Getting reorganinzed

I have been busy refolding and reorganizing my new shelving unit this week. It is hard to decide where I want to put things but I am pretty much finished now and I have lots of room to add more fabric! It is nice to find some things that I had long forgotten about. The Ikea cupboards have pull out drawers that are large and easy to pull out for storing the fabric. I now have a Dear Jane drawer, a special fabric drawer ( wool, silk etc) and a Projects drawer - a drawer of batting and fusible web, a Notions drawer, Fat Quarter drawer -- and so on - I have a 12 large drawers and two shelves. As you can see I still have a couple of storage containers under the table. I think a sewing room is ALWAYS a work in progress!!

My side of the room.



Jim's side of the room. Now he has work to do!






These are the blocks I completed at the retreat on Saturday. I really love this Peace on Earth fabric. I still have one more block that is almost completed and then I am caught up to November.





And I am also working on a Professional bag for myself - like the one I made for Jessica. The outside is completed - now to do the inside.

Happy Halloween - I am off to work for 4 hours today.

A very busy weekend for Jim

Well - it was a busy weekend for me as well. I attended my all day "Quilting by the Bay" retreat on Saturday - from 9 AM to 10 PM. I really enjoy the days I can go to "QBTB" as I am not always able to attend. It is such a fun day - we get a nice snack in the morning - a great lunch and supper - a glass of wine or two and a day spent chatting with all my "Quilting Peeps" AND do a bit of sewing. I was able to get caught up on my Fat Quarter Shop BOM blocks. It is amazing how much stuff I haul off to these events and all I really needed is those five BOM blocks and my machine!!

There were a few "newbies" at QBTB this time and one of the newbies has an Etsy shop and a blog -- Patchwork Pottery She brought some cool items for sale - which for some reason I completely missed - but I did check out her Etsy shop and her blog and it is well worth the visit. And she blogged about QBTB -- and there is a picture of me on her blog! And I already ordered something from her Etsy shop.

While I was away this weekend - at QBTB and then I worked on Sunday and Monday - Jim decided to surprise me with a new shelving unit for my sewing room!



He also removed the stereo unit from my sewing area and relocated it to the computer side of the room!!


But -- I came home to a very big - hmmm - mess would be the word I'd use. He had to move a lot of things around to take out the stereo and install the new shelves. He bought new pullout drawers for the old shelving unit as well. So he took all my fabric out of the shelves and put it on my table - back in on the shelves in big piles and on my cutting table.



I have been busy today working on reorganizing my sewing room -- thanks to my thoughtful husband who realized I was having a bit of a creative crisis and decided he wanted to help. Isn't he wonderful.

I think the reorganizing is going to take a bit of time. I now have twice the shelving space -- all of the shelves are easy to see pull out shelves. But I am not sure how I want to organize the shelves -- what fabric should go with what and on what shelf. I should be an interesting week!

A couple of pictures of Hunter on his new quilt.

I am heading off to an all day quilt retreat tomorrow morning and I hope to get some serious quilting done. I have plans!!

But I thought we needed little bit of Hunter first. It has been a while since I have posted any pictures. Jessica received a new video camera for her birthday in August and she is mostly taking little videos of him and not so many still pictures.

Here are a couple of pictures she sent of Hunter with his lovely new quilt sent from San - Gypsy Quilter. San was so generous and wonderful to have sent this special quilt up for Hunter. It is such a "snuggle up and hold the baby quilt" It has the softest and prettiest yellow flannel backing. I am sure it will become a favourite quilt in no time at all.




I love this picture of him. He is starting to look more like a little boy now. Look at those cubby little arms.




Isn't he a cutie. Jessica called me on the phone yesterday to listen to him giggling away. He was just laughing and giggling. It was so nice to hear him laugh. I have been told that he really misses his Nana. I think a quick little trip to Calgary may be needed soon.

My Quilting Room aka "The Stash Disaster Zone"

I was reading Caron Mosey: Michigan Quilts today about her stash. I was thinking that her stash and my stash must be cousins! Although now that I look at my pictures I see it much more untidy than her stash -- so I must be the poor cousin nobody likes to invite for dinner -LOL

It started out so organized in my new sewing room when Andrew left home and I took over his bedroom. The big Ikea cupboard was converted into a perfect stash cupboard.




Soon it was overflowing.

I think I have been away from home either in Alberta x3 - Sask, Alaska, Washington State and the Yukon or working - more than I have been home these last 6 months or so. Rather than quilting I have been happily adding to my stash in a sort of "shopping and dropping" style. I buy fabric - go home - drop in on my cutting table and go off to the next shopping destination!

Here is my cutting table piled high with purchases that have yet to be unpacked. Mostly because I don't know where to put them.




I also have items in my sewing room that are taking up valuable floor space -- like Andrew's Ikea chair - that he doesn't want and I have no idea what to do with it. And if you look on the far right beside the table there is Jim's 1970's stereo - turntable - record albums and all!! That I would like gone as well. I think my stash would look much more organized with the extra space.

Recent purchases piled high on my ironing board - as I am not quilting so hence I am not ironing.



Under the ironing board is a big container that has fabric that I took to a retreat last November - Hummm - I am going off to that same retreat again in a couple of weeks - I won't even bother unpacking it now!
There is also some of my fat quarters from the Fat Quarter shop in Texas.



Piled under my table is my various containers -- one is scraps, one is UFO's and one is all my Dear Jane fabric -- although that is getting full and I have Dear Jane fabric piled on the ironing board now as well.


I really would love to have an organize stash - but I think at this point getting it organized would require professional help -- and someone who is interested in a Stereo for 1970!!

Turkey SURPRISE!

We had our Thanksgiving Turkey yesterday. There were only the four of us for dinner - Jim, me, Andrew and Eric. Andrew's girlfriend Anri had to work. But we had a lovely meal and a great visit with the two boys.

When the kids were in school every spring break we rented a house on Chesterman's Beach near Tofino B.C. Quite a few years in a row we would cook a turkey while we were there and spend most of the week eating turkey -- Turkey taco's, Turkey pizza, Turkey omelets, Turkey sandwiches and finally we would have Turkey SURPRISE -- like really - turkey? It is my favourite way to have turkey actually. So - although we had a great turkey dinner last night -- Tonight it is Turkey SURPRISE -- you have to say it like it is a SURPRISE!!

Step one --- everything from dinner ( except the potatoes ) goes in a big bowl and is mixed together -- gravy, all the leftover vegetables, stuffing, bits of turkey -- mix together and put in a casserole dish.




Step two -- Potatoes are cold and hard so mix in some milk, sour cream, a couple of eggs and some grated cheese -- whip up with the electric beater until nice and fluffy and smooth.





Step three -- put potatoes mixture on the turkey mixture and bake in the oven for about 1 hour at 350 degrees.




Step four -- wait for it to cook!



There is Jenny hoping just a bit more turkey will fall on the floor!!

We went for another nice walk today in Lighthouse Park - the day was gray but there was no rain. And we went and voted - so we can sit and watch the Federal election results while we eat Turkey SURPRISE.

It is so nice to travel but there is no place like home!

Well - it was a nice week. Relaxing and restful - although I worked Monday and Tuesday and they were very busy days - the weather at the beginning of the week was sunny and warm.

We started off the week going for a lovely walk through Lighthouse Park. One of our favourite places in the Vancouver area to go for a walk. There are still 500 year old cedar trees growing there. And there are many paths that wind along the park - through the Forest and along the ocean. It is only a 15 minute drive from our house so we are pretty lucky.



I have posted a few Lighthouse Park pictures before - it is such a great place to take pictures. I don't know if I have any pictures of the really big trees. It was a good walk - we did about 1 hour of steady walking and 1 hour of looking -LOL. Good for the soul!!




Most of the tomatoes we grew this year were eaten by the neighbours as they ripened while we were in the Yukon. Apparently they enjoyed them thoroughly -LOL. This week there were a few tomatoes left on the pathetic looking plants. The tomatoes are really sweet this year. I made a Tomatoe and Basil Pie that I found the link for on Carole's blog. Very, very tasty -- thank you Carole. And it was two meals!!



And I started so sewing - I am making myself a "Professional bag" like the bag I made for Jessica for the baby. I am moving right along with it. It has been so long since I made the last one that it is like starting over again. I cut all the fabric out before summer and never got to it - and so now I bought some other fabric in Red Deer when I was visiting Anna - that I like better then this fabric - oh no! I might have to make another. But I really like this fabric now that I am actually sewing it together.



I am starting to make my way around the blogs again -- it is nice to catch up on everyone. Although I accidentally clicked on "Mark all as read" in my Google Reader - it then said "Are you sure" and for some reason I wasn't clear what I was doing - and said Yes!! Anyway I guess it will be a new beginning for blog reading - LOL

All in all it was a good week. Now I am going for lunch with my friend from UBC - who I haven't seen since May.
Have a great weekend.

The Quilt show is over for another 2 years

The quilt show is over, my work week is over, the trip to Harrison Hot Springs is over and my Friday stitching group is over. It is Saturday and I have done a bit of sewing today. I also managed to finish a Dear Jane block -- one that has been to Inuvik and back!! I am looking forward to a very quiet fall season. If that is at all possible.

I was so tired last weekend that apparently we watched the Emmy's on Sunday night and I completely forgot. I remember on Monday watching The View and wondering why they were showing Emmy fashions and then today they were talking about the Emmy's on TV and I question Jim as to when the Emmy's would be on TV - it was being talked about as if it had already aired. Jim informed me we watched it last Sunday -- this is NOT a good sign!! Now that he reminded me I vaguely recall Dr. Phil on a big screen behind someone. So - that tells you what my life has been like lately.

We had a nice trip to Harrison Hot Springs on Wednesday/Thursday. I completely forgot about my Quilt Guild Meeting on Tuesday night -- another bad sign!! It is amazing that I muddled through work on Tuesday -- fortunately I was orientating a new staff member and that always keeps you on your toes.

Here are a few of my favourite quilts from the quilt show.




This one is made by one of the member of my little Friday stitch group -- Dianne. She made it as a wedding gift for her son and his new wife who were married July 19th of this year. It is just a beautiful quilt - with the Tree of Life in the centre. What a perfect symbol for a marriage. As you can see it was well loved by a lot of people and it got two ribbons.




This quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted. Isn't it stunning!! It is also one that received two ribbons. The ribbons were "Viewers favourite" and "Members favourite".





This quilt is made by one of the women in my Quilting by the Bay group - Kaffe Fassett fabric and pattern. I think it should have received a ribbon as well. It was one of my favourite.





This is a beautiful wall hanging - it is a old mill in New Brunswick - one of members that always does amazing work.




Here is another member of my QBTB group - loved the turtles.


There were lots of amazing quilts at the show this year. And the merchant mall was very good (if I say so myself!! ) I certainly bought a few things. Some great African batiks from Pippa Moore to add to my African fabric collection - I also bought a fabulous pattern called "Joy" from her as well. Something to add to my pattern collection!! I also bought a great scrap package of silks and such from Louise at Mostly Silk . I am getting a great collection of silk pieces - for some future project!

Here is to a quiet and productive Fall!!

Slide show - Dempster Highway day one

This is a slide show of the first full day along the Dempster Highway. On this day we traveled from Tombstone Park to Eagle Plains.

There are 134 pictures and I think if you click on the slide show you go to the Picasa site and get a larger pictures.

We are back

We arrived home late Tuesday night. We had a simply amazing trip. I took thousands of pictures. I don't know how to post just a few. I will post more - but this is just a sample.



This is the RV - All nice and shiny clean at the beginning of the trip. By the end of the 1400 kms along the gravel and dirt Dempster "highway" it was covered in mud.


Day one -- arrival at Tombstone Park - about KM 78 along the highway. It is just a beautiful place. Much like the beauty of Death Valley. The fall colours are alive.



More of the beauty of Tombstone. So amazing at this time of year -- very soon it will be a thick blanket of snow for many months.


This the view at the Arctic Circle!!!



We made it to Inuvik - it is such a site to see the Mackenzie River - it is so huge! It was an amazing trip. We drove about 3700 kms north to Inuvik. Altogether we drove over 7000 kms in the past 17 days. Such an adventure!! It is hard to explain what the trip was really like.

The drive to Whitehorse - up the Stewart-Cassiar Highway was beautiful - there are fabulous mountains and lakes all along the way. Whitehorse is so far north - 2400 kms north of Vancouver - and then to get the RV and drive more north - past all these very tiny little Yukon towns - of 300 -400 - 130 people -- Carmacks, Stewarts Crossing, Pelly Crossing -- Up the Klondike Highway - 600 km to Dawson City and then more north -- turning on to the Dempster highway - 734 km with only a couple of small towns along the way -- Eagle Plains --just a gas station and a hotel , Fort MacPherson- where the Lost Patrol are buried -- and finally Inuvik. Driving along a very long dirt/gravel road for miles and mile and not seeing a single other vehicle. We saw a Grizzly bear wandering through the Tundra - a few Cariboo. The history of the area is everywhere - it is so desolate and you wonder why anyone would live there - and then it is so beautiful - you know the answer.

Now - back to real life.... I have been busy with my guild's quilt show today - back to work tomorrow and a very busy weekend with the quilt show. I do hope to post a few more pictures. It is so hard to chose just a few from the many!!

Bad Blogger!!

I have been very busy and away from home most of the summer. I promise I will catch up with everyone in October.


I was lucky enough to go to the APNQ show with 15 of my "quilting peeps". We stayed two nights at a hotel downtown Seattle and had a marvelous time -- saw the show, shopped, and had a couple of wonderful meals. We carpooled down to Seattle. A three hour drive from Vancouver took over 8 hours each way - there are a bunch of great quilt shops along the road to Seattle. I stopped in Wendy's favourite little shop in Bellingham "Two Thimbles" I bought a bunch of Jo Morton fabric there. Great place to shop!!

I have been busy getting ready for my own guild's quilt show since I got back from Seattle. The Lions Gate Quilter's Guild show is September 19, 20, 21 st. I am in charge of the merchant's mall portion of the show. We have acquired a little extra space in our venue late in the planning process ( July!!) so the Quilt show committee decided to add extra merchants -- 5 extra. So I have been busy lining up the extra merchants and getting all the letters out - cheques from the merchants and such. I need to have all this done before we leave on our trip to the Arctic Circle ----- and beyond. So I have been busy - plus working here and there. I will not be getting back from our trip until the day before the show is opening -- how's that for cutting it close!!



Here is a picture of a bear in the backyard - this was one day last week. Just a little guy - probably born this spring.



Also there were three Racoons on the deck trying very hard to get into the closed in area of the sundeck to eat some of the tomatoes - good thing the sliding glass door was shut. The neighbours are finding they are coming in their house and eating the cat food. Cute little guys -- I think Jenny would have been pretty excited to see these guys but she was fast asleep when they showed up.



And here is my entry for the quilt show. I just finished the binding two days ago. There is a small amount of hand quilting left to do and I was going to take it on the trip to the Yukon to finish it up but I managed to complete it enough for the show. I need to do a bit more hand quilting in the top section with the gold stars - but it is ready enough for the show and I am not going to take it with me. I think I will take a couple of Dear Jane blocks to work on - not sure how much I will get done but just in case...........

We are leaving very early Saturday morning. I am working two day shifts - Thursday and Friday. So Jim will be finishing up the packing and taking the bird off to the person who will watch her while we are away. Jenny is coming along - so hopefully she isn't too car sick this trip. We will be driving up to Whitehorse -- 2500 kms -- in the first three days. There is a couple of quilt shops in Whitehorse from what I can see online. We will then be getting an RV - and driving north to Dawson City -- up the Dempster Highway and past the Arctic Circle to Inuvik. I am sure it will be quite the adventure. I am sure will will take lots of pictures and hopefully it doesn't snow and we don't get eaten by Blackflies. Jim wants to see caribou and grizzly bears and maybe a wolf or two.

My gifts from Anna and some pictures with the new camera

I am just figuring out the ins and outs of the new camera. I have made the picture size smaller - from 10 megapixels down to 6. I am working with all the different settings as well.

This is the lovely gift that Anna ( with no blog) gave me when I went to visit her in Red Deer. She made me such a pretty bead bracelet - that I just love. And when we were shopping she bought the Quilt Diva pattern for me. I saw it last weekend all made up on display in a quilt shop in Washington State - I think it was the quilt shop in Mount Vernon. It is such a fun pattern - great one to use up those scraps as well. And again I must Thank Anna for all the gifts and the great visit we had in July.



This next picture is from the "sunset" setting on the new camera. It really does bring out the colours on that setting - rather than just Auto. The camera has a bunch of pre-set settings -- Aquarium, Fireworks, Beach, - I really don't think you need a Fireworks setting on a camera - how many times do you go out and take pictures of Fireworks. Anyway - I am enjoying the camera and just playing around with each setting.



And the last picture is sweet little Hunter. He is 4 months and 15lbs. Gosh - isn't he cute!! Very serious - I should have had Jim take the picture - he smiles for Jim.



I have yet to spread out my Quilt show purchases and take pictures of all that yet. I better get that done before the Visa bill comes and I have to fess up to how much I spent!

What I got in the mail!!

Before I show any quilt show/fabric shopping pictures I must post about what I found in my mail box yesterday!

This quilt was sent by San - Gypsy Quilter - for little Hunter. I just love the yellow and blue and it is such a lovely quilt! How sweet of San to send it for Hunter. It missed getting here before they left by just a few day - that is Canada Post for you. I had no idea she was sending it for him. I remember seeing it posted on her blog. It has just the softest and prettiest yellow heart flannel on the back.




And it has a label -- something that I always forget to do. San sent the label separate so I could give the quilt a wash and fluff before the label went on the quilt -- that is such a great idea for a baby quilt - after spending time all shut up in a box and shipped across the country.



It really made my day yesterday to open her box. She also sent a bunch of flannel bits and pieces for me to make some more little quilts for the NICU. I will make some more this fall -- after September comes and goes.

I had a great 3 days of quilting related activities this past weekend. I shopped too much, ate too much and hopefully walked just enough to wear off what I ate! The quilt show in Seattle was great - wonderful new venue!!

Just a very quick post

I am heading off to Seattle first thing in the morning for a weekend of fun and quilt show frolic!! And my usual shopping - need to add to my retirement fund - AKA -- My Stash!!

I worked a bit on my first mystery quilt block from the Fat Quarter Club. Most of my quilting time lately has been spent on the hand quilting of the Mariners Compass quilt. Jessica and the gang -- my sweet little Hunter - have been here all week so not a lot of quilting was done.



This is some of the fabric I bought in Red Deer. Now wouldn't that make a fabulous bag!! I bought enough to make a Professional bag.



I also bought some great Cheddar and Turkey Red fabric for my Dear Jane in Red Deer as well.



I am off -I have a very early start in the morning. I bought a new camera last week - I have a bunch of pictures on the camera - some Hunter pictures as well. I am not sure about the camera yet and the picture size is pretty big - so I don't know how they will upload and look on the blog. So this is a bit of a test.