The Quilt of Belonging

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the Art Gallery - I was thinking that might be the case, I did bring my camera but I didn't take any pictures. These are a few pictures from the Quilt of Belonging website. The quilt is absolutely stunning. You can check out each block on the website. There is one block for every nation in the world ( as defined as a nation by the United Nations) It starts out red and then the blending of colours from red to purple and yellow and green and slowing back to red again. The colour is just wonderful. That is the first thing that hits you when you see it. The entire bottom row of blocks and the blocks on each end are from all the various First Nations (Native Indian Bands) in Canada. They are all beautiful as well. I had not idea that there were so many individual native bands in Canada, around 70. This is the block from the United Kingdom. Beautiful embroidary of various flowers. The English Rose, Scottish Thistle, The Shamrock and a Daffodil (Wales?)
This is the block for The Netherlands. The little house is done in cross stitch. Each countries block was representitive of the needlework and culture of that country. The Eastern European countries do such wonderful needle work. This one below is Hungary.
The blocks are all set so beautifully with the background fabric bringing out some of the colours of the blocks. The shape of the block is a hexagon because that is the shape of the carbon atom - which is the base for all living things. The is a book that can be ordered from the website -- I really think I need that book! Although a picture and the story of each block - and the history behind the quilt can be view on the website - I think it would be nice to have the book and look at the blocks when ever I need some inspiration. The is no block for Canada -- at the top in the centre of the quilt in the red part is a Maple Leaf - that is quite hard to see if you don't know it is there. (The quilt's colour goes from red on each end and red in the middle like the Canadian flag) The quilt says - what Canada is - many different nations - including the native nations - all living in one country. The Quilt really is a piece of art. 

Invitation - the Quilt of Belonging

Invitation - the Quilt of Belonging

Tomorrow I am going to Surrey to see this quilt. It is on display at a small museum there until June 25th. I will take some pictures and post them when I get back. I have seen the book and it looks like just a beautiful quilt.

A day of Quilting

Here we all are in the little village hall for our day of quilting. The day turned out to be quite sunny for the afternoon. Although it has been raining here an awful lot lately. As you can see there is more chatting than sewing going on. We all started at 9 AM and didn't leave until 10PM so it was a long day. I started a table runner that turned out to be more work and more triangles then I thought.

This is the little hall where the reception for Jessica and Ben's wedding is going to be held. So I spent time looking at the tables, chairs, kitchen, sound system. How it will be to decorate, where the tables should go etc. It was helpful.. discovered I rented the wrong size table cloths - so I fixed that today!
These are a few pictures of the quilts that were up on design walls. I really liked this one. Wonderful colours.
Here is another one I liked - different houses.
This is a Kaffe Fasset pattern - although it is just courthouse steps but the way the fabric is placed there is a Japanese Lantern effect. The fabrics are mostly Japanese prints. It is just a wonderful quilt with beautiful fabric. The woman who was doing this quilt sat next to me and I spent most of the day admiring it.

The jury is still out on the Pounce. I opened it up and filled the little "pouncer" and when I finally got the stuff coming out it seemed to just put a very fuzzy line on the quilt. Fortunately it was easy to remove. I will try it again though because it could still be operator error at this time. The cost of it - I'd better get some use out of it. 

Packing for Quilting by the Bay

I am going off tomorrow for a day of quilting. From 9 AM tomorrow morning until 10 PM at night. I have a few things I can work on. I have a pattern for a table centre that is really nice - I want to use the hand dyed fabric that I have. I also have a kit for a lap quilt. I have never used a kit before (except for the table runner). The kit is with a fabric that I really liked -- Gladiolas. I will see how much I can get done tomorrow and post the results!
This is a package of Quilt Pounce that I picked up at the Quilt store yesterday. I have heard great and glorious things about using the Pounce with the ready made quilting stencils and how easy it is to use and how well it stays on etc. I have one small wall hanging that I just need to finish quilting the border and then it is ready for the binding. I will try the Pounce tomorrow marking a quilting pattern on the border and report back the results.
Well -- I am going to leave this picture here because I don't know how to delete it at this time - but I don't know how it got here. This is the view of Howe Sound from our deck. I took it a few nights ago, and just downloaded it while I was downloading the rest of the pictures. It was a grey and not very interesting night. I am really not sure why it ended up here. 

The Sampler Quilt

Well - here it is, all finished and ready to go on the bed. I can't believe it is finally finished. Although it is in need of a name still.

When the kids were all quite young, Jessica and Eric were in Elementary school and Andrew was just a baby I decided to go to college and become a nurse. It was about 1986. I started taking the pre-requiste courses and then the required course etc, going to school full time for almost 5 years. It was alot of work at the time. The kids were great and would be quiet when I studied in the evening and Andrew was a great little baby that loved to sleep!! I finally graduated in 1991. I got a job at the hospital I still work at - UBC. After working for awhile I realized that I had all this time off - where I wasn't working, and didn't need to read textbooks, go to school everyday and study - and I didn't know what to do with myself - What did I do before school and studying? I decided I needed a hobby. One day a co-worker brought a quilt top she was making in a sampler course she was taking. I just loved the colours and the patterns (her quilt was a lovely pastel purple and pink colour) and I decided I was going to sign up for the next sampler course. I started the course in 1993 in the spring. I decided to make 20 blocks - very smart! Each block is 12 inches finished. No one in my family ever quilted. I came from needleworkers, kniting, crochet, embroidery, etc. My obsession with quilting and fabric began!!

Most of the blocks are done all by hand. The instructor had us making templates for everything - no rotary cutting. We made two templates for each piece - one for the sewing line and one a 1/4 inch larger for the cutting line. The only blocks sewn on the machine are the log cabin and rail fence blocks. No wonder it took 13 years. The entire quilt is also hand quilted - I figured if I was going to put that much effort into it - I would hand quilt it all. The one thing I did do which helped get it completed in 13 years instead of ?? I got a quilter with a long arm to baste the three layers together for me -- basting is such a labour intensive job - and needs alot of floor space (that is not oak!!) I never really stopped working on it in the 13 years. It was always there - in the background - a few more blocks completed - the sashing to sew on (this was done by machine) I bought all the fabric when I started it in 1993. So in the end when I needed the binding fabric I still had enough left over of the burgandy from the outer border (and it is also in the body of the quilt). I can't even remember how much all the fabric cost -- over $300.00 I think.

At first I thought it was very foolish of me to start quilting with such a large quilt. But in the end this quilt became a good teacher. In the 13 years I've become a better quilter. I've started and completed many projects since staring this quilt. I found a hobby.

Jessica is now almost 28 and getting married in a few weeks. Eric is 25 and Andrew (who still loves to sleep) is now 20. To think that when I started this quilt Andrew was 7 years old. My life in a quilt. 

The Saguaro National Park

What a beautiful place to see. We got up early and spent about 3 hours in the desert. We went to the Park west of Tucson. There is a very nice little visitor's centre there. They have a slide presentation that is shown and it is well done - worth seeing- and after the show the curtains behind the screen open and there are these huge window's and this beautiful view of the desert. Very well done. This is somewhere we will need to go back and see again. I bought some Prickly Pear Cactus Syrup at the gift shop -- we have a few recipes in our new cookbooks that call for this.

Some of the Cactus were in bloom. This is the Saguaro Cactus.



We walked up the Signal Hill trail where we saw the Petroglyphs. There are quite a few up there. It was a lovely - not too hot morning. We saw a rabbit and quite a few little lizards and the air was just buzzing with bugs - it was amazing to hear the buzzing so steady and loud. We neve saw many bugs and we never got bit by any. Unlike Death Valley where the black flies were the size of helicopters and they bit!
I took about 120 pictures at the Park. It really is worth the drive - at first it seemed a long way to drive - from Sedona to Tucson just to see a few cactus - or cacti. But I am really glad that we did go see it.

Arizona is just a stunning place to visit. Every 20 miles it looks completely different. Tucson is a nice city from the little we saw. It is huge - spread out -- everything is miles from everything. Houses are so far apart that I think people must have to drive everywhere - and with the heat! Although it was not that hot - by Tucson standards - the day we were there, only about 96 F. It is a nice dry heat and not really uncomfortable. Of course we are used to very mild weather, in the summer the average temp. here is probably in the mid 80's ( 25-26 C). 

The Ring Bearer Pillow

I thought I would take a brief break from the trip and post a few pictures of the little pillow I made last night for Jessica's wedding. She asked if I could make a pillow for the ring bearer. Of course -- out I went and with the help of Andrew - who I ran into at the mall. We chose the fabric and lace at Fabricland - and then I went off to Walmart and bought more lace and tassels and ribbon. I made the pillow last night. It measures about 8 inches square. And as you can see I have enought left over lace to make about 10 more!! I bought 1 metre of the satin fabric - talk about over kill!! But I think it's a lovely little pillow and I think Jessica will love it.
Jessica's theme for the wedding is Red and White and Roses and Hearts -- so I made this table runner for her a couple of months back. I posted a picture of it quite awhile ago when it still was not finished but I thought I would post a picture of it finished.
The wedding date of June 24th is getting closer and we are starting to get busier. We spent all day today in the garden putting in some annuals and weeding the various beds. We still have quite abit of outside work to do and lots of things to prepare. Jim has brewed the beer so that's done. The next month will be very busy. I just hope it gets sunny because the wedding is supposed to be outside in a little park up the street. The reception is in the Village hall -- so if it rains I guess the wedding will be in the hall as well. We will say a little prayer every night for a sunny day on June 24th. 

Leaving Sedona -- finally - on to Tucson

We made another stop before we drove straight through to Tucson. We stopped at Montezuma Castle National Monument. It is one of the largest and oldest cliff dwellings in the area. Once occupied by the Sinague people. It was quite hot and hard to imagine what it would have been like living in the stone house built into the cliffs in the heat. Another free stop thanks to our National Parks pass.
Here is a picture of Phoenix from the car. It was a beautiful sunny day - but not too hot. We basically drove right down through Phoenix and on to Tucson on the I10, except for a quick stop at an outlet mall in Casa Grande so Jim could buy a new pair of running shoes. His were in pretty bad shape and really needed to be replaced. He brought 6 pairs of shoes with him - I have no idea why -- a pair of duckie boot -- just in case it rained and the car got stuck and he needed to push it out??-- so he said. I brought 1 pair of shoes and 1 pair of sandals. Anyway - he bought another pair of shoes in Casa Grande and then on we went. We got to Tucson quite late in the day - it is about 225 miles from Sedona to Tucson. We stayed at a Day's Inn at Cortaro. The woman gave us a good deal because when she asked if we were eligible for any discounts Jim said "no, but I come from the home town of Steve Nash" -- so she was a big Phoenix Suns fan. We had dinner that night at a resturaunt right by the hotel -- Cracker Barrel, Jim had catfish and I had "chicken fried chicken" which I have never had before and it was very good. (Still haven't been to Jack in the Box) The place if full of things from the past. Bought the kids some things -- Double bubble, harmonica, and a few games. Bought a little game with a wooden board and golf tees -- "jump one and remove" for Eric. Anyway --- long day and the next day we were going off to see the Saguaro National Park. 

Sedona to Tucson

I had to add a few more Sedona pictures. Sedona is just full of beautiful red rock hills and cliffs and apparently it is also famous for it's Vortex's and the Mystic people who live there. You can see many signs around advertising Psychic readings, etc. It is a beautiful --- eclectic place.
This is a church that was built into the rock just outside the town. The chapel of the Holy Cross.
Beautiful red rock and cactus. We saw two deer in the bushes around the chapel. We took a couple of red rocks from a pile of rocks at the Sedona High School to put in our garden at home.
 

Tlaquepaque

Some more pictures from Tlaquepaque. 

Sedona

We went back into Sedona the next morning around 9:30 - the shops were just starting to open and the streets were quiet. There is quite an artistic community in Sedona and the streets are full of beautiful little statues and figures. I just loved these little pigs. There are quite a few art galleries and craft shops. I saw a quilt shop but it was too early and a Sunday morning so it was not open.
Another statue on the street in Sedona.


We also went to a little craft village that is just off Highway 179 in Sedona. It was called Tlaquepaque - it is quite hidden and you could miss it if you weren't looking for it. It has lots of little crafts and gift shops, galleries and restuarants. It is beside a little stream and in the shade of many deciduous trees. Nice place to spend time. We found a little Kitchen shop and bought two books "Real Women Eat Chiles" and the "Sonoran Grill" Both full of great recipes with all kinds of Chiles that can not be found in Canada! But we had a plan!!
One of the courtyards at Tlaquepaque.

Grand Canyon to Sedona

We went back to the Grand Canyon in the morning and Jim walked down the Bright Angel trail for an hour and I took the little shuttle bus out to some of the view points along Hermit Road. I just hopped on the bus and was quite away down the road when I found out that there were quite a few stops along the way and then entire trip to Hermits Head (where there was a gift shop/snack bar and bathrooms) was 1 1/2 hours. So I did not go all the way -- but I really need to go back and do the entire trip along the shuttle - there are stops and viewpoints and it is incredible to see the canyon from the viewpoints along this road. This is a picture of the Koib Studio. It is a small gift shop and art gallery that sits right at the edge of the canyon. It is in the small village that is there. There are some beautiful painting on display - some for sale and some just to look at. I took lots and lots of pictures, but none really do the Canyon justice.

I really liked the to see the Park Rangers all dressed up with the Hats. It was like seeing them when I would see them on TV back in the 60's. It is amazing to see those hats. And the signs for the National Parks is the exact sign I remember from TV as a child. We didn't have American channel but we must have seen Park Rangers and National Park signs on "Wonderful World of Disney"


We stopped just down the road at a little camp ground and had our lunch in the shade. Nice little park full of Ponderosa Pines. The drive south on Highway 64 and 180 was through the Kaibab National Forest. Lots of trees and lovely and cool and green. I took lots of pictures -- again. There was a large snow covered mountain off in the distance -- Mount Humphreys - highest point in Arizona -- 12,633 feet -- that is high.

Coming south of Flagstaff into Sedona the road descended quite a lot. Sedona sits in quite a valley surrounded by large cliffs of red rock. It is a beautiful area - very different from the Flagstaff/Grand Canyon area.
Sedona is also FULL of tourists -- tons and tons of people - we were quite surprised to see so many people. But is was a Saturday and the weather was beautiful and hot. The town was so full of people that the traffic slowed to a crawl about 2 miles before the town. This is a picture taken on a bridge about 5 miles before Sedona. You can see all the people on the rocks at the edge of the river.
We did not even attempt to find a room in Sedona. We drove on to a town about 25 miles south, Cottonwood. We got a nice room at a new Quality Inn there.

The area around Cottonwood is really nice - it is a wide open valley (unlike Sedona which is quite closed in). It was very hot there. We wandered into Walmart and attempted to buy a few items with the self serve checkout. I very nice young girl helped us out. I'm sure she thought we were a couple of morons. We don't have the self serve checkouts in Canada and Jim thought it would be quicker -- it took three times longer we double entered stuff and couldn't figure out how to delete stuff - a bit of a production.

We had a great Mexican dinner there, and we wandered around a great food store called "Food City" that was just stuffed with Mexican food - I have never seen so many corn tortilla's in my entire life. Impressive. It was a good day. 

Eagle Eye Cam - Powered By Infotec Business Systems

Eagle Eye Cam - Powered By Infotec Business Systems

I am trying the Blog this on my tool bar. This is a website that has a live camera on an Eagle's nest. The nest is on Vancouver Island near Victoria. I have been watching the two little eaglets. It is quite amazing to see - I have seen the parent Eagle come and feed them and the parent seems to settle for the night in the nest and the babies snuggle up under the parent. I think the mum and dad take turns.

Anyway I will continue to post about our trip - I am posting mostly for my own benefit so I will remember the trip --- 10 years from now or so - as we did so much I need to have it written down somewhere or I will never rememeber the details - like where we stayed and what day we saw what place etc. I really think we need to go back to Arizona - and I hear New Mexico is the same.

Anyway if anyone is interested in watching some great live video of baby eagles -- enjoy!

The Grand Canyon

We arrived at the Grand Canyon around 2:30 in the afternoon. It is an amazing place. The most amazing thing about it - beside how large and beautiful it is - it's amazing that there is just flat land and small pine trees as you drive up to the canyon, you don't even have any idea it is there until you are right at the edge of it. There really aren't words or pictures that can describe it - ever. You must experience it yourself. It was quite a cloudy day with some rain off in the distance. So there are a lot of cloud shadows on most of my pictures that afternoon.
This is Jim looking over the edge. Jim and a friend had made a trip to the Canyon 25 years ago. When he went then he walked the Bright Angel trail to the bottom - Phantom Ranch and back in one day. Now there are signs all over the trail to warn people not to attempt to walk to the bottom of the canyon and back in a day!
We got a room at the Red Feather Lodge just 2 miles south of the Park gate. The cost to get into the Park is $25.00 - we had just been to the Death Valley National Park and realized on getting to Grand Canyon we should have bought a National Park Pass for $50.00, so we purchased the pass at the Grand Canyon and the Park Ranger gave us credit for the $20.00 we had already spent at Death Valley when Jim showed him the receipt. That was a great purchase - we went into alot of National Parks after that and never had to pay again.

We had dinner and then went back to the Canyon to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful evening. It really is a special place. We then went to the IMAX Grand Canyon movie, it was very good. Watching the movie of the people going down the Colorado River in the rafts through the Canyon - now that would be a great trip to do -- maybe one day!!

The old Cars in Seligman

I thought I would put in a few pictures of the old cars in the town of Seligman.

This is the sign for the Road Kill Cafe. The pictures are not quite ending up in the order I would like them but this will be okay. I will post the Grand Canyon next.