More Fabrics

I have a few baby quilts to make over the next few months and when I visited the quilt shop in Cochrane earlier this this week this is what I bought.  Bright and cheery and in my eyes suitable for either boy or girl.  As many of you know I have great difficulty with girly colours so I guess I always seem to veer to the boys colours.  Never fear I promise I will look for some more girly colours too!  I intend doing something with HSTs (half square triangles for those not quilty minded)

We went for a short drive this afternoon down by the river, a few folks were out enjoying the trails, a photographer capturing Yamnuska and a couple of fishermen drifting in their boat downstream - no wildlife!  As we sat enjoying our afternoon coffee we could see the storm clouds building up to the west.  By 4.00pm we called it a day and returned home just as the rain came on.  

I decided to make a huge pot of warming soup for dinner - sweet potato with cumin and ginger. Hearty and warming, it was delicious. Lamb chops, green beans, mushrooms and garlic potatoes followed, all rounded off with a lovely glass of wine.  I did sneak some sticky toffee pudding and icecream to complete the meal.  

If I don't fall asleep I may just do some stitching tonight using some of these fabrics for my next quilt.  Have a great week folks, I hope all my friends at quilting class have made a start to their BOM (block of the month) or at least had a look at it.  It will soon be time for the next one!  Happy stitching.

The Icefield Parkway.......

......well the first part of it.

This is the main route though the Rockies if you are travelling to Jasper.  The highway is lined with mountains all topped with glaciers on this route and on a day like today it is a wonderful sight with lots of photo opportunities.  We have travelled this road many times over the years and each time the mountains look so different.  Today the sky was clear with light wispy clouds, the sprinkling of snow on the mountains made them stand out, even more so than usual.  I think all the rain this summer has washed out all the dust from the crevices and with the sun low in the sky made them look sharp and rugged.

Bow Lake

                                                             

Our stop for lunch was by Bow Lake, fed by the bow glacier, the water was a magnificent jade colour, but although the sun was shining the cold breeze coming off the glacier made it a bit too chilly to sit by the lakeside for too long - just long enough to eat our lunch.  Usually on this trip we are lucky enough to see some of the local wildlife, sometimes if we are lucky a bear, more likely bighorn sheep, occasionally a bald eagle, but today they were all elusive.  We did spot a little chipmunk on the road who was playing 'chicken' fortunately he froze in the middle of the road and we went right over the top of him, whew! No harm done this time lucky for him.  A red tailed hawk was spotted soaring high. 

Waterfowl Lake

 

Moose Meadows

                                                       

Even at Waterfowl Lake this afternoon and Moose meadows as the sun was beginning to set no creatures were spotted.  Our day was rounded off with a lovely dinner at Baker Creek. Another beautiful relaxing day spent in the Rockies.

As you will appreciate there was no quilting done today, however a few more hexis were added to the growing bag.

It's Dreich Today!

For those of you who don't know the word, dreich is an old scots word for dull, cold, overcast and wet weather.  It certainly is that here today, even the mountains are hiding, wrapped up in clouds, I do believe I can see a sprinkling of snow covering the tops.

We even had to put the heating on for a while just to heat the house.  I have been doing what I do best on cold days, apart from quilting I do enjoy baking.  Usually at home the oven goes on and the aroma of freshly baked scones wafts from the kitchen, the family favourites. However when in Canada do as the Canadians do, make marshmallow crispie squares.  I have just been told off though for cutting the squares too small!!  I think I should really be making some soup. As I look out the window today it appears summer has gone and autumn has arrived.  We do have a couple of blue jays visiting the seed feeder, and our resident squirrel is running back and forth along the top of the fence, carrying goodies in his mouth obviously stocking his larder for the winter.  The trees are turning and the aspen and the larches are stunning.  

I am off to do some more sewing this afternoon, using up pieces of fabrics as usual, trying to empty my boxes so I can go off and search for more fabrics, perhaps to try out a modern quilt.  I have a finish too - thankfully!  These fabrics seem to have grown legs as they say. They were bought as a kit and I have now produced I think 5 quilts from it (you will see them all in the gallery).  This is the end of the line for them now.  Any scrap pieces I have left are going in the bin I am so fed up looking at them.  This quilt is called Sunny Days, it is bright and cheery and hopefully it will go off to some little girl in the community here.

Sunny Days - or perhaps it should have been called Dolly Mixtures

A Perfect Day - Another Picnic

Cathedral Mountain - from Monarch Campground

Cathedral Mountian - another picnic spot we enjoy. Lots of butterflies warming their wings in the sun, all too flighty to get a good photo. Usually we have a visit from the little ground squirrels when we are here, but they were hiding today. A great day out in the sunshine, revisiting places with happy memories. We have a photo of the boys standing on the bridge taken the first time we were here.  Wow!  how time flies.  I must try and find it when we get back home. We stopped at a few places on our trip today and finally had dinner in our favourite Chinese restaurant, eating too much as always but oh it was good!

Rundle Mountain - Just as the sun is setting

This must be one of the most photographed mountains in the park, and as a family we must have lots of shots but I just couldn't resist one more, it was a stunning evening.

What about the quilting then?  I need a pincushion - I have lots at home but I have never really got around to making one here.  The first photo gave me inspiration - or thought association more likely.  The class wants a tutorial later in the year too, so a good opportunity to try out 'cathedral windows'.  

I will probably try and find a nice little button for the centre but I don't think it's too bad for a first attempt.  What do you think?

Cathedral Windows Pincushion

Picnic by the Lake

Barrier Lake

A glorious day, and not a cloud in the azure blue sky, an ideal day for a picnic.  This spot is just beautiful. When we arrived there was a pair of loons peacefully drifting across the lake.  I had hoped they would come closer so that I could get a photo, but as some of us know they can be quite elusive.  You can follow their wake for ages then suddenly they will just disappear diving under the water, then don't surface for ages.  When they do appear again it is usually on the other side of the lake.  I followed the pair for ages with the binoculars, they were beautiful in their lovely black and white plumage.  The only other wildlife we saw today were some crickets basking in the sun and enjoying the heat of the rocks, just like us!

Mr Cricket - or maybe its Mrs

Sorry to those of you who don't like beasties, this little cricket was just so colourful in the sunshine.  

As you can imagine there is not a lot of quilting being done in this heat, but I am stitching in the evenings when it cools down.

Another Delivery of Quilts

I am so pleased to tell you today that a few more of my quilts have gone off to help keep someone cosy throughout the winter months ahead.  Those of you who have been following since the outset will remember I said that I give most of my quilts to those who need them and for charity fundraising.  Just around that time there was severe flooding in southern Alberta, Canada.  In particular a place very close to my heart.   Canmore is a beautiful town in the Rockies with stunning scenery and more importantly a warm, friendly community.   The mountains and friends draw us back year after year.  We have just returned for a visit to total devastation in the valley.  Although we have been following the events with great interest from afar no picture can truly portray the severity of the destruction.  A storm which passed so quickly leaves in its wake long months of recovery, uncertainty and waiting, for decisions to allow rebuilding work to be started.  Our dear friends have lost their home and are waiting patiently for the powers that be to agree to the rebuilding of their beautiful home.  Many families have had to find alternative homes some having to stay in temporary accommodation in motor homes and trailers.  Possessions and valuables have been swept away with a lifetime of treasures lost. Many are beginning to feel the chill as the colder weather approaches.  

What good are my quilts doing stacked in a cupboard? They are needed for folks less fortunate than me.  I am delighted to be able to help - it may not be much but I hope these quilts will keep a few families a bit cosier this winter. Of course a quilt is a hug, and everyone in this community needs a very, very big hug, if only to say we are thinking of you all at this very difficult time.    

Here are some of the quilts which I have passed on and I hope will help towards piecing someone's life and home back together.

Blue Skies and Sunshine

The blue and yellow bundle of fabrics given to me recently has been transformed.  I have only used some of the fabrics so I would imagine you will be seeing this cheery fabric again in another pattern at a much later date, I have a few ideas.  This one is called Blue Skies and Sunshine, and I think an appropriate name for this little floral lap quilt which will be one of the first to be put up for sale to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care, the main purpose of this blog.  In an odd coincidence the colourway is also the colour of the charity's daffodil logo which I am sure we all know so well.  The online shop is in the planning but I would like to have a few more projects completed to offer a choice to any would be customers.

Blue Skies and Sunshine

The quilt is as always pieced together with cotton fabrics and machine pieced with egyptian cotton thread this one measures approx 42 x 42 inches and has warm and natural batting and is backed with a cosy fleece.  All my quilts are fully machine washable in a cool wash.