The Winds of Change

March winds have blown through and have brought in some April changes.
I don't even know where to begin- the past three weeks have been so jam packed busy. It has been windy here and they say the wind brings change well- there are lots of changes happening just now. We had our spring break holiday the week before last- For part of it I worked at school packing up my classroom- No, its not early summer vacation- Its Renovation time. My school is having a beautiful face lift and it is our turn to be renovated. They are gutting each of the classrooms down to the wall boards and replacing everything.There will be smart boards in each of the classrooms with new mill work,flooring, wiring and lighting. It will be lovely when completed but in the meantime, my teaching partner and I are moving to the gym with our two kindergarten classes. For the next 8 weeks, it is going to be a busy place with 47 kindergarten students, 2 teachers and 4 support staff sharing a large gymnasium. Our boxes are packed ... Ready set go....

This is a photo of my classroom taken last fall when my husband came to read to my students during a special reading event. I will take a picture of our updated look before summer vacation or when we have all the boxes put away in our new room.

On the home front, our son Kevin is moving into his first apartment not far down the road. It is an exciting but a big change for us all. Moving and change seem to be part of our lives just now..

Some spring break outings:
My husband and I went to see a play called the" Science of Disconnection" written by a Canadian playwright named David Belke. It was a fascinating one woman play about Lise Meitner. She was a physicist who worked on a team that discovered Nuclear Fission. Meitner was overlooked when the Nobel Prize was given in 1944, for splitting the atom - Otto Hahn(her professional partner) was awarded it. It was a fascinating story about a brilliant woman who was passionate about physics.

We visited the magnificent new Art Gallery of Alberta and saw La Petite Danser. She is still beautiful with her face radiating her pure joy of dance. The exhibit had a number of interesting Degas sculptures- many were studies of body movements. Degas heirs had many of the pieces cast in bronze. Most were not meant to be shown and were originally made of wax.
The new Art gallery building is truly glorious- so filled with light. We will go back and visit the Dancer before she leaves us. This summer the new exhibit will be MC Escher and Bugs Bunny.

Our family visited my parents and siblings over the Easter weekend. It was terrific to see my sister and brother and their families. There were delicious meals and some together time. My father's birthday was on April 8th. My mother gave me this photo of my dad and their miniature collie, Tammy.
My father has always loved animals and has a wonderful way with them. I love this photo of him with his current beloved dog. Belated Happy Birthday Dad- May the year be rich with wonderful things for you.

Bruce lost a dear friend Ed at the end of March. He had been ill for quite a long time. He was very interested in astronomy, mountain climbing, the outdoors and the Opera. When Ed was first diagnosed with cancer, I made this astronomy quilt for him. Rest easy, dear man, may you find peace now.




Now if you are still with me, I do have a few quilting things to show you. I began a convergence quilt during spring break. I thought I remembered what to do but I sewed four seams together and promptly needed to rip them all out. However after some rethinking- I managed to get the quilt top together - personally it may be questionable at this time whether I am all together LOL)

I have chosen a robin egg blue border to act as a stop border for the convergence quilt. After that, I will extend the four corners out of each of widest outer fabrics for the outside border. I have a second convergence ready to cut into the strip sections. I love this Ricky Tims pattern- I am always excited to see how the grouping works together.

One of the things I book ended my break with, was time with two of my dearest friends. My quilting friend Lou came to the city and we went on our own shop hop. We stopped at 6 different quilting stores and I managed to not to break the bank doing it. I actually only bought fabric in the first store and in my favorite second hand place. Lou and I had a delicious lunch together. One of the reasons I showed some restraint is because I had been coveting some Kaffe Fassett fabrics. They are quite expensive here ( about 18 dollars a meter).I had found some KF fabrics on line for 10 dollars a meter plus free shipping. Here is what arrived in my mailbox last Friday...
I do love all the beautiful colors and was very pleased to be able to touch them. The four fabrics group are not Kaffe fabrics- I just liked them.
On the last day of spring break, my friend Val and I had the opportunity to catch up and have lunch before we returned to the classroom. Was that really only last Monday we had lunch...


These beautiful things came to me from a couple of giveaways that I was lucky enough to win. I love Angela's little bag and hand dyed fabrics.Angela also sent me this gorgeous bracelet and it fits perfectly. Do go and visit her blog called Fenland Textiles.
The batik piece came from one of my Australian blogging friends, Jane. You can find her blog here.Jane I love the leafy batik.
Thank you both so much for your lovely gifts.

Bruce and I are beginning to get the idea of what it might mean to be empty nesters. We went off to a concert of East Indian music featuring a sitar artist last evening.The three musicians sat on a beautiful quilt that I spent some time trying to figure out the pattern. It was made with brocades and silks and the pattern was a simple hour glass block combined with squares. We enjoyed a delicious Vietnamese meal prior to the concert. The restaurant was called "The Golden Bird" and was a new one to me. Our usual favorite was going to be an hour wait... New places are good too you know...

This week will be busy with the move. I hope to fit in a bit of beading and quilting if I am still awake in the evening.LOL

Spring has sprung - the grass has rise... It has been quite windy outside - the weather seems quite fitting for the way life is just now...

I will return when I get the chance,
Warmest regards,
Anna

A Spinning Log Cabin Quilt

Log Cabin quilts come in many forms and this quilt belongs to our niece Sarah and her husband, Jamie. I made it as a wedding gift in 2005. The strips for this quilt are 1-1/2 inch strips and the hearth block has red hearts in it. Sarah told me later that they had previously chosen burgundy and navy linens for their bedding so this quilt went very well with their decor.(I didn't plan it that way -it was a lucky guess):O)
The quilt has triangle sashing to give the illusion of spinning and the quilt is set in a pinwheel pattern. This quilt's strips came from many quilters' stash as I took a class one weekend in my hometown. It was a fun exchange as there was so much more variation than what I had in my own stash at the time. Each participant in the class brought a dozen sets of 10 strips of light(for a total of 120 light strips) and a dozen strip sets of dark value fabrics( for another 120 dark strips) We started the evening by trading the groups of 10 strips with one another. The only criterion was that everyone was required to bring good quality fabrics to trade. It was also interesting to see how people had grouped their colors into light and dark values. It was a fun experience and I would do it again. At the end of the evening I had built a few blocks but I was a long way from being ready to sew the blocks together.
I am sure that we were suppose to do a different layout with the completed blocks but this is yet another example of me doing my own thing with the pattern. I don't think of myself as a rebel, but I do like to put my own stamp on the quilts that I make. Log Cabin quilts have so many variations that it is not hard to find different alternatives - Sometimes, the hardest part for me is to settle on the layout and borders.

In the top picture you can see how Mars the cat has a long history of checking out my quilts and Christening them. By the way,it was Sarah's birthday yesterday so I want to wish her a very Happy Birthday!

There are still many more log cabin quilts that I would like to make- I have a book by Judy Martin called Log Cabin Quilts that has some lovely alternatives in it. And so the list continues ...

A friend and I were talking about all the quilts we would like to make before we leave this world and I said perhaps I should make a list. She said she had done that and found making the list overwhelming.. There are so many wonderful designs and patterns to make that I need to find a way to organize myself. How do you organize and decide what quilts you would like to make? I have many many books and magazines in my collection. If I am looking for something new I go back to them first, unless I have decided to take a course to learn a specific technique.

What do you do when you are looking for a new pattern? Do you keep a list of patterns or books with patterns that you want to make? Do you collect the fabrics and pattern and put them in a bin so that they are all together? I have a couple of bins of fabrics put aside that are my next quilts when I finish my current projects .. I best get moving on my current projects because I am feeling the need to start something new-

I wish I could say that it was because Spring is in the air but it has been snowing here in Alberta, for the past few days, so it will be awhile before we see the grass coming up and the blossoms on the trees...Right about now, I am tired of mittens and snowpants that my little ones at school still need- Recess is a fun time but it sure is nice when we no longer need all the extra layers of clothing so we can go outside to play...

I have really appreciated the comments that have been left on my blog- it is interesting to see how others make quilty decisions and share their process. Please feel free to add your comments... I enjoy the dialog..

Hope that you have had a good week and that you are enjoying some wonderful quilty experiences.. I am still plugging away on my Winding Ways blocks...

Tonight we turn our clocks ahead to daylight savings time so hopefully spring will decide to make its appearance soon!!

Regards from Western Canada,
Anna