March In- March Out

It's already the end of March and I haven't written a new post for the month yet. Where has the time gone? What have I been doing?
We arrived back home on March 9th. So the first week and part of the second was gone. By the time we unpacked, adjusted to the time change and sorted out our lives again, another week had gone by. All the while, the lovely fabrics I had purchased or been given, plus those I had already, were calling me to create.
First, I made a set of four placemats and napkins from a Batik fabric I purchased in Malaysia for our neighbours who had taken good care of our home while we were away.
Next, thanks to the generosity of Marianne Bos in Singapore, I was eager to get started on a postcard quilt to showcase some of my fabrics from Pacific countries. The postcard quilt (my name for it, which may or may not be the name others know the pattern by) is relatively easy to put together. The basic block is a 4 x 6 inch rectangle bordered by two 1-inch strips which makes a 6-inch square. These squares are then arranged alternately vertical and horizontal and sewn together in rows. I added extra strips to the outer edges of blocks which didn't have any.
Most of the machine quilting was done before the edge was finished. To finish off I sewed facing strips on the front, cut them to match the irregular edge, turned them over to the back and stitched them down by hand. The finishing was a little tricky, but when it was completed, I was glad I had done it that way. Here is "Postcards from the Pacific."

Finally, this past week I put together a simple top for a baby quilt in blue flannelette.
No wonder I didn't get time to add to my blog until now. At least that's my excuse!

The World-wide Quilting Web

The wonders of modern technology never cease to amaze me. I am currently in Singapore visiting my daughter Kathy and her husband Mark. Today we talked to our daughter Susan in California and via Skype were able to see our little grand-children on the other side of the world in Canada.
From a quilter's perspective, the web is agreat asset. I was delighted to meet this past week with quilters here in Singapore, having first contacted them through the web. Thanks to Janice, my contact who invited me to meet with the ANZA (Australia New Zealand Association) quilters and to Maurine who hosted us in her home. Each lady was working on a different project and in addition the group undertakes a charity project each year. I was especially interested in the project to make blocks which would be later made into quilts for victims of the bush-fires in Australia. The blocks are called "wonky stars" and they will be collected and sewn together by Australian quilters. Here is Alison with some of the blocks she had made.

When disaster strikes, quilters all over the world immediately start to do what they do best. Their quilts comfort and support the needy recipients by letting them know that others care about them and want to help.

On Wednesday, I met with quilt artist Marianne Bos (you can find her website by Googling her name) and we had a lovely two hours of quilt talk, sharing experiences and information, and looking at her beautiful quilts. Here she is with two of her wall-hangings.

I've never met unfriendly quilters and these ladies were no exception. Thanks to you all for welcoming me and letting me see and photograph some of your work.

Before leaving home, I checked out fabric sources in Singapore on the web and have visited most of them on my list, as well as some I didn't know about until I got here. My suitcase gets heavier and heavier with each shopping trip. And we still have two more weeks to go!

I think I already have enough projects in mind to keep me busy for the next few years.

Winter World

January brings the snow
Makes your feet and fingers glow.
February's cold and sleet
Freeze the toes right off your feet!

This old Flanders and Swan song, hit it just about right for the weather here
in Edmonton. Since mid-December we've been in a deep freeze. And I mean really DEEP! Down to minus 40 deg. Celcius (where the Fahrenheit scale meets it) overnight and with wind-chill factored in. Daytimes not a lot better, averaging minus 18 C. or so. When the temperature has risen to minus 10. deg.C it feels positively balmy! Snow has fallen "snow on snow" as the old carol says and we are living in an almost white world. There's no doubt it's winter in Edmonton!

Christmas was a bright spot in an otherwise dark world, with the lights and the warmth of family and friends making it possible to ignore, if not enjoy the weather. And now that the festivities are behind us, it's back to quilting. One consolation of the cold is that it's great weather for quilting. If you have all your supplies on hand you can just hunker down and be creative. And when you get tired of that, you just cuddle up in a cheery quilt and read a good book.

Having completed some Guild projects, I'm back to my queen sized "Thirty-years of Fabric" quilt, and am just about finished putting the top together. This is the easy part. The more difficult phase of basting and quilting it is to come. Each time I've finished a queen-sized quilt, I've said, "That's the last big quilt I'm going to do." But here I am working on another one!
I guess I just never learn.

Having begun this post with grumbling and ranting about the cold weather, I'll finish this on a warmer note, for next month I'll be in Singapore. So in my next post, you may very well find me grumbling about the too hot and humid weather in that tropical city! But no doubt, I'll be enjoying the fabric shops and market stalls and with any luck, I'll be able to meet some quilters as well. Keep tuned.

December

December is almost half over and I'm just writing my monthly posting. The winter weather which has arrived recently makes me want to choose a good book, get out a warm quilt, cuddle up and have a relaxed read.

Instead like many of you, Christmas preparations have taken a priority over reading and even quilting with me, although I have been working sporadically on a queen-size quilt. About a week ago, I decided to take a break from the large project and do something small and "Christmassy". My scrap box had a pile of cut half-square-triangle pieces in Christmas fabrics and knowing that time was limited I decided to make some hot mats, possibly to add to gifts. Working with triangles is always fun and without much effort and only four half-triangle squares per mat I was able to come up with four variations, which I quickly put together and finished with some left-over binding. I like them so much I just might keep them for myself!

Here is a photo, taken in a hurry, but you get the general idea, I hope.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my quilting friends.

Autumn in Alberta

Where has the time gone? September was a busy month for us with visitors and a one week visit to BC packed into it. We had a great trip and enjoyed sunny skies all the way. One of my favorite views on the Yellowhead route is the view of Mount Robson that you get on the return journey after you pass Moose Lake (where we have never actually seen a moose!). The day we drove that way, the skies were clear and there was just a light snowfall decorating the top of the mountain, which contrasted beautifully with the brilliant blue skies. It was the best view of the mountain we have ever seen. I wish I had taken the time to get a photograph.

The weather in Edmonton has been absolutely glorious and my marigolds are still looking good. But as the days shorten, I'm back to my quilting projects and have finished off three more tea cosies that were requested by a friend. Here they are.


After I finished my last queen-sized quilt, I thought that would be my last big quilt, but this month I started on another one. I purchased a pattern called "Paperweights" by Aardvark, which I thought would be a good way to use up the bits and pieces of fabrics that I had on hand. As always, my quilt will not be exactly like the pattern but I am enjoying working with so many different colours and prints. Stay posted for further reports.

Beautiful Newfoundland

Here are some photos from our travels in Newfoundland this past summer. Watch this space for more photos in the future.


River near Point May

Lobster Pots, Newtown


The view from our B&B,
Hillgrade


The 'red house' Burin

Memories of Quilting on the Edge (Quilt Canada 2008)

Over a month has passed since I enjoyed the delights of Quilt Canada 2008 at St. John's, NL, but the memories are still strong. Here's just a part of what made "Quilting on the Edge" such a special experience for me and I suspect, for many others.

1. Friends. Meeting some old friends, but making many more new ones. Not having a quilting "buddy" to share the experience with was a very good thing, for every time I sat next to someone I didn't know (and that was often) I had great conversations and was once again made aware of the friendliness of quilters. One conversation in particular, which began with a compliment about my book ("Crazy About Quilting"), continued on and off for several days. By the end of the week, we had not only discovered mutual friends and family connections, but exchanged invitations to visit and pursue our friendship even further.

2. Workshops. I took two from quilters at opposite ends of their teaching experience. Joan Reive was conducting her last class and Vicky-Taylor Hood her first at Quilt Canada. Both are talented quilt artists and shared their very different techniques for making landscape quilts. In both workshops there was a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and I know that I will use what I learned from them in future projects.

3. Quilts. Everywhere. Bed quilts, wall quilts, table toppers, coasters, clothing, bags, luggage tags...the list goes on and on. Wonderful quilts, large or small, all created with imagination, technical expertise and love.

4. Food. I expect that many, if not most, of us who attended the wonderful dinners at the St. John's Convention Centre or the final banquet at the Fairmont Newfoundland, left NL a few(!) pounds heavier than when we arrived. Local dishes such as fried cod with scrunchions, figgy duff, and Atlantic salmon, were just a few of the culinary delights we sampled. And the desserts! Oh, the desserts! Did we enjoy them? You bet! Did we limit our chocolate intake? Not in the least. Did we enjoy ourselves? Of course.
One chef was reputed to have said, that group of women such as we were ate more than a convention of iron-workers! With such delicious food prepared for us (and no shopping, no cooking, no cleaning up) how could we resist?

4. Scenery. In spite of one day of very foggy, wet weather, most of us were impressed by the rugged beauty of the Avalon Peninsula and many were planning to tour other parts of the province after Quilt Canada was over. For myself, born and raised in St. John's, being "home" again and staying with my brother and sister-in-law was a special treat. My brother is an avid gardener and the "scenery" that I remember was the loveliness of his garden in the spring.

Other memories? There are lots. But that's enough for now. If you have never been to a major Quilt Canada event, start saving for Calgary 2010. If St. John's was anything to go by, you won't be disappointed.