Hands touch fibre...

Last night DD2 popped in with 4 tank-tops that need shortening. I will be cutting them off and hand hemming them. I don't do well with stretch fabrics and sewing machines... Sad, but true. 8-(

Having done some measuring and pinning on the tank tops last night, I thought to grab something else to do. My "Country Sampler" (photo with link in sidebar) was basted and ready to go years ago, with plans of machine quilting it one day when I felt comfortable with my machine quilting. I learned how to thread baste on that quilt... Anyway, having had used spray basting for the last long while, I decided to pull out all that thread basting so that I could iron out my top and backing (after storing for so long), and start over with spray basting. I will hopefully get that done today/tomorrow...

Today I am thinking to get into that sewing room to sort and tidy... My monthly Country Rose night was to be tonight, but has been canceled due to the cold (-32C), so if I am knee deep in stuff I don't have any reason to stop...

Another dog fight to break up this morn... No bites on me this time, just a scratch on my leg... And the fur-girls were doing soooo well. No fights since Christmas Day!!! Little rascals...

I had a new visitor comment on my blog yesterday, thus I popped over to her blog. Brenda, a fellow Canadian, just started blogging this past December, and so far she has shown her progress on her lovely WIP, her Morning Star quilt top... Do pop in for a visit to welcome her to blogland... 8-)

OK! I'm off the comp now to work on the tank-tops...

Days gone by...

Found some days gone by photos (photo of a photo tends to be a tad fuzzy) while looking for another photo... First photo is of my baby brother and I. We are 14 months apart. I think we were about 1 and 2 there, so that would put us in 1962, sitting in front of my parents living-room curtains, on top of the coffee table I know we were not allowed to climb on too yet! I loved those curtains... The had an oriental style to them...

Next is my Grade 1 photo, 1966. (now my profile photo) My mother had me in ringlets from the day my hair was long enough to hold a sponge roller over night, till the day after I did my first communion in grade 3. For months I had begged for a "Pixie Cut" and was told "after your first communion". There was no waiting for it after that! My "past the waist long hair" was put into 2 braids, chopped off by Mommy-dearest, and away we went with my cockeyed head of hair walking to the hairdresser's down the street for my pixie cut! I still have those braids (in photo - taken today)...
How many of you had ringlets as a child?

Many of you have asked about my injured thumb in emails, and since you know that I am not good with emailing (overwhelmed), I'll just let you all know that the wound is well healed shut, and just a tad red around it... 8-)

for your encouraging comments for my lost mojo. I think if I limit the computer use and the TV for a few days, and push myself into "doing", like cleaning up my sewing room, I may find some of my mojo to kick-start me in the right direction... Hopefully... That indeed would/will be a hard feat for me... Tis a mental health battle I've struggled with the last 5 years... There! I've said it! ... It is what it is... We shall see how I do... 8-)
Meanwhile, I will enjoy all the great projects and BOMs that you, my wonderful fellow blogging quilters, are doing at the moment... 8-)

I would still like to know how many of you had ringlets in your past...

I've lost my mojo...

So, emailing with Kh from Quilter Going Bananas today, she hit the nail on the head for me. I've lost my mojo... I just have no motivation for anything right now, thus you have not seen any quiltiness from me... I hope it returns soon, for all the commitments I've made and all!

Ruby sits like this on me often when sitting on the couch. Sometimes I have Dora on the other shoulder too... Bookends! 8-)

I've been alerted to another cute BOM through blogging friend Hazel. It is found at Angie's Bits 'n Pieces, it is called "Country Cups", an adorable little wall-quilt, and she has other interesting things to look through too! 8-)

Twas a Wonky Bits day today!

Last night was our first Wednesday night quilt gathering of the year, and I ended up staying home due to very little sleep the night before (only 4 hours). BUT today, I did make it to our first Wonky Bits gathering of the year!

Not much Show & Tell, but lots of talking, AND we discussed the possibility of having a quilt retreat! Boy I'm going to have retreat planning coming out of my ears soon! LOL! But I don't mind, just as long as we can find a good date. I already have two planned/booked. One for February and one in May, and a annual retreat to for me to attend in March, so I don't want to plan another too close to the others... Takes a week to recuperate you know!! Wink-wink! 8-)

The first photo above is Pg's Christmas table topper. The binding was completed today. She's all set for Christmas '09... 8-)

The next 3 photos are of Pd's traveling display wall. The outside of it is made of a nylon windbreaker fabric, and the display side is flannel. All pieces are from her stash. It measures about 60"x80", folds in 4 for easy travel, has loops for hanging lengthwise or widthwise, and has zippers to remove the foam board for washing. Our Pd is a very inventive/creative lady! 8-)

The Disappearing 9-Patch blocks on the display wall are Pd's. We were all playing with them at some point... You know! Our 2 cents worth... 8-)

Yesterday we had the Plumbing and Heating guys over to do some work on our furnace. We had to turn the temp way down so it wouldn't kick in, thus it got a tad chilly so I brought out our little electric heater. Ruby really liked it!!! It was VERY warm that close, but she would not stay any further back... in fact she kept creeping closer yet! Silly little fur-girl!!! 8-)

If you haven't seen enough challenges, BOMs, or swaps, hop on over to Anne's blog "Bunny Tails" to check out her BOM. The first month's pattern is adorable, as I am thinking the rest will be! 8-)

Pop on over to Rachel's blog "P.S. I Quilt" to check out her Calender Quilt Challenge. She also has the link there to Pat Sloan's blog, and a link to the book with that project. If you scroll to the bottom of that page you will find a photo and brief description.

And just remembered one more! There is an adorable "Seasons of the Heart" BOM, shared by Sandi, on her blog, A Legacy of Stitches.

Found something really neat on Finn's blog yesterday that I thought I could try sometime... Here is the link to the post of interest. Here are some links to more of this strip-scrap quilt top. One, Jane's "Sew Create It", explains how it is put together on her Dec 16 post, and the other, Libby's "A Simple Girl", gives a suggestion for mapping your quilting year with this method on the Dec 12th post...

You think I have enough links in this post?! Sheesh! I hope I have the right links with the right paragraph!!! 8-/

I forgot to wish all our Ukrainian friends/bloggers a Merry Christmas yesterday!! I hope you all had an enjoyable day with your families! Next week their New Year starts! 8-)

A 2009 Challenge...

I just signed up for another challenge. (Katherine...!!!) I did pretty good on Finn's NYE Challenge (list on her sidebar), 5 for 5, so I hope I can keep up on this one!

The challenge is a "project a month" hosted by May Britt and Kris Meares. Check out their info posts about it, perhaps you need a kick in the butt to challenge yourself too? 8-)

I guess it is time to tidy up my sewing room and make a definite plan for the challenge...?... One plan, I think I am going to go ahead with (as soon as DH can help), is switch the master bedroom and sewing room. Yup! The more I think about it, the more the idea makes sense to me... The bedroom furniture will fit fine in the mid sized bedroom, and I will gain about 30 square feet more in the sewing room with the switch...

Ellie is doing a Country Calender BOM stitchery/applique patterns on her blog. You may wish to check it out, for it might just be something for you! 8-)

Anyone want some snow?

The first photo is what it looked like on Nov 6th, the second photo across is from this morning... I'd say that pile of snow is close to 3 feet high (85cm). Want some? FREE! 8-)

What happened to those days that I loved the thought of the snow coming? To go out and play in the snow every day? Build snowmen, forts, and go tobogganing... It didn't feel cold out cause we were sooooo busy playing...

Then came my children with the same love of the snow, and I along with them for the most part... Now, beyond a day of light snowy flakes, I could certainly live without all this snow... 8-/

It was -33C out there first thing this morning, and that is with no wind-chill at all. Our high for today is -27C. Maybe it is time to move to some place warmer? But where? Seems temperatures and weather conditions are changing all over the world! 8-/

How about you? What conditions could you live without out your way? Or, how has the conditions changed?

DH has raised my sofa, love seat, and chair! Yahoo! I had hoped that he could do it soon! He brought them all up 4 inches, which makes a world of difference on bad knees...

Today DH is fixing things up electrically so that I can use my stove top AND my dryer at the same time... Remember we changed from a gas stove top to an electric? I only had one "big" outlet for the two, so now he is making a second... All done, but it doesn't work just yet, so he is still trouble shooting...

Our visit to my cousin's on Friday night had us playing Nintendo Wii for the first time. It was really fun! We bowled, played baseball, and did boxing... I think we may have to get that game when we fix up our rec-room... 8-)

Lastly, cleaning up our Christmas ornaments, I thought I would share a crafty one with you... This little bear is made of one round tree ornament from the store, a bunch of different sized pompoms, ribbon, and plastic eyes and nose. Click on the photo for a closer look if it interests you. A child's name and the year can be drawn on with a gold or silver colored paint pen of sorts... 8-)

I bet you are all thinking, "when is that girl going to get her butt into the sewing room?" Well, I'm wondering that too.... 8-)

More crafty items....

My parents still had their Christmas decor up when we visited yesterday, thus I had the opportunity to snap a few photos of Dad's crafts. When he retired 15 years ago he had no plan of what to keep him busy. Twelve years back he bought a scroll saw, some very thin wood, patterns, paints and brushes. He has made lots of items, and has sold at craft sales... Just this past year, at 75, he decided that it is enough. His hands are not working as well as they once did... Here are but few of his creations he is keeping... 8-)

This Santa and Mrs Claus were made by a coworker of my Aunt's. Apparently the base is a liquid dish detergent bottle... Cute hey?

This is the ceramic nativity I had mentioned in a previous post. I made it for my parents in place of the larger set, that they had for years, that they gave me...

My cousin Joey from Calgary mailed my mother a big box of stitcheries that she can no longer do, due to eyesight changes... My mother in turn passed these lovely quilty cards Joey had made on to me, as well as a quilty cross stitch that I will attempt... Thanks Joey! 8-)
Click on photo for a closer look. 8-)

Last but not least of the photos, is Ruby, begging for a lick of peanut-butter that I sometimes eat on toast for breakfast at the comp while catching up on blogging friends, and no, I don't let her lick my toast!!! How pitiful she can make herself look hey? lol! 8-) DS has all the DVDs of "Lord of the Rings" which DH and I started watching last night... About once a year we have a Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter weekend, where we watch "ALL" the movies from that series... We had intended to start watching them on New Year's Eve... 8-)

DSonny-boy gets his apartment today, and right now is in the process of loading his truck and our van. I wish he would wait till tomorrow... 8-/

That be it for today... We have some more visiting to do today. We are going to my cousin's house, DH's best bud from grade school. We met through this cousin... 8-)

Plans for 2009...

First day of 2009. The hustle bustle of the Christmas season and the last day of 2008 are now behind us. Finally January is here! It is time to make plans for 2009.

Beyond my thoughts to work on my PHD (Projects Half Done), meaning, to make about 3 quilt tops into fully finished quilts and to get my avoided hand-quilting quilt done, I also have new projects in mind, and have to think about the "Pay It Forward" commitment I made on Dec 7th.

A while back Lurline and I and discussed doing a PIF swap with each other if we didn't get enough volunteers for each our PIF. Though the volunteers are here now, Lurline and I both happily agreed to still do a swap with each other, to be done sometime in the new year, as with the rules of Pay It Forward. 8-)

So, I now have 4 projects to make. One for Jenny, Elizabeth, Julie, and now Lurline... All going to be sent Down Under... Down Under... Maybe I will have to make a special delivery to each myself! lol... If only I could!!! 8-)

*Julie and Lurline, if you could email me your snail mail addresses I would be very thankful. 8-)

DS is moving out this coming weekend. The last birdie to leave the nest (though again for him). DD2 was actually the "last to really fly away" in October. She is enjoying her full independence now, with her big sister at her side... 8-) So, it will only be DH, myself, and the 2 fur-girls living here... It will be strange, but nice and quiet... somewhat... "If" I can only get DH to stop making snarky comments at the commercials on TV and when I'm watching something enjoyable to me!!! And he knows how much "that" bothers me!!! Anyone else have that problem? 8-/

Heading out to my parents for a New Year visit soon... May post tonight yet. 8-)