Quilts and so Much More

I think I say this every time I post . . . where has the time gone. April disappeared and May is close to finishing and I haven't posted forever. 

I went to out of town last weekend to my friend Wendy's place to sew and maybe help her plant her garden. Well, the weather was awful - rainy and cold, so we were forced to sew! It was a great time of laughing, talking, sewing and eating. 

I did get quite a few things accomplished when I finally got down to sewing. 

This little table runner finally got a border and is now ready to be sandwiched and quilted. It's a bright and cheery runner that will be an addition to anyone's table or dresser.

 

Then I got the next border on this quilt. It still has one more border in the white needed to finish it off.

I love the look of this quilt.

 

Then I picked up my wedding ring quilt that I had quilted. I look at this quilt and marvel that I actually made it. I am tickled 'pink' with it.

 

The backing was bought when I went down to Spokane last September. I was hoping to use it for the binding but it's a tad too bright for the front so now I will need to find something else. Still debating on what colour to bind it in. Any ideas?
 

A while ago I had a dentist appointment in Cochrane and had a few moments so stopped in at the Addie's Creative Fabrics. Dangerous to say the least!! 

Picked up this new pattern and ruler. I like that you can use Jelly Rolls if you want to make the quilt.

Started playing around with a Jelly Roll that I had on hand and it's starting to look like this.

April was a busy month in that I was away on road trip to Phoenix with my friend Laurie. She has a condo down there and graciously invited me along with her to spend some time driving and staying down there. 

We had a lot of fun!

We were able to go to some major canyons either on our way down or back. First time for me in seeing Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon and Zion National Park.

Bryce Canyon

Grand Canyon

Zion National Park

Such beautiful country. I like to think God had fun creating all these natural places for us to enjoy.

Down in Phoenix we went to a discount fabric store. I picked up 5 yards of this which could make nice backing. I'm in love with this material.

And then this little beauty. Just 1 yard of this. Not sure what I use it for but I'm sure it will call to me when I need it.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Shauna

Victoria Trip

I've been busy!  

Vacationing, not quilting this past week.

Warning - lots of pictures but only a few about quilting.

I did have a chance to hit the quilt shop (Satin Moon Quilt Shop) in Victoria.

Look what I found on sale!

Also this cute scissor holder.  

It actually will hold up to 3 pairs of scissors.

Super cute!!

The reason I went to Victoria was to see my son, Graham, who currently lives in there.

 As I was traveling there, I was flipping through the Up magazine

and stumbled upon this article.

Was I ever surprised when I saw that one of the hip things 

to do in Victoria is to visit Heist Coffee Co. - my son's cafe!!

Good coffee served with love!

Victoria never disappoints when it comes to flowers.

 

Somehow your spirit is lifted when you see these beauties.

 

Such beautiful creations and colours that the good Lord has created for us.

Lastly, I saw the ocean!!

And yes, I was there!!

Have a good week, everyone.

Shauna

Quilts, Chocolate and Fabric

It's been quite the week!

Exhausting really!!

 

This weekend was the Quilt Festival at Heritage Park in Calgary.

Always lots of inspiration.

 

I think there were less quilts than in previous years,

but nice none the less.

This year the weather cooperated and it was perfect!

 

I met up with some quilting friends who go to the same January retreat.

Always nice to catch up over a free breakfast.

It really is the most perfect setting to hang quilts 

- lots of old buildings that lend itself to a nice cozy quilt.

  

This year they had a display of civil war quilts made by current day quilters.  

Amazing!!

My pictures are not that great as they were in a darker building 

but you would not believe how small 

some of the blocks were in the full size quilts.

 

They also had a display of antique quilts.

 

Here's one that caught my eye.

Looks at that cool border - gives you ideas, doesn't it?

 

 

Some of my favourites modern quilts.

Look at the quilting done on these two.

I guess I gravitate towards the bright and cheery quilts.

Took this picture of this heart one for my friend Reta.

 I looove the colours in this quilt!

A quilt of half square triangles.

My friend Jen sent me some of my favourite UK chocolates last week.

What a treat to get them in the mail!!!

And in such a pretty tin too!

 

 

The same day I got chocolate I also got some fabric that 

I ordered from Sewing Sisters with my gift certificate.

If you haven't checked them out, 

they have a really nice selection of books, fabric, notions. 

 

Their prices are very reasonable as is their shipping prices, at least in Canada

and they are very quick in sending out their packages.

Can't wait to play with these.

Must finish up some projects first though.

 I resisted and did not buy fabric from Heritage Park. (insert sad face here)

They had some really good buys but could not justify anything.

Next year!!!

Hope I didn't bore you with my many pictures and stories.

I'm looking forward to my week - hope you are too!

Shauna

 

 

 

I Fell Off the Wagon . . .

. . . big time!

Where to begin . . . it's been a crazy and unusual couple of weeks.

I had a chance to leave this snowy, cold weather for a week 

and go with a friend to her condo in Phoenix.  

What a good choice as it was very cold here last week.

We basked in the sun at her condo and also did some buzzing around.

We were on the shuttle bus to pick up the rental car 

and my friend realized that she forgot her driver's license.  

Thankfully I had mine!!  

We joked about it that she would then have to go where I wanted to go.  

It was then that she reminded me that I was staying in her condo.  

Guess, we'd have to compromise!

So in doing research, I realized that AQS Quilt Week was on 

in Phoenix at the convention center.

mmmm . . . . . how could we not go?

So we figured out how to take the LRT (light rail transit) 

to the downtown core and spend a few hours drooling 

over the many fantastic quilts on display.  

There was not a bad one in the lot.

The display also included quilts done by the Tentmakers of Cairo.

Fantastic!!

I think most of them are done by hand applique and they are exquisite.

Lots of neat vendors at the show and many were ones that I had read about on the web or blogs.

It was so much fun to see what's out there.  

I visited the booth of Me and My Sister and purchased 4 bundles of fat quarters.

Love the colours!

Another Jelly Roll that I picked up for a fantastic price.  

Pays to go on the last day . . . as some of the vendors didn't want to take 

their wares back home with them and reduced their prices.

 We also went to the swap meet and found some fabric there too.

I picked up these 4 fat quarters and backing so that I could make 4 Christmassy placemats

We found a lovely little quilt shop in Mesa called, A Quilter's Oasis.

 The selection was good but I have to say that I realized 

that our prices in Canada are not that far off 

especially if your factor in the exchange rate. 

I was, however, very tickled to find this pattern.
 I find myself looking at Camille's blog often and have liked this pattern for a while now.

Just a couple of little things that I picked up.

Well, from now on, no more fabric purchases.
I'll restart my diet again.

I'll finish off with just a couple of photos from Phoenix.
If you have never been, it's worth a trip.

Enjoy your weekend and in our case, the long weekend because of Family Day.

Shauna