Canadian Comfort and Remembrance Project

This is a very worthwhile project that is making comfort quilts for the families of Canadian Soldiers killed in the line of duty.

The Blocks shown here have been specially designed for these quilts. The one on the left has been fused and machine appliqued, and the one on the right has been traditionally pieced. They are not easy blocks, but when you think of the work our soldiers are doing, what is a little extra effort on my part. I plan to send these blocks along to another quilter whose guild will include them in the quilts that they are assembling. If you would like the pattern for these blocks (along with a paper pieced one) please check the CCRP website.

There is another project called Quilts of Valour which also supply quilts to our wounded soldiers. This project is an offshoot of the program operating in the United States. This group has made denim quilts for our seriously wounded soldiers. They have also made "Flaming Star Quilts" for the mothers and spouses of our fallen soldiers. For details on this project, please visit the QOV website.

If you are not a quilter and would like to become involved, donations of money and fabric would be greatly appreciated.

Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith

This is a very cool book.

Stark is the hero of this 'detective' novel. He lives in the COLOUR neighbourhood (where the surroundings respond to the clothing you are wearing and to your moods). The country is mostly one large city composed of a huge numbers of neighbourhoods, each with their particular idiosyncrasies.

He is on the search for a missing scientist from the next neighbourhood. Throughout the course of this search, Stark comes to realize that it has all been about him.

This is a book that you want to take your time reading. I am still trying to decide if this world is made up of multiple realities, or is it Stark's perception of reality at various times in his life that have created the realities.

He sums it up in one paragraph near the end of the book:"Everything you've done, everything you've seen, everything you've become, remains. You never can go back, only forward, and if you don't bring the whole of yourself with you, you'll never see the sun again."This book definitely deserves to be reread, perhaps several times.

Comfort Quilt

I think that it's every parent's nightmare that there child is injured and that there is nothing you can do to make it better. Recently a member of an online quilt guild (Maple Leaf Quilt Guild) experienced just that. Her daughter was shot in a drive by shooting. At this time it looks that she will have a good recovery.

As a mother, my heart went out to the two of them. As a quilter, I thought that I have to make her a quilt. Fortunately my online guild had completed some 'round robin' quilts for just such a situation. I added a final bright pink boarder, backed it with a soft pink fleece, some machine quilting and voila. A quilt to bring comfort.

For those not familiar with a Round Robin. It started with the log cabin block at the middle. This was mailed to a member who then added a small boarder around the block and the large white triangles that turned the block on point. Next member added her boarder of blue flowers and green leaves. Off in the mail again to the next member who added the row of striped hearts. The final member added the row of floral squares. Then it came home to rest with me until it found a need.

It was a wonderful way to participate in making a round robin, without the commitment of a huge quilting project. My mother will be delivering the quilt to the member sometime this week. I hope that it brings her the comfort and all the love and care that went into the making of it.

None of us are getting any younger

My Grandmother is in hospital having suffered two heart attacks. So I made her a quilt and took it to her. Truth be told, I made the quilt blocks several years back and finally got around to spending a few hours putting them together. I put cozy fleece on the back so it would be cuddly and warm. She was so pleased. She was calling over each nurse as they came into her room and showing it off. I suspect that she will have the best show and tell on the floor for the next few days.

Question for myself is, 'Why did it take me so long?'. As stated, I made these blocks at least 4 years ago, so why didn't I put it together at that time. I knew that both of us are getting older and that she can't live forever. She is 91 after all. Did I really think that by not finishing it, she would live forever? was I trying to deny my own mortality? I don't know the answer, but I do know that I have a few other projects that really should get finished in the near future.



To the left is the first quilt that I made for my grandmother. Its a sampler of all sorts of blocks. Some pieced, appliqued, embroidered, cross-stitched, and coloured with markers and crayons and such. One even survived a house fire and has a tiny burn spot where a spark landed on it and singed the wool. Most of the blocks were made by my sisters and myself. I had intended my cousins to help, but they didn't 'get' the idea of doing a memory quilt for my grandmother.

My grandmother was the hit of the family for months afterwards. The relatives all had to come see her quilt, the church asked her to bring it in to display during a Sunday service (wish I could have been there) and the ladies at her quilt group were thrilled. During our hospital visit, she told me that she has informed her children (my dad included) that this quilt is to come back to me now that she will be moving out of her house and into a long term care facility. Good thing I took her a new one to replace it.

Charles the Bold by Yves Beauchemin

I like this book. I have no profound reasons why. It is a well told story!!!

We meet Charles as the moment of his birth. We follow him through the next decade or so of his adventures and mis-adventures. All of them are believable and quite possible to have happened to one young boy. At times I wanted to take Charles and give him the heartfelt hugs that he so needed.

Perhaps the story appeals to my mothering instincts?

There is a follow-up to the book, "The Years of Fire: Charles the Bold, Volume 2" due out in March 2008.

Nominee for the 2007 Evergreen Book Awards.

Dream Wheels by Richard Wagamese

This book is a nominee for the 2007 Evergreen Awards . If not for this list, I doubt I would have read it, and that would have been a shame. This is an excellent book. It delves into the world of competitive Rodeo.

Joe Willie Wolfchild has been riding since a child and is now permanently sidelined with some serious injuries, not all of them physical. Aiden Hartley, an inner city youth, is also hurting. Turns out they both have skills that the other is badly in need of.

With the aid of their respective families they help each other to heal and in my opinion to become 'stronger' people.

I enjoyed the discussions of the First Nation traditions and heritage. It reminds the reader, that at some point, all peoples were First Nations, we all came from aboriginal peoples. A very 'grounding' thought. One could read this as a light story, or could take more time and actually ponder some of the lessons that both Joe Willie and Aiden experience. I took the slower route!

The List for the 2008 Nominees has been released this past week. I hope i haven't missed voting for my 2007 favourite. I did read 5 of the 10 nominated books. Every one of them was an excellent choice.

Best Mate by Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo is one of the most consistantly good authors I have ever read, and in this book, he has not dissappointed.

Early on we are introduced to the fawn coloured grey hound puppy who becomes the main character of this delightful story. While he doesn't find the idyllic home life that I hoped for him, he does find human friends who are in the most need of him. First is Patrick who rescues the puppy, but in realitiy, its the puppy who rescues Patrick from the difficulties of adolescence. Then there is Becky, who's mother lives with a heartless dog racer. Becky runs away with the dog to save him, but again its the case of the dog who saves Becky and her mother. Finally we meet Joe, and he doesn't even realize that he is in need of help.

I enjoyed the adaptabilty of the dog, and how he knew what was needed in each situation. He gave strength to each owner as they needed it.

I would recommend this story to any who have had a dog that they loved deeply. You can't help but be moved by this dog and wish that he were yours.

I would further recommend other books by this author: "The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips" and "Alone on a Wide Wide Sea".