Monday, March 30, 2020

over the horizon


I tend to think of quilting panels as fabric. Just fabric, color coordinated by some other lovely soul and awaiting my rotary cutter to slice and dice into pieces, the smaller the better.


A three inch block worked perfectly with the measurements to get the most bang for the buck.
Rifling in my quilt stash unearthed an amazing fabric to use as setting triangles. A background of yellow and green with a pale aqua print stamped over destined it to be forever united with the diced up panel.


The backing fabric had an allover print that I could squint at as I quilted and allowed me to stitch an all over one inch grid with no measuring or tape required. I've always wanted to try an all over one inch grid with no measuring or tape required. My joy is complete!!


The colors have a wonderful balance between harmony and tension. Everyone knows that makes wonderful music and in art it is no different.


Although the panel was a modest size, it made a runner of epic proportion. It heads off down my table and disappears over the horizon.

Saturday, March 28, 2020

in the north


This photo is 100 years old.
It was snapped by my grandfather in the Peace River area of Northern Alberta where he homesteaded for a time.
I can't help but think what a treasure this photo would be to the family of this mother and child, to their great great grandchildren.
How amazing it would be to gaze intently into the serene face of the woman and perhaps see a shadow of yourself.
To admire the clothes of the little child, so beautifully decorated.
And have a window into your ancestors everyday life in the north 100 years ago.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

winter moon


I've been wanting to try curved piecing and this small runner was about all my attention span could muster. It may seem a smidge short but when I had stitched and turned and stitched and clipped and stitched some more I couldn't bring myself to start over so I pronounced it complete. Short and complete.
 

Somehow it makes me think of winter moons with ducks flying against the snow gray sky. We've noticed geese and ducks plowing through the low clouds, heading north. While our thoughts have been elsewhere, spring has come just like always.



Sunday, March 22, 2020

thing of beauty

Canvas bean bags.

If you are a hockey player like my grandson and have honed your eye/hand coordination into a thing of beauty, juggling could be your thing. You might take to it like a duck to water.

encore


I had little daughters in the 1980s and they were festooned with scrunchies just like all the other little girls. I have granddaughters now and can't believe scrunchies are having an encore.
What's old is new.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

so mysterious

We walked in Jackman Wetlands again this afternoon. Turns out another jaunt at Jackman is another close encounter with a snake. What??!!!
I never thought of spring and snakes as somehow entwined, no pun intended, but I guess spring puts many creatures on the move, out of their winter condos.
As we sauntered up the rock strewn path, a woman and her Labrador puppy were heading towards us.
"She saw her first snake," the woman said, smiling.
"Oh," I said, my eyes widening. "Did it scare her?"
"Oh, yes! She was SO scared. She jumped straight into the air and turned sideways," the woman exclaimed.
"It must be instinctive," I suggested, wondering to myself how that could be.
The woman nodded emphatically and told us a little story.
Several years before, they had gone on a trip into the states and taken their other dog, who was about four at the time. It had never seen an alligator, having lived here in Canada. They stopped at a building with a cement alligator out front. As they walked toward it, the dog spotted the sculpture and abruptly stopped, pulling back in obvious fear. The woman thinking to show her pet that there was nothing to be afraid of, walked ahead and lifting her foot, placed it against the side of the alligator. The dog began to bark hysterically and tried to pull her away with all its might. Was that somehow instictive too. How would a Canadian dog know that the likeness of an alligator represented something dangerous?
So mysterious.

again and again


I can't believe I haven't written about this picture before! In fact, I scrolled through my blog forth and back and clicked with ever increasing disbelief on labels but lo, and no, this photo was not to be found. It's the 'not to be found' part that is troubling me.
Aptitudes don't destine us, but they do nudge us along. Some people have a natural aptitude for organizing.
For archiving.
For categorizing.
I struggle with this.
I imagine it is why Pinterest is a wilderness to wander into for me. A wonderful wilderness for sure but how to save the pins. Is the quilted bird meant to be saved to my board called Feathers? Or should it go under Quilted. Or perhaps Color as inspiration for painting. And if I don't know where to place it with clarity, how will I find it later? I could place it in all three categories I suppose. That seems to be what I've defaulted to in my blog. One story/post may have several labels but because life is bewildering, some defy categorizing.
This picture could be Blue River, Photo, Family, and/or Childhood and is one my eye has rested on nearly every time I've scrolled happily though old family black and whites. It captures my very young and happy aunt and my very delighted older sister. They are seated serenely in a construction zone which was likely my cousins downstairs suite in the making. My aunt has her hair piled aloft, funky glasses perched on her cute Nelson nose. My sister is hugging a special baby doll. Her toes are turned in with the joy of it.
Joy.
Yes, it's the joy that stops me in my tracks every time.
It radiates out in technicolor and surround sound.
It's why photos are such a gift. They capture more than a moment in time. They capture the feeling of that moment so that you can feel it again and again.

Friday, March 20, 2020

became





Gadzooks!!
Another upcycle.
Blue Jean legs became a Messenger Bag.
Durable denim with a lined flap and bag width pocket inside for my phone, so I don't have to rifle through the receipts and papers in the dark, dark depths.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

all around

We walked at Jackman Wetlands this morning. There wasn't a soul in sight. We were as socially distant as could be.
I am recovering from a fall; one of those dreadful stop, drop and rolls that can catch you unaware. A slow walk in the restorative sunshine and breeze seemed medicinal.
The Wetlands were full of wings. Mallard, teal, goose, merganser, junco, bald eagle, sparrow, towhee, coot, bufflehead, flicker, robin, canvasback and crow. Of course crow.
A garter snake magically appeared out of thin air on the path ahead and melted out of sight. Snakes are not very sociable. Nor was the second snake we saw further along. Although it did lift its head and look us over with bright bead black eyes and flickering tongue.
The sun was warm.
The path gentle.
The voice of birds all around.

was






Another upcycle! 
In its former life, this bag was a hoodie. 
Now it's a sling over the shoulder tote.
I didn't know I liked orange so much.

a light exists


"A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period —
When March is scarcely here
A Color stands abroad
On Solitary Fields
That Science cannot overtake
But Human Nature feels"
-Emily Dickinson

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

waiting to happen

This morning, I was overcome by the need to upcycle something; to create something new out of something old.
A pair of gray canvas pants were languishing unworn in the back of the closet.
Pant legs are a sewing project waiting to happen.
I always seem to need a tote bag. 
A perfect example of opportunity and need clasping hands.



I had a very lightweight fabric near the top of a box of fabric that seemed to be leaning forward and waiving its hand in the air.


I thought to make a simple rectangular tote but before I knew it, I was measuring and stitching darts.





Woohoo!!
A nice rugged bag in a soft neutral color.
The lining is kind of youthful I think and the strap adjustable.

Friday, March 13, 2020

north


 
Batten down the hatches! Winds out of the North.

Thursday, March 12, 2020

no doubt

















My Dad wore hats rain or shine, sleet or snow. If I could stack all of those hats in a towering teetering pile, they would give Bartholomew Cubbins a twitch in his eye. No doubt about it.

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

March agreed

Woohoo! Another month, another table runner.
My granddaughter suggested the color.
March agreed.


Elves, leprechauns, and toadstools are absolutely at home in the month of March.
This little elf, red-haired of course, hasn't used a comb since 1967. 
.

Sometimes a backing is chosen because it is 'enough.' Even though this green fabric shouts sprouting and spring, it is covered with snowflakes. Sometimes March is too. 




What is so fresh as white and green?
A table runner sprinting off into the distance.

listening

listening

pretty confident

Fight or flight or fright?
Probably none of the above. City squirrels are pretty confident.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

isn't it

"Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different."  C.S.Lewis