all different sizes and I couldn't figure out a simpler way to insert the panels. I think this way worked best- no Y seams and perfect measurements to try and get it inset where I wanted it.

Last Saturday we had a large coffee party in a hall to recognize my parent's birthdays( my mothers' birthday is next Monday). It was a lovely afternoon with food, friends and family.. Over 100 people stopped by to share in the celebration. We were all pretty tired in the end but it was well worth the effort. I saw some family friends from long ago - people that were part of my childhood and well into my teenage years. It was a little like time traveling back to another time and place. It was very nice to see so many family friends and relatives. My parents said it was a great day which was what my siblings and I had hoped.

And on other fronts- I finally got the Winter village taken down and some Spring decorations put up. It made things feel more spring like inside the house and the outside is beginning to be more spring like too.

At school my kids are enjoying the warmer weather but, oh it is so hard to resist those puddles.

Here are the current flowers that grace our spring table. Bruce brought home some beautiful asteromeria that have opened up beautifully.

In recent years, My friends have often brought me things that related to quilting. They bring me things or comment about how seeing something in their travels makes them think of me and my passion for quilting.

A work friend was recently in New York City and saw a card for the wonderful red and white show that was held at the end of March. She knew I would have loved to see the show and she was right. I remember reading about this unique show on some of the blog posts. What was striking were the photos, for they showed the original way that they hung those gorgeous red and white quilts. All of the 650 quilts in the show were from a private collector named Joanna S. Rose. What a marvelous sight it must have been and how inspiring it would have been to stand under and look up at the various quilts. It was such a nice thing for my work friend to do- to bring me a memento of the show and to think of me in her travels.


Life is a bit full these days- I am trying to get some baby wraps made for some babies that are coming soon or have just arrived. I am also trying to keep on top of the work - before we know it, it will be time to start preparing for year end. I also have some other people who I would like to make quilts for - this year has a number of special occasions for family members- special anniversaries and birthdays. These special days are markers of life- ways that we celebrate and honor the gifts of our loved ones. It is sometimes a challenge to balance the time in all the areas of one's life.

I know there are some giveaways happening but I haven't had much time to blog/ read blogs these days. I hope to get around to visit some blogs soon.
Thanks for stopping by - I always appreciate your comments.
Until next time,
Be well and Happy quilting,
Warmest regards,
Anna