Sunday, December 30, 2007

The Quilting Process

The question has often been asked - which is your least favourite part of the quilting process? Today, I would have to answer - cutting, piecing and squaring the quilt backs. I just finished doing this for six quilts ranging in size from lap to queen size and it wasn't fun. However, they are all now ready to be quilted so bring on the new machine! Quite some time ago, Darren made me this quilt rack where I store all my tops and backings - he's so handy!



I usually try and match my backs with my fronts whenever possible - some people are of the opinion that the back is never seen so it doesn't matter what goes on it, but unfortunately I'm not one of those people. The 'matchy matchy' gene in me is just too dominant.

I spent most of yesterday cleaning up my sewing room - again! I think part of the problem is that it occupies the smallest room of the house and it contains more 'stuff' than all the other rooms combined. My solution - bigger room. Leo's solution - less stuff!

Now that it's all cleaned up, I'm inspired to start something new or at the very least finish some UFOs - heaven knows I have lots to pick from.

Friday, December 28, 2007

The Fat Lady Finally Sang

Yes, it's finally over and I, for one, am not sorry. We did have a nice Christmas and Ben had lots of fun opening all his presents. He loves tissue paper so we always wrap his presents in it and I think he has more fun with the paper than the toy or goodie inside. I got some great quilty gifts which I just love:

- Two of Mary Eddy's freemotion quilting books - Flowers in Motion and Mary's Whimsies which both give step by step instructions for flowers, leaves, holly wreaths and some really whimsical animals.

- Judy Laquidara's Nine-Patch Extravaganza. Judy is well known for her great borders and this book has some good ideas for border designs.

- Fellow Canadian, Sue Patten's Freehand Filler Patterns which takes some common blocks and gives lots of great freemotion quilting ideas for each block.


- A Quilt Calendar with 12 great patterns and instructions


- A Quilter's Home Magazine which on a quick glance looks informative and amusing

- A needle threader which I didn't even know existed! I have been complaining lately about having more and more trouble threading a needle - couldn't be my age, could it? Santa must have been listening as he brought me this handy dandy little tool.

And finally, today I placed my order for a new APQS Millennium longarm

I've had a Nolting Fun Quilter for about a year and a half and let's just say it wasn't a happy experience - after all, my Mother always told me if you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all. So today, with my dear husband's blessing, I ordered the machine I really wanted and should have bought two years ago.

I really am a very lucky lady!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas

To all my friends, both old and new, and all those who may have stumbled on my blog, Merry Christmas.

Ben was very good for his photo shoot yesterday - the collar he doesn't mind, but the hat is a whole other story!
Have a wonderful day.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Breakfast With My Girls


This is Britney and Madison - my 'adopted' grand-daughters. My good friend has these two beautiful little granchildren and I don't have any, so she kindly let me adopt them. Britney just turned 7 (she's wearing the sweater and blouse we gave her for her birthday) and Madison will be 5 on January 2nd. With all our busy schedules, we managed to fit in breakfast this morning to exchange gifts. Britney is a real girly girl (my kind of girl!) and loves to dress up in pretty dresses - the fancier the better. She's really into jewellery this year, so Santa obliged with a ring, bracelet and necklace. Maddie is more of a tomboy but is such a little sweetheart. Santa brought her the cute little poodle purse in the picture at the top and lots of My Little Pony goodies.

Seeing the girls was what I needed to bring back the wonder of Christmas. They are so excited and assured me they had been very good so Santa was bound to bring them everything they wanted. They both love Ben and sent me home with lots of goodies for him - including a great Santa outfit - stay tuned for pictures tomorrow!




Thursday, December 20, 2007

It Might be Looking Like Christmas but....

I'm certainly not feeling in the Christmas spirit - whatever that may be. I am totally stressed out and have already had one major meltdown and can feel another on the way. No matter how much I try to simplify the holidays, there is still an awful lot of things to be done - most of them by me.

I always start feeling resentment at this time of year - Leo buys one gift (mine) and gets Sandra to wrap it. I lay awake one night this week and mentally counted 35 people that 'we' buy gifts for. Don't get me wrong, I love giving - I get much more pleasure out of giving than receiving - but I hate trying to come up with different gift ideas every year. Then my resentment that I get no help with the ideas or the shopping starts building and next thing you know, watch out!

Today is my last day of work until January 2nd so I'm hoping that some time off will help give me an attitude adjustment. I need some Ben time - time on the snuggle chair wrapped in a quilt with my baby. This is a picture of Ben the day we got him - 6 years ago on the weekend before Christmas. He was the best Christmas present I ever received!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas


Ben is decorated with his little Christmas bow - it's very small but tasteful. Mrs. Paws, his mobile groomer, came today to give him his Christmas clip. She has a van which is fully equipped to bathe and clip him and he's in and out in just over an hour. The less trauma the better. He always gives her such a nice welcome, then all of a sudden he realizes exactly who she is and his little tail goes down and he starts shaking. Getting groomed isn't one of his favourite things.

The house is finally decorated too. I love this collection of nutcrackers. They are all from Germany and all were gifts to Leo from one of his suppliers. I always really appreciated these gifts - more so than the wine (which I don't drink) or the booze (which I rarely drink). Back in the days when there was a lot more graft given out, this company always gave these nutcrackers and I have always treasured them. When Ben was a puppy, he used to love to take the chimney sweep's brush - he never chewed it, he just wanted to play with it.

The tree is up and here is my baby admiring it He always seems to have evil eyes in pictures - I'm sure my camera has an adjustment for that, but since I'm electronically challenged, I don't have a clue how to use it. It took me six months to figure out how to delete more than one image at a time.


This is another favourite Christmas decoration which was made by a very talented lady in her 70s. Every tiny detail was handmade - all the goodies in the basket, the doll's coat and hat, the toys and presents in the sleigh. She has way more patience than I'd ever hope to have.


This is my group of Santas - and not a red suited one in the bunch! Actually, I do have an authentic red Santa which I've had since I was a child. He has a rubber face, hands and feet and a beautiful red velvet coat and furry beard - probably circa 1960. He does, however, have one slight problem - his arms are open wide because at one time he held a large shock absorber. Yes, a shock absorber - he was a promotional Santa for some shock absorber company. The shock absorber is long gone, but the Santa remains. He'd probably fetch a pretty penny on Ebay but I wouldn't part with him for the world as my Dad gave him to me.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

What I Should Be Doing...


And what I did are two different things. I should be Christmas shopping, or writing Christmas cards or quilting my Jewel Box or even, heaven forbid, be doing the laundry, but what I DID today was some machine embroidery. I have a set of floral medallions that I've had for ages that I was dying to try out, so I put everything else aside and decided today was the day to try them.

I love machine embroidery - it fascinates me to sit and watch the designs take shape and the detail being added, and today was a good day when all the embroidery gods were watching over me and I didn't have any problems. That doesn't always happen - trust me!


I have more embroidery designs that I will ever use in this lifetime - it's kind of like a quilter's stash - you just never know when you might need that design, or that piece of fabric.


These designs finish approximately 4" x 4" and I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with them. I thought I might put three together and make a tablerunner (maybe I could send it to Dorothy) or perhaps I could even make a table topper or a wallhanging. They are kind of fussy and I know not to everyone's taste but I like them! I've never been known for my practicality. There are four more in the set, but those will have to wait until another day.


Thursday, December 6, 2007

I Thought It Was Done....

In my last post I told you my Jewel Box top was finally finished. Well, I was wrong! As I was putting the pattern away, I realized there was another border after the piano keys. So, guess what I spent last night doing. At least now the top is FINALLY DONE.

You haven't been filling my in-box with suggestions for the quilting thread colour, so I have posted on one of the longarm chat groups and hopefully I will get some ideas from the ladies (and gentlemen) there.

I went to a funeral today for a 92 year old lady who was the dear Aunt of a co-worker and friend. When my friend was going through some of her things to find pictures for the funeral service, she came upon a piece of paper. The wording on this paper said that you need to live your life with three bones - a backbone, a wishbone and a funnybone. Very true words......

Monday, December 3, 2007

It's About Time


It's about time I got this top finished - it seems like I've been working on it forever. This isn't a very good picture as I just threw it over our bed which is a king, and the quilt is for a queen bed plus the lighting isn't great at night in our bedroom.

Now it needs to be quilted which brings up one of the biggest problems I always have - what colour thread do I use? If anyone can help me out with this decision, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm never happy with my thread colour choice for some reason.
I have gained a new respect for those of you who blog every day - my life just isn't that exciting and I'm sure you don't want to hear about how many loads of laundry I did or how many shirts I ironed. I keep telling Leo ironing shirts is a dying art but he has never liked the way his shirts were done at the cleaners so it is one of the few things I do for him, albeit grudgingly.