We are back by the sea after a couple of weeks breathing the mountain air in the wild west, otherwise known as Calgary, home of our grandchildren! It was a busy 2 weeks getting to know our 4 month old grandson Marcus (who is just a delight!),
Marcus and his new quilt Cars and Trucks and Things That Roar. We celebrated granddaughter Molly's 6th birthday.
Six big candles!
We visited the new penguin enclosure at the Calgary Zoo (well worth the hour and a half wait) and visited the new Telus Spark Centre. We also managed 2 visits to the wonderful Calgary Farmers Market and 4 of the Calgary quilt stores, one of which I went to twice!
I had a lovely lunch and visit with Calgary quilter Cheryl Arkison who gave me a copy of her wonderful new book Sunday Morning Quilts. I was fortunate to be asked by Cheryl to test one of her patterns which I really enjoyed doing.
T Quilt, machine pieced and machine quilted by Cheryl.
Dream Big, machine piieced and machine quilted by Cheryl
A big highlight of the trip was going to the Saddledome for an NHL game, the Calgary Flames vs the Winnipeg Jets. This was the first time these 2 teams had played each other as they play in different divisions.
Andrew and Molly singing O Canada with 20,000 other fans!
The atmosphere was electric as the arena filled with almost as many Jets fans as Flames fans. Molly is a keen hockey fan and was dressed appropriately in her team jersey with purple pants and accessorized with pink cowboy boots (with fringe!). The highlight for her was 2 hugs from the team mascot "Harvey the Hound" and getting on the Jumbotron!
Molly waves her Flames flag on the jumbotron. Oh, Calgary won 5-3!
I could write a whole post on the Calgary quilt stores. As always Traditional Pastimes was as welcoming and enticing as ever. They had just received a huge shipment of fabrics and there were bolts everywhere. The staff is always so interesting to talk to and always very helpful. I can't believe I forgot my camera, I had every intention of going back but the 2 weeks just flew by too fast.
But I think the highlight for me this time was Out of Hand, Deirdre, the owner, always welcomes us with open arms and has remembered us each time we have been there. What impressed me so much this time was their stock and display of ribbons!
Love the black and white floor!
Beautiful silk ribbons!
It was fantastic! I was so overwhelmed by the choices, colours, patterns and designs. Ribbons were stacked and displayed in every nook and cranny! I declared that Out of Hand wins the award for the best use of space of any quilt store I have ever been in. Be sure and check out all my pictures on my Flickr page (link to the left) and see if you agree. And if you are ever in Calgary, visit Out of Hand, you won't be disappointed and say hello to Deirdre for me!