a few more pictures from Ailsa Craig

Quilt Shows- Ailsa Craig and London

 Elizabeth and I went tooting around Southwest Ontario to a little town east of London, Ailsa Craig. It was the Quilts of the Netherlands show and I for one was overcome by the beauty and talent on display. These pictures taken with no flash cannot do them justice.. The committee did an excellent job. Kudos to small town Ontario

Then we stopped at a nice shop in Arkona and the Marsh shop in Coldstream .A  few of the Dutch women  came in while we were there. Hey they like shopping for fabric too. The next day was Quilt Canada Conference which happens every 2 years in big city Canada. This year it was in London so it was probably the only time a lot of us could go. There were all kinds of quilts from bed to wall which showcased all kinds of fiber art.It was a juried show as well so you have to be good to get into that. Cameras were not allowed but I did get a booklet with pictures of all of them. We ran into a few girls from home. It was very busy. The only complaint was the food. The university cafeteria was catering and we went for lunch about 1:30 and they were out of food. I can see why there are riots in prisons-hundreds of menopausal quilters and no food!!!! Not a pretty site!!! We also went to Lens Mills and Fabricland and on the way home went to Reicharts now in St Jacobs and E and E in the post office  in a little Mennonite town called Newton. She has excellent fabric.

 My best news for last.... There was a Janome dealer at the show and I bought a quilting system,the 1600P machine with "cruise control" and the Imperial frame. I saved 1100 dollars because of it being a show special. I have been thinking about it and researching the systems. because I've had such good luck with Janome I thought I would stay with them. There was a Babylock sytem there as well and I could have bought a small car for their price. They will deliver and set it up when I'm ready.

All in all it was a great albeit expensive mini vacation I'm used to Days Inn at best and the Bates Motel at worst on fishing trips with Pete. We stayed at the Hilton. The only thing missing was a mini fridge in the room for cream for the morning coffee. Who uses those non dairy creamers anymore? There was no white terry bathrobe either. I guess Paris used them all up on the prison trips.

Dear Jane

Dear Jane strikes fear into some quilters hearts but not mine. I started these blocks in the winter of  2007 as a portable project when Pete and I went to South Carolina. They also went to Tasmania with us the next year and back and forth to Manitoulin a few times. I was surprised to see that only 6 were done but I guess they haven't seen the light of day for a few years. They are hand stitched and finish at 4 inches square so there are some little biddie pieces. I have them backed with freezer paper.Now that I have no hand work other than finishing a sweater which has only  1/4 of a sleeve to go, I dragged her out last night. Looking at the photo, that blue one will have to be redone, the colours should be reversed.

12 little bears

These bears were made by the Sewcializers group. I finished sewing them together today.  Last  year and this year we made a kids quilt which we donate to the Friends of the Library. They in turn raffle it in the summer with the proceeds benefitting the library. Some of the girls didn't like the "A" word technique, one had never even done it  but the bears all  turned out pretty cute. Last year it was bug jars, cute as well. And some of us don't even do cute!! So they say but we all have cute in us.
I got my Scrapbag jobs done, wrote up lots of labels, hand sewed 5 bindings, so I guess now I'll have to quilt the tops that I've been putting off. Oh but first I have to get my stuff ready for the retreat in a couple weeks. I'm looking forward to that. And before that is the Quilt Canada Conference in London next week. Since I have to work this coming long weekend, I guess I can put that quilting off for a while longer.

Winnie The Pooh

My eldest brother would read the W-T-P stories to me when I was a little girl so I always had a soft spot for him and his buddies. I bought this panel a couple years ago and outline embroidered it to fleece. But then all my stitches showed up on the back so  I put  a pink princess backing on it.  I machine quilted it  together and finished the binding last night. I'll be giving it to Kim a co worker whose baby girl is due in 2 weeks. All the technology makes it nice to know if we should make baby gifts in pink or blue.

Finishing up

Thanks to my quilting friends I have a few projects to keep me busy without messing up my house.,,,  5 tops in all to sew the bindings onto via Joanne and Sally, 2 down 3 to go. I'd love to be able to free motion like Betty did on her quilts, I don't know what kind of machine she has, a mid arm of some kind. A huge box of squares to sort into kits for Marilyn, almost done and labels to write up. I did finish Winne the Pooh and am sewing the binding onto the back which I will show when done. My free motion isn't as good as Betty's as I outlined Pooh, Tigger and Piglet. And then to finish up last month's Srapbag top, just a narrow blue border then an outer one. But even with those projects, how did my sewing room get messy again?

Diva

Here's one of my favorites. Marge had one on display at the Manitoulin retreat a couple years ago . I just had to make one. I call her Marge.

More pictures

Valentine postcards

Xmas Nativity table runner for Helen '10

small wallhanging for group gift exchange '10

I found out where my picture problem was. It's actually a "user" problem, that being me clicking the camera button instead of the removeable disc button all the time.I just deleted some pictures while I was adding the caption.

Hidden Stars

 I didn't get very far with taking regular pictures and posting them. And not much sewing done either due to me not wanting to mess up my sewing room while the house is for sale.  This Hidden Stars is Linda's quilt from Scrap Bags last week. I just finished the top up today at Sewcializers and then at home on the dining table. Winnie the Pooh is still on the other machine waiting to be finished.  And Joanne, bless her, just couldn't  help herself saving all those triangles that were cut off the star points. She will make some nice dollie quilts from them though.