GOODBYE  my Partridge Silkie  "Presley" RIP

Summer 2014 I purchased a trio of Partridge Silkie chickens.
My friend Kathy breeds the most wonderful birds.
I enjoyed the trio & all were a great addition to my flock addiction.

A few months ago I noticed Presley having a hard time walking.
At first it was just a limp which progressed to hopping on 1 leg.
He then would stand propped up against the wall.
Even putting him in a small cage to restrict movement didn't help.

He was allowed to stay with his gals, but could no longer walk.
I brought him inside trying to keep him fed but he just wilted.
Ends up Presley had a severe torn leg ligament.
After 2 months he was worse, & didn't want to eat anymore - sigh.
The vet said it was the kindest thing to put him down.

I was lucky that a month before Presley was put down,
his 3 off spring were hatched...One of them was a rooster!
"Moon Doggie" is now the King of the SILKIE coop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WELCOME "Moon Doggie" ( son of Presley )
WELCOME "Gidget & Sandra Dee" ( 2 daughters of Presley)

There was a bit of Drama with the hatching of these 3 chicks.
One silkie (Linda) had hatched 2 eggs & Priscilla hatched a single egg.
They looked to be happy in sharing the large brooder space & raise the chicks together.
But a day later the story changed.

Linda attacked the single chick, which made her 2 chicks run under Priscilla.
The 3 chicks stayed together & all were adopted by Priscilla.
She was an attentive, kind mama who doted on her 3 chicks!

Linda acted like she could care less. She went on her merry way.
Even if she heard her chicks peep, she ignored the sound.
Made me realize not every hen is maternal.

Here is the proud mama & her 3 little angels!
( the black chick is "Moon Doggie the male )

I wanted to showcase the quilts by Eleanor Pastic
These were Inspired by photographs taken by her husband George Pastic.
The "Talented Couple" collaborated on many beautiful quilts.





Eleanor entered & WON
"Canadian Quilters Association JURIED SHOW 2009"

FROG POND ~ Award for "Outstanding Work by first time Exhibitor"
The quilting on this is Exquisite! The Frog's back is covered in tiny little circles. The eye is life like & the maple leaf is covered in veins.




Eleanor also entered & WON @ the CQA JURIED SHOW 2009
 
ONTARIO SUNSET ~ "JUDGES CHOICE" for her 1st ART Quilt
                                 (picture of us together before "Sunset" was completed)

This quilt has so many curves (Eleanor's favorite technique) & the color variation is striking. It is one of my Favorite quilts that Eleanor made.






MIKEL was in Memory of George & Eleanor's daughter who passed away 2010
Eleanor used an antique mirror which George used in his portrait sets. She reworked the mirror & brush many times until she was satisfied with it.





HORSES ~ this was another picture George had taken. The original had 3 horses. Eleanor just wasn't happy with the 3rd horse...so she cut him off! There was much discussion on how to make the horses mane look authentic.




The RED ROSE ~ this beautiful Rose was a close up of George's photograph.
Eleanor used over 20 different red fabrics, with a satin stitch around each petal. She had tried a different color the 1st time, but decided RED would be more challenging & eye catching. The picture doesn't do it justice.

COW & CALF ~ I can't tell you how many changes this scene took. Eleanor wasn't happy with the 1st draft. Every time she would make the images, it didn't look right to her. The rolling landscape took focus off the cow & calf. The calf wasn't in the right position to show it was feeding. The background landscape didn't look right. George would take his photograph & rework the images. He changed the colors & the landscape.
Finally it was the picture Eleanor wanted to make & she was right all along.

 

 

 

Some amazing Quilts by ELEANOR PASTIC

I wanted to share some of the quilts made by my close friend of 24 years ~ Eleanor Pastic.
She was a Talented woman who loved to explore new ideas & techniques.
Eleanor belonged to many Quilt Guilds over the years.
She always ended up on the Executive or Teaching workshops.

There are Many quilters out there, who learned something from Eleanor.
She taught Quilting @ so many stores & workshops that I unfortunately don't remember them all.  Here are some that I "do" remember ~


Quilt Guilds

EAST  TORONTO QUILT GUILD
YORKSHIRE ROSE QUILT GUILD
YORK HERITAGE QUILT GUILD
PORT PARRY PATCHERS
LINDSAY CREATIVE QUILT GUILD


Quilt Organizations

ONTARIO QUILT CONNECTIONS
CANADA QUILT ASSOCIATION


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

These are some pictures of Workshops taught by Eleanor ~

 

 

My next blog will showcase the quilts Eleanor made with Inspiration from photographs her husband George Pastic had taken. George was a Film maker & a great photographer. Truly a house of Talent!

 

Farewell to a Wonderful FRIEND & Quilter "Eleanor Pastic"

When I joined my 1st Quilt Guild ( East Toronto Quilter's Guild in Toronto )
I met a lot of wonderful ladies. Quite a few were Beginner quilters like myself.
It was an Exciting time & every meeting had a learning curve.

One lady I met was "ELEANOR PASTIC" a machine quilter who liked curved piecing.
I was a puritanical Hand quilter, who used traditional blocks to showcase my artsy designs.
We didn't seem to have much in common, & it was Not an instant friendship.

We were attending (separately)  the "Canadian Quilt Association"  retreat.
The finger of Fate mixed up our designated room mates & we ended up together.
It changed our lives forever...for the better.

We chatted until 4am ( class started in a few hours!!!)
Our lives paralleled on many levels & knew many of the same people in business.
The following evenings were the same - a little sleep & going to class tired - LOL
It didn't matter, we found out we were "Soul Mates"

Over the years we became quite close.
It wasn't just about quilting, it was on a real Personal level as well.
I grew up without a mother after the age of ten.
We were so close Eleanor offered to fill that void.
When there were problems in each of our lives, the other stepped in.

We were fortunate enough to live 10 minutes apart.
Often times we would squeeze into Eleanor's quilt room to cut fabric.
Or we would haul our work downstairs to work on her dining table.
Even when Eleanor moved, we spoke on the phone a few times a week.
We would meet almost every month for a Lunch date!

Eleanor & I began to explore more "Artsy" quilt interests.
Realism, portraits & animals became our new direction in quilting.
We took many courses, bought books & watch the Quilt Art shows.
Many discussions were about our next Fabulous quilt - LOL

Eleanor became sew involved that she entered 2 quilts for Quilt Canada competition.
It was NO surprise to anyone that BOTH quilts took home ribbons.
The "FROG" quilt & her "SUNSET" quilt were both 1st in their division.
Eleanor's inspiration was photographs her husband GEORGE had taken.

George was quite ill for the last few years, & Eleanor cared for him 24/7.
It was hard to watch their health trials after being married Happily for over 60 years.
The Ultimate Sadness was Eleanor and George passed away a week apart in Nov 2014
But at least they were together for their next journey ~ they will be missed!
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

My nest blog will be to share with you some of the Quilts made by ELEANOR PASTIC
I know you will enjoy them & be amazed at her incredible talent.
I will leave you with a picture of my Dear friend Eleanor and I @ one of our Lunch dates!!!

Feb 2012

Whew, just realized it's been "forever" since I Blogged.
Alot has happened since my past post, I will try & fill in some blanks.

My journey in Feb 2012

The  few remaining birds of my Old flock, passed away in 2011.
( I had purchased 4 new hens but gave them to a neighbour)
This allowed me the freedom to take a nice winter trip to visit old family/friends. I used up some Airmiles & had a Blast.
------------------------------

Flew to Vancouver & stayed with "Heevi, Larissa, & Sarah"
(my mother-in-laws Favorite sister, & neices)
I met the rest of their family, & I could Not have felt More welcome!
I Quilted a wall hanging for them - details following this post.

I was able to see My nephew TIM. He drove in from Chilliwack & we enjoyed a nice Chinese dinner. It was Great to see him!
------------------------------

Took a ferry over to Vancouver Island to visit the next batch of relatives.  I haven't seen my Favorite cousin Anna,( as children, everything was better with Anna) or my Aunt Rose & cousin Maggie in over 30 years! We did alot catching up.
I Quilted a "Buddy Blanket" for my Aunt Rose. All her friends signed it. It was fun to see her open the quilt & we had a good visit.

------------------------------

The last leg of the trip was to Calgary to see my neice, "Grasshopper" Tamara. We Quilted a GLOW Baby blanket for Tamara's friends 1st baby. Tamara & family mean the World to me & I've become quite close to the entire ROMs clan. A fantastic end to my big adventure.

-----------------------------

10 days of travel was toooo long to be away from home.
Couldn't wait to see my sweetie, dogs & cat. I had a wonderful time but couldn't wait to get home. It will be a long time before another trip, because now I have a new flock of Chickens!
----------------------------

HOLIDAY Happenings

It's been a BUSY few weeks & I must admit that I LUV it!
 
I dropped off 222 Placemats that we all made for the "MEALS on WHEELS" recipients. Yesterday I received a call saying that Donna Dunbar made about 35 more mats. ( Last year Donna made 78 placemats - what a Generous person! When I delivered them to the Pickering office I had quite a Surprise....the Meals on Wheels association had made 2 plaques to acknowledge our Donations of Many quilted placemats (over 1,500) I cannot wait til January to present it to our 2 Hard working groups....they will be SEW surprised!!!!!

The "ROUGE VALLEY QUILT GUILD" & a smaller group "HELPING HANDS" have worked their talents to bring a smile for those recieving "M on W". For the last few years, before the holidays we hosted a Workshop @ the RVQG. We fill the room with eager members & sew placemats for the entire day. The Helping Hands group meet every month & work all year to produce a Vast amount of placemats. It is a group effort that brings isolated seniors a special placemat for their Holiday dinner. Prior to 2003 it was the hard work of the "Yorkshire Rose quilt guild" members.
We now make Non-holiday placemats that are given on other occasions.

I started this Xmas "M on W" placemat drive about 15 yrs ago, but this is the 1st time we were bestowed a wonderful "Thank You" gift!!!
.................................................................

I should also mention the other groups which make this possible.
The 43 divison "Police" station in Scarborough. They have provided us a great place to work for the last few years...Free of charge.

Also the "Art Of Fabric" quilt store on Brock Rd in Pickering has allowed the "Helping Hands" group to use their facilities to sew....Free of charge.

It takes alot of hard work & generous spirit to make this many placemats possible. MANY MANY THANX to Everyone for their participation.
I will post pics of the plaques asap!!!!!    "I'm doing a Happy dance"

Rouge Valley Quilt Show

Well the Quilt show was Fabulous....we have Sew many talented quilters @ our guild! It took me forever to see all the quilts.I wish I had another 5 hours to inspect the beautiful stitches. 
I think the thing I find most facinating is the diversity of ideas. I know I am stuck in a mind meld because all I want to make is quilts with critters, but everyone is not as crazy as me - right?
There were appliqued quilts that looked like they were done with invisible thread, as well as precision pieced quilts with Perfectly matched points ( who does that? Not This gal -  LOL)
It is Inspiring to be @ a Quilt show, the ideas just flow....I Need to get back to quilting every wk....with the cold weather, perhaps that will happen.

I worked the RVQG Tea room, which is Always alot of fun. I can be the crazy waitress that no one can possibly forget. I worked with a few ladies that I didn't know before....we had a great time laughing, serving & cleaning. Wish there were more Quilt shows on the horizon @ RVQG - it's a Blast!

**** Foot note, I Missed the guild meeting following the quilt show. Jean Reid sent a little note to me via Facebook, saying "surprise"  
My "Precious Eleven" quilt won "Viewers Choice" for wallhangings - it really was a Big surprise. I am Elated that sew many people luved the story of "11"

I have a few Xmas presents to make & then I'm onto my next quilt - will send details once I start the project.....I'm Anxious to start! For now I am posting a few closeup pics of "Precious Eleven" 

The Dragon flys were made with Beads & "Wonder under" 2 sided wings.
I used opal paints for the details on the wings.

The Hosta plant has a Garter snake hidden inside. The leaves have wire inside so they can be moved...the flower bells also have sparkle beads @ the mouth of hte flower. It was Fun to  embelish the quilt, hope to explore more on the next few quilts. Of course the subject matter determines if embelishing will work.
OK - signing off - hope you enjoy the pics.

Well the Rouge Valley Quilt show is over & it was a Great Success! I LUVED the quilts, jackets, & craft market. There were a few screams of elation when the Silent Auction was over.
Everyone seemed to Luv the show. I was pooped out from being a "Tea room server" for 1/2 a day....but it was FUN!

This is my "Precious Eleven" quilt, which was entered in the "Canada Quilt Association" show in the spring of 2011. I also entered this wallhanging quilt in the RVQG show this weekend.

The Hosta leaves have Pipe cleaner inside, so the leaves are moveable. A small snake is woven thru the bottom leaves with only a glimpse peeking thru. The tiny flowers are 3 dimensional & have tiny colored beads inside. The Dragon flies are also 3D with Beads as their bodies & the wings are painted with an Opague fabric paint. I have a tiny TREE Frog on the tree limb, & a family of Lady bugs walking on the log.

It is from a picture I took of "11" She was trying to Hatch golf balls & the only way I could get her to stop was to remove her from the nest. Eleven saw "Precious" sitting on a log.....so Eleven pushed Precious OFF & flapped her wings in triump. My camera caught the action & it inspired my quilt....footnote of my story of "11" follows, so if you are bored with my Tale, STOP Reading now - IF YOU CAN....ha ha ha ha

((Eleven was the 11th egg in the nest. The other 10 had hatched & mama kept pushing the last egg out of the nest. I saw a dime size hole with a tiny beak peeking thru the hole, & it was constantly quacking. I read in my duck book to leave the egg alone....so for 2 days I put the egg back in the nest, & mama would kick it out again. Finally I couldn't stand the poor duckling being trapped anymore. I brought the egg into the house, & peeled a dime size piece of hard shell off the egg. I sat & watched in Wonder as "11" fought her way out of the shell. It took a few hours to free herself & she was fully fluffed out about 15 minutes after that. I kissed the cute Fuzzy duckling a few times while she quacked for mama. In the middle of the nite, I let "11" join her family. She grew up to care for 2 adopted ducklings "12" & "13" She passed away in 2010. She was a special mouse hunting Muscovy Duck!

2 Quilts Entered @ RVQG - yippeeee

Whew - I am SEW happy to have completed my "Prairie Poultry" quilt for the Rouge Valley Quilt Show on Oct 15th 2011.

I Luved the block pattern & decided to make a giant Prairie Point rooster for the centre. While the blocks were in pieces I flew off to Calgary to see my niece. I Should have completed the quilt Before going anywhere, but that would have been too easy.

I had figured out I could piece, & machine quilt my Prairie Poultry within 2 wks but had not figured getting busy @ work. I noticed some of the blocks had stretched a bit wider in places & i Knew I should take the blocks apart....but I didn't have the time. I will Always wish I had spent more time re-aligning the blocks....such a newbie mistake for a non-newbie - sigh.

To finalize my quilt drama, I did Not have any extra needles. Thanksgiving long weekend I broke my Last decent needle & had to use a 80/12....which continued to shred the thread & skip stitches. I practiced my cuss words that weekend. I finally changed to a heavier Gutterman thread but ran out of 3 different colors...leaving my quilt top Multi-colored, ha ha ha

I was ELATED to hand the quilt in & to get it the heck out of my sight!

Placemats for "Meals on Wheels" XMAS dinner

Well it has been a Busy month & quite successful. It's been over 15 years that I've been doing Placemats for "Meals on Wheels" recipients. Many of the people live alone & can't get around much. They Luv getting their Holiday Dinner ontop of a Quilted Placemat!

Of course I can only take credit for making a dozen or so, placemats. It is a Huge donation of mats from other quilters from the ROUGE VALLEY QUILT GUILD. There is a smaller quilt group within our Guild, called the "HELPING HANDS". They meet @ "The ART of Fabric" courtesy of the owner Elizabeth Dillinger. The ladies work their buns off, & produce a large portion of the quilted placemats.

Our #1 Placemat maker is Donna Dunbar - this year she donated almost 40 placemats ( last year was 60+ - Wow)

This year we had a "PLACEMAT PARTY" @ 43 Division. It was a good turnout, with over a dozen ladies. We worked for 4 1/2 hours & made a wopping 61 placemats. ( we were given UFO blocks which made awesome looking mats, without all the work.....because someone Else had done the work - LOL)

The final count was 365 placemats. 200 went to the Pickering Meals on Wheels, while the remainder went to the Scarborough Meals on Wheels.

I can't help but be touched by the generosity of all those involved...but it shows you the True meaning of the Holidays.

The binding is Finally done on my Aunt Anne's Buddy Blanket.....the last peice of the puzzle is the label. I hope to Finish this quilt and drop it off to her before her 75th birthday, mid August.
Here is my "Surprised" Aunt Anne with her quilt celebrating 75 years of kindness!
The picture in the center is her holding me when I was a baby!




Tomorrow going to the Feed store and meeting up with Eleanor Pastic.
We'll talk Quilts and have a bargain breakfast ($4)
We are Both anxious to start a new project and be inspired on even More ARTSY quilts....wish we lived closer. Even though we are only 1 hour away, it uses up the entire day.
When we lived in Toronto, we'd get together for an afternoon and quilt.
It took 10 minutes to get to Eleanor's place.
Still it will be Wonderful to meet for lunch and talk QUILTS!
I'm Missing our weekly quilt fests Big time!

quilting

All 14 Hearts with the nieces & nephews names have been sewn on my Aunt Anne's quilt! All I need to do now, is the Binding & a Label. I hope to have this done by next wk, but of course the renos are cutting into my quilting time. I LUV that I didn't have to buy any fabric for this quilt. They are not my colors, but match my Aunt's top in a recent photograph - let's hope it is her Favorite shirt!

Renovations

I Can't wait.....the painting is done in the Sunroom, & we picked up the Pine flooring today. Tomorrow will lay the floor, then we need to sand & stain, & then put 4 coats of Urethane....by the end of next wk we will be able to move the furniture in & finally enjoy the renovated room. Yippeeee

Decided to post a pic of my First quilt made for AWESOME AUSTIN.
 He is my niece's son and a Special little man. All the blocks were different.
I was trying to make each of them, a subject he enjoyed.
 I believe this was for his 5th Birthday.
They use their quilts for cuddling into when they are watching Movies on the weekend.
 Nice when someone actually USES the quilt!



This is the Xmas wall hanging I made for AWESOME AUSTIN.
The white fabric has a sparkle to it, which reminds me of snowflakes.

Almost finished quilting the HEARTS on my Aunt Anne's quilt. I had to put my sis & my Heart together on 1 block, because there were more neices & nephews than I realized. ( It's what happens when you don't see your relatives for decades )
* I am actually happy with how the quilt is turning out....I used up fabric from my stash & did Not buy a Single thing - Nothing! It was the closest fabric I could find to match the Top Aunt Anne was wearing in her latest picture.
* I'm a bit worried about the photo transfer. I will definetly have to test it Before I give it to her. Her 75th Birthday is in a month, Plenty of time to finish it.

ewwww - been SEW busy haven't had a chance to blog. The renovations are coming along slowly. The Heat wave has lasted much longer than expected. We have been busy @ work around 7am....& can work until 1 or 2 o'clock. Then it's just unbearable, sew we get really slowww. Today I hope to paint outside. Not sure how much I can do before I run inside like a girl - LOL

It is 8:30"A.M." & currently with the humidex, it is 36 degrees. When you are doing drywall & building....it's Way too hot to work.The house is a Total BOMB!!!! There is drywall mess everywhere. Kari has the 3 rooms under contruction, & drywall was done in all 3 rooms. I Can't imagine the mess once we sand - eeeek!

The dogz have stayed inside alot. When outside, they hide under the deck. Can't say I blame them. We have been visiting the pool Often....& we get out once the mosquitos come out. Well back to "cooking, cleaning" & then some painting!

FINALLY I'm getting a chance to Quilt - yippeee! It didn't take long to sew with my Left foot. I really miss my Knee lift presser foot, but hey I can SEW!
I have completed 3/4 of my Aunt Anne's Buddy Blanket for her 75th Birthday.

I kept working on the pic I have of her @ 18 yrs of age. No matter how many times I used Photoshop, I couldn't bring in the detail enough to produce a nice print on Fabric. All thise hours were wasted.....sew onto plan "B" As luck would have it, Aunt Anne sent me a picture from a few weeks ago. She & my Uncle Nick took their cousins from Italy out to the Mandarin. I used Photoshop to fix what I could....mainly the whites of her eyes. They kept printing as green. I also did a touch up on a few wrinkles, teeth & face outline. The fabric print seemed to accentuate these areas. I am veri pleased with the fabric print now.
I hope to get some time over the next few weeks to complete the quilt. It needs to be finished early August, I'm glad there's alot of time.

Well I have my New cast on - an "Air Walker" The hospital told me I would have to pay $195.oo!!!! I said to him " you are kidding me right? Is this a joke?" He said since I don't have Extra Health coverage, I have to buy the cast myself. So of course I'm asking what my other options are....he said he could put on a Plaster cast, but then I couldn't remove it to take a shower. Gawd, where have I been for the last few decades???? Guess this is the New Healthcare - pffft

Well it ends up he "lends" me an Air Walker cast. The new liner cost me $45.00 which is a bargoon in comparison. I return the cast once I'm finished.

It is a Pleasure to take a shower. I have gone swimming a few times in our little pool. I don't put my foot down & the water is great for my body temperature & my foot. Also I cover the cast in a grocery bag when going out to the chicken pen - ya just Never know what you might step in, walking around there - LOL

They will look @ my ankle again in mid July. That's when they will decide if I need to wear this cast for an additional month, or be set FREE - Fingers crossed!

Well I Definetely live a crazy life! We have been fixing the old back porch / vestibue. It is taking longer than we thought....oh well - but then a crisis hits!

Friday nite as we are relaxing with a coffee, we hear the dogz screaming while they were wrestling. We assumed BBQ was being too rough & raced to end our 1st doggie fight. Instead we find a disaster.
BBQ had grabbed Propain's New Heavy Duty collar. Propie dropped to the ground & rolled over playing. The collar made a noose around BBQ's lower jaw, & also cut off Propains air supply. Poor BBQ was trying to jerk her head away, & her mouth was bleeding everywhere....poor Propain was choking to death, & screaming / gurgling / fighting. His eyes were rolling back in his head. Kari is yelling for me to find a knife, but being in a cast meant it took forever.
Meanwhile Kari is trying to unhook the collar - but Propain was so afraid he bit Kari a few times. Both hands were biten, & a huge bite in Kari's belly. His right hand bled all nite, even though I had bound it. The belly bite was Blue & blood was everywhere. Thank goodness he had a Doctor's appointment the next morning. I can't remember ever being so afraid.
We were numb with shock & we couldn't talk to each other all nite. The dogz were a total wreck. They wouldn't go near each other or us.
I am HAPPY to say "EVERYONE" is FINE & thank gawd they have forgotten all about it.They wouldn't play with each other for a few days, but they are back in LUV again. We have a body harness on Propain & nothing on BBQ unless we are going out for a walk.....Pretty scary shit!

Just a Fast update - ankle hurts, but Hands hurt more...there must be a trick to using these darn Crutches. Kinda bummed today. I had hoped to set up my Janome & use the "start" button to run the sewing machine, but Hubby is too busy. He's working on the Sunroom & is stressed out because he is so far behind. With my down, he must feed Everyone including me & the stress is showing.

I am using my time instead to learn More about "Composition" in photography / art etc. Kari's cousin Sarah <> told me to check out "the rule of thirds" which I had Never heard of. I know about using the sky, or ground & making it 1/3 of the quilt....but the Rule of Thirds takes it one step further. You should divide your piece into 9 squares & then there is a bunch of other artsy pointers. It is too late for my "Eleven" quilt, but I will definetly use some of those tips for my next project....but that is a Longgggggg way off. I Still have to finsih "11" & hang her on my wall before any other Art quilt is started!

My Favorite Aunt Anne is turning 75 in August. I'm making her a "Buddy Blanket" so her guests can sign her quilt. Whenever she looks @ the lap quilt, she can remember all the fun she had. I am using "photoshop" to fix an old pic I have of her. I think she is about 18 yrs old. I plan to put it in the center of the quilt, with a giant "75". I'll give her a bunch of permanent markers for her guests to use. Nothing better than having those signatures to make the quilt special. I didn't know her favorite colors, but she had sent me a recent pic. I used fabric similar to her shirt.....hope that will be close enough. This is my 3rd Buddy Blanket.

Well signing off, need to hobble to the Lazy Boy & get lazy.....ankle is throbbing.