I've been saving this post for awhile. I live within walking distance to my downtown, basically in the heart of the city. I walk to work every day and I love it! I cross a bridge at the end of the street, walk through the park and then I am downtown.
One day, at around 9AM on my way to work, I swear I heard a rooster crowing, down by the river! Imagine a rooster in the city! It's a wonder to us city folk! I paused to see if I could catch a glimpse of this bird, peering over the railing, squinting at the trees along the banks of the river. I couldn't see anything, but a cyclist along the path sure did a double take when he heard it. He too stopped to see if he could find the rooster!
For a few weeks, from my house, I could hear him crowing in the morning around 7AM. Remember how unseasonably warm it was the last few weeks of September, all our windows were open; I could hear him in the distance.
I mentioned this story to a friend who works at the local paper, and they did this story on it. But they could not find anyone who actually saw the rooster. That made me determined to find it. One early morning me and my digital camera were down by the park looking for him. I found him sitting in a tree! I took photos, but alas, they did not turn out. My camera has no zoom and it is only a 1.3 megapixel. It was also a little too dark. I went later in the afternoon and found him, very close to the same location, wandering about on the ground and managed these 'big foot' like photos:
And in case you can't find him here is the photo cropped:
I submitted my photos to the local paper and they called and said they were going to do a story, taking the "big foot" angle, but I am sure some real news took precedence. Quite a number of times I went to the same spot to check on the rooster and he was always there. I told my neighbours that I have seen the elusive rooster and I can show you where, I would take them them the next morning to show them!
Well of course, you can guess what happened. He wasn't there anymore! And we haven't heard or seen him since! I did see Animal Care and Control hanging about, so I suspect they rounded him up. I heard from someone, that the person who let the rooster go at the river was on the local radio station confessing his sins. All part of a prank apparently, someone put some chickens in his apartment as a joke, and he didn't know what to do with them so he let them go at the river. True or false? I don't know, now just part of the legend!
Well, my quilting buddies, I have been doodling roosters all the time. I am seeing roosters everywhere. In craft stores, and at the Russian Quilt show in Ailsa Craig, there were at least 3 rooster wallhangings! As Gwen Marston says, in her book, Collaborative Quilting, "When in doubt, make a chicken quilt". I am not sure I need or have the energy for a whole quilt dedicated to my rooster, but I did make a couple of fabric postcards, one for my neighbours and one for myself.
I guess the big news that I learned at Thursday's LFQGuild meeting, was that the Russians were coming! Master Quilters from Russia will be visiting Canada for a Russian Quilt Exhibit on October 15 to 20, 2007 in Ailsa Craig, Ontario hosted by Cotton-By-Post Quilt Shoppe. One of the owners, Garnet, is just thrilled with this visit! He's making all the arrangements. There will be lectures, classes all week with Russian quilters, special classes with a Russian Master quilter, demos, a merchant's mall, and a tea room. You can visit the Russian Quilters Association website to see a sampling of the type of quilts that will be brought over with them here. The page is full of photos but it can take awhile to download, so be patient. I will post more info as I get it, because I think it will be a really unique opportunity to see these amazing quilts. I was checking out their web page and they offer quilt tours of Russia, but I am not sure I will get there anytime soon! So if they're coming here, all the better! There will be a chance to meet some of these ladies in advance. They will be visiting in March to check things out and will be in the store on Saturday March 3 to greet customers.
Other Guild events included a merchant's mall and I managed to spend a few dollars! I signed up for a Quilt 'til you Wilt day on Februar 24. It's a great opportunity to spend the day quilting with friends and complete those UFO's. Robyn Pandolph will be visiting our guild on March 8 & 9, she will be doing a talk to the guild on the Thursday, non guild members welcome with a $5.00 an entrance fee. Then an all-day workshop, on the Friday; it costs extra. Unfortunately, demand is higher than the limit so there will be a lottery for the workshop. I will post a 'backstage pass' post if I win. Other than that, I managed to totally embarrass myself during Show and Tell. I am so totally afraid of public speaking, even among the friendly people of the guild. I brought my liberated 'tea' tea cozy, and couldn't hold up the cozy and speak into the microphone at the same time and even managed to get tangled in the microphone cord upon my exit! Laurel and Hardy rolled up into one ditzy blonde!
I managed to recover my self esteem by Friday, and was interviewed by the local cable station for 'Today's Londoner' as a business owner. That went well for the most part and I hope to digitize it and add it to my store blog.
As for actually quilting, I haven't done too much. This year's guild challenge is for each member to make a placemat that will be donated to Meals on Wheels and be given out to their clients. I took apart an old project I wasn't too crazy about and am going to turn it into 2 placemats. I also made these dice bags to sell in the store. We sell Dungeons and Dragons role-playing games (D&D) and you need all sorts of dice to play. Many players collect dice and they need dice bags. I discovered that the game suppliers don't have a lot of variety of dice bags. So I started making them out of left over quilting fabrics and as long as they're not too girly, they sell pretty well. Now I actually look for fabric just to make the bags, the ones with dragons on it do well.
And in case you can't find him here is the photo cropped:
I submitted my photos to the local paper and they called and said they were going to do a story, taking the "big foot" angle, but I am sure some real news took precedence. Quite a number of times I went to the same spot to check on the rooster and he was always there. I told my neighbours that I have seen the elusive rooster and I can show you where, I would take them them the next morning to show them!
