Hexing Along At Lake Louise

Doug and I are on a road trip to Winnipeg.  For a road trip this long, I need to take a little hand work to do.

This little cutie was finished sitting at the campsite, after our hike up to Six Glacier Plains.

This Tea House sits at the 5.4 km. point of the hike.  The supplies are helicoptered in a couple of times a year.  The staff work five on, two off and have to hike in carrying the fresh supplies. Talk about a tough commute!

Another 1.3 km up the trail to the lookout.

The first picture is looking at the glacier in the pass.  The second is looking back towards Lake Louis and the Chateau which was the starting point of the hike.

A fabulous day meeting lots of wonderful people on the trail, trading stories and taking pictures for each other.  Thanks to a couple from California that took this picture for me!

Canadian Flag Quilt #3

This quilt is my favourite of the three quilts!

It was also the easiest to make!

I started with four 20" squares.  Slashed them in half on the diagonal.

Cut four 5" strips of white.  Sewed a strip to one half of a square, allowing a few inches on either end to hang over.

Sewed the other half of the square to the opposite side of the white strip, making sure it was centred to the first half.

Trimmed to approximately 23" square.   Repeat with the other three squares.

I then used 5" strips of white to make a diagonal and vertical line, piecing as needed.  I used the maple leaf pattern from the July 1st quilt, enlarged by 120 percent, for the appliquéd Maple Leaf.

I quilted veins in the Maple Leaf, swirls in the white and a loopy meander in the blue flag fabric.

These three quilts definitely challenged my ability to use fabric efficiently.  I hope you enjoyed the series.

Today I am linking up with finish it up friday.  Pop on over and check out a few of the wonderful blog posts.

Canadian Flag Quilt #2

Quilt number two was a bit of a challenge to come up with.  I knew what I wanted for the third quilt, and set the fabric aside.  That didn't leave a whole lot of fabric left for this quilt.

I used all but about a half inch of the grey flag fabric to make the quilt.  I had to buy a plain grey to bind it with.

I decided on this block and after I had made four, I realized I didn't have enough fabric to make twelve blocks for a standard straight set.  Well, I had enough for eight blocks, so the quilt became a diagonal set.

To make the block, I cut four 4 1/2" squares  and four 5 1/2" x4 1/2" rectangles, of the background fabric.  I cut twelve 3" squares of the reds.

I used the connector corner method ( sew on the diagonal line and fold over) to make the flying geese units.

With the background piece cut the way it was, I didn't have to worry about losing any points!

The centre of the square is made from four red squares sewn together.

Once again, very red and very Canadian!

Canadian Flag Quilt # 1

 This is the first of three Canadian Flag Fabric Quilts.  I was given this stack of fabric…..

and asked to come up with three quilts featuring each of the flag fabrics.  My favourite was the white background flag so I decided to use it first.  Disappearing nine patch is always a fun project, so that is what I did.

A quick review for those who haven't yet seen one done.

Decide on the size of squares you would like, I think I cut mine 5".  Sew into a nine patch block with the background fabric placed where the flag fabric is.  I had half metre cuts of several reds so I went with scrappy reds.

Cut the block through the middle in both directions.

Rotate the upper right and lower left quarters.

Sew together to make your block.

My quilt was made from twenty block, four across by five down.  I did add a 2 1/2" border of the flag fabric.

I kept the quilting simple by quilting in the ditch around the flag fabric and using a funky orange peel in the reds.

Speaking of reds, the sunsets around here have bean very red lately.  I scooped this picture off of Facebook, it is of the fire burning in Banff National Park.  Beautiful photo, but scary sight.  There are several fires currently burning in B.C.  The past week of record high temperatures have scorched the forests.  Kamloops has had several 40 degree days.  (104 F for my American friends.)  The sky is filled with smoke and staying indoors is the only way to survive the weather.  Good for getting a little quilting done!

Today I'm linking up with Finish it up Friday.

Happy Canada Day!!!!!

To all my friends, near and far, hope you have a fabulous Canada Day!

This quilt is about as Canadian as they come!  The pattern is "Canadian Maple" designed by Patrick Lose.

The Maple leaves are fused on and then I machine button hole stitched the edge.  To keep the appliqué from being too stiff, I cut the fusible web away in the centre of the Maple leaf.

This quilt was sent to it's new home, but……..  I ordered more fabric so I can make one for myself.  Every Canadian NEEDS one!