Busy time

The busy fall harvest has started. But the weather is beautiful and that is a great help. I have been very busy and that's why I skipped a week. First I was in Toronto for 3 days where I gave one trunk show and taught a two day workshop. I was worried about the drive into town, but in the end it was not bad. Barely home we took off for a few days to Ohio. There we met the tail end of the hurricane with very strong winds and no hydro. We did do some shopping and I managed to get fabric for a new MCC quilt idea. More about that later. At one of the Bed & Breakfasts, I saw this seed bag. The grandfather of the owner had started this company and when she found this bag, she had to have it. Wouldn't you know -- later, when we were later in an Antique Mall in Berlin, Laurence found the same bag, in very good condition! If you are looking for something special, send him to look for it. If at all possible, he will find it! On Tuesday we went to the big agricultural show near Columbus. By 3pm, we had seen it and decided to go home. A lot of people in the area were still without hydro. So just after midnight we were home in our own beds. The next day was guild meeting and I asked for a show of hands of people, who would be interested in starting another quilt for the Mennonite Relief Sale. At the end of the 2 meetings, 60 had shown an interest, so it will be a go. When I was putting things in the car to go to Toronto, I dropped my camera in the garage. Not a good thing to do. It still works, kind of. These pictures are taken with my Nikon D40. Up to now I could not get them on blogger. Thanks to my brother I managed this time, but the screen looks different. I have no idea how it will look in the end. But at least I tried. This little fellow we found on the hood of the tractor yesterday. The first time I saw one. The second orchid wall-hanging with sashiko top is finished. This one has yellow ladyslippers with the roots showing. The roots are twisted overdyed silk ribbon. I did the sashiko first with Nr 5 overdyed pearl cotton (does not go very easy), before I put the frame in with the reverse applique. It has been very good weather. We tried the white beans, but they are not quite ready, so now we are harvesting the soybeans. Then right after the winter wheat has go in the ground. So it will be busy, busy, busy!

Yellow Lady slipper

The last week I have been busy with another sample for a 2 day workshop. The center is a yellow lady slipper. I used about 7 green fabrics, mostly batiks. For the flowers I used 3 fabrics , a yellow fossil fern with orange spots, a multi colored brown/orange for the sepals and a multi colored piece for the center of the flowers. The roots are twisted 1/2 inch wide overdyed silk ribbon. This is all appliqued by hand. Surrounding the plant will be a row of sashiko. Usually I use a cream colored thread, but this time I use a number 5, overdyed perl cotton. This looks fine, but it is much harder to get through the fabric.

Tomorrow I"m going to Toronto for a few days. I had it in my mind, that it was today, but it always is a good idea to phone and make sure. And I would have been one day too early! So instead of going to the city I went with hubby to the Outdoor Farm Show near Woodstock. Turned out to be a good day with good weather.

Tomorrow morning I will load the car and after lunch set out for the big city. I will give a trunkshow at the Pieceful Night Quilters Guild. Then I will give a 2 day workshop (Orchids) at the Cock-A- Doodle Quilt store.

Pears galore

A long time ago we bought 2 very small pear trees. We were told, that we needed two for cross pollination. One grew, the other lasted a few years, till we had to cut it down. The one left usually had a few pears, all ready at the same time. But this year we have a big crop, much more then we can ever eat. I took some to town this morning and neighbours will be asked to come and pick some more. Canned pears are not a favorite around here. And the last jars I had on hand were filled with fruit relish last week. Now on the quilt front. The fabric in the center was given to me by Jenny after her visit to Hawaii as a thank you to for looking after their dog. It is a batik with small turtles and it is only available in Hawaii. I have looked at it for almost a year and a half and finally came up with this idea. The 1/2 yard was enough for 2 blocks. Both blocks are in the Hawaiian style, where you fold a piece of paper in 8th, draw a design on one part and cut it out. This is similar to the snowflake cut outs.

I drew this orchid block (final size 18 inches), basted the top onto the back and needle turned it by hand. It was a good excersize with all the sharp corners. For the border I found a fabric, that had the same colours and was a pretty good match.

Before the one above, I practised with this pine apple block. Much easier and faster to do. For the back I found a piece of fabric on sale with ginko leaves in the same colors. These 2 pieces will be added to the other pieces yet to be quilted. Next week I should have one more piece to show.