Garden joys

I have been sewing, honest I have. But the garden has been consuming my time, even if just to sit and plan. The daffodils are done now, tulips are lovely (must get a picture of them) and so many plants are starting. I'm totally thrilled to have almost all of my perennials showing their little green tips.

The hosta bed has yet to report in, but they are always late so my fingers are crossed for them.

All this plant life is telling me to get back in my studio and get those quilts going so I can decorate the garden furniture with them. One is ready to quilt--about to start the next one. I'll have pics of them next time.

Burgess Shale Exhibition

I am about to ship my entry for the SAQA Western Canada exhibiton on the Burgess Shale exhibition which is a pretty great feeling. It has been done for awhile but it was too early to put it in the mail so has been adorning my design wall. This morning, I sewed the label on and made sure the loose threads were all clipped and off. Now, I just need to find a good box and then it's off to the post office.

This exhibition has been a lot of fun to prepare for as the intended audience is 5-12 year olds and is about one of the geology's most exciting formations. The idea is to present images of these fossils that are bright and interesting, the first time they will be shown in colour, in fact. I'm hoping to be able to get to see this show and see how all of the participants have interpreted their particular fossil.

I chose Nectocaris for my piece and ran into an interesting little glitch. I had it all sketched out and ready to start cutting fabric basing my design on the information from the two major publications on the Burgess Shale. However, at the last moment, I decided to check online to see if there was anything more I might be able to glean about this guy before starting. Imagine my surprise when the online information totally contradicted what was in the print sources!

The issue is that more information had been found, in addition to there being new interpretations of the existing finds. Back to the drawing board (quite literally) for me.

At the moment, I don't have exhibition information to share with you, but as soon as I get the details, I will post them right here on my blog.

Encouragement

While lunching with Judy in Moosomin on Tuesday, I told her that she is a good influence on me. She is currently making 20 quilts for a new facility for cancer patients in Brandon and I'm enjoying seeing what she's doing.

Not only do I like what she's making, I'm realizing that it's about sewing. If art results, then super! If not, it's still sewing and for people like me, sewing is what I love to do. Because of her work on these quilts, I'm realizing how okay it is to just sew.

That's the reason I bought all those fabrics the other day. I'm just going to sew. As I was thanking her for her encouragement and teaching me to Just Do It, she reminded me that I had said that very thing in an early blog post and that was what gave her the encouragement to just sit down and start making whatever pleased her, art or not.

I was flabbergasted and my only reply was, "I guess I should read my blog!"

My first 12 chemo caps are all done and ready to be delivered and I'm going to start sewing all that fabric I just bought. I think I'll start with the ballerinas and then move on to the dinosaurs. Those particular fabrics were bought to honour our two children and their passions. The sophisticated stuff can wait until the fun ones are up and running!

Road trip

The other day I was feeling lonely so called up my friend Judy and suggested a lunch date. We agreed to meet in Moosomin at Shirley's Sewing Room. Why there? you may well ask. Because it is exactly half way between Judy's home and mine. A two hour drive to spend the better part of a day with a good friend seemed like a great idea to both of us.

I had never been to Shirley's before and what fun it was! It's a great store with a wide variety of very nice quality quilting cottons and a great 50% off section. As you likely know, I don't buy fabric. I buy a bolt of white cotton every so often and then dye it and/or paint it. However... I got hooked in Shirley's and found a number of bright and cheerful fabrics that I just knew I needed to buy.

Believe it or not, I have a plan for all that I bought. We have some outdoor tables that I often want to use as side tables or a dinner table but they aren't as beautiful as I think they should be. Sooooo, make a quilt to cover them and they'll become beautiful. In addition, we have some of those resin lawn chairs that are a long way from lovely, but they work very well with our dinner table so they will also get small quilts made to toss over them to make them more attractive and more comfortable.

Great adventures to come!

From Shirley's we went for lunch at The Witch's Brew Coffee Shop where we had a great bowl of homemade soup and a cheese biscuit. It was as good as any I've had anywhere. Nice atmosphere, we sat by the window and watched the world as we chatted.

We also made a quick stop at Adam's Acres Greenhouse which is just outside of town, north on Hwy 8. What a beautiful spot with a huge variety of strong and gorgeous annuals, some perennials and interesting pots and ornaments for the garden. Well worth the stop!

I know that this is going to become a habit. Moosomin has a lot to offer and, it's half way between friends.

Sewing again

The last few days have been productive ones for me. No high art, but still, in my studio and sewing. I've started some more boxes as the MacKenzie Art Gallery Shop wants some of the brightly coloured ones. I'll only make a few, but they are kind of fun to do with all those brights!

The other project I've been working on are hats for chemo patients. My friend, Judy Morningstar, devised a pattern for these that fits most heads and is comfortable so she sent it along to me. I had originally thought that I'd be making these for my friend who had breast cancer. The good news there is that she doesn't need chemo so won't be needing hats.

All the contact that I've been having with various agencies and classes associated with her cancer have impressed me so much that I want to contribute something back to them. I've taken a number of fantastic classes, as a support person, that my friend was enrolled in to help her understand this journey she is on and they have all been so well done and so helpful.

I was there when she came out of surgery and was so pleased with the care and caring that she got from the nurses, and from the physician of nuclear medicine when she had the dye injection prior to surgery and ... well I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that there is so much support and kindness there for people facing cancer and I'd like to be able to give a little bit of me to that caring.

So, a chemo hat! And fabric to make more. By the time I'm done this lot, I'll have an even dozen to donate to the cancer centre for whoever needs them.

Done is good

Once again, I'm singing the song of Done-ness. The dress that never ends is finished and ready to wear. And the pattern that made my life such a living nightmare is in the recycling bin. Nope, not doing that one again. Yes, it's good to learn from your mistakes and to grow from adversity.

So, my attitude is that I'm done--a good thing. I like the dress--another good thing. Far too many issues with the pattern to even begin to mark the changes on it--so recycle it and do the world a favour.

I've been experimenting with my flash and am delighted with what you can do with it! I've captured individual drops of water here which is so cool.

Now I just have to learn what I'm doing and how to make it a part of my photography bag of tricks!

Signs of spring

The temperatures are rising, the snow is melting and YIPPEEEEE, there are tulips poking through. Can you imagine my surprise when I saw these lovely bits of joy so determined to bloom that they're pushing straight through the snow.

I've spent several hours every day for the past two weeks moving snow and it's paying off big time. There is very little snow left in our yard and all kinds of promise. Seeing those green bits and daylilies sending up shoots just has me singing!!!

Believe me, it's hard to spend time in my studio when I can be outside.

Moving on to...

My last post was a bit of an angry rant so I was delighted to see the comment left by Rena saying that thinking about age is to waste creative flashes. Absolutely right!

It's always so nice to remember that we are not alone, there are others who think and feel the same things that we do. And that others disagree. It does keep life interesting and interesting keeps the creativity alive.

On a completely different note, I'm excited to say that my boxes have been sent and received and will be available for sale at the Grasslands Gallery in Val Marie SK. While I've never been to Val Marie, I think I might have to make the trek one of these days as it sounds like an absolutely wonderful spot!

It's at the gateway to Grasslands National Park which has to be a great place to visit. After all, Canada does do National Parks well.

Laureen Marchand, the owner of Grasslands Gallery, has recently interviewed me for her blog and I'll post the link to that interview when it's up. In the meantime, spring is definitely in the air, the sun is shining, a creative person's thoughts turn to art.

Is age important?

Here are a few shots of what I hope is the the end of the ice age in Regina taken two days ago to accompany my rant.

I've never been one to hide my age or to shy away from admitting that I'm whatever age. Until the last few years. There is a phenomenon going on that makes me distinctly uncomfortable and, I believe, is affecting my studio work.

What's that? you may ask.

Simple, it's people saying, "You can't expect to do as much, you're getting old." or "You need to get someone else to (shovel, mow, clean, whatever) because you're getting old." or "Of course you hurt, you're getting old." or "You're not as young as you used to be." or "For someone your age...."

These comments are so discouraging, put downs even. They make me feel like life is almost over when, in fact, I've got lots of years, decades even, left to live. I'm not even a senior citizen in many situations. In some, the senior status starts at 50, in others it doesn't kick in until 65. Well, I'm in that spectrum, but I'm not old.

The thing is, if you say these things to others, you are telling them to just give up, buy a rocker and wait for the undertaker. If you say them to yourself, you're telling yourself there's no point to trying. This is 2013, and 70 isn't old any more, let alone the 50's and 60's. I have friends in their 80's who are young. My grandfather was young at 100.

I realized the other day, as I was avoiding my studio, that I was thinking that there isn't much point in making art as no one wants to see the images created by an old woman who only has (maybe) a few creative years left in her. BAM! I felt like I'd walked into a wall and immediately set out to find where that idea had come from. And the answer is--from well meaning, but not very supportive comments about being old.

Next time you find yourself about to say something about the limitations of age, whether to yourself or someone else, STOP! Remember Thumper in the movie "Bambi." He said, If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

Hmmn

Well the dress is a disaster. I knew that I was going to have problems simply because Butterick has never fit me. The trick to dressmaking from a pattern is to find a company that fits you. They all say these measurements and you choose according to what will fit.

However, the truth is, they aren't all the same. Some people love Butterick, others Simplicity, I find Vogue to be the perfect fit. But I found this pattern and decided to overlook that I've never had good luck with the fit. And I've been rewarded for my trust with the knowledge that I'm going to have to totally take the dress apart, reshape some of the pieces, change some of the darts, in other words, do a complete redesign.

I think it will be worth it in the end, but I'm pretty frustrated right now. Tonight is the start of my next photography class so I'll be well distracted for a bit and then can get back to the dress when I'm not as tense about it.