Being a foodie in Montreal

I was over 50 when I realized I am a foodie. I didn't really know there was such a thing. I thought everyone loved beautiful yummy food. I assumed that when traveling, the first place everyone wanted to go was the local food market to, fondle, sniff and ogle all the local fare. Also that trying a new recipe,or ingredient was everyone's idea of adventure or that everyone's idea of the most luxurious splurge was a good restaurant meal. Not so. Sadly, some just eat to live.

Well, if you ARE a foodie, Montreal is a great place to live. Of course there are wonderful restaurants of every variety and price all over the city and you can get breakfast, lunch or dinner pretty much any time of day or night. Another side of the food experience of the city is the markets, especially this time of year. Strolling among the flowers, fruits and vegies, sampling the produits de terroir,  is one of my greatest pleasures.

Yesterday's journey resulted in a Mediterranean salad with merguez from the Halal butcher, prosciutto, Greek feta, kalamata olives from the Itallian store, juicy sweet melon, greens, garlic, mint, fresh basil, 3 colours of tomatoes and edible flowers from the farmers stalls. JOY in the summer.

And PLEASE  never buy bottled salad dressing. It takes 5 minutes to make fresh and so easy and good. The key is high quality ingredients.

Best Basic Salad Dressing recipe
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic crushed
pinch or more of fines herbes
salt and pepper to taste
MAKING IT
Start with the vinegar. Dissolve the salt completely in it. Add the olive oil and other ingredients wisk with a fork or shake in a jar. Blending is all. Voila.

collage finished

YAY, finally finished the collage from the show! I embellished the fused piece with holographic threads on my domestic sewing machine then put it on the long arm to quilt and stitch the edges to a purple backing.

What a treat delivering it to Carina. She had the perfect spot for it in her loft. And she gave me a pair of her wonderful feather earnings!

My art is my church

I was so surprised to get a call from designer Katrin Leblond telling me the large crazy quilt piece displayed in her store just sold. Of course it is beautiful so why should I be surprised? Well, it is a fully hand embellished piece and largish. ( 47"X 47" X 47") I wasn't sure there was anyone out there besides me who gets such a thrill out of purple and hand embellishment.

I worked on this piece when I was between hip replacement surgeries. Obviously not very mobile but with still lots of energy and desire to be busy. What a pleasure to spread out all my beauties...
beads, silk ribbons, hand dyed laces I made years ago, embroidery thread...


and some Milagros from Mexico. The tin work done in Mexico is really spectacular and this is only a mini example. Outside churches they sell these small replicas of different parts of the body tied with a colourful ribbon. If you have an ailment you can buy a milagro for that part and bring it with your prayers for healing to the altar in the church. Well, my church is my art, so there are several legs sewn into this piece and well as a heart or 2 just in case.

I enjoyed working with the silks, satins, sequins that don't usually go into a quilt. And, yes, I admit it, thanks to my dancing friend who makes her own costumes, I came home from a trip with an entire suitcase full of fabric scraps, some no larger than a few inches. This is an obsession that must be controlled, but I digress.



Every bead is sewn on by hand. I learned many embroidery stitches as well as silk ribbon embroidery. Tiny silk roses...very fun. This piece is a lot to look at all at once and so interesting to explore all the little details. I have had it with me for a while now and am happy it has found a new home. It is wonderful to know there are people out there who still appreciate craft and hand made beauty. A big thank you to Katrin Leblond, queen of colourful fashion and her wonderful staff. See all the beauty she creates on her blog: katrinleblondblog.com.

Tequila Sunrise

Can you tell it is summer?

I know I have been absent from this blog for a while. It is my style to connect intensely and then retreat inside for a while. After the show in Montréal, I traveled to British Columbia where I assisted the final seminar in a training in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. This is the very deep and gentle form of body work I practice. It was profoundly moving to see the students complete this part of the journey. I also took some time to be with colleagues explore the astounding beauty of Vancouver Island. I am a slow mover and one who likes to take time and space. It was an intense and deeply nourishing journey.
And it is good to be back in my home studio making things again. Here are some photos of a piece I just finished. I have been working on finishing the collage from the show here in Montréal. I am embellishing it with metallic threads. There is a lot of fusible and the needle kept getting gunked up. I changed needles a lot. I was trying to figure out if I could quilt through all those thicknesses. I had another UFO here that is also fused so I went ahead and put it on DEEP ( my INNOVA quilting machine that is purple, hence the name) NO PROBLEM. So here is the new piece, Tequila Sunrise. I will get the collage on the frame today and post some photos when it is done so stay tuned...

Nature inspiration from Beautiful BC

Inner Path? outer Path?

View from Oyster Bay

Blue and Yellow

Grandfather

Eagle Mountain

Who says orange and purple are not nature colours?

Low tide