Trail Mix

Seems like all my spare time lately has been spent trying to clear out my Mum’s house to get it ready to go on the market. It certainly has made me think twice about the things around here that I keep.

I have been stealing a little time to work on this Trail Mix Quilt from Better Homes & Gardens Scrap-Lovers’ Quilts.

So far, I’ve made 32 of these:

and 38 of these:

and 44 of these:

I still have 24 Double Nine-Patch blocks and 42 Nine Patch blocks to do. Nothing like a quick little quilt to whip up – NOT!

I love other people’s scrap quilts, but I’m not sure how this is going to turn out. No matter what anyone says, I think the nicest scrap quilts are controlled to a certain extent – whether it be by colour or fabric period, etc. This one is a little bit of everything, so we’ll see what it looks like when I start to put it together.

Lee and I did a not so local Shop Hop a couple of weeks ago and this was one of the stores on the tour. It’s called Quilt Junction and is located in the very small town of Waterford, Ontario.

The store is located in the old railway station and had one of the nicest selections of fabric that I’ve seen in a while. I’d never been there before, in fact, I hadn’t been to any of the stores on the tour. I’m not sure why, but I have a feeling this area might have been near Dorothy’s old stomping grounds.

I also wanted to give a shout out to Fiskars! I bought these snips quite a few years ago and they weren’t cutting as well as they used to. Since I’d heard they had a lifetime guarantee, I followed the instructions on their website and sent them a picture of my snips.

A week later, a brand new pair arrived in my mailbox. Now that’s service!

Hold Onto Your Seat – Quilting Content

I did some quilting last week and it felt so good.  This top has been lying around for quite some time – I ‘think’ it was supposed to be a disappearing 9 patch but I didn’t like it, so added some sashing and cornerstones.  I’m still not crazy about it, but it’s finished.

Since it was such a busy quilt to begin with, I just quilted Baptist fans on it.

I’m not sure what possessed me to make this one.  It’s so not me but I really seem to be into mindless these days and they don’t get much more mindless than this.

It’s just on my design wall which is why it looks all wrinkled at the bottom.

Leo got some beautiful flowers this week and I thought I’d share some of the blooms with you.

This hydrangea is just gorgeous.

He also got ‘flowers’ of a different kind.

These ones were good enough to eat!

I’m Walking on Sunshine

Leo’s heart surgery went well on Thursday and the surgeon is very pleased with his recovery. He was in a lot of pain on Friday, but yesterday he was up and walking and his pain was minimal. They are hoping he can come home on Tuesday. To say I’m relieved would be the understatement of the year.

This surgery has been hanging over our heads since January and I think I was dreading it even more than Leo as I remembered what we went through with his last surgery almost two years ago to the day.

It’s onwards and upwards from now on. My Mum is settled into her new residential care facility and soon Leo will be home and get stronger every day. I feel like the weight of the world has finally been lifted from my shoulders.

I couldn’t have got through this last six months without the help of my family and friends – one friend in particular. Lee has been with me every step of the way and I don’t know what I’d have done without her. Being an only child, I’ve learned to try and handle most things by myself and I’ve never been one to ask for help. Lee never asked if I needed help, she could just sense it and was always there for me.

When we got home from Leo’s angiogram at almost midnight in the freezing cold, she was sitting in our driveway ready to give me a hug. She walked into the waiting room on Thursday and sat with Sandra and I until we got news that things were O.K. She listened to me moan and cry almost daily when I was trying to deal with my Mum.

I’ll be honest – I’ve never had a friend like this before. Most people (myself included) tend to say if you need anything, anything at all, just say the word. I never did say the word – I guess I considered it a weakness if I couldn’t manage myself. This has given me a whole new perspective on friendship and I will no longer just offer – I’ll look for a need and I’ll try and fill it. Thank you Lee for not only being my friend but for teaching me the true meaning of friendship.

If you’re still hanging in here with me, I do have some cute pictures to share with you. Here are my grandkitties enjoying their dinner.

Left to right we have Lucy, Miles and Abby – and notice none of them have their elbows on the table – I have such well behaved grandkitties!

Darren also got this great shot of one of the bunnies in their backyard.

Do you think this is the Easter Bunny?

Production Line

I spent a very enjoyable day on Monday doing nothing but quilting.  Poor old Tillie has been sadly neglected lately but she performed perfectly for me and I got these three little strippy quilts done. 

Molly had to check out the back to make sure my tension was perfect!

I know a lot of people who are expecting this spring and although these quilts are so simple, they are what I call ‘happy quilts’ as they are bright and colourful and bring a smile to your face.  I used three different pantos on these – the first one was Sprung, the second Bubbles and the third Vibrance. 

Completely unrelated, I watched the movie “My Sister’s Keeper” last weekend and what a letdown.  I’m a big fan of Jodi Picoult’s books and this movie was based on one of them.  Talk about taking poetic license – they completely changed the ending of the book and for some reason it really infuriated me.  I’m so glad I had read the book before I saw the movie.

We have had absolutely gorgeous weather here all week – perfect weather for walking my baby – and we’re headed to the park right now.

Stacked Posies

I’ve really been trying to get out of my quilting slump - honest.  It has taken me more time than I’m willing to admit to get these stacked posy blocks together.

Then I tried to decide if they would look better on point?

I e-mailed my friend Joan and she didn’t think the dotted fabric was working, so I re-thunk (I’m sure that’s not a word) the whole thing and decided I’d make a wallhanging, instead of a quilt as I am getting sick of the sight of these tiny little 3” square blocks!

This is as far as I got yesterday, then while at work today I came up with an even better idea and this is what I’m doing with them now!

They are officially a UFO and I have no regrets.  Life is too short to spend time on something that just isn’t working!

It Can’t Be March – it Just Can’t!!

If you are still hanging in here with me, I commend you as there sure hasn’t been anything remotely resembling quilting going on around here lately.

I did get away to Dallas for a few days but the timing of the trip was all wrong. It had been planned before all hell broke loose around here and I should have taken the monetary loss and just cancelled – we live and learn.

There were some good times, though, and this beautiful girl and I shared a walk around the neighbourhood every morning.

We also spent a lovely day out in Rockwall at a friend’s house on the lake.

This is the view from almost every window in her home.

The pictures I am going to show you do not do justice to the beautiful work that Louise does. This embroidered quilt is magnificent and – are you ready for this – this is the first quilt she has ever made!!!!!

Louise is now working on a second quilt, made from dupioni silk and it is going to be every bit as gorgeous, if not more so, than her first one.

There is nothing I hate more than someone who does beautiful work like this AND she’s organized!!!!!

Not a pile of anything in site – and just in case you were wondering, her drawers are all tidy too!

Here we are at lunch at Gloria’s.

Left to right – Margaret, Carol, myself, Louise, Ann & Lee. Poor Ruth was cut out of the picture by the waiter.

Margaret and Carol are also extremely talented. Margaret can make just about anything without a pattern and Carol has done some beautiful heirloom smocking, as well as quilting.

You can’t spend time around these gals and not be inspired – so stay tuned!

Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night

I’ve been going through what are quite possibly the worst couple of weeks of my life and unfortunately the worst isn’t over yet.

The short version is my Mum has mixed dementia/Alzheimer's and is in hospital waiting to go into a care facility.  We also found out that Leo needs triple by-pass surgery as soon as possible so we are waiting for a date for his surgery.  Enough said.

I haven’t been able to concentrate on much anything but I have produced a few mindless items.

I made these for Sandra for Valentine’s Day.

They fit in perfectly with her obsession with penguins.

I also managed to do two more baby quilts.  I love this fabric so much, I don’t know what I’m going to do when the bolt is finished.  This pattern is from Mary’s website. 

Our Retreat Group was asked to donate a quilt for a fundraising auction at the place where they hold the retreats.  Grace donated a beautiful king sized top and I volunteered to quilt it.  I could kick myself that I didn’t get a picture, but I was anxious to get it finished and on to the next person for binding.  I’m sure someone along the line will get a picture so I can share it then.

For those of you puzzling over my post title, it’s a Bon Jovi song which goes something like this….

Hey man, I’m alive, I’m taking each day and night at a time; I’m feeling like a Monday but someday I’ll be Saturday night……My life’s a bargain basement all the good shit’s gone!

Seriously though, we WILL get through this and things will get better. 

It’s Been a While

I’m finally feeling better, but my blog has been sadly neglected. 

This was my last finish for 2009.

The pattern for this was in a recent issue of Quilts and More, and while it wasn’t difficult, I wouldn’t rush to make another one. 

My first finish of the year was this quilt:

You might remember (who am I kidding, I don’t even remember what I had for lunch yesterday) I won this kit a few years ago at a Shop Hop.  When I put it together, I really didn’t like it – but now that it’s quilted, it’s growing on me. 

I used a new to me panto called Ambrosia and I really like this panto and I can see it being used a lot in the future.

We had a real treat at our Guild meeting last night.  Carol Goddu, a member of our Guild and an award winning quilter, gave a lovely presentation of her pictorial quilts and we got to see a lot of them up close and personal.  Her website doesn’t do any of her work justice – the detail in her quilts is amazing as is the variety of fabrics and the different techniques she uses.

A Little of This and That

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas filled with the people and things you love most.

Sandra did a lot of shopping on Etsy this year and I wanted to share a couple of the quilty gifts she gave me.

I love this bookmark and it’s very appropriate, don’t you think?

She also combined my love of bears with my love of quilting with this little guy:

Ian had me in tears with his gift.  He snuck Ben out for a professional photo shoot and presented me with this picture:

I haven’t got as much accomplished as I hoped during the holidays as I have my asthma/cough/crud back – AGAIN.  This really is getting tedious and I am totally fed up being sick every other month.

I did get my Strawberry Fields top finished though.

Since I hadn’t touched Tillie for several months, I started with this little snowman strippy quilt.

If this looks familiar, it’s because I did one exactly the same earlier in the year.

After Tillie was all warmed up, I quilted this Quilt of Valour.  I didn’t do the piecing, only the quilting.

I used a panto called Maple Syrup but I don’t think the maple leaves show up as much as I would like.

Wonderful Surprise

Today wasn’t a good day.  I don’t talk about it on my blog, but my Mother has vascular dementia and I deal with the fallout of that condition pretty much daily.  I only had 2 hours sleep last night and was feeling pretty sorry for myself today.

Then, the mailman arrived with a parcel from my friend Joan who lives in Alberta.  Whenever I think I’m cold, I think of her – it was minus 42° there this morning.  It really doesn’t matter if that’s Fahrenheit or Celsius – it’s FREEZING!

I ‘met’ Joan a few years ago on a Canadian Quilting Forum and through Facebook we have become good friends and regular correspondents.  She regularly beats the pants off me at Scrabble.

When I opened the box, the tears started.

I knew she had been making these ornaments and I admired them.  I sympathized with her sore fingers sticking all the pins in but told her it would be worth it in the end.  I had no idea I was going to be one of the lucky recipients.  It is absolutely gorgeous and I feel so lucky.

When I dug a little deeper in the box, I discovered this:

At first I thought it was yardage that had been folded in a very nifty manner.  I absolutely love the colours – pink, purple, green – does she know me or what!  It’s what I would refer to as happy fabric – just looking at it makes you smile.

It’s not yardage as I originally thought, but a wonderful fold up bag.

It’s completely lined and folds into the front pocket.  I just love it!

Joan, you made my day and I treasure not only the gifts but our friendship.

More Strawberry Fields

I think I might have to keep this quilt.  I love it, although it still isn’t finished as there is one more border to go on.

This all came from one Bali Pop and the black background fabric.

Tomorrow I go for my annual mammogram and bone density test.  I can hardly wait!

Tuesday my Stitch N Chat Group are meeting for our annual Christmas lunch (Chinese food).  I have their gifts all ready, but they still need to be wrapped.  I think next year we are going to draw names as coming up with ten identical quilty gifts isn’t an easy task.

Two weeks from today Christmas will be all over and I won’t be sorry.  Those that know me, know Christmas isn’t my favourite holiday.  I wish I could get back the excitement of it all, but it just isn’t happening. 

Strawberry Fields Forever

I really like how this is turning out.

There are still sashing strips and cornerstones to go on – and the corners, of course, but I like where this one is going.

Sandra & Darren are having a Christmas Open House today so I spent yesterday baking to help them out a little.  They just came and picked everything up and that’s the way I like it – it’s all out of the house and the temptation is gone.

I have to work full time this week (moan, moan) so there probably won’t be a lot of progress made on the sewing front.  I still have Christmas shopping to do, haven’t wrapped a thing and so far the jury is still out on whether or not a tree is going up.

I laughed at Sandra’s Facebook status the other day:

3 cats + 2 trees = WORST IDEA EVER

Sounds like my little grandkitties haven’t been behaving themselves.  In fact, when I talked to her on Friday, she asked me if I wanted to adopt three cats – one that yawns on command.