Retreat Update

It has been a busy week and only now have I had the time to blog about it. Needless to say it was a blast and I was exhausted by the end of it—exhausted! And I got almost all of my projects done (so take THAT  doubters!)..

I attend this retreat annually in Haines Junction, Yukon which is situated about 1 hour south west of Whitehorse. It is a very, very tiny village with a population of 589 in the last census. I envy the locals this--  the magnificent Elias Mountain range.

 
The retreat this year was 4 full days long. FOUR. FULL. DAYS. I ate till I was stuffed, I quilted from 9am to 1am every day and as I said earlier, I finished everything I took except for a full size quilt that I decided to add an additional row and I didn’t have the material.

This is the St. Elias Convention Centre where the retreats always take place. Isn't it awesome?!
 
 
My friend Janet (above in black) and I even finished the top of a quilt we impulsively decided to make for her boss when she retires next month. Wow. It was a blast!
More friends and fellow quilters.

We have a “Chinese Auction” all week-end long and between you and me, I am NOT a fan of it at all. You have to pick a gift or ‘steal’ from someone who has a prize. Anyone who wants to play contributes a $25.00 gift for the table. See the full table above? My friend Karen is trying to decide what to pick. I don't like it because it takes forever and some people bring horrible gifts. (just being honest here).

There are alwasy incredible sunsets. Check this one out!

 
And there were more metal animals to feast my eyes on! Like the Whitehorse metal sculpture I posted about here, these are incredible. Made by another artist whose name escapes me right now, these just as beautiful.
 

See the Convention Centre in the background? And that incredible sky? I am definitely going to be making this sky in fabric!

That’s it! Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Birthday Stuff!

On the 4th it was my birthday, and I decided that I did not want to go for dinner, have a party or do anything other than have some pierogies,  eat some cake and watch a horror show I had taped last weekend. Hubby made me dinner and got me some beautiful flowers (alas, no pictures right now). Even better, I got these:

   
Plus I received numerous emails and calls from friends and family. I had a great day.

I’m Ready to Retreat

OK—I had to add 2 more projects, 2 lamps and a fan, but I think I am ready to go! I am meeting my friend Janet tomorrow night, then several other good friends early the next morning. Yea ha!!!!!!!!!!!!

Retreat Projects!

The annual quilt retreat is coming up this Wednesday through Sunday. I think I have all my projects ready. Wanna see?
I love these table tops and have probably made 10 of them to date. They take less than an hour to piece and quilt (really!), however I am a fairly fast piecer and can free motion quilt quickly. This pattern is from Quilting Arts Magazine, the holiday 2011/2012 edition. The picture can be seen larger by clicking on it.

Here are the ones I have already made for the retreat and I will just finish them there. These will be a good late night project, hopefully before several glasses of wine.

I am going to make this Christmas table runner from the Small Quilts and Gifts, 2011 edition of Quiltmaker Magazine called Holly Days Inn.
I am going to use these fabrics, even though to me, blue is not really a Christmas colour.

    
Another Christmas table topper I am making is the Homespun Holly from the Quilting Celebrations, 2011 from Fons & Porter. Below are the fabrics I am using.

 Another table topper I am making is this one by Little Charmers. This is a really quick pattern that uses those stupid 5” charm squares I keep getting. I had no idea what to do with such small pieces, so I picked up this pattern. (and my apologies for the background.

This is my ironing board for my Setacolour paintings and  sometimes they not dry when I iron them, hence the paint blobs you see).

Still with me? There ONE more table runner that I want to do. This one is called Field if Fire by Wildfire Designs Alaska. I love this designer—go check out the beautiful designs she has… You can’t see it, but I have her fabric with the wildfire on it somewhere in this bundle.

I also have some other projects I want to get to. I have made this triptych Hallowe’en  pattern about 5 times and my friends and family always want one, so here we go again. I noticed on the Patch Abilities website that these patterns now are sold individually. So not cool when companies do this..

Big Project 1. I have more projects! This is a kit from my LQS, Bear's Paw Quilts in Whitehorse, Yukon. I usually do not purchase kits since I have sooooooo much fabric, but I loved these fabrics by Patrick Lose (Kona Colorworks).

Notice the pizza carton? This is how I pack projects in my craft room. I add all the fabric, the pattern and anything else that will make this project go together. I pre-cut the fabric so all I have to do is grab a box and start sewing. I always, always cut the binding too. In this box I am taking the fabric with me and I will cut the binding when I know what the kit size for the binding is supposed to be.. I clearly mark the project name on the front of the box and then they are stacked 4 deep (no more than 4 projects ever), at eye level and I see them whenever I go in my room. Since they are not out of sight, but there are options, I can work on whatever I want.


Big Project 2. This great lap quilt is one I have made before. This pattern is by Lisa Moore and I LOVE all of her other patterns as well! Go see her unique ideas—she is an Alaskan designer and I get her patterns from the Skagway, Alaska store. I see from the link that she recommends Wonder Tape for this quilt. I had never heard of this before, and I need to read up more on it. You can’t see in the box below, but I have some bear fabric as the focal fabric. I know, I know—very hokey. This is for a guy, so I thought it would be good? The light green is the border and the darker green is for the sashing. 


Big Project 3. I haven’t cut this one yet since I haven’t decided what size I want the finished blocks to be, however this one use the 5 Minute Block I recently blogged about that I saw on the Tamarack Shack blog. This will definitely be one that I do this weekend, if for no other reason than to see what the block looks like.



And that’s it! Do you all think I need to have a few more stand-by projects just in case? Here is a panoramic view of all of my projects. And yes, I always worry that I will run out of things to do..  But this year I am so organized it is sickening. 

Waah!

My sewing machine is in the shop getting its yearly cleaning, and so I am not doing any sewing. Is this how people without TV feel??

I did get a fabulous new book, Machine Embroidered Seascapes by Alison-Holt, I am relishing every page and have not finished it yet.

I will give a review when I'm done, however I am sure it's well known that Alison Holt is my hero and nothing she does could be bad.  :-)

To Skagway (Again)

Even though I was there on Tuesday, I went to Skagway yesterday with my friend Janet. We needed to catch up and since our quilt retreat is in a few weeks, we thought this would be fun. I’ve shown some pictures of Skagway but here are some more-get ready!
Here is the harbour. Yes, it was cold and miserable and there was a blowing wind. I felt sorry for the cruise ship passengers because they have a lengthy walk from the ship to shops.

I recently saw this quilt on Tamarack Shack, and decided I needed to make a similar one, so I needed some chocolate brown fabric. This quilt is based on the 5 Minute Block by Suzanne McNeill. So simple and fast, so I am going to definitely add this to the 38 other projects I am taking. This had better be a one year retreat so I can get it all done!  lol

And finally, here is the quilt store! Pretty, isn’t it?

My friend Janet posed for me.  Thanks Janet!

Finally, I want to show you how quickly fall comes. The first picture is from Tuesday, the next is just 4 days later.


The leaves are going, going…

and my favourite one:

Hope you are all enjoying the end of summer and the start of fall in your areas!

What?

Today the oddest thing happened. There was a knock at my door, which is very odd as I live on an acreage and my friend know I do not like to have surprise guests, so they always call first. But it was the next door neighbour, whose name I don’t even know. She is about 78 years old and grows a beautiful garden, but I have not had many conversations with her over the years. 

Today she asked me if I would show her how I do embroidered landscapes. No, she did not want a lesson. No, she did not want to see a completed piece. She just wanted to watch me free motion painting. I didn’t even know she knew I did thread embroidery—I do not sell it or exhibit it, so maybe she knows because I teach it at the local quilt store every so often.

Bewildered and somewhat off balance, I decided to make a little scene of daisies, since these are fast and easy to demo. It was just a quick, QUICK rendition since I had no idea what she wanted. After it was completed, I offered it to her, but she politely refused saying “I saw what I wanted to see”. Then she thanked me again and went home. 

Is that weird, or is it just me?? 

r

Skagway, Alaska

 I was in Skagway, Alaska this week and primarily to pick fabric for a retreat I am going to at the end of the month. Since it is such a beautiful town, I thought I would share a few pictures from there. Skagway is about 1-1/2 to 2 hours from Whitehorse and I go there fairly often with other quilting friends or the hubby. In the winter they roll up the sidewalk at the end of the tourist season, but luckily the quilt store is open all year round. What a difference this town is during the winter (population 700) and the summer (daily traffic 20-30,000). Since it was raining and there were only 2 cruise ships in, the board walk was fairly clear of traffic, so the pictures are uncluttered with people.

Fall has already arrived in the Yukon, so if you ever decide to come here the first 3 weeks of September are the best for fall foliage. Anyway, here is Skagway:

Raining--see the drawings up on the hill? It is a 1900 advertisement.

Some of the original buildings have brought back old signage.

The only year round restaurant. In the winter they close at 2pm, so you  better get there before 2pm or leave hungry!

Alaska licence plate. The middle area shows prospectors climbing the 'Chilkoot Pass". 

Emerald Lake--this is on the way to Skagway. The beautiful blue and emerald colouring is from light reflecting off of 'marl'--I think it is clay and calcium deposits.  

A view of the train station and a cruise ship. Behind in the mist is a magnificent mountain range. 

The Whitepass and Yukon Railway 

Skagway Harbour

Look at the spikes! Used to keep birds from landing on the light posts at the harbour. Ouch!

Skagway from the hilltop-only a couple of cruise ships in today

The quilt store!

The website for this store is here: Rushin Tailor. There are some very unique items here you may want to see. Hope you liked this quick tour of Skagway...