A Block and a Sleeping Mimi

I finished the block for this week's Friday Block Party. It's called 'Checkerblock Star' and it is a 9inch block. Lots of little pieces, but it went together without any trouble. Just click on the Friday Block Party icon and it will take you to the block.

And here is Mimi, sound asleep on the new mystery quilt cat quilt. I think she likes it.

This is going to be a long post. I have a lot to show you.

First of all, let me welcome you to SkyWatch Friday. I took this photo yesterday. It was 17C and the sun was shining - heavenly weather for the middle of March!

This is the elm tree in my neighbour's yard. It is growing almost right on the property line, so I consider it mine too. I don't know if you can see her, but there is a squirrel sunning herself on the horizontal branch in the middle of the photo. This is my favourite little squirrel. She has no tail (I have no idea how she lost it) and the reason I am assuming that it is a female is because I saw some of their love-making action over the past few days. She is also padding the nest with bits of paper, leaves and anything else she can find that is soft and warm.

I know there is not a heck of a lot of sky in my photo, but blue sky is nice too! Especially at this time of year. If you want to see more SkyWatch photos, go here.

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Now onto some quilty news. I have made a few blocks. This first one is part of the Jelly Roll quilt-along. I wasn't going to take part in this semi-weekly block quilt-along, but I just couldn't help myself. I really liked this one. It was quick and easy. I used some duck fabric in the centre. This fabric always makes me smile. It did not make the cut for the Rubber Duckie, so I thought I would use it in this block.

I also finished the block for this week's Friday Block Party. It is called 'Cain and Abel'. I love this block! I can see myself making more of these. It is a 10in. block. I used batiks. It went together quick and easy! The next block is also from the Friday Block Party. It was the block for week 10. It's called 'Eight Hands Round' and is supposed to be a 12in. block. I didn't like this block from the start. I made the middle part, which as far as I'm concerned, is a block in itself. It is supposed to have more HST around the outside, but after I had cut and sewn them, I realized they would not finish at the right size. So I have left it as a UFO. I might use the HST sometime in the future, but this block is going to remain a 6in. block forever! You can see both of these blocks if you go to the Friday Block Party icon on my sidebar.

Perhaps this is not a good block to show you when I want to inspire others to join our Friday Block Party. This Party was started over a year ago. Many people have made blocks over that time. Now it seems that we need some more members. Let me know if you want to join. You are under no obligation to make any block - just the ones you want to. I will send you an invitation to join our group so that you can post your finished blocks. All I need is your email address. Come join our Party. It is fun and inspirational to see what others do with each week's block.

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And now something that I should have done a long time ago. This cute little tea towel was sent to me by Barb of Bejeweled Quilts. I got it a few weeks ago, when my computer was giving me problems. It turned out it was the cable company that supplies my internet that caused the trouble and not my computer. Whew! I have had enough computer problems for a long time! Thank you so much Barb! I love it.

Barb also sent me two fat quarters of a wonderful red Samoan fabric. It even has Samoa printed on it! I am going to save this for the Dresden Plate quilt that I am planning to make sometime in the future. Thank you Barb. I apologize for not having said that sooner.

My Name is Oscar

"Meow! Hi blog friends. My name is Oscar and I want to thank all of you for saving my life yesterday! Can you believe it? My owner mom was trying to poison me! If I had eaten any of those raisins which she forced on me, I'd be a goner now. "
"Gosh! people can be so dumb! Don't you agree? Just because I sniff at something doesn't mean I want to eat it. I mean, I am always sniffing my.......oh, oh."

"Oscar, what are you doing?"

"Nothing. Sorry, got to go my friends, Thanks again. I'm meowing off."

Mysteries

I feel as if I am surrounded by mystery today! First off I want to show you the 'Mystery Doll (or preemie) Quilt'. We made these at our last Bee Night. We were told how big to cut the strips of fabric beforehand. Then at Bee Night we were told how to put the strips together, re-cut them and sew again. It took less than 2 hours to sew this top. I quilted it (in the ditch) and put the binding on at home. It measures about 22in. by 22in. I think mine will become a cat quilt. (No mystery there!) The pattern came off the web. You can find it here.

The next mystery is my cat. Why does he always want to share my toast - even raisin toast?

"Go away you silly cat. That's my breakfast. You already had yours. "

"Hmmmm, meow, but it smells so good. Can I just have a little piece. Please, pretty please. Meow!"

"Okay, but will you go away then?"

Another mystery. My other Christmas cactus. I know, it looks just like the first one, but it isn't. This one was sitting on a shelf by the window. When I went to water it today, I noticed a lot of pink on the back. I turned it and.... look at all those flowers! It's a mystery to me how these things keep on blooming over and over again this year.
And here is the mysterious Oscar, napping. He finally did go away and left me to eat my breakfast in peace. I think he sleeps with his eyes open. I can never tell if he has them open or closed.

And lastly, this is called 'feeling like spring' or 'spring fever' and it's really no mystery. All us gardeners get it! Especially if the sun is shining as it is today. I decided to re-plant some of my succulents. It is too early to plant anything outside, but I can 'garden' indoors in the meantime. And that's no mystery!

Edit: I just put a new post on my Art of Fibre blog. You can see it by clicking on the peaches on my sidebar or just go here.

I'm on a Roll!

The baby shower was yesterday, so I can show you the 'Rubber Duckie' quilt now. I finished it on Saturday - just in the nick of time. I think it came out very cute. The new Mom and Dad loved it! I quilted in the ditch and stippled (free-motion quilted) around the ducks. It measures about 41inches by 49inches.

Because it was only about 40 inches wide I figured a piece of fabric the length of the quilt top should be enough for a backing. I thought fabric was around 43-44 inches wide. But I guess like everything else, they are making it smaller. My backing fabric was exactly 40 inches wide from selvage to selvage. It just wasn't enough to cover the back of this quilt. So I decided to piece it. I had made an extra row of duckie blocks for the front, but decided that it would make the quilt too long. So I used those blocks on the back, piecing an inch of the backing fabric between each one. I really like the backing material. It has little ducks on it, but after seeing it on the back of the quilt, I felt that it was kind of boring, so I am really glad I did a bit of 'back art' to give it some interest.

I also crocheted the upcoming baby a baby afghan. It is done in the same 'I love scraps' pattern that I used to make the one for my mother (you can see it here) a few weeks ago - the one she wanted to give away to the new Mom and Dad. I wanted her to keep the one I had made for her and offered to make a new one for the baby. She wasn't able to come to the shower, but this way she was there in spirit.

And can you believe it? My cactus is still flowering! See that little pink flower in front. And it has a few more buds on it too.

SkyWatch Friday and a Party Block

All week I thought I had time to quilt since we were supposed to get rain. But the skies remained clear and I just couldn't stay in my sewing room and sew. I had to get out. But yesterday the sky darkened and we got a tiny shower for about 3 minutes! Here it is.

Then it started to clear up. No more rain for us.

If you would like to see more sky photos from around the world, go here.

This morning I decided that I had to do some sewing or I would not get all of my projects finished. So it is my delight to present the block for Friday's Block Party, week 9, Joseph's Delight! It's a 12-inch block. I am only one week behind now. So back I go to my sewing machine, but first a little 'walk-about' in my back yard. Got to see if there are signs of spring out there!

Identity Crisis?

I am sure many or all of you are familiar with the Schnibbles quilt that Schnibbles members made last month. When I saw it I was reminded of the bowtie block that our Guild made at a Bee Night many years ago. The focus of that evening was to learn how to machine sew bowtie blocks in a simple manner. I decided to make some more of those bowtie blocks from memory. I cut a bunch of red fabrics into 2 1/2 inch and 1 1/2inch units and sewed them into bowties. They looked okay, but I didn't think that I would have enough red fabrics to finish the quilt. So I looked for the bowtie blocks I had made at Bee Night so many years ago. And I found them!! (Much to my surprise!) They were much larger. I realized that I had originally cut the fabric into 4 1/2inches square units. I had only sewn a couple of them together and I had enough of the white background fabric, so I cut all the 'old' units down to 2 1/2in. squares and sewed the whole thing together in a similar fashion to the Schnibbles quilt. Then I added a red inner border and a pieced outer border of 3 1/2inch 'piano keys'. It measures 32" X 32".

I finished it this morning and it wasn't even on my March list! The only problem is, is this now a Schnibbles or a Bowtie quilt? My guess is it's a Bowtie, since every time I look at it I think of bow ties.

Sometimes It's Good Just to Walk Away for Awhile

The weather has been fantastic the past few days. We have actually had highs of 15C with completely blue skies! I even went out this afternoon and did some gardening. Well, not real gardening. I just cut down some of last year's Black-Eyed Susans. I had left them for the seed pods. The chickadees love those things. But now all that dead growth is competing with my crocuses. I was only able to spend about an hour out there before I couldn't stand up any more. It's not easy to garden from a wheelchair, but if I spend a few minutes at a time I think I will be able to make the garden look really nice this year.

I have also spent a lot of time driving my scooter to the mall. This weather has made me feel free!! The only thing that has suffered is my quilting. I am still working on the 'Rubber Duckie' quilt. It was supposed to measure 40" X 40", but I decided I wanted it to be a bit longer, so I made two more rows of duckies. But then it seemed to long, so I only used one of the rows to complete the top. I wanted to sandwich and quilt it yesterday, but when I checked my backing fabric, I realized that it was only 40inch wide. Since when are they making this stuff so narrow? I thought I would have lots, but the top is 40 inches wide, the backing didn't fit. Then I spread the batting out and discovered that I didn't have enough of that either. I pieced a small piece into one corner and I think it will be okay. Then I thought about the binding. I didn't have a piece of fabric large enough to cut the binding from, so I cut up a lot of strips from the fabric I used in the top and sewed it together. By then I was tired and didn't want to think about the backing that needed to be sewn. I just left everything in a big pile on my cutting table and walked away.

But sometimes that's the best thing to do. Just walk away for awhile until inspiration strikes once more. When I got up this morning, Oscar was sleeping soundly on the pile on my cutting table. He seemed kind of miffed that I woke him up to take this photo.

Hey Oscar, what did you do with the head of that duckie?

Oscar had obviously given his complete approval to the Rubber Duckie quilt. I was once again inspired! So I set to work on piecing the backing. I used the five blocks that were left over from the front of the quilt. I pieced them the long way and sewed them into the backing. Now it is big enough! Thanks Oscar, for believing in me!

Mimi decided to give it her nod of approval too.

How can I go wrong with all these furry little helpers?

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?

International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day! A day to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women, past, present and future. This year's theme is 'Equal rights, equal opportunities. Progress for all'.

We have come along way, but there is still far to go.

March - A Busy Month!

I have all kinds of things lined up for the month of March! - A UFO to finish - A baby quilt for a new member of our family - A quilt for the challenge at our Guild - And some more blocks that I just can't resist making.

First let me show you the beginnings of the baby quilt. I am calling it 'Rubber Duckie'. Every time I work on this one I can hear Ernie from Sesame Street singing the rubber duckie song. Do you remember it? "Rubber Duckie, you're the one, You make bathtime lots of fun....." I am going to machine applique this one. I have all the duckies cut out and ironed onto the backings. I will machine them tomorrow. I have also finished 6 of the 13 alternate blocks. They will all be in different shades of blue. Got to have this one done by the 14th of this month!

Then there is my UFO to finish for this month. The number 2 was pulled by Patchwork Penguin and that number corresponds with my 'Bear Quilt'. I don't know where this pattern came from. All I know is that I have all the pieces cut and most of the bears are done. I just have to do some embroidery for the eyes and nose. I don't know what caused me to put this one away without finishing it. Oh, well, at least I found it with all its fabric - just missing the pattern, but that is not unusual for me.

I can't show you the challenge quilt because it is a secret. I still have to quilt it and put binding on it. That will happen soon, I hope!

I have been seeing the following block on many blogs this month. Apparently it's a weekly sew-along. I did not join it because I figured I already had too much to do this month. I don't have the pattern for this block either, but I saw it on several blogs and I just made it the way I thought it should be. It's a 12-inch block. I don't think I am going to do one every week, but if any of them look interesting, I think I'll make it. I used kids fabrics (horses in this case). This will probably become a small quilt or wall hanging.

There are several other things that have caught my fancy this month. I hope to get them done so I can show them to you. Better get back to my sewing machine if I want to do all that. Later.......

Chicken Soup - A Finish for February

I finished my UFO for the month of February - on Sunday - just in time! I would have shown it to you earlier, but I have not been able to post anything or send and receive emails for the past few days. Sometimes my computer works for a few minutes and then it shuts down. It keeps telling me that I have to download a program for my cable service. But I don't have one. The cable guy did all that when he installed the cable. I think my computer just likes to make life difficult for me. It is working at the moment and I am taking full advantage of that!So, drum roll please! Presenting for you viewing pleasure, "Chicken Soup"! A Finish! I used buttons for eyes, since this will be a wall hanging. It measures 46" x 40". Soooooo glad to get this one done. It's been in my UFO bin for many years. I had actually hand appliqued the whole thing. And had even hand sewn the sashing and borders. I guess it dates back to pre-sewing machine days. I machine quilted it though, to get it done.

Some Projects and a SkyWatch Friday Post

I went up to Minden Ontario to visit my mother last weekend. She is in a nursing home up there. My brother did the driving. It was a very beautiful day. Lots of sunshine and moderate temperatures. On the way home the sun was setting. I took a photo, from the car, and am I ever glad I did. We haven't seen the sun all week. If you would like to see more SkyWatch photos from around the world, click here.

On the Crochet Front.....I made this sweater for my Mom. It's Kim Guzman's Jiffy Cardigan. This one is real easy and quick. I think she liked it.

I also gave my Mom the lap blanket I had crocheted last week. She liked that too, but she wanted to give it to my sister's son for the upcoming birth of his new baby. That will be another great grandchild for her! I was surprised that she remembered about this new addition to our family. So I told her to keep her blanket and I promised to make another baby blanket using the same stitch that she could give to the baby. It will look similar to this one, but I will have to use some different colours because I ran out of most of these. Mimi just couldn't resist taking a nap on it before I bundled it up and took it up north with me.

Midnight Moths at Midnight

Here is this week's Block Party block. It's called 'Midnight Moths'. I made it last night around midnight - fitting, don't you agree? It's a 9-inch block. I used some kids fabric since most of my 9-inch blocks contain some fun fabrics. I now have 12 9-inch blocks. I think it may be time to make a quilt out of them.

I really like this block. It was not as difficult as I had first thought. And, it brought back some really great memories. A few years ago my DD and I went to Cuba for a holiday. We had a fantastic vacation - beautiful beaches, wonderful hills to climb, snorkeling, swimming, horseback riding, boating, nightly dancing and daily sitting around by the pool. But when we arrived at the airport for our trip back home, we were told that there was something wrong with the door latch on the plane. Since non of us relished the thought of being sucked out of the plane at 35,000 feet, we had to wait for another plane to take us home. We spent the night in the airport. I use the term 'in' loosely since it was a very tiny airport and most of it was outdoors, including the waiting area. There was a bit of an awning, but it wasn't big enough for everyone. So my DD and I sat out in the open, watching the moths encircle the gigantic lamps that lit up the tarmac. Those moths were huge! This block brought a smile to my face as I remembered that trip. Although it wasn't much fun spending the night in the open, we made the best of things, as we always do, and enjoyed the spectacular moth show!

I don't think I showed you last week's Block Party block. It's called 'Goshen Star'. It's a 10-inch block.

Crazy Birds

I have been busy paper piecing my row for the Round Robin that Barb has organized. I have finally decided on my theme. It will be 'Seascapes'. I am still debating how wide to make the starting row. The length of this row will dictate every other row in the quilt. I don't want it to be too wide because I think I will make a wall hanging when all the rows are done. I was thinking that 40 inches would be a good width. But that makes it difficult for others who might want to do a 9 or 12 inch block. I am still thinking. Got any ideas?

An Olympic Finish!

I have been working on this afghan for the past couple of weeks. It's lap sized, designed for someone in a wheelchair. I got the pattern from Talking Crochet. (Sorry I can't get the link to work) It's called 'I love Scraps'. I used a large (very large) ball of off-white yarn and a lot of scraps from my scrap bag. It was nice to be able to use up a lot of them. The coloured portions look like hearts, so it was fitting that I finished it last night, on Valentine's Day, while watching the Olympics. I worked an edge all the way around it. As I was doing that, Alexandre Bilodeau won the first gold medal in an Olympic event on Canadian soil, or should I say 'snow', in Moguls. So even though the edge is done in off-white, I am calling it the 'golden edge', not only because Bilodeau won a gold for Canada, but also because I was so proud of him and the love he showed for his older brother, Frederic, who has Cerebral Palsy.

My Christmas Cactus is now a officially a Valentine's Day Cactus! It is still blooming. I wonder if it will last until Easter.

Catching Up

It's been a long week. The infection in my jaw is getting better. But I have spent the past week talking without moving my lips or opening my mouth! I could qualify as a ventriloquist now! A ventriloquist who looks like a chipmunk. LOL The swelling is going down slowly too. As is the pain, Thank goodness!

Not much sewing has been going on, but I have worked a bit each day on the challenge our Guild gave us. We were given three fat quarters of fabric - a green, an orange and a rainbow coloured fabric. The challenge was to make a 9-patch quilt using those fabrics. There were a lot of other rules too, but I don't remember them right now. I don't even know if I am allowed to show you this. It's supposed to be a secret I think. But what the heck! Just so you don't think I was just sitting around, reading and taking naps all week, (which I was, by the way) I thought I'd show you a bit of it. I still have to sandwich and quilt it, but it does not have to be done until the end of March.

The thing that does have to get done soon is my row in the Round Robin that Barb has organized. She already has hers done and I haven't even started! I decided on the theme of Seaside or Seashore. When I saw these crazy birds I just knew I had to make a row of them. So I started this afternoon. This one took me one hour! It's only about 6inch wide, so I have a lot more to do. This is just my prototype. I plan to do a bit of re-designing to make it easier. There is also a grass block and an egg block in this pattern. I got it off the internet at Quilt Maker.

Feeling (and Looking) Like a Chipmunk!

I have never had a lot of confidence in doctors or dentists. I know they studied for years and know a whole lot more than I do, but I think I know my own body better than anyone. I'm talking about the toothache I had a couple of weeks ago. My dentist sent me to an endodontist for a root canal. These guys are supposed to specialize in diseases of the root, dental pulp and areas surrounding the teeth. So off I went.

This guy drilled into my tooth and then sent me home to let the infection drain. Last Friday I had the rest of the root canal procedure done. Here is a little word of advice for anyone wanting to hear it. 'Never have root canal work done on Friday.' By the time the freezing had gone out of my tooth it was hurting more than when it was abscessed. And by the time I woke up on Sunday morning I looked like a chipmunk. The left side of my face was totally swollen. The pain was excruciating! And the endodontist, who prides himself on his website as being available 24 hours a day after root canal work, was no where to be found. The phone number for emergency calls did not work.

I was able to get in touch with him on Monday, but he did not want to see me. His receptionist told me that he would contact my pharmacy for some antibiotics. I guess these are the same antibiotics that I asked him for last week - the ones he told me wouldn't be of any help. He was supposed to call me back, but he never called me as promised, and the only way I knew that my prescription had been phoned into the drug store was because the pharmacist called me to ask what the dentist's name was.

My husband picked up the antibiotics and I started to take them immediately. But my face is still swollen and now my whole jaw is aching. Every tooth hurts! I look like a chipmunk! I wonder how long it will take before the swelling goes down and the pain goes away.

Sorry for complaining again! I seem to be doing that a lot lately! Not much sewing is getting done at the moment and I have a lot of things on my list that I should be working on. Oh, dear! I feel a nap coming on. Move over Mimi! It must be the painkillers at work. Hope to be back soon!

Feeling Sorry for Myself

I guess I'm just feeling sorry for myself right now. I had root canal work done this morning. When I got home I didn't feel too bad and decided to make up this week's Friday Block Party block. I must have been totally drugged when I put the colours together.
Now that I look at the finished block the colours are clashing so badly that I am beginning to feel sick. Combined with the clashes of pain in my jaw, I think I need to take a nap. Oh..... this block is called 'Sickle Variation'. I think I'll call mine 'Sickly Variation'. It is an 8inch block.

Oscar has been lounging in his cat bed all afternoon as I was sewing the block together. Here he is licking his tail. What kind of silly behaviour is this?

Groundhog Day!

Well, it's official - six more weeks of winter. Apparently every groundhog in the country saw his shadow this morning! Too bad we don't have a Scarborough Scarlet or something because it's dark and grey outside. No sunshine here today - therefore, no shadows! Instant spring! Wouldn't that be nice?

What do you think Mimi?

"Meow! You guys really base your weather forecasts on a rodent? That's just plain dumb! Meow!"

Yeah, I guess you're right Mimi.

But if we are going to have six more weeks of winter, I am going to stay inside and sew. This month's UFO to finish is number 7. That's 'Chicken Soup' on my list. Here is a sneak preview.I still have some embroidery to do and then sandwich and quilt it. I hope I have the energy to finish it. When I looked at it closely yesterday, I noticed that I did this one all by hand - the applique, the sashing and even the borders. I have no idea when I started this one - perhaps 8 or 10 years ago! So much work has gone into this one. This really should be the month to finish it. But I am feeling somewhat guilty because I started a quilt with a friend in Japan. I have not had the energy to do anything on it for a long time. Sorry K! I think I will move our Yokohama/Toronto quilt to number 7 and move Chicken Soup to 7a.

The only thing I seem to be able to sew at the moment are these strip blocks. This is a warning! These things are highly addictive! I have made 61 of them so far. These are the four I made this morning. I think I will limit myself to four a day. I want to have 80 in total. That would make a quilt about 48in. by 60in. - big enough for a lap quilt. But who knows! I might not be able to stop!

I promised to take a photo of my stained glass lamp that I posted a couple of days ago. So here it is - taken yesterday when the sky was blue. The dark glass I used for the leaves is actually a translucent glass. I think it was antique glass. I love it because it looks dark, but when the light is on, it shines through and makes it appear light - a pretty aqua colour.And here is another lamp that I made. It has orchids all around it. This was the first lamp I ever made and I think it is still my favourite!

A Finish!

I joined the UFO challenge that Nancy from the Patchwork Penguin is hosting. I had wanted to finish this quilt before the end of last year, but things just didn't work out. So here it is - the end of January and I am finally finished my Christmas Table Cover/Wallhanging. (It's having a bit of an identity crisis since I am not sure what I will do with it - wall or table - but at least it's finished.) It's about 4feet square. I found the pattern in a Fons and Porter magazine.

I didn't have enough of a Christmas fabric for the back and because I had originally thought of hanging it on the wall, I decided to use a light blue fabric that I didn't particularly like. But there was not enough of that fabric either so I brought out some old blocks I had made a long time ago. I pieced them together and put them into the back. Voila! Back art!


But perhaps the most exciting thing that I have finished this month is the swag lamp that I made several years ago. It is hanging above my work table in the solarium, thanks to my DH! Now I have light and I can even cut fabric at night. I have strict orders not to become a night hawk though! But I just love to stay up and quilt when the house is quiet. Maybe I can sneak a bit of time in.


This lamp was done in stained glass using the copper foil method. I made it several years ago, but never got the electrical stuff to wire it. On a recent trip to the Home Depot, I decided it was time to hang this thing before it got knocked off my workbench! I apologize about the photo. It doesn't show the colour because it was already starting to get dark when I took it. The colours are really soft and pretty. I will try to get a better photo tomorrow.