2009 in Review - The Good, The Bad and The Experiences

January & February 2009


Winter was memorable in that we had so much snow we wondered if it would ever end. I grew up with snow on the ground for months, but snow on Vancouver Island is different. It doesn’t blow around in drifts and is NOT light to shovel. It’s heavy and wet. It seems Bob and I were shoveling snow every hour for days on end!

But there was a sparkle in all this. I was taking care of two of our granddaughters one Saturday and it was very snowy in the park close to our home, which has a hill in it. Alexcia and Faith were 10 and 6 at this time, so I took them to the park with one garbage bag each to go “tobogganing.” Alexcia, the oldest, obviously thought Grandma was a little loony taking them out with garbage bags but I explained that she would understand once she had tried it. They loved it and had so much fun on that little hill that we were out there for 3 hours. I didn’t toboggan, but I was kept busy getting them set to go and holding onto them until they were ready. The favorite picture in my mind is Faith at the bottom of the hill, trudging upwards for another ride, holding her garbage bag out to the side, and calling out “Gramma, this is SO fun!” But her garbage bag had dropped and she was holding nothing but air. Why oh why didn’t I take my camera!

March 2009

The only thing that stands out in this month is the fact that I went to visit my parents on spring break.  Mum and Dad had worked on some cross stitch squares, all snow man faces....haven't we had enough snow?????  However, while there I assembled all these blocks into a quilt which Mum will bring out for decoration at Christmas.  I was amazed at their stitching.  Dad is 94 and Mum 81 and silly me.....I didn't take a picture of it before leaving! 

April 2009

My first book “Embellishing with Anything” was released April 1. This month was filled with book signing engagements which were fun and very rewarding as everyone was really supportive and complimentary.

It was rewarding to see this come to fruition after almost two years of writing and sewing and proofreading, mailing parcels and emailing and, and, and......a lot of work and time invested, and finally, the results! 

May 2009

The highlight of this month was my trip to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to attend the Spring Quilt Market followed immediately by a week in New York City with two good friends. I was hosted at the convention by the publisher, and shared a room with Jan Krentz, another author with C&T. It was a wonderful, head-in-the-clouds kind of dream time for me and the best part was meeting and getting to know Jan.

I read somewhere that having "stuff" is not nearly as rewarding as having "experiences".  This trip was an affirmation of that .... the sites I saw, the people I met, the food I ate, the different cultures I witnessed, all added up as far more valuable than any possession I might buy at home.....except of course my books and sewing machine!

And then there was New York City. What can I say except I would go back in a heartbeat and I’d do it with the same two people! It was spectacular in so many ways I’m still absorbing some of the details!

June 2009

Coming back to home and the reality of a person's life after an experience like this could be an anti-climax.  But my home, my husband and even his dog were welcome sights too.  It was nice to be in my own bed, and here's what happened in our yard while I was gone....not Central Park, but pretty nice in it's own right! 

July 2009

July was highlighted by the birth of our 8th grandchild, Crüz. He won our hearts and our summer was very special because we saw him and his parents every single day for a couple of hours. We did not have this privilege with our other grandchildren as they did not live in the same town when they were born. Bob delighted in cooing over this baby on a daily basis! To the point where his dog showed obvious signs of jealousy! Nothing like a new and cheerful baby to bring out the silliness in us!

August 2009

In August my Mum came to visit from Edmonton. She is 81. She was only here for three days and we turned around and drove back to Edmonton. I had promised my 14 year old granddaughter I would take her with me this year and she booked the time off that fitted best at her work. Mum booked her flight on bonus points without calling first so it was a little unfortunate that she only had the three days on the island. That time was filled with visits from our children and grandchildren. An exhausting three days, but totally enjoyable.



We headed out for Edmonton, stopping and spending a night in Vancouver to visit with our son who lived there at the time. That was fun….we had dinner together, lots of laugh and a walk at English Bay….beautiful to say the least. A magical evening ended with a stop for gelato at a sidewalk table.

The next day we headed out on the drive, stopping at my friend Judy’s to stay overnight before finishing up the trip to Edmonton. Melissa loved West Edmonton Mall. First we went to the rides and she did all the adrenalin-rush ones…..I took pictures. Then we went to the pool. I love to swim so this part was easy for me. Melissa enjoyed laughing at her grandmother on the slide! She went on every one of them and some more than once. We swam in the waves, lay in the “beach” chairs and just generally had a great time there.


Our evenings were spent with Mum and Dad. It was great to see them and visit with them in a more peaceful environment than I was able to offer at my house!

On the trip back, we again stopped at Judy’s house. It was hot, hot, hot! We both enjoyed time at the lake close to where she lives. We played with fibre, she taught me to do silk fusion, and we visited late into the night. Melissa seemed to enjoy our stories as well. I would have loved to stay longer but Melissa had to be back at work so we had to leave.

The month of August is usually one in which Ionne McCauley (ionnequilts.com) and I usually arrange a “retreat” with all our quilting friends and a teacher. This year it didn’t work out so in retrospect, it was a good time for me to do some “finishing”. It’s an amazing thing. I’ve discovered that when you finish projects, it creates SPACE! So I’m trying to do more….I won’t even tell you how many UNfinished projects I have in my studio!


September 2009


Back to work. We have a new principal this year, who is working out well in that he is pleasant, dedicated and outstanding with the kids. After several years of leadership turmoil, this is a good thing. Nothing like working in a school to teach you to adapt to change.....the leadership changes and shifts about every three years. 

The outstanding thing about September this year was the color in the leaves. It was absolutely spectacular and lasted well into late fall. My window in my office had the most incredible scenery with mountains behind the colors and the green field. I caught myself several times gazing out the window and appreciating that!  But best of all, the sunflowers I planted were HUGE and rewarding.  I loved watching how their 'face' turned with the sun throughout the day. 



October 2009

Did anything happen in October?  It must have.  I can't think of anything outstanding that happened in October of 2009 in my life.  Wait a minute.....Is that the month when my son decided to take that beautiful grandchild and his wife and work out of town.....thousands of miles away.....so that the little person they brought back at Christmas was a different little person?  What a difference three months can make!  This is who left.

And this is who came back.....









November 2009

The highlight of November is always our retreat at Tamagawa.  The same group of people meet there twice a year to quilt, eat, inspire and just generally reconnect with each other.  We usually take things we have to finish or need input on.  This year I managed to finish quilting THREE quilts in the three day retreat.  What a sense of accomplishment.  I've posted a couple of these pictures before.  I felt SO accomplished!  And....the lesson learned is that "finishing" projects actually creates space!  What a concept! 

December 2009

This winds the year up at Christmas of course.  A time for family and friends and overeating.  Ours went really well and there were some touching and rewarding moments this year.  But I have to say that I was almost relieved to go back to work so that I could quit eating.  That tells you a part of what my New Year's Resolutions are!  One of the delights of our season was our youngest grandson....home for a visit.  We got to babysit.  Amazing how two people with aches and pains and disabilities can suddenly be on the floor being silly with a baby and not feel any of it! 

Baby Cruz & Giraffes

Our youngest grandson Cruz, (six months Christmas Day) had a mobile over his change table that was giraffes that dangled and twirled.  When he was barely a month old he was entranced with these giraffes and would follow them and twist his head to watch them....and then smile that adorable dimpled grin because he enjoyed them so much. 

Now he is six months old.....and teething. He has a rubber giraffe that he chews on.  (But his little Gumby is his favorite teething toy.)  I got a book for Christmas called "Itty-Bitty Toys".  http://www.knitpicks.com/books/Itty-Bitty_Toys__D31248.html

Lo and behold, there is a giraffe on the cover!  So of course, I had to make this for Cruz.  It was an enjoyable knitting project for the busy holiday times.  It's finished, and here's a picture.  I believe it should be felted to hold the snippets of wool in the pom poms, but he's so cute I haven't done that yet.  The giraffe I mean....Cruz is way beyond cute! 

2010 - The Year for Organization....Starting with Books!

This year we gifted ourselves with an IKEA Expedit storage unit for our den. I must admit to having a book fetish, and I own a lot of books. (I’ve always thought that in the event of a flood, I’d want to take my books first). They are reference books for fibre art techniques, gardening, stone work, knitting, art and the inevitable bibles, dictionary and thesaurus. I don’t keep very many novels because I don’t like reading them more than once! So those go to the book exchange and rotate….thus being kept on a different and smaller book shelf. My treasured collection has until now, been stored on a collection of garage sale shelving units and tended to look rather higgledy-piggledy.

When the unit arrived, I packed all my books into boxes and put the bookshelves we had out at the curb with a “free” sign on them. They disappeared the same day! I waited for the unit to get assembled but it wasn’t happening and I was beginning to feel a little grumpy about that.

Lo and behold, over the Christmas holidays, my darling husband assembled that unit for me and I spent a delightful day sorting and organizing and arranging and just generally fondling my beloved books. There’s something very cathartic about that activity – except for finding that I had two copies of three books! I guess I liked them really well!

But best of all, in telling my friend Joan, who shares my passion for books, about what a nice day I’d had doing that, she said something I thought was great“Having good books at home is like being able to take a one-on-one class whenever you feel like it, no matter the day or time.” . So, with her comment, I feel this collection is validated and can be justifiably expanded! Aren’t good and supportive friends the best thing in the world?

BLOG SHOPPING!!

Sometimes I sit in the evening and am totally uninterested in what my husband has chosen to watch on TV, am too tired to go to my studio and get productive, don’t want to go to bed yet because I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, but I need something to do. So, probably like millions of others on this earth, I go blog shopping on my lap top computer. Here are a few of the fun things I found last night:


http://thehowtogal.blogspot.com/

In this one I like the idea of the New Year’s Resolutions plan with an Infrastructure. I’m trying to figure out how to make it work with my goal of finishing all my UFO’s this year! Thought provoking, but I haven’t drawn mine up yet! Then I pressed “next blog” and got to this one:

http://thefabricofmeditation.blogspot.com/

This blog is interesting to me because not only is it a textile art blog, but it’s all faces. I like to put faces in my work as well so find this one inspiring and unique. As well, the photos look like a place I’d love to ride my bike! As you read further down, she has changed her blog so if you want to follow her as I will, her new address is:http://talesfrombeyondtheglimpse.blogspot.com/

Again, this is a video about a workshop with Sara Lechner of “Tales From Beyond the Glimpse” mentioned above. It’s worth watching….fascinating stuff she’s doing.
http://videosbysusanlenz.blogspot.com/2009/10/workshop-with-sara-lechner.html

And while there, the video site itself is pretty interesting. http://videosbysusanlenz.blogspot.com/

So now you can waste time and get inspired just as I did!

Memories and Memory Quilts

A couple of years ago my sister, a heart specialist in Children's Hospital, asked me if I would make a memory quilt for the mother of a patient who had passed away.  A 16 year old girl who had Downs Syndrome and a heart condition.  I said I would.  We met at her son's Rugby tournament and she delivered a package of t-shirts that had been worn by the girl.  I just put the package in my suitcase, we visited, watched the Rugby game, went to the needlework and other shops together, and then I came home. 

When I got home I opened the package.  It held 12 t-shirts.  Each and every one was wrapped in pink tissue paper and had a note on top written by the mother.  They said things like "This was her favorite shirt because the cow said Moo."  or "This is the last t-shirt she wore...the holes are from pins holding er IV cords."  I felt sacrilegeous opening the packages. It was put away for several months before I could bring myself to get it out and work on the promised "Memory Quilt".  In the end, my friend Joan helped me by scanning all the notes into the computer and giving me a CD of those files.  I then printed them out on fabric and each T-shirt that I cut to size was backed by fabric printed with the note that her mother had written about that shirt.  It was difficult to cut up those T-shirts and even more difficult to work on that quilt. 

But, when I got going, it seemed to come together nicely.  I sashed each of these blocks in "Reversible Quilting" style as described in Sharon Pedersen's book "Reversible Quilting.  http://ninepatchmedia.com/html/DV01RQ.html  When finished the quilt still looked a little dull so I added appliqued heart-shaped balloons and silk ribbons drifting between the blocks to liven it up.  In the end, it looked great.  I sent it to my sister and she sent me back photographs (not digital) that were pretty rewarding, but heartbreaking at the same time.  The mother was in tears, but thrilled. 

That being my experience with "memory quilts",  I was against doing it again.  But when my friend at work came and asked me if I would do one for her son who had just left for an apprenticeship in another town, I couldn't say no because she is such a special friend!  She gave me all kinds of t-shirts and tidbits that were applicable to her oldest son.  I put this quilt together: 

It is made up of hockey shirts, pyjamas for a little guy, pieces of "Bumpa's" shirt, his ball cap, his crib sheet, his favorite t-shirts, a karate belt and other tidbits from his childhood life.  There is a pocket on the back made out of a crocheted blanket, and it holds a scrap of the wallpaper from his room. 

I couldn't make one of these for my own children because I didn't keep enough to do it with!  What a mistake!  However, my friend did and this is the result.  When I showed her the pieced quilt top, she broke into tears......pretty strong testimony that I did a decent job of it.  She got the backing fabric and the batting and it got quilted and finished. 

But that's not the end of it!  This young man was going to get this quilt for Christmas.  But he announced that he had proposed to his girl (isn't that romantic?) and would be married this coming summer.  So Mum, my friend, felt that the second son should get his quilt for Christmas too.  She apparently spent a week or more pondering how to ask me to rush the second one so they could both get them at Christmas.  When she came and asked me about it, she was pretty close to tears, but I knew it was important to do this thing.  I said I could put the top together so she could present it to him, but would have to quilt and finish it after Christmas.  So she agreed and brought me a bag of goodies for the second son and I put this quilt together:

This one has two pockets on the front.  One from a hockey jacket that is designed to hold the remnants of the original "stuffy" the replacement of which although worn too, is featured top and center.  The "Blue Jays" patch is actually a piece of a shirt that unbuttons and inside there is a cloth book that the boy had.  This one includes a baby sock, his favorite "leather" jacket, sheets from his bed, his grad t-shirt and more.

I found I enjoyed doing these two memory quilts.  I don't know if it was because the mother, my friend, was so pleased, or if it was because the boys are alive and progressing with their life plans and it's all pleasant memories.  It is difficult to work with cotton, stretch, polyester, nylon and fake leather ....and have it all come out square, but I did enjoy working on"" them.

I thought "Mom" should keep the quilts for herself and cuddle in them when she's missing the boys, but  she's going to go through with her plan and give them to the kids for Christmas! 

An Old Crock and Koi Fish

Koi Fish are so intriquing.  They are actually trainable and become quite the pet.  They get used to a routine, they know who's coming to feed them and will go to the bottom of the pool if it's someone they are unsure of....like over active children....or a heron!  In the last place my husband and I lived, we did a lot of landscaping.  It's a form of art I wish I'd discovered as a young person.....an aptitude test at school said I should be a forest ranger!  In those days nobody had heard of landscaping......at least not in my family circle! 

But I moved to Vancouver Island and with the combination of milder weather and different plants, I discovered that I love to turn my yard into a piece of art work.  Every place we've lived, we did all kinds of decorative work in the yard and mainly just maintenance in the house!  But our magnum opus was the house where we had the koi pond, stream, water fall and lots of specimin plants and hidden areas of the garden for contemplation.  When we moved from this home, we took the biggest fish, breeding stock, to a friend in the country who had a very deep pond for them to "go wild" in and meet other koi living there.  We left only the smaller ones for the new owners.  These two fish were our favorites.  The pictures do not do them justice....they were taken when were transporting them and they were in plastic tubs that were big...two fit side by side in the back of the van to give you an idea what size the fish were!

Today we don't have a pond.  My husband is happy as he worried about the pump and the water levels and all those practical things. The biggest problem was the heron.  They were hard to keep away, illegal to kill, but stole our oldest fish and a lot of his offspring.  I used to think herons were artistic looking the way they stand on one leg and are so still.  Now I see them with a target on their breast!

But as for the pond, I miss it terribly.  I miss the running water, the birds bathing in it on a hot sunny day, the pet fish and even the frogs that made it their home and sang in the evening. 

But, not to be deterred, at this house I have an old crock.  It's an antique one and rather than make sauerkraut in it, I have it on the patio with two water plants and three goldfish.  Today I have to empty it, store the plants in a safe place, and put the goldfish in a big bowl for winter.  I do this to prevent the crock freezing and breaking over winter.  The fish would be fine in our milder winters, and just go to the bottom whee there is still water rather than ice.  But the crock won't survive so I have to clean it out and bring it inside. 

So, with fish on my mind, I've added a "Feed the Fish" gadget to play with in the side column.  I found it to be fun when I tried it out so there it is for you to try as well.

Baking ....or avoiding Baking?

Thankfully our rain and floods have stopped. Now we have it very cold. Not arctic style cold, and not unbearably cold, but a lovely change from howling winds and rains. No snow, beautiful sunrise and sunset, the beach is gorgeous, the mountains look cold and ready for the Olympic games….and it’s time to bake bread and stay home being cozy.

I’m getting out one of my favorite recipe and making it. It’s called comfort food I believe! Here’s the link to the recipe. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/seeded_multigrain_boule.html



This is a great site to visit for really good and healthy recipes. I’m not a cooking person, in fact the only cooking I truly like doing is baking bread and cookies. And I've just realized I should have been started on the Christmas baking by now....and haven't.  I'm trying to put it off as long as possible since the sooner I bake it the sooner I'll eat it and then have to bake them again!  Inside this woman is a 300 lb. cookie monster with blue fur trying to get out! 

I wrote to my parents last week and told them about discovering this bread recipe and the experiments I went through with my containers and my oven.  My sister, who also likes to bake bread, came to visit and she read my letter.  Her comment at the end was "Well she went on about this great bread and didn't even send the recipe!"  I've sent it to her now too!  So enjoy!  Baking is an art form too!