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Monday 8 April 2013

Dreaming of Spring - All in a Day's Work.

Yesterday I headed out of the city to teach my Creative Quilted Postcards Workshop for a guild in another town.  Sounds 'big time' doesn't it?  : )  You know, getting hired to travel and teach.  Here's a tongue-in-cheek glimmer into the experience.

So, here I am.  I'm driving.


And I'm still driving.

farmer's fields April 2013 - 'the winter that won't go away'

Yup.  Still driving...

The sky is overcast in the morning so everything looks incredibly 'Arctic'.  I've never been to this town before.  I have my little phone GPS nearby.  Then I get to this 4 way stop.

stop.

I do what the sign says.  I stop.  I stop for a long, long time.  I don't remember which way to turn.  There are no sign anywhere besides, "STOP".  I can't even tell which direction is anything, because I can't see the sun.  It likely doesn't matter though, since it's around mid-day.  So I check my little phone gps thingy.  I click "locate".  It zooms in to an intersection on the map.  Yup - that's where I am.  The problem is "I" am a dot.  I am not a directional arrow.  I am a dot: a blinking, pulsing dot.  Well at least I'm alive!  lol  I sit and wait.  I like the quiet.  I look around some more.  I did a bit of a turn around before parking, and now I really can not remember which way I came from, let alone where I'm heading to.

looks like it's going to be a nice day

It's not nearly as cold as it looks, and the sky is beginning to clear.  Once you get over the starkness, you get into the wonder of the starkness.  Then you look closer and see pretty things.  Honestly.  I get out and snap some photos.

I think to myself - one road goes to and from a place.  The other two directions must turn off to farms, right?  Seems logical.  Eventually an SUV flies past.  They clearly know where they are going and are not afraid of icy muddy grid roads with no shoulders.  So, I head off in the direction they went.  They must be going somewhere!  Seems logical.

I re-checked the gps thingy and it showed now which road my dot was heading down.  It was the right one!  ; )   I drove for a short while longer.  You think with all this flat land you could see the next town, but no.  You can't until you get much closer.  ; )  Now I was much closer.

All of a sudden there were these shots of color - what was left after last year's harvest poking though.  It was SO SO pretty.  I snap some photos and I am easily convinced to stitch out one mroe winter scene.  This yellow is gorgeous!

yellow - just waiting to be stitched
 
I got the right place eventually with my van entirely coated with 1-2" of ice from the slush on the highway, and mud from the wet spring grid roads.  I set up the supplies and the women began arriving.  Once everyone was settled and machines were plugged in, I did my presentation on postcards before they began to construct one.  They oohs and aaahs were quite delightful as I passed around my stash of cards received by swappers all over the world.  I have a box of at least one hundred.  Each one is different - different themes, different techniques, different colors.  Then away they went!  I offered the theme, "Dreaming of SPRING".  It was a good choice.  : )

stitching some dirt and crocuses... finishing the edges...

This next one is definitely spring-dreaming too.   Some juicy spring strawberries and some bugs.  Remember those things?  (tongue in cheek)

the ricrac border was a good pick!  ; )

I get too easily distracted by color and shiny objects...

all her pretty bobbins all in a row

After much sewing, laughter, chatting, and several cookies too, the group had a set of beautiful, original, colorful spring quilted postcards almost all complete.  : )

embellishing, free motion, piecing, applique, couching, and even some silk ribbon embroidery by hand

We all thanked each other, packed up our messes and headed home.  It was a fun afternoon!  The sky cleared and the blue on the white was brilliant!  I took a lot of photos which was really great.  I haven't been out with my new camera to take any landscape photos in months.  Can you believe that?



On the way home, everything looked prettier.  Keep dreaming of spring, and be prepared for a flurry of photos from me once that changing of the guard takes place! ; )  It's starting...


6 comments:

greelyrita said...

I chuckled at "At least I'm alive", chuckled again, as I wrote this. :)

The car that sped by...Why wouldn't they have stopped to see if you were having problems? On roads where everything is so few and far between, surely, it's important for people to help one another, no?

That last pic sure looks like a good candidate!!

Mary Ann Tate said...

Your pictures remind me of where I lived when I was younger. Long straight concession roads with fields on both sides that seem to go for miles. We have finally gotten rid of the snow here because it has started raining which is fine by me:)

HollyM said...

Your drive there sounds so funny, just like me!, no sense of direction! It's a good thing you made your way there; looks like a fun workshop!
It is hard to pass by those beautiful scenes even though we're wishing for spring.

elle said...

ah, SASKATCHEWAN! Recognize it anywhere! lol

Terri said...

How brave you are! And BTW you took pictures while waiting for a passing car to show you the way! Kept your cool under pressure. I thought you were just an embroiderer of gorgeous landscapes.
But wait there's more...
Hugs

Sam said...

Hahaha, too funny. Way to apply the cool use of logic... the SUV was going somewhere (loved it). I get turned around so easy in Saskatchewan, in the blink of an eye I'm lost. I live just outside of Kindersley, if your ever teaching out West of Saskatoon you'll have to stop by for a coffee.

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