Giving Thanks

After a few whirlwind weeks of preparing for the Fibre Arts Festival, it was wonderful to stop this weekend and reconnect with family and friends and all the things that make our lives worthwhile. Part of our travels to be with family took us through the beautiful Wentworth Valley in Nova Scotia, an area renowned for its spectacular displays of fall foliage. Every Thanksgiving weekend, the chair lift at Ski Wentworth operates to allow visitors access to the top of the hill, a terrific vantage point for viewing fall leaves. The parking lot was full and the cars were lined back to the road.
Here's some of what folks would see:

Lots of oranges and yellows, but not many deep reds as yet. Those will come soon enough.

Further along on the Shore Road in Masstown, we visited a pumpkin U-Pick operation. Nothing says "Thanksgiving" like pumpkins, and they dotted this field as far as the eye could see.

I gave a special word of thanks for not dropping the pumpkin pie this year...which I have done twice in the past. I'd like to think the jinx is broken, but I will continue to make two for the annual dinner... just in case. Never hurts to have back-up.

Gearing up for The Fibre Arts Festival

Amherst is busily making preparations for next week's Fibre Arts Festival. Yesterday I spotted Janet and Pauline, two members of the Cumberland Quilt Guild, setting up a display in the window of Pugsley's Pharmacy on Victoria Street. The bright sun made getting a decent picture very difficult as the scene in the street was reflected in the glass (Beth, maybe those windows are too clean!) However, if you look closely you can see some of the needlework items they are arranging in the display. It does appear these two know what they are doing:

That's Pauline's quilt hanging in the background, which she made for her ballet-dancing daughter. The tu-tu is 3-D, made from tulle. In the foreground you can see some of Janet's work - a miniature pineapple quilt, and one of her many Maritime Beauties.

Further down Victoria Street is another very pretty window, at Focal Point Photography. This one features hooked mats and quilts in rich fall colours.

The Eye Of The Quilter: Houston Exhibit

Some very exciting news out of Houston to share. Two of my photographs have been juried into an exhibit entitled “The Eye of the Quilter: Inspirations”. The show will debut at the 35th anniversary of International Quilt Market/Festival in Houston October 10-18. Instead of works of fabric, this special exhibit will feature photographs—taken by quilters—of something that “inspires” them. I am humbled to be included. One of the photographs chosen is of Logan's barn in West Amherst. It was a rare moment when the light was just right, and the wind still. We were passing by enroute to checking bees and something blood-red in the water of the pond caught my eye. Upon further investigation, it turned out to be a perfect reflection of the barn. Of all times not to have a camera with me! I raced home, hoping the light wouldn't change before I got back...only to get held up by a train at the crossing on Victoria Street! It was a very long few moments waiting. Fortunately, things were still calm and peaceful upon my return.The other photo included in the exhibit is of a quilt I made for the book Canadian Heritage Quilting The photo of this Redwork Strippy quilt was taken on a bench in our backyard after a snowfall. Not wanting any footprints to show, I carefully skirted the edge of the yard, climbing through trees with the quilt and camera held high. Approaching from the back, I tossed the quilt forward and it landed perfectly spread on the bench. Luck was with me that day.

Unbelievably, this makes two quilts from Canadian Heritage Quilting which will be represented in the Houston show. My “Log Canada” has been touring the U.S. since April in an exhibit of Canadian quilts entitled “O Canada”. If you are lucky enough to be one of the more than 80,000 visitors to this show, perhaps you will be kind enough to snap a couple of photos to send along as Regina from Wisconsin did in April.

Encompassing

Christine Dionne-Taylor of Ontario has sent along a picture of her completed Encompassing quilt. Christine's husband Ron works as a captain on one of the huge 'lakers' which ply the Great Lakes. Christine's quilt is a bit larger than the one I originally designed, as she wanted it to fit his bed on board ship. The block is a variation of a Mariner's Compass and as such, was a perfect choice for her sailor husband. I'm guessing it would be pretty safe to say that the compasses used in days of yore have given way to computerized navigational aids.
If you'd like to make your own version, the pattern for Encompassing is available by clicking here.
Thanks Christine for sharing this picture - the next best thing to seeing the quilt in person! More of Christine's lovely work may be seen here, in her webshots album.

Cumberland County Colours

This morning the colours around the track at Jerry's Park were so pretty that I had to go back with my camera when it was light.

Granted, it's more dramatic when they all turn deep red, but I like the stage where the entire fall palette is displayed.

Quilter's Connection Magazine

The mailman has just left with my premiere copy of the new Canadian quilting magazine entitled Quilter's Connection. Editor Heather MacArthur has done a terrific job putting this edition together. It includes original designs with full-sized patterns, quilt show listings across Canada, a Show & Tell page and columns on what's happening in Canada's quilting scene. The website lists stores across the country where the magazine may be purchased; here in The Maritimes, that includes Avonport Discount Fabrics and Atlantic News in Halifax. A subscription would make a thoughtful gift for any quilters on your Christmas list as the next issue will be the December one. The quilter's connection blog is here.

Unexpected Beauty

It's always cool to get mentioned on another blog, especially when that blog happens to belong to AQS and they're showing off one of your quilts. My Oriental Beauty was featured in The American Quilter Magazine earlier this year. It's shown up again on this post from a couple of days back, as advertising for their magazine.

http://americanquiltermagazine.blogspot.com/

All of the "beauty" type quilts I have designed have been extremely popular, and the drama they create in the finished piece makes them a gratifying investment in time...or at least for me. I am working on another now which will be finished shortly. It's coming along great, although getting things ready in time for Fibre Festival is a bit of a juggling act. Less than a month to go and at least four more quilts to finish...

Kennebecasis Valley Quilt Show

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the 29th annual show and sale of the Kennebecasis Valley Quilting Guild in Quispamsis, New Brunswick. As usual the quilts were spectacular. "Bella Roma" by Leigh Smith is certainly worthy of it's first place Red Ribbon in the Group Machine Quilted category. The extraordinary quilting was done by Penny Bubar.

This lovely quilt entitled "A Walk In the Garden" garnered a 3rd place ribbon for Joan Smith in the Group Hand Quilted category. The quilt was designed as a BOM by Peggy Stevens of the Cumberland Quilt Guild. Typically, I charged my big camera the night before and then changed my mind at the last minute and took the little Nikon... whose batteries conked out after only a few pictures. For the record, I did ask permission of the organizers to take and post these pictures for sharing, something that's important to do each time.

The merchant's mall was a busy spot, and I responded obligingly when some Fat Quarters called my name. The highlight was having opportunity to play on the new Bernina 820. Wow. The Bernina Lady is coming to Fibre Festival in October and I think I will casually show up with some silk and silk thread to play some more...

As wonderful as the quilt show was, the best part of the trip was the very pleasant company on the drive. Thank you Lynn and Marilyn for a much needed escape. I am still pondering the comment about taking my Fat Quarters with me when I got out of the car though, Lynn; we were talking about the fabric, right?

Diamonds workshop

Tonight I will be speaking to the Cumberland Quilt Guild about the "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" workshops being held during Fibre Festival. Most of the pieces I will keep for a surprise until class time but will take along a couple of "teasers" including the project piece for the day, a Log Cabin Diamond treeskirt/tabletopper. Yardage information is available at Dayle's for anyone who has registered for the workshop, or can be sent by email to those coming from away. I haven't had an update on numbers recently, so there may still be an opening if anyone is interested in joining us on one of the two days (Oct 14 or Oct 16 - same all-day workshop offered twice). Saturday at Dayle's I chose some fabrics in fall colours to work on a special design for Fibre Festival. So far it's still in the planning stages but with luck will come together this week.

Labour Day Labours

This was a beautiful fall weekend. The clematis on the back deck is in full bloom, twined around the railing.

We were up and at it early for bee work, and the honey supers are now off. It appears to be a somewhat smaller crop than last year. We passed a field of cattle, silhouetted against the morning sky. The picture is a bit blurry, snapped quickly through a dirty windshield, but captures the stillness of the moment nonetheless.

There was even a bit of time for sewing, and a few more diamond samples were added to show at the upcoming workshops. I love sewing diamonds, and use them a lot in my designs.

Now that school has begun we are back to the routine of homework and packed lunches. The first batch of chocolate chip cookies came from the oven yesterday afternoon and a willing group of teenage boys were on hand for the taste test. The cookies got the nod of approval; surprisingly, there were even a few left to pack in the lunch bag today.

Diamond Workshop

Despite a very uncooperative sewing machine, the binding is finally on the Log Cabin Diamond table topper for the Fibre Festival workshops in October. The same workshop will be presented on two different days: 9 am - 3 pm Friday October 16th and Wednesday Ocotber 14th in the Ralston Room of the First Baptist Church, Amherst. Cost of the workshop is a very reasonable $35.00.

Deciding how to quilt a piece is usually more difficult than doing the piecing. This one has been percolating through my brain while I worked on sewing more tops and finally here's what I settled on. As most of the prints featured holly, it seemed appropriate to stick to a holly motif for the quilting. Adding an extra layer of batting for easy trapunto helps add dimension. With the 6 points on the diamond, the centre motif almost resembled a snowflake, except with holly branches. The centre was left bare in case this piece ends up as a tree skirt, in which event that centre will be cut out. That decision can be made later. A vine was added to twist around the edge of the outer diamonds, with holly leaves placed randomly on the vine. This is the view from the back of the quilt top after the batting has been stitched in place. From here the quilt is layered in the normal way, adding batting and backing.

The piece finishes to about 52" across, which is a nice size on a 48" round table.

The Cumberland Quilt Guild have kindly invited me to their September 14th meeting and I will bring this along with me. A Materials List is available from Carol for anyone who has registered for the day. Both workshops are almost full to capacity, so if you have been considering a fun day out, I urge you to speak up right away to secure your spot. It's going to be fun!

A Bee Quilt?

Today's mail brought another treat from a fellow quilter and blogger in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Although Linda and I have met only "virtually" through the blogs, I do enjoy the very entertaining account of her activities she pens in her "Stitch Lines" . If you have been following along you will see that she has been cleaning out her parent's home and unearthing all kinds of treasures. Last week she emailed to say she had found a booklet entitled "Bees and How To Keep Them" dated 1937 and wondered if hubby and I would like to have it.
I've only have a quick glance through at this point but look forward to reading it more thoroughly this evening. So far it doesn't appear very much has changed in the approach. One of the pictures was rather intriguing though, as the caption reads "Removing Quilt". Sounds like I may have discovered a new excuse to make a couple of dozen more quilts!

Thank you Linda, for your thoughtfulness in sending the book.

Show Me More!

Another Selvedge Tote from the "Show Me" state - Missourians (?) sure live up to their motto!

Darlene Sforza of O'Fallon loves purple, so her bag is trimmed in purple check with matching lining and handles. She has a couple more planned as Christmas gifts, and will keep sewing until her selvedge supply runs out. Sounds like me...what a great incentive for us to keep buying fabric! Darlene has previously made a Purple Zinger selvedge quilt so it sounds as though she goes through quite a bit of fabric.

Thanks so much Darlene for sharing the picture of your gorgeous tote bag.

Selvedge Ex Machina

I've been so blown away the past few days...not by Hurricane Bill, but by calls and emails enquiring as to how we weathered the storm. It's been heartwarming to hear from quilters all over. Yet another surprise was waiting in this morning's mail. Look at this - all the way from Virginia!

Robin read the post on the Selvedge Tote Bag and very kindly snipped off her selvedges and sent them along. Robin's selvedges are from Aunt Grace and Darlene Zimmerman fabrics and it was interesting to see that the very same prints she has are shared in my stash. Gram's Baptist Fans, which graces the cover of Canadian Heritage Quilting, was made using these 30's Reproduction prints. I am very pleased to receive them as my next planned selvedge project will require quite a number. Here's the stash I have accumulated so far, with Robin's new ones pictured at the front. (I'm sure you are all impressed to see how neatly my selvedges are organized)

Perhaps by November there will be enough collected to begin the next project. In the meantime, I am continuing to sew samples for the diamond workshops in October.

A very sincere thanks to Robin for the selvedges - most appreciated! You can check out Robin's blog here.

The Post Bill Playbill

Hurricane Bill turned out to be rain, high winds and a bit of flooding...which is nothing hardy Maritimers cannot handle. We are grateful it passed by so quickly. Calm has returned today, although it is still raining. This is the field where some of the bees are kept; we were happy the hives were not damaged.
The summer is moving even more quickly than Bill; really hard to believe we are in the last week of August. School begins here before Labour Day this year: September 3rd. The samples which I have been stitching for the Diamonds workshop are piling up so today I am switching gears from piecing and will begin quilting a few of them. As the red and green sample uses a lot of holly prints, I am going to quilt it using holly motifs. Even though holly does not grow on a vine, a little artistic licence is acceptable in such situations. A flexible ruler is a great help in drawing curved lines; this vine will snake in and around the side diamonds with holly leaves added here and there.

Apian Cirque du Soleil

Hurricane Bill is a few short hours away from the coast of Nova Scotia, and moving this way quickly. Even though Amherst is not on the coast where Bill is predicted to make land, we will still experience high winds and heavy rainfall. It has, in fact, been raining all night. Like most others in the province, we've done our best to secure things both outside and inside our home. It would not be a surprise to lose power and we are prepared for that as well.
It has been interesting to watch the bees the past few days. This picture was taken earlier in the week during lovely sunshine. The bees were engaging in a peculiar behavior known as "bridging". It is unclear to apiarists what they are actually doing, but you see this when the hive is happy. To me it looks like play; the bees line up to take their turn in joining a chain which they build between frames. It's fun to watch when they are doing this, but extremely difficult to photograph as they are never still.
Early this morning when we checked the beeyard, the colony was not quite so content. The buzz of the hives on approach was not a happy cadence. Whether it is because the rain is keeping them inside today or they sense something larger is any one's guess. We added ballast to the hives in hopes that the hurricane winds will not blow them over, and will keep our fingers crossed.

Selvedge Tote # 3

I guess if you are from Missouri you have a certain reputation to live up to. Kathy Cavaness who hails from the "Show Me" state has done just that, and shown me a picture of her Selvedge Tote Bag. Isn't it great? I love how she has left coloured bits of fabric showing through beside each selvedge strip.Kathy has had fun sharing her project with her Southern Stitchers group, who are now busy saving selvedges for their own projects. The pattern for this bag appears in the current (October 2009) issue of McCall's Quilting.
If you have made a bag, please be sure to send along a picture for us to see. (And you don't have to be from Missouri to show us!)

Fabricville Show and Share

Yesterday could not have been a more perfect day for the Quilt Camp at Sea cruise ship to arrive in Halifax. Early in the day the weather seemed a bit hazy, but it burned off to beautiful warm sunshine - over 30 degrees Celsius. We went down to the the waterfront to see the ship.
It's ENORMOUS!

The annual Buskers Festival was also in town, and there were a lot of folks around enjoying the sunshine.

Theodore Tug Boat was busily hurrying off to somewhere in the harbour...

Fabricville did an absolutely stellar job welcoming the visitors. The store was magnificently hung with quilts of all sizes, shapes and genres. Members of the Mayflower Quilters Guild generously gave of their time to be on hand to greet, guide and escort visitors through the displays. Many locals and tourists came just to see the quilt show, and many shoppers came to cash in on the terrific specials the store was offering. Fabricville had organized buses to take the cruise ship passengers directly to their store and back at regular intervals throughout the day. It was hopping busy each time a bus arrived with a flood of excited, happy people.

The quilts were displayed on racks, beds, and hung everywhere throughout the large store.

Fabricville very kindly set up a display for me near the front door, with books to sign and surrounded by quilts. That gorgeous table topper under the book on the easel was made by Kathy Higgens and got a lot of oohs and ahhs throughout the day. My selvedge tote bag (you can see it to the left of the photo below) was a great conversation piece.

It was wonderful to meet so many quilters. Lorna from Mayflower was there, greeting and snapping pictures (including some you see here!) which she always graciously shares around. Thanks, Lorna.

No one left the store empty handed, as Fabricville gave out generously filled loot bags of sewing supplies. I don't think anyone would have left empty handed anyway, what with the huge sales the store was offering. I came home with 10 packages of Schmetz sewing machine needles, a new blade for my rotary cutter...and more fabric than I care to admit! :) Nothing I bought was more than half price - what bargains! Store manager Ellen really thought of everything to make this event a success - including the selection of Nova Scotian music playing in the background. I truly had a wonderful time, and thank Fabricville not just for inviting me to come along , but for their generosity in hosting such an event. I feel certain the "cruisers" will return to their homes with warm memories of the welcome extended to them by Fabricville and the quilting community.

Quilt Camp At Sea

Tuesday, August 18th is going to be a very exciting day for the quilting community in Halifax!The New England Quilt Camp at Sea Cruise ship will be docking for the day and Fabricville on Bayer’s Road is pulling out all the stops to extend them a hearty Maritime welcome. Fabricville has planned a full day of quilt displays, demonstrations and a terrific sale of goods. Members of the Mayflower Quilt Guild (to which I belong) will be on hand in the store to welcome visitors. The demonstrations cover a wide range of topics and skill levels. Karen Henry will kick off the demos at 930 and she is sure to wow everyone with her incredible work. I will be there from 11 a.m. - noon, signing copies of Canadian Heritage Quilting. The quilts from the book will be on display with me, as well as some others. I invite all quilters in the area to stop in and say hello. More details are on this poster, and in the ad in Saturday’s Halifax Herald.

The demonstrations end around 4 pm, but the specials run till store closing at 6. It’s a great time to stock up on supplies for fall retreats and workshops as all quilting cottons and batting sold by the meter are buy 1 meter get 1 free. Notions under $12.99 are 50% off and all other notions are 15% off, including Rowenta irons.
The event will take place at Fabricville, The Village At Bayer’s Road, 7071 Bayer’s Road, Halifax. If you need to call for directions, the number is 902- 443-9675. Hope to see you there!

Paulette's Log Canada

It’s so enjoyable to have folks send pictures of quilts they’ve made of my designs. Sometimes almost identical colours and fabrics are used, and sometimes a quilter will put a unique spin on the project; such is the case here. This really interesting variation was created by Paulette Eccelston who lives clear across the county in British Columbia. Paulette is well-known to CQA members, having penned a column for many years for our quarterly newsletter, The Canadian Quilter. She is also a past recipient of the Dorothy McMurdie Award, Canada’s most prestigious quilting honour. You can read more about Paulette here.
Paulette sent along a photo of a wallhanging she made using my "Log Canada" pattern from Canadian Heritage Quilting as a jumping off point. She designed this piece to use as a teaching tool in a "Bits 'N Pieces (Scrap) class. The fabrics were chosen to represent the 4 seasons, which are very distinct in Canada. As in the original, red was chosen to pay homage to the maple leaf on our flag. As we celebrate Canada’s birthday on July 1, red is used in the summer block.

I really like the white tone-on-tone chosen for the background, as it makes me think of snow.

How very appropriate for Paulette to do a bit of flag-waving, as she has been a very strong voice in support of Canadian quilt designers.

The Doughnuts

Gram's Doughnuts

3 eggs
1-1/4 cups white sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 scant tsp. ginger
4 Tbsp. oil
4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. soda
1 cup sour milk
4 Cups flour

Beat eggs, add sugar while beating. Add nutmeg, salt, vanilla, ginger and oil.
Stir soda into the sour milk and add alternately with the flour. Mix only until blended. Cover and place in fridge overnight. Roll out to about 3/8" thickness, using just enough flour to prevent sticking. Cut with doughnut cutter.
Fry in vegetable shortening (such as Crisco) until golden. When you remove doughnuts from the oil, place them in a pan lined with paper towel to blot up excess oil. If sugaring, add some sugar to a paper bag and shake one doughnut at a time (kids love doing this!) Makes about 3 dozen large doughnuts.

(Normally, these turn out lovely and smooth skinned; I think mine were rough this time because they were made during a time of very high humidity. Because of that, I had to add a fair amount of flour so they wouldn't stick.)