Tag: Family

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Wisconsin Dells 2023

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Our annual trip to the Dells happened again! Liam begins talking about next years trip shortly after getting home from the Dells.

He wasted no time getting up on travel day and is now a great help loading the truck.

Wisconsin Dells is such an interesting place and seeing it through the eyes of an 11 year old makes it even more fun!

I have taken a picture of Liam each trip in front of my favourite ride at Noah’s Ark. it’s the Black Anaconda…a water coaster. Both Liam and Erik don’t understand why I like it so much as they don’t really care for it! I just like it!

Liam’s first visit he was just over the required 48” to ride.

Liam and some new friends who joined the annual picture!

We spent a day and a half at Noah’s ark and a half day at Mount Olympus when the guys spent hours on the go carts and I enjoyed a nice cool relaxing spot in the shade 😊

We spent another day at Circus World in Baraboo.

Another annual picture, Liam is such a good sport!

This is the last season for the Elephants at Circus World, they are retiring and moving to a sanctuary to live out the rest of their lives.

Another Annual picture…Liam can no longer fit his head in the crocodiles mouth!

We almost always have pizza at Moose Jaw in the Dells! We prefer to have a table upstairs though if you don’t ask you get seated in the very crowded noisy lower level….if you prefer a quieter more relaxed setting it’s worth it to ask 😊

Liam put his antlers on as soon as we got to the table and really enjoyed his root beer and pizza!

I was there too!!

We played mini put that night…Erik won but it was a close match! Afterwards another annual picture with Captain Hook.

Sadly it began raining afterwards so our annual DQ and walk downtown didn’t happen this year, there’s always another time.

We drove home along the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River this year with stops in Hasting MN and Stillwater MN before stopping for the night in Hinckley MN….the trip home deserves its own post coming soon.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A Special Pink Quilt

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When it was discovered that our newest grand would be a girl…her Mom requested a pink and peachy pink quilt! Music to my ears and the pictures that were shared with me were scrappy quilts…even more music to my ears!

I just had to use my pink Oliso iron for this project!

Erik and I had a lot of fun choosing the fabrics for this quilt, starting at Hannah Johnson’s in Duluth MN…thankfully Megan was working and she helped pull together a fantastic selection of fabrics for us! You can follow her on Instagram megface_makes

On the way home we stopped at the quilt shop One Old Loon in Two Harbours and added more pinks to the collection…and of course I shopped my stash.

Oh, one of the fabrics at Hannah’s that I fell in love with ended up not in the cutting pile!! Thankfully Megan was able to send me this super cute print!

Using 3 1/2” squares I somewhat randomly placed them onto the design wall making sure no two the same were next to each other. I didn’t tweak it too much as I find with this type of quilt you can play with it forever and still will find things to change.

The quilt was so much fun to both piece and quilt. I used the pantograph Two of Hearts and of course used Pink 40 wt thread (glide)

I love the backing! Those puppies are so adorable!!

I love hand stitching the binding, it’s a labour of love and an opportunity to sit and relax. Machine stitching binding is popular and for donation quilts that will be heavily laundered it is more practical but for my personal quilts I still prefer the look of hand work.

Of course the very best thing about making a quilt for a new Grandchild is meeting the baby.

Welcome to our family Olivia Lynn!!!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Suddenly Sixty!

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I have always loved my birthday as a child and young Mom it was almost always the first day of summer holidays! I loved having my daughters out of school and with me in the summer…though I did share them with my parents for part of several summers so they had time in Calgary being Grand Parented.

I wasn’t expecting anything big for my special day, I always just enjoy that I have as they say made another trip around the sun. This birthday was different and my girls family and friends managed to completely surprise me with a party.

My daughter Mary’s birthday is the 25th and she had told me that my Dad was having a brunch for her on her day…which is something that usually happens so that’s what I was expecting.

If you have Instagram you might be able to see this Reel that my friend Ana Paula made for me sh really captured it well!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct7BdYMAcvn/?igshid=ZmZiYTY5ZDNhOA==

With three of my daughters and three grandchildren! My eldest daughter and grandson live in Texas and were there in spirit 💕

Jaki (my sister by choice) helped make it all happen and flew in for the surprise!

Liam knew all along…as in from March when the planning began!

My Dad hosted the party, Romee used the opportunity for a sweet snuggle with her Great Grandpa!

Every detail of the party was amazing, my youngest daughter, Katie made most of the food, my Dad grilled and smoked the meat. So much food art!!!!

Emily and her sweetie pies took care of the decorations and Mary organized and together my daughters made it all happen….

I am not capturing it all, it was such a special day with so many special and near and dear to my heart people. Everything was perfect.

Using a favourite quilt that I made years ago, the girls hired Heather from @sayitwithcookiesrm and she replicated my quilt with these amazing cookies!! She is a true artist! They were incredible and so delicious as well!!

I am missing pictures here of everyone, but so touched and appreciative of the whole day it’s one I will never forget 💕

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

June! and a Liam update

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Anyone who knows me knows that I love June! I always have for as long as I can remember!

The month started off welcoming and celebrating the grand opening of my friend Ana Paula’s new shop!

Two of my daughters share my birth month, the weather truly warms up and my world outside turns green!

Oh and Summer Solstice! Something else Liam and I share is the love of looking forward to and enjoying the longest daylight day of the year.

In the last years Liam delights in June looking forward to the first swim in the pool, barbecues (especially his favourite Bison Burgers) playing soccer outside and of course looking forward to summer holidays!!

This June for Liam marked a big milestone in his life! He graduated from grade 6 (grandma brag here…with an excellent report card!) on that note He had an amazing teacher this year and school really clicked for Liam starting in the fall, when he informed me that his teacher had a standing desk station for those who found sitting for long stretches hard. She also announced the snack table and that if you are hungry please have a snack! This woman clearly has a good understanding of 11 year old boys!! Liam will miss her and the elementary school but now moves onto Jr High in the fall.

This Junes ice cream cake was to celebrate Liam’s graduation!

He and his Mom spent well over an hour playing in the pool, the laughter was true music to my ears!!

Speaking of Liam and his Mom…she has shared her love of beading with him! The creativity in my family always amazes me and fills me with joy!!!

My Sister by choice and longtime very best friend came for a visit! Liam has met her before and when I mentioned something about her being a pilot and now is a captain he told me that he thought she was one of those people who bring you food! So we did some education 🥰 that those flight attendants are there much more for your safety than anything else!!

There was quilting happening as usual…though somehow I managed to pick up a flu bug and ended up spending quite a bit of the month dealing with that…thankfully that’s behind me!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Spring Break and Life

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No actual quilting happened here yesterday!

It’s spring break here, and with that My daughter and family are here from Texas! I had been hoping that we would still have good snow for their visit and my wish was granted!

Jerry is almost 13 and hadn’t been here in the winter since he was a little guy. He and Liam made fast friends again and made the absolute most of yesterday,

The most quilty thing that happened was that I picked up my two rolls of batting from http://bordergiant and having both Liam and Jerry with me they each carried a roll into my studio for me.

The rest of my day involved food…and watching boys have fun!

Jerry is a fast learner and after a few runs through the trails with Liam driving he was off on his own machine. They snowmobiled for 4 1/2 hours!

After Bison Burgers for supper there were nerf gun wars, some serious rough house play, Jerry teaching Liam self protection moves and so much laughter!! It was a full, busy day ending with the boys having a hot sauna, hot chocolate and no complaints about heading to bed…the grandparents weren’t far behind.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Scrappy Goodness!!

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Anyone who knows me knows that I love Quilts!

Todays Instagram Quilt Fest post is about scrappy finishes, so I spent a little time looking through my pictures and look what I found!

My adorable Granddaughters enjoying a summer day last year! I had forgotten about the quilt that they are on!

It was made using quilters candies from a once upon loved quilt shop in town called Patchworks! The owner had a candle jar of charms folded into 1” squares with a stitch to hold them together. When I shopped with my girls the owner Diana would pour them onto the floor and my girls were allowed to pick one to add to the collection…

I remember making the quilt to practice Longarm quilting when I first began my business.

One day last December we had a day with grands which always makes for a grand day! Kaija asked me if we could go to my sewing room and make something. Music to this Grandmas ears!!

We made a pouch with scraps and when I dumped out my in use scrap basket I was reminded of my initial love of scraps! She filled her little pouch with scraps and has had hours of fun!

I have made and quilted so many scrappy quilts and my customer quilts continue to inspire more…

I have an early memory of my Mom taking taking me to a neighbours house and this lady had a sewing room full of Raggedy Ann dolls all in bright dresses she also made Barbie clothes…that room was so full of inspiration that never left me I was probably 5 yrs at the time!

Hopefully my sewing room will grow inspiration in my granddaughter’s hearts and minds as well.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

February

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Well the month has begun in the deep freeze! The feels like temperature this morning when I woke was -42C. I am extremely happy to be able to be at home all day today!

January was an extremely full and busy month and I am so grateful for all of the people who entrust their quilts to me to help complete. Other than finishing my Longtime Gone quilt top and a little sewing on Mondays at the Rec centre most of the month was spent working on the Longarm.

Just a peek at a recent Northern Lights Quilt…more to come.

The Thunder Bay Quilt Guild is gearing up for the long awaited Quilt Show in May so we quilters are all extra busy these days. I am planning to show some of mine and hoping to fit in one or two into my my Longarm schedule. (If you are wanting a quilt done by me for the show please let me know soon as my schedule is getting pretty full.)

On the life side… I enjoyed a full day this week watching Liam and his school team play in a basketball tournament with his Mom 😊

And today marks not only my 37th Anniversary of becoming a Mom …

It is my daughter Sarah’s Birthday!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Todays Morning View

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As the Grandchildren began arriving, we began a tradition of holding a Christmas brunch the Sunday before Christmas. My thinking was it would be nicer than the pressure for young families of trying to be with everyone over a two day period.

So todays our day. The tree is decorated, gifts under the tree. Liam has a new Fort built for the cousins. Cookies are baked.

Liam and I began a tradition when he was very small of baking his favourite chocolate cherry cookies together…

This year he and his Mom mixed the dough and last night he helped me bake them…

We have enough snow! Erik has the snowmobiles ready and made the trails yesterday through the woods for fun after brunch!

It will be a full but fun day!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

November Snow and Life

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Well we knew it was coming and we did make a point of savouring the last of the above freezing temperatures. This new view from the picture window will most likely be our reality for a while.

The hours of daylight are lessening with every day, making me increasingly thankful for my fun bright studio and the quilts that I am entrusted with to help complete.

This is one of the projects that kept me busy this week. I really do love the affect of a lot of background fill in this case circles and swirls…more about it in another post.

Liam will be 11 this month and is happily enjoying being in grade 6 and being in school. One of his latest accomplishments has been mastering the rubic cube! He was pretty proud of himself as he’s been working on that for several months.

In my free time I have continued to play with crumb piecing…

I have also discovered Minki Kim’s YouTube tutorials on her bag and pouch making. Have you checked them out?