OFF TO CHINA

VANCOUVER Sept 1, 2009

Our trip to China started with a visit to Vancouver for a few days to catch up with my brother and his wife.  We also drove up to Horseshoe Bay to meet cousin Bert and Linda for lunch overlooking the Bay.  Lovely drive back along Marine Drive.  Supper at Monks in False Creek where we were able to see some of the development of lodgings for the Olympics.  There are so many places to bike, blade and walk in the downtown area.  

Sunday at the Macdonell/Williamson house

I was invited to do an activity at this old house that is being slowly and painstakingly brought back to it's former glory.  So I suggested leaf stamping with fabric paints onto fabric.  I emptied out my cupboards, cut up some plain white fabric as well as dyed and trotted off to a little town called Chute à Blondeau which is on the Ottawa river just north west of the island of Montreal.  The house itself is just on the Ontario side.  It was built in 1817 by John Macdonell, a fur trader in the North West company for his Métis wife and their 12 children.  It must have been magnificent in its heyday - it even boasts a ballroom.  It was expropriated in 1961 due to the building of the Carillon Dam and unfortunately fell prey to vandals.  Consequently the need for all the work that is currently going into it.  Here is my photo, but you can also access info on their site:  www.mwhouse.ca

Since I had very few samples of leaf stamping, I thought that I had better make some.  Here are the results:  

a cushion for the cottage                                                 postcards

and a wall hanging that has yet to be quilted.

Fall Retreats

There just aren't enough hours in the day!  So much for retirement.  Since I last wrote I have been to two quilt retreats at which I managed to do a lot of functional sewing - placemats and a quilt from a kit for the cottage.  The Guild retreat is at a convent on the north shore of the island and the property is lovely, especially at that time of year with all the trees in gorgeous fall colour.  The second retreat is at an inn on Lake Brome down in the Eastern Townships.  This is with my Tuesday group who prefer to be a little more comfortable than in a convent!.  The rates are great as we are off season and the food and accommodation are wonderful.  We put in full days and some evenings at the sewing machine, get in long walks on the neighbouring golf course and of course eat!  

 I also managed to finish a quilt that I started a few years ago - another Tri-This challenge with Rosie and Hilary.  They both came to Montreal to visit and teach and we had 3 lovely days in early spring at the cottage.  This was after a trip to Cap Tourment to see the snow geese.  The intent of the challenge was to start a wall hanging and then let the other 2 provide comments, suggestions and critique before it was finished.  Needless to say we didn't have to take any of these on board!  So Early Spring is my completed result.  The dogwood branches and willows were glowing in the sun at the park.  I don't have  a snow goose on there, but a bufflehead duck that we saw on another part of the trip.

I also taught a small dyeing class here at the house.  My studio is very full so not much room for lots of people but it worked out quite well, especially using the kitchen upstairs for the discharging!   I've started making scarves with black rayon, some discharge and painting.  Hopefully I'll be able to get some more made in time for the holidays.

To round out my life a little we have season's tickets to the Centaur theatre and saw a fabulous and moving play called Scorched.  I mention it because it is traveling and I highly recommend it if it plays near you.  The publishing season is upon us so that means Books & Breakfast - a great way to hear authors talk about their upcoming books and enjoy a brunch as well.  I can see that there is going to be  a lot of reading material around here this Christmas.  And I'm trying to be a little experimental in my cooking.  Managed to make a batch of duck confit this weekend - that with a salad is almost my favourite meal.  Christmas baking is just around the corner.  My mother in law and I are going to have a "stir-up" Friday and make her Christmas cake cookies.  

Summer

It once again feels as though summer has whizzed by.  The radio says that we got less rain than the average, but it sure felt as though the floods had begun!  August in the garden is very rewarding though.  The fuschia coloured phlox and rudebekia are very generous with their colour. Family care left little time to do a lot of quilting, but I did manage at the end to do another journal quilt - an attempt to be a little more abstract. 

 It was also an exercise in using a satin stitch border edge and then zigzagging a decorative thick

thread on the outside.  

                                        this garden photo should have been taken a week earlier, but it does show off the colour.

Another Milestone - Turning 60!

This is a birthday that was really fun.  I was going to be 60 like it or not, so I may as well enjoy the process.  Which included a lovely get together with my Stitch 'n Bitch group and hosted by  a good friend.  The group makes squares for "0" birthdays and for mine they did squares from the book "Affairs of the Heart" by Aie Rossman - truly, each square is a work of "heart".  

We also had a party at home for close friends and family.  Catered - never did that before!  What fun!  Between the caterer, my husband and our daughters I did nothing more than visit with everyone and have  a wonderful time.  

My mum and me

But it's also a time for reflection.  Where to go from here.  For one thing, I certainly don't want to bring all the UFO's that are languishing in my workroom into the next decade.  A bit of history here - I really took up quilting in a big  way when we moved to South Africa and made a lot of quilts, but also started a lot of others.  And these were mostly all handwork.  When we moved next to England I immediately started my City and Guilds and went on from there.  So all these SA projects have yet to be finished (plus a few more over the last few years.  And I still like most of them.  Does this mean that at the tender age of 60 I'm going to have to show more self-discipline!  At very least perhaps give up a sudoku  in the morning.

Trip to Newfoundland

After all the work of the Salon, a well needed break came with our trip to Newfoundland. Timed, of course, around a quilt show - that of the CQA - in St John's. It was fun to be there, and see friends and check out what is being done in Canada. St John's is a visually delightful city with all the brightly painted houses. We also were able to watch the fog roll in over the harbour from our hotel.

We spent the next week touring around, and probably like most others, reined in our plans when we realized how big Nfld actually is! We had a lovely time staying at B&B's and exploring the the Avalon, Burin, and Bonavista peninsulas. We also made it up to Salvage and enjoyed the scenery there. We did lots of walking and were impressed with the trails - the Skerwink out of Port Rexton, the Sandy Cove hike, the Eastern Coast walk out of Quidy Vidi, and the walks around Salvage.

We chased icebergs by boat out of Bulls Bay, and saw the puffins, kittiwakes, and murres amonst others. No whales unfortunately - too early for the capelin we were told. And saw lots of other icebergs from various points along the way. Everywhere we went people were most friendly and helpful.

The scenery looking over the bogs and rocky landscape is stark on the one hand, but teeming with interesting plants on the other. My big regret is that we weren't there to see the fields of lupins in bloom or the masses of wild rhododendrums that looked to be a week away from blossoming. But we managed to see lady slippers on our Eastern Coast walk.

Challenges

The month of May has been incredibly full. Our Beaconsfield Guild had it's first formal show and for the challenge which was to produce something in the style of another artist, I made Barn with Yellow Roof. This was based on the style of paintings by Ton Schulten of the Netherlands. His canvasses are in the range of 10'x8' so fitting it into a perimeter of 100" was a challenge in itself!The subject is based on a photo that I took of a barn in the Stratford, ON, region last fall. The roof was an electric yellow, and with storm clouds over it, really stood out. And it won a second place ribbon!

Our Provincial Quilt show was two weeks later and I was looking after all the workshops. I am glad to report that it was a huge success - both with teachers and students. All of whom want to come back another time. And the show itself was fabulous - over 500 quilts showcasing talent from all over the province. As well as the main display there were sections showing an exchange between the Laurentian guild and a guild in France, an under 17 display, celebration of Quebec City's 400th anniversary, and lots of vendors. Please look out for Salon 2010! And check out our website at www.cqq.ca. And of course, to add to the pressure, my hard drive packed it in a week before the Salon. Thank goodness for backing up!

Now it's time for gardening and quilting! It's still cool, but even at the cottage the plants are getting ready to bloom. Lupins in both places are looking terrific this year. After seeing all the lupins in New Brunswick several years ago and taking copious pictures, I think that there must be a quilt in there somewhere!