Packing

Almost done packing to fly out to New Brunswick to be with my daughter as she is about to give birth to her first baby . . . So looking forward to meeting the new little one who is truly a miracle. I will post pictures.
But first, I still have to water all the house plants (its a standard tradition). Plant the 5 red blaze rose bushes bought last week to replace the pink Peace climber that mostly died over the long cold winter, and plant marigolds because we all need a bit of bright orange in our lives. They will be right there beside the dark pink geraniums that were over wintered on my quilt room window sills.
 

I have my project box ready with 3 CCCQ and 3 BTCT blocks . . . all hand work for the next 3 weeks.
And yes, my suitcase really is that bilious lime green . . . I want to SEE my bags on the airport carousel, but especially, I want to see them in the train stations of India. No one in their right mind would take something that colour, would they? It almost glows in the dark.
Oh, yes, I also packed some (but not much) homework.
Blessings,
Chris

100th Blog Post

I really, really, really wanted this one hundredth post to be about my completed Dear Jane top. Instead, it is about  my almost completed Dear Jane top. I have made 23 triangles and 3 corner kites in the past 6 weeks, so I guess that is quite an accomplishment. The top row and top kites are now attached and the rest are just sitting there on the design wall. I cannot get enough of looking at this quilt.

DJ Almost complete

I have 16 triangles and 1 kite left to complete. I know I could do it all before I fly out to visit my daughter next week who is about to give birth to her first baby, but there are other things to do like have my 6 year old granddaughter over for the weekend and help her with her first quilt and CCCQ and Benjamin Biggs will be releasing their BOMs on Sunday and I want to prep a few applique blocks to take along with me for the 3 weeks I will be away. Also, I am almost completed the second course for my doctorate and if I type real carefully, (not fast or I make too many mistakes) I could have it done and submitted. I have a massage booked on Tues and lunch with a friend on Wed.

I get to babysit for 2 more evenings. Then I will not see those 3 precious little girls until the middle of July after they get home from cottaging.  And today another new quilter inquired about the Go Real Fast Quilt Retreat in the fall. So, I have to finish calculating fabric requirements for the different sizes that are being offered before I leave since all 3 girls taking the course are going to the Quilt Farm annual sale June 21 and can get all their supplies at 40% off. Sounds like a good deal to me. I am going to miss Quilt Canada which is in St Catherines, less than an hour from here June 11-14. But that's okay. Meeting my newest grandbaby is more important right now.

For the past 2 days I sat in a lawn chair in the barn yard reading a text book while guarding the gate so my farmer husband could draw manure out to the field without the cows escaping. I know my Sweetie husband will miss me, but he is used to it. He is on a tractor now with planting corn then haying begins and then when he gets off his tractor about mid November he will have time to spend with me when I get back from a week in Poland and 2 weeks in  India. Oh, yes, plans for India are coming along. This past week I  have had 4 people inquire about joining me. That is SO awesome! It will be 2 weeks Nov 1-14. The main event there will be a women's conference where we will get to encourage women who live in a culture where women have no status or value. You can read more here .

And did I mention that I booked a double queen room for 2 nights for the AQS QuiltWeek in Grand Rapids Aug 21-23? I once attended one in Columbus Ohio.

It is looking like an exciting few months ahead. Dear Jane will have to wait a bit longer. I am still trying to decide how I will quilt her up. Will it be in the ditch on my Brother or will I rent time on a long arm and do a simple edge to edge design? Never used a long arm and have no plans for ever buying one. But then, I never thought I would ever go to India or Poland  or do a doctorate.

Blessings a hundred times over,
Chris

Two More Done

It took most of the day to make the Bottom Left Kite. Not that it was that hard, but real fiddly after figuring out how to do it.  Then the Right Side 4 would have taken about 30 minutes until I had to leave it to go drive a tractor with my Sweetie for a while. Some of these triangles are really easy. I still have 2 difficult ones in the few I have left to do. 

Blessings,
Chris

At The Farm

The cows went out on pasture more than 3 weeks ago, a bit earlier than most years, but we ran out of dry hay in the barn and still had lots of wrapped bales. My goodness, they look so lovely out there on that green green grass. And that clear blue sky . . . haven't seem much of that so far this spring. Still spreading manure and working up the fields BUT the corn IS being planted by a neighbour with his very big and very expensive equipment . . . but it is being planted.

2 year old Elly's day at the Farm

6 year old Ava at the Farm

1 year old Devan at the Farm

Blessings,
Gramma Chris

Dear Jane Left Side Triangles

This completes all the triangles for the Left Side. Some are really easy and some are incredibly not so easy. I omitted some of the teeny appliques. The goal is to complete the top by the end of the month. I can do this.

So now this leaves only 16 more tris and 2 corner kites to go. And I dared to pull out the fabric for BTCT and precut some sections ready to prewash, since you do not easily wash an 11 yard piece all at once.
Blessings,
Chris

Denine: High Fever

(This is another except from the story I wrote about my profoundly handicapped daughter Denine who was born in 1973 and died in 1979. Writing her story brought closure and incredible healing to my heart. I have been encouraged to publish it and am presently editing it.)

            In January 1975 I was pregnant with my second child. My husband Ken got a dreadful case of tonsillitis and was home sick for a couple of days.  As he waited in the doctor's office, I carried Denine in a bitterly cold wind to a nearby store to buy a chocolate bar. I never thought how cold it was for her.

            The next day she started to run a fever.  As she got hotter, I bundled her up cozy and warm in a baby quilt and cuddled her.  I made a doctor's appointment for the afternoon.  One thing about our family doctor was that we always had confidence in him that they would see us today when we were sick not next week when they could work us in.  As the hour approached I took Denine's temperature and it was 105.5 F. I called his office and asked if he would come to the house to see her. He would not. He said to bundle her up lightly and bring her in right away. I was scared.

            She had picked up the flu and was very sick. She was admitted to the hospital in Brantford right away. We went through the usual routine of charts and forms. This time she had her love seat and soother. I took her a carton of yogurt and wheat germ which she liked to eat.  They lost her soother.  That same day I picked up some baby pictures I'd had taken a couple of weeks earlier. She had progressed in her therapy to the point of being able to sit alone if we positioned her just so and gave her something to get her attention.  When distracted, she fell over. She could sit for 3‑4 minutes.

Denine age 18 months

            I went home from the hospital several hours later to my sick husband and told him all that had happened.  He said, "Maybe she'll even die." 
           "No! She can't die! She's my baby! How dare he say such a thing! Doesn't he care about her at all?"
            He was being realistic.

            At bedtime, I went into her empty room. I looked at her crib and her toys and clothes.  "No she can’t die!  God, please don’t take her from me. I couldn't bear to lose her." I did not release the pent up tears. Two days later, she came home, perfectly healthy but a bit weaker. 
           

Blessings,
Chris

Dear Jane Triangles

I have been progressing on the triangles this past week. My goal is to complete all the triangles before I leave for New Brusnwick in 3 weeks to be with my daughter as she gives birth to her first baby. I can do this, but only if I stop playing games and focus to stop making so many errors. One would think that after 169 blocks 30 triangles and 2 corner kites, that I would have figured out how to make a block right first try. Problem is, each one is a completely different pattern and I did not mirror the patterns before printing them off 3 years ago when I originally prepared the foundation patterns.
I will reset that triangle between these two since it is out a good half inch.

Right side 12 & 13

Left Side 12 & 13

Bottom Row 1 & 2

Yes, I can do this. I am itching to get started on DJ2 in brights. Just have to decide if I will do it on white or black background. Guess I should make a few test blocks and ask my granddaughter's opinion. She loves everything that I do.

Blessings,
Chris