Goodnight Irene Update

Got one more row of my 'Goodnight Irene' sew along quilt done.  Just haven't sewn it to the first two rows. Terry is hosting this one. Go over there and look at some of the other quilts made in different colours.  So interesting to see how different they look.  Now back to the sewing room.  I have to cut some more 2.5 inch green squares so that I can keep on using them as leaders and enders for this project.

It Still Isn't Over!

Environment Canada warns us that our winter is not over yet.  Spring will be delayed.  Like I needed to hear that!  I took a photo of the front of my house yesterday.  I can't believe how much snow we still have and it is already the 5th of March.  

I want to see flowers!  I want my crocuses to bloom in front of my house and the snowdrops to show up in the backyard.  I wonder how long I will have to wait for that.  I need colour!  While surfing some blogs this morning, I came across one that showed some fabric flowers.  Can't remember where I saw them, but I saved the link to the tutorial and made a few of them.  I didn't have the right tools and I wasn't able to make any leaves, but I think they look pretty in a pot of jade.  You can find the tutorial on this blog.  It is on her sidebar.  They are called, Fleur de Marguerite.

Remember I promised you a photo of my hexie demonstration at our guild a couple of weeks ago. Well a kind member sent me this photo.  Those are all of my hexagon projects in the back.

My longarm quilter got the quilt. that I am putting into our quilt show. finished.  Gosh it looks great.
I would post a photo, but I think I will wait until after the show is over.  Now I just have to sew on the binding, make a hanging sleeve and a label.  But in order to do that, I will have to take another trip to the quilt shop to buy some fabric.  Ha!  Poor me.

Coming Up for Air

I've had a busy month, but now I can finally breathe again.  On the furry feline front I've had to deal with Mimi's passing and Felix's diabetes. He is doing well, but he really hates to have his blood tested.  Hopefully we will soon work out the right amount of insulin to keep his diabetes under control.  I hate to see him unhappy.

On the quilting front I finished my 'Garden of Hope' quilt and it is now at the LAQ.  It should be done by the third week of March.  That gives me time to bind it before our quilt show on the first weekend of April.  This quilt top almost didn't get finished.  I only had a couple of rows to still sew together.  Most of the blocks were done, so that was really no problem. I had to go out and buy some backing fabric because I didn't have enough.  That was no problem either.  I was even able to add a few fat quarters to my stash.  LOL

But pressing the finished top almost drove me to pull my hair out!  It was very wrinkled and because I made most of it while I was a patient at a rehab hospital some years ago, I did not have an iron to press each block as I finished it.  Many of the blocks needed some help from a spritz of water.  I guess I used too much water because some of the red fabrics bled into the lighter backgrounds.  I wanted to cry.  But then I decided all was not lost.  I took the damaged blocks out and remade them.  It took me a whole day to remake and sew them back into the quilt top.  I don't know why that happened because I always wash my fabrics with a colour catcher as soon as I get them home.  But maybe a lot of the fabrics in thisquilt were from before the time of colour catchers.  I plan to wash the blocks and see if I can restore them to their original beauty.  Then I will make them into blocks for a project (Soy Amado) that Little Island Quilting is doing for children in a home in Mexico City. I have several other orphan blocks that I can donate.

I was also asked to do a demonstration of English Paper Piecing at our Guild meeting on Monday evening. That meant finding finished quilts and partly finished quilts to help teach the technique.  It was a fantastic experience.  My fellow quilters were very interested and some of them went away with a pattern sheet to create their own hexies.  I took my camera so that I could take a photo, but I never got to use it.  There just wasn't enough time.  The demonstrations were done in a round robin fashion.  That only gave me about 12-15 minutes with each group.  I did see someone come over with a camera, so there probably will be a photo at some point.  I hope to be able to post it later.

100 more hexies to sew together

The weather here is still cold and white.  We have had the most 'severe cold weather warnings' of any year since these records have been kept - about 28 days since the beginning of the year.  Today's high temp is -10C, (14F) but it will feel like -20C, (-4F).  The snow has not melted either and there are still huge piles of it at the sides of our driveway.  It rained a bit this past weekend, creating large puddles everywhere that froze into huge patches of ice.  Hospitals in our area are reporting an average of 4 slip and fall accidents per hour.  So I am staying indoors and waiting patiently impatiently for spring to arrive.

Now I am off to work on some of my current projects, mostly charity quilts.  It is a pleasure to have some time to work on those. I also went to the library and got some books to read.  Life is good.

One (?) Flower Wednesday

OMG!  I didn't know I had such a hexagon problem!  I have been trying to locate all of my hexie projects in order to display them next Monday evening at our guild meeting.  That is when I will be demonstrating my hexies.  Since I will only have 10-12 minutes with each group, I thought I would find all of my hexie projects and use them as teaching tools.  Here are some of them...

These are a couple of flowers that I plan to add to my basket quilt in order to make it larger.  You can see it here.

 

This is my La Passion.  I need to get back to this one soon.

 

This is the one I am working on at the moment.  I will use these hexies to demonstrate the English Paper Piecing technique.

 

This is part of my "I Spy" quilt.  The hexies are much bigger than the ones I am used to.

 

I love this one!  The pieces are all based on hexagons.  Still have to sew some more and then put them all together.

 

These are based on hexies too.  I have not committed myself to a whole quilt of these yet.  But maybe they will become a pillow.

 

Well, those are the hexies I have found so far.  There are more in my sewing room, but so far I can't remember where I put them.  Can you believe that?  I think I really do have a problem!

 



 



Goodnight Irene Update

I had almost forgotten about my Goodnight Irene blocks for this month's quilt-along.  I had these blocks finished a couple of weeks ago, but when I went to iron them I noticed that I had sewn a few the wrong way, so I put it away and forgot about them.  But I will fix that soon.  I am so loving this pattern.  Lots of scraps are being used up, so that is a bonus.  And I am doing the squares as leaders and enders.

I am linking this to terrytreasures.blogspot.ca   You can find the link on her sidebar.

When Life Gives You Tribulations...

What do you do when the stresses of life are more than you can handle?  How do you deal with an illness that no one understands, but leaves you with the task of curing yourself.  How do you mourn a sweet kitty who was the love of your life?

About 5 years ago I was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disorder.  I was treated with steroids and put into a rehab facility to learn to walk again. 

It was summer time and I was stuck in a hospital.  I could not lift my legs off the bed.  I could not go up and down stairs.  I had trouble even walking using a walker.  I became very depressed. 

Then one day the hospital allowed me to go to Walmart in my wheelchair.  They picked me and a few other patients up in a wheelchair bus.  I found a quilting magazine that gave me hope. I decided to make it as a sort of recovery quilt.  My room became a quilting studio.  I had boxes of scraps of fabric everywhere.  My bedside table became an ironing board.  Late at night would find me working on that quilt.  I was not able to finish it before I left the hospital.  But a couple of weeks ago I showed it to my quilting friends at our Tuesday morning get together.  They convinced me to finish it and enter it into our upcoming quilt show.  

So I began working on it, just as Mimi was losing her battle with life.  It seems fitting that I should be working on this quilt through all my stressful times.  It has been my way of dealing with illness, both my own and Mimi's.  And now that I am almost finished I feel energized and rejuvenated.  I will have it long arm quilted and it will be ready to enter into our guild's quilt show.  I can't show you all of it right now, but this is what I am working on at the moment.  Lots of scraps and applique.

Mimi

July 1, 1997 - February 10, 2014

 

 

 

 

We lost our sweet kitten, Mimi, today due to age and heart problems.  She passed away peacefully as I held her in my arms.  Gone now but not forgotten.  She was the best furry feline we ever had.  My heart aches.  There is no way to describe the sadness and pain I feel right now.  But at least Mimi is no longer suffering.  She can breathe easily now as she romps and plays with her furry friends in the cat here-after.  Farewell, Mimi.  We will always love and miss you.

A Start and a Finish

Gung Hei Fat Choy!

First I want to wish everyone who is celebrating the Chinese New Year a wonderfully prosperous and healthy year of the horse!  That's the start I am talking about.

And now for the finish.  It's not a complete finish, but it is a flimsy finish.  I finally got the hexie flower basket quilt top done.  A couple of days ago I was approached by my guild to see if I would do a hexagon demonstration at our February Guild meeting.  I said that I would be delighted.  That gave me the incentive to finish this quilt top.  

Sorry for the 'crazy' photo.  I didn't have anyone here to hold it up for me.  But that's okay, I am doing a lot of things alone these days. Yesterday I took Felix to the vet so they could do some kind of diabetic curve on him.  They gave him a dose of insulin and then monitored his blood on an hourly basis to find his glycemic levels.  When I picked him up last night they taught me how to give him his insulin and how to check his blood.  This morning I gave him his insulin shot all by myself.  I was very nervous and didn't think I could do it, but he was no problem.  I offered him a couple of treats and he sat nice and still for me.  I don't think he ever even noticed that I put a needle in the scruff of his neck.

I am linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Hexie Friday today.

Happy Sewing!

Hexies on Wednesday

I wanted to show you what I have been doing with the bright and colourful hexies.  This top is coming along nicely.  Here is what I have done to date.

I would have posted this earlier, but I had to take my kitties to the vet this morning.  Yes, that's both of my cats! One has been diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy.  I will find out tomorrow or the next day what his treatment will be.

Mimi, on the other hand, is not doing well at all.  She has stopped eating and is having trouble breathing.  The vet showed me her X-ray.  She is retaining water in her lungs and around her heart.  I have diuretics to give her and a heart pill to see if we can make her well again.  I have to keep reminding myself that Mimi is not a kitten any longer.  She is almost 17 years old   But I am hoping for the best.

Economy Blocks

I've been seeing Economy Blocks all over the place on the internet lately.  We used to call them 'square in a square' blocks.  Who decided to change the name?  Just wondering.  I decided to make a few of these blocks this morning, sort of like 15 minutes of play.  I thought they might get my mojo going.  But so far I have done these three blocks and nothing else.  I just used the fabrics I had close at hand.  I really like them and I know I will make some more soon.  But now back to the Trip Around the World quilt.

Yesterday I gathered up my fabrics to complete that quilt.  It took me awhile, but I finally found all of the fabrics I needed and I managed to complete one more row of the quilt.  Now I have to make some strata so I can continue.  I don't enjoy making them.  Don't know why... they are super easy to do.

It's Friday already!  Can you believe that?  This month is going by quickly.

Have a Wonderful Weekend, everyone!

One Flower Wednesday

A while back I started to make a hexagon quilt using lots of scraps that people had given me. It became an overwhelming project that I tired of quickly.  But I still had all those hexies, all prepared and ready to go. Then yesterday, we started our Tuesday morning quilt group again. I needed some handwork to do while there.  So I picked up the prepped hexies and started to sew them together.  I love how this is coming together.  And it will have lots of donated fabrics from quilty friends and will give me something to work on on Tuesdays.  Bright fabrics for our cold, dreary winter.

A couple of weeks ago, Bonnie Hunter wrote about words for the new year.  She thought 'balance' was a good word.  I have to agree with her. 'Balance' has been my special word for a long time.  So how do I work this into my quilting projects?  Well, this is sort of a new quilt.  But I am balancing it out with my basket hexie quilt which is almost finished.  And I am also working on a couple of other new projects, but I am balancing those out with a UFO that I am about 75% finished.  It's a Trip Around the World pattern.  I hope to show it to you soon.

I have decided to link up with The Needle and Thread Network and HeLP for Hexie-aholics for this week.

Still Trying to Shed this Crazy Cold

Not much sewing got done this week.  Not much of anything actually, unless you consider sleeping as something.  I have been fighting this crazy cold all week.  And my cold is not the only cold I could do without.  The temperature has gone down each day to well below normal - even lower than it has been in 20 years or so.  A cold-weather advisory was issued for Toronto,  my daughter only had 8 kids show up for school, water mains broke and all kinds of things were cancelled.  But I missed it all.  I just slept through it all.. Mimi wasn't feeling well either.  She hates the cold and slept on the heating duct all week.  I invited her into my bed, but she didn't want to catch my cold.

I had promised myself that I would work on some UFOs, but that did not happen.  My mind was not sharp enough to figure out where I was and what I had to do next in each project I picked up.  So I just worked on a few blocks for Terry's 'Goodnight Irene Sew-Along'.  I managed to make 5 16-patch blocks and two of the cross blocks.

I also worked on Bonnie's 'Celtic Solstice'.  I really like the 54-40 or Fight blocks.

So that's it for the week.  Hope to get my Mojo going so I can do some more sewing next week.
The weather is turning warmer and we could get some above freezing temps for a couple of days.  That would be nice.  Right now everything is frozen.  I am looking forward to spring!

Have a Great Weekend, everybody!

Another Storm

We got another winter storm last night.  It snowed several inches and now it is raining.  I don't know what will happen if the temperature goes down.  I can't handle any more freezing rain storms and power outages. Five days of sitting in the cold and dark were enough for me.

I did finally get the super heroes quilts done for my DD's friend's kids.  I gave them to the boys on Christmas, but I hadn't attached the labels yet. When the power stayed out I didn't get a chance to do that. But now they are done and I can show them to you.

I have no idea what I will work on today.  Probably not a lot.  I seem to have caught a nasty cold and I feel like sleeping all day.  Wish I had something to read, but I haven't been to the library in weeks. Chicken soup will probably be on the menu today.

A Few Finishes Over the Last Few Days

Even though our power was out, I kept myself busy by knitting some hats and mitts.  I still have to sew a few of the mitts together, but I hope to have that done by this afternoon.   Can you see those turquoise mitts still on the needle?  I decided to knit both mitts at the same time.  I often get 'second mitt syndrome', which makes it hard to finish the second mitt once I have already finished the first one.  I can never remember how many stitches and how many rows and I spend a lot of time counting and trying to figure out what I did this first time around.  This way I don't have to do that.  I still have some more yarn and I may make another hat or two.

I also made some bags to wrap gifts.  I promised myself to make several each year so that I could stop buying and using paper bags and wrapping paper.  I thought it would make my Christmases 'greener'.

I also made a couple of rice bags to give as Christmas gifts.  These can be put into the microwave and heated up.  They are great for sore muscles or cold feet.  I plan to make some more of these.

And now I must get back to my cupcake baking.  My DS is going to be 40 next week.  YIKES!!!! How did that happen?  I guess I can no longer say I'm 39 years old.  My DD is hosting a dinner at her house tomorrow night for DS and his friends.  We have been invited because hubby is bringing the beef.

As I was trying to bake, take a shower and do a load of laundry, our power went out again.  I just held my breath and hoped for the best.  The power went back on an hour or so later. Thank goodness!  I guess the hydro folks are still working on our lines.  Now that the power is back on I am going to finish making the cupcakes and throw another load of laundry into my washing machine.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

The Beginning of a Brand New Year

This post has been edited in red.  
This is just a test.  I am still having trouble uploading collages to my blog.  It is 2014 now and hopefully I am a bit more computer savvy.  Here are some of the smaller projects I completed in 2013.

More to come if this works.

Oh, my goodness!  I think it worked!  Now if I can only remember what I did so that I can show you some more completed images.  Edit:  I think it will work now, so here is a collage of the quilts I worked on in 2013.  Some are completed and have been given away and some are tops that need to be quilted.  I need to send them out because it is getting too difficult for me to quilt them on my Bernina.  Some of the images are ongoing projects not yet finished, but I am working on them.

Hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve.  We stayed home.  I fell asleep early on in the evening, but I woke up to watch the ball drop in the Big Apple.  Then as I went to shut down my computer I found Bonnie Hunter's solution to her mystery quilt, Celtic Solstice.  So I had to go and try a block or two.  Not as exciting as I would have liked.  I'll show you after I have done a few more blocks.

Happy New Year!

I wanted to show you what I had done in 2013, but I am having trouble with my computer at the moment.
Hopefully I will be able to figure it out tomorrow when I have more time.

Wishing Everyone a Healthy and Happy New Year, 2014!

Five of the Coldest, Darkest Days of my Life

Last weekend we had a huge freezing rain storm.  It started raining before the weekend and continued to rain, very hard, on Saturday night. The ice built up on the branches of trees.  Large limbs broke off and made the neighbourhood look like a war zone.  My neighbour's gigantic elm tree started to break apart.

The branches fell into my backyard.  I was awake all night as I heard the huge branches fall, nearly missing my house.  In the morning my backyard was full of broken branches.

But the worst part was the electricity.  It went off at around 12:30am on Sunday morning.  From that time on we sat in the cold, darkness until late this afternoon.  Five days of some of the coldest winter weather and we had no electricity.  It was a traumatic experience!  I will tell you more about the storm later, but I just want to post this now so that I can wish everyone a very

Merry Christmas!  

We are expecting more snow and strong winds tonight, so more trees could knock more power lines down and my power may once again go out, but I am keeping my fingers crossed.  I don't like sitting in the cold and darkness.

I did finish a couple of stockings for two little boys.  They love super heroes and I have lots of super hero fabrics.  I did not have a pattern, but just made them up as I went along.  They are not quilted and are only meant to hold some gifts.  Luckily I finished them before the ice storm. The boys loved them!

\

Baby It's Cold Outside

It feels like -19C out there today with the windchill factored in.  The snow that fell on Sunday night is still around.  It just hasn't been warm enough for it to melt.  We are supposed to get more snow on the weekend. Nice for getting into the Christmas spirit, but this cold makes my fingers ache and then they don't want to perform tiny tasks.  But I have to get on with my sewing.  Still working on the kids quilts.  I am at the sandwiching stage now.  Should be quilting them shortly.  I'll show them to you when they are completed.

Every time I get a little bored with the kids quilts I work on my Celtic Solstice blocks.  So many little pieces and so little time.  I have about half of them done.  Not going to link up to Bonnie's blog this week. Maybe next week when I have more to show.

I was clearing off my tables in the solarium so that I would have room to sandwich the kids quilts, when I noticed my Christmas Cacti in bloom right now.  Don't the colours look like this week's blocks for Celtic Solstice?  I love those colours.  These are my favourite Christmas cacti.

I also have a gorgeous Amaryllis is bloom right now.  I bought it a few weeks ago.  This is the second bloom on it.  So Christmassy, don't you think?  I love it.

Now I think I will make myself a cup of tea and head back to my sewing room.  Maybe put on some sewing gloves and turn up the heat.  Can't complain about the cold too much!  This is Canada after all.

This and That

The world has lost a very inspirational and great leader.  Nelson Mandela passed away yesterday at the age of 95, after battling a lung infection for many months.  Mandela fought against Apartheid in South Africa and spent 27 years of his life in prison because of it.  But he rose above it all and became South Africa's first black president in 1994.  He was a charismatic activist who won the world's admiration for his contributions to racial equality.  In 1998 he received the Order of Canada, the first foreign leader to do so.  He will be sadly missed.

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

                                                                                                 Nelson Mandela

He also said, "It always seems impossible until it's done".  And those are the words I am living by today and for the rest of this weekend.  Did you see Bonnie Hunter's next clue in her mystery quilt?  Those are tiny pieces!  But I have already make 5 of them, so that means I have 95 left.  

Doable, but not in the next couple of days.  Too many other projects to finish up.  I must get back to the super heroes quilts.  See you next week.

Have a terrific weekend!

Christmas Presents and a Celtic Solstice Mystery

I have been told that I don't post often enough.  So I apologize, but I have been busy.  Very busy.  But my followers are waiting, so here are some photos of my latest projects.  I am working on a couple of kids quilts.  Both of them will be Super Heroes - one a batman and the other a combination of super heroes. Here is the first one so far.

I still have to put a couple of borders on it.  Maybe a narrow yellow and then a wider one of the colourful fabric.  Not too much work.  I hope to get it done later today.

The next one is still in the planning stage.  I was told to make it similar to the first one because they will go to a couple of brothers who like to fight over things.  Well, there will be no fighting over my quilts!  And that's that!  This one will have a couple more fabrics in it.  Here is what I have so far.

Still a long way to go.  But these little quilts are easy, so I hope I will be done by the weekend.

I also succumbed to Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery quilt.  (click on the Celtic Solstice Mystery tab above her posts)  I was just going to download her instructions and start it in the new year.  But I couldn't help myself.  So I made some of the first blocks.  I am paper piecing them because I don't have the right rulers.  I like paper piecing, so it is not a problem.

I have about half of them completed.  For now I will put them aside and continue with the Christmas gifts. Bonnie will be posting her next clue on Friday.  I'll just have to wait and see what those blocks look like. Who knows, I may have to do some in between the Super Heroes.  

It is wet and ark today.  A good day to stay inside and sew.  Maybe then I will be able to post a little more frequently.  Have a nice Wednesday.