Yes, thats right. I have been a sewing whirlwind lately. With no other commitments coming my way for a few weeks yet, and no social life to speak of, I have been sewing up a storm. Aside from the hat, I also finished chain piecing all the half-triangle squares for this quilt . All 480 of them have been stitched together. I finished, then I oiled and cleaned my sewing machine to congratulate it for a job well done.
Now the question is how to go about the next stage of making this quilt. I still need to cut apart, iron and then trim to size (I made them a little big becuase I"m not a terribly accurate sewer) all the blocks. I was thinking of ways to do this all at once and keep them all organized and un-wrinkled so that I could put them together into the blocks for the quilts. Then I realized that with an 18 month old and only about 18" of unreachable open space in my little sewing corner, that was not going to happen. And it would be really boring to iron and cut all those squares at once. I was thinking this would be the best way to go about it so that I could see all the fabric combinations when I was putting the blocks together.
But I've decided that I'm just going to pull 16 squares in the right colour combinations out of their ziploc bags, cut, iron, trim and sew two blocks together at a time. After all, the fabric is all from the same collection. The blocks all have the same basic colour scheme. It will be okay. I think this will be more satisfying, since I will actually be seeing blocks take shape, instead of just seeing endless little piles of miserable squares stacking up and being scattered all over the sewing / playroom by Aaron.
Unfortunately I don't have anything to show you with this post -- right now the quilt consists of a bunch of squares in ziploc bags. I promise I'll post a photo when I have a few blocks together.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Boys Update
We took one of the ideas from the Fun For Nothin' group already. On Saturday we painted the concrete with a mixture of 1/4 c corn startch, 1/4 c water plus food colouring. It was a big hit, and I have already had requests from Andrew to do it again. Its funny, becuase whenever I look at photos of other kids doing these kinds of things they are always carefully holding their paintbrush and artfully drawing these amazing pictures on the street.
And then I do it with my children and we end up with blotches and drips all over the driveway everywhere from the back gate to the front step, plus two children and one adult covered in food colouring. We all went to church red and blue today.
The boys are both at pretty cute ages right now. Andrew seems to have come through his latest bout of being terrible, and adjusted to sleeping in his own bed. It ends up the issue was that HE got moved out of the bed and AARON did not. I explained that when Aaron was big like him, he would come and sleep in the boys room too. This explanation not only led to complete satisfaction on the moving rooms issue, but has led to the whole "I'm a big boy" stage that everyone talks about 3 yr olds going through. So my big boy is now occasionally dressing himself and putting on his own shoes, and very excited about helping his brother with boots, shoes, food, and whatever else I can think of to get him to help. I know most children his age are completely dressing themselves, but Andrew has a really high (low?) frustration threshold. If he can't get it right immediately he just starts screaming, and then he is so overcome with emotions that he can no longer function and about five minutes of panic, screaming, wailing, and finally doing something about it ensues. I have learned to just accept the wails as background noise and let him do it himself unless he is really having a bad day.
Andrew's imagination and language are still amazing, in my humble opinion. His latest thing is dinosoars. We watched a National Geographic video from the library about this paleontologist (Andrew remembers his names, but do you think I can?) who digs up a whole new variety of pseropod in the Sahara dessert. So everything is now about digging for bones, preparing for expeditions in jeeps and chasing little Aaron dinosoar around the house. He used the word "crucial" in proper context the other day, and yesterday when I suggested he might try to play peacefully with Aaron he said "that might be a bit of a challenge, mom." What three year old talks like that? It is pretty fun hearing the beginnings of narrative driven stories and individual characters developing in his pretend play, though.
Aaron has also levelled out a little bit. He is still wildly active -- climbing, trying to jump and, most recently, dancing up a storm every time he hears music. But he is starting to get more motor abilities and so he's quite happy about that. He has started putting on any pants he finds around the house, wether his or Andrew's, and he can get his own rubber boots on, too now. He is starting to use a few two word phrases -- "on shoes" and "mine shovel" most notably, and he's now picking up and responding to everything. If I am talking to Andrew about eating his carrots Aaron will pick up his carrot and point to it. When we mention that we're going out soon Aaron appears ready to go with his hat and one rubber boot on (usually still in a diaper and maybe a t-shirt). Its pretty funny. Unfortunately he's also in that really-hard-to-get-anything-done-with stage. Lots of banging, swinging, throwing and generally exploring and abusing anything that comes to hand. This includes dishes (one glass and one plate were casualties this week alone), brooms, large sticks, heavy rocks . .. he's a bit of a safety hazard. He also loves to walk himself and stoop to examine every single leaf, twig and grain of sand on the sidewalk wherever we go. So I'm learning that a walk to the park may, in fact, be a 40 min. walk and 10 min. stay at the park.
Summer is a good time for the boys. We are all a lot less stressed when we can get out and explore nature, soak in the sunshine and run in the open spaces. Here's hoping its a good, long, happy summer.
And then I do it with my children and we end up with blotches and drips all over the driveway everywhere from the back gate to the front step, plus two children and one adult covered in food colouring. We all went to church red and blue today.
The boys are both at pretty cute ages right now. Andrew seems to have come through his latest bout of being terrible, and adjusted to sleeping in his own bed. It ends up the issue was that HE got moved out of the bed and AARON did not. I explained that when Aaron was big like him, he would come and sleep in the boys room too. This explanation not only led to complete satisfaction on the moving rooms issue, but has led to the whole "I'm a big boy" stage that everyone talks about 3 yr olds going through. So my big boy is now occasionally dressing himself and putting on his own shoes, and very excited about helping his brother with boots, shoes, food, and whatever else I can think of to get him to help. I know most children his age are completely dressing themselves, but Andrew has a really high (low?) frustration threshold. If he can't get it right immediately he just starts screaming, and then he is so overcome with emotions that he can no longer function and about five minutes of panic, screaming, wailing, and finally doing something about it ensues. I have learned to just accept the wails as background noise and let him do it himself unless he is really having a bad day.
Andrew's imagination and language are still amazing, in my humble opinion. His latest thing is dinosoars. We watched a National Geographic video from the library about this paleontologist (Andrew remembers his names, but do you think I can?) who digs up a whole new variety of pseropod in the Sahara dessert. So everything is now about digging for bones, preparing for expeditions in jeeps and chasing little Aaron dinosoar around the house. He used the word "crucial" in proper context the other day, and yesterday when I suggested he might try to play peacefully with Aaron he said "that might be a bit of a challenge, mom." What three year old talks like that? It is pretty fun hearing the beginnings of narrative driven stories and individual characters developing in his pretend play, though.
Aaron has also levelled out a little bit. He is still wildly active -- climbing, trying to jump and, most recently, dancing up a storm every time he hears music. But he is starting to get more motor abilities and so he's quite happy about that. He has started putting on any pants he finds around the house, wether his or Andrew's, and he can get his own rubber boots on, too now. He is starting to use a few two word phrases -- "on shoes" and "mine shovel" most notably, and he's now picking up and responding to everything. If I am talking to Andrew about eating his carrots Aaron will pick up his carrot and point to it. When we mention that we're going out soon Aaron appears ready to go with his hat and one rubber boot on (usually still in a diaper and maybe a t-shirt). Its pretty funny. Unfortunately he's also in that really-hard-to-get-anything-done-with stage. Lots of banging, swinging, throwing and generally exploring and abusing anything that comes to hand. This includes dishes (one glass and one plate were casualties this week alone), brooms, large sticks, heavy rocks . .. he's a bit of a safety hazard. He also loves to walk himself and stoop to examine every single leaf, twig and grain of sand on the sidewalk wherever we go. So I'm learning that a walk to the park may, in fact, be a 40 min. walk and 10 min. stay at the park.
Summer is a good time for the boys. We are all a lot less stressed when we can get out and explore nature, soak in the sunshine and run in the open spaces. Here's hoping its a good, long, happy summer.
Big Sky Hat
This is my latest sewing project:
It is the first non-quilt or softie thing I've sewn in a long time. Its been all bags, quilts and toys for almost two years now, and I was quite happy with how much my sewing skills have improved. I think I've learned when its ok to take shortcuts and when its best to just follow the instructions. With this hat, I decided that since I've never made a hat before I should just follow the instructions. The pattern is by crafting goddess Amy Butler , as is the fabric. Its a really clear, easy to follow pattern and went together quickly. If I'd been able to work on it all at once it would have taken me about 3 or 4 hrs.
This hat really is at least as big as it looks in the photo. When I put it on I feel a little bit like one of the wizards at the XXXXX branch of Unseen University (Terry Pratchett's Australian Wizards -- they have big brims instead of tall points on their hats due to the heat) becuase the brim is so broad. In order to get it to stay stiff, you have to use 3 layers of canvas in between the quilting cotton. I was supposed to get 10 oz canvas, but thats not available locally, so I used 12 oz instead, which makes for a pretty sturdy hat. In fact, Andrew and I weighed it and it weighs a full pound. Hopefully this should prevent it from blowing off in the prairie winds.
I am going to be loving this hat, especially on long hot days at the park this summer. I like the colour. It is subdued enough to go with anything in my rather ecclectic and colourful wardrobe and to be suitable in many situations. Initially I was thinking of making it out of a brighter fabric, but then I decided that around here, just wearing such a big hat would create enough talk about town, never mind wearing a big, colourful hat.
It is the first non-quilt or softie thing I've sewn in a long time. Its been all bags, quilts and toys for almost two years now, and I was quite happy with how much my sewing skills have improved. I think I've learned when its ok to take shortcuts and when its best to just follow the instructions. With this hat, I decided that since I've never made a hat before I should just follow the instructions. The pattern is by crafting goddess Amy Butler , as is the fabric. Its a really clear, easy to follow pattern and went together quickly. If I'd been able to work on it all at once it would have taken me about 3 or 4 hrs.
This hat really is at least as big as it looks in the photo. When I put it on I feel a little bit like one of the wizards at the XXXXX branch of Unseen University (Terry Pratchett's Australian Wizards -- they have big brims instead of tall points on their hats due to the heat) becuase the brim is so broad. In order to get it to stay stiff, you have to use 3 layers of canvas in between the quilting cotton. I was supposed to get 10 oz canvas, but thats not available locally, so I used 12 oz instead, which makes for a pretty sturdy hat. In fact, Andrew and I weighed it and it weighs a full pound. Hopefully this should prevent it from blowing off in the prairie winds.
I am going to be loving this hat, especially on long hot days at the park this summer. I like the colour. It is subdued enough to go with anything in my rather ecclectic and colourful wardrobe and to be suitable in many situations. Initially I was thinking of making it out of a brighter fabric, but then I decided that around here, just wearing such a big hat would create enough talk about town, never mind wearing a big, colourful hat.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Fun for Nothin'
You might have noticed the new little thingy in my sidebar. This is an awesome Flikr set full of fun, cheap as free stuff to do with your kids. It was only started this week and there are already some fantastic ideas there. We are definitely painting the sidewalk tomorrow.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Another fabric post (with liks to a giveaway)
Ironically enough, one of the fabric stores I was just checking out was this lovely litte shop . Then, I was reading one of my favorite quilting blogs and discovered that the shop had just opened and the owner was having a little give away . How much do I love the crafty blogoshpere? Such a fun place.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
You might be wondering where I've been . . .
Well, I've been obsessing over this fabric that just came out. Seriously, I"m becoming hopeless. I think I am going crazy because I want to use this ridiculously amazing fabric, plus some of Heather Ross' new line that's coming out that I think will co-ordinate with it, to hand piece a big star blanket made of three inch paper pieced diamonds. Or maybe not.
In any case, I have been trying to find the colours I want (all oranges, browns, yellows and raspberry pinks) at a reasonable price in an amount that I want -- like, not a full metre of each fabric. When I stumbled upon the most amazing discovery -- etsy fabric stores!
I am super happy about this! You don't know how many times I've really just wanted fat quarters, but ended up buying half yard or yard cuts of fabrics because thát's the smallest I could find online. But if you want a quilt with a decent amount of variety in it, that ends up being a lot of money.
On etsy, however, it is all smaller stores with personal people at the other end. Almost all of them have little messages that say something to the effect of "I have a whole bolt, so if you prefer fat quarters, or want a custom cut of this or that, just let me know". So its like walking into a real life fabric store with a real person and bolt of fabric on the other side. How exciting is that? (especially since the local quilt shop ladies won't even cut me fat quarters. They get all grumpy and huffy when I ask).
Okay, enough enthusing. You really should check out this fabric, though. It is very weird and Jillish fabric. I want to buy all of it in every colourway, but I'm restraining myself. Really.
In any case, I have been trying to find the colours I want (all oranges, browns, yellows and raspberry pinks) at a reasonable price in an amount that I want -- like, not a full metre of each fabric. When I stumbled upon the most amazing discovery -- etsy fabric stores!
I am super happy about this! You don't know how many times I've really just wanted fat quarters, but ended up buying half yard or yard cuts of fabrics because thát's the smallest I could find online. But if you want a quilt with a decent amount of variety in it, that ends up being a lot of money.
On etsy, however, it is all smaller stores with personal people at the other end. Almost all of them have little messages that say something to the effect of "I have a whole bolt, so if you prefer fat quarters, or want a custom cut of this or that, just let me know". So its like walking into a real life fabric store with a real person and bolt of fabric on the other side. How exciting is that? (especially since the local quilt shop ladies won't even cut me fat quarters. They get all grumpy and huffy when I ask).
Okay, enough enthusing. You really should check out this fabric, though. It is very weird and Jillish fabric. I want to buy all of it in every colourway, but I'm restraining myself. Really.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Still here
Yep, we're all alive over here.
Aaron is finally over the flu. But then there was cleaning up to do from the camping trip I took the youth group on (during which Aaron had the worst throwing-up-everywere stage of the flu, of course), and Dave decided to assemble our new wardrobes (dubbed the Rubbermaid Uglies) which caused us to rearrange all the furniture in three or four rooms of our house and re-organize all our clothes and storage items, and I had to plan and execute the end-of-year youth group baseball game and a car wash the next day and then, well, I've had to recover and I'm still catching up on laundry. Oh yes, and of course since I've night weaned Aaron my period chose to come back this weekend, too. Gone for two years and it chooses a weekend when I am totally burnt out to return. Typical. If I hadn't almost lost all my baby weight I would be tempted to just get pregnant again to get rid of it.
I finally got around to some sewing today. Triangle squares for the two twin bed quilts again. I made a goofy error becuase Aaron pulled a bunch of my ziploc bags out and spread them all over the floor, but its all good now. I'm half done chain piecing the triangle squares. Then once I figure out a sane way to keep the proper sets of them together, I'll start cutting them apart and ironing them. For now I"m just happy to look at my two little bags of neatly matched and sewn squares. I think I shall do some more now.
When I feel like my head is above water I shall post some pics of our slightly more organized (but still very barren) house. One day I will actually decorate. Really.
Aaron is finally over the flu. But then there was cleaning up to do from the camping trip I took the youth group on (during which Aaron had the worst throwing-up-everywere stage of the flu, of course), and Dave decided to assemble our new wardrobes (dubbed the Rubbermaid Uglies) which caused us to rearrange all the furniture in three or four rooms of our house and re-organize all our clothes and storage items, and I had to plan and execute the end-of-year youth group baseball game and a car wash the next day and then, well, I've had to recover and I'm still catching up on laundry. Oh yes, and of course since I've night weaned Aaron my period chose to come back this weekend, too. Gone for two years and it chooses a weekend when I am totally burnt out to return. Typical. If I hadn't almost lost all my baby weight I would be tempted to just get pregnant again to get rid of it.
I finally got around to some sewing today. Triangle squares for the two twin bed quilts again. I made a goofy error becuase Aaron pulled a bunch of my ziploc bags out and spread them all over the floor, but its all good now. I'm half done chain piecing the triangle squares. Then once I figure out a sane way to keep the proper sets of them together, I'll start cutting them apart and ironing them. For now I"m just happy to look at my two little bags of neatly matched and sewn squares. I think I shall do some more now.
When I feel like my head is above water I shall post some pics of our slightly more organized (but still very barren) house. One day I will actually decorate. Really.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tiniest Pincushion Ever
Okay, maybe not ever, but it really is small. I wanted something I could take with me with a few pins for hand sewing. It had to be something small enough that it could be stashed away when Aaron came to investigate my sewing stuff. Its the beginning of my little travel sewing kit I'm assembling.
The fabric is from the Bees Knees collection. I got a pack of fat 16ths of the whole collection, and they sure are fun to play with. Initially I was planning to make a quilt of the whole lot of them, but if I keep using them up in dribs and drabs like this, I won't have a chance. Then again, I have 3 quilts on the go and about 5 more in my head and all ready to go, so I don't think I really have to worry too much.
I am finding that I tend to hoarde fabric. I was trying to make things without using my favorite fabrics up, just in case I had a fantastic idea sometime in the future and that was the perfect piece of fabric. But then I realized that I bought the fabric to make into things, not to look at. So I think my new fabric philosophy is that if it makes me happy, and I didn't buy it for a specific purpose (like for a certain quilt project, for instance) then I should use it whenever I can, even if I have a metre and I use it all up in dribs and drabs all over the place. It is my hobby, after all. The point is to have fun making things that I love. Right?
Monday, June 16, 2008
Crop Circles - Embroidered Mini Art Quilt
isn't this a super cute mini quilt? I totally love the colours and all the movement the hand embriodery gives it. You should check out her other work at thesillyboodilly.blogspot.com. Aweome stuff. I adore whimsy.
On an unrelated note, its Aaron's week to be sick, so i might be a little scarce for a while.
On an unrelated note, its Aaron's week to be sick, so i might be a little scarce for a while.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Oh, to be a big boy.
Aaron is obsessed with underwear. He loves putting it on. While I am folding laundry he will try to put on two or three pairs on top of each other. I was thinking this was a sign that he was interested in potty learning, so I let him run around hin underwear from around 6 to 9 am. Unforunately he just likes the underwear, not the potty. He loves sitting on the potty and being sung to and read to, but he's figured out that this happens wether he actually goes pee or not. And the afterwords he can run away naked and pee in his brother's room, which is a great joke and creates a big mess, lots of commotion, and gets a huge reaction from his brother.
Bees
On Friday morning Andrew was grumpy. I didn't know yet that he had the flu, I thought he was just over tired from the night before, and by 8:30 or 9 in the morning I was losing patience with his whining and complaining. He is the sort of kid who must communicate his every emotion to us all. If he is happy, we must all be happy. If he is out of sort (which is more usually the case) he will work hard to make everyone else in the household grumpy too. Usually when this happens I find myself berating him for being grumpy, which makes him even grumpier and sets us on a downward spiral thoughout the day. Instead, I've decided to try to teach him ways to get out of his grump so we can all go on with our day.
First I sent him and Aaron outside. Usually this is effective because they find something to do besides pester and scream at each other and they both play happily for twenty minutes or so while I drink my morning coffee or get everything ready for the day in peace. This didn't work. In a desperate attempt to distract him from the fact that Aaron was shovelling dirt on to the deck ("Aaron, stop it! The dirt doesn't go there! Mommy, stop Aaron! What is he doing? Aaron, not ont he deck!" -- at which point Andrew runs up onto the deck and starts wrestling the shovel away from Aaron who has been happily ignoring him. Then Aaron starts crying and screaming because his shovel has been taken away for no good reason that he can see. They both desend upon me, clinging to either end of the shovel, wailing and shreiking at the injustice of the situation.)
Anyway, in an attempt to distract Andrew, I noticed that there was a bee among the apple blossoms. Bees are in his "B" children's encyclopedia, so I said, "Hey, look, a bee!" We all went over to the apple tree, shovel forgotten, in search of bees.
I thought perhaps we would find a bee. Maybe if we were lucky there would be two bees. But as we descended under the canopy of the apple tree, we were enveloped in the scent of white blossoms and the sound of humming bees. They were all over the tree, their little bottom legs weight down with globs of pollen as they rushed to gather as much as they could before the wind or rain took the flowers away. At first I was a little nervous, holding Aaron close and keeping a hand on Andrew's head. But the bees paid us no mind. To them we were simply background noise in their day's work. They buzzed around our head, in and out of blossoms, without even noticing our presence. I got close enough to see every detail of their little bodies. It was magical.
Then, of course, I ran off, got the camera, and came back to take pictures, while Andrew shrieked, "Mommy, stop playing with the camera. Put me in the tree. Take me out of the tree. Get me some juice. Don't get stung, mommy! Put down the camera!" and Aaron stood with a little smile on his face (he's so into smiling for the camera right now) and said "cheesa" a few times before wandering away in search of shovels.
Quilter's Guild
I decided to try out our local quilter's guild. They meet the first Thurs. of the month, and so I phoned up the president to find out what they were up to this month. It ends up they usually run a different "class" every month and learn a new skill. I don't know if I'm up for that -- I would rather get together and work on stuff I'm already doing, but we shall see what happens in the fall. This month, however, they were going out for supper and then having dessert and some project sharing at one woman's house. I was game for that, and Dave was willing to babysit, so off I went.
We went to the next town over where they have the closest to exotic food you can get in these parts -- Chineese Food. I carpooled with four other women, all quilters and all really nice and friendly. We got to the resteraunt and met up with another 12 or so women. It was really quite a fun time. Because I was new they made everyone go around and give their name and a fact about themselves (mostly that they quilted, or their chineese horoscope, that kind of thing) and then they started chatting and, eventually, eating. It was fun to be asked about what kind of quilting I did and what projects I was working on, instead of being asked what age my children were and wether they were in playschool or not. It was fun to hear about what the other women were up to, and to laugh and joke and hear about their varried lives and experiences. I was the youngest by a good 20 years, and many of these women had children, or grandchildren, my age.
After the meal we went to one of the women's lovely home. She had just remodelled this house, and it was really lovely. Lots of china, vintage furniture and stuff from estate sales, and of course quilts everywhere. First we had a guild meeting, where I was doled out my 20 raffle tickets to sell and informed of the way things worked at the guild. I had my phone number and email added to their list. Most amusing, I volunteered to take a photo of the quilt they were raffling and print some pictures of it, since many of the women had digital cameras but none of them actually knew how to print the photos off.
After this there was a really cool quilt show and tell. Everyone had brought two of three projects (I had been told small projects, so I brought the test run of my miniquilt, soxul furry's blanket and Aaron's quilt. There are some amazing quilters in this group. Some of the women have these beautiful, queen sized, intricately pieced projects. One woman hand quilts all her quilts and for one sampler she had done she made these sashing blocks and borders with rows of four squares set on point. Another woman showed a quilt she had been gathering fabrics for for about four years before she started making it. Some were the sort of quilters who shipped everything off to be machine quilted. Another woman had five wonderful quilt tops, none finished, because she was determined to hand quilt them herself. Another woman had made a small photo-based art quit that was really exquisite. Some of the others were more beginners and showed the projects they were working on, of the sample from the latest class they had taken.
When my turns came, the women stared at me as if I was from another world as I talked about on line sew alongs and Flikr swap groups. When I told them there was a resurgence of young quilters, they asked me where they were. When I told them they were all on the internet, I was greeted with silent disbeleif. Some of these women don't even own a computer. I was introducing them to a whole new world.
At the same time as I was dazzled by their intricate piecing skills and meticulous hand quilting, they seemed amazed at my new, modern take on quilting. It was a really fun exchange of ideas.
One of the things I loved about getting together with older women was their stories. Some of them are first generation Canadian, and remember when there was no running water or electricity in Saskatchewan. They would make off-handed comments like, "When my mother would finish a quilt top, all the women from the surrounding farms would come over and baste it together in a morning". A "younger" woman who loves to hand quilt mentioned that her grandmother refused to take quilting classes with her becuase she had worked on a farm where they had to take all the quilts apart in the summer, take out and wash the wool batting, and then put all the quilts back together again. There is such a wealth of knowledge and life experience in this group -- I'm excited about tapping into that.
The other thing that I loved was all the personalities. These women are old enough that they are set in their ways and don't really care what anyone thinks of them. Also they live in a small community, where they are known and have been known for years and years, so they have no reason to change. They are a small group who has obviously been together, on and off, for a long time. It was really fun to watch them interacting and joking and grumbling and doing all the things people do when they know each other well.
The meetings start up again in the fall, and if they are doing anything I'm interested in (maybe even if they're not) I might just have to show up and join them.
We went to the next town over where they have the closest to exotic food you can get in these parts -- Chineese Food. I carpooled with four other women, all quilters and all really nice and friendly. We got to the resteraunt and met up with another 12 or so women. It was really quite a fun time. Because I was new they made everyone go around and give their name and a fact about themselves (mostly that they quilted, or their chineese horoscope, that kind of thing) and then they started chatting and, eventually, eating. It was fun to be asked about what kind of quilting I did and what projects I was working on, instead of being asked what age my children were and wether they were in playschool or not. It was fun to hear about what the other women were up to, and to laugh and joke and hear about their varried lives and experiences. I was the youngest by a good 20 years, and many of these women had children, or grandchildren, my age.
After the meal we went to one of the women's lovely home. She had just remodelled this house, and it was really lovely. Lots of china, vintage furniture and stuff from estate sales, and of course quilts everywhere. First we had a guild meeting, where I was doled out my 20 raffle tickets to sell and informed of the way things worked at the guild. I had my phone number and email added to their list. Most amusing, I volunteered to take a photo of the quilt they were raffling and print some pictures of it, since many of the women had digital cameras but none of them actually knew how to print the photos off.
After this there was a really cool quilt show and tell. Everyone had brought two of three projects (I had been told small projects, so I brought the test run of my miniquilt, soxul furry's blanket and Aaron's quilt. There are some amazing quilters in this group. Some of the women have these beautiful, queen sized, intricately pieced projects. One woman hand quilts all her quilts and for one sampler she had done she made these sashing blocks and borders with rows of four squares set on point. Another woman showed a quilt she had been gathering fabrics for for about four years before she started making it. Some were the sort of quilters who shipped everything off to be machine quilted. Another woman had five wonderful quilt tops, none finished, because she was determined to hand quilt them herself. Another woman had made a small photo-based art quit that was really exquisite. Some of the others were more beginners and showed the projects they were working on, of the sample from the latest class they had taken.
When my turns came, the women stared at me as if I was from another world as I talked about on line sew alongs and Flikr swap groups. When I told them there was a resurgence of young quilters, they asked me where they were. When I told them they were all on the internet, I was greeted with silent disbeleif. Some of these women don't even own a computer. I was introducing them to a whole new world.
At the same time as I was dazzled by their intricate piecing skills and meticulous hand quilting, they seemed amazed at my new, modern take on quilting. It was a really fun exchange of ideas.
One of the things I loved about getting together with older women was their stories. Some of them are first generation Canadian, and remember when there was no running water or electricity in Saskatchewan. They would make off-handed comments like, "When my mother would finish a quilt top, all the women from the surrounding farms would come over and baste it together in a morning". A "younger" woman who loves to hand quilt mentioned that her grandmother refused to take quilting classes with her becuase she had worked on a farm where they had to take all the quilts apart in the summer, take out and wash the wool batting, and then put all the quilts back together again. There is such a wealth of knowledge and life experience in this group -- I'm excited about tapping into that.
The other thing that I loved was all the personalities. These women are old enough that they are set in their ways and don't really care what anyone thinks of them. Also they live in a small community, where they are known and have been known for years and years, so they have no reason to change. They are a small group who has obviously been together, on and off, for a long time. It was really fun to watch them interacting and joking and grumbling and doing all the things people do when they know each other well.
The meetings start up again in the fall, and if they are doing anything I'm interested in (maybe even if they're not) I might just have to show up and join them.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Hey, how did that happen?
I just noticed that someone has adjusted the banner on my blog so that it, um, is gone. I suspect my toddler has been doing some push-button publishing behind my back. I'll get right on that.
Hand Sewng
I joined a mini quilt swap a couple of weeks ago. The idea is that you are matched up with a partner, and you each make a 6 - 12 inch big quilt and mail it to the other person. This is a lot of fun, because you can try things you wouldn't necesarily do on a big quilt.
For my first quilt, I tried a bunch of things I saw in the Quilt Sensations book that I was talking about a couple of weeks ago. They all worked, with a bit of tinkering and fiddling. I also hand sewed most of the top. This actually made the project go a lot faster. I stitched while watching "I love Dinosoars"with the boys. I sewed while they ate the hundreth snack of the day. I sewed while they played in the sandbox. And then once they were asleep I could just sneak down to the basement to do the parts that I wanted to do on machine. It was really satisfying to accomplish something so quickly. I also snacked less because my hands were busy, and I've realized the main reason I eat mindlessly is because I'm bored and fidgety.
One of the things I made involved sewing through two layers of fabric and a layer of cotton batting. I still don't have a thimble, because the shop in town only has small thimbles in stock right now, and so in the best Canadian fashion I improvised
with duct tape. I remembered my best friend Lisa telling me about how, when she was tree planting, they would duct tape their hands to prevent blisters and wear on their hands. So I thought a few layers might also work as a stand in thimble. It wasn't bad, but I think I would need one more layer -- I still poked my finger one time.
Anyway, this little project was really fun. Í'll show off my photos of it when it gets to my swap partner in Australia.
I think I should always have a hand sewing project on the go. It really brightened my day. However, I think I need to make a little bag to hold needles, thread, scissors and stitch ripper so I can carry all my supplies with me to the park. Hmm . .. sewing leading to more sewing? How can that be?
For my first quilt, I tried a bunch of things I saw in the Quilt Sensations book that I was talking about a couple of weeks ago. They all worked, with a bit of tinkering and fiddling. I also hand sewed most of the top. This actually made the project go a lot faster. I stitched while watching "I love Dinosoars"with the boys. I sewed while they ate the hundreth snack of the day. I sewed while they played in the sandbox. And then once they were asleep I could just sneak down to the basement to do the parts that I wanted to do on machine. It was really satisfying to accomplish something so quickly. I also snacked less because my hands were busy, and I've realized the main reason I eat mindlessly is because I'm bored and fidgety.
One of the things I made involved sewing through two layers of fabric and a layer of cotton batting. I still don't have a thimble, because the shop in town only has small thimbles in stock right now, and so in the best Canadian fashion I improvised
with duct tape. I remembered my best friend Lisa telling me about how, when she was tree planting, they would duct tape their hands to prevent blisters and wear on their hands. So I thought a few layers might also work as a stand in thimble. It wasn't bad, but I think I would need one more layer -- I still poked my finger one time.
Anyway, this little project was really fun. Í'll show off my photos of it when it gets to my swap partner in Australia.
I think I should always have a hand sewing project on the go. It really brightened my day. However, I think I need to make a little bag to hold needles, thread, scissors and stitch ripper so I can carry all my supplies with me to the park. Hmm . .. sewing leading to more sewing? How can that be?
Monday, June 09, 2008
And the winner is . . .
my lovely niece-in-law Beck! Email me your address, Beck, I actually don't have it.
Thanks for all your fun comments. I love finding out random things about people, it really does make me happy. And it was nice to hear some "voices" I haven't heard in a while. And Katy, if I ever happen to be in England I shall drop in for coffee.
Andrew is still recovering, and Aaron is not sick yet but has been cranky all evening, so I had best get some rest before someone is sick and large quantities of laundrying are required once more.
I've had a few adventures pre-flu that I will hopefully get a chance to update you on in the next few days. Night, night all.
Thanks for all your fun comments. I love finding out random things about people, it really does make me happy. And it was nice to hear some "voices" I haven't heard in a while. And Katy, if I ever happen to be in England I shall drop in for coffee.
Andrew is still recovering, and Aaron is not sick yet but has been cranky all evening, so I had best get some rest before someone is sick and large quantities of laundrying are required once more.
I've had a few adventures pre-flu that I will hopefully get a chance to update you on in the next few days. Night, night all.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
I have realized something important
while Andrew has had the stomach flu. When you have small children, two sets of sheets is just not enough.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Extra time
We've all got the flu, and you are apparently all gone for the weekend. I will accept mug comments for my coaster giveaway until Monday night. Hopefully this is just a 24 or 48 hr bug.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The Fateful (and much over-blown) Post 325
FINALLY! Here is my celebration of my own verbosity. I would like to thank you, my readers new and old, for actually being willing to read my absurd, wordy, scatterbrained little blog. I really do enjoy writing it, and think of it as being able to go out for "coffee"with you all (since I am sadly lacking in coffee friends around here). Therefore, I thought it would be appropriate to make some coasters.
So, here is what I have lovingly constructed out of an old pair of jeans and some of my favorite scraps:
This is a better view of the colours (no flash, but still under flourecents -- these babies are hot off the sewing machine):
I shall not regale you with the Tale of Four Coasters right now. Suffice it to say that I am keeping my first batch of coasters due to the sheer atrociousness of the workmanship. This set is much nicer and sturdier.
If you would like to receive these coasters in the mail, this is your task. Yes, I will make it simple. Leave a comment on this post and tell me about your favorite coffee or tea mug. I love mugs, and generally don't have any that match because I pick up one or two here and there. My friend Kym and I have a whole philosophy of mugs. At my friend Sharon's house I always get in trouble for using her and Rich's mugs (not just using a mug, but for using THE mug). So describe your favorite mug (or take a photo and post it somewhere and link to it, if you're feeling fancy) and tell me why you love it.
Just a note for those lurkers (hi, Bev and Sharon. Are you still out there, Pete?). If you don't have a blog, write a comment anyway and post it as "annonymous", but leave your name.
I'll put all the names in the hat and allow Andrew to pull one out on Saturday evening, after the dust has settled from the youth group car wash.
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night's Sleep
Aside from not being finished my giveaway items (thus not wanting to get to post #325 too quickly), I have also been getting really lousy sleeps right now. Apparently, although Aaron is not as expressive as Andrew, he is much more stubborn. If I remember correctly, Andrew protested night weaning for about a week, then gave in and went to sleep. We are now on day . . . ten of night weaning with Aaron. He was awake from 10pm until 1:30 am. He just would not settle without being nursed, and I would not give in and nurse him. Finally, Dave drove him around in the car, and even still he grumbled until I got back up with him and slept on the couch. He has not been that bad every night, but I have been up walking the floor with him every night, sometimes for up to an hour or so.
I was considering relenting and trying again in a month or so. But I really need to be able to think logically again. And having possesion of my short term memory, and what little good sense I am naturally gifted with would be good too. I'll hopefully be able to post more later tonight, if I don't fall asleep over my sewing machine.
I was considering relenting and trying again in a month or so. But I really need to be able to think logically again. And having possesion of my short term memory, and what little good sense I am naturally gifted with would be good too. I'll hopefully be able to post more later tonight, if I don't fall asleep over my sewing machine.
Oh, you want to know what happened?
Sorry to keep you all hanging, my devoted readers (I think I'm up to somewhere around 5 now). Well. Things seemed to be hanging by a thread -- we weren't sure if anyone was coming to our BBQ. Ironically, one of the other families appeared at church, but then didn't mention the BBQ at all to Dave and left right after church. So we were still in the dark on Sunday after church as to how many people were actually coming to our house.
But we told the one family, who lives on a farm (ie- 20 min out of town) to come on over, and I finished chopping and icing and doing all those last minute things, and then the phone rang. One of the other women called asking, "So, is watermelon okay to bring? Anything else we have to bring?"With a big sigh of releif I told her watermelon was fine. So the two South African doctor's families did show up, fruit in tow, and join our meal.
Dave scorched the burgers (there was no e coli anywhere in sight, let me tell you) and cooked all forty patties that were in the box, despite there only being about 12 people there (we are still eating hambergers). But the toppings covered it over well. My birthday cake for Dave -- my favorite chocolate cake recipie -- was excellent and well received, and everyone happily sang Happy Birthday to Dave. The meeting went well, with our busy families deciding it is realistic to meet for quarterly get togethers.
It was pretty fun. The conversation was light for the most part, but interesting -- about accents and how you get / keep / lose them, and weather and farming (I told you so) and why South Africa exports so many doctors, and how nice it is to have fresh fruit that is not oranges availiable again. But the atmosphere was relaxed and everyone had fun. The kids, for the most part, amused themselves. Andrew, miraculously didn't get in a single fight with any of the kids, despite there being a 2 yr old, another 3 year old, a 5 yr old and a 7 yr old present ( I attribute this to death's sandbox and about a million shovels). Aaron slept almost the whole event, as did the other baby, and all was good. Very encouraging and fun. We may even be able to invite some of the families over one on one and enjoy ourselves sometime.
So now, do I post this under social mishaps or not? That is the question.
But we told the one family, who lives on a farm (ie- 20 min out of town) to come on over, and I finished chopping and icing and doing all those last minute things, and then the phone rang. One of the other women called asking, "So, is watermelon okay to bring? Anything else we have to bring?"With a big sigh of releif I told her watermelon was fine. So the two South African doctor's families did show up, fruit in tow, and join our meal.
Dave scorched the burgers (there was no e coli anywhere in sight, let me tell you) and cooked all forty patties that were in the box, despite there only being about 12 people there (we are still eating hambergers). But the toppings covered it over well. My birthday cake for Dave -- my favorite chocolate cake recipie -- was excellent and well received, and everyone happily sang Happy Birthday to Dave. The meeting went well, with our busy families deciding it is realistic to meet for quarterly get togethers.
It was pretty fun. The conversation was light for the most part, but interesting -- about accents and how you get / keep / lose them, and weather and farming (I told you so) and why South Africa exports so many doctors, and how nice it is to have fresh fruit that is not oranges availiable again. But the atmosphere was relaxed and everyone had fun. The kids, for the most part, amused themselves. Andrew, miraculously didn't get in a single fight with any of the kids, despite there being a 2 yr old, another 3 year old, a 5 yr old and a 7 yr old present ( I attribute this to death's sandbox and about a million shovels). Aaron slept almost the whole event, as did the other baby, and all was good. Very encouraging and fun. We may even be able to invite some of the families over one on one and enjoy ourselves sometime.
So now, do I post this under social mishaps or not? That is the question.
Monday, June 02, 2008
animal log cabin full
Hey, Lisa. I think I might do something like this with the fat quarters you sent me. I could put little bits of the animal print in the centre and use the others (plus a couple more) for the logs. Cute, eh?
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