Losing it!

I'm losing it! Really! This past week I "lost" several items and no matter where or how long I searched I just couldn't find anything! Now, I pride myself with the knowledge that I'm one of those people who "has a place for everything" and "puts everything in it's place". I ALWAYS put whatever wherever it belongs - except this last week!! So, this week I searched in vain for buttons, Velcro (I need to continue with the purse construction - see above), jewellery, and even a bra (how the heck do you lose one of these?!) OK, stop laughing ladies, I was successful and  found all but the last item :), and I will let the girls loose and go braless for the rest of this end of summer weekend - YEAH!
I'm on the patio and trying valiantly to enjoy this last summer weekend morning. Although I had 4 glorious days off work I've been tres busy! Friday was driving around town picking people up, lunching out-of-town and shopping at the not-so-local big box fabric/discount store. For the local ladies I'm referring to L's M. Now, this warehouse has no AC and it was another stinking hot day. By the time we finally go to the cutting table I  was parched  so pulled out my mini bottle of water for a much needed sip, whereupon the B_ _ _ _ clerk informed me I was not allowed any water as, are you ready?, "Water stains fabric".

 REALLY?  since when??

I left with a better understanding how the students feel @ my library when we go out and tell them they can't eat in the library! I vow this year I will not be a food/water Nazi and patrol our hallowed halls for errant eaters!

Sat. a friend dropped over and we watched the PBS quilting shows together, then off for lunch. Another trip to the other local fabric store where I got some more faux suede (more purses), then cutting and sewing etc. Sunday the mater and her elderly friend were over for lunch, then more sewing. Guess what's on the agenda for today? More sewing. I have orders and so have set up a production line!!
Wish me luck!! TTFN

More Purses!

Above is my decorator Singer, I call it my Egyptian, because of the Sphinx decals. I purchased it at a junk store, covered in dirt and grim and grease (sorry no before pic), just to have something to sit in my sewing room and look pretty. Well one of my sewing friends is "into" refurbishing , or at least cleaning up old machines, so she asked if she cold take it home and work on it. Ta Da!!! Isn't it a beauty? No, it still doesn't sew (I never thought it would) but it does look oh so much better. THANK YOU Susan!!

Well, last week I showed you some new fabrics recently purchased so I can make some Fall purses (yes, I said purses - plural). So, here is the first one, made with a tan/beige faux suede. I found these perfect buttons in my stash and used a fat quarter + for the lining and small pyramid bag I always make to match the purse!

Here's the first purse cover, and the fabric which inspired this whole purse making adventure ... a lovely blue with Canadian Maple leaves. Why do I say Canadian ? take a closer look .... I'll wait while you do. The reverse cover is a lovely Burberry plaid which will also work with the black bags I made last year. And just when you think summer is over - think again! I made a new reversible cover for my white summer purse!

Blue & White ticking (love, love, love it!) and my favourite fabric Cabbage Roses! I'm on a roll now ladies, and have a brown bag almost ready and more Fall leaves for one cover and some lovely batik for the reverse side. Stay tuned,those will be ready for next week's post!
TTFN

Guess What's round the corner!

My Rose of Sharon/Hibiscus bushes are in full bloom and I am enjoying their show for as long as it lasts. The purple one at the back has been in bloom since late July, while the white one, located behind my Japanese Maple is slower to blossom, but that's OK as it's just as beautiful. For someone who didn't plant flowers I certainly have enjoyed my bushes and their flowers oh so much!
My favourite aunt sent a package down for my birthday .... and guess what was in it! A pair of handmade, hand beaded deer skin mocassins, OH MY Aren't these gorgeous, I'm so looking forward to tucking my feet into these beauties

 

THANK YOU AUNT DOROTHY!

I'm back to work now, and guess what's round the corner - the school year is looming! and after that my guild's quilt show. So, I have been busy sewing each night to get another quilt top together. Yup, it's another spinning four-patch. This one is going out to be machine quilted, so I can spend my time on another project

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Remember the purses? Well,our local fabric store has their seasonal sale on and I've been inspired to make some "Fall" purses!I plan on making a new "purse" out of the beige faux velvet, and new reversible covers out of the Burberry twill and Blue Fall print or Black & Beige print. Then I'm hoping to make a brown purse and make a reversible cover from the gorgeous Batik ($5.00/meter Ladies!!) and brown leaves print. I'm not sure what I'll do with the cream - maybe another purse for someone ? I'm hoping they look as lovely in reality as they do in my head. The buttons I need for these purses were on sale for 50% off. Everything was going great until the total was rung up at the till. Imagine my surprise when it said $1016.67!!!!! Well, myself, the clerk and the whole lineup had a great laugh over that shopping spree ;) ,luckily it was easily corrected! Wish me luck with the purses!!

TTFN

Summer vacation with Maxine ;)

 

Ok, not really, this is me with my step mother and father on our mini vacation to Niagara-on-the-Lake, but honestly, doesn't she look like Maxine to you?? Not bad for 90 and 85 respectively (no I won't tell you how old I am!). It was an enjoyable trip, visits to a couple of winerys, a couple of plays (Come Back Little Sheba and Present Laughter), eating out and visiting. I even got to do some of the driving!

When I returned I spent some time organizing my house in prep for the ladies. Here's my table all set and ready for the quilt group. I made a Banana, Pineapple, Pecan coffee cake, and served a Cinamon coffee cake and fresh fruit. We had an enjoyable social evening and lots of laughs. To make room for all my plants I brought home from work, I had to move the cat tree to the living room window. On the right is a pic showing my new cellular blind (behind the star). This took a whole morning to install, but I'm happy with it and now all my windows have either a roman shade or a blind. Hopefully this should help cut the sun during those hot humid days.

 

Of course there was some shopping, err I mean antiquing during my vacation. And, yes, I managed to find some pieces of my china - 2 coffee "Cans". I think it's too weird that I always find these pieces in pairs ...Happy Birthday to me !!

 I also picked up a couple of crystal glasses - why ? to make tiered cake plates of course! Here you see my choice of plates, some are Czechoslavkian, some are Limoges, and some are English china.

Here they are all done! I'm happy with the gold one, but am thinking I might just add one more smaller plate to the blue one. Nothing to it ladies, just a wee bit of Gorilla glue, some candle holders or small wine glasses from the Goodwill and voila!

And finally, I finished a project!! I started to hand quilt it, doing X's in each block, then decided to finish it off with machine quilting around each block and free motion around the florals in borders. Got the binding all done last night, one spinning 4-patch down, another on the design wall now!

TTFN

Summer Vacation

I am on summer vacation. A shorter one than usual, my life calendar challenges struck again and for many stupid reasons - too many to go into - I only have 2 weeks this year ;(. None-the-less I m making the best of it and filling up my time creatively and productively. The first 2 days were eaten up taking care of life necessities, renewing car license, passport, oil change for the car, cat to the vet (YEAH - Simone got to the vet finally!), prescription renewals, house cleaning (not enough ...) etc. Thursday I finally had some time in my "studio" and created a bunch of "artsy" photos (see above) for the blog. I have been blog surfing over the last few weeks and admiring other people's creative talents soooo much. My camera talents run along side my calendar/scheduling abilities - poor to none However, with the power of a good digital camera and Picassa , well, you can see for yourself :)
I must admit it was an interesting and fun afternoon, digging through my collections of vintage linen & doilies & sewing accessories, then trying to stage them artistically. Next time I have more ideas and will branch out .

Took an afternoon and did "lunch" with a couple of quilting girlfriends. Drove out of town to a local 50's diner and flea market. We stopped at an antique store where I managed to break the lid on this Nippon sugar bowl. It was in the $5 bin and I honestly thought the lid was taped on (like they always are!). My mistake. Anyway, while we finished shopping the old gent glued the lid back together for me and then they knocked it down to $2 (probably because it was broken before me - er- the big chip on the inside!) None-the-less I am happy as it matches the three Nippon pieces my mother gave me - what's left of the tea/berry set she inherited from her mother. I have always loved this Nippon pattern, probably because mother always treasured it. So, broken or not, I will treasure this beauty as a memento of a lovely afternoon.
Yesterday I dragged the Husky downstairs to the dining room table and machine quilted (GASP) yes, I said machine quilted around each block and one border of my burgandy spinning 4 patch. Hopefully I will finish the other side today and get the binding on tomorrow. Next week will be another busy one as I am traveling to Niagara-on-the-lake with Father & step Mother to see 2 plays, and Thursday the quilt ladies are coming to my house. By Friday I'll be gearing up to go back to work (wahhhhh).
TTFN

Toxic people

 

ALWAY listen to your inner voice! Whenever I don't I always regret it. This is especially true for me this weekend! That voice has been whispering in my ear for several weeks, telling me "there's something just not right here". Did I listen ? Nooooooo. Now I find myself on my Condo Board for the next three years, and the neighbour who has been nattering at me all winter to get involved - well, she goes and resigns!

 

What the F_ _ _! Of course, not before she managed to argue with absolutely everyone, pushed the management company to the brink of resignation and spread her toxic stress around for all to enjoy. GRRRRRR! Another life lesson re-learned!!   ALWAYS LISTEN TO THAT INNER VOICE!

On a happier note, I'm on vacation - YEAH!! Nothing better than summer vacation, right?  Of course I have a To Do list a yard long, including lots and lots of sewing, in the daytime, in actual day light, Oh Joy! Oh Bliss! Stay tuned for lots and lots of show-n-tells coming soon :)

Lazy Days of Summer

So how's your summer going? Other than running back & forth between the parents mine is rather lazy. Above is the finished table runner using the 10 spinning 4 patch blocks I "won" at the guild workshop. I am sooo glad I added the lime green inner border and binding as it really makes it pop (least I think so). I used a slightly different lime green on the back, not my usual colour scheme, but I kinda like it! The burgundy spinning 4 patch is being basted as I write and I should start the quilting this evening .... stay tuned!
For those who follow this blog , mother's cataract surgery went fine, all's well and she is seeing better already! YEAH..
TTFN

So this week is cataract surgery for mother. I have taken a day off work to be with her at the hospital , then  back home and an overnight stay just to ensure she is comfortable. My sister will drop over the next day and spend the afternoon and dinner with her. Mother hasn't had surgery for over 40, 50 years, and is understandably nervous. My only experience with surgery was when I was 4 (?) and had my tonsils out. All I remember is the Junket puddings and ice cream ;), and being fussed over. So now it's mom's turn to be fussed over .... Since we live in the same town, this will be different for me, I haven't had a "sleep over" at mother's for years and years! The cats will be "ticked off" as I won't be there to feed them and let them out to play. It's only one night and only one eye. I expect that six months from now we'll be doing a repeat performance for the other eye. That's good, maybe mother will get back to reading. Now, if only we could solve the squealing hearing aid issue!!

TTFN

Summer Bird feeder :)

So not too much happening on the home front these days - it's been TOOOOOO HOT!  A friend and I attended Summer Shakespeare at our local University - A Winter's Tale. Hadn't even heard of this play before, and now that I have can't say it was all that much different than most Shakespeare plays. Still, it was an outing and an enjoyable evening. I have been crafting -oh just a wee bit, and made several TeaCup bird feeders :)
After the fact I thought, how silly. I should have taken pictures and made it into a tutorial. Sorry, but here come mini intstructions:

• go to your local hardware store and find some spiral garden stakes. In my case the "spiral" was not flat and I had to pound away to flatten the spiral.
• Flattening the spiral so that it was level looks easy .... but I had quite a time on the first go round . Good luck with that one ladies
• while at the hardware store get some epoxy glue. I used Gorilla glue

• to make your's just like mine also pick up a fence post top. Sand, and paint to match the tea cup.
• now go to your local thrift store and search out some nice tea cups. In my case I scored and found 2 matching cups and saucers
• lightly sand the bottom of each cup, the inside and the bottom of the saucer
• Glue the tea cup to it's saucer. 
• I attached the fence post top to the spiral garden stake with  three cable straps
• now, glue the tea cup to the top of the fence post top, fill with bird seed , and voila!

Of course you will have to watch out for those pesky squirrels, Cardinals, Blue Jays and other big birds  as this is a rather delicate bird feeder. You could fill it with water instead of bird seed for a wee bird bath, which might be interesting. Either way it looks lovely in your garden and just another craft to use up all those inherited (or not) tea cups!

TTFN

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day everyone :) I did my now traditional patio picnic and had a friend and mother over. Potato salad, deviled eggs, coleslaw, cold ham, and Canada Day cake !!! YUM Got to love those Strawberries :) :)

I got totally into the theme, as you can see and found some flags for my center piece and red napkins !

Lots of fun, and nice to have company and entertain, now back to the weekly grind - least for another 3 weeks, then summer vacation. Can't wait!!

P.S. I did manage to get some sewing done. Here's one of the spinning 4 patch quilt tops put together - next I have to figure out the borders ..... any suggestions?

TTFN,