FABs Saturday Sew-In

This morning was the FABs Saturday Sew-In. This Saturday's project was both designed and organized by Cher with a little help from LindaJ. (Linda worked out the drafting of the pattern in EQ.) The pattern was affectionately named, CGF. I'll leave you guessing what that stands for! LOL

The pattern was drafted first with a feature fabric square of 12 1/2" (cut size). The alternate block was actually a rectangle that was made up of one 8 1/2" square and two 4 1/2" squares.

Last night LindaJ came up with an amended version--8 1/2" square, one rectangle 5 1/2" x 6" and two squares cut 3" square.

I decided to make my version of the pattern, "half size". (That is half the size of the original pattern.) I had a bin of pre-cut 6 1/2" squares already cut and another bin of 2 1/2" squares. I had a few leftover partial 4 1/2" strips that I cut into 4 1/2" squares and I cut a few of my 5 1/2" squares down to 4 1/2" squares.


This was 6 of the first blocks arranged on the floor to see how this patten might look scrappy.
All the squares are now finished but not yet sewn together.

My quilt center finished at 30 1/2" x 42 1/2". Because I think my quilt is a little wild, I am going to add a border or two to rein in the colour a bit and tame things down. I have not yet added the border as I was debating on the colour. However, this bright green has won the most votes from the FABs so far.

BC 150 Years

2008 marks a very special anniversary for the Province of BC. It has been 150 years since the founding of the Crown Colony of British Columbia in 1858. BC 150 is a yearlong celebration marking this anniversary.From June 12 to July 6, the CP Spirit of 150 Rail Tour is visiting BC communities along the Canadian Pacific rail line. Last Wednesday night the vintage CP 2816 Empress steam train rolled into our community.

The following are pictures that I took of the steam train as it sat on the tracks near our house.

The train came complete with a conductor.

These ladies looked like they were waiting for the train to leave the station as they would have years ago.

The train brought along its own live entertainment.

This engine is not quite as old as the steam engine that led the train but we suspected that it may have been along to provide some extra power for the Empress.

This is the back of our yard/house (our house is on the left with the black roof). This picture was taken as we walked across the baseball diamond between our yard and where the train was parked. The view of Mt. Cheam was breathtaking on Wednesday night.

The following information appears on CP's website and further describes the Empress.

About the CP Empress
CP's 2816 is a class H1b Hudson type locomotive built by Montreal Locomotive Works in December 1930. The CP Empress is now the only surviving H1b Hudson and is one of only a handful of preserved and operating CPR steam locomotives in North America.

Initially the locomotive ran westward out of Winnipeg to Calgary and eastward to Fort William, Ontario (now part of Thunder Bay). Locomotive 2816 then moved into service on the Windsor-to-Quebec City corridor. Its last assignment was at the front of a Montreal-Rigaud commuter train, making its final revenue run on May 26, 1960. Having logged more than two million miles in active service, 2816's fires were extinguished.

Today, after a complete three-year rebuild, 2816 is restored to the original specifications with external details from the 1940/50s.

My Patterns Finally Arrived

I ordered two patterns from my local quilt shop on May 3. The shop called Thursday to say that they were finally in. Whoo hoo! (That is Pamspeak for Yahoo!!!)

The two patterns were, "All About Me" from Atkinson Designs and "Charm Party Tote" from Quiltsillustrated.

This picture is not my quilt, it is from the cover of the "All About Me" pattern. I plan to use my collection of Halloween fabrics to make this quilt.

This is a picture of the tote from the cover of the "Charm Party Tote" pattern. I have 4 Moda charm packs--two from their "A Little Romance" line and two from their "Sonnet" line.

The "A Little Romance Line" is the softest purple/pink/green collection of fabrics. I started on that tote last night. I am determined to stay as close as possible to the directions on this first tote that I am making. I know the next time I make this pattern I will be making some modifications. The pattern lists fifteen 1/2" buttons in the supplies required, but if it weren't for the picture of the finished product, you would have no idea there were buttons on this tote. No where in the pattern directions does it mention when these buttons are supposed to be applied or where. I am applying buttons before putting the lining in the bag so I can hide my threads from the back of the buttons. Also, the pattern designer claims their motto is, "No wimpy bags!". This bag is anything but wimpy if you make it according to the directions in the pattern--there is fusible fleece applied to the front and back of the bag, fusible fleece applied to the lining, fusible fleece applied to the inside and outside pockets. This bag will definitely be able to stand by itself when I a m done with it. Also, there is no closure on this bag. I am thinking of applying one of those magnetic purse closures to the bag this time. I am looking at other purse / bag patterns to see if there is a way that I can apply a zipper if I make this pattern again in the future.

Today, I am taking a break from working on customer quilts. I have been working on the WFC--that is Wacky FAB Challenge. I can't show pictures as this is totally secret. It is a secret for the person that I am exchanging with and for everyone else. On the agreed upon date (or sooner if everyone is finished ahead of time), all FABs will log online at the same time and open our exchanges. This should be fun. There has been a lot of teasing and hinting going on--but no one is revealing what they are making.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Today was such a nice sunny day, we celebrated Father's Day by grilling and eating outside.

Because the weather has been so cool and rainy lately, today's weather was a welcome change.

This is (from left to right) my mom, dad, husband, daughter, and son.

Table Toppers

While in Oregon, my mother spotted the perfect fabrics with lilacs on it. She bought enough for me to make three table toppers--one for my aunt, one for me, and one for herself.

I managed to finished the topper for my aunt in time for her to take it back with her to Saskatchewan. A week ago I finished my mother's.


I have not yet finished the topper for myself. What is it that they say about a mechanic's car--a mechanic never has time to fix his own car, always busy fixing everyone else's. I think the same is true of quilters. I seem to find time to finish everyone else's quilts, but don't have time to finish my own! LOL

This past week, it has been very busy here--i finished quilting 7 customer quilts from Monday to today. I am now officially caught up--at least for a couple of days. I am anxious to work on some of my own projects in the next few days.

Graduate

This Friday was our daughter's Convocation from UCFV. Our daughter graduated with a certificate in Applied Business Technology.

As parents, we couldn't be prouder of our daughter than we were on Friday.

Congratulations Dana!

She looks pretty pleased too, doesn't she?

Proud parents!

Dad and the graduate.

Mom and the graduate.

Proud grandparents!
Dana insisted that she was going to be comfortable under that gown and so she wore her blue jeans and cowboy boots.

A celebration in our family usually means a family meal. We were all together for dinner on Friday night to honor the graduate. Dessert was an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen--a cotton candy flavored Blizzard cake.

I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known. ~Author Unknown

Quilts in the Valley - Abbotsford Quilters' Guild Quilt Show

On Saturday, I attended one of the best quilt shows that I have been to in a long time. This show was local--at Tradex in Abbotsford and was sponsored by the Abbotsford Quilters' Guild.


One of the demos that I attended was on the Disappearing Nine Patch. Many of the quilters on the Internet have been talking about this pattern recently. As FABs we have been discussing this one as well--especially when considering patterns that make up quickly when we are thinking of making donation quilts.

The gal doing the demonstration referred us to two web sites for further information. The first link is of interest if you are using scraps or charm packs to make this pattern: http://snippetsofaquilter.blogspot.com/2007/10/charm-square-quilt.html. The second link of interest that she gave us is useful if you are using strips of fabric rather than squares. This one makes up quite quickly. http://www.myquiltblog.com/nancyrose/4624

These women are at one of the vendor booths. They are all crowded around a table of fabric pieces. You picked out what fabric you wanted - some pieces were 1/2 m and some were closer to a fat quarter in size. Your chosen fabric pieces were then weighed and you paid for your fabric by the pound. One woman commented that it was like going through someone else's stash. It was great fun!

The quilting on this Stack'N Whack fan quilt was fabulous!

This little quilt would make a cute little table topper. I know of another FAB that likes to make table toppers as much as I do! This one would make up quickly and would showcase a great print.


This quilt is a BQ quilt. I can't see one of these without thinking of the FABs as this style of quilt makes up quickly and showcases kid friendly prints so well making it a great choice for a donation quilt.

This quilt was a simple pattern made from squares. The success of this quilt was really in the fabrics that were chosen!

This was a Kaffe Fassett inspired quilt. I thought some of my green fabric collection paired up with my growing floral collection could be used to make myself one of these.

I was surprised when I came around the corner and saw this quilt. I quilted this one for one of my customers. I had no idea she was entering it in a show. She even gave me credit on the tag labelling her quilt!

These are pictures of one of the quilts that were made and donated to the Canadian Comfort and Remembrance Project. This project has been endorsed by the Department of National Defense. This is an opportunity to show encouragement, support and care to the seriously wounded and to next-of-kin who have lost soldiers in Canadian forces in overseas missions. Read more about this project here: http://www.picketfencefabrics.com/PFF_CCRP.htm

There was a wonderful display of antique quilts and antique sewing machines as well. Don't these quilts look wonderful displayed against this beautifully restored pickup truck?

I loved the cabinet that housed this machine.

A wonderful display of toy sewing machines.

This woman was drawing a crowd. Imagine being able to sew by machine anywhere without power!

If you are interested in seeing more quilts that were at this quilt show, follow this link and open the "Abbotsford Quilt Show - May 2008" folder.

http://community.webshots.com/user/silverthimble101