Mazatlan

 I am on holiday in Mazatlan, Mexico with my daughter-in-law, two granddaughters and one of their friends. Of course, the first thing  we did was eat and what better choice than tortilla soup.

 This is the beach right in front of the condo we have rented.

 You can find great deals on mani/pedicures here so why not give it a go?

Lunch yesterday was excellent but I forget what it was called. It was tortillas stuffed with eggs, bacon and smothered in that delicious sauce. Yum!

Borders

This morning I put the inner and outer borders on so this quilt is now officially at the flimsy stage. As soon as I get back from my holiday I'll sew together some gray for the backing and quilt it. I think the borders really finish it up nicely. I must say I'm very happy with this one.

Food and Fabric

Two friends came over yesterday and we spent some time organizing the words on this quilt.

Then we collaborated on cooking the evening meal. The chicken was amazing and the squash was filled with quinoa and raisin stuffing. Wow!

Fabrics, Fabrics

My friend needed curtain fabric so I agreed to go to a fabric store to help her choose some. Big mistake as I well knew.  They must have just re-stocked their $3.99 sale shelves because there were many interesting fabrics there yesterday. These ones came home with me. I particularly like the three batiks and of course I can never leave dots on the shelf. The white has small embossed roses so is more interesting than it looks in the photo. Now I have a LOT of new fabric to use but I'm going away for most of the winter.  Oh well, there will be lots of inspiration when I get back.

Almost There

I need to add a few more short words or phrases to fill in the spaces and I'll be  ready to assemble this one. I'm planning an inner border using all the colors of the letters and then a wide outer border of the background gray. I really, really hope there are no spelling mistakes!

Remnants and Words

 I have been writing fabric words for the last few days for a Meditation quilt. The phrases are from the works of Jon Kabat-Zinn, originator of the Mindfulness course that I took awhile back.

Brenda bought me this bag of remnants when we went to Faye's Henhouse fabric store in Mayville, ND. When I unwrapped them, I discovered that they were all third yard and quarter yard cuts from gorgeous fabrics.  Now, what to do with them...so much fun deciding.

More Words

I made another phrase this morning.  There are lots more to go if this is to  be a throw sized quilt.

A New Start

I have started a quilt using the words and phrases from the Mindfulness course I took this fall.  The bottom words show up much better in real life. If you notice any spelling mistakes please alert me. The sewing machine has no spell check!

Fabric Shopping

I finished this one on Friday. The only word I'm a less pleased with is NOW because the yellow is a bit too bright. I may make another one or take one of my Shiva paintsticks to that one and dull it down a bit. Or look on it as the most important word.

When I folded my fabrics last week I realized I was very short of red and had only one piece of purple. Yesterday in Fargo I went a little way toward curing that problem.  The green piece is obviously neither red nor purple but it was just too beautiful to resist. Some of the fabrics are from Mill End Textiles in Fargo and some are from Faye's Henhouse in Mayville, one of my favorite quilt store in the world.

Breathe in Brown

I finished the letters with the same fabric but with a brown background.  They show up better than the photo would indicate. It was already quite dark when I took the picture. I like the B better in this version but the A not as much.  The cross bar doesn't show up as well. Still the message is there. Tomorrow I'll quilt and back it and start on the words.

Done!

I finished this one this afternoon. It is just pinned up until I can get a curtain rod that is long enough. The wall is actually bright yellow so all the colours are a bit off.  I think I'll start another one with a dark brown background.

Keep Breathing

I am almost finished the words. I'm thinking the last one will be gentle, as in "Be gentle with yourself".
Of course, I could make lots more words and not hang them all at once. This could be an on going project.  I have pretty well decided that I will use buttons and make a loop on the top of each word with some round black elastic that I have. I'll use fusible fleece instead of batting in the words so they will be stiff enough to hang properly with only one loop.
I am really liking this project now and I may have to make at least one more, maybe in brighter colors.

Breathe Some More

The basic banner is finished. Now I want to make some words to hang from it. I did LOVE in different fabrics, mainly because I don't have enough background fabric to make them all the same as the banner. This one might be too different but I'll  make a few more words and see how they look. I'm thinking of doing some sort of hanging system so I can hang one word if I want to focus on that particular feeling, or many words if I wish.  I'm thinking of either buttons on the front or a strip of velcro on the back of the main banner. The velcro would give more freedom for the placement of the words. I could then make some of them horizontal if I want to use a long word or a phrase. I already have a long list of possible words so stay tuned.

Breathe

Sorry about the bad lighting. I have it pieced together and it's nearly six feet long. That should get the message across. I am debating the idea of making smaller words vertically to hang from the bottom. I'll make one or two to see how they look. I thought of dream, love, relax, calm, and other words like that.

Starting to BREATHE

Today I started the letters for the BREATHE  wall hanging that I have been planning for my Yoga space. These letters are about 12 inches high. My usual size is about 2 inches so it's a bit of a challenge to get the  proportions right. I'm not satisfied with the R. The slanted part is too cut off but I may be able to repair that without making a whole new letter.  Also I'm not sure about the blue bars on the B.                                                                         

Daisy Quilt

I got this one pieced together yesterday. I will need to find some backing before I can quilt it so it's on to the next project.

Elkhorn Resort Mini Vacation

I went to Elkhorn Resort at Riding Mountain National Park for a few days with my family. This is a picture of the part of the crew that went for a hike. We also had a spa/massage afternoon and did a lot of eating. We stayed in fully equipped cabins so were able to do our own cooking. It was a beautiful time.

On  the way home we made a slight detour to stop at the quilt store in Plumas. They have such interesting fabrics including a package of Beatles fat quarters and lots of Australian fabrics. I was hard put to get only two of those. I also couldn't resist the word fabric but have no idea how I'll ever use it. A close runner up was a piece of jelly bean fabric.

All Cut Up

The quilt is all assembled on the design wall except for the borders. I decided to go with the striped fabric since I had nothing that looked better in my stash and I'm trying to curb my fabric addiction right now. (Not very successfully, I might add.)
I'm thinking I might add several borders but I'm not sure what color the first border should be. I'll audition the daisy fabric first.
Meanwhile, the Miles Davis quilt is now off the frame waiting for binding. First I have to find the fabric I want to use in the mess that is my studio. Maybe it's time for an organizing session.

Daisies

I have the Miles Davis quilt on the frame and half quilted so I thought it was time to start a new top. This is just on the design wall so far, no sewing done. I'm thinking I want a more clear red and I'm not sure about the stripy squares in the sashing. I do love the daisy fabric and I wonder if the stripes kind of overpower it. I have some dot fabric that I will audition before making a decision.

No Mistakes!

Today I finally got the rows all sewn together and the borders on. The next step-off to the quilting machine. It was meant to be a wall hanging but ended up about 65x80. There's no telling what will happen when you start one of these quilts.

Moving Right Along

I am almost done the piecing on this one. I need one more row of the random patches. I have a pile of half finished ones at my sewing machine so that won't take long. About half of the rows are already assembled. Then I will add a fairly wide border so it will be easier to quilt. The frame doesn't really like all those seams along the edge. It's so nice to work on a quilt that has No Mistakes!

Fabrics

I had several JoAnn's coupons that expired yesterday so it made  sense to make the trip to Grand Forks for more fabrics that I don't really need. However I did need new rotary blades so that makes the whole trip worth while doesn't it? I love the blue daisy fabric and got the green, yellow and blue to match it. I got three yards of black because I am out of black and find I use a lot of it. The black and white fat quarters are for an eventual black and white quilt.
I think it's time to get in gear and finish the quilt I'm working on so I can start something new with these gorgeous fabrics...

Yesterday I went to Winnipeg to pick up my son-in-law, Matt, at Perimeter Airlines. The lucky thing about that is that I had time to spare and Northwest Fabrics is only a couple of blocks away. I scored all of these fabrics for $3.99/metre. The last one has tiny gold stars on it. I love the blue with yellow dots the best. It will be soon time to start a dot quilt. The brown may work for the back of the Miles Davis quilt so I got three metres of it.

Getting Wordy

I added a couple more words today. I still need at least one more to balance the bottom row. It will have to be a short one. Right now I am thinking of Awe but that's not exactly what I want. I'm sure the right one will come to me...

Words

 Today I added the first word. I also plan to add Wonder and Enthusiasm and possibly others if the quilt doesn't get too big. Right now it's about 50 inches across and I'll probably add a border to stabilize it for machine quilting.

This is one way to organize your scraps. This is the third tub I have filled. Where do they all come from???

Putting It All Together

My studio and blog have both been idle  for too long.  Today I started assembling the top of the quilt. The words are put together but I need to get that whole section the same size as a row of blocks. That will take a bit of cutting and adding but I will get there in the end. I was going to make some more words but this morning my cutting table was a huge pile of scraps so I made more scrap blocks. I may sweep them all into a tub and start the words tomorrow.
All those blocks and the scrap pile is just as big as it was before I started. Go figure.

I got the words sewn together and started arranging the blocks. I need a lot more blocks and I may add some more words like Enthusiasm, Curiosity,  Innocence...

Miles Gets Credit

I have finished all the letters for the quote. I may re-do the D since I think it looks a bit small.  Then I'll add spacers, a hyphen and a period.

Quote

I got all the letters done for the quote today. Now I have to make the author's name. Miles Davis. Only the M will be challenging. Then I have to add the spacers and decide how to fit it in among all those random blocks. That will be the fun part.

Quote

I did the first few letters of my quote this morning. I will be putting spacer strips between each letter once I have finished all the letters.

More Randomness

I have added more random scrappy blocks to the quilt. Eventually I'll probably add an inner border, some more scrappy blocks and then an outer border. I am also thinking of adding some words, possibly a quote from The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. One I really like is "Do not fear mistakes - there are none" by Miles Davis. That one would be particularly apt for this piece.

Scrappy

I got an urge to use up some scraps. I started with square in square but soon realized that those blocks need larger pieces and I want to use up little bits and long narrow strips. I then changed to Mile-a-Minute blocks. I love them because they are so quick and you can use all sorts of little scraps.  The blocks are 6 inches square.

Done and Done

The Mystic wall hanging is completely done thanks to Brenda's hand sewing yesterday.
The Dog Houses are all asembled but of course, not quilted yet. I have the backing and binding all ready but haven't put them on the frame yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Dog Houses

I have cobbled the houses together but after  I got the side borders on I realized it's not square. The top is 38 inches and the bottom is only 37. I'll have to take those side borders off and square the thing.
I'm auditioning the black paw print fabric for borders. They will  be narrower but I do like the dark around the edges.

Question

To sash or not to sash. That is the question. I have pale yellow with white dog paw prints or black with white paw prints as on the roof of the last house in the second row.  Maybe yellow sashing and a black border? Time for some auditions.

I'm back to  building dog houses. 

Last Friday our friends Lionel, a Cree Shaman and Irvin, a Cree sculptor, conducted a pipe ceremony at our stone circle, in honor of Marcel's life. Marcel was not Native but had a huge love and respect for the people and culture. The ceremony was attended by immediate relatives and a few very close friends.
Following the ceremony there was an outdoor potluck dinner organized by my friends Brenda and Tanis. After we finished eating a sharing circle was formed (quite a feat when dealing with this batch of relatives!) and each person was given the opportunity to say a few words.
The day was perfect. Everyone commented that it was just what he would have wanted and that they left feeling much more at peace.
On Sunday there will be a public memorial which will be open to anyone wishing to attend.
My daughter Carmel, from Australia, will be staying here for a few more weeks. I am sure that I have the best four children in the world. I don't know how I would get through this without them.
Thank you so much for all your kind comments and prayers. They are much appreciated.

Love and Loss

On behalf of mum I'd like to let all her blogging friends know that our beautiful dad and mum's soul mate passed away peacefully yesterday just after four. He waited until all of us kids and mum were with him, took a few more breaths and slipped quietly off into a land filled with rainbows and seven pointed stars.

We love him so much and will miss him forever.

Your support and condolences mean so much to mum and I know she appreciates all your kind words.

Thank you so much on behalf of mum, us kids and all the entire family....

Bad News

My husband Marcel suffered an aneurysm on Monday evening. Prognosis is not very positive at this point. Your positive thoughts, prayers and good wishes would be most appreciated at this time.

The After Party

This year at our annual July 7 party we had native drummers from Long Plain Reserve near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. They were totally amazing.


My grandsons sang and played guitar. I thought they were amazing too. I may be a tiny bit biased but many other guests assured me that they were indeed very good.


My niece from Alberta lit the fire.


And what a fire it was!


Everyone helped light the grass circle around the center fire.



Is anything more fun than leaping through smoke and fire?