Let the Celebration Begin!

Camper-trailers and fifth wheels have been pulling in through town since early this morning.  There are more vehicles parked along Main Street than I've ever seen in the almost-four-years since I moved here.  People are meeting and greeting and clustering in little clumps on the street corners, catching up -- be it weeks, months, years or decades since they've seen each other.  Some are strolling along the street, reading the captions and histories posted in the storefronts, telling what used to be there and when.

The sun is shining, a breeze is keeping us from frying during the current heat wave (usually it rains through mid-July and doesn't get hot till later).  The registration/check-in table in the Community Hall is humming as people pick up their name tags, dinner tickets, and packets with leaflets and commemorative pins.  A skeleton crew is trying to help the big rigs park in the camping areas; will there be enough power outlets to go around?  My friend, C, the current Chair of the Centennial Committee (fourth in line over the past 3 years) is everywhere at once.  I was blessed to be able to help her with some of the set-up...including posing for photos....

This was taken with my camera by Kathy, wife of the Chair of the Museum Board, after she took another couple with her own (more sophisticated) camera for the Museum's records.

Memories of Mirror - Centennial Commemorative
July 13, 2012

Memories of Mirror will be on display behind the Registration/Check-in table today through 9 p.m. and again tomorrow 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., after which it will go into the Museum's permanent collection.  I gotta admit, I'm one proud mama!  It's lovely to stand by quietly and hear what people have to say about it -- the women in particular are drawn to it, and cell phones are being taken out to photograph it.  I say nothing, just drink it all in.  The encouragement will keep me creative for a good long time, fending off The Voices that haunt me (as all artists) at any time, day or night.

So for the next while, when I'm too hot and/or too busy to post, feast your eyes on garden photos...and stay tuned...

We're All in Our Places...

With Sun-shiny Faces...

And then there are poppies...

Could be a rose, eh?

Just a Quick Note

The Centennial Quilt has been delivered -- with its 12-page appraisal! -- to a member of the Museum Board.  My Baby has left home...and truth be told, I'm delighted.  :-)  She weighed in at $795 CAD, and an admirable job was done by my friend and ISA member, Dawn Hunt.  She's one of a handful of Certified Quilt Appraisers in Canada, and I'm so glad she's nearby!  She may be a quilty friend, but she's also highly ethical, personable and completely professional about what she does (and yes, she's a SAQA member, too!).  What's not to love?  If you're in Alberta, and need a quilt appraised (for estate purposes, donation purposes, insurance purposes, whatever)...look her up.  She won't steer you wrong!

In the past few days I've also managed to pick up rock-garden plants from Tail Creek Nurseries -- a donation for the North Haven Park garden bed in time for Mirror's Centennial -- and have arranged for the Moms 'n' Tots to help me plant on Friday morning.  (Note: Tail Creek is now having their end-of-season sale, so if you still have some gardening needs...)

Meanwhile, an elderly fellow knowledgeable in history and flags has repaired the garden's flagpole; all that's needed now is for the County to come and prop it back up again, so that we can fly the two flags (Alberta and Canadian Maple Leaf) donated by the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.  Preferably this will happen on time for the Centennial Celebrations -- now less than a month away.

And the Community Hall's facelift is proceeding apace -- the better to mount the mural commissioned for the Centennial.  And the Church has now had its foundation stucco'd (sp?)...and the grass mowed...the better to prepare for replacing the siding and building the stairs and mending the fence and uncovering the graves so that all will be ready for the CC...

And I finished "I Was Hungry".  Just have to sew down the facing, attach a label and sleeve...and take a photo -- so stay tuned!


And...I've been given a sock commission  -- two pair! -- and have found at least one suitable yarn in stash. Construction commences shortly.

And...I delivered the Dr. Who Scarf to its intended recipient.  Father took photos.  Perhaps I'll be lucky enough to be able to post one.  Stay tuned!

And...it's time for supper.

Good thing, too.  :-)  Have a lovely evening!

Finished!

Memories of MirrorA Tribute to the Mirror & District Centennial
July 1912 - July 2012
(C) G. Margaret Blank

With mixed feelings, I hung the freshly-washed quilt up on the wall in my bedroom the better to view it in its entirety.  For almost seven months this quilt has been part of my life -- first in my thoughts, then in e-mail conversations and research, then in fabric purchases, and eventually under the needle, both by hand and machine.

It's approximately 46" wide by 53" long -- not a bed quilt by any means, but a reasonable throw-quilt size.  However, given that the Board of the Mirror & District Museum has decided to keep it in its permanent collection, I installed a 'permanent' hanging sleeve (one sewn right into the top binding), and embellished the side borders with buttons.

Side Border Detail
(C) G. Margaret Blank

These were a whimsical last-minute addition.  While out jogging yesterday morning, I was listening to Sandy's podcast, "Talking Texture with Jay".  One of the items discussed was the use of beads and buttons.  Aha! I thought, just the artistic touch my quilt needs to create interest in the borders, which are fairly simply quilted to echo the corner pinwheel shapes.  As soon as I got home I poured my button box out on my cutting table.  What a blessing to find enough buttons of similar enough shape, colour and size to do both borders!  I think they complement the piece perfectly and create a different form of visual interest.They're not antique buttons, to be sure, but their plainness evokes a simpler place and time, and that works for me.

Tomorrow I pack this baby up and take her to Calgary to be appraised.  For the next few hours, though, she'll hang on my wall, reminding me of that which I'm capable of creating, and challenging me to go forward with The Next Big Thing.

P.S. The blocks, clockwise from top left: St. Monica's Anglican Church, est. 1985; "Dutchman's Puzzle", aka "Windmill"; Mirror Station, built 1912, photo ca. August, 1975; "Churn Dash", similar to "Hole in the Barn Door"; Locomotive 2076, built 1908, photo ca. 1928; "Double Nine Patch" or the foundation for a "Single Irish Chain"; the Imperial Hotel, built 1912; "Maple Leaf" (goes without saying!); the Canadian Bank of Commerce, moved in from the now non-existent settlement of Lamerton, 1912; "Ohio Star"; the Brick School, built 1913; and "Broken Dishes".

At Last

 "The Brick School House - Built 1913" is finished and soaking in its bath.

When it is dry, sandwiched and quilted, it will join the remaining two pieced blocks ("Ohio Star" and "Broken Dishes") to create the last row of the Mirror Centennial Quilt...And then, the borders!

I'm delighted with the red sashing after all.  I hesitated to use it at first because there is so much red bordering some of it, but it turns out to be the perfect frame for the blocks and I like the overall effect.  There will be a narrow red border around the entire centre, and then borders.

Meanwhile, though cool and windy, there's been a break in the showers and the overnight lows are forecast to be reasonable, so I'm off to plant my bedding outs, which have been patiently waiting since Sunday afternoon!

Coming Together

 My priority right now is finishing the Mirror Centennial Quilt.  This morning I got 3 of the four rows together, and I have to say, I really like this block-by-block technique.

Butt, butt, butt

Back sashing

The blocks are attached by narrow sashing on the front and by wider sashing, folded for a clean edge, on the back, which hides the butting-up of the already-quilted blocks.  Before hand-sewing the back sashing, though, I'll herringbone the edges of the butted blocks together for extra sturdiness.

Row Two - Mirror Centennial Quilt

After the hand-finishing, the rows will be attached to each other with long sashing in the same fashion.  Once all four rows are together, the unit will be treated like a 'medallion' and borders will be added.  (The Craftsy Class, "Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine", taught by Ann Petersen, has given me such confidence to do this project, for which I am very thankful!)

My deadline is May 23, as I am taking the quilt down to Dawn Hunt in Calgary for appraisal, and I leave May 24.  Onward and upward!

WIP Wednesday...Project Revealed

It's time to come clean; I've hinted at this project long enough.

My little hamlet was born 100 years ago this year, when the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway constructed a branch line between Calgary and Edmonton, via Mirror.  It was named after the newspaper, The London Daily Mirror -- heaven only knows why!  :-)

Anyway, at Mirror, a round house was constructed for a switch point.  The community continued to grow, and was incorporated as a Village on July 27, 1912.  In 1922 the Grand Trunk Pacific merged with the Canadian National Railway, under the name of the latter (CNR).    When steam locomotives gave way to diesel, the round house was no longer required, and was removed.  The village was no longer needed as a switch point to the extent it had been.  Although there is still some rail car switching going on, the population dwindled, and in 2004 the Village 'downsized' to the status of a Hamlet, under the care of the County of Lacombe.  Now sporting a population of 500 on a good day, it remains one of Central Alberta's best-kept secrets: a safe, airy rural community strategically located 1/2-way between the City of Lacombe and the Town of Stettler, 40 minutes NE of Red Deer, 90 minutes south of the provincial capital of Edmonton, and 2 1/2 hours NE of Calgary.


Our 100 Birthday Party will be taking place over the weekend of July 13-15, and the local Museum will be a focus of the celebrations.  I'm a history lover, and although I've been here only 3 1/2 years, I love my wee hamlet home, where every street ends in trees.  I decided I wanted to do something, and it came to me some months ago to make a quilt.  My vision was to sketch out some of the original Mirror landmarks; the best way to do this seemed to be with red work, a type of quilting that became popular in the 1870s -- long before Mirror existed -- but which has experienced revivals from time to time.  A neighbour who volunteers at the Mirror & District Museum sent me photos by e-mail, and put me onto a link at the "Virtual Museum" where I found more.  I was able to enlarge and print 6 photos from which I sketched embroidery outlines on bleached muslin. I found a couple of neighbours to help, but I have embroidered 3 of the 6 blocks, and am almost finished the fourth.  I expect to receive the finished blocks from my friends sometime this week.

The embroidered blocks will be set between six traditional pieced blocks, done in red and white fabric.  I was fortunate to find almost 2 metres of Alex Anderson's red work fabric line, which I believe is no longer in production.  I offset this with white-on-white fabric from my local quilt shop -- Caroline's Homespun Seasons in Stettler.The blocks will be quilted and then attached together with sashing in the block-by-block method, using red sashing on the front, and white on the back.  The backing is wide white cotton backing, also from Homespun.

To date, very few in town know of this project -- but tonight I've been invited to attend a meeting of the Centennial Celebrations Committee, where all will be revealed! (giggle)  The plan, you see, is to donate the quilt to the museum to be raffled as a fund-raiser.  It will be on display during the Centennial Celebration Weekend and tickets sold then.  I imagine the lucky winner will be drawn Sunday afternoon at the closing event(s).

If you're planning a trip through Alberta in July, you just might want to take in the party, and enjoy some old-fashioned entertainment, great food, and perhaps a walk through our pretty hamlet.  You can keep apprised of events with the Centennial's Facebook page.

Oh!  You want to see some of the Work In Progress?  Here it is...

St. Monica's Anglican Church - est. 1895

Mirror Station (no longer standing), built 1911

Three Quilted Blocks - Bank (centre) ca. 1912