caledonia quilter

Pretty Lap Quilt & More Kindnesses

2012-01-31T14:18:00.000-05:00

Bargello quilt and incarceration update

2012-01-26T17:10:00.004-05:00

This is an incredible Bargello quilt. The pics don't do it justice, unfortunately.

I am amazed at how the maker chose the fabrics. There is stuff in there I would never have included, but the quilt is absolutely gorgeous. Maybe I need to take some art classes.

Yesterday was another lovely afternoon at the fracture clinic. My cast was removed, arm xrayed, TWO friggin' doctors come in and start poking around the breaks to see what hurts (assholes!!) then I was re-casted. I need to stay in the cast for two weeks but the clinic is already fully booked so they can't release my arm until Feb. 14th.

The good part about the new cast is extra maneuverability in my hand. I CAN HOLD A ROTARY CUTTER.

On the personal improvement front, I'm up to the page 270's in my Seven Habits book.

As far as weight loss goes,... hmm. It seems that I am not able to lose two pounds in one week unless I cut off one foot. Or I could cut off the arm, which is mostly useless right now anyways. I've been VERY GOOD about my daily hour of exercise, except for yesterday. And today is still open for failure, but I plan to do at least half an hour. Lunches this week have been salad, gussied up with feta cheese, cranberries and pecans, and dressed with my niece's very healthy dressing recipe.

On the personal amusement front, I've delved into PINTEREST. It's a pinboard, so rather than bookmarking items on your computer, you can 'pin' them on to your boards. Here is a link to my board, which may give you a better idea. The pin is a photo of 'whatever', then you click on the photo to take you to the relevant webpage. If your bookmarks are anything like mine it can take 10 minutes to scroll through them all. I find the pins easier because they are much more visual.

Tonight there is a Kinsmen meeting here at the house. Normally I would call a friend and make myself scarce, but the weather has turned to shit (rain/ice pellets). So, I will stay home, lock myself in the living room behind the french doors, and cuddle up to the big-ass tv to watch a few episodes of Mad Men.

OK - off to hit the exercise bike.

Citrus in January, blessings from friends, and fitness commitment

2012-01-22T17:31:00.000-05:00

This was a job from October. I loved the colour then, but I REALLY love the colour now that it's January.

Much of the quilting was s.i.d., but I love the challenge of quilting up the negative space without adversely affecting the block design.

The border was outline quilted to emphasize the motifs.

Mmm - lovin' the side-lit shadow effect.

And of course, my favorite part - the back.

I am currently limited to pantograph quilting until I get this friggin' cast off, so you may see a few more of last year's quilts while I'm healing.

NEW MILESTONES

doing up my bra without (very lengthy) assistance
risky, but I have applied mascara twice now
pinning quilts on the frame all by myself
zipping up my winter coat - painful to watch for bystanders, but it gives me a feeling of independence
very excited the morning I made myself scrambled eggs AND buttered toast. The dirty frying pan, thankfully, was not my problem.

THIS WEEK'S BLESSINGS
This is the wonderful set of mitts & hat made for me by my friend Sue. The mitt for the right hand is woefully lonely, as it has to stay at home for another three weeks.

Last night we had dinner at a friend's house, and I was given this super thoughtful Get Well basket. How great - it includes FOOD and ALCOHOL - two of my very favorite things. And it will give dh a welcome break from my incessant demands for nutritious food.

Now - a lament about my fitness/weight loss commitment. I stuck to the daily hour of exercise, mostly. The first two days I was 10 minutes shy of an hour, and Thursday I was supposed to be bowling (hmm, yes, with a broken arm in a cast) with the Red Hats. But a winter storm blew in while we were enjoying our lunch at the local restaurant, so we cancelled bowling, and I never did my bike workout. The remaining four days I stuck with the program and did a full hour, split between the exercise bike and walking. So this morning I get on the scale to enjoy the number which SHOULD be two pounds less than last week. Um, hello... wadda ya mean two pounds more? Huh? Impossible. I got off the scale (which I tried three times, getting the same result each time) and exfoliated my heels. Somehow that added another half pound. WTF? I am totally blaming this on last nights Chinese food at Martina's house and assuming that it is all still in my digestive system. I will try that damned scale again tomorrow and hope for a better result.

THINK ABOUT YOUR FOOD CANADA

2012-01-20T08:20:00.000-05:00

scrappy quilt love & self improvement

2012-01-15T19:49:00.000-05:00

i love working on scrappy quilts. little bursts of joy when some of the wonderful prints catch my eye.

day 18 of my broken arm i read the seven habits book during morning bath time. i'm up to page 121 today. currently, i am supposed to be paying strict attention to things for 30 days, to determine what is within my control, and what is not, and how i react to both situations. the lesson, and hopefully a new habit, will be to take a chill pill if i have no control over something. this is such a sensible thing that a lot of us would do well to remember.

the bathroom scale is something i do have some control over. like, i could lean on the bathroom counter to disappear a few pounds... Today dh and i have committed to ONE HOUR OF EXERCISE, DAILY for the next week. our goals are to drop two pounds (me) and three pounds (him) by next sunday. in the past 18 days i have managed to add 2.5 lbs to my frame with inactivity, chocolates, and wine (not necessarily in that order). if we meet our targets i hope we'll repeat the commitment next week. i would, ideally, like to lose 20 pounds to get back to my weight of 10 years ago. today's exercise target is already a distant memory - my butt was on the bike for 40 minutes (2 x 20 minute sessions) and i think i'm done for the day. my arm is feeling very cranky, since i quilted a quilt and pinned another one on the frame. hmm - maybe i'll try another 10 minutes.

appendages & quilt of valour & stash report

2012-01-13T16:35:00.000-05:00

It seems I neglected to post a pic of my pretty pink cast. It is very light, made with a fibreglass (?) tape. The stuff comes prepasted, like wallpaper. The doc soaks the roll in water for a couple of minutes, then wraps away. It is still water soluble though, and can't go for a shower. I had my choice of several colours, which is apparently the new norm.

This may look like my toes, but it is actually one of the many kindnesses I have received since my, um, incident. Once a month I go to the Personal Care Clinic for ~~torture~~ electrolysis on my steel wool chin hairs. The clinic also offers foot care, and is where I brought mom when she was still living on her own. When I explained to Laurie (the owner), about dh's aversion to trimming my nails, she gave me the full treatment on the house.

And, I'm typing this post on a laptop my nephew loaned me for the duration of my incarceration, which he kindly loaded up with wifi, google, and facebook. On Wednesday, Reverend Ann chauffeured me to guild, even though she is currently battling her own health issues. On Tuesday, Sue took me on a field trip to Cherished Pieces in Tillsonberg. The Kinsmen Club brought a huge bunch of carnations over to cheer me up. Two gals from the guild took Quilts of Valour home for binding, since I can't do that part. And I already showed you the gift basket from my longarm buddies. And I would be remiss if I didn't thank dh for the day in, day out, all-day-long stuff he's been taking care of. (although, right now i would KILL for a washed kitchen floor. sheesh, some women are never satisfied.)

This is the backing for today's Quilt of Valour. Um hellooo.... pins???

And, here we have the same issue with the quilt top. To put a POSITIVE spin on this, I turned on the sewing machine and fixed these all by myself. Yay me.

It looks to me like this quiltmaker's iron went on vacation along with the pins. oh, bad helen-mary, bad.

Well, I've done my good deed for the next few months, now that I've quilted three of these QOVs. However, if you've got a top and backing ready that you are willing to donate to a wounded military serviceman/woman, bring it on over. The quilting is my donation to the cause.

STASH REPORT Dec. 31/11

used this month   15.6 m
used ytd     94.75
added this month   3.7
added ytd 47.7
net 2011 yay - net fabric loss (-47.05 m)

scrappy quilt and a gift basket

2012-01-07T10:49:00.000-05:00

hey - we did it. this is a scrappy UFO quilt of mine, pieced by thelma.

dh pinned it on for me. not to make fun of his chubby man-hands, but it was pretty amusing. he did not appreciate me laughing when he stabbed himself and started dancing around in pain. the new computer drive for my quilting machine is officially a Godsend. i can thread the needle left handed, although loading and changing the bobbin one handed is a challenge. i will improve as the discomfort in my fingers improves.

a few of my longarm friends have taken pity on me. deb came for a visit yesterday bearing gifts from the beach day group. when i got to the pad of sticky notes i lifted my eyebrow, then laughed at the explanation. they go with the cookbook - i am supposed to mark the recipe i want dh to cook every day. then, i assume, i should pour a glass of wine and prepare to thank him for yet another meal of frozen pizza. oh, bad wife, bad!

he has actually been cooking very nutritious meals for me. steel cut oats, salmon sandwiches, homemade veggie soup and biscuits, tuna casserole with peanuts (they add a nice chewy texture - put me in mind of water chestnuts, which i also love).

things that are a distant memory:

mascara
lace-up shoes
blow dried hair
a clean right eardrum
two shaved armpits
plucked eyebrows
taking myself for a drive

christmas gift & broken arm

2012-01-03T17:07:00.003-05:00

learning how to play the piano has always been on my bucket list, and this year dh called me on it. during my six week layup i will amuse myself by learning how to read music again. you can learn anything on youtube, right? i've also started to read steven covey's "seven habits of highly effective people". I checked that book out of the library and renewed it so many times i embarrassed myself, so i finally bought my own copy. haven't picked it up in... two years (?). after i delicately lower myself in the tub (since i can't shower) i read a bunch. yaay me!

i forced myself to get on the exercise bike for ten minutes today. two days ago in the pantry i found the bag of anise Christmas cookies that were left at our last guild meeting. twenty minutes later the bag was more than half empty, even though i was being GOOD and limiting myself to the broken cookies. yesterday i tried to be better, eating only the tree shaped cookies. but since there weren't very many of those i allowed myself anything that was not round, which opened up the field to the stocking shapes and the candle shapes and the ornament shapes. any idea what shape my ass will be soon?

dh & i are getting into an uneasy routine... he won't heat up my oatmeal on the stove, i think so he can avoid another dirty pot, using the microwave instead. he grimaced when he had to trim my nails (what's that all about?), and makes me apply deodorant myself. for some reason though, he willingly and with cheerful abandon comes to assist with my bra. it could be a looong six weeks. hopfully at the fracture clinic tomorrow they will tell me someone made a terrible mistake and my arm isn't broken at all. ha ha. then they will tell me the tooth fairy is real, too.

Stack 'n Whack and quilter's nightmare

2011-12-31T15:07:00.000-05:00

This is a beauty of a s 'n w.

The diamond border design matches the Line Dancing used in the diamond patchwork.

Another gorgeous back.

Now, what's this nightmare, you ask?

Thank the good Lord for husbands. He will be cooking, cleaning and housekeeping for the next six weeks. He's going to learn how to pin on quilts, too. As my nephew said today: "that's what you signed on for."

what i've discovered SO far:

the shift button is too much trouble when you are typing one handed.
i can dress myself in tshirts & loose pants. loose pants are ok in the potty, too.
applying deodorant, peeling bananas, and loading the toothbrush are difficult, but not impossible.
doing up the bra IS impossible.
aspirin is my friend.
a lot of movies on the tv is REALLY my friend.

Irish Chain quilt and the Christmas Boots

2011-12-29T10:35:00.000-05:00

Here is a very spring-like Irish Chain Quilt. It went up to Timmins as a gift for my customer's mom.

This was quilted with a tulip design - matching block and border designs.

As usual, I love the back.

My s.i.l. brought these rubber boots for me all the way from Calgary. Hah! I can't wait for spring - I think I can use the pointy toes to dig weeds out of the garden without bending over. The wiener dog came all the way from Calgary too - but she is not still here. Just the boots.

Winter House Quilt, Christmas Panel Quilt

2011-12-26T08:06:00.003-05:00

This is a beauty of a winter quilt - houses and trees.

The green border design is Ying Yang from the IQ (I am seriously loving Einstein!!) and the wide red border has a ribbon and star design. The trees were freehand.

The borders, trees & houses were all s.i.d. Some snowflakes were added to the background, then filled in with a loopy meander.

This is the easy-peasy quilt I whipped up for Sadies vets. It's a panel with three borders.

It was quilted with a panto of holly berries. I figure their three kids will fight over it because of the flannel backing - yum - cozy.

Now that I've finished up work for a week or two, around the house has been all about housework. The window screens came off and got scrubbed, and have been put away in the fruit cellar until spring. The windows on the main floor and the upstairs have all been cleaned. I ran out of steam at that point, so I'll do the lower level next week. I love french doors but they are a friggin' pain in the butt to clean. The sheers were laundered and put back up. Then it was time to tackle the bathrooms. Right now, you could lick the walls and eat off the floors. Hmm, does it sound like we've got company coming? My d.b. and s.i.l. are home from Calgary and will be staying for the next two nights. Today I just have to do a little dusting and the usual cleanup in the kitchen. It is good luck to have a clean house for New Years, isn't it? Please?

I had Christmas lunch with Mom at 'the home' yesterday. Was chastised by the floor nurse for calling so late to book my meal (sigh...really? 24 hours is not enough notice?). Hopefully the tin of homemade biscotti I took for the staff will get me back a few brownie points. FYI, nursing home turkey dinner is ok. Nursing home stuffing - nyeah - not so good. Today I will be back there for Mom's physio. That will get me out of the house and I can hit up the grocery store (I think they're open today) for a few last minute things for supper. Tonight for the four of us I'm doing smoked pork chops. Beach Day Diane fed those to me earlier this year and they were delicious, so I thought I'd try some from our local butcher, Gourmet Meats. Tomorrow Luke and Mel are also joining us and we'll have perogies. On Wednesday, I think I'll just have water. I feel like I've gained twelve pounds already. Oy.

Snowman Christmas Quilt & Stash Report

2011-12-21T09:45:00.000-05:00

A real winter quilt. Sue has a "thing" for snowmen, and here she made a whole family of them.

Outer border quilted with stars.

A bit of piecing with Continuous Curve quilting.

Lots of SID around the applique bits.

Curvy/wavy background fill. Hey!! These poor bastards don't have any mouths to eat the marshmallows!

On several blocks I used the same motif, resizing as required.

November STASH REPORT
Used this Month 9 m
Used YTD 79.15 m
Added this month 0 (yay - good me!!)
Added YTD 44m
Net 2011 (- 33.15)

Lookin' good - cleaning off those shelves, bit by bit. If I ever get to some of those UFOs from 2011 I will knock off a whole lot more fabric. I have (slim) hopes to still get the Bunny Hill quilt finished before the end of the year.
There are two more quilts that MUST be finished before Christmas, then I have a bit of breathing space. I commented to a friend yesterday that I had a screw loose (actually, the real words were not something I would print in my blog), deciding to make a Christmas quilt for Sadie's vets as their gift this year. When did I decide this and buy the fabric? Monday. Yup - screw loose.

Oriental Panel & Red Hats

2011-12-17T21:32:00.000-05:00

This is a lovely oriental panel which has been enhanced with several borders.

The centre panel was generally stitched around the outlines.

The borders were quilted with a sashiko pattern.

The tiny cornerstones were enhanced with a plum blossom motif.

My Red Hat group had our second annual Pajama Breakfast on Friday morning. The meal was pot luck, and the gals had to be at my place by 8 am - in their jammies.

I was up MUCH TOO EARLY in order to cook my potato pie. A few drams of Doolies Toffee Cream Liqueur in my coffee kept me going until ... 1:30 when I took a nap.

I'm sending big kisses out to Susan and Janice who washed up all the china, crystal and silver for me.
We had: Potato Pie, Smoothies, French Toast casserole with fruit, Scones with preserves & whipped cream, waffles with sauteed apples & whipped cream, fruit tray, profiteroles, and coffee cake.
And, of course, no event would be complete without my useless assistant.

I've been working ~~like a dog~~ very hard getting customer quilts finished for Christmas. I have two more to go and then I can take some time off. My normal schedule seems to have come off the rails this year - I have not done my Christmas cards and it is too late now to send any. So, if you were expecting one....

Before I go to bed at night I like to have a glass of wine and read for a half hour or hour. Right now I'm reading Unless by Carol Shields (Canadian author). She has a wonderful vocabulary - I think by page 40 there were already several words I had to look up. My favorite, so far, is lacrimonious: extremely teary & weepy. My cure for lacrimoniosity is vodka. It totally reverses you, making you lighthearted & giggly. I highly recommend it if you're having a bad day. Caution: exercise judgement - only one or two!!!!

Here is the breakfast recipe, from www.dairygoodness.ca

Potato Pie with Saint-Damase

Course Main Dishes
Prep. Time 15 mins
Cooking Time 55 mins
Yields 4 servings

Preparation

What You Need

2 large potatoes
5 oz (125 g) Canadian Saint-Damase cheese (I used a soft goat cheese)
1 onion
8 slices bacon or pancetta
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup (125 mL) whipping cream 35 %
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 unbaked pie crust or pizza crust (available in stores)

Instructions

Cut potatoes and Canadian Saint-Damase cheese in small dice, chop onion and bacon.
Heat butter in a saucepan, sauté onion over low heat without browning. Add bacon (or pancetta) and cook 5 minutes. Mix in potato dice and cook 5 more minutes, then drain and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 °F (180 °C).
In a bowl, beat eggs, then blend in cream and Canadian Saint-Damase cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Spread potato mixture on uncooked crust, then pour over egg mixture.
Bake in oven 30 to 40 minutes until golden.

TQS BOM 2009 finished, and my lovely oven

2011-12-07T21:20:00.001-05:00

Here is the front - wow, beautiful.

And some details...

Here is the back.

This is my handy-dandy audition helper. Cello wrap & sharpie markers. I lay this over the quilt top and doodle designs until I am happy. Well, maybe not "happy" - sometimes that depends on hormones, eh? MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE EDGES OF THE WRAP CLEARLY MARKED - DO NOT DRAW ON THE QUILT TOP!!!

Here is my lovely new oven, with no goo left on the doors.

Oh, and look. Someone is making cranberry biscotti (from the Martha Stewart web site). Monica brought some over for me last week, and they were sooo good that apparently I needed a very large batch, all to myself. Monica went all out and dipped both ends in chocolate, then added icing & sprinkles in red, green and white. I am not sure I will go that far.

TQS BOM 2009

2011-12-03T12:58:00.001-05:00

Saturday progress... I'm working on finishing up the stitching with tan thread, then I'll switch over to a cream coloured thread. I should have this puppy finished today or tomorrow. This has wool batting, which is my all time favorite. It quilts beautifully, launders well, is comfortable to sleep under, and shows the quilting very nicely.

The Quilt Show BOM 2009, and other stuff...

2011-12-01T20:26:00.001-05:00

I'm working on the BOM from The Quilt Show. This is the 2009 quilt. Beautiful, but my back is starting to scream at me about all the stitch in the ditch. Shut up, back.

I'm listening to Paul Simon's new album - So Beautiful or So What. This brilliant musician turned 70 on October 13th.

Yesterday I celebrated my NEW OVEN with a cheesy casserole (heh, heh, heh, slight double entendre, there). If I ever get the sticky goo off the oven front I will show you a pic of the outside.

Have a listen to the first track from Paul's CD....

Quilts, Box Cushions, Leek Roundup

2011-11-27T10:39:00.001-05:00

Log Cabin. Yum - love the blue & yellow.

Garden Quilt. Cozy flannel-ish backing.

New upholstery on the box cushions for my nephew's window seat.

Now for the (last) Friday Report. It was a beautiful day, around 13c. This nice weather won't hold for much longer. It was time to dig the leeks.


Approximate leek count: 120


Avoid the playful distraction

Arm myself with the steel toed boots.


Chop off the bulk of tops with handy-dandy hedge clippers. Lee Valley Tools, I heart you.

As a lazy gardener, I will leave the leaves as on-ground compost. The rabbit-bastard(s) will enjoy the greens after they finish up with my cabbages.

Three hours later. Thirty leeks have been put aside for Jean & Jane, the rest are in the bag.

Time for a cocktail and hors-d'oeuvres. Two parts vodka, one part mandarin orange liqueur, generous glug of orange juice. Two ice cubes.

Can you tell I've been eating alone this week? Soup bowls and sandwich plates. This is the new 'stealth' dishwasher. OMG - so quiet!!!!

OK. Back to work. Cut off the roots and the dark green parts. Slice lengthwise and swish around in a sink full of water. In my lovely NEW 9" deep sink. I heart my new sink, too.

Drain, Chop. Line cookie sheet(s) with wax paper. Freeze leek bits on cookie sheets. The whole house will have a noticeable odour. Wait 24 hours, then bag the frozen leeks. I use leftover milk bags because 1) they are free, and 2) they are a nice heavy food-grade plastic. For you non-Canadians, yes, we get our milk in bags.

The garden is pretty much empty now, except for a huge batch of volunteer cilantro which has sprouted, and some lettuces which are also volunteers. I may put some cloche hats on the lettuce and see if I can harvest a couple heads later in December. I have nothing the lose, right?

Wholecloth Finished

2011-11-22T21:42:00.001-05:00

Wholecloth finished, more than a week after it was started. This is a preprinted Benartex top. I'm not sure where my customer bought it, but you can get them from the Stencil Company.

Red backing. Beautiful.

Friday was Red Hat day. Monica arranged for us to go on the Christmas House Tour which is run by the United Church. This year the organizers contacted the Quilt Guild and asked for our Christmas quilts to include in their decorating. How much fun was that? The church ladies also host a lunch as part of the tour, so to do my bit I ate my way through several (!) chocolate and shortbread treats. Today I went to Zumba class to wear off one or two of the treats. Then, because I worked out I allowed myself to a piece of pie after supper. Note to self: Double check your math - one exercise class does not make up for TWO meals of overeating.

Coke - and are YOU one of the 99% ?

2011-11-15T09:12:00.001-05:00

Seventeen hours in... the halfway mark.

Last night we went to the movies to see Tower Heist. It was a fun movie - with Eddie Murphy and Matthew Broderick. And you know how there are commercials now before the movie starts? Well, the COKE commercial just made me snort with derision. It's about saving the Polar Bears. The focus is on Coke's commitment to donate $2 million over 5 years. Um, excuse me? A whole $400,000 per year? Below is the annual compensation for the CEO of Coke.

from Wikipedia:

Compensation

While CEO of Coca-Cola in 2008, Muhtar Kent's earnings totalled $19,628,585, which included a base salary of $1,100,000, a cash bonus of $4,500,000, stocks granted of $2,999,975, and options granted of $10,280,428.^[3]

In 2010, Muhtar Kent made over $24.8 million, this included a base salary of $1.2 million, annual cash bonus of $6.5 million and other compensation totaling $738,000.

Seriously???? Coke couldn't make a better effort? Coincidentally, many of the OCCUPY ______ (insert city name) camps are currently being evicted by the city mayors. Many of the occupiers are there to protest the inordinate amount of wealth being accumulated in a very few number of pants pockets. If I were a whole lot of years younger I might be joining the protesters. Although I would need someone to tell me how to live in a tent and poop behind a tree. As I have posted before, this kind of annual income by ANYONE is obscene. There is no one person on earth who works so hard that they are entitled to a paycheque of $_extreme_ millions of dollars. Oy. I hope I didn't spoil your lunch, which may have been (like mine) leftovers.

If you are curious about the other executives, here is a link to compensation from 2007 to 2009.

Perhaps I should have taken the time away from work this morning to go to Zumba class, to burn off some of this pissed-offed-ness.

Premarked Wholecloth

2011-11-14T06:52:00.001-05:00

I am knee-deep into the job of quilting this premarked wholecloth quilt. This pic is from a couple days ago - I am about a third of the way through now. These are sooo pretty when they are complete. If you have never quilted one before - keep the marked top away from heat (which will set the marks). When complete, soak in cold water to remove the blue markings. If the markings will not come out, as has happened to me in the past, go to the hardware store or pharmacy or fabric store - in the fabric dye section you can also purchase a colour remover. Fill up the washing machine with that, and voila!! No more blue.

On the home front: I dug up the canna lilies on Saturday. This year I am making another feeble attempt at keeping the tubers over the winter. We'll see how that goes. Sometimes I think for the amount of work involved in digging and storing, I would rather spend another $25 in the spring for new ones already potted up. However, I must say that the tubers I dug are HUGE and I now have a ton of them from the original four little pots. And the other benefit: my butt muscles have been screaming ever since, so apparently I got a workout.

I am also getting around to finally putting the sealer on the kitchen grout. The stupid bottle has this weird applicator setup with a rolling wheel, that you are supposed to run over the grout. It's a kind of drip system where you squeeze the bottle and the goop runs on to the roller, which you are moving over the grout lines. That may work for a floor, but on a wall? Not so much. I had goo running everywhere except where I wanted it. I finally took the lid off and got a wee piece of sponge to apply the liquid. Much better. I'll do a second coat today. I didn't have time last night - Desperate Housewives was on and I do my darndest not to miss that. I am so sad the series will be ending this year. sniff sniff.

Please remember - freedom is not free

2011-11-11T13:06:00.001-05:00

Remembrance Day

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And tho' sometimes to his neighbours
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew whereof he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For old Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
Tho' a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state.
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young.
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Someone who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician’s stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension - though small.

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier -
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end?

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part,
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honour
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

A visit with the inlaws

2011-11-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

We spent the weekend with my inlaws. I truly love my BIL and SIL and enjoy our (sadly infrequent) visits. On Saturday we went to the Transportation Museum in Essex (outside of Windsor, On.). Our day started with breakfast in their 50's styled diner - mmm, bacon & eggs. After wandering through the museum for an hour or two we ended up back in the gift shop. I am ashamed to call myself a quilter, because I did not even notice these three quilts on the wall. Well, maybe I noticed them at the same time as my BIL.

They are fabulous. Click on the pics for a larger photo. Flo Prince is a quilter from Windsor, On. who made four quilts covering the history of Ford. All of the cars are appliqued and many are three dimensional. The little doors open to show teddy bears on the seat, or people inside the cars, or other whimsical details.

I am such a blubber-puss, I started to cry when I read the story of these quilts and I got to the end where it mentioned that Flo was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2004.

It was the quilting that originally caught my eye - it's all done by hand and struck me as being very contemporary. When I got closer and looked at the applique, that is when my jaw dropped.

I sure hope the museum knows what a treasure they have. If you are ever in the area, don't miss an opportunity to see these. And the museum was really good, too. :-)

Fabric at a REAL BARGAIN

2011-11-04T08:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I posted my stash report, and commented that I bought fabric for $2.50 per yard. Even with the shipping across the border it still worked out to $4.00 per yard, which is an excellent bargain. I checked the web site and she still has fabric left (and yarn and books and notions). Go to Knots & Bolts. For Canadians, have her ship by U.S. Post, not UPS.

Antique Pinwheels, Halloween, Stash Report

2011-11-03T23:07:00.000-04:00

I love antique quilts. Except for a wee bit of wibbly-ness this one quilted up really nicely.

The Binbrook guild meeting was Halloween. A few of us showed TEAM SPIRIT. Or something.? I'm the doper, in case you can't tell. I had to laugh at how creative I got with stuff I already had in my closet. And I mean stuff that I normally wear. I save the black wig for very special occasions.

I can't seem to find a stash report in quite a while, although I am SURE I posted one. Anyways, here is a several-months update. Notice how much I added in October? OMG - at $2.50 per yard I could not say no. This is all earmarked for quilt backings.

Floyd is out of commission this week. It seems I burned a flat spot in his motor. I just happened to have a new motor hanging around (from 2004, if you can believe that!!!). The new motor is installed, but I need Ricardo to set the timing. I have a blurry spot in my vision and just cannot do it. So I will leave that to the expert who is coming after his dentist appointment tomorrow. That gives me more time to vacuum the house. Oh, yay.

I've also updated my UFO page. You can check it out, but there was no progress, outside of pawning off one of my UFOs on someone else. Heh, heh, heh.

class results & insomnia

2011-10-30T08:03:00.000-04:00

Sooo, did anyone else find themselves WIDE AWAKE at 4:30 this morning, eating apple crisp straight out of the pan? On the plus side, it gave me lots of time to finish up the wee quilt I made in class yesterday. I definitely need more practice with the Square in Square ruler. I am accustomed to my block units all being the same size. But these?... not so much.

And, I am scheduled to present the Block of the Month at the Binbrook guild tomorrow night, so I did up the pattern for that, too. This is a 12" My Blue Heaven block from Quilters Cache. I will hand out sixteen patterns, have the gals make them in white with pastel, and someone will win enough blocks next month for a nice baby quilt.

Weather, Red Hat Outing

2011-10-29T08:10:00.000-04:00

You can let your imagination run wild and GUESS what the weather is like. The fire has been going for several days, keeping me warm in my workroom. So far the furnace has not been turned on, although the living room is chilly when we are watching tv. Thank goodness I know where to find a quilt or two to wrap up in. :-)

Thursday was Red Hat day. We started at the Red Bobbin quilt shop in Brantford, then headed over to neighbouring Mount Pleasant to the Dutch Windmill restaurant for lunch. Mmm... quiche & salad for lunch, then a pumpkin roll for dessert. I fell off the wagon as far as my fabric moratorium goes, and bought 2 m. of a cute baby print. No, the baby print is not for me - pffttt!!! Afterwards we headed into Hamilton to Gage Park and wandered around the Mum Show.

The chrysanthemum Dragon and the chrysanthemum Fire Dog were both very well done.

Today I'm taking a quilt class on the Jodi Barrows Square in Square ruler. I'm not even there yet and already I'm a bad student. I don't like the project the instructor chose, so I've picked out another one to work on. I hate students like me. :-)

retreat meals, coleslaw, bookkeeping

2011-10-24T22:49:00.000-04:00

Ah, one of my favorite moments at retreat is 4 pm cocktail hour. My little red freezer shoes came in VERY handy. (thank you Mel)

We still managed to enjoy a glass or two of wine with supper.

I love getting away with the girls. It's a chance to revert to the silliness that is often frowned upon, but which seems to energize our souls. And unbelievably I managed to pack on four pounds over five days. Once or twice I actually went to bed with a bellyache from eating too much. Oy yoy yoy.

Let me see: pulled pork, couscous salad, eggs benedict, leek & potato soup, biscuits, salmon, roasted potatoes, fresh baked danishes, butternut squash soup, biscuits, meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, oat pancakes, smoked pork chops, biscuits, chocolate cake, banana cake. Now that I've been savagely thrown back to reality I'm enjoying (?) spinach salads for a few days in a hopeless attempt to regain my girlish figure (which I actually lost about 12 years ago, but who's counting).

On Sunday I cleaned up a bunch of the veggie garden. The friggin' rabbit has helped himself to three of my cabbages. Bastard. I pulled the last good one and made a large batch of Forever Coleslaw. This is not exactly my recipe, but it's close. Today I did laundry, worked, and figured it was time to do the September bookkeeping.

Can someone please tell me why two people have eight pairs of glasses on the table?

Yee ha - Tobermory Retreat Week

2011-10-17T14:26:00.000-04:00

I will leave you with a cute little baby quilt.

Quilted with a strawberry design. I think the pink put me in mind of strawberry ice cream.

I'm heading up to Tobermory for a week with my longarm friends. This is the forecast, which will mean lots of time for sew, eat, drink, gossip, repeat.

I have the salmon purchased, the potatoes dug, and the martini fixin's all ready to go. As soon as my friend Deb shows up, we're off. In preparation for a little overindulgence, I was very good and had a spinach salad for lunch. Home grown spinach and tomatoes, two hard boiled eggs, a hunk of feta cheese crumbled up, and a dressing of olive oil & balsamic vinegar. Yum yum yum. Then I blew it by eating the two Reeces Pieces that were sitting on the kitchen table. sigh.

I'll talk to you in a week.

Drunkards Path, Kitchen, Mini Cooper day

2011-10-11T08:52:00.001-04:00

This is a strip of Drunkards Path blocks set into a sampler quilt.

Kitchen progress. Yaay - running water!!

More kitchen progress. A working cooktop!!

Thursday was my fun day out with a free Mini Cooper, and Jean & Teresa. This was a promotion by Budds BMW for Virgin Mobile customers - a 24 hour test drive. We went out to see Jean's farm then headed over to Angels Diner for lunch. It was a gorgeous fall day.

If I weren't so darned lazy I would have stopped the car and gotten OUT to take this pic of the farm's laneway.

Here's how I celebrated the new cooktop. Yummy, and great for Meatless Monday. This would make a dandy side dish but I ate it for supper with spiced beets on the side.

Rice andChickpea Casserole with Tomatoes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil
1.5 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
1.5 cups brown or white rice
3 fresh, ripe tomatoes, cubed (substitute canned if you like)
1 can drained chickpeas, or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
1 tablespoon Tamari or soy sauce (for gluten-free)
3 cups vegetable broth or water

Instructions:

Heat oil and saute onions in a large saucepan for about 5 minutes.
You can saute the garlic with the onion, or add it after the rice.
Add rice and continue to brown, another 5 minutes.
Stir in the rest of the ingredients.
Bring to a boil, stir, and cover.
Lower the heat and cook for 18 minutes for white rice, 30 for brown.

Here is my little rant for today. I may have to start setting limits, because I'm tired of hearing "I have to go to work today, so could you... (insert some chore that interrupts MY work)?" There is an assumption that working at home gives me all kinds of time to spend taking care of things that should not be my responsibility. Helloo... I am not retired, I work every day. I need to earn a living, just like you, and I don't want to work all night because I took three hours off to take care of your problems. OK? Thanks.

Scrappy donation quilt & kitchen reno

2011-10-03T22:35:00.001-04:00

A quilt top made by Thelma and quilted by me, donated to the women's shelter.

Sunday 8 pm - sink & cooktop & range hood all coming out. Dishwasher too - gone!

Monday 9 am - Tony & Tibor rip out the old countertop and strip off the wall tiles.

Monday 11 am - new countertop installed. T & T head out for lunch. A long lunch - they return at 1:30.

Monday 5:45 - wall tiles on, new sink & new cooktop in place but not hooked up.

T & T are coming back on Wednesday to finish up the grout work. They were planning to come tomorrow but I'm taking a personal day and going to Greenwood Quiltery to see the gallery exhibit.

This is all very exciting, but washing dishes in the bathroom sink is no picnic. I don't even have the dishwasher to stuff dirty dishes in, because it was removed too. I suppose I could still hide them in the oven (an old trick from my single days).

Supper tonight was leftover Chinese food from Saturday night. I think tomorrow will be leftover spaghetti from Sunday night. Wednesday might be takeout? Plumbing for the new sink will be 'involved' because the new sink is 9" deep, where the old sink was 7" deep. I had no idea that normal sinks were so shallow, so I'm really looking forward to having all that room for water and soap suds. This has very awkward timing, since we have overnight company coming for Friday & Saturday nights. How much McDonalds can we eat over two days & nights? Hmm - just might find out.

Quilting designs, Bargello, Potatoes, Zucchini

2011-09-26T18:12:00.000-04:00

Here are some of the new designs. Click for a full size picture.Cute dragonflies - perfect for kids quilts.

Pretty floral pattern.

Great movement to this one - really suits the Bargello quilt.

And here - can anyone tell me why some of my potatoes look like the wrong part of the "This Is Your Brain On Drugs" commercial?

ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked 3
Eaten 1
Given Away 0
Frozen 0
In Fridge 4
Compost 0
Total YTD 73

Flower Bed Update & Rainy Day

2011-09-22T07:53:00.000-04:00

If you are bored, and wondering how the front flower bed is growing in...

Yesterday was nice in the morning, then turned into a rainy afternoon & evening. I was making supper (more on that in a minute...) and noticed that Sadie had a seriously one-eyed look about her. No wonder she can't catch a Frisbee to save her life. I got out the dog scissors and trimmed her up a little so she can see again.

Supper yesterday was leftover spaghetti and leftover biscuits, at 3:30 in the afternoon. That is even earlier than the early bird special, I'm thinkin'. All that starch made me very sleepy, and the early supper allowed me to have a nap from 4:30 - 5:30, then go back to work until 8:30. Rainy days are good. :-)

Pieces of Baltimore, Stash Report, Z. Report

2011-09-18T22:19:00.000-04:00

This is Pieces of Baltimore, a pattern by Pam Bono.

The floral blocks are beautiful.

Quilting these is challenging, but I get great job satisfaction when they are complete.

I have been remiss in posting a Stash Report for the last few months. This is a combined July and August report.
STASH REPORT (July & August)
Used this month 5.1 m
Used y.t.d. 53.55 m
Added this month 2.25 m
Added y.t.d. 21.25 m
Net 2011 - 32.3 m yay - lookin' good!!! I have actually finished - yes, finished, a UFO. Check the UFO page for details & pics. My shoulder is a little sore right now from patting myself on the back.

There was no zucchini report last week because there was nothing to report. Nothing in, nothing out. THIS week, however...
ZUCCHINI REPORT, Sept. 18
Picked this week 5
Eaten this week 2
Given away 0
In the Fridge 2
Frozen 0
Compost 0
Total picked YTD 70
Once again, my math is really bad. This does not compute with the last report - somehow I have lost track of 3 zucchinis. Maybe Sadie is eating them when my back is turned? Perhaps someone is composting them without my permission? I have been lamenting the poor crop of zucchini this year, but when I look at how many I have actually picked I guess I should not complain. Today I harvested all the white onions. I'll let them dry out a bit before I stash them down in the fruit cellar, then I'll pull the red onions and give them the same treatment. I used one of my early cabbage to make two Cabbage Roll Casseroles and a small coleslaw. Cabbage is kinda like popcorn - when you start slicing it up you get more and more and more and more and....

I also had Red Hat day this week. Sue organized a trip to the Walden Galleria Mall. Do you know what store is in that mall? DESIGNER SHOE WAREHOUSE. I've had a smile on my face ever since. :-) I was very good and limited myself to two pair. I was even good at the Cheesecake Factory where we had lunch (appetizer Samosas, then one slice of cheesecake. And I left some of the whipped cream on the plate).

the Kawartha Retreat

2011-09-11T21:58:00.000-04:00

I just love going up to Margaret's. I was very (!) productive. This is my Thursday night finish.

Here is my Friday finish. They were both just borders, but still - they have taken me a very LONG time. Now they are ready for quilting, which will happen, um,... hmm. Not sure.

This is how we spent Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. In between we went to the Bobcaygeon quilt show and fixed one of the toilets. OK. Well, Sue fixed the toilet.

Thinking that maybe we would like to have this lifestyle all the time (keeping up with the Margarets, you know?) I decided we'd all pitch in two bucks and try to win the lottery. Bummer. No luck. But we had a lot of fun for 24 hours talking about how we'd spend our share. Many of our ideas involved underpaying someone to do our quilt piecing, clean, cook, harvest the wild rice in the lake, babysit grandchildren, and other assorted jobs so we could spend our days out in the boat.

As usual, we ate particularly well.
Thurs. supper: cold meat, cheese, assorted salads, baguette, fresh tomatoes, I.C.B.I. Zucchini Crisp with ice cream.
Fri. breakfast: yogurt with fruit, and banana bread & peanut butter.
Fri. lunch: leftover Chinese food from Thursday's lunch (which I missed).
Fri. supper: Red Curry Peanut Noodles, I.C.B.I. Zucchini Crisp with ice cream.
Sat. breakfast: Steel Cut Oats with fresh fruit.
Sat. lunch: we ate the lunch special at the quilt show.
Sat. supper: Salmon Crunch Pie with salad, blueberry macaroons.
Sun. breakfast: Eggs Benedict. OMG, I love you Sue!!!!
Sun. lunch: Chicken Quesadillas, banana bread.

A few of our completed projects before we pack up the cars.

Thanks Margaret. You are definitely the hostess with the mostest.

More Quilts for the Studio Tour

2011-09-08T13:00:00.000-04:00

Here are three more quilts that will be on the Dundas Studio Tour - the weekend of October 1 & 2. You can see more of this quilters work at mrgquilts.com.

This afternoon I am heading up to Margaret's in the Kawarthas for a nice long weekend and a wee rest for my brain. On this past Monday I had Floyd upgraded to brilliance by adding the Intelliquilter system to him. I will be in hock for a couple of years, sadly, but now I can consider myself a dominatrix - ha ha I can just order him around and push the 'start' button. Whips and chains optional. (For those of you who don't know, Floyd is my quilting machine. Calm down. I am making a joke.)

You can check the UFO Challenge page for an update. Sort of.

Sampler Quilt, Allergies

2011-09-04T22:57:00.000-04:00

This is a great sampler quilt made by a gal from the local quilt shop.

I quilted this with an overall feather meander.

Love quilt backs.

This stuff is my new discovery. It saves me from scratching my eyeballs out. I don't care about clogged sinuses, or sneezing, but please God, give me relief from itchy eyes. In the spring I had to suffer through the tree pollen or grass pollen - I'm not really sure. Right now it is ragweed making me crazy.

In my last post I was planning the making of the plum sauce. Heh - note to self: should really cook more tidily. Cooked sugar takes a long time to clean off the stove.

Zucchini Report

Picked this week: 11
Eaten this week: 10 I made several zucchini loaves and a
pan of (I Can't Believe It's) Zucchini Crisp
Given away: 0
Compost: 0
Freezer: 0
In Fridge: 2

Christmas Quilt & Kitchen Goings-On

2011-08-28T09:13:00.000-04:00

This is a quilt based on the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Most of the applique was completed by hand.

Borders and sashing were stitched in the ditch. Most of the applique was also s-i-d. Yes that takes forever, but it makes a huge difference in the appearance.

ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked 5
Eaten 6
Given Away 0 (so sad, unable to torment my friends this year)
Compost 0
In Fridge 1
Total YTD 54

This week I made another Chick Pea & Zucchini Salad and two loaves of zucchini bread. This was for the Kinsmen who were here for a dinner/meeting on Friday. My friend Sue took pity on me and took me to the movies so I could avoid the get-together. We saw The Help, which I am giving two thumbs up - it was very good. It sure provides a glimpse into a totally incomprehensible way of life. I always have fun when I'm out with Sue. She knows the back roads EVERYWHERE, so I never know where the hell we are. Which can be kind of scary sometimes. We had some time to kill before the movie so we went to Home Depot and looked at fridges. Then we looked at lights. Then we looked at toilets. Well, Sue had to sit on all the toilets, and made ME sit on the toilets too. Then we discussed the comfort levels of all the seats, and round bowls vs. elongated bowls. Thank goodness the bathtubs are all up on the wall, or she'd have had us sitting in them, too.

Yesterday I went on a scouting mission for blueberries, peaches, and plums. It's canning season... The little market I went to also sells plants. Uh oh. Two large-ish viburnum shrubs came home with me. They were on sale for $10 each and I'm hoping to clean up the side yard hillside garden, which used to be so pretty. It has fallen into a sad state ever since I lost access to water over there. When I got home I went out and dug up several plants that I really want to save, then the nasty grass which is taking over got the Roundup treatment. In a few days I'll go out and dig that up and plant the new shrubs.

With the produce I bought, last night I made 4 jars of blueberry marmalade. Today I'll go visit Mom, and stop at the grocery store and the Bulk Barn to stock up on vinegars and sugars to do the rest of the canning. Tonight will be the peach marmalade (or peach jam? still undecided). Tomorrow I'll do Plum Sauce, which is way better than the icky stuff from the grocery store. Later in the week will be Fruit Chili (hmm, must go out and pick pears so they have time to soften up).

Nick Lowe-Cruel To Be Kind -1979 #155.TOTPs70s

2011-08-24T22:31:00.000-04:00

When I was out for supper the other night this tune came on the Muzak. I can sing this one in my sleep. From the 1979 album Pure Pop For Now People...(which is in my collection. Somewhere.).

Buzz Saw & Border tutorial, Urn Panel, Red Hats & Cherry recipe

2011-08-22T10:03:00.002-04:00

This is a cute little quilt made from an Urn panel. It is quilted with clamshells.

Buzz Saw quilt from the book Open A Can Of Worms.

The quilting didn't show up very well in the photo. I used a combination of Terry Twist and a ribbon design. Click the photo for a large version.

Border Tutorial
Once again, I am using my favorite marking tool: TAILOR'S CHALK. This quilt is made from 2 1/2" strips which makes a nice built-in 2" grid(after seam allowances). I used the piecing as a guide and marked the 2" divisions. I did stitch-in-the-ditch to separate the top from the borders, then treated the two borders as one. I just got a little creative with a feather motif to fill the corner. The whole border is continuous, and gets a little extra zing from a variegated thread. The chalk just brushes off.

I was a lucky, lucky girl this week, with TWO pool parties to attend. Thursday was Red Hat day. Hanna treated us to a swim in her pool and hamburgers on the BBQ, cooked courtesy of her DH. After the burgers were done he beat a hasty retreat to his friend's house. The rest of us brought pot luck salads & desserts. I figure by now her neighbours have all signed the petition that she is not allowed to have us over again because we broke the noise bylaw. :-) Then Saturday was a swim and dinner party at a friend of DH's. The ladies ended up going in the house around 9 pm because we couldn't hear ourselves talk. And we needed to complain about our hubbys.

ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked 2
Eaten 5
Given Away 0 (again?? really??)
Compost 0
Total YTD 49
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Cherry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake
Serves 10, adapted from Bon Appetit via Smitten Kitchen

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
3 cups whole pitted fresh Bing cherries (*I used half cherries and half fresh blueberries)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, separated
3/4 tsp vanilla bean paste OR vanilla extract
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1. Position rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 350. Combine 1/4 cup butter with brown sugar and vinegar in a skillet. Stir over medium heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high. Add cherries and bring to a boil. Set aside. (*this is DELICIOUS. It would make a wonderful topping for ice cream)

2. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter in a separate large bowl. Add sugar. Beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternatively with coconut milk in two additions each, beating just until blended and scraping down the sides after each addition.

3. Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until whites are stiff but not dry. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/4 of the egg white mix into the batter. Fold in remaining whites in three additions.

4. Pour the cherries into a 10-inch springform pan. Pour the batter over the cherries, spreading evenly to cover the cherries. Cover the bottom half of the pan with aluminum foil to prevent leakage. Bake cake until top is golden and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool in pan, on rack, for 5 minutes. Run a spatula around the sides to loosen. Remove sides of springform pan. Place a large serving platter on top of the cake, and flip over. Remove the base of the springform pan from the top of the cake. If necessary, rearrange any cherries that may have come unhinged. Let cake cool at least 45 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Studio Tour Quilts

2011-08-17T06:56:00.000-04:00

Gosh, I haven't posted any quilt pics in over two weeks. Sorry about that. Here are the quilts that will be part of the fall Dundas Valley Studio Tour. Check out Studio 7. More of her work can be found at mrgquilts.com. Her style is Modern quilting and her colours are bright and vibrant - it is always such fun for me to go to work when she's on my schedule. Click on the photo for a larger pic.

And, ~~Mary~~ Helen-Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

Well, no zucchini again yesterday. Although if production ever ramps up I have a new recipe for Zucchini & Strawberry Marmalade. I have a fall sewing of green beans, which are 6" high. A fall sewing of beets and spinach are just poking their heads out of the ground. I am dreaming all night about the little worms in my cabbage. Geez, get a life, eh? This morning I will go out and wash the crud out of the cabbages and respray them with insecticidal soap. The worms seems to prefer the late cabbage. The early cabbages show much less damage. I know the thought of BUGS in your veggies freaks out many people, but organic gardeners like me just get used to sometimes having a little extra protein. Although to be honest, I still say "eeuwww...".

Kawartha recap and Zucchini

2011-08-15T09:14:00.000-04:00

I had a lovely coupl'a days at Margaret's. Thursday we went to the Lakefield market, where they had a quilt exhibitor with several antique quilts. Then we went next door to the Antique Show & Sale. I remember the days when antiques were all really unusual items, but now I seem to have a personal history with a lot of items. What's that saying??? Thursday night I got out my sewing machine and hemmed the four t-shirts that have been waiting for my attention for a few months.

I was not Margaret's only freeloader. Here's me (trying to keep my share of the couch) with Molly. Molly belongs to Margaret's friend, and she is staying for a visit for, I think, two weeks. This was Friday when we went to the Buckhorn Fine Art Show & Sale. Afterwards we made a quick lunch then spent the afternoon tooling around the lake on the boat. We went out and did more sightseeing after a wee nap. It seems that my nose was too sunburned for me to get any sewing done.

Saturday was QUILT SHOP day in Lindsay. In spite of my fabric moratorium I seemed to be a little light in the wallet when we left. We had a really good lunch at a tea room then came back and got stuck in the anti-gravity chairs for the rest of the day. By three o'clock I decided there was no point in trying to get any sewing done, I would just stay stuck in the chair.

I was really really glad that Molly was visiting because she comes from the Muskokas, where wild blueberries grow. So Molly's mom brought a large basket as a downpayment on doggie services. On Thursday night Margaret whipped up the most delicious Blueberry Scone, which was huge - the size of a pie. There was still one piece left when I departed on Saturday night. Yum yum yum.

However, as you may have surmised, there was no shrinkage of the UFO numbers. sigh.

ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked 9
Eaten 2
Given Away 2
Frozen 0
Compost 0
In Fridge 6
Total YTD 47

Runnin' Away From Home

2011-08-11T09:59:00.000-04:00

I'm heading up to Margaret's in the Kawarthas for a nice long weekend. I have to pick 2 zucchini before I go and leave them for Sue, who forgot her cooler bag here last night. She was here with a few guild gals for a pot luck supper. I tried to cook a roast beef on the bbq but it was so windy the bbq would not stay lit, which meant I had to resort to the oven.

My plan at Margaret's is to finish my July UFO top, which just needs a border, and the August UFO top which also just needs a border. Then I can update my UFO page, which I have been studiously ignoring.

Gotta run... more on Sunday...

Garden Pests

2011-08-07T21:42:00.001-04:00

Fer cryin' out loud. First it was cucumber beetles. Now it is Squash Bugs. Look at the little bastards. They are sucking the life out of my zucchinis.

I will head out in the morning (now that I've done some research) and spray with insecticidal soap. If that doesn't kill them I may have to resort to making my own bug juice. I may clear a patch of ground and stick a couple more seeds in. If I get lucky I'll have a second set of plants this fall and may get more of my beloved fruits.

So, depressing as it is, here is my weekly ZUCCHINI REPORT
Picked 3
Eaten 2
Given Away 0 (NONE???!!!)
In Fridge 1
Frozen   0
Compost   0
YTD     38

Boxy Pouch, zucchini report

2011-08-01T12:37:00.001-04:00

I made these two cute little boxy pouch bags to carry cutlery and serving utensils, using a tutorial from Make It Modern.

As for quilting this week, I'm working on several quilts for a gal who will be part of a studio tour this fall. Stay tuned for pics later this week (?).

Weekly Zucchini Report

Picked   11
Eaten   5
Given Away   6
In Fridge 0
Compost 1
Total YTD 35
As I suspected, my math is off. There should still be 2 in the fridge. Do you think maybe DH disposed of them when I wasn't looking? Nah, he wouldn't dare. Would he?

I spent yesterday morning in the garden dealing with the cilantro. I started a few plants in the spring and planted them out there, not knowing that cilantro will self seed if you are a messy gardener like me. Last year's crop went to seed and I think all 85 billion seeds grew. I'm always saying that I love cilantro so much I could roll around in it - well this year I had enough that I COULD roll around in it. So I hacked and chopped and pulled plants out and spread it around as mulch (see? messy.) and discovered a pepper plant in the midst. Then DH pounded in stakes for the tomatoes and got those all tied up, so I think everybody is happy now. There are flea beetles eating my cabbage plants. This year I am trying insecticidal soap (organic, ya know?). Maybe I'll have nice foamy coleslaw this fall. har har. yuck It will be a few days before I can see if it's helping.

Star Bouquet quilt, Pineapple Quilt, Beach Day pics

2011-07-28T22:28:00.000-04:00

Star Bouquet quilt. Pretty and old fashioned.

I quilted this with clamshells in the body, and a feather border.

Pineapple quilt - this was paper pieced. I thank the Lord it wasn't me who had to remove all the paper.

This was quilted with a combination of s.i.d., straight lines, and curls.

Beach Day. Hmm - is that vodka I see???

We seem to have switched over to wine. C.A. is wondering what happened to the top of her head.

We really DID make it to the beach. It was so windy the camera was blowing around, which is why we are a bit off center. Every year, this is the fastest two days of the year.

Today is our 27th wedding anniversary. DH and I celebrated the way all long-married people do. We went to the movies which lets us not talk to each other. Afterwards we went out for supper where we could talk to the waitress. I'm being very tongue-in-cheek here, we actually DO talk to each other. But sometimes the conversation is pretty thin. My mom used to have neighbours who were in their 80s and they never seemed to STOP talking. What the hell did they still have to discuss after all those years together? It remained a mystery because they were Dutch and I couldn't eavesdrop.

One Block Wonder and Summer Quilt

2011-07-24T23:07:00.000-04:00

Here is the completed One Block Wonder. It turned out pretty nice considering it is my first (and probably my ONLY).

This is a great summer quilt - I love the white with the cool blue.

We had our last family dinner for the next long while on Saturday. My niece is heading back to Singapore on Monday and her parents are moving to Calgary at the end of the month. I think I drank enough wine to make up for the next 5 dinners we won't be having. Ooo - my poor little head this morning!~ When will I learn???

On Monday I am heading off for an overnight Beach Day with the girls. Tonight I did my baking. I'm thinking that my icing technique could use a bit of work, but the cookies certainly get the point across.

DH is back in my good books. The bathroom taps are installed and the new light fixture is up. Nice, nice, nice.

ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked 11

Eaten 3

Given Away 5

In Fridge 3

Frozen 0

Compost 0

Total YTD 24

Renewed Garden, Zucchini, and "MEN!!"

2011-07-17T21:53:00.000-04:00

I've had some complaints that I haven't posted photos of the renewed flower bed out front. The plants have been in for a few days now, and DH finished up today with topsoil and mulch.
This is where I do the
"MEN - LOVE THEM OR KILL THEM?" report.

This is definitely a LOVE THEM. A yard of topsoil and three yards of mulch, all laid down by DH in the freshly planted garden. Sure doesn't look like two hundred bucks in shrubs, does it? It cost that much for the top dressings, too.

This is in the KILL THEM category. Self explanatory.

I realize that most quilters who do a weekly report are keeping track of their fabric stash, which in theory will diminish over time. Being both a quilter AND a gardener, I find that in the summer I do waaay more picking of zucchini than cutting and sewing of fabric. So in deference to Mother Nature, I bring you....

The Zucchini Report

Z. eaten this week: 3
Z. frozen this week: 0
Z. given away this week: 9
Z. in the fridge right now: 1
Z. y.t.d.: 13

At the height of the season this may get to be a bit much to keep track of. We will have to see how it goes. There are days when I could pick eight or ten zucchinis and give some away every day. I'm not sure I'm ready to keep a real accounting on paper so my numbers could be a bit dodgy. I may also have to add a new column for "Z. pitched into the field because they ended up to be the size of a fence post". Hmm, come to think of it, I may also add a subcategory for "number of complaints received from DH about zucchini on the menu". It will be fun to see how this turns out.

quilt work in progress

2011-07-15T07:33:00.000-04:00

I've never made a One Block Wonder. Sometimes the best part of my job is being able to work on interesting things that someone else has started. Those little cube blocks are very fiddly to make.

Check the UFO page for my progress on the July challenge.

DH and I have very different philosophies when it comes to spending our hard earned cash. He bought a lovely new sprinkler for the veggie garden at a jaw-dropping cost of $30.00. I realize it is only me with a dropping jaw - I'm sure that is a normal price for a sprinkler. However, since our well water clogs up all outdoor water equipment I buy the cheapest stuff I can find and throw it out every two years. When I need to water the front gardens I get out my trusty cement squirrel and prop up one of my hose end nozzles. It works great.

The current quilt, June stash report

2011-07-11T08:20:00.000-04:00

Border done with a curly vine design.

This block is stitch in the ditch with diagonals.

This block is s.i.d. with diagonals and line dancing.

All I've been doing is digging in the front flower bed. I go out in the mornings until around noon, when it's too hot to work outside. Around 11:30 or 12:00 I come in, have a shower, have lunch (not necessarily in that order) and then get to quilting. I am lucky to be able to schedule my days this way, and MOST days I am grateful. There is the odd time I get all whiney and think maybe I'd like a real job... but then I remember that I'd have to be there at a regularly scheduled time which would probably involve getting up EARLY in the morning. So I go back to being grateful for my life - just the way it is. Working until 9 pm a couple times a week seems to keep me (mostly) up to date.

June Stash Report

Used this month 11.5 m
Used YTD 48.45 m
Added this month 0 m
Added YTD 19 m
Net 2011 (- 29.45 m)

House update: I got a new bathroom counter and sink on Thursday. Yippee!!! The old one was 25 years of well water, if ya know what I mean. Now I'm waiting for DH to install the new taps and the new light fixture. (insert impatient foot tapping)

Friday was Mom's 91st birthday. My sis and I went and had lunch with her, but that was pretty much the extent of her energy. The 'home' has a beautiful rose garden with plenty of tables & chairs so we enjoyed the scenery for a while.

Garden Progress

2011-07-03T09:22:00.000-04:00

Once again - MAN TO THE RESCUE. I have to admit, sometimes power tools are great.

Him: "Oops."
Me: "Oh, fer cryin' out loud. Put that back!!! The yuccas are supposed to stay where they are."

Shrubs are gone. Now to get rid of the ivy and finish digging around the brick edging.

First casualty. Notice the swelling & redness on the hand & wrist on the right? Bad spider, bad!!

WIP and Garden Progress

2011-07-01T09:03:00.000-04:00

HAPPY CANADA DAY.

If you're interested, check the UFO page for my progress and the July project.

Here is the quilt I'm working on at the moment. It's already overdue by at least a week, so I really need to get my butt in gear.

This is the garden which is being renovated.

DH made these wonderful stakes for me so I could mark the location of the fall crocus. When the leaves disappear in the summer it's nice to know where NOT to dig. It's handy being married to a welder.

Here are the crocus bulbs all dug up. A few met their maker, unfortunately, but I got most of them.

Here is 2 hours of digging. This could take a while. :-/ The brick edging had sunk completely in to the lawn. With the lawn growing in to the garden the way it has I was grateful that I actually FOUND the bricks.

Sampler Quilt, Goose in the Pond commission quilt, Garden

2011-06-30T07:57:00.000-04:00

Here is the latest Sampler quilt. This is one of the $10 quilts from the local quilt shop.

The blocks were quilted using the Circle Lord.

I never gave you a whole shot of the finished commission quilt. This should knock a BIG hole in my stash report next week. Unfortunately, it won't do much for my UFO challenge which hasn't been touched all month. sigh.

Back a few months ago I bought some gardening certificates from Wag Jag (which is exactly like Groupon - discount certificates, usually half price or less). The plan is to rip out what I laughingly refer to as the 'flower bed' in front of my workroom. There is more grass and thistles in there than flowers. It includes two Mock Orange shrubs which I planted for the fragrant flowers. Trouble is, they don't flower. Well, ok, maybe three flowers per shrub. Certainly not enough to perfume my workroom when the windows are open. So - not doing their job? They are outta there!!! And the red twig dogwood that is buried in behind them? Outta there!!! The Prince of Wales junipers which are buried under the ivy - outta there! I think DH will have to pull them out with the truck. Maybe tonight (if you are looking for some cheap entertainment).

Yesterday I toodled on over to start spending my $200, where I gleefully found that ALL SHRUBS AND TREES ARE 50% OFF. Woo hoo - my lucky day. Well, two lucky days since I can only use two vouchers per visit, and I've got four vouchers to spend. I had the car jam packed yesterday with three shrubs, 3 canna lilys potted up, one pond plant thingy, and a large patio planter. Today DH will meet me there to pick up a few more shrubs and a dwarf nest spruce.

Now that summer seems to finally be here (although, this morning it was only 55 degrees?) I plan to go out in the mornings to rip out the ivy and ... um... the other ground cover.
Dig up the grass (which I already dug out last year, but, hmm, it's back), maybe save the yuccas which are all ready to bloom, and start planting the new stuff.

I also have to dig up the fall blooming crocus so I can replant them. These things are lovely, by the way. They leaf out green in the spring then the leaves die back, blooming in August & September.

Medallion Sampler & recipe

2011-06-23T07:11:00.000-04:00

This is the medallion sampler quilt that was completed as a Block of the Month at the Caledonia Guild last year. This quilt belongs to the gal who ran the program.

I love the bright, clear colours that she used.

You may have to click on this to blow it up for detail. It was quilted with an hourglass design in the background, and feathers in the centre medallion section.

After wearing myself out at the Zumba class last week I went a little quieter for weekend entertainment. Went to the symphony. Yup - no longer a symphony virgin. Symphony Hamilton put on a performance at a church in Burlington. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I don't think I will be getting seasons tickets.

Garden update: now I'm picking cilantro, dill, lettuce and pea pods. I made a delicious Thai dinner (from Chatelaine magazine), substituting pea pods for the broccoli. Yum. It was just spicy enough to make my nose run.

Red Curry Peanut Noodles

Ingredients

1/2 500 g pkg spaghetti
1/3 cup peanut butter, preferably natural
3 tbsp Thai red-curry paste
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 head broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces

Cook pasta, following package directions, 8 to 10 min. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk peanut butter with 1/4 cup water, curry paste, soy and honey (don’t worry if it’s lumpy — it will melt when cooked).
Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high. Add oil, then onion and chicken. Stir-fry until chicken is no longer pink, 4 min. Add peanut-butter mixture and reduce heat to medium. Stir frequently until chicken is cooked, about 2 min.
Ladle out 1/2 cup pasta water and add to sauce. Add broccoli to pasta water for last minute of cooking. Drain pasta and broccoli, then return to pasta pot. Stir in chicken mixture until combined. Serve with chopped peanuts if desired.

Scrappy Quilt & social activities

2011-06-17T08:45:00.002-04:00

I just love scrappy quilts. This was pieced using foundation fabric, so there is no batting.

If you've been watching the 'modern' quilts they are often quilted with just straight lines. I like the look!

Extra blocks were pieced into the backing.

This has been a busy week for me. Usually I have NO life at all. But I went to the movies to see Bridesmaids, which was truly funny with a good amount of scatological humour. Then after taking the commission quilt to Judy Lyons in Burlington for an appraisal I had a lovely lunch date with a friend and followed that with a visit to see Mom. Thursday was Red Hat day. Janice took us for a complimentary workout with a Zumba class. Hah! Am I uncoordinated???? Then we ate too much at D & D's Diner in Jarvis.

Here is your latest appraisal information - straight from Judy. Museums (and appraisers) are no longer recommending that you roll your quilts for storage. This is distorting the batting and the fabrics. They are BACK to recommending quilts be folded with acid free tissue in the folds, and refold periodically. Also, Judy's fee will be going up this fall to $60.00. If you are thinking about having some items appraised do it now, while it is still $50.00. Then you can spend your $10 savings on more fabric. :-) Judy can be contacted at judy.lyons@ sympatico.ca (take out the space after the '@' sign).

Commission Finish

2011-06-12T20:44:00.000-04:00

Quilting of the block patchwork.

Quilting of the background areas.

I just love feathers & curls together. So... girly.

Tonga Batik on the back.

Spring flowers. This makes all the weeding worth it. Peony with Gas Plant (Dictamnus albus, which apparently has a poisonous label, causing phytodermatitis. Lovely fragrance though, very lemony.).

the commission quilt borders & asparagus/cedars

2011-06-08T13:15:00.000-04:00

Finally - the top is complete for the commission quilt. Now I'm into the quilting.

The ivory borders are two different sizes. The sides are 2", while the top & bottom are 4". I needed to use a quilting design that would fit into both areas.

All the black 1" pieces (borders & sashing) are being stitched in the ditch. Period.

Here was the design inspiration for the border quilting. I love the Dover colouring books and have a good collection of them.

Asparagus/Cedars What the heck is asparagus/cedars, you ask??? I found asparagus plants at the garden centre yesterday (on my way home from the dentist, where she replaced a crown. Aack!!). Last night I decided to PLANT the asparagus, thinking (mistakenly) that it was one lonely plant. I am the one lonely happy-to-eat-asparagus person, so I thought one plant, for me, would be lots. Well, HELLO - there are TEN plants in the package. Now I need to find nine friends, but that is a whole 'nother problem. When I was eyeing the garden, there is only one good spot for the asparagus, and that is where I heeled in the cedar trees I purloined from Carol Anne's last fall. sigh. Now I cannot put off moving them to their permanent homes any longer, so last night I transplanted the ten cedars. By then it was 7:30, I was soaking wet from perspiration and bad hose management, and I was hungry. I quit for the night, went and had supper, and enjoyed my weekly Margaret phone call. In the wee hours of the morning we had a HUGE thunder storm (possible tornadoes in Hamilton - our neighbour city), so I think my cedars should be happy, happy, happy. Today is dentist appointment #2 for the crown, and then I'm heading in for the Caledonia guild meeting. The asparagus will have to wait until tomorrow for planting. It is too friggin' hot out there today (humidex of 40c), and I can't eat the stuff until next year anyways, so there is no real rush.

Stash report and UFO report and Longarm Tale of Woe

2011-06-02T22:20:00.001-04:00

May's ufo is complete, except for hand stitching the binding. Check the UFO page for June's project.

Floyd (my quilting machine, for those of you who haven't met him) decided to take a vacation of sorts. He was stitching just FINE on Saturday. Sunday seemed to be a day of rest - the needle would go up and down but there was nooo stitch. I tried changing threads & bobbins & needles several times and finally gave up. I went out to the garden and then I went to visit Mom (who was having a really good day - so I'm kinda glad Floyd was acting like an ass). Anyhow - I called Ricardo, Floyd's doctor, but he didn't bring his little bag of tools until Wednesday. Ricardo said he would be here between 8 and 8:30. A.M. My first thought was for gawds sake - sleep in a little - come at 10, but I just said "ok, I'll see you then". On Tuesday evening I had a dinner date with some friends. When I got home DH was in bed and had not taken out the garbage for morning pickup. So I brought up the two recycle boxes, packed up two bags of garbage, and left it all where he would have to TRIP over it in the morning. I didn't want him to miss the hint, you know? Well, I get up at 6 am on Wednesday (mornings are not my forte) and all the garbage is still in the kitchen. Pfftt!!! Bastard!!! is what I'm thinking. At 7:20 I pull on my filthy gardening clothes from the day before so I can lug the garbage out to the road, then I'm going to take a shower before Ricardo shows up. Surprise, surprise - Ricardo pulls in the driveway as I'm taking out the last load. Seriously??? 7:20 a.m. for a service call??? I'm in muddy shorts and I haven't so much as brushed my teeth. At this point, men are not my favorite people. By the time Ricardo left, 7 hours later, Floyd was purring and my two Pfaffs were both clean & shiny - ready to rock & roll.

Because I couldn't quilt on Monday or Tuesday I stitched up Poochie Bags for my Tuesday dinner dates, worked on the commission quilt, and got most of the veggie garden planted.

It turned out that DH had set his morning alarm for pm instead of am and was seriously late for work, which is why the garbage was still in the kitchen. So I forgave him. And Ricardo made Floyd happy at a price I could afford, so I forgave him too.

STASH REPORT

Fabric used in May            5.85 m
Fabric used YTD              36.95 m
Fabric purchased May         2.9 m
Fabric purchased YTD       19 m.
Net YTD                           - 17.95 m. Yaay me!!

Home from the National Juried Show

2011-05-29T21:38:00.001-04:00

Departure from Deb's at noon on Sunday. Rainy. We are heading to Karen's for the night, then go to London on Monday morning.

Karen knows how to entertain her overnighters. Mojitos. heart :-)

This is our dorm room at the university. Karen does not know how to take a normal picture. Ha ha.

Carol Anne is surprised that our new friend Gwen has not run away. Perhaps it was the allure of two-day-old pizza we offered her for supper?

Diane and Pat at our table. Breakfast of champions: Cheerios and a wide assortment of alcohol.

I met the author of a blog that I regularly follow (the Quilt Rat - great stuff!!!). I looked like hell (previous photo of breakfast explains everything) but had Jill (blog author) take a group shot of us on our last morning, regardless of my appearance.

Now I'm back working on my UFO for May.

Baptist Fan, Multiple Borders

2011-05-22T11:28:00.000-04:00

I love the look of Baptist Fans on traditional type quilts. It lets the piecing take the spotlight.

Multiple, pieced borders can present a wonderful challenge.

I just LOVE the spring colours in this qullt.

I'm heading off for my week of volunteering at Quilt Ontario in London. There is no need for me to pack my sunglasses. The forecast, and in fact the current weather conditions, is rain, rain, and more rain. For the whole bloody week. Geez, Mother Nature, GIVE IT A REST. But I have to say, it has kept me in the house working. I'm actually up to date on my quilting work. I have - get ready for it... - one of my OWN quilts on the rack right now. This is a ufo challenge from the Binbrook guild, which will be due by our June meeting. Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I will have it finished waaay early. (If you check the UFO page at the top you can see a pic of the MAY project.) Then I can get back to the commission which also needs to be complete in June.

I'll see y'all in a week!

Retail Therapy, Commission, Driving Cautions

2011-05-17T16:43:00.000-04:00

Sunday was my day out with the girls to the Halton Quilt Show. And an excellent show it was. I fell off the wagon a wee bit and bought 4 of the Grinch panels and 2 fat quarters. The FQ's were purchased to go in my 'writing/letters/words' collection. I was pretty surprised at how many people I bumped into - it felt like I spent more time talking than looking at the quilts.

Since it was pouring rain, when I got home I went to work on the commission quilt. I love these Goose in the Pond blocks. But if you look closely, the brown centre square is a striped fabric. Did I pay attention to the direction of said stripe when I was connecting the blocks? Um, no. Crap. My stitch ripper got a bit of a workout.

Here are two rows complete (with the centre squares all pointing in the proper direction).

As for the Driving Cautions... the OPP currently has a blitz on to (ahem) REMIND drivers to pay attention. No cell phones, no texting, no eating, no makeup applying, no map reading, etc. Thank the good Lord they were nowhere near me on Monday. I was bringing Mom home from her appointment at the pacemaker clinic, and in spite of her hearty breakfast at 'the home', she told me she was hungry. I mean, she told me every two minutes for an hour and a half, because she forgets every two minutes that she just told me. Oy yoy yoy. How many times can you listen to someone tell you the same thing??? Add to that the situation where she is really, really hard of hearing. What? Hard of hearing. What is part of cleaning? No - HARD OF HEARING. What do you mean earring? And by now, she's forgotten, so she tells me again that she's hungry. Solution? A pit stop at Timmies for tea & timbits. I get her a small steeped tea with double milk & double sugar, and two timbits so I hopefully don't spoil her lunch. The drive-thru gal hands me the tea and I check it, since Timmies is notorious for screwing up your order. Sure enough, the tea is black, and I have to give it back to be fixed. Then I drive over to an empty area of the parking lot where I can undo the lid and open up the little sippy opening part. So, I hand Mom her tea, and pop open the bag and show her the timbits, and we head back out on the road. She gets a timbit and eats it, then takes the lid completely off her tea so she can have a drink. Aaargh - you KNOW how much of a mess she's making now, right? So I'm driving and trying to put the lid back on her tea, when she tells me she's hungry and wants to get something to eat. Aaargh - she's forgotten that she has a bag of food sitting on her lap. I stick her tea (with the lid ON) in the cup holder beside me, grab the bag and show her the food, then reach over and get a napkin out of the glovebox and wipe the spilled tea from her coat. Then I gently rip the tab off the lid opening, replace the lid and hand her the tea. All the while I'm madly weaving from one lane to another, and back again. The gods were smiling on me, though, with no traffic anywhere near me. Sigh. I'm staying home the rest of the week.

Wet dog, Quilt Shows, RAIN

2011-05-14T23:11:00.001-04:00

My assistant is 4 years old, and still a juvenile (as you can see). Right now she's actually kinda smelly. Wet dog smelly since it is pouring rain. Again.

Yesterday I took advantage of the lovely warm weather and got some gardening done. And since I'm so nice I fed the blackflies too, arrrgh!!! note to self: do not feed the insectum.

I am having a real hard time getting motivated these days. I don't feel like working, I don't feel like sewing, I don't feel like getting up in the morning. I sure hope this is just a phase. Maybe my week in London for Quilt Ontario will be the break that I need? Perhaps I'll come home inspired? Will my longarm buddies whip my arse into shape? Diane (Beach Day Diane) 'voluntold' a few of us last year that we were going to help her hang the quilts so I'm working on my biceps and triceps. Pfft - yeah, right, har har har. Bending the old elbow does not count, silly.

What I HAVE been doing is cleaning up crap that has piled up in the basement, in the office, and in my workroom (who knew there was a sewing table under all those fabric scraps?). I have to throw out a broken printer, broken humidifier, and broken dehumidifier. Why, oh why, do we keep this stuff? I have to sell a perfect little fax machine (now that I have a new multi-function printer). I have to take a full recycle box of empty beer/liquor/wine bottles back to the beer store. And I have a full recycle box of cardboard for garbage day. I have already dropped off a pile of stuff at the Goodwill, too. Check out Flylady.net if you want to learn how to do a 27 fling boogie. I hope Revenue Canada does not decide to audit Mom, 'cause I have now burned all her income tax papers from the 90's and up to 2003. And I've been cooking... creatively. And once in a while it gets sunny and warmish, so I've been weeding & clipping. Tomorrow I am going to the Halton Quilt show at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Yippee - a day out with the girls. When I get home we'll have leftovers for supper, then perhaps I will do some sewing on the commission quilt I'm working on. 'Cause so far, Environment Canada is calling for more RAIN RAIN RAIN.

Applique Quilt & Marriage "don't" recommendations

2011-05-09T09:03:00.000-04:00

This was such a fun quilt to work on, with fat cats & houses & flowers.

I love this border treatment. I chose it because it echoes the shape of the vine in the appliqued borders.

I'm always a little stumped when quilting fences. This got 1/4" outlining.

DH was out of town for a couple days last week. He took my car to his brother (the mechanic) to have my brakes done. I made myself a to-do list that I hoped to accomplish before hubby returned. Well, he came home half a day earlier than I expected, so I was still working on my chores.
THE WINDOW CHORE:
Every fall I remove and wash all the window screens and store them in the fruit cellar, then I wash all the windows so we can watch the crappy weather outside. In the spring I just need to clean the windows again and pop the screens on. When we had our windows replaced we did the front of the house one year, then the back of the house a few years later, by different companies. The screens are different - one set has little spring loaded side bullets that you pull, slide into the window channel and release. The other set has friction fit tabs - you just slam them in, and that style is hard on my hands. I've been doing this spring/fall routine every year, for MANY years. So, DH is watching me and I'm whining about the slamming and how it hurts my hands, and I can't reach the top of the window to slam that edge in, and would he please do the top edges for me. (note - these are the last 2 windows to be complete - every other window in the house is done)

"Don't" Recommendation #1:

Do not ask your wife if she has the correct screen on the window. You are liable to find the screen inexplicably torn, with your head sticking through it.

THE BATHROOMS CHORE
Every Friday I clean the potties. We've lived here 15 or so years, and I've been cleaning these every Friday for all of those years. We have four potties, and we have well water, so I really need that on my weekly calendar, otherwise it gets totally out of control. I was working on the toilet in the main bathroom. The procedure is: toilet cleaner stuff in the bowl, let it sit for a few minutes, clean the bowl with the toilet brush, clean the rim (top, inner side, underneath) with the toilet brush while trying not to spray water all over myself and the floor, then take a wad of toilet paper to dry off the rim, toss paper in the bowl and flush. No muss, no fuss, no now-toxic t.p. in the garbage can that the dog will decide to eat on Tuesday. DH is watching me (you heard me say WATCHING, didn't you?)

"Don't" Recommendation #2:

Do not tell your wife "that's not the right way - it doesn't work" while she is cleaning the toilet. You may have to duck pretty darned fast to avoid the toilet brush that is, oddly, winging it's way towards your head.

Spring Greenery and UFO update

2011-05-02T13:13:00.000-04:00

For the UFO update, check the UFO Challenge Page (see above). I'll warn you now, it's kind of pitiful.
===================================================

I've taken cuttings from my geraniums. Some of the geraniums live in a planter that goes outside for the summer then moves in to my workroom to keep me cheery for the whole long dreary winter. DH is a big proponent of anything that will keep me cheery. For some reason, he thinks he takes the brunt of my non-cheery bits. Although, honestly, I don't know what the hell he's talking about. I'm always an angel.

Here is a good example of why you should not throw anything out. I've reused styrofoam trays from meat and styrofoam cups from ??? (memory loss) for my tomato transplants. On the right is the geranium planter mentioned above. In the little cell paks are leeks, a couple of lettuce, and some basil.

Here are the geranium hanging baskets that spent the winter in the fruit cellar. I cut off the plants, let them mostly dry out and then downstairs they go. Keep them dark so they don't try to grow, and if the soil gets really bone dry give it a wee bit of water. In the spring it is a crap shoot as far as survival. This year I seem to have made out ok. In the old, frightening, roasting pan which has been lined with two layers of plastic you can see used Tim Hortons cups. Last night I transplanted a couple bunches of cilantro into the cups. Tonight I'll do the other two bunches. Paper cups are great for the garden - just rip off the bottom and plant the whole cup. There is also a used styrofoam tray that came with... mushrooms (?) and I've used that to start up a batch of mesclun mix. I will transplant that soon, too. On a side note - spell check wants that word to be MESCALIN. Hah! Then I'd really be cheery, eh??

It's getting very crowded near any south facing window. If the sun ever comes out (!!!) I'll get my plastic cloches out to the garden and warm up the soil. Then I can put some of these things outside. The sooner they go out the sooner I'll be eating. Yum yum yum.

It's "Spring"

2011-04-26T22:34:00.000-04:00

Ahh, for a couple of years now I've really loved when these pop up. They are from a planter I got from Jean & Jane on my 50th birthday.

Sadie has found her not-really-a-frisbee. And she's not giving it up.

Friggin' dandelions, circled in red (you'll have to click on the pic to enlarge it). I think I counted 12 in this tiny patch.

I shed a couple of tears tonight, again, over a friend who recently died. For several years I held a plant swap in June. DH and I would throw a barbeque and invite our friends to dig up stuff that had spread too much in their gardens. We'd eat & drink & trade pots of flowers & shrubs & fruits & veggies. One year Tony brought a zillion pair of garden gloves, crazy guy. Anyways... I have stuff in my garden from Kathy and tonight when I was thinking about the plant swap she popped into my head. Then I remembered that she's gone. People go and you tell yourself that it's part of life, and you carry on. Then at odd moments you think of someone, and in the act of remembering you remember that they are gone. And if you're like me, you cry a little more. Well, Kathy, if you're listening: I'm still taking care of your (not very) Obedient Plant and I'm really sad that for now, we can't share another laugh. I will probably think of you EVERY spring until I follow you, wherever the hell you've gone.

Baby Quilt and Red Hats at the Art Gallery of Hamilton

2011-04-23T21:09:00.000-04:00

This is such a pretty baby quilt. This was made by a gal who makes dog coats. Well, not just coats - other dog clothes too. Check out her stuff.

Prairie Points on the inside of the quilt add a cute touch.

Love the back.

Thursday was Red Hat day and it was my job to organize our April outing. I took the ladies to the Art Gallery of Hamilton where we had a docent led tour and then lunch in the Cafe. The highlight of the day was when one of our gals walked straight into a fundraising box - the clear lexan pedestal kind, and knocked it over. She's very quick though - she caught it before it crashed open. What made this even funnier for me (since I was standing right there) was the fact that she is the same gal who took a screen door off it's hinges at a quilt shop last year. We ALL saw her do that. She'll get a reputation if she keeps this up.

Afterwards we hit the Hamilton Farmer's Market. That is almost enough to make me move back to the city. When I lived in downtown Hamilton I used to get to the Market on a regular basis. I had such a good time wandering around I could have stayed all day. Good thing my cash was limited. I brought home salmon (which DH does not like), asparagus (which DH does not like), cucumbers (on everyone's hit parade - yaay), cranberry Stilton (which DH is not permitted to eat without my close supervision to ensure he does not get more than half), and a poppy seed roll (to make up for the salmon and the asparagus).

We only ate half of the asparagus on Thursday night so maybe tomorrow's breakfast will be asparagus omelet?

I need to work up my strength for Wednesday, which is Mom's pacemaker replacement day. If I have as much aggravation at the hospital this week as I've had the last two times we've been there she may come home with the old pacemaker. I can't keep drinking like this.

Beautiful Batiks & Retreat at Margaret's

2011-04-20T21:50:00.000-04:00

Oooh - this is such a pretty quilt.

This is how I record the spacing on my background fill. I take a picture with something to use for reference. In this case, it's one finger width. If I can't get back to quilting for a day or two (like, maybe Kevin Costner will whisk me off to Tahiti???) I will be consistent with the density.

The large flowers in the border needed some fill but I couldn't get too close to the yo-yo centre.

Flowers & leaves fill the unusual space between the star blocks.

We had a wonderful long weekend at Margaret's. Except for the friggin' weather. What's with SNOW in the middle of April? We spent Saturday at the Kawartha Quilt Show. As you can see, I didn't want to go outside.

I got my Goose in the Pond blocks together. Pretty. But they were kinda like wire hangers - I'm sure they kept multiplying. Every time I thought I had them all done, there was another one or two to be stitched.

Sunday after lunch we're getting ready to head for home. In the SNOW. I kept myself awake with half a box of Girl Guide cookies on the drive home. It's a good thing they only sell those things in the spring.

Tree Quilt and Retreat in the Kawarthas

2011-04-14T09:33:00.001-04:00

Here is a beautiful tree quilt.

There were no piecing errors - none of the half-squares were set in the wrong way.

Such a pretty back!

I'm heading off to Margaret's for our semi-annual retreat. We will visit the quilt show in the Kawartha's to take our minds off our own projects for a little while, and...maybe (?) stop in at the chocolate warehouse.

On my way I'll be stopping at Northcott Fabrics to drop off 3 quilts that are destined for Japan (one of mine and two from guild friends). Hopefully I won't also be dropping off lots of $$$$. I've been on a fabric moratorium for about three years (fell off in Houston, but hey - I'm human).

At Margaret's I am in charge of one supper, which will be pork tenderloin. I'm also bringing a dessert...
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Fudgy Brownies Swirled with Cheesecake
(note- I made this in two 8" x 8" pans - one pan to bring, a 3/4 portion for the freezer, and a 1/4 portion in the fridge for DH. He needs breakfast, you know?)

Brownies:
1 package brownie mix for 9” x 13” pan, oil and eggs (I made mine from scratch, using a recipe to fit a 9-ish x 13-ish pan)

Cheesecake:
15 oz.container Sorrento® Ricotta Cheese
8 oz. package cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Preheat ovento350̊ degrees

Grease bottom of a 13” x 9” pan.
Mix brownie batter according to directions on box.

Cheesecake filling: Mix cream cheese and sugar at
medium speed for 2 minutes until smooth.
Add ricotta, egg and vanilla. Mix for 2 minutes; set aside.
Spread brownie batter into prepared pan.
Top with cheesecake batter and make swirls with rubber spatula.

Bake for 28-32 minutes.

Brownies will be fudgy. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Refrigerate for several hours before serving.
Makes 16 brownies.

Small Civil War Sampler and Mood recovery via Martini

2011-04-11T08:34:00.000-04:00

This is a small-ish quilt - beautifully pieced. I know that most patchwork instructions tell you to press seams to one side. And that is the only way to get a ditch for Stitch-In-The-Ditch quilting. I find that quilts like this which have the seams pressed OPEN lie really really flat.

This was treated with feathers, curls, line dancing, and stitch-in-the-ditch (which, lemme tell you, is challenging when there is no ditch).

Friday was Mom's first two appointments for the pacemaker replacement. She needed an EKG and bloodwork, then to see the resident surgeon, then to preop to see the anesthetist and the surgery nurse. I picked her up at the nursing home and say "She has had her breakfast, right?" Um, no, she's been fasting because she needs bloodwork. "No, she does not need to fast" I explain to the nurse (?). Crap. Now I have to take her out HUNGRY. So we get a couple of cookies Mom can eat in the car. Not a good start to our day.

We get to appointment #1 and discover the nursing home has given me the wrong health card. It belongs to someone else. Pfft. (that is steam coming out of my ears)

The EKG and bloodwork went fine. The appointment was on time, and outside of Mom having her normal OUCH OUCH OUCH over bloodwork and the blood pressure cuff everything was good. The two nice nurses tell us to go sit in the waiting room until the resident sees us. We wait half an hour and I begin to think I have mixed up the instructions. We are getting close to being late for the second appointment with the anesthetist and the nurse. I check with the receptionist and I heard correctly - we ARE still waiting for the resident. At the one hour mark Mom is getting really antsy so we go for a nice long walk down the hall and check out all the offices. Come back and wait some more. Mom, by now, has had enough and wants to go home. Now. She's 90 and has Alzheimers - she gets agitated. She also gets tired. And she hasn't eaten. I go see the receptionist and explain the situation, AND remind here that now we're half an hour late for our other appointment downstairs. I ask her to rebook with the resident (since we have to come back on the 20th) and we will go finish up so I can take Mom home. Well, she's totally flustered and won't/can't make us another appointment. The resident has had an emergency and will be done in 10 minutes. Me? I'm not buying that. After 10 minutes of the receptionist calling someone to see how to rebook our appointment and making us wait for that gal to come see us, the resident (who has been standing at the photocopier this whole time) decides he can see us now. Pfft (that is steam coming out of my ears. Again.). The instant we sit down in his office, his cell phone rings. He spends 10 minutes talking to someone in Spanish (?), hangs up and apologizes to us that his daughter is sick and he may have to go pick her up. Then he calls someone (his wife??) and talks to HER in Spanish for 10 minutes. Mom turns to me and gets up and says "we'll come back another time". Doc hangs up the phone and starts going through the paperwork. I think it's his first day because he is READING every single item on every single page. He took my list of Mom's meds, wrote them all down, then gave me back the printout. But he kept the old printout from February. (yes I cleared that up before we left). Then he takes her blood pressure again, more OUCH OUCH OUCH. He calls another doc in to check about a scratch on her skin near where the incision will go. Finally sends us on our way to our next appointment. They wondered where we'd been all this time. Obviously Miss Receptionist did not call them to explain that we'd be late. Pfft (more steam coming out of my ears - there was actually quite a lot of that going on). The folks at appointment #2 were very sympathetic that it was now going on 2 pm and Mom hadn't eaten and did their best to rush us through. I finally made it home at 4 pm.
It took two double martinis and four episodes of GLEE to untwist me. Poor DH had worked all day and ended up having to make supper because I was not moving until 6 pm. He is so understanding sometimes.

Four Patch Posie, Stash Report, UFO report, Garden update

2011-04-07T21:51:00.000-04:00

I am way behind in posting quilt photos. This is a Four-Patch Posie one of the gals made at the Binbrook retreat last year.

As usual, I just love the back.

When DH starts supper, somebody thinks I should be upstairs supervising. Sadie does this every time, without fail. I can hear her little dog brain saying "Mom, Mom, GET UP HERE. IT'S SUPPERTIME."

She makes me laugh with her odd little habits. She has taken to going back to bed in the morning after she has her constitutional. I guess she has figured out that nothing much goes on, with me working downstairs all day. When she hears me shut Floyd off at lunchtime she'll get up and go outside to patrol the perimeter for a round or two. She also knows when I shut Floyd off in late afternoon, there is a good chance we are going for a walk. She'll start prancing around the front hall as soon as she hears the switch. Her birthday is in a week and a half - she'll be four. And still thinks that every person who comes to the house is there just to play with her.

Enough about the dog...

STASH REPORT (March 31st - I'm a few days behind on this too.)
Used this month 4.7 m
Used YTD         26.1 m
Added this month   0 m
Added YTD       15.1 m
Net 2011           - 11 m

Check my UFO page for the April info.

Why am I behind on everything (including my taxes, but that is a story for another day)? Gardening season is creeping up. My seeds from March 23rd are mostly sprouted. Today I started Leeks, Mesclun Mix, and this very interesting Purple Millet. Hopefully the 7 (yes SEVEN) seeds will all sprout. No wonder these are $20 per pot at the garden centre.

Social Events

2011-04-03T10:03:00.000-04:00

My girlfriend's daughter is heading off to college in May. I can't let her go without a quilt, so I am using the cute little butterfly blocks (preprinted - not appliqued by me!) that I picked up in Louisville, KY. Now I just need to find a couple of days to quilt it. April is turning in to a rash of medical appointments. I have to go for my bi-annual mammogram (groan...) and Mom has, so far, three appointments booked for her pacemaker replacement. One is the pre-op, one is with the Thrombosis Clinic, and then there is the actual procedure day. Quilting may be a bit late this month.

Before all the medical appointments popped up on my calendar, I had arranged with Jean, Jane & Teresa to take them bowling. None of them wanted to go. So... clockwise from top left: Teresa is humouring me. Jane is crying because she just broke her thumbnail. Me in the worst photo ever taken - joyful that I just bowled a spare. Jean is ready to roar (actually, pretending she is the good bowler from the next lane). Like my family on my birthday, these silly girls forgot they were supposed to let me win. After I reminded them, they kindly started throwing gutter balls. I love my friends.

I had a date with my s.i.l. to go shoe shopping to celebrate her first day of 'retirement'. We had made that date over a couple of Kamikazeeberry martinis (which were very good, by the way), before her hubby decided to move across the country with his employer. She & I had to cancel our date because now she is in the midst of preparing to relocate 3300 km away. But I had a DSW coupon for $20 that was burning a hole in my pocket. And it had an expiry date. I called up my friend Sue to check if she was busy. I started at Walden Galleria Mall's DSW store with 2 pair of shoes, and worked my way up to 4 bras at Kohls, and covered everything in between. Also got 2 lipsticks. Even Sue got a pair of shoes, and she's not a shoe lover (which I TOTALLY do not understand).

Itemized:

lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Including cheesecake.
2 pair shoes
3 pair jeans
4 t-shirts
2 sweaters
1 sweater set
1 bathing suit (sh*t I HATE trying on swimsuits)
1 shirt
4 bras
2 lipsticks
emergency rations at Arbys

This was a really good week that I won't be able to duplicate for quite some time.

Civil War Sampler & movie review

2011-03-28T09:12:00.000-04:00

This is a bit of a repeat, in the sense that two of my customers took the same class. Beautiful quilt though. I quilted them differently in many respects - this one has a feather theme, where the earlier quilt had a floral theme. There is lots of stitch in the ditch on both of them.

Last Wednesday we were supposed to have a UFO Sewing Day at the Caledonia Guild, but Mother Nature decided we should all stay home and take a snow/ice day instead. The stupid snow STILL hasn't melted. This pic was Wednesday morning - you can see where DH dug through the drift to get out and retrieve his newspaper. There is a Mourning Dove hiding from the elements on the shovel. Stupid bird. They are so fat, with their tiny little pinheads, I expect to see them rolling around like a bowling ball. I'm not sure how they stay upright? They often huddle near the front door, then we all scare each other when the door is opened.

I spent the day taking a nice long girly bath and actually reading a whole magazine. Then a leisurely lunch of leftovers, followed by work in the afternoon. In the evening I started some spring seeds - tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro and, um,... hmph. I forget. Basil?? I was on a fresh greens kick. I may start some beet seeds too, for pretty little beet leaves. I like to torture DH with "weird food" sometimes. Bad wife, bad.

Last night we went to see Lincoln Lawyer with Matthew McConaughey. Entertaining flic, not too much blood & gore. A few scenes where Matthew was (in my opinion) overacting, but hey - he is still nice to look at. So I forgive him. Yup - worth the admission.

UFO Update: there is a pic of my finished MARCH UFO on the UFO page. Woo Hoo!! March 28th and I have 3 UFOs completed.

How to Heal the Planet (A Give-and-Take Guide)

2011-03-23T09:08:00.000-04:00

I am borrowing a blog post from Christine Kane. This is well worth the time it will take to read. Have a great day!

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March 14th, 2011

How to Heal the Planet (A Give-and-Take Guide)

Written by Christine Kane

Yesterday, I overheard a conversation between several people about the disasters in Japan. One of the women said: “I feel so helpless.”
Understandable, of course. But not true. Sure, it’s pretty unlikely that she can fly off to Japan tomorrow and begin clean up on her own. But a disaster like this can provide other ways to deepen your commitment to service and healing on a planetary level.
I believe many people look at “service” in the same way they look at “courage.” It has to be big, heroic and eventful. Not even.
Service, much like courage, often comes down to your everyday “hey, no one even noticed that” choices. Waiting for the BIG moments is convenient because they rarely come!
In fact, many of my biggest moments of courage – of saying yes, stepping up, choosing not to listen to the negative voices – are often quiet and sometimes even lonely. Ditto with service. Service is HOW you live.
And as so many visionaries have stated in some way or another: A healthy you is the best service you can give to heal this planet.
This means that if you want to heal the planet, then there’s some GIVE and there’s some TAKE.
Let’s start with the GIVE’s:
GIVE your passion, your enthusiasm, and your talent.
Your passion speaks to you through your joy, your heart and your body. When you love doing something, that’s your passion, that’s the spark that feeds you. It’s what you were meant to be doing. People want to be around you when you’re in this high level of energy. Find a way to do it more, to infuse your life with it, and tap into it regularly.
GIVE up complaining, whining, blaming, gossip, and excuses.
Mind you, this is not about being a nice person. It’s not about being noble. It’s not even about loving your neighbor as yourself.
It’s about being selfish (in a good way!).
Here’s the deal: Your attention is way too powerful and creative to waste on splattering it all over the place with unproductive activity. Honor the power of your attention by experiencing the space that is created when you don’t fill it with negativity and addictive behaviors. This alone will change your world instantly.
GIVE yourself support.
When we build something new or start a new path or idea, we often expect ourselves to go it alone. And then we wonder why we couldn’t “pull it off.” It is not “weak” to ask for or invest in support. As far as I can tell, athletes are the only ones who have it right from the start. Their system is set up with coaches and team support from day one. We all need that level of support from mentors and teammates. Find a way to get support in creating anything from new higher-level mindsets to a business based in your purpose and passion. If you’re going to heal the planet, you need to keep on top of your own health as well! You are not meant to do this alone!

GIVE thanks.
Your life situation can change on a dime. Be grateful for everything in it right now. Wake up in the morning and think on your blessings until tears form in your eyes. Because THAT is how blessed you are to have this amazing moment.
GIVE money.
Does anyone agree with me that it’s kinda selfish to give money because it feels so freakin’ great? :-) Even though this is a powerful way of serving, I’m never fooled into thinking that I’m only serving the recipient. I love love love recognizing my own abundance by giving it away.
If you want to give money instantly to help the people in Japan, click here.
Now, let’s talk about the TAKES…
TAKE responsibility.
If there’s one key difference between people who succeed in a deep and lasting way, and those who don’t – it’s the element of personal responsibility. This means you take responsibility (not blame!) for your results, your actions, your inactions, your income, your outcomes, your health, your wealth, and your life circumstances.
As long as you see yourself as a victim of anything or anyone, you will remain in a place of powerlessness. Again, this is not about blame. This is about choice. The choice to call your power back where it belongs.
TAKE stock.
One of the indirect results of any disaster is that some people make it an opportunity to review their life situation. Often, you hear stories about people who suddenly recognized that life was too short to live so unhappily – choosing to quit jobs, to move out of the city, reassess their friendships.
You don’t have to wait until things reach a critical point before you take stock of your life. Make it a habit to regularly sit down, be with yourself and ask yourself what you want, if you are happy with how you spend your time, if your relationships are strong or just a place to gossip. Go on a retreat, take a weekend to write in your journal and read inspiring books. Step away from your life in order to look at it more deeply. To paraphrase Michael Gerber: “Work ON your life, not just IN it.”
TAKE it off.
What are you still settling for in your life, in your surroundings, in your schedule? What’s draining you? What’s not a “hell yes?”
Be ruthless in answering these questions. And then, be ruthless in letting go. Take it off and feel the space that’s created from not settling for excess maybe’s in your life. Make your life one big YES – and live from that place.
TAKE chances.
People who don’t succeed are the ones who wait until they get it perfectly first. They wait until they are sure that no one will judge them. They wait until they’re sure they won’t fail. Which boils down to this: They wait.
Imperfect Action is the way to go. In fact, when you’re about to try something new, insist that you do it badly! The experience of taking risks and facing fears is the ultimate healer for all kinds of emotional dis-eases.
TAKE it in.
In my Platinum Mastermind, we applaud each other. When one woman steps up for her time in front of the group, we cheer for her. We hoot, we woot, we clap like crazy. Her job is just to stand there and take it in. To receive.
Why do I insist that we do this?
Because being able to receive is crucial to success in anything. It is also crucial to service. We need to acknowledge our successes, celebrate our milestones, say “thank you,” charge what we are worth, and breathe in our blessings. Otherwise, we run on fumes, reaching for fuel from unhealthy sources.
Your happiness and thriving is a key element of the healing of this planet. If you place yourself at the bottom of the priority list, well, girlfriend, you’re not living in service, you’re living as a servant. Very different energies. Learn to TAKE IN the gifts and the gratitudes of this precious moment and let people celebrate you for the powerful being that you are.
TAKE a moment.
Prayer is powerful. It works. Your energy and your intention can indeed heal the planet.
Take a moment right now and sit quietly. Call upon the light that is you and smile as it comes into your awareness. For one full minute, send that light to the people in Japan. Surround them with love and healing energy, knowing that we are all connected. Schedule moments throughout the day to repeat this practice. It will heal the planet much more effectively than chaining yourself to the media images minute by minute.

One Block Wonder & Barley Salad

2011-03-19T13:30:00.000-04:00

Here is the One Block Wonder, all done. Well, I mean MY part is done. Yes, the gods were smiling and I had enough thread.

The winner of My New Best Friend award this winter has been my Ikea drying rack. Every month my hydro usage goes down, but my invoice goes up. There is something fishy about that. I actually really like using the drying rack. My stuff lasts longer and it helps to humidify the air. For my t-shirts, I toss them in the dryer on air fluff for 10 minutes to beat out the wrinkles, then I hang them up to dry. Drying stuff this way doesn't really take much extra time - it might be a 10 minute job, AND it makes me feel very green and wholesome-like. (Green in a good way, I might add.) With spring here I will soon be back in the yard using the solar dryer. translation: clothesline

Yum yum yum. DH made lunch today - Bulgur Salad with Feta & Cranberries. I had 3 helpings and had to make a point of pushing myself away from the table. I was still licking the spoon as I put the leftovers in the fridge. If I offer you salad out of the fridge you might want to think twice about accepting.
Personally, I never add the cherry tomatoes since I am such a tomato snob. Only garden fresh summer tomatoes pass these lips. The salad is delish without them.
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Barley Salad with Feta and Cranberries
(Barley or Quinoa or Bulgur or Rice)

2 cups water or broth (I use vegetable broth)
1 cup grain (see above options)
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
14 oz. (398 ml) can chickpeas, drained
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup packed fresh parsley leaves, chopped
3 tbsp. Balsamic vinaigrette
salt & pepper to taste

•   bring water to a boil, add grain and simmer for the necessary time
•   transfer to a large bowl or plate and allow to cool
•   in another large bowl, combine cranberries, feta cheese, chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber and parsley. Toss to combine.
•   add cooled grain then drizzle vinaigrette over salad and mix. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Avoid turning to quilt side borders {and shoes :-) }

2011-03-18T11:42:00.000-04:00

I am working on a One Block Wonder quilt. I love these quilts - they are always so striking from a distance. Because they are really busy, I usually recommend a pantograph of some kind. In this case the owner chose clamshells along with two border treatments.

I avoid turning the quilt to do the side borders whenever possible. It adds about an hour to the working time and quilting is already expensive, right? I don't want to charge any more than necessary. Here I have loosely chalked in a spine which was measured and planned before the quilt was loaded. I quilt the leaves & curls as far as I can then lock my stitches. When I advance the quilt I pick up where I left off. Kinda like the rinse & repeat instructions on your shampoo. You can see the thread tail where I started this stretch of border.

My biggest worry before I started this quilt was ... just how far will a 500 yard spool of Valdani thread take me? I spent an hour before I took my first stitch finding a (somewhat) local store where I could get another spool if I needed one. I am about two thirds of the way through quilting and I think I will make it. Fingers crossed.

On a completely unrelated but always timely topic: SHOES. My favorite thing in all the world, besides my dog & DH. (DH & my dog? hmm, could be a Freudian slip.) Anyhow... there was a story in the paper the other day stating the average woman owns 17 pair of shoes. Pfftt. Where did they find those lightweights???? Without even digging I counted 26 in my front hall closet. Not including boots or slippers or work shoes or the layer underneath the layer I could count.

Retreat Roundup

2011-03-14T08:39:00.000-04:00

The retreat was a great long weekend getaway, as usual. Most of the gals made the tumbling blocks quilt and they all looked fabulous - I love the graphic design. I was working on the Goose in the Pond pieces - you can see my work in the bottom center photo. Looks pretty insignificant at this point. But to be fair, there are 300 half-square units all squared up and ready to go, along with 100 rail fence units. And I'm partially done with the 100 9-patch units. And I completely emptied one bottle of wine, a bag of potato chips, a half bag of Tostitos with salsa, about 12 cookies and a date square. Then I had to take a nap

Give us this day our daily bread...

2011-03-11T08:45:00.001-05:00

We bought a huge bag of focaccia buns at Costco on Friday and we had a fresh loaf of bread already on the kitchen counter on Sunday. So I had to make Rich Rum Sticky Buns instead of experimenting with a nice healthy loaf of bread. I let the Black & Decker machine do the dough for me this time, because I was busy quilting. I made a pan of 12 buns and sent 4 over to the neighbours. (12 - 4 = 8). DH and I split one, then I took one to the nursing home for Mom. (8 - 2 = 6). They were all gone by Tuesday and none of them were eaten by me. Draw your own conclusions. Somebody liked them, a lot.

I am heading off for retreat in... about an hour and a half. Or whenever I get my sh*t together. This is what I hope to get partially done. Goose In The Pond. The blocks are 15".

I spent ALL DAY yesterday going through my quilting books looking for a suitable design (this is a commission piece). I must say, I love EQ for working out the bugs of a design. I have EQ5 and will upgrade to EQ7 some time, hopefully soon. It is way better to spend an extra hour on the computer instead of accidentally making 300 half square units when you really only needed 48. Or cutting and sewing all the sashing together, only to realize the measurements don't add up any more and the 300 half square units hang off the edge.

I know you are curious - the pea sprouts were good. They finally went in the stir fry last night and added an interesting peanut flavour. I asked DH if he used Peanut Sauce in the sauce, but he said no. That only left the pea sprouts. As an aside, we were discussing my sprouts at guild on Wednesday. I seem to be the only person who HASN'T grown sprouts before. I obviously missed that memo?

We've been having rain, rain, rain for the last couple of days. I saw my first robin yesterday which means spring is on it's way. Today we have snow/sleet so I hope my drive to Crieff isn't icky. I am rooming with Doris, who was my traveling companion to Asia two years ago. We have Anita from Cotton Mill Thread works coming this afternoon with her supply to give us a little shopping break. Like we need a break from sewing, eating, sewing, eating, sewing, eating. See ya Sunday...

Jelly Roll Quilt & Pea Sprouts

2011-03-05T11:15:00.000-05:00

This Jelly Roll quilt was made in the Morning Out class last fall. I love the Civil War prints.

It was quilted with wool batting, which is my all-time favorite.

The pea sprouts are coming along nicely. They were started Wednesday morning and showed their first signs of growth on Friday morning. This is the status Saturday morning. Here's hoping I don't kill them before Monday night's supper.

ADHD? & UFO update

2011-03-03T09:39:00.000-05:00

Back in October I was sooo sick of the garden I couldn't wait for a killing frost. Now I am sooo sick of winter. Even though I love routine (I have oatmeal for breakfast EVERY DAY and I eat my lunch at twelve noon EVERY DAY) I also get sick of the same thing day after day. I need to change things up occasionally, which is why changing seasons work so well for me. But sometimes they just take too darned long to change.

So. I'm forcing spring, whether it wants to be here or not. Years and years ago I was reading my Organic Gardening magazine and there was an article about growing your own sprouts. That has been on my to-do list ever since, and we're talking like 20 years now. (note to self: come up with a better Bucket List. This is embarrassing.) Then a couple weeks ago the gardening expert on CBC radio was talking about growing sprouts indoors. He recommended pea sprouts - apparently they taste absolutely the best. So I headed off to the garden centre and picked up a package of organic Snow Peas.

Here they are getting their initial 5 hour soak.

Here they have been drained (into one of my plants) and rinsed again. There is a cheesecloth 'screen' held over the jar opening with an elastic band. The jar is supposed to stay on a 45 degree angle to keep the sprouts from sitting in gunky water which could make us very very sick. These will be rinsed every 8 hours or so. According to the Canadian Gardening web site they will be ready to eat in 5 days. So, on Monday we will be having a stir fry with fresh pea sprouts. I'll keep you posted.

And - check the UFO page if you're interested in the March UFO, which thankfully is a TFUQ.

Happy Birthday to meeee....

2011-02-27T09:12:00.000-05:00

Stash Report & UFO report

2011-02-26T19:41:00.000-05:00

Stash Report: I fell off the wagon. But at $3/m for Christmas prints I could not help myself. All my Red Hat friends had the same problem.

Used this month        4.9 m
Used YTD          21.4 m
Added this month    15.1 m
Added YTD            15.1 m
Net 2011                 -6.3 m

February's UFO is done. done. done. Even hand stitching of the binding is half way complete, and I'll have that finished by tomorrow.

I'll need to soak this to remove the little blue dots in the center of the flowers. I always prefer the crinkly look of a quilt after washing, so I usually do this anyways.

I also quilted up two small tops for Quilts of Valour.

On the home front, here's my latest from scratch bread. The crust is dark but not as burnt as it appears in the photo. It was a TOUGH crust though. I had to gently score the crust so the bread knife would stop sliding off. For a couple of minutes there it was like watching a cartoon.

This is Molasses Oatmeal bread. Very tasty with a nice texture. And the crust gave our teeth a nice workout. I'm thinking that buttering the top of the dough was a bad move.

On the news front, I am trying to decide who is more insane at the present time. Moammar Gadhafi or Charlie Sheen. Moammar, Charlie, Moammar, Charlie. Hmmm.

UFO update & ouchie

2011-02-22T12:21:00.000-05:00

Check my ufo page to see what I'm up to. There is a tip there on today's post for longarm quilters. This is pretty intense quilting in the sense that it is totally custom and involves a lot of ruler work. This means I am hunched over for hours. In spite of my exercises (jumping jacks, stretches, yoga, walking, skating) I still have cranky muscles. This afternoon I am going to see my second favorite man in the whole world (Favorite being my husband. Thought I'd clear that up.). My chiropractor, Dr. Jim. He's going to work on my pectoralis minor. When DH works on it he gets confused and ends up working on something totally different, if you know what I mean.

I share my chiropractor with Anita Zobens of Cotton Mill Thread Works. I think he's her second favorite man, too.

Bread

2011-02-20T13:58:00.002-05:00

If you recall, we got a new breadmaker a while ago and it's a piece of drek. That is a nice way of saying it's a piece of sh*t. DH called Black & Decker to complain and they will send us the next model up, as soon as we send them the plug from this bad one.

In the meantime, I was craving some fresh-from-the-oven bread. I broke down and made it from scratch. I haven't done that in YEARS. Like... at least 14 years. It seems I forgot how to make the loaves look nice. I will do better next time.

I couldn't find a recipe that appeared easy enough in any of my cookbooks (ok, the two that I looked in, if you really want to know). So I went to my new favorite go-to blog: Patchwork Times. I'm starting to feel like a stalker, but I absolutely love Judy's blog.

She is a quilter, author, cook, gardener, dog owner, and poultrist. Yes. I did make that word up. It means she has chickens. If I need to know something, she is my new best friend. Even if she doesn't know it.
Her recipe for white bread is here. Enjoy. Next, I will be stretching my wings and making something a little less white and a little more fibre-ey.

two sided quilt, walking the dog, Leibster Award

2011-02-16T17:44:00.000-05:00

Two sided quilt. I love the Op Art side.

Sadie and I went for a walk today because we're going through a January thaw. February thaw? Nice and mild, in any event. The melting snow exposes all kinds of interesting things that dogs need to stop and investigate.

discarded empty water bottle.
discarded Tim Hortons cup. Probably blew out of someone's pickup truck box.
empty no-name tuna tin from the neighbour's recycle box. This is the guy who won a 7 figure lottery. Why is he buying no-name tuna?
a stone. I did not find this interesting, ok? Only the dog.
partial plastic bag.
unidentifiable yellow thing. Slightly larger than a twoonie. (hmm - google's speller does not like the word twoonie. Should it be twoony? toony? toonie?)
McDonalds hamburger box. Then the matching soda cup & straw.

Anyhow... the shoulders of the road are VERY MUDDY.

We play frisbee out in the snowbank. Hopefully she'll clean herself off enough that I can let her in the house.

I decided to have an herbal tea after our walk. Apparently I bought a new blend by President's Choice. With fibre.

Last week a fellow blogger (Dolores at True Blue Canadian) gave me a Leibster Award. This is for blogs with less than 300 followers to help drive up traffic. Dolores likes my sense of humour. And probably the way I spell humour. And neighbour. But I digress...

I am bestowing this award on a few more blogs I like, that may fit the bill.

Luke & Mel's food blog. (Total nepotism here. But I DO love their blog.) Cheese Yes Please.
Jill Buckley's blog. The Quilt Rat.
My friend Kristyn's blog. Melon Patch Quilts.
Shirley Bruner, a 'list' aquaintance. I don't think she sleeps. The World According to Me.
Suzanne Earley, owner of the above 'list'. Suzanne Earley.

If you're bored, these blogs should give you lots of entertainment.

Baltimore Album Quilt and Guild Bag Swap

2011-02-14T13:43:00.000-05:00

Baltimore Album quilt. This is the raffle quilt for the Stoney Creek Quilters' Guild 2012 show.

Members bought block kits for $10.

They were refunded the $10 when the completed block was returned.

Some of these blocks are so pretty - with added details like embroidery and beading.

At my Caledonia guild we have a February Valentines Bag Swap. I sent a pattern out to the members back in October. The bags get filled with $10 worth of 'stuff'. Anyone who participates gets to choose a bag.

This (as you have likely figured out already - I know you are pretty smart) is the bag I brought home from the meeting. The chocolates are all gone already. Or relocated to my thighs?

DH and I went skating last week at the local arena. The 'adult' hour is from 12:30 - 1:30 and costs a whole $3 per person. It's only $2 if you can convince them you are a senior. And actually, it really only costs if you can find the sweeper guy and give him some money. There were 4 ladies skating, 2 men skating, and DH and I. I was the entertainment (translates to: fell on my arse and slid across the ice). I am hoping that if I go a few more times I will stop feeling like a bobble-head doll. When you try to do something (ahem) athletic that you haven't done in, like, more than 20 years, there is a bit of a learning curve. It's kind of embarrassing that several people have already asked me SERIOUSLY if I am wearing a helmet. I know I'm bad, but...

Lantern Quilt, another one

2011-02-05T07:29:00.000-05:00

This Lantern Quilt was made by Doris - the gal who traveled to Asia with me in 2009. She made this as a souvenir quilt, using fabrics she bought on our trip.

I used a variegated thread - Signature 'Victorian'.

It has wool batting - my favorite. It shows the quilting beautifully, and is very light in the quilt.

Hmm. What I wish I was doing.

Hah - you're thinking: "Passed out under the coffee table????". Well, perhaps getting there might have been fun, but no. I just mean SLEEPING. Today was another 5 am morning. It is so frustrating to lay in bed feeling really tired, but unable to nod off.I woke up from a bad dream where I was fighting with DH over taking out the trash, and I was trying to refinish or paint something (?) and I'd left a teeny dog in a cardboard box for weeks without feeding it. Crazy stuff. As you can clearly see, I do not mistreat my dog.

I think I was stressed out over mom. I went to visit yesterday and she was not happy. Just not happy. She wanted to come home with me. She left me at the elevator which is really unusual. It is so hard to see someone you love unhappy. And not a darn thing you can do about it.

And, just so I don't leave you miserable and depressed:

Dresden Fan quilt & lucky draws

2011-02-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

Here's a beauty of a Dresden Fan quilt.

A feather meander was used in the white background.

Overall view of the back. Did I mention I love looking at the back of quilts?

A closer view showing the borders.

Last night was my Binbrook guild meeting. I took my January UFO and completed hand stitching the binding. Check my UFO page (see above) for the pics. I should have bought a lottery ticket yesterday, if the guild meeting was any indication of my luck. I won the Show & Share draw. I won the Block of the Month collection. I dropped those blocks like a hot potato though. I have ENOUGH ufos. As much as I like the blocks... But to continue: I won the 50/50 pot. I wish the universe was always that generous.

Stash Report & Quilting & Movie Review

2011-01-30T09:30:00.001-05:00

Stash report

Used this week: 5.5 m

Used year to date: 16.5 m

Added this week: 0

Added year to date: 0

Net for 2011 down: 16.5 m

And what have I used all this fabric on??? The above quilt, which is for the Morning Out class. I started the quilting yesterday and hope to finish it in time for Monday's guild meeting show & share. Lord willing and the creek don't rise. DH is in charge of the kitchen while I'm on these manic missions. I just ask him to throw food down to me occasionally.

I also finished an Underground Railroad quilt this week. Love samplers.

And I REALLY love that border fabric.

Last night we watched The Fighter with Mark Wahlberg. Stinker. Save your money. They (?) must have paid someone to get a nomination for Best Picture. I have no idea why the story seemed compelling enough for anyone to invest millions of dollars to put it to film.

In retaliation for the man movie, I'm looking forward to tonight's Hallmark movie on tv. I've got my kleenex all ready.

Blueberries faked in cereals, muffins, bagels and other food products - Food Investigations - NaturalNews.tv

2011-01-25T08:27:00.001-05:00

Well, this news certainly shocked me this morning. Check it out.

Blueberries faked in cereals, muffins, bagels and other food products - Food Investigations - NaturalNews.tv

Farmer's Wife quilt

2011-01-23T10:23:00.000-05:00

This week I spent mostly quilting this Farmer's Wife quilt. Made from templates - oy, yoy, yoy. I do love sampler quilts, so I really enjoyed this job.

Freeloaders have been stopping in for supper - eating the farmer's leftover corn. I let Sadie out and she will sit on the the porch looking at the geese, while the geese look at her. Then she decides IT'S TIME and she'll take off at a mad run and scare the poor buggers away.

As you can see from the above photo the weather is totally crap here. Cold, blowy, snowy, stay-in-the-house weather. In my dedication to the craft I fought my way outside and taught a workshop at the Stoney Creek Quilters' Guild. The gals made placemats with ribbon borders and tea cozies with kite tail borders. This was a perfect one day class. All tea cozies were done or ready for quilting, and everyone finished at least one placemat. Good job ladies. Wish I'd remembered my camera. The class snafus were one set of half squares that needed to be unsewn because they were not right sides together (oops). Then the sewing machine which kept magically unthreading itself. There were a few 'what the hell????' moments until we figured out it was an 'easy threading' needle (note to self - don't ever buy those!!!).

Yesterday while DH and I were out at the movies with Luke & Mel, Luke's parents were out visiting Mom at the new 'home'. I hope I am as cheerful as Mom when I'm her age. If I make it to her age.

Movie review: we went to see True Grit with Jeff Bridges. If you are a fan of the John Wayne version you will enjoy this but find parts of it a little too... graphic. If you have never seen a western you will find it interesting and a good way to pass a couple hours. You probably won't decide westerns are your favorite genre. You will need popcorn.

White Wholecloth & Bowling with the Red Hats

2011-01-20T21:44:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while I get a call from someone with a QUILT EMERGENCY. This is going to Kenya and still needs to be blessed by the minister, so I did a few extra quilting hours.

Today was Red Hat day. Our loose schedule is the third Thursday of the month and we all take turns arranging an outing. We went to the new Thai restaurant in town. Lunch was great but my mouth was burning. The more I ate, the hotter my mouth got. I'm glad our wait staff were close by filling up the water glass. Afterwards, we hit the bowling alley. We bowled two games, two teams of four. My team won (no thanks to me). I think a couple of the gals (on the other team) should be in the minus points category for throwing their balls with two hands from the front line. Is that even legal???

I thank everyone who has given me encouragement over mom's recent move. The day went well and mom seems to be settling in all right. Sis and I went to sign the papers yesterday. While we were in the office with the administrator, mom was at the monthly birthday party. They get the cutest cupcakes which are COVERED in a good half inch of icing. Mom had pink icing all over her nose and mouth - she just dives right in there when there is something sweet on the table. There was a fella playing the guitar and singing for an hour. He played some good oldies that the party goers really enjoyed. It made me wonder what they'll be playing when I'm in the nursing home. Elton John tunes? ZZ Top?

What????

2011-01-15T16:28:00.000-05:00

I am a Pisces. I've always BEEN a Pisces. But in today's newspaper it seems I have moved to an Aquarius. Huh. I guess I need to bone up on some different personality traits.

Traditional
Pisces Traits
Imaginative and sensitive
Compassionate and kind
Selfless and unworldly
Intuitive and sympathetic
Escapist and idealistic
Secretive and vague
Weak-willed and easily led

Traditional
Aquarian Traits

Friendly and humanitarian
Honest and loyal
Original and inventive
Independent and intellectual
Intractable and contrary
Perverse and unpredictable
Unemotional and detached

caledonia quilter

Pretty Lap Quilt & More Kindnesses

Bargello quilt and incarceration update

Citrus in January, blessings from friends, and fitness commitment

THINK ABOUT YOUR FOOD CANADA

scrappy quilt love & self improvement

appendages & quilt of valour & stash report

scrappy quilt and a gift basket

christmas gift & broken arm

Stack 'n Whack and quilter's nightmare

Irish Chain quilt and the Christmas Boots

Winter House Quilt, Christmas Panel Quilt

Snowman Christmas Quilt & Stash Report

Oriental Panel & Red Hats

Potato Pie with Saint-Damase

Preparation

What You Need

Instructions

TQS BOM 2009 finished, and my lovely oven

TQS BOM 2009

The Quilt Show BOM 2009, and other stuff...

Quilts, Box Cushions, Leek Roundup

Wholecloth Finished

Coke - and are YOU one of the 99% ?

from Wikipedia:

Compensation

Premarked Wholecloth

Please remember - freedom is not free

A visit with the inlaws

Fabric at a REAL BARGAIN

Antique Pinwheels, Halloween, Stash Report

class results & insomnia

Weather, Red Hat Outing

retreat meals, coleslaw, bookkeeping

Yee ha - Tobermory Retreat Week

Drunkards Path, Kitchen, Mini Cooper day

Scrappy donation quilt & kitchen reno

Quilting designs, Bargello, Potatoes, Zucchini

Flower Bed Update & Rainy Day

Pieces of Baltimore, Stash Report, Z. Report

the Kawartha Retreat

More Quilts for the Studio Tour

Sampler Quilt, Allergies

Christmas Quilt & Kitchen Goings-On

Nick Lowe-Cruel To Be Kind -1979 #155.*T*O*T*Ps*70s*

Buzz Saw & Border tutorial, Urn Panel, Red Hats & Cherry recipe

Studio Tour Quilts

Kawartha recap and Zucchini

Runnin' Away From Home

Garden Pests

Boxy Pouch, zucchini report

Star Bouquet quilt, Pineapple Quilt, Beach Day pics

One Block Wonder and Summer Quilt

Renewed Garden, Zucchini, and "MEN!!"

quilt work in progress

The current quilt, June stash report

Garden Progress

WIP and Garden Progress

Sampler Quilt, Goose in the Pond commission quilt, Garden

Medallion Sampler & recipe

Ingredients

Scrappy Quilt & social activities

Commission Finish

the commission quilt borders & asparagus/cedars

Stash report and UFO report and Longarm Tale of Woe

Home from the National Juried Show

Baptist Fan, Multiple Borders

Retail Therapy, Commission, Driving Cautions

Wet dog, Quilt Shows, RAIN

Applique Quilt & Marriage "don't" recommendations

Spring Greenery and UFO update

It's "Spring"

Baby Quilt and Red Hats at the Art Gallery of Hamilton

Beautiful Batiks & Retreat at Margaret's

Tree Quilt and Retreat in the Kawarthas

Small Civil War Sampler and Mood recovery via Martini

Four Patch Posie, Stash Report, UFO report, Garden update

Social Events

Civil War Sampler & movie review

How to Heal the Planet (A Give-and-Take Guide)

Nick Lowe-Cruel To Be Kind -1979 #155.TOTPs70s