Free Rider

We drove up to Edmonton on Dec 30 for a family function at Joe's sister Mary's place.  But our first stop in the city was at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Centre.

On October 29/11, my nephew Tedman missed.  Ted's sport of choice is "extreme mountain biking" - I'm not sure if that's what he calls it, but that's what I call it.  He and some friends have a goal of jumping their bikes 150 feet using strictly gravity and pedal power.  They have been working their way to this goal.  Ted apparently holds the world record now, but the 150 foot jump would be extremely difficult for anyone else to beat.  If they can set it to start with.  And Ted missed.  He "landed" in hospital with a shattered left femur, broken shoulder bones, cracked sternum and serious head injury.  This is a video of what they do.

Two months later, he is making a good recovery and his prognosis is very good.  Nothing that we can do other than visit and encourage his recovery.  So naturally I made a quilt.  I called it Free Rider.  It is the same pattern as Skulduggery that I made last year.  Somehow it seems appropriate.

So here is the rant: I can't leave Ted's story without making a few comments.  I refuse to call it an "accident".  This was not an "accident" - Ted chose to do this and he knew, or should have known, what the potential consequences would be.  Fortunately - he was wearing top of the line protective gear, otherwise we would have been attending a funeral, not visiting him in hospital.  Still, if this was a kid unknown to me, I'd be the grumpy old tax payer incensed that  my tax money would be going toward paying for EMS support, air ambulance ride to hospital, hospital and  medical care, and therapy to mend a kid that was dumb enough to do this and who will likely do it again. 

On the other hand, if people didn't take chances, all the great accomplishments that are made would not be made.  Taking risks is how astronauts got to the moon, how Europeans "discovered" America, how innovations are turned into wealth generating industries, etc.  People take risks - some people take more risk and they don't think about the downside.  When we saw Ted on Saturday - he was still determined to do this jump and simply jokes about being dead.  At this point the most important thing for him is to do this jump and succeed.  Maybe when he's had a bit more time to recover, he'll change his view, but somehow, I don't think so.  All we can hope is that he gets the best insurance he can find and puts all the possible safety measures in place.

So Ted, if you ever read this, I get that you want to do this - almost have to do it - but I don't like it.  And we love you anyway.

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Here is Marjorie with Hobo Hieroglyphics.  She was very happy with it. 

We drove home on Saturday, Dec 31.  It was a beautiful sunny day, but very windy in Edmonton and on the highway heading south.  The wind died down about half way home.  (It was about a 3.5 hour drive from our starting point to home.) I took this pix from the car window to show the snow from the fields being blown across the highway by the wind.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Best Christmas Ever!

HO, HO, HO!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sort of looks like a quilt, doesn't it?  My clever husband made me this amazing thread cabinet! 

 I think I have "the perfect colour of thread" for just about any quilt!  I ordered the minimum order from Marathon Threads (Winnipeg) and tried to get a wide variety of colours.  Minimum order is $150.  The spools I got are 2000 m 35 weight - about $4/spool.  If I were to get quilting thread in my local fabric store, retail price is about $14 for 1000m (although I would typically wait for the half price sales).  If you do the math, it's worth dropping the $150 all at once.  I had picked up some Marathon thread at the last sewing show to try it out and liked it.  So I was comfortable in ordering lots more.  It will take me awhile to use it all up though! 

Craig and Rhonwyn sent me some fabric from Hong Kong (above - not a great pix, will have to try for a better one - oh who am I trying to kid? - you'll see it as it comes up in a project). 

And Eric gave me a gift certificate to the local fabric store!  Sew - I'm feeling like the little kid who got all the things she asked for!  Pretty spoiled, eh?

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Finally - this is the "table runner" finished for the dining room table.  It turned into more of a table cloth, but that's OK - I like it.

  For the pix, I pulled out one of the table leaves - the leaves are usually folded in so the runner would hang over the ends, but when both leaves are both out it will extend about half way over each leaf. 

Snow! And 2011 Minis

 It started snowing about 14:00 yesterday afternoon and continued for the rest of the day and night.  We ended up with about 4-6 inches of fluffy white stuff.  I didn't get pix until after shovelling and neighbour kids messed it up - but oh well.  The kids looked like they were having fun!

It seems each year since I started this quilting hobby I have a couple of months at the end of the year where I pause for station identification.  I have lots of batting ends and bits and pieces generated from the quilts I've made previously.  I want to clear up some of the debris.  And make a few items for the season as well. 

 First up are my little gift bags - I made some of these last year.  Two half meters yield 10 bags.  I picked up this Mark Lipinski fabric for 1/2 price (I cannot resist a sale). 

 I made three minis as per the above - this is actually a pattern from a book called Pretty Little Mini Quilts  - a Lark Book (no specific author - this quilt is designed by Rebeka Lambert and called Around the Block).  Finished size is about 29 inches square.  No new fabric here - all "left overs".  Chris and Karl get the wine block.

 I've also been making some Christmas items for ME!  I think these are the first things I've actually quilted for myself.  We have three end tables this size and the larger coffee table.  I have two small ones done, hand sewing the third and will be working on the coffee table next.  I may even decide to do a runner for the dining table.  Using some fabric up and started in on some Christmas fabric I picked up a couple of years ago.  I made up the pattern. 

 Here are the remaining Around the Block minis.  The red one went home with Carol and Dan.  I put the blue one in for a door prize for my company party - then won it back!  I will have to find another home for it.  These are both using up more "left overs".

Finally - this little guy (above) still using up the fabric from my very first project table toppers/runners for my Mom.  Didn't measure this guy, but probably about 20 inches square. 

November Divas Day

Our day began with "show and tell".  Joan and Dorothy both had "I Spy" quilts to show off but would not allow pix as they were not finished.  I brought my latest along and as it was almost finished (about half the binding needed to be stitched on) I took a picture of it.

Hobo Hieroglyphics - each block is a hobo sign indicating something - work available, safe drinking water, danger, etc.  I used the block designs by Debra G. Henninger in her book Hobo Quilts, but designed the quilt on my EQ7 program.  It's about 5'*6', which I find is a nice size for a quilt. 

 I put a legend and the block names on the back of the quilt. 

Our Gourmet Diva, Sue, was back in action with us today with her usual yummy contribution. 

Red pepper soup with corn.

 Chocolate from Ireland - personally imported by Sue as she has recently returned from her tour of Ireland, which she "loved" and would live there.  I guess I'll have to add it to my list of places to visit.

 Potato strudel and something I've forgotten the name of on puff pastry that was really yummy - how can it not be when pastry is involved?

I neglected to mention that we also finished one quilt top and have to blocks made for a more complicated top - assembly still required.  Next time.

Flash Mob Again

Flash Mob is modeled by Curtis and Kim on their wedding day - September 24/11. 

Below it is being held up for me by my cousins, Sandy and Marj.

Taking a break - this is one of the trees on our street in front of the house a couple of weeks ago at peak fall colours.  It's almost bare now.

When we got home from the wedding, we had our first water lily on our fish pond! 

OK - enough of a break - here are a few detail shots of Flash Mob. 

I'm moving on to the next project.  It is hobo signs/symbols.  I first learned about these a number of years ago and was sort of fascinated by the idea.  Then last year I found a book called Hobo Quilts by Debra G. Henninger.  I've started a quilt using some of her block designs. 

Flash Mob



Flash Mob



We were invited to my cousin's son's wedding. Since I have piles of fabric and many ideas for quilts, I decided to try out the latest urge for an unconventional quilt and present that as the wedding gift. This is what I came up with. As always, credit where credit is due. I found a book called Stretching Tradition - New Images for Traditional Quilts by Lynn G. Kough, which inspired me to this particular lunacy. I'm actually pretty happy with the result.

I'm naming it Flash Mob because I heard the term the other day and thought it would be a neat name for a quilt.  There are a lot of stars here (a mob) and stars are flashy - so it works for me!

Seeing Stars!

It's finally finished. The only place big enough to stretch it all out is the backyard. I need a couple of people to hold it up to get a better pix and Joe was the only one around. The lighting could be better. Anyway - I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. This is a queen size quilt somewhere in the 90"*120" range. I made about 300 six inch blocks and used all but about about 10 of them, which I put into the backing. Blocks are arranged in an organized random sort of way.