The Making of a Quilt

God has blessed me with many gifts.  I am a lucky woman.  But as I get older I realize that they aren't necessarily interrelated.   Let me explain.  He has gifted me with patience to do crafts. When I was in High School, I hand embroidered a tablecloth for 12 and 12 napkins.  Not only did I carefully embroider it all, I also did a fancy hem all around the edges.  I still can't believe I finished it.  When I was waiting to move to Utah I did a very elaborate counted cross stitch of a fall forest scene.  I had three small children then.  The cloth was 18 or 24 count which is very tiny. Again I don't know how I finished it.  It is definitely a masterpiece.  

Now you need to know the cross stitch was a kit.  The table cloth was virtually a kit.  I was in Italy one summer and my aunt took me to the store bought the cloth the pattern and the thread.  She ironed on the pattern and proceeded to teach me how to do the elaborate hem.  Then I was on my own.  I have tried many different crafts but have decided that quilting and machine embroidery is what I will settle on and try to perfect with the years I have left.  My eyes are getting a little worse each year and I can't see well enough to do the tiny stuff.

I know this was a long introduction unrelated to quilting but I am getting there.  As I get farther into quilting I realize again that kits are the way to go unless I am doing one with machine embroidery.  I have discovered that though I am pretty patient with a project I don't have enough color sense.  I can see what looks good in the end.  But it is the fine differences that I don't see until someone else puts them together.   Take blue for example.  There are hundreds of shades of blue.  The shade depends on how much of another color is mixed in to it to make it a particular shade.  Red and blue go well together if the right shade of blue and the right shade of red are put together.  I opened a quilt kit the other day and decided to make it.

I was overwhelmed by the many different fabrics.  They all didn't match.  The colors were so different I had no clue how I was going to put them together.  I started making squares.  None of them looked good.  I went into a panic.  I asked God why he didn't give me color sense as a gift. I think His answer was "I gave that gift to two of your friends".  So I proceeded to call one of them.  Unfortunately,  the timing was not good with one but the other was able to join me.  You should have seen her go.  It did take several hours but it was amazing how she had a knack for putting those squares together.  She tried to teach me and I kind of caught on.  I was able to put a couple together successfully.  I will now take the time to sew them all together and finish it.

If you insist on a point to this story, it is that we are not meant to be alone.  God mixes his gifts so we can work together to create something.  I had a lot more fun doing the project with my friend than I would have alone. 

One Of Those Days

Have you ever had one of those days when you wish you had never gotten out of bed?

Well this is one of them for me.  Thursdays are my favorite day of the week because I most of the time I try and treat myself to just doing what I enjoy.  But today all my well laid plans went array.

I had laundry to do which is no big deal and I have a massage this afternoon which helps the back pain.  My plan was to do some quilting and do some things on the computer.  That is when all the problems started.

Though the internet is working in the house and my husband's computer works just fine neither of my two computers were able to receive internet.  Our internet name just dropped from all three of my computers and I couldn't add them.  This is very frustrating to me.  I tend to flint from one thing to another.  I can focus on quilting for so long so I take a break check something on the computer and and go back to the quilting.  I will chat with one of my kids for a few minutes on AIM and then go back to the laundry.  This is one of my distractions.  So when I can't use it my day is turned upside down.  So today was one of those days!

Home Again

When I am at home I don't write much because everything seems so routine.  But I wanted to mention a couple of things.

On the way home from Lake Louise there was a lady at the airport.  She had been in our hotel while we were there.  She told us she was 74 and she came out to Lake Louise to ski.  She loves to ski she said and her husband hates it.  So every year she goes to a ski resorts alone just to ski.  I want to emphasize the word alone.  I guess what impresses me the most is her age.  I for one only enjoy traveling alone if there is someone on the other end I want to spend time with for example a friend or family member.  Though I have gone to a couple of sewing retreats that lasted three to 5 days.  But will I still be able to or want to do that at the age of 74?  

I finished the book Plain Truth.  It taught me a lot about the Amish Culture. I truly admire those people for how strong their faith is and how hard they try to truly live what they believe. The book did have a twist at the end that I kind of suspected throughout the book.  I think I watch too much tv.  Mike and I always try to guess who committed the crime and one of us usually figures it out about half way through.  

I have started to learn how to use my sewing machine.  I hope Bernina has another retreat within the next couple of years that I can go to.  That is the place where I learn the most.  Going to the sewing classes 45 minutes away is quite a chore.  I have a couple of quilt kits to work on so I may do that as I wait for Baby M to come.  M is the first letter of his middle name.  That is what I have been told.  I think I will work on his quilt after I meet him and get to know his personality.  Not sure yet.  I have been asking the Lord to inspire me.

The Bucket List

For those of you who don't know this movie it is about two elderly gentleman that were given a second chance at life from cancer.  They decided to write a list of things they wanted to do before they died.  I really enjoyed the movie and thought a bucket list would be a great idea though I don't think I would accomplish it all before my death.  But the last two days I did two things that I might have put on the bucket list if I had thought of it.

Yesterday was a lot of fun.  A kind lady from the conference Mike went to volunteered to drive us to Banff.  This is a small ski town and it reminds me a lot of Park City but it's downtown is much smaller.  On the way there we went up a gondola to the peak to see the view.  It was very very cold so we didn't stay long and then at the bottom there was a Hot Spring.  Now I must tell you that bathing in a  Jacuzzi is not my favorite thing to do.  This was a very different experience.  We did bring our bathing suits.  The water did not smell of chlorine or sulfur, though there was sulfur in the water.  Before you went outside you actually entered the hot spring with your feet so you could gradually get used to it and also you weren't so cold outside.

It was delightful.  I think we were in there about a half hour before we came out.  I really enjoyed the experience because I had heard many things about bathing in hot springs and had never done it.

We then went to Banff.  We ate lunch and we shopped for a few souvenirs and returned to the hotel.

So bathing in Hot Springs would be one of those Bucket experiences but today what we did was icing on the cake.  We went Dog Sledding!  The dogs were wonderful.  I think 9 dogs pulled the sled.  They were relatively young dogs and mostly female.  The female dogs weren't always cooperative and "professional".  But isn't that like us females even in the human state?  During the ride our tour guide was telling us about the different dogs and their personalities and how they train the dogs.  One dog was so sensitive that every time the driver/tour guide yelled at the girls in the front he would get upset and lie down.  It was hysterical.  These were very friendly dogs and they loved on us.  We also got to take turns driving the sleigh for a short distance.  It was definitely a wonderful experience and wouldn't have traded it for the world. One more thing to scratch off my bucket list. :)

A Baby and A Sleigh Ride

Kind of strange for a title isn't.  But those two gave me big smiles.  Last night at dinner we sat at the table with a couple that had a little baby girl.  She was three months old and was three months premature.  So at three months she was very tiny.  Must have been the size Stephanie was when she was born.  Stephanie too was tiny.  This little girl was absolutely beautiful.  I had the honor of holding her for a about half an hour.  When I talked to her her eyes looked straight into mine.  She seemed to be listening intently to me or at least interested in me.  She had the most beautiful big eyes and the tiniest perfect hands with the tiniest perfect fingernails.  She fussed a bit when she got hungry, but she never cried.  I then put her on my shoulder and very very gently rubbed her little head.  She fell right to sleep.  What female doesn't love to have her head rubbed.  I believe that is why hairdressers exist.  Women just love to have their hair and heads messed with.  Well she wasn't any different.  I wonder if baby boys like it too.  I can't wait to find out.  My grandson should be about 2 1/2 lbs and 15 inches long by now.  That is what info says.  Anyway, holding that little one really made my day.

Today, still too cold to ski and Mike still in meetings we decided to go on a sleigh ride during his break.  The sleigh was drawn by two horses.  The young Aussi girl who directed the sleigh, was delightful.  Of course we were bundled in our ski clothes.  It is 10 F today.  We had two wool blankets covering us.  The ride took us to the end of the large Lake Louise.  We saw the most spectacular site.  We saw a frozen waterfall.  It was absolutely beautiful.  There was someone trying to climb it too.  If I can figure out how to post pics when I get home I will post a pic of that waterfall.  The ride took one hour and we had a wonderful time.

It's Still Cold Brrrr........

In this hotel there is a lobby are above where we have regular internet without plugging in ethernet.  The connection in the room is not too bad, but I am hoping it is better up here.  Unfortunately the problem is that it is quite noisy.  There are two different meeting here.  So it is a bit hard to concentrate.  Bare with me if my thoughts are a bit scattered.

It is still very very cold here.  I honestly don't remember ever being out in cold this sever.  I know I have felt cold skiing.  The top of Snowbird can be quite intense but still nothing like what I experienced yesterday.  We wear a helmet now.  My head has never been cold in the helmet but yesterday my head was cold.  Even with toe warmers and hand warmers my hands and feet became so cold I could not feel my toes and thumb.  It was so beautiful at the Sunshine Resort but because of the cold I could not enjoy it.  After my first two runs I had to go in.  Did another three runs and I had to go into the lunch area again.  Finally I just told Mike and his friend to go ski without me.  I didn't want to hold them back but I didn't want to ski.  Actually the skiing I did was quite lovely.  There were a few icy spots but otherwise delightful.

The ride to the resort was interesting.  Do you know they have bridges here for the animals to cross over from one side to the other of the freeway?  Doesn't that sound funny.  How do the elk know to use it?  They Canadians also have put fences along the tree line to convince the animals to use the bridges.

Today the temperature has not changed.  It was snowy off and on so I spent the day indoors.  I went to the gym did about 45 minutes on the treadmill.  I love to listen to my Christian music. There was no one else in the room so I started to sing one of my favorite praise songs with the I Pod.  I was about to really belt it out and raise my had in praise and some people walked in.  I was so disappointed I couldn't stand it. Oh well.  I left shortly after. lol I then proceeded to  look around in some of the hotel stores.  My grandson has the first and only souvenir.  I bought him a book about polar bears.  I will look forward to reading it to him when he visits me someday.  I would like to collect some books to keep around for the children.  The baby is at 29 weeks today.

On the Way......

After a week of packing (yes this one took more thought than usual), I still forgot to bring a hat. There is always something.  It was a long trip here to Lake Louise, but it could have been longer.

We took a plane to Calgary.  That was only two hours but it is a 3 and a half hour bus trip from Calgary to Lake Louise.  We landed at 1 thirty.  The bus was at two o'clock.  Mike had us signed up for the 4 thirty bus because the bus employee had told Mike that going through customs would take too long and we would miss the two o'clock. Customs on the other hand was empty so we were at the bus place with all our luggage by one forty five.  They told us that their bus was full and there was no way we could get on.  They directed us to a restaurant in the airport.  I asked them to please let us know if someone didn't show up.  Again I say my God is merciful kind and loving and 5 minutes after we parked ourselves in the restaurant the bus people came to get us.  Yea!!!!!  We arrived at 6 thirty. 

 Not only were we in awe of our surroundings but the hotel is beautiful too.  We have a window overlooking the frozen lake.  The mountains are just beautiful.  The ski resort is 20 minutes away.  Banff, the nearest town is 45 minutes away.

There is ice skating on the lake and we arrived in time for the last day of the Ice Festival.  There are about 10 ice sculptures outside.  The artisans are giving 3 days to create these sculptures and so they are mostly working right in front of you.  They can work all night if they have to.  So we had the chance to watch some.  The sculptures are beautiful and we took lots of pictures.

The food here is wonderful but the coffee has lots to be desired.  I miss Starbucks!  It is also very cold here.  We were going to ski today but the temperature of -14 F changed our mind.  We went outside for three very short walks and we went the pool.  The pool and hot tub are indoors so I didn't mind going for a swim.  They have a small but adequate gym.  It's good to have internet.