MAGPIE'S MUMBLINGS

Varying degrees of white

2012-01-27T18:39:00.001-05:00

Here is a close up of a section I've been working on the past couple of days. I cross stitched the word 'Family' using three shades of DMC floss and rather like the way it looks. The flower below that is one I crocheted and then added an antique button in the centre. (You can click on the picture to embiggen it).

Fun in the mail

2012-01-25T18:19:00.000-05:00

Today the mailman brought me something all the way from Australia! Kaite has been doing some shadow knitting and I commented about how intriguing it was and she sent me a lovely pot holder she made using the technique. I've taken a couple of pictures that will hopefully give you an idea of what it looks like.

Here you see it from one direction...

and here, from another...

Can you see how the pattern really shows as you change the angle?

It's pretty amazing and yet looks
relatively easy to create.

Thank you Kaite -

I will treasure this!

Heaping....

2012-01-24T18:07:00.000-05:00

...French knots onto this piece for
Karen's class.

Being totally useless!

2012-01-23T18:21:00.001-05:00

Yep, there's a lot of truth to that particular post title, especially today! However, in this case I'm referring to the fact that today is the date we post a photo of our ORT* jar for the TUSAL**.

Here's mine,
along with my rotary cutter
to give you some idea of scale.

To learn more about why I'm doing this,
and why there are TONS of other
people joining in the fun,

go HERE.

* An ORT is an 'old ratty thread'
and

** TUSAL is the 'Totally-Useless-Stitch-Along'.

Birdie breakfast (and white)...and sites, too

2012-01-20T18:46:00.000-05:00

Here's Mr. Woodpecker enjoying his breakfast.
Or is it mid-morning snack?

I couldn't believe he just stayed there while I opened the balcony door and stepped outside to take several pictures. We have at least one pair of these little fellows devouring the suet (and creating lots of racket). Fortunately our next door neighbours love them!

Today I didn't end up with much in the way of stitching time, but I did manage to add a few things to this block. The word 'joy' in cross stitch (Joy is what I feel when I'm stitching!); some laced running stitch (upper middle); the buttons on top of the prairie points; and the little cross stitch motifs beside the round doily on the right. Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having? Thanks Karen....you rock!!

For your viewing pleasure (and possible help with your organization) have a peek at this post that Karen (another Karen!) from Sew Many Ways has done... HERE.

Further for your viewing (and drooling) pleasure, please go and visit Suzy HERE. I know I've sent you there before but trust me you really need to go again (and again). Be sure to scroll down!

This one is for the knitters - Garn Studio has put up their latest Drops collection for spring HERE. If I could knit like the wind there are a few items here I would certainly love to have. Please be sure to scroll down to see them all.

HAVE FUN!!

Which one of these would you prefer?

2012-01-19T18:37:00.000-05:00

The work I did on another block? *

OR.....

Homemade (by Jack)
coconut cream pie?

Never mind, you don't have to answer that!

Colour switch

2012-01-18T16:45:00.000-05:00

Today I thought I`d give you a break from white
and post pictures of the latest

jacket I just finished.

The lady wanted her grandkids names
embroidered somewhere on the
jacket.

The pink roses are actually quite
dimensional and yes,
they came from a pair of
jeans.

Here`s the front....

and here`s the back.

Is it possible to have too much fun???

2012-01-17T18:31:00.000-05:00

Today I began stitching on one of my white blocks.

Somehow the entire day went by and I
don't remember taking note of the time
at any point.

Could that be because I was having fun??

Here you can see one of the

sections. Lots of french knots
and puffs to add dimension.

Above you can see that I've added one of the lace flowers (leftover from the trim you can see in the last picture). There was only one flower and it fit here perfectly. The lace on the right of this photo is a piece of handknit that my grandmother did - originally used as trim on pillowcases. I added some fly stitches and french knots.

Blinded by the white & great things

2012-01-13T16:55:00.000-05:00

Gosh, it's hard to come up with new titles that have to do with 'white' without repeating myself!

I've discovered two things you might be interested in (because I am, you should be too!!).

1.

I know it's not nice to covet things,
but oh I do

want a whole flock
(or even one!)

of THESE!

Go see, and tell me you don't want them too!!

Have you seen the book
'The Art of Annemieke Mein'??
If you haven't,
all I can say is...
get thy hands on a copy!!

Oh yeah, I covet that too!!

Finally, I get to the white part of this post....more of the blocks I've pieced for the Embroider, Embellish, Create class currently being taught by Karen. Have I mentioned that this just might prove to be additctive??

More, more, more

2012-01-12T17:58:00.000-05:00

WHITE, that is!

Another piece of embroidery done by my grandmother,
an initial from a hankie,
a piece of a tea towel.

This one has a piece of tone-on-tone quilters cotton,
another hankie,
some linen,
a pre-embroidered piece from a thrifted blouse.

A piece of a man's handkerchief,

a ladies hankie with crocheted edging,
a piece of dupioni silk.

oh yeah, and it snowed today.

Surrounded by white

2012-01-11T17:21:00.000-05:00

....and it's not snow either....but that's supposed to be on the way in the next day or two.

Today I actually got to stay home all day (other than for going for a walk) and I was able to make eight blocks for the Embroider, Embellish, Create class. Yippee for me!! Not only am I making blocks to stitch on but I'm reducing my stash at the same time. Win/Win I would say!

Above is the first block.

Karen taught us how to make prairie points - so elegant and so easy to do. This block has an already embroidered piece which came from a small tablecloth (probably card table size) that my maternal grandmother embroidered in the late 50's or early 60's. There's a small piece of dupioni silk, which I'll be using a lot in this (it's my favourite fabric). There's also a piece of a hankie and a piece from a table runner I had stashed away.

Over the next few days I'll show a few of the other blocks I've created. Now I can start to embroider -all in white, so I'd better not be drinking my coffee anywhere near my work!! That's going to be HARD!!!

Going loopy!

2012-01-09T18:56:00.000-05:00

Today is the long-awaited beginning of the 'Embroider, Stitch, Create' online class under the capable direction of Karen Ruane (who has been long admired on this front). I'm SO excited about this class and have been counting the days until it begins.

This morning the first lesson was posted and I had a grand time learning to make rouleau loops - something I have never attempted because I was totally intimidated by having to turn those little tubes of fabric right side out. Karen has a way that is so simple and now I know I'll be making lots of these.

This is only three that I made today....

Fun way to declutter

2012-01-04T22:23:00.000-05:00

I thought I wouldn't have anything to mumble about until at least Friday but tonight I came across a fun idea that I really like and thought I should pass it on to my loyal followers. The idea is this: there are 366 days in 2012 (it's a leap year) and the person that writes the Garden of Daisies blog has made the suggestion that we could declutter all year by simply getting rid of one thing each day. That would be three hundred and sixty six items that would no longer be cluttering your home.

Pause now for thought about that....

366

less

things

dust,

work

around

and

have

sort

through.

How great would that be?

Go HERE to read more about it!!

I'm a fool!

2012-01-02T19:35:00.000-05:00

Yep, I'm admitting to it publicly!

I spent part of a day on the weekend mucking through my stash looking for gold.

Nope, didn't find anything valuable (darn it!!).

But, I did find this .> > > > > > >

All of which is 'fodder' for the 'Fool's Gold Crazy Quilt Round Robin' I've signed up to do starting the beginning of February.

Gerry Krueger is the 'mama' of the group and you can find more information HERE.

And,
Sharon B. has put up the first post
in the 2012 TAST challenge.
Go HERE to see it!!

The end of one, the beginning of another

2011-12-31T13:31:00.000-05:00

Here in Canada we are winding down the last hours of 2011, a year that was challenging for so many people - a year that was filled with disasters and trials of so many kinds throughout the world. Personally we've had two weddings and we've also sold our home and moved into an apartment. Major changes, even though they were happy ones.

Creatively, my year did not exactly go as planned but I still managed to finish a few of the things I had hoped to do. I've noticed a number of bloggers have been choosing a 'word' to focus on in the new year (I'm sorry to say I don't know who to give credit to for the original idea). I hadn't planned on joining in, but one has popped into my head and I'm going to use it. My word is 'completion'. Thinking about completion leads me to two different interpretations - the first being the obvious - that of completing projects, including some UFO's that are waiting for attention. The other meaning, at least to me personally, is attempting to feel 'complete' in my art. I want to feel fulfilled and at peace with what I create - no more angst over whether it's 'good enough' or as innovative as what others are doing. When it gets right down to it, I just wanna be me!

I've been bleating about returning to my crazy quilting roots for the past couple of years and, needless to say, it hasn't happened. Obviously talking about it wasn't accomplishing my goal, so putting myself out there and signing up for a great online embroidery class and also a CQ round robin should help me get on track. Limiting time spend mindlessly surfing the internet will also help me accomplish my goal. Continuing to reduce my stash of reycled denim is a given, lest I drown in it.

No year-end post would be complete without thanking you, my friends and readers, for faithfully reading my mumblings - each and every one of you deserves a reward. The fact that I have over 90 followers is totally mind-numbing - thank you one and all. All I can say is that I really hope to come up with something that will continue to keep you visiting - please do say hi in the comments, because I love to hear from you!

And finally, my wishes for you in 2012...

good health,

happiness,

and all the creativity you can stand!!

A question for you....

2011-12-30T18:14:00.001-05:00

What book in your collection
do you find to be the

most inspirational?

I know we all do different types of art/craft and therefore would most likely be inspired by different types of books. This afternoon I hauled my favourite off the bookshelf and settled in for another good read and dose of eye candy.

I know this picture isn't the best and certainly doesn't do justice to the wonders held within this book - things such as this...

Hopefully you can click on the picture and embiggen so you can see the detail.

Specs for this book: "Celtic, Viking & Anglo-Saxon Embroidery - The Art & Embroidery of Jan Messent", published by Search Press, c 2010, ISBN: 978-1-84448-409-6

Now, I throw the question out to you....please tell us in the comments what book (or books) you find to be the most inspirational to you. Curious minds want to know!

brrrrrr......

2011-12-28T18:48:00.000-05:00

Well, after an almost-white Christmas, we awoke to this today....

These photos were taken from our balcony this morning. If you embiggen them, hopefully you can see the river in the background...not frozen over, but it does have a skiff of ice here and there. Unfortunately the sun didn't come out for the photo op!

These little tracks were in the snow on our balcony,
most likely from mourning doves.

We're still recovering from the usual over abundance of good things to eat and have spent the most part of today ensconced in our easy chairs with our books, only getting up occasionally to replenish our cups of tea. ahhhhhh......

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T13:50:00.000-05:00

I would like to take this opportunity,

before things get too busy,

to wish you

and the ones you hold most dear

a very happy Christmas.

May it be joyful, safe, and full of meaning.

knitting

2011-12-20T16:47:00.000-05:00

My knitting needles have churned out several of these scarves for gifts. They seem to be all the rage, so I did my bit for a few people to look 'current' (if there is any such thing in fashion). I had fun knitting them, which is always good!

pincushion fun

2011-12-19T18:30:00.000-05:00

Obviously, by the lack of mumbling here, I've been either a) busy; b)lazy; or c) doing nuttin' worth mumblin' about. Take your choice!

Anyhoo... I've been meaning to post these pictures and hadn't done so. Two of our projects we've done at our little CQTeer meetings have been to make pincushions. (One I might have shown you already but see "b" above, which will explain why I'm not bothering to go and check).

First, was this one that Irene
showed us...

Would you believe the base is a plastic bottle cap?

AND,
this is the one we did last month,
with guidance from Sue..

You can't see in the picture, but the base is a wooden thread spool.

Clever, aren't they!

knit n felt

2011-12-12T18:57:00.000-05:00

My knitting needles have been beavering away on making these for Christmas gifts....

I've lost track of how many pairs I've made over the past few years and some people are on their second pair already. I'm told that they are very comfie and warm, but I have yet to find out for myself.

What's that they say about a mechanic fixing everybody else's car and not his own? Guess I'm like that mechanic!

Pattern is the felt clogs from Fibre Trend.

Making a cluster!

2011-12-10T18:08:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the non-activity on my blog the past few days. For some reason I've been out a lot and the rest of the time has been spent creating things for Christmas presents.

Each year I make a limited edition of ornaments which some of my friends have built into collections (who would have known??). This year I came across The Legend of the Christmas Spider, which is folk legend originating from Germany and the Ukraine.

Here is the story,
courtesy of

THIS SITE.

The Legend of the Christmas Spider

Once upon a time, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year....the day on which the Christ child came to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning. They finally fled to the farthest corner of the attic.

T'was the Christmas eve at last! The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ child's visit. But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see him. Silently they crept out of their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold. Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the spiders scurried into the room. They must see the tree closely, since their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room...so they crept all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig and saw every one of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of the Christmas tree beauty.

But alas!! Everywhere they went they had left their webs, and when the little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too, but he knew the mother, who had trimmed the tree for the little children, wouldn't feel the same, so He touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling, shimmering, silver and gold!

Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our Christmas trees and, according to the legend, it has been a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree.

I was lucky enough to find a perfect tutorial that Kathy Shaw had done (go HERE to see it) and so....I've made a cluster of spiders! (Yes, a group of spiders is called a cluster).

Here's a closeup....

Aren't they cute?

And...drumroll please......

2011-12-03T18:44:00.000-05:00

The winner of the
'Holiday'
magazine giveaway

I'll need your snail mail addy Melody!

I'll email you!!

Congratulations!

A day to remember

2011-12-02T19:05:00.000-05:00

Today I was treated to my birthday present from one of my friends. Yes, I am well aware that my birthday is in July, as is she!

Her gift to me the past two years has been a 'mystery tour'. She picks me up in the morning and off we go to explore someplace totally unknown to me until we get there. Today we visited a small town called Lakefield and explored all the shops. Then she treats me to a nice lunch and more shopping (mostly looking for both of us).

I picked up a couple of things for Christmas presents and purchased the latest 'Knit'nStyle' magazine because I fell in love with the sweater on the cover. It's precisely what I would want to knit for myself and I was quite excited about it...until.....I went online to get the price of the yarn. Oops. At $79 for ONE ball (and I would need four!!) methinks I'll just frame the picture and look at it. No way I could spend that much for yarn - especially when it would also need 5 balls of another yarn that're $9 each. Nope, too costly for my blood, but nice to contemplate anyway. Maybe if I win a lottery??

Anyway, I had a most fun day and have already told my friend that she is more than welcome to repeat the gift next year!

A quickie....

2011-12-01T17:58:00.000-05:00

,,,,giveaway, that is....

How would you like to win a copy of this magazine?

I'm not going to ask you to do anything,
except leave a comment on THIS post
and I will draw a name
on Saturday night.

Latest denim jacket...

2011-11-30T19:12:00.000-05:00

Today I delivered the latest recycled denim jacket to the new owner and she graciously allowed me to take her photo and also gave me permission to share it here.

So....
here's Irene,
sporting a creation by MA...

Want to join in a fun game?

2011-11-29T18:55:00.000-05:00

I stumbled across a fun blogging game and it's something I absolutely HAVE to take part in!

Do you have a spare glass jar?

How about some ORT's?

WHAT? You mean you don't know what ORT's are??

Tsk, tsk!

ORT's are those pesky little bits of 'Old Ratty Threads'
you end up with when you're sewing.
You know the ones...the clippings, the throwaways.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE PART IN A
TOTALLY USELESS STITCH-A-LONG?

(TUSAL)

Go HERE to visit Its DaffyCat's blog to
find out all about this
fun project!

You'll find that the New Moon is
going to be fun in 2012!

Beautiful things....

2011-11-28T18:57:00.000-05:00

First of all,
here is our beautiful
daughter in law
wearing her

new scarf...

The scarf is a really quick knit (even for me - notoriously SLOW) - I actually knitted it in one day!

AND....
LOOKIT THIS
v

YUM!!!

Baked and decorated by the
above-mentioned
beautiful d-i-l!!

Don't you think she's a keeper?

Oh yeah - and the cake's all gone
Sorry!

TAST, Temari, and Zentangles

2011-11-21T19:25:00.000-05:00

How's that for a mixed bag of mumblings?

Sharon B will be re-introducing her fabulous TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesdays) beginning in January! I am seriously considering signing on again, despite having taken part several years ago. Each Tuesday of the year Sharon will introduce a different embroidery stitch. You are encouraged to try the stitch and, if you are interested in playing further, create additional variations of your own. At the end of the year you will have learned 52 stitches and been inspired by the creations of the rest of the members of the class. It's great fun! Go HERE for further details and to sign up. You won't be sorry! Oh...and did I mention all this is FREE???

After I posted the picture of the beautiful temari ball I was given, I came across THIS and thought you might be interested to see how they have combined temari and shisha.

I know there is a lot of interest in zentangles at the moment. Jo in NZ has created some beautiful cards using the technique. Have a peek at them HERE.

Today I've been glued to my sewing machine and have actually managed to get a lot done on the next denim jacket. Pictures will be forthcoming - perhaps tomorrow.

Winner and Crazy Quilt News!!

2011-11-19T18:19:00.000-05:00

First of all, I want to let you know that the Winter issue of Pat Winter's 'CRAZY QUILT GATHERINGS' is now available on MagCloud. I can pretty much guarantee it will be equally as wonderful as the previous ones have been. I've ordered mine already! Go HERE.

SharonB is considering running her TAST on-line class again next year. For those who don't know, TAST stands for 'Take A Stitch Tuesdays'. Sharon announces a new stitch each Tuesday and you are invited to learn and explore the stitch. You are encouraged to create your own variations. I can definitely give this project a huge thumb's up. I learned a LOT when I joined in the fun a few years ago. Sharon is asking for anyone who might be interested to drop her a comment on THIS POST at her blog. Even if you are an embroiderer already, you are sure to benefit from all the inspiration!

Finally, the winner of the 'GreenCraft Magazine' giveaway (after the highly scientific method of writing each name on pieces of paper, shaking them mightily, and getting DH to draw) is...........

I need your snail mail addy Kaite and I'll pop it into the mail for you next week.

Temari ball

2011-11-17T22:05:00.000-05:00

Today I was given this beautiful temari ball. I don't know if the pictures do it complete justice, but hopefully you can see the details. It's amazing that the ball is wound with something as small as sewing thread and then embroidered with the design. The design thread in this case is metallic.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway from the previous post. You have until Saturday to leave a comment on that post. Scroll down for more details!

I got nuttin, so how about this?

2011-11-15T12:46:00.000-05:00

I haven't been home long enough to do much of anything that would be classified as 'creative'. I could post a picture of my clean bathroom, but I don't suppose that would excite you. I've cut out some fabric that I can't show because it's for a gift. I bought some cool yarn, but can't show that either.

SO.....

How about a giveaway?

Let me see, what will I have you do in order to get an entry? I know - how about telling us what your absolute favourite Christmas present was and why? Leave your answer on this post only and I'll draw for a winner on Nov. 19th.

eye candy and a book review

2011-11-09T19:58:00.000-05:00

For some crazy quilt eye candy, have a look at what Lisa (of Ivory Blush Roses) has created. Go HERE.

- - - - - - - - - - -

I picked this book up at the library and have really enjoyed

reading it cover to cover.

Part of the description on the back cover... " Twelve quilters participated in a two-year-long international virtual collaboration. Each created a 12x12 inch art quilt every two months based upon a particular theme, such as "dandelion" or "shelter". This lavishly illustrated book showcases all 144 quilts..."

I found the whole thing to be fascinating. I like the concept of doing a virtual exchange (nothing to get lost in the mail). Each of the artists has written a chapter in the book talking about their own experiences during the collaboration. It's quite interesting to follow their thoughts on both the process and the way they each interpreted the twelve different themes. This book is definitely going on my personal wish list.

Specs: "Twelve by Twelve - The International Art Quilt Challenge", published by Lark Crafts, c 2011, ISBN: 13-978-1-60059-666-7

Great mail and stitching...

2011-11-08T18:13:00.000-05:00

I received a lovely surprise in the mail yesterday
from Pam Kellogg....a pretty brooch
in my favourite colours!

Isn't it pretty?
Thank you SO much Pam!!

You also might like to know that Pam is starting a new series of
eye candy on her blog. She will be posting pictures of her
waste canvas seam treatments as inspiration for

crazy quilters.
Go HERE to see!

AND...
I finally completed one section of my
Road To My House wallhanging!

Please keep in mind that these are my first attempts at free-motion stitching!

Treasures and Calendars

2011-11-07T16:30:00.000-05:00

This weekend we had #2 son and his wife home
and I'm now the proud owner of these...

As you can see, the common denominator in both of these is Eeyore. I have no clue why I'm a fan of Eeyore but I've always liked his character. These are both Hallmark pieces - the top one is a tree ornament and the bottom one is porcelain (although the blanket is fabric and the little tassels on the Snowbaby are 'real'). So cute!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

There obviously is a lot of truth to the old adage that

'great minds think alike',
because both Pat Winter and Kathy Shaw
have created fantastic crazy quilt

2012 calendars,
not knowing about the other.

Both calendars are beautiful and are
available at a very reasonable cost

from MagCloud!

To see Pat's go HERE.
To see Kathy's go HERE.

Thrifting find

2011-11-04T16:30:00.000-04:00

Sometimes a goldmine will pop up when you're thrifting and other times it's a complete and total waste of time. Yesterday I stumbled upon a really ugly necklace although the colour intrigued me and it looked as though it might have some useable beads*. Upon further inspection the main element of the necklace was what made me run right to the cash register and pay whatever they wanted!

SEE?

Isn't that a gorgeous button?
The photo definitely doesn't do the shine and
sparkle justice.
The beads in the necklace were just an added bonus.

* just a little sidenote - if you are in need of beads to add to your
collection, keep in mind that purchasing used necklaces

often yields great beads FAR cheaper than
buying them packaged and sold as beads.

Great mail day!

2011-11-02T19:40:00.001-04:00

I was a lucky winner of a giveaway that Patty did on her blog and this arrived in the mail...

Specs: 'Collage Discovery Workshop: Beyond The Unexpected' by Claudine Hellmuth, published by North Light Books, ISBN 1-58180-678-7

Sorry about the dark picture - it's nighttime here and it didn't photograph well.

Patty also included a fun handmade card...

Thank you Patty, I will enjoy reading the new addition to my library and the card is already pinned up on my inspiration board.

Not a Halloween costume!

2011-11-01T16:55:00.000-04:00

but my handsome husband!

See?
Real men DO blow bubbles!

A change of pace...

2011-10-31T19:07:00.000-04:00

Two pillows made from denim squares
cut from bits that are too small to use

in my jackets.

ALSO...
the newest issue of the free online
CQMag is available now.
Go HERE to have a look.

Another one!

2011-10-28T14:34:00.000-04:00

Another one done!
This one is for a man so has been made
shorter in the body and has less
in the way of 'decoration'.

One thing I've discovered about apartment

living is the

lack of places to photograph things.

I'm going to have to do some thinking about that!

Fun mail, and other stuff

2011-10-27T19:29:00.000-04:00

Recently I was lucky enough to win an ephemera giveaway from Yvonne and here's a look at the goodies that have arrived in my mailbox (sorry about the dark picture...it's been a dark day here)....

I was expecting an envie filled with paper bits, but this is so much more! There are three old maps from National Geographic magazine (I need a new art journal and I think I will be using one of these to cover it); some music paper; fall leaves; wooden buttons; four beautifully crocheted flowers; there are two tree themed quilt blocks; and a lovely little journal book. Such fun! Thank you so much Yvonne!

---------------------------------

I also want to tell you that Pat Winter has a new booklet out - all about how to make her incredibly beautiful boho bags. I've already ordered my copy!
Go HERE to find out more.
---------------------------------
I found these links for anyone interested in knitting cowls..
1. Tip Nut HERE
2. Knitting Pattern Central has a whole section of patterns which you can find on their site HERE. There are TONS of free patterns on this site.
--------------------------------
Mary Corbet of NeedlenThread has pointed us to another
excellent needlework resource.
This time it's a guide to the various needles,
their sizes and their uses.
Have a look at her post HERE.
I think it's pretty clever to combine a great instruction
book AND an actual needlebook in the
same publication.
Needless to say, there's one on the way for my
collection!
Canadians can order a copy at Traditional Stitches
and those in the US can find it HERE

CQTeers and ATC's

2011-10-26T19:19:00.000-04:00

Today was our monthly CQTeers meeting and, as usual, we consumed far too much chocolate and had far too much fun gabbing and showing off our latest creations. This time the theme for our atc swap was 'silhouettes' and here's a photo....

The two on the upper left were made by Irene (one is in the style of Monika Aebisher). The two on the bottom left were made by Sue and the ones on the upper and lower right were mine. We are amassing quite a collection of atc's - little works of art that are so much fun to do.

Shopping....

2011-10-25T19:26:00.000-04:00

I hate shopping, unless it happens to be in places like a fabric store or Michaels. Today I got to visit both. I went in quest of zippers for my jean jackets, but came home with several other things.

There's enough of these two yarns to make two pairs of felted slippers.
There's a half metre of the beaded trim and approximately
the same amount of that gold 'stuff'. I have NO idea what
it is actually meant for, but I couldn't resist.

Magpies LIKE sparkly things!!

And, aren't these the cutest little owl buttons?
They just have so much personality.

No idea what I will end up doing with them but they had to come home with me anyway.

All that, and I got the zippers too!

Mumbling again

2011-10-24T18:47:00.000-04:00

The Creativ Festival ended up being rather a disappointment. I've missed going for two or three years and was quite surprised to see that the entire size of the show has been cut in half. Whether that is simply a sign of the times or because the cost of having a booth at the show is too high, I don't know. Having half the space meant that everything was crammed in; the aisles between the displays were narrow too. Several of the vendors that I particularly like weren't there at all. The major sewing machine companies were represented but without the space they formerly had. The machines looked all scrunched together and it wasn't at all an invitation to test them out.

I only purchased two things. This lovely trim caught my eye. It will most likely be torn apart
for the pretty flowers.

This book was on my wish list before I went so I felt lucky to find a copy. Whitework has fascinated me for a long time so I know this book will be a good read.

Specs: 'A-Z of Whitework" - Book 1, published by Country Bumpkin Publications, C2007, ISBN 9-9757094-9-6

Fun....not!

2011-10-20T16:52:00.000-04:00

Today I've spent trying to compress 'stuff' into less space so they're more easily moveable.

No, we're NOT moving again but it's going to feel like it!!

'The Man' is supposed to be coming next week to install the new baseboards (we've only been waiting since summer!). That's a good thing, right? Well, when I sit down and contemplate the amount of sheer WORK this is going to entail, I'm not so sure I even want baseboards at all!! Every single piece of furniture (and their innards) will have to be moved out of the way and put somewhere (hah!!). Not only that, I expect there will be a ton of dust created out of all this because there's nowhere to cut the boards other than the middle of the living room floor. Oh, and did I mention that the closets will have to be emptied too?

Give me strength

``````````````````````````````````````

On to another subject that doesn't raise my blood pressure so much.

``````````````````````````````````````

Remember me mentioning the thrift store trip we made a couple of weeks ago? You don't? Well then, proves how forgettable my mumblings are. Anyway....I lucked out and found this book.

It's a collection of some of the articles from the first 29 issues of 'Threads' magazine....illustrated with tons of colour pictures. There are articles on battenberg lace, shisha, samplers, net darning, freestyle embroidery, drawn threadwork, crewel, needle lace and lots more. Fascinating reading!

Specs on the book: 'Stitchery and Needle Lace" from Threads Magazine; published by Taunton Press, c1991; ISBN: 1-56158-010-4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I won't be posting tomorrow because I'm off to the Creativ Festival in Toronto!

Stitching, and eye candy, and stuff of interest....

2011-10-19T16:40:00.000-04:00

Today I have one of my rambling posts for you, but I can assure you it's worthwhile to check out the sites I'm pointing you to. There's incredible eye candy, a round robin, and something about helping other stitchers too. A little bit of everything for your pleasure today.

* * * * * * * * *

1. Under the eye candy category, go and see what Karen has done (HERE). She has created a piece of embroidery art for her daughter which is destined to be a heirloom for generations to come. I know I've sent you to visit Karen before (and I know I'll be doing it again too!) and if you haven't signed up to become one of her followers you are missing something!

* * * * * * * * *

2. Also under eye candy, you have to go and see what Kathy of Shawkl has done using buttons and beads!! What's even better is that she sells the buttons in her shop. Drool, drool, HERE. (it's a sin to covet, it's a sin to covet, it's a...... ).

* * * * * * * * *

3. For those of you who are interested in crazy quilting, Gerry Krueger is taking signups for a 'Faux Gold' round robin. Sounds like fun and I've thrown my name in the ring. It's high time I got back to some crazy quilting and this is just the incentive I need. Go HERE for further details!

* * * * * * * * *

4. Are you a fan of 'Lord of the Rings'? Do you like paper piecing? If you are, and you do, Fandom In Stitches is beginning a series of free patterns. The first one is Gandalf and I understand there will be a new one each month for the next year. There are tons of free paper piecing patterns on this site, including Harry Potter ones if that is your interest. Go HERE.

* * * * * * * * *

5. Most of you have heard of the devastating wildfires in Texas and right now there's a collection of handmade Christmas ornaments going on to give to those who lost everything in those fires. Shawkl posted about it on her blog and you can find out more in her post HERE. It doesn't take long to make an ornament and pop it in the mail, so please consider helping out.

* * * * * * * * *

Fin.ally, here's today's efforts at stitching in the Frankenstich way

Outside my zone of comfort, but fun!!

2011-10-18T16:45:00.000-04:00

This week I'm concentrating on the Frankenstitch class I'm taking with Arlee and here are the results of my playing today...

Frankenstitch is a form of stitching that Arlee has developed to add texture (and a great deal of interest) to her embroidered pieces. I'm more of a perfectionist with my stitching so this format is quite different for me.

I've decided to do each of the techniques as a sort-of sampler which may or may not become a book when I'm done. Or?????

Final pieces of stitching

2011-10-17T16:11:00.000-04:00

These are the final pieces of free-motion stitching that will be going on my wallhanging. Every element I've stitched has some special meaning for me. I won't be posting any more photos until it's all done so you'll have to wait & see what it will turn out like.

p.s. - in case you're wondering....the bottom 'bit' will have flowers hand stitched on top of the wonky stems and leaves I did with the machine.

more stitchings -

2011-10-15T17:18:00.000-04:00

And I haven't sewn my fingers - yet!!

More houses

2011-10-14T18:07:00.001-04:00

Today I actually did some sewing and made these houses....

Each one represents a house I have lived in during my life.

Free motion stitching is entirely foreign to my nature, but my husband recognized the houses I was trying to depict so I guess I'm not that terrible at it. Either that or they were lucky guesses on his part!!

I'M HAVING FUN!!!!

These are being done for the online class 'Road to My House' given by Carole Brungar. I will show you some of the elements I am including, but you won't be able to see the finished product until the end.

Thank you and stitches

2011-10-13T18:23:00.000-04:00

First, I want to thank all of you who have so kindly added my friend Ginette to your prayers. We both appreciate it so much. Hopefully the doctors will get this figured out soon so she can get on the road to recovery.

I thought you might get a kick out of seeing my first attempt at free-motion stitching for the 'Road To My House' class I'm doing online with Carole Brungar. Methinks I need a ~~bit~~ lot more practice!!

Asking for prayers....

2011-10-12T19:06:00.000-04:00

My friend Ginette has been ill for several weeks now and the doctors seem to be unable to find out what is wrong. She has been through so much and needs prayers so that a diagnosis can be found and a treatment plan started.

If you would add her to your prayer list, I know she would be grateful.

Thank you, my friends.

Potatoes, hot pots, and chocolate shoes

2011-10-11T12:33:00.000-04:00

I'll bet that post title raised a whole bunch of interesting
possibilities in your mind!

First up, I've had a request for the recipe for
the Hash Brown Casserole
we made for Thanksgiving.

so, here it is....

HASH BROWN CASSEROLE

Combine:
2 lb. bag of hash browns, defrosted

2 cups sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
3/4 cup fine chopped onion
1 tin of cream of chicken soup
---
2 cups cornflakes, crushed a bit
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

Place combined ingredients in a large casserole dish. Sprinkle with crushed cornflakes (or any unsweetened cereal you prefer). Drizzle with the melted butter. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. Enjoy!

Next up, is about hot pot...
Our #2 son Shawn and his wife Winnie were home for Thanksgiving
and treated us by cooking us 'hot pot',
which we ate with chopsticks. Yummy!!

Finally, a chocolate shoe!
Winnie brought this for me
and I don't want to eat it!!

Doesn't it look amazing??

Cabinets and denim

2011-10-06T18:30:00.002-04:00

Because today was spent doing mundane things like grocery shopping and laundry, obviously nothing creative got done. In the interest of having at least SOMETHING to mumble about I took these two photos.

The first one shows the new cabinet I picked up on my thrifting expedition. It's hard to tell from this but it fits exactly under my cutting table (without a bit of space to spare!). My Cloth,Paper, Scissors magazines and my Quilting Arts magazines are in the bottom, and my Sew Somersets are on the shelf above. When I find where I've put my other ones (!!) I'll be able to fit them in too. It's perfect for the space and exactly what I was looking for. Yay!

Above is the pile of denim pockets and design elements I came home with. Of course they just HAPPEN to be attached to full pairs of jeans which I will now have to find a space to store until I can get them used up.

This weekend is our Canadian Thanksgiving and I rather doubt I will get a chance to post over the next few days. If it's your Thanksgiving, have a good (and safe) one!

Great finds!

2011-10-05T18:48:00.000-04:00

Pam Kellogg of Kitty and Me Designs has created a beautiful
Pink Ribbon CQ Purse for Breast Cancer Awareness.

You can see it HERE and find out more
details about her fundraiser for the cause.

Do you like buttons?
Do you covet buttons?
Do you want to SEE some gorgeous buttons?

Well, Shawkl has just listed a new
shipment of them on her Etsy site.

I saw, and boy do I covet!!

Go HERE!

A friend and I spent yesterday poking through four (yes, 4!!) different thrift shops in search of treasures. I, of course, picked up more denim to tear apart.

and before you get your knickers in a twist,

I'm fully aware that I'm trying to
downsize my stash and not add to it

In my defense, how could I NOT bring home delicious-looking pockets and design elements for my jackets. The fact that all that goodness happened to come attached to whole pairs of jeans is just one of those things, right?

I digress...

My big find was a perfect sized cupboard to hold my magazine collection for all of $20 AND this....

Well, actually my 'find' was the hand, the embroidery floss is what I'll be using for my on-line Frankenstitch class with Arlee.

I really *heart* my hand!!

Tripping....

2011-10-03T18:40:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful time during our four days away in Quebec last week. The fall colours were spectacular, despite the dull and rainy weather we experienced. The above pictures show a view of the mountain (Tremblant) and the road leading down to the condo where we were staying.

Below are a couple of pictures I took right off our balcony and perhaps show the colours the best.

Because of the dreary weather we weren't really able to do much in the way of exploring outdoors. There are tons of walking/biking trails in the area and also places to rent canoes and kayaks. There's a gondola that goes to the top of the mountain but the day we had thought of doing that the mountain was pretty much socked in with clouds. I think both Jack and I were relieved because neither one of us is very brave when it comes to heights!

We had a great time but are glad to be home and getting back into the routine of things.

testing some more....

2011-10-02T18:47:00.002-04:00

yakedy, yackedy, yak.....

Is this better??

testing - ignore this, please

2011-10-01T19:01:00.002-04:00

yada yada yada

More chickadee progress...

2011-09-26T16:47:00.000-04:00

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

I will be absent from the blog for the balance of the week (try to contain your glee). We're actually going on a short holiday to Quebec...first time we've actually been away for a holiday in many years so we're really looking forward to it. The fall colours should be great and I suspect my camera will get a lot of use. Now we just have to hope for good weather to show them off to their full advantage.

Please do talk amongst yourselves.

Chickadee progress

2011-09-21T16:47:00.000-04:00

Not much of the creative sort has been happening here, other than I'm managing to work at my cross stitch a bit in the evening. So....here's the progress so far....

Piles....of the not-so-painful sort

2011-09-20T18:00:00.000-04:00

Pile 1 of 3!

Today I was gifted with a TON of used denim and right now my living room has three piles looking somewhat like this. One pile is being donated onwards because they are too good to cut up; another pile is 'my' pile that will be used in my jackets and other projects; and the third pile is the stuff that's just plain too grotty to use or donate which will end up going to the fabric recycling.

I really hope we don't have company tonight
because there is NOWHERE left to sit!!

Latest project--- and ----- wow!!

2011-09-19T17:47:00.001-04:00

This is my latest project - a cross stitched chickadee designed by Pam Kellogg. My favourite bird is the chickadee so this was a natural for me to do. I originally planned to give it as a Christmas gift, but I suspect that this little fellow is going to live at my house! The pattern is called 'A Bird For All Seasons' and, besides the chickadee, Pam has included a robin, hummingbird and a blue jay. We put a small birdfeeder up over the weekend and we already have chickadees (and a couple of bluejays) visiting us.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I stumbled upon a really beautiful blog that I'm sure you would like to peek at too..
Evy does some gorgeous stitching and today her post
gives us a glimpse of some gorgeous textural pieces
from an exhibition.
Go HERE to see!

Stash Enhancement, and Cartwheels

2011-09-16T16:50:00.000-04:00

Actually I know better than to attempt doing cartwheels (couldn't do them when I was a kid and I don't expect that has changed with age!!)....but if I could, I would......our house is sold and the deal went through today!! YAY!! Jack is delighting in going around saying we are house-less.

-----------------

On a different note, long-suffering hubby
took me on an excursion to Fabricland
yesterday
and I enhanced my stash with all of this...

The four fabrics on the left will be turned into jacket linings. The bit of white to the right is three different types of iron-on interfacing, for various projects in the works.
The gorgeous orange (also on the right) complete with sequins is probably going to turn into a bag lining (or two.

Above is a hodge-podge of 'stuff'.
There's some thread (again earmarked for jackets),
a bunch of zippers - some for bags, some for jackets,
some nylon tape for making purse handles,

and some trim which will be added to
some boho bags (if and when I get time to actually make any!)

and finally, this came in the mail from StudioKat...

I can't wait to make this bag and have had my finger poised over the 'order' button ever since I

saw the prototype being developed on her site.

The flap of this bag is crying to be made in so many different ways, but
I'm anxious to give it a crazy quilt look and hopefully combine
it with some of my recycled denim too. Some of the above stash
is for creating one of these!

Failed experiment

2011-09-13T18:24:00.000-04:00

I knew this would happen, but had to try it anyway just to appease my curiosity.

Piece of lace, with what I suspected to be nylon content,
left in the tea dye solution for about four hours...

Looks rather tinted, but not much colour.

.... After rinsing

Colour? All gone.
Sigh.

Hot stuff in the kitchen

2011-09-12T16:49:00.000-04:00

My man,
cooking up a sweat!

AND,
what I cooked up yesterday!

Tea bags drying in the sun and the fabric from underneath, dyed a gorgeous hue of pink.

Winners!

2011-09-11T18:26:00.001-04:00

Through the entirely scientific process of putting the numbers of 1 through 7 (the number of comments) onto pieces of paper, shuffling them about (including dropping them on the floor), and drawing out two numbers which then correspond to the order in which the comments appeared (see? I TOLD you it was highly scientific!!)....

The winners of three STUDIOS magazines each

are....

KAREN and CHRISTEN!!!

I have your snail mail addy Karen, but I will need yours Christen & I'll pop you an email. Thanks for entering everyone!

-------------------------------

and on another note entirely -
my thoughts today have been with those
so much affected by the tragic
events of
9/11.

Lookit what I won!!

2011-09-10T15:11:00.000-04:00

Recently StudioKat did an interview of Margaret Travis who is the creator of the Eazy Peazy pattern line and Margaret was nice enough to offer a set of three of her newest patterns for StudioKat to give away. I was lucky enough to be a winner and these came in the mail yesterday! I am thrilled with each one of them and can't wait to try them out. Of course you know that denim will come into play!!

To see and learn more about Eazy Peazy go HERE and be sure to also visit StudioKat HERE. They both create some pretty neat patterns!

Thank you so much to both Margaret and Kathy.

Studio mascot?

2011-09-09T14:35:00.000-04:00

Thursday I spent the day poking around a bunch of shops with one of my friends and this little charmer insisted that he needed to live with me and hopped right into my bag. He's all of three inches tall and is meant to be used as a Christmas ornament. Not this guy - he's perched on my bookshelf and there he will stay!!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway a couple of posts down - I'll be drawing a name on Sunday! Stay tuned for my post tomorrow where I'll show you the giveaway goodies I won!!

Check this out....

2011-09-06T17:56:00.000-04:00

....if you like crazy quilting you HAVE to take a look at this!! Pat Winter has done a YouTube video of her prizewinning crazy quilt and it's spectacular! Be sure you have your sound on because the music is nice too.

Enjoy...

HERE!

Time for a giveaway?

2011-09-05T17:08:00.001-04:00

I haven't done one of these for awhile and decided that I've trolled these for all the ideas I can glean for my new studio, so it's time to pass them on to someone else to enjoy.

So - up for offer are six issues of Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS magazines....

I think, to keep postage costs reasonable, I will
split them into three giveaways of two
magazines each.
If, in the event I don't get enough
people interested, I might choose just
one winner.

So...the odds of winning are totally up to you,

my faithful readers!
Just leave a comment to enter!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

and,
here's a picture of a jacket sleeve,
showing the seminole insert.

Studio cat

2011-09-02T17:01:00.000-04:00

Honestly, how is one expected to get any work done when studio cat #1 (also known as Cosmo) drapes himself across your cutting board and looks so darn cute??

"pet me, pet me,
puleeezeeeee!!"

Sleeves? Really???

2011-09-01T20:01:00.000-04:00

Yes, these pieces of denim WILL be used in sleeves for the latest jacket. Those of you familiar with seminole quilting will see where I'm going with this. Stay tuned for the actual sleeve!

AND.....

Look what came in the mail today!!

Volume Three of Pat Winter's 'CRAZY QUILT GATHERINGS' magazine!! Yay! Pat does a phenomenal job of this magazine and it's always exciting to get the latest copy. I'm extra excited this time though - page 10 has a review of Pam Kellogg's 'Elegant CrazyQuilt Seam Treatments' book, written by none other than moi!!!!

There will be no associating with me now!

If you would like a copy of your very own (and perhaps the back issues too!) check out the link HERE. Be sure to order the 'AUTUMN 2011' issue, because the covers look similar.

ATC's

2011-08-31T17:26:00.000-04:00

Today was our monthly CQTeers meeting where we eat far too much chocolate, laugh a lot, have grand discussions, and learn a thing (or three) along the way. Our theme this month was to create something using the faux butcher's twine we learned to make last month from the tutorial on THIS blog.

Here is what the three of us came up with
(and you can see examples of the

faux butchers twine on the right)

The flower on the upper left was mine, loosely taken from a free PrickandStitch pattern from HERE. On the upper right is the dress form by Sue and Irene created the buxom gal on the lower left. Hers combined not only the butcher twine, but the woven paper technique from the month before, and a couple of paper beads we had learned to do at another meeting. The card on the lower right was from Irene for my birthday (last month) - the back reads "It gets to the stage where you need all your breath to blow out all the candles".

Presents for me!

2011-08-30T19:34:00.001-04:00

What better person to buy you a present than yourself, right? Well, in this case I bought myself TWO presents, because two are better than one, right? First of all, I got this....

CRAZY-QUILTED MEMORIES

by Brian Haggard

When I saw this book I knew it was a have-to-have - not only is the cover really pretty, but it's a book about crazy quilting and we all know how crazy (hah) I am about books on that particular subject! Brian Haggard has used many of his old family photos in these crazy quilts and most of them enjoy the same colours as the one pictures on the cover of the book. There are 10 projects, 24 embroidery stitches/motifs, and also some nice traceable embroidery designs. I have only read a few pages so far but I think it's one I'm going to really enjoy reading. Specs: 'Crazy-Quilted Memories' by Brian Haggard, published by C&T Publishing, c2011, ISBN 978-1-60705-227-2

I also treated myself to this...

THE BEADED EDGE

by Midori Nishida/CRK Design

This book was on my wish list not so much because of the idea of actually doing crocheted beaded edging on projects but for using the designs as seam treatments for crazy quilting. I think there are a number of really great designs in the book which will definitely be good for CQ. There are "18 designs that range from delicate and classic to modern and bold, all created with simple thread, a crochet hook, a beading needle, and inexpensive beads." Every one of the designs would be beautiful on a crazy quilt! Specs: 'The Beaded Edge' by Midori Nishida/CRK Design, published by Interweave, c2009, ISBN 978-1-59668-300-6

Sorry about the flash glare on the pictures!

Button, button, who's got....

2011-08-29T16:48:00.001-04:00

Why,
I do!!!

And here's proof...

I have a grand collection of fourteen (yes, 14!!) of these jars,
garnered from Ikea on Friday.
They're fabulous and look so neat
all lined up on my shelf in my
new studio.

Those grey plastic lids are going to have a
facelift at some point though.

AND,

the weekend also found me this light...

Found via Home Depot.
As Anne suggested in
the comments, I have
installed two cools and
a warm bulb and
now I have lots of
good light.

Thanks for the idea Anne!!

Bought one for the living room too...now we can
not only read in comfort but I can
also take some of my needlework
out there (oh, oh!!).

Progress, and thanks

2011-08-25T14:13:00.002-04:00

First, I want to say thank you for all of your input into my lighting dilemma. I was happy to know that Ott lights are better than I had been led to believe (obviously anyone who takes time to do a review generally has a problem). There are a couple of you who have your reponses set to 'no reply' so I am unable to thank you in person.

Second - I've been working on the latest jacket and have added the decorative elements (pockets, labels and buttons). Because I have nothing else to show for today, I thought I'd post a couple of photos so you could see where it's at now...

The picture above shows the back....
and the picture below shows the two front pieces...

Now it's on to doing the sleeves!

EDITED TO ADD:

OUR HOUSE IS SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Needing help

2011-08-24T18:22:00.000-04:00

My new studio is under-lighted and I am needing to purchase a new floor lamp to create a much better quality of light. My former studio had three double-bulb 'daylight' fluorescent ceiling lights and I miss them tremendously. Living in an apartment means that I won't be able to replace the ceiling fixture (besides, I need the fan that comes with the light) so whatever I get will have to be a floor standing model.

I've been looking around on the internet and at first I thought I would like an Ott light but I've read some pretty discouraging reviews so I will probably give them a pass. They're expensive, the ballast doesn't last and, by the reports I've read, their customer service is rather lacking. I need a lamp that preferably is a 'daylight' one, it must be stable, and throw a lot of light.

Do you have any ideas of what I should look at? Makes & models would be most welcome. Thank you in advance!

Views

2011-08-23T17:13:00.001-04:00

Today I have two views for you...

First, my work table and the pile
of labels I am reverse stitching
for use in my jackets.

and, second, the view from my studio window at
sunset.
This is facing east.

Three things.....

2011-08-22T13:11:00.001-04:00

Today I have three things to
tell you about,
all of which you will
want to check out for
further information...

1.

One of my awe inspiring friends is running her first online course and if you are an admirer of Karen Ruane you NEED to have a look at her announcement on her blog HERE. (scroll down).

Some of you will remember the fabric journal class I took online from Carole Brungar last year (and how much fun I had!). Well, she's now offering a new class called "The Road to My House" and you can get further information HERE. I can highly recommend any class from Carole - you are guaranteed to have fun and to learn a lot!

Last, but not least - the latest issue of Pat Winter's 'Crazy Quilt Gatherings' magazine is now available! Go HERE to see further details and order either a PDF or print copy (or both, if you want!). I was asked to write a review of Pam Kellogg's latest seam treatment book for this issue, which was quite exciting.

There, lots of fun things for you to explore today! Now I'm back to playing with denim....

Interesting, and oh so sad

2011-08-19T18:26:00.000-04:00

I don't know if you have heard about the foundling swatches and their significance in history. The Foundling Hospital in London England was founded in 1741 for the care of deserted children. Often scraps of cloth were included with the meager records that were kept in the hopes that the children would be reclaimed someday and the fabric pieces could be used as a means of identification. The fact that these fabric scraps have survived all these years is a miracle and a tribute to the strength it must have taken for parents to give up their children - into an uncertain future. Many of them died while at the Hospital, some were adopted, and many more were indentured.

There are two very interesting articles with further information HERE and also HERE. It's a significant part of fabric history and well worth reading about.

Just a small (ish) mess!

2011-08-18T16:33:00.000-04:00

And, before you ask, I don't intend to take ANY pictures of the other side of the room!!

The jacket hasn't changed all that much from yesterday, other than for the topstitching. Now it's on to reverse stitching things like pockets and labels - the least fun of the whole process. I also have to undertake an archaeological 'dig' to see where on earth I might have put the makings for the sleeves.

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on my question of yesterday. It was interesting to see your take on the subject and I thank those that took the time to look up some 'proper' definitions of crazy quilting. I think I will conclude that the jackets are, in fact, crazy PATCHED but not crazy QUILTED, which makes me feel happier about the definition.

Crazy quilt denim, mail, and mumblings

2011-08-17T15:07:00.002-04:00

Several things I would like to make note of today -

1. The newest issue of CQMagOnline is out and is full of wonderful articles and eye candy. I know it's been out for a couple of weeks but I'm just now getting around to letting you know. Have a look HERE.

2. Karen from Contemporary Embroidery is doing some jaw-dropping work combining paper and fabric. Go HERE and check out her blog. Be sure to scroll down!!

3. Have a look at what came in the mail the other day....

I am thoroughly in like with the art that Michelle Palmer does
and this piece is just one example. She draws the sweetest
little things on fabric! She also has a new calendar coming out
for 2012.

Along with my wee bear, Michelle included the little birdie tags and a couple of nice buttons.

Thank you Michelle!!

You can see more of Michelle's work at her blog HERE.

4. Just to prove that this sort of talent runs in the family, Michelle's daughter Avery Hill has started a blog showing her work and is currently having a giveaway. Go HERE to have a look, say hi, and leave a comment to enter! Be prepared to drool over buttons.

5. Finally, my eternal debate with myself....are the jackets I make really crazy quilted or aren't they? Please weigh in on the subject and let me know what you think.

These pictures show the back (top picture) and two fronts of the current jacket I'm working on. The question arises from the fact that I piece the recycled denim in the same manner as a crazy quilt. From there the lines become blurred. The seams are 'decorated' but with yellow thread used as topstitching - no hand sewing, no embroidery. Any further embellishment is done with the addition of pockets, labels and buttons. So....what say you? Are these crazy quilted....or not??

Our view

2011-08-16T13:21:00.001-04:00

Today I thought I'd show you what I can see when I look out my studio window. This is the Scugog River which runs through our town. Further down there is a lock and we do see a lot of boats going up and down.

If you look really close in the last picture you can see some of our resident mallard ducks. The middle picture shows some of the guest parking lot that runs in front of our building.

We moved the cats over last night and Mitzy has
already chosen her 'spot'.
Cosmo, on the other hand, has barely
been seen. I think he's hiding under
the bed!

Before and after

2011-08-15T16:43:00.000-04:00

We needed a new (or at the least, new to us) end table for between our chairs in our new living room. We looked in several places and finally discovered a nice one in our local Buy & Sell shop but we didn't like the colour of it.

Above is a more-or-less 'before' picture.
The table had good bones, but didn't fit with our decor as it was.

A light sanding, some black spray paint,
and

VOILA!....

Not bad for $35!

Studio unveil - of sorts

2011-08-12T14:23:00.000-04:00

I realized this morning that it's going to prove a bit difficult to get really good pictures of the new studio, simply because the room is small. I do have a window (first time I've had a window in my studio in years...yay!!). So, as promised, here are pictures.....

Starting to the left of the door....

There isn't enough room in our kitchen to house our water cooler, so it has found a home in my studio. Handy when I want a drink!

The computer area. You can also see the shelf that runs across pretty much the
entire wall - it holds my button jars and various other things.

My cutting table, which was a huge bonus - I never expected I
could manage to fit it into the space. Happy about that!
My inspiration board above and a further view of the upper shelf.
That ends the first wall.

Now, turning the corner...

My sewing area, with a nice window above.
To the right you can see my thread storage, along with
a quilt rack that #2 son made me, which is
serving to hold some of my treasures from friends.

We've turned the corner again and here you can see the cabinet I use to store my
beads and also my cotton fabrics, along with some more 'stuff' on top.
This also shows the pull out couch which I share the room with. It will
be nice for me to sit here and read through my crafting books.
Above I've hung the crazy quilt pieces which I did a few years ago
using the colour suggestions from SharonB.

Now we've reached another corner. Below the lace tablecloth is one of my
sewing machines - which is doubling as a bedside table. As you can see there are a few things
sitting on the floor that still need to find a permanent home. The filing cabinet was given to me and is a huge organizational tool. You can see my 195o's sewing machine on top of the cabinet and also

my two art dolls - Shudayra and Annelaw.

Now we're turning the final corner...

Here is one side of my floor to ceiling closet. Here is where I have done some massive
shoehorning!! Everything is labelled so I can hope (!!) to be able to find what I'm
searching for.
You can't see in this picture, but below that is where the cat litter box will
reside. I know, too much information!!

And here is the other side of my closet.

Now you're back to the doorway again.

I've managed to organize (and stuff!!) a room that measures a mere 10 x 11.5 feet.
I'm sure things will change as I start to use the space, but for now I'm pretty happy with it.

Hope you've enjoyed the tour.

If you click on the pictures, I think they will
embiggen for you.

Moved, and settled - I think!

2011-08-11T18:27:00.000-04:00

I'm back - I hope! The movers came to move the bigger things that we couldn't lift and of course - it poured rain. In all the places we've lived - it has 'weathered' every single time we've moved. We've grown to expect it!

Anyway, most things are in place, the pictures are hung and it's looking like home. I'm very happy to say that my studio (shared space with a pull out couch for guests and the computer) has come together far better than I expected. I've managed to keep all the things that mean the most and there's actually room to walk in here (surprise, surprise!).

I've been taking pictures as I moved my 'stuff' and have a few you might like to see (or not!). In 2009 I put my studio on the internet tour of 'Where Women Create' and you can see the results on this post here. By the end of 2010 I had grown tired of the purple and green and, knowing this move was upcoming, I redid my studio. You can see pictures of that re-do in these two posts HERE and HERE

Partially moved.....

Looks sad, doesn't it?

Now, here is the 'during'
and what will be my new studio...
maybe???

Is there hope for any sort of organization and
storage of all this STUFF????

Stay tuned for my next post to see the 'after' photos!!

Moving.....

2011-08-03T18:14:00.002-04:00

.....so will be off the computer for a few days.

Tote that box, schlep that stuff!!

2011-07-30T19:19:00.000-04:00

Twelve years ago we moved into this house.

Twelve years ago I swore that I would never (EVER!!) move again.

So....

can anybody tell me why I would be doing it again??

--------

For those of you who might be remotely interested, yes, we are moving into the apartment. The house is sorta sold and sorta not - by that I mean we have a conditional offer we've accepted pending the sale of the buyers house. We sit and wait (and hope!) that they manage to sell soon. We know the people are really in like with our place and would be happy with the expanse of gardens, so we can only pray that they find a buyer.

We really want to spend part of the summer at the apartment so we can enjoy our view of the water (which seems to sound like we're living on the ocean or something nearly as exciting...nope, just our local river with the masses of poopy Canada Geese and ducks in residence). We finally decided to 'just do it' and make the move and leave the house semi-empty. We can cut way back in the expenses by doing that. As of this moment we are 90% moved with pretty much just the large furniture pieces still left.

The downside to all this?

No studio accessibility in either place!!

Missing Quilts - press release

2011-07-20T16:04:00.000-04:00

It's so sad when quilts go missing - particularly when you know how much work has gone into their creation. CT Publishing has issued a notice that four quilts have gone missing from the Spring Quilt Market at Salt Lake City...Allie Aller's "Crazy In The Garden", Joyce Becker's "Dryer Lint etc.", Deborah Kemball's "Floral Sampler" and Sweetwater's "Gathered Table Runner".

Please join with me in spreading the word so that these quilts can be found and returned to their rightful owners. Here's the release from CT Publishing...

Dear Readers,

As many of you know every year we look forward to displaying our authors' quilts in our booth at Quilt Market. At Salt Lake City's Spring Market the booth looked fantastic with so many stunning quilts. We know how important our authors' quilts are—the expertise, time, and love that goes into each and every stitch, and for that reason, we take great responsibility for them while they're in our care. So it is with a heavy heart that we regret to inform you that at the close of Salt Lake City's Spring Quilt Market, four quilts went missing. The quilts that are unaccounted for are 3 cover quilts and a table runner. They include:


Allie Aller's cover quilt, Crazy in the Garden, from Allie Aller's Crazy Quilting (46" x 46")		Joyce Becker's cover quilt, Dryer Lint, Etc., from Quick Little Landscape Quilts (18" x 18")

• click quilt image to enlarge •


Deborah Kemball's cover quilt, Floral Sampler, from Beautiful Botanicals (28" x 42.5")		Sweetwater's, Gathered Table Runner, from Fresh Fabric Treats (42.5" x 16")

When the crate came back from Quilt Market and was unpacked, it became apparent that these quilts were missing. We went on high alert. We searched high and low, going through every box, drape, tube, you name it we checked it (twice) and to our deep regret the quilts were nowhere to be found.

Our entire company is mortified by this situation. We have racked our brains and tried to figure out what could have happened to these quilts, to no avail. We are reaching out to you, our readers, for help. We wanted to make you aware of the situation so that you too could keep your eyes and ears open in the hopes of finding these missing works of art. We are offering a reward of $4,000.00—no questions asked—for the return of the quilts. If one quilt is returned, the reward will be based upon the appraised value of the quilt. Information or inquiries can be sent to ctinfo@ctpub.com.

Amy Marson
Publisher
C&T Publishing

July 18, 2011

Oh, to be a hot cat!!

2011-07-18T17:25:00.000-04:00

Mitzy...
four sheets to the wind,

on the floor in front of the fan.

Would that we could do the same!!

Any ideas?

2011-07-13T22:32:00.000-04:00

I have a rather large collection of Art Doll Quarterly magazines which I know will not fit in our new abode and I'm wondering if there is anyone out there who might be interested in them. The postage costs would be astronomical to mail them anywhere. There are no doll clubs in this area, so that is not an option. Any suggestions of what I might be able to do with them?

No new news on the house sale front, unfortunately. We made the decision last night to go ahead and move into the new place and leave the house empty for the time being. Doing that will reduce the amount we are paying for utilities which will help financially and we can actually enjoy living by the river for at least part of the summer. We'll take a couple of car loads each day until we get the small stuff moved and then we'll make it official. We're both looking forward to actually settling in one place!

The ups and downs of real estate...and other mumblings

2011-07-12T19:01:00.000-04:00

No, the reports of my having skipped the country are grossly exaggerated!

The past week has been an interesting one on the home front. After almost two months of having our house on the market and numerous (over 30 at last count) showings, we decided it was time to lower our price. That promptly brought a couple of people out of the woodwork and we got two offers. We accepted one which was conditional upon the buyers selling their house (which had an offer on the table awaiting approval of financing). The real estate agent for our buyers was quite confident that deal would be approved with no problems. We agreed upon a week to remove the conditions...which was today. (The other offer wasn't a consideration because it was dependent on their selling their house, which hadn't even been listed yet).

Unfortunately our buyers weren't able to sell their house, so we are assuming our deal is off as well. We haven't heard anything directly from our real estate agent so I guess we shouldn't be certain that we're back to square one, but I have a strong suspicion that's where we're at. Need I say how tedious it's getting to have to live in a spic and span house 24-7?? Oh yeah, and how expensive it is to maintain both a house AND an apartment at the same time? It was a gamble we took and it appears quite possible that we are going to live to regret our decision.

I really NEED to get busy on something creative but I don't want to haul out my crafting 'stuff' in order to work on anything. I'm a totally messy creator at the best of times and I just know that the minute I start into anything will be the minute the phone will ring and somebody will want to see the house. That's Murphy's Law, right? I have several denim jackets I need to be working on but I end up dumping out all my big plastic totes full of denim in order to pick out the colours I need to work with. The mess is horrendous and there's no way I would ask any prospective buyer to have to wade through the debris!! Shoehorning my denim collection back into said totes is not an easy task so it can't be done quickly.

Another sidenote that I found rather entertaining or odd, depending on how you want to look at it. Last week we had a gentleman in a pickup truck pull into our driveway and start walking around the front yard without so much as asking permission. I know the gardens are interesting for some people and we have had knocks at the door wanting to know if it would be okay if they looked around. Anyway, this man finally wandered back to where I was working and said what a nice place we had. I thought he was interested in the flowers and such so told him he was welcome to look around the back yard too. Three days later I went upstairs to discover a truck backed up to our garage door (it's not an easy feat to back a truck into our driveway) and that the same man was back...along with a woman (his wife???) and they were busily inspecting our back yard. Now wouldn't you think it would be proper to at least ask the homeowners permission before you wander around? When last I heard, I thought that was classified as trespassing?? We think he might be interested in buying the place, but you would think he would approach the real estate people and not assume he could look around as he pleased. Very odd!

And, just so you know,
us Canadians do things quite differently from
most parts of the world.

No moving vans for us, especially when you
have a son willing to trundle a
freezer down the sidewalk
on a trolley.

See?

Wedding!

2011-06-27T19:23:00.000-04:00

Saturday was the wedding of our second son Shawn and his beautiful bride Winnie. The weather cleared up just in time for the outdoor ceremony which was a huge relief.

My pictures really aren't the best because they were taken on the fly. I know there are better ones coming from the official photographer but in the meantime I thought you might like to see these.

Shawn and Winnie chose to plant a tree to commemorate their wedding which was held at our friends three acre property in the country. A tree seemed to be fitting, Their cake was made of rice krispies held together by peanut butter and corn syrup (an old family recipe) and they cut it using the knife Jack and I used at our wedding almost 32 years ago.

Sorry the pictures aren't the best!

blogging hiatus for a few days!

2011-06-21T19:07:00.000-04:00

Just a wee note to my faithful (?!!) readers to let you know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth if you don't see any posts from me for a few days. #2 son is getting married on Saturday and we are chauffeurs, chefs, hoteliers, and all sorts of other titles I'm sure will be bestowed upon us before the weekend is over!

Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and I'll see you on the other side!

And.......drum roll.......

2011-06-19T18:14:00.000-04:00

THE WINNER OF THE DOLL

GIVEAWAY IS.......

(after the scientific process of writing the names on
equal sized pieces of paper,

vigorously

stirring
about,

trudging up the stairs,
and asking Jack to
draw a name....)

Joyce!!

Congratulations Joyce! Unfortunately you might have to wait awhile to get your prize because of the postal strike, but I will mail her off as soon as I can. I know she will enjoy living with you.

Thank you to everyone who entered for a chance to win. Stay tuned, because there might be another one coming up.

the great master baker

2011-06-17T16:59:00.000-04:00

Jack has been making pies...
12 of them, to be exact.

This lot are cherry,
and the others were apple.

Guess what dessert will be for the wedding?

Three forward, four back, seven forward

2011-06-15T19:14:00.001-04:00

Yep, that's what I've been counting lately. Wanna see why??

What's that, you say?

well, it's the beaded edge of the wedding veil
for our next d-i-l-to-be.

The 3 forward, 4 back, 7 forward title of this post refers to the
way I beaded it.

The hair piece part looks like this at the moment...

The bride will decide next week if she would like beading on this part too or whether she prefers the more understated look.

June 25th is 'THE DAY"
just hope it doesn't rain!!
----------------------------------------------

p.s. - don't forget to enter my giveaway a couple of posts down. There's a doll looking for a new home and maybe she might like to come and live with you. Be sure to leave a comment on THAT post for a chance to win!!

Oh drat!!!

2011-06-13T18:36:00.001-04:00

I am SO very sorry Yvonne that your pages didn't show up when I posted Anneelaws journal. I don't know WHY they aren't there because I distinctly remember posting them. Argh!! I just went in and tried to edit that post to add the pictures and they still wouldn't take.

I will try to repost and hopefully it will work, but in the
meantime, here they are,
with apologies to Yvonne.

Time for a giveaway!

2011-06-11T18:27:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I've had a giveaway and, because I'm downsizing, I've decided that this time perhaps you'd like a chance to win one of my dolls. I won't be able to take all my dolls to the apartment so this one is on the chopping block. She's approximately 20 inches tall and comes complete with a wooden rocking chair.

If you think you would like this doll to come to live with you, please leave a comment (on this post only) telling me why. I will make the draw one week from today (June 18th).

Anneelaw - journal pages

2011-06-09T17:54:00.003-04:00

Sorry it took me a few days to find time to do this post. I've been having trouble with uploading pictures and they've been taking forever so I have to wait until I have a good chunk of time in order to upload anything.

Without further fuss, here are the journal pages (and the journal box they're stored in)....

Above is the journal box as I sent it out,
and below as it is now.
It's hard to tell in this picture, but the
little red beads are actually lights!

Below are the four journal pages I started her off with...

Arlee did these....

These were by Robyn...

These by Amy...

These two (above and below) are by Talitha.

and finally, these are by Gail...

Aren't they great??!!

EDITED TO ADD:
Yvonne very nicely let me know that her pages weren't posted here. I'm not quite sure why they didn't show up because I do remember posting them.
My apologies Yvonne!

Here they are....