The Power of Art -

Many years ago, my husband and I went on a trip to Europe for vacation. Paris, France was one of the stops on the tour. While in Paris, we visited the Tuilleries which are situated in the back part of the gardens of the Louvre Museum. One of the buildings is called the "Jeu de Paume" and, at that time, it housed many of the Impressionists works. Those works are now housed in the Musee d'Orsay. There were many large famous beautiful canvases in the Jeu d'Paume,but the piece that held me and called to me, was this piece called "Little Dancer". She left me mesmerized - I remember being awestruck by the beautiful expression of hope on her face. I later discovered that Degas had created more of these fantastic dancer sculptures with fabric/ tulle dresses and real hair. Some of them even wore ballet shoes.

This weekend in our fair city a new Art gallery has opened. Its name is the Art Gallery of Alberta. The building is the creation of Randall Stout. It was the vision of some community people, who believed in the importance of the arts in a community. The gallery has taken 5 years to complete and millions of dollars to build. It is a truly amazing building to see. The swirling curves are meant to represent the "Aurora Borealis" or northern lights.

Can you guess who is waiting for me to come and visit her?
None other than "La Petite Danser."
For the opening show, the art gallery has brought in a collection of Degas ballerinas, bathers and people at the Opera (54 pieces in all). The piece d'resistance for me, is the ballerina sculpture! She arrived with her own police escort. The new building has all the necessary requirements to keep her safe during her stay. I know that I am going to love seeing her again. It has been a long time...
I learned some interesting things this morning, while I read about her and her sister sculptures. During Degas life, the little dancers were made of wax and wire and fabric - They only became bronzes after his death.

One of the dancers was first shown in 1881, at a Parisian Art Exposition and her initial viewing was less that stellar- She was, in fact, panned- Degas' work was considered too avant garde. Yet recently,one of these beautiful dancers sold for 13.9 million. I doubt that Degas could imagine such a price would ever be paid for his work.

So what is art and what is it worth?

The Sunday paper (Edmonton Journal Sunday February 1, 2010) had a piece that reflected on the value of art to The Haitian people- Art is an integral part of our community culture.
"Haitian art is what makes the international eye see us". Every Haitian is an artist. Art, it is us, what we are. Even our children are artists." Joseph Gaspard from College Saint Pierre Museum.

It is quite a dichotomy to be trying to save lives and feel the need to save the art too. Still, by saving the art, one touches the essence of what is bright and beautiful and hopeful in life. It also reflects the range of life's experiences and provides commentary about the world around us.

I don't have a clear answer to this question of the importance of art and the pursuit of artistic endeavors, but I do know the pleasure and the emotional connection that I have with Degas little dancer. She has begun to fuel my inspiration and desire to create again.

I have seen other art pieces that haved also evoke a powerful emotional response. One such work is "Forest BC" by Emily Carr. Her totems and her forests are amazing - a recording of perpetuity of British Columbia forests and First Nations people on the Western Coast of Canada.

In a couple of weeks, Vancouver will be the host city of the Winter Olympics. The Olympics will celebrate the athlete and the hope of the global community. Where do art and sport converge? That is a post for another day...

You may be wondering if I am going to write anything about quilting, or why I am being so reflective about art today. Certainly, I am looking forward to visiting the Art Gallery of Alberta to see the show of the Degas pieces,some Goya prints and Yousef Karsh photos. Today. they had timed visits and expected over 5000 people - too crowded for me but soon...

So where did I take my need to feed my creative soul? Well, right here in Blogland. There are so many wonderful quilters and other artisans using fabric, paper, beads, yarn and other textiles to express themselves and their ideas.
This past week I have been visiting some of the close to 1000 blogs that are participating in the One World One Heart blogging festival. You can find it here Lisa Swifka is the host and this is the fourth year of this event.
Go on over and have a look- there are many fantastic blogs to view, and lovely giveaway prizes to be won.

In the meantime, I am still reflecting on possible quilt patterns for a new quilt. This coin quilt pattern has risen to the top of the possibilities.

I have a number of sea and nautical fabrics that might make a lovely version of this quilt. This particular quilt is one that uses batiks- some of my favorite fabrics. It belongs to a friend and was given to him, as a retirement gift. My husband has the mate to it. It is a large twin sized quilt.


The art gallery show has given me some inspiration. I did actually quilt this week. I made some more wonky tile blocks- I now have enough for quite a large quilt- over 80 blocks. Should I make two couch quilts or one large quilt??? Hmmmmmm...

I also looked for a half apron pattern- sort of like a crafter's apron with pockets. My first home economics project in Grade 7, was an half apron - I think it is still around, but I haven't found it, so I was looking for a paper pattern for the measurements. There were a couple of patterns on the internet, but not exactly what I had in mind...

This week I will attend a professional learning workshop where the topic will be on engaging students in writing by using picture books. Soon, I will be writing about my students again- it will be report card time.

February is here... I hope that it brings you something that feeds your creative soul.

Regards,
Anna

Still searching for Inspiration...

After about a month of snow one longs to see the color of spring- Bruce brought this pot of Narcissus to brighten up our winter table. Today it is snowing outside and the weather remains reasonably mild for an Alberta winter.

We went off to see the Edmonton Oilers lose to the Dallas Stars on Friday night.(Unfortunately the Oilers are not the place to find inspiration right now- they are on a lengthy losing streak and currently in the basement of the league). The tickets were a surprise gift to my husband(from a group of friends) and I was the beneficiary of a date with my spouse. It was a nice way to spend the evening even if the boys did lose! We stopped to have dinner at a favorite local Vietnamese restaurant where we enjoyed noodles, vegetables, shrimp and spring rolls. Yummy!!

Bruce and I have been to hundreds of hockey games over the years - both NHL games( the professional league) and to community level where our son played from the time he was 5 until he was 18. Kevin no longer plays in a league but often heads down to the local community rink to skate and play a pickup game.

Here is a shot of my dining room table - covered with quilty things - some current magazines (some interesting projects but nothing that said choose me now. You can see some blocks that I am working on ( more wonky tiles).
I finished about a dozen more of them and will soon have enough to make a couch quilt for a friend. While they are pretty and I am sure the quilt will be lovely - it is not a new project. Still it is a start ...

Margaret of a bit of Kaos sent me this lovely pink piece of Asian fabric along with a wonderful quilt daytimer and Australian magazine - some wonderful patterns to view and interesting articles to read. Thank you for your generous gift Margaret- it was such a lovely giveaway prize.
Kati Cupcake is having a giveaway of these beautiful fat quarters- GO soon and check it out..


I have been doing a bit of organizing of fabric and my bead collection. These two bags hold plastic trays with beads of different sizes. I bought a second bag because my first bag of five trays was overflowing and I couldn't find anything in them. While the new one is pretty full, it is so much easier to find the colors and beads that I am looking for.

The photograph is of my great grandparents on their wedding day around 1900.My aunt gave it to me not long ago and I think I know where I am going to hang it.
A friend gave me a coupon to a local bead store who was having a great sale on most of their beads. I bought some wonderful stone beads( jasper, rose quartz, tiger glass and amethyst) as well as bali copper and silver. Wonderful things to make bracelets and earrings and pendants- I just need to start playing with them...


This poor wrinkled pillowcase is my first log cabin quilt made over twenty years ago. It was almost in total tatters so I decided to rescue it. While its not perfect and will probably not last much longer,I have returned it to a more useful state. Strange isn't it, that I could probably make a new pillowcase in the time it took to repair all the little tears in the seams. It just needs a good pressing and will be loved for awhile longer. Somehow it seemed more important to repair it than just toss it away.

Speaking of old things- Did you know that if you lived in the early 1700's and wore cotton you might have been burned on the street?
Some boy, who was paid a penny,and found you walking on a dark street would have come up to you and started your dress on fire because it was made of cotton rather than wool. This information came from an interesting article that I read this morning in our local newspaper about the Cotton Riots during the 1720's.

Here is a quote from today's article taken from August 13,1720.
A quote from Applebee's orginal Weekly Journal -August 13,1720 in Gloucester England:
"Thomas Singer an officer of the Excise of Bristol was try's for killing a Weaver and was found guilty of Manslaughter only: because he did it in defence of his Wife who was assaulted by a gang of weavers who tore her Callacoe Cloths off and used her very unmercifully ..."
more snippets like this can be found under
snippets of history from 18th century newspaper by going to edmontonjournal.com/education

Cotton was first available in the early 1500's from India. If you are interested in the history of cotton and designs to check out Barbara Brackman's blog on my blog list.
Perhaps these templates are what I am looking for - to inspire or get my
mojo firing .... HMMMMMMMM

So here I am, it is nearly the end of January with not much quilty to show you. I have spent a good deal of time looking at magazines and patterns. I am still searching for a pattern for a family member. I am not sure what I am looking for and don't know what I am going to make- I see many beautiful fabrics in my stash, and on line, but I am waiting for one to grab me -- so far no such luck.. Some patterns I have been looking at, are Mumbo Jumbo and Bento box... even Storm at Sea... The problem is not enough choices but just the opposite..There are so many gorgeous fabrics and patterns that it makes it hard to choose.. So if you know of a pattern that is suitable for a man who lives by the sea and loves to cook- let me know...

My quilt Mojo seems to be hibernating somewhere- if you see it, will you please send back to me? :O)

In the meantime, Happy Quilting!
Warmest regards,
Anna

Flower Power.... Could it inspire?

Imagine my surprise, one day not long ago and not far away on my kitchen counter, I found our Christmas cactus blooming... It is a beautiful plant but, I had been so busy with other things, and had not noticed that the Cactus had these lovely red- orange flowers on it. There is something about flowers that make me smile. They always brighten my day- My spouse is wonderful about buying flowers- stargazer lilies currently adorn our dining room table. Lilies are particularly fragrant and make me miss the smell of the Christmas tree a little less...

A very nice honor was bestowed on my husband this week. He was given the president's award in recognition of his contributions to the local branch of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Bruce has been an active member of this group for over 20 years and served on a large number of portfolios on the council. Bruce is a dedicated amateur astronomer who loves to share his passion and knowledge about the stars at the local observatory. In the last few years, he has often been asked to speak at local libraries, schools and park sites. Kids and adults alike, are keen to see the meteorites and hear about things that one sees in the sky. Bruce loves to share his passion for the earth and the sky. He was quite surprised and honored to be the recipient of the award. As for me, I have always known he is a star...

My favorite flowers are sunflowers- Vincent Van Gogh's sunflowers was the inspiration for this snippet piece( goggle Cindy Walters if you would like more information about making snippets) It belongs to my brother in law. We had the good fortune many years ago to visit the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Van Gogh's work was totally awe inspiring- his colors in his later work were vivid and the paint was so thick- photographs just can't capture that texture.I was given a set of cups with Vincent van Gogh's prints on them for Christmas.
A few summers ago I took a course that focused on Ricky Timms techniques- One of the patterns we used was from his " Caveman" quilts - This is my version of the "Chantelle Flower". It was a free form design. This is an earlier photograph of Chantelle. She is complete and was used as a table runner under a Christmas basket of silk poinsettias that my sister made for us.

January often brings the doldrums in my house. The men of my house have had winter colds( I feel the sniffles but am trying hard to avoid getting the full blown version) We took the Christmas tree down this weekend and I got out to do some errands on my own.

I visited the library and took out a couple of Terri Thayer's books- "Ocean Waves"- a Quilting Mystery and "Old Maid's Puzzle". The first one is called "Wild Goose Chase" and all three are an enjoyable read. I also have "Lover's Knot" by Claire O'Donahue which also has a quilting background.

I received a few books for Christmas that included " Knit Two" by Kate Jacobs and the "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"(very interesting book too). I finished "Knit Two" and liked it as well as "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by the same author. Over the break, I read a book called" The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. It is one of the best books that I have read in a long time. "The Help" is a powerful story about some black women and their lives working for white families in the 60's. It is well worth the read. What is on your reading table these days?

It is always fun to see what is in the mail these days. Today my templates from Sue of Alderwood Quilts arrived. Over the holiday she had them available on her website for a very reasonable price so I decided to buy both of the basic sets. They are to be used with Louisa L.Smith's Strip and Curves books. I had admired quilts that Wanda from " Exuberant Color" had created using this book. Sue has a lovely blog and if you sign up for her newsletter she has a monthly giveaway that you might want to check out. She sent me the most beautiful fat quarter of sunflower fabric.

Last week some fabric came from Connecting Threads- They had some great deals and I saw some winter fabric that I thought might work with a star pattern from the November/December 2009 Fons and Porter magazine..There is still another box of fabric to come from them- sometimes the mail is not speedy- especially when one is waiting for inspiration...LOL

Did I say that January sometimes brings the doldrums??? -LOL

I have been trying to settle on a new quilt to make for my brother in law, E. who had a special birthday last week - Should I try and finish some old projects first??? I did spend some time over Christmas break looking at patterns and patting my fabric in my stash- but it is hard to find a pattern when you are not sure what you are looking for- My brother in law loves to cook and I have looked at patterns named Paprika ( new Fons and Porter) and Mumbo Gumbo- both of them might work but might is just not good enough.. It really is hard to choose fabrics when you don't know what the pattern is?

I am not short of possiblities - just not finding something that strikes my fancy or bowls me over with a burning desire to make that quilt...
Sometimes getting started is the biggest hurdle for me- What about you, how do you quick start yourself to get quilting?
Bobbi of Craftyvegasmom is having a giveaway to celebrate her 99th post. You may wanted to go and visit - She has made a lovely bag and pin cushion for her giveaway.

Deb of Cold Feet Quilter let me know that I have won her giveaway prize. She does the most beautiful art quilts. Deb lives in Alaska and I have known about her blog for quite a long time. Do go an visit her blog - you will love her beautiful pieces. I am one lucky gal, Deb- thank you so much ...

my dear blogging friend Michele of with heart and hands blog took a bad spill last week and has broken her arm and wrist quite badly. Michele recently had travelled to Alaska to help out her elderly parents - Michele is one of the most generous thoughtful quilters I know- I am often inspired by her works of caring and generosity for others. She has many free pattern links and tutorials on her blog. Michele is actively involved in Ami Simms Alzheimer's Initiative. Do stop and visit her and send her some positive healing wishes.

So I am going to head off to my pillow and perhaps I will dream of quilts and find new Inspiration just around the corner...

Its a new year - with some new goals and new beginnings- I am still hopeing to find my quilt mojo...

Warmest regards,
Anna

It has been a busy Festive Season

Poinsettias are my wedding flowers (our wedding anniversary is December 26th) so we usually have poinsettias in our house over the Christmas season. This one was enormous and was a gift that I received at work in a gift exchange. It is such a glorious color. We had a difficult time figuring out where to put it in our house as we have limited space so I cleaned out yet another corner to find space for it. Unfortunately I think the corner was too cool for it, and so it has lost some of its beautiful foliage it still is pretty gorgeous.
Today's post brought me a package from Keepsake Quilting, which included these two poinsettia patterns. I got this idea that I might like to make a new poinsettia quilt, and these patterns both struck my fancy. I figured if I collect some new ones, that I might actually create a new quilt to adorn our house. I made this poinsettia couch quilt a number of years ago, to celebrate our anniversary. The center is a paper pieced pattern by Eileen Sullivan-She has many other lovely flower(for example iris, daffodil and cactus) patterns that you can make using a Sew and Flip technique- I believe her patterns are Designer Workshop patterns but you can find her site just by googling her name.
Behind the table center piece, you can see some of the other fabrics that came in my package from Keepsake Quilting. They had a nice sale before Christmas so I bought a few lovely pieces to add to my stash- a few florals and some sock monkey fat quarters.
Isn't this Iris fleece panel glorious- I love purple flowers, and one that makes me think of my beloved grandmother. She so loved flowers and Irises were among her favorite flowers.
Christmas brought some lovely pressies from my spouse- Bruce found me some great new pens for quilt labels, a book about Pieced borders that has been on my list for a long time, a couple of quilting magazines, a new ruler and a box for my growing collection of fat quarters. My friend L. gave me a wonderful casserole cover she made, as well as Jinny Beyer's new book. It has 4.050 quilt pattern blocks in it! There are also some grids to help a person figure out how the block is designed. I hope that you found some quilty things that you have been wishing for under your Christmas tree.

This lovely collection was a giveaway prize that I won from Cara of Cara's quilts. It has such beautiful handmade pin toppers,a wonderful handmade log cabin pincushion and a glorious set of a dozen floral fat quarters. Thank you so much, Cara, for such a special giveaway. Do go and visit Cara's blog- she made some wonderful stockings for Christmas- the one she made her daughter L'il Bit is a gorgeous princess one.

There are some wonderful giveaways around the blogs just now. Some will soon be over so do check them out before they are gone.

Sue at Alderwood quilts is offering a fun giveaway of a Jennifer Chiaverini book and some fat quarters. She also sells templates for Louisa Smith's curved quilt designs. The templates are not easily found, and she has them on sale until the New Year. I ordered two sets- one of the basic and the second set as well. She has them on sale for 25 percent off and was most helpful when I spoke with her on the phone. I first saw them on Exuberant Color's ( Wanda's) blog - I love circle quilts and you can create the most fascinating designs using the templates.

Heidi is a new to me quilt blog who is having a really nice giveaway of bag with Amy Butler fabric pieces or a baby panel with fabrics. It is her 100th post and she is celebrating it in a grand way. Congratulations Heidi!

Oz girls are having a giveaway of some very pretty Robin Pandolph fabrics - it is hard to choose between the pink or the mint fabrics.

Just as I began to write this post, I received notification that I had won a giveaway from Margaret of a bit of Kaos. I won an Australian quilt magazine and diary. I love the Aussie magazines and they are not too plentiful here in Western Canada. I used to get a subscription to Australian Patchwork and Quilting and enjoyed the magazine very much. Thank you so much Margaret. I will look forward to reading the magazine and using the diary when it arrives.

January is beckoning- I have enjoyed the time off- it has given me some time to reflect and pause after a very busy fall. We enjoyed some great family times with my family in Red Deer on Christmas day and the weekend that followed. It was nice to see our nieces and some little ones at my parents.

It was great to spend time with my parents, who have always been a steady loving force in my life. I value the times that we have together- My mother always does special things for each of her family members, whether it be gathering card making stamps for my niece to borrow, or making lasagna for Kevin our son. I know that my son enjoys his time with his Poppa. This time, Kevin helped my dad. build an extension to his new snowblower and change the headlights in my dad's Van. From the time Kevin was a little boy, he has loved to help my dad build and fix things. Each and every time, he wants to bring home some of grandma's dill pickles. The traditions continues..

While I was at my folks, I played in the beads and made new bracelets for all the grown up girls in my family. (I made about a dozen bracelets by the time I put the beads away for the last time). We enjoyed lots of delicious food, including two turkey dinners that my sister D.,brought to my parent's home. We appreciated her delicious cooking and all her hard work to make it special- Thank you so much Sis!
There were 17 of us for Christmas dinner and 11 of us the following evening. My parents have lived in their small home since 1963. No matter how many people are there, there is always room for one more at the table.

Tomorrow, we will have lunch with some of Bruce's family- his sister, brother in law, and daughters and their spouses. It will be great to catch up with them as well. After that, we will have one more Christmas event with our dearest friends here. And so the celebrations continue..

In the meantime, I hope to get a few quilty things done before I return to the classroom- perhaps a couple of new pillowcases for our bed and start a new quilt. There are some other quilt projects that I would like to finish- I better make a list and a plan. What about you?

Do you have some project plans for 2010 ?

Kim has a great post today about ways that she finds time to quilt daily- She puts aside a half an hour a day to devote to creating her quilts. It is something worth contemplating ...
One thing that I intend to do is to blog a little more regularly in 2010- this fall has been pretty hit and miss-
I hope one and all has enjoyed some great times with loved ones. May 2010 bring you and yours good health and prosperity.

With best wishes and my warmest regards,
Anna

In the beginning...

In the beginning there were some very dear friends of ours, A.&V, who I wanted to make something special to mark their birthdays.... and so I chose this version of magic tiles. If you have not tried this pattern, you may want to check it out. The magic tile pattern is a fun pattern to make- You start with a set of fabrics that are cut into 15 or 16 inch squares. On paper,you create a wonky 9 patch grid for the squares and cut it with the fabric all facing good side up. In each set, it involves shuffling a section of the block in the pile. By doing so,you give each section a different piece of fabric. Buggy Barn quilt patterns work on this same premise as do the "Stack the Deck" books by Karla Alexander.
After a while, it is nice to have a change for every quilt. I believe that I made this Magic Tiles quilt in the summer of 2002.
Here it is - the Wonky Rail's on our dear friends bed. If you are looking for the pattern, you can find it here. Mary has a list of free patterns on her site. Just click on Wonky RWB Rail for the instructions. For those of you that have been reading for awhile, you have seen this quilt as it has come together over the past 6 months- I have had it finished for about six weeks except for the label. Somehow, I just hadn't managed to get the last bit done on the Wonky Rail Tiles Quilt. I called the quilt " Celebrating Earth and Sky" because of all the blues and greens. Remember when I was unsure how large to make a King Size quilt? This quilt measures 115 X 124 inches. It is plenty large enough for our friend's bed.
For fun,we decided to wrap the three of us in the quilt - I am the goofy looking one, who is in serious need of a haircut in the middle. ( I am going this Saturday afternoon for that haircut) This quilt was made to celebrate A&V.'s 20th wedding anniversary. We have enjoyed many wonderful hours together over those 20 years. Happy Anniversary, dear friends, may you continue to enjoy many more happy years together.
Yesterday would have been my in laws 66th wedding anniversary-this photo quilt was made to honor my in-laws 60th wedding anniversary. The pattern was based on a pattern in one of Evelyn Sloppy's pattern books.It currently hangs in my mother in law's room. Many times after we gave them this quilt, my father in law phoned me, just to tell me how much pleasure their quilt gave him. When your gifted quilt is loved like this photo quilt was, what can be better than that?
Do you love beads? These beads are some beauties that were given to me by my friends in the photo. They are cloisonne, and were bought in China, when A& V were there this past summer. Don't you love the fish and the butterfly? I love cloisonne and mille fliore beads, oh and glass ones... and ceramic and polished stones too...
One of my fellow blogging friends Paulette - has a very fine stash of beads as well as fabric.
She wrote a recent posthere Click on here to read about her passion for beads and her dilemma - to bead or not to bead ??

Ryan is having a giveaway of a Barn Quilts calendar that is from a very interesting place called Neversink. Ryan tells the story behind finding this calendar. Do check it out...

Winter has arrived in spades here in Alberta. We got about a foot of snow last Friday. By Saturday, I was wishing that I was a bear and could hibernate for a little while. This week the thermometer spiralled downward so, at school, we have had many indoor recesses. Today we all got a bit of a respite - at least enough to have the children go out to play at lunch time. The long term forecast is more cold weather so the week before Christmas break could be filled with more days of excited children who are suffering cabin fever... The days before Christmas are filled with anticipation... just waiting to play ....waiting for Santa ....waiting is hard work for little ones...and for us grown ups too....

My list gets longer of jobs to do - things to cook, and presents to buy and wrap, and a house to decorate- it is a similar list to many others. I am trying to find the balance between getting things ticked off of my list and pausing to enjoy the moments of the season. How do you find ways to balance out the busy days of the festive season?

One final note, Thank you for all your birthday wishes- It is our son's birthday next week, followed by Christmas and then on Boxing Day ( December 26),it is our wedding anniversary- the celebrations are many, for our family in the month of December. We are looking forward to spending time with my family at Christmas, and to having time together with family and friends over the Christmas break.

Wishing you all the season's best.

Warmest regards,
Anna

The Prime of Life..

Last Sunday, November 22, was my birthday-
My current age is the only prime number in my current decade(or so my mathematically minded husband tells me) so I now can consider myself a Lady in the Prime of Her Life. LOL

My birthday began on Friday, the 20th, with my spouse and I having a delicious dinner at a local restuarant. It was so nice to spend time together talking over a gourmet dinner. On Sunday evening we went to see Bill Cosby- he still has the ability to make people laugh about life's everyday situations.

These lovely flowers came from my educational assistant (P.- thank you so much) How lovely they look on our dining room table, almost a week later. The bouquet is in my favorite colors- pink, purple and green- Don't you love the green pompom flowers in the bouquet?

Sunday was the actual day of my birthday, but it really has felt more like a birthday week, because there were birthday greetings from friends far and near. There were packages from my folks and another friend, with some specially chosen things that they knew that I would love. Today I had lunch with my dear friend V. The thing that I have really enjoyed about this birthday, has been the time I have been able to spend connecting with friends and family. On Sunday, my sister and I had a long conversation on the telephone.

One friend, J. contacted me on Face book - I have known her since I was 6 years old- technically she is my oldest friend(not age wise)but she is the one that I have known the longest. I have known J. since I started school. She and her husband live in Inuvik,N. W. Territories, which is in Northern Canada. Her parents still live in a house on the same street as my parents. My parents moved to their current home in 1963. Some of their neighbours have lived on that same street almost as long as our parents. I think it is a fairly uncommon experience these days, to still have connections to the house in which a person was raised. Most families move around alot more-especially if you live in a town or a city. My folks live in a city of 85,000 people. When I was growing up the city was much smaller- about 25,000. My home town is losing that small town feeling.

Another friend E. sent me a birthday card with a new home email address - we had been out of touch for awhile but we now have a way to reconnect. She lives in Vancouver, the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics. We have been friends since we were teenagers.
This Wonky Rail Tie quilt is officially finished- it does have a label but the camera and I had some difficulties communicating and the photograph was too light to read so I will try again another day. Hopefully I will get to give it to our friends next weekend as it is long overdue.
You may remember that we were decluttering our home - last weekend I spent some time going through some drawers of fabric and craft materials.

While I cleaning, I realized how many different types of crafts that I had experimented with on my journey to becoming a quilter. The list is amazingly long-knitting, crochet, silk ribbon embroidery, regular embroidery, painting silk scarves, playing with fimo, macrame, stamping, cross stitch, rug hooking, weaving on a frame, decoupage and candle making. That does not include sewing, pottery, beading or quilting. I found a baby sweater that I knit for Kevin- he is soon going to be 22. Many of the craft materials that were left, I got rid of, but I did find a few gems in the drawers.

I was surprised to find some quilt blocks and scraps of fabrics from my early quilts-I spread some of them out under the bowls of beads. I found it interesting that so many of my first pieces were blue. I continue to make some blue quilts but I have become much more adventurous in my color choice- or maybe there is just so many more different color/ fabric choices available.

I enjoyed playing with all of these crafts, but these days I have limited time, so my first choice is to quilt. When I don't have enough time to quilt, or feel the need to make something that I can complete quickly, then I will play in the beads.

Do you have other types of crafts that you do besides quilting? Does it feel like playing to you?

Do you think of quilting as a craft or an art?

The beads on the plate are from a bead show that my friend V. and I attended today. They were all made by local artisans. While we were at the show, I ran into a colleague that I had had, when I worked in a pediatric rehab hospital in the mid 1980's. Our son's are the same age and have the same name. It was lovely to see her too.

I wish the photos of the beads had turned out better- the photos are all too light unfortunately. We had a wonderful time playing and touching the gorgeous handmade bits of color.

V. makes gorgeous bracelets and other pieces of jewellry and I bought a few pieces to use to make as gifts for others- and one or two beads for myself.VBG. At lunch,V. gave me a lovely bracelet and earrings for my birthday.( Thank you dear friend- you always find such wonderful things.) You can see them on the cup and saucer. I think the beads are called pod beads and I love wearing them because they lay so nice and flat against one's skin. My new bracelet has such pretty colors- pink and yellow and golden in beautiful swirls.

I placed the beads on a cup and saucer from our china. Barb
had shared her china in a post not long ago. (I wrote about a giveaway that her niece is running on her blog in my last post). I love dishes and these dishes are called Limoge Bridal Wreath. I bought them from a friend more than 20 years ago. They had been her grandmother's. Her grandmother had brought them out west with her at the beginning of the 20th century. We use them on special occasions. They need to be hand washed as they are around 100 years old. Like the other photos, they are not the best but hopefully you can see the pretty pink flowers on the china.


This last photo is of a lovely giveaway prize that came from Hazel of Cotton Cocktails. She made this pretty bag and enclosed some wonderful fat quarters too. She also included a very nice applique pattern. Thank you so very much Hazel.

There are many giveaways happening in Blogland just now. Do check out the bloglist because there is often an announcement on them of current blog giveaways.

To all my American friends, A Belated Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have enjoyed a fabulous time with your family and friends sharing good food and good times.

On the school front, I have completed report cards and conferences- We are now preparing for the Christmas concert. On Friday, I was learning how to sing " Up on the Housetop" in Cree so we could perform it in the concert. I had to practise singing it in English before I could get it right in Cree. Most of my children are First Nations or Metis and we offer Cree as a Second language. We have a Cree speaking teacher who teaches my students the Cree portion of the curriculum. The phrasing is different so hopefully I can get it memorized in time.

December is just around the corner- I have done a little Christmas shopping and am thinking about putting up the Christmas village. We have had a skiff of snow but there is not too much yet.

Wishing you a Happy Holiday Season.
Warmest regards,
Anna

Rising from the Sea of Papers and Boxes...

Life has been quite full since I last posted- Where have I been you may be wondering- I wish I could say it has been a grand adventure and, perhaps, it has been, if you call cleaning out and sorting the wheat from the chaff in our basement. This project began innocently enough- We decided to bring in a dumpster bin to clean out some trees and remove some old fencing from our yard- we had some space left in it so we thought we might as well get rid of some of the extra junk/ stuff that has built up over the last number of years in our basement.
Well it was a Pandora's box I can tell you... There is floor space now where there had been many boxes but it has taken many hours of sorting and hauling things out. We are almost done for now- we will send the bin away on Monday-
Will it be completely cleaned out - No but it will much better than it has been for a long time.. It has been quite a process and remains one..

One of the benefits of the cleaning has been turning up a few old treasures. We found the usual letters and photographs and other memorabila that we have enjoyed looking through and remembering. There are still boxes of papers to go through but I got rid of lots of old craft things that were no longer useful and dated. In amongst the damaged things, I did find some fabric pieces that I think I can put to good use. I have some prequilted fabrics that I once used to make into bags. I think I have figured out a way to use the pre quilted fabrics and turn them into baby wraps. They may not be quite as nice as the ones with minkee fabrics inside but it will be one way to use the fabric up rather than just getting rid of it. I am going to try it out anyway and see how they work out. The baby wraps are so useful and I hope these will be nice too.

Some other news...To add excitement to the cleaning project, it has been report card writing time at school and we have battled some illness- my husband particularly. He has had some flu and cold and been under the weather for about 10 days. Life is does pose some interesting challenges sometimes...
On the quilting front, I have been working on the quilt that is pictured here. This beauty was done by a friend in the class that we took together. You might notice the date - 2004. My friend Carol is a fantastic quilter and she did a wonderful job on her version of the Hollow Cubes. I have about 50 blocks made and I need nearly a hundred so I am making progress - very slowly. While my friend chose a limited palette, I have chosen to use a rainbow of batiks for my quilt. I want to frame it in black as well. It is hard to get the rhythm of a quilt when I have worked on it so intermittently. I have a large number of triangles and flags to sew together yet. Still, I am making progress- slowly but surely....
One of the things I found among the photographs was a few quilt pictures ,which was great, because my computer woes continue and I have had to reset my computer yet again. This quilt is a variation of a spiderweb- It was made for one of my nieces for her wedding in 2005. I do love the scrappy quilts with all their different colors.

Quilt Sue of Quilt times posed an interesting question about what kind of quilts one prefers to make- What is your favorite quilt to make? Do you have a favorite design to make?

I have friends who love making scrap quilts and others who love Log cabin and other traditional designs. I don't know if I have a favorite design but I do love bargello quilts and medallion quilts. I prefer quilts that have an over all design as opposed to blocky looking designs. Mostly I love colorful quilts.

Barb from Bejeweled quilts has created a ginger jar quilt for her niece Jennifer's new on line fabric shop. You can find a link to her new shop here Inchworm Fabrics. Do drop by and enter both giveaways. You will be glad that you did...

Hawthorne Threads is also having a lovely giveaway- Go quickly as the draw is on Monday November 16.

While I haven't done much blog reading lately, I did recently win a giveaway from
Cotton Cocktails. It is a lovely Handmade bag. Thank you, Hazel, for picking me as one of your lucky winners. I am one fortunate lady these days. Do stop and visit her blog - she is a wonderful woman who writes a lovely blog.

Carole at Giraffe Dreams is having a giveaway to celebrate her 700th post. She is doing something really special and going to make a donation to a special cause as part of her giveaway. Please drop by and celebrate such a wonderful accomplishment.

My blog friend Kim also wrote about giving and receiving in her newest post. Which one- giving or receiving do you think is the most important? I know lots of generous quilters out there, who give quilts and materials to support people in various ways.
These two ladies do indeed have very generous hearts.

Before long, Christmas will be here. We are beginning to prepare our students for the Christmas concert. The fall has flown by- where did all the time go?

Hope you are all keeping well and taking care of yourselves.
Wishing you good health and time to quilt or feed your creative spirit in whatever way you enjoy doing.

Warmest regards,
Anna