Frolicking in the Forest with Friends

Who turned out the lights?   I was in Wasaga Beach last night speaking to the Slope to Shore Guild. I had to stop at the beach to take a couple of photos which I'll post tomorrow.  Wow - I can imagine how that place hops in the summer.  It was beautiful, but alas - no dogs on the beach and you had to buy a ticket to use the beach!  I can only imagine the cost of real estate in that area.   If only I had brought my rain boots and had a bit more time. 

Anyway, back to the quilters.   What a fun and very prolific group of quilters.  They had made several finished quilts, some quilt tops, and blocks that were done up for Canada's Big Quilt Bee. The goal of that initiative is 1000 quilts for Ronald McDonald house. I have a funny feeling that there will be a few more than 1000.  

But the Guild President made a very interesting statement. She said she made blocks because she wanted to be part of this big event. And I think that is why others across the country are getting involved as well. We are all proud Canadians and want to be part of this huge quilting bee. KUDOS to CQA for coming up with the idea.  I can't wait to get to Quilt Canada to see the quilts and to hopefully quilt one or two of the quilts at the show. I have a feeling that they are going to need to run the long arm quilting machines 24/7 for the duration of the show!

Show ann tell was interesting and there was LOADS of it.  Various talents came through as people pulled their projects from their bags. It was super exciting to see it all (and there were some great ideas done with Northcott fabrics! - I'll ask permission to post them).  And a super Block of the Month project that I might just have to steal.  Hey - can I be on the executive one more time to run this program?

As I mentioned, it was a load of fun. By the time I got packed up and ready to leave, it was 9:30 PM and I wasn't sure how long it was going to take for me to drive home.  1 hour 30 minutes.  Which wasn't bad considering that it was pouring rain - OK - it was raining when I started out and DARK!!  I guess I'm not a country girl anymore.  Driving on pitch black roads  - in the country so we're not talking super wide highways with curves in the rain. Not my idea of fun, but I still managed to make good time. 

On my way up, I noticed this "thing" on the side of the road.  What the heck????   OH MY GOODNESS - it's a shoe tree.  I was going to stop and take a picture but I had someone on my bumper at the time so I thought I'd stop and take a picture on the way back.  Same thing - someone on my bumper.  Good grief - I'm already doing 100 KM in an 80 zone - in the dark, in the rain, on a country highway!   BUT - here's a picture I found on the internet of the tree. Well - here's the link.  And here is another picture.     I've seen them before, but this one is HUGE.  There are even more shoes now than in these pictures.  

And now on with the main part of today's post.  The Fancy Forest.  Yep - here is some of the work that I did at the retreat. There are EIGHT different blocks in this quilt. You need to make eight of seven of them and 16 of the last one.  

Allie the Owl

You'll notice that one of the owls had an accident. Fell out of a tree and broke its wing!   BUT, I've got everything prepped to mend that wing and soon this Blue Allie will be back in the tree!   Those blocks were not bad to piece, but took a LONG LONG time especially the eyes which are so cute.  If you're making them, be careful how you place that wing part!  I made the same mistake three times, but only one bad cut. I caught the other two before I cut!


Then onto the bunny. Before I left for the retreat, I had all the bunny ears done. And now all the bunnies are finished. Just in time for Easter!!!

The bunnies are done!!!!

When I was cutting before I went on the retreat, I had run out of two fabrics. I didn't have time to find replacement fabrics at the time, but when I got home and starting to tidy up and prep for the next retreat, I needed to find a replacement for the missing fabrics.

The one on the left is the original and I found the one on the right. Close enough!

The old and the new

Same thing for this one - not quite enough of the fabric on the left, but this match on the right.

The old and the new

I'm in the middle of cutting for the last animal group.  Oh yes - the rest is cut out and just needs sewing.  A day at the retreat and we should be good for a couple more animals.  OK - that might be TWO days at the retreat.  Gosh - if I decided to actually sew the blocks together, I could get away with just this project (well almost) and it all fits into one small basket!!!  But where's the fun in doing the same thing over and over?  As I mentioned yesterday - I LOVE variety!!!!

Cutting the last set of blocks

If you're interested in making Fancy Forest (the smaller version requires only TWO blocks of each animal)  - I'll be teaching the class again at The Hobby Horse in Georgetown. Sunday, May 28 and June 11.  Call them to book your spot.

And if you want a peek at creativity - this is what the studio looks like at this moment.  I've been prepping and sewing and there hasn't been time to put things away yet. I'm working on it. Hopeful;y by the end of the weekend, it'll be back in order.

The current state of affairs

On that note - I'm out of here. Another super busy day. Another meeting tonight but it's in the city and about 10 minutes from my house so that's good!

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!


Don't forget:

April 8  (Saturday) - West End Modern Quilt Guild (unofficial title!)   will be meeting from 10 AM - Noon.  This is the first meeting and we're trying to get a chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild started in the west end of the GTA.  The meeting will take place at Streetsville Kinsmen, 321 Queen Street, Streetsville.   Going to be an open discussion of the guild objectives, show n tell and how traditional quilts are the groundwork of the modern movement. A small fee will be charged to cover the room rental. E-mail me if you can't make it and want to be added to the e-mail list.