Another Year Goes By

Not many finished projects this year.  But I did finish a lot of tops.  Just have to get them quilted.    I have been procrastinating.  My machine is still not working as I would like it to.  That is why I haven't completed much.  Going to take it in to see if it can be fixed for good this time.  If not... well, I guess I will have to buy myself a new machine.  That can't be all bad.  Can it?

Here are some of the projects I worked on this year.

Hope 2013 will be a great year for everyone!

Happy New Year!

SNOW!

I am sure everyone has heard about the snow storm that moved through our area over night.  It dumped about 10cm of the white stuff on us.  I know that is not a lot, but it is the most snow we have received since March 2011,  At least that is what the guy on the weather channel told me.

I love how clean and white everything looks outside.  It's very fluffy because it was -5C overnight.  And today it did not warm up much more than that.  The windchill was -11C.  Needless to say, I didn't go out today.  I took these from inside the house.

I especially love the way the snow sits on the Sedum pods.  There were lots of birds at my feeder, but the snow was so high that I couldn't see them or capture them with my camera.

The snow is not the only thing that is white around here.  A third stalk grew on my Amaryllis bulb.  I was really surprised because I have never had a third stalk on one of these plants,.  And it bloomed on Christmas Day, which was a bonus.

I have spent the day cleaning and organizing after the holiday.  I wanted to do a bit of sewing, but my mojo had gone missing.  So I made some fabric out of scraps.  That is always a great stress releaser for me.  It was a very gentle way to return to my sewing after so many days off.  Now I am going to make some more of the cartoon quilt blocks.

Merry Christmas

A reason for the season.

My First Day of Christmas

Today is the first day of my Christmas this year.  We are getting together for a family Christmas this afternoon.  Lots of food, presents, fun and family.  The way Christmas should be.  There are four grandchildren all walking around this year.  It should be good.

To get me into the Christmas spirit and help celebrate this first day, I made a little journal quilt.  It measures about 9 inches by 11 inches.

I am busy doing some laundry, baking an apple pie, preparing veggies for out pot luck dinner and wrapping presents.  Felix is helping me.  Well, sort of.

My sewing room is a disaster and Felix loves it that way.

I've Got Mail

Look what came in the mail yesterday.  An envelope from Japan.  How exciting!

My friend, Keiko sent me a present!  How cool is that?  It's a pair of mules.  She made them herself.  I am so happy that she sent me a pair, because when I learned that she was taking a course to make them, I wanted to move to Japan so I could take that course too.  They are in my favourite colour, blue.  And they fit me perfectly.  They are so comfortable!

Thanks Keiko!

Santa's Workshop

My DD's school held their Winter Concert this afternoon.  It had to be held during the school day because all of the teachers with the Toronto District School Board are working to rule since they were denied their democratic right to strike by the Ontario Liberal Government.  But don't get me started on that!  That would take all day.












I went over to see the concert and to take some photos of the costumes I had made.  DD's students did a great job on their skit.  It was very cute.  Here's how it went:  The elves were working in Santa's workshop.  It was very quiet in there so they turned on a CD - Justin Bieber's 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'.  As the elves danced around the workshop they touched the various toys and as they did, the toys came to life.

The elves and one of the bears

They were all dancing when Santa came in.  Everyone stopped instantly because they thought Santa would be upset that they were dancing instead of working, but Santa gave a few Ho, Ho, Ho's and started dancing too.

Santa starts dancing too

Everyone in the audience was tapping their feet.  Even the little spectators were dancing.  It was fun to watch.  My photos didn't turn out as well as I would have liked.  There was too much movement on the stage and the lighting was bad.  But you get the idea.

The robots

The boys were having a difficult time making some robot costumes, so last night DD and I made a few billboard type robots with dials and gizmos on the fronts.  We used dryer duct for their arms.  This photo is totally out of focus, but I think they liked their costumes because they were dancing up a storm.

Here's one of Santa that I took before the concert started.  He greeted the audience as they came into the school.  Isn't he cute?  But I think Santa needs to fatten up a bit.  Don't you?

Continuing Along Easy Street

Lots of things happened this weekend, so not much time for sewing.  Had to take Mimi to the vet twice on Friday because she was vomiting and that could have dislodged her feeding tube.  But all was well.  By Saturday morning she was back to her tubed, satellite dished self - not too happy, but eating some soft and chewy Lov, by Purina.

I worked on several projects this weekend, but will only show you what I have accomplished on Easy Street.

These are just 20 of the 30+ blocks I have made so far.  They are not too difficult and they take my mind off Mimi.  I am enjoying this mystery, but it will have to wait a few days for more blocks.  My DD has asked me to make a few costumes for the Christmas play her students are doing - 5 elves, 2 bears and maybe a Santa.     The hats are made.  We got them at the dollar store.  Just have to make some bear ears, but I only have a few days, so I'd better get going.

A White Flowering Wednesday

No hexie flowers were made this week.  But I did do a lot of white hexagons to join my other hexie blocks together.  I will show you when I have them all done.

 Lots of Christmas Cacti are in bloom this week.  My solarium is very colourful.  And I have a beautiful Amaryllis in bloom.  This is the white one I bought, already planted, a few weeks ago.  The sun is very bright this morning so the flowers have a sort of pink tinge to them.  They are actually very white and look absolutely incredible right now.   Don't you agree?

And in keeping with my white flower theme.  Here is the white Christmas Cactus. loaded with blooms.  And lots of buds for future flowers.  So pretty.

Easy Street

I have been working on Bonnie Hunter's 'Easy Street' among other things.  (See my sidebar for the link)  I am really enjoying this quilt along.  So far I have made 70 geese blocks and almost 100 4-patch Blocks.  That makes me about halfway so far.  So I am going to join up with Bonnie's 'Mystery Monday Link Up'.

Click on the link and see what others have done.