Quilt university class

September. The true beginning of the year. back to school after all these years. I'm taking another course through Quilt University. Linda Schmidt is a wonderful artist and teacher and will be guiding us in creating pieces to represent the elements.
The first element we are doing is water.wonderful waves crashing over rocks- memories of Ireland come flooding back.

Memories of Italy

We had many wonderful homemade icecreams when we stayed in Varenna, Italy.
I made a journal quilt to remember those sweet times. The ice cream cone pattern was one I had saved from Quiltmaker's for over 10 years. I just knew I would need it someday.
Someday arrived and I knew the lace from the Fabric-olics swap would make wonderful ice cream scoops. I used acrylic paints with a little fabric medium to get these lovely sherbert colours. As I put the scoops together I thought some beads would make wonderful sprinkles.
'I don't like sprinkles'
pardon?
'I, you, WE DON'T LIKE SPRINKLES' said my inner child
' ya but they would look good'
'I DON'T WANT SPRINKLES'
right, no problem, no sprinkles - saves a lot of work anyway!
so smarty pants if you are in charge here what kind of cone do YOU want?
not one of those tasteless plain ones I WANT a waffle cone.
right lets go see what we can find
ah here we can use a piece of this paper stuff from Sammy - I love using the same materials in consecutive pieces - a sense of continuity yet totally different use
YA WHAT EVER she sighed
oh no can't use this there's a hole in it
COOL, WE CAN HAVE THE ICE CREAM OOZING OUT THE HOLE .......my inner imp piped up
we'll see......
the tissue wrapping the cone is a piece of stabalizer embroidered with 'Italia' then inked to highlight the words.
and a FQ of a Kaffe Fassett fabric was perfect for the binding .....sprinkles on the side!!
and I STILL bite the bottom of the cone!

Long weekend

Ah! the first long weekend. Are there any sweeter words for Canadians? It's here. Victoria Day or better know as May 2-4!
For many people this is also opening weekend at the cottage. What do we do?-it starts early in the week- the chat 'are you going to the cottage?' then - the lists- things to pack, things to buy, food to make, toys to entertain children on the drive up. The drive-Oh yes a million of us will be leaving the GTA to head 'up north'. And all trying to beat their all time best for getting there-Hours of traffic, rising prices of gas, hundreds of OPP officers pulling over the stupidest of us- Thank you to those who have to work the 'long weekend'.
to find what? -that's the suprise element - large and small. From trees that have fallen to droppings mice have left.
how do we spend this wonderful time? raking leaves,cleaning, putting in docks, fighting to get the water running, entertaining restless children when it pours, cleaning up the mud those kids trapse in after the rain stops. hunting mosquitos, applying sunscreen. Convincing those men in our lives that yes they do need more sunscreen on their heads than last year!! counting blackfly bites. estimating the costs of long overdue repairs.
why? you ask why? for this-
Photo from Patti's entry in my Circle Journal - a Day in the Country -permission granted!!

More on Chicago

We spent most of last Saturday in Chicago. Got off CTA at Washingston Station again. Went to Marshall Field's for lunch. One whole floor of the store is restaurants.
We choose The Walnut Room and had a table at the corner window for a great view. The store like many things in Chicago reminded us of Paris.
Then it was on to the Navy Pier. It is wonderful to see cities restoring & revitalizing their waterfront areas. It looks like it would be a very busy place in the summer. There is a wonderful collection of stain glass art including many Tiffany pieces. Maybe I should make a quilt from Natalie & Nancy's book- Landscape Quilts. So many ideas-so little time!!
Then it was off or should I say up the John Hancock Tower. There was a Wedding taking place so we had a bit of a wait for the elevator but it was worth it. Great views.

Chicago Quiltshow

Home from 4 days in Chicago. It feels like we were away for a week. We arrived early Thursday morning & headed into the city after checking into the hotel. The transit system runs right out to the airport so it takes over 1/2 an hour to get into downtown. It was incredibly LOUD!! I even purchased earplugs for the trip back to the hotel. We found that trains with more people on them were not nearly as deafening.
One of the first things we noticed about Chicago was how clean the city is. No trash, no graffitti, no garbage anywhere. Even the sidewalks were clean of chewing gum marks. The city was just putting in spring flowers in all the planters. Big boxes of pansies, round containers with daffodil bulbs ready to burst into bloom around a spray of pussy willows.
The Millenium park at the waterfront reminded me of some parks in Paris. Very symmetrical, they even have a stop for the Metra trains the same as the Metro in Paris.

H's Birthday

It is H's 21st birthday towmorrow. Wow! Where does time go? She is a tall beautiful smart caring woman. She is finishing her 3rd year at York University. Psychology, philosophy, essays. My years at University were all science- based. My favourite philosopher is the same as hers but for very different reasons. We walked the footpath of Nietzsche on holiday in France.

roof tops

DSC05334
Originally uploaded by Creative gleanings.

Roof tops in the South of France. taken from the Jardin Exotique at Eze. Inspired by Corey's lovely pictures of her home in the South of France. I have many more once I flickr & I make friends.

Happy Birthday Spot

It's Spot's 19th Birthday. These are 2 of my favourite pictures of her. The first was take at Captiva Island in Florida before her first birthday. I love the light, her chubby little fingers & toes. The second was taken last summer at Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge in Northern Ireland.
She looks so good in her Aran sweater we got a Blarney Woollen Mills. And she still looks good in a hat!!
She is a born artist. She can make art out of anything. As a child she would sketch on the walkway with charcoal bits from the firepit. Lately she has taken to making figures out of wired garbage twist ties. She inspires me to remember I am an artist too.
Happy Birthday Spot!!