Happy Canada Day !

Oh yeah. Thanks to my union I only had to take one vacation day to get a four day weekend.  See? Unions are good for something :). Next year I get two union days - oh boy oh boy!! Sat was spent helping the mater, Sunday spent house cleaning and walking the neighbourhood shouting out for a lost kitty ....

At least I can say I got some exercise this weekend ;) I was sure Simone was in the house before I went to bed Sat, but nooooo. She insists on going outside, even on super hot days, then freaks if I close the sliding door. Since it has been very hot and humid this long weekend of course I had the door closed, who wants to AC the outside! So, poor Simone (she who will not be touched) spent the night and all the next day outside!! Poor baby! Boy, did she tell me off when she finally came back home ! Monday was another run around town doing other chores, so that leaves today to relax! Woohoo ! How are you spending Canada Day ?

TTFN

New Project :) ;)

Woohoo - I have finally got myself out of my slump and am starting some new projects. Well, actually I am finishing another UFO - YEAH

These are the leftover blocks from a Cobblestone workshop several years ago. I put them together in a random order and used the left over fabric for borders. It wasn't very large so I kept adding borders. I'm satisfied with it now and plan on hand quilting it for a friend at work who will be retiring sooner than me, which is only a couple of years away! It's lap sized so shouldn't take too terribly long. I need some handwork to keep me busy, I've been down and out with miserable allergies and at the Doctor's twice. Hate been sick :(.

Also, I finally cashed in the generous Xmas gift certificate from my sister and went to my favourite quilt store (Cornerstone) for the additional fabrics I will need for my paper piece/hand applique wall hanging I'm also going to start.  Here's the final collection, and I even got the backing for it! Looking forward to doing some more applique, not looking forward to the challenge of paper piecing. I am determined to work on it slowly and enjoy the process. One block at a time, maybe only one per week ? per month? Shouldn't be too stressful?

And of course I finally got my copy of the Lucy Boston POTC! It's everywhere on Pinterest these days! Totally disappointed with the book as it is a complete advertisement for Inklingo and very very limited about Lucy or her quilt. Also, since it is merely an ad vehicle for Inklingo, it gives limited instruction for those of us who don't want to print on fabric! Even the pictures are pathetic, too bad as I rely on pics BIG TIME to help overcome my incompetence in reading patterns ;). Ah well, I remain undaunted as the purpose was to have a long term, stress free hand project, and I still think this will fit the bill.  Between this and the hand appliqued Cats quilt I promised myself I would finally make myself, I should be busy busy busy for another couple of years!!

TTFN

Happy Father's Day

Well, it's another gloriously sunny Sunday - YEAH. Last week was the mater's 87th b-day.

Here she is with her grand daughter Lisa, the new mother, and Claire her great grand daughter :) We had angel food cake and ice cream in the afternoon and enjoyed getting together. Afterwards the mater and I cashed in a Xmas gift certificate and went out for a nice dinner in a  fancy restaurant.  So we don't forget this is father's day here's a pic of the happy family

That's Greg, Lisa' DH and the newest father in our family :) . This afternoon I am taking the pater and his partner out to see the movie Belle - should be a nice afternoon. Speaking of afternoons, I spent a couple of hours yesterday pulling suitable fabrics from my stash for my next project. - a pattern I clipped from a magazine many years ago - Wild Flowers by Judy Niemeyer. Should be interesting/challenging as it involves paper piecing (wish me luck!) as well as applique! You know it's amazing, I have this absolutely huge wicker basket filled with batiks in my stash, yet this is all I came up with!

Not nearly enough, especially for the main fabrics, the light backgrounds and the dark borders. Guess I'll have to go shopping ;)

TTFN

500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art !

Today is the mater's 87th birthday. So, yes, another celebration :).Left to right: my grandparents B (the mater's parents), my Great Grandmother M, me, (the youngest), the mater (now a great grandma)  and my sister (now a grandma herself!)

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Yesterday was a so-so day. It started off ok, another birthday cake made by 11 am, check, chicken soup in crockpot by 1, check. A beautiful day outside, so a couple of hours in my wee garden pulling weeds, check.Afternoon nap, check, then back into the kitchen.

What the heck! I have no noodles for the soup! Oh well, macaroni will do, will it? I'll tell you later once I've tasted it - it's next week's lunches! Time for dinner ... Now run upstairs and do some quick sewing...

I made 2 door jamb covers for baby Claire's room. Hint (for those w/o kiddies) you wrap one elastic around the door knob then stretch the cover around the door latch to the other door knob. Then parent can close the door w/o the door making any noise and waking baby! Good use for all those scrap leftovers! Ok, that's done, now run downstairs and ice the cake - what! it's flat as a pancake!!! DRAT, bake another cake!!! Now, collapse in bed exhausted as tomorrow is a busy celebration day! I'll be glad to get back to work so I can relax!!

TTFN

Celebrations

Last weekend was my B-I-L's 65th Bday so the family gathered to celebrate. He BBQ'd hamburgers and sausages and I supplied the cake and ice cream - chocolate this time :) Of course wee Claire, my great niece, was there ...

Here she is lying on the rocking horse quilt I made years ago for her mother, Lisa my niece. Can you tell it was the 80's ? For some reason I tied the quilt instead of actually quilting it. My sister must have liked it though - she kept it all these years!

The bear on the right side of Claire was a new present from great grandma :). Next weekend is her 87th b-day so we will be celebrating again with cake & ice cream!

I finally, yes finally got a new car trash bag made. It was a struggle as my Husqvarna's tension is all screwed up - darn last week's machine quilting foray ...  That machine just doesn't want to be "played" with so  I'll be working on getting it back to "normal" for I don't know how long .... grrr. I put 2 rows of curtain wire in the top to stiffen it, why ? I don't know!

It's been a perfect weekend - yeah. Here's a view of my front lower garden. The green fencing is already in place to hold up the huge white Hydrangea blossoms which will come later in the summer. They hide the A/C unit quite effectively :) The purple Spiderwort and yellow Day Lily  have yet to flower, but are growing tall, and my Wiegela has been trimmed twice already!

In the mean time here's a shot of my Lily of the Valley. Some people hate putting them in their garden as they spread fast and far, which is exactly why I planted it! They are filling in nicely :)

In the back my dwarf Lilac is in bloom and crowding out my Peonies. Ah well, at least they both survived last winter. I'm kinda worried about my Hibiscus which is growing leaves only at the bottom and so far all the branches are looking kinda dead - oh noooooo.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead ...

TTFN

What I live for ....

A week off !!!! Woohoo ! of course the fabulous weather started today, Sunday, the last day off - grrrrr. None-the-less I had a fabulous week off :) Why you ask? well, I went to a great Quilt show with a friend (in her new SUV) - the Quilts of Great Britain. Thanks Cynthia it was a great day!
Here's a peak of what we saw

 My current obsession - Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses.

 

I still like the Celtic look and someday ..... will do another quilt with this technique!

I also love the William and Morris look and have started to collect some of these fabrics. Who knows .... maybe

Sorry - the pic is not so good, I just loved the horse quilted
into this one about Sutton Hoo.
Of course it appeals to me with my current obsession for
anything Viking!

 

Aren't the colours in this one just absolutely gorgeous!!

Another one that speaks to me - for some reason I love red berries on an icy blue background. Even though it evokes memories of winter, I still like it!

 

 

And this one was too cute with it's cat theme!

I also just loved this one ... She used old linens for the tablecloth - not just one but layered linens on each other (hope you can see that in the pic). I also love the fact that the tablecloth drops down below the "quilt" !

What else did I manage to accomplish on my week off? Well, I did some housework, and some gardening, and read a good book - Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. I saw the movie several years ago with Maggie Smith and cried my eyes out. The book also made me cry, sniff sniff. I also accomplished some sewing ... got this new mug rug completed for the mater for her Bday in June. 

My favourite quilt store, Cornerstone Quilts and More, (shameless plug) had the perfect green rick rack - woohoo! She also ordered the Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses book for me. I know - I could order it online myself, but I believe in supporting my local Bricks & mortar shop and ordering through her! I have almost completed a new door hanging for the mater as well - here's a pic while still at the machine being quilted. This was the first time I used that plastic ring driver thingee (anyone know what it's called?) Anyway, I wanted to outline quilt the Dresden fan blades and this seemed to really help me keep reasonably even distances from the previous rounds .... Here's a pic of it all quilted, not yet bound!

 Time to get baking - Bday celebration today for the B-I-L and I'm bringing the cake (Chocolate!) then lunches to make in prep for my return to work :(.

TTFN

 

Good Morning Sunshine :)

Good morning :). Well, it's the long weekend (at least here in Canada) and much awaited. This is what we have all been waiting for and much deserved after that long long cold winter! Had breakfast on the patio - yeah, listening to the wee chicks chirp away everytime their parents come home with some grub! Last year it was a family of Cardinals in my Forsythia bush, this year it is a family of Red Wing Black birds just on the other side of the walkway. My Caragana is starting to blossom, so the bumble bees have arrived. In fact I had one reallly big one in the house last night! That makes one live mouse and one live bumble bee so far this spring!!

I spend the evening cutting out Dresden plate blades in blue, pinks and yellows. In fact I thought I had cut out enough for 2 wall hangings and 2-3 mug rugs. Well, I guess it's been a while since I have done this as I forgot how much they shrink once sewn together ...

Looks like I have some unsewing/reverse sewing and some more blade cutting to do for this afternoon. OK by me as I have a whole week OFF WORK- YAHOOOOOO.  Eat yer heart out all you out there who have to work next week ;)
TTFN

How's your Sunday going ?

How's your Sunday ? I know, it's Mother's day, but being an independent woman (aka not married) and not a mother it's one more day in the calendar when the world excludes me from it's celebrations :( . I spent yesterday with my mother, treating her to brunch and a lovely Zinnia plant for her balcony. I've had a pretty good, that is exhausting day today, so far :). My b-i-l and nephew came over and did some work in my garden and put my patio together for me to enjoy next week while I'm on VACATION - oh yeah ..... So, we went from this broken down dried up garden

with rotten mini tie holding my mini garden,  to this

2 new mini ties - check, a whole lot of new red cedar chips- check, black soil tossed about so I can, once again this year, sow some grass seed - check, patio furniture set up - check, A/C unit setup & ready for the upcoming heat - check, winter stuff put away - check. YEAH  - I'm ready for some serious sitting on the patio reading a book time :) THANKS GUYS !
So, since I am being stingy with myself and not splashing out for this year's end-of-year Quilt guild banquet, last week was my last chance for show-n-tell. I managed to get the beastie done, and here's the finished pic I promised ... all bound and ready for  ????

She's not big but she's done. Her reception was pretty good as they all shouted out "Quilt Show", which I gather means they want Felines and Flutterbies exhibited at our guild show in the Fall.  Sounds good to me. Now, what to start next, hmmmmmmm ? Mother once again has asked for a new hanging for her door. I have one in mind .... stay tuned :)
TTFN

Awhhhhhh

Life is good again - after a whole month of no Irish Breakfast tea, I found it WOOHOO! So I bought 3 boxes and will go back for more ...  Breakfast was wonderful again, oh and the sun is out also . All smiles here :)
Not that I'm superstitious but, I'm going to whisper this one, I think Spring is finally here. My Forsythia bushes are gorgeous this year, thanks to a trim up from my brother-in-law last fall, my Daffodils have finally opened and my Peonies have broken through. It's a riot of yellow and I'm loving it !!

My favourite non-quilty website, Arts & Letters Daily led me to an interesting article, Confetti Uncut. It's a fascinating article about the history of Confetti - who knew! Here's the best sentence I've read in a very very long time:

"These novel fistfuls of paper, thrown by parading merrymakers under a flapping tricolore, thus complete the dynamics of bourgeois counter-revolution in that century, whereby gaudy rubbish (the byproduct of capitalist accumulation) was retailed back to workers, who celebrated therewith, in collective rituals that borrowed liberally from religio-aristocratic forms, their suicidal devotion to the rising bitch-god of nationalism."

That's a teaser, you'll have to read it for the sentence to make sense.
Another terrific bonus is that I not only got my taxes done (on time) I FINISHED, yes, finished Felines & Flutterbies. Another big WOOOHOO! The binding goes on this afternoon, and I'll spend the next couple of  evenings hand sewing it to the back. Just in time for the last guild show-n-tell.

Here's one last look at it on the design wall - next week I'll post a pic of the bound final edition.
Now, what to work on next ? My To-Do/Wish list is HUGE, and the patio is calling me. I've started to accumulate some summer reading - Kafka by the Shore, 100 Year Old Man who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, Flight Behavior. I need something to do since Vikings and Downton Abbey have reached their season finales :(  .
TTFN