So, while I'm at it, I thought I'd put up the pictures of the Quilted Bag project which a number of us attempted. We gathered at the Heritage Centre Gallery last June to start the project and then, again, in October to try to finish. (Brenda has some other pictures of the group at her blog scrapsandstrings.blogspot.com)

This bag was done by a friend in a workshop and a few of us saw hers and wanted one just like it. Mine used up a great textured upholstery fabric that I hadn't quite known what to do with. It's outside my usual colour box but I'm glad the Thistle fabric will be seen and used. The pockets on the outside house a 15 1/2" square ruler, a 6 1/2" x 24 1/2" long ruler, the inside pocket is stiff enough to give protection to a cutting matt and I then added my own zippered pocket to keep a few more things contained. A fun project but the final binding of all the outside edges tried my patience on several levels! I'd take a pointer from my friend Angela and do the upper binding all in one piece around the top next time.

So, I'm looking forward to loading it up for my first retreat in November.

So, it's now fall, and I've been up and down my stairs numerous times this summer, thankful for the effort and happy with the results. Thought I'd show the final view.

Oh, and for those who want to know, this is what the inside of the loft looks like. Notice the second picture which so aptly portrays what my challenge will be in the coming year....homework or creative indulgence...

Decided not to add a railing on the other side since it made moving stuff up and down, much more awkward. I'm happy with one!

So, here's the railing the flowers and a picture of my final Roma tomatoes, just ripening on the vine. I think they're coming in tonight (along with those fabulous Chili peppers for my salsa!)

the Loft in summer...

SO, hotter than imaginable in Winnipeg these days! I thought I was lucky to receive an old air conditioner from a friend and would put it in the Quilt Loft so I could work in cool comfort... Got the HB and 2nd son to carry the beast up the stairs (with new Railing) and placed it in the inner door opening so it could ventilate through the rest of the garage... and plugged it in. Yes, it fired up (take note of that word...) and within in seconds was blowing "cool" air into the humid space. (sitting at about 33 degrees). So, I though I'd close the door for 15 minutes, go down for a drink and then came back to check... Crap, it was like I'd turned the heaters on! 10 degrees hotter than 15 minutes earlier... the old unit puts off a HUGE amount of heat and instead of recirculating through the garage below, it came right back into my space... so, off went the unit, on went the little circulating fan (note the word little) and I'm back to not needing steam in the iron... and, maybe not even needing to turn it on since it is SO HOT!

However, I'm happy to say I now have railings to my grotto, thanks to a group brain effort from Myself, HB, a book from HD(Home Depot) and a few visual checks on the neighbour's project. Oh, did I say thanks to last son Jonathan for staining the rails? (also have to do the back railing but hey, I'm happy to have one) Now we just need to finnish the front lattice and clean up the space behind ... for now I'll just GET A BIGGER FAN!

the reason we gift...

So today is July 10, I'm waiting for 1/2 of my family to return from a youth conference in Ontario. Had a great week, did some gardening, did some quilting, did some reading, did very little cooking (yahoo) did some pool watching and some dog sitting...yep, I like this vacation thing. Got me to remembering last summer's vacation with all the family, for the occasion of Catherine' and Alex's wedding. Their invitations were black and white, their apartment is black and white and of course, the wedding was all done in black and white... so classy. SO, it seemed only fitting that I should make a black and white quilt (0f course!). Problem was, they'd asked for "envelope" gifts... but, being the rule breaker that I am, I decided "I can do that" and made a lovely "envelope" to fold my quilt into. It was kind of interesting trying to find room on the "envelope" table at the wedding... It was well received however and I hope it is a reminder to the young couple of support of family far away, as they begin their life together.

So, here's the quilt, taken on the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria. Ah, what a glorious day and what a great place for a pic, and of course, the lovely couple :)

A few more completed

Realized that this has actually been a pretty good year for finishing quilts.

This bluestar one was done just to prove to myself I could actually do something in blue. I like it more than I thought I would, also fills the "seasonal" need to have something reflecting Winter.

At one point I realized that wanting a Christmas seasonal quilt meant that I had to get working on one before Christmas so, after a Pinawa retreat where Judy Blatz helped us discover the "split nine-patch" this festive number was done with those Christmas fat 1/4's I'd purchased early in my quilting career before I realized that a fat 1/4 is really useless unless you buy about 20 of them...so some of my ugly Christmas themes got used in this one and it still looks nice :)

A fun experience was a workshop with Heather Lair from Gimli. One of her trademark pieces is the crafting of Quilting postcards. Doug actually bought me my first one when he was on Staff retreat one fall. I loved it and when the opportunity came to do a workshop with her I was tickled. This is the post card that came out of it...I think there are a few more in me! This one went to one of the "used to be church ladies".. Karen when she moved into her new house and hosted us for a fabulous dinner...Love those ladies!

And now for the actual pics! Had some trouble with these last night, try again.

This was a commission for a wedding. Siblings purchased it for their brother. Variation of the "round in circles" original design done for Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Bursary fundraising banquet in 2010. Have since done two wedding quilt commissions of this pattern or a variation. This one is lap size, 55x60.
Here's the "crazy eyes" with it's retro girl. still love the polkadots on the dark purple.

Hotshots is the pattern, super fun was the quilt-making although, deceptive is the pattern in it's apparent simplicity. ripped more simple seams on this one that ever I think! Experimented with machine quilted feathers, and, they turned out super for first time! Even the arch and the corners turned out slick...maybe I'll have to try those again!

these are a few of my favourite things

Here's a few of the quilts that have flown off the machine in the last little while. Oh, and the recipient of the whacky one from the previous post.

Loving my loft space for working, open the door and the window and nice little breeze wafts through. Thanks to the insulating the boys did last summer, it's actually not even that hot up there (yet!). Looking forward to some stitching time during vacation! Can hardly wait, first actual paid vacation that I can remember, usually just get vacation paid out at the end of the job. Thought I'd do it differently this time.

Here's a crazy one I worked on last fall, I'm finally ready to quilt and bind it, I think it will go to my niece Alanna. Happy grad, ( a year or two late) and thanks for house sitting/cat sitting and just congrats on moving out on your own. She's a 70's retro kind of gal. Hope she likes the whacky design.