Well, it has been a while since I last posted - sorry about that. Much has happened since. My mother remains in the hospital despite the assessment being complete and for reasons beyond both our control.

My oldest daughter came home for a visit 3 weeks ago and is still here - much to my joy - she is a pretty wonderful, caring young woman. My husband has been out of town for several days but returned tonight - exhausted, and sick - poor guy - miserable not to be at home when you don't feel well.

On the bright side - I completed the top for my good friend's daughter and her future husband. Their wedding is next weekend - it should be a blast - I sure am looking forward to something positive in our life - it has been a tough winter... The top is wonderful - it is just a simple split rail fence but it is one of the nicer ones I've pieced. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough fabric for the borders and binding and just had to take a trip to Moosamin, Saskatchewan, which is just over the western border of Manitoba, to check out the quilt shop there. It is called Shirley's Sewing Room. My good friend and fellow quilting addict, Peggy, joined me in immersing ourselves wholeheartedly in purchasing much more than we needed - of course!! What a wonderful shop - they have numerous quilts lining all the walls and free-hanging as well. Samples of numerous projects abounded. The women helping us with the borders I so desperately needed were good and we will definitely go back - besides,it is only and hour and a half away - can't get better than that!! Although... they are offering a class in a quilt I was hoping to find the pattern for - a garden twist - it is like a lattice with the background fabric being flowers - wonders of wonders when we walked in the door of the shop what was the first quilt hanging there but this one and they are offering a workshop for it in April - how lucky for me!!!! :) As for Jen's wedding quilt - hopefully I hope to have it complete by next weekend - good thing I'm quick and have the entire weekend to quilt! lol

As you can tell - I figured out how to upload pictures - not that it was difficult. lol Enjoy the photo - I think the colours of Jen's quilt went together very nicely - don't you?

Take care - until next time...

Happy Louis Riel Day! (In Manitoba, anyway lol)

Well, I have been going through all my books and the internet for patterns - my best friend's daughter is getting married in the end of March - I am going to have to hustle to get a quilt done before then. Her colours are taupe and dark brown - I am sure that I will find something that will be wonderful for her. I've known her since she was just a couple years old. With all that has happened in the past month or so I got derailed pretty badly on my quilts and am totally behind. I might just take and make her a spit-rail fence quilt - they are quick but always turn out nice without being too busy and browns always look so nice done in that pattern. I was hoping for something a bit nicer but life has a way of giving you a reality check on details that aren't necessary.

Well, Bruno wasn't sure at first about his quilt pieces but I think he warmed up to it after I began explaining what I was going to do. (good thing I bought a belt as well - lol) I asked him if he wanted flannel back or cotton and her wants the flannel for the cozy factor - so flannel it is!

My Mom is doing so well in the assessment center - she is not so stressed out and is beginning to look less emancipated. We will know soon what is happening...

I found the nicest flying geese pattern on the internet! I would love to make it for myself but will probably make it for someone, sometime. Now all I have to do is track down the pattern...if any of you know who puts it out I would appreciate it.

The link is:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_X4eJ_Z6hwJQ/SHlWT4Zi7PI/AAAAAAAAC50/6TbeZ3FVC4Q/s640/IMG_2512.jpg

I'm not sure how to set up links yet but will figure that out in time - but if you copy and paste it you will get there no problem.

Well, enjoy!

I would like to dedicate this posting to my father, Courtney (Corky) Keith Parker, who passed away on Jan.12th at the age of 72.

Looks like 2009 has come in like a lion for us. We had a good Christmas and New Year's was quiet but nice. My mother was admitted to the hospital. Then my father became quite ill the same day and was admitted as well. Unfortunately, he was unable to fight the pneumonia that he had because of all the numerous other conditions that he also had and passed away with my immediate family and my mother at his side. He had a hard go of it the last year and was just tired out. I miss him terribly but am relieved he is no longer suffering - it was just so hard on him- he truly didn't deserve how tough it was this past year. I hope he is finding some great fishing holes up there and having many games of crib with my grandmother and grandfather as well.

My father was always good to me. We had our moments but as we both aged we learned to respect each other and enjoy just being. As his abilities diminished, so did his joy in life. He was always so pleased when my mother or I went to visit and was especially thrilled when one of his brothers would come. Right until the end, he would blow me a kiss and tell me how much he loved me. I miss our "breakfast dates", as we called them, and watching monster truck shows (eventhough I still don't like them). I still continue to watch fishing shows early in the morning as I kind of got hooked (bad pun) on them. I am so glad I had all the time I did with my dad and will never regret any of it. I hope he forgives me for singing to him in my wonderfully tuneless voice and all the inane stories I told him that he would patiently listen to.

I have to admit I was pretty overwhelmed by it all but am now understanding and accepting all the changes that have taken place in my life. I know it is more difficult for my siblings who are not in close proximity because they don't see the everyday little things that happen so changes such as these are probably even more overwhelming for them. For them these things happen in chunks of time rather as a continuum of life.

So life continues...

I haven't had any time to quilt, so Hubby's birthday quilt looks like it is not going to be a birthday quilt. I might just give him the pieces and see what he would like on it. Sometimes input is nice and it would become a collaborative piece instead - not such a bad idea the more I think about it.

So on to another day...take care and stitch well.

Happy New Year!!

I wasn't going to post anything for a week but in retrospect I decided that because I have the house to myself and everyone is busy elsewhere that I would steal a wee bit of time to do this.

I don't know if you are into New Year's resolutions but I say I'm not but...it is a good time to just stop for a minute and reevaluate all the past year's happenings and ponder the future. I don't believe that one should have to make resolutions that are unreachable or goals that are unrealistic. Maybe just choosing to try to be a better person/mother/wife/daughter is more than enough. Sometimes, I just need a little nudge to remember that the world is full of connections and that we really do effect others around us and that we should try to make it a better , more positive place.

Sorry to get so heavy but I am at a stage in my life where the roles between my parents and myself have switched. It is a difficult transition for me, one I do reluctantly because I know that both my parents are not going to get better and I want to make it better. This desire to make things better is part of the nurturer in me and the conflict for me occurs when I can't make it better no matter what I do or how much I care or take care. Like I said, it is difficult when I care so much... I think I can assume it is much the same for others of you who are in the same position?

To go to a more positive note... I just got my little Janome Jem back from the shop - I purchased it in the beginning of December and it had a flaw by the needle whereby my fabric would slide into the crack and literally turn the block when it would get caught as I was sewing. I am going to try to it out this afternoon and make a small table pad in a split rail pattern from some leftover fabric I had from the Camp Koinonia quilt retreat I went to. I am thrilled with this little machine otherwise. I've had a Janome for about 18 years and really love my old machine. This little one will be perfect for piecing when I go to the lake - it is only about 12 lbs. and takes up almost no room.

I was just talking to my husband and (guess where he is? lol) he got a strike on this line and pulled up a nice little pike on the first drop down - he was pretty excited! Fishing is great again today at Rivers!

Well, have a wonderful New Year's and I will talk to you in 2009!

Happy New Year!!!

Seams Just Right to set up a blog!

Welcome to my new blog!

Hopefully this post finds everyone full of Christmas - food, cheer, family and goodwill in general. This is my absolute first post and I am both terrified and elated at the same time. As I sit here and ponder my new endeavour, I wonder if I am completely mad or just doing what I do - starting into something just because I find it interesting. The little kid in me is truly shaking in my socks but like all kids, giggling at the audacity and the gall of me putting it all out there. If you knew me in person, you would realize just how out of character it is for me to "put it all out there."

I am a person who loves people, works with teenagers, and a huge believer in treating the elderly with respect and kindness and just loves life and all it offers - even the warts of life. I get overwhelmed with responsibility often but always try to see the silver lining - even if it is a little on the tarnished side.

I have a tendency, much to my husband's chagrin, to try all kinds of new things and have no hesitation jumping in wholeheartedly to whatever I am trying at that moment. As a result, our life is somewhat cluttered with the remnants of these past projects. I use cooking as my stress reliever, gardening for my soul and quilting for my creative outlet. Quilting is my one enduring passion. I realized the other day, when I had found a small hand-sewn block I made as a teenager, that I have been sewing and quilting since I was in about Grade 7. It has been my interest, through school, university, and twenty-five years of marriage. I have done other `crafts` and stuff but I always go back to quilting. I have never taken pictures of my quilts because that is not what it is about for me. I guess I will take pictures now in order to share with you... I have made numerous quilts, but I am not an exceptional quilter - there are just so many incredible ones out there that I must step back and give them their due.

I am currently working on a large double quilt for my husband for his birthday - I have a suspicion that it will be complete by his birthday in 2010 instead of this coming year. I have pieced all the of the star blocks from a block-of-the-month project through the local quilt shop. (He saw them as I did them and really loved them.) (They are pictured behind my heading.) I recently found some photo panels (not a panel person but these really were quite nice and a perfect match for colour) of some fresh-water fish that I want to incorporate into the middle. I also want to add some flying geese between the stars. My husband is a fisheries biologist so it is an undeniable fit. Speaking of him -he just called and said he caught four pike at the Rivers Reservoir and was quite elated as it is his first time out this year. Woo-hoo!!

I am also currently working on a table runner that will match the tree skirt I made at an absolutely wonderful quilt retreat at Camp Koinonia (not sure on the spelling), near Boissevain, this fall. I have two other lap quilts in rich fall colours that I am hoping to have ready to quilt by the end of January. These I will be giving away to two older friends who are not well.

Take care - enjoy every moment of this year as there is not much left of it. Have a super New Year's and remember that there is a great year waiting for all of us.