The Unpacking Begins

We are now in Emo, Ontario and got the keys to our new house on Sept 6th.   The moving truck arrived Sept 7th and the unloading day went smoothly with no problems.   I got the boys right to work unpacking the kitchen boxes as they came off the truck and we got that room organized.  Always a challenge to arrange items in kitchen cupboards and when I was stuck on a few areas my oldest son jumped in and solved the problems.   His merchandizing skills from working at a grocery store came in very handy!

Many of you asked about my new view so here it is!  Very different from my last one but I am going to focus on the positive and enjoy the big sky and open spaces. I’m sure it will take a bit of time too not feel so exposed as I was so use to being surrounded by trees.  The country side here is very beautiful with rolling hills, open fields of hay, grazing cattle and even bison close by.  Then 40km north we are back in the Canadian Shield and lakes everywhere which will be fun to explore next year.

I did managed to hang one quilt in the house so far as it was the perfect spot for it in the hallway!

And I was glad that I took the metal quilt blocks that hung on the outside of my Shack and spray painted them white before we left.   They look great on the front of the house.

  My new quilting studio is full of boxes and that will take a while to unpack and organize but it is such a great space!   There are parts to a longarm in there somewhere!

So I’m not sure when I will have something quilty to share next but I just wanted to check in and let you know that the move is going well.  We are all feeling good about our new town and the people here are very friendly and welcoming! 

One Last Show Before We Go!

I was so happy to view the Northern Lights last night as the nights are finally getting darker and the viewing season is just about to start.  I hope this means it will be a good week of viewing but I’m just so grateful to have had one more evening of running around in my yard in the dark with my camera.     This next picture is one of my favorites from last night as I took it in the spot where we cut down a large tree this spring and it created a window to the sky!

The picture above and below are looking straight up!

Here are the lights over my house!

Looking across our bay as the clouds move off into the distance.

Guild Round Robin 2014

This quilt has a great story, it was our quilt guilds 2014 Round Robin project.  We each made a center block and it was then passed around each month with a new set of instructions for others to build onto it.   I had the quilt top sitting in my studio for a long time and even loaded it on my longarm once but then took it off as I had no clue how to quilt it.   Then an opportunity came along that seemed to be the perfect solution.  My friend Lori, who is a longarm quilter and my Highway 10 Designs partner, owed me a favor!  I thought it would be nice to have something quilted by her so asked if she was up to the challenge. She agreed and I said ‘no rush’ as I wanted her to enjoy quilting it.  She had it at her place for about a year and then when she found out I was moving thought it would be nice for me to have it to show at my last guild meeting so it arrived quilted a few weeks ago!  I was so thrilled with how she quilted it, the ruler work in the center, the Nemeshing around the Celtic applique, it was perfect!  And best of all I have a sample of her work on one of my quilts!

I added the binding last week and then brought it to my last guild meeting yesterday for Show and Tell.   I have been a member of our guild for 19 years and was one of the founding members so it was very hard to say goodbye to this group of amazing ladies.  At our July meeting they had a Going Away party for me with a potluck supper and special Show and Tell  where all the members shared either stories, quilts I quilted for them or of how I have helped or inspired them over the years.   It was very emotional for me as these are the  ladies that trusted me with quilting their quilts long before I had my longarm and was still learning.  They are the reason I have developed my skills over the years and why I bought a longarm.  I will miss them so much but I know I will see many of them again at Retreats, Quilt Shows and I might even drive the 1,200km back to go to their Quilt Show next year.

Now back to more pictures of Lori’s fabulous quilting! 

My next challenge with the move is hoping that I can register my business name in Ontario as I have to cancel my Manitoba business registration.  So far everything is going very well with the move and we even get to move into our new house sooner than first planned.  Our new move in date is Sept 6 so we are thrilled with that change as it was originally Oct 2.  This weekend I take down my longarm, I have been procrastinating doing this job but it has to be done.  At least now I can set it up again sooner!

Viking Quilt

I have been finding a bit of time for my own quilting projects between all this moving business and started a quilt for my sister who turned 50 this year.  The pattern is called Islendingadagurinn by Fabriculous.which is a quilt shop in Gimli, Manitoba.  I loved this quilt the first moment I saw it in their shop window and knew it would be perfect for my sister so I bought the kit.  I showed her the quilt top yesterday and she loved it!  But it might be awhile before she gets the finished quilt!

You may have noticed the blank block in the center!  That is for a special design that the pattern designers ( Wendy and George) are working on and they just emailed the first draft so I will share that once it is done. 

I have also been finding time to enjoy our last summer at the lake.

Four Patch Charm Quilt in Shimmer

I made this sample as I was writing up my pattern for the Four Patch Charm Quilt,  I wanted to make sure I had all the measurements right!  Nice to finally have the time to pop a panto on it and get it done.   The fabric is Northcott Artisan Sprirt Shimmer Charm packs in four colorways, Pansy, Peacock, Sunglow and Hibiscus.   The pattern only calls for 3 charm packs but I bought four from Keystone Quilts when they had a buy 3 get the fourth free!  Can’t resist a sale like that!  I was able to pick and chose the colours I wanted with the four packages.   The background is a white Colorworks, I find this line of solids nicer than Kona solids as it has a finer weave and less fraying. 

I chose the Wave on Wave pantograph as it is one of my favorites.   Used white So Fine thread and Dream Blend batting.

I was out again taking pictures of the eagles, they have been very cooperative this summer!

Update on the Move

So I just got back from a week long house hunting trip to Emo, Ontario which is going to be our new hometown soon. Its a very cute little town with a population of 1,300 and is right on the Rainy River which borders with the States.  The main business area is right on the waterfront and is very inviting.  There is a river walk and up on the street level they have four decks to enjoy the view from, one has stairs down to the river.    I will apologize for the quality of some of these photos as I used my phone for a few!

Now to the good news… we bought a house!    No it’s not on a lake, and no it doesn’t have a great view (yet) but the house is perfect for our family.  Best of all it has a huge room in the basement for my longarm!! I can finally have my sewing machines and fabric all in one room!    If you are curious and want to check out the listing you’ll find it here.  The listing doesn’t show the new quilting room but is what they called the ‘game room’ in the listing.   It is in a relatively new subdivision with about 70 lots but only 10 house build on it so far, the house is two years old.  We will have a green space to the north and east, and have a few neighbours to the south side.  Only thing it didn’t have on our check list was a garage so we will build one next year.    We do not get possession until Oct 2 and have to be out of our house here on Sept 1 so will have to put the longarm in storage for a month with the rest of the furniture. That’s not too bad! Gives me plenty time to plan my new quilting room! Glad the company Tim now works for gave us a rental house until we get possession so we are not homeless for a month!

We explored a lot of the area last week and Tim noticed an areas just off the highway about 5km from our new house that is a heron nesting ground! I wish I had my big zoom lens but my regular lens would have to do!    I had been told that herons nest high up in the trees but have never seen this before. Well I couldn’t believe how many nests there were in this one small area. There had to be a least 20 nests and most had herons in them!  Here is the view from the highway and I zoomed in on a few.  The noise from the herons were quite loud and I even saw two in a bit of a scuffle.   It will be fun to capture this again next year with the right equipment!

We also drove about 40 km north to a few lakes and I think I’ll be quite happy kayaking these lakes next summer!    Not right out my door anymore but not too far away.

I also brought along a quilt with me to bind, it is a Quarter Sections quilt that I made as a class sample, so used it to audition locations for quilt pictures.  There is even public dock on the river I can use but it was too windy when I was there this time.    This quilt was made with purple batiks and I used Water Wings as the panto design.

Four Patch Posies

I managed to find time to squeeze in a guild comfort quilt this week and this one is called 4-Patch Stacked Posies by H.D.Designs.   It is a simpler version of the Stack and Whack technique.   We found a fabulous large print black and white fabric to us and added a red inner border to allow the bit of red in the fabric to pop! Turned out great and I love how each of the block are so different.  I quilted it with the Popcorn pantograph, used black So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.