Anniversary Quilt

While at the Ricky Tims Quilt Retreat in May I started the quilt for Mom and Dad for their 60th wedding anniversary. I got it finished just in time for the anniversary celebrations.

Here is what I wrote on the label:

Happy 60^th Wedding Anniversary

Mom and Dad

July 2014

Made with Love by

Joan

Norma Evans and Fred Fulton

Married: July 10, 1954

The background quilt is made from batiks and hand-dyed fabrics put together in crazy quilt style to represent the patchwork of life and especially the 60 years of the Fulton family.  The many twists and turns of the fabric pieces weave together in the quilt symbolic of the twists and turns that create the wonderful masterpiece of life.

Floating on top of the patchwork are a series of smaller quilts depicting the big sky and prairie landscape of Saskatchewan.

The iconic images of Saskatchewan include:

• ·      Wheat ready for harvest
• ·      Field of canola in bloom
• ·      Power lines that opened up life in rural Saskatchewan
• ·      Railroad and grain elevators leading into town
• ·      Hoar frost-covered tree standing alone on the prairie outlining the clear blue sky that is only found on the cold crisp prairie winter days
• ·      Ceiling of fluffy clouds overlooking a green field
• ·      Bessborough Hotel behind the Broadway Bridge in Saskatoon
• ·      Prairie sunset with the individual grain elevator standing as the sentinel of the prairie
• ·      A branch of the Evans cherry tree that produced the famous sour cherry jam for Fulton family members

Embedded within the quilting stitches on several of the quilts are the names of the family members. Norma and Fred are in the Prairie Sunset piece; Donald is in the piece with the power poles; Murray, Leona and Michael are in the piece with the two grain elevators; Glen, Teri, Lauren, Eric and Owen are in the piece with the canola field; Joan is in the piece with the three heads of wheat ready for harvest.

60th Wedding Anniversary

We had a wonderful celebration in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on July 13 for Mom and Dad's 60th Wedding Anniversary (they were married July 10, 1954). Over 130 friends and family members came from all over for a fantastic day of reconnecting and visiting. It was a perfect day.

Here is Mom and Dad. I was pleased to be able to make Mom's dress. I used to sew lots of clothes for both Mom and myself, but recently it has been more economical to buy clothes so I got away from sewing. For a special occasion it was fun to make the dress.

When I was visiting Mom and Dad in May we made 3 layers of fruit cake - for the anniversary. Teri (my sister-in-law), Lauren (my niece) and I decorated the cake before the party.

We cut up the 3rd layer ahead of time so that it was ready for people to enjoy at the party.

We had a crowd that liked fruit cake as all of these trays were emptied and we cut up another layer. So - all that is left is the top layer.

Anniversary Dress

This past weekend involved more sewing than just the quilts. While Sue was piecing the top for the 4th quilt I was sewing the dress for Mom for their 60th anniversary celebration, which is coming up on July 13. 

I still have a bit of work to do on the jacket, but here is what it will look like with a jacket.

A Second Weekend of Quilting and Friendship - It Was Wonderful

This past weekend my friend Sue Hine came from Colorado which meant 2 weekends in a row of intense quilting and great friendship. Wow - it just doesn't get any better than that!

Sue brought 3 tops to quilt. We sure were busy on the long arm.

Sue bought the kit for the top for this quilt at Rossville Quilts in March of this year (when she came out to Indiana to help me out after my surgery - and my recovery was going so well we were able to go shopping at the quilt shop:))

She was so pleased with how that top went together that she went on line and found these next 2 tops, which she had all pieced before getting her for the weekend.

On Saturday we were sitting at lunch and decided we had time to make a 4th quilt. It was a quick trip to Rossville to the quilt shop, picking some nice batiks from my stash and we got the 4th top pieced and then on Monday morning Sue quilted it.  Here she is a few hours before leaving for the plane where she is sewing the binding on the 4th quilt (which was the same pattern as the first one (with the white background) above). Fortunately she brought a big suitcase so had no problem taking them back home.

I was also able to get 2 baby quilts quilted - yes we really did put the long arm to good use this weekend.  These are 2 of the baby quilts that Liz and I pieced the previous weekend.

The beanie babies are going to be great in the pockets.