Wonderful Winnipeg

Sunday I returned from lecturing and teaching at the Manitoba Prairie Quilters show and conference. Manitoba licence plates, if you have seen one, have the words `Friendly Manitoba` printed on them, and now I know why. They are a friendly bunch!

On Thursday night I had a great chance to connect with my friend Anna Hergert, from Saskatchewan, who was there judging the show. Friday morning it was off to teach. The show and conference took place at the Canad Inn, so everything was conveniently located in the same building. Friday`s class was `In Full Bloom`, and my hand-dyed fabrics sure were a hit with the 20 students in class.

Pearl came with a photograph of purple poppies as the colour inspiration for her piece.

Friday`s class was `Liberated Radial Piecing`, with a second group of 20 students, some who had also been in class the day before.

Corine finished nearly  half of her radial design and it is looking good!

The dynamic duo of Wendy Wood (on left) and Wanda Steiner (on right) organized and attended my workshops, and looked after my every need during my stay.

Friday night I had some time to visit the guild`s show and merchant mall. One of the first exhibits that caught my attention was a lovely and poignent wall of work honouring Heather Lair, a well-known Canadian quilt artist and teacher from Gimli, Manitoba, who lost her battle with cancer this past year

I took a few photos of some of my favorite pieces. This piece,`Thoughts in a Snow Storm` by Sandi Howell featured an amazing flower centre with countless french knots. It begged to be touched.

Here is a photo of the full quilt.

Wendy Wood`s `Deep in Space`.

Because I can`t resist an old barn, here is `Standing Still` by Susan Selbie.

 `Sunset at Oak Hammock Marsh` by Tracy Popp.

`Alanna`s Quilt` by Susan Selbie, depicts the colourful houses in St. John`s, Newfoundland. To me it is a great example of a `modern` quilt.

Saturday night was the banquet and awards ceremony. All the quilters who won ribbons were honoured, and I was the guest speaker that evening.

While in Winnipeg I finally invested in a new rotary blade!  Wow!  I can`t believe how dull my old blade was when I cut through that more than a 100 meters of hand-dyed fabrics. The new blade cuts like butter! I should do this more often!