This blog is supposed to be all about my journey into the quilt world. What I have done, where I have been ,and what my new ideas are.
But lately nothing has happened.
This spring I took a break when I had shoulder problems. After a few months of therapy I felt much better and was able to finish some projects and I even started blocks for a new quilt. I tried to be careful and even timed myself, but slowly the pain came back.
I have been back in therapy for a few weeks now, but the pain is still there. It is the same shoulder, but not the same problem. Anyway, I will take another, hopefully, short break.
My sewing room has never been so clean!
I know, that as I will feel better, new ideas will come and I will be able to continue this blog.
Till then I will take another break.
Saturday, December 01, 2012
Thursday, November 01, 2012
It's a boy!
Jonas Emanuel Ngo, our first grand son, was born October 19th .Both mother and son are doing well. I have been spending most of my time at their place for the last few weeks.
First I stayed with Jeanette, while Tony had to be away for work. I did make it home for our first guild meeting, but I was barely home 5 minutes from the meeting and the phone rang. She was on her way to the hospital. 2 days later Jonas, all of 8 lbs, 6 oz was born. Jeanette needed surgery and that's the reason I have been there.Next week Tony will be back to work and I will be staying with her. The not being able to lift thing is the hard part.
Today I had a visit from our grand daughter, who is by now almost 6 months old. It is amazing how much babies change in just a few months. I made a touchy-feely quilt for Evelyn with corduroy,velvet, terry cloth, fake leather and a few other things. My plan was to make it bigger, but than it would be hard to carry around for a small child. With some ribbons and lace it should keep her happy.
Now that she has 2 teeth it is time for bibs. This is the first try and seems to fit very well. Notice the cute John Deere fabric with pink flowers! the back is terry cloth. Next step will be to make as many as I can get out of 1 meter of fabric. She can share some of them with her cousin Grace, who is almost the same age.
Now some not so good news. My shoulder has been causing a lot of problems, again. This spring, after all the physio therapy things went very well. It was back to some applique and I thought, that I took it easy. But slowly it got worse again and now it is the same or maybe even worse than it was before. So it will be back for therapy.
I'm almost finished with a small landscape I want to use for my landscape workshops and that will be it for a while. no more block of the month.
First I stayed with Jeanette, while Tony had to be away for work. I did make it home for our first guild meeting, but I was barely home 5 minutes from the meeting and the phone rang. She was on her way to the hospital. 2 days later Jonas, all of 8 lbs, 6 oz was born. Jeanette needed surgery and that's the reason I have been there.Next week Tony will be back to work and I will be staying with her. The not being able to lift thing is the hard part.
Today I had a visit from our grand daughter, who is by now almost 6 months old. It is amazing how much babies change in just a few months. I made a touchy-feely quilt for Evelyn with corduroy,velvet, terry cloth, fake leather and a few other things. My plan was to make it bigger, but than it would be hard to carry around for a small child. With some ribbons and lace it should keep her happy.
Now that she has 2 teeth it is time for bibs. This is the first try and seems to fit very well. Notice the cute John Deere fabric with pink flowers! the back is terry cloth. Next step will be to make as many as I can get out of 1 meter of fabric. She can share some of them with her cousin Grace, who is almost the same age.
Now some not so good news. My shoulder has been causing a lot of problems, again. This spring, after all the physio therapy things went very well. It was back to some applique and I thought, that I took it easy. But slowly it got worse again and now it is the same or maybe even worse than it was before. So it will be back for therapy.
I'm almost finished with a small landscape I want to use for my landscape workshops and that will be it for a while. no more block of the month.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Not crazy anymore
I have been working on this block for a long time. I get all enthusiastic about a new block and then there comes a point, where I'm out of ideas and I have to put it away. That's what happened here. Since this is the month to get things finished I picked it up again and continued the embroidery. The border will be a dark brown velvet, what I managed to find at a Fabricland. I also like to put a few more lace pieces on the border and maybe do some more bead work. But for now it will hang on my design wall. I like to have a good look and see if I can improve on it.
By now I have used almost all of the lace corner pieces and cigarette silks I received from my English friend Janet. They added a lot to this block and the one on the Memories quilt.
The baby quilt for Jeanette and Tony has been bound and as of Sunday delivered. And it is nicely in time. The baby is due to arrive in the next few weeks. When I went to Greenwood Quiltery to look for a fabric to go with the blues I had a tough time. This lime green was one of the choices, but not my first choice. The more I looked at the combination though the better I liked it. And I'm glad I choose this piece. It makes for a bright combination . And it has Jeanette's stamp of approval.Our tastes are often not the same, but this one scored a home run.
The nice weather seems to be over for now. Today we had rain,even some hail. This is what it looked like outside the kitchen window at 6 o'clock tonight. I love the sun shining over the corn. I though we would be finished with the harvest for a few days, but at supper time it was announced, that the corn harvest will start tomorrow, weather permitting, so it will be back to cooking and baking!
By now I have used almost all of the lace corner pieces and cigarette silks I received from my English friend Janet. They added a lot to this block and the one on the Memories quilt.
The baby quilt for Jeanette and Tony has been bound and as of Sunday delivered. And it is nicely in time. The baby is due to arrive in the next few weeks. When I went to Greenwood Quiltery to look for a fabric to go with the blues I had a tough time. This lime green was one of the choices, but not my first choice. The more I looked at the combination though the better I liked it. And I'm glad I choose this piece. It makes for a bright combination . And it has Jeanette's stamp of approval.Our tastes are often not the same, but this one scored a home run.
The nice weather seems to be over for now. Today we had rain,even some hail. This is what it looked like outside the kitchen window at 6 o'clock tonight. I love the sun shining over the corn. I though we would be finished with the harvest for a few days, but at supper time it was announced, that the corn harvest will start tomorrow, weather permitting, so it will be back to cooking and baking!
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Finally, I seem to have figured it out, maybe!
When I went to Blogger last week, I noticed that everything had been changed again. I was told, that it was for my best interest and that it all would be much easier. Well, not for me. Whatever I tried, I could not get the pictures uploaded. Tonight I gave it one more try and up to now it worked. Don't ask me what I did. I might not be able to do it again, but for now here I am.
I have decided , that October will be a month to finish some projects and to start a new pattern for my landscape workshop. First one up was to change the binding on this crazy quilt.
I would like to enter it in a show, but the size was not right.All it needed was a little extra on 2 sides. I took the binding of and replaced it with a split binding with ruffled lace in between. I also rounded the corners. The binding was hard to sew on. With the lace and the 4 layers of the quilt it got to be very thick. But I did manage. The sleeve has also been replaced. I have to say, it looks better. and I'm glad I put the extra effort into it.
It has been 2 weeks since I went up to teach in Buckhorn and Brighton. I had a very good time and I think that the workshops went well. I find ,that quite often, quilters are also gardeners. I know, we just planted an oak tree, but I always wanted to start my own tree. At my first stop I collected some acorns and after I came home ,planted them and then covered them with chicken wire, just so the squirrels cannot get at them. Bogey also gave me 3 small chestnut trees. One had been planted , one will stay in the pot and one I gave away. And the last evening at Carol I could dig up some Russian Sage, also planted and looking good.
Sunday I finally made it to the orchid show in Cambridge. It was a wonderful show was an unbelievable display of flowering orchids. My questions were answered by some very friendly members of the society. I behaved well and came home with only 2 new plants , some pots and soil. Finally I was told, how to prevent creepy crawlies to come in with the orchids. Monday morning I lined all 25 up , gave them a bath in a soap solution , sprayed them and once dry, took them inside. And yes, I have just enough room to put them all in front of a window. The first ones have new flower shoots coming up already, but it will be at least a few months before anything will be in bloom.
Outside it looks like fall and most of my plants do not look very good. But the roses are still hanging in there. I love the combination of yellow and pink. They brighten up a whole room.
I have decided , that October will be a month to finish some projects and to start a new pattern for my landscape workshop. First one up was to change the binding on this crazy quilt.
I would like to enter it in a show, but the size was not right.All it needed was a little extra on 2 sides. I took the binding of and replaced it with a split binding with ruffled lace in between. I also rounded the corners. The binding was hard to sew on. With the lace and the 4 layers of the quilt it got to be very thick. But I did manage. The sleeve has also been replaced. I have to say, it looks better. and I'm glad I put the extra effort into it.
It has been 2 weeks since I went up to teach in Buckhorn and Brighton. I had a very good time and I think that the workshops went well. I find ,that quite often, quilters are also gardeners. I know, we just planted an oak tree, but I always wanted to start my own tree. At my first stop I collected some acorns and after I came home ,planted them and then covered them with chicken wire, just so the squirrels cannot get at them. Bogey also gave me 3 small chestnut trees. One had been planted , one will stay in the pot and one I gave away. And the last evening at Carol I could dig up some Russian Sage, also planted and looking good.
Sunday I finally made it to the orchid show in Cambridge. It was a wonderful show was an unbelievable display of flowering orchids. My questions were answered by some very friendly members of the society. I behaved well and came home with only 2 new plants , some pots and soil. Finally I was told, how to prevent creepy crawlies to come in with the orchids. Monday morning I lined all 25 up , gave them a bath in a soap solution , sprayed them and once dry, took them inside. And yes, I have just enough room to put them all in front of a window. The first ones have new flower shoots coming up already, but it will be at least a few months before anything will be in bloom.
Outside it looks like fall and most of my plants do not look very good. But the roses are still hanging in there. I love the combination of yellow and pink. They brighten up a whole room.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Article




Thursday, September 06, 2012
Fall landscape....finished

That's how far as it got and it was put in a drawer.
While talking to a friend I was advised , that if I ever wanted to put it in a quilt show, it would be better to have some quilting showing on the back, not just a plain piece of fabric.
That's when I wondered if the quilt as you go method would work.
I put a back behind the applique and did some more quilting
I squared the center piece, and sewed the first border pieces on in a flip as you go method and put batting in between.
This I quilted with a small pebble design.
Back to squaring the piece.
For the second border I had to change it somewhat.
Then it was back to quilting the second border in a straight design. I find this makes the piece lay flat.
The mitered corners worked well, what does not alway happen to me. Then the binding and sleeve and I was done!!!
And just in time. A new month was coming up and a new applique block was waiting for me.

One o'clock came, but no horses. When I asked I found out, that the show had been cancelled ,but nobody had bothered to change it on their Web Site.
These birds made up for it. The barn owl and great horned owl were featured on a Birds of Prey program and it was excellent.
Maybe this would be something for a future quilt.

Thursday, August 30, 2012
Denim patches



Friday, August 24, 2012
Back to an oldie




Saturday, July 28, 2012
Sashiko sampler


Saturday, July 21, 2012
Another sunny day



Thursday, July 12, 2012
Harvest

My job is to be in the house and answer the phone, so as soon as something has to be delivered or picked up, I'm there. Tough Job!
I have been working on a new applique block and you can see some of that behind the card. The card was send out a while ago and came back this week. More postage was needed .I hope it will make the trip overseas this time.

But we love to have her here.

Then we noticed them coming across our lawn. We have the whole farm in corn and it is much easier for them to cross the road here and go acorss the lawn, then through the corn. And they take their time. Most of the time they plop down, like a dog not far from the house and watch whatever we are doing. So here we are watching each other most often around dusk. That can go on for 10 minutes. It does seem ,that as soon as I get the camera, they start to move away. This fox on the picture came very close to the house.

Got to run. I got "THE CALL"A tractor is needed in the field, as soon as possible' please!
Friday, July 06, 2012
Mulch and more





Friday, June 29, 2012
Mistake




Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Another try


After months of physio therapy I'm on my own. I still have some pain and will have to keep on doing excercises, but up to now I can manage.But it all takes more time.

Halifax, Nova Scotia. And there was a reason. This years Quilt Canada was there. I had decided not to go and had not put in proposals to teach. But finally I did end up going. Why you might wonder.
I received the 2012 Canadian Quilt Teacher of the Year Award!
It was an honor to receive this award.
I received a beautiful silver, engraved seam ripper and a certificate. Now I hope, that I'm worthy of the honor.
I have not done much teaching since the beginning of the year, but that will change after the summer. I even have some ideas for new workshops.
Here you see Jeanette and me out at Peggy's Cove. It was a cool and blustery day, but that also meant, that there were not too many people around. We had a wonderful time at Jeanette's sister's Marjorie's place. She was a great hostess and tour guide. The time was too short there.
Monday, May 14, 2012
I'm back
Finally, I
feel like I have something to show again. It has been a long road and a lot has
happened. I noticed that Blogger has changed and I realized that I needed some
help. So this will be an update without pictures. Once we've got this figured out,
the pictures will follow.
My shoulder
is feeling much better thanks to a shot of cortisone and a lot of physiotherapy. I’m still not quite there, but I have been doing some appliqué again.
I realize that I will have to take it easier than before.
But as I
said, a lot has happened. The first few weeks of the year we were busy with
looking after grandma’s things. Even in a small room in a retirement home, you
can stash a lot!
At the end
of January/beginning of February, we went on a learning tour to Kenya and
Tanzania. We have been involved with the Canadian Food Grains Bank for quite a
few years and when our feed mill and the local Mennonite Central Committee
office organized this trip, I was ready to go. It took some work to get
Laurence interested, but now he is the one who wants to go back. We saw a lot
and experienced a lot. Anybody interested can find more about our trip at www.grainsofhopelearningtour.blogspot.com. I even met some quilters in
Nairobi -- more about that later.
And now to
the next big event! Any day now we hope to have our first grandchild: we have
been anxiously waiting for over a week now for a call from Shawn and Emily. Of course, with a baby comes a baby quilt! My friend Carol helped me accomplish that. Since Emily’s sister had a
little girl 3 weeks ago, I’m making a baby quilt for her as well, as we
speak. But at least now I’m able to do it all myself.
The weather
has been good. Most of the planting is done. The flower beds look great. I
filled up the holes here and there with new plants and now I hope that it all
will look as nice as I have envisioned.
This will be
it. We better try and get Blogger sorted out before I do more.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Taking a break.
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