Pinch Me!

The past week has been (insert favourite excitement laden adjective here).  I confess I am at a bit of a loss as to how to describe it.  Exciting?  Surprising?  Glorious?  Remarkable?  Fantastic?  Encouraging?  Thrilling?  Joyous?

Perhaps I should just roll all those descriptors into one:

SUPERCALIFRAGELISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!

Let's start with last Wednesday, shall we?

That day I had lunch with Maureen MacKenzie of the City of Lacombe, and two of her colleagues on the Art Collection Committee...and ended up with a venue booking for Mark on the Body -- which will hang at the Lacombe Memorial Centre Gallery from October 20 through November 17...including an Opening Reception set for October 26 (time to be determined)...and press...and etc.
Stay tuned to the MOB blog for details!

Through Facebook I made a connection with the local Fundraising and Development Coordinator for the Central Alberta chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)...and we'll be chatting next week about the Project.  Meanwhile, I've done up some kits for stitching MOB II squares, and have permission to give them out at the meet-and-greet in Stratford, to anyone who might be interested...

MOB II Kits

I'm not particularly adept at shameless self-promotion...but I'm learning, and willing to keep trying, as this project means a great deal not only to me, but (I hope) to everyone touched by Type 1 Diabetes.  There is a good deal of misunderstanding about this type of diabetes, which is distinctly different from the much-more-prevalent Type 2...and it is my hope this project will help not only with much needed funding for research into a cure, but also with educating the general public.

On Sunday I travelled to Edmonton to see my kids, and to attend a shower for sweet Chereena, my son's fiancee.  I got the Grand Tour of their new rental -- a condo apartment that is absolutely lovely!  -- met my newest grand-cat, Yami, and then drove off to the shower with my daughter, Gina.

There was a buffet of amazing food -- and the obligatory shower game.  For this one, the guest were divided into teams of four to create the perfect wedding gown and slippers for Chereena's big day -- out of newsprint!

Then came the gift opening -- during which our lovely bride-to-be received a multitude of fabulous kitchen and bath items, and gift cards to add to those items on a shopping trip or two with her DH-to-be.   I had two gifts for her: one for her up-coming graduation from U of Alberta, and one for the shower.

The first, the shawl, was definitely a success:

"MoMarg, I think I'm going to cry!"

As were the chickens!

The looks on her face were enough to fill my heart for a good long time.  

On the way home, I delivered my Fort McMurray quilt tops to Tara at Trinity Quilts in southwest Edmonton.  She gave me a tour of her studio; I was very impressed by her fine quilting -- both over-all and customized designs.  What a blessing that Beaver Creek Mercantile of Caroline, AB, donated a bolt of batting to help Tara get all the donated tops quilted so they can be sent where they're needed!

The rest of this week has been spent Getting Things Done so that I can leave tomorrow for Stratford* with a clear conscience: everything from laundry to mowing the lawn to cleaning the cat box, to doing the dishes, to actually quilting...!

My 15 x 15 Group piece is finished -- except for the accompanying Artist's Statement -- as the "Reveal" for the "Circles" theme is only ten days away.  Here's a hint... ;-)

The collection of my work at Gracie D's Antiques, Collectibles and Giftware has been changed over to minis with a 'summer' feel, just in time for the Victoria Day weekend activities.  Gracie will be open extra hours, so I hope something will sell!

Now about Stratford (Ontario): the twin exhibits for SAQA's "My Corner of the World" -- the International and the All-Canadian -- open there this weekend at the Stratford Perth Museum.  I am so excited about joining many of the other artists and the SAQA President, Lisa Ellis, as well as Micaela Fitzsimmons and Bethany Garner, the curators, for the Opening Reception and SAQA "Meet-and-Greet" to follow, that I could probably fly there without much help from Air Canada!

It's Still About the Sky
(C) 2016

Before I go, I'm linking this up to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network...hoping you pop over there to see what other Canadian stitchers are up to...and wishing you a wonderful Victoria Day weekend!

Obsessed

I've been living in Fort McMurray this past week and a half -- figuratively, anyway.  The wildfire there -- the largest of 8 or 9 up there right now -- has captured my attention for a variety of reasons.

First, when I was a Registered Financial Planner working with CWM in Calgary (long gone, but the memories linger), I was part of the team that worked with Executives at Syncrude, the consortium that is a major player in oil sands development.  I've been up there several times -- albeit years ago now -- and knew many of the people.  I toured the site, saw the land reclaimed after the oil was extracted, saw the bison returned to the land...

Second, one of the people I worked with at CWM currently works up there for a different company, on a rotational basis -- so many weeks up, so many back down in Calgary.  She's been up in the area since before the fires started, evacuated to different camps more than once, caring most recently for the firefighters and RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) working up there -- and she's only now been permitted to go home for a break.

Third...a very long time ago (January 1968) I lost several school-mates when they and their father died one wintry night after the furnace in their rural Quebec home exploded.  The mother, babe in arms and one son who'd been staying over with a friend, survived. Gone were the father -- who went back in for the other four children -- and the family dog.  I'll never forget the impact of that on my 15-year-old self...the realities brought home, the horror of it....

I've had a very cautious relationship with fire ever since.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I've paused in my artwork to do something else -- to assemble some quilt tops and to make some kennel quilts that will eventually find homes with those who need them.

BOM "Zen"
from Freckles Quilt Shoppe, 2005

BOM "Cinnamon"
from Freckles Quilt Shoppe, 2006

BOM "Four by Four"
from Freckles Quilt Shoppe, 2003

I'm taking these to Edmonton with me this weekend -- plus two (much) larger Bonnie Hunter mystery tops (Orca Bay and Easy Street) finished a few years ago and not yet quilted -- and will deliver them to Tara at Trinity Quilts on my way home Monday.  I'm throwing in some fabric for the backing for each of the large ones.  She's donating some batting and her time and will quilt them for me. Then she'll get them bound and they'll be delivered where and when they need to be.

Meanwhile...Klassic Kennels in Red Deer has been a haven for pets rescued from the fires, as many people didn't have an opportunity to return to their homes to get them.  WestJet airlines transported loads of pets to safety, and Klassic Kennels was one of the places that took them in.  They needed 'kennel quilts'.  I found a pattern online  and put a good dent in my 'charm' squares, making 10 of these.  My friend G, a Knit Night regular at The Shop, works in Red Deer, so she delivered them for me.

Placemats? Nope.  Kennel quilts.
Pattern: "Instant Charm" - Barbara Chojnacki

Years ago, a parish church I attended in Calgary had a banner on one wall that read, "Bloom where you're planted."  And then there is the Nike motto.  These phrases go together well:

Bloom where you're planted.

Just DO it.

It's what I'm trying to do.

Linking up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...and wishing you a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Which Came First?

The

Tea towel #2...

or the

No further comments on the above (grin) because it's a detail shot from my current WIP  for the 15 x 15 Group.  Our theme is "Circles"...and the full reveal will be at month end.  (To date, the applique is all finished, and I'm preparing to sandwich and quilt.)

Also going on inside the sewdio (because it's 27 C in the strong late afternoon sun and too hot in the Outdoor Studio) is some sashing and quilt assembly.  I have in mind to assemble 3 tops -- from those 3 sets (12 blocks each) of "Blocks of the Month" I couldn't use for the Syrian refugee quiltlets -- in case a collection gets started for the now-homeless from Fort McMurray's fires.  

This is an event of historic proportions for Canada...largest evacuation ever -- 88,000 people as of 11 a.m. today.  Temps up there hit 32.5 C today, with a nominal dew point (amount of moisture in the air) and the winds have been picking up.  Temps may cool off overnight but there's no rain in the forecast for at least a week.

Photo credit: Holly Ayearst on Twitter
copied from The Weather Network.

The aftermath...is pretty much incomprehensible right now.  So...I'm quilting, with prayers in every stitch.  I want to be ready with a little bit of comfort when the time comes...

And linking in to The Needle and Thread Network for WIP Wednesday.  Maybe some of y'all are quilting for Fort "Mac" too?