Monday 30 November 2015

November is slipping away...

my colours for the mystery,changed grey to green
December starts tomorrow...are you ready yet!?! Well I know I am not, where does the time go!? Without the snow(we only have a  hint of white on the ground)it just doesn't seem like the Christmas season yet.
But it is that other season...MYSTERY QUILT! Yes Bonnie Hunter has begun her mystery. I had good intentions on the weekend but alas only got to finalizing the fabric choices(all from my stash) and cut a few strips. Today I will start the cutting of the triangles for the first clue.I will be joining her Monday link party to see what is happening and who is also joining in on the fun.
Twisted Christmas quilt
Most of this week was spent finishing up a quilt top from a class I took a couple of weeks ago. I was zooming along.I had just enough background for the quilt until I realized there was an error in the pattern. Now I was short 10...2 1/2 squares and couldn't find anymore of the same fabric. Plan B....I used different squares in the center of the quilt(the black ones) and followed the pattern for the rest of the quilt. Now to decide what to use for backing and this one might actually get finished for THIS Christmas!
Also on my plate have been these two bears...aren't they  just adorable. I feel like they are watching my every move in my sewing room. My friend Bernadette gave them to me and I will make a small quilt for each of them. Then they will be given to a guild member who will hand them out to children in difficult situations. I have done this before with smaller animals and they were must appreciated. I have scraps from some other friends and there is just the right amount to make the pattern I want...now you know it was meant to be.
making bear paw blocks
Although I am joining a day late, there was some slow stitching done yesterday while watching quilt cam and also last evening while watching Netflix. A very interesting documentary on Tesla, a very intelligent man who was wise beyond his years. He was credited with many inventions including AC electricity and harnessing the power of Niagara for electricity. But he was not a businessman and so he lost alot of his money because others took/bought his patents. I didn't recognize his name but he was in the company of great and powerful men like Westinghouse, J.P. Morgan, Marconi, Edison and even Einstein. That was my "learned something new today" for Sunday!!
Hope everyone has a great week...getting all those Christmas presents sewn up!!

Sunday 15 November 2015

Well hello ....I'm backkkkkk

It has been over a week but life really did get in the way and some things were not even in my control. A week ago we had a storm  blast its way across Ontario, leaving in its wake downed hydro lines and communities without power for the day or some the whole weekend. Once the power was back up(we had ours late Friday night) we realized that our computer wouldn't turn on. OOPS!! So I had to wait for DH to get a new power supply for it before I could blog again. Now that that it fixed, here I am!!
Also my daughter was home for a couple of days for hunting season. It is the last week of deer season with the rifles. So  as a family  we spent a couple of days together with no luck, not even a partridge which I missed. We are hoping the archery season will be more fruitful.
So now with things at a slower pace I can sit down and write a blog post and catch up on everything.
I have been busy too at the sewing machine.The day the power was out I did a lot of cutting in preparation for when it was restored. Some of that hasn't been sewn as yet, maybe this week. I managed to get three quilts machine quilted in the last week. One is for charity and the other two are for a friend who had twins in October...shhh don't tell her!!(hmm she might read this) I will show pics of them once they have been delivered.
So for slow stitching sunday with Kathy, I will be doing binding and enjoying live quiltcam with Bonnie Hunter,it has been awhile!!
We had our first dusting of snow this week too...Guess that means winter is on its way. Anyone else started thinking of Christmas yet....yikes!!!!
For those following along, the finger is healing nicely and showing no signs of needing amputation. But the nail is slow growing out and in order not to catch it on anything and rip it off(causing untold language and pain) I am forced to wear a bandaid on it daily. A small price to pay I guess.
Enjoy your week and whatever quilting or stitching you are enjoying!



Sunday 1 November 2015

Left in the dark!!!

As a matter of speaking, I am in the dark! The hydro was off from 9 am till 3 so what is a girl to do? Whatever it was, it was going to be slow!!!
BEFORE
I added labels to two finished quilts, finished stitching together a Christmas ornament we made at guild last week and then I spent the rest of the afternoon cutting fabric. I have been cleaning up my stash, taking all the little bits and anything less than a fat 1/4 out and chopping it into 1 1/2",2",2 1/2", 5" and then whatever is left for the string bucket.I did cut a few triangles for a 4 patch project I am working on too.It doesn't look like much but that is 4 hours of cutting. This is a very time consuming job but this was a good day for it...couldn't do anything else!!!

AFTER











The week ahead is planned out as long as I get my butt in gear and get this done!! I think though for tonight it is movie night and joining Kathy with some slow stitching on my hexies. Wonder if I will ever be done with that quilt? My life has been made easier by getting a fiskar cutter for the hexie shape from my friend Jessica. Now I don't have to keep reusing the papers endlessly. They do get a little "bent out of shape"!!!
A progress report on the injured finger. You can see what happened here. It is much better, a little tender still and of course I keep hitting it on things which instantly reminds me. I am extra careful around my knives these days too .....to say the least!!
Have a great week!! Happy November 1....how did that happen!?!?!?

You just never know!

 The other day a friend texted me and asked if I recognized the photo she sent me. It was a photo of a quilt, one that I had made last year ...