Lethbridge, Part 3

After my workshops, I stayed on in Lethbridge for two more days to see some of the sights. I could not have asked for better weather for a trip to Waterton Lakes National Park. The lakes are a beautiful blue colour, and the water appears very pristine. The Park is in the southwest corner of Alberta, near the US border.

Kathy, who is the person that gets credit for bringing me to Alberta, accompanied me and served as my informal tour guide.

Waterton Lakes National Park and Glacier National Park (on the US side), form Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. There is a plaque commemorating the formation of the International Peace Park in 1936 and the peaceful relationship between Canada and the US.

I found this Big Horn Sheep wandering around the big hotel outside the town. He wasn't too bothered by me but did keep an eye on me to make sure I didn't come too close. Eventually he joined two other friends in the distance.

Kathy and I stopped off at the beautiful Cameron Falls,

which is where I shot this photo of a chipmunk.

The next morning Judy (whose photo appears in my previous blog post) arranged for me to accompany her to a Hutterite Colony. The Hutterites are an Anabaptist sect (much like the Amish and Mennonites). Anabaptists are opposed to infant baptism. All of these groups found a safe haven in Canada where they were not persecuted for their beliefs and refusal to go to war for their country (pacifism). The way that Hutterites differ from Amish and Mennonites is that they live in colonies. The one we visited holds about 110 people. I was allowed to take photographs of anything I wanted except the people that live there. It is forbidden by their religion. A quick google for Hutterites will get you to images quickly, and you will see that they dress in plain home-made clothing, with women wearing a kerchief on their heads. Two young women, perhaps in their late teens, took us around and explained everything.

The particular colony we visited is named "Spring Valley Colony". Essentially they are farmers and trades/crafts people.

Every skill they have acquired is practiced in volume. So you can see the size of the greenhouse. They have to feed 110 people from these tomato plants. In addition, they sell their products.

The women sew colourful rugs.

Like most farms, there are dogs and cats. The dogs are probably working dogs, used to herd sheep and cattle.

The milk house is very high tech. Machinery measures the milk output for each cow over time.

The pink paint on the cow heads below indicates that they have been seen by a vet. At this time of year there were numerous young calves as well.

Spring also brings many lambs.

There is a leatherwork shop where boots, shoes and moccasins are made.

There is a sizable woodworking shop where furniture, clocks and other decorative boards are created.

The Hutterites keep bees and make honey, both to eat and to sell.

The kitchen is fitted with top quality industrial style cooking equipment.

The men and women eat in separate dining rooms.

I was able to purchase some of these delicious dinner rolls before I left.

On Saturday I flew home. The first flight from Lethbridge to Calgary involves a quite small plane with only about 18 seats. I think it is probably the smallest plane I have traveled on. We flew so low that for much of the time we were able to pick up a Wifi signal.

Did you notice the colour of the plane I flew out on? It is strikingly similar to the robin eggs that were waiting at home in the nest on our front porch. In my last post, before leaving home, I mentioned that robins had built a nest on our front porch. The evening after I left home my husband photographed the eggs while the robins were out. Mama robin sat on those eggs for days, but sadly a week later the eggs went missing and the robins abandoned the nest. Likely another animal or bird, needing food, took the eggs. The cycle of life and death. The robins will try again elsewhere I'm sure.

A huge thank you to the Lethbridge Centennial Quilt Guild and the Textile Surface Design Group Lethbridge for inviting me to their city, for their warm welcome, and for taking such great care of me.

Lethbridge, Part 2

After my 3 day workshop for the Lethbridge Centennial Quilters' Guild, I took a day off before my dyeing workshop with the Textile Surface Design Guild. I spent a quiet day on my own taking an excursion about 45 minutes outside of Lethbridge. I've always wanted to visit "Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump". It's a UNESCO world heritage site and a cultural site older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids. 

Indigenous people used to drive herds of buffalo off the cliff to obtain their meat supply. There is archeological evidence of this as far back as 6000 years ago. I watched the 15 minute film in the excellent Interpretive Centre, and am very glad I did. It made the experience all the more meaningful. These hunters had well-thought-out hunting strategies based on an excellent understanding of the regional topography and buffalo behaviour. You can read more and learn more here.

On my drive I kept my eyes open for interesting landscapes and sights to photograph. This wonderful rusty old truck presented itself.

What an amazing dye studio the Textile Surface Design Group Lethbridge has access to! It is located in their interdisciplinary, community arts centre known as Casa. I haven't seen anything quite like it in any place I've taught in Canada. It has both a dry room (as you can see below) and also a wet room, which you will see in subsequent photos. In the dry room meetings and instruction can take place, fabric can be ripped and prepared.

The wet room has at least 3 deep stainless steel sinks, deep enough to fit tall pails and fill with water. 

There are several stainless steel tables with shelving underneath, a fridge to store mixed dyes, microwaves for processes requiring heat, a silk steamer, mixing box, and lots of storage space.

I really enjoyed looking at the pottery for sale during the Casa sale, prior to class. Casa is a beehive of creativity. I heard music and drumming, and saw other groups at work in other mediums.

Here's a photo of Judy with her finished fabric two days later, just before she took me on a tour of a Hutterite colony (I'll share this in my next post). 

Mary sent me photos of her fabric after my return home. The class I taught is called "Dye Another Day". In this class students learn several processes I use to create the multi-coloured fabrics I dye and sell.

They also each get to dye a Textile Temptation Pack that contains velvet, cotton, silk dupioni, silk organza and cheesecloth.

Here's a photo Connie sent me of her Textile Temptation pack.

Lethbridge, Part 1

I am home once again from my trip to Southern Alberta. The weather was warm and sunny, and I could not have asked for better! The City of Lethbridge is a small city of just over 100,000 people. I'm told the population is comprised mainly of young students (there is a university and a college there) and seniors. It's a pretty and funky little city with interesting restaurants, cafes and shops. The landscape within and surrounding the city is beautiful. In the photo below you can see the coulees that Lethbridge is known for. The City of Lethbridge web site defines coulees as "steep-sided, v-shaped valleys found along the river throughout Lethbridge. In Southern Alberta coulees were formed when the last glaciers retreated from the area. Since that time, the coulees have been eroded by water and wind. Coulees are a santuary for wildlife and home to hundreds of native plant species."

On the day after I arrived I gave a talk at the Galt Museum. The large windows of the Museum look out on coulees.

This Museum was once a hospital in its early days, so there are many exhibits throughout that commemorate that fact.

My talk took place in a large room with windows surrounding it, and my quilts were  hung in two rows, one on each side as you entered. 

I taught a three day class (Inspired by Nature, Designed by You) for the Lethbridge Centennial Quilters Guild. Nineteen students registered. Here we are! I'm wearing the turquoise/aqua sweater. This was before it got really, really warm!

I'm sharing a good number of works here, and the state of completion they were in by the end of the class. 

Kathy

Here are the fabrics and photo that Kathy was working with.The flowers featured in her quilt above are prairie crocuses. A bit different from the kind of crocuses we see in our gardens here in Ontario.

I was lucky enough to actually see a wild prairie crocus during my trip. Unfortunately, I couldn't get very close though because it was on the other side of a fence that was preventing tourists from falling down a steep hillside.

Rose-Marie

Judy

Roxanne

Mauie

Jill

Roxanne

Jackie made great headway in class and then spent a few days after class completing this piece. She sent me a photo when I got home, along with the advice to "be fearless". I couldn't agree more. She also offered some tips she found helpful in organizing her project.

Effie

Connie was working on sunkissed tomatoes. A topic I've thought about myself!

Here's Connie enlarging her pattern with an overhead. Most students chose to visit the local copyshop/printer to have their enlargements made.

 Marilyn

Rochelle

 Donna was working a bit more free-form, and plans to add dragonflies to this piece.

Pat

Mary

Michelle

Kim

 Colleen 

Thank you to the organizers and everyone in the class for your warm welcome and friendship during my visit. Thanks for taking such good care of me!

In my next post I'll be sharing a little excursion I took before teaching my next class, as well as photos of the dyeing class I taught in a most amazing arts centre!