Showing My Treasures That I Picked Up On Vacation

I have returned from a fantastic little four day vacation in the Rocky Mountains yesterday and would like to show you some of my treasures that I found on my trip. If you are going that way maybe you will find some treasures too!
On the way to Jasper I stopped in Edson, Alberta at a quilt shop called "Quilter's Quarters" which is literally right on the highway through the town. I have driven by so many times and either have not had time to stop or have stopped and it's been after business hours. I finally got to go in and I was so glad I did. It's a great little shop with loads of fabric to choose from and a great sale section. I bought this kit in the photo above. It's all French General for Moda fabric and was on sale 30% off! I was so happy. I will definitely stop the next time I am going by.

We arrived in Jasper in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and my sister very generously took me on a shopping spree at "Stychen Tyme", a quilting and yarn shop. I chose those beautiful Fig Tree fabrics which I plan to use in my Farmer's Wife quilt along with my "Strawberry Fields" scraps from my 2011 Fat Quarter Shop Block-of-the-Month (which I am still not finished!) I started my Farmer's Wife quilt very scrappy but I do not like the way it looks. So I will put the 20 blocks I have sewn into smaller projects and start again on my Farmer's Wife but make it matchy matchy.

These stunning cross stitch patterns were also in the shop. My sister bought these two for me and she bought a couple for herself. We went back the next day and bought more. Between the two of us we have eight of these patterns. We love the native symbols behind the animals in the pictures. The stiff interfacing at the top of the photo is to make the "Project Book Pouch" pattern by Aneela Hoey. I bought the pattern from her Etsy Shop last week after I saw this post that she wrote about it.

Anyway, back to the shop in Jasper... everything in the "Stychen Tyme" shop is currently 30% off as the shop owner is closing her business at the end of June. We asked why she was closing and were told that although the business is very successful the owner would like to close after 13 years and have time for herself. She is retiring in a sense.

Then the next day my brother gave me another shopping spree at "Stychen Tyme". These shopping sprees were early birthday gifts. My birthday is not until the end of June but the sale is on now and it is very unlikely I will be back before the shop closes. Yes, I know, my family is very good to me and I am spoiled. :) I am also very grateful to them. On my second shopping spree I bought another cross stitch pattern, some gorgeous sock yarns, knitting needles, a metre and a half of fabric (I plan to use this for a pillow from a Better Homes & Gardens magazine. The owl pillow in "Bags, Pillow and Pincushions Volume 2" currently on news stands.) The thread is waxed hand quilting thread for hand quilting my Bloom Bloom Pow quilt.



When I got home there were more goodies in the mail! Remember I was part of "Giveaway Day" earlier this month? Well, I entered many of the giveaways too and I was very fortunate to win a few. My first prize has arrived in the mail and was gorgeous patterns by Carrie Payne of www.believemagic.com She has her patterns for sale if you are interested. I am absolutely thrilled to have won and can't wait to get started sewing these.

The winner of my jelly roll giveaway lives in Norway and she sent me an email to thank me for the giveaway prize. It got to her from here in Canada in 12 days including weekends! I am happy it was so fast.

And this book was there too! It's "Growing Up Modern" by Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew
I am a big fan of her work and pre-ordered this book from Indigo. So, I guess I have a lot of sewing, knitting and cross stitching ahead of me. First I will sit down and look through my new book and patterns though. I hope you get a chance to check out some of the shops and sales I mentioned (I am not sponsored by anyone) and I hope I get to check out the quilt shop in Hinton on my next trip. That's another one I keep missing.

Here is some of the beautiful scenery I saw on my trip. This is Pyramid Mountain as seen from the path around Lake Annette in Jasper, Alberta. The kids and I had a great time with my family. Hopefully we can go on another trip soon when my husband has some time off from work.