Fairview or Bust!

This past week, we moved my DD to Fairview, Alberta.  She will be teaching there this coming year.  This is her second teaching post - the first was in a fly-in community in northern Saskatchewan.  She was there for 2 years.  I'm glad that she is moving closer, although it's not much closer!  It is an 8 hour drive north from Calgary.

But what a beautiful drive!  We couldn't have asked for better weather - sunny and warm the entire time.  The farmers are starting to swath their crops, and my DH delighted in seeing the great crops that seem to be out there this year.

A highlight for me was going through Dunvegan on the Peace River.  I have never been through that area before.  I didn't get a good picture of the river valley (which is gorgeous), but here is the Dunvegan Bridge.

Dunvegan is not a town any more - there is a park and a restored historical area.  It used to be a mission along the Peace River (which was used for transport in the early days).  Here is the mission church.

Apparently, after the mission closed, the church was used for various purposes, including to store grain and as a tire store!  It has now been restored, along with the rectory behind it.

Anyway, we got DD settled and checked out the town a bit.  It seems like a very nice town, even though I didn't find a quilt shop there!

Welcome to the Quilting Gallery Blog Hoppers

I'm excited to participate in the Quilting Gallery Blog Hop for the first time.



This is a Back to School Blog Hop party, and I DO have a child going back to school this year.  My DS, after taking a couple of years to learn that working at minimum pay jobs is not what he wants in life, is going to SAIT this fall, taking "New Media Technology".   Maybe he can fancy up my blog a bit, as homework!

A bit about me. I'm a 50-ish quilter, having loved the hobby for the past 12 or 13 years.  I'm a traditional quilter, so far, but I am loving many of the modern quilts that I see.  The problem is - I have so many UFO's that I started in pre-modern quilt days, and I am a thrifty kind of person - I have to finish those up first, before I will allow myself to start any more.  (Maybe.  I have been known to start a project or two without finishing up the old ones - hence the many UFO's!)

In my real life, I work at a government department that helps separating and separated families deal with court matters - custody, access, support, protection, etc.  It can be a very stressful job, but I have learned, over the last 28 years, to leave work at work.  It helps to have hobbies that you can absorb yourself in, and quilting is that for me!

I have a wonderfully supporting husband, who is recently retired, and two adult children.  My DD has, supposedly, moved out, but has left a surprising amount of stuff here, for someone who no longer lives here! My DS still lives at home, while he completes his studies.

Now, on to the good part.  My giveaway consists of 10 fat quarters, from Northcott.  The line is Nature's Glow, by Ro Gregg.

They are lovely Asian fabrics.  They have been pre-washed.  I will ship internationally.

 To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling me one reason why you quilt.  I will choose a winner on Saturday, September 1.

He Does it His Way

If you're feeling a little down, take a look at this video.  Here is a fellow who really enjoys his work!

Slow Cloth

Elaine Lipson wrote a thoughtful article on her approach to crafting.  It was shared on another blog, and it says so much to me that I thought I would share it here.
Slow Cloth

Freebie Fifteen

It's coming up to the 15th of the month again.  I have to remember... I have to remember...

Last month, I completely forgot!  I had my block done and everything, and the 15th came and went and I didn't even think about it.  So, I had to pay a whole $6 for my "free" block.  Darn!

Here is the freebie block for this month.  Not too hard to do.

I did cheat a little bit.  The instructions for those grey and white quarter square triangles were to cut out each individual triangle, then sew them together.  I put a grey square together with a white square, and sewed on either side of the centre line, like I was making half square triangles.  Then I cut it in half again.  The result was two triangles with the grey on the wrong side, but I think it's fine as is.

Speaking of cheating, here's one of the companion blocks:

This one was another that had those wretched template wonky pinwheels.  I am so tired of templates!  I had to use some of my own fabric, but I did regular pinwheels instead.  And those hearts and the white parts around them were also supposed to be templates, but I measured them out instead.  I feel like I'm pulling something over on the designer of these blocks when I avoid their templates!

This one did use the template for the pinwheels.

It was really finicky to make.  Those dark squares are 1/4 inch finished.  But I like the plaid look.

Finally:

I think this was last month's freebie block.  They are all starting to run together now!

Goodbye Quilt (for now)

Well, I boxed up this quilt today:

and sent it off to Chelsea at Pins and Bobbins for quilting.  As you'll recall, Chelsea had a giveaway a while ago, and I was lucky enough to win her "grand" prize - she is going to custom quilt this baby!  I've never had a quilt professionally quilted before - I can hardly wait to see how it turns out.

The pattern, if you're interested, is called Stars Around the Garden.  I don't know who created the pattern, as I got it as a BOM at my local quilt shop, and it was just photocopied pages of instructions for each block, with no identifying information.  But I just googled it, and several online shops are still selling it as a BOM.