Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Begining of Summer

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It is so nice to wake up to blue sky and sunshine and green grass…well maybe not all green right now.

We welcome the bees back and living in the country the dandelions do their thing.

Liam loves soccer and has been teaching me some new techniques. I have many memories of my Grandmothers but none involved playing with me, I want that for my Grandchildren.

He won’t have memories of me dirt biking, those will be with Pappa!

Pool season is almost here and Erik was called into helping replace his Daughter and Son-in-laws liner as he has done it before on our pool.

I was treated to a day of playing with grandchildren and being fed! Later there was a birthday celebration for Erik. We arrived home just before 9 and both had a little nap in order to have the energy to wrap up the day.

Today is a professional development day here which means no school for Liam. He and I will work on planting the garden and some flowers along with some soccer and our war on the ants.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Christmas…in July Quilts

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It seems to be very popular have Christmas in July celebrations around here.

These two quilts were made to be raffled off in support of a campers association not far from here. The maker began with panels and added blocks to grow the quilts. I used the pantograph windswept as it gave a ribbon effect that also went well with both the top and the backing… almost all of my quilt makers like to have me trim their quilts for them which I do as a courtesy so that they are ready for binding.

On a side note, I lived most of my childhood in Winnipeg Manitoba, we had a cottage growing up. When we moved here people talked about going to camp…I envisioned them all in tents! Until I discovered that cottages are camps here and in the Fort Frances area they are cabins.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Moose Panel Quilt

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Quilts that begin with the inspiration of a panel have become very popular it seems. It’s understandable with the amazing prints available.

This recent quilt is a great example of using a panel to pull colours from and making blocks and borders to grow the quilt. I used the pantograph Star-swirl to quilt it.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Grandma and Liam vrs the Ants

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Let me begin this story by clarifying as Liam put it that we want to get rid of Ants not Aunts!

Liam reminded me about our ant study last year and asked to rewatch some of the YouTube’s that we watched before. He especially liked the one that involved a flame thrower! That won’t be happening here.

Every year it seems that the ants are winning as they seem to take over the yard and every year we try something new. This year friends brought us a new to us product to try. It seems to have worked on the first hill. So time will tell.

The bottom of the rock was full of ants trying to move the rock. As other areas they had moved the smaller rocks off of the house!

There are several remedies that I haven’t tried yet. This one involves a gel bait that goes into the little houses and the ants flock to it and bring it into the nest to feed the queen and babies.

Anyone have other successful remedies?

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Diane’s Quilt

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It was such a pleasure to complete this quilt for Diane, mostly because I knew how special this quilt is to her.

Her piecing on this quilt was exact and her borders laid flat…the paisley designed fabric spoke to me and I chose the pantograph flying Daisy.

I don’t often bind customer quilts but did finish this quilt completely, it made me happy that I could. Diane has always from the time I met her been a cheerleader in living your life and is someone who makes such a positive difference in this world! She inspires me 😊

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Welcome June!

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I cut the grass yesterday for the first time this season. One of the many perks of my life with Erik is that I have a nice little lawn tractor to cut grass…it’s a task that I enjoy!

This years winter was exceptionally long and stretched well into what should have been spring.

May held many challenges.

I learnt a lot about sump pumps and am extremely thankful that Erik already knew…so one morning early in May when I said that the pump sounded like it was humming he flew into action replacing it!

With that under control we breathed a little easier, however a day or so later I discovered water coming into the cold storage room. Thankfully we work well as a team, and between the two of us we were able to prevent any damage. I am an early riser and Erik is more a night owl so we worked shifts. It was a week of shop vacuuming every 20 minutes for a few days and loads of towels on and off the line or in the dryer being rotated.

The sump pump ran non stop for 3 weeks. We had a lot more snow than usual this year and with several rainstorms and frozen ground many people had destroyed basements. We were lucky!

I still continued to work away on customer quilts though not very much time for personal piecing.

So I was happy to celebrate the beginning of June by cutting grass! It’s time to plant some flowers and make some plans!

Liam has one serious plan and it looks like this summer we can make that happen!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Carol’s Star Quilt

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Carol made this quilt for her son, I added my touch with the pantograph Star swirl.

Michelle Wyman designed the Starswirl pantograph.

When I first started quilting on my Longarm, I was a member of an online group called LACHAT it was a fantastic resource not only for longarm quilting but also friendships with so many likeminded people.

It had great forums for trouble shooting, how would you quilt this and show and tell along with a chat room that many of us regularly spent time visiting with each other. I bring this memory up as I am reminded of it when I use Michelle’s Pantograph as that is where I met her.

The owner of the site eventually moved in a different direction and closed the site. Many of the quilters are still active and it’s been fun to follow them on social media.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Althea’s Puppy Quilt

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This was a really fun quilt to work on, Liam doesn’t often as for one of the quilts he see’s me quilting but this was one of them. It was made to be raffled in support of a dog show club that she belongs too.

I used the pantograph Popcorn. I also bound this quilt.

How cute is this backing!!
Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Duluth Birthday Trip 2022 and a New Quilt-shop!!!

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Other than the last couple of years Erik and I travel to Duluth MN to celebrate his birthday. He has also been retired for a year.

This year we were able to travel. With all of the snow melting and rain the waterfalls and rivers were pretty spectacular, we make it a point to stop several times during the drive.

As soon as we cross the border we pull into the parking lot and enjoy the walk to high falls. https://www.exploringnorthshore.com/pigeon-river-high-falls/

After stopping at Rydens Border Store to pick up a few packages…we were back on the road.

Next stop was the DQ in Grand Marais….we almost always have to make an ice cream stop!

While back on the road, I was looking something up when Erik suddenly said oh there’s a quilt shop and asked if I wanted to stop….I answered “well I don’t really need to“…which was followed with…too late I am pulling in!!!

That’s when I met Sylvia, she opened her quilt shop just before the pandemic closed the border. She has a beautiful shop in Lutsen MN that is well worth the stop. I really enjoyed our visit and so much so that I forgot to take pictures inside the shop…so now you will need to go yourself and check it out!

Years ago we decided to stop using the expressway from Two Harbours to Duluth and instead take the scenic route along the lake… that’s when we discovered Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse. We almost always stop for a snack of smoked Cisco.

After settling into our hotel room, we set off for a walk along the lake, Duluth has done an amazing job with their waterfront and the weather was perfect! We turned around at the Lief Erikson Statue.

Another favourite treat is supper at Pizza Lucé for a delicious well deserved meal.

It rained all of the next day, which was ok because for the most part it was a shopping day.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Florence’s Quilt

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Florence was first asked by her daughter to make a king sized duvet cover, it was to be made with a quilt pattern. We had been discussing this project for a while…and one day she called to say that her daughter changed her mind and wanted it quilted along with two shams.

Her daughter chose the pantograph and it was quilted with silver gray thread that disappeared into the quilt. It was hard to capture the beauty of this quilt…it really turned out so much nicer than the pictures that I took…mostly due to lighting.