Northern Needles

Seriously, can I get any cuter?

While on our trip to Edmonton and back (was it only a week and a half ago?), we stopped in the cute little town of St. Albert, Alberta.  There is was great quilt shop called Quiltessentials Co. (http://www.quiltessentialco.com/)

We spent quite a while in the shop, it was so much fun.  Lisa was busy picking out fat quarters, I was picking out a Buggy Barn book and trying to find fabric to go with a project I’m already working on…and Jennifer fell in love. 

She found a book that was an absolute must have…the only thing she would ever need…EVER!!!

I made some quick calculations involving the cost of the book ($19) and the length of the car ride ahead of us (27 hours) and the distance between herself and her 9 y.o. sister in the backseat (not far enough).  I came to the decision that the book was well worth.

I swear it was one of the best purchases we made.  Jennifer read the book aloud to us and we laughed and laughed.  Seriously, this Brenna Maloney (rhymes with “Balogna” Jen says) is a wonderful writer…she’s just plain funny.  I highly recommend the purchase of this book to EVERYONE! 

So yesterday, Jennifer decided to try her hand at one of the sock creatures.  It was very difficult to cut into that first sock but now I think we’ve created a monster!  No socks are safe!

Jen is already planning creatures for the whole family for Christmas! 

Yep, I have one happy girl!

Have a great one!  Vivian

The quilt I’ve made has been mailed (sunday) and will be in it’s new home by mid-September.  I can’t wait for it to get there!

 As you can see, it passed a rigorous inspection process. 

and here is a close up.  I did some hand quilting on this instead of my usual machine quilting.  I felt it suited the piece more then what I could accomplish on my machine. 

Thanks for looking!  Vivian

School has begun!!!! 

It’s only been 4 days but man, it’s a long week.  Unfortunately, due to my change in work hours, I miss the waiting for the bus adventure.  Every year I get photos of the girls on their first day.  This year I left DH in charge of the camera.  I was quite specific as to what trees we usually stand in front of…get some shots that are close up, heads and shoulders, etc…

I ended up with 4 exact pictures, in the same exact spot and the girls look like they are a mile away. 

I haven’t even uploaded them from the computer yet, I’m scared to and find they are blurry.

But I’m not thinking about it…really…at least I’m trying not to.

Ok, on to happy stuff.

The girls are home!  They’ve been gone so long, I missed them horribly.  But they had a great visit with their grandparents, their Aunty Rose (Hi rose!!!!), their Uncle Dwayne and Aunty Lynn and cousins Sydnee and Keifer.  Oh and hanging out on Uncle Leonard’s farm!  Lisa discovered she doesn’t like cows.

They rode the train to meet me in Edmonton.  The train!  How exciting.  I drove down and made it with 20 minutes to spare.  The guy at the station told me I was early.  I said, considering I drove from Whitehorse, 20 minutes early is AMAZING.  He then asked me how the weather was in Yellowknife.  I told him it was a raging blizzard when I left. 

A little geography lesson people…Yellowknife and Whitehorse are not the same place.  I haven’t a clue if it was snowing in Yellowknife or not.

Anyway, girls picked up, 2 days at West Edmonton Mall, including a side trip to the south end of Edmonton for Golf Town and a trip to St. Albert (wonderful quilt shop in St. Albert!!!), and then we were off and running north.  Homeward bound!

Did you know there was a quilt shop in Fort Nelson, BC?  Well there is!  Middle of nowhere and there was the sign…Ye Olde Quilt Shop.  How could we not stop? 

It’s a little hard now though with two girls that sew.  They seriously cut into my stash buying as they want fabric too! 

Ok, I’m off to load pics and stuff so that I can share.  Have a great day everyone, I’m hiding in the bedroom with my laptop as 5 kids chocked full of pizza, pop and oreo cake play Wii in the living room.  Think of me fondly.

Viv

I completed my August block for the The Great White North quilting bee (it’s Canadian only and can be found on flickr! - http://www.flickr.com/groups/greatwhitenorthbee/ ).

Tong chose a paper pieced string block.  4 mini blocks are created and we are sending back to her as is to mix and match.

And my month is SEPTEMBER!!!  I decided that I wanted to use some fun cat fabric I had in my stash so I chose a simple 9 patch.

I love these cats!

Have a great weekend everyone, it’s a holiday long weekend up here in the Yukon to celebrate Discovery Day.

See ya!

Vivian

I finally am able to get a photo or two.  I decided to try a block that I haven’t made before.  It’s called the Eccentric Star.  I found some fun fabrics in my sash and tried it out.  With the eception of the orange block I am quite pleased with how it’s turned out so far.  I’ll stop in and get some backing and binding material this week and begin my quilting.

As you can see in my close up…I had problems with the orange one.  But after ripping it out for the 3rd time I said to heck with it, it is what it is and I’m not perfect.

Now I have to think about how I want to quilt it.  I’m looking at two options, some sort of twirling design using white thread (free motion machine quilting)….or, maybe some hand quilting around the stars using matching DMC thread.   My last quilt I received in the exchange had that and it gave it a wonderful homespun look that I adore.

I’ll have to think more on it.

Take care,

Vivian

Ever feel like just spending the day lazing around? 

It’s a beautiful 14degrees celcius out with a hint of fall in the air.  I don’t have any jobs to do today.  I’m still a little tired from last night, itwas the Yukon Special Olympics annual golf tournament last night and we submitted a team. (we had a great time by the way)

So I’m just relaxing, there’s a horror movie on Space channel (and no one around who will beg for me to change the channel), I have a full pot of Northern Bean coffee and I’m cuddled on the couch with my favourite crocheted afghan.  It’s perfect.

And you know what makes it even better?  I found a contest for a bag of moda scraps!  Yay!!

So please stop by Mandy’s blog and get in on the fun:  http://madewithlovebymandy.blogspot.com/

Have a good one everyone!

Vivian

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer.  It’s quite hot up here in the Yukon, we’ve been having temps of 28 celcius…crazy hot!!

The fires in BC have been getting scary.  One fire has closed the Stewart-Cassiar highway leading into the Yukon so things are getting hazy up here.   I really hope everyone stays safe.

Now for the good news. 

First, I received 3 of my Bee Balm blocks, only another 8 to come in and I can start piecing my quilt together.  I think we’re doing well for my first virtual quilting bee.

Second, I got my laptop power cord!  I’m back in the land of the internet.  Wahoo!

Third, and this is probably the best…I won a contest.  Please check out Nancy’s blog at:   http://www.sillystitching.blogspot.com/ .  I’m very grateful to be one of the winners, thank you Nancy. 

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend, take care all! 

Vivian

But I’ve been saving my laptop’s battery power.  My power cord is broken and no longer fixable by electricians tape.  Due to the expense I’ve been putting off ordering a new one for months now but it’s time.  Like anything else in the Yukon, getting computer supplies takes a while and is a bit pricy.  I don’t know how long I’ll be offline but I’ll be back!

Enjoy your summer everyone!

Vivian