A Fun Day in the City

Marilyn, Jeanette, Barb, and I ventured into Toronto to see the Canadian quilt exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). We got Jeanette fixed up with her Presto card and coordinated our meet-up on the GO train. Once at Union Station we enjoyed 'elevensies' and Jeanette's first Starbucks order ever. Elevensies ia something we have learned from Jeanette - basically it's a coffee break around 11am - a very civilized pause in the day.

We hopped on the subway to the museum and took in the 20 iconic Canadian quilts. The exhibit is only on for another week.

Here are three of the most remarkable (to me) quilts:

Over 8000 Triangles! - each no more than 2cm long.

The spiraling beads around the figures particularly attracted me to this one.

Then I read the placard. 2010! Does the world recognize our Indigenous people as a sovereign nation yet? So ironic that they had no problem getting into Bolivia (probably no passport scanners or the like) but couldn't get back into their own country. On further investigation because they were not admitted to Canada nor the UK and they had to forfeit their games, dropping them to last place.

This quilt told the story from the Bible of Joseph in several little vignettes using appliqué, embroidery, and trapunto. There was a stunning amount of intricate detail, from both the piecing and the hand quilting,

When we finished there, We had lunch at a little cafeteria by the U of T campus. Freshly made sandwiches for under $7! Then again, hopped on the subway to the Ossington station to visit EweKnit, a yarn and craft shop on Bloor St.

Once home, I continued with the Arne and Carlos KAL:

Day 7

Day 8 

I think the heel might be next.

This morning I was confirmed for attending the Peel Stitch In next Saturday. Chris, a new stitching friend with whom I shared a table at the Pastime Pieces stitching retreat, emailed me yesterday to see if I was going. I hadn't really thought about it to that point but being my 'year of yes' and only an hour drive from here, I decided to go and let her know. I contacted the organizer to say I was interested and I got word this morning that I was in. There is space for 80 of us at a hall in Port Credit. 

It will be an early wake-up but not a problem for something that is sure to be lots of fun.

My session with the grief counselor on Thursday went well. I wasn't sure what to expect but we basically chatted about the respective losses of our husbands and compared notes. I think I'm doing as well as can be expected in my journey.

Having so many wonderful things to look forward to and many wonderful people to share the experiences with certainly make things much more tolerable. I had my social network already established, regular weekly activities established, and engrossing past times established to keep me busy. I am so very fortunate than most folks in my situation.

In spite of the crappy 'cards' we get dealt, life is good.