Thursday, January 26, 2023

Gratitude # 71

Welcome to my monthly post where I share things for which I'm grateful that I have noted over the month. You can read more of these uplifting posts at the wonderful LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color.

I like this sweatshirt Dayna gave me for Christmas. My beloved CBC. I like the echo effect of their logo. I don't know, but I wonder if it symbolizes the ripple effect of the various media of theirs, and the good they've been doing as far as inclusivity. I also like the quilt under it, which is on our bed during the month of January. It was a block of the month I hosted in 2003 for the guild I was then a part of, one by someone named 'Tish in Florida' that I found online. It was really cool because there were several different sizes of blocks that all fit together. I added the borders from a book I had. Here is the post if you want some more information and photos.


I like doing quilty things with others. I’ve joined in with SAHRR (Stay at Home Round Robin) this year, I’m participating in Project Quilting and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge again. It is rewarding to connect with like minded people who love quilting as much as I do. And I love the challenge to my creativity and math brain these provide. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the books I’ve read this month, The Paris Apartment by Lisa Bowen (new-to-me author, and I'll definitely be reading more of hers), The Redeemed, by M. R. Hall, the third in The Coroner series, but I especially loved Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow


The deeper I got into it, the more I lived in it. I just cannot say enough about how exquisite a book it is. I loved: the way Gabrielle writes without spelling things out, (she shows you rather than tells you, something I used to teach my English students) the way she develops the characters, so you get why they're acting in a certain way even though your heart breaks for them, the poignancy and insight she examines within friendships and love, and her thoughts about the never-ending-ness of a person, yes in video role-play games, but also in real life. I believe in a soul, and that that energy, that 'me-ness' of unique and rainbow-aura-bright energy, that everyone is, is indeed never-ending. I also loved the way the book unfolded, not linear, with jumps into the near and distant future, just so cool and a part of the whole theme I thought.

I like our newly renovated, from new insulation to drywall to paint (have I said - yes - how happy I am that this house has not one ceiling tile nor piece of 60s vintage panelling in it anymore?!) guest bedroom/yoga room/library.
No baseboards yet as we eventually will be redoing all the cheap flooring

I like the white snow that you can see out of the windows, that has fallen as of yesterday, and continues to be a fine sometimes snow/sometimes rainy slush today. If you've ever seen a video of an illuminated slo-mo sneeze, you'll get it when I say the sky is sneezing today (thanks to MacGyver for nudging me to find that metaphor with a comment he made.) I am grateful for the excellent care of roads that our county has. Yes, it has been a very balmy January, but also very grey, and also not normal. It is supposed to snow in southern Ontario in January! It is supposed to be a bit colder: we've been hovering slightly above freezing all month, occasionally dipping below.

I like this photo of me with Xena, taken by MacGyver at Windsor Bright Lights. It's a terrific festival of Christmas lights with lots and lots of opportunities for photos for your social media, ha! We took the dogs this year, always looking for ways to socialize them.


Rufus has withdrawn a bit over the Covid years, so he was pretty wigged out with all the people, and there were loads of people! Xena, on the other hand, was in her element! She was Miss Social Butterfly sniffing everyone, tail up, prancing along with her little horse trot she does.
Oh, how I wish they’d keep this sign up year-round; I have no clue why they don’t. It’s a great advertisement and photo op. Detroit, just across the river, has one, as does Mérida, Mexico. I’ve had pictures taken in both places and posted on social media. 

I liked being a part of the Villa Rosa Designs blog hop this past week. I called my quilt 'The Art of Riding Thermals' which is just the best description, not mine, though I had originally wanted to call it 'Thermals' but this turn of phrase is much better. I really like the photo we took of my quilt at Jack Miner Migratory Bird Sanctuary just a few kilometres from our home.

I do hope you read the post about the sort of a Block Bee, if that's the right term, activity that Betsy and her group of quilters in North Carolina are doing with my Rainbow Neighbourhood pattern. It's just wonderful, and I'm so grateful and honoured that she reached out to me about using my pattern!

I love the fabric I chose and received from Island Batik to make the quilt for the cover of the pattern. The twin quilt on the left of the cover is digital. I am super-excited to get started on it, using this stack of glorious batiks! Half of the stack is Broken Glass, a really cool line that has bricks in it among other motifs, great for building houses. The other half is from their Basics and Blenders collections.


In the food department, I like this Roasted Cauliflower Burrito Bowls recipe I made from Pinch of Yum. That link will take you there.


Well, that's it for this month! It's been a rather busy one what with Project Quilting, the Villa Rosa Designs blog hop, SAHRR, two RSC projects with a third gently bumping me to just make it already, and now two magazine submissions accepted, one with a pretty tight deadline. So I am off to do some math calculations for yardage! This one is going to use Art Gallery Fabrics, yasss!
‘One more!’ Rufus says. He’s right: I love this picture of him taken Monday. 

Edit: Just read LeeAnna's post and I realize I forgot to answer the question for the week which is what colour is your favourite if you have one, and I do though like LeeAnna, I love colour, full stop. Blue, in all its incredible shades and tints and hues is my favourite: royal, midnight, turquoise, robin's egg, cyan, cerulean, azure, I could go on! My favourite colour combo is blue and green, but add in some purple with it and I swoon. You can see I gravitate to the cool side of the spectrum. However, I also love pinks. The magazine quilt I mentioned with the rather tight deadline is pinks with a splash of orange.

Did my colour tastes change when I moved? For me this would be from Alberta to Ontario. No. We were into the rich earth tones popular in the late 2010s and early teens, and though I still like those, since we moved across town in Ontario, I've become more attached to lighter colours (white kitchen cabinets, light grey walls with, as you see in my yoga/library room, a hit of turquoise on one wall). This might be the influence of my beloved Lake Erie, and a warmer climate down here, or having had a winter home in Florida, which I still do miss from time to time, for ten years. My tastes in colours in quilting have also tended to go from the rich deep earth tones (which is the centre block for my SAHRR), to brighter clearer rainbow colours, though blue is always a constant!💙


14 comments:

  1. You have a great list of Likes. I also like your new yoga library room. It looks so clean and fresh! I love going in old, historic houses, but I know I could never live in one with all the old trim to take care of. I don't know why I like the wood trim in my house, but I wouldn't like it in an older house. I'm odd that way. I love your Art of Riding Thermals quilt. It looks great hanging there too. I'll have to remember to take some clamps with me the next time I take a quilt somewhere to photograph. Hubby's fingers and legs are always in my quilt pictures. lol

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  2. Another lovely gratitude post & I always think about writing one too, but life has been sort of hectic lately with various "silly little things" and I need to get back into some routine now. I also love to join in quilty things & keep my grey matter working. Thanks once again for being inspirational, take care & hugs.

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  3. Oh wow, I would have predicted that Rufus would be the social butterfly and Xena might be shy and timid around everyone. I clearly got that wrong! I like your thankful posts and all the good you look for in the world around you.

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  4. Ottawa has a sign with big light up letters. Ours changes colours! You can find it in the Byward Market where you can also get a Beaver tail.

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  5. Interesting how many people's favorite colors change with time. Yay for the renovation - the room looks terrific. Oh, those batiks! That cauliflower looks delicious.

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  6. How surprising that Zena was the social one at the light festival. Love all yhour projects and congratulations on the 2 magazine acceptances. Busy, busy.
    Pat

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  7. A delightful post! I wonder if the majority of people colour choice changes overtime?

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  8. Lots of happy things to be thankful for. Love the photo with your angel wings, very fun. Wishing you a productive month in February, you have a lot on your plate.

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  9. Some very beautiful likes and loves. It must feel wonderful to finally have the whole finished. We have had a solid month of cold and white and I could use a little break. I was into browns and rusts with a splash of turquoise in my early quilting days (the last century LOL) but now it is all bright colors. So I guess I've changed a bit. The photo McGyver took is wonderful. How is your Bella doing?

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  10. Hi Sandra, I always love these posts of yours. Although, all the clicking through to links makes it an investigation - definitely NOT complaining. The 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow' book sounds fascinating. I love the house picks (sending a hug through to Rufus), and like the paler wall colours too, they don't compete with pictures or quilts on the wall. Love the Angel pic ( hugs to Xena), and WINDSOR. And finally, I can't wait to see Rainbow Neighbourhood in batiks. I've started BoHo Heart with my neighbour, and I'm using batiks in green through into blue with the odd pink, gold and purple sneaking in. Enjoy the weekend!

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  11. I like the batik colors and designs you’re using for your project. Two magazine submissions, awesome! Lots of work and fun ahead for you.

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  12. Ahhhh.... "Show Not Tell"...
    I had a couple of Show Not Tell lessons that I loved doing with the kids in school!

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  13. I love your picture with Xenia and the winged lights. The winter light displays always make me happy and I feel they should stay until the sun sets after 6! We have had a little snow, feeling a little more like winter. Blue is one of my favorites, although purple and teal also have a pretty strong appearance on my palettes.

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  14. Sandra I always enjoy reading your posts, so full of positivity (although you can probably guess I am behind in reading blogs and checking emails again). I can’t say which was my favourite part to read, but I loved seeing the photo of your Reno’d library Yoga Room. Thanks for all the fun links to check out. 😉

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