Teaching and Tulips
The Homeward Bound display at Quilty Pleasures in Orleans, Ontario
I’ve been designing quilt and bag patterns since 2005, and teaching bag making classes almost as long. Over the years I’ve met quite a few quilt shop owners from all around the country.
Sometimes I get time away from my office/studio in Strathroy, Ontario and am able to visit them to introduce myself, and sometimes I meet them at Quilt Market in the United States. (Quilt Market is a wholesale convention for the quilting industry.)
Early in the 2000’s my son Paul and his then girlfriend Leah spent some time in Ottawa working at co-op jobs through McMaster University. Paul worked at Nortel and Leah worked for an Ottawa hospital. We’d come up to the Ottawa area to visit the kids, scooting around the countryside seeing the sites, and dropping into quilt shops.
One shop we visited was Sew For It! in Bells Corners, a suburb of Ottawa. I met Leslie Burtch and Val Jensen, the owners of Quilty Pleasures, located in Orleans, Ontario, east of Ottawa, around the same time at Quilt Market.
Nowadays, Paul and Leah, who is now Paul’s wife, live in Ottawa, and every few months we make a point of visiting. Usually the gals at Quilty Pleasures Quilt Shop ask when we’ll be in town next and book me for a day or two of teaching while I am there.
This spring the owners of Sew For It!, Betty and Ed Montsko also got wind of my visit and requested I teach at their shop for 2 days and hold a trunk show. That’s a lot of teaching for a holiday!
Classes and Trunk Show at Sew For It!
The Sew For It! quilt shop hosted packed Woolly, Woolly Bag and Voyager Bag classes as well as the trunk show on Friday night.
Classes at Quilty Pleasures
Quilty Pleasures had two full days of bagmaking classes for the Essentials Tote and the Around the Block Bag.
Thanks to both of these wonderful shops for arranging my visit!
Tulips in Ottawa
My husband Rob and I also wanted to see the tulip festival while in Ottawa. My time slot for our visit was beginning to get a bit busy though!I did have part of one day off and Rob and I jumped into the car and headed out to visit the downtown area to see the tulips and take in whatever other minor attraction we might squeeze in. Sadly, it rained cats and dogs the minute we got on the road and the construction downtown was wicked.We did take in one old home, the Billings Estate Museum, but tulips were a bit scarce on the grounds. All was not lost however, Paul had purchased a bouquet of mauve tulips for me, and on our return home there were lots of tulips in the yard to enjoy!
September Retreat
I’ll be back in the Ottawa area this September! Come and join me at the Inspired Getaways Retreat Center near Arnprior, Ontario. For more information, like Among Brenda’s Quilts & Bags on Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter.
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