Silver Thimble Quilting

Winter is not over yet!

2012-01-28T13:16:00.000-08:00

Today, we had more of the white stuff.

I guess it was premature to think that winter was on its way out!

Ice and Quilt Progress

2012-01-21T12:42:00.025-08:00

This morning, we woke up to a layer of freezing rain covering everything.

Although the ice coating on everything is pretty, it is definitely not safe to be driving or walking in this weather.

It was safe to stay inside and quilt though. :)

By 11:00 pm, I had finished making all the blocks for the Got Stripes quilt - with the exception of one. I was short a green background strip. I need to cut some green background pieces to finish the last block and to replace some pieces in a block that is already pieced into the quilt top. I made the mistake of reversing one piece of background fabric--front for back so I will need to do some reverse sewing.

I also finished the binding on my Fire Escape quilt. After finishing the binding, I spread the quilt out over the table to take a picture.

A picture without the flash shows the colours of the quilt to be a little closer to reality and shows the swirl quilting design a little better.

Yet More Snow and Quilting Updates

2012-01-17T22:45:00.001-08:00

You just know you are in for one of those days when it starts with this:

The snow continued to fall here last night. The snow mixed with high winds (60 to 80 km/hr) resulted in white out conditions and a bit of a wild drive to work today.

Barbecue season and meals in the backyard seem so far away.

This truck is not going anywhere soon.

On the quilting front, progress is being made on piecing the blocks for Got Stripes and on attaching the binding to Fire Escape.

I am currently working on row 7 of 11 on Got Stripes. Rows 1 to 5 are completely joined together. Row 6 blocks are joined to one another but row 6 is not yet joined to rows 1 to 5. I have just started working on row 7 - only one star block assembled so far on that row.

The binding has been attached to Fire Escape. When I can steal a few moments, I work on hand stitching the binding to the back of the quilt.

Snow!

2012-01-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

It has been snowing here continuously for the last 12 hours. It has finally stopped, but they say more snow is on its way. We were enjoying a rather mild winter....until now!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T09:38:00.000-08:00

Have you heard the New Year's Day superstition that what you do on New Year's Day will be what you do all year long?

We spent New Year's Eve with our daughter and her fiance. I don't like family out on the roads New Year's Eve with all the parties and drinking and driving that goes on, so we had them spend the night. Because my daughter missed our traditional "Wife Saver Breakfast" on Christmas morning, because she had to work, that is what we had for breakfast on New Year's Day morning. After breakfast, my daughter had to head off to work, but it was nice having her here for New Year's Eve and then breakfast the next morning.

After breakfast, it was time to focus on how to spend the rest of the day. Linda and I discussed this issue on New Year's Eve and decided that we definitely would not be doing laundry or housework! We knew we wanted to focus on quilting, but which aspect of quilting did we want to focus on? In the end, we decided to touch on as many different quilting aspects as we could manage to fit into the day.

I started my day by doing a few passes on the current quilt that is loaded on the long arm. This quilt is, "Fire Escape", finished to the flimsy state on September 11, 2011. I just love this colour combination--red and aqua! http://www.silverthimblequilting.blogspot.com/2012/01/blog-post.html

The next project I worked on was something that could be considered a reward--something quick to finish that would bring instant satisfaction of accomplishment. I purchased a table runner kit on a blog hop in June 2006 that has been sitting safely in its plastic sleeve since that time. I decided today would be the day to work on that project. This was an old project, not really a UFO since it hadn't been out of the plastic, that needed to be finished. This one is now finished to the flimsy stage. This runner finishes at approximately 50" x 20". I love how this one turned out!

This runner is the same pattern as the runner that I finished up for my Mom for Christmas this past year. http://silverthimblequiltingarchive.blogspot.com/2006/06/quilt-shop-hop-2006.html

In September 2009, I purchased the fabrics to make Terry Atkinson's, "Got Stripes?" quilt. This quilt is comprised of two blocks--a block made from striped fabrics and a star block. I made the striped blocks right away and then set the fabric and pattern on the shelf.

When I took this one off the shelf to work on it, it took a bit to remember what fabrics I had decided to use where on the stars. Only some of the fabrics for the star blocks had actually been cut. Further confusing the situation was a navy blue batik fabric that I had also purchased at the time I bought these fabrics. At the time, I thought I might make the star points navy blue. I remember not being able to decide between the brown and the navy blue. I ended up buying both fabrics and decided today to go with the brown.

I am loving how this one is turning out. I finished 5 of the 50 required stars for this queen sized quilt tonight before having to call it quits. http://www.silverthimblequilting.blogspot.com/2009/11/current-projects.html

I think this was a very successful New Year's Day!

- I stared the day with a wonderful meal together with my family.

- I managed to keep activities for the day related to quilting.

- I worked on using my existing stash.

- I resisted buying new fabric--even though there was a 50% off sale today at a local fabric store.

- I never did any housework or laundry.

2012 is shaping up to be a great year!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T20:13:00.032-08:00

This year was a very special Christmas for our family. All 12 of the members of my family were able to celebrate together on Christmas Day! We did have to wait for two members of my family to get off work before we could eat our turkey dinner, but the important thing was that we were all able to be together.

To commemorate this occasion, we took a picture. Well, actually, we took several pictures! It took some time to get all 12 people to be looking the same way, not be talking, etc. We were a bit challenged because of limited space in our living room, but we managed to get a decent picture in the end.

Pictured, standing in the back row, left to right: my husband, myself, my son, my son's finance, my daughter's fiance, my daughter, my nephew, and my brother. Sitting in the front row, left to right: my niece, my dad, my mom, and my sister-in-law.

Years ago, (I am not sure how many exactly, let's just say many years ago) my mom and I were at a local quilt show. My mom spotted a table runner that she just loved. She purchased the kit and I brought it home. I pieced the top right away and then the project sat on the shelf....for years. While going through some things in my studio before Christmas, I came across the unfinished table runner. I decided I would finally quilt the runner and then surprise my mother with the finished product in her stocking at Christmas. My mom was surprised when she opened up the runner--truth be told, it has been so long since she purchased the runner, she likely forgot that it existed!

I also came across a runner kit that I bought from the same shop during a shop hop one year--poppies instead of sunflowers. My kit is still in the plastic. *Sigh* Maybe I will finish my table runner in 2012!

Winter Prairie Window

2011-12-22T20:13:00.014-08:00

After spending most of December long arm quilting for others, I was looking for a fun project that would be quick to finish--a reward project. This project is a quilt that can be cut out and put together easily in a weekend.

The print in the center of this quilt was in my stash for some time. The go-with fabrics were purchased during a Boxing Week sale after Christmas last year. It was time to assemble them into the intended quilt.

This pattern is called, "Prairie Window" and is by Anne Wiens of Sweetgrass Creative Designs.

http://quiltwoman.com/prairie-window-quilt-pattern.aspx

This quilt is lap size and finishes at 56" x 68".

Popsicle Sticks and the Fifth FAB Birthday PAR-TAY of 2011

2011-11-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to my quilting friends south of the border in the U.S.A!

Today is my birthday. I am the fifth and last FAB to be celebrating my birthday this year. We have postponed the PAR-TAY until the new year--either January or February. With 5 busy people's schedules to organize, Thanksgiving celebrations, Christmas and New Year's celebrations, we have all agreed that we will have more time to relax and celebrate after the New Year.

In the meantime, I have picked the quilt pattern that I want to work on during my PAR-TAY day. I have chosen Popsicle Sticks from Atkinson Designs.

This is my test block. I am glad I spent the time to put together a test block ahead of the quilting day as I now know that I will make the most efficient use of my fabric if I use WOF strips rather than FQ's.

I still have many fall coloured / themed fabrics in my stash to pull from so this will be another quilt from my stash. I am planning to make my quilt King sized - 112" x 112". I will need 49 of these 16 inch blocks made from 2.5 inch strips of fabric.

Terry Atkinson mentions on the pattern jacket that you will need 4 jelly rolls (2.5 inch strips, 42" long) or 50 fat quarters. She goes on to say that if your fat quarters are smaller than 18" x 21", you will have to allow extra yardage. When I was making my test block, I found that fat quarters did not work for me--too much waste.

This is a copy of the quilt from the pattern jacket. This quilt is simple but effective--a take off from the traditional Rail Fence quilt pattern. I have my strips cut and I am ready to PAR-TAY!

Green Work Basket Block #1 - Ivy

2011-11-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

I have started a new project. It is a good idea to have a handwork / portable project available for those times when you are travelling, watching TV, etc.

This is block number one in a basket series by Bee Tree Designs. There are a total of 12 blocks--each with something different in the basket. The designs fit nicely on an 8.5 inch square. The level of detail on some of the blocks and the size mean these are quick-to-stitch so this project will take some time to finish.

I am using two strands of DMC #988 and a backstitch to do the stitching. In hindsight, I should have likely used three strands of floss to make the design stand out more, but it is now done and IIWII.

http://www.purlbee.com/embroidery-tutorial/2007/2/12/backstitch.html

There has been a lot of discussion on the Internet about Pilot's Frixion pens for marking designs on fabric. I tried the green Frixion pen to mark this design and I love it! The ink is thermo reactive and can be removed from paper with friction. The ink can be removed from fabric by applying the heat of an iron. I also read somewhere that someone removed the ink with a blow dryer but I haven't tried that yet. At 65 degrees Celsius, the ink becomes translucent (invisible). The ink reappears if you cool your piece to -20 degrees Celsius by putting it in the freezer so be careful what project you are using this ink on. Previously, I was using a permanent ink marker to mark my stitching designs onto fabric. If I happened to make an incorrect line, I had to live with it and work it into the design. With the Frixion pen, I can just use the tip of my iron to remove the mistake and remark. I am not so sure I would use the pens to mark quilting lines on finished quilts, but for marking red work/green work, they are perfect.

Button Up - Merry Christmas

2011-11-20T21:08:00.002-08:00

Linda thought it was time for a reward project on Saturday. You can always count on me to join in on a fun, quick project. Linda and I seem to specialize in taking turns leading each other astray. LOL

http://catsnqlts2.blogspot.com/2011/11/moving-on-to-reward-project.html

http://catsnqlts2.blogspot.com/2011/11/finished-to-flimsy-already.html

So Saturday's project was Merry Christmas, a cute pattern included in the Button Up Collection from Joined at the Hip (BU #21). The Button Up quilt series is a group of seasonally inspired 28" x 48" quilts that button onto a quilted foundation for easy decorating with the change in seasons.

http://www.joinedatthehip.com/buttonups.html

Although this is my first Button Up, Linda has completed several already. I need to button hole stitch around my star and then this will be ready for quilting. The pattern calls for some paper key tag disks available from stationery supply stores to be made into ornaments and to be stitched on the branches, but I think I will see if I can find some suitable buttons instead.

Minnesota Hot Dish - Finished Flimsy

2011-11-13T19:23:00.014-08:00

This is my queen sized version of Terry Atkinson's Minnesota Hot Dish. This quilt is now finished to the flimsy stage and has moved to the waiting-to-be-quilted pile.

This is a copy of the pattern jacket. I believe this pattern is now out of print. Atkinson Design patterns are great--never disappoint--no surprises--always end up looking like the pattern! I know it seems funny to say that. Shouldn't quilts end up looking like the pattern if you follow the pattern instructions? Although this is what we expect when we purchase a pattern, many designers do not take the time to thoroughly test their pattern designs with real quilters and you end up frustrated at some point in the construction process.

Fourth FAB Birthday PAR-TAY of 2011

2011-10-23T23:00:00.027-07:00

Yesterday, we celebrated the fourth FAB Birthday PAR-TAY of 2011. This time it was Pat's turn to be honored in the celebration.

http://bellcreekquilts.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-fab-ulus-birthday-par-ty.html

We started the party in the morning with Pat opening the gifts sent through the mail to her. I was in such a hurry to get my parcel mailed off to Pat before my holiday that I forgot to snap a picture of it. So, the picture below has been "borrowed" from Pat's site.

I made Pat this bag/purse from a pattern called, the Cross Town Carry - Regan's Bag by Marlous Designs.

http://www.marlousdesigns.com/CrossTownCarryRegan.html

This is a fat quarter friendly pattern which can be made from 7 fat quarters. This was a pattern introduced to our Monday night quilting group by Leslie. Thanks for sharing your talents Leslie and leading us in successful completion of our bags!

I included a package of Coffee Crisp Bites in with Pat's gift. It has become a tradition this year for me to include something Coffee Crisp in with the birthday packages I send. We love Coffee Crisp in our house and I have been sharing this not-available-across-the-border treat with my friends.

After Pat was done opening her birthday presents, we started working on our quilts. Pat's choice of pattern was Minnesota Hot Dish by Atkinson Designs.

This is one of my blocks. You would never suspect that this log cabin inspired block would become the spiral design of the finished quilt.

I didn't have time before Saturday to cut my strips so I only finished a few blocks--enough though, that I could see the design emerge when you placed the blocks together in a quilt.

All the fabrics in my quilt were 2.5 inch strips cut from my stash. Shop the stash first!

Utah-New Mexico Vacation-Part 11

2011-10-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

From Colorado, we continued north to South Dakota where we visited the Crazy Horse Memorial site. The day we were at Crazy Horse the fog was so thick that you could not see the mountain. Instead, we had to be content with looking at the smaller bronze statue of Crazy Horse located within the Visitors' Center.

There were many quilts for sale in the Visitors' Center and Gift Shop.

There were also quilts within the Museum connected to the Visitors' Center.

After leaving Crazy Horse, we headed over to Mount Rushmore. As you can see by my picture below, the only thing visible was the fog. Somewhere behind me, through the fog is the famous mountain carving of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt.

This is a picture of my husband in front of The Avenue of Flags.

While in South Dakota, we spent two nights in Deadwood.

With the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1875, miners, muleskinners, madams and entrepreneurs were flocking to Deadwood by the spring of 1876 to discover their fortune. Gunman, Wild Bill Hickok was Deadwood's most famous resident.

By 1876, Wild Bill had reached the age of 38 and had just recently married Agnes Lake, whom he promptly left in Cincinnati as he made his way to the Black Hills of Dakota Territory, no place for a respectable woman. He organized an expedition to travel west from St. Louis and arrived in Deadwood via Cheyenne in June of that year. Traveling in his company were other famous characters of the Old West, Calamity Jane and Colorado Charley Utter along with a host of “women of ill-repute” looking to make a living in the gold town.

Wild Bill’s reputation preceded him. As a noted lawman, gunslinger and gambler he was already immortalized through American folklore and dime store novels. Some speculate that he came to Deadwood to attempt to land a job as the local lawman, others muse that he was after the gold that the miners spread across the gambling tables, or possibly a combination of the two.

Deadwood Gulch was filling to the brim with humanity that summer, all looking for the same thing: gold. Main Street rang with the sounds of the constant construction of retail stores, saloons, brothels, and hotels. The breeze was sweet with the smell of fresh cut pine and the sweat of hard work. The street, a trail blazed along the creek where miners and prospectors toiled long hours, was a muddy path cut deep by the ruts of heavy wagons and horse hoofs. The town was rife with lawlessness and home to several noted killers of the time. The lower section of town, the north end, became known as the badlands as the seedier establishments congregated together to attract those searching for “recreation.”

Wild Bill was known to frequent those establishments that summer, in particular to join a card game on a regular basis. He was always careful to sit with his back against the wall as there was always someone looking to make a name for himself by ending the famous gunman’s life. On August 2nd, shortly after noon, Bill made his way down from the covered wagon he called home to the No.10 Saloon where he greeted the bartender, Harry Young, and made his way to a table where a game was already in progress. He was wearing his typical black frock coat and hat, his mustache and long brown hair flowing in fine fashion. Around the table sat Carl Mann, Captain Massie and Charles Rich, leaving one seat open, back to the door.

Bill asked Charlie Rich to change places, but he laughed and refused as he was winning and had no desire to change his luck, so Bill sat down on the fated stool. He hadn’t been playing long when a drifter by the name of Jack McCall entered the room. Jack circled the table and then as he made his way around Bill’s back he swiftly drew a pistol and shouting “Damn you, take that!” shot him in the back of the head. Wild Bill Hickok, Prince of the Pistoleers, folded forward onto the table splaying his cards, black aces and eights, forever known as the “deadman’s hand.”

The bullet traveled through Bill’s head and struck Massie in the left wrist. McCall waved his gun wildly and attempted to shoot others in the bar but his gun wouldn’t fire so he backed out the rear entrance.

McCall ran up the street but didn’t get far as the cry arose that Wild Bill was shot and he was drug from a hasty hiding place in Shroudy’s Meat Market. The no account drifter was tried by a miners court and acquitted because of his claim that Wild Bill had killed his brother. He left town on a fast horse that afternoon. It was later discovered that Jack didn't have a brother and he was captured and hung in Yankton, SD, where he is buried in an unmarked grave.

This story of Wild Bill Hickock was taken from the following site on the Internet: http://www.digitaldeadwood.com/historylink/people/hickok.html

From Deadwood, it was a long day's drive back to Regina, Saskatchewan and then a flight home to BC.

This was a spectacular holiday full of great experiences and fantastic scenery!

Utah-New Mexico Vacation-Part 10

2011-10-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

After our stay in Santa Fe, we headed north to Colorado. We awoke in Colorado Springs to a dusting of snow. As the sun warmed the ground the snow melt everywhere except Pikes Peak visible in the background of the Garden of the Gods Park in the picture below.

In August 1859 when two surveyors started out from Denver City to begin a town site, soon to be called Colorado City they came upon a beautiful area of sandstone formations. One of the surveyors suggested that it would be a "capital place for a beer garden" when the country grew up. His companion, exclaimed, "Beer Garden! Why it is a fit place for the Gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods." It has been so called ever since.

Below is a picture of Balanced Rock within the Park.

This is a picture of my husband posing as though he was the full weight of the rock on his shoulder.

To get the perspective of size, this is a picture of my husband next to the rock.

After leaving Garden of the Gods, we travelled down the highway to Denver. We enjoyed a tour of downtown Denver with our step-aboard guide which included an inside look at the Capitol building.

The capitol building was built in the 1890's and in 1908 24 karat gold was used to plate the dome. The gold plated dome commemorates Colorado's Gold Rush days, and the early pioneers and miners who helped build the state of Colorado.

The architecture inside the Capitol building was spectacular.

The interior of the capitol was built with the rare and priceless Colorado Rose Onyx. The mauve marble is so rare that its known supply was completely used up in the process of beautifying the capitol.

This quilt, hanging in the Capitol building is comprised of blocks that symbolize Colorado. The 19 stars on the left and right side of the quilt represent the 38th state--Colorado. A total of 250 hours of hand embroidery and machine stitching was necessary to complete the quilt. The quilt was originally hung in the 2007 Colorado Quilting Council Quilt Show which was held in the Capitol building. What a fantastic location for a quilt show!

I spied this quilt hanging in the office of the Governor.

Utah-New Mexico Vacation - Part 9

2011-10-23T10:57:00.001-07:00

From Santa Fe, we took a day trip up to Taos. In Taos, we visited the Taos Pueblo. The Taos Pueblo is the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark. The multi-storied adobe buildings have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years.

The Pueblo is made entirely of adobe -- earth mixed with water and straw, then either poured into forms or made into sun-dried bricks. The walls are frequently several feet thick. The roofs of each of the five stories are supported by large timbers hauled down from the mountain forests. Smaller pieces of wood are placed side-by-side on top of the large timbers; then the whole roof is covered with packed dirt. The outside surfaces of the Pueblo are continuously maintained by replastering with think layers of mud. Interior walls are carefully coated with thin washes of white earth to keep them clean and bright. The Pueblo is actually many individual homes, built side-by-side and in layers, with common walls but no connecting doorways. In earlier days there were no doors or windows and entry was gained only from the top.

The North-Side Pueblo is said to be one of the most photographed and painted buildings in the Western Hemisphere. It is the largest multi storied pueblo structure still existing.

The pueblo wall completely encloses the village except at the entrance. The wall used to be much taller for protection from surrounding tribes. The pueblo's primary purpose was for defense. Up to as late as 1900, access to the rooms on lower floors was by ladders on the outside to the roof, and then down an inside ladder. In case of an attack, outside ladders could easily be pulled up.

This is a picture of me with our guide--a university student who supplements his income by narrating tours of the Pueblo. I asked him if he was often asked to pose for pictures with tourists. He told me that yes, he did get lots of requests, but he didn't mind as he thought it was neat to be in photo albums all over the world.

After visiting the Pueblo, we headed into Taos to the Taos Plaza. Our bus parked in a parking lot within walking distance of a quilt shop--Taos Adobe Quilting.
http://www.taosadobequiltingandmore.com/

This is a picture of me outside the shop.

The shop was small but jam packed with colourful fabrics.

I bought a selection of SW Themed fat quarters...

...and a kit to make a pepper table runner. The pattern and fabrics are from a collection called Caliente Peppers by south Sea Imports. We have seen lots of red peppers hanging from buildings and in doorways so this table runner will definitely remind me of my trip to the SW.

Utah-New Mexico Vacation - Part 8

2011-10-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

In Santa Fe, we visited the famous and beautiful Loretto Chapel.

The story of the Loretto Chapel began with the appointment of Bishop Jean Baptisite Lamy to the New Mexico Territory in 1850. The following year, Father Lamy asked the Sisters of Loretto to establish a school for girls in the town of Santa Fe.

In 1853, the Sisters opened the Academy of Our Lady of Light (aka Loretto). Over the next twenty years, the day and boarding school flourished and grew. By 1870, the Sisters believed the school needed a chapel. Funds were raised, land was purchased, and in 1873, work on Loretto Chapel began.

Only as the Chapel neared completion did the Sisters realize that access to the choir loft, 22 feet above, would have to be by ladder. A staircase would take up too much space in the small chapel. Climbing a ladder to the choir loft would be a great difficulty for the Sisters. This posed an impossible dilemma that no architect or carpenter was able to solve.

According to the story, the Sisters, seeking an answer to their architectural design dilemma, made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. Legend says on the ninth and final day of the novena, a man showed up at the chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later the elegant circular staircase was completed and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. Some believe that he was St. Joseph himself.

The staircase is a wonder. Some of the design considerations are said to still perplex experts today. Built without nails (only wooden pegs) the staircase has two 360 degree turns with no visible means of support -- a kind of double helix design -- and with no railing. It was not until 1887 -- ten years after the staircase was completed -- that an artisan added the railing.

There are also design questions about the number of stair risers compared to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction -- some of which appear not to have been available from any known local source.

The staircase in Loretto Chapel is truly a miracle of construction and design.

After visiting Loretto Chapel, we wandered through the shops in the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe.

I didn't find a quilt shop in the Plaza, but I did find these wonderful textiles and quilts hanging outside of a colourful little shop.

Utah-New Mexico Vacation - Part 7

2011-10-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

We travelled along the Turquoise Trail through the Sandia Mountains between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Along the Trail we passed through a tiny town of 132 people called, Madrid.

In the Disney Touchstone Pictures comedy Wild Hogs, starring John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy, four middle-aged wannabe bikers take a road trip from Ohio to the West Coast spending time in New Mexico. The movie was almost entirely filmed in New Mexico.

The majority of the film was shot in the former mining town of Madrid. After the town’s mine closed in the 1800s, it became somewhat of a ghost town until the 1970s when artists began to settle in the village. Today, it is a thriving artists’ colony complete with shops, galleries, restaurants, and bed and breakfasts.

This is a picture of Maggie's Diner that was built specifically as a set for the movie. Today, Maggie's Diner is not a restaurant, but a gift shop dedicated to selling anything, "Wild Hog".

We had fun wandering through the many shops that lined the street.

There is no quilt shop in Madrid. It looks like there is an opportunity to renovate a house like this and open a quilt shop! All the traffic that travels through Madrid, passes right by this front porch. Hmmmmm, consider the possibilities.

Click on the picture below to read the sign. This one made me chuckle.

Utah-New Mexico Vacation - Part 6

2011-10-23T07:02:00.001-07:00

While walking through the vendors' tents on the Fiesta grounds, I came across a tent filled with quilters! I had found the New Mexico Quilters' Association from Albuquerque, NM.

This was the quilt--Spirit of the Fiesta--that was being raffled off.

During our break between events at the Fiesta, we decided to walk from our hotel to a local quilt shop. Google indicated that it was 1.7 miles from our hotel to Southwest Decoratives and that the walk should take us about 35 minutes.

This is a picture of me taken in front of Southwest Decoratives. http://www.swdecoratives.com/

Even though I spent 45 minutes wandering around the shop, I still fell like I could have spent more time there--there was so much to see in this wonderful shop!

This is a picture of my patient husband waiting for me to finish shopping. He doesn't look happy in the picture, but he wasn't feeling 100%--he was fighting a cold. I think he deserves an award for walking with me to the quilt shop in the heat and then waiting patiently while I shopped. I think he is a keeper!

For the most part, this shop carries fabrics and patterns with a Southwest theme.

The walls were covered with quilts that take their inspiration from the local landscape and culture.

I purchased balloon fabrics to make myself a quilt to commemorate our balloon ride. The fabric on the left is from Timeless Treasures. The panel and fabric on the right (view of the tops of balloons) are from Andover Fabrics. I am planning to use the pattern, Sidelights to make my quilt.

This stripe print is called Monument Valley Stripe and is by Michael Miller. Although Monument Valley was not a place that we visited on this trip, the red rock and pictured in this fabric is very typical of the red rock formations that we saw in several places on this trip. My current plan for this print is a Seminole row type quilt.

This shop had the SW inspired quilt, Reflections, draped over a chair and they were selling it as a kit. As I had limited room in my suitcase and because fabric is heavy, I elected to buy the print yardage and pattern only. The fabrics that the shop put with this print in the quilt were solids or near solids and I felt I could purchase those at home. By leaving them behind, I was able to put other fabrics in their place in my suitcase--fabrics that I wouldn't likely be able to get at home.

This print is A Robert Kaufman print called, American Heritage and reminds me of the jewellery made by the native craftsmen that this area is well known for.

The prints in the next picture are of cacti. I also fell in love with the Saguaro Cactus quilt hanger. I don't have a pattern in mind right now for these prints, but I will be keeping my eyes open for something to showcase these interesting prints.

This is a panel of African animals that I will be adding to my African fabric stash for a "someday" quilt that I have planned. :)

These are the patterns that I brought home with me. There were racks of patterns from local designers who are inspired by the native basket, pottery, and weaving designs. I had a difficult time deciding on just a few patterns to bring home.

This Easter Egg pattern is one that I had seen on line in the past but never was able to locate it in my quilt shop back home. I think this will make a cute table topper for spring.

Utah-New Mexico Vacation - Part 5

2011-10-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

Balloon Fiesta kicked off on the morning of Saturday, October 1. We left our hotel at 4:45 am in order to navigate the heavy traffic jamming the roads on the way to the Fiesta field and in order to be in our seats ready to enjoy the Dawn Patrol show at 5:45 am.

Two California balloonists developed position lighting systems that allow balloons to fly at night. Dawn Patrol pilots take off in the dark and fly until it is light enough to see landing sites. Fellow balloonists appreciate the Dawn Patrol because they can watch the balloons and get an early idea of wind speeds and directions at different altitudes.

The Morning Glow then started about 6:30 am. Balloon glows are nighttime static displays of illuminated balloons. "All burns", when all the balloons fire their burners and light up at the same time are spectacular.

In the next picture, balloons are getting ready for Mass Ascension at 7:00 am. During the first day of Fiesta, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta set a new world record for the most hot air balloons launched in one hour with 345 hot air balloons taking to the air in one hour during Mass Ascension on October 1, 2011.

The special shape balloons were a hit with the crowds. Here is Darth Vader, a balloon from Belgium.

This is Spyderpig from Albuquerque.

These are two of the three bees. The red bee on the left is Lilly Little Bee from Jeffersonville, VT. The smaller purple bee on the right is Joelly from Maricopa, AZ.

The is The Stork from Corrales, NM and Iwi The Kiwi from New Zealand.

This is Lady Jester from Albuquerque, NM.

This is Sushi from Incline Valley, NV.

This is Centr Stage from Albuquerque, NM.

This is Airabelle, The Flying Cow from Priddis, Alberta.

Here are all three bees.

This is the Dos Equis balloon with the beer bottle, Select 55 in the background to the left of Dos Equis.

Sometimes the balloons came so close to where we were sitting that it seemed like we should be able to touch them.

The next picture is of a Balloon Fiesta Zebra. Balloon Fiesta Launch Directors (ZEBRAS) are volunteers that coordinate the balloon launch. They handle crowd control, observe pilots , and work with them to get their balloons safely off the ground every morning during Balloon Fiesta.

Every Zebra checks to see that every balloon is airworthy and that there is no damage to the either the envelope or the basket. They then let the pilots know where they will be standing and what hand signals to look for during the launch sequence. They also discuss wind conditions and the traffic directly overhead. The Zebras then walk each pilot out to a clear area near the launch site. When the skyway is clear, the Zebra blows his whistle and gives a “thumbs up” signal letting the pilot know he is clear to take off.

After the Mass Ascension was over and all balloons had launched from Fiesta Park we headed back to our hotel for a much deserved rest. Then it was back to the Park in the late afternoon to get ready for the Twilight Twinkle Show at 5:45 pm. The next picture is of the balloons glowing while they are tethered to the ground in the early evening.

The next picture is of the gas balloons getting ready to launch for the America's Challenge Gas Balloon race.

Gas balloons ascend because the gas inside is less dense and lighter than the air on the outside of the balloon. Heating up regular air makes its molecules expand, becoming lighter than the surrounding atmosphere. That’s what causes hot-air balloons to lift off. Gas balloons used in races such as the Balloon Fiesta’s America’s Challenge use either helium or hydrogen, both lighter-than-air gases in their natural, unheated state.
Gas balloons differ from the hot air balloon that we had our ride in. With both types of flight, pilots try to control their direction by taking advantage of different wind currents at different altitudes. Gas balloon pilots typically started out flying hot-air balloons, and then decided they wanted to be able to fly farther, higher and longer. Because gas balloons cost more to fly, they usually aren’t flown as often. Their flights can last for days, unlike hot-air flights, which usually last about an hour. Gas balloon pilots may prepare for months before a competition, and when they’re racing, they sometimes fly into dangerous weather conditions or over open seas, where an emergency landing could be a disaster. They even have to be careful not to fly over certain countries, where political conditions could make them targets of hostile fire. Gas balloons usually need more people to help with their launch than hot-air balloons. It takes about ten people to launch a gas balloon, according to the Balloon Federation of America, and about half that number to launch a hot-air balloon. For a competition, the gas pilots also use the services of meteorologists. The pilots’ strategies are largely based on weather conditions. The only way they can “steer” a balloon is to catch the best wind currents.

The gas balloon is inflated through a tube, called an appendix, and it takes hours for the inflation to be completed. The appendix stays open during flight to let excess gas escape and keep the balloon from bursting. Pilots make gas balloons rise by dropping weights, called ballast, from the balloon. A ballast is usually sand. The balloonists descend by letting some of the gas out of the envelope through a valve at the top of the balloon in a procedure called valving. There’s usually a cycle to a gas balloon flight. As the sun heats the gas-filled envelope, the balloon gets even more lift and can rise higher, to several thousand feet. At night, the gas inside the balloon cools off, and pilots drop bags of sand to keep from hitting objects on the ground. Then as the sun rises and heats the envelope again, the balloon gains even more lift since its load is lighter. The process usually lasts up to three cycles in a competition. When all the ballast is gone, the pilots have to land.

This year's America's Challenge winners travelled nearly 1,000 miles to near the Canadian border in North Dakota and in doing so, set the new America's Challenge duration record of 71 hours and 31 minutes.

The Evening Glow was followed by a spectacular display of fireworks.

Utah-New Mexico Vacation - Part 4

2011-10-22T07:49:00.003-07:00

One of the destinations for this vacation was Albuquerque--specifically, the 40th Annual International Balloon Fiesta. We had arranged to take a balloon ride on Friday, September 30--the day before the Fiesta started.

We met our pilot and fellow passengers on the Fiesta field before 7 am to organize for our ride. Balloons only launch during the morning hours. As the sun warms the earth during the day the warm air rises creating thermal columns of air which make it very unstable for flying during the day. In the morning and the evening, the thermal activity is minimal and the winds are the calmest.

After arriving at the launch site, the business of setting up the balloon started.

The envelope was removed from the bag and laid out in a long line. The burners are attached to the uprights, and the basket is attached to the cables on the bottom of the envelope.

The balloon was partially inflated with cold air from a gas-powered fan, before the propane burners are used for final inflation.

As you turn around, you can see other balloons in various stages of inflation. There are many excited people on the field now. Even though this is will be my first ride, I can't help but catch the wave of excitement.

Here we are in the basket ready for lift off.

We slowly and gently lifted off the ground. These folks are our chase crew. Our pilot stayed in contact with them as we floated above the city.

Other balloons were launched from the same site as our balloon with passengers like us.

There were just under 30 balloons that launched the same morning as us.

I have a fear of heights but I did not have any problems flying in a balloon. Flying in a high sided balloon basket is not like standing in a roof or a high ladder. You don't get that vertigo feeling. It is more like the ground is unfolding beneath you, and, because you are moving with the wind, you don't feel any wind blowing. The basket does not rock or sway so you can't possibly fall out.

Winds determine a balloon's direction. The pilot can steer a balloon to a limited extent by adjusting the balloon's altitude to make use of different wind speeds and directions.

We were prepared by our pilot for the three "bumps" that we would feel as the basket touched the ground.

After we were helped out of the basket by the chase crew, the balloon came down and the process of packing up the balloon began.

Several of the passengers assisted with the packing up of the balloon.

And finally the balloon and basket are packed away in the trailer and we all headed back to the Fiesta park in the chase vehicle.

This was a fabulous once in a lifetime experience. If you ever get a chance to fly in a a hot air balloon, don't hesitate!

Utah-New Mexico Vacation - Part 3

2011-10-21T16:03:00.002-07:00

No trip to see canyons would be complete without a stop at the Grand Canyon. This picture of my husband and I was taken at Desert View--one of the many viewpoints on the edge of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park.

This is another view of the canyon taken from a viewpoint at Grand Canyon Village, just behind Bright Angel Lodge.

The next photo is taken of the Painted Desert within the Petrified National Park. We had a very brief photo stop in this park.

We really enjoyed our tour of the Acoma Pueblo and Mission, located 1 hour east of Gallup, New Mexico. Acoma Pueblo's Sky City is situated on a 370 foot high mesa. This is the homeland for the Acoma people. There are 300 homes and structures on the mesa which are owned by Acoma women. They are passed down in their families. This is said to be the oldest continually inhabited community in the country, dating from around 1150 AD.

If you click on the next photo, you will be able to see the pueblo on top of the mesa. There were no roads to the top of the mesa until John Wayne came to the Acoma people in the late 50's and wanted to make a movie. The road was the result of a barter for the right to film a John Wayne movie. The "John Wayne Highway"is the primary access point to the top of the mesa today. Most of the 4,000 tribal members live in the nearby villages of McCartys and Acomita--only a handful occupy the mesa on a full-time basis. However, most families maintain homes on the mesa which they use on feast days and as summer getaways. There is no running water or electricity on the mesa and plumbing is accommodated via out-houses located on the mesa rim.

We were provided opportunities to purchase pottery and other art directly from the artists as we walked through the pueblo on our tour.

Utah-New Mexico Vacation - Part 2

2011-10-21T14:52:00.001-07:00

Bryce Canyon National Park was our favorite park that we visited on this trip. The scenery at Bryce takes your breath away!

These pictures were taken from various view points in Bryce Canyon.

This is my husband--standing on the edge of Bryce Canyon.

In the gift shop at the entrance to Bryce there were some quilt kits to make your own souvenir of Bryce Canyon. The kits contained the photo blocks and the pattern. You have to add your own batik fabrics to make the block sashing and quilt borders. I picked up one of these kits.

Who knew that you could find something quilt related in a National Park?

Utah-New Mexico Vacation - Part 1

2011-10-21T06:22:00.003-07:00

We recently returned home from a holiday to the U.S. - a 20 day tour (Sept 21 to Oct 10) that took us south of Saskatchewan through Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico and then back north through Colorado, and the Dakotas to Saskatchewan.

With two cameras between my husband and I, we managed to bring home over 3,000 pictures. It has taken me hours to sort through those pictures to choose just a few to share here on my blog. Even though I thought I was just picking a few pictures, I have ended up with 11 posts!

This was my third tour and my husband's first tour with Ryjo Tours out of Tessier, Saskatchewan. http://www.ryjotours.ca/index.html

The scenery on this trip was constantly changing. We often looked out of the window as we were travelling to see the most interesting landscapes.

This picture was taken near Grand Junction, Colorado.

When we were in Moab, Utah, we visited Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dead Horse Point State Park.

This is a picture of Balanced Rock in Arches.

This is a picture of the famous Delicate Arch, also located in Arches. This is the rock formation that is on the Utah state licence plate.

This is the view from Dead Horse Point State Park. You can see the windy roads that the Jeeps and ATV's travel on to explore the canyons.

These pictures were taken in Canyonlands.

This was a picture I quickly snapped as I was getting back on the bus after a lunch break in Richfield, Utah.

The next two pictures were taken at Red Canyon, just outside of Bryce Canyon National Park.

Line Art / Skinny Strips and a House Warming

2011-10-15T22:32:00.018-07:00

Tonight was the housewarming party for our daughter and her fiance. They took possession of their new house on September 1, 2011.

My daughter had expressed interest in my Line Art / Skinny Strips flimsy when it was on the design wall so I quilted it up and presented it to them as a housewarming gift.

This was the quilt that we worked on in August during Linda's PAR-TAY. http://silverthimblequilting.blogspot.com/2011/08/third-fab-birthday-par-tay-of-2011.html

Fire Escape

2011-09-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you need a project that provides instant gratification on a finish to jump start the creative process. I also wanted to make use of my existing stash.

I have been saving a group of Debbie Mumm fabrics for years--at least 10 years--waiting for just the right pattern to come along.

Terry Atkinson's pattern, Fire Escape was just the ticket to showcase my stack of Debbie Mumm aqua and red fabrics. This pattern uses only 5 - 1 yard cuts of fabric plus one contrasting fabric for the lap size (60" x 72") quilt.

This one is now a finished flimsy and moves to the "to be quilted pile". Let's hope it doesn't spend another 10 years on that pile!

Third FAB Birthday PAR-TAY of 2011

2011-08-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday we celebrated Linda's birthday. Linda is the 3rd FAB to celebrate her birthday this year. Linda's "actual" birthday is August 10th but finding a date that 5 busy people can get together on line always proves to be a challenge. It almost always has to be a Saturday if we want to sew, and we WANTED TO SEW! So a date was picked--August 13 and everyone agreed to be there.

Instead of exchanging challenge projects this year, we have elected to honor the birthday girl and surprise her with something handmade. Gifts were made and mailed to Linda in advance of her party. Saturday morning, the party kicked off with Linda taking opening each of her parcels--in the order they were received. You can take a closer look at all the loot received by Linda by visiting her blog here: http://catsnqlts2.blogspot.com/

Linda is a lover of 30's reproduction fabrics so I knew whatever I made, it had to be made from 30's fabrics. I decided to make some things for Linda that I use a lot myself.

The first thing I made was a mug organizer/pinafore. I have one of these organizers attached to a mug on my sewing desk that is jammed full of all those little items you can't sew without that are easy to loose in a mass of fabric when you are sewing like, a seam ripper, ruler, marking pens, pencil, wooden iron, etc. The pattern was from a kit that I received during a local quilt shop hop some years ago.

The second item I made was a bag for Linda to take her mug to class or guild with her. Our guild charges a quarter for a Styrofoam coffee cup if you forget to bring your own ceramic mug with you to guild as we are trying to promote the green option. I thought Linda's guild might have a similar practice. I told Linda that my mug gets washed when I get home from the guild meeting and it is put right back into its bag along with my name badge so I am ready for the next meeting--just grab my bag and go. I think Linda is going to adopt this process as well. The outside of the bag has a number of pockets--designed to hold a spoon, tea bag, sugar packet, etc. The pattern for the mug tote is from an Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine some years ago.

The pattern that Linda picked for us each to work on after the gift opening was first featured in the Winter 2010 issue of Quilts & More. The pattern was called Line Art in that magazine, with a picture here: http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/magazines/quiltsandmore/color-options-winter-2010_ss10.html
Allpeoplequilt.com has featured a second colourway called, Skinny Strips, with a picture here: http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/projects-ideas/throws-wall-hangings/skinny-strips_1.html.

In true challenge fashion, I was having difficulty trying to decide on what "collection" of strips to use to make my version of this quilt. All I knew for sure was that I wanted to use existing stash--no additional purchases. I cycled through ideas including something patriotic--just red and white, something Hawaiian--using some of my Hawaiian-themed fabrics purchased in Hawaii, and something chicken related--using some of my extensive collection of chicken/rooster fabrics. I finally decided on a fall-themed version on Saturday morning. Nothing like leaving the decision to the last minute! Because I was late in making the decision on which fabrics to use, I was not 100% ready to start sewing when everyone else was ready to sew. Some of my strips were pulled from my totes of pre-cut strips. I did have to cut a few more background pieces and a few more reds, yellows, and browns to complement the strips I already had cut.

Once your strips are cut, this pattern is definitely doable in a weekend. I was able to finish my version of Line Art, aka Skinny Strips Sunday night to the flimsy stage. Here it is:

It was another great day sewing with the FABs. The chatter/conversation that takes place while we sew probably keeps us from performing at peak production since we need to take time out from pushing the fabric through the machine to type-talk, but it is worth it. Another great day enjoyed by all.

Family Barbecue

2011-08-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

Today was a statutory holiday here in Canada.

We were able to get together for a great family barbecue in our backyard and enjoy the great sunny weather. The only ones that couldn't make it today were my daughter and her boyfriend - both had to work.

We took advantage of the opportunity of everyone being together today to take a family photo. Pictured above - front row - left to right: our son's fiance, my mother, my sister-in-law - back row - left to right: my husband, my son, me, my dad, and my brother.

Tomorrow it is back to work. :(

Green Crumb / Ladybug Flimsy

2011-07-31T07:30:00.002-07:00

I spent time working on a super secret project yesterday that I can't say anything about or show any pictures of. However, last night I decided to put the borders on this top and get it moved off the design wall. This is a top made from green crumb blocks. I joined 4 green crumb blocks together to make a 12.5" block and then sashed them with 2.5" yellow strips using red cornerstones. The yellow plays off the daisies in the border print and the red plays off the ladybugs in the border print. This top was completely made from stash.

This top currently measures 63" x 77". Another top finished to the flimsy stage.

Cacti BQ Quilt Flimsy

2011-07-06T20:00:00.009-07:00

I have had my BQ Cacti quilt finished to the flimsy stage for some time now--I just forgot to post it here.

I went with a border from the same fabric as the background. Once quilted, I will be binding with the stripe.

I love this pattern and I can see myself making more of these quilts in the future.

Colour Catcher String Quilt

2011-07-04T20:59:00.044-07:00

First, these are some pictures of our backyard. My plant pots are visible from my kitchen window.

I think of this area as my little sanctuary.

We have been enjoying the feathered visitors to our yard as well.

This weekend was a long weekend for me (I was off from work Friday to Monday). While North and South played on the laptop, I sewed. It seamed appropriate that I was watching North and South--a made-for-TV miniseries about the Civil War during the July 4th (American Independence Day) long weekend. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_and_South_(TV_miniseries)

The center of these blocks are colour catcher string blocks. I pieced my string blocks on used colour catcher foundations. http://www.shoutitout.com/preserve-colors.aspx

My friend, started to call this quilt a "conversation quilt". The strings are from many of the scraps and bits leftover from previous quilt projects. Since each piece has a story to tell, the name conversation quilt was born.

I used all I had of the two black/white fabrics that I purchased last weekend to make this quilt. The quilt is plenty long enough, but it should be a little wider to better fit our bed. A couple of my friends and I were discussing border options on-line. Since this is a conversation quilt, we decided that the quilt would tell us what it needed for borders. We listened, and with the assistance of a friend, I have secured more of the two black and white fabrics. Once the fabrics are received in the mail, I will be making this quilt top two blocks wider. Even though I almost always add at least one border to my quilts, this quilt definitely was not in need of a border.

I used quite a few of the colour catcher string blocks that I had on hand and I still have more left. I will be on the lookout for more quilting ideas to use up the remainder of the blocks so stay tuned for more colour catcher string quilts!

Canada Day

2011-07-01T21:06:00.047-07:00

Happy Canada Day!

We live in a very small town in Canada. Our Canada Day celebrations are proportionate to our population. This is the parade that marched on our small town's Main Street.

My husband and I walked uptown on Canada Day to participate in the celebrations. We enjoyed a piece of this patriotic flag cake that was cut and served by the Mayor and Council members to all who attended the celebrations.

We are not fans of the heavy traffic that seems to be on the roads on long weekends--everyone seems to be headed out of the valley. Because of this, we tend to stay close to home on long weekends. Low key, small town celebrations are just our speed it seems.

Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop

2011-06-25T20:52:00.051-07:00

June 22 to 26, 2011 was the Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop. I have seen this "hop" advertised in previous years, but I never made the trek before now. This year, with my husband and daughter both working on Saturday, I decided I would venture out and use the "hop" as an opportunity to seek out and visit some new quilt shops south of the border.

There were over 50 shops on the list this year. I only visited the 5 shops in the Lynden/Bellingham area: Fourth Corner Quilts and Calico Country in Bellingham and The Needle & I, Folktales, Fabric-Etc, and Tangled Threads in Lynden. I remembered to take along my camera, however, as I went to use it the first time I realized I forgot the memory card at home. :(

I also stopped at Joann's where I purchased the following black/white fabrics. I have a plan in mind for these so they shouldn't sit in the stash for long.

These are some of my other purchases. I am saving animal skin fabrics to make a quilt someday for my daughter. The blue fabric is for a Hawaiian themed quilt I have in the planning stages. The Warm Tater batting is to make a few microwave baked potato cookers. The Shape Cut ruler is something I have wanted for some time and I decided to use my 40% off coupon from Joann's to purchase one.

I also purchased a couple of patterns:

April FAB Birthday Challenge

2011-06-16T20:24:00.056-07:00

Cher's birthday was April 27. Life got in the way and we had to delay birthday party celebrations until June 16. We had one two hour window in the evening on that day where all 5 FABs were available.

Cher opened each present and described the contents in detail until the pictures could be distributed through the e-mail system.

I made Cher place mats. (pattern: Take Four Place Mats by Something Sew Fine / Cary Flanagan). I downloaded the pattern from Quiltwoman.com.

I love the patterns that you can download from Quiltwoman.com--no shipping costs and no waiting for mail delivery to bring the pattern to your house. You place your order on line and shortly thereafter, the pattern is available for printing from your e-mail Inbox.

I made the place mats reversible. Two place mats had Valentine's Day fabric on the back and two place mats had Easter fabric on the back.

To match the fabric on the front and back of each place mat, I made the binding reversible.

For fun and because Cher's birthday is near Easter, I included one Easter place mat / table topper. This Easter Egg pattern was designed by one of our Quilt Guild members during our Guild's Place mat of the Month program this year.

The egg is reversible as well.

My friend started to call these, Cadbury eggs. I think the name is great!

A Short Trip

2011-06-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

DH and I just arrived back home from a quick trip to the Prairies. On our way home we passed through Dog River (Rouleau, Sask)--home of the TV series, Corner Gas.

Town of Rouleau: http://www.townofrouleau.com/

I was glad to hear that the site is being preserved for future filming of new episodes of Corner Gas--not just because I enjoyed watching the show, but because there may be less incentive to tear down this wonderful icon of the Prairie--the old-style wooden grain elevator.

This was DH's first visit to Rouleau since the filming of Corner Gas started so we had to get his picture in front of the "station".

We stopped overnight at Canmore, Alberta. While in Canmore, we looked up the local quilt shop: The Sugar Pine Company. http://www.thesugarpine.com/

The Sugar Pine Company was a featured quilt shop in Quilt Sampler Magazine in 2005.

This quilt shop is located in the Rocky Mountains where there is no shortage of inspirational scenery.

The shop is huge with every nook and cranny full of quilty goodness. I could have stayed for hours, but I promised DH that my visit would be brief. :)

This was a beautiful quilt that showcases everything Alberta - from the wild rose to the oil rig.

I bought a copy of the pattern to make this cute little grain elevator wall hanging. This pattern is called, Golden Harvest and is by Joan's Own Creations (Joan Statz) of Alix, Alberta.

I picked up a kit to make the bear wall hanging in the lower right corner of this photo (wall hanging with two bears in the shadows of the mountains). The pattern is called, Three Sisters and Bears and is by Diane McGregor of Castilleja Cotton in Calgary, Alberta.

I loved this cat wall hanging.

The next morning, we were back on the road - headed through the mountains to home.

Halloween Contemporized Country Squares

2011-06-13T07:17:00.000-07:00

This quilt has been finished since March 22, 2011, but I have neglected to post pictures.

This quilt is made from some of my Halloween fabrics and is called Contemporized Country Squares. I purchased the pattern from The Stitchery while visiting in Alberta last year. http://silverthimblequilting.blogspot.com/2010/08/alberta-holiday-i.html

Cacti BQ Quilt

2011-04-25T21:09:00.005-07:00

Today was the last day of my 5 day Easter weekend holiday. Tomorrow, it is back to my day job. The weekend was filled with the usual weekend activities--laundry, grocery shopping, vacuuming, and dusting. Good Friday we enjoyed a special family meal in celebration of Easter. The extra long weekend also afforded time for quilting.

I finished off a super secret project that I can not share pictures of right now and I worked on a project for me.

While in Arizona in February 2009, I purchased two panels of cacti prints from the Santa Fe fabric line by RJR. I set the blocks together using the BQ pattern from Maple Island Quilts after seeing a quilt made by Kathleen Moorhead Johnson http://www.augustwindquiltdesigns.com/page13.html.

The dark Southwest print to the left of my quilt top is a fabric from the same line as the cacti blocks. Although I purchased this fabric with the intention of using it as a border, I am not sure I like it with this quilt top. I will have to think further on this. Also, I still have some more cacti blocks so I am thinking of adding another row of blocks before calling this one finished.

New Quilting Techniques

2011-04-10T18:00:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I took a class taught by Maureen Wood - http://quiltworx.com/teacher/teacher.php?tchTeacher=maureenwood. The class was was on the Judy Niemeyer quilt, Desert Sky. These are the two blocks I finished in class.

Maureen chose this pattern because it would give us an opportunity to work on two techniques--paper piecing and curved piecing. I thoroughly enjoyed the class! I have dabbled in both techniques in the past but did not enjoy doing them so they remained on my list of things to avoid. Maureen promised us that we would enjoy the hints she had to share and we would leave the class changing our mind about the techniques. Maureen was right! Judy Niemeyer has simplified both techniques to the point that they are almost effortless when done her way.
Something else I have always wanted to do was reversible binding. After researching several sites on the Internet for this technique, I settled on the method described by Betty Cotton.http://www.americaquiltscreatively.com/episodes/AQc_202.pdf

These are photos of my little sample that I made to try out the technique. I will be sure to try this binding technique on a future project where the backing I have chosen dictates a different colour binding than the front of the quilt.

I enjoyed adding these new techniques to my quilting tool kit--paper piecing, curved piecing, and reversible binding. Not bad for a weekend.

JR1600 Progress

2011-03-13T19:05:00.004-07:00

My version of the Jelly Roll 1600 was crying out for something. I quilted my top with swirls and I added a narrow flap of red fabric just before attaching the binding. I am now in the process of adding applique ladybugs to my canvas of green grass.

I am adding 5 ladybugs for the 5 FABs.

My ladybugs are only pinned in place. I will spend evenings doing the hand stitching to fix the bugs in place permanently.

Bridge Creek Blossoms

2011-03-12T20:37:00.004-08:00

Bridge Creek Blossoms is now a finished flimsy!

I was determined to get this top assembled before taking anything down off the design wall. I knew if took the blocks down and put them away, this top would never move out of the UFO stage. This top is huge--finishing at 98 in x 112 in.

Getting the whole top in a picture proved impossible.

This is a closeup of the border fabric. I bought this fabric several years ago because of the Canadian flags. I wanted to make a patriotic quilt, and at that time, it was next to impossible to find fabric with a Canadian flag on it.

Designer: Atkinson Designs - http://www.atkinsondesigns.com/patterns/

First FAB Birthday PAR-TAY of 2011

2011-03-06T18:52:00.002-08:00

In 2008, the FABs started regular quilt challenges. 2011 is the year of the FAB Bday Party Challenge. First up was Pam, with a birthday on January 29 that for 2011 was moved to February 26. By February 26, not all parcels were received yet by Pam so we delayed the birthday party to March 5.

At 7 am Pacific timeon March 5, all FABs were positioned in front of their computer screens, chatting on line as we waited for Pam to open each of her gifts.

Pam is a big ME (Mary Engelbreit) fan. I had scraps of some ME fabrics in my stash and so I used those to make a ME inspired bag. The pattern is called, Market Bag and is a Terry Atkinson design from her book, Let's Do Lunch.

This is one side of the bag.

This is the other side of the bag.

I also made a matching triangle bag. This bag is made from the Humbug bag pattern.

Pam was also the recipient of the 5th pansy project - the first 4 were posted here: http://silverthimblequilting.blogspot.com/2011/02/pansy-finishes.html

These are thumbtacks made from fabric covered buttons.

After the presents were opened, we were on to the rest of the party. After watching the video on Youtube for the Jelly Roll 1600, Pam decided we should all make one of these quilts during her Par-Tay. Pam and Cher used Jelly Rolls, and Linda, Pat, and I used strips cut from our stash.

After joining your 2.5 inch strips together end to end, you will have 1,600 inches of fabric. (Note: Pam used some of her Jelly Roll strips for another project so she made the Jelly Roll 1080). Take the end of your strip and match it to the beginning of your strip and put the pedal to the metal and sew! You will be working on one long seam--800 inches long. You repeat this 5 times and end up with a lap sized quilt. There is to be no pressing of seams until the top is together. This is what my version looked like before pressing.

Within 2.5 hours, all 5 of us had our tops completed. The woman on the video claimed to have made her quilt within 35 minutes. I think it took longer than 35 minutes for me to complete my first seam!

We had a great day sewing together. This project may not have been something that anyone of us might have attempted on our own, but in the spirit of the FABs, we all gave it a try and had a blast doing it!

If you are interested in seeing the lap quilts made by the rest of the FABs, have a look here: Pam, Cher, Linda, Pat

A Fresh Dump of that White Stuff

2011-02-27T13:00:00.001-08:00

This is what we woke up to this morning....

This is a close up shot of some of the snow in our yard.

DH and I decided to bundle up and go for a walk in the snow.

This tree looked so lonely all by itself.

Branches were heavy with snow.

The robins seemed confused by all the snow.

They were puffed up in the trees--trying to stay warm.

This is the tree in our front yard. I don't like snow, but I have to admit that it made this tree look gorgeous.
Some of the streets in our little town.

After our walk, we warmed up with hot chocolate and fresh banana bread.

Today I am wanting to get back to working on my Bridge Creek Blossom quilt. I put the blocks up on the design wall Friday night and played with their placement. As you can see, it is a little hard to lay out the blocks for a queen size quilt on a double size design wall. We'll see how far I get on this top today.

The Drive Home

2011-02-23T17:21:00.001-08:00

These two shots were taken on the drive home from work today.

That is not fog. It is blowing and drifting snow!

It is cold!

More Snow!

2011-02-23T17:06:00.005-08:00

This is what we woke up to.......for the second day in a row!

Oh Spring, where are you?

Snow!

2011-02-21T19:43:00.004-08:00

What a change in weather! We had an absolutely beautiful weekend with lots of sunshine. Today we are back in the grips of winter. The forecast is snow for at least the next 24 hours, then record breaking cold temperatures through the rest of the week.

Machine Quilting

2011-02-20T21:54:00.000-08:00

This morning the weather was fabulous! Wonderful warm sunshine filled my quilt studio.

I have been pushing myself this weekend to get 4 customer quilts quilted.

This morning's sunshine gave me the energy to complete all 4 quilts!

Even Joey enjoyed the warmth of the sun.

All 4 quilts were scrap quilts....

...utilizing everything in the scrap basket.

I also finished a secret project this weekend.....the next FAB challenge. I can't show pictures, because the recipient definitely reads this blog....so stay tuned for the reveal!

Pansy Finishes

2011-02-08T20:14:00.004-08:00

This post is dedicated to Linda who listens to everything I say and members all of it--even all the little boring details! When we were chatting on line tonight, Linda asked if I had posted a picture of my pansy table runner yet. I replied that I hadn't. I mentioned that I was behind on so many of my posts. Linda suggested I talk about the pansy series of projects that I finished, and the connection to pansies in my family. So Linda, here it goes! *VBG*

Back in May 2008, my aunt, my mother, and I took a girls' only road trip to Oregon to visit a part of the country that we had a family connection to--somewhere my mother had visited previously with her father. See the post here:

http://silverthimblequilting.blogspot.com/2008/06/girls-road-trip-fabs-meet-for-first.html

and here:

http://silverthimblequilting.blogspot.com/2008/06/girls-road-trip-part-two.html

We did some fabric shopping at Joann's in Roseburg, Oregon. I fell in love with a fabric collection by Debbie Mumm that featured pansies. Pansies are a flower that links the women in my family. Pansies were a favorite flower of my grandmother, my aunt, my mother, and myself. My grandmother painted pansy pictures for each of us and I always think first of my grandmother when I see pansies.

I recently finished four projects from the pansy fabrics.

The first piece was a table topper that was gifted to my aunt for Christmas this past year.

The second piece in the pansy series was a Disappearing Nine Patch that was gifted to my Mother this past Christmas.

The final two pieces in the series were a lap quilt and table runner for myself.

I am so finished with winter and I am so ready for spring. Rather than put the table runner away until the weather improves and spring actually arrives, I decided to put it out now. It may not be spring outside, but I can make it feel a little like spring inside.

The road trip I mentioned above was where I first met two of the FABs in person--Cher and Pam. So in honor of this meeting, the backing fabric for all of these pieces is purple. After all, purple IS the FAB colour!

These four pieces bring together a lot of symbolism--pansies for the women in my family and the two FAB sisters I met in Oregon that have become such an important part of my extended family, purple to celebrate all five of the FABs which includes those that live in WI and AL, and a wonderful memory of a girls only road trip.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-07T21:15:00.003-08:00

This house is ready for Valentine's Day!

The table topper was finished in 2009: http://silverthimblequilting.blogspot.com/2009/03/cheese-and-crackers-table-toppers.html

The wall hanging was a guild challenge, finished for our guild quilt show in 2008:http://silverthimblequiltingarchive.blogspot.com/2008/10/piecemakers-quilt-show-part-1.html

2011-02-04T19:36:00.006-08:00

This is today's finish--my reward project. After finishing the Snowman Courthouse Steps flimsy (see Jan 23's post), I decided I had earned a reward.

I have been looking at patterns on Quilt Woman.com's site for some time and this morning I ordered 5 of their downloadable patterns. Within 27 minutes of receiving my order, the patterns were in my e-mail inbox. Yes, you have to print them out on your own printer, but you don't have to pay for international shipping and you don't have to wait for weeks for the post office to deliver them to your snailmail mailbox.

This quilt pattern is called Trophy Case and was designed by Barb Sackel. The Valentine fabric featured in this wall quilt was purchased during my first visit to Fabric Depot in May 2008 when I was in Portland, OR. Since this pattern suits a print that you don't want to cut into small pieces and we are in the month of February, a Valentine project seemed in order. I was able to shop my stash for all the go-withs which made it even better. I went from ordering the pattern to finishing the flimsy within one day without leaving the house!

Year of the Cat

2011-02-03T08:18:00.004-08:00

Today may be Chinese New Year's and it may be the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit according to the Chinese Zodiac, but in this house, it is definitely the Year of the Cat!

This is Joey. We adopted Joey from a local farm as a 6 month old kitten in 2004. Joey is such an integral part of this household that I can't imagine what it was like before he joined our family.

Joey is never far away and inserts himself in all activities that take place in this house.

As I sit enjoying my cup of coffee in the wee early hours of the morning, before the sun rises, watching Joey asleep on the back of the couch, I think how lucky I am to have Joey.

2011 The Year of the Cat (YOC) is a Canada-wide initiative orchestrated by Care for Cats whose mission is to encourage individuals to appreciate the feline species and increase more responsible pet ownership which in turn will decrease the daily euthanasia of adoptable cats.

http://www.careforcats.ca/year_of_the_cat/2011_year_of_the_cat.html

If one of these furry creatures is not yet a part of your household, I encourage you to visit your local animal shelter/SPCA and consider adopting a homeless cat/kitten. I assure you that this will be a life-changing event.

Snowman Courthouse Steps Flimsy

2011-01-23T15:20:00.005-08:00

My old, old, old UFO, Snowmen Courthouse Steps is finally a flimsy!

This top has finished at 72" x 100.5".

This finish marks my first finish for 2011 and my first UFO finish towards 11'n'11.

Snowman Courthouse Steps Quilt

2011-01-22T22:32:00.007-08:00

This is a quilt top that I started many years ago. I posted previously about it on March 11, 2006: http://silverthimblequiltingarchive.blogspot.com/2006/03/digital-camera-as-design-wall.html

This quilt also appeared on my list of UFO's that I wanted to finish in 2008: http://silverthimblequiltingarchive.blogspot.com/2007/12/reflecting-on-2007.htmll

I pulled this project out for our guild retreat last Saturday and I got some of the blocks finished. It took me a while to figure out how I was piecing the blocks after having this project sit for so long. I managed to get 2 rows of blocks finished at our day long retreat. I then worked on the remaining 5 blocks Friday night during the Friday Night Sew-In and then finished them and assembled the blocks into rows and joined the rows together on Saturday morning. You can see a couple of pieces of fabric that I am auditioning for borders in the photo: a yellow inner border and a blue outer border vs a yellow inner border and a green outer border.

Once the borders are done later today, I will be ready to think about a "reward project".

These are two snowman panels that surfaced when I was going through my Christmas fabrics in December. These panels have aged in my stash far too long. I am looking for ideas where I can incorporate pre-printed panels in quilts and will be using these panels as "reward projects" soon.

Friday Night Sew-In

2011-01-21T06:13:00.008-08:00

Tonight is Friday Night Sew-In.

Why don't you join me?

Pansy Lap Quilt - Finished Flimsy

2010-12-29T22:20:00.007-08:00

When I was in a local fabric store a month ago, I fell in love with a pansy fabric that was marked down to clear it out as there was less than 2m left on the bolt. I was then on the search for the perfect pattern that would allow me to showcase the gorgeous print with minimal cutting. I found the pattern I was looking for in the Dec/Jan 2011 issue of Quick Quilts (page 14 - Manor House designed by Kari Nichols). This one finishes at approximately 53" x 70"--a perfect lap size.

I am working on the "reward" system right now. If I finish an old UFO, then I get to work on a reward. A reward for me is a simple project - something new - something that will qualify as quick gratification because it is fast - something that I can finish quickly so my reward doesn't turn into another UFO. This pansy project was my reward for finishing my Christmas Patience Corners to the flimsy stage.

I wasn't quite ready to call it a night last night when I had the lap quilt finished so I made this matching candle mat (still a flimsy). This is Sandra E. Andersen's design and is called Candlelight.

This is a picture of the mountain that I can see from our living room window. We woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground this morning. The snow on our lawn was gone before noon, but the snow remains on the nearby mountains.

Patience Corners Christmas Quilt - Flimsy

2010-12-27T22:17:00.002-08:00

My Patience Corners Christmas quilt is finally finished to the flimsy stage.

This quilt finished at 95" x 107".

The inspiration for this quilt was Finn -- http://finnleah.blogspot.com/. I started this project in December 2006 shortly after Finn's post about her Patience Corners quilt. http://finnleah.blogspot.com/2006/12/as-per-normas-request.html The scrap fabrics are all from my stash -- many leftover from larger projects -- and the border was one of my bargain purchases at Liquidation World in December 2007. http://silverthimblequiltingarchive.blogspot.com/2007/12/stash-busting-efforts.html

Thanks for the inspiration Finn!

Patience Corners Christmas Quilt

2010-12-19T20:58:00.005-08:00

I finally finished putting together the blocks for my Patience Corners Christmas Quilt.

Next up................a red inner border and a poinsettia outer border.

I want to start a new project as a reward for finishing this one so the borders will be going on soon.

I am back to working on the "reward" system. :)

It isn't Christmas until the train comes to town!

2010-12-17T19:54:00.004-08:00

Greeting the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train (http://www8.cpr.ca/cms/English/General+Public/Holiday+Train/default.htm) has become one of our families' Christmas Traditions.

The CP Holiday Train travels across Canada stopping at many communities along the way to share a short Christmas program and to collect money and non perishable food items for local food banks.

This year the weather cooperated--it was a night without wind, rain, and snow.

These are some of the pictures I took of the decorated rail cars.

One of the boxcars holds the entertainers. This year's entertainment was provided by, The Odds. http://www8.cpr.ca/cms/English/General+Public/Holiday+Train/Bios/default.htm

Even the jolly red guy made an appearance!

New Pattern and an Old UFO

2010-12-04T21:43:00.005-08:00

I have been working on a new pattern: Right Angles by Anne Wiens of Sweetgrass Creative Designs. The pattern can be purchased from quiltwoman.com at http://quiltwoman.com/Right-Angles-Quilt-Pattern.aspx

I finished the washing and pressing of the yardage and initial cutting to kit up this project for construction today. Then today after having my morning coffee, I was ready to assemble. Tonight I have a finished flimsy.

In hind sight, I should have used a darker brown to give the design more definition. However, this was the brown I had in my stash. I was determined to shop the stash and not purchase any fabric so IIWII. I have some ideas that I am exploring to extend the snow on the branches in the inner panel out to the borders. I will machine quilt this piece first and then explore the embellishment ideas further. After getting the flimsy done, I dug out a very old UFO. This is my Finn-inspired Christmas Patience Corners. http://finnleah.blogspot.com/2006/12/finally-something-quilty.html I started this quilt back in 2006 after seeing the Patience Corners quilt that Finn showed on her blog. I have the borders attached to my squares and this much of the top assembled. It should not take much longer to get this one finished to the flimsy stage.

Linda http://catsnqlts2.blogspot.com/ kept me company today as I sewed. Linda completed her flimsy--Prairie Window--on Friday and she is now working on her Christmas Patience Corners quilt. We have both had a chance to play with a new pattern, now it is time to buckle down and get these Christmas Patience Corners quilts finished and on the bed.

Back Yard Visitor

2010-12-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

This was the visitor to our backyard today - a beautiful Flicker.

Halloween Quilt Projects

2010-08-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

I started working on a series of Halloween quilts. I have a stash of Halloween fabrics left from previous projects, so I pulled them out and started working with them.

The first project I started was Scrappy Log Cabin by Two Kwik Quilters. I was anxious to try this pattern because a couple of friends from my Monday Night Quilt Group had already made lap quilts from the pattern with great success. http://www.twokwikquilters.net/id63.html

My Scrappy Log Cabin project is finished to the inner border stage. I have an idea for the outer border that was inspired by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran in their Collaborative Quilting book. Because the blocks for this quilt are a bit wonky, I thought I would refer to the Queens of wonky piecing, Gwen and Freddy to find a suitable border treatment. I may consider putting some Linda inspired blocks in the corners of the Gwen and Freddy inspired outer border.

While I was putting the narrow green border on the Scrappy Log Cabin, I remembered that I had some leftover blocks from the queen size All About Me Halloween quilt that I made two years ago. I thought I might be able to incorporate these blocks into the back of the Scrappy Log Cabin. I started putting the blocks up on the design wall and I realized that I had more blocks than I remembered. In fact, I had enough blocks to make another lap quilt. So before I finished the borders on the Scrappy Log Cabin, I switched gears and assembled the lap size All About Me Halloween quilt.

I love the pumpkin border fabric on this quilt. It is a Debbie Taylor-Kerman fabric from her Spooktacular line by Henry Glass Co. If you double click on the photo you might be able to see the mice peeking out from under the pumpkins.

While I was working on both the Scrappy Log Cabin project and the All About Me project, I started to think about the new pattern I bought on my recent vacation to Alberta by Joanie Morrow--Contemporized Country Squares. I still had some Halloween fabrics left in my stash so I made 6 test blocks. The blocks are large--11.5 inches, but perfect to showcase a novelty print. I love the test blocks so I will definitely be making some more blocks from this pattern. Our little on-line group of quilting friends has started calling this easily distracted type of quilting, "serial quilting." I have heard some quilters refer to themselves as having some sort of attention deficit disorder which leads them to start multiple projects at once. I prefer to call this, serial quilting as I think it has a more positive tone. This is the way my quilting mind works--always thinking of the next project. After all, I started out to make one Halloween quilt and now I have three Halloween quilts on the go.

In the end it really doesn't matter what you call it as long as you have fun....right? And I am having fun!

First Sockeye of the Season

2010-08-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sockeye season is open here in BC! We have not had a sports fisherman Sockeye opening for 4 years so this is a momentous occasion!

We love barbecued salmon, so to celebrate the opening, we had some fresh Sockeye on the grill.

My husband is the official chef when it comes to cooking fish.
Yummy! We tried a new recipe this time that used peaches in the grilling process.

There were a lot of smiles around this table!

Paddlewheeler Cruise

2010-08-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

On the last day of our holiday, we took a paddlewheeler cruise on Harrison Lake. Harrison Lake is the largest lake in the Coast Mountains of BC at 250 square km in area--60 km long and 9 km wide at its widest point.

Harrison Lake has two large islands in the center of it; the largest being Long Island, 9.5 km long and 2.6 km wide, and Echo Island which is south of Long Island and 4 km long and 2.2 km wide.

We spent the entire day aboard this vessel: the MV Native. This is the view of Harrison Village as we looked back after leaving the dock as we headed to the Harrison River.

This is the point where the Harrison Lake meets the Harrison River. It is possible to travel from Harrison Lake, down the Harrison River to the Fraser River, and eventually the Pacific Ocean.

We watched a barge move its log boom.

We were in search of pictographs. We found them on this rock.

You really need to know where to look for the pictographs as they are faint and not easy to spot.

After locating the pictographs, we turned around and headed back to Harrison Lake. If you look through the opening in these trees towards Harrison Lake, you can see two islands that are faint in the center of this photo. These islands are Camile Island (smallest island on the right) and Marguerite Island (larger island to the left of Camile). These islands were named for Miss Margaret de Gusseme who managed the Harrison Hot Springs Resort from when it first opened in 1926 until her death in 1946 and her sister Camile who was the hotel's assistant manager. Margaret did a lot to promote the Resort worldwide. The Island to the left of Camile and Marguerite is Echo Island. Only the tip of Echo Island is visible in this picture.

These purple buildings are part of Elfinlau (aka Purple Palace). Elfinlau is a bed and breakfast on Echo Island in the middle of Harrison Lake that is only accessible by water. http://www.elfinlau.com/

The rock on the left side of this next picture is Echo Rock. As we sat in the bay here, the Captain let off his boat whistle and we heard an immediate and clear echo return to us. In the upper right hand corner of this picture you can see Owl rock.

This is a close up of Owl rock.

It was surprising how many homes and cottages are located on the shores of Harrison Lake--especially given that many of these homes are only accessible by water. These residences are located in Cascade Bay which is on the east side of Harrison Lake.

The air was smoky the day we cruised the lake. You can really see the smoke in this picture. The mountains are almost totally obliterated from view. The smoke is from the many forest fires that continue to burn in our province.

We had a great time cruising the lake. Our only regret was the amount of smoke that made it hard to see the distant mountains.

Alberta Holiday - Part II

2010-08-15T19:51:00.010-07:00

We left the reunion location in Alberta on August 2nd--the Monday of the August long weekend. We headed home via Kelowna.

While in Kelowna, we had opportunity to check out the local quilt shops. First up was Findlay's. http://www.findlaysvacsew.com/ This shop is primarily a sewing machine dealer. They have a few nice shop samples and some yard goods, but the selection is limited.
Our second stop was Linda's. http://www.lindasquiltshoppe.com/

As soon as we parked, my husband noticed the sign.....

.......and made some comment like, "It looks like you only get 15 minutes here!" As he laughed, I had him turn around and look at the parking stall that we had parked in....

................"Correction! I get 1 hour here!" Now who had the last laugh? LOL

Seriously, an hour would never have been enough time to do this shop justice. The staff here were fantastic. I was treated to a tour of the shop, including the classroom.

As it turns out, one of the ladies I had travelled on the bus trip to the Sisters' quilt show with 5 years ago is a regular teacher here. I was thrilled to see Laurie's quilts. We'll have to see if I can get back to Kelowna sometime in the future for one of Laurie's weekend classes.

I loved this picnic display by the front door. They used food fabrics as the food on the table--too cute.

This African panel was one of the purchases I made at Linda's. I have been collecting African themed fabrics for a while to make a quilt for my daughter.

This ruler was also a purchase made at Linda's. They had a sample in the shop made using this ruler. You fuse two fabrics together and then fold and use the ruler to make the cuts. Once the fabric is cut, you fold the pieces and you end up with a Seminole pieced look.

By this time we were hungry for some lunch. I asked my husband what he felt like having for lunch. He replied that he could really go for Wendy's. Well, wouldn't you know it, in the same parking lot as the Wendy's was another quilt shop. http://www.cottagequiltingonline.com/
This was a nice shop, but it didn't have near the selection and samples as Linda's.

Then we headed out of Kelowna down the Okanagan Lake. We stopped at Agriculture Canada's Research Station in Summerland. http://www4.agr.gc.ca/AAFC-AAC/display-afficher.do?id=1180620561099 They have a gorgeous display garden there. The view of the lake would have been incredible had it not been for the thick smoke from the forest fires in BC that blanketed the lake and obscured the view. None the less, we enjoyed walking around the gardens before getting back in the truck and heading home.

This was a great holiday!

Alberta Holiday - Part I

2010-08-15T18:57:00.014-07:00

We had a bit of a holiday at the end of July / beginning of August. My husband's family was having their family reunion in Alberta over the long weekend in August. We headed out from home on July 29. We started out early in the morning (5 am) to ensure we beat any long weekend traffic. We found that we had the road to ourselves until about 11 in the morning. By the time we hit Salmon Arm we were in need of a gas station. My husband spied a Chevron across the highway. When we turned to go around the block so that we could easily enter the lot, we passed by a quilt shop! Given that we were already stopped, my husband agreed that I could have a few minutes to look around in this shop.
http://www.sewingbasket.ca/

This is my husband patiently reading the paper in our truck in front of the quilt shop.

This butterfly quilt pattern was my only purchase despite the tempting kits and fabrics in this shop. This was a great shop and worth the stop if you are ever passing through Salmon Arm. Just suggest to your driver that he needs to fill up at the Chevron and you can quickly dart across the lot to the quilt shop just around the corner! LOL

We spent our fist night in Golden. Look at who joined us--three Model A's from Wichita, Kansas. These cars were not hauled to BC from Kansas on the back of flat deck trucks; they were driven there by their owners. I had a chance to chat with the couples who were traveling in these vintage cars. They said they were headed to Whistler. They had seen Whistler on TV during the Winter Olympics and decided to make the trip. They had plans to spend a week on the BC coast and then head home to Kansas. They said it was hot travelling--no a/c.

At some point in the night, this model A truck showed up. I couldn't resist taking a picture of our modern truck next to this antique truck.

Then we headed out over the Rockies.....through the Parks......

.......... to the canola fields of Alberta.

During breakfast on Saturday morning at the reunion, one of my husband's cousins approached me because she had heard I was a quilter. It turns out that she is a quilter too--from Saskatchewan.

The evening before, I had found a quilt shop in Olds when we were out looking for a place to have dinner. Unfortunately, it was just 15 minutes before closing on Friday night when we drove by. I convinced my husband to stop so that I could check the shop out and determine if it was worth coming back the next day. Even though I only had just a few minutes to check the shop out, I was able to determine that I needed to come back the following day for a proper look around. When I mentioned this to my new quilting buddy, Linda, an alliance was formed and we made plans to head to town later that afternoon when the men were out touring the tractor collection at a neighbouring farm. Erica managed to convince another cousin, Gloria to come along with us. Gloria isn't a quilter yet, but I am sure she will be soon after shopping with Erica and I!

The shop we stopped at was The Quilting Bee. http://thequiltingbee.danemcoweb.com/ This is a picture of myself, Erica, and Gloria. Erica is holding the cute cherry pie pincushion that she fell in love with.

This shop had these wonderful Hawaiian inspired quilts - one was butterflies and the other was Hibiscus. These quilts were available in kits with all the cutting done for you! The appliques are attached using fusible web with a raw edge technique.

These are some photos of the inside of the shop. You can see why I needed to come back to this shop for a much better look!

You can see Anita in the background of this picture working the till. Anita was so friendly and helpful. She told us of another shop just outside of town that we had to go visit next.

Gloria and Erica with bags in hand after the "damage" was done! .

I purchased supplies to make this cute little wool table topper at The Quilting Bee.

I also picked up some red and white fabrics to go with the red work pieces I have been working on. The floral Narcissus fabric was in the back of the shop in the sale area and I couldn't resist. Then because we still had time before supper was going to be served that night, the three of us headed off to our second stop....The Stitchery which is located just two miles out of town.

This is a very nice shop and well worth the stop. The shop is owned by designers, Joanie and Kelsey Morrow. This very talented mother and daughter team have a great selection of ready made quilted items for sale as well as country styled fabric on the bolt and their own patterns. We were given a tour of the back room and shown the unique creations of this talented team of designers. I fell in love with three of their patterns.

These were my Stitchery purchases--three patterns and a quilt kit. The Penny Paws quilt is the kit complete with all the wool felt, buttons, and threads required to complete the table topper. What a perfect quilt for a cat loving, black cat owner! I have plans to customize one of the cats on this little topper with green button eyes so he looks like my Joey.

Sunday afternoon, our host families at the reunion arranged for rides in the surrounding countryside in this wagon pulled by a perfectly matched team of Percherons.

Seeing these horses brought back fond memories of being on my aunt and uncle's farm in Saskatchewan when I was growing up. My aunt and uncle were Percheron breeders and I was fortunate enough to spend time during more than one summer showing these wonderful animals at local fairs in Saskatchewan.

Daisy Chain Flimsy

2010-07-25T07:26:00.004-07:00

Yesterday I finished my Daisy Chain quilt to the flimsy stage. This top now measures 84 inches x 106 inches.

This is a project that I started on December 26, 2009 with my good friend, Linda. The blocks for this quilt have been assembled into rows for some time. As usual, progress on the quilt stopped at attaching the borders. With the last of the "I Love Lucy" reruns playing on my laptop yesterday, I finished off this top.

I took this picture this morning. As you can see, we are in for another great day here--not a cloud in the sky!

Can you see who wanted to get in on the photo action? The cat under the quilt is a stray that has adopted our family and lives in our yard. We have started calling him, "Rambo". Rambo desperately wants a family of his own. We can't bring Rambo inside as it upsets Joey to have another cat in the house. So, Rambo lives in the yard and Joey lives in the house and they talk to one another through the glass.
The border fabric is a Hoffman print that has been aging in my stash for quite some time--just waiting for this project to come along.

When I asked my husband last night if he liked this one, he first asked if it was for him. Why is it when you are looking for feedback, they want to know if it is for them? I told him it could be for our bed and then yes, it would be for him and me.....but that was not really answering the question. Then he replied that he wasn't sure he liked yellow and green together? I asked him if he didn't think this quilt looked summery. I am not sure I totally heard the answer, nor did I ask him to repeat it. My daughter came by and told me that she likes it. Mental note to self.....don't ask husband for opinions on my quilts....stick with daughter's opinions! LOL

Car Show on a Sunny Day

2010-07-18T20:25:00.006-07:00

Today was the most beautiful sunny day. My husband and I walked up to our Main Street to see the classic / collector cars that were on display.

We each found our personal favorites and vehicles that reminded us of the cars of our youth.

We had a wonderful time walking up and down the street admiring the hard work that had been put into restoring these wonderful vehicles.

Colour Catcher String Flimsy

2010-07-18T20:01:00.003-07:00

This is a picture of my latest flimsy finish - another Colour Catcher String quilt.

I have been using used Colour Catchers as string block foundations for some time now. Between other projects or when I am in a creative slump and I can't come up with anything else to work on, I mindlessly piece strings to the Colour Catcher foundations.

I usually get stuck on the borders of a quilt. I was busy watching old re-runs of "I Love Lucy" on Friday night while I worked on the borders of this quilt. Before I knew it, I had a finished flimsy. A little laughter at the timeless comedy antics of Lucy and Desi made me forget how boring I find attaching bindings. This quilt will be a perfect utility quilt for the winter when we are looking for an extra quilt on the bed.

This top now measures 97" x 104".

I love the lime green border fabric. Lime green is my favorite colour and I couldn't resist using this fabric as the cornerstones and border to set off these colourful blocks.

Happy Birthday

2010-07-11T07:57:00.006-07:00

We celebrated my husband's birthday last night with a traditional family meal. The weather has been great this past week so we were able to cook and eat outdoors in the backyard. Summer living is great.

This is my husband and my son--two peas in a pod.

The two peas, and my daughter. I never seem to have enough pictures of my three favorite people!

This is a photo from my garden. I have been keeping an eye on this Hydrangea bush--it does not like the intense heat we have been experiencing lately and so I have been giving it extra water to help preserve those gorgeous blooms.

Design Wall

2010-07-10T21:11:00.005-07:00

I have never had a design wall before. I have always laid my blocks out on the floor to tweak the arrangement. A design floor is a disadvantage if you have a cat. As soon as I have my blocks arranged on the floor, Joey thinks it is time to play and he runs and slides through the middle of the blocks.

This week, I asked my husband if he would help me put up a design wall in my sewing room. The wall directly across from where my sewing machine sits was blank. I can't put a piece of furniture against that wall as there is an outside door to the left of that wall and a closet door to the right. When both doors are open, the space between the doors is only about 10" wide. Since it is hard to find a piece of furniture that is only 10" wide, that wall remained empty. The wall was really a waste of space and seemed to be crying out for a purpose.

We purchased three sheets of Styrofoam insulation and covered them with an extra wide piece of flannel. We had to work around an outlet on that wall. When the Styrofoam was turned, it fit perfectly in the space. No trimming of the Styrofoam was required and the electrical outlet was not covered.

My husband wanted to see "how the wall worked" so I added my Bridge Creek Blossom blocks to the wall. It works perfectly (as I knew it would).

My husband kept referring to this as my "feature wall". I guess it really is a feature wall since it features prominently in my sewing space. My son was home tonight and said he likes my "inspiration wall". Certainly, being able to look at my work in progress as I sew, should serve as inspiration. So I guess it is a design wall, feature wall, and inspiration wall all in one!

Using up Scraps and Strings

2010-06-12T08:36:00.003-07:00

I am determined to use up every last string and scrap in my studio! To that end, I have been continuing to work on these string scrappy chevron Log Cabin blocks. I have finished 74 - 9.5 inch blocks so far. By my calculations, I need 11 more of these blocks to make a large queen or king sized quilt top.

I have also been working on a new scrap block (like the block to the right in the photo below). These blocks are fast to make and are great to make when you want to use up those strata trimmings left from all those other projects. I find that if I use Ellen's Best Press on the block when I am finished piecing, I can flatten out those bulky seams so they are super flat and ensure a perfectly square block once trimmed.

This picture shows what a group of nine blocks might look like if they were pieced together without any sashing.

I am determined to leave no string or scrap behind!

Bridge Creek Blossoms

2010-06-12T07:32:00.003-07:00

Linda and I are working on another Atkinson Design pattern: Bridge Creek Blossoms. http://www.atkinsondesigns.com/patterns/patternDetail.asp?productID=144

We were supposed to start this one together last Friday, but my day job got in the way of those plans as I ended up having to work. We did work on this project a bit last weekend, but not like we like to, which is all day, uninterrupted.

I am planning to work on more blocks to put towards this project today - between the regular domestic chores that compete for my time each weekend - laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning house, etc.

This is a picture of the progress that I have made so far - 10 of the 50 blocks required to make this a queen size. I was originally going to make this one lap size, but I have enough fabrics in my stash to make more blocks so why not go for it, and make the queen size, right?

This project sort of counts as a patriotic project. If you double click on the picture, you should be able to see the Canadian flags in the bouquets on the border print. Canadians are a bit quiet and subdued about putting their flag out there front and center. When I bought this fabric more than 3 years ago, I wanted to make a patriotic quilt and I was unable to find any fabric with the Canadian flag on it. Of course, in the last year, that has all changed with the focus we had last winter on the Winter Olympics. Now I am seeing Canadian flag fabric everywhere!

Addition of the Quilting Annex

2010-05-30T19:51:00.001-07:00

Our son bought his own place and moved out on his own in April. When he was living at home, his bedroom was the room just off my studio. Once the space was vacated, I seized the opportunity to occupy the additional real estate and my Quilting Annex was born!

My husband and I got busy and painted the walls in the new space and made a trip to IKEA to buy some more cabinets to add much needed storage. These are pictures of the new space.

This is the view you see as you enter my longarm studio. To the right is the door to my new Quilting Annex.

This is the view from across the room looking back towards the door into my longarm studio.

This is the view from the side of the longarm studio. The picture was taken while standing in the doorway of the Annex.

This is the view of the opposite side of the room looking into the Annex.

This is a picture taken from inside the Quilting Annex. Storage surrounds my worktable.

The bottom half of the shelving units houses my stash. Fabrics in my stash are organized in colour groupings. The top sections of the shelving units are open and house UFO's and fabrics that have been committed to projects not yet started.

The white boxes in this picture house UFO's. The clear totes to the right of the white boxes house strips and squares organized in various size groupings. These boxes are used to make the scrap quilts that I love so much.

I have room for all my quilting books and magazines within reach of my worktable.

And here I am working on my Scrap Chevron Log Cabin blocks. You can see my laptop on my work surface. My laptop allows me to quilt and chat with my quilting friends living in Alabama, Oregon, and Wisconsin via Messenger.

A tour of my studio would not be complete without checking in with Joey. This is Joey's favorite spot to sit in my studio--the windowsill. From this vantage point Joey can keep an eye on everything that moves through the yard and down the street.

This picture is for Linda. Our rhubarb seems to be enjoying the rainy weather we have had this spring. Those large leaves are so suited to trapping the rain. Rhubarb grows like a weed here. I wish I could send you some, Linda!

Progress on my Seminole Quilt

2010-05-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

This is my Seminole quilt so far.

I ended up re-doing the first row. The fabrics I had originally made this row from ended up blending together too much - not near enough contrast.

The problem I had with this quilt was that I had way too many chicken fabrics that I wanted to add to this project. I kept adding bits from my stash and in the end I have ended up with a piece that is 42" x 71". At this point I should be adding borders. However, to keep this quilt from being just a long skinny quilt, I may have to add some Seminole piecing to the side(s) before adding the borders.

This project has really challenged me. I continued to modify, rearrange and change options right up until all the rows were finally sewn together. As I took the picture tonight of the progress so far I find myself contemplating more options. This project will definitely not be "finished" for a while yet!

Seminole Workshop

2010-05-09T23:02:00.005-07:00

On Saturday, I attended Carol Piercy's Seminole Cinco workshop. The first two pictures are of Carol's quilts. These quilts were beautiful -- far more beautiful than they are showing up in these pictures.

To see more of Carol's great quilts, visit her website at: http://www.carolsquilts.ca/

Carol is a great teacher. She showed us a few tricks that we can use in the assembly of our Seminole pieced rows. Several people could be heard oohing and ahhhing as she explained some techniques that make assembly of the rows so much easier.

I decided to use some of my chicken fabric collection and this is what I have come up with so far. I have two complete rows of Seminole piecing and part of a third row complete. There are 5 Seminole pieced rows and several filler rows between those rows in this particular quilt pattern.

I have started to lay out my pieced rows and filler bits on my design floor to see what my quilt might look like. Carol warned us that it would take a while to figure out the order that we might want to sew our rows together. Carol explained how to audition the various colours and fabrics for our rows so that we can achieve balance in our finished project.

This was an excellent workshop! I have already picked out the next piece of border fabric from my stash that will be the inspiration point for my next Seminole quilt.

And lastly, a picture of blossoms on my African Violet. The contrast of the purple flowers against the deep green leaves is beautiful!

Strips, Strings, and Leftovers

2010-05-05T19:07:00.003-07:00

I have been busy playing with my bin of strips, strings, and bits again. I love making blocks from that jumble of fabric. This time, I have been making half log cabin blocks. These blocks are rather mindless and low stress. There is no matching of intersections or points, just fun sewing! Once I had a few blocks made, I tried out some layouts on the "design floor".

This layout was inspired by, "Mumbo Gumbo".

Linda thought this layout looked a little dimensional--like blocks that are overlapping one another.

This is my favorite layout--on point in a chevron design.

The funny thing about that bin of strips, strings, and leftovers--no matter how many blocks I make, the pile does not seem to go down at all! I swear these things multiply when you aren't looking!

Stitchery, Redwork, and Baby Quilt

2010-04-25T19:19:00.007-07:00

It has been a busy few weeks. I do have something to show for my efforts though.

This is a Nancy Halvorsen design from her book, Calendar Quilts & Stitcheries. The stitcheries are originally quite small and have been re-sized to fit an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper. This was the block for March. I started working on this block at the beginning of March but I finished it off this weekend. It still needs the ties added to the kite string but I will put those on after this piece is quilted. At the rate I am working on these, I will not keep up to completing one each month.

I have a co-worker that is expecting in the month of June. This quilt top was finished to the flimsy stage last weekend. The pattern is Naptime from an old issue of Quiltmaker that was published back in 1999.

I wanted some jungle animal fabric for the back as the yellow fabric that I used on the front is an animal skin print and there are paw prints on the red that I used. Today, my daughter and I found this cute jungle flannel print at our local fabric outlet.

Saturday, Linda and I worked at getting our Alex Anderson heart stitchery blocks set into quilt tops. This was a day that we had set aside some time ago to work on this project. Both Linda and I seem to make good progress on these "focused" days. I had supper cooking in the crock pot so I was able to devote the entire day to quilting--finishing by 11:30 at night.

Linda and I wanted something different than the setting that Alex showed on her website for these blocks--a rail fence sashing with nine patch cornerstones. Linda drafted a number of choices of settings and this was my favorite.

This is the red fabric that I used in my alternate blocks. From a distance it reads as a solid, but it does have a subtle heart pattern to it. The border fabric was shown in a previous post on March 28. The idea is to get this top quilted before Valentine's Day next February.

Challenges

2010-04-05T07:40:00.006-07:00

I love a quilting challenge. When the opportunity to participate in a challenge comes my way, I am right there, ready to sign up.

Last summer when the FABs were together for our first retreat, two members, Linda and Pam were ready with a challenge for the group and the, "Baby it's cold outside!!!" challenge was launched.

We were each provided 1 yard of soft lilac fabric - not blue and not purple, but somewhere in between the two colours. (Finding some fabric to go with the challenge fabric proved to be a challenge in itself. During my quest for just the right "go withs", I found several fabrics that I loved but were either too blue or too purple to go with the challenge yardage.)

The rules were wonderful and included a comment that "rules were meant to be slightly torqued".
* Have fun
* Procrastinate (up to one day prior to mailing is quite acceptable.)
* Let your imagination soar--BE CREATIVE
* TRY to keep it a secret

Well, I definitely followed the rules. The challenge was a blast. I definitely procrastinated. Even though we had months to finish our challenge project, I took the last stitches on my project on January 31, 2010. The mailing deadline was February 1st and my project was mailed on that date. I changed my mind so many times during the months leading up to the deadline that I feel like I was really exploring my creative side. Each idea that I came up with seemed better than the last until finally time dictated exactly what I was going to work on as there was no time left to change my mind again. I was able to keep my project a secret from Linda although it was really hard. Linda and I are used to collaborating on our projects and not being able to share photos and comments about what I was working on with her was a challenge in itself!

Finally, this is what I came up with for my challenge partner, Linda. I know that Linda has space limitations in her house so I wanted to make sure I was going to be giving Linda something that she could use, not something that she would be stuck trying to find room for in her house. I know that Linda does use placemats so that was the first project I made. The mauve portion of the placemats was the challenge fabric. When the weather is cold outside, my thoughts go to Spring and warmer weather so I included pieces of floral fabrics. My fabrics were not just any florals though--they were scraps from the last project that Linda and I worked on together. This was a subtle part of the project that was not lost on Linda. When Linda opened her package, she immediately recognized those florals as being part of my Daisy Chain project which we recently worked on in January. I quilted the placemats with narrow parallel stitch lines - 1/2" apart. I love dense quilting and I wanted to include that element in my project. I finished off my project by washing the placemats to give them that antique crinkled look that I love. But, I was not done. One of the things I like to do in a challenge where I am provided with a fabric is to use as much of it up as possible. So, I made a second project. Remember I said I had a tough time coming up with the "go with" fabrics? After I had the placemat tops pieced, I found the perfect piece of fabric in the fabric shop that went with the challenge fabric. It was a gorgeous butterfly fabric. Using what I had left of the challenge fabric I made Linda a tote. This tote pattern is one I have made several times before. It uses denim for the base and web handles that completely envelop the bag. It is a very sturdy tote, perfect for filling with books. You can't see the challenge fabric in this picture as it is actually the lining for the tote.

This is the gift that I received from Pat in the exchange. Pat used the challenge fabric on the fish and in the pieced border. Pat made sure she included fish in my project as she knows only too well about my husband's love of fish. Pat was very thoughtful in making sure she considered my husband in my project. Pat included the perfect finishing touches, quilting that looks like water and beads for the fish "bubbles". I love my quilt. This quilt reminds me of the water around a tropical island which is where I would definitely like to head, "When baby it's cold outside!"

We have already launched the next FAB challenge, which will be the fourth challenge our group has done. The theme of this one, is "Fall". We have until September 15, 2010 to mail our project to our partner. .....and the best part, that is it for the rules! We don't have any challenge fabric that we have to work with. And we are only limited by our own creativity. Fall can be Halloween, schoolhouses, leaves, thanksgiving, and fabric prints that encompass fall coloured fabrics and images. I am going to have fun with this one. I love fall and I have a ton of fabrics in my stash that are screaming to be used in this challenge!

The last challenge that I am working on is for our Quilt Guild's fall show. We were given a piece of batik fabric, 6" x 21" (picture below). The theme is, "Circles in the Valley". The quilt can be no smaller than 14" square and no larger than 48" square. We must use at least half of the challenge fabric and it must be very visible and large enough to be identifiable. Each quilt must include a minimum of one circle and it cannot be any smaller than 1.5" in diameter. We are allowed to make this one of our own designs or use a commercial pattern as long as we identify our source on the label. I am so grateful that this is not a challenge that Linda is participating in as I have been using her talents big time on this one--she is my main resource. This morning Linda and I have been busy sharing ideas back and forth. Sorry, I can't share more details than that as I know several of my fellow guild members follow my blog.

There is nothing better than a challenge to get the creative juices flowing.

The Calm After the Storm

2010-04-03T19:27:00.004-07:00

We have had the strangest weather recently....cold, rain, high winds, hail, and fresh snow in the mountains. These pictures were taken this afternoon during a brief period of sunshine when the storm stopped and we could enjoy a moment of Spring before another storm rolled in.

Wonky Log Cabin Blocks

2010-04-03T10:42:00.003-07:00

I have started a new project--something just for fun--and something that is getting the creative juices flowing again. I am making wonky log cabin blocks.

I am thinking of putting a wide sashing between the blocks with wonky cornerstones. I am also thinking of putting on an extra wide border and doing a bit of applique. ....a sort of maverick meets tradition sort of thing. I am not sure how large this piece will be when I am finished. For now, I am just enjoying the process.

Redwork Hearts - Part 2

2010-03-28T20:00:00.008-07:00

I finished the remaining 8 redwork hearts in Alex Anderson's 12 Days of Redwork series.

These hearts have been the perfect portable "take along" project while traveling on my recent holiday.

Now that Linda and I have both finished the stitching on our hearts we are ready to assemble our quilt tops. Linda has some great ideas for how we might set these blocks together.

I found this fabric on Friday while I was out shopping. I am thinking that this will work for a border on my project.

I believe I am hooked on these stitchery type of projects as I have already started on some other redwork/stitchery block of the month series....progress to follow.

Easter Bunny Sighting

2010-03-23T21:50:00.003-07:00

This is Rambo.

Rambo does not belong to our family, but he seems to have adopted us. Rambo often hangs out in our yard and visits through the glass with our cat, Joey.

Rambo is very focused on something or someone in our yard....

Could this be the illusive Easter Bunny?

This rabbit has recently started hanging around our yard. Word must have gotten out that we are a pet friendly household!

Photography by my talented daughter! (Can you tell that I am a very proud Mom?)

Winter Holiday

2010-02-13T19:49:00.008-08:00

I headed out from home on my winter holiday on February 9. I am headed to what I hope is sunnier and warmer weather in the south--Texas and Louisiana.

The first stop on my vacation was my Aunt's house in Saskatchewan. I am travelling with my parents. The rest of the family are holding down the fort at home. We were two days in Saskatchewan before the tour bus picked us up on February 11.

Day 1: We headed south for the Saskatchewan / North Dakota border. Our destination for our first night was Minot, ND.
The first night of our tour we had an opportunity to meet other travellers on our bus during a social time. Here we are in the hotel in Minot having our "Town Hall Meeting".

Day 2: Our first stop on day two was Jamestown, North Dakota for coffee.

Coffee was at Burger King. As you can see, we didn't sit outside on the patio for coffee. LOL

There was a lot of snow in Jamestown--much more than we had experienced in Saskatchewan.

Afternoon coffee was in Watertown, South Dakota.

Although the sun came out, the temperatures remained cold!

The closer we got to our evening stop in Souix Falls, South Dakota, the denser the fog became. This is our tour bus in the parking lot of the hotel in Souix Falls.

Walking to the restaurant for supper was very slippery!

This little snowman was too cute to ignore--I just had to take his picture!

Day 3: The trees were covered with frost when we woke up in the morning on day 3.

Our evening stop on day 3 was Kansas City, Missouri. By the time we got to Kansas City we had very little snow--thankfully.