Tag: Autumn

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Happy Thanksgiving! Quilting and Life

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We were treated to two full days of summer like weather this weekend!

So I gifted myself to 2 hikes at Mills Block Conservation area that is within walking distance from my home. I have always enjoyed the hike on the back loop, but always felt I should have someone with me…though I have always wondered about walking it on my own.

Well this weekend I did it and it was truly glorious, hiking at my own pace with only the sounds of nature. Don’t get me wrong, I love hiking with others. Hiking on my own felt a little scary to be honest…in the end it was exhilarating!!

Oh the wonderful smell of Autumn! I have always loved the sound of walking through the fallen leaves this time of year!

There are so many different sites to see on this hike…

The beavers have been busy. A couple of weeks ago when my grandson and I hiked we were able to watch the Mom and her babies busy at work.

My Longarm and I have been back to our usual busy routine, today though I am treating myself with some piecing time in my sewing room…I am working on the first block from Tara Faughnans Block Studies Season 4.

My first Glow Block…

Today I plan to finish the curved block and maybe work on quilting them as well.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A First Quilt … Happy Anniversary!!!

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When my friend Linda’s husband saw a post that I did about some quilts a year ago he told her that he wanted a quilt like that!

Well my friend Linda wasn’t a quilter, however she has friends that do. She was determined to learn enough to make him his quilt herself and set their 47th wedding anniversary as her deadline!

She more than met her challenge! Our mutual friend started teaching Linda sewing lessons and it was always fun to hear how it was going! She was always so pleased with her progress and then she began the quilt!

At first there were comments about needing the stitch ripper more often than not in the process and that she had no idea how much was involved in making a quilt! Still she persevered and asked me to quilt it for her.

She chose the quilting design Kindling, for both the texture and movement. It was an excellent choice and using a dark grey thread called sterling perfectly played over all of the colours of the quilt!

Linda has three boys that are all interested in her making them quilts as well…they all are outdoor guys who love fishing and hunting.

The silver grey wide back was a fantastic choice for the backing and really shows off the quilting design.

Her quilt was trimmed and ready for her lessons on binding with Irene.

The quilt was gifted this week and her husband suggested hanging it on the wall and absolutely loves it!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Sunday Morning Surprise!

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If you have been in my studio you will know that my Longarm shares space with my treadmill… I like to use it early in the morning and now that the season has changed it’s still dark out when I begin…I noticed the light changing and noticed the rainbow to start the day as the sun was rising!

I much prefer walking outside over the treadmill, however it doesn’t always work out that I can. Starting my day with a workout truly energizes me for the rest of the day. Then if time and weather allows an outside walk is always welcome.

It’s hard though to beat a good walk or hike in the woods! this time of year with the leaves changing these walks with Liam are especially spectacular! We have been walking my daughter’s dog some days after school.

Living so close to a conservation area is such a treat and this one has recently added a new parking lot and an accessible trail. There is a longer and a little more challenging hike there too that I love to do especially when the grandchildren join in!

Are you enjoying the change of season?

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Fright Nite Quilt

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This recently completed Halloween quilt left my studio this week.

My customer did tell me that as a new quilt maker she had some challenges making her quilt and pointed out some issues that she knew that it had.

It did have some fullness which she told me made adding the border was not easy.

When she picked up her quilt, it was quilted squared and trimmed ready for binding and no one would know that it had any fullness or issues.

With having so many years of experience quilting for others I know how to work with quilts that might have some issues and I am able to quilt them out so to speak 🥰

I am always happy to help quilters solve piecing issues that they may have as I was so well mentored in my early quilting days it’s a gift that I love to give to others.

Now back to this fun quilt!!!

How delightful are all of the prints!! It was so much fun working on this quilt and knowing that my customers son will love snuggling under it!

How perfect is the backing!

I am adding a picture of the quilting design with name and credit below as the fun design doesn’t show well in the pictures.

Fright Nite by Lisa H Calle
Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

September….

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It’s Apple season again and this year the tree was loaded, much to the grandchildren’s delight! Can you spot Erik?

And also this visitor the other day, we saw each other just as I was heading out the door for my walk, I was just going to sit on the step to put my shoes on when we noticed each other…with it being a cub, I decided to put my shoes on in the house.

Once I was sure the mama was no where clear I stepped out told the cup to enjoy the picnic and off I went. I knew that once Erik spotted it that it would soon be scared off. He also removed all of the apples to remove temptation and to save them for juice making.

We had a couple of grands overnight last weekend and we all went for a walk to the pond in the back of the property. The girls tell us that we have the best backyard. They were excited to discover that we have minnows!

I am enjoying a visit with Liam this weekend….he wanted to try a recipe that he found…

Pancake spaghetti…

Of course along with all of this fun there is customer quilting going on!!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Life and Quilting

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My days do seem to fly by, I spend several hours most days working on customer quilts. As much as I love that I also really love piecing quilts.

Joining Tara Faughnans block studies this season has been a fantastic addition to my quilting practice with both learning a new block and playing with a palette of her choosing it really does make for great fun in my life.

I will share more but for now these are a couple of my blocks from the first month that I plan to mount on canvas.

Other samples that I have made are earmarked for some other fun ideas.

My Small world quilt blocks almost fill my design wall and my postage stamp quilt continues to have a few blocks pieced and is slowly being completed.

A friend of mine suggested trying an eye pillow at bedtime made with flax seed and lavender…so I did make myself one and a few more for others…

With the winter months approaching there should be more time for studio play.

We are so wealthy in Grandchildren and have had the pleasure of their company and all the fun and joy that they bring with them!

On a personal note and adding to what I have written in previous posts…. A year ago tomorrow I made a decision to remove certain things from my diet. Alcohol was one and following that dispite for the most part eating a healthy diet I have made changes and tweaked it to better match my health and wellbeing goals.

There is so much to learn about food and it’s not always easy to navigate away from ultra processed foods but it is worth the effort. The Yuka app has been very helpful.

Adding more exercise and learning more about what we women need at my stage of life for bone,muscle and heart health has been enlightening as well! I have so much fabric and so many ideas that healthy longevity is a big time personal goal.

So to that some personal progress gifts!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Autumn Quilting

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We have enjoyed an amazing long autumn, this picture of course was taken a month or so again as the leaves have all fallen now.

We had snow yesterday, which made for a pretty walk late yesterday. I do love the crisper air for walks. The forecasted temperature today will quickly melt what was left behind yesterday.

Of course since my last post I have been busy in my studio working on customer quilts. I will share more about the last month or so in my next post.

This post I am sharing a quilt that its maker really wasn’t sure how she felt about it, it’s an early one of hers and like she said if she was doing it again she would have chosen some of the fabrics differently.

That said, it’s a perfect Autumn quilt!

Most of my customers leave the decision of quilting design to me and this quilt called for the design Leaf Pile! I love the density of stitching along with the various leaves adding more visual appeal to an already great quilt!

Her quilt was trimmed and ready for binding at pick up!

This next picture shows how it looked just before coming off the leaders. I am often asked why my quilts have a smoother finish front and back. I do not float quilt tops unless there is a reason that it’s necessary. That way I have more control over the tension of both top and backing while I am quilting.

It’s a personal preference for sure.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A Bear in a Tree (quilting and life)

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I love summer and this year we had, at least in my opinion, lovely weather.

Unfortunately for the bears and for our community the weather we had did not produce a great crop of berries for the bears!

So what is a hungry bear to do, especially when it’s time to fatten up and get ready to hibernate…they do love apples and so we had a visitor. The city and area has had far more visiting bears than usual!

Neighbours up the road from us have had a Momma and her three cubs hanging around for a few weeks. I suspect this one is one of the cubs and spent the day returning to our tree despite our presence.

We usually wait until after the first frost to pick the apples but choose to pick them that day…so it’s back to making apple juice again.

On the quilting front this Bear in the Tree quilt recently left the studio. It was quilted using the design Star Swirl and I stopped around the appliqués in order to allow them to pop. (They were outlined and minimally quilted in order to keep the density similar to the background)

The quilt was trimmed and ready for binding at pick up.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Happy Thanksgiving and life

wendysquilting

Today is Thanksgiving in Canada, it is a day widely celebrated in Canada though it seems like many things quieter than the American Thanksgiving that is celebrated in November.

Still it marks the changing of seasons.

The last week began with way above normal temperatures as in the 30’s Celsius which was a welcome treat though a little too hot for many mid week we experienced a thunderstorm with a lot of rain and hail and back to colder days!

The rainbow after the storm

The view from my studio window is constantly changing… I do love the spring and summer views, then the changing colours and the leaves falling is beautiful too, though a reminder of the colder days to come.

The grandchildren have been visiting and having fun. Last week Grayson had his turn with the knitting machine…

After making his own beanie with some help from Pappa…

Seemed funny to be making such a cozy hat on a hot day!

He got busy making another beanie for his Dad creating it himself from my yarn collection!

He was so excited and determined to make this really special gift for his Dad.

The knitting machines have been a fun addition to my crafting supplies and my hope is that all of the grands will enjoy using it.

I haven’t had as much time as I like for piecing…my postage stamp quilt will be something that I plan to slowly work on as my customer quilts take priority. Still it’s nice to have something I can spend time sewing as time allows.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Quilting and Life Autumn

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It’s official, the Summer has passed and our home is now filled with the sweet aroma of apples from our trees being made into juice!

We had to be a little creative and purchase a new canner that would work with the induction range and thankfully it’s all working!

My Longarm and I are busy as usual and as always I continue to accept tops for quilting.

My 2 1/2 squares project is almost ready to become a quilt top and has made a fun project to look at on the design wall.

And….playing with these squares has inspired me to start a new project to play with…a postage block quilt!

This one will take a lot longer…more to come!

Thunder Bay Quilters Guild held the first meeting of the 2023/24 season this week. Also the first in person meeting after 2 years! The meetings will resume on zoom over the winter months and back to in person in the spring.

Ana Paula http://www.canadapaulabrasil.ca and I have collaborated on a fun project for the Teddy Bear Quilts program for the guild this week. These quilts are small and fun and will be gifted with a stuffed animal from Santa Claus for Christmas.