Gimli Friday night and Saturday

Friday nights class started a little late due to a kitchen mishap. It was Alien Landscape class by Heather Lair.

This was definitely outside the box for me. Most people see my scrappy pieced quilts so taking an artsy fartsy class was a big learning experience. In my class was Linda M and Ursula, Helen (I used to work with her) and her daughter in law Brandy ( I think its Brandy) and a couple other ladies whose names I forgot . Sorry Serious Colander Brain. OMG (the lady that will now be known as Brandy) her piece was gorgeous when she finished it. It looked like a countryside with rolling hills. See for yourselves.

Helen & Brandy Brandy's Landscape

Linda 's Landscape was vibrant and bold. As you can tell she looks happy about it.

My landscape is at this moment a lot of fabric that is dangerously filled with pins. I will post a pic when I get it done.

Saturday we did a class done by Heather Lair again and the quilt was based on her Klimt series. We all started at 9:30 in the morning. Learned a little , talked a lot good times had. One thing I learned, I don't like working with Organza. The feel of it gives me the heeby jeebies. Well this is me very tired but extremely happy at 1:30 am Sunday morning. It was finished as far as I was concerned at that time. The gradient side pieces are from a piece of fabric I painted at a class a couple of years ago works well with it doesn't it. Since I have had it home I decided it needs a little extra something. Stay tuned for additions that I make. From Friday until Sunday morning I met old friends new Friends.

I made the deli owner across the street my new best friend , he had the best coffee. Java JAVA JAVA. I think next year I will bring a coffee maker with me so I can have a cup whenever I want. I was having serious caffeine withdrawals. I didn't work on projects that I already had started but you know that's okay . I got invited to a quilting group for Tuesday right close to my home . Maybe I will work on some of that there, or maybe not.

Gimli Retreat 2007 the beginning.

OMG I had the most wonderful weekend. I was at my first quilting retreat ever. It was a first for a few things. I left home by myself with no husband , no kids, no mom. I for the past 42 years never went away by myself for something that I wanted to do and I didn't have to worry about someone elses packing, entertainment for the kids or husband or listen to what I should be doing. IT FELT GOOD!!!

Well to say I had know idea what I should bring. I brought a couple of projects to work on (did not look at them once) besides the material for class. Since I didn't know what I would end up doing or not doing, my bag for fabric stash and tools ended up in my big suitcase. I brought a variety of stash. You would think i would pack the obvious like thread in the colorway I was bringing for my classes. NOT. Beige I brought beige. I am not a beige person I love bright colors and sparklies. I did remember to bring my rotary cutters and rulers and mats oh and my foot pedal for the machine, pretty important thing a foot pedal is. One lady there mentioned someone forgot theirs. I was very happy it wasn't me.

I felt so much like the new kid in school. Slightly panicky and excited. It was like the first day of school and you don't know anyone. and then wait for it, a face you recognise. Yippee I have a friend here. My friend Linda M arrived with her friend Ursalla and I felt so much better. It didn't take long for us to figure out where our classes that we signed up were and we grabbed our seats and started to set up. We were lucky both of our classes were in the same room so we didn't have to pack up and move at the end of class we just were able to set up shop for the weekend.

Since class wasn't scheduled to start until 7:30( 8:30 because of a kitchen mishap) I started poking around in the other class rooms to see if I recognised anyone and nosy around other peoples projects. I am soooo glad I did, it took about 15 minutes for me to realize I had a bad case of stash envy. Fabric and colours in every ones stash looked so much better than mine, and I brought a good bunch of stash, a large suitcase full. Some ladies brought tubs of fabric. I was in fabric heaven.... I had finally found people that were just like me... Fabric People...I was not alone, I wasn't the only one.

I am tired now so I think I will retreat to my bedroom to sleep. I will talk more about this tomorrow

VALENTINES

Valentines is a day filled with love . not just romantic love but love of family , friends, and friends you haven't even met yet. I recieved a special Valentine from kwaanishiinh (a dragonfly) a very beautiful dragonfly. On her wings she carried a valentine from my mother. Little things that ment something to my mom.

My mom passed away from breast cancer in Sept 06. I still hope that I will wake up and it have been just a nightmare. But that is not to be. Instead she had this kwaanishiinh (dragonfly) send me gifts. worry dolls , worry stone, sparkly shoe and a pink ribbon.

My mother travelled alot in the past few years and she brought home a variety of things. worry dolls from South America, She picked up rocks from all over she has a few baskets of them. some are so smooth that its relaxings just to rub them. My mother also had a shoe fetish . if it sparkled she would buy them. her shoes had beads sequins stone and fancy sewing. She had a LOT of shoes.

When she recovered from her first bought with breast cancer she became an advocate for native women with breast cancer, and became involved with the National board. One night a year ago we spent an evening sewing together pink ribbons with a feather on them to sell to raise money for Breast Cancer.

My valentine carried gifts of my mother on her wings. Happy Valentines Day

Ladies night out.

Well here are some of the lovely ladies that I spent my Saturday night with. We had a lot of laughs lots of goodies to eat and of course we worked on our projects that we all hope never become UFOs. This was my first ever ladies night out quilting style and I had a blast. Now I am really looking forward to my weekend retreat coming up next weekend.

I wasn't half as wierd or wired on caffiene as I could have been. The picture below is one where we decided to take pictures of each other, on her blog I slightly resemble a cyclops. ( camera positioned on my forehead) I can only say that I hope that my next weekend will be filled with as many beautiful people as last night was, filled with laugher and giggles and helping each other out setting up order of blocks to be sewn together.

Swaps

Well I did it . I joined a swap. I joined a round robin and now in a row robin. You know I have always felt inadequate when it comes to showing my work. I am not saying that I don't sew well . More like I hope I sew good enough for everyone else. Ladies you know I am not the only one out there that feels that way. Always felt that my stiches might end up a little off kilter. Not good enough for a swap I might not hit that perfect scant 1/4 inch seam. Well I am now proud to say I am good enough. I am good enough to share with others. I am good enough for my self and I am good enough to challenge myself with a new style. Today my goal is to cut up 3 sets of four buckeye beauty pieces for a swap that I joined . The feeling is kinda like you know the water is going to be cold but you stick your toes in anyway. Well I didn't stick my toes in i jumped in with out checking the water. These ladies in one of my groups seem friendly enough. Nobody has sent out snotagrams to others. These ladies always seem to find the time to answer questions that newbies have. Suggest other ways of doing things one of them might work for you.

I worried about my one little block going to strangers in the round robin , what are they doing to it. Are they going to put colors I absolutely detest on it . What if the block was so weird they couldn't do anything with it. As I got the other peoples rounds I looked at it and asked myself what would do this justice . What would help make this RR sing . for every bit I had sewn on anothers work. I went with what was in my heart and that I fiqure is what its about. sharing pieces of yourself with others as you send your blocks around the group.

I got my round robin back yesterday. Its beautiful ladies . Thank you.

Stash family History

This lovely little pile of 50 odd fat quarters are all that remain of my ironing. I have prewashed everything. Just to Let everyone know I am a Fabriholic and in need of some serious intervention. In the weeks since Christmas I have purchased (laugh at me and my fat quarters) 109 fat quarters but I just have these left to iron. in six weeks thats like 27 yards. That doesn't include the flannel I purchased for quilt backings ( 6 different ones) plus a little bit for play and raggedy quilts for my nieces. In my defence I must state that I come from a long line of stashers and packrats.

Some people have traditions handed down through the family , things that others take great pride in. My families traditions is hoarding things like stash and doilies. Through out my life stash was there. When I was little I used to go to my great grannies little home. It had 3 rooms and a porch/mudroom with out door facilities. I loved going there when I was small granny always had something new in her basket for sewing. Her home was filled with quilts she made and hand made rugs. the prairie point rug was my favorite. It was made up with so many colours. and for a little kid you could stick your finger into the praire points. Sometimes she would get me to fold the squares into the triangles and then sew them into a rug. Other times she would get me to roll up the strings of fabric so she could have a ball of fabric to crochet into a rug.These bits of fabric were in and around her Chair in the living room. or under her treadle machine. My quess these bits of worn clothing that she she cut up was her stash. The tradition continues to her daughter My granny , I loved her so much , but she was a confirmed pack rat. She never through any thing out because you never knew when you might need it. When I moved into her home in the early nineties It was my job to go through everything, 265 doilies I counted two UFOs and stash. After my grandmother retired she worked in a second shop. there she would spend 6 days a week in a month and sort the donations . Some things were to worn to go out into the store and well you know it it ended up in my grannies closet to make its way to a quilt or even a rug or two. all those worn flannels and polyester double knits (yuck) were her stash. As for the doilies some were so fine I know these ones where great grannies. The bigger ones made with a heavier cotton were my grannies. You can never know when you need a doily. Moving down the line is my mother. She passed away in Sept of 06. I miss her so much. She grew up on an island on Lake Manitoba so she collected floats from fishing nets. I have absolutely no idea why she collected them they are just there. There are boxes of them in the garage. I have absolutely no idea what we are going to do with those.

All in all every one has a quirk or two. Mine is to have hundreds upon hundreds of fat quarters . Good thing I love scrappy quilts.

Farts and Fabriholic

Fabric aquisition road trips. .... I have had one or two to many. Ever since I pick up my beautiful little yellow car I have been travelling to all the near by quilt stores in Winnipeg. I have picked up something at every one of them. The other day as i was in a QS i thought hey I am going on a retreat in two weeks. I need 1 fabric many different shades. I did it. bought 12 fat quarters . I brought them into the house in my tote so dahling husband didn't see that I brought new fabric into the house. In numerous totes I have brought in yards and yards of fabric. guilt is the reasoning that I snuck the fabric into the house. Like an alcoholic I have stash hidden around the house. I even have two of the big tough tote bins at my mothers house with fabric in it. I need help. Evey time i go to a quilting class which I joined to use up my stash (like that is happening) I pick up something . My body quivers in anticipation when I hear my fav QS has new fabric. They have the Chocolate line . I love chocolate. Just the name inspires me to pull out my credit card. Fabric calls to me it unfurls from the bolt and waves at me as I walk in the door of the shop. Sale bolts jump up and down 50% off us come here take a look take me home you need me. STOP I say I shouldn't buy you and then the Fat quarters start up. We don't cost as much as a full metre or yard come and take a look at us . We are blue violet reds oranges. buttery creams and there is some chocolates sitting demurely on the shelf. Its at this point I should run. Sigh I never do. Now my stash is languishing in bins and tubs and totes through out the house and now they are screaming at me . You haven't touched us. The guilt level reaches a new level I join stashbusters . They will help me. I aspire to be as good as those ladies that are signed up for NO BUY. Brave these ladies are. In two weeks I go on a retreat ...there is a quilt store in the same building. That will be a true test of my willpower . Will my nerve and intentions stand firm, or will i give in to my compulsions. only time will tell.

Batteries

I went to a shower a few years ago and played some games. Everyone knows what the purse game is? Well here is how it goes the host makes up a list of items and and when she calls them out and you have them in your purse you stay in the game. I carry everything in a massive tote. A screwdriver was one of the last items , me and the other woman had them in our purses. Me a regular sized Phillips and the other lady a tiny wee one for glasses, we both stayed for the next round. They called batteries next. I had a sandwiche baggy with eight batteries in it. Yeah I won. Batteries hit my purse one year that darling step daughter recieved her digital camera. They came in handy as her camera ate the batteries so quickly. I still have batteries in my purse because of my camera. Mostly because I forget to take them out, but the event of a discman stoping, a remote control quitting and the worst thing, childrens toys running out of juice when the toy is the one thing that is keeping the darlings from driving me and their mother insane, I am prepared.