Lollygagging along the way to Lethbridge - 2

We had a slow start for our trip to Lethbridge, AB for next June. I think members and guilds were still in summer mode. And with our side trips to a few guilds, we didn't get as far as anticipated.

So on we go - next stop is Sudbury, ON which is home to the Big Nickel

and many other mining tourist spots. But we’d rather go to a quilt guild meeting and so we stopped in to see the Sudbury & District Quilting and Stitchery Guild.  They meet every Tuesday at 7pm in Sudbury's YMCA. Boy, are they a busy group, especially when they meet every week! There’s always lots to do for the members of this group. Last year they donated over 350 quilts. It was good to catch up with a few of the members of this guild who visited Quilt Canada 2014 in Niagara this past June.

On we go, next stop is Sault Ste. Marie. Another side trip to Stitches from the Heart Quilters Guild who meet the first Monday of the month at 7 pm. For the meeting in November, Martha Schellingerhoud is their guest speaker. Her workshop “Stripping the Beauty” is one that is being offered along with her trunk show.

 

Before we leave the Soo as it’s often called, we had to stop in at Life’s a Stitch quilt shop to say hello. We had checked out their website first to see what they were up to. Not only do they sell machines, they offer repairs and maintenance. Workshop classes meet the interests of the community.




Now the long haul, up and around Lake Superior. Am I glad to get this part of the trip out of the way before winter sets in. It’s scary enough driving on a nice day, but we sure wouldn’t want to do it in the middle of winter. We stopped just to take a

picture of the big goose in Wawa and then onto Thunder Bay. The view of the Sleeping Giant on Lake Superior is amazing, but we need to stop off to visit the Thunder Bay Quilters’ Guild. Unfortunately we’re not able to catch a meeting - they meet the 3rd Monday of the month at 7pm. They have been keeping busy with their Community programs, such as Meals on Wheels, Comfort Quilts and Christmas Cheer Teddy Bears.

We need to keep moving to get out of Ontario (of course, we need the inches to get there too - I think we have just enough to get to Dryden). So we stopped off to visit with Sunset Country Quilters Guild. It seems we just missed being able to hear Cathy Miller and her hubbie John Bunge perform at the Dryden Centre.

What an amazing trip so far!!! Lots and lots of quilting going on!

We’re hoping to get into Manitoba for our next blog. So make sure you keep sending in those inches from your Show & Tell/Share at your guild meetings to diratlarge@canadianquilter.com.

Lollygagging through Ontario

Well our journey has started.
I tried to leave St. Catharines (home of QC2014), but couldn’t do that before I visited Niagara Heritage Quilters’ Guild for their first meeting of the year.  Noshi Gulati was their speaker for the evening - what an amazing woman - she makes her own patterns using math calculations and pictures, uses her scissors (not a rotary cutter) to cut her fabric and does most of her work by hand.

I took another look at Niagara Falls before starting out on the road. While I was in the Falls, I visited Rainbow Country Quilters and helped to measure the inches of their Show & Tell quilts.Then another stop at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. to thank Michelle for sponsoring our Member Challenge - The Dog Days of Summer, to tell her about the entries that I had received so far and to tell her about the new challenge (coming soon on this blog).

Down the QEW highway, I headed for Toronto and then up the 400 highway towards Sudbury - my first destination stop. Or at least that’s what I had planned.      
 

Since I’m “lollygagging”, I decided to stop off at the member guild, Durham Trillium Quilters’ Guild (Oshawa), for a quick visit and then onto Quilting Corners Guild in Alliston. I missed their first meeting on the 1st Tuesday of September, but they told me all about it. Along with the usual speaker, BOMs, challenges and, of course, Show & Tell (and measuring inches), their Community Outreach were making comfort quilts for My Sisters' Place, a local women and children’s shelter and pillowcases for Mathew’s House, a local hospice.

Every day I'm getting more inches, but I need quite a few more to get to Sudbury. Hopefully, with the cooler weather, our quilters will get back to sewing and bringing in their Show & Tell to measure inches.

Stay tuned for next month's lollygag through northern Ontario visiting a few more guilds and shops.

 

Lollygagging Along the Way to Lethbridge

From Brock University to

Calling all guilds! We had so much interest and fun in past years that we want to repeat the challenge. For this year’s “walk”, we would like to journey from Brock University in St. Catharines, ON to University of Lethbridge, AB where Quilt Canada 2015 is being held.

We have measured the track from QC2014 (St. Catharines ON) to QC 2015 (Lethbridge, AB), with a slight detour to Penticton (QC 2013). It is an amazing 5015.01km or 197,441,338.6 inches. That’s a lot of inches to collect, but I know that working together we can do it.

To avoid getting tired, we will  “lollygag” along the way - visit some member guilds and quilt shops as we travel from point to point. I have access to a fair number of these, but if you are along the way, let me know so that you can be included. (email to diratlarge@canadianquilter.com)

to the University of Lethbridge

Here’s how it works. What you need to do is collect inches by measuring the perimeter (around the outside) of the quilts in your Show and Tell/Share, starting Sept. 1. 2014 until June 1, 2015. Send this total to Marilyn Michelin, Director At Large at diratlarge@canadianquilter.com each month.

Using the inches you send me, I will plot how far we go and will report our progress in a blog report at the end of each month, including, of course, all those interesting places where we’ve “lollygagged” along the way.

Please get your guild involved. Everyone loves finishing those UFO’s. See you in September!
Marilyn