I Caved

I know I said I wouldn't start anything new.  Or maybe I didn't say that.  I think I said that I wanted to finish some things first.  But my machine is still not fixed, not because it can't be, but because I have not had the opportunity to take it to the repair guy.  Until my machine is back in working order, I can't do too much to finish anything.  Anyway, that's my excuse.

And those Scrappy Trip blocks are so addictive.  Bonnie Hunter is responsible for that.  You can find her tutorial here.  I have made about 1 block per day.  I use the 2 1/2 inch strips like leaders and enders, working them in between my other blocks.  The Super Heroes quilt is almost done.  Just have to sew the sashing and rows together.  I'll show you when that is done.   Then I am going to send it off to a long arm quilter.  That way I know it will get done.  So here are my scrappy trip blocks so far.  They are not in any particular order.  I have done 12 of them.  Don't know how many more I will make.  Maybe 12 more.  They are so much fun!

And here is a little journal quilt.  It only measures about 10 inches square, but I am counting it as a finish for this month.  Otherwise I will have nothing to show as far as finishes go.  Although I am hoping to have the Super Heroes quilt done to the flimsy stage by Thursday.

Side Tracked

Don't worry, I have been working hard on the super hero quilt.  But you know me, every now and then I need a little bit of a change.  Batman and the Hulk just don't do it for me.  And I have been seeing lots of Scrappy Trip Around the World quilts out there in blogland.  They look great and appear to use up a lot of stash fabrics.  So this morning, as I watched my neighbour cut up the 50ft pine tree that had gotten uprooted during our crazy weather last weekend, I decided to make a block and see if it really was as easy as folks say it is.  And it was!  I made two of them in less than an hour.  The guys cut up that huge tree in less time than that.

I plan to make more, but not right now.  I still have 4 more blocks to do for the Super Heroes Quilt and I also have to find all of my Journal Quilts.  The president of our guild has asked me to present them at our meeting on Monday evening.  She wants them to be a President's Challenge.  We will make journal quilts and they will be judged by our members.  Winners will get fat quarters.  Because I had suggested Journal Quilts at our last executive meeting, I was selected to talk to our members about them.  Wish me luck.

Toronto has been issued a severe weather warning.  Baby, it's cold outside!  I think someone left the refrigerator open.  The temperature is -13C with a windchill of -25C.  Tonight it will go down to -17C with a windchill to match.  I can't even think about the cold temperatures without getting chills.  I have put my heavy comforter on my bed.  Just trying to keep warm.

My DD is teaching in a portable this year.  The only portable at her school.  And she is freezing most of the time.  So I offered to knit her a sweater.  The back is almost done.  Hope to start on the fronts this evening.  I am sort of designing it as I go.

The sooner I get it done, the sooner she will be warm.

An Update

I can't believe how fast time is flying by.  I am so far behind in all of my sewing, reading, housework etc.  But I want to give you a bit of an update on some of the things I am working on.  First there is the Super Heroes Quilt for my DS.

Still quite a bit to do, but it is coming along nicely.

And since it is Wednesday today, I will show you a part of my Wednesday hexie flowers.  This is one corner section.  Still have a few more white hexies before this section is completed.  Then three more to do.

And last, but not least, is an update on Mimi.  She had the rest of her teeth extracted last week.  The first night after the surgery she was a horrible sight.  She was bleeding all over the place and I could see that she was in a lot of pain.  But she is such a trooper!   A couple of days later she was feeling fine again.  Then last night she freaked me out when she came to me at 1:00am with the tube in her neck hanging out too far.  I decided not to tube feed her since it looked like the tube was not in the right place.  I gave her a plate of food and she ate all of it by mouth.  When she was finished she cleaned her face with her paw.  

Then a couple of hours later she jumped on my bed again and started purring like never before.  It was then that I realized that the tube had come out completely.  She started rolling around on the floor and scratching the carpet.  She only scratches the carpet when she is really happy.  That tube must have been bugging her.  I really think she was smiling at me.  I fed her some more food by mouth and she again ate it all.  I put a call in to the vet's office.  They are supposed to call me back, but haven't yet.  I think it is time to take the tube out anyway and let Mimi eat on her own.  Mimi is quite happy now, sleeping out in the solarium, under the Norfolk Pine that I bought at Christmas time.  

I am leaving her lampshade on for now, until the tube site in her neck has healed completely.  Watching her sleep so soundly in the solarium makes me happy.

Something New

No, I haven't started a new project.  But I did do something different today.  My DD wants to do a Zentangle project with her students, so since I was getting kind of bored with all the sewing I have been doing lately, I thought I would try a Zentangle myself.  I'm a doodler, so this came naturally to me.  It's fairly labour-intensive though.  This took me a couple of hours to do.

But it is totally worth it.  So much fun!  I may have to do another one.

A New Year Challenge

Yesterday we went to the Franklin Club for a New Year's Buffet Brunch.  Delicious!  But then, the New Year's Buffet is always that!

The weather was fantastic - cold, but bright and sunny.  It takes about 1 hour to get to the club, but the drive was well worth it!  I took a photo of Franklin Lake while we were there.  It was snow covered, but the ice was not thick enough to walk on yet.  Soon the lake will be covered with ice huts for fishing.

I have decided to join Carrie of A Passion for Applique in her UFO Challenge for 2013.  Here are the first 3 projects I hope to finish this month.

Number 1.  This is Easy Street.  I know that it is still in progress, but I am so far behind I may never catch up if I don't put it on my to-do list.

Number 2.  The Super Heroes quilt for my DS.  This is not really a UFO either, but I have changed it and started over so many times that I feel as if it is.  I am doing it in a Kaffe, 'Target Log Cabin" style.  I have also seen it called, "Cabin Tracks'.  I don't know yet what I will call it.  Maybe 'Target Heroes".   I would love to have it finished by the end of this month.

Number 3.  This one really is a UFO.  I started it a couple of years ago.  It's a Disappearing Nine-Patch.  I ran out of the blue fabric, so I put it away.  Now I would like to finish it.  It will take some thought to figure out how to make it bigger.