Sisters

Sisters
by Ilene Atkins

One day in October several years ago, three of my sisters were here in Ontario for a visit. The weather was one of those perfect warm sunny fall days that we all love so much. We just had to go for a drive to see some of what Southern Ontario has to offer. 

We were all quite taken with the fall colours, and stopped a few times to take it all in. On one of those stops, near Collingwood, these two sailboats happened to go by. I snapped a few photos, and later printed this on onto fabric. 

I spent many an hour doing the threadpainting, and thinking fondly of my sisters and that great get-together. 

This quilt was chosen for exhibit at Quilt Canada, coming up June 15 to 18, 2016, in Toronto.

Update:  My quilt won first place in its category at Quilt Canada, in the National Juried Show. This is quite an honour, since my name was called with many other big names in the Canadian art quilt world. I am quite pleased. When I was at the show in Toronto, talking to people about my quilt, I was joined by one of my sisters who enjoyed that October day with me, and my good quilting friend from Alberta. It was a sweet moment in my life. 

A Big Day

I keep talking about those berries. Yes they take away from my quilting, but they are important to my life!

Today, I drove about 2 hours away, near Collingwood, Ontario, to pick blueberries. While I picked, I chatted away with an elderly lady from the area. Very delightful. And I came home with a huge bucket of berries, 17 quarts. Everyone is amazed when I carry these around, but I'm a very committed picker. I don't go to just pick a quart or two! I get serious about it. Most of them went into the freezer, to be enjoyed throughout the winter. I have to stop now, though, because the freezer won't hold any more. Either that, or buy another freezer. Hmmmm.... The possibilities.

In every town I drove through, I was keeping an eye out for quilt stores, but I was mostly on side roads, and didn't see any. Silly me for not checking it out before I left, so I could detour. Maybe I'll get some quilting done tomorrow.