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

June Quilting Retreat

In June we had our annual 'spring' retreat and after lunch we celebrated our two June birthdays - both BJ and Carmen are June babies so we all enjoyed birthday cake before we played 'strip poker'! 

Blowing out the candles!

Our first round of strip poker on Tuesday was for 2 1/2 inch strips of polka dot fabric - who knew there was so much polka dot fabric in the world? 

The lucky winner was Darlene - I wonder if she has made anything with those jelly roll strips? They're super colourful!

 Here's Jane, Cheryl and Darlene discussing a quilt layout.....hmmmmm.... 

Here's Helen who brought along a drying rack but turned it into a quilting accessory - she is using it to hang her strips to make it easier and neater to piece them - what a great idea!!

And this is Helen's new baby! Beautiful! We all crowded around it to check it out - it is so quiet and so beautiful! It's a Baby Lock Crescendo and you can check out all it can do at this LINK. I think we were all drooling a little bit - I know what's going to be on my list to Santa this year!

And here are some of Helen's blocks going together - beautiful colour combination. 

BJ is working on her block of the month program - it called Bertie's year and you can order yours from your LQS (local quilt store) or here is a link to the program on Fat Quarter Shop - BERTIE'S YEAR. The kits are wool and they are adorable!

Here is October and Bertie has a corn candy hat!

This looks like Summer - and Bertie has a flower hat!

Here's Faye #1 with the start of something lovely! 

And here's Phyllis working on her Necessary Clutch Wallet. 

Judy is cutting out the pieces for a tote featuring giraffe fabric; she purchased this kit at The Quilt Patch in Moose Jaw when we went on our bus trip. The link to the Quilt Patch is right HERE

Carmen is using her nifty upright thread cutter to cut the thread between the hundreds of four-patches she pieced together. 

Carole is pressing an applique - I think it is going to be a spring table topper. 

Darlene is busy working too but I can't remember what she was sewing - sorry Darlene! But you look very intent! 

Faye #2 is finishing up her quilt - I think a finish is coming very soon!

 And Myrtle is close to finishing her beautiful polka dot quilt. 

I'm strip piecing batik jelly roll strips for the start of a new quilt - and, no, my UFOs aren't complete but I want to work on something new!

Louise is showing us the ruler keeper that she made; it fits over the door and has compartments for every size of ruler. It is made from that meshy-vinyl-that-you-would-use-for-a-beach tote. 

She sized the compartments for the rulers she currently owns but has room to buy more! Very ingenious!

Darcy from the Tilted Quilt dropped in to visit and to bring the blocks of the month to those who had signed up for the program. And she also left behind a door prize for us to draw later - thanks!

Then for a break, it was on to bowling! After all we do meet in a bowling alley! 

 Another round of strip poker for brown fabrics and I won! Thank you ladies!

Myrtle's Polka dot quilt - lovely! The black and white sashing really makes the blocks pop right off the quilt! 

Another finish! Yay for Faye #2 - beautiful!

And another! This is Carmen's quilt - it is a masterpiece! I think she said each block has about 100 pieces - yikes! 

 There she is behind the quilt! 

And another finish! This is Judy's giraffe tote from the Quilt Patch is Moose Jaw. Very nice!

Cheryl is working hard on a 9-patch quilt that she designed. 

Louise is adding the applique to the borders of this gorgeous quilt!

Myrtle is happy! (she's always happy!)

 Louise's finished quilt - gorgeous! And such beautiful colours! 

Everyone had a great time - thank you to Judy and Cheryl for organizing and planning!! 

Our first meeting in July was cancelled due the air conditioner breaking down during our heat wave but we'll be back at it soon. Take care and sew straight!

Bev

We're off to Moose Jaw!

So if you wanted to visit a couple of quilt stores, what would you do? Well, you could do what we did - book a Casino Bus tour to Moose Jaw! For us it was a quilting road trip that just happened to take place at a casino in a really neat little town.

Wikipedia has this to say about Moose Jaw:
Moose Jaw is is a city in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the Moose Jaw River. It is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, 77 km (48 mi) west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians. Best known as a retirement, and tourist city, it serves the small towns and farms of the surrounding region. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Moose Jaw No. 161.

Moose Jaw is an industrial centre and important railway junction for the area's agricultural produce. It is known for its giant historical murals on the exterior walls of buildings in its business district, and its tunnels were used for rum-running during Prohibition. CFB Moose Jaw is a NATO flight training school, and is home to the Snowbirds, Canada's military aerobatic air show flight demonstration team. Moose Jaw also has a casino and geothermal spa.

Six of us made the trip - Carole, Judy, Faye, Cheryl, Jane and myself - and we were joined by four other quilting friends - Darlene, Margaret, Phyllis and Wendy. Our husbands dropped us off at Tim Hortons in Sherwood Park at 7:15 am

Here are 3 happy husbands glad to be rid of us for four days - Cam, Cheryl's husband, Gordon, my a-little-too-happy husband and Tom, Judy's husband. 

We had a very nice time; Carole had booked appointments for us at both quilt stores so that the owners would know we are coming and both stores greeted us with discounts and specials! And Quilters Haven even had a lovely door prize that was just for us! We really enjoyed our time there - a number of us were interested in the patterns they had that involved embroidery like this beautiful one - 

The gals at Quilters Haven were very friendly - and oh, I almost forgot, they had special demos for us too! If you are ever in Moose Jaw, please stop by Quilters Haven or visit them via their website here! They also attend the Creative Stitches shows and will be in Edmonton on September 11th and 12th - you can check out Creative Stitches right here!

We walked the streets of Moose Jaw - in the daytime only - and discovered a few cute little stores and places to dine. 

Here are Darlene, Faye, Wendy and Phyllis ..

and Carole and Darlene ...

and Jane, Margaret and Judy .....

with Cheryl and me! 

A street shot - typical small town Canada!

We also toured the underground tunnels of Moose Jaw, this is what wikipedia says about the tunnels:

Tunnels of Moose Jaw

A network of underground tunnels connecting buildings in downtown Moose Jaw was constructed beginning around 1908. They were originally built as an underground steam system that was abandoned. The tunnels were used to hide Chinese railway workers escaping persecution during the Yellow Peril or unable to pay the government-imposed head tax. Entire families lived in the tunnels and worked at above-ground businesses in exchange for food and supplies. The tunnels became a hub of renewed activity in the 1920s for rum-running during Prohibition in the United States. They were reported to have warehoused illegal alcohol that was then shipped to the U.S. via the Soo Line Railroad. The tunnels were also used for gambling and prostitution, all without interference from the corrupt police chief. There has long been anecdotal evidence that American mobster Al Capone had visited Moose Jaw or at least had interests in the bootlegging operations. Although no written or photographic proof exists of Capone's presence, several firsthand accounts from people in Moose Jaw who claim to have met him have been documented. Capone's grandniece also confirmed that he had been in Moose Jaw prior to his 1931 conviction for tax evasion. In the 21st century, the city capitalized on this notoriety to restore the tunnel network into the Tunnels of Moose Jaw, a tourist attraction that opened in June 2000.

Exciting and interesting! Unfortunately we couldn't take photos during the tunnel tours but it was an adventure - there were 2 tours, one that explained the exploitation of the Chinese workers (which was very disheartening and sad) and one that focussed on the supposed boot-legging. We had a great time in Moose Jaw  and enjoyed the small town atmosphere and the friendliness of the Moose Javians! 

Now back to sewing and quilting - our May sewing days seemed to be 'catch-up" days.  Here is Cheryl working on another quilt she is going to donate to charity; Cheryl has donated quite a few of her quilts - way to go Cheryl! 

Jane is working on a two-colour quilt from the book "Block" by Jennie Doan from Missouri Star Quilt Company. I LOVE these books - so much information, so many patterns, lovely colour. To get your copy, click HERE!

Here is a photo of Jacob's Ladder from the Block book. 

Here is Louise working on a lovely applique quilt, love the fall colours!

This is the pattern, Quilted Escapes, Maple Leaves and Canada Geese. 

Carole is sorting and pressing blocks she is making from a layer cake purchased at the Quilt Patch in Moose Jaw; the pattern came with the layer
cake and is super easy to put together.

This is a close up of one of Carmen's blocks; she is doing the applique by hand and is making 'Baltimore Autumn' .

 Beautiful block Carmen!

Faye is thinking very hard about her quilt; more to come!

Judy is completing the tea-towel gifts she is making for her grandson's school - I think she has made about 40 - wow!

Myrtle is nearing the end of her polka dot quilt - or is it near the end of her wits? Just kidding - it will be stunning!

 Fay2 is working hard on her blocks - the finished top can't be far behind.

And I'm working on 3 more Necessary Clutch wallets for my cousin Pam, my cousin Kathy and Pam's daughter, Kari. Kari's is going to be the black and white one, Kath's will be orange and Pam's will be red. Looking forward to making these and sending them away to Minnesota!

That's all for now - enjoy the warm weather! 

Bev