Yup, I’m home now!  What a grand adventure I had in Ontario!  The quilters, conference, and scenery were magnificent.  I could not turn my attention back to all things New Mexico, though, without finishing the Canada story – O Canada, How I Love Thee!  But first, the class:

Drawing

Day one began like all of my design classes with a series of exercises.  Then students moved on to drawing their own designs.

Choosing Fabrics

Once satisfied with a design, colors and fabrics are selected for the portion of the quilt that the student chooses to begin working on.

Cutting the Fabric

Cutting the fabric comes next, after a short demo about how to determine what sizes to cut individual pieces for freezer paper foundation piecing.

Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing – Dashing Sunrays

The next step is to use Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing to stitch the individual filler strips.  The border above is called Dashing Sunrays.

10000 Pyramids

Above is the 10,000 Pyramids border, my absolute all time favorite.

Judith Messenger, North York, Ontario

And, above, already stitched to a background piece is the filler strip called Mountains and Valleys, another of my favorites and very popular in class.

Fran Sayles, Calgary, Alberta and her design

By the end of day two, some students, like Fran Sayles, have accomplished major portions of their designs.  This one is going to be a beauty!  Do you recognize the top border in Fran’s quilt as the 10,000 pyramids border shown above?

Goose is Loose Class – Quilt Canada 2014

In the end, we all had a marvelous time!  I can’t wait to see where these talented quilters go with their new skills!  Thank you all for being such lovely students!

Don’t Worry – Be Happy by Marianne Wiltse, Calgary, Alberta

What a thrill it was to be included as a faculty member of Quilt Canada, their national show.  Hosted by the Canadian Quilter’s Association (CQA), it features some amazing quilts in several different exhibits.  The quilt above, “Don’t Worry – Be Happy” was created by Marianne Wiltse and it was her first entry into the juried show. It is published here with her permission.  Sadly, the rules of the juried show preclude cameras and the images on the DVD  which can be purchased cannot be used except for personal use.  So, I can’t show you any of the other beautiful quilts, but you can see the winners on the CQA website.  In upcoming posts, I will show some of the other exhibits that can be photographed.

Marianne Wiltse, Calgary, Alberta

Marianne hails from Calgary, one of the most beautiful places on Earth.  She and her mom were both students in my two-day Goose is Loose Class. What creativity they have!

Luana Rubin, owner of E-Quilter

Luana Rubin, owner of E-Quilter, one of the coolest online quilt shops ever, and I drove down to Niagara Falls for dinner.  We supped at Four Brother’s Cucina a charming spot where the pasta is homemade daily. Family owned and operated since 1964, it was a good choice.  Then, we headed back to Brock University, host for Quilt Canada 2014.   It was show and tell night.

Birgit Schuller, Riegelsberg, Germany

Fellow teacher, Birgit Schuller, showed the incredible quilted dance dress she had designed and stitched.   She and her husband like to do ballroom dance and other types of dance at home in Riegelsberg

Birgit Twirls

and she even did a little twirl to show off the skirt of the ensemble. I took a lot of photos during show and tell but was off to the side so everything was photographed at an angle and I was unable to get the names of the makers.  I’ve included just a few here.

CGA Show and Tell

CQA Show and Tell

CQA Show and Tell

I also brought the Hawks Aloft raffle quilt for Show and Tell so I could share the story of our quilt-in-a-day quilt retreat.  Afterwards. several ladies came up to examine our handiwork.  What a great start to a terrific show.

Hawks Aloft 2014 Raffle Quilt

Stay tuned  for more . . .

Kingston Stars in Progress

This is another of my favorite classes to teach.  By the second morning of class, almost everyone showed up with a nearly completed star.  Then it was time to design the borders.  Above, by using two different colors as the background of the geese, it creates a saw-tooth edge around the center star.

Sensational All Stars

Above is a selection of stars in progress from class.  Aren’t they beautiful?

Sylvie Poulin

Sylvie, who had driven the 8 hours from Val-D’or, Quebec, had brought a second finished quilt from the class she took with me in Phoenix.  She gets a lot of quilting done up there in the far north!

Fused Glass Plate by Ann Oastler, Kingston

At the end of class, I was surprised by the gift of a fused glass plate and a card signed by everyone in the class!  What fun we had!  Ann is a professional glassmaker and has a website, “Sawdust and Glass” where you can see more of her work as well as that of her husband, Ron, who specializes in wood designs.

Sensational Stars in Kingston, Ontario

Thank you Limestone Quilters, for showing me how much fun we could have in class!  I love your designs and your hospitality!

Yours Truly with Cartwheel Constellation, Image by Bethany Garner

After leaving Perth, I moved south to Kingston where I gave a lecture and taught the two-day workshop, Sensational Stars and Circular Borders.  Like the Flying Colors class, each student designs their own project, and we begin by working through a series of exercises that build confidence.   What surprises the Limestone Quilters Guild had in store for me!

Sylvie Poulin, Val-D’or, Quebec

First among them was the arrival of Sylvie Poulin, who had taken my workshop at Quilting in the Desert in Phoenix, back in January 2014.  Sylvie hails from Val-D”or, Quebec, an 8 hour drive from Kingston, which is on the north shore of Lake Ontario. (watch for another post about her work soon to come).

Stitch by Stitch, owned by Margaret Millar

The second surprise was the beautiful new shop, Stitch by Stitch, owned by Margaret Millar.  She has moved to this new, sunny location and re-opened just one month earlier!  Wowsers!  It was gorgeous and bright with natural light from above, a.k.a that big orb in the sky.

Coffee Stand

Tucked away at one end of the shop, perched atop an old treadle sewing machine, was the Keurig coffee maker, complete with real milk and cream! Now that is one sure way to warm my heart!

Stitch by Stitch Classroom

The classroom was brightly lit too, courtesy of a floor to ceiling window on one side.  Each of the sewing tables was lovingly hand built by Margaret’s father, designed with the quilter in mind.  There were little cubbies below the table top to stash your tools, extra fabric, lunch, etc.  And, the big, comfy rolling chairs made for an exceptionally pleasant sewing experience.  It wasn’t long before stars began to appear.

Class Star – maker unknown

Not yet stitched together, this was the first star to appear.  Sadly, I did not get the name of the designer.  I am hopeful that someone will send me that information so I can update this.

Sylvie Poulin’s Star

Sylvie was the second designer to complete all of her sections.  At the end of the day, everyone seemed happy and a bunch of students took their projects to work on at home.

The next time you find yourself in southern Ontario, be sure to check out Stitch by Stitch!

Stay tuned for day 2 of this class . . .

Some of my best friends are people I meet in quilting class.  One of the best parts  of being a traveling quilt teacher is the new life experiences that I discover.  Such was the exact case when I visited Ruth Oblinski in Perth, Ontario.  She and I met about 4 years ago at the AQS Lancaster show.  We hit it off right away.  Ruth made it possible for me to travel to Perth, where I stayed with her and her husband, Terry, at their lovely home in the country.

Ruth and me

The unexpected treat of this visit was discovering the Classic Car world.  Terry is passionate about classic cars and is one handy man! 

He and Ruth were high school sweethearts and he had already been bitten by the old car bug.  His first car was a 1938 Plymouth that he bought for $60.  It’s the one that he and Ruth drove during their dating days.  He later sold the car, and then bought it back in 2009 for the princely sum of $2,000.  It was a junk heap by 2009.  So, he started restoration by hand, lovingly working each inch of the car.

1938 Plymouth

He was about to set off to his car club meeting and invited me to ride along.  What a ride that was!

The upholstery

With extreme attention to detail, including hand made embroidered seat backs and door panels, riding shotgun was a blast.  What surprised me the most was the power of the engine – while I had expected putt-putt- sputter, it roared ahead with remarkable spunk, leaving the stoplight ahead of even the newest cars.

Plymouth by Terry

It was my first car club meeting so I was surprised to see a parking lot full of new and classic cars, all lovingly cared for by their owners.  Terry’s garage held another surprise that I would not get to see until the next morning.

1931 Model A – Work in Progress

Jacked up in the back of the garage was Terry’s newest old passion, another classic that he had bought for $2,000.  It also was in poor shape where it is coming to life in Terry’s garage.

Seats not done yet

The detail with which Terry restores his classics is obvious.  Here, I got to see the condition of the interior before he began work.

Model A Engine

This Model A, however, already had a powerful engine, rebuilt by Terry from a junkyard engine from a newer vehicle.

Model A Front View

I would love to see this classic once Terry finished working his magic on the newest member of his auto family.

Who would have thought that a quilting trip to Perth would introduce me to the world of Classic Cars!  What a trip!

I’ve been looking  forward to this trip for a long time!  I found myself in the Ottawa, Ontario airport where my buddy, Ruth Oblinski should have been waiting for me.  But, in her place, as I walked through the doors of customs was none other than Paul Leger!  He’s my buddy that I met back at Quilt Festival in Houston many years ago!  What a surprise!  The two had cooked up the switcheroo plan and I fell easily into their plot!  I got to spend a lovely hour with Paul as he drove me south to Perth, Ontario, home of Ruth!  I was here to teach workshops, and Perth was my first stop where I taught the two-day Goose is Loose Workshop!

Blue Jay by Cathy Price, Perth, Ontario

I love it when students bring show and tell to class.  This abstract art piece by Cathy Price features a Blue Jay.  The detail and quilting in this piece are incredible.

Valetta Hudson, Ottawa, Ontario

Valetta Hudson drove down from Ottawa to take the class.  Prior to that, she made “Little House of Geese from my pattern published in American Quilter Magazine in early 2013.

Drawing Class Sample (Image by Ruth Oblinski)

The Goose is Loose class begins with a series of class exercises where students learn to draft the various fillers that are used in their designs.  Working from a workbook, this sample is not meant to be pieced, but rather a sampler to take home to refer to later.

Class Demo (image by Ruth Oblinski)

Being older myself and not always able to remember a whole bunch of new things presented all in a series, I teach “things of three”.  That is, I demonstrate three things, then they return to their tables to draw those three things.  And so it goes until we work our way through the workbook.

Class Design (Image by Ruth Oblinski)

After lunch, everyone begins working on their original design.  This is a simple design that I drew for a demonstration.

Valetta Hudson works on her project (image by Ruth Oblisnki)

On day two, students learn freezer paper foundation piecing.  Above, Valetta Hudson works on her design that features this gorgeous piece of  fabric featuring an oriental woman in glorious colors.

Goose is Loose Class – Perth, Ontario

The Goose is Loose Class is all about design and although students learn much, they don’t always have a lot to show at at the end of second day.  It is a two day class!  I hope to see you in class one day!  What fun I had!  Stay tuned for more from O Canada!

It’s a gloomy sort of day here in Albuquerque, perfect for sewing!  Actually, we had a major downpour yesterday that was heaven sent and much appreciated!

I just finished putting on the outer, plain border on my newest design.  Here’s where I need your help, or at least your opinion!

Quilt in Progress

It currently measures 66″ x 75″.  Do you think it needs one more border to be complete?  If so, what would you recommend as the outermost border?

Thanks for any suggestions.

I’m linking up with:

It was a little thing, really, that set the wheels in motion for my May obsession!  I was putting together a Canada themed gift basket for the Hawks Aloft silent auction at our 20th Anniversary Party.  My basket, however, was a little on the sparse side and I thought it needed some spiffing up to help it fetch a good price.  A little quick and easy quilt might be just the thing.  I could use the Canadian Maple Leaf Logo, simplify it and I’d be all set — a quilt in a day was foremost in my thoughts.

Enter my good friend, Amanda Ruden, to whom I was telling my idea.  Mandy said, “I have just the thing — A Maple Leaf Pattern you can use.

Maple Leaf Quilt from France

We had already made plans to spend the weekend at my cabin in the Jemez Mountains that last weekend in April.  I gathered all my red and white fabrics together, filled with the anticipation of the new addition to my gift basket.  We met there on Friday morning, just Mandy and me at first.  It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for our weekend.  The quilt would be just the think to get done quickly while we enjoyed watching the birds at the feeders on the deck rail, the good friends of our quilt group,  great food and beverages.

Dawn over Redondo Peak

Saturday morning, the colors at dawn were glorious, a lovely way to begin the day.  I took a look at the pattern which was meant to be assembled via precise cutting of pieces – NOT MY THING!  So, I re-drafted it so it could be freezer paper foundation pieced.

Snow at the Cabin

Soon, however, the fickle Weather Gods had other plans.  No worries though!  Sewing is an indoor sort of activity.  I stitched with a vengeance!  I watched out the window.  Mama Abert’s Squirrel arrived to help herself to the sunflower seeds.

Abert’s Squirrel, image by Amanda Ruden

And that’s when it really began to snow – sideways.  I began to worry that it would pile up.  Still, I stitched. By Saturday evening, I had completed 9 blocks and made the little sawtooth edge around the middle block.  I stitched them together.  ARGH!  It was VERY LITTLE!   And, it was very crowded, lots of pieces in a very small space.  DOUBLE ARGH!  I began to rip.  I would have to think of something else.  It was then that I realized the pattern had sashing between the blocks.  DUH!

O Canada in Progress

By Sunday morning, with my head and attitude screwed on straight once again, I started over.  This time, I added sashing with my little picnic ants as the corner sets.  (That fabric was covering the tables at the Arizona Quilter’s Guild Show a year earlier – they let me gather up the remnants after my lecture!) Now, O Canada was larger, but still not large enough for my idea!  It would have to go home with me and grow into its final size there.

Mandy holding her quilt!

In the meantime, Mandy had been madly stitching away too!  She was piecing a quilt top  that was a new design of Nancy Rink for Nancy’s new fabric line with Marcus Fabrics.  She was under pressure to finish that top fast so Elizabeth Dawson, also in our group, would have time to quilt it. Here’s a link to her blog where talks about the quilt and our efforts. I believe they finished that quilt in under three weeks.  Simply amazing!

Looking North from the Cabin

Typical of most April storms, this one was short-lived and left just a dusting of snow to appreciate as the final gasp of winter.  I headed home to Albuquerque for more sewing.

Sawtooth Border

One of the things I love to do most of all is to make scrappy quilts.  O Canada holds just about every single red and white fabric in my stash.  Another beauty of designing and piecing with paper foundations is that you can adjust the sizes to make the border fit.  Above, the 1.5″ squares are not all what they seem.  Some are ever so slightly smaller to make it fit the completed inner quilt top. Then, it was time to begin quilting the little charmer.  And quilt I did, every night after work and every spare moment.

O Canada 2014

I finished stitching on Friday afternoon, May 16 about 5 hours before our party and the Silent Auction. Would my basket fetch a good bid?

Hawks Aloft Birthday Cake 2014

The Anniversary Gala was a grand affair with about 150 attendees.  Mandy was there with her husband, Edward too!  We laughed about that O Canada Quilt and the time it took to make it!  After dinner, we served our Great Horned Owl Mama and Baby Birthday Cake and then it was Silent Auction time.

In the end, my O Canada Basket brought in the highest bid, and the winner was . . .

MANDY!

I’m linking up with: