And Speaking of Quilt Shows! I just got word that the New Denver Quilt Guild is having a Show and Tea on Saturday, May 18th from 1 until 4pm at the Knox Hall in New Denver….. Admission is $3 and they have a raffle quilt too! Very pretty.

This coming weekend Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11, the Moody Quilters of Christina Lake are having a show. I don’t have many more details on it but stop in to the Visitor Centre there and they’ll give you some direction I’m sure! There’s a quilt hanging in the visitor centre that was a group effort in support of the Areas Hospital Auxiliary a few years ago….. I got to quilt it….

and of course Quilt BC in Penticton May 16 – 18, lots of displays and the National Juried Show….. there’s a few of our local gals that have quilts juried into the show….. (that’s a big deal) here’s a link to the Penticton Newspaper’s article http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/community/206321531.html

 

So, go for a drive and see someplace different!

 

 

We have had some absolutely Gorgeous, Sunshiney Days around here lately.  Everyone says that if it could just stay like this, not get really hot and no rain, they’d be happy…… we took advantage of the sun today and took a cool drink to Syringa Park and sat on the beach.   A few weeks ago, I went hiking with my fast friend, Deb, up the Columbia Western Rail trail and that was really nice except for the aching hips and blisters….this time we were on the sunny side of the lake and no uphills to worry about!

I have been busy doing lots of stuff, bookwork, and quilting…. Last Saturday our quilt guild hosted the West Kootenay Quilt Conference and we had over 150 quilters attend.  I also had a vendor booth and it was so great to see so many quilters I haven’t seen in quite a while.   It was such a great show, all of the area quilt guilds stood up and talked about what kinds of projects they’ve been doing over the past year and showed a TON of quilts, they were all stunning.  All of the them.  After setting up and taking down, many of our members were a little sore and hobbling this week….. ladies in their 70′s should not be lugging around tables and stacks of chairs – no matter how spry they are!  We must remember to hire some young people to help set up and take down next time!

Here’s a few that have gone home recently;

This is Diane’s Scrappy Mystery quilt, the blocks are quite interesting and the border was perfect for this one:

 

This is her Spider Web quilt.  Also made with many scraps, it was fun to quilt in and around the webs

I have a few more done that are waiting to go home, so I won’t show them to you yet!  Thanx to Pat and Donna for mentioning that they read my blog…… and reminding me to post more often!

We had a Bargello Class yesterday.  Carol wanted to learn and Cathie said me too and we had a class!  That’s often the most efficient way to have a class, get a couple (min 2, max 4) quilters together and pick a class and a day and we’ll coordinate and do the class!

Here’s what the gals got accomplished yesterday! Cathie’s working on a baby quilt that has both blue and pink with a little chocolate and Carol’s favourite colour is blue…. can you tell?  She’s goin’ big with a king sized quilt!

Just a little side note…… we’re having a 70th Birthday Celebration for my Mom on June the 1st in Calgary…. if you’d like to join us, please send me an email at flamingocastlegar@shaw.ca or find me on Facebook…..

Pictures, that is.  There is always a whirlwind around here but I managed, with the help of both Frank and Cathie to get away to Retreat again this year!  Our group, renamed “Quilters Without Borders”  has 5 days in April every year on Lake Coeur d’Alene at a beautiful camp where we have great cabins, fabulous food and a wonderful sewing space with tons of windows.  Our view a few projects that were worked on (none of these are mine)  A stack n whack, a one block wonder…. Steph added a river to Bud’s fishing quilt and Rae did a few convergences…. they were all quilted and bound before she left!

This is Vicky’s Sea Glass Quilt, It was a generous queen bedspread and I wanted to get the full effect, so I took this picture on the bed.  The back was even pretty and it’s fully reversible!

This next on is Jean W’s quilt.  It might look familiar, Jean took our Celtic class and did a block like this – then she was hooked and did a whole quilt.  She’s donating it for a fundraiser, her friend’s daughter needs special treatment for brain cancer and they are doing a silent auction.  If you’re interested in bidding, I’ll see if I can get some more details.

This is Richard’s quilt, he designs his own quilts, usually in batiks and Asian fabrics….. always interesting.

This is Shirley’s Jelly Roll Race quilt.  She used a Cherry Bali Pop and some bright batiks from her stash to add the flowers……. so pretty!  The back was a cream piece that she tea dyed! 

 

 

 

We have added a Baby Bargello class for Saturday May 4th!  Make a baby quilt with 16 fat eighths.  Fat Quarters gets you a nice Lap Size and .6m of 16 up to 20 fabrics will move you up to a Queen Sized quilt!

The new Learning Curve Ruler is arriving this week, stay tuned for classes and pictures!

 

It’s been busy around here, classes, blowing things up (like my quilting machine) and getting new fabric into the shop….. what should I show you first?  How about my March Beginners, Carol and Isobel.  Many of my beginners have become regular customers and have produced some incredible stuff already!

 

We also had a Stained Glass class last week, Elena and Marg came up with some pretty pieces!

Saturday we did Stuck on Curves! Linda, Nola and Hedy worked hard all day and came up with these!

Here are some Fundraiser Quilts, the first is made by Verna with fabrics brought back from a trip the Guatemala, our local nursing

Students go every year and they are raffling this one off to raise funds for this year’s trip.   Area quilters donate many baby quilts and receiving blankets that the nurses distribute to new moms in Guatemala.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Sunshine Quilters Quilt from Grand Forks.  This is to be drawn for at their show on Labour Day Weekend….. the big Ball tournament is on and usually a car show too….. so you can occupy your ‘other half’ and enjoy an afternoon in the cool curling rink looking at quilts!  I’ll post more details closer to the date!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are Grace’s quilts.  The blue one is from last summer’s Block of the Month, Celebration by Quilt Moments, The Red and White one is for her daughter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This quilt is just a piece of beautiful fabric that Heather fell in love with.  She’s going to pop this up as a headboard and I got a new shiny pair of shoes for it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are Sandy’s Quilts, one for her granddaughter and one for her grandson….. using up her ‘scraps’ she came up with these two gorgeous quilts!  The houses are from a Pippa Moore class a few years ago when she came to teach in the Kootenays!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is June’s other quilt for her other son and daughter in law….. gorgeous use of different techniques and blocks…..

 

 

 

 

 

Jean H put together this panel and borders for me….. and I took advantage of a few minutes to get it quilted!  I just could not wait!

and here’s another class we had in the One Block Wonder….. Linda snuck out to a hockey game before the camera came out, so I got LeeAnne, Sandy and Nina’s beginnings of some very cool quilts….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and another class we did – Fabulous Fans!  Bernice and Sandy did a great job…..I only managed to get pictures of Sandy’s……. she used her Spa Layer Cake

Hopefully I haven’t missed too much, I don’t have any classes for April scheduled yet but stay tuned, I’ll be so refreshed when I get back from Retreat that I’ll be anxious to have some more!

Yes, if I’m going away, Cathie will be here to take care of things, another BOSS IS AWAY SALE.  Stop in April 3, 4 and 5th and see what she’s up to!

 

 

You’ve heard that saying “The best laid plans”…. Since my last post  we went to Vegas to see O, the Cirque du Soleil show at the Bellagio, spent 10 days in Scottsdale and been home for three weeks working like mad to catch up on a schedule that never allowed for two weeks off!  I do try to plan a few months in advance.  I’m a girl that would like to be mentally prepared for my day and/or week and as long as things go fairly close to planned, I can manage  a few ‘wrenches’ in the works….. but there have been many since we got home from broken furnaces to bookkeeping surprises (I really need to pay attention to that) it’s been a hectic three weeks.  Yesterday, I finally took a “day off”, my plan was to meet up with a couple girls for a SHORT hike in the bush, come home, have a little ‘me’ time, go for lunch with hubby and then an afternoon on the couch  watching a movie before a birthday celebration dinner for two friends…… hike went well, lunch went well and then….. there was stuff to do and things to take care of before dinner.  It’s ok, I just feel a little deprived of down time….. I’ve taken a little today just to make up for it…..

There are a few quilts that have been completed since we got home, we have had classes in One Block Wonder (and I didn’t take any pictures), Celtic Block (I only have one picture), Strata Star  and we had one February Beginner, Nina, and her quilt was bright and fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is one of June B’s creations, a colourful culmination of many tecniques and many scraps and a ton of time!  I have another one of these on the frame right now and it is completely different!

 

And here a two of Karen G’s quilts, they are the same but different….. the fabrics are moved around enough that her two grandsons will be able to tell which quilt is whos….. another one out of the book Quilts Made Modern by Weeks Ringle….. I am going to get some of these into the shop!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is a quilt I deconstructed and reconstructed, quilted and bound in time for my friend Deb’s big special birthday….. the gals said “Let’s make a memory quilt for Deb’s birthday” 3 weeks before her birthday (with two weeks of holidays in there too).  I tried to say no but couldn’t, so they picked out the pictures and I handled it….. everyone signed the back and she loved it enough to cry…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s been a few more finished in the last little while but they haven’t gone home yet, so you’ll have to wait to see them.  How do you like the new camera?  It’s my phone….. the only thing I miss is the zoom button but it hasn’t been a problem yet and there may even be a way to do it, some time I might even figure that out!

Here are our January Beginners!   They completed their Quilt tops and will be back tomorrow to finish them off with quilting and binding!

There is still room for the February and the March Class, give us a call at 250-365-7978 and we’ll sign you up!

I’ve been quilting like crazy for the past little while too.  Some of my pictures are fuzzy, so please forgive me!  This is a quilt that Verna put together.  We have a group of Nursing Students that go to Guatemala every spring and usually take some baby quilts that the guild members create and donate.  Verna asked them to bring some fabric back and she’d whip up a quilt that they could use as a fundraiser.  These were pieces of woven fabrics, they had been recycled from many things, Verna pieced it and I quilted it with a simple all over pattern and no batting, the woven pieces were pretty heavy so all it needed was a back.  Bright and pretty!

 

These three are Cathy K’s quilts from Heart n Sole Quilts in Grand Forks, BC….. she always has something going on there and some wild fabrics too!  Her quilts are always fun and interesting……

Here is Maddi’s Quilt, Kim asked me to make this (back in August) for her special niece Maddi, Kim drew the picture and came up with the Fireworks and I had a lot of fun getting it together!

Cathie is taking care of the shop for a couple of weeks.  I suspect that means that there will be a “Boss is Away Sale” so stop in and see what she’s up to!

This is the Tablecloth I made for my Mom’s Birthday, she was thrilled to have something bright in her place!  I actually painted her kitchen this orange a few years back and she loves it.

 

 

 

This is the front and back of Sandi’s quilt, lots of colour and different blocks, looks pretty!

 

 

 

This is Vicki’s baby quilt, It’s called SeaGlass from the book Quilts Made Modern by Weeks Ringle.  This quilt is on the cover, she’s also done a Queen sized one and I am looking forward to quilting it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Class List page  (Little tab right above this writing) has been updated with this!  and we have a few products in our new Etsy Store http://www.etsy.com/shop/FlamingoQuiltworx?ref=shop_name_search_sugg or you can go to Etsy anytime and search Flamingo Quiltworx

Here are the Dates Scheduled for Classes for January and February and March:

Beginner Class; In this class you will learn to cut, piece, quilt and bind a small quilt. The class consists of one “Prep Night” and two Saturdays. February 7, Feb 9 and Feb 16………. or…… March 7, March 9 and March 16. Cost of class is $80 plus supplies.

Strata Star – Tuesday Feb 12… or Friday March 15 – Simple yet intricate looking, you can finish the whole top in class if you want to…. Cost of Class is $40, Pattern $10

Stuck on Curves Saturday March 23- come and learn this fun method using curved seams and glue, book is required and available in store – Cost of Class is $40, Book is $25

Friday Feb 15th, Make Your Own Bias Tape/Celtic Block of your choice. Learn how to make your own Fusible Bias Tape and make a beautiful Celtic Block of your choice. Finish it up into a wallhanging or a pillow cover…. or combine your blocks with the Quilt As You Go class and make a larger quilt. Class Kit containing a Bias Tape Maker and Steam A Seam II Tape is available in the store. If you have a Mini Iron, this is a great place to make use of it. If you want one, let me know and I’ll order it in for you, however is it not mandatory…. a regular iron is just fine too. Class Fee $40

Friday Feb 8,  or Saturday March 2   One Block Wonder – a twist on stack n whack, make a kaliedescope quilt out of one great fabric. Class Fee $40. Book Available in the shop.

Tuesday March 12, Simple Stained Glass – Stained glass combined with Quilt as You go….. uses pre-made bias tape or you can use the bias tape you have made yourself! Class Fee including pattern $50, kit for the rest of the supplies also available.

Friday March 8 – Fans! this Fan quilt is easy and works up quickly…… do you have a grouping of Fat Quarters you just don’t know what to do with? This is a great quilt to feature some great prints and a variety of Backgrounds make a great variation too.

Classes will begin at 10am and go until 4pm or so, we will have the doors open at 9:30 so you can come and get set up. You are welcome to bring your lunch, we have a fridge and microwave available.

**New Class Policies; Class fees are due at registration and are non-refundable. Your SupplyList will be provided at registration.

Here are some other classes that are available but not scheduled! If anything strikes you, let me know what date works for you and we’ll work something out!

Beginner Basket – using clothesline and fabric, make a great little basket – warning – this is ADDICTIVE…. Class Kit available. Class Fee $40.

X’s and O’s (a.k.a.Hidden Wells) Make an intricate block with a simple technique. You may be able to complete a lap size quilt in the class. Class Fee $40

Quilt As You Go….Using Fabric Scraps and Batting Scraps make a reversible quilt that is finished block by block. Learn the sashing technique that I’ve used in the past and a reversible binding. Class Kit available. Class Fee $40

Multi Faceted/Buckeye Beauty… a Bali-Pop or Jelly Roll Quilt – Using precut strips(or cut your own) make two blocks that combine to make a very effective quilt. Class Fee $48 Includes Pattern.

Class Kit available.

Baby Bargello – want to learn how to do a Bargello quilt? Learn a simple Bargello technique and make a baby quilt. Class Kit available. Class Fee $40.

– The Simplest Quilt in the World – it doesn’t have to be difficult, try out the Shape Cut Ruler and put together a simple lap quilt in a day. You can even Design your own! Class fee $40. Shape Cut Ruler not required but available in the shop.

– Juliet Bag – Put together this versatile bag, you’ll want to make a ton of different colours. Class Fee $48, includes pattern. Kit Available.

In Town Bag – this little handbag makes a cute addition to your collection! Class Fee $48, includes pattern. Kit available.

Clothesline Boxes or Mat – Learn how to make a Decorative Box or a Floor Mat with the Clothesline and fabric strips. Class Kit available. Class Fee $48 Includes Pattern.

Are you on Facebook?  Like our page – Flamingo Quiltworx and participate in our 2013 UFO Challenge!

Happy New Year Quilters! Cathie and I were discussing New Year’s Resolutions today….. and we have challenged each other to finish ONE UnFinished Object (UFO) per month……. what about you? Are you up for the Challenge? on the first of the month starting Feb 1st, post your picture of the completed UFO and a bit of a description about it, how long, why, etc…… and we’ll draw for a fantastic prize every month!

I am sorry I’m not technically savvy enough to put a link on here…… I am learning though!  So much so that this year will see a new Etsy Store for Flamingo Quiltworx too!  You will be able to order Fabrics, Patterns, Notions and even Finished Products online!

Next week we will also be adding a new Class Schedule!!!!!!  I have some great new classes to offer as well as the existing classics….. Our Beginner Class will be a 2 Day + Prep night class where you will complete a small quilt – learning how to cut, piece, press, quilt and bind your quilt!  We’ll also have a new Fan Quilt class, this quilt works up quickly and is great to feature that collection of fat quarters that you don’t know what to do with….. Paper piecing without sewing through the paper….. New templates and rulers too!

Here’s what I worked on for Christmas…. a tree skirt out of the Simply Color Ombre fabrics, I cut 36 degree wedges out of half of the width, alternating the narrow end at the dark edge and the light edge and here’s what we came up with!  I backed it with some Stonehenge White Christmas snowflakes and it’s reversible in the event that my dear daughter changes her colour scheme!

Here’s a few that I did before Christmas….. Dorothy’s Grandmother made this Dresden plate on flour sacks in 1930 and she passed away in 1942.  It has been passed down to the eldest niece over the years and will go on to her eldest niece eventually…..

Here is Leona’s Christmas Quilt, despite getting it back a week before Christmas, she had it bound and on her bed before Christmas!  The log cabin blocks formed pinwheels and they have feathers quilted in a swirl around the pinwheel.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 5,200 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 9 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

 

We’ll be spending our holiday with family….. and My Mom’s Birthday is on January 1st….. so we gotta be there for that!  So if you drop by, you will find this sign in the window:

Flamingo Quiltworx will be closed for the Holidays from Monday, December 24^th until Wednesday, January 2.  We will reopen Thursday, January 3 at 11 am.

 

Spring Bouquet Block of the Month will move to Tuesday, Jan 8^th and Flamingo Club will move to Wednesday, Jan 9^th for this month.

Have a Safe and Happy Holiday!

So technically, we would be closed Monday anyway, Tuesday for Christmas Day, Wednesday for Boxing Day….. Thursday and Friday we’d normally be open, Saturday is the last Saturday of the month, so the shop would close and Tuesday the 1st, we’d be closed for New Year’s Day…. and Wednesday we’d be open but……. so please join us on Thursday Jan 3 for our first business day of 2013!  We’ll have a Special to ring in the New Year!