January Cactus?

While watering my plants this morning I noticed that my pink Christmas Cactus is in bloom. 

This was the cactus that got knocked off its perch and crashed to the ground last year.  Almost every piece, buds and all, broke off.  I almost cried!  But I collected myself and then |I collected all of the broken pieces.  I planted them in a new pot with some fresh soil.  They have been growing there the whole year and now they are rewarding me with some much needed colour. 

We're having a dreary day.  It has been raining on and off all day.  The little bit of snow we had is gone again.  It's as if the colour has gone from the world, so I am glad there is a little bit of it in my solarium.

Guild meeting tonight.  I am getting cabin fever, so I am looking forward to going out this evening.

And here is a picture of Mimi that I took a couple of days ago.  She refused to look at me when she saw my camera.  We are still not the best of buddies after all of the eye drops, pills, water and food I have had to give her in the past couple of weeks.  I am trying to gain back some of her trust of me, so I didn't remove the eye crud,  but she definitely is feeling better.

Sunrise this Morning

This morning\s sunrise was amazing.  I just had to take a photo or two.  I think this means that bad weather is coming our way.  Isn't that how the saying goes?

'Red at night,

Sailors delight.  

Red in morning,

Sailors take warning.'

I am putting this on my header too.  It's too precious to waste.  We haven't had any real winter yet.  Strange for this part of the world.  We've had some rain, a bit of snow and really warm temperatures for the month of January.  Wonder if we will get some snow today.  I hope so.  It isn't winter without snow!

Harry Potter is Finished

I have finished a charity quilt!  My first finish for this year.  Yippeeeee! 

It was a kit from our guild, since this quilt will go to our Quilts from the Heart progrram.  30, 8.5inch blocks featuring a Harry Potter fabric.  Looks easy, right  - just sew the patches together and quilt it.  Not!  The patches were all different sizes, so I had to cut them down to 8.25inches.  Then, as I was sewing them together, I discovered a yellow patch that was only 8 x 6 inches.  I put everything away for a while so that I could think about this dilemma.  That yellow fabric looked familiar.  So I searched and searched through my stash and then my scraps.   And eventually I found a small piece!  I said a little prayer, ironed it and was able to cut an 8.25in. block from it.  I am glad it is finished.

Building Permit LH366

Hardhats must be worn on this site.



I went to Staples yesterday and had the paper piecing pattern enlarged so that the houses will be exactly 3 inches when completed.  For some reason my computer wasn't printing them correctly.  So now I have a total of 7 houses completed.  I think I will be caught up by the end of this month.

Mimi is still with us.  She seems a bit better at times.  At least she is eating again.  She weighed less than 6 pounds when we were at the vet's office last week.  I have to give her 2 pills a day and put drops in her eye 3 times a day.  Needless to say she is not very happy with me at the moment.

Keeping Busy

Oh, look!  I haven't posted for over a week.  I have been playing with my scraps and worrying about Mimi.   So I'll tell you about Mimi first. 

She has not been feeling well over the last couple of weeks.  I am not really sure what is wrong with her.  She has no distinct symptoms, just a lot of little things that I can't get a handle on.  She seems to have an eye infection.  And maybe dental problems.  She is not eating or drinking as usual.  So last night we took her to the 24-hour clinic.  She weighed less than 6 pounds.  They took blood and urine.  Gave her some water under her skin because she was dehydrated.  Told me to syringe feed her.  Gave me drops for her eye and some kind of pills for nausea.  So today it seems as if I am running a cat hospital.  The vet is going to phone me this evening with the results of her tests.  Then we will know more.  Mimi seems a lot better though.  Right now she is sleeping and I won't disturb her until it is time for her to eat again.

And now for my sewing progress.  Last week Em from Ems Scrapbag had another tutorial for the scrap quilt we're working on.  I have a whole box of little 1 1/2 inch pieces sewn into 4 patches.  A few have a 2 1/2 inch piece sewn on and made into a bigger 4 patch.  This week's tutorial was on adding 4 1/2 inch pieces.  I still have lots to do, but here is my progress so far.

Yesterday I spotted a little house quilt along.  The houses are only 3 inches square when finished.  I made a couple of them and then did one at 4 inches square.  I don't know yet if I will join this quilt along.  I have to perfect the pattern first.  They are paper pieced.  I think they are so cute!

My next project is a quilt for Quilts from the Heart.  I was given the fabric to do with what I want.  The blocks were all 6 inch square.  I was supposed to randomly place the blocks together in a pleasing pattern.   Sounds easy.  But some of the fabric was great and some of it was not so great.  I don't like working with slippery polyester fabrics.  So I thought about this quilt for a while and decided that I would do a bit of piecing, take the 'not so good' fabric out and maybe add some of my own.  This is what I have come up with so far. 

I will finish this one this week, I hope.  I have another Quilt from the Heart to make before the end of January.

A New Year...

... And I still have scraps!

Here it is, already the 3rd day of 2012!  I thought I would make a resolution to be more organized this year.  But I have already broken it.  Look at the state of my sewing table!  Lots of scraps and strips. 

So I decided to make a resolution I can stick with and that is... play with my scraps.  That's my goal for 2012, to play with my scraps.  I know it's kind of hokey, but I won't be able to keep any other resolution, so rather than feel like a failure, I will look at my scrappy blocks and smile.  After all, isn't that what life is all about?

I saw a 'Lego Block' quilt on somebody's blog.  I used to love Lego.  My kids loved it too!  We had lots of it.  So this project solves two things - playing with Lego and building a quilt with fabric blocks.

I want to wish everyone a belated Happy New Year.  Hope 2012 is good to you.  I have been too busy to read blogs or answer my mail.  But I'll be back soon.  I have a bit of a sore throat at the moment.  I hope it doesn't develop into something more serious.  I just want to nap with my kitties!  That could be my resolution too - taking lots of naps with my kitties.  I know I won't break that one!

Mesdames et Messieurs.....

Presentation... du Cirque du Soleil Quidam!

My DD gave me tickets to Cirque du Soleil for Christmas.  We went to see it last night.  It was fantastic!  Dancing... live music... rope skipping... aerial acrobatics... clowns... juggling... audience participation... Chinese yo-yo skills... gymnatics... and so much more.

Quidam is French and it is said to mean no one and everyone at the same time.  The Quidam of this presentation is a headless man, carrying a bowler hat and an umbrella.  There is lots of thunder and lightening and other light and sound displays.  The singer was live and she was terrific! 

It's a story about Cloe, a young girl who is bored.  Her parents live their own lives and don't pay much attention to her.  So she dreams up a world of fantasy and imagination to keep herself amused.  Quidam is the person who sings, cries out and dreams in each of us.