Author Archives: Norma Hanson

Happy Easter

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As I sit contemplating the events of the last three days, I am left with feelings of contentment resulting from a perfect weekend.

Easter and Spring are synonymous–this time of year is one celebration of life and new beginnings. Friday and Saturday were perfect spring days–warm and sunny. I spent Friday doing what I enjoy most–quilting. Joey and I spent the day in the studio with the windows open.

I also changed my display quilts to something more appropriate for the season–a little late this year, but the weather has not made it feel much like spring. There are two locations in my house where I try to change the quilts with the seasons. These first two pictures are the quilts that currently hang in the front entrance.

This is the dining room decorated with Spring / Easter quilts.


The pleasant weather continued on Saturday and I couldn’t resist going outside. I spent some time pulling weeds and trimming the hydrangea.

Sunday, Dana and I attended the Easter service at church with my parents. The Easter story is at the heart of Christianity. I struggled with the right words to capture my thoughts and then found Johnny Hart’s BC Easter cartoon. Sometimes a picture DOES say more than a thousand words!

No holiday would be complete without family. We finished the day around the dining room table enjoying another wonderful family meal with everyone present–Grandpa and Grandma (my parents), Harold, myself, Matt, Miranda, Dana, and Dusty. We enjoyed barbecued salmon, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, orange fluff (salad), peas, corn, and baking for desert.

There was also a generous distribution of chocolate and Easter candy supplied by a couple of Easter Bunny stand-ins.

After everyone left, I spent the last few hours of the day in my studio finishing up the quilting on my Debbie Mumm Building Blocks Quilt. I won’t show you a picture yet as the threads still need to be tied off and buried inside the quilt. My quilts always look a little they need a hair cut when they are at this stage.

So this weekend was about all the things that are important to me: my faith, my family, quilting, my faithful companion: Joey, great weather, new life, and of course chocolate!

It is my hope that this weekend brought you an opportunity to enjoy those things that mean the most to you as well. Happy Easter to each of you!

This bunny belongs to Dana. It was a gift from her great aunt and godmother. He is animated and plays the song, Rockin’ Robbin with the chick filling the role of back-up singer as he pops out of the egg. Very cute!

String Block Progress

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I have joined many of the quilters in blogland in the latest quilting craze–string blocks.

I started by using used dryer sheets as foundations. I made 10 blocks during the month of February and another 17 blocks during the month of March. The total string blocks that I have pieced to date on dryer sheet foundations is: 27. These blocks measure 6″ x 8.5″

Thanks to Finn I have also been using old color catchers as string foundations. Thanks to Mary I have been making these string blocks into coins. These blocks have been trimmed to 4″ x 9.5″.

These string blocks are more traditional in nature as they have been pieced on a muslin foundation. I made a total of 12 of these blocks during the month of March. These blocks finish at 9.5″ square.

At this point I am just making the blocks in the spare moments that present themselves during the week. As the blocks are finished they are sorted into boxes by type, where they will sit until the right quilt setting presents itself…………………..or until I run out of strings (Like that will ever happen! *VBG)

March Goals Met

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My goals for March were to finish my March bluework snowman block and to quilt and bind my Bricks and Stepping Stones Quilt.


The March bluework snowman block was finished about a week ago.

….but the Bricks and Stepping Stones quilt was not finished until late last night–just in time to make the March deadline! This quilt will be given to one of my niece’s as a wedding gift when she gets married on April 14.

This quilt measures 86″ x 104″.


The piecing pattern is from Bonnie’s Quiltville website. If you are interested in the pattern, follow this link:

I have quilted this quilt in the Wave design using Superior’s So Fine thread. This is a thread developed by John Flynn and it is the best performing thread I have come across for my long arm. I pushed the speed of the quilting on this quilt and the thread took a beating. This thread never broke once and never gave me an ounce of tension trouble. I like all of Superior’s threads, but So Fine will be the future workhorse of my studio, I am sure.

This is a closeup of the fabric on the border of this quilt. I love this fabric.

I also finished my crayon block. The moles seem to have eaten my daffodil bulbs so the only daffodils I am going to see are those that I put on a quilt!

This last picture is Joey. When I am finished with the binding on a quilt, I like to measure the length and width of the quilt. The tape measure proved to be too tempting a toy for Joey.

Parrot Building Blocks

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It has been a busy weekend. Yesterday was the annual Sewing & Crafts Show.


This Sewing & Craft Show kicks off the quilt show season.

April 20 to 22, 2007 – Fraser Valley Quilters’ Guild

Quilts from the Heart – Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church – Parish Community Centre17475 – 59th Avenue, Surrey (Cloverdale Area), BC

The FVQG’s raffle quilt was at the Sewing & Craft Show. This is a picture of it:



April 27 to 29, 2007 – Orchard Valley Quilters’ Guild
Silver Threads – Celebrating 25 Years of Quilting – Kelowna, BC.


May 2 – 5, 2007 – The Canadian Quilters’ Association
Quilt BC 2007 Alternate Year Event – Forester’s Convention Centre at Kamloops, BC

Our guild is planning a bus trip to this show for the Saturday.

After getting home from the Sewing & Craft Show yesterday, I started a new quilt. This afternoon, I finished it to the flimsy stage.

The quilt is from Debbie Mumm’s website and is called, Building Blocks. Debbie’s pattern was crib size and I wanted something larger so I added blocks and a row of sashing across the top of the quilt and down the side. My quilt measures 52 1/2 ” x 77″ before quilting. If you would like to have a look at the pattern, follow the link here: http://www.debbiemumm.com/Projects/Quilting/2007/03/

Double clicking on the picture should allow you to see the parrots on the border fabric.

An Evening With Judy Farrow

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Last Wednesday evening our quilt guild was treated to a guest speaker: Judy Farrow. Because this was a special evening for the guild, we were invited to include our friends and members of other guilds in the night’s activities. We had been told that Judy’s presentation would appeal to the quilter and non quilter alike. I invited my mother along and as a non-quilter, she enjoyed the evening as much as I did.

Judy lived in the Northwest Territories in what is now Nunavut, for 30 years. During this time she travelled extensively with her husband, by dog team in the winter and freighter canoe in the summer. In 1980 she received a Canada Council Grant to conduct ethno botanic research on Baffin Island. In 1986, Judy and her husband moved to Yellowknife and in 1990 Judy began quilting. Judy received a Northwest Territories Arts Council Grant to make quilted fabric wall hangings. In 2001 the Farrows moved to Parksville on Vancouver Island.
Judy’s list of accomplishments is long, but noteworthy is the Grand Prize awarded to her at Grand National Show in Kitchener-Waterloo 2005. This prize was awarded to her for her marvelous entry “Snowy Owl Meets West Coast Totems”.


The owl is raw edge appliqued. The totems are part of the background and are constructed from various black fabrics including velvet. Because of the black colour, photographing the totems is difficult.

This photo shows the lower corner of the quilt as it was draped across the table. You can see the totems a little easier from this angle.

Judy’s presentation was titled, “Baffin Island to Vancouver Island” and included both a slide presentation and a trunk show of some of her pieces.

This picture is the top of the quilt titled Aurora.

This is the bottom half of Aurora.
This is beluga whales.

This piece depicts the tall trees in the famous, Cathedral Grove Forest on Vancouver Island.

My mom loved these frogs.

Judy dressed in clothing from the north to help her “get into character”. Judy talked about how she started quilting–quite by accident and by how her quilting journey has been influenced by 30 years of living in Canada’s North. Judy’s stories included travelling by dog sled across the ice and snow and her setting unrealistically short deadlines because of her naivety regarding just how long it takes to construct a quilt. Her lecture spanned traditional block construction to more contemporary techniques including batik, curved piecing, and embellishment. Judy inserted just the right amount of humor and true stories to make her presentation both interesting and entertaining.

Finally, this is a picture that my mom took of Judy Farrow (on the left) and I. Judy is wearing her traditional parka that she wore while living in the north.