Change of Pace

Please excuse the badly keystoned image. It is really rectangular.

Just in case you are getting bored with all the photos of brown thread, here's a zap of colour. I have been asked to make the bedding for a couple of rooms in a new house that has been custom built for two young women who have severe health and mobility issues. Every element of the structure has been designed to meet their needs, both physical and social. For example, in addition to the wide doorways and tiled floors that accommodate wheelchairs, there is a beautiful outdoor cob oven, so that neighbours may come and bake bread while visiting the girls. It is an incredible, visionary project and I feel so honoured to contribute to it. In these circumstances I don't even mind using fabric from JoAnn's.

The duvet cover pictured above will go into Amber's room. The colours have been carefully chosen to reflect her preferences and personality, and there will be curtains and pillowcases to match. Amber is almost blind, so it is particularly heartening to see that just as much care has been taken in designing her room as would be for someone with normal eyesight.

On a technical note, the duvet cover is pieced, with a centre panel surrounded by a strip pieced border. I was given the fabric, yardage and a bunch of fat quarters, and told to be creative. Well, I probably could have been a lot more inventive. Given that the cover will be washed frequently, I had to finish all the seams, so I went for straight lines. And yes, I used a lot of thread!

Here's more colour! Everything in this pot of ratatouille was grown on Gabriola - not by me, sadly, but by the fabulous farmers of Good Earth. I went on a mad vegetable shopping spree at their farm stand yesterday, and made a giant pot of stew, most of which is now tucked away in the freezer to brighten up a rainy day in February.