A Hunting We Will Go

I saw this fabric last year in a little shop near Oliver, BC. It reminded me immediately of my Dad - a "manly man" who hunts and fishes. I have often referred to him as a "Great White Hunter." I do tease him a lot, so when I saw this - I had to buy it. I didn't know what I'd do with it so I only got a meter - my usual practice. Well - I decided I need to make him a quilt for Christmas - and not only that - but it has to be done by next month when he goes back home from - you guessed it - his annual hunting trip! That way I won't have to mail it.

The guys in the fabric do not seem to be terribly competent at hunting or fishing. I must be sure that it is on the record that my Dad is an EXTREMELY competent hunter and fisherman. And he is also very ethical. So while the fabric reminds me of him and (two of) his sports, it is not because he is bad at them.

I should also tell you that this is not the first time I have made him something as a teasing thing. I've made him a "typing skirt" to help with his typing skills after he complained that he wasn't wearing a skirt when he typed, which was probably why he wasn't very good at it (this when he got his first computer - a man who was used to having a personal secretary all his working life). I made him a "tie bib" because my Mom always complained that he always dripped on his tie. I have made him an "Omelet King" apron to assist with his (truly excellent) omelet cooking skills. You get the picture. It's the way our relationship is. I figure it's my job to keep him from developing too much of an ego. I love him, after all!

Back to this quilt... it does have to be "manly" as quilts go. This block seems to fill the bill - simple lines, easy to make, but striking and "manly." It's called Tam's Block on the Blocks Galore site.
They are 12 inch blocks with 1.5 inch sashing so the quilt is actually quite large. He'll be able to take it when he goes hunting and use it in the trailer.

Obviously I didn't get enough fabric but I remembered seeing it in one of the quilt shops here so went out and picked up another two meters - which reminded me why I always try to get fabric on sale - especially here in Canada! Oh well - nothing too good for my Dad!

I'm going to call it "A Hunting We Will Go."

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We had a Divas Day on Saturday.

Here is our Gourmet Diva, Sue. This time I forgot to take pix of the food - but be assured it was good as it always is. Lobster mac and cheese and an oh-so-good chocolate dessert.

Here is our Organizer Diva, Kristie. Kristie is suffering from a neck injury and was here to "supervise" and have lunch but was not supposed to do much else. We are all hoping she gets back to her normal self very soon.

Diva Joan.

Diva Dorothy.

We started this cat quilt. I think this is the most complicated block the Divas have tackled to date so we didn't get as much done as we normally do - but we did have our usual fun doing it.

This is our green quilt all finished.

Long Weekend!

I have completed the first quilt top on my new Janome. It is also the first full quilt I've designed using EQ7. I'm pleased to report it actually turned out like the design! Most of the fabric I used, was fabric I picked up in a kit at one of the quilt shows - it was very reasonable. But I didn't like the pattern they were using - so I made up my own. I mostly used quilt blocks that were in the EQ7 library.

This quilt will be named "Icons of Canada."
So why is this quilt "Canadian"?

Log cabins - Canada has log cabins. In fact, our friends Marla and Marlow live in one - although it's really a large house made of logs... Log Cabin quilt blocks and more realistic log cabins on the Debbie Mumm fabric.

Maple leaves - maple leaf on the Canadian flag. Many maple trees in Canada (although most of them are in the east).

Loons - the black/white/yellow block is called "Crazy Loons". There are many loons in Canada. They have an amazing call. There is also a loon on the swatch of Debbie Mumm fabric on the left.

Pine/spruce trees - Canada has many pine/spruce trees. Forests full of them, in fact.

Stars - on a clear night, it is possible to see many stars in the Canadian sky.

Mounties - or more formally, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The name says it all - only in Canada.

Inukshuk - (means likeness of a person) an icon of Northern Canada.

This quilt is intended for Craig's fiance, Rhonwyn's mother, Lynne. Lynne is Australian and apparently was smitten with the Mounties portrayed in the 2010 Olympics Closing Ceremonies. I looked high and low and asked about fabric with Mounties, or a Mountie quilt block - something... The closest I got was this "Greetings from Canada" Thimbleberries fabric (the border fabric) that has minuscule Mounties in a small part of the overall design. So I ended up in the library, found a kids book with illustrations that could be turned into an applique - hence the Mountie block (see a few pix above).

I'll be loading Icons of Canada onto Harley shortly.

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Elvis ... I found this panel a year or so ago and picked it up. I added the "piano key" border and corner blocks and the blue/white/black outside border.

I also had some "Elvis" fabric - not enough for the entire back, but when cut up and reassembled, it will be a fine back. I was going to hand quilt because I want to quilt around the design and my skills with Harley aren't good enough for that! But now that I have an 11" arm on my new machine - I will use my Janome to quilt this one. It will go to Eric, my musician son. Haven't decided on a name for it yet.