Quilt Ribbon Balls

After 20 some years of competing in dog agility, I have many ribbons stored away in boxes, never to be seen. Only title ribbons are displayed and even then most Nationals Qualifier, Regional and National placement ribbons are boxed away. 

Just one box of ribbons

One lady I know from agility, who is very crafty, had made some Christmas ornaments last year using her dogs' ribbons.  This year she offered to host a workshop to show us how to make them. She prepared a tip sheet and the styrofoam balls for us.  We had a nice afternoon learning how to make Quilt Ribbon Balls.

My first Quilt Ribbon Ball

I decided I would decorate my little porch tree that I put in my sun room so I bought a package of balls, some ribbon, tassels, straight pins and craft glue. I originally intended to just make two more balls but now I've already made four more. So as there are six styrofoam balls in the small package, I'll likely end up making another two.

Multi-coloured

All Canadian

Royal Purple

Traditional Christmas

You can also make some simpler ornaments using the rosette from the ribbon. Several of these brought back memories. The green rosette ornament is made from two of Tucker's qualifying score runs in Advanced Team, one with a Border Collie named Meg and the other with a white Boxer named Cassius Clay. One of the white rosettes was from one of Ceilidh's Master Gambler runs. Not sure if it was a qualifying score, but the back of the rosette said it was her first run after surgery. She had surgery to remove a Mast Cell tumour in Jan 2010, we started back in agility in Mar 2010 but I had to let her go in May of 2010. 

I would say for me the hardest part of making these ribbon balls is marking the ball. My first one had lines going off everywhere. You don't have to mark the ball but it helps keep things lined up. 

Cutting the ribbon squares is easy to do but I'll admit it was hard for me to cut that first ribbon. I'm sure I'm not so careful as I should be cutting the squares so I've become somewhat of an expert at trimming the ribbon squares. You have to trim the squares if you're starting the reach the equator of the ball when doing the first half.  You don't want too much bulk where the rows will meet or the band of ribbon that hides the final row's raw edges won't sit nicely.

The link below is the video we watched to learn how to make the Ribbon Quilt balls. The lady in the video is using 2 1/2" fabric squares so it only takes three rows to cover each half of the ball. 

Fabric Quilt Balls

Our ribbon quilt balls use 2" ribbon squares as that is the width of many of our dogs' ribbons.  Because we are using a 2" square, it takes four rows to cover each half of the ball. That means pushing in a lot of pins, three pins for each square needed to cover the ball. You need a thimble or a chapstick tube to push in all those pins or your fingers will get sore. I find a chapstick works well for me, using the recessed end the actual tube to set the pin and then using the cap as a thimble to push the pins in.

My little porch tree is now decorated with my agility ribbon ornaments which is so much better than having them hidden away in boxes.

So many memories now decorate that tree!

Never Again!

There are so many unsung heroes out there. This week I learned about Arie Van  Mansum. Born in Holland, he emigrated to Canada after the war. During the war he helped hundreds of Jews escape the Nazis. He himself was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned. He didn't talk much about his experiences in the war until he realized that people either had forgotten about what happened or didn't believe in the Holocaust.

How did I learn about him? Through an award that is given educators who have significantly helped their students understand the history of the Holocaust and the dangers of hatred, discrimination and anti-semitism.

The 2025 recipient is my nephew. He's a local high school teacher who has always had an interest in history especially World War I and World War II. He had been to Vimy twice, once while in high school and once while in university.  This year he has also been selected to lead a group of students on a battlefield tour.

All his interest in history is not to say that he glorifies war but that he understands the sacrifice and the loss that is involved to maintain our freedoms. 

"The evil forces of racism can emerge in the world at anytime and it is possible for the individual to make a choice to resist them." 

Arie Van Mansum

Hopefully in these days where discrimination is all around us, each one of us can do a little to make this world a better place.

Never again should apply to all peoples!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

A lady I know through agility is very crafty. She makes the most beautiful Ukrainian Easter eggs. This week she helped a few of us make something a little easier. We made quilt balls using ribbons we'd won in our dog sports. 

Here's my Quilt Ribbon ball.

Rome-ing in Rome

Our last destination on our Italy trip was Rome. We took the regional train from Naples to Rome. First class was no big deal on the Regional train, it just meant nicer seats. The train was delayed but not by too long and anyway our hotel in Rome was close to Termini station. 

After getting settled into our hotel room at Diana Roof Top Garden, we went up and enjoyed a free glass of wine on the roof top garden before setting out to wander around a bit.

We had wanted to go to Saint Marie Maggiore where Pope Francis was laid to rest but the line to get through security was all the way around the basilica so we altered our plans and went to see the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain instead. 

Rome was very crowded as 2025 is a Jubilee Year. We would be two days in Rome and we had no excursions through Railbookers arranged.  It turned out to be a good thing as our first full day in Rome was the first Sunday of the month and so national monuments and museums were all free and then on Monday's most of them are closed. We had booked a timed audio tour of St Peter's Basilica on the Monday morning. The plan for Sunday morning was to go to see Castel Sant Angelo.

We got to Castel Sant Angelo fairly early in the morning and there already was a long line. I think we waited about an hour to get in and got little wet in the process when some light rain showers started. Castel Sant Angelo was at one time the mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian and then it was a papal palace. 

We then wandered about Rome seeing the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, where we stopped for an aperitif and, of course, the Colosseum.  We also went up the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II where we saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 

The next day after breakfast we were off to Saint Peter's Basilica. We weren't sure how long security would take so we went early; that turned out to be a great decision. They didn't seem to care about what time was on our tickets at security but just that we had a ticket for a timed entry. We got through security fairly quickly and were into Saint Peter's before it was really crowded.  It was set up a little weird if you wanted to go through the Holy Doors as you had to go inside then come back out.The Holy Doors are only opened during Jubilee Years, held once every 25 years, so I doubt I'll see another. The audio guide was a good value, for 7 Euros, it gave us the timed entrance tickets and was quite a well laid out guide. You do need to bring your own headset or ear buds.

Going through the Holy Doors

Holy Doors

We also went into the Vatican Grottos where many popes are buried as well as Saint Peter. It was really crowded by then but we waited to see them anyway. 

Sepulchre of Saint Peter

Afterwards we wandered along the Tiber River towards Circus Maximus where we saw the Mouth of Truth and had lunch.  There wasn't much to see at Circus Maximus as it was undergoing an extensive renovation of the area and was boarded off. And like everywhere else, there was a long line at the Mouth of Truth.

We headed back to hotel afterwards as we planned to have dinner at the hotel. In addition to the coupon for a free glass of wine, they also gave us a discount coupon for a meal in the restaurant. 

Chocolate Six Ways.

The next morning it was back to the train station to catch the Leonardo Express to the airport and the end of roaming in Italy. Of course, I would love to go back to Italy, but then there are so many other places in the world to explore. 

So as they say in Italy, Arrivederci, Ciao. Until next time!