Framed Nine-Patch Flimsy

I have been able to do a bit of sewing.  Not much, but at least it's something.

July has arrived and the new colour for the rainbow challenge is blue.  I can do that.  I have lots of blues.

But before I play with my favourite colour,  I want to show you my framed nine patch flimsy.  I found these blocks in an unmarked box when I was looking for something else.  I have no idea when I started them.  And I don't remember what I was going to make.  There were 15 blocks altogether.   Each block will measure 10 inches finished.  I decided on a four by four layout.  That would give me a 40in by 40in  quilt.  Big enough for a baby or perhaps a wheelchair quilt.  So that meant I had to make 1 more block.  And since it was June and the colour of the month was purple I made a purple one.

And here is the whole quilt top.  I hope to take it from a flimsy to a completed quilt soon.  Next week I have an appointment with the eye specialist.  He will decide if eye glasses of some kind will benefit me.  I hope so.  It has been a long time since I was able to see anything either up close or in the distance.

CANADA DAY!

 Don't get me wrong.  I am proud to be Canadian.  I love this country.  As an immigrant I am glad to be able to live here.  There are lots of other places in the world that are much worse. 

At the moment there has been a lot of controversy over whether or not to celebrate Canada Day.   It is felt that celebrations should be called of in a gesture of reconciliation and solidarity with indigenous communities.  Native peoples have had to deal with a lot of grief. /It has been a hard time for them.  I agree that it doesn't seem fair to celebrate when so many are hurting.  

Yesterday 182 more unmarked graves were discovered at the site of a former residential school in Cranbrook, B.C.  More are expected to be found.  We have become a country divided each time another unmarked grave is found.  People are reeling from this news.  Not just indigenous people, but others as well.  I know I am. 

Indigenous people have a lot of healing to do.  But we all have to share the blame and help them heal.  That is if they trust us enough to let us help.  And we have to heal ourselves.  We have to acknowledge history, but we also have to move forward.  History cannot repeat itself.  

In order to support both Canada and Native people, I have decided to make some orange rail fence blocks today, to join the blocks I made earlier in red.  Red for Canada.  Orange to honour Indigenous People.  

They look very similar, don't you think?  

I hope we can acknowledge Canada's 186th birthday, even if we don't actively celebrate it.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

The Caterpillar and the Ladybug

This is a story about a caterpillar and a ladybug. 

While out in my garden, digging up some dill plants to share with a friend, I noticed something tiny crawling on one of the plants.  Imagine my surprise when I spotted it!  It was tiny caterpillar, a pale lime green with black. yellow and white markings.  My first response was to kill it.  I had no idea what it was.  So I googled it.  And now I am glad I let it live,

Turns out it is the larval stage of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly.  How exciting!  The tiny caterpillar was very pretty and the adult swallowtail will be absolutely beautiful.  I began to question my need for dill when it would be so much more enjoyable to raise some butterflies.  I seldom use dill in anything I cook anyway.  

The Black Swallowtail female lays tiny yellow eggs on dill, fennel or parsley plants.  She attaches them to the stems and the underside of leaves..  

The larva hatches and goes through 5 stages of development.  Each time shedding its skin, which is full of proteins.  They will turn around and eat it.  I was getting more and more excited.  I couldn't wait to see all this in action.  At the end of its growth the caterpillar creates a pupa or chrysalis around itself.  The pupal stage lasts around 18 days.  

female

At the end of that stage the butterfly hatches and metamorphosis is complete   A beautiful butterfly emerges from the chrysalis. The wingspan for females is about 6.9 to 8.4 centimeters.  Males are slightly smaller.  The upper wing is black with two rows of yellow or white spots.  These spots are brighter and larger in the males.  The females have blue spots in between the white markings.   

male

When I went outside the following day, there was no sign of the little guy.  I looked everywhere.  I turned leaves over and examined every part of the plant, but I could not find it.  I wondered about the time of day.  When I had seen it earlier it was almost dusk.  Maybe it was too hot or perhaps too windy today.  Then I saw the ladybug!  I removed it from the dill plant and put it onto the rose bush.  

I googled some more.  Ladybugs this time.  It turns out that they are not the sweet bugs of stories and wishes.  They are actually vicious hunters.  They love aphids.  I used to buy them in bags of thousands to try to control the aphids on my rose bushes.   I would keep them in the fridge and release a handful into the garden on a sunny day.   As they warmed up I hoped they would prey on the aphids.  

I remember the year of the aphids.  It was sometime in the 1980s. The sky was green with them.  Farmers worried about their crops.  Some well meaning, but not too bright biologists determined that what we needed was thousands of ladybugs.  So the imported as many Asian lady beetles as they could find.  These ladybeetles were yellow to dark burgundy in colour.  The problem with this Asian variety was that they were bitters.  Not pleasant!  I was bitten many times by this species.  Also they tended to  congregate in large groups, while our native ladybugs are solitary.  When it got cold they wanted to come indoors, in large swarms, to keep warm.   I don't know if they helped the aphid invasion, but they certainly created more problems of their own.  

While ladybugs love aphids, they will also eat caterpillars and other soft bodied insects.  ladybugs are very beneficial to the gardener.  They are voracious and efficient consumers of insect pests.   A single ladybug will consume thousands of insect pests in its lifetime.  In that way they not only benefit gardeners but farmers and other food producers too.  Ladybugs don't sting or bite.  They don't transmit disease and they don't infest food supplies.  

So now what should I do?  I want ladybugs in my garden, but I also want the caterpillars to survive.  It's quite a dilemma.  I guess I will have to be more vigilant.  Keep my eye on things daily.  Maybe cover the host plant with some cheesecloth or something.   It seems this is going to be a full-time job.  But I think it will be fun.  

World Giraffe Day

Today is the longest day of the year .  The summer solstice arrived at 11:32PM last evening.  That means today will be the longest day of the year for us here in the northern hemisphere.

It seems fitting that on the longest day we would celebrate an animal with the longest neck: The giraffe.  I have always been fascinated with giraffes.  During the years that I was a member of the Metro Toronto Zoo, I went often to watch them.  

Giraffes originated in Africa.  They are to tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant.  The giraffe's main features are its very long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones and its distinctive coat patterns.  Ossicones are the skin covered bone structures on their heads.

They eat mainly leaves, fruit and flowers which they can browse on at heights that other herbivores cannot reach.  

Before William was born I decided to make a few 'wild' animals for his room.  I crocheted this little guy.  Cute, eh?  William loves giraffes too!

Happy World Giraffe Day to all.

 

National Indigenous Peoples Day

I wrote this post almost a month ago.  At that time it was mainly a rant about my revulsion at the news  of the Indigenous children whose remains were found at a residential school in British Colombia.  Today it is about celebrating.

Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day. This day has been celebrated since 1996.  It is a day to recognize and celebrate the cultures and contributions of Indigenous Peoples from all across Canada.  This is the first year that I have been aware of it.  Is this because of all the talk about the residential schools and other problems like the lack of clean drinking water?  2021 focuses on celebrating resilience through reconciliation.  Whatever that means.  I am hopeful that the observation of this day will bring about positive changes for all Native People.

I have always been interested in Indigenous people.   I live close to an Indigenous community.  It is less than a mile away.  The last school I worked at was adjacent to it.  I listened to their drumming.  I watched as they entered the sweat lodge for healing ceremonies.  I smelled the scent of burning sweetgrass.  I always found their way of life fascinating.  

A few years ago, when I was hosting a teacher from the Japanese Kamajo school, we had an  opportunity to attend the Grand River Champion of Champions Powwow.  It was a special event.  A wonderful chance to watch members of Six Nations in costumes, dancing and drumming.    To feel their power, their love of beauty and their creative lives.  It inspired me.  

Another wonderful, inspirational event was a trip to Petroglyphs Park.  When we were there the first time we were allowed to clamber over the rock and observe the carvings up close.  It was a fantastic experience for my kids who were quite young at the time.  

But things are different today.  Petroglyphs Provincial Park has many rock carvings.  It is located North East of Peterborough.  The carvings depict turtles. boats, humans, shamans, snakes, birds and other animals.  I believe it may be the largest concentration of carvings in Canada.  

Carved into a huge flat rock, the site is considered a sacred place.  The Ojibwa Nishnaabe people have erected a large, mostly glass building over the rock to protect it, both from acid rain and from being walked on.  The rock can now be observed from a raised platform.  Photographing or video recording is not allowed.  The above photo came off the internet.  There are guides to explain the carvings and the Indigenous beliefs.  Deep crevices in the rock are believed to lead to a spirit world.  A river runs under the rock.  It can be heard as it flows along.  It is believed to indicate spirits.

Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day

Wildflower Wednesday

This is such a pretty plant.  It doesn't seem possible that it could be an invasive weed.  It is in the morning glory family.  The small white or pale pink flowers (about 1 inch across) are cup-shaped and resemble its larger, more colourful cousin.

It is a perennial and is spread by roots, rhizomes and seeds.  It can strangle a lawn or garden in no time.  The roots and rhizomes create a tight mat that prevents anything else from growing there.  It also wraps itself around everything it comes in contact with.  

There is no way to get rid of this plant without using some kind of herbicide.  I hate using this poison in my garden,  But my home-made solution of household ingredients is not going to work.  So far the bindweed is growing at the side of my house, but I'm afraid if I don't get rid of it I could have it coming up everywhere. The herbicide has to be taken up by the roots and rhizomes in order to be effective.  In this case I will use something like Roundup.  The spray has to be applied at just the right time - early in the season when the flowers first appear.  That's between June and July.  So guess what I'm going to be doing this afternoon.

Fanily: Convolvuleae,  Genus: Calystegia.

Common name: Bindweed.

In my Garden

 It seems like everything in my garden is a weed.  That isn't entirely true. of course, but after spending a few hours outdoors, I couldn't find a lot of things that weren't weeds.  

There is a lovely white columbine.  I found a yellow one too, amidst the weeds, but it wasn't in bloom this morning.  I don't know if you can see the large green leaves in the columbine photo.  They are milkweed plants.  I have been keeping a few in my flower bed in the hopes of attracting some monarch butterflies.  So far nothing, but the plants are forming buds. They are doing well, but are weeds of course.

While pulling weeds and digging stuff out, I came across this crazy crane.  I thought I had lost him.  But there he was!  All covered in mud and dirt.  I cleaned him off and I think I am going to give him a fresh coat of black paint and a more prominent place in the garden.  I really like him.

Another plant that is not a weed, but closely resembles one is my maggi plant, also known as lovage.  It grows 6 to 8 feet tall and has large umbels at the top that look amazing against a clear blue sky during the summer months.  This plant can be used in soups and stews.  I have never cooked with it, but it tastes a bit like celery, parsley and anise.  In The Netherlands, it is used extensively because the flavour closely resembles maggi. A seasoning that is very popular.

Wildflower Wednesday

Let me introduce Yellow Cress.  It is a weed that is growing in my vegetable garden at the moment.  Actually, it is coming up everywhere in other parts of the garden and even in between the patio stones.    Yellow Cress is in the mustard family.  Like all mustard plants, it has flowers with four petals.  This one is a lovely bright yellow. The seeds are borne in long brown pods.  There can be hundreds of them.   It is a biennial.  The first year it appears as small, insignificant rosettes.  The second year it grows into this huge plant that tries to strangle everything around it.  Another common name is Yellow Rocket.  I have to pull it all out, hopefully before the seed pods open.  If I don't, I will have this plant forever and not much else in my garden.

Family: Brassicaceae.  Genus: Barbarea.  Species: B. vulgaris

Common Names:  Yellow Cress, Rocket Cress, Wintercress

A Temperature Blanket.

 BBBrrrrrr!  It was cold yesterday!   The Weather Network said the high temperature was 11.1 degrees Celsius.  But to me it felt much colder.  Who would have thought it could be so cold?  A couple of days ago it was over 30 degrees Celsius.  I've already planted my tomato plants,

Why would I care how cold it is?  We are still under a lockdown order.  I can't go out anyway.  But many of you know that I am a temperature junkie.  Over the years I have made many temperature quilts using hexagons.  Unfortunately my hexie days are over.  The handwork and the tiny stitches are too difficult to see.

A year or so ago I learned of something called a temperature blanket.  Here's how it works:  the method of construction is crochet.  That's big enough for me to see.  Daily high temperatures are assigned specific colours.  Each day a row is crocheted following this colour chart.  The blanket should be completed in one year.

I had never done one of these before.  But the concept sounded intriguing.  I decided to start mine on the first of this year.  I had no idea how to do it.  How many stitches?  What size crochet hook?  So I played around with it.  My first attempt did not work.  I liked the pattern.  It was a sort of wave.  But it puckered so I 'frogged' it.  Rip it rip it.  Get it?

I started a new one using a larger hook and single crochets across the rows.  After almost 5 months it now looks like this.

Seven months to go.  

Wow!  

Unbelievable.  

Only seven months and the year will be over. 

 But frankly, between you and me, it's been a crazy year.

I'm not going to miss it.

A Little of This and a Little of That

I have been busy,  Busy doing a lot of nothing.  But that is about to change.

My camera stopped working.  OMG!  What a dilemma!  How does one write a blog without pictures?  I asked my DD to take some photos for me, but she is much too busy.  Online teaching and a hyper William dancing around demanding her attention.  It was all too much.  

I told her I wanted to buy a new camera.  She said, "Just use your cell phone and mail the photos to yourself".  Easy for her to say.  It was quite a learning experience for me.  First my cell phone was dead and needed to be re-charged - all night.  Then I wasn't able to send the photos because gmail blocked all my attempts.   Making the task even harder was the fact that I have to read everything with a magnifying glass.  My eyesight is still not great.  I spent the better part of the afternoon trying to figure things out.  I guess I'm just not a computer geek.  It was damned hard.  Lots of trial and error.  Mostly error.  But eventually I was able to do it. Notice my header?  Columbine, Scarborough's official flower.

I have been trying to do a bit of sewing each day.  Some days nothing gets done.  And some days I can sew for 15 to 20 minutes or so. 

 I had a whole box full of 2.5 inch scraps.  Plus some 2.5 inch strips.  So this is what I have been working on,  They are called keyhole blocks.

I still have a long way to go.  These blocks measure 6.5 by 10.5 inches unfinished.  But I am not trying to see how many I can get done.  I may only do a wall hanging or lap quilt.  This is just a bit of mindless sewing each day to keep me sane.

My garden is doing well.  Lots of colour.  My tomato plants are in the ground, but that's about all.  It will take a lot of work.  I figure if I pull a few weeds each day it will only take me till next spring to finish the job.  And then I can start over.  Oh, well.  

But for now let me show you a few more wisteria views.

 This one is of the whole shrub seen as you come into the back yard.

And this is on the garden side.

Wednesday Wisteria

 

My Wisteria is in full bloom.

It has never looked this beautiful.

World Turtle Day

Today we celebrate turtles.  I love turtles.

+

Turtles are reptiles.  They belong to the order: Reptilia.  

Species: Testudines. This includes both extinct and living species.

(All tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.  Can you figure that out?  For the purpose of this post I will refer to turtles, but include all tortoises as well.)

Testudines are reptiles with a body encased in a bony shell.  The top part is called the carapace.  The bottom part is the plastron.  The two parts are joined along the sides of the body.  The shell is an integral part of the turtle.  It cannot leave it.  The shell is not shed like the skins of other reptiles.  

There are 356 species of turtles around the world.  Both fresh water and salt water.

The turtle's shell protects them.  They are slow and can easily be caught by predators.  Turtles don't have teeth.  They eat by cutting pieces of flesh or vegetation by using their sharp beaks.

Turtles are ectotherms.  That means they are cold blooded.   They do not have an internal mechanism for regulating body temperature.  Turtles rely on the sun for warmth.  They will often sun themselves on rocks to absorb heat.  

Turtles breathe air and lay their eggs on land.  Female sea turtles scrape nests with their hind legs, lay their eggs and cover them up.  Then they return to the sea, leaving the hatchlings to fend for themselves.

As a result their habitats around the world are being destroyed.  Turtles and their eggs are eaten in many parts of the world.  In some areas local populations and even entire species have been hunted to extinction.  They need our protection.

While wilderness camping in Algonquin Park some years ago we came upon a lovely camping spot at the end of a long peninsula.  Right in the middle of the site sat a gigantic tortoise.  It was a fantastic  wildlife sighting!  We set up camp on that site trying not to interfere with the reptile.  It slowly moved away into the forest.  What an honor and privilege to have been able to see this wonderful creature so up close and wild.  We share the earth with these animals.  It was an exciting experience and I will never forget it.

So Happy World Turtle Day!

I love turtles.  Or did I mention that already?

Cherry Blossoms in my Back Yard

Hope for spring.

Lovely white blossoms on my sour cherry tree.

Wildflower Wednesday

 

This week's plant is Tussilago farfara, commonly known as Colt's Foot.  It is considered an invasive  perennial weed, resembling the dandelion.  It comes up early in spring in waste places and road sides.  The flowers are borne on scaly stems.  It is leafless when it first appears.  The leaves come up later after the flowers have died down.  It is mainly spread by underground rhizomes, and less often by seeds.  

Please note that I do not condone or encourage the use of this plant for medicinal remedies.   In the past Colt's Foot was used in herbal medicines.  The roots were believed to remedy respiratory problems.  The flowers were thought to cure skin conditions.

Family: Asteraceae.  Genus:Tussilago,  Species:T. farfara

Common name:Colt's foot.

A Holiday For the Birds

Happy Easter

I made these birds a while ago.

They are very addictive.

My ADD is kicking in.  I feel the need to make more of them.

 

 

A Busy Day

The Spring Equinox happened at 5:37 (our time) this morning.  So I can wish you a

Happy Spring!

Today is also International Quilting Day!   We quilters don't really need a special day.  Quilting Day is every day for us.  I am trying my best to do a bit of sewing each day.  Some days nothing is happening.  But I have been adding a few more blocks to my multicoloured scrap quilt.  I don't know what this pattern is called.  It's pretty old.  If you have any ideas, please let me know.  I have made many of these quilts, in several colours, using this pattern.  My DS was here and he volunteered to hold it up for me.

This quilt uses up a lot of scraps.  

In other hobbies, I have finished another pair of socks for William.  He loves the first pair I knit for him.  They are a perfect fit.  He has been busy polishing the foyer floor at his house.  I hope these will fit him as well.  I used a different yarn.  

I have to take a little knitting break now.  

My wrists are getting painful.  

I think it's a carpel tunnel condition. 

Have a great day!

  

Happy Pi Day

 

It's the 14th of March.  3.14   Today is Pi Day.   Having a son who is a bit of a math nerd is not easy.  I am always aware of math related stuff.  I used to bake a pie on Pi Day.  His favourite was lemon meringue.  But my baking days are over.  It's enough to have to put cereal into a bowl each morning and add milk.  I'm not up for anything more.

So whatever you're up to today.  Whether it's setting the time ahead an hour or eating some delicious apples baked into a tantalizing crust or trying to remember the infinitive Pi calculation, I hope you have a good one.   

3.141592653589......  Okay.  That's enough.

Oh, NO!  I think I'm becoming a nerd.

Socks Rock

I have been knitting socks for William.  He asked for them expressly.  They are not to keep his feet warm.  Or dry.   He wants to use them like a pair of skates.  Yes.  You heard that right!  My DS taught him how to 'skate' in the front foyer of his house, wearing a pair of knitted socks.   

I  really like knitting socks.  It is very calming.  Kind of like meditating - something I need to do a lot of lately to keep me sane.  Just concentrating on the stitches.  Listening to the clicking of the needles.  The repetitive motions.  And better for my eyesight.  It is easier to see the knitting yarn than sewing a quarter inch seam allowance.   I had to use a light colour, but not too light, and not too dark either.  Dark colours are difficult to see.  I used some left over green yarn.  Still I had problems if I made a mistake or had to count rows.  I used stitch markers and a magnifying glass to read the instructions.  The socks were a success!  He loves them and spent the major part of his evening 'skating' on the hardwood floor.

So now that William needs more socks,  I have something to keep me busy.  I have a purpose!  I am a knitting Nana.  How cool is that?  Here is what they look like.

I have no idea how many pairs I will make.  I guess it all depends on how many good movies are on television.  These socks will also be fantastic to wear inside his spring Wellies.   He is fed up with his winter boots.  Yeah, can you tell?  He is six years old.

Signs of Spring

 A crocus was blooming in front of my house.  Today was a warm day.  The first of this season.  This Covid thing has taken its toll on me.  I need more spring stuff to keep me going.  I just sat in the sun and admired the pretty yellow colour.  There are many more crocuses showing their green shoots.  I can hardly wait for more blooms to appear soon.  

I made this little journal quilt a couple of years ago.  It measures 8.5 by 11 inches.  

There were also some snowdrops blooming in the backyard, under the apple tree.  Yesterday they were covered in snow and today they are blooming.  So pretty.

It's supposed to get cold again.  But at least this is a start.

How to Make an American Quilt

In 1995, the movie 'How to Make an American Quilt' came out.   Of course, anything to do with quilting is high on my list.  I had to see the film as soon as I heard about it.  It starred Maya Angelou.  I love her poems.  Her role in the film was great too.  

In real life, Maya had been raped at the age of seven.  It traumatized her so much that she didn't speak for 5 years.  She was encouraged to write to get her feelings out.  As a result she wrote many poems.  Several dealt with her frustrations around systemic racism.  In the poem, 'Caged Bird', (one of my favourites) she describes the freedom of the birds in the sky.  Their thoughts only of the wind and having all their needs met.  She continues her poem with a caged bird, who's wings are clipped and feet are tied.  A captive bird who can only sing of freedom.  Much like slaves who sang of freedom and who's owners thought they were happy because they were singing.  In an interview with Oprah Winfrey Maya expresses her own experiences and frustrations and likens herself to the caged bird.  I found the interview very moving.

In the American Quilt film she is the leader of a quilting group who are making a quilt for a girl who is getting married.  She encourages the others to continue and finish the quilt.  She plays the role of Anna Neale, the mother of another young quilter, Marianna Neale, who is pregnant.  This role is played by Alfre Woodard.

Marianne is very depressed because of her condition and works on a dark and brooding quilt of her own.  I don't think it is shown more than once or twice in the film, but I fell in love with it.  It looked like a wonderful quilt that I would love to make.  I was fairly new to quilting at that time, but I bought the book that was based on the film and made the quilt.  My fabric stash was limited, but I think it still came out okay.  I gave it to my DD to hang in her quest room.

This morning I asked her to take a photo of it so I could show it to you..  She did and here it is.

Thanks for listening and letting me share.

Some Quilting

My doctor phoned me last week.  She asked if I had been able to do any sewing lately.  I said I hadn't, but when I checked the blocks beside my machine I discovered that there were a few.  

I have been trying to do a bit of sewing each day.  Some days I have been able to sew for about 15 minutes.  Some days I have only been able to sew for a couple of minutes.  And some days there has been absolutely no sewing at all.  This is mostly due to my poor eyesight.  So it amazes me that I have actually made 18 blocks.  They are very easy and use a lot of white which is easier to see.  Here are the blocks I have made so far.

I also found a few UFO blocks.  I hope to make a few more and create a donation quilt.  This is what is done so far.

Another donation quilt that is now complete is this one.  It measures about 36in by 42in.  I think that is big enough.  But I still have a few more blocks so I think I will start another charity quilt.  I just love making these rail fence blocks.  Each measures 3in square (finished).  I have lots of scraps so this is a good way to use them up.  

That's it for today.  Not only is sewing hard on my eyes, but screen time is too.

Crocheted Afghan

 I found some crocheted blocks in my yarn stash.  Since my eyesight is not the best right now I decided to use the old blocks in a new project.  

This afghan became a 56 by 80in. snuggle quilt.  

I still need to block it.  But that will have to wait until tomorrow.