Three Amigos off to Glendive

Just had to show you my bird brained friends who were flying all around me in the field on Thursday.

Since the Rafferty Dam was built there has been a lot of terns around!!

But there was an imposter in the mix......just above the dirty window spot to the left!!

This seagull thought he was a tern!! And yup... I need to clean my 'office' windows soon.

But no fieldwork for awhile as it has been raining for the last couple of days.

So what's better than a road trip to a quilt show in Glendive with two quilting friends.

Our first stop was Quilts and More in Sidney.

Then the Makoshika Quilt Festival in Glendive.

It was another great show. They had a Hoffman TrunkShow that was absolutely spectacular.

To see more, check out The Block Party Blog as Tracey has posted some great pictures of our day there.



Tracey checking out the Cathedral Windows......



My favorite Hoffman Challenge wallhanging called Silver Dollar Log Cabin. I will definately be looking for this pattern!!

My second Hoffman Challenge favorite.

 Amazing workmanship by all the challenge winners.

They also had BigFork Bay Cotton Company exhibit of all their patterns.

This was my favorite.

And last but certainly not least, we had a quick stop at the Enchanted Room Quilt Store in Glendive where Jane found some new friends!!

I asked Jane to stand in the picture so we could get a scale of their size. You know... like they do with a clothespin or quarter so you can judge the print on fabric when you are shopping on the 'net!!

It was a really nice day.

Thanks for all the laughs, Tracey and Jane!!

Hoping for some sunshine...... Christa

Spring?? Not!!!!

These icicles cladding my bird feeder this morning makes me wonder if I really should be out in the field or not!!

Farming and quilting really have alot in common when you think about it.

Can you tell I have had some 'time to think'?

You take a blank canvas(a field or a yard of fabric) and you add some seed(actually or creative thought) and with a little time.. before you know it you have a crop or a quilt.

They both requiring cultivating and planting, and in the end, there is a harvest(grain or a quilt).

 Every now and again, there is a disaster(mother nature or a bad fabric choice)!!

From the front......

I have spent the past week out in the tractor.

This is for Shelby, my city slicker 'sister' who is always asking about farming.

And from the back!!

Nothing exciting... but needs to be done!

The 'Dirt Farming' pays for the 'Fabric Farming'.

I was reading Messy Jesse's blog and she referred to her Farmer's Wife quilt blocks as her 'Farming'.

 Again an interesting choice of fabrics and worth a look!!

I did manage to get a little more stitching done on my Garden Grow-ing.

Justin and I also managed to plant his 1800 gladiolas(yup.. that's no typo!) for Farmer's Market and put some seeds in the ground.

Ready to see

But I think we will hold off till we don't have to wear gloves to open the seed packages!!

Hoping for some rain.... Glendive's quilt show tomorrow!!

Christa

Mr. Zipper

Otherwise known as Gideon Sundback!  

While I was cultivating today, my son texted, saying it was Gideon Sundback's 132nd birthday. You know the guy who invented the zipper!!!

Google always has some theme to their daily image.

Today, when you click on the zipper, it opens up and commemorates the birth of Swedish inventor Gideon Sundback on April 24, 1880.

After being appointed chief designer for the Universal Fastener Company of Hoboken, N.J., in 1909, Sundback went on to develop the fastener with interlocking teeth that revolutionized fashion.

The zipper, initially planned to replace the hook-and-eye fastener on women’s boots, went on to become a standard feature on clothing for women and men by the 1930s.

While the concept of a zipper had been postulated by engineers for at least two decades beforehand, it was Sundback who perfected it by placing a tiny dimple on the underside of each tooth and a nib on the top that would fit snugly with the dimple above it.

Where would be without the zipper?

Still doing button fly jeans I guess.......

Christa

My Fortune Cookie...

Doesn't this just say it all?

Saturday was freezing and Sunday was an awesome Spring day!!

So I decided it was time to tackle my perennial bed.

Looking pretty ratty lately!



Before....

Since going to Yellowstone National Park, I have been wanting to add rock pillars to my backyard.

 I wasn't sure how I was going to go about it and was not looking forward to picking the rocks needs to complete this job.



After



But it actually went alot better and was easier than I thought it would be!! I used gridded wire and made round 'cages' which I put over my existing posts. I started filling with grapefruit size rocks and incorporated the rails as I layered. I need to find some flat rocks for my caps on each pillar now!

Not bad if I don't day so myself!!

I thought it was a good day to service the quad. Some one else didn't think so.....

Working on the quad

I have the seat removed so she is sleeping on the battery(that can't be comfortable) just waiting ....



Working on the Baler



I have a pretty patient dog...she is always in the background waiting!!

And on a final note ... my 'garden' is growing!! Don't look too closely at the stitches. My mom and I are doing the same project and her comment last night was that this is not as easy as it looks to get a good product!!

Practice... practice!!

Super sunny skies and warm days!!

Christa

Number 22

What is Number 22?

Not a color of thread or a favorite number.

She was one of my favorite cows.

Number 22

Nothing cute... just a well mannered, easy to deal with cow.

And with my history of abuse from the legs of cows, I have come to appreciate well mannered.

She passed away yesterday.

She was probably the oldest cow we have ever had. Bought her as a yearling around 1995 and she has been bringing up babies ever since.

As Justin said, not very often does a cow outlive their number.

Last summer, when we round up the cows from the pasture, we could not find her so we presumed she had died out there.



Grandma



A week later, she showed up at the gate at the corner, wondering where everyone had gone.

She had arthritis and was a real slow mover in her late years. It took her that long to get to the gate.

So I hooked on to the trailer, loaded the quad and headed back to the pasture.

I drove into the middle of the pasture and opened the trailer door to unload the quad but thought 'what the heck...I will ask her if she wants to come home.  Maybe she will just get in the trailer."

Well, That's exactly what she did.

Cows are in rodeos for a reason.

They need to be chased or rounded up as they never go on their own. But after years of trust and handling, she was so glad to see a familiar face and wanted to come home.

How can you 'ship' a good ol' cow like that?

I know.....

 It is not good financial sense to keep a cow that is no longer productive but I think she earned her place to live out her last days in a respectful manner. 

 She has become a family member earning the name Grandma (no corrilation to anyone one we know!!).

A cow stays in a herd for around 8 years before they lose their productivity but some just earn a place in your heart.

Yes...I AM talking about a cow.

R.I.P

Grandma

1995-2012

Gone to Greener Pastures.....

Christa

Weyburn Quilt show

A car load of Marcottes and a Holzer loaded a van and headed to the Crocus Quilt Show in Weyburn,Saskatchewan yesterday.

 First, we were wined and dined with a great feast at Christine and Omer Marcotte's. Omer was kind enough to take care of dish.

Very much appreciated!!!!

Gloria introducing Wayne Kollinger

Then it was off to the show, where over half the quilts in the show were quilted by Terry Whitman.

Terry is still on her vacation but she was up close and personal with 53 of the quilts so technically she only missed half the show!!

We stayed to take in the trunk show which featured Wayne Kollinger and his wife from Calgary, Alberta. Wayne is very technical and has great eye for experimenting with color. His blocks and thoughts were very interesting and amazing all at the same time.

Wayne's Blog is definitely worth a read!!

Today I found some time to sew up a few of the petals to Moda's Garden Party quilt.

Garden Party  Pattern

There is a fair bit of folding and turning involved in this one......like 250 petals!!

At least it was spring-y in my sewing room.

It sure was not outside today!!

And as you can see, there was some pretty heavy traffic in Dawson's bed today!!

Pretty bad when there is thread trailing out of  the dog's bed!!

I even got started on my Crabapple Hill's 'How Does your Garden Grow'!

Please excuse the wrinkles!! I am not using a hoop.

 I will be sure to press for the next update!

Spring must be in the air as I seem to be having a re-occuring theme in my projects this month.

Totally subliminal!!

Here's hoping for some Spring tomorrow!!

Christa 

A Day in the City

Off to Regina yesterday.........

First I checked out the new quilt store, Cindy Rella's Quilt Store.

It is located at 3847 Sherwood Drive in Regina, Saskatchewan.

The store just had it's grand opening last week. It is spacious and large with good lighting. Cindy has a little bit of everything and I am sure it will continue to fill with new treasures.

Then it was lunch with Shelby Love at Magpie's Cafe in the Crocus and Ivy Store. The food was delic and so were the cookies Shelby made us!!

Shelby took me to a friend of hers, Dorothy.

Dorothy has bound tons of quilts for their guild and is an amazing appliquer(if that is a word)!!

Here is some of her incredible work..... 



Intricate 3D flowers





Woodlands



 Dorothy does amazing work.



Layers of flowers -all needle turned



 Sadly, Dorothy is having some issues with macular degeneration and feels she needs to give up this lifelong hobby now. She has left quite a legend for the quilting world to appreciate her talent.  

Another amazing talent(as always)....

 is Terry Whitman's work.

 She managed to quilt up my Cattails by Judy Niemeyer while I was in Calgary with Grandma.

Love the detail.. all the swirls and triangles

I have not had a chance to thank her as she is on her cruise in Amsterdam with her mom.

Hope they are having the time of their lives!!





Our quilt group really admires Judi Madsen of The Green Fairy blog.

Judi's work is amazing .......

but I have to say we are very lucky to have our own Red Headed Fairy

named Terry Whitman. 

Thanks again for a great job!!

I love it!!

By the way....Has anyone seen the sun??

Christa 

My Aunt Julie

My ray of sunshine

She has an infectious laugh and a bright smile.

 Always makes you feel good and so full of inspiration.

Aunt Julie is extremely talented in her painting...

Her creative use of teacups to make a couple of lamps...

And is totally a RED HAT SOCIETY sassy gal!!

But last year was very hard on her with the passing of her daughter.

She was so sad last summer and I was sooooo sad for her.

I felt like she had lost her mojo.

I asked her to show me what she had been working on and she showed me a box that had three crazy patch squares in it.

Aren't these the cutest little button flowers?

That was last summer.

This week I had a chance to go see her again and she is back.

She had so much she wanted to show me and I was excited to see it.

 This time the box was full of crazy patches squares.

 Each block is elaborately adorned with hand embroidery, charms and lace surrounding a photo of Aunt Julie.

This one is of Grandma Cyr(Yvonne nee Bourassa)

She was such a cutie pie!!

Aunt Julie said this is a box of 'ME'!!!

All this beautiful work and her 'Over the river...' quilt has inspired me to give my hand a try at stitching.

 Aunt Julie found these cute vintage accordian cat cards at a garage sale a few years back.

Then at her quilt group, someone had some fabric with these vintage cats so she has now started crazy patches featuring them.

She also modeled her latest bag.

 I guess I come by my bag fetish honestly!!

 This bag is what ever size you need for the day from large...

to medium.....

to small!!!

Simply fold down to the handle size you require for the shopping you plan on doing!!

I am so glad to see Aunt Julie creating and living life again!!!

Love you, Aunt Julie!!

xxxooo

Christa