If You're Not From the Prairies . . . .

 . . . is the name of a children's book which has a beautiful poem about the prairies written by David Bouchard and illustrated with beautiful pictures by Henry Ripplinger.  A true Canadian book.

I just got back from a trip to Vulcan, Alberta which is in southern Alberta on the prairies.

**Warning I have posted lots of pictures**

(there are some quilting pictures further down)

 I love the old buildings and the wide open spaces.

The sky is always so beautiful in the prairies.

 

Vulcan is celebrating it's 100 years young the long weekend in August.  

Lots of activities happening so if you happen to be in the area, pop on down.

My friend, Wendy was part of the group of quilters who got together 

and put a 100 year quilt together.

It's made in three panels and has a lots of old pictures to hold your interest.

They did a beautiful job and it shows the pride of their town.

I have a soft spot for Vulcan as our young family used to live there. 

Both of our kids were born while we were there 

so there are many wonderful memories, friends and good times.

 Just look at the details and fun pictures.

The quilting is beautiful too.

 

The back of the quilt is almost as exquisite as the front.

 

 Wendy had worked on this panel.
Can you see the wheat?

 A couple of pictures around Joe and Wendy's farm.

Joe has an old Nash sitting on his farm so I took the opportunity to take a few pictures.

Of days gone by . . . .

 

 

I'm sure I have bored you enough so I will end with a couple of sunset pictures 

from Joe and Wendy's farm.

 

Hope you enjoyed your trip to the prairies 

and if you happen to be down in the Vulcan area 

the first weekend in August, enjoy the celebrations.

Happy birthday Vulcan!

Shauna

Progress

Great progress has been made on the 'Happy' quilt.

I'm pleased with the way it is shaping up but it has been hard on my shoulder.

The size is 87" x 99"

I have done all of the white spaces with just loops

And have done just simple triangles in the coloured  blocks.

 

I'm also doing the happy dance as I will have my daughter home for 3 weeks from London, UK and my son home for a weekend from Victoria, BC at the end of this month.

How can one mother be so blessed to have both her kids home at the same time?!!

Both pictures I have of the kids were taken a few years ago 

. . . but none the less, they are both so cute.

Hope you all have a wonderful week.  I know I will as I am on holidays!!!

Shauna

Sweet Dreams

Feels so good to have a finish to show this week.

Sweet Dream quilt top finished and I'm lovin' it!

I originally blogged about it in this post.

It's for a friend at work.  This is her first baby and so very excited to share in her joy!

 It was very quick and easy to put together and I'm very happy with it.

I've decided not to put a border on it (a first for me) and had it confirmed by a couple of my blogging friends.

Started quilting this quilt and still not 100% sure how I'm going to quilt it 

nor how it's going to turn out.

I need to get it done by the August long weekend and have a week of holidays coming up so . . . .

I know what I'll be doing.

 I do love the bright colours in this quilt . . . it's happy and that is just what I named it - "Happy".

 I'll leave you now with a quote I read recently.

In our daily lives, we must see that it not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.  

- Albert Clarke

What are you grateful for this weekend?

I'm linking up with AmandaJean at Crazy Mom Quilts.  I'm very appreciative that she allows us to link up our finishes on Fridays. 

Shauna

The Ice Cubes are Looking for the Nearest Freezer!!

That's because it is very hot here in Calgary today.  

It's a mere 33 degrees Celsius!

For maybe some of you, you are used to this kind of heat but there are usually only a couple of times during the year that it is this hot.  

My condo does not have air conditioning

so . . . 

going to bed at night where the thermometer in the house registers at 27 - 28 is a tad hot.  

This too shall pass though and one must remember this . . .  

. . . when we are in the dead of winter and it's -20 celsius.

A friend from work just had a baby and I had planned to make a quilt for her.

They chose to not find out what the gender was so silly me, I couldn't make a quilt that could be for either sex, instead I made a 'girly' quilt and wouldn't you know it, she had a boy!

So I went shopping on Friday and bought something that was more appropriate for a boy 

rather than soft pinks, greens and a sprinkle of yellow.

And here is what I put together over the weekend.  Just put the final stitches on the top before 9 o'clock last night.  Just in time to clean up before thinking of heading back to work.

 

I think that I am not going to put a border on it 

- strange for me as I don't think I have done a quilt without one.

Your opinion - does it need a border?

I have been reading this book called Paris, Paris - Journey Into the City of Light.  

It's written by David Downie who delves into some of the history of 

different people and places around Paris essay style.  

Have enjoyed it immensely and wished I had read it before heading to Paris last November.

 I would recommend this book and have fallen in love with Paris all over again.

On that note, I'm going to lay on the couch and watch 'Midnight in Paris.'

One of my favourite movies of late.

Enjoy your evening!

Shauna

'Happy'

I have had many mixed emotions over the past several days.

My life has gone on unscathed and yet many in Southern Alberta have lost their homes and in some cases their loved ones due to the flooding that has occurred.

The good news is that in some of the communities, they are able to start rebuilding.  There are many ways to help out our neighbours and one just has to seek them out.

Still a long ways to go, but on an upswing.

I am truly thankful to God that all of my friends and family are safe and dry 

- even a friend in High River.

My place of employment has been closed for the past few days so I have taken the opportunity get a jump start on working on my son's quilt and also getting a quilt that has been sitting in the pile to completion.

As you can see I have Graham's quilt well on it's way.  

All of the HST have been cut and laid out.  It was really hard to find a place to lay them all out but did find a place beside my bed.  Funny thing is that I now have to get out of the 'wrong' side of the bed.  So I told a friend that if I was 'grumpy' it was because I got out of the wrong side of the bed. 

 Once you lay this pattern out though, you don't want to be messing with it as it would be too confusing to figure out what needs to be sewn together.

 I have this quilt in various stages.

Four rows have been sewn together, 

two more ready to join them,

two pinned and ready to sew into rows 

and the rest of course, laid out.

I also resurrected this quilt top that has been sitting around for a while.

It now has a place that I can't reveal at this time but can show you a couple of pictures.

The story with quilt is that I started it during a very unhappy time in my life so I chose bright, cheerful, delightful fabric.  It was fun to put together and I have named it the 'Happy' quilt.

As I pulled this one out and knew where it was going I thought I would have to purchase backing and batting but low and behold, I had all of that.  

I am astounded, as of late, that I seem to always have what I need when I need it.  

I know, I plan ahead but still if you knew what has transpired in my life over the past year I can truly say that God has been there for every turn in the road and has provided for me most abundantly.

I am going to attempt to do continuous bias binding as I think I have enough of the backing left over.

  Any advise out there?  

I have perused many of the youtube videos out there and think I have handle on it.

Right now it is laid out and currently being pinned on my dining room floor.

Any ideas on how to quilt this and what colour thread to use?  

I have limited ability and am on a time budget too.

I have to head back to work tomorrow so hopefully can get this all pinned by the end of today.

Hope you are having a wonderful day where ever you find yourself today!

Shauna

State of Emergency and Day Off

And it continues to rain!!

Calgary, Canmore, High River and many other small places in Southern Alberta have declared a state of emergency. 
25 communities in Calgary have been evacuated
and they are still in the process of evacuating downtown. 

At the saddledome, where the Calgary Flames Hockey Team play
has water now reaching to row 10. 

Most of downtown is covered with water and many of the roadways are closed down. 
They are now talking about closing the Deerfoot which is a main artery through Calgary.

I walked to my neighbourhood grocery store. 
Shelves were empty and there was no bottled water.

How things can change in the span of 24 hours.

I am really fortunate that I am in a higher place and have no threat of water coming my way but I feel for the 10's of 1000's that have been displaced from their homes.

You can google Calgary Flood 2013 to see pictures or watch it on Global. 
They have been televising all day.  

As a result, city officials and my work place had advised that we should stay home
and stay off the road.  Therefore I am home and have gotten a little bit of sewing done.

I have made some progress on my HST's and almost have enough for the top. 
Just a few more to do and then to sew it together.

I also got one more block made for my Triple Irish Chain quilt.

Please pray for all of the people who have lost their houses and possessions. 

Shauna

Pillow Cases

It's not a very imaginative title, is it?

Perhaps I should be thinking of something more witty but the brain isn't cooperating this morning.

These again are small finishes.

Please forgive the photography as these are taken with my iphone and are not the best quality.

Really like the colours of this one.

This one still needs a mate but it's coming . . .

I like the Art Nouveau look of this one.

 These ones are just plain sweet.

Look at the beautiful flowers that my daughter sent me for my birthday.

I got a lovely phone call from my son . . . that meant so much to me!

I am still working on my Triple Irish Chain which you can see blogged here.  

I have two block done up now and loving it.

I have also been working on more HST's for this quilt that is going to be for my son.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend 

doing what you enjoy doing 

and being with who you enjoy being with (especially our dads).

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.  Thanks again AmandaJean for hosting us.

Shauna