O Canada – or – Girl’s Weekend At the Cabin
May 23rd, 2014
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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?
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:
visiting from crazy mum quilts. Love the quilt you made, what an awesome looking view from the cabin
Love, love, love your maple leaf quilt. Fantastic design.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful work of art @ MamasBlogCentral.com 🙂 Have a great weekend!!
Thanks all for the nice comments! This weekend I am working on finishing up another quilt – this one of my own design.