DrEAMi! #54

Welcome to the July linkup of DrEAMi where we celebrate and share our 'off-track' moments! I shared this meme from Carol last year, but when Tish The Madd Quilter, brought it to my attention, and I saw it again on Carol's blog this week, QuiltSchmilt, I knew it was such an apt description for this party that I had to use it again.

I mean, it's perfect for what happens to us. All right, come on in and let's see what distractions we've been chasing in July.

Gratitude #54

Welcome to my post where I reflect on the past month's moments for which I'm grateful. You can hop over to Not Afraid of Color, LeeAnna's blog where you will find a group of us who write these posts. It is not a closed group, so if you want to sometimes or regularly scribble down things you like or love for which you are grateful, feel free to link up and share!

1. I am grateful that Canada has made history this month, appointing an Inuk Governor General, Mary Simon. She was sworn in on Monday, and in her speech she said, "I have heard from Canadians who describe a renewed sense of possibility for our country and hope that I can bring people together." Here is a great article (the image below is from it) about her and the hopes many have. I did not know that Ottawa has the largest population of Inuit people outside of the North! 

94 Quilt Blocks 16-21

I acknowledge that I am living on unceded territory of Anishinabewaki, Attiwonderonk, and Myaamia on the shore of erielhonan, (Iroquoian word meaning 'long tail') now called Lake Erie.

On Monday, July 26, Mary Simon, the first Inuit Governor General of Canada was sworn in. Such a historical moment, it gives me hope for a better Canada.

The post that explains my 94Quilt project is here.  Since July 1 I've been making a flying geese block a day as I read one of the 94 Calls to Action, its accompanying explanations and progress report, and links that go with each one.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is the main website with a wealth of information.

to finish Language and Culture

16. Create university and college degree and diploma programmes in Aboriginal languages.

In progress.

Many post-secondary institutions do this. I had heard of First Nations University of Canada through taking Indigenous Canada last summer. Check out the Lone Star quilts on their About Us page!

Eye Candy

When I posted an in-quilting progress pic on Instagram, someone wrote  'eye candy' and although I wasn't planning on naming this little quilt, that idea stuck, so Eye Candy it is. This mini is made of the the pile of cut away HSTs I had when I made Rainbow Way for RSC 2019. You can read about that quilt by clicking the link. That arrows quilt also is for sale in my Etsy shop. 

The little triangles had at least got sewn up into 3" unfinished square-in-a-squares, but then they sat in a stack. I did add them to my PHD list for this year, and because of three major commitments this month, I planned to make this mini. I am so glad to make something pretty from what could have ended up in a landfill. Truth? I could probably make a set of oh a dozen of these with the various triangles I've saved...

Joyful Star - 12 Days of Christmas in July

I was honoured to be asked by Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict to be part of her hop this year. Despite already having two rather major commitments within six days of each other, I said yes, adding a third! I work well under pressure, always have. Well, I'm pleased to report all three commitments/deadlines have been met. I am now going to have a relaxing August once this post is done! So welcome, and I hope to inspire you with not one, but three little projects!

First of all truth tea: I never, not ever, think of, or make stuff for, Christmas in July. I am a summer-loving girl and thoughts of snow and cold are no part of my July soak up the sun time! However. I made an exception this year. Because? 

Well, Sarah.

And - 

I had a pattern that was almost ready to publish, that would work beautifully for a Christmas quilt. I'd even had that thought percolating.

And it is published! And it's on sale 30% off for the duration of the hop! You can snag a copy for yourself for just $7.70CA in my Etsy shop.

So.

Exceptions had to be made, I mean really! And I'm so thrilled with how it came together.

So cheery! So... joyful! The red fabric is even called 'Joy' by Kate Spain.

94 Quilt Blocks 11-15

The post that explains my 94Quilt project is here.  Since July 1 I've been making a flying geese block a day as I read one of the 94 Calls to Action, its accompanying explanations and progress report, and links that go with each one.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is the main website with a wealth of information.

To finish out the Education section...

11. Provide adequate funding to end the backlog of First Nations students seeking post-secondary education.

In progress. Project proposed. This baffles and upsets me. In 2018 the funding approved was actually less than in the previous two years. Make the money available. Now. Full stop. I do like that it's specific as to the amount which goes to First Nations, or Métis Nation, or Inuit.

Captiva Meadow for Just One Charm Pack Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on Cheryl's second book release blog hop! I am so happy to be a part of her book release hop once again. This new book is just the ticket for those of us who have a charm pack (or ten) hanging around. All you need is what the title says, "just one", and a little bit of yardage to make any of the wonderful quilts in the book. I chose to make Blossom Chains.

I love designs that make your eye fly over a quilt. I also immediately saw the large plus-shape negative space between the diagonals and zip! knew I would do a little fancy quilting in there. You can hop over to Cheryl's blog, Meadow Mist Designs, to get links to all the stops on the hop. Links to purchase her book are at the end of this post.

94 Quilt - Five More Blocks

The post that explains my 94Quilt project is here.  Since July 1 I've been making a flying geese block a day as I read one of the 94 Calls to Action, its accompanying explanations and progress report, and links that go with each one.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is the main website with a wealth of information.

Section 2 Education

6. Repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

This is also known as the spanking law, and it "allows parents, caregivers and educators to use force towards a pupil or child as a means of correction, 'if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances.'" No progress has been made.

Truth and Reconciliation Quilt Project

TW: Please note that some details in this post may be distressing for some readers. 

This year I didn't really celebrate Canada Day, though I love my country and am usually proud of what we stand for. However. We have a lot of nasty, outright horrific history along with our shining history. We ran residential 'schools' for our First Nations peoples, and forced their parents to send their children, as young as THREE, to these boarding 'schools' which, we have known, but are now finally having to face it publicly as a nation, were anything BUT schools. Rather, they were indoctrination centres, funded by the government, run by the Catholic Church, along with, to a lesser degree of involvement, Anglican and other churches. Indian Agents went around rounding up the children, often by force, and the RCMP enforced all of this. I learned a fair bit about these 'schools' last summer when I took the Indigenous Canada course through the University of Alberta, and also did some extended reading on the subject. The U of A course is a MOOC, a Massive Open Online Course. It is free, eye-opening and mind-blowing, and everyone, but especially white people, should take it, no matter where we live. These 'schools' were not unique to Canada; the US had boarding 'schools' as well, for the same purpose as ours, to commit cultural genocide. I did not learn, nor did I teach when I was a teacher, the true history of Turtle Island, currently known as Canada, America, and Mexico. 

What is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada? Briefly, from June 2008 through December 2015, after six years of research, thousands of interviews of residential 'school' survivors, and over a year of compiling and writing, this commission released their multi-volume report. Within it were 94 Calls to Action. Six years, later, Canada has fulfilled a dismal amount, though many are in process. Many require a lot of work, sweeping changes to education, for just one, and admittedly, some cogs of government do move at a glacial pace. CBC has a great website tracking the work being done, Beyond 94.

• 14 Complete
• 23 In-progress (Project underway)
• 37 In-progress (Projects proposed)
• 20 Not started

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation continues the TRCs work. With another discovery of a mass amount (751) of unmarked graves last month, this time on the Cowessess Nation, in Saskatchewan, Chief Delorme was asked if Canada should cancel Canada Day. He said he wasn't about to tell anyone what to celebrate or not, but he did suggest that every Canadian make the point of reading the Calls to Action. This is the least any one of us can do; after all, educating oneself is key to growth and understanding.

And real change.

Projects

I have three, no four, wait, five new projects either underway, or soon to be underway. I had planned to mostly take July off blogging and Instagramming, and I still plan to do that. Lots has been happening, however. This post should catch everyone up.

The main reason for this post is that I have switched to https://follow.it for advising my followers when I publish a new blog post. It was an easy migration: putting the subscribe button on my sidebar a few weeks ago was a breeze, and then moving my subscribers over was a snap, because they did it! I just sent them the downloaded CSV of my list, they weeded out ALL the spam/fake/bot emails, and poof! New list, much smaller since they filter out those spammers, yay. Thanks so much to Cindy at Stitchin' at Home who told me that they did the subscribers list. If you haven't made the switch yet because it's just too overwhelming, it really isn't. Go to https://follow.it to sign up and then follow the steps. They have a chat feature so you can type in any queries and they respond right away. You can control how you want to get your notifications of new posts from bloggers you read too. Easy. If you aren't following me, and you'd like to, the sign-up widget is on my sidebar.

I have three big deadlines this month. The first one is a quilt for issue #42 of Make Modern (affiliate link). You've seen sneak peeks of the Fossil Fern Benartex fabric, and a few in-progress shots on my Instagram, but in case you've forgotten...

They are gorgeous fabrics, and I just love how my design turned out!