Rondeau Park Raffle Quilt

I thought for sure the weather had turned the corner and spring-like temperatures would be the norm every day…..bad surprise this morning……Mother Nature played a cruel joke and reversed the corner!! It was about 2C (34F) but a very strong cold wind from the north made it a very cold day! We were both feeling better today and really wanted to get a walk in but it was way too cold, especially for me, so we headed down to the local arena and walked around there instead. There is an arena walking club but you don’t have join, sign in or pay. The arena is open for anyone who wants to walk. It’s boring but exercise is necessary so we did 16 laps which is the equivalent of 2 miles. We normally do more than that but we haven’t walked for a couple of weeks so we took it easy.

After the walk we stopped for breakfast at The Shepherds Way Inn and then Joe decided we should go for a drive to Rondeau Park to get our seasonal pass. On the way there I spotted a sign that said Paper Angel Studio – a scrapbooking store in Blenheim and mentioned it to Joe. I had never heard of it before but we haven’t been to Rondeau since last fall and we do not normally take the road we were on today. As we got into Blenheim Joe slowed down to look for the store but we couldn’t find it. I told him not to bother turning around as it wasn’t as if I needed anything and besides, I said, that could be an old sign and the store could be closed. I had just mentioned it to him because I didn’t know Blenheim had a scrapbooking store.

Well, we continued on to Rondeau and picked up our pass and coming back he turns down Talbot street again looking for the store. Couldn’t find it, he turns around and goes back again…..still didn’t see it….he turns around and this time I think I see it….he stops and I get out – nope, it’s a variety store that sells some crafting items but the fellow tells me the store I’m looking for is down the street opposite Shoppers Drug Mart…..so off we go and yup, drove by it three times and missed it. He pulls in and parks and says, “I’ll wait here while you check it out”. 

Now you gotta love a guy whose wife has more crafting supplies than some stores and he goes out of his way to find another store she can go into. He’s a keeper for sure! Well, it is a very small store, which is why we missed it, but packed full of lots of goodies and yes, some stuck to me as I walked past so I had to buy them bring them home with me!.... That’s my storey and I’m sticking to it! …..There was a friend I hadn’t seen in over a year there too working on a scrapbook layout so we had a catch-up chat as well. Nice store and a very friendly and helpful owner so if you are in Blenheim, make sure you stop in.

Speaking of Rondeau Park, I made another quilt for them to sell raffle tickets on again this year. Here it is:

 It's about 45" by 65" .

 Here are the close up photos of the various fish. Every fish was assembled from various bits of fabric, fused together, then fused to the block and then quilted.

Here are some of the other blocks. All done the same way as the fish.

If you want to win this quilt you will have to go to Rondeau and buy a ticket! They are usually just $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00 so I assume that’s what they are again this year. They sold out of tickets last year so hopefully they ordered more this year.

That’s all for a cold, windy Tuesday,

Cheers

Violet