Magpie Quilts

Yesterday, I picked a few beets and made some lovely looking beet pickles. I don't think I've made them before, so I hope they taste alright! I do love how the golden beets look up next to the red beets! Very jewel toned colours! Freshly picked beets! Pickled beets ready for the pantry  Just a peek at the 9-patch baby quilt top that is ready for quilting. The borders were not going to have 4-patches in the corners - I just cut the borders without thinking and cut 2 sides too short. So this is Plan B! That's all for today! --Ann

Attaching the binding  My sewing machine has been humming this week in between weeding sessions in the garden and the general duties of running a household! A few weeks ago, I sent a couple quilts off to my favourite long-arm quilter, Marie of Blueberry Hill Quilts in Chestermere, Alberta and I picked them up from her on Monday. Jack's quilt Greenlee's quilt The bindings are almost done and then I will work on the pillow shams. My customer wanted her children's names incorporated somehow on the quilts and we decided that quilting the names in a border would be a great touch. Next time I should include Marie in that conversation because she was the one who had to figure out how to do it and make it look great. (And she did!) Both quilts plus pillow shams awaiting bindings  There's just one more quilt for this order - a baby quilt for the new baby expected this fall, and that will be next up on my to-do list! Piecefully yours, --Ann Linked up here: ...

 Well, it looks like my holiday is over and it's back to the sweat shop sewing room again! I have a custom quilt order that is just about finished and I should be able to show the 2 twin quilts, complete with pillow shams, to you later this week if the weather cooperates for a photo shoot. And here's a sneak peek at what's on my design wall today - it felt a little weird to be working on Christmas quilts, but once the pieces were cut out, I couldn't wait to get them sewn together. I will be quilting these with some gold metallic thread and hopefully, the thread won't give me as much trouble as last time as I've gathered a few tips in the meantime! Christmas Table Runner My granddaughters were here for a visit last week and they were so awesome! We painted rocks, played at the park and just hung out. It was so great to have them stay! Painting rocks? Or legs? Just hanging out, like the monkeys! Until next time! --Ann

The elk mamas and babies  Because this is basically a wilderness area, wildlife is always around even though we don't always see any. While traveling through a burn area that is now open and grassy, we found a herd of Elk does and their young. This is a very relaxed time of year for the elk and they are not overly concerned with horse-back riders coming close to them and this herd didn't move too far when we rode in close. The elk bachelor pad The next day, I stayed back at camp, but my hubby and his cousin went a little higher in the hills and came across this nice little bachelor herd. Looking west - the trail just a little left of middle is where we rode the day earlier We also heard there was sign of bear and cougar, but didn't see any and that was ok as that's not always a welcome sight when you're on horseback! Hope you enjoyed your virtual horse back trip to YaHaTinda! --Ann

Forget-me-nots  June is a great time to be in the mountains - all the flowers seem to be blooming, but it's also the time when the water is highest as spring rains and snow melt fill the creeks and rivers. That meant we were unable to cross the river as it was much higher than its been other times we have been here. Cinquefoil (sp?) My niece's girls had a great wild flower book from their grandma and we went for a bit of a hike to search out some we could find and name. Rather than pick the flowers and bring them home all wilted, we took pictures so that we could look them up in the book later. Shooting Star Later, while we were on horseback, we came across wild columbine and huge patches of wild strawberries that will be ready for the bears to eat in a few weeks. My niece's kids wrestling with their dad To be continued. . . --Ann

Just a peek at what I have on my design wall and on my sewing table today! Pillow Shams to match custom twin quilts Binding attached and ready for hand-sewing. Pink 9-patch baby quilt started That's all for now! Thanks for looking! --Ann

We've been away! I've missed all of you and wish I could have taken you with me, but since I can't bring you here, I'll bring my holiday to you! We have the privilege of living close to some of most beautiful scenery on earth and one of my favourite ways to enjoy it is off the back of a horse. So when we pack up the trailer, we also load up a couple horses, some bales of hay and head to the hills. My trusty experienced steed Jake (18 yr old Percheron/Quarter Horse cross) The Ya Ha Tinda area is a great area, not only for horse back riding, but hiking, hunting and fishing. The Red Deer River runs through the valley as does Big Horn Creek and there are plenty of trails to ride and hike. It is private property owned and managed by Parks Canada as a federal government owned working horse ranch. Horses are wintered and trained here to be used as working horses for patrolling and protecting Canada's Western National Parks. My hubby's ride Sugar (4 yr old ro...