Exuberance!

I have been having fun!

I found this

and am using it to back this

I'm quilting from the back, using the batik's flowers as my pattern

(have I ever mentioned that I just love batiks???)

and getting this on the front

I'm really liking the contrast between the straight lines of the front and the floral exuberance of the quilting!

a glimpse

Beaver Mines Lake Provincial Park - Alberta

of where we went and what we saw.

We had a fabulous time! We slowly wandered our way across southern BC to Kimberley for a visit with friends we hadn't seen for a few years.  (On the way we stopped in Grand Forks and I popped into Heart N'Sole Quilt Shop - lovely quilt shop where I picked up some Mocha Meringue yardage and a couple of panels.)  So great to catch up!  While there, we checked out Fort Steele, and had a nice wander in Marysville down to the falls.

 

Fort Steele, BC

Marysville Falls, BC

After leaving Kimberley, we headed east through Fernie.  (In Fernie, we just happened to park right in front of The Cotton Tree Quilt Shop, where they just happened to have a sale on - I couldn't resist, I got the red and white print, red fabric, and the Figgy Pudding charm pack).  Then it was off to Alberta.  Unfortunately, I was unable to visit Cozy Corners as we passed through Coleman too early in the morning - they didn't open until 11 am.  The weather to this point had been pretty good - we had some rain in Fort Steele, put it quicky passed over, and back to sunshine, but we were seeing clouds building on the horizon, so we expected a wet night just outside Pincher Creek at Beauvais Lake Park.  Some showers overnight, but didn't amount to anything.  However, as we were just getting packed up in the morning, it hit! The temperatures plumetted, the sky darkened and the hail hit.  It quickly turned to rain, but it was cold!  We got the car loaded up as quickly as possible, and got on our way.  Some very heavy rain that day and the temperature went down to 4C, and we decided to hotel it in Lethbridge rather than camp.  I'm glad - the temps dropped to -1 that night.  (As it happens, the hotel we stayed in just happened to be right next to the strip mall where The Fabric Addict was located.  Appropriately named, don't you think?  Of course I had to check them out, and of course I had to pick up a charm pack - Victoria by Bernatex, and a FQ bundle of white on whites.  I also picked up a copy of Homespun - my first experience with the magazine and I'm very impressed!) 

After my shopping, and exploring the coulees we headed for Milk River and Writing on Stone Provincial Park.  Incredible!

Writing on Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

 

Hoodoos - Writing on Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

We had a fabulous time exploring this park.  It was a beautiful campground as well, right on the Milk River, and very quiet as it was off season.  (On leaving the park we went into the town of Milk River to restock our supplies, and wouldn't my lovely husband once again park the car directly across from a quilt shop??  Sorry, but I can't quite remember the name of this one - its a very small shop, but the owner was such a pleasure to talk to!  and of course I could not leave empty handed - a FQ bundle of blue and brown prints managed to make its way home with me!)

We hit some record high temperatures on that day - for late September, temperatures of 34C were not what we were expecting!  Thank goodness for AC in the car!  Stopped at Beaver Mines Lake Recreation Area for our overnight - another gorgeous place!

Beaver Mines Lake - Sunrise

The view from the tent

(also the picture at the start of the post)

A few other nights, fabulous campsites, and then home!  Did I mention that I had forgotten how many stars there are up there?  After living in the city for 25 years, you forget about the Milky Way and all the millions of stars that you can see when there isn't residual city light.

Oh, and it wouldn't be right to leave out my two traveling companions - here are my two favourite guys!

I have discovered that I cannot do handwork in the car - much the pity - but I did manage to get a little bit done when we weren't off exploring.  Here's what I was working on - Christmas Wishes by Leanne Beasley of Leanne's House.

Happy Quilting everyone!

I have a problem

Do you have the same problem?  Seems I can't go into a fabric store without coming out with something.  (It would also appear that I cannot go past a quilt shop without going in!)I found a few quilt shops along our travels and picked up a little something from each one.  I really lucked out a couple of places and hit sales - like 40% off - how can one resist that?  and FQs for $3 Cdn - quality fabric - pretty unheard of!  I think I have my problem under control, at least until the next quilt shop! How about you?
Happy quilting!
p.s. - did you notice the new button on my side bar for Among the Gum Trees?  It's a group of 9 Australian designers who have gotten together to share their patterns and designs etc.  They will be offering free patterns starting October 5 - how cool is that? If you go check them out now, they have an incredible 9 giveaways going on!

Don't you just love getting packages?

Its just like Christmas!  We arrived home safe and sound from camping late last night.  Had a fabulous time, but more details on that in a later post!  Right now I want to thank Debbie from London ON for my lovely Friendship Bag Swap goodies!  Not only did I get one bag - I got two! with several great fat quarters and a length of Christmas fabric, two Pocket Prayer Quilts to slip into my purse or pocket - neat idea! - and a book which I am really looking forward to reading.  Thank you so much Debbie!

Camping!

Well, you won't be hearing from me for the next two weeks, as we're heading off to do some camping.  Keep your fingers crossed that the good weather sticks around, and that the snow we have heard hideous rumours of does not appear, as we will be travelling & camping in the mountains!  Hope to have some pictures and updates when I return! Have some handwork to keep me busy - we'll see how that goes! 
Happy quilting!

Almost caught up!

I’ve been working away like a demon on my Bunny Hill A Tisket A Tasket BOMs, and I’m almost caught up! Here’s my progress to date this week.  Just two left, and I’ll be caught up!  I did them a little out of order – July is missing here, but it is coming! and I still have a little embroidery and some embellishments to finish off.  You can see everyone's accomplishments here

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I also finished off and mailed my Friendship Bag – I changed gears somewhat and didn’t do the red/white/black one as it was coming out too big.  I’ll finish it off and use it as a purse!
Here’s what I ended up doing, stuffing with some goodies, and dropping in the mail to go south and east!  Hope they enjoy it.
 
and, being a glutton for punishment, I signed up for yet another swap – this time an Inchies Ornament swap hosted by the Quilting Gallery.  Was doing some testing to make sure I understood the directions, and this is what I came up with.  More fine tuning and embellishment to follow.  Fiddly, but I think I’m going to get addicted!
The Irish Dance dress has been taking a bit of a back seat to all this other fun, but I’ll get back to it soon!  I think there will be some quilting and maybe a Loonie Blooms quilt created before it gets finished, though.  Marlene has posted all the instructions and diagrams for this cute little wall hanging - go check it out at Sipiweski Quilt Designs.
Next Monday we’re off for a couple of weeks of camping – south eastern British Columbia and south western Alberta, so I have to sort out what handwork I’ll be taking with me, and find out what quilt shops I’m going to hit along the way. 
To my mystery Friendship Bag swapper – please be patient - if your bag arrives and I do not respond right away, its only because I’m not home to receive it! 
Oh, and I’ve also been playing with the Windows Live Writer – definitely easier to add and manipulate pictures, but I still have a lot to learn.
What Comes Next?  A walk in the rain with my dog!
Happy quilting!

Variety is the spice of life

or that's what they say, anyway!  I certainly like a variety - its a rare moment if I'm only working on a single project!  Here's a sampling of what's on the go in my "studio" right now!
Just finished off the embellishments on my first three Bunny Hill BOM blocks this morning.  I've still got some catching up to do!

Irish dance dress in the works

possibility for my Friendship bag swap - I've been playing - like usual! - with raw edge applique and free motion quilting with the thought of incorporating this into my Friendship bag.  Of course, I still have a half dozen other ideas to play with too!

a sneak peak at a Stitchers' Angel project

And last week I finished the binding on my Summer Sunset quilt, and am very happy with how it turned out. 

I had a lot of fun just playing with my free motion quilting - I've got a couple of Patsy Thompson's DVDs (http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/) and after viewing them I'm always inspired to play!  I can see some more playing in my future as I have a couple more tops that really need to move to the completed side of the list!  One of the first will be the top I made from piecing together the leftovers from the Summer Sunset quilt. (shown at the top of this blog as well) It is all sandwiched and ready to go - I think its just begging for some big feathers, what do you think?!

On Saturday we had our monthly quilt guild drop-in, and did I score there!  One of the guild members has a family member who is a fabric wholesaler, and she brought in three HUGE bags of old samples.  I managed to get some silk samples that I'll work into a table runner, and BIG SCORE - 7 silk pieces that measure about 18 x 36, minimum, all in neutral shades that I am going to work into a shirt/jacket item for me.  Pictures of this one as it develops.  The ideas are just flying around.

Sunday was a bit of a break day as my husband, another friend and I decided to go for a hike on a local mountain.  Temperatures were perfect for hiking, and we had lots of wild blueberries along the way to sustain us.  Unfortunately, the heat recently, all the fires in the province, and the humidity on Sunday meant there were no great pictures of Vancouver, but it was still gorgeous up there!

Now, what comes next??? I think I'll go work on the dance dress today!