Mid Winter in Canada

I have come to the realization that in my many years of quilting and the countless quilts I have made and started, I have not made A.N.Y  for my grandchildren! How did that happen?? Other than a simple 9-patch baby quilt before Ava was born 17 years ago that all 3 girls used. And how did she get to be 17? And driving? And making plans for college? 

I did make David a pillowcase when he was sick with pneumonia a couple of months ago. But Jonathan was sick also and so was their dad. I did buy some special fabric when I was in Missouri in Oct. So now, I need to make quilts for my grandkids. There are 7 of them. I have several on the go that will be fine for the girls, but what about the boys? Not flowers or applique. No. Got to have cats and soccerballs. Oh, I do have the fabrics. Had them for at least a year. These are among the fast new quilts on my Chookshed Challenge list for this year. No Y-seams. No triangles. No curves. Just sayin'. Something fast. 

The boys came over for a New Year's Eve sleepover and I had Jonathan design this using 3 layer cakes. Then I sewed it together after I came home from India. 

 This is my new profile picture. And yes. I did climb up onto those rocks by myself. Sort of. Barefoot so I had good footing. It was a breezy day at the beach on the Bay of Bengal. We almost had lift off. 

That was an amazing trip. I hadn't been there for 6 years. Everything changes. All the time. But my passion for the people there has not. There were just 2 of us on this trip. We plan to return in October and do a women's conference. This is one of my favourite things in India. Speaking to women. Encouraging women. Praying for women. 

I did get to speak to pastors and their wives this trip. I spoke about how my Sweetie and I stayed married for 53 years. 

I took one quilty project along with me. I ironed several fabrics onto some wash-away applique sheets. We were just hanging out one afternoon and the boys offered to help. So they did. 

I had 3 pair of sharp scissors with me. Turns out that I had a 4th pair that got into my carry on bag and I had to give them up at security at the airport. Oops.

A trip to India is never complete without visiting our school. We were celebrating the senior class as they were getting ready to write their final exams and the junior class put on a party for them. It was so much fun. Including dancing and balloons. 

 I am in the process of booking a Norweigan cruise with my Daughter for mid May. That is going to be fun. I have never been on a cruise ship.  She has been on several and loves it. 

I am also planning a Quilting at the Farm retreat for the end of May. Everyone is invited. It should be warm by then and the sping flowers at their best. Right now we are in the middle of winter with lots of snow on the trees and ground. My Sweetie has pneumonia and I am reading lots and doing not much else. Never a dull moment here at the farm. 

The Chookshed Challenge number for Feb is 10 but my hands cannot handle the EPP for now so I will work on something else like start another new fast quilt. I have lots of charm packs ready to sew together for a Dis-appearing 9-Patch for David. Now that I have started doing these without using pins or clips, I may as well get a few more made. They don't even have to be pressed until the very end. 

Blessings,

Chris

NaNoWriMo 2018

I am off to India for 2 weeks for a ministry trip so I have prepped several blocks to take along with me. I have threaded lots of needles. Last trip I did not have enough threaded and ran out. My extra thread and scissors were in my checked bag. We will have a 15 hour train ride after we arrive with lots of time to nap, read, and of course stitch. My OMG -one-monthly-goal for November will be to get these 9 blocks completed. 

Also, there is this annual writing challenge called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). You sign up and commit to writing 50 thousand words (about 1600 words every day) without stopping to edit and proof. Just write your next novel quickly. There will be time the rest of the year to get it ready for publishing if that is what you want to do. You have accountability partners and a whole bunch of guidelines. I have been talking about, thinking about, blogging about and planning about writing two more non-fiction books about my unique life experiences for several years and it is time to get off my good intentions and get busy writing. 

Tonight, on a facebook group I belong to, the discussion circled around doing the challenge and becoming "buddies" to keep each other accountable. I will be writing long hand in a notebook because I can do that on planes and trains and in my air conditioned room in the guest house. I am aiming for a minimum of one page each day for 30 days. I really like to edit as I write to correct all the typos, but will be using a pen and a paper note book. I can think better with a pen in hand. I will be off the grid for most of the trip so will check in at the end of the month.

Blessings,
Chris

September Reflections

The Fall Equinox is upon us and that means a few things.

• The calendar says Fall officially begins on Sat. 
• It always rains. 
• We could have our first frost of the season.
• Daytime temperatures are still high. 
• Nights are getting cooler. 
• Yesterday the kitchen air conditioner was on. 
• Today I wanted to turn on the furnace. 
• Turning on the furnace will dry out some of the moisture in this old house.
• The children have gone back to school.
• The new half time living here is 3 weeks in and so far things are working well. 
• The black walnut trees are the first to shed their leaves. 
• Actually, they are the last to open them in the spring. 
• The squirrels have planted many new trees around the house. 
• I saw a flock of about 60 Canada geese fly over. 
• They were noisy. 
• They are not Canadian geese. 
• They are Canada Geese.
• It is fall fair time. 
• That means we show cows. 
• I am retired so I do not show cows any more,. 
• Actually, I do not do any set up or take down or run errands any more. 
• Fact is, I am going away this weekend to a ladies retreat. 
• I baked a banana cake. 
• This has nothing to do with the season. I just finally had some brown bananas.
• Lots of bananas are eaten here these days. 
• And apples. 
• And yogurt. 
• The girls have entered some of their crafts and needlework.
• Elly had 12 seven inch blocks sewn together. 
• Devan had 2 blocks sewn together.
• I put socks on one day last week. 
• Now I don't know how to get rid of these dots. 
• I have been posting about ufos and enjoying the journey. 
• At this point, I have not pretended to try to complete any of them. 
• I just wanted a record of what is in the cupboard and why they are not yet complete. 

That's better.

I went to Upper Canada Village last weekend. It was a 6 hour drive so

I took the Via Rail train.

 Had a nap both ways and read a whole book.

Stitched on 2 Dear Daughter blocks.

And got a kink in my neck. Been going to waterfit at least 3 times a week now because I can. I will be seeing the little boys this weekend. I bet they have grown. Four year old Jonathan is now in school and learning to print his name. Two and a half year old David wanted snow so he emptied 3 cans of powder all over his room and carpet. Its been 3 whole weeks since I saw them and will be there for hugs and kisses tomorrow. And Sunday since I am babysitting then. 

I will be going to India for a ministry trip in just over 6 weeks from now and am collecting a few things to take along. I have saris and Punjabi dresses all over the living room. I need to get rid of a some of them. I have them in all sizes.

Blessings,
Chris

Think of Me Dear One (TOMDO)

I am still waiting for photos from my Rwanda trip before sharing more about my adventures there. 
In the meantime I wrote several posts back in June. 

When I first saw the invitation to do 17-ufos-in-2017 

I quickly wrote down the first 17 ufos that came to mind

that I thought I could advance by a few stitches.

This was one of them.

 I have not touched this quilt since winter 2012 when I recall doing some early needle turn

 applique on the last day of my last class in the last semester of my masters.

I dared ask if we who showed up that night would get bonus marks for,

you know,

 showing up on the last day knowing full well we all had a final exam the next day.

Didn't get any bonus marks but did pass the exam.

I took a series of classes with Kathy Dunigan when she was living in Oakville ON Canada

before moving back to Texas and starting the Kathy Dunigan Applique Academy

 after Elly Sienkiewicz retired.



Don't get too excited.

This is as far as I got.

It was way out of my league as far as applique skills went.

She even did a weekend retreat

(an evening and 2 afternoons with no sleep-over or meals)

on colouring fabric with oil pastels.

Need to work on that skill.

 

My first attempt with needle turned hand applique.

We were using the sticky mailing labels for our templates

on the top and turning the seam allowance under.

It was tricky since I could not see what I was doing,

let alone, knowing what I was doing.



My first feeble attempt at inlaid or reverse applique.



We learned crazy things like making baskets with ribbon. 
I love the attitude of those handles. 

I even took a workshop with Renske Helmuth to learn about

dimensional applique using silk flowers.

This still needs a few lilies of the valley stitched on.

They are in the box

somewhere.

I was trying out different ways to do the elusive needle turn hand applique.

I initially ironed the freezer paper on the back

and started turning the edges over the freezer paper, but it kept unsticking 

so I basted it in place and it behaved.

This is one of 18 setting triangles that will eventually frame all 29 blocks set on point. 

I did not know how to relax with the handwork  in those days.

I just wanted to get the block done so I could move on to the next thing.

After getting this far, I took a summer course on Abnormal Behaviour and People Who Drive you Crazy then went to India a month ahead of schedule to do some teaching and speaking at  a women's conference. I wonder what, if any, 

handwork I took on that trip?

What I do recall is food poisoning on a 15 hour train ride

and not being able to sleep for a couple of days after I got home.

With the focus this year on the 17 ufos for 2017 

I have been looking at other incomplete projects. 

I could just keep making blocks forever 

and never actually make a quilt.

But then I could not call myself a quilter. 

Blessings, 

Chris

Linking with Quilter's Monday   mid week makers   BOMs Away
let's be social.  needle and thread thurs  can I get a whoop-whoop
slow sunday stitching.   estheraliu's WOW  needle and thread network.

Top 5 Posts of 2016

Monica from  lakeviewstitching posted an interesting topic. So I took the time to check out my 5 top posts of 2016. You can find the linky party here at meadow mist designs.

1. http://holycowchris.blos-and-planes.html  

2. http://holycowchris.blogspot.ca/2016/01/new-little-boy-grand-baby.html  

3.  http://holycowchris.blogspot.ca/2016/10/india-october-2016.html 

 4.  http://holycowchris.blogspot.ca/2016/05/omg-june-quilting-goals.html  

5.   http://holycowchris.blogspot.ca/2016/08/ongoing-saga-of-gorf.html  

This pretty much wraps it up for 2016. 

See you in 2017.

Blessings,

Chris

2016 in Review

I did write a goals list for 2016. I tried to be realistic. That did not work. So maybe its time to get crazy. Maybe not.

My goals for 2016 and how I did.

     1. Publish my book. We got stuck in the second revision round for several months and it is now about to enter the publication queue so any day now.

     2. Complete at least 1 of my big applique quilts, quilt it and bind it. I choose Ben Biggs. I got 5 blocks completed. That's about all.

     3. Quilt my Dear Jane Quilt and bind it with narrow binding on all those scallops. Nada but I am now considering doing big stitch by hand with perle cotton.

     4. Lose the 22 lb I did not last year with  my goal of losing 40. Nope. but did maintain the loss from last year.

     5. Have fun more often. Oh Yess!!

     6. Spend more time with the grand kids. One more grand kid added to the pile so lots more time with them and the boys have moved closer so we see them more often now.

     7. Laugh more. Definitely. But cried some too.

     8. Sing louder. I turn the music up louder so no one can hear me.

     9. Buy less new fabric. I did buy less but still bought some.

   10. Do the 40-bags-in-40-days challenge for Lent. Managed to get to day 20. 

   11. Design a layout for each of the three $10 quilts and complete them. Nope but still thinking about it.

   12. Complete coursework for doctorate. Then the dissertation, but I will need some goals for 2017. I did not file any courses and started 2 more in August. 

 So it appears that I did not attain all of my goals but I did more than I might have without any goals and plans.

I started three quilts and completed three.

1.  The 1857 album sampler on impulse in Jan. I had a lot of fun but got bored with the double pinks and lime greens and will call it finished at 35 or 36 blocks not the whole 64. I substituted several blocks and will add my own date and a name.  

2.  GORF 2 a lime green and purple completed and gifted in May

3.  Started the Simple Simon in October. 

 Completed the Blue Roses that I started 2009.

Finally completed the original GORF in September.

 

Ministry trip to India in October.

 New grand baby boy David. He is beginning to take a few steps this week.

That's enough for now.
Blessings, 
Chris

31 Day Blogging Challenge Day 2

It 's Day 2 of the 31 day blogging challenge and I might already have writer's block. Seriously. Last night  I had a hundred ideas floating through my brain and this morning, after sleeping in until a normal 8.30, I have no idea what to write. But that has never stopped me before. I have a couple of keys sticking in my laptop. Makes it a challenge to log in with a password that has an "a" and no semi colons or colons are to be use for now. Mary of Quilting through rose colored tri focals   used an expression called at 6's and 7's. Her post got me thinking.

I posted this picture of my quilt room/office last winter. Some readers are interested in how you organize your stuff, but I will share what I am doing with some of my stuff. 

Here are some of the things I am working on this week. I had to check some cow information on line for my Farmer who does very little on the computer, except to check for  emails and facebook postings when I am away. This is the five year old net book I take with me when I travel so I can keep in touch and do some work. I had to get a new battery when I was in India.  Last night I was backing up five years of files so I could transfer India pictures to my lap top where I am trying to put together a power point presentation I will be doing in January at our son-in-law's church.

 Next to that is my journal, daytimer, Bible and pen. I try to do a bit of journaling often but it seems that I write more to-do lists than reflecting on my Bible reading. Beside that is the project box I took on our weekend away. I stitched for about twenty minutes total.  

 Behind me is one of my craft tables. The Bernina is in for servicing so I put the Featherweight in 

and have everything ready to do one more Bright Jane block. This was all sitting on another table 

since I got home from Shipshewana three weeks ago. The intent is to make one block. 

I will not be using that yellow thread on that fabric.

 Beside that is the other craft table with the Brother. I am working on a Simple Simon reproduction quilt from the retreat. I have quite a few very expensive mugs that I was unwilling to throw out when they got cracked or lost a handle so I use them to hold pens, pencils, pencil crayons, markers, etc.

If I do not see things, they do not exist.

 On the table in front of the design wall, I have the first blocks up. Lots of four patch units made and sewn to back ground squares waiting to be sewn into the next blocks. There is also some of the clutter I dumped out after the retreat. I put away most everything when I have the Quilting at the Farm girls come over but that will be mid January sometime. I usually put something different up on the wall then.

 Beside that, I have some project boxes for my grand daughters. They each have their own pair of razor sharp Dear Jane scissors that are too small for my large fingers but perfect for theirs. The two younger ones are still cutting thread and scraps but the older one is using the real machine. I had to eat a lot of cookies over the years to get those empty containers. They are about eight inches square. Again, I have to see things or they do not exist. I later discovered that those cookies are what had been poisoning  my body.

 One of my quilting friends loves to do laundry so she took home three fat quarter bundles of Moda French General fabrics to pre-wash 120 fat quarters for me. What a Blessing! I will be using some of these for a new GORF quilt this winter. The fabric has to be pre-washed before the heat-n-bond lite is ironed on.

 I want it to stay on forever.

 These fabrics have been pre-washed in preparation for Stonefields. I bought the entire pattern when I was in Australia last year and have been waiting for a good time to start. They are available over at Sentimental Stitches.   There is a facebook group and the first month patterns are going out this month.

 At the retreat, I got a tutorial on big stitch quilting without a hoop. It took me a couple of weeks, but I tracked down some creamy coloured Valdani pearl cotton 12 and some size 24 chenille needles. I plan to do a small sample piece of my Dear Jane fabrics with the wool batting I bought last summer to see if my hands can handle this. If they do, I was thinking that I could quilt one block a day (so not to overdo it) and have it done in 225 days. No wait - there are 56 border triangles, so 281 days. Maybe.

In the meantime, I have these to keep my busy. I had each course in its own box, but wanted the boxes for other projects. 

 My self paced online doctoral course with no deadlines is sitting on the desk in front of the desk top computer waiting for me to stay home for a few days. I have filed three out of twelve courses and these five are each half done. They are not hard. I just need to spend more time there than here.

Blessings,
Chris

Beyond the Cherry Trees Progress

Last week I  finally and completely finished GORF after I got home from India  
I attached the binding. That was simple. I did it throughout the day when I did my India blog post and uploaded photos for hours it seemed right in the middle of my jet lag recovery. We called the bride and groom and invited them over to pick up their wedding present. I will post pictures when they do. Should be simple. I hope.

I stitched the leaves and wreath on this block in India then did the circles after I got home.

This is another I prepped and took to India and did some more work and preparation last week.

I started this one by drawing the design on the back of the background block. 

The stems are all done by back basting. 

Another block started. I am valiantly trying to complete a couple of courses for school but must have some hand work to turn to. Well, I have done more handwork than school work. 

I had not touched this block since last winter but did get the fruit and some of the leaves done in India. The bowl was stitched on at home. I still have to do a bit of reverse applique on the bottom of the bowl. And the bottom of the bowl is in line with the edge of the block. It really is. I still have most of the grapes to stitch on, a few more leaves and some embroidery on the cherries. 

This block I started 2 years ago but could not decide what colour to do the bowl. I stitched the center of the bowl purple a year ago but am just now adding the light red fringe. The bottom fringe has to be redone so it extends to the edge of the bowl. 

 Another block I did 2 years ago but now have the bowl and the fringe stitched on.

 So this brings my total completed blocks to 11 with a whole bunch in process. I am hoping to complete at least 5 of these this month. In the meantime, I am packing up my project boxes for the Shipshewana Quilt Retreat next week. And I promise that I will only start 1 new quilt. If all goes well, I might even complete it at the retreat. We shall see. I am taking 2 workshops with Linda Collins from Quilts in the Barn in Australia and she will have copies of her new book. I can hardly wait. I will be taking about 15 Dear Jane 2 blocks to work on. They will all be foundation pieced. And I will be taking a few BTCT blocks.

Blessings,
Chris
 

India October 2016

Last week I was in India
It's a long long way from home
But there was internet and wifi
And I could call home by phone

 
To the HIV Hospice
Is a difficult place to go
This woman's little boy
Was born here 7 years go

The women's conference
Started out with treats
Then we gave them pencil crayons
To colour up their sheets

I have been encouraging women
As I try to do  my part

 They have so encouraged me
And God has broken my heart

As I humble myself and pray for them

They also pray for me

Especially since the car rides

 Are all kind of scary

 

The lepers came from far and near
Their rotting flesh to show
We give them rice and lentils
And pray for them before they go

KSK College is for women
To get an education
Where they can earn a Batchelor's degree
And make an impact on the nation

This baby has waited
Six months for a name
I got the privilege to name her Holly
And she will  never be the same

I get to do some preaching
 God's great love to impart
I have to wait for translation
Before sharing from my heart

Overwhelming is what
A shopping trip can be
But every girl needs a dress or two
And at least one new saree

It's always fun to see the kids
At our school for a while
They sing and dance with such passion
And that always makes us smile

The pastor's conference in the church
Was really quite amazing
From the platform at the front
We sat listening and gazing

I'd been stitching at the airport

Stitching on the plane

Stitching in my room at night

And stitching on the train.

My next scheduled trip will be

In the month of November

It will be in the year 2018

A good date to remember

Blessings

Chris