Just One Slab Update - Getting Close



2280 blocks.
Makes 114 quilts.

106 quilt tops.
38 completed quilts.

337 packages received.
Close to 750 participants (estimated)
23 guilds.
11 quilt shops.

Nearly every Canadian Province and Territory.
27 US States.
8 countries.

Not to mention the time of the volunteers helping sort mail, put together quilt tops (like Andrea, Jen, Lee, Becca, my SIL, and others), long arm quilters (so many that I don't know them all!), and an army of people making and attaching binding and labels.



Traditional Pastimes is incredible for gathering quilts, distributing kits for making quilt tops, assigning backing fabric and distributing to long armers, and hosting volunteers who are still meeting to finish the binding and labelling.

Then there are the corporate donations from companies like EE Schenck and Robert Kaufman. For batting, backings, and extra wide backings we thank you. It makes finishing up the last quilts a lot easier.

All donations - from 1 slab to a roll of batting - are greatly appreciated.

(And thank-you to my husband and family for helping, donating their time, and tolerating the proliferation of packages, fabric, piles of quilts, and giant rolls of batting.



At this point I am still rallying volunteers to help finish the quilts. I have a stack of quilt tops ready for quilting, enough blocks for about 15 more tops, the binding to get on three more, and then all the labelling. This is on top of the 60 or so quilts that Traditional Pastimes coordinated finishing.

(I am also planning a big thank you for all participants here in this space. Stay tuned.)

Winter indeed arrived in Calgary this week, so the quilts are going to be timely. I'm sorting out the distribution details, but the plan is for a date in early December.

Thank you. Thank you all so much.

One Day - A Quilt


One Day
40'' x 50''

Made for Hubby's best friend's new baby boy. As soon as they announced they were expecting my Hubby informed - not asked - me that I would be making a quilt. Rather than take offence I gave myself a pat on the back that he appreciates this gift as much as a recipient. And this little quilt is now in the baby boy's hands.


The whole quilt came together quite fortuitously. I used the map fabric I had left from this quilt. The couple who are parents of this baby boy are world travellers. In my imagination I live vicariously through the adventures they've had. Hubby actually picked that fabric when I decided I would use this block as the basis of the quilt. In addition to the map fabric I used a variety of low volume prints in blue, green, yellow, gray, and orange. Some of the prints were even from the couple's wedding quilt!


The map fabric is a little odd as it isn't exactly geographically correct. This is not what Canada and the US look like! But the outside borders are there. If I cared to research things in the history books I'm sure I could find a year to associate with this geography. For now, we all get the idea.

The quilting is done with Aurifil 50W in white, as was the piecing. It is a combination of grid work and dot to dot curves around the map sections of each block. Together, it creates a wonderful texture.


This is Hubby's other contribution to the quilt. He insisted that one block with Australia be placed upside down. Sure, whatever.


Finally, when it came to selecting backing fabric Hubby stepped in. He and his best friend have always bonded over cars. And indeed, this guy works at a car dealership now. So the car print was the only choice! I guess it really is a travel themed kind of quilt.

One day the world will be his to explore.

Market and More

Quilt Market is this week. The big industry trade show where everyone sells their stuff - pattern companies, fabric designers, sewing machine folks, notion inventors, and authors like me. It is an intense few days filled with a lot of shuffling and hustling. There might be some beer and laughs in there too.

I'll be there promoting A Month of Sundays specifically. And myself, generally. You never know where a conversation might lead... If you are going to be there, this is where I'll be in official events, come find me.

A Month of Sundays Schoolhouse
Friday October 25
3:05 pm
Room #362D

Book signing!
Saturday October 26
4:00 pm
C&T Publishing booth

And then there are the parties. Yes, this is the part that those not going to Market get really jealous of. I get that. Fabric 2.0, the Modern Quilt Guild meet-up, and more (which I'll be missing because I'll be home already). But if you didn't see me on the show floor or at Schoolhouse, feel free to grab me at these events.

Don't fret if you aren't going to Quilt Market. It's about time that I celebrated A Month of Sundays. Come November I've got some things planned in this space. More stories, more photos, and even a giveaway or two. I want to share more about the book, the process (you know me!), and celebrate with you.

Plus, a Quilt Top


Back when I was in Nova Scotia (oh, how it feels like it was last year, not last month) I managed to get a bit of sewing in for myself. I had such eager students that were going back to sew late into the night, after dinner. One night I decided to join them. I made great progress on these blocks while chatting about klutziness, motherhood, real estate, and more. I came home with just some final seams to sew.

I took a break from binding Just One Slab quilts and finishing a baby quilt to get this top together. And now I want to throw everything aside to finish it!


I debated a number of ideas for layout. Contemplated more blocks. Thought it should be bigger. In the end, the idea of quadrants won out. I liked the echo of the quadrants in the blocks into the quilt top as a whole. And I wanted the plus signs to really float on that pieced, scrappy background.

So much fun. All improv fun. And all that grey, such lovely grey. Mostly made from scraps. Just wait for the texture from quilting.