It's a Beautiful Day for... a Day Off!

It has been pretty rainy and miserable the last few weeks - which is quite normal for Calgary this time of year.  We really don't get any nice summer weather until July.

So, when I planned to take today off from work, I wasn't holding out too much hope.  But it is a pretty nice day, so far.  Rain is predicted for later on, but I will enjoy it while I can.  So far, hubby and I have made a trip to the bank and to Timmies - nice and relaxing.

I've been working on a baby quilt for my new grand-nephew.  It's an I spy quilt of sorts - I used charm squares with various pictures on them, and sashed them with a greenish fabric.

It looks grey here, but it is a sage green.  Now, I plan on trimming the sides so it is square, and quilting it up with a quick all over pattern.  I had toyed with the idea of leaving the sides all zigzag.  Then I thought about binding all of those corners - on a quilt that will be dragged around and washed 100 times - and decided that I'd leave zigzags for another project.

I'm also working on the Craftsy BOM blocks for May and June.   June's block includes Y seams.  Believe it or not  - 14 years quilting and I've never done Y seams.  Laura, the instructor, demonstrates them really well, so it's a good opportunity to try them.

If you haven't looked at the Craftsy BOM, I highly recommend it.  It is intended to be done by a new quilter, so some of the concepts she shows are pretty basic, but I have to admit that I have learned a few things over the course of the last 6 months.  And it's free!  I don't know if I'll put the quilt together using the layout that she has planned, but, for now, I'm having fun putting the blocks together, and looking at the other blocks and comments.

Scrappy Sunday

At my  new guild, we are having a scrap exchange at the next meeting.  We are to bring bags of 2 1/2 inch squares.  As these things tend to progress, there was only a little interest at first, but as the day approaches, the event is growing exponentially!

This has been great for me, as I have a LOT of scraps.  I've been pulling out the smaller pieces and cutting them into squares.

If they aren't big enough for 2 1/2 inches, I've cut them into 2 inch ones for a leaders and enders project I've been graduallly working on for a couple years.

Once I cut a bunch, I sorted them into piles of 50.

 Three hundred cut so far, but I'm not done yet!

I have no idea what I'm going to do with all the scraps I'll be getting back in this exchange.  But I'm sure I can think of something!

Linking up with Mary at Sew Sunday and Kim for Scrap Basket Sunday.

What a Lovely Day for a Quilt Show

Heritage Park in Calgary puts on a huge quilt show every May.  They have, usually, over 800 quilts.  Some are draped over beds and couches in the old houses, but many are displayed outside - weather permitting.  There are many years when weather does not permit.

Their quilt show was last weekend.  The Monday before, I checked the weather.  Rain!  Yikes!  I continued to watch the forecast, and it changed frequently from rain, to cloudy, to downpour, to partial sun.  Thursday and Friday, it rained buckets, and I wasn't holding out much hope.  Saturday wasn't bad, though - just a few sprinkles.  I went to see the show on Sunday, and it was glorious!

Sunshine, blue sky and the perfect temperature for walking around.

Look at that sky!  These are the vendor and special exhibit tents, with some of the outdoor quilts under canopies to the right.

I entered a quilt in the show for the first time - my Stars Around the Garden quilt.  Here I am with the quilt.

Do I look maybe the teeniest bit excited?

Here you can see it (behind the pregnant lady) with one of the old houses in the background.

This is a non-judged show, but I did get a little ribbon for being a first time exhibitor.

I won't put all my photos in here, as it would really bog down the old blog.  But, if you want to take a look at all 80, you can go to my flickr page.

Trip to Windsor

Not the castle, the city in Ontario.  A week or so ago, I visited Windsor for the first time.  I was there for a conference at the University, and tacked on a couple days vacation, so I could visit the place, and, of course, do my own little shop hop.  I brought Mr CQT with me - now that he's retired, he can come along, whenever he wants.  That's kind of fun!

We stayed at the Windsor Hilton.  I highly recommend this hotel - lovely rooms and great service.  This was the view out of our window.

This is the Detroit river, and the Detroit skyline.  Detroit is NORTH of Windsor, which really got me confused with directions - I couldn't wrap my head around the US being north of Canada.  Of course, my family would tell you that I'm confused with directions most of the time.  Thank goodness for Mrs. Garmin.

Here is the skyline at night.  Our view was spectacular!

We did not visit Detroit.  Somebody forgot to bring the passports.  (OK, OK - it was me.)  But we did tour around the Windsor area.  We visited Rose Cottage in Amherstburg, which was a pretty store, in a new building.  Amherstburg is a very pretty town, on the edge of Lake Erie. Then we went to Essex, and visited Sewcraft, which sells all kinds of fabrics, not just quilting fabric.

We then visited Ella Quilts in Tecumseh.  This is in a tiny house, hidden from the street.  We couldn't find it, even with the help of Mrs. Garmin.  But we phoned and got directions and I was pleasantly surprised.  The store was packed full of fabric and supplies, and the owner was very welcoming, even treating me to a quick lesson on how to do a disappearing four patch block.

Finally, we went to Quilting Confections in Windsor itself.  Mrs. Garmin got confused by the address, and wanted to send us in a strange direction.  We knew from the ads for the store that it was across from the airport, so we ended up finding it ourselves.  This store is in a strip mall, but very bright and cheerful, and a good supply of fabric.

I didn't buy a lot.  Ontario has 14% sales tax, so that made the prices a little steep, when comparing them to home.  But, I couldn't go away empty handed, so I did buy a few fat quarters.

Birds, owls and monkeys!  I seem to be on an animal kick lately.  The fabric lines are Song of Joy by Victoria Hutto (Timeless Treasures);  Owls in the Hood by a Danish company called STOF and Lollipop by Sandy Gervais (Moda).

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