Stuff.....and more stuff

We are still moving. I thought that moving all the toy tractors of Laurence's collection was a big job, but I was wrong. I never realized how much you can stuff into a quilt room. Last week we took a table over and after my workshop last Saturday in Newmarket I dropped the quilts of on my way home. That was the beginning. The problem (or maybe not) is the fact that we are moving to a bigger house with a bigger quilt room. The "big " move is over a week away, but I like to have all the smaller things there by then, so carload by carload we take it over. You might wonder why it is all stacked in the center of the rooms, but next week the walls will be painted a lighter color and this way we can get around. All Laurence keeps saying :Do you really need this????? Who knows, but I might in the future at some point. And we all know what will happen. Once a piece of fabric is gone, you will need it....guaranteed.

Now on to something else. When we were still milking cows, we used to have different agricultural students for the summer or at times longer. Most were from Holland, but one was from Finland and one from France. We had some great times with these young guys. Some we still have contact with. From one of them I received a package yesterday. A few months ago he had send me a card with information about an upcoming quilt show at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, close to where I grew up. He send me all the information he could this time. He did not pursue a career in agriculture, but works at the museum in security.

When I left Friesland in 1970 I had never heard of quilts. Things have changed. There are a lot of quilters, even my sister-in-law. After her trip here last summer she found a local group and has been working up a storm, Just today I got pictures of her first finished quilt and some gifts she had made for Sinterklaas. Back to the Quilt Show. It looks to be an amazing show with lots of antique samples. You know what? If I did not have to move I would consider going over.

All for the want of a needle

At a busy time like this I love to knit socks and do sashiko. Both are easy to pick up and work at for a short period of time. Recently I bought 2 new books about sashiko by Susan Briscoe, and both are very good. My eye caught the picture of the koi and since I had just the right overdyed pearl cotton and a new piece of 14 inch wide sashiko fabric I wanted to give it a try. But... where were the needles? I have a small bag where I keep all my sashiko supplies in and it was nowhere to be found. Now most of my quilting things are in boxes, ready for the move, and I was not willing to go through them all. Finally it dawned on me that I usually keep a small piece of fabric with a needle in with the patterns I use for a workshop. And yes, it was there and I have been stitching off and on. Since Monday we have ownership of the new place and we will be moving in the next few weeks with the "big" move in the beginning of December. This is the house before the snow and yes, it is bigger then we really need, but I will have a big room for quilting. This is not a good picture of the room. The sheers will be taken down. Light will be the big issue. There is only one window, but we are considering another window in the wall on the right. There is no overhead lighting. Now I would like to know if anybody has any good ideas about light. What works for you, and what should I stay away from? The walls will be repainted a lighter color and I will make a design wall on the left. It's been a busy week. Jeanette got us tickets to "The Sound of Music" in Toronto last Friday. It was a wonderful show. We stayed overnight and visited the Royal Ontario Museum the next day. After 4 hours, I'd seen enough for one day! On my way home I got a gentle reminder that winter is coming: a dusting of snow made things slippery, but I kept the car on the road. Then Monday, a drive through the snow up to Southampton, with a trunkshow in Owen Sound that evening and a workshop yesterday. Despite the falling snow, almost everybody showed up. Just barely on my way home I ran into a accident with a totalled car, which didn't help my confidence, but the weather got better and I made it back in one piece. Now one more workshop on Saturday in Newmarket and it is over for the year!

Changes

I love it ,when I have another orchid in bl0om now that the weather outside is cold and miserable. I bought this one on sale last winter, after it had bloomed. During the spring it fell on the floor and split in 3 parts. One was very small and has not shown much growth. I gave one away and kept this one. Both bigger ones are blooming or close to it. Now I hope that we can enjoy the flowers for a long time I have been machine quilting some more. The center is done and I did it with the feed dogs up, so basically it is straight sewing. The border will be free motion. Now you might wonder why the quilting frenzy, but...... as you can see I'm packing. Yes, after 34 years here on the farm we are moving in a few weeks. Not far, but it is a move and over the years you can accumulate a lot of "stuff" But I will get a bigger and better room for my quilt making! More next week. Next week Monday I will be in Owensound for a trunk show and the next day for a workshop This time it is Crazy Quilting.

Indian Summer

After our first snow last week, it is back to some beautiful sunny days. It's what we would call "Indian Summer." Usually we need those days to finish the harvest. As of yesterday, all our crops are harvested. A few more days at neighbours' and it is over for another year. Looking back, this has been a good year with decent crops. It is not as if all the field work is done, but if it has to be, that can wait till spring. On Saturday we had a craft/talent day at our church, to show some of the talents that members in our church have. It was fun and very informative. I had a collection of quilts at the end of the room. It is not often that I can see so many hanging. Mine were not the only quilts. My friend Karen is an excellent piecer, whose Dear Jane quilt you can see hanging in the back. Her daughter Kendra helped mother for the day. It is too bad, that I only seem to be able to upload 3 pictures with Picassa at a time. There were some excellent wood workers, a sandal maker and our minister, who makes beautiful Shaker boxes. I could not resists and bought a whole set of 6 made out of cherry wood. I just love them. I made this quilt top a while ago and had enough time this past week to do the machine quilting. It is a Smile Quilt and will be donated to the hospital in Kitchener. At the last count, our guild had donated over 880 quilts to be distributed to seriously sick children. I hope they will bring some sunshine to a sick and often scared child.