October Quilting Retreat

I know this is a little late, but I do believe in the adage 'better late than never'! In October we had our annual 3-day quilting retreat and as usual, we had a great time.

Darlene stopped in and showed us the quilt she made for her new daughter-in-law - lovely job!

And then we played our first round of strip poker - always fun and unpredictable, just when you think you're out, you can win. Look at these die hard players!

 Carmen won the first game of brown fabric strips - good job Carmen!

Here's Myrtle working on her very colourful quilt!

Faye 2 has a lot of cutting ahead of her - looking good!

This gorgeous purple and black & white and gray quilt looks like a sashed disappearing 9-patch - very striking Jane!

This odd looking contraption is a sewing machine foot pedal rest - for keeping the foot from slipping away on you -  at least that's what I'm calling it. It works too!

This is another finished quilt top from Jane - love the blue and green batiks!

Doesn't Cheryl look like a very efficient waitress? She was writing down the orders for our lunch from Swiss Chalet, which was a great meal.

Here is Faye 2's first finished block - this was a kit from Connecting Threads. We all love their fabrics and kits.

This beautiful fall-coloured quilt is another beauty from Carmen. It still needs its borders.

These are some charity blocks that I finished at our retreat - they are for our larger quilt guild for both Charity quilts and Quilts of Valour.

Here is Judy cutting some fabric for a charity quilt. Did you notice that.......

... her shoes (and hoodie) match her fabric? That requires planning!

Meantime, Cheryl is working on a rather tricky looking block. Looking great! 

Jane is putting together some rows from a quilt pattern that a number of us bought while in Moose Jaw in the spring - it uses Layer Cakes - 10 inch squares - and seems to go together quite quickly.

This baby quilt (for a new great-niece Abbigail) was a kit I purchases at the Hamel's booth during the Creative Stitches show in Sherwood Park in September - fast and fun!

Our dinner order from Swiss Chalet arrived and some Twisted Lemonade hit the spot!

Here is Jane's quilt top all finished - great job! The pattern is called "A Piece of Cake".

On day two, Margaret, Judy's friend, stopped in to make a jewelry roll - fun!

Myrtle's completed quilt top - love the variety of colour and sashing detail adds so much to the quilt - perfection!

Cheryl was putting fabric together for a quilt back but we may have convinced her that it should be a quilt all by itself!

Carole and Faye 2 fell in love with these crocheted minions that were given to the bowling alley for a silent auction - they had to order their own!

Cheryl is busy putting together a colourful batik quilt top using the same pattern as Jane (I think).

This is number 7 of the Necessary Clutch wallet - this one is for my sister in law in Kingston, Leslie. It uses almost the same fabrics as the first wallet that I made for myself.

Day 2 saw the second round of Strip Poker, this time with 10 inch squares of solid coloured fabric - and guess who won? The lucky and fabulous Carmen!

A group photo - Myrtle, Judy, Faye 1, Jane, Faye 2 and myself in the back and Cheryl, Carmen and Carole in the front.

This is the Quilting Gallery table mat for the current swap - Carole finished the one for her swap partner but I haven't yet started mine - soon!

And Carole's first 2 rows of the Row by Row from our guild. Looking good.

That's all for now - so sorry for the long time between posting, I hope you will enjoy seeing what we worked on in October.

Bev

September Activities

September is a great time to hit the sewing machine - there is something about the crisp, cool fall air that makes me want to get back to quilting; maybe it's the gorgeous fall colours the inspire us all. 

Our September birthday was our lovely Faye; we all enjoyed the great cake! 

Cheryl has been busy working on this fabulous Christmas String quilt; string quilts are lovely and are a great way to use up your stash. You just need to throw abandon to the wind and sew - and in the end, the scrappiness of the quilt is beautiful - great job Cheryl!

Carmen was working on first aid kits for her two children - what a great idea! Love the red cross! 

Carmen will fill the kits with basic medical supplies so that her children will be well equipped at sporting and extracurricular events - so smart! 

Cheryl wasted no time in getting onto another quilt - 

As you can see, a simple 9 patch block, rail fence block and a background block can make a lovely, colourful quilt!

These are blocks that Judy is making for our guild; they will be sorted and put together to make charity quilts that will be distributed in the Sherwood Park and Edmonton area. 

These are Carole's placemats - lovely fabric Carole!

This can only be the work of our needle-turn applique expert, Carmen! Beautiful work - all the little fabric pieces are hand stitched to the background fabric by turning the edge of the fabric under with the hand needle as you stitch the piece down. 

(it's extra nice, so I made the photo extra big!) 

Another block of Carmen's from the same quilt - it is going be absolutely beautiful! Way to go Carmen!

Another top in the works by Cheryl - very bright, lots of movement!  

This was a UFO of mine from quite a few years ago - it used 'turnovers', triangular pieces of fabric from one fabric line. I don't think turnovers ever became very popular, certainly not like charm packs or jelly rolls, and I think I know why - they are not much fun to sew with! But I'm happy to have a UFO completed!

And this was my second UFO to get completed - just needs the binding to be sewn by hand. This 12 x 12 was the combination of 2 Patchabilities kits - each was originally 6 x 16 but I combined them to make a 12 x 12 so that I can use it in my stand where I change the blocks monthly. 

This is mine too - a Kathy Schmitz pattern - I LOVE her patterns - check them out HERE  She uses a combination of embroidery and patchwork and her patterns are diverse - from table runners to 12 x 12 to full size quilts. The only problem is - I can't find them in my LQS. I bought this pattern in Minnesota last fall and I have recently found them at Hamels - a Canadian web based company. The link to their website is RIGHT HERE! 

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A close-up of the embroidery - don't look too close please! 

I think this is our birthday girl, Faye, working on the block of the month - love the black and white!

Judy is working on an apron - love the fabric!

And Faye 2 is contemplating - I think if I remember correctly, this is a convergence quilt - looking good! This quilt was inspired by Faye's sister-in-law, Judi - good job Judi!

That's all for now folks!

Bev

August Sewing Day

Summer is beginning to fade, the weather is changing and the nights are becoming darker and cooler - a great time to quilt! These photos are from our late August sewing day. 

This first photo is my quilt 'Bali Sunset' which I made from a jelly roll of batiks; the colours start off golden and progress to a very dark green and dark blue. After this photo was taken, I added a 2 1/2 inch border of the same light blue batik so that the quilt appears to float. (Judy is helping to hold the quilt!) 

These are some of Faye 2's beautiful Blocks of the Month from Daric's Tilted Quilt - very meticulous! 

 

This is one of the 3 placemats that Carole was making for 3 special little ones - the other placemats are a duck and 'something else', maybe a kitty! Adorable!!

This is Jane's 'Jacob's Ladder' from the Missouri Star Company's Block magazine. Jennie Doan has such fantastic patterns and tutorials and her quilts are always beautiful!  

Jane and Cheryl are discussing the layout - narrower and longer or wider and shorter? 

This is one of Myrtle's blocks from the Block of the Month - beautiful colour combination - it will be great to see all the different colour arrangements when everyone is done! 

This is a quilt top that Cheryl had made to donate - some lucky person will love this colourful quilt!

This is Judy's latest project - she is using a quilt pattern from the Quilt Patch in Moose Jaw, very nice!

 Another quilt of Carole's - very colourful!

 And two pillowcases that Carole made for 2  little visitors! 

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Faye 1 is working very hard to piece together her Block of the Month quilt ...

 

...it's looking great!

That's all for now, may your bobbin always be full!

Bev

It's Sunny in Alberta!

We have been having an unusually hot and dry summer this year; a few record highs have been recorded and if you didn't have air conditioning, you were sweating! This was not the perfect time for the ac to break down at the bowling alley, that's for sure! So we cancelled our first meeting of the month and didn't meet until closer to the end of July.

We have 2 birthday girls for July - Carole and Faye 2! Here's Cheryl singing Happy Birthday and bringing the cake to the table. 

And the cutting of the cake! They seem to be very happy to be year older, don't they! We wish you both a very Happy Birthday!!

 This giraffe quilt is from a kit Carole picked up in Moose Jaw - it's very cozy!

This is a beautiful block from the Block of the Month program from Tilted Quilt in Sherwood Park. Faye 2 has done an excellent job - gorgeous! Darci's website at Tilted Quilt is HERE but be careful that you don't go to Tilted Kilt, Sherwood Park or you may see more than you want to!

Carole is working on placemats for little ones - she picked up the pattern pack at Earthly Goods in Edmonton when we were shop hopping for Row by Row patterns. So cute!! We love Earthly Goods - their store is packed full of great ideas and inspiration -   CLICK HERE TO GO TO THEIR WEBSITE!

Cheryl is doing a little 'reworking' of a pattern she designed - she seems happy to be doing it!

Judy is making some 16 patch hot pads - love the orange!

Faye is wondering why she every signed up for the Block of the Month but she's being a trooper and cutting her pieces. It will be beautiful Faye!

That's all for now! Enjoy the rest of your summer, stay safe, sew often!

Bev