Thursday, April 30, 2009
Storm
Saturday started out great. I managed to make it to the Regional Meeting of the Hort. Society for the first time. Learned a lot and had a good time. I even won the door prize, a beautiful planter. The sun was still shining when I came home. After a quick change I went to the field to see if I had to help Laurence, who had started to plant corn. He was sure it would rain soon.
I came back home, ready to work in the garden. That did not happen. A short time later it got very dark, then a terrible wind came up. Soon after the rain started. Before long the hydro went off. A few minutes later, the beeper started up, letting me know there was an alarm situation in the barn. I couldn't get the car out of the garage, but did manage to start the very old chore truck. In the driving rain I did manage to get to the barn... where Laurence had everything under control. One less worry: I'm totally useless with equipment!
By supper time, still no hydro. We went out for supper -- as did all our neighbours! It's a farmer thing: our barns had hydro, thanks to big diesel generators, but nothing at the house. The whole area was without power. Over 40 large poles had to be replaced. Sunday morning we got a small generator from the fellow who rents our farm house. He had power through one of the big generators, large enough to plug in the freezer and fridge and the coffee pot.
By late Sunday evening power was restored. Everything was working....except the Internet. It was back to it's old tricks. This afternoon the technician came out and after a few hours he made everything work, but according to him it can be better, so he is coming back with a larger receiver for on top of the roof. This small wall hanging is an old workshop sample. I finished it and will give it to the guild to be used as a door prize. It was another try at getting better at machine quilting.
The orchids are doing very well. This pansy orchid is finally blooming. I had no idea what the blooms would look like and it seemed to take forever for them to open up. All the plants for outside planting are in the garage to harden. It will be a few weeks yet before I can plant them. Quilt Canada in Saskatoon is coming closer and I have to get things organized.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Papercuts... and more
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Goodbye to the Postcard Quilt
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
A messy room
The picture on my last entry managed to get through after trying it for I don't know how many times. So let's be bold this time and try 2 pictures.
It is way more fun, when you can show what you are doing.
My sewing room is getting there, but I have to find place for few more items.
At least my design wall is up, minus the grey flannel. I have not been able to find some. I did take the old pieces with me when we moved, but they are discolored and new pieces just would look better.I have been busy squaring the blocks I received for the paper cut quilt. I have not given it a name, so for now we will go by that.
I have received almost all the blocks back and will get one more at the next guild meeting( over 70 in total).
You see here the work of absolute beginners to very accomplished appliquers. And I'm very impressed. It might not stay this way. I have 10 extra blocks and 4 extra triangles, enough for a large wallhanging. You can see the fabric for the sashing and binding at the bottom.
It will have a border( 5 pieces for each side plus 4 corner pieces) , but I will not cut those pieces till the center has been finished.
Tomorrow my friend Carol will come to help me with the lay-out. An extra pair of eyes is always better.
And if time allows we will start with the sewing.
I have to show you my pride and joy. This cattleya orchid has been blooming for over a month. I got it from Jenny for mother's day last year. It had 1 flower, this time it has 5. It was fun to watch the new stem develop till it finally had the flowers.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Another month.....another snow storm
We woke up this morning and snow was blowing across the windows.
Laurence had a meeting in Guelph and he left with the car, but later he called and told me, that I better stay home.
He had almost gone in the ditch and that with him being a very good driver. The roads had not been plowed and were awfull.
So I have been home alone today and I got a lot of things done.
The accountant will be here next week and I have some catching up to do in that department. And I squared most of the blocks I received for the next Relief Sale quilt
Last week was busy. I was for 2 days in Toronto and had 2 very enjoyable workshops. As usual the lunches alone were enough to want to come back,. And yes, I drove in Toronto and with a few extra twists and turns I managed to make it in time for both the workshops. The next time it will not be quite as scary.
Friday I picked up the rest of the blocks in Kitchener and almost all have been returned. And we started the work to change my web site. I hope we get it all arranged in the coming weeks. Also the refusal of Picasa to upload pictures to Blogger. It isn't fun to do this without being able to show pictures.
Inside it is a little bit like spring. My begonias are growing almost too fast. The canna's, dahlias and Asiatic lilies are up.
I have this problem almost every year. I cannot wait and than I have all these huge plants in the house, ready for transplanting and the weather is not suitable yet.
Just got an email from Greenwood Quiltery in Guelph. I will be teaching a workshop there on Saturday, April 18th .It will be an introduction to Sashiko. There are a few spots open. If interested you can phone 1-866-364-2790
I have attached one picture. I just cannot give up.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Back again
I keep adding pictures, but I'm unable to put them on this blog. I'm thinking about re-doing the whole website.
But anyway I'm back from my trip to Perth. I left Tuesday with beautiful weather and it was an easy trip.
For the second part I just put the car in cruise control and told it to stay in between the lines, well almost that easy. 420km later I was there. The trunkshow went well and I had a very enjoyable 2 day workshop. We started with the orchids. That brought the topic to orchids. And as usal you find out all kinds of things. I knew that there are white lady slippers in the wild up in Bruce County. Last year I found out, when I was on Manitoulin Island, that they have yellow lady slippers there. This time I found out, that in the 1930th somebody planted
Showy lady slippers ( white with a pink lip) in a swampy area near Perth. This is now a conservation area and in the spring you can find up to 16.000 orchids in bloom. What a sight that would be!!!
The trip home had a few detours. That just meant, that I saw some more of the country side. And I had to stop at the That Bead Lady store in Newmarket. I did come out with a few more things for my crazy quilting workshop.
Then on Saturday it was our yearly trip to Jeanette's with the truck. We also had to bring the chainsaw, since a few small trees had to be removed. Once all that work was done, the guys went to the landfill site and the 2 of us went to the Cloud Orchid Greenhouses. They are only open one week-end each month and since this was the week-end I could not let it pass.
I did buy a good size lady slipper and a few smaller plants, 2 close to blooming. But this will have to be the end. Even with my big windows I cannot handle more.
We have had some nice days and I have been potting up some calla's, dahlia's and canna's.There are lots of shrubs and greenery, but not many flowering plants around here.
Tomorrow I will have to get ready for my next trip to the Cock-A-Doodle store in Toronto. I will be teaching there on Wednesday and Thursday. Crazy quilting and small landscape.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Spring is in the air
It has been too long and I cannot even blame the Internet. It has been working well, almost as fast as it was on the farm.
But I have had a nasty case of the stomach flue and have been sick for over a week. This is the first day I'm feeling like doing anything again. I did loose some wheight, but there must be easier ways.
I have lots of pictures to show, but Picasa will not let me upload them to Blogger. I must have tried 20 times. It is clear I need some more help.
While I was sick the cabinets in the quilt room were installed .I could not get interested till this week. They look very good and will hold a lot of "stuff"
Next on the list was the installation of the lights. A call to our electrician brought same day service. So now I have lights, a design wall (minus the grey flannel as of yet) and storage!
It will take me some time to go through all my boxes before I move them. This is a good time to see what deserves a move or what I can do without.
Tomorrow is guild meeting and again it will be a long day. The blocks for the Relief Sale quilt are due, so I need to go to both meetings. I also want to look for the grey flannel and something suitable for the sashing for this quilt.
Then Thursday I have to get cracking and get my things organized for next week. On Tuesday I will be driving to Perth (at least 6 hours from here) for a trunkshow and a 2 day workshop. Im looking forward to it now, but still I am glad I have another week to recuperate.
The last few days have been spring like. There are 2 things I miss at our new place.
There are no birds at the bird feeders. We have one bird, a resident hawk....enough said.
And there are no spring flowers here. On the farm I have planted all kinds of spring bulbs over the years and I will be doing that here in the fall. But my orchids make up for it. My cattleya has 5 huge flowers and other plants are showing flower stalks.
I will keep on trying to get this picture thing workinbg
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Not there yet
It seems that at times you cannot win. That is the case with our Internet.
On Friday the technician came out again, climbed on the roof in cold and windy conditions. Our "barbeque" grill was broken. Once that was replaced it seemed to work. At least on my laptop. The other computer still was of most of the time. We were told that we are at the end range of 3 different towers, but they are working on upgrades!
Yesterday we had local computer fellow come out. He made it work in the house on both computers, but the only thing not working right now is Blogger.
I cannot get pictures loaded from Picassa 3 to Blogger. Must have tried it half a dozen times. So this is again without pictures, but that too will come. I just need some more help.
Should be packing for my trunkshow tonight for the Halton Guild in Burlington.
Then a second day of my Lady Slipper workshop on Saturday at Greenwood in Guelph.
And we heard this morning, that the cupboards for my quilt room will be installed next Thursday. Then the electrician and I can move everything in its place.
Will show some pictures as soon as I can figure things out.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Baby quilts
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Back to winter
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
With Internet.....but without transportation
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Internet....but no pictures
We finally got Internet yesterday. We phoned another company and in one day later they were here.
Since then I have been trying to get pictures on here, but nop success. So this time it will have to be without pictures.
Christine wondered how the Postcard quilt came to be, so I will try and answer .
This is the 5th quilt I have organized for the Mennonite Relief Sale in New Hamburg. And they all started the same.
Something pops up in my mind. Next the question: is it possible to do. The project will have to be for a big group with different skill levels, from beginners to very advanced.
Once I think ti over for a long time, I bring it up at a guild meeting. I explainb my idea and ask for interest. If enough members show an interest I will proceed.
With the Post card quilt I set up 2 workshops, where I taught making 4 by 6 inch fabric post cards.
Everybody interested took an instruction sheet home. They had to make a 4 by 6 inch fabric postcard.It had to show something that MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) is involved with.
I received over 80 cards. I took them in to the local office and from there they went to the head office in Pensylvania. From there the staff distributed the cards to volunterrs all over the world. Their instructions were to write a short note on the back, put a stmap on and pop it in the mailbox.
We received just over 5o back.
During this time I pieced the center of the quilt in the trip-around-the-world pattern. Over that I appliqued the world map, showing where volunteers lived. Next step was to take it to my friend Carol, who hand quilted it.
Once the cards were back I sewed them around the center. Next came another strip of piecing with mariner compasses. The final step was the hand quilting of the border.
Quilts like this take a long time from idea to finished quilt. Usually I try to get one together every 3 years and they usally end up being the feature quilt, as the Post card quilt will be this year.
Next time more pictures
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Internet....or lack of
No we have not been sick or been in Florida.
After 5 weeks of all kinds of excuses the tech guys finally came out last Thursday to hook us up to the Internet , at least that's what we thought. By supper time it did not work, but they promised to be back later. Well later was Monday, after we told them we were concidering to take everything out. But we were told the new tower was not up to speed, but just wait.
We did get some kind of action in the next day or so, but no email or more than a few websites. So this afternoon Laurence took the computer back to the farm. Less than 5 minutes after he phoned, telling me that everything was working there, we got a call. The tech guys had figured it out and everything worked fine. Now what to do. Take it all back or just say forget it and find somebody else.
So here I'm again sitting in a cold house,
Next time I have more pictures.
Last week I taught the first 2 workshops for the guild ( to make the next quilt for the Mennonite Relief Sale). I had 21 and 15 in the class. 2 more workshops on Friday and Saturday, each with about 15. I have to say that the enthousiasm is fantastic.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Postcard Quilt.......delivered
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
New year and new project
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Year's End
This has been a year of up and downs.
My mother passed away the first week of January. Although she was almost 92 years old, she was in reasonably good health. She passed away very suddenly and it came as a big shock to the whole family. It meant a fast trip over Holland for the funeral.
Then in the beginning of June I spend a week in St. John's, Newfoundland for Quilt Canada. This was the second time I was teaching and it is always fun, but very tiring.
Next came the wedding of Shawn and Emily. It was a big party with a big tent on the front lawn of her parent's farm. Here is a picture of the couple in front of the canola. The whole farm was put in canola and everybody hoped that the weather would cooperate and it would be a sea of yellow around the farm. And it did work out. Right now the couple is back in a cold Alberta.
Then in October we were given the opportunity to buy another farm with a big, almost new house. It did not take us long to decide, and 3 weeks ago we moved in. At first it was very strange, but we are starting to get used to it.
As you can see, Laurence has been busy putting his collection of farm toys away. And yes, I'm aware that he is, like most farmers, color blind when it comes to farm equipment, is it big or small. Most farmers favor a certain color and in our place it is green and yellow.
We had a lovely time over the holidays. First a day with family, then a day with friends. There was lots to eat and we had a lot of fun. For some, it was just too much and they needed a rest.
We have had the strangest weather over the last week, from snow to rain the gale force winds to ice.
Christmas Day and Boxing Day were fine, but Saturday it started to rain and with the high temperatures the snow and ice disappeared very fast. There were a lot of wet basements. We were fine, because our house stands on a small rise. Then Sunday more hard winds and at times no hydro. But things have improved. The weather is cold, but clear , the hydro is back on and the Internet is working.
I'm still sitting in our farm house. With all the repairs there still was no time to hook us up. And yes, it is still cold in here. We did clean the house and it looks like we have the place rented out too.Time to find a warmer place.
Wishing everybody out there a very Happy 2009!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Papercut blocks
The day we moved it seemed that each a certain role. One of my friends is involved with interior decorating and she walked around with an electric drill to hang things up.
Once my Hoosier cabinet was in place she decided that it was the place for my Hindelooper and Workumer pieces.
My mother grew up near the town of Hindelopen. This is a small town in the north of Holland with a very distinctive folk art, developed over the centuries.
I still remember a room in a grandparents house,full of painted furniture. Now I do not have any large pieces, but over the years I gathered a nice collection of smaller items. They were scattered all over the house, but this looks much better. On the bottom shelf is stoneware from Workum, a town close to Hindelopen. This mostly brown and green pottery has been made for centuries, but a few years ago the factory closed. Over the years my parents would bring smaller pieces over. A few of the larger flower pots have returned to dust, because they do break easily.
We are slowly getting used to our new house. But the computer is still at the old house, so while I'm doing this in the cold, hubby is packing the last of his John Deere toys. Tomorrow I'm going to Ikea for 2 more glass fronted book cases. That should do it
Than it is up to him to get them all on display.
I did have to make a few samples for my new Papercut workshop. I will teach that one in the new year at Greenwood Quiltery.
I promise to update my list for the next year soon.
At the end of January I will teach 4 workshops for my guild. This will be the start of another quilt for the Mennonite Relief Sale. This time it will be a very traditional one with paper cut-outs. and these samples will be used for the workshops.
It's getting too cold here. We hope that we will have our new installation soon.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Finally.....the move
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Still more moving..... and more snow
Now back to some more packing. Next thing on the list are my "good" dishes. For somebody, who can be clumsy at times , that can be stressfull.
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