Bloggers Quilt Festival Second Entry

My second entry in the Quilters Blogger Festival is another BOM that I just finished designing for my quild. I am entering it in the applique quilt category. I am especially proud of this quilt and what it represents. You can read the full blog post here along with a little Canadian history.

Canada birthday quilt

When I was designing and making the blocks I kept thinking of the various symbols that are Canadian. I think I succeeded in representing those symbols.

Bloggers Quilt Festival

Amy  of Amy's Creative Side is running the Quilters Bloggers Festival. My entry of a quilt in the large quilt category is Pinky you can read more about it here.

Pinky

I made this quilt as a result of making extra blocks when I ran my guild's BOM last year. You can read about my medallion quilt here and here. I didn't want to make two of the same quilt even in different colour ways. 

Medallion BOM quilt

Pinky now graces one of my granddaughters bed.

Guild BOM for 2016

I  designed my guild's BOM last year and am at it again this year. I wrestled with a few ideas and wasn't sure what I was going to design. Last year I designed the Medallion Quilt you can read about that here and here and some examples made by my guild members here.

 Inspiration finally struck! In 2017 Canada celebrates her 150th Birthday, I thought it would be nice to design something celebrating her birthday. I thought something that depicted Canada would be nice.

Maple leaf

The maple leaf is recognizable as a Canadian symbol and flies proudly on the Canadian Flag since 1965.

Hockey

Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada. It defines Canada like nothing else does. It started on a frozen lake as early as 1825.

mountains and moose

The Canadian Rockies are a system of multiple ranges of mountains which run from the Canadian Prairies to the Pacific Coast. Much of the range is protected by national and provincial parks.

Another Canadian symbol is the moose which represents the country's native wildlife. A bronze statue can be found in the Canadian Paliament's House of Commons. It is also featured on the coat of arms of the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario.

 Lake Erie and a lighthouse in Port Dover

Canada has about seven per cent of the world's renewable freshwater. The Great Lakes basin, is the world's largest freshwater lake system. The five great lakes are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. I have been to all 5 of them and live near Lake Erie.

CN Tower in Toronto and the Beaver

The CN Tower is a 553.33 m-high concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario near the northern shore of Lake Ontario . Constructed in 1973 and completed in 1976 it was the tallest building in the world until 2010 and is now the third tallest building in the world. 

Rogers Centre, originally named SkyDome, is a multi-purpose stadium situated just southwest of the CN Tower and is home to the Blue Jays. It opened in 1989.

The national animal of Canada is the beaver. It became an official symbol in 1975 but was used as early as 1678 on the Hudson Bay Company's coat of arms.

Parliament Buildings in Canada's Capital Ottawa

Canada’s Parliament Buildings are home to the federal government in Ottawa. Designed in a gothic revival style, the buildings officially opened on 6 June 1866, about a year before Canada's Confederation.

The Parliament Buildings in Ottawa are a visually striking complex of buildings located on a promontory overlooking the Ottawa River.

Following Confederation in 1867, the newly opened Parliament Buildings became the heart of the Canadian government and a national symbol. 

They are composed of three blocks, the Centre Block and the East and West Blocks are to each side of the Centre Block and create a public plaza facing the city's urban core. The surrounding open grounds are interspersed with monuments of important political figures who helped shape Canada.

All the parts as one 'Canada'

I didn't mean for this post to turn into a history lesson, but there you have it a few facts about this great country I proudly call home.

the back

A couple pictures showing the stitching on the back.

close up of the stitching on the back

The finished quilt is actually a wall hanging measuring 36'' by 36''. I used the 'Crafted Appliqued' method for all the applique you can read more about Lara's of BuzzinBumble method here.

Thank you Sandra of mmm!quilts for testing the blocks. 

Mod Bear Paw Finished

I finally got my Mod Bear Paw Quilted I tested the pattern for Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts. You can read more about the it here. Lorna is hosting a QAL of the pattern just pop over to her blog to start in on the fun.

It sat by my sewing machine for at least a week basted and waiting for me to decide how to quilt it. Lorna did wavy line quilting and I at first thought I'd do the same, I didn't want to over quilt it as it's a baby quilt. But when I actually started quilting it I just went right into loop-de-loops problem solved. I used Quilters Dream batting a 70/30 combination and really like how it stitched. I usually use  Hobb's Premium 80/20. But I do have to say I love the way the Quilter's Dream quilted.

early morning shot

My sewing machine is a thread snob and seems to have a real likeness for Aurifil when FMQing. I used Aurifil 2600 for the all over loops.

one colour of Aurifil thread

The backing was pieced from the leftover pieces, little to nothing added to my scrap stash and that makes me happy.

an easy pieced backing

Craftsy is having a Farewell Summer Sale. It's your last chance to save on some of Craftsy's most popular supplies. Sale starts Friday the 16th and runs til Sunday the 18th at 11:59pm MT.

Craftsy Summer Sail

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