North

     I am currently working on a piece that is giving me some frustration ... I want the water (waves) to have a more dimensional look, but after ripping out some sections yesterday, I think I will need to stick to flat stitching on fabric instead of trying to add lace and fabric folds. (Sorry, can't take a picture yet since there are a number of small pieces that will fall off if I try to hang it on the wall. I will clean up the mess and add some other details today and take a picture).  I will also need to check out some You-tube videos and see if someone else has gone in the direction that I want and then work on some small samples first.

     Instead, here is a picture of an Inuit piece I did in the fall of 1997. It had been a Christmas gift for my mother, reflecting the several years that we lived in northern Ontario, at the base of James Bay. This was a purchased pattern, that I have since misplaced or lost (thank you to the original creator). It was all hand-stitched / appliqued / hand-quilted before I knew about the wonders of Heat and Bond. I also didn't know much about turned edges on applique so the main pieces are done in blanket-stitch. The background fabric makes an excellent representation of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis). If I were to do something like this again, I would add a dog team, since that was the main transportation for most of the people at the time.

    ... which reminds me of a little story: on my way to church one Sunday morning while living in Moose Factory, I watched a young driver who did not have great control of his dogs, coming towards me on the snowy road. The dogs were weaving all over the place on the road instead of running in a straight line, so I climbed the snow bank and waited for them to pass. Except, they didn't pass ... not right away. The dogs made a bee-line for me; I sank in the deep snow and unable to move, crouched down. The dogs and the sled ran over me with their driver hollering and pulling the sled away. I'm glad it was not a loaded sled. I arrived at church a little bruised and very snowy and vowed the next time, that I would go early with my mother (who was the organist) instead of later on my own.
  
   Another little bonus ... I used Chris's suggestion for pinpointing the centre of the quilt before taking the picture ... and then I found that my computer has a program where I can actually 'tilt' the picture if I am a little wonky. I should have written down directions on where this program is since it was an accident that I found it at all!!