Sunday, February 25, 2018

Wrapping Up February

This has been a quick month!
This weekend I finished some of my Kathleen Tracy projects for the month. I'm just loving the internet & the BOM or the BOW that I'm doing right now. They both are Garden Mystery blocks!

 This was the 1st & 2nd month, I did mine with wool on cotton. This one is going to be in civil war fabrics, for a more aged look. We were given two choices for the centre block, this is the first.

 And this is the second choice, I chose to do this quilt in a 'Rose Garden' theme. Both finish at a 12" centre, then March 1st the third instalment will be released & Kathleen has already informed us that it will be much more involved.

 This was my inspiration to do this as a second choice block, how sweet is this?!

 Then Kathleen Tracy has a wee quilt of the month from her Small & Scrappy book, this is for the month of February, yes I still have January to do but I didn't get my book till this month, so it's next on my to-do list. This little quilt finishes at 17 1/2" square. The pattern is called Windowpane.

My youngest son calls me a magpie when it comes to viewing new sewing projects,  I'm always looking at what attracts me & this little quilt sure did. The wreath blocks finish at 4" square & the red/pink are 1" blocks! I have 60 french knots to put in the centre of the red circles, that is a TV time project.
I saw it in the Primitive Quilts & Projects magazine & just had to do it! Ohhhh Shiney! lol

The Pet Antics This Week


 I was busy sewing in the sewing room, right off of this foyer area. I came out to put the kettle on & oh my!!! They were being themselves just entertaining themselves with their tug of toys!

Then I saw this photo & thought to myself...my pets are more like me than I care to think about! lol

I took this photo to see if you could spot the Manx cat in the photo?


 I came back into my room to find 'Watch cat on duty' guarding the heartbeat in the room, my sewing machine!
 I think Rexton was trying to get my attention to open the cupboard so she could get in & have a nap.
Or maybe she was watching the mouse sewing caddy?! She got my attention & the cupboard was opened for her to climb into.

On Friday I was excited to look at the new block of the week, it's released every Friday & it was tulips & embroidery, I was thrilled. Then I got up to print it off &  what the !@#$***

 Bridget & Baxter were playing in this area...

 I had NO idea that they were shredding the bottom out of the black leather wingback!!!

They immediately ran for cover to their crates. What a way to start your morning, in shock, they have been so good lately. Cabin fever is setting in.
I took them outside that afternoon & Bridget lost her boot in the deep snow. Her little legs just can't take the cold. I couldn't find it but the weather is in for a warm up this week & it's bright pink & black, in a white snow bank so it should reveal itself.

Bill & the two boys, Donny & Nicholas, attended the car show in downtown Toronto today. Bill sent me an email with the subject, ~~ found you a PFAFF, that is the make of my favourite sewing machine from 1996. I opened the email to find this!  Very funny!

Well, the design wall is clear for the first time since spring last year & I have just two rows to sew together to finish the quilt top from the Summer Blog Hop 2017.
I'll show you what the design wall looks like with no project attached to it & I'll show you my BOW's, that is my tomorrow project to begin! So spring like!!

Thank you for the visit & I'll post to wrap February up!

And March will be coming in like a lamb here on the northeast coast!

Spring, the season of new hope.
Enjoy your week, wherever you are.

Take care.
Cynthia

Friday, February 16, 2018

Weekend Project - The Camden Bowl

Mid February Already!

This month is just flying by!
And I've been daydreaming about spring. You get a few days that the sun shines on you & the air is warm & pouffe! Your thinking of spring & ignoring that it's still wintering with snow all around you.

 I made this basket with 2 1/2" strips that remind me of spring! I've had these leftover strips & when I watched the tutorial on Youtube on this basket, they called in the Camden Bowl.
OK, frustrating but I did manage to get the pattern tutorial copied into my last post AND the next post! lol   I'm not very techie however a bit impressed that I did get it copied! Drop into the last post to see the tutorial if you too have some 2 1/2" strips to get creative with!

My girlfriend Liz gave me these ceramic buttons & they too scream 'spring'!

I used some of my stash pieces of painters canvas to line the bottom, insides should be light & bright or things get lost when your looking for them. Why do most purses have dark linings?

The lid was made from scraps of the 2 1/2" strips cut into 2 1/2" squares, only 6 pieces were leftover!

I made mine larger than shown, it finished 12 1/2'' across. It also uses up scrap batting pieces from quilt sides. The batting is cut at 2 1/4" wide.

The basket/bowl reminded me of the clothesline baskets that you wrap fabric around... yes, I have one of those on the go too! This is much faster & easier for me & my machine.
Do you not this does look like spring? Do have a look at the video, this is a cheap & cheerful project!

Winter Warriors

Bridget & Baxter love when Bill is home, he takes them up the lane & plays stick with them. I'm waiting for the ice to go away & then we'll resume our outside time together again.

They love being with Bill playing 'stick', Bridget is the true stick dog. She will run as hard as she can to get it. I play ball throwing in the house with them... it's just not the same as the run outdoors.

The afternoon sun comes into the great room & I place a blanket down for them for their afternoon sleep.
And just leave them to the saying, "Let sleeping dogs lie." So sweet when they're asleep!

Nearly Done the BOM 2017


This is another block done. I modified it from the USA version of Liberty to the Canadian version of our anthem, Far & wide.

And another block finished, this modification was the USA flag was behind the flower, I had a lovely Canada patch that I used instead.

Two more blocks & I can sew the quilt together & remove it from my design wall, nearly half a year later!!
The next fabric wool quilt is the free Garden Mystery BOW, that I'm already three weeks behind!
I wanted to start it, however, this one must be finished first!

Thank you for dropping in & do have a look at the bowl/basket, it's fun making something from our scraps & it is functional too!

Have a great weekend, Bill & Nicholas fly in tonight! A great weekend for me & the Boston terriers!

Health & Happiness to you, wherever you are!

Cynthia


Weekend Project - The Camden Bowl

Sunday, February 4, 2018

February & That Groundhog!

Well, it will be another 6 weeks of winter here in the northeast part of New Brunswick as well as southwestern Ontario, both the groundhogs say so. What fun it is to trust what a rodent sees on February 2nd! lol
It's a case of 'Six of one, 1/2 dozen of the other' or a glass that is 1/2 full or 1/2 empty.
It will be whatever you choose it to be, I'm doing whatever I can to get through winter in a positive way.
And what better way than with flowers that will delight your senses. These were on sale for $4 at the Canadian Tire, Christmas leftovers at a bargain!
The smell in the dining area is heaven, a walk through an inside garden until I look outside to see the snow piles!


 To view these blooming flowers is such a delight too!

 Oh yes, the snow piles of winter. This is the view in the backyard these days. Where there is no snow it is all ice! But remember the high waves of last year? The snow fences are working!

 I am so thankful to have the evergreens surround me, they give colour & texture with all the winter white that is out there right now & will be for a couple more months.

 I think Olde Tom sleeps 80% of his day, he could be a bear in hibernation. lol.

 Baxter & Bridget look for any sunshine that comes through the windows. The Boston Terrier is not made for winter weather & love to sun bathe even indoors.


 Making A T-Shirt Quilt
This is the first T-Shirt quilt I have made & it sure was a job with no pattern to follow & never doing one before. I watched YouTube as my homework study & used some of their ideas to design this one.
With a huge bag of Mitchell's T-shirt's from our racing days, the project began!

 First, you cut the sleeves off. I piled them in the colour that was cut, mostly black & white, one yellow & one grey! Sleeves with logo's on them are set aside, if needed for later...

                                   Then you cut the front from the back & make a pile of them.

 A trick that was taught through the Jordon Fabrics YouTube, was to use a 5lb weight to hold the ruler in place. This is very helpful, try it just once & I bet you too will use this method! The fabric then needs to have a knit or woven interface added to the back to stabilize the fabric. I was surprised how much was needed & was thankful that my stash had just enough to cover what was needed.
I used a 15" x 15" ruler to cut the designs from the T-shirt's.
Then the fun of placement began on the dining room floor.

 A very large area was needed for placing the racing squares.
It was a job with all these pets... Rexton was the worse, she would run then slide through the loose squares & would pull anything that went in the air! The dogs knew from my scolding that they stayed away but Rexton is stubborn & fearless. I was thankful that I'd taken photos with my phone to see the colour placement because those squares were thrown everywhere!!

 For the last two weeks the kitchen has been my work centre as my sewing room is a mess too!!
I really need to take the time to organize it better. Then a project takes hold & it is lost again.

 I was down to the wire with this project as Mitchell turns 30 years old on the 18th of February.
Knowing that & wanting the kitchen & dining room back, I worked endlessly on this project.

And the pets walking on it was also another incentive, here comes Baxter see him in the top right?

 One project & look at how I lost the kitchen! I also started to run out of racing-themed fabric & had to get creative to fill in the side border. Nicholas & I were talking about it one night & he came up with staging lights. What a great idea, I designed these two for the side borders.

 Day & night, night & day, day in & day out, the kitchen looked like this. The chair on the left held the fabric that will not be used so I made a rag box for cleaning clothes, 100% cotton washed & soft!

I used a nickel for the pattern of the pre stage & stage lights on the top & the salt shaker for the larger round lights. Grosgrain ribbon in two sizes was used for the tower.

                                                     Here is the finished quilt top.

 The staging lights were placed on the top left & the bottom right of the outer borders. I doubled the yellow fabric before cutting it into the circles but I see the grosgrain ribbon still!

 When a block looked too bare or unbalanced I added other T-shirt logo's to help fill & balance it.

 This was our racing logo, the RA was Richardson Access. Our company sponsored us through the years of racing throughout North America.

 We helped sponsor a race too with OSCA in 2006, fond memories of those racing days for all of us.
The two younger boys were always with us & the eldest son would join us when he could. It was a true family affair when we raced. Bill & I were the drivers, Mitchell & Donald pit crew, & Nicholas would video record our runs.

 I auditioned the quilt on a queen size bed & it covered nicely. I hope he enjoys this quilt through the years & cherishes the memories & friends that were made along the way.
If you go to YouTube & Google - Bill Richardson race car crashes, you will see in less than one minute how fast things can happen on a race track. That was Bill's last competitive race. The track minister recorded his run & told me he did not know why he did as he never recorded anyone else! Very strange day but had a happy outcome!

Stitching...

I'm almost done with my Sweet Susan stitching & then I can colour them!

I was so pleased with the ageing technique & the colouring pencil crayons with this block!

I found this block that I had done with linen DMC several years ago & coloured it with the pencil crayons. It reminds me of those old photos that were softly pastel in colour.

I'm thinking of making a pillow cover with the picture in the center & using this fabric choice, the colours will look nice on my bed.

Every year I try to learn something that is new to me & this year I chose kickboxing. As you can well tell, I'm not a physical person but a creative one. As I age my body & mind need to be challenged & strengthened. I do workout 2-3 times a week with the seniors' exercise class & have now added in two 1 hour sessions of kickboxing as well.
It has been a month now & I'm getting into a morning routine of attending these weekly classes. I do feel better for doing so & have committed myself to another month of kickboxing. It is something that is new to me & I'm enjoying it!
This is just one more reason why I love this community that I live in, most are physically active & very encouraging for those that try.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I just want to leave you with this thought, I know I've said it before but it is worth repeating.

   It's never too late to be what you might have been.
                                                     ~George Eliot~  (pen name of Mary Anne Evans 1819-1880)

Have a wonderful winter week!
Cynthia