Just Puttering Along

Still don't have my machine fixed.  I am waiting for a new foot pedal.  So I have been forced to use my old machine.  It does not have any special feet for quilt purposes.  I got it before I ever started quilting.  But I figured out how to use the applique feature and now I think I can finish the Rabbit quilt.  So far it looks like this.  I still have 4 bunnies to applique.  I will sew buttons on for eyes after it is quilted.

A couple of days ago I was out on my scooter and I heard a robin, singing its spring song from the top of my tree.  I asked him if I could take his photo and he hopped down onto the lawn to make it easy for me.  Cute, isn't he?

Tomorrow is Earth Hour.  Will you join me in turning off all the lights between 8:30pm and 9:30pm?

I am linking up with The Quilting Reader's Garden.

A Bit of Weather - Under it, Over it. What the heck is going on?

I've felt a little under the weather the past few days.  Nothing too serious.  Just some body aches, stuffy sinuses and a bit of a headache.  I slept a lot and read a whole book in less than two days, James Patterson's latest, Hope to Die,

On Saturday I took my machine in to get the plug on the foot pedal fixed.  I have no idea if it can be fixed.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.  If they can't fix it, I guess I will have to buy a new pedal. But as the woman in the shop said, "That will be cheaper than a new machine".

And as I was coming out from under the weather, the weather became beautiful.  It started out cold and windy yesterday morning, but then the sun came out and it felt like spring.  We decided to go down to the lake and see how much winter was still around.  And I can tell you, there was a lot!  In the middle of the lake the ice had melted, but around the edges, it was still deep and frozen.  The ducks and geese were calling to us from the ice.  The gulls were screaming from the air.  It was impossible to walk anywhere because the paths had not been cleared.  So I parked myself on a bench, in the sun, along the edge of the water and took a few photos.

The sun felt nice.  Today is going to be another gorgeous day.  The temperature is going way up to 13C, that's around 55F.  Is our winter over?  Not a chance.  It will get cold again (not as cold as it has been) but the temps will be below normal for this time of year until spring starts on Friday.  And then we might even get a bit of snow.  This weather is crazy.  I want spring.

We still have a foot or more of snow on our lawn.  But close to the house the snow has melted.  And as it did, little green crocus shoots were already coming up.  Low and behold, a yellow crocus popped out of the ground and greeted me with a smile.

Okay, now I am feeling better.  The weather can do what it wants.  As long as I have something springlike in my garden I am happy.  I think I will ride my scooter up to the library and get another book. And maybe buy some strawberries for dessert.  Yummy!  I can taste spring already.

On the quilting front, do you want to see what I have been working on?  It isn't much.  Just a few more hexie flowers.  I can keep doing these because they are all done by hand, but the machine applique will have to wait until I get my sewing machine fixed.  This is what I have so far on ny design wall.  I have not decided how big I am going to make this quilt, but I don't think it will be much bigger.  Just a border or two.

I am linking up with Angie at A Quilting Reader's Garden.

Spring?

In an hour or so spring will be here.  Don't get me wrong.  I love spring, but I am a bit skeptical this year.  It doesn't feel like spring and it doesn't look like spring.  In fact, it looks just like winter to me.

This is the view from my front window.  Still lots of snow.

I decided to work on my 'green quilt'.  I need green in my life right now.  This quilt is from a 2005 calendar by Fons and Porter.  This was the quilt for March.  There were no instructions, so I just made it from 2.5 inch squares and bigger pieces of all the greens I had in my stash at that time.  When I ran out of green fabrics, I put it away and just found it again this year.  I have more greens now, so I think I can finish it.

It's called, 'Scraps of Green'.

It is only 2C today and we have had snow flurries all morning.  But look what I found in front of my house. A patch of crocuses, just showing their green shoots above the ground.  They are only a foot or so from the house, so they are in a warm zone.  Usually they are blooming by now. But not this year.  Still, I'll take any sign of spring that I can get, especially if it is green.  

 

 

 

So bring spring on!  To this year's winter I say, 'enough is enough!

 

 

 

What's on my Design Wall

We have rain today and it is dark and gloomy.  But yesterday the weather was spring-like perfect!  The temperature went up to 13C and the sun was shining for most of the day.  My DH and I went for a walk down by Lake Ontario in Bluffers Park.  We couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

Looking south east from a bench on the shore.















Looking south west from the same
bench.












There were lots of ducks, geese and swans in the lake.  Even though there were signs everywhere to NOT feed the birds, people had brought whole loaves of bread and were busy throwing chunks of it into the water.  That always bothers me, but yesterday the weather was just too nice to get upset. There were 5 swans swimming around.  This is one of them.

So because there is not much else to do this morning, I am working at cleaning up my sewing room.  I had cut out and prepped the pieces for a couple of applique blocks.  I put the pieces neatly into little plastic baggies, but now they are playing a game of hide and seek with me.  I hope to find them as I tidy up.

So what's on my design wall?  These blue and red blocks that I was working on last year.  I only need a few more to make a lap quilt.  That is as many blocks as I think I want to make.  They will each finish at 4 1/2 inches square.  I have added lots more blue fabric to my stash since I started this, so I won't have any problem finishing it.  And I am hoping this will, indeed, be a finish for this month.

Mimi is helping me in her usual sleepy way.  I tried to wake her up for a photo, but she would have nothing of that.

"Meow!  I need my beauty sleep"

I disagree with her.  She is already beautiful enough!

A Conundrum - Edited in Red

I have a problem.  A couple of weeks ago I sent a photo of a quilt I made to Sew Sisters.  It was part of a challenge they gave all of us in the Bargain Lover's Club.  I'll show it again in you missed it.

Initially I thought the quilts would be judged by the Sew Sisters staff.  But now it seems that anyone can vote for their favourite - like 'best in show',  'most original' etc.  So what's my dilemma?

The voting isn't set up to just click on a box.  In order to vote an email has to be sent to Sew Sisters.  It seems like a lot of work, but the part I am uncomfortable with is this.  When you send an email, the party you are sending it to automatically gets your email address.  That seems a bit invasive to me.  I can't ask folks to make their email addresses available to Sew Sisters.  They could use it to send out all kinds of store related sales and events and other nuisance mail that others might not want to receive.  After talking to some quilty friends today, I now feel that it really is not such a big deal.  Emails can be deleted.  I am going to leave this up to my blog readers.  If you feel like voting, then by all means, do so.  I would really appreciate it.  

So what do you think?  Am I being neurotic?  Should I just ask my blogging friends to please vote for me?  I think the voting ends on Monday.  The voting actually ends on Tuesday, March 6th.

In case you want to do just that, go here.  That will take you to all the entries.  Some of them look really good so it might be a nice place to view some eye candy.  My entry is number 31.  Sew Sisters email address is on that page.

Now for something springlike.  The snow we got a few days ago is all gone.  In fact it was all gone by the end of that very same day.  I bought these tulips when I went shopping last week.  They brought me joy all week long as I watched them open up.  They have a lovely springy fragrance too.

Thanks!

Can Spring Be Far Behind?

Yellow crocuses in my garden!

It's warm and sunny.

I don't need my coat.

Can spring be far behind?

A Perfect Spring Day!

I didn't do any quilting today. None. Not even one stitch! But I was busy though.

It was a beautiful day. warm and springlike. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The crocuses were blooming on my lawn. I decided to take my scooter and go out for a little jaunt. Having no idea of where to go, I let my scooter take me where it wanted to. I passed by the school where my daughter teaches. I stopped in and found a beautiful mural on the wall in the entrance way. It was all made by the students - out of paper mache! They had some help from an artist, but each student had something up to contribute to the mural. This is the part I liked the best. A robin's nest. What could be more springlike?

I continued on my way and my scooter drove me past the school where I last worked. I went in, not really knowing what to expect. It was a great experience! I talked to fellow colleagues who I hadn't seen for years. And there were still some of my former students who recognized me. They looked wonderful, although a little (actually a whole lot) taller! One of the students told me he was graduating in June. He invited me to the graduation. I think I will go!

Then I was back on the road. My scooter took me through spring woods, still sound asleep and then down to the lake. It made a left turn and I ended up......... at a local quilt shop! Oh my! What a great scooter I have. It knows exactly where I like to go. Since I was there, I had to buy some fabric - of course. When I got home I was exhausted, but very content and happy. It was a perfect spring day!