Mars the cat and some of her quilts...

Our beautiful quilt cat Mars has passed on. She leaves behind a bundle of quilts for others to cherish. Each and every one of Anna's  many creations, were cat tested by Mars. She always seemed to be around to help test the fabrics and check on the finished ones for comfort. Sometimes she would come and help sew ( a few times I thought she might catch her paw in the sewing machine needle) when she was younger, she liked to come and supervise the stitching of the quilts. She is mourned by her human parents, Bruce and Anna and their son Kevin and his fiancée Roseanne. She will also be missed by her dog sibling Dusty. Mars had just turned 15 at the time of her passing.

Mars had a number of interesting past times that included sleeping in a variety of baskets, checking out the birds and squirrels outside the window and chasing Dusty when she got sufficiently annoyed. She had some favorite foods- soft vanilla ice cream, milk from a tall cup and roast chicken. The only cat  food she would eat was Whiskas.

This quilt pattern is called a Disappearing nine patch and is made of a wide range of batik fabrics. I love the texture and colors that can be found in batiks.

Here the quilt is laid out on my tables at school to be spray basted together.

This quilt has been safely delivered to this lovely couple- our nephew and his bride. I know that this quilt will be well loved by them both.
I recognize that I have been away from my blog for awhile- Life this fall has been very busy with school work and tending to our sick pet. It is hard to believe that it will soon be November. We are looking forward to our son and his girl visiting from PEI in mid November. I will leave you with a few more photos of Mars and my quilts...Perhaps one day I will have another quilt helper- It is hard to imagine that there could another cat who would look so pretty on my quilts.. The leaf quilt on the left was often Mars favorite quilt- We wondered whether she recognized that she was similar in coloring to some of the leaves. This is just a few of the 100 quilts that I have created since 1996.
Mars came quilting with me during most of my journey... It feels just a little odd to think about quilting without her being their to check out my work.
This is my current project - a twister jack- o- lantern that is partially done.
It has lots of oranges and red-
I know Mars would have liked it too.
Happy quilting,
Warmest regards, Anna

August has come and gone....Life is indeed full of circles...

August has flown by with a number of things that have included all the mainstay life events ( one birth- one more to come, two weddings , two funerals) - they all are part of the circles in life. It has been full of a myriad of colors that as always include flowers in and out of our home. At one point these lovely sunflowers adorned our table.

With the help of some wonderful long arm quilters from Sparrow Studioz, this red and white quilt is now finished, and has made its way to Quilts for Calgary ,where it joined over a 1000 other ones, that will be given to families who lost everything in the Calgary area floods in June. I was very happy that the red fabrics maintained their color after being washed in Retayne. At one point it looked like some of the red fabric dye might try and migrate. I washed it with some trepidation, I have to say, but it truly did work out in the wash. This quilt was indeed a collaborative project- Diane, a friend from Red Deer made most of the blocks- I sashed them and bound it after it was quilted.

At one point this summer, we had some lovely pots of stargazer lilies and sunflowers but unfortunately, the Alberta weather has been fraught with storms, that brought hail and severe rain to our communities. These flowerpots are now looking quite beaten down by the storms but they were pretty for awhile.

Speaking of pretty, our pretty cat, Mars, has developed some significant health issues in her senior years. We now have to give her some insulin daily... She is soon to be 15 and is otherwise a healthy girl. Here she is helping me quilt- she does love to sit on my fabrics and quilts...The fabrics she is sitting on were for a wedding quilt that I am still finishing for my niece and her husband.

 Here is my niece Ms. A- Wasn't she a gorgeous bride- here is the handsome couple  on their wedding day. I am making progress on their wedding quilt and hope to have it finished before too long.

We had a lovely time at their wedding and took a few moments to take a photo of my siblings and our spouses. It has been a few years since we took a photograph of us all, so it was nice to have one and this one turned out pretty well.

After the wedding, I spent a few days with my folks followed by a short trip to the mountains. On our way to the mountains, my spouse and I visited a few quilt stores to indulge my quilting habit. In one, I saw this fabulous wall hanging - I loved the sentiment- quilting friends are indeed the flowers of life...

If you ever are in Canmore( a small town just outside Banff (a beautiful mountain resort town in the Canadian Rockies)- you must go to see the Sugar Pine quilt store. It is full to the brim, of quilting and beading things, as well as many other treasures such as art cards and Laurel Burch items... I added some lovely batiks to my ever expanding batik collection from the Sugar Pine clearance section..

 

Bruce and I drove up to Lake Minnewanka which is up in the mountains above the Banff townsite. It is a gorgeous spot and we were lucky to get some breaks in the weather that day. Earlier that morning, it had been raining and the weather did not look too promising - we were happy that the weather cooperated as we only had a short time to spend in the mountains. The  foothills area had suffered quite a lot of damage during the June floods ( particularly Canmore ) and the water was still quite high. Lots of the walking paths had postings of warnings to stay off certain sections of the trails.

The scenery is always spectacular in the mountains- the vistas are gorgeous and the colors breathtaking. This is one of the glacier lakes- I believe it is Bow Lake along  the Banff - Jasper Parkway.

This is some of my booty from my visits to the quilt stores. We made stops in 6 shops ( I had my own little shop hop ... LOL.  The top ones were from a shop in Rocky Mountain House which I only had  about 10 minutes before the lady was closing for the day. We had stopped there last year and I found some other treasures. The bottom ones are from a shop in Olds called The Quilting Bee. My dad grew up in the Olds Area and their is an agricultural college there. My sister has a Horticultural Design Diploma from the College. It has two quilt stores and a terrific general store called Craig's that has some fabrics as well.  These little towns are all relatively small - between 2 and 10 thousand people - it is interesting to see that quilting is flourishing in these smaller areas.

Bruce really is a good sport about my love of quilting. Recently Patti Carey from Northcott / Monarch fabrics came to give a trunk show at one of the local shops ( Lori's Country Cottage in Sherwood Park) Patti spoke about using fabrics and panels to create quilts. Bruce came along with me- it was 120 ladies and him. Patti Carey had some beautiful quilts in her trunk, and some fabulous ideas to make new quilts. This is a photo of Patti and the room filled with quilters.

She designed a quilt called the Long and Winding Road  for the magazine The Quilter in January 2001. It is a pattern that I made around 2002.

I really enjoyed making this bargello design and made  the blue version of this quilt for a raffle. I love this pattern and would make it again. The pink and brown version was a gift for my SIL. I think both of the color combinations worked very well. It makes a big queen-sized quilt and goes together quickly. I have seen it made in other color combinations and all of them were equally stunning.

 It is funny how the different angles change the way this quilt looks. Do you have a favorite technique/ design that you would make again and again? Do you ever buy large amounts of a certain fabric because you love it so much. There is a brown print in the pink and brown one that I used as a backing and and in the border. If I saw it again, I would buy a big chunk of it because it was just such a rich fabric. 

I have returned to the classroom so my daily life speed changes to a more hectic pace. I have been busy quilting most of the summer when we were not attending some special family functions, visiting friends and family, or in the mountains. One thing I love about summer is the opportunity to reconnect with friends and loved ones.

Now it is back to the busyness and business of school. It will be fun to see all my new little ones and try out some new tasks. I may be getting older, but teaching never does. I have a new Ipad to learn about, and more things to try on the smart board.  In my school classroom, we try to play everyday because that is our work in kindergarten.  We all need to have time to play and work - Hopefully I will find some time to play in the fabric. There are wedding quilts to finish and more wedding quilts to create for family members. It is a celebrating time of life.

We are looking forward to the arrival of a new grand niece or nephew soon.  And our son and his girl will get married in February. The next few months will be hectic indeed. I will drop by when I can..

Thanks for stopping by to check out my quilting journey.

Warmest regards,

Anna

Quilting for love- summer 2013

This summer I decided it was important for me  to make some dedicated time for quilting. I wanted to know what I love about quilting . I got to thinking about why I quilt, when I was reading on a quilt forum that I read regularly, someone posted the question:" Why do you quilt"? What keeps you quilting? How did you become a quilter? What inspires you to keep you quilting?

In some ways they are very separate questions and in other ways they are very much related. I have always loved quilts but did not have any relatives who were quilters. I am told that my father's mother made quilts but unfortunately none of her work remains. As an aside, I made a Double Wedding Ring quilt a number of years ago in tribute to my grandmother.( By the way, there is a Double Wedding Ring challenge going on right now. If you check Bumblebeans blog on my sidebar - Victoria  Finlay Wolfe's blog, you will find some information about it) but I digress..

My answer to the quilting question is reflected in the following photos.
Quilts provide ways to support causes that need support.
 Recently, I bought this lovely little quilt from the Alzheimer Art Quilt Initiative project that was created by Amie Simms in 2006. This piece was made by a lovely lady by the name of Michele Bilyeu who has contributed 75 quilts (9X 12 in) to aid and support the fund for Alzheimer's research. Do check out this post Alzheimer 15,000 quiltfor more information about this important research.

Another reason that I enjoy quilting, is that I love fabric. I have been collecting fabric for the better part of 20 years and have some gorgeous pieces just waiting to be used in the many in my head quilts that are waiting to be made. These fabrics are ones that I pulled from the stash(mostly)for a recent project- a wedding signature quilt. Since this photograph I have completed the signature blocks for the wedding and am waiting for some of the blocks to be returned to me so that I can put them together in a top. The layout is a free pattern called the Fourth of July and can be found on Bonnie Hunter's quiltville website. If you are not familiar with her website, you may want to check it out. Bonnie is a prolific teacher, designer and quilter,  who does amazing things with scraps. She has a number of books out and is generous with her ideas. Her blog is one of the first blogs that I ever followed.

In June,2013 there was some horrific storms in a city named Calgary that lays 200 miles to the south of the place where I call home. In the surrounding areas of High River, Canmore, Bragg Creek, Kananaskis and Siksika Indian Nation areas, the heavy rains created significant heavy flooding. Some areas like the downtown area of Calgary had flooding that filled their hockey/ entertainment arena well up into the seating areas.

 One sometimes wonders what can a person do, besides donate money to help support others in their time of need. For some of us, it means that we can create quilts to wrap around and provide comfort and warmth, to those who may have lost much. That is one of the reasons why a group called Quilts for Calgary was born.

 Here in Edmonton , a long arm quilting studio called Sparrow Studioz, provided a place for some Edmonton quilters for 5 Sundays in July, to donate their time, talents and materials to create quilts for Calgary.
A big thank you go out to Matt ( manquilter) and Bradie Sparrow for their generosity. This quilt top was made
  by my mentor teacher and friend, Linda and quilted by Bradie on the long arm.
 It is a one of the many beautiful quilts that are on  their way to Calgary.
 I loved this purple and black one that has a medallion design.

Here Ms. D., is putting together some beautiful batiks that were donated from a local quilter's stash, to create a disappearing 9 patch. It is going to be a stunning quilt.

This one is a top that I have recently finished up- the blocks came from a quilting friend who lives in the area around my hometown of  Red Deer. I will take it tomorrow to the ladies who use the long arm quilting machines and then I will bind it and add it to the ever growing pile of quilts
 Below are two more of the quilts that will head to the Calgary area.
I have to say it has been a wonderful opportunity to contribute to my community in whatever small way I could. Quilters made bindings, pieced batting  and backing together, or, sent in fabrics for backing and blocks, and even whole tops to be quilted and shared. There were companies that donated batting, fabric while other places helped to defray the costs of shipping and getting them to Calgary area. We were only one of many individual/ groups of quilters across the province who were busy making quilts for down south.

Back to the original question of why I quilt- In some ways its simple- 

Quilting feeds my creative spirit and allows me to play. Being a kindergarten teacher, I know about the importance of play in life. We all need to play whether we are 2 or 92. Play helps us to have balance, solve problems or provide us with opportunities to socialize with others. Quilting has introduced me to some wonderful friends that I would never known without the sharing of our passion for quilting.

Quilts give me a way to express my love to friends and family- Like most other quilters I know, my quilts are gifts from my heart, whether they are for a loved one or a stranger. The quilts form a big hug around its owner , when they wrap the quilt around themselves. 

This little poster hangs in the washroom of the Sparrow's studio. The mat says" Keep off the grass and buy a standard sewing machine." I like the playfulness of  this poster. That playfulness is joyful- something that I feel when I am quilting. 

So why do you quilt? 

Wishing you time to play and create with whatever brings you joy..

Warmest regards,
Anna

A Potpourri of News - now just where I have I been lately?

 I don't even know where to begin, as the past 6 weeks have flown by. These last weeks have been filled with many things - some which were tied to the end of the school year.
 Here are the current flowers on our dining room table -some pretty pink and white carnations.
This lovely lady is my friend Brenda, who started her official retirement from our school district after over 35 years of teaching yesterday. Our friendship goes back to when I was a relatively new teacher ( my second school) We have maintained a friendship for over 30 years and I was delighted to be invited to her retirement. I am sure she is going to enjoy some great times with family and friends as well as exploring her passion for cooking, gardening and scrapbooking. Happy Retirement, my friend!
Here is a photograph of the lovely wallhanging that I received from Sharon (Vrooman's quilts) in the post awhile back. The photos do not do this beautiful wall hanging justice. There is some fabulous bead work on the crossstitched feathers. It is a really beautiful gift that I am honored to be its caretaker.

In the early part of June ( right in the middle of report card writing LOL) my local guild held their biannual quilt show. It was held in a seniors center that has some spectacular glass works hanging from the ceiling. I have included a smattering of the quilts that we saw-( we only had a couple of hours at the show so we missed some of the quilts, but what we did see was a wonderful collection of local talent) I loved this collection of musical notes - I think that they must play some beautiful melody - they sure look pretty together don't you think. Music of the heart  could be their title..




This Judy Niemeyer pattern is stunning and the young woman that made the quilt did a spectacular job of it. I believe that it was long arm quilted by one of our local long arm quilters named Matt Sparrow.

 He and his wife Bradie have a long arm quilting studio here in Edmonton, and do fantastic work. Perhaps one day I might try out long arm quilting but for now I am content to quilt on my Babylock quilting machine.
The Sparrow family are also very generous people- Tomorrow, they have invited quilters to come and use the long arm machines at the studio to make quilts for our friends who have been wiped out by the floods  in Southern Alberta.

 Recently our sister city of Calgary  and the surrounding areas ( High River, Canmore, Bragg Creek and Siksika Indian Nation) experienced some horrendous flooding.The central core of the city of Calgary was immersed in water in the as well as many housing districts along the Bow river. They evacuated many areas  of the city. The big hockey arena ( the Saddledome) and home to the Calgary Stampede grounds were saturated with flooding. There is also a wonderful Zoo there, that faced many challenges trying to keep all the animals safe. At one point, there was some concerns that the hippos might end up swimming down the river. Back to the quilt show...

I found this very fun quilting lady wall hanging utterly charming. I loved the details the quilter added to her quilt. I especially loved her red boa and the cat lying at her feet. She also has a fabulous earring in her ear.  
 Here are some very special men in my life- One of the things I did for Father's Day, was make a small collection of family photos in an album on my facebook page. The one on the left is our son, Kevin, when he was about 3 months old. The other one was taken this spring when he was home visiting. The photos were taken 25 years apart. I have always loved this baby photo- it always brings me joy looking at the two of them together.
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June has been a particularly rainy month here in Edmonton. We recently had lunch with some friends in a wonderful restaurant, Le Ronde, that rotates and gives some spectacular views of our fair city. You can see that the North Saskatchewan River is pretty high as well. It recently crested and the levels have now dropped. You can see on the right hand side that there are four pyramids that are a local plant conservatory.
In case you are wondering whether I  have abandoned quilting , I did finish these two sideline quilts.( I also got 9 baby wraps bound so they are ready for the next babies.
 This Pueblo pots quilt was given to this wonderful couple Ian and Charlotte to celebrate their relatively recently acquired home. ( it is only about a year late - LOL)
 I hope that they enjoy many happy years together in their lovely home.

 One of the fun things we brought to our school grounds was this bouncing castle, as part of our year end fun day . My school kids loved bouncing and crawling through the obstacle course.
We had a couple of heavy rains and a severe thunderstorm the night before my school kids were finished. One thunderstorm knocked out a transformer and left us without power for part of the last day of school.

I also finished the other Sideliner quilt that I called Floral Retreat. It was made for my friend, Deloris, who also retired. I know that she is going to enjoy lots of time travelling to visit her family in Louisana, Michigan and California. She is passionate about books and I will miss her friendship and our conversations about children's literature.

So there you have it - Life has indeed been full- I am looking forward to summer vacation- it is such a change of pace after the busyness of school. I plan to get some things done around the house ( I began cleaning the stove today-) As well I have some quilts to create. I will begin working on the signature block quilt tomorrow.
 We had intended to go to Banff later in the summer but with the flooding in that area of the Rockies, it may make road travel a little complicated. We think instead we will head to Jasper for a few days, which is another beautiful part of the Canadian Rockies but is farther north. I love the mountains- there is something very restful about going to stay there...

 Today was a lovely day- a visit to a couple of my favorite quilt shops and a wonderful second hand shop.(Needless to say, my fabric stash didn't get any smaller LOL... One of the things I love about summer, is the opportunity to connect and reconnect with my friends and family.
 My dear friend, Lou, came in from her lake cottage for the day. We had such a nice time together exploring our favorite haunts as well as having lunch together. I also spend some time on the phone with my dear friend, Val just catching up with one another. I even had some time with my spouse watching some of the tennis at Wimbledon.
Bruce began his summertime shifts as a public interpreter at the local observatory today.
 This evening I managed to finally put all the spring bunnies away and will take out some summer decor for the sideboard..
And so the summer begins- Hopefully I will return sooner and more regularly to any of you who are my blog friends. I have been quite neglectful of my blog this year. Thanks to you all, who continue to visit.  I have added a bloglovin link should you wish to follow my ramblings :O)
 Until next time, be well,
 Warmest regards,
 Anna