Alaska and a Quilt Show on Free Motion Mavericks

Hi and welcome! I'm back after a week away. Alaska was gorgeous but I caught a cold - so I've been resting to be ready to volunteer at our Quilt Show tomorrow. 

Alaska Wonders

Here are just a few highlights. The best part by far was a trip to the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary and Totem Park, outside of Ketchikan. We did see a mama black bear across the river!

Stunning forest - so much to learn!

My favourite totem pole tells the story of how
nets were created for fishing

My daughter's hand next to a cub's
scratch mark on the tree

In Skagway, we visited the lovely town and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. My daughter had done her homework and gave us a great mini tour of part of the town. I found the local quilt shop, Rushin' Tailor's Quilt Alaska and got a few Alaskan goodies. More on that in another post!

Two important figures of the area!

A gold miner and his dog

One of the most photographed buildings in 
Skagway - covered with driftwood! 

At Icy Straight Point, we learned that most of the population was in Juneau for Celebrations 2024. So, when we got to Juneau, we visited the Artists Market, one of the dancing venues and the amazing Northwest Coast Juried Art Show and Competition. What a treat to be able to attend these events. 

Native Artists Market at
Celebrations 2024

 

Dancing during Celebrations 2024

As you can imagine, I took enough photos of mountains and water to create art for a lifetime 😊 This first image is the inspiration for my in-progress piece. It's almost finished since it's a prayer flag for the upcoming outdoor exhibit. I'll share it with you as soon as it's done!

A classic view of the mountains - inspiration
for my Sea and Mountain prayer flag

Lovely sun on the water

Before I left, I was working on a Kawandi style mini quilt for the 2024 Table Scraps Challenge. I finished it on the ship but wasn't able to post it on time for the party, but here it is! I learned Kawandi style quilting from Jen Strauser during  Making Zen. It looks easy but it'll take much more than one mini quilt to master this technique - but what fun! 😍

Finished Kawandi style mini quilt

Almost finished the Kawandi style mini quilt

Making my first Kawandi style mini quilt

New Perle Cotton that I got for Mother's Day and brought with me!

As I mentioned, the Common Thread Quilt Guild is hosting their quilt show this Friday and Saturday in Ottawa. I entered Stéphane's Version 2.0 Quilt - I can't wait to take pictures since it will be hanging beautifully at the show. I'll be adding a couple of pictures here, so if you're not seeing Version 2.0 below, come back soon!

Version 2.0 and me!

Version 2.0 at the CTQG Show

What I learned

• Travelling is fun, but also exhausting! We had a good time and visiting Alaska was lovely.
• I'm glad that I was able to go to a quilt shop - there are many quilt shops in Alaska, what with the tourists and the long winters!
• It was amazing to finally experience the midnight sun 🌞Dusk was around 11pm and dawn around 4am, but it was never dark. We could tell by the time we left Ketchikan that the night was getting darker.
• I'm sure that I caught my cold on the planes between Ottawa and Anchorage. At least there was a lot of time to rest between ports.
• I loved learning Kawandi style quilting. It's simple but not easy to do well. I hope to practice this technique and use it in my art work.
• I had a great time on the ship working on my Sea and Mountain prayer flag. I'm looking forward to finishing it this weekend or early next week.
• I have a LOT of work left to do on my outdoor art pieces. Many have been started but nothing finished yet!
• I spent Friday at the quilt show - what wonderful quilts of all sizes and styles. We have very talented members! I was so thrilled to see Version 2.0 hanging properly. Mom would be proud!

Related links

• Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
• Rushin' Tailor's Quilt Alaska
• Table Scraps link up party for May 

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. You can check them out after you've linked up below! Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Midweek Makers, Put your foot down, Off The Wall Friday, Beauties Pageant, Finished (Or Not) Friday, TGIFF, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2024, Oh Scrap!, Slow Sunday Stitching, Monday Musings, 

 

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 585 of Free Motion Mavericks! It was a very productive week! Thanks for linking up. Here are the projects from last week that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting. 

Vicki of Vicki's Crafts and Quilting made a lovely gingham runner. You can see the lovely FMQ below!

Vicki's green gingham runner

Kat at Scrapbox Quilts made a second quilt to see how much quicker it would be using three fabrics instead of scrappy - turns out it's much faster! She quilted it with orange peel and backed it with a lovely fleece for the cuddle factor!

Kat's lovely cuddly quilt with orange peel FMQ

Denise of The Quiltery has outdone herself again! What a beauty 😍 Her Saint Paddy quilt, made with Island Batik fabric is really stunning! This was her Sew Along quilt. Denise quilted it with a FMQ loopty loop quilt design on her longarm.

Denise's Saint Paddy Quilt

Gail of Quilting Gail has finished her 2 colour mystery quilt. What a beauty that she FMQ meandered all over! 

Gail's finish of the 2 Colour Mystery Quilt

It's now your turn!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter