DIY Gone Wrong

Always loved the soup Nazi from Seinfeld, even better as the weather Nazi ;). None-the-less it IS another sunny Sunday, so I shouldn't be complaining. Remember last week's DIY gone wrong ? Well here's the $75.00 culprit .... This silly little broken plastic clip - 2 visits to the car shop (part had to be ordered) and of course can't just order the plastic clip, had to have a whole new rear wiper arm!!! All better now ...

Last week the family gathered to celebrate the birthdays of my niece and nephew. Of course we did some 4 generation pictures :)

And this week's slow progress on Felines & Futterbies

I think I'll call this block Simone after my "Don't touch me" baby. The block certainly shows the attitude Simone shows me most days. Why is it off centre? who knows, but for whatever reason that's how it is and it suits me fine. I think I like this block the best of all the kitties on this quilt.
Now, before I leave to do all my Sunday chores I want to leave you with this phenomenal work of art I discovered in my blog hopping last week, "Macrame Art by Vladimir Denshchikov"

Don't get me wrong, I'm not hugely religious, but, I remember years ago when a girl friend macramed her wedding head piece and I was duly impressed, not having developed the art of macrame myself. Well, if you are a fan of macrame this web site will blow your mind - WOW!
TTFN

Let the Sun shine in :)

It"s Sunday and the sun is shining and I'm in my kitchen soaking it up. YEAH. And it's a good thing because I managed (silly me) to break my car's rear wiper. Well, not the wiper actually, I was attempting to replace the blade. As I was telling myself "this shouldn't be this hard to do" the plastic thingee which holds the two pieces together snapped!! DARN IT - now my "save yourself some $" project is going to cost me who knows how much to replace the silly plastic thingee :( In case you're wondering, the yellow j-cloth is tied on to the amputee as a visual reminder to me to NOT use the rear wiper. Appointment at the car shop on Wednesday morn...

The cats and I are going crazy. We all want the snow to just disappear and warm weather come and stay. The snow is slowly melting, I can actually see an inch or two of the patio ! We actually had a couple of days above zero last week, which didn't help me much as I napped through most of it. Consequently I am making very slow progress on Felines and Fluttterbies. The cold weather is back today, but at least it brought the sun.... 

I must be going winter mad .... I find I'm watching the same TV shows over and over and over again! Last week it was Sherlock, with Benedict Cumberbatch, same episode for the 3rd time, and Vikings , with Ragnar Lodrok - double episodes, also for the 3rd time!!! What's a girl to do ? Can't get enough of these two guys .... Anyway, off to bake a cake for my niece as we are gathering for her birthday and a 4 generation pic.
TTFN,

Hello Claire :)

Well, I finally made it down to my niece's place to meet wee Claire. :) :). She is such a sweet little one, and she was awake for our entire visit, well, sort of. Great Aunt Sada got to hold her while her mommy and daddy opened her presents. They were very pleased with the Owl quilt, the diaper bag, Teddy Bear, receiving blankets, bibs, carrier cover and onesie. I took down great grandma's gifts as well as she wasn't feeling well that day. The lovely white gold birthstone necklace from great grandma was a hit as was the purple Owl piggy bank! Claire's daddy was especially pleased with the vintage child's rocker and liked the fact that it was originally bought for Great Grandma. So, not only is it an antique but also a family heirloom. Sorry no pic - I forgot as I had my arms full :)
This past week was a bit of a bust for me as I was exhausted for most of the week - we got another, yes another snow storm on Wednesday followed by another extreme cold snap. ENOUGH ALREADY!  When not at work I spent the rest of the week snoozing/vegging out in my chair listening to the TV, but did accomplish this much on my Felines and Flutterbies. Just 4 more blocks to go!

Found this lovely little poem in my travels recently in Blogland:

I've embroidered a frock,
   And I've sewn the long seams,
While I stitched up a heartache
   And mended my dreams.

I've patched a torn garment,
   And darned a big rent
While I've worked in new hopes
   And a sweeter content.

Why stitching brings gladness,
   Or ease for Life's pain,
And healing from sadness,
   I cannot explain.

But for little hopes baffled,
   And foolish tears shed,
I have sought and found comfort

   With needle and thread.

from The Book of Good Needlework no.4  ( 1930's)

TTFN

Impulse buy

 

So this is my flat-to-the-wall (aka china cabinet). I bought it maybe 20 yrs ago when "antique" prices were high. Whoever had it before had done a horrible job of refinishing and the inside was electric blue! It took most of a summer to refinish the outside. I never was able to get rid of the blue, so stripped it then repainted the inside with a nice blue milk paint - popular paint at the time. Now a days I would probably use chalk paint. I've never been truly happy with it, always suspecting its a marriage of several parts. The one corner was broken off/repaired, the bottom doors are obviously not original and they never shut properly, but it holds a lot of china ;). So, this past week while perusing Kijiji I saw something advertised that took my fancy ..... 

Now, I have to be honest, I don't actually believe the hype in the Kijiji ad. This piece is not from 1880's, and is not a jam cupboard. I also suspect there have been some alterations to it. However, it is in better shape than the current bottom half to my fttw (flat-to-the-wall). I have to do a wee bit of work on the right door hinge and find a skeleton key/handle of some sort. At some point I will have to empty the fttw and get "the boys" (brother-in-law and nephew) over to help make the big switcheroo. BTW, those Hydrangeas on the top are from my front garden! In the meantime I'm kinda liking it's new location and have already found lots of stuff to store inside. Uhohhh !

Of course this has meant a shifting of other pieces on my main floor and now the hall stand is further into the dining area which means it is further for me to go to hang up my keys everyday, but Iris has already decided she likes its and has made it her new go to place. Meanwhile Simone is upset as her food dishes were moved and she is discombobulated - hey ya gotta shake up their world somehow!  They are both feeling terribly house bound and suspect Spring is just around the corner. In fact they have both just stepped outside onto the back step - mommy shoveled it for them. There's no place for them to go as there is still 2 feet of snow out there, however they are outside !! Woohoo!

So that's been my excitement for this week, how about you?

It's March !!

A friend just reported on FB that she saw a flock of Robins in her backyard! Hard to believe considering we got another - yes, another 5cm of snow last night !! None-the-less I'm sooooo sick of winter I'll believe anything about now. I was going to bundle up and go shovel the sidewalk - again, but I see they're out there (finally) plowing and shoveling - yeah for condo living.
Above is a wee collection of new patterns - I do have grand plans - just never enough time! Meadow Lily was picked up for 10 cents at the guild rummage sale, Oh Sew Charming sometime this past winter, and I just picked up the Dancing Umbrellas. Think they would make a cute April square for me Table frame -if I can get to it!

I'm back to Felines and Flutterbies and am working my way through the blocks. Here's this week's block. My quilting doesn't show up too well in this pic - instead of just random quilting I tried to follow the subtle swirl pattern in the background fabric. I plan in quilting in a butterfly in the top left corner. Thought I was almost done, but when I laid the quilt out on the floor just now I realise I have 6 more blocks to quilt! YIKES - then I have to decide what I want to do with the borders and lattice strips between the blocks. Any suggestions???

All day Sherlock marathon today in BBC Canada - totally hooked, got to get moving and complete the day's chores so I can sit and quilt while watching these 2 guys. Also re-hooked on Vikings. This past week was the premier of season 2 - oh yah , Ragnar Lothbrok - oh yah ;)

TTFN,