It’s a busy life

I never did get around to posting last weekend…. Close friends are getting married this coming Sunday and I am “standing up” for her.  Plus coordinating food for the reception and providing beds for his mother and aunt who are here from Ontario.  Add to this travelling for work, an upcoming territorial election that is going to be called any day, and for which I am a returning officer….Life feels very busy. 

Before I leave tomorrow for my next trip for work, I need to show a couple of pictures from last weeks trip.  I went to Pelly Crossing and Carmacks, respectively four and a half and three hours north from here.  Both these communities are small and there aren’t a lot of picturesque sights, however they are both along the Yukon River and much of life centres on the river.  So I have river photos to show and a couple of others…

Riverboats along the river in Pelly Crossing….

The community garden in Pelly.  Even though they are that much further north, I notice that their plants have lots of leaves and not much fruit, kind of like the plants in my greenhouse….

Sandbars in the river in Carmacks….

And the regrowth progress of the 1998 Fox Lake forest fire….

I didn’t see any animals along the road, except for a mama bear with two cubs close to home, and this beauty…

Deer are a recent immigrant population to the north.  There is very limited hunting of them allowed and they are not very shy. 

I forgot to show photos of the postcard swap that Fiona and I did a while back to celebrate our respective one year blog anniversaries.  Here is the gorgeous post card she sent me…. her representation of the Great Barrier Reef and the Southern Cross.

And here is the one I sent her….I’m a bit obsessed with bears in the summer….

One other bit of sewing to show today.  I mentioned a while back that DD # 2 was hounding me to make a blind for her room.  I bought the fabric for this blind in 1997 so I guess it was high time to put it together.  And since we had company coming to stay for a week I put a lot of effort into getting it finished before tonight.  Here is the finished product….open….

And closed….

Definitely old fashioned fabric….or maybe it is just meant for a child, which my daughter was when I bought it   This was probably the most challenging sewing project I’ve ever done….and I’ve made lined jackets and pants and fancy dresses.  It was the trip to the hardware store for bits and pieces and the power tools needed to hang it that put it over the edge.  I’m hoping that as it hangs it will lose the wrinkles that I didn’t iron out….

Janet

A Q-Wad

A few posts back I sent out a request for some blocks of vehicles – any kind of vehicles – for a quilt I want to make for my grandson.  A couple of people promised me blocks – thank you so much.

Julie, who had already sent me a few blocks, sent me a note saying she doesn’t even know what some of the things my grandson loves are.  So I need to show her. 

First a bit of a story.  When my kids were small we were poor – really poor.  That was partly by choice; we wanted to live in this remote northern town and we wanted at least one parent to be at home with our kids.  I didn’t work very much and DH worked when there was work available, but sometimes in the winter there wasn’t that much work.  We lived mostly in a tent for ten years, with two young children.  We moved into our home, which DH built, a year before DD # 3 was born. 

As things progressed our financial situation improved.  I eventually went back to school and got my social work degree and a job with the government.  The north changed, the economy changed, work was more available.  Nowadays we have all the money we need.  But when the kids were small they wore hand-me-downs, I sewed with fabric bought at Woolworth’s for $1 a yard or salvaged at the church rummage sale and the kids didn’t have many toys. 

Now my DD and her partner are also not rich, but the world has changed.  There are so many things available everywhere.  Here in the Yukon there are great recycling centers and they all have free stores, where people leave items and other people come and take them.  My DD and her circle of friends trade items around all the time.  They all have great clothes and DGD and DGS have a gazillion toys.

DD’s next door neighbour is a hunting outfitter.  He has all the BIG toys: speedboats, four-wheelers, big trucks, horses etc.  They have a boy, midway in age between DGD and DGS.   He is a real character and takes after his dad.  He also has lots of toys. 

On the weekend we went to DGD’s 7th birthday.  Here is the little fairy blowing out her candles.

And all kinds of loving guests…

And – Surprise!  DGS has a q-wad (as he says it).  The next door neighbour’s son got a bigger one and gave this one to DGS.  It does actually run – it’s electric – but DD and DSiL took the battery out so he can just sit on it or people can push him around on it.  He is, after all, only three years old! 

So Julie, this is a quad.  A rhino is apparently an improved model, with side-by-side seating for two people. 

By the way DH and I are not into these motorized toys at all and neither are the DDs.  But DGS is certainly enamoured.

Janet

Friday Night Sew In Report and some thank-yous

I love Friday Night Sew In (hosted by Heidi and Bobbi).  It happens just often enough to make me feel like I actually make some progress on my projects and not so often that I end up having to miss it all the time.  I don’t work on Fridays, so it usually works well for me to sew at some point during the day.  This is what I worked on last night.

Firstly, I put together this backing

for this quilt,

which my friend Linda P. and I are making for friends who are getting married.  These are SO not my colours but I really like the quilt.  This is the Bow Tie pattern but when made in this style it is called True Lover’s Knot. 

I received two little packages with big gifts in them this week.  I received my “welcome” hexie from Jane for the Inchy Hexagon Swap.  I’ve been in this swap since the beginning but it’s nice to get a welcome no matter when it comes.  She also sent me another package of hexie papers from Joanne who sells them at her store.  She contributed a sample pack for everyone in the swap.  So generous.

And then I also won a package of hexie papers from Joanne – she is having some giveaways to celebrate her new blog. 

So I am set for a while for hexie papers, although I use them up quickly   Thank you to Joanne and Jane for the lovely gifts!

At the end of the evening I started working on thank-you hexies…

When I make the hexies I put a lot of preparation work into them.  First is picking the fabric, then cutting the pieces from the fabric.  Then cutting out the papers (when I don’t have some precut on hand).  Then I iron the fabric around the fabric.  I know most people don’t do this step but I find it just makes it easier to baste them and have the edges turn out sharp.  I do back basting, just catching the corners with a couple of stitches.  Some people baste right through the fabric and papers but then the stitching needs to be removed later.  With back basting that isn’t necessary.  Then after a last iron the hexies are ready to sew together into flowers.

I am off today to meet with Linda P. and get that quilt ready for quilting.  The wedding is in two weeks.  Eek!

Janet

Lovely mail received and a request

I said last week that I was going to show my received mail and I’m finally getting around to it.  Life seems incredibly busy these days.  I mentioned that I started a new job and had to travel in the last two weeks.  The first week I went to Watson Lake, a five hour drive south on the Alaska Highway.  Here is a picture of the signpost forest that surrounds the tourist information centre there.  People from all over add their signs, handmade or official.  It would take hours to go through and read them all.

 

Then last week I went to Dawson City, a one hour flight north.  I was happy not to have to drive there as it takes about six hours.  The days are much longer there than at my latitude and they get more sun.  Look at these beautiful flowers….

Now compare those sunflowers to my sunflowers which are just barely starting to open.

Anyway here are some beautiful things I`ve received recently in the mail.  First my Adventure block for June from Lynn.  Isn`t it lovely!

It is a raised pinwheel by the way, even though you can`t quite tell in this photo.  She also sent me a pretty sand dollar from her beach in Florida and a postcard of the sun and sand to make me drool.

Then I received my July Adventure block from Karyli and I thought `how can I be so lucky to receive two such beautiful blocks two days in a row`.

Sadly I haven`t received my hexies or my Christmas blocks for June or July yet.  I hope they come sometime…..

But hey look at these other goodies I received from my friend Julie.  Thank you Julie!  She is so sweet and offered to give away some of her Tenugui (see her post for more information) which I think are Japanese tea towels.  Look at the variety she sent to me.

My favourite is the black one with the birds.  I thought they were geese initially, but now I`m thinking cranes.  The black one with the squiggles on it she said may be poetry.  I love the trees and hills and the oriental zodiac.  They are all lovely, made of a light cotton fabric.

Julie also sent me squares with planes, boats and trains for the quilt that I am going to make for my grandson…hopefully in time to give it to him for Christmas.  I have my layout all sorted out but I do need a few more fabrics and this is where my request comes in.  Here are the great blocks that Julie sent me – race cars, trains, bi-planes, jets, sedans, fire trucks , boats and a couple of whimsical blocks.

I have these blocks – school buses, police cars and ambulances, kayaks, white water rafts, motorcycles and skidoos.

My grandson is seriously into vehicles!  I need seven or eight more blocks to do the design I want.  I would really like to have some heavy equipment – diggers, big trucks, cranes and the like.  Also other cars, dirt bikes or bicycles would be wonderful.  And if anyone has fabric with a quad or a rhino…..I`m not even sure what a rhino is except it is the new improved version of a quad.  My three year old grandson knows all about them

I need 6 1/2 inch blocks.  If you have any blocks to contribute please let me know and I`ll send you my address.

Janet 

What I’ve been Sewing

I have truly been doing some sewing, although it doesn’t feel like I’ve done much.  I started a new job last Monday and had to travel Tuesday through Thursday.  I’ll be on the road – actually in the air – again this week Monday through Wednesday.  I did take some hand sewing with me but didn’t get a lot prepped to take so didn’t accomplish a lot.  Here are my July swap items though – all made and sent on time.  Phew!

First my two blocks for Sue, the leader of the six inch block swap that I joined just last month. Sue doesn’t appear to have a personal blog, but runs four blogs for the swaps that she organizes.

For the Christmas Block Swap my July partner was Cheryl.  She asked for a log cabin in Christmasy colours and this is what I made her.  It turned out quite busy but hopefully she loves it anyway.  I really like it.

For the Adventure Block Swap I made this block for Karyli.  She let me know she has received it and loves it.

And here are the hexie flowers I created for Simona in Croatia.  She asked for bright colours.  I think I achieved that!  I called this the butterfly series.

Lastly here is the Christmas Mug Rug that I created for Narelle.  She appears to live even more remotely than I do.  I love that in Australia they call it “in the bush” just like we do here.  Not the forest or the back woods, or the country.  The bush. 

This is the third mug rug I’ve made for a swap where I’ve used hexies.  Do you think I’m a bit obsessed?

And the back….

I’ll be back tomorrow with some photos of my recent mail receipts.  There are some lovely ones!

Janet