Baba and Dido's Garden

It was a whirlwind quilting weekend, a retreat of sorts at my house. My sister and sister-in-law came down to work on a quilt for my Dad. After what seemed like 48 straight hours of quilting, interrupted only by babies needing Mama and not Daddy/Uncle, we finished this quilt top.

Inspired entirely by the garden/yard at my Baba and Dido's house in Hafford, Saskatchewan, this quilt is a tribute to that memorable part of our lives spent there. Even if we hated it as kids it is such a strong part of our identity. It seemed only fitting to make sure our Dad knew that since this was also his place.

My sister came to the table not having sewn in decades, but my sister-in-law is also a quilter (my evil influence). When we started talking about what design direction we wanted to go in it was a very short discussion. Independently of each other we came up with the exact same concept. So we quickly started pulling fabric, books, and sketching.

Before long we were sewing and my house was taken over by strips and scraps, rulers, machines, coffee, cheese, and loads of cookies. There was only one moment where we had to stop sewing, my sister and I sharing tears of laughter over a silly childhood story. We were three tired Mamas getting a break to sew - when all we really wanted to do was sleep. It is the natural instinct when someone else is watching the kids.
The entire project took every corner of my small house. My stash was spread around the living room for easy access. We used both The Monster's and our bed for layout, in addition to the living room floor when all babies where sleeping. My dining room became a literal sweatshop. In the midst of all these we had three kids - mine and my nephew.  Hubby was AWESOME, taking them all to the park and zoo to keep them out of our hair. It didn't stop the girls from sitting on our laps to help us sew and snip threads. Nor did it stop my nephew from being so damn cute.

Probably the most important part of this quilt is the garden. My Baba had an enormous garden. Seriously, a home garden to make anyone jealous. It was meticulously tended by hand. Every day in the summer you would see her stooped over weeding, watering, and picking. When we came to visit we had the watering duties, and when she wasn't looking we snuck strawberries. Then, every fall, the family loaded up to help with harvest. This entailed two vehicles so we could bring home the bounty.  And every year my mom would exclaim, "What am I going to do with a dozen heads of cabbage?!

We briefly debated paper piecing the garden, a la Ruth McDowell. But of the three of us I am the only one who knows how to paper piece. So Tash recommended we improvise things - she did learn from me after all! So we grabbed fabric and scissors and started sewing our garden.

The only thing we had to go on was our memories and the start of the house. You see, I've had this idea in my head for at least 5 years now, if not longer. I started one day then never got anywhere. I guess it just took the right motivation, many hands, and loads of work. The quilt is gone to Edmonton for backing and basting. I will get it back for quilting in a week or two. Can't wait!
(PS Mom, if you read this, DON'T TELL DAD!)

Belated Easter Treats

How very Martha of me. Not that I dyed Easter eggs using cabbage, beets, onions, and turmeric. Not that I also decided to dye some fabric. But the colours are all Martha. And if you look around this site for about five minutes you'll see that I don't generally work in softer colours. Like I always say, it's good to change things up a little.

We dyed eggs with friends on Friday. I was totally enamoured with the colours, and very surprised from that orange from just a few onion skins. So I left all the eggs with our friends, but took home the rest of the dye juices. We dyed a few more eggs but that liquid colour looked too good to throw away. I already had all my scraps out so I grabbed some pieces of white on white and threw them in the bowls. The orange is from onion skins, the yellow from turmeric, and the purple measuring cup contains the liquid from boiled red cabbage.

This is the fabric as it came out of that red cabbage juice. Such a lovely purple. It clearly turned the eggs blue, so this was a bit of a shock. But a good rinse in cold water and some air time to dry and the fabric all turned the same soft blue/grey as the eggs. Perhaps a little less blue.

These are the turmeric stained fabrics right out of the dye water. So yellow! And even though I rinsed and rinsed they stained quite bright. And point of fact: turmeric dyed fabric will smell like turmeric long after it is rinsed and dried.

Look at my strips drying so nicely together!

And here are the eggs and their associated fabrics. In truth, they may be Martha colours, but they really are softer versions of the colours already in our house, namely turquoise and orange.

So I took all the scraps, trimmed them into strips, and started sewing. I went for the silly a little, in making an egg shaped placemat. This was easy to do. I simply created an egg shape out of paper so I had something to compare to as I sewed. You could also use it as a paper pieced project. Then I sewed the strips together. Once I knew I had my desired size I trimmed the top, cut out backing and batting and sewed it all together with right sides together.

Full disclosure, I screwed up twice when sewing it together. That's what I get for rushing to get it done during naptime. But I got myself sorted out and finished it off after turning it all right sides out and sewing that last seam around the edge.

There is a peak of the backing fabric. I put on something bright and fun so that if/when the top gets wrecked/runs I can use the other side for springtime. And there is my Smilosaurus checking it all out.

Self-Portaits

Yes, I know this is a quilting blog and pictures of the quilter aren't always part of the package. But today's post is about me, so a picture of me in my natural habitat seems appropriate.

This weeks marks the culmination of a lot of effort on my part to realize the life I want. I don't have that life yet and, to be honest, I wonder if I ever will. This week definitely marks my intentional movements in the right direction. Yet it isn't about milestones or defined marks of success, although many of those are there. Rather, it is about my perspective and attitude towards my life.

Long, long ago it became very clear to me that we get out of life exactly what we put into it. I was surrounded by some very irresponsible people. They whined and bitched about how their lives sucked. Any outsider could see that aside from the odd bit of bad luck their lives sucked because they let them suck. They made choices or a series of choices that put them in crappy living situations, bad relationships, or uninspiring jobs. I wanted to scream at them that they'd brought most of it on themselves, but I, more than anyone, knew that was pointless. So instead of trying to change their lives, I decided to change mine.

I'm not going to say that it's always been sunshine and roses and every single thing I decided to do worked out for me. I've made bad choices, Hubby and I have questionable timing with some decisions, and more than once I've been plain wrong. Regardless, I own those choices. They were mine to make. And in the end I've always made it work for me.  Why?

Because we are the sum of the choices we make.

And lately I believe I've had every right to whine a little about a lot of things. And I have done so. You get to the point though where even you get tired of your own whining. Instead you pull yourself up, maybe slap yourself in the face, and decide to change the way you are reacting to the things you have no control over. Because that is where your character comes in, in how you choose to respond to the world around you.

In the midst of all these platitudes I do have a point. My choices of late are leading me to live a truly creative life. From the activities I do with my kids like this and this, to the professional decisions I am making. From the projects I tackle, to the goals I set for myself. And this week I took another step in that direction. I really can't tell you how I feel about this other than to say I am beyond excited and damn proud of myself and my partner in the adventure.

And so what if my house behind me is chaotic and messy? I am happier, my kids are still full of joy, and my family is stronger.

Friday Favourites - Quilts of First Quarter 2010

I heard back from a lot of you in January that the round-up of my favourite quilts was something you wanted to see more of. I've decided to do this every 3 months for you. Even then it is hard to narrow it down!

The Selvage Quilt by Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studios

Selvages are something that I now cut off and set aside - to giveaway. I have absolutely no motivation to make a selvage quilt myself. Even after seeing this one, I still don't want to make one. But I can look and admire the quality and beauty of this quilt.  Great job Jacquie!

Hideaway Quilt by Jess at Urban Patchwork

There are some lovely, lovely quilts on Jess' site. Simple and graphic.  You see similar quilts around, but there is something about the way she places just that one extra bit of fabric or a carefully chosen binding that elevates her quilt above many modern others.

Katie Jump Rope Quilt by Andrea at Millions of Thoughts Trapped in My Head

If you've been reading me for a while you know that I'm generally not a fan of quilts made entirely from one fabric line alone. But I adore what Andrea did from her inspiration - a drawing and design by her son.  How cool is that? And a nice break from her year of solids.

Boardwalk by Latifah at I Dream of Quilts

White binding. White binding on a multicoloured striped quilt.  Need I say more?

Kelpies by Digs at Digs and Beans

I'm glad I'm not the only one who puts quilts in her office.  At least it doesn't seem odd when you work in a crafty kind of place like Lark Books.

Off Kilter by Amanda Jean from Crazy Mom Quilts

Okay, so a slight bias here. But I had to share one more finish from my quilt along. I know many of us miss Amanda Jean's blogging, but you can keep up to date with all her work on Flickr. Thank goodness!

I hope you enjoyed this little tour.