Happy Easter.....

even though I haven't been posting here so often, my work blog is always kept up-to-date, Whispering Hills Fabrics!  I have been working on a couple of Spring projects - easy applique that were sooooo fun to make....

Mod Tweet - A fun, crisp, modern applique baby quilt...

Another fun, modern quilt by Metropolitan Quilt Company..... quick applique

Projects....

This is a huge bag I made to carry quilts in.... or to take stuff to retreats.... the pattern was for a wall-hanging and was free from This-n-That Fabrics..





Some table runners for Christmas gifts......

 

 

A reverse applique pattern, which was given to my sister as a birthday gift..

Christmas with Buster................

a cute little applique pattern..........

Christmas Wishes....

Love, love, love this quilt..... new fabric called Scandinavian Christmas by Lynette Anderson for Lecien.  Quilt is called Christmas Wishes and the pattern can be found  free on the Lecien website.

Some Christmas projects completed....

The summer flew by.... and I have been so busy at the store.... and not keeping up with my blog as much.... these are some of my Christmas Projects that I have completed.

This quilt was made earlier this summer with fabrics from the Wildwood collection by Camelot Cottons.....

What have I been working on....................

Wool Applique- this is a great new pattern from the Wool Lady.

A fun baby quilt in great greens and purples.....this will be backed with lime green minkee...

A fun pattern by Indygo Junction.......

Winter did go away.....................

finally!!! and I have been a neglectful blogger.... although a busy blogger on my business site - lol.... time to get things up to date....

In May I went to Quilt Market in Salt Lake City... and had a great time.... lots of new things for me to pick up for the store..... a new wool block of the month, zentengle books...... and a great new heat erasable marking pen..... I was definitely inspired....

While in Salt Lake City I had the opportunity to tour the Temple compound, the grounds, buildings .... I also heard a beautiful concert in the Tabernacle - it really was a wonderful day...

this is the temple  - view from rooftop gardens of the auditorium.

The Tabernacle

Winter drags on..............

in this part of Alberta.... I don't think we will ever see Spring.... but at least that leaves lots of time for sewing and quilting.  I made this matching couch throw and tablerunner for my daughter's new apartment....... we had some new fabric in the store and I just knew it would look good in her place.  It is backed with fleece.

Meanwhile................................the dogs continue to stay warm............... and I am preparing for my annual retreat with the "Same Time Again, Next Year"  gang

Thought for the Day
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he

Snowy January...

the month has been cold and snowy...... as you can see by this photo.  We have warmed up this week... and it has been great - I even had the window open yesterday for awhile..... well, it is Winter.....

I completed a banner for my quilt guild - it is the 100th anniversay of Athabasca and our guild did several banners like this one celebrating different milestones in the area.  I chose to do a landscape of the river valley.

Northcott fabrics has a new line of fabric out called Dragonfly Daze... it is really lovely and Patchworks Studios has a new pattern called Dragonflies by Moonlight.... well, I had to make this one... it really is pretty....

Thought for the Day

Obstacles are those frightful things you see
when you take your eyes off your goal.  Henry Ford

The cold just won't go away.....

my little girl is soooo tired of the snow... lol.  We have had tons and tons and tons of snow..... it just keeps coming and coming and coming..... but that has made for lots of time for quilting....

This quilt is called Day and Night and is an Eleanor Burns pattern.  I am not a big fan of strip pieced quilts... but I just loved this one.  You get instructions to make two extra projects from the left over strip pieces...

This quilt is made from Stonehenge fabrics by Northcott and is called Pisa..... the center of the quilt is really a panel... so this stitches up really quick.

and..... one more quick little quilt.....made with some Thimbleberries fabrics...... I think the centre of this will be fabulous to quilt a motif design in.

Neglectful Blogger.....

Well..... I have been a very neglectful blogger... but with good reason.  On October 1 I bought the local quilt store!!!! sooo.... needless to say I have been a little busy.... the name of the store is Whispering Hills Fabrics in Athabasca, Alberta, Canada... and my partner and I have a blog... and a newsletter (you can sign up for the newsletter on the blog).  This has been a wonderful adventure and because the business is something I know and love, I am finding that most days are just filled with fun, sewing, and friends!

I have also been super busy with my quilting business - I quilted over 25 quilts in November.... AND I am all caught up with customer quilts for Christmas.... I now will have some time over Christmas to work on my own projects.  My business website is also due for maintenance - I had to purchase a new computer in the fall and my "old" (very old) website building software just doesn't cut it any more.... time for something new and a new learning curve... but that's OK as this year is filled with learning curves.

We have a blizzard here today.... and it is a day off for me.... so I can catch up.....

September......

Wow.... it is hard to believe it is September..... I had a semi-busy summer... I got lots of my own work completed and was very busy with customer quilts.  We have had a rainy, rainy summer and we now have tons of mushrooms in the yard.  I just love them!   I need to check out the different varieties online because of the different ones I have spotted....

Yesterday we had a beautiful Blue Heron land on our beach..... just such a serene bird..... 

This little project was a kit from Connecting Threads.... and was hand pieced!  The hexagons didn't take quite as long as I thought and I really enjoyed making this little purse.

I also finished my applique towels for the swap that I am in for December....no pics of those yet... cause the receivers won't be getting them until later.....  All in all, it has been a productive summer... I will have some more exciting news towards the end of the month.

Thought for the Day

Do not handicap your children by making their lives easier.

Robert Heinlein

Quilting completed.....

on my Poppies Block of the Month quilt.... loved quilting this one... and it was so not my colors - orange.... but I added the brown batik and I think that I actually really like it now.... This was made with the Kaleidoscope ruler by Marti Michel

Enjoying the Sun..........

My Boston Terriers, Tooie, and Magpie are enjoying the summer sun......

This photo is of the landscape that I made in the class taught by Shirley Patterson at our summer retreat.  This was a fun, fun project and I didn't have any trouble finishing it....

Quilts finished.....

I finished quilting two of my own quilts the last little while.  This quilt was my first hand applique quilt - started around 2000.  I used several different ways to applique.... and found that I prefer to use freezer paper on top with needle turn.  This top has been waiting a long time to be quilted - it's probably my longest quilting UFO...The pattern is called Country Bride.

I also finished quilting North of the Forty Nine from the Book All Through the Woods.... very Canadian.... and a real fun project to quilt.

So, I finished 2 quilting projects and added 3 to be quilting from my retreat..... the list goes on.

Thought for the Day

Enjoy the quiet times.

My retreats in June....

were a great success..... I managed to complete several items..... many of these were ufo's... now the are quilting ufo's - LOL.  The picture at right is of the items that I was able to finish.  I am especially thrilled with my "Pokey Little Puppy" quilt.  This was my favorite book when I was a child - I still have my original copy - and I how have a quilt to pass on to a grandchild one day.  I bought another copy of the book to go with the quilt.

One of the retreats celebrated a 10th Anniversary and because I was one of the original organizers 10 years ago, I donated a quilt to be raffled amongst the attendees.  It was certainly fitting that one of the organizers, Miryam, won the quilt AND her mom, Pjam, is one of the original attendees also.... I was so happy to share this with her.

One of our attendees, Becky, passed away earlier this year.  We held a silent auction and donated the proceeds to one of her favorite charities in Athlanta, Georgia.  We raised $1000.00.

Bingo fun!!!! and my good friend Shirley busy working on her amazing landscapes!








Thought for the Day
Knowledge is not the same as wisdom
wisdom is the application of knowledge
Heather Barclay