Our City Under Siege

I don't often use this blog to complain about the world around me. I know others do and I applaud them for their ability to speak their minds and not worry about what the rest of the world has to say. But the G8 and G20 Summits, which were just held in our province, have kind of stirred up my thoughts and given me the desire to share my feelings.

While the G20 members were calmly smiling, waving and posing for the cameras, our city was anything but calm. Thousands of protesters descended on downtown streets when the G20 Summit was held here this past weekend. Although noisy at times, they were mainly peaceful and nonviolent - lots of colour, lots of signs, lots of chanting, lots of music and dancing in the streets. When I saw them on television I was reminded of the 60s when demonstrations were held by flower-bedecked 'hippies' to make love not war. I wanted to go downtown and join them. If only I was 18 again. Here is a 2010 flower child, wanting to share her daisies with a cop in full riot gear.
I never doubted that our police force, as well as thousands of police officers from other cities, would be able to handle the demonstrators. But on Saturday, I was astounded to see violence and mayhem on our city streets. A group, calling themselves, the 'Black Bloc' splintered off from the main protesters. They wore black clothing and had their faces covered by balaclavas or bandannas in order to hide their identities. They started smashing store windows with anything they could find like bricks and boards. On other buildings they spray painted obscene graffiti. They eventually set fire to or destroyed four police cars. I watched the scenes play out in horror on my television - from the safety of my living room. What I really found interesting was that everyone at the scene seemed to have a camera or cell phone and was taking photos. I hoped that everyone of those violent protesters would eventually be identified and arrested.Our police have come under harsh criticism for their actions this past weekend. Some people believe that they didn't do enough to stop the thugs who tried to take over our city. Others claim that their actions were not democratic and should have been more fair. Many of the 'Black Bloc' were arrested and charged. In fact, it was reported that over 900 people had been detained and/or questioned over the weekend. I am proud of our police, even though they had to resort to firing teargas and rubber bullets into the unruly crowd for the first time in Toronto's history.

This whole thing has got me thinking. Our government spent over a billion dollars for security this past weekend. Wouldn't it have been better to spend that money on poverty, maternal health, the economy or whatever else they discussed at their Summit? The leaders could have participated in a teleconferencing Summit, each safe in his/her own country. But I understand the limited photo ops in that plan. I guess we can't have it all. Peace without policing. Government spending without a Summit. Photo ops without cameras.

Now it is time to clean up the mess left in the downtown area. I hope our city can go back to just being Toronto the Boring Good. That's the way I like it.

Cats in my Flower Garden

I've been AWOL for awhile. It has been a hot and humid week. The heat never used to bother me. I would just dive into our pool and cool off. But the pool is gone. We had to fill it in. So sad. (more of that on a later post) Now all I can do to cool off is stay indoors where it is air conditioned. And that's what I did. So you might think that I got a lot of quilting and sewing done - actually no. Nothing is completed for this month. I did get some flowers made. Five of them to be exact, but I was still working on them last night. Here they are.

"Oh, Mimi, get off my flowers so I can show them to my blogging friends."

"No way! Purrrr. I love these things. Just get that camera out of my face, Meow!!"

"Get off and I will go outside and get you some catnip. Ahhhh. That's better!"

Oh, no, not another one! Now Oscar wants in on the action! He always wants to do what Mimi does. Guess I'd better go out and get that catnip I promised them.


I also got a few spooltjes (klosjes) made. I have close to 200 now. I am trying to figure out how many I will need. Mine are 3inch blocks. If I make the quilt 48in. by 60in. I will need 320 blocks. Yikes! That's a lot! Guess I'd better get back to work.


And here is a gratuitous shot of Felix. He was polite enough to stay off the flowers, but I thought his photo should be in this post too. He is just so handsome.... and huge! My DS calls him 'The Big F".

Grandma's Flowers in My Flower Garden

I managed to get a few flowers made this week. It rained all day yesterday, so I couldn't take a good photo. But today the weather is gorgeous! So here are my flower blocks for this week.
First, 3 of them in yellow and green with my Verbena and Calibrachoa or Million Bells. I used to think that Calibrachoa were miniature petunias, but they are not. Although closely related to petunias, Calibrachoa has a very different DNA structure. They are wonderful in a hanging basket, and with the peachy Verbena they make for a colourful show in the garden.

I also made 3 in pinks and turquoise. Here they are in amongst my Phlox and Shasta daisies. The phlox is already beginning to bloom and the daisies look like they will open soon too.

A Volunteer Tea

The school where my daughter teaches is having a tea this afternoon, to honour all the volunteers who have helped out during the past school year. I am invited. I didn't do as much this year as I have in other years, but they invited me anyway. My daughter thought she would like to experience what it is like to bake a cake for such an occasion. Don't worry, she is not intending to quit her job and make cake decorating her career. She just enjoys baking cakes and decorating them. This one was a simple layer cake with butter cream icing. It measures 13in. by 18in. A couple of people expressed an interest in seeing the finished cake, so here it is.

Here she is putting on the finishing touches.

A Good Mail Day!

It's been a hot and sticky day today. I wasn't planning on doing too much in the kitchen. But then the postal service came and delivered a package. It came all the way from Australia and I knew right away that it was my apron from the apron swap that Sarah from Red Gingham organized. Hilary from quilary - take a peek over the fence sent it to me.

Here is my daughter modelling it. I am a lot bigger, so it fits me perfectly. I just love the little kangaroo and all the other Australian animals. So cool! So even though I now have this cute apron, I still didn't do any cooking. We ordered Swiss Chalet chicken instead. I'm not sure if I will wear it tomorrow either. I think I'll just sit and look at it for awhile. It's really too pretty to wear while I'm cooking and have things splatter on it. Hilary also included a couple of hot pads in her package. They will look great hanging on my kitchen wall! Thank you Hilary! You've made my day!

Flowers on a Rainy Wednesday

We are having a day of rain. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. We really need the rain. I can hear my flowers singing their hearts out in the garden. The birds are happy too! Guess it will be a sewing day for me and that's okay. I don't get much time to sew during the summer. Since it is Wednesday I am showing you some of my hexagon flowers. Here are last week's blocks. Only got three done, but it was a very busy week.

This week I did a bit better. I made 5 of them. Here they are in my vegetable garden. I planted the lettuce at the beginning of April and we have been eating salads for weeks already. The rows on the right are radishes. I still have to thin them out. But not today. It is too wet and cold outside. I think I will stay indoors and sew these flowers onto my flower garden quilt top.

Convocation

I haven't blogged in a few days - been too busy convoking. Ha! I don't think I have ever used that word before. My DS received his Bachelor of Education with 'highest distinction' last Friday. It was a proud moment for all of us! The university he attended is not too far away from home - only about 40km. It's a relatively new university. UOIT stands for University of Ontario Institute of Technology. I'm glad he went there for his educational degree since he was able to learn a lot of new computer skills. He is currently working for the university, preparing some mathematics resources for future student teachers - using the skills he learned. That's him in the middle of the stage with the blue trimmed hood.
We had a lot of rain this past weekend. But we needed it. My garden was reduced to dust. I did not take any photos of my spooltjes (klosjes) or my hexagon flower garden. I have been working on them - a little. Hope to do some more in the next few days. Then I will post them.

Nine Patch Challenge

As I wrote yesterday, we had our last Guild meeting for this year last night. The food was plentiful and tasty! The company was inspirational and friendly. There were lots of praises and fat quarters for people who had made our Guild such a success this year. Also, the winners of the 'Nine Patch Challenge' were revealed.

I was on cloud nine! Cloud Nine Patch, that is, because my quilt was lucky enough to win third in my category. How exciting! I have never won a ribbon before! (Probably because I have never entered a challenge before.) Here is my entry. I call it '27 or Nine times Three' because that is how many times the nine patch block appears in my quilt. First the little individual nine patch units, then the bigger nine patch units (the black and grey ones) and finally the overall nine patch units that make up the quilt. Can you see them?
I was also awarded a couple of beautiful fat quarters for all the quilts I have made for 'Quilts from the Heart' this year. Aren't they lovely?

We all said a sad goodbye for the summer, but promised to be back in September. I still have one more Guild function to attend and that is next Monday evening. There will be another potluck to welcome all the new executive members for next year. I am one of them. I will be doing our monthly newsletter. Can you imagine? I volunteered for that! I have no idea what got into to me. I think it will be a lot of work and will keep me busy and out of trouble for the next two years.

Another Quilt Year Comes to an End

Tonight is our last Guild meeting for this year. We are having a potluck. I made some yummy deviled eggs to take with me. I also finished this little quilt for 'Quilts from the Heart'. The top is not very exciting, especially for a child, but this is the fabric I was given to work with.

The backing is cute though. Butterflies!

That's why I took a photo in the garden. There are lots of butterflies flitting around my flowers. The quilt is hanging on my wisteria vine. It's the only shady part of my garden that I have left. We cut down the dead peach tree and also a huge cedar that I planted a long time ago when it was just a seedling. We bought a new peach tree yesterday. I forgot to take a photo. Maybe I will later. Right now it is too hot to go outside. It's 30C and feels like 35C with the humidity.

Flower Garden

It's been over a week since I last blogged about something. Not much quilting going on, but I was very busy, busy planting stuff, that is. The temperature has been incredibly high all week. It feels like July. Lots of sunshine and humidity, but no rain! I did a lot of planting in my garden - and watering!

All the vegetables are in and the annuals have been planted in the front yard. I am trying some eggplant this year. Never tried to grow that before. I still have a lot of weeding to do, but that will have to be done slowly. It's just too hot out! Because we filled in our pool last year, I now have a couple of raised flower beds that need to be planted. Here is a picture of the iris I bought a few weeks ago. I didn't know what colour it would be, but I am not disappointed. This thing is beautiful! You can see the raised beds my husband made for me in the background. It will be much easier for me to plant things this way.


And here is a photo of my hexagon flower garden. These are the only things I got done as far as quilting is concerned.

Bloggers Quilt Festival, Spring 2010

It's time, once again, for Amy's 'Bloggers Quilt Festival'. I have chosen this quilt to show you. I made it for my mother several years ago. It's machine pieced, hand appliqued and machine quilted. Thank you Amy, for doing this once again!

I really enjoyed making it and hope to make another just like it soon.

If you want to see more quilts in the Festival, go to Amy's site.

No Quilting Got Done Today

We got a dose of summer today. The high temperature went to 82F (28C). That's hot considering that less than a week ago we still had frost and the furnace went on over night. I should have been busy quilting my UFO, but I heard the garden calling to me. I decided to go to the nursery and buy some tomato plants.

It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine and smiled to myself every time I looked at my purchases of tomato plants and marigolds that overflowed my scooter's basket and sat at my feet, ready for my garden.

As I was getting fairly close to home, I spotted my elderly neighbour, trying to cross one of the busiest roads in our area. She has been displaying the early stages of Alzheimer's lately. I haven't talked to her since last fall, but something about the way she stood and walked made me take a second look. I wondered if I should interfere with her outing or just mind my own business. She kept pushing the button for the 'walk' signal, but it never came on, so she just walked across on a red light. It's three lanes of traffic in each direction, plus a turning lane in the middle. Luckily there was no immediate traffic, but several cars had to slow down so as not to hit her. I decided her outing had just become my business.

"Howdy neighbour", I said when she reached the side of the road I was on.
She looked at me suspiciously and then demanded to know who the heck I was.
I told her, "I'm your next door neighbour. Don't you remember me?"
"Oh for gosh sakes! Of course!" she said.

"Where are you going?" I asked her.
She told me that she was heading to a mall that was at least 10km from where we were. I asked her how she was going to get there and she said that she was walking.
"Why that particular mall?" I asked her.
She told me that she lived there.

So I decided to really interfere. I invited her over to my house for some ice tea! I was hot and so was she and according to her reality no one was home at her house. We made our way slowly down the street, with her stopping to talk to her shadow several times and also to an imaginary dog, that apparently comes by all the time. I rode my scooter, while she shuffled along. We finally made it home, but she did not want any ice tea any more by that time. She was just glad she had found her house! She climbed quickly up the front steps when her husband opened the door. He told me she had been sitting outside in the back yard and must have gone for a walk.

I really hated to interfere, but if something had happened to her, something that could have been prevented by me helping her get home, I would never have been able to forgive myself.

I took my plants home and planted them in my garden. New plants, new growth, new life, new harvests. It was comforting to think about those things after witnessing the ravages of old age.

Yippee! It's Time for a Monday Update!

I love Mondays! Why you ask? Because on Monday everything returns to normal for me and I am able to do some sewing. Saturday and Sunday are usually so busy that I can't get any quilting done. Most of the time the only sewing I do is the hand kind when I watch television in the evenings.

So what did I do with my weekend? I made a 'flag'. My DD asked me to make one for her grade 8 class. They are doing a workshop for the rest of the school. Their topic is bullying. This is the flag that the students designed. I just made the letters and figures, DD helped with that. Then I stitched them down using a machine blanket stitch. I hope the students like how it turned out.
I also had a chance to work on my 'spooltjes' (klosjes). I now have a total of 129 completed. I did not take a photo of them. But here is one of my grandma's flower hexagon. I have made 30 flowers so far.
I know I said that I wasn't going to start anything new until I had finished another UFO. But I needed something to do during the day when I am inside and able to use my sewing machine. This is my new start. It's all done by machine. The blocks measure 4 1/2inches. I am just making a few of these every day. I am using every blue fabric in my stash. When I run out of blues the quilt will be finished.

SkyWatch Friday - Already!

A couple of sunrise photos from a few days ago. If you want to see more Sky Watch pics from around the world - and I know you do - go here. This one was taken just minutes before the sun rose above the horizon.

And in this one the sun is up. Nice sun, but it turned out to be a cloudy, hazy day.

On the quilting front, I have been busy with klosjes, hexagons and also my hand pieced and appliqued quilt. Will show you a progress report soon.

I Finished My UFO for May, but is it Mimi's Quilt?

I don't think I have ever finished a UFO so early in the month. I guess Mimi was sort of encouraging me to get it done. She can be very persuasive you know! This quilt was supposed to be for a friend and co-worker who was having a baby. I started it in 2004, but my friend ran into some maternity problems and decided to go home and stay with her Mom. I think her Mom lived in Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland. To make a long story short no one at my school knew where she was or when she would return. I put the unfinished top away so that I could finish it when she came back, but she never did. And she left no forwarding address, so there it sat in my UFO bin, for years. But now it is done! Yippee!
I'm not sure if it should become Mimi's quilt now that it is finished, although many of you thought that she should have it. She was very flattered by all the attention she received! And she really does love it!
But Felix likes it too. Only he prefers to sleep under things.


And then there is Oscar. He is happy in the cat bed I crocheted for him. I know he would love to sleep on the quilt too, but when Mimi claims something for her own, no one else will be able to get near it. Ever!

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing all the mothers of the world a Very Happy Day!

Watching the Sky and Some Blocks

I went over to a friend's house for coffee this morning. I baked this scone to take with me. I had never baked one of these before. It was simple and delicious! I put some grated lemon rind and fresh blueberries in it.

I was watching the sky all morning. I wanted to ride my scooter to my friend's house, but I was afraid of rain. The clouds were moving in, but I made it home before the storm. In fact, just shortly after I got home the sky cleared and the sun came out!

For more SkyWatch Friday photos go here.

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Since it is already Thursday, I decided it was about time I did the last two blocks for the Friday Block Party. I mean, I sort of have to set an example. So here is the one called, 'Puss in the Corner 3'. It is a 12-inch block. Easy, peasy!

Then there is last week's block, 'Blazed Trail'. I really liked how this one turned out. As you can see, so does Mimi! It is also a 12-inch block.

Mimi Loves It!

I have been working on the UFO baby quilt. I thought I would get the top done today. But when I put it on my design floor, it wasn't right. Mimi likes it though.

Mimi - "Meow! I love it. It smells good!"

Perhaps I should have taken a better photo of it so you would be able to see it, but Mimi wouldn't get off. I have no idea where this pattern came from. I think it was in a magazine. Does anyone recognize it? It seems too small to me and I wonder if there was supposed to be a border or two on it. I decided I would just make a few extra blocks to make it larger, but I didn't measure correctly. But how could I? Mimi wouldn't get off!

Mimi - "I love this quilt! It's so soft and warm!"

I guess I am going to have to leave it until tomorrow. Maybe I can finish it then. That is, if I can Mimi to get off it!

Mimi - "Meow! Get me off? Not bloody likely! Meow!"

Edited May, 6th - I found the magazine this quilt was inspired by. It's on the cover of the McCall's, "Quilting", August, 2001 edition. I think I changed some of the blocks, so I am still not exactly sure what I was going to do with this quilt. It's sort of a 'design-as-you-go' right now, but that's okay. I love just sewing and designing and coming up with something new!

Nature Walk

I was invited to join my daughter's grade 4 science class for a nature outing in one of our local ravines yesterday afternoon. What a great time I had! The weather was perfect! And the kids were wonderful!

(Oh, look! It's a red-winged blackbird!)

They were polite and respectful of the flora and fauna they came in contact with. We saw frogs and snakes, snails and spiders, birds and bugs, woodland flowers and blossoming trees. They each had a little box with a magnifying glass top. If they were able to catch an insect, they could put it inside the box and look at it more closely. I was pleased to see how gentle they were. All the insects and spiders were set free before we left.

(Hmmm. I wonder. Is this an igneous or sedimentary rock.)

Everyone was exhausted, but happy by the end of the walk. We arrived back at school just as the dismissal bell was ringing.

(Doing a head count. Good! We didn't lose anyone!)

It's Going To Be a Busy Month!

April was a busy month, but May looks like it is going to be crazy!

I finished the dress I was making for my mother. The staff at her nursing home had asked us to buy her some dresses that were open at the back, kind of like a hospital gown. We couldn't find any, so I made her one using this pattern.
We took it up to her yesterday and she loved it! I didn't get a photo, but my sister did. If she sends it to me I will post it, but it really won't matter too much if you don't get to see it. It fit her perfectly, she loved it and the nurses were happy, so I think I will be making her several more in the coming months - as time permits, of course. The pattern says that it's a 2-hour dress, but it took me much longer.

I am also involved with an Apron Swap, but I will keep you informed about that. The next row of our RR is in the works. I haven't decided on a colour or blocks yet, but I am thinking about that.

Although no numbers for UFOs have been posted yet, for this month's challenge, I decided to finish my hand appliqued, hand pieced quilt top that I started a couple of years ago while I was in the hospital. It is screaming to be finished. Here is a preview.
And I have also decided that I will try to finish a baby quilt I started a long time ago. I seem to be using the fabrics for other projects and I want to have enough to finish this one. It is an easy machine pieced top and I should have no trouble finishing it. Here is a sneak preview.
As for my on-going projects.... the hexagons are looking good. And I have been able to make many more klosjes since I last showed them to you. I have a total of 106 now! Here are some of the newer ones.

Yes! I see a busy month in my future. There is also the garden which will have to be planted and tended to. And this afternoon my daughter has invited me to join her class on a nature outing. I just love nature! We will be going down to the ravine to look for animal habitats. I have no idea what that will involve, but it sounds interesting. I will drive my scooter down there to meet them. I'll try to remember to bring my camera!