Drawing Monkeys

Now that the Super Heroes quilt top is done, I have to get on with my other half finished stuff.  The Jungle baby quilt for William is up on the design wall now.  I spent the whole afternoon yesterday drawing monkeys.  But I was not happy with them.  They didn't look like they wanted to be on the quilt.  Have to get back to them later.

But first I have a few errands to run.  And hopefully get my hair cut too.

I saw some really cute, little bow tie blocks on  Tubakk's blog.  They are from a sew along that just started this month.  I know I said that I wasn't going to start anything new, but these things just screamed to me. So yesterday morning I made them.  They are only 3.5 inches unfinished.  I needed 16 of them.  They are not sewn together yet.

Now out to the bank and stuff and then back to the monkey drawing board.

First Flimsy Finish for this Year

My sincere apologies to all of my blogging friends.  I have been absent for a long tine.  Just before Christmas I developed a toothache.  I had to wait until after the new year to have it looked at by my dentist.  He pulled it out since it had broken in so many little shards.  There was no saving it.  The pain should have gone away, but it didn't.  So the following week I went back to see him and he prescribed 10 days of antibiotics.  Those ten days came and went and my tooth the space in my mouth where the tooth had been was still hurting me.  I was unable to do anything but sit around and mope and complain.  So to make a long story short, I didn't do much sewing and I had nothing to share with you.  But last weekend I felt much better.  I spent my time finishing the Super Heroes quilt for my DS.  I still have to send it out to be quilted, but when it is finished he plans to hang it on the wall in the staircase of his new house.

I am so glad this is finished.  Now I can move onto other UFOs that I want to finish over the next couple of months.  Hope to see you soon with something new.

I'm linking up with the Needle and Thread Network

One Flower Wednesday

Haven't posted any flowers on Wednesdays for a long time.  But this is my January hexie from the Hexie Blog.  It sort of looks like a flower and, it's done!.  Just have to applique it onto a background. But I want to wait until I see what the rest of the monthly blocks will be.  I think I am going to like this BOM for 2015.

Happy New Year!

I can hardly believe that 2014 is almost over.  It seems like just yesterday that the year started.  I have not been sewing a lot this past year.  The arrival of my first grandson kind of strayed me off the sewing path.  But he is so cute and I had to hold him and play with him as much as possible.

I did finish The Hexie Blog BOM though.  I changed a few things, but for the most part I did as instructed.  My November block is different.  I used diamond shapes to represent leaves.  For me, in this part of the world, there is not much left growing by the time November rolls around.

I always think of the song, "The Last Leaf Clings to the Bough".  So I wanted my November block to represent the fallen leaves.  I used the pumpkin block to represent October.

Here is the whole quilt top.  A block for each month.  Sorry for the poor quality of the photo, but it is snowing out and the light is very bad.  Also, there was no one here to hold it up for me.

Happy New Year!

Hope 2015 is a good one for you!

Linking up with the Needle and Thread Network and Angie's blog, A Quilting Reader's Garden.

Merry Christmas!

Sending warm wishes

From our house to yours

For a safe and happy Christmas

Filled with hope, peace and joy

I made my DD a new wallet.  I think I can show it to you because she is so busy with the baby at the moment that she probably won't read my blog.

Lots of room for a cheque book, a pen, change, bills, and credit cards.

My sister made this gorgeous stocking for William.  She is the cross stitcher in our family.  I just sewed the whole thing into a stocking.

Now to wait for Santa to come.

 

Off to the Library

It's cold out, but I have nothing to read.  I just can't see a whole week without a book.  So off I go.

Some Handwork on a Dreary Sunday

It's dark and dreary outside, so I am just working away on my hexie quilt BOM from The Hexie Blog. This is the December block.  But don't get excited.  It is not my last block.  I still have a few more to finish off and applique down.  I am using different backgrounds because I  have lots of fat quarters. The HST are all from my scrap bin.

Have a terrific weekend.  I have to go and pick up the other blocks from my design floor now.  DH is going to vacuum and I don't want any of those tiny pieces to get caught in the beater bar.

Linking up to A Quilting Reader's Garden.

A Hexie Pumpkin

Things are slowly getting back to normal around here.  Grand baby has gone home.  It's very quiet now. Felix is happy about that.  And I am getting more than just a couple of hours of sleep at night. I've even had some time to catch up on some of my BOMa.  This is my pumpkin from the Hexie Blog for November.

I'm not caught up yet, but I hope to be soon.

Earning my PHD

I have taken our Guild's PHD challenge.  PHD stands for Projects Half Done.  I am ashamed to say that I have many of them in my sewing room.  This challenge is a way of completing some of these projects.  I have picked 4 to work on over the next few months.  They have to be completed by the end of May, and must be quilted, have the binding attached and a label if the project is a quilt.  Smaller projects like pillows and wall hangings don't need a label. If I cannot finish any one of them, I will have to pay $5.00 to the woman's shelter our guild supports.  That\s a win/win situation.  Don't you agree?  Even if I can't finish the projects, the women's shelter will still benefit.

So here are the projects I have chosen to finish.

First is the Super Heroes quilt I started to make for my son last year.  I wanted him to use it on his bed, but he wanted to hang it on a wall.  I lost all interest in finishing it when I learned that.  But he recently purchased a brand new house.  It is still being built as I write this.  By Christmas it should be finished so that he can move in.  I want to finish this quilt for Christmas.  There is not too much left to do.  It is very large, so I will send it out to be quilted.

My second PHD project is the Maple Leaf quilt I started last year.  I still have a lot to do on this one, but I really like it and I want to get it done.

This is my third project.  It is a Trip Around the World that I started several years ago.  I really love this quilt, but I guess I got tired of making the strata for this one.  This one will also be sent out for quilting when it is finished.  I think it will be a Queen size quilt.

The fourth project is a cross quilt that I started at least 3 or 4 years ago.  It used a lot of fabric that other quilters gave me.  I have no idea how big I will make this one.  I only know that I want to get it done.

I signed these quilts up for the PHG challenge last night at our last Guild meeting for this year.  I was kind of distracted and I totally forgot about William's Jungle Quilt that I have been working on lately. Since DD has been staying at my house, I have not had much time to finish this one.  But it has to go into William's room when they go home.  And that will probably be soon.  So I am, unofficially, adding this one to my PHD list too.  I am going to love working to finish this one.

Wish me luck.  I think I am going to need it!

Scrappy Hexies

I managed to sew a few more scrappy hexie flowers together.  That's 6 more in the past couple of weeks.  Now to sew them onto the quilt top and make some more white hexies to join them all together.

Linking up to A Quilting Reader's Garden.

Little Letters Update

Haven't had much time to sew, but I did work on some little letters.  This is my blue/green version. The colour version is on hold for the moment.

William is starting to do cute things.  He smiles when anyone talks to him.  He loves to hang out in his monkey sitter and look around.  This morning I had him on top of my cutting table.  He loved it there.  He was able to help me sew and also look around at all the interesting things in my solarium. We had snow last night and the backyard was white and beautiful.

Big Smiles

Sorry that I have been so long in posting.  It is impossible for me to keep up with the daily photos. So much has been going on here.  There seem to be daily doctor appointments, breast feeding consultations and weigh-ins.  But I did want to show you a cute photo that I took this morning. William is almost four weeks old now and he is smiling - not only when he has gas, but all the time.

November 5, 2014

Pretty Cactus Plants

Thought I'd show you my Christmas Cacti today.  They are so colourful!  But it is nowhere near Christmas, so I guess this first one is a Halloween Cactus.  It is just loaded with orange blooms.

There is also a red cactus that has been blooming for a while now.

A light pink cactus.  I have two more pink plants like this.  They are very old, but they are still producing more buds.

And a dark pink one.  This might be my favourite pink cactus.  I love the fushia colour.

October 29, 2014

Adding to My Stash... I Know I Shouldn't, but I Did Anyway!

This is what I bought at the Creativ Festival.  A couple of pieces of lights.  I just love anything with words or numbers on it.  I found a piece of Sudoku and one all in French.  Also a Canadian flag fabric, bexause I didn't have any in my stash, and a grayish fabric that only cost me a few dollars for two metres.

I also found some colourful Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  I have no idea what I will do with these, but they were just too beautiful to pass up.

October 25, 2014

OMG!  It's only two months until Christmas!

Creativ Festival

The weather was perfect today, so I decided to attend the Creativ Festival.  It was an adventure.  First a trip to the GO station on my scooter.  Then a trip by GO train to downtown Toronto.  Then a short ride to the Convention Centre.

It was busy.  But soooo nice to get out for the day.  There were lots of exhibits of all kinds of crafts.  . Red Heart yarns had a wonderful jungle themed display.  Everything had been crocheted by volunteers, so there were no patterns.  Here is a bird that looked right at me!

October 24, 2014

I am going to have to look some of these up on Ravelry. 

I met many quilting friends from our guild.  I talked to other quilters about their favourite techniques. I bought a few pieces of Kaffe Fasset fabrics.  I had some lunch and afterwards made the trip back home.  Everyone at the GO station was very helpful, guiding me to the right platform to catch my train home.  Being downtown was kind of exciting.  Lots of construction going on.  Toronto seems to be growing day by day.

Sorry this photo is sort of blurry.  I took it through the glass of the Skywalk.

I can't wait until next year's Festival.

What's Happening to Our World?

A tragic situation took place in our nation's capital yesterday.  A Canadian soldier was gunned down at the War Memorial in Ottawa.  We are in mourning.  This kind of thing shouldn't happen in our country.

A police officer, running down an Ottawa street with his gun drawn.  Canadian flags blowing in the wind behind him.  I could get totally depressed over this event.  But I am Canadian.  I will take a few minutes to pray for the victim's family and hope that this sort of thing will never happen again.  Life must go on and we can't let a terrorist stop us from living our lives to the fullest.

With a new baby around it is easy to keep focused on the present.  My sister came over yesterday to drive DD and her baby to a pediatrician appointment.  DD is still not able to drive herself.  William passed every test the doctor gave him.  He is doing very well and growing quickly

My sister enjoyed holding him and keeping him entertained all afternoon...  until he began to cry and nothing could console him but his mother with a delicious body-temperature meal.

October 22, 2014

Thanks, Sis!  For coming all the way over here and doing the driving.  (She used to drive a subway train before she retired, so she is a great driver!)  We are grateful for all the support that we are receiving from family and friends.

Sashimi!

Yum!  We ordered Japanese take-out for dinner this evening. 

October 18, 2014

Little Things

I have made one little letter in the past three days.  That was the 'K' and it was kind of difficult so it took me a while.  I have also started to join them together, but I already had that done last week. These blocks are the ones I did in the second colour combination.  Still have to do the first combo. So maybe in another three days I will post those.  LOL

William is doing well.  He is eating well and growing.  He gained 105 grams in two days.  He is also sleeping well, but not at night.  Why is that?  I guess he just wants to be held in the dark.  I can't get over how cute he is.  Just like an angel.

October 16, 2014

Thankful for William

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!  Today is Turkey Day for us!  You guys south of the border will have to wait until next month.

Do I have to tell you what I am thankful for?  I think you probably guessed it!

I won't bore you with more William photos!   But he is so photogenic I can't help myself.  Mom and baby arrived at my house about an hour ago.  They will be spending a few days here until my DD is feeling better and can do things, like stair climbing, lifting, cooking and laundry for herself.  I'm very excited!  I am going to enjoy this time!

 My daily photos have sort of fallen by the wayside.  I have just been too busy.  Here is yesterday's photo - an outdoor, rose picture.  Fall is here and there will not be many more garden shots.

October 12, 2014

Bonding Time

Sorry, I am not keeping up with this 'photo a day' thing very well.  There is just too much to do.  I slept 5 hours on Friday night.  It wasn't enough, but I just couldn't sleep any longer.

Went to visit DD and grandson.  Both are doing very well.  Here is a photo of the two of them after William had his first 'meal'.  He was very content.  Such a good baby!  He only cries when his diaper gets changed.

After our hospital visit, DH and I went grocery shopping, then home to eat left-overs for dinner. I barely got through my dinner, when sleep over came me.  I guess I must have gone to bed, but I don't remember anything until I woke up there this morning at around 2:00am.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone, for all of your wonderful comments.  I loved reading all of them.  It's still very quiet around here right now, so I think I will go back to bed for a few more hours.  Gotta get my beauty sleep, don't cha know!  I love being a grandma, but I don't want to look like one!

Photo for October 11, 2014