We had a bit of a holiday at the end of July / beginning of August. My husband’s family was having their family reunion in Alberta over the long weekend in August. We headed out from home on July 29. We started out early in the morning (5 am) to ensure we beat any long weekend traffic. We found that we had the road to ourselves until about 11 in the morning. By the time we hit Salmon Arm we were in need of a gas station. My husband spied a Chevron across the highway. When we turned to go around the block so that we could easily enter the lot, we passed by a quilt shop! Given that we were already stopped, my husband agreed that I could have a few minutes to look around in this shop.
http://www.sewingbasket.ca/
This is my husband patiently reading the paper in our truck in front of the quilt shop.
This butterfly quilt pattern was my only purchase despite the tempting kits and fabrics in this shop. This was a great shop and worth the stop if you are ever passing through Salmon Arm. Just suggest to your driver that he needs to fill up at the Chevron and you can quickly dart across the lot to the quilt shop just around the corner! LOL
We spent our fist night in Golden. Look at who joined us–three Model A’s from Wichita, Kansas. These cars were not hauled to BC from Kansas on the back of flat deck trucks; they were driven there by their owners. I had a chance to chat with the couples who were traveling in these vintage cars. They said they were headed to Whistler. They had seen Whistler on TV during the Winter Olympics and decided to make the trip. They had plans to spend a week on the BC coast and then head home to Kansas. They said it was hot travelling–no a/c.
At some point in the night, this model A truck showed up. I couldn’t resist taking a picture of our modern truck next to this antique truck.
Then we headed out over the Rockies…..through the Parks……
………. to the canola fields of Alberta.
During breakfast on Saturday morning at the reunion, one of my husband’s cousins approached me because she had heard I was a quilter. It turns out that she is a quilter too–from Saskatchewan.
The evening before, I had found a quilt shop in Olds when we were out looking for a place to have dinner. Unfortunately, it was just 15 minutes before closing on Friday night when we drove by. I convinced my husband to stop so that I could check the shop out and determine if it was worth coming back the next day. Even though I only had just a few minutes to check the shop out, I was able to determine that I needed to come back the following day for a proper look around. When I mentioned this to my new quilting buddy, Linda, an alliance was formed and we made plans to head to town later that afternoon when the men were out touring the tractor collection at a neighbouring farm. Erica managed to convince another cousin, Gloria to come along with us. Gloria isn’t a quilter yet, but I am sure she will be soon after shopping with Erica and I!
The shop we stopped at was The Quilting Bee. http://thequiltingbee.danemcoweb.com/ This is a picture of myself, Erica, and Gloria. Erica is holding the cute cherry pie pincushion that she fell in love with.
This shop had these wonderful Hawaiian inspired quilts – one was butterflies and the other was Hibiscus. These quilts were available in kits with all the cutting done for you! The appliques are attached using fusible web with a raw edge technique.
These are some photos of the inside of the shop. You can see why I needed to come back to this shop for a much better look!
You can see Anita in the background of this picture working the till. Anita was so friendly and helpful. She told us of another shop just outside of town that we had to go visit next.
Gloria and Erica with bags in hand after the “damage” was done! .
I purchased supplies to make this cute little wool table topper at The Quilting Bee.
I also picked up some red and white fabrics to go with the red work pieces I have been working on. The floral Narcissus fabric was in the back of the shop in the sale area and I couldn’t resist. 
Then because we still had time before supper was going to be served that night, the three of us headed off to our second stop….The Stitchery which is located just two miles out of town.
This is a very nice shop and well worth the stop. The shop is owned by designers, Joanie and Kelsey Morrow. This very talented mother and daughter team have a great selection of ready made quilted items for sale as well as country styled fabric on the bolt and their own patterns. We were given a tour of the back room and shown the unique creations of this talented team of designers. I fell in love with three of their patterns.
These were my Stitchery purchases–three patterns and a quilt kit. The Penny Paws quilt is the kit complete with all the wool felt, buttons, and threads required to complete the table topper. What a perfect quilt for a cat loving, black cat owner! I have plans to customize one of the cats on this little topper with green button eyes so he looks like my Joey.
Sunday afternoon, our host families at the reunion arranged for rides in the surrounding countryside in this wagon pulled by a perfectly matched team of Percherons.
Seeing these horses brought back fond memories of being on my aunt and uncle’s farm in Saskatchewan when I was growing up. My aunt and uncle were Percheron breeders and I was fortunate enough to spend time during more than one summer showing these wonderful animals at local fairs in Saskatchewan.
The shop we stopped at was The Quilting Bee. http://thequiltingbee.danemcoweb.com/ This is a picture of myself, Erica, and Gloria. Erica is holding the cute cherry pie pincushion that she fell in love with.
This shop had these wonderful Hawaiian inspired quilts – one was butterflies and the other was Hibiscus. These quilts were available in kits with all the cutting done for you! The appliques are attached using fusible web with a raw edge technique.
These are some photos of the inside of the shop. You can see why I needed to come back to this shop for a much better look!
You can see Anita in the background of this picture working the till. Anita was so friendly and helpful. She told us of another shop just outside of town that we had to go visit next.
Gloria and Erica with bags in hand after the “damage” was done! .
I purchased supplies to make this cute little wool table topper at The Quilting Bee.
I also picked up some red and white fabrics to go with the red work pieces I have been working on. The floral Narcissus fabric was in the back of the shop in the sale area and I couldn’t resist. 
Then because we still had time before supper was going to be served that night, the three of us headed off to our second stop….The Stitchery which is located just two miles out of town.
This is a very nice shop and well worth the stop. The shop is owned by designers, Joanie and Kelsey Morrow. This very talented mother and daughter team have a great selection of ready made quilted items for sale as well as country styled fabric on the bolt and their own patterns. We were given a tour of the back room and shown the unique creations of this talented team of designers. I fell in love with three of their patterns.
These were my Stitchery purchases–three patterns and a quilt kit. The Penny Paws quilt is the kit complete with all the wool felt, buttons, and threads required to complete the table topper. What a perfect quilt for a cat loving, black cat owner! I have plans to customize one of the cats on this little topper with green button eyes so he looks like my Joey.
Sunday afternoon, our host families at the reunion arranged for rides in the surrounding countryside in this wagon pulled by a perfectly matched team of Percherons.
Seeing these horses brought back fond memories of being on my aunt and uncle’s farm in Saskatchewan when I was growing up. My aunt and uncle were Percheron breeders and I was fortunate enough to spend time during more than one summer showing these wonderful animals at local fairs in Saskatchewan.
Great pictures and commentary of your trip, Norma. You have already told me about parts of it but the pictures really brought it to life.
How wonderful that you could go off to the quilt shops with the family members! Good finds for you. We will see what you come up with for that gorgeous narcissus fabric—4pp?? Borders?
What an amazing trip – the photos are fabulous – and finding two quilting buddies – just can’t beat that. I love all the things you bought – and I MUST get the second butterfly pattern – the one with four butterflies – it is too gorgeous.
Glad you found those two shops in Olds. I beg hubby to stop at them when we drive through on our way to BC. We live near Leduc. In fact my daughter used to work at the Quilting Bee when she was a student at Olds College. Great shop and lovely owners of both shops.
Norma,
What a great tour of the shop in Olds. My parents live in Red Deer and my dad grew up in the Olds area. I may have to persuade him to go for a drive to visit that shop. There are two shops in Red Deer and one east of town in a little place called Delburne which is about a half hour drive from Red Deer.
On your way back home it would also been worth a stop in Cochrane at Addies or in Canmore at Sugar Pine.
Ah so many great quilt stores to visit- not enough money to go around.
We were just in Jasper and my husband stopped at 3 quilt stores in that area of the province. It is so much fun to see all the great shops around.
I will soon write about our trip- having a little trouble with the camera link on the computer.
Thanks for sharing your visit to my beautiful home province.
Regards,
Anna