Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A special guest....

I really meant to post this a few weeks ago!  I got an e-mail from a lovely lady visiting from Australia who wanted to know if she could join us for our monthly Sampler Club Meeting ( Dear Jane, Dear Hannah, The Farmer's Wife and Nearly Insane - to make it easier, Nancy renamed it the Sampler Club)!  Of course, we always welcome quilters!

Linda came by and shared some amazing stories and a wonderful quilt she made for her daughter who lives in Toronto......

Linda dyed all the fabrics in this quilt herself and the pattern is a take from the Ricky Tim's fractures......it is absolutely stunning!

We were absolutely thrilled she shared it with us........
 It really is a stunning quilt!
The best news is - she comes quite often to visit her daughter and I'm going to try to talk her into teaching in the store, she also had some absolutely fabulous ideas and some great projects......possibly this time next year!

Certainly I will try to keep in touch with her - she was an absolute delight, we loved looking at photos of her quilts and projects and we all had a lovely evening.....

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Monday, September 26, 2011

Yes, finally......

I know I have been remiss in blogging but as usual I have an excuse!  Actually, I have a few excuses!  One - I've been working in the store alot since the beginning of the month and it's taken it's toll on my energy levels - I get home and collapse!  Two - there is the technical problem, I either forget the camera in one place or as happened the other day - the battery died!!!!!

Last Thursday we had the Border Creek Station Mystery Quilt Reveal!  I took alot of pictures but as usual not enough - so take a look at how gorgeous these quilts came out, each so different!

First - one not quite finished and on the right the Lazy Lap version - both absolutely gorgeous!
 There are four visible here - all so different........
 One on the table and another two on the left......
 Unfortunately, I didn't get a good one of the front hanging quilt which is done in fabulous pink flannels.......
 We had a large group show up and we all waited patiently for the guest of honour - Sherri!

 
Another gorgeous quilt......
Most of our mystery participants only got tops done but there were two completely finished quilts.....one on the table,  I hear the binding was finished around 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning........
 Sherri arrived but confessed that she didn't do the quilt this year!  However, she brought one of her fabulous pineapple quilts to share.......
She gave us some really great info on next year's mystery and even I signed up for the new one!  Because we all know I have "no" projects on the go.....I need at least one more......
 Here are two more quilts.......
 After all that - I had to share this quilt -  it is Helen's 2009 Border Creek Station Mystery Quilt and it is just stunning........and it has been quilted,  Sandy Lindal did a fabulous job! 
 .....and on the back - another quilt?!?!?  She used her left over batiks to make the back - it too is stunning!
The new Mystery is out and I challenge you to sign up - 8 clues, October to May - then we give you June - September to finish and share!  It's a lot of fun trying to figure out what Sherri's up to and I can't wait!  One tip, if you're going to do it - buy baggies!!!!  It will be a great distraction while I'm on the mend - yet again!  Sign up before September 30th so we can get those first clues in......

Happy Quilting!


Jo-Ann

Monday, September 5, 2011

What a WEEKEND!!!!

Our wild weekend retreat was a hit!  When Laurissa came up with the idea to have a Labour Day Retreat Weekend we thought we would be celebrating the end of my chemo treatments.  In fact we are and we did but I am lucky in that my last treatment is on Wednesday September 7th, so I had almost two extra weeks to get my strength back for this event.  It's a good thing because I sure needed it.

If it wasn't for Laurissa and Barb I would have collapsed on Saturday but they were there to look after me, clean up, help with KP duty and take over the late nights.......I love you guys!

Now let's see what happened at the best retreat ever!  Karen worked on an amazing array of blocks with Raili and Linda contemplating the arrangement - very Gees Bend-ish!
Karen stood back to check out her work.......
...and as she continued to work - got everyone's opinion, mine only with the camera.....
Carole put the binding on her beautiful Log Cabin quilt - it's a wedding gift I believe....and stunning in Black, White and a touch of yellow.....She also presented me with a Comfort Shawl which I will have plenty of use for this week and in the weeks to come - thank you so much Carole!
Trudy laid out her Baltimore Album blocks on the cutting board (as you can see, Karen's quilt continues to grow on the design wall) and they are just awesome - Annadele is admiring them with all of us....

Linda is showing us a challenge quilt which Karen actually gave her and she will continue to work on.....
You've seen this one before, but Andie finished it this weekend - it's hand quilted and the binding went on - you can see it in person,  just down the Plaza from Cock A Doodle, hanging at Camden Towne Leathers.....it is so amazing how gorgeous it is.  Her choice of fabrics are fabulous!
 Here it is - Karen's quilt - the final frontier!  It really is fantastic!  I can't wait to see it quilted - look out Tony, you're gonna need another King Size batting!!!
I missed out on getting a picture of Trudy's "chemo" quilt, it's the one she worked on the 16 hours she sat with me through two of my chemo sessions....but I will make her bring it in once she's finished quilting it....

I didn't get pictures of Annadele's stuff either - well one of them was her Border Creek Mystery and you won't see that until the REVEAL on September 22nd - and she had the other two projects up and off the design board way to fast.....I missed Barb's quilt too!...and Linda's quilt although it was up and down a few times, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to photograph it but maybe she'll bring it Thursday and I can get it then  ....and 'Rissa was working on some amazing applique that I missed.  But in my defense I was busy cooking alot!

Speaking of which - I had to get at least one picture of all of us eating!
The food was great, the company was great and I think I can safely say alot of quilting got done!  By the time we all left today I was admittedly pooped!!  But it was well worth it - I sure enjoyed it!

Our next retreat is the end of November, if you've never been, you should try it - there are still some spaces available!  We limit the retreats to 8 people so it fills up fast!  Think about it - it's loads of fun!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

P.S.  I should apologize, yet again, for taking so long between blogs but I was pretty busy this past month, working in the store, getting the newsletter out, finishing a business year end and then there was the chemo.  I've really got to get on a "blogging" schedule!!!!