So what does a quilter do when she is gifted with a quilt?  She takes a deep breath, drops a tear, pulls the quilt from the box, smoothes the fabric and admires the pattern and colours.  She holds the quilt to her heart and says a prayer of thanks for the creators and for the giver.  Thank you Victoria Quilts and quilters in Steinbach who crafted my gift and thank you Elvira for thinking of me in this very special way.  This quilt will go up to my loft and reside on my nap couch in my own quilt space. I know "it's more blessed to give than to receive" but today this gift was a blessing for me to receive.

Fabric that kept on quilting...

Building a quilt as an original design has many components.  The story of these three quilts reflects the adage of "it's never over 'till it's over...
My friend Norma, bought a quilt kit complete with pattern and fabric, I loved the fabric, I watched all weekend at retreat as she made the quilt pattern that came with the quilt.  It was beautiful.  Then, at the end of the weekend, she threw the bag of “scraps” at me and said “they’re yours now”. So I designed a quilt around the scraps and it took me three years to put together ( and in that time it also claimed an owner…Happy Birthday to my niece Heather Fast…) So, I still had some scraps left over and, thought I’ll just include them randomly for the backing….but it turned out to be quite beautiful and I couldn’t sacrifice it for a backing, so, it became another quilt…Third Time’s the charm…and I still had some scraps leftover for the back…
But I think it's over now.

Modern design with quirky pea vine appliqué and cucumber vine machine quilting motif.

The back art

Heather, you're so tall and lean, I had to make something to match, and I should deliver it sometime too!

And the third time it's all done, all that was left was a few squares for back art :)

Time to connect with Family

Ahhhh, the joy of spending time with my sister and her daughters who live too far away and visits are too far apart.  Thanks for the love girls!  Was so lucky to celebrate a birthday with them and was happy to present "either waking or sleeping, may you always be in God's keeping" travelling pillowslip gifts to the three of them.  Sleep well girls, love you :) Here are two of the pillowslips, the other one ran away to a pillow right away... but I'll include her and new pet "Peanut". And, a privilege to travel with my Aunt, what a joy.

Oh, and if you want a true visual delight, drop in at the Quilt store in Beaver Lodge between Grand Prairie and Dawson Creek, super sweet store!

A Commission presented and complete

So, November already!  and so delinquent I've been with posting, just a reflection of the speed of life around me and the amount of effort I've put into trying to join in and keep up.  So far I seem to be in the race, doing some work at contract/short term gigs (thanks Westgate) and looking for longer term, fulfilling work.  Feel good about the process, am much stronger have more stamina than two months ago, so that's good.

So, projects, back to quilting which was what this blog was supposed to be about.  I have been able to be creative too.  This project pictured below was commissioned by Mennonite Church Manitoba, to be a Table banner for their registration table for events.  The request came shortly after my diagnosis in Fall of 2011 and, needing to put my faith in being around in a year, I consented to put something together, as long as there wasn't a due date.  A year almost the day of my surgery, I delivered this project and was gratified with the reception.  That feels good.

SO, The original thought was to do a water-colour wash of many green batiks, from dark to light, with the dove obviously in the light.  Well, the budget soon became too much, too much fabric to buy...so then this "Hot Shots" project that I've done a couple of times, came to mind and was much more within the budget scope.  The quilting motif is of course open to interpretation as it should be.  A large branch, meandering it's way across the piece, growing into the borders and around the dove.  The title "The branches and the Vines"  loosely translated, open to interpretation.  As is my way, the entire piece is free hand quilted on the long-arm machine, where my needle becomes my pen.  The time spent on this piece coincided with some difficult decision making on the part of the Camps with Meaning program and Camp Moose Lake where I have hosted many (more that 25) weekend quilting retreats.  So, many hours of prayer are stitched into this project.  It is still not clear where those decisions will land but the Retreat 2012 at Moose Lake, was great, with a fabulous group of women, some challenging devotions, creative inspiration abounding and a community of faith and care grown again.

So for the Pictures:

This is the presentation day at Mennonite Church Manitoba, there's another photo on their web site here that shows the detail (on the second picture down, click twice)MCM Quilt unveiled | Mennonite Church Manitobamennochurch.mb.ca

 Free hand/fee motion quilting is done without guides, I find that my hands get a rythmn and my swirls and leaves get a character singular to that project.  I also worked in a few pine trees which are like my "where's Waldo" contribution.

 The branch detail was done with small scale zig zag patterns and, thanks to inspiration from my friend Jodi, a very cool "Knot" pattern which makes then more defined as branches, Thanks Jodi!

 Outlining the dove was the biggest dilemma, being in the white fabric and then being appliqued guaranteed that your eye would be drawn to it, but, if you don't quilt the fabric, it puffs ...so the radiating lines anchored the space without becoming too busy. divine inspiration truly.

The final dilemma was "words or no words" initially the plan was to have "Mennonite Church Manitoba" on the lower right, similar to the logo on letterhead etc.  This made sense until I tried to figure out how to do the letters and not make them the focal point.   In the end, I decided to leave them off and let the "powers that be in the office" decide.  The unanimous  choice was no letters.  So, the commission is clearly labeled in the back.

I'm thankful that my inspiration has been appreciated and I'm honoured by the original request.  It has been a privilege to have this project be a part of this past year and it provided focus and inspiration for me to look at sharing my "sparetimeobsession" with others.  I find a quilt can be a visual destination, and if given time, can give the heart and head an opportunity to be inspired for the tasks at hand.  That is my hope and my gift.

June is here, in such a good way, on such a nice day, 25 degrees, some good breeze, a surprising rain downpour, time with the kids, an evening to head up to the loft ahead.  Thought I'd share the celebration of my last project finding it's home.  Part of the wedding commission saga, "50 Shades of Grey" is now complete. It was a pleasure to create these quilts, and a please to give them to somone who so sincerely appreciates them.  So, now they're done, and I'm on to a new one, "Star in a Star" in tone on tone batiks, up to seven in each block in variations of colour gradations.  But, here's "50 Shades of Grey" the queen size version of "Running 'Round in Circles #2".

Chemo's done, yipee, let the pickling begin!

So, Day #17 of my last chemo recovery finds me feeling tired mostly, still trying to stay healthy (can't forget that all the usual cycles of low blood counts still occur even in this last treatment) and trying to let the light at the end of the tunnel of chemotherapy, bring joy and elation...but I'm not feeling it.  Sort of disappointed about that but, in some ways not surprised.  Perhaps when the energy starts returning I'll feel a bit more like I'm finished with this nasty phase.  In the meantime, I'll have about two weeks before I start my Radiation therapy.  I've come to peace about the proposed "double" hit that they'll treat me with, not only the surgery site but the upper lymph system at my collar bone as well.  Was a little worried about the effect of radiation on my left arm, but since it seems to be behaving very well without nightly tensor wraps or daily compression sleeves, I'm hopeful that it will withstand another hit with radiation. I'm thinking of radiation as a vinegar bath, which helps things get clean and fresh, eliminates smells and makes things last forever with the right storage...maybe that will be me :) kind of like a ... pickle.

So, to avoid thinking too much about myself and health stuff, I've been indulging in some quilting.  First of all, along with a few friends, I've finally started on the "art" quilt I wanted to do when I first started all this chemo stuff.  I'll be at it for a while, but love the dimensional tricks that I'm getting with colours!

 I also finished my annual benefit quilt for the Westgate Bursary Banquet auction and was quite happy with its turnout.  Stepped outside of the colour box and went white with a "2 1/2" charm pack" of VERNA squares and a fresh striped binding by Michael Miller.  Turned out to be a lot of fun, the white on white texture from the quilting was a hoot and gives me the itch to try out more radical modern techniques.  So here are the pics, not the greatest quality but I always seem to almost forget to take them before I give them away... I called it "Spring Thistle" (of course because of the thistle pattern quilted in).

#6 delivered,10 days to deal with it, YAY

Here's the update that went out by email this week,

Hello friends and family.  It's been a busy week!  First and foremost, in spite a two day delay again, waiting for the blood levels to get healthy enough to treat, on Friday, April 20, we finally accomplished Treatment #6.  It was an interesting feeling, a turning point and on to stage 3 of this cancer treatment: radiation therapy.  When they informed me my PICC line could also be removed I was almost nervous, that was the tap line for chemo and bloodwork for the past few months.  But, "TAKE IT OUT" was my option and now I feel strangely set free... how bizzare.  I was thankful that Doug could once again be released from his day at school to come with me to this last treatment.

So, now it's the standard three week cycle to allow the chemo to do it's job, (the familiar "dentist dust" mouth taste has arrived even quicker this time around) then it's a last Dr's appt with Dr. Pitz and nurse Linda, before he turns me over to Radiation Oncologist Dr. Cooke  and nurse Barb, to monitor and care for me during Radiation.  Radiation will likely start after the long weekend in May and go for six weeks, putting me at about the last week in June for completion.

As always, I've felt well cared for by my medical team and supper(intentional mis-spell) well cared for again by our community of friends and family.  Thanks so much the for relevant and unique ways you continue to accompany us as a family on this journey.

We had my Dad and Ruth in for a visit this past week and it was GOOD!  Derek is back from Kelowna with great new skiing skills and good stories of learning how to live with four room-mates in their condo.  He's expressed appreciation for "a cat to pet" "nice sharp knives to chop veggies" and a "frying pan that your eggs don't stick in".  The small practicalities of life, newly appreciated.  HE's now looking for work, hopefully to be found soon.

  

Michael started a job in lawn care this week, he's excited about doing outside work and not having to tap his creative brain for a while.  His 3rd year architecture year has been good and he's looking forward to fourth year and degree next year.  

Lindsey is away on a 10day Choir Tour with Westgate, she's discovered Akron, PA, New York City, Washington, Elkhart IN, Chicago and whole lot of bus time.  We're looking forward to her arrival home on Monday night.

Jonathan is into practices for Flag football and looking forward to riding his bike to school next week since the weather is supposed to turn to spring again.

Doug is pulling long hours teaching (as usual) and coaching Badminton (lots of after school running around to practices) 

So there's a picture of our past month.  We're looking forward to outside time and I'm experiencing what "chemo-hair re-growth" looks and feels like.  It's fuzzy and irregular and "aack" kind of white...apparently that might not last...