Quilting in the Lazy Bear Lounge

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The first weekend in October is reserved at Pine Bungalows in Jasper for “Quilting in the Lazy Bear Lounge”  It is an opportunity to spend time working with friends and also some time exploring the sights around Jasper.

The drive to Jasper was beautiful as some leaves were still on the trees and the colour was wonderful.  It was warm and the sun shone.  The room we work in has wonderful views when ever you look up and the quiet and the fresh air is invigorating. A first look up late Friday afternoon revealed a huge bull elk with a magnificent rack of horns.

My friend Kathy Strawson’s daughter Diana and her young assistant Hayley made wonderful slow food meals for us and cleaned up afterwards.  It is only a few steps up the stairs to the rooms, so very convenient.  What more could one ask for, the setting and being able to jus quilt and not have to stop to make meals.

Saturday a highlight is to go to the United Church thrift store.  A good time was had by all.  Some found canning jars to put buttons in for an upcoming garage sale.  Others found lots of great jewellery to use to embellish baskets and quilts.  Still others found the back room  with lots of Christmas baubles to make wreathes.  I found a piece of vintage green glass.

Quilting is interspersed with “taking the air”.  Saturday we had a walk through the Pine Bungalow property.  Then on Sunday we walked around Lac Beauvert.  We went up to Medicine Lake as I had never seen it without water.  It was interesting to learn about how the water disappears.  Coming back down we found many cars stopped by the side of the road and an amazing number of people standing with telephoto lens pointed into the verge at the side of the road.  We were lucky enough to find a place to stop and discovered that what was drawing the crowd was a Momma bear and two cubs.  My photographs are taken from the window of the car and the bears were moving.  However I have some photographs to cherish.  I have not seen live bears in the wild for decades to this was a real treat.

Monday regretfully it was time to pack up and return home.  We drove up to Pyramid Lake to enjoy the colours and the mountains before we headed for home.  In Hinton we had lunch in a great restaurant cum coffee shop cum kitchen shop called The Old Grind.  The food was very good and the surroundings entertained us as we ate.  We stopped at a quilt shop called the Hen House and found some very interesting laser cut Alberta made buttons.  A stop at Quilter’s Quarters shop in Edson  yielded up a new pattern of leaves.

Because I was able to be the passenger and because Kathy needed to stop at a wool shop I acquired a ball of Madelinetosh ASAP hand dyed merino.  It was in wonderful Rocky Mountain colours and so I have a new seed stitch cowl that was knitted while Kathy drove and we visited.  It will be called my Jasper cowl and will serve as a memory of the weekend for many years to come.