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Thursday, August 27, 2015

Quilts at the Creek - The Ones N Liked


Whenever I tell non-crafting, or even some crafting friends that I take my boys with me everywhere - including quilt shows and yarn festivals - they look at me like I'm crazy. And maybe I am a little. But I was raised by a single Mom who took me everywhere and it taught me a few things. First and foremost - kids can survive boredom. Second, keep it as interesting for them as possible and don't press your luck. I remember a SIX hour stint at a local shopping mall that left me scarred for life and a permanent internet and small store shopper!

I don't take my boys shopping. I hate shopping and cannot imagine torturing them with it. But I do love craft shows and festivals and have no intention of missing out or paying a babysitter a fortune when I know it wont hurt them. And the cool thing is, they usually enjoy themselves and have a true appreciation for the work and craftsmanship that go into many of the exhibits I take them to. Two years ago I took the boys to the Pioneer Village Quilts at the Creek. I gave N a camera and A just ran around, and we stayed a couple of hours and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! 

The boys enjoy Pioneer Village and there is usually a treat of maple candy at the end as a reward for good behaviour. They can run around and enjoy the village and they had some very interesting conversations with some of the other attendees. This year N met a family who had literally fled the forest fires out in BC and had come to Ontario to stay with family as their house had burned down! One thing the mother had saved was a quilt she had made for her nephew and had just given him for his birthday. She was so excited to be at the quilt show and enjoying her favourite past-time in the midst of all that craziness. A met an old man who was being told by his wife to "sit quietly over there while I look at the quilts". A told him that his Mom had told him the same thing and would he like to watch some Angry Birds?

It was 40+ degrees this year and cooperation was limited. A lay down on the grass at one point and refused to move. So I left him there with an iphone and a bottle of water and checked out as much of the exhibit as I could while keeping him in eyesight. N took a few pictures and climbed stuff. It was hot.

What was interesting this year was the selection of quilts N focused on. He has a definite preference for modern quilts and geometric shapes. Anything that looked like it came from Minecraft was a big hit!





 This "I-spy quilt right at the beginning got lots of attention. Very cool use of colour and we loved the "wave" effect. A liked that the Berenstein bears fabric I had used on an earlier quilt was present :)




























2 comments:

Knit and Purl Mama said...

Some of those are gorgeous! The amount of work that goes into those is incredible... I wish I had more time for quilting. ONE DAY!

Monica said...

I am a total believer in exposing your children to all possible experiences. I have also found that they adapt and learn to enjoy more adult pursuits, and sometimes that end up surprising you....these are all incredibly beautiful quilts...