Nametag

At the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild meeting that I attended last month, we were told to make a nametag for the May meeting.  At first I was stumped.  Most of the nametags that I have worn have been about 2 inches by 3 inches, and I had no idea how to make something quilty that was that small, and still left room for my name.

But at the conference I went to last weekend, we were given fairly large nametags; pouches actually, with room to store a flash drive and one of those little voting things that seem to be so popular now with the powerpoint crowd.  It hung around our neck, rather than being pinned on.  When I saw it, I had an "aha" moment!

So, I made a tiny churn dash block - 3 inches, and added an extra bit of fabric to write my name on.  A couple strips of colourful stripes for binding and straps, and I was done.

Or so I thought.  I then remembered that I had some sewing themed buttons that I had bought on a whim.  Why not?  I added the scissors, sewing machine - and that little orange blob is a thimble.  Finished!

And that is all the sewing I have done this weekend.  Spring has finally arrived here, and I had to spend some time outside!

I'm linking up with Mary for Sew Sunday.

I Have an Excuse, Really!

I haven't been doing any quilting in the last week.  I spent four days at a conference in Lake Louise, which is in Banff National Park.

It is just a beautiful spot.  The weather wasn't great - it was pretty chilly and snowed quite a lot one day.  But who can complain about these views?  We ate our meals in a room with floor to ceiling windows, all looking at this:

There is a lake in front of this mountain.  Lake Louise, as a matter of fact.  When it isn't frozen, it is the most gorgeous blue you can imagine.

However, I wasn't there just to look around.  We had full days of lectures, and I learned a LOT.  And, of course, these conferences give you an opportunity to network with with others in the same business, and catch up with old friends.

When I was away, we received word that some of the government workers, including the courthouse security staff had gone on a wildcat strike.  Some of the court staff walked as well.  But, I was reassured to find out that none of my staff did.  They are so wonderful.  One of my staff said "How could we walk out?  There was a lineup of people who needed help?"

Today, though, we HAD to walk out - someone tried to bring a suspicious package into the building.  Luckily, it was caught at the entrance, going through the security scanners.  We were all evacuated, and spent the rest of the day waiting to hear what was going on.  Thank heavens for Twitter - it was our source of news as the day dragged on.  They brought in the bomb robot and removed the package.  We haven't heard yet if it was a bomb or something innocuous.  I'm just glad that everyone is OK, and that the security staff were back at work!

Hopefully, things have settled down for awhile now, and I can get back to the peace and quiet of my sewing room!

Heritage Park Here I Come!

Every year at the end of May, Calgary's Heritage Park hosts the Festival of Quilts.

Heritage Park is a historical village, set in what is one of the most beautiful locations in the city.

This photo is from a few years ago, and shows the Wainwright Hotel, with all the quilts.  They are also displayed in the houses, draped over fences, hung on clotheslines and hung under tents.  On a nice May day, it is a spectacular show!

I haven't ever entered a quilt.  It isn't a judged show, but all the same, I didn't think my quilts were good enough.  But this year, I picked up an entry form, and noticed that this year, they have a special call for appliqué quilts.  And this year, I have this one:

This is Stars Around the Garden.  I've shown you this before.  It was a Saturday Sampler, that was started a few years ago, and finished up last fall.   It was quilted by the wonderfully talented Chelsea at Pins and Bobbins.

So, I've sent in my entry, and will deliver my quilt on May 21, and be looking for it at the Festival, May 25 and 26.

Linking up with The Needle and Thread Network

Fabric Sale Purchases

As promised, here are photos of the fabric I picked up yesterday at the Ujamaa Grandmas annual fabric and yarn sale.

This was a kit - 2 1/2 yards of fabric, plus 12 fat quarters, plus the pattern - all for $25.  I haven't bought 1930 - 40 style fabric before, but I couldn't pass this up.

The ladies were very generous with their measuring.  This piece was marked as 1/2 metre.  It had been cut into, but the uncut part was 3/4 of a metre, and the part that was cut into left at least a fat quarter.

This piece was marked as 3.5 metres.  It was actually 5.  I have a Christmas quilt in the planning stage that can use this as a backing.

And then there were scraps of various sizes that were bundled together in coordinating packages.  Each package totalled about a metre, and was $3.  I got 4.

And finally, a "grab bag" for a dollar.  These fabrics were mostly non-cotton, although there were a couple muslin pieces in there.  These will be good for practising free motion quilting.

I'm on the Grandmas mailing list, and received an e mail from them today, saying they made $28,500 from the sale yesterday.  I'm impressed!

I'm linking up with Sew Sunday, even though I haven't done any actual sewing yet today.  I have done a lot of preparing, and thinking about sewing and I've decided that counts.

Strategies of a Fabric Sale Shopper

Ujamaa Grandmas is a non-profit society that raises money to help grandmothers in Africa who are raising their orphaned grandchildren.  Their big fundraiser of the year is their fabric and yarn sale in April.  I discovered it 4 years ago.  It seems to be getting more popular every year.

People donate their un-used fabric, yarn, notions, books, patterns, etc to the Grandmas.  They also get donations from fabric and upholstery stores in town.

The first year I went, I arrive at around 11:00.  The sale is held in the basement of a church.  I walked down the stairs and WOW! - I could not believe all the fabric that was there.  Tables stacked with piles and piles of one and two yard cuts of fashion and decorator fabric in the main room - and several side rooms with specialized items.  One room was full of quilting fabric, in various sizes.  Another was full of notions and tools.  A third had bolts of decorator fabric.  I was in heaven!  I stocked up, for just a few dollars.

The next year, I arrived right as it opened, at 9:30.  It was crazy busy!  It was hard to even get to the quilting fabric, but I managed to stock up again, and joined the huge lineup to pay.  I decided I wouldn't go right at opening time the next time.

Last year, I went at 1:00.  Bad idea.  The fabrics were very picked over and I went away empty handed.  :-(

Yesterday, my strategy was to arrive at about 10:00.  That way, I would miss the opening rush, but would still have a good selection.  I got there, and parked a couple blocks away, as there were cars all over the place.  That was not a good sign, but I assumed it was all the early birds, who were now in the process of leaving.  I turned the corner and arrived at the church to find a lineup well outside the door!  It turns out that people were lined up an hour before the doors opened!  This event is getting to be very popular!!

Well, what's a girl to do?  I joined the lineup, and shivered with all of the other women (and a couple men - or "sherpas" as one fellow described himself).  It took about a half hour just to get into the sale. And another 20 minutes in line to pay.   But, it was well worth it.  The selection of quilting fabric was the best yet.  I came away with a healthy haul.  I'm just washing it up right now, so I'll post pictures later.

My tips, for anyone who wants to go next year are:

• Come early and line up.  
• Wear warm clothing, but dress in layers.  It will be chilly outside, but it is quite warm in the church, especially once it fills up.
• Don't bring your children, unless they are old enough to be sherpas.  Especially don't bring strollers.
• Bring your own bags.  (Note I said bags, not bag.)
• Plan to pay cash.  They do take credit and debit, but I find it's quicker to pay cash.
• I saw one pair of women - one stood in the checkout line, while the other went around and collected fabric to purchase.  If you were in a hurry, that would be the way to do it.  But who wants to be in a hurry at a fabric sale?

More information about the event is here.

The Second Half of the Story

So, I mentioned yesterday that I met up with Mary (Outside the Line) to collect my giveaway.  When we were discussing where to meet, she said that she was going to the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild meeting on Thursday, and would I like to meet her there?  That was a serendipitous question!

You see, I had been wanting to join a quilt guild for awhile, but for some reason, guilds in Calgary seem to be very hard to find.  (Try googling Calgary quilt guild - the only one with a webpage is the Modern Quilt Guild.)  There is a group that meets at my community centre - on Wednesday mornings.  That darn "making a living" thing prevents me from attending that group.  I had been thinking about the Modern Quilt Guild, but I wouldn't classify myself as a modern quilter.  I have made a couple modernish projects, and I love looking at them, but I also make traditional quilts.  I just like them all!

But, I took Mary up on her offer, and went with her to the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild meeting.  And met a group of fun, welcoming women.  They didn't give me a test to find out if I fit in their niche.  So, I do believe I will go back.

Thanks Mary!

Now, today, I am off to Ujamaa Grandmas annual Fabric and Yarn sale - and I hope to come home with some fabric bargains!

My Lucky Day

Lucky me!  I won a giveaway at Outside the Line blog.  Mary was celebrating the end of her school year, and gave away two books and a mini quilt kit.

I won this book:

(Don't look inside - I just borrowed the image from Amazon.)

What a great book!  The quilts are very nice, the instructions look very clear and there are lots of photos.  There is also a Nancy Zieman DVD included, which demonstrates the technique.  I haven't cracked that open yet.  This book should help me put a dent in my scraps!

The second lucky thing that happened, is that Mary and I discovered that we don't live all that far apart from each other.  So, I got to meet her in person.  That was fun, and a story for another blog post.