Words to Live By?

I don't really have anything to show you. Not much quilting has been going on around here. But the good news is that my sewing machine is fixed. They called me this morning. I can pick it up tonight. I hope it works! I have a lot of catching up to do. Just for the time being, here are some words of wisdom that came in my mailbox this morning and some that were volunteered by the furry family members.

1. Aspire to be Barbie. The bitch has everything.

2. If the shoe fits, buy them in every colour.

3. Take life with a pinch of salt, a wedge of lime and a shot of tequila.

4. Felix say: "Stop and smell the flowers or tomatoes, as the case may be."

5. Go on the 30 day diet. (I'm on it and so far I've lost 15 days.)

6. When life gets you down, just put on your big girl panties and deal with it.

7. Let your greatest fear be that there is no PMS and this is just your personality.

8. I know I'm in my own little world, but it's okay. They know me there.

9. Oscar says: "Take lots of naps!"

10. Don't get your knickers in a knot - it solves nothing and makes you walk funny.

11. Mimi says: "Lead me not into temptation. I can find it myself."

11. When life gives you lemons - turn it into lemonade. Then mix it with vodka.

12. Remember where ever there is a good looking, sweet, single or married man, there is some woman who is tired of his bullshit!

13. Keep your chin up. Only the first 40 years of parenthood are the hardest.

14. If it has 'tires' or 'testicles' it's gonna give you trouble.

15. By the time a woman realizes her mother was right, she has a daughter who thinks she's wrong.

16. Good friends are like stars. You don't always see them, but you know they are there.

17. Oscar says: "Always say your prayers."

18. And last but not least, always take time to remember yesterday, dream about tomorrow, but live for today!

The Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!

(My apologies to Judith Viorst)

So there I was, happily stippling away on my latest wall hanging. The quiet hum of my sewing machine, lulling me into a sense of peace and near completion. I was hoping to get this quilt done for another May finish. I only had a very small portion left to quilt. When, all of a sudden...... nothing! No quiet hum. No more wonderful squiggles on my quilt. No peaceful feeling. Nothing! Not a sound, not a ripple, not even a little "meow" from Mimi, just a very tight knot in the pit of my stomach. My machine just stopped. The lights were on, but no one was home!

My quilt was still stuck, with the needle holding the fabric firmly in place. I could not move it. I turned my machine off and then on again. Nothing. I took the needle out. Still nothing. I opened the bobbin case. Nothing was tangled. With the needle out and the bobbin released, I was able to carefully slide my quilt out. Then I took everything apart. Everything that would come apart, that is. I could find nothing wrong, but as I tried to put everything back into place, I discovered that the pieces would not go back the way they were supposed to. Something was jammed. I think the problem is with the feed dogs. With no longer a place for everything and everything in its place, I packed all the loose pieces up into a ziplock bag and taped them to the side of my machine. Then I put my machine into its case and left it by the back door. Tonight we will have to take it to the quilt shop. I hope it isn't anything serious and I hope that whatever it is, can be fixed quickly. Can a quilter survive without her sewing machine? I'm just wondering.......

Guess I'm going to be making a lot of fish in the next few days.

Twelve Inch Cat Blocks

Some people were asking me how my blocks look together. That's a good question. I know that for this week's Block Party block I used very different colours than I usually do. Until this morning I hadn't put the blocks out to see how they would go together. So here they are.

Sorry about the kitty butts! Oscar has his square on the quilt and Felix is aiming his fat butt right at the camera! They really can't help themselves. As soon as I put the blocks down, my little furry quilt police come over and check out to see if I have done a good job!

Here are the block without furry butts on them. The blocks are not laid out in any special way. I just put them down randomly. Maybe if I rearrange them they will look better. There are still about 30 weeks left in the Block Party and I am sure there will be more 12 inch blocks.

Mimi was on the quilt too, but she took off as soon as she saw the camera. She is not cooperating with my photo shoots lately! So here is a photo I took while she was sleeping. My cats' version of bunk beds! Look at Felix's fat belly. He is a huge cat. More like a bulldog, but that's a whole other story!

In My Little Corner of the World

I just finished the Friday Block Party block for this week. It is called Hayes Corner. I used up some pretty batik fabric that was in my scrap bin. This was an easy block. There were no corners to line up. It pretty much went together without a hitch. Except for the half square triangle units. I cut four of them by mistake.

I might have to make another one of these, in different colours, in order to use the half square triangle units. Afterall, I want to tame my stash, not add to it!

Look What Came in the Mail!

I got mail! I got mail!

On Wednesday I went to the post office to pick up a special package from my 'pen pal' who lives in Japan. We have been corresponding by email for almost 5 years now! Wow! How time flies! I can't believe it is that long already! Her English is amazing, which is a good thing because my Japanese is totally nonexistent. At the present time she and I are working on a wall hanging which you can see here.

She sent me this wonderful table runner, which she cross stitched herself. I just love it! The colours are so bright and cheerful! This will look great on my table! I'm almost afraid to use it!


Here is a shot of the detail of one of the flower motifs. How lucky am I to have such a great friend! Thanks Keiko!

Fish Tales

One of my angelfish died last Friday. He was old. Now I have only one angelfish left in my aquarium. That one seems lonely. Think I will go out and buy a few more this week. I really like angelfish! Mine looked just like this one.





We just had our first long weekend of the summer. Traditionally it is the weekend to open the cottage, open the pool, plant the garden and do all kinds of summer stuff. But it was too cold! No planting got done. No plants were bought. We still had frost on Sunday night. So, while I was feeling sort of down because of my fish and the fact that I couldn't plant anything, I started thinking. That is usually not a good thing!

Look what's on my needles right now.

Fish!

I found this tessellated pattern on the internet and decided to try it out. These guys are quick and easy and they look amazing!

I love this picture of a finished fish blanket that I found on the Internet.

I made about 18 fish this weekend. I have lots of yarn to make a lot more. And that is a good thing because I think I need about 200 of them to make a blanket!

Pinwheel for a Pinhead

Friday's Block Party is called Pinwheel. It is a small one - only 8 inches square. I did not follow the instructions on Quilter's Cache. But then, I never do. I used half square triangles instead. As I was cutting the pieces for the centre, I thought, Duh! (slap up the side of the head) Instead of cutting four 2 1/2 inch squares, I could have cut one 4 1/2 inch square. Maybe I will try to make this one again.

But not today. It's too nice outside and tomorrow we are going to get rain. So off I go!

Scraps From the Heart

Ahhhhh! How sweet it is! My first finish for May! A couple of weeks ago, Carol of Giraffe Dreams, showed a quilt that had been made by alternating scrap blocks and plain blocks. I thought it would be a great way to use up scraps. And it was! Thanks Carol! This is a charity quilt going to our Guild's 'Quilts from the Heart". It will be donated to a local women's shelter. It measures 35" X 45". I loved making the scrap blocks. It was a kind of mindless activity that I like to do sometimes. Even the binding is pieced out of strips of left-over fabrics from other quilts.

Getting Conned Into Making Water Wings!

A conversation with my DD........

DD: "Hi Mom! What's happening?"

Me: "Oh, nothing much. Just trying to finish a Quilt from the Heart."

DD: "Oh, that's good. We're doing a play and I was just wondering if you could suggest some kind of water costume. A few grade one kids are going to dance a water dance."

Me: "Something blue, I guess."

DD: "Yeah, like something flowing and soft so that they look like waves on the stage."

Me: "How about some ribbons. Or maybe a piece of flowing fabric that they can swirl around themselves."

DD: "I don't know. They have to use their hands to clap and stuff like that so they can't be holding onto anything."

Me: "So you want a costume of some kind?" (starting to get suspicious)

DD: "Yeah, that would be perfect! Can you think of how to make one?

Me: "Hmmm. Maybe." (starting to suspect a project coming on) "How about something they can wear that has blue strips of some kind of flowing fabric that would look like waves as they move."

DD: "That would be perfect! "

Me: "Hmmmm." (now really getting scared)

DD: "Could you make something like that? Oh, I'm sure you can. You can do just about everything!"

Me: (I smell a con!) "When do you want these costumes?:

DD: "The performance is on Thursday evening."

Me: "Oh. And how many do you need?"

DD: "Only a few. Maybe 3 or 4. No, maybe 5. I'll have to check that out."

Me: "I guess I could make something that they could wear on their arms, something that has pieces of fabric flowing from it."

DD: "Oh, Mom! Would you? You're the best! I'll go over to Fabricland and buy the fabric tomorrow after school. Then I'll bring it over."

Next evening.....

DD: "Here's the fabric, Mom. I hope it's enough. It was on sale and I bought all they had. Oh, and we need 7 costumes. And the dress rehearsal is on Wednesday."

Me: "Oh, so you need some kind of costume made out of this beautiful blue fabric for seven students and they have to be ready by Wednesday? That only gives me one day!"

DD: "Yes! I'll pick them up on Wednesday morning on my way to work."

Me: "Hmmmm. I'll try to make some kind of water wings, I guess."

And I did. I made seven sets of these 'sleeves' that the kids can wear on their arms.

But I couldn't have done it without Felix!

A Bright Spot in my Garden

This wonderful yellow/green spot in my garden is Euphorbia! I just love this plant and I always look forward to it's bright colour at this time of year. Euphorbia belong to a very interesting Genus of plants. The yellow 'flowers' you see are really bracts and not true flowers, although the plant does have unisexual parts. They are just very small. I have featured this plant on my other blog. I started that one in an attempt to keep track of the plants in my garden.

I guess I just like to be organized! Organized? Oh, wow! Did I say that?

Happy Mother's Day!

Just Some Blocks.........

Friday's Block Party block for this week is 'Union Square'. I found an appliqued heart in my scrap bin. I think it was left over from a baby quilt I made several years ago. I decided to use it in this block. Every scrap counts, you know! The other fabrics are also from my scrap bin, except for the blue. I actually have quite a lot of that and I just wanted to use some up. I did not find this block to be easy and I doubt if I will make any more. I think it took me almost 3 hours to complete, with lots of interruptions, of course!

And.... as if I am not busy enough, now that gardening season is here and I still have several charity quilts to finish before the end of this month and also the picnic quilt for my daughter, (sigh) I joined the one-a-day quilt along. The idea is to make a nine patch block a day.

That doesn't sound too difficult, does it? So far I am up to date. I have made 14 blocks and I think we are at day 13. Of course, I couldn't have done all that without the help of Felix!

Oh and I almost forgot.... I changed my header. Our peach tree is in bloom right now! I hope we don't get any more frost! The peaches from this tree are the best! Pretty isn't it?

Salad, Anyone?

I defied the weatherman and planted some leaf lettuce a few weeks ago. It was still cold, but I couldn't wait! Lettuce likes cool temperatures anyway. I planted them in an old wash tub that stands on long legs. I know that sounds rather strange, but there is a method to my madness. I have huge garden snails in my garden! If I planted the lettuce on the ground, it would have been devoured by those slimy critters in no time! This way they can't climb up the metal legs of the tub. My lettuce is safe - from the snails, that is - but not from me. I'm sure I can pull a couple of leaves from each plant and make a nice, tasty salad! Yummmmm!

No Sewing for Me Today! My Garden is Calling!

Today was a wonderful spring day. It was cool, but the sun was shining brightly. Needless to say, I spent most of the day in the garden. I transplanted a few things and tried to dig up a large section of flower bed that had been taken over by Creeping Bellflowers. Let me tell you, it is not easy to weed a garden while sitting in a wheelchair! I came within inches of landing face first into my cottoneaster bush when I leaned forward too far! Luckily my legs are getting stronger and I was able to keep my balance and not fall in!

It seems as if I have been battling this weed forever! It was in the garden when we moved into this house 25 years ago and it is still here now! In fact, it is even worse this year because no one did any weeding last year and this noxious weed took full advantage of that! I had to get DH to help me by digging down as deeply as possible in order to get at the roots which develop a sort of underground mat, making this weed almost impossible to eradicate!

I had been working in this part of the flower bed two years ago, just before my illness forced me out of the garden. I was planning on changing some of the plantings there and I had already removed most of the perennials. Today I transplanted the remaining ones. I will plant some annuals there this year in the hopes of being able to dig out any more Creeping Bellflowers should they come up later in the season. It is so difficult to work around the perennials and since I have to leave the heavy work up to DH, it is better if he doesn't have to decide which plants are weeds and which ones belong in the garden.

As I sat, enjoying the sunshine, a pair of cowbirds came to take a bath. They were fun to watch.

The garden was buzzing with insects today. Here is an enormous bumble bee trying to fit himself into one of the Pulmonaria flowers. This plant has flowers which range in colour from pink to blue. I read, on someone else's blog, that the colour of the flowers changes to blue once they are fertilized. That way the bees know which ones not to waste their time with. I thought about that theory a lot and I cannot believe that bees are that smart! What do they know about fertilization? It might be that they are attracted more to pink flowers. Maybe they can see that colour better. It is probably more basic than even that. I think the blue flowers, the old ones, don't have any nectar left in them. The bees are probably attracted to the pink flowers because of the sweet scent of nectar. Kind of like the way I am attracted to the wonderful smell of pure chocolate. Well, I'm just saying. You know.

Maybe I'm Putting My Foot In

Here is my finished block for this week for the Friday Block Party. See sidebar. It is called 'Flyfoot'. I used up a whole lot of half square triangles that I had in my scrap bin (happy dance!) - only had to make a couple more. Because it is totally scrappy I don't think I got the image (so much) of the swastika that Carol spoke about. But I must admit I sort of thought of that too. Too bad that symbol has come to mean hatred, antisemitism, violence and murder! For centuries it used to be a symbol that meant good. I think the Chinese call it Wan, but I am not completely positive about that. Anybody know? It stands for life and sun and good luck! You know, happy stuff!

I thought my block sort of looked like the ribbons on a May pole. And since I made it on May 1st, I am going to rename this block too! I really don't like Flyfoot! I'm calling it Dancing Around the May Pole.

Taming My Stash!

I think it is time to tidy up the fabrics in my scrap bins! To say "in' my scrap bins is perhaps not exactly correct. The fabric has found its way out of the bins. It is all over the place - on the floor, on my sewing table, on the ironing board and on my machine! My workspace is shrinking. It is time to clean up!

Mimi is going to help me, aren't you my sweet kitten?

"Meow! No way man! I found myself a nice ray of sunshine and I plan to spend the rest of the day napping here!"

Okay, Mimi. I know without an opposable thumb you, well don't take this personally, but you can't do much picking out of fabric and sewing it together. So I'll let you sleep. That's what you do best anyway!

I'll get Felix to help me.

"Oh, boy! Yeah! I want to help. I love this stuff. It's so colourful and soft. I can roll on it for you! What are you making? Is it a quilt for me? Meow!"


Sorry Felix. It is going to be for DD. She wants a 'picnic' quilt. That means it is going to be put down on the ground. It will be walked on, sat on and eaten on. Not exactly uses that I think of when I think of a quilt! But if it will use up a lot of my scraps, I'm willing to make the sacrifice! She wants it sometime in June. Hmmmmm. That doesn't give me much time.

And speaking of scraps and picnics...... The Friday Party block is called "Flyfoot". That could be had at a picnic, I guess. You can go to it via the icon on my sidebar. The pattern calls for 16 half square triangles. And wonder of wonders, I found a whole bunch of half square triangle blocks in my scrap bin! They were left over from the train quilt I made for my nephew a couple of years ago. I think I only have to make a couple more. This is great!

I think I will work on this Block Party block. Or maybe I'll go out for awhile. It seems so nice and it's not raining today. Gosh, I'm good at procrastinating. The stash clean up can wait for tomorrow!

It's a Jungle Out There!

I finally got around to doing the Block Party's block for this week. It was an easy one, even though it is only 9 inches square. It is called "Chain and Cross". I don't like the name. so I think I am going to call mine "Jungle Fever". All of the fabric came from my scrap bin, so I am happy about that.
I have been sort of busy sewing all week. Well, not really busy, just sort of lazy. so I have nothing to show you. Sorry! All of my work has been the mindless sewing of wonky log cabin blocks. They are all at various stages of development. I just sew a few pieces of fabric together whenever I feel like it. I think I will start to square them and sandwich them and maybe do a quilt-as-you-go project. I'll take some photos as soon as I have something interesting to show for my efforts.

Becoming a Computer Geek?

A few weeks ago many bloggers were posting old photos of themselves and their families dressed in their Easter best. I wanted to join in, but I couldn't get my old scanner to work. So I went out and bought a new scanner. The guy in the store told me that I would be able to hook it up myself. Well...... he obviously doesn't know me! I am totally computer challenged, but in order to save myself the installation fee, I decided to give it a try.

I read the instructions. They made no sense to me. I re-read and re-read and still nothing clicked. So I just turned on my computer, put the installation disk in the drive and followed the instructions. There were a few snags, but I seem to have done it! So just call me a Computer Geek. Okay? I am really proud of myself!

I wanted to scan something in order to try it out. So I chose this photo of a quilt I made about 8 or 9 years ago. The principal of my school at that time asked me to make something colourful for the long brick wall in her office. She wanted me to include some of the students' work. This is what I came up with. It is actually one of my favourite quilts, and I would have posted it on last week's Bloggers Quilt Festival, but I don't own the quilt anymore and I couldn't get a picture of it without my new scanner.

I had the kids in our ME (Multiple Exceptionalities) class draw the pictures. We had some really talented kids that year! I created applique pieces out of their pictures. Everything was hand sewn. I did the applique, but the sashing and borders were done by several students in my class. I taught them how to sew and once they got the hang of it, they were off and running! I wanted this quilt to have an African theme. Gosh there are a lot of memories in this thing!

My Friday Block Party Block

With all the excitement of the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, I almost forgot to show you this week's block from the Friday Block Party. This one is called, "Dakota Gold". I like this block. It was easy and quick. I don't know if that is because it actually is easy and quick or if I am just getting better at doing these blocks. This is another 10-inch block, so I used batiks again. I now have a total of eight 10-inch blocks. Only a few more and I will have a small quilt!
Doing a block a week is not a lot of work. In fact, I look forward to Fridays in order to see what the next block will be. This was week 16. That means I have at least 16 blocks made altogether. Not bad, eh? I made some of the blocks twice, so I actually have more. And I don't feel as if I have been slaving over them. Doing only one block per week, and a different one at that, keeps everything interesting.

Happy Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day!

A day to make people aware of what is happening to our planet.

Are you doing something to make our world a better place?

We need to lesson our impact on our world.

Make every day an earth day!

Turn off the lights when not in use.

Say "No!" to plastic.

Recycle!

Take public transit.

Use water wisely.

Plant a tree.

I think I will make a new bag today, something that I can re-use.

If we each do a little, we can all do a lot!

A Cat Quilt

Hi Folks!

If you have come to my blog to view my favourite quilt for the Bloggers Quilt Festival - Welcome! Please scroll down to Friday's post.

If you have just come to look around - Welcome also! I have a small quilt to show you. I finished it a few weeks ago, but I couldn't post about it because it was a present for my uncle who lives in Holland. Since he has now received it, I can show it. It is just a small quilt, made especially for his special cat! I used a lot of cat prints and some colourful fabrics to make it interesting.

Oscar loves the quilt. Don't you my boy?

"Meow! Yeah! KEWL! Can I keep it?"

"No, sorry Oscar. This one is not for you."

"Ah, please. Pretty please with sardines on it? I just want to nap on it. I won't hurt it. Ahhh, this feels so good!"

I know it is difficult for your little cat brain to understand this Oscar, but not all the quilts I make are for you. This one is for Whitey. Here is a photo of Whitey on his new quilt. My uncle put it on a table in front of a window, where Whitey likes to sit. I think he likes it! My goodness! Now that I look at the photo of Whitey I realize he looks a lot like you Oscar! You guys could be brothers!

I also made a couple of place mats for my uncle so that he wouldn't feel left out.

My Favourite for the Bloggers Quilt Festival

Are you ready for the First Annual Bloggers Quilt Festival?

Well, come along.

This should be good!

Here is my entry. I may have already shown you this quilt in he past, but it is my all-time favourite! It is a wall hanging, 34 inches square that I did completely by hand - the applique, the sewing and the quilting. It was my first applique quilt. The course was offered at the now-closed Quilter's Garden.

Each block is 8 inches square. I spent many hours happily appliqueing away. Even when I look at it now I can't believe that I had so much energy and patience to do all of those small blocks! Here is a close-up of one of the blocks.


It would be interesting (for me at least) to count all the applique pieces to see how many there are in this quilt. Maybe I'll do that one day. I haven't hung it on my wall yet because I think I would like to do a bit more hand quilting on it. I was not very good at hand quilting at the time and did the absolute minimum.

Click on the Bloggers Quilt Festival button on my side bar to view the other quilters who are taking part in this.

A Virtual Quilt Show!

This is exciting! I just found out that there is going to be a Bloggers Quilt Show! There are quite a few bloggers out there who are going to participate. From April 17th until April 24th these bloggers will post their most favourite quilt. Oh, boy! I think there will be a lot of really nice quilts in this show! There are even some give-aways for those participating, but I am not really sure how they work. Maybe you can figure that out, but for me the reward will be to see all the lovely quilts!

I love quilt shows, but right now I am in no condition to go on long trips to find them. So this seems like a great idea. Come and join me! Click here to join. Or click on the icon on my sidebar. I am now going to look through my favourite quilts to see which one I am going to post!

Not Much to Show - Just Two Small Blocks

Boy, this weekend went by quickly! The weather was good - nice and sunny! We had Easter dinner at our house. I was ordered by my kids not to buy any chocolate this year, so I didn't. But it really felt as if something was missing!

The Friday Block Party was called "Bouncing Betty". I made the block in the bottom right corner first. Then Kathryn posted a quick way of doing the corner blocks which have the large triangles in them. I just had to try the block again! The top left block is a result of that method. It went together very quickly. I just wish I had made the block in more colours, kind of like the first one, to look more like coloured Easter eggs! The blocks are only 8 inches square. Right now they are orphans. I might make some other 8-in. blocks in the future to go with them. But for now this is all I could put together on this long, but very busy weekend!

Baby Bears

My first finish for April! Yippeeeee! I showed you a part (the little blue bear) of this quilt a few weeks ago. I finished quilting it this morning. There was not much left to do. I had already put the binding on.

It was started at a Bee Night held by our Quilting Guild many years ago. The lesson was half log cabin blocks. I was not happy with the layout of the blocks, so I changed them, laying them out with large white areas in order to leave room for some applique. The bears are my own design. I just drew them and then appliqued them using the freezer paper method. I call this quilt, Baby Bears.

Hetty's Star

Here is my version of this week's Friday Block Party Block. It is called, "Cathy's Star". I changed it a little in the bottom right hand corner, because I didn't think the yellow star points showed up enough. I put dark blue around them. It sort of changed the whole look of the block, but I still like it. I doubt, however, that I would ever make another one of these. What I might try (some day) is to put only one star within the large star - leaving that yellow one out all together. I think it would work, don't you?

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!