Friday, April 27, 2012

Cincinnati International Quilt Festival - 3D quilts, and another MOM story

The cover sheet.
The full quilt. This got my attention - it really begged you to look closer.
Closeup - lots of pink pipecleaners.
Closeup of the center - beadwork on velvet.

Here's another funky one.
Again, this invited you in to take a closer look.
How in the heck did she ship this???
Very teeny, tiny, embroidered flower beds.
All of these little buildings are 3 - 4 inches tall, standing on top of the quilt.

Would you like to hear my latest "MOM" story?
On Tuesday I had to take her to the Fracture Clinic (broken hip Feb. 26th fixed with one screw.  Hmm, that sounds really dirty.  Lets say fixed with one PIN.).  She is only walking for short lengths with the physiotherapist, so she is in a wheelchair.  Which means we have to take the Wheelchair Taxi to go anywhere.  I get to the nursing home at 9:15 am.  Taxi picks us up at 9:30.  Arrive at hospital clinic at 9:50, nice and early for her 10:15 appointment.  As we arrive in the waiting room, there are about 40 people already sitting.  Crap.  So, we sit down and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  At 11:45 I go back to the desk and explain that we've been waiting over 90 minutes and Mom still has not been sent for the x-ray.  They shuffle through the files and discover that her x-ray requisition was not standing up, so no one saw it.  They stand it up and tell me to go wait.  At 12:45 I go BACK to the desk and explain that we've been here since 10 am, and still have not been sent for the x-ray, Mom is 91 and trapped in the wheelchair, and I'm pretty sure she is getting very uncomfortable.  They make a call, tell me 'they are just backed up' (whoever 'they' are?) and to go wait. !!!!!  Five minutes later they call us in and we go to x-ray, but by now Mom is VERY CRANKY.  She does not want to get out of her chair.  She does not want to lay on the nasty, cold, hard x-ray table.  The nurses finally have to put an x-ray gown on me so I can keep Mom still, because she is shaking and frightened, and in a lot of pain now that she has to move around to get the pictures done.  At this point I am just about ready for the tears to spill over in sympathy and frustration, but I manage to keep myself together.  Next - they take us to an examination room where we wait a little bit MORE for the doc.  He tells us she's healing well and should be doing a bit of weight bearing.  Come back in a month.  (he's kidding, right?!!!)  OK, now we can go call the Wheelchair Taxi to pick us up.  The time is 1:30, we've had no lunch, I've had no pee break because I can't leave Mom alone in the hallway.  sigh.  The dispatcher tells me the taxi should arrive in 30 minutes.  This gives us time to grab a snack from Timmies, listen to the trio that is playing in the lobby, then roll over to the entrance to wait for the taxi.  Another hour later and we're still waiting.  As I call the taxi company AGAIN, the van finally drives up to the entrance.  After getting Mom back to the home, having the Care Conference with the nursing director (?), and stopping for groceries, it was 5 pm by the time I got home.  I made myself a 'girlie' supper of salmon, sweet potatoes and mango salad because DH was out to his Kinsmen group for supper.  Then I drank half a bottle of wine, had a girlie bath, and poured myself into bed.  Honestly?  If she's not having any problems I may not take her back for the next appointment.  I'll probably cool down a bit by then and guilt myself into it, but right now...

Monday, April 23, 2012

Binbrook Show & Cincinnati Pics

If you missed the Binbrook quilt show on the weekend you can check out a lovely slide show here, which was made by a fellow blogger. Now... on to the Cincinnati AQS Show Bus Trip.

Diane is the most wonderful tour guide, keeping all of her 'chicks' in line.

The hotel loves Diane, too. Karen and I roomed with Diane, and we got into the goodies before Diane even saw them. Bad of us, eh?

At the show, Karen hummed and hawed, but finally broke down and bought the Tutto Machine Case for her new sewing machine. She made me laugh because she would not put it down and pull it - she carried it all the way back to the hotel. Probably trying to burn off a few more calories after eating Diane's crackers.

And there is always a little shoe shopping that goes on. For once it was NOT ME doing the shopping. Nice, sexy shoes, eh?

And since we're on the subject of shoes...


Thursday, April 19, 2012

Binbrook Quilt Show

Come and see me!!
Binbrook United Church
2617 Binbrook Rd., Binbrook, On.
Friday April 20, 10:00 - 5:00
Saturday April 21, 10:00 - 4:00 Admission $5.00.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Artsy Quilt

This was the last quilt I completed before I left for Cincinnati.

I had lots of fun working on this.

The center portion is quilted with a pantograph (Bubbles).

The fun took place in the borders.
Since I got home I've been zipping around getting ready for the quilt show this weekend in Binbrook... I am the featured quilter and needed to get my quilts ready with a half-assed plan for exhibiting them.  Most of the setup happened today, but I had to leave early to get my hair cut.  I will go back to the church tomorrow morning to give my seal of approval to the display (which I am quite sure is perfect by now).

C'mon out - Binbrook United Church, 2617 Binbrook Rd., Binbrook, On.
Friday April 20, 10:00 - 5:00
Saturday April 21, 10:00 - 4:00
Admission $5.00.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Cincinnati Quilt Show

I'm on the bus with Diane's Destinations.  We will be going to the AQS show in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I have left lots of room in my suitcase for a purchase or two...  See you next week!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Dutch Treat

How pretty is this, just in time for Easter?

The border scallop design is from the IQ.

It's easier to see some of the quilting from the back.

The busy floral print was quilted with a pantograph that matches the border design.

The center panel was freehand quilted, outlining the flowers and filling the background with curls & flowers & leaves.
I have been glued to the quilting machine AND the computer.  I am behind schedule on quilts by about two weeks, and that makes me crazy (crazier than usual).  And the April 30th deadline for income tax is looming.  As usual, I have a schedule of working 1 hour every Monday night to do bookkeeping.  Apparently I am 38 weeks behind on that schedule.

But, today, I FINISHED my bookwork.  I will drop off at the accountant's tomorrow, when I head out for a nice lunch with my s.i.l.'s mom, then I will go visit MY mom.  So, I am taking tonight off, to enjoy a martini...

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Sampler Quilt finished

This baby took longer than I had anticipated.

Part of that was learning curve with the IQ.

This is the first custom quilt I've done using just about all computer. The s.i.d. and straight lines were hand guided, and a wee bit of echoing in the centre medallion was also hand guided. I tried to set up the IQ to do the echo but that was going to take me another two hours so I gave up and did it by hand.
The patterns are from the Sierra collection by One Song Needle Arts.

The narrow border teardrop design comes included with the IQ. Get the camera strap out of the photo, dummy.

As you can see, there is lots of s.i.d. and straight line quilting.
And a cute little surprise in each of the four corners.