Tag: Life

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Week Between

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Let’s start with my morning view!!! That looks more like it for this time of year ☃️

Somehow the week between Christmas and New Years has flown by! Not without a lot of fun. We had Grand parenting days. While there was no snow so no snowmobiling, Erik took the kids on Quad rides instead.

If I haven’t mentioned it before we have several trails throughout our property, we really enjoy them and visiting the pond as well. Well the Grandchildren love the trails!

Grayson decided that he wanted to learn some sewing and asked if he could learn to hand sew! Maybe this was inspiring

The second of two pink quilts

Grayson even got Pappa involved in the sewing!

Grayson is getting really good on the machine as well, working on the bag that he is making

Kaija discovered my newest scissors and enjoyed snipping scraps and cutting out the sloths from a trimmed piece.

Kaija and I made a bag together, she likes to use the foot petal while I guide the fabric. She loves choosing the fabrics as well. it won’t be long before she is using the machine.

She was really silly when I took the picture…how scary does that marker look. She is really careful about colouring though.

Minka and Romee joined in one afternoon! Grayson and Pappa built a fort for the girls. They made full use of it and had a lot of fun together.

I love this picture my daughter sent of Minka’s fort at home, she is inside with a quilt sleeping and using Romees quilt to cover the fort! I love to see the quilts I make in action!!

Today is the 19th anniversary of my Longarm quilting machines arrival, I also like to call it her birthday. My Millennium is an amazing machine and I have a special treat for her that I will share soon.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Christmas 2023

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Christmas Morning…no snow and above zero Celsius temperatures! There isn’t any snow in the forecast and temperatures continue to be very mild.

Winter solstice was very welcomed, without snow the darkest days of the year seemed even darker as the snow does reflect what light there is.

The extra lights from the tree and other Christmas decorations are so welcome and add such a cozy feel to life!

Our family brunch which we host the Sunday before Christmas has become a wonderful tradition and this year was no exception. It’s a very busy fun filled day and one that I don’t have pictures to share but lovely memories to cherish.

Eriks Mom hosted Christmas Eve with a beautiful dinner that has become more of a potluck style meal as the grandchildren are grown, though she still roasts the turkey makes her famous amazing mashed potatoes, carrot casserole, salt fish sandwiches and moccasins as the children call this very traditional Finnish treat.

My daughter and son in law invited me to share their joy of Christmas morning with them and Joy it was watching my granddaughters see the transformation of their family room with tree decorated and lit and gifts and stockings from Santa.

I gifted myself with time to hand sew in the afternoon, as we were invited to my youngest daughters for Christmas Dinner. It was delicious and a truly beautiful evening!

It’s been a very busy season of quilting for my customers and making sure that their quilts were ready for gifting. I am so thankful for my customers that entrust me with their quilts!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Beth’s Quilt

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This is the final Christmas customer quilt this year. I chose the pantograph Ground Cover to play on the outdoorsy fabrics theme.

The backing is a beautiful chocolate brown that did not want to photograph well but really works well with this quilt.

A closer look:

This quilt was trimmed and ready for binding and yesterday I was sent this picture of how the binding process was going with Beth’s assistant!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Winter Solstice (and a fun little project)

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Welcome December 21! The first official day of winter…I may come to regret saying this but where is the snow? The weather forecast for Christmas Eve and day are for above 0 Celsius. This might just be my first not white Christmas in Thunder Bay.

I am finishing up my Christmas projects this week. This little pouch along with another were my fun task last night. I love making these little projects and they make fun gifts.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Value of Quilting…and please let it snow ☃️

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December like November seems to be flying by! We had a dusting of snow overnight however with the projected temperatures it will disappear by noon and now we have unseasonably warm temperatures for the rest of the month and no sign of snow! It might not be a white Christmas this year.

One of the quilts that I have finished is a fantastic example of using colour values in piecing a quilt top along with the value of saving and using scraps.

Marilyn has made several of these quilts, one for each of her grands I believe. I have met two of her granddaughters that absolutely treasure their Grandma and also her gift of quilts.

As a professional Longarm quilter for almost 19 years and a quilt maker for close to 40 years I know how much time and love goes into making quilts for others. (Along with the expense)

I have always strived to give each quilt job my full attention and providing my customers with quality workmanship.

I was recently asked how many quilts I work on a month, following me on social media she is able to see many of the quilts that I am entrusted with.

My response is that it depends!

It depends on the size of the quilt as well as what that particular order entails.

I spend time preparing each quilt before loading onto my Longarm. I sew yardage for backings for some and also carefully press the quilt top and then the backing in order to prevent issues afterwards. Such as puckers and pleats.

This isn’t a race, I like to give each quilt the time and attention that I give to my own.

I absolutely love quilting and spend an average of 8 hours most days quilting. (I enjoy a short commute to work).

This is a busier season and most of my customers let me know in advance if they are working on a quilt for Christmas and so have their quilt placed in my queue.

If someone asks to fit one in before Christmas who isn’t in my queue I will do my best to work a little overtime and fit them in. 🎄

Marilyn’s quilt is trimmed and ready for binding.

Let me help you bring your quilting projects to completion.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A Surprise!

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Monday was such a fun filled busy day! Late in the afternoon I received a call confirming my address because he had a delivery from a local florist. Having no idea who would be sending me flowers I felt a bit confused maybe that’s the word definitely curious!

My Aunt and Uncle sent them! When I called to say thank you and that I was shocked and so surprised! My Aunt told me that she and my Uncle like to surprise someone each Christmas with flowers and that I was chosen this year. She later told me that Uncle Gary was just thrilled that I was shocked!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A Busy Day in December!

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This memory popped up, Liam has always enjoyed quilts and quickly crawled into the middle of this customer quilt just as she arrived to pick it up! Thankfully she was delighted to see how much he liked it. (Liam is now 12yrs old)

I am currently quilting another half square amazing quilt by Marilyn… I have lost count however this may be the 5th or 6th this was taken on the weekend I did get a few more rows quilted after this picture…however….

Yesterday we had a fun filled day with our grandson 3 yr old Jaxson!

His Mom sent us this picture she took on the way home. He is big into dinosaurs and the puppet in his hands was a gift we bought last summer but when he first saw it, it was scary…yesterday he told us it’s not scary anymore.

After supper, I attended our local Quilt Guild meeting, we had 3 in person meetings and have now resumed Zoom meeting for the winter…I was thankful for that after such a full day.

We enjoyed guest speaker Jane Z Haworth

http://www.janehawortth.com

She did a wonderful and informative talk about her Collage Quilting…she was very inspiring.

The day also held a big surprise which I will share a little later when we have some daylight. Our hours of daylight are noticeably shorter each day right now, making me look forward to the Solstice.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

O Christmas Tree

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This Christmas tree quilt was made using a pattern and fabrics by Edita Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. It was such a pleasure to quilt and enjoy having in my studio!

We chose the pantograph Rhapsody which played on the theme in many of the fabrics.

I like to choose a design that compliments the quilt not necessarily one that echoes the design. Thread colour and weight of thread also make a big difference in the outcome of the quilting.

I personally find it very difficult not to be inspired by the quilts that I work on! Edita’s quilts often have the small piecing that I love to do and the appliqué ❤️

I love the way the quilting shows on the back of the quilt!

Trimmed and ready for binding!

Let me help you to complete your quilting projects!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Helping Others

wendysquilting

I usually only post about my quilting on my blog, this post is not about quilting. I will say though that my quilting certainly helped enable me in raising my family.

When I first became a single parent of 4 young children, I needed to get my education and an income to support them. The court ordered child support very rarely transpired.

We had to move weeks before our first Christmas on our own and I was also busy at the time attending College. One of my budget stretching techniques was to stock up on staples the weeks before Christmas during sales, knowing that in January prices would be higher.

I had always made it a point to teach my children to be kind and generous…well that December their school had a food drive all month with the incentive that the class that gave the most would be treated to a pizza lunch.

My heart sank when I realized that my carefully stocked pantry was almost empty! How could I explain to my girls that they had given away what we really needed? Well the lesson was on me as we received hampers that year that more than filled my pantry.

I remember while in one of my college classes being asked to write life goals, one of mine was that I would raise daughters who would make a positive difference in this world. My girls are all grown now and I am so proud of them all as they do make a positive difference.

This link will take you to one of my daughters who is helping others not only to learn how to save money on their food shopping but also with budgeting their money.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2289972803613

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

November

wendysquilting

I am not entirely sure how December has arrived when I was just getting used to it being November!

The very best part of November in my books is that it’s Liam’s Birthday…he turned 12 last week.

My Dad hosted a family dinner in Liam’s honour, he smoked a turkey that Liam’s Mom provided and the rest of the dinner was made by my daughter Katie and I. Family dinners are so much easier when everyone helps!

I wish that I had taken a picture of his gift and reaction to opening it. You see he had requested money for an upcoming trip in February…this request was made in the summer. So to make it fun, I put 4 $1. USD bills in a peanut butter jar as a liner to look like the label…then filled a third of it with coins and wrapped more bills into the centre of the coins and topped the jar up with our remaining Halloween treats. The gift was a total success.

As his Grandma I have enjoyed his childhood so much, we have spent so much time together and he has truly brought so much joy in my life. These last months I have noticed how much he has grown and is definitely less of a little boy. I am sure by his next birthday he will be taller than I am, his life is busy with soccer and school and friends as it should be…though he has told me he still plans to be here in the summer and our annual trip to the Dells.

When my 3 year old granddaughter Minka let me know that she wanted an all pink quilt, I happily got on that…I am also making one for her sister. Pink is Minka’s favourite colour right now. The quilt is similar to Olivia’s baby quilt that I made last summer.

A night time shot of my design wall.

I have been collecting pink fabric for awhile now, I took advantage of Road17N’s Black Friday sale and ordered backing fabric and a couple more metres of pinks…what a great surprise to find more pink fabrics inside the parcel a few days later!

I really try to allow for an hour of piecing every evening after I finish working on the Longarm. I may have to add an extra hour in the morning in order to finish both quilts.

My presentation of my quilting journey went well at the November Quilt Guild meeting.

Welcome to December…