Thimbleberry Saga Continues...

Well the BOM is coming along, over 1/2 way now...

 The May block is done & the center needs to be embroidered for the other May block. I did all the piecing for the border so it should go together quickly.

 This is the June block, I really like it & hope to be outside with just those tools too! Again the other block needs to be embroidered & put together.

 July is complete...other than the other center block needs to be embroidered. I really thought that I did a lot of embroidery on this project, I thought wrong. I was glad to see that the instructions called these flowers 'sunflowers' because I was not sure what they were!


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I needed a little distraction & started looking at some UFO projects. This was a cross stitch that I picked up at the Value Village last year. It's going to be a pillow for my son Mitchell, I'm missing him & Diesel. This will be the front of the pillow...the back will have the appliqued words - CALL YOUR MOM. I saw it done for Marilyn Denis's son, who also lives in Calgary.  I could make that was my first response & then I remembered wanting to make him this wolf pillow, this way I'm killing two birds with one stone.

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Today I finished a UFO that's been on the back burner for several years. Back in 2004 I brought back a sweet piece of Laura Ashley fabric with the intention of making a cushion for the vintage highchair.
With playing with the initial last week, I thought that it would also personalize this highchair. It's all underlined with a puffy polyester on the back & the foam on the seat cushion. All this has been on my sewing table for years! I just move it around when I need the space. These UFO's are going to get done, one at a time...

I love the Laura Ashley fabric line & the children's line is just adorable.

R Is For Rabbit

I needed to get a pillow done from the leftover curtain/roman shade fabric & wanted some fun with it, so...

I used the 'R' from U is for Unicorn, a pattern that my girlfriend Cynthia gave me to do for Nicholas. She made that beautiful quilt in my early days of quilting & it took my breathe away. She had appliqued her quilt & I plan on machine quilting mine, so I thought I would give it a try with this block. I also wanted to see how it would work for Nick's Spirit quilt that is still in the making.

I had a lot of fun playing with this pattern the other day. I used wool for the flowers, stems, & rabbits & the left over, black dining room chair upholstery for the 'R'. I'm going to look for the same type of upholstery fabric in a gold for Nick's quilt.

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Back to the 'R is for rabbit'
Years ago when the kids were small I use to make a rabbit cake at Easter for them. This Easter I thought I would let the kids relive this Easter rabbit treat & let the grandkids see what we use to have as dessert on Easter Day. Mitchell I would send you some too if I knew how to get it to Calgary in one piece!


Here's how it's done!
A cake mix is used for the ease of time or a recipe that will give you 2 - 8``round pans

 Bake & cool on a wire rack

 This one will be the rabbits face...

 And this one you will cut as shown,the outer cuts will make the ears & bow-tie is left in the center. Try to get the outer ears even as possible, you can see that I did not & my bow-tie is a little lop sided.

 Then move your cake pieces onto a piece of cardboard covered in foil, see the rabbit now!

 I used Betty Crocker`s frosting too! So spreadable over the cake. Save just a little in a small dish & a just a drop of red food colouring to make the pink for the ears. After the whole cake has been iced with the white or chocolate - just thought about that now! I used white because I like the French Vanilla flavour but you can have whatever flavour you want.

To decorate just use some Smarties & shoestring licorice and now have a rabbit!

Alice if my conversation with you did not cheer you up...I hope the visual this colourful sugary treat will!

I`m just glad that the kids will be eating this at the end of their meal & are in the car going home when the sugar kicks in. :-)

Wishing everyone a Safe & Happy Easter!

More Thimbleberry Months

Nearly 1/3 way through the year now!

 Here are the June block it measures 6"when  finished. One block is embroidered - one is not.

 Embroidered...

 Not embroidered, see how easy it was to follow the lines. After awhile I had to feel if I had stitched on the line or not!

 This is the May block, I'm going to be slowing down to get caught up in the embroidery of these squares.

 May & June are next to be embroidered, whenever I'm in the sit-stay mode.

 April is now done, how sweet is this rabbit & chick. :-)

 Each months block has different fabrics...

And different designs around the block.
Well that is it for now for the blocks. Next week I'll start into that project again!

Thimbleberries BOM 2005-2006

Better late than never...
I've started on the Thimbleberries Vintage Quilt, which I purchased on sale in 2007. I've been doing the embroidery on them for what seems like years! and I'm still not done all the squares.
The embroidery was not called for but I know how tactile quilters are & their eyes & hands would take a closer look at the center squares. I saw it as an advantage to enhance the center square that would become much more intense with black perle cotton.
Here's what's been done so far...

 December was half done, now both are done, waiting for the other months to be completed.

 I find the center has more clarity in the outline stitch in black.

 My son, Nick's cat Bose, she's the largest female cat I've ever seen. Everyone thinks she's a male but she knows at the age of 16, well, she's Queen Bose & Boris knows it too!

 January block completed,  I just love this center. It was a lot like the 'Over the River' with the tree in it.

Close-up of the center square.

 February block completed, this had to be the easiest constructed block so far!

 Close-up of the center square.

 March, finally I've caught up with the month!

I really liked the shamrock fabric that came with this block, the background was plum.
Well that makes 4/8 out of the 12/24 months, each month being done twice. The pattern wanted you to place the extra blocks on the back...I'm making another quilt to hang from the new upstairs railing at the cottage. If I'm doing all this work I want it to be viewed from the top of the quilt!

 Bose on 'her wingback chair' having her tartar treats that I give her everyday.

 This is Drake, the Bearded Dragon. He's back from Bill's apartment because Bill's never there because of work & when he has free time he is here with me. He's been Nick's pet since Drake was a wee reptile in 2005.

I peeled a few strawberries for Drake today & put them in his romaine lettuce, he's not to fussy over the apples I gave him the other day. I think he's holding out for the silkworms & crickets to come in to Petsmart this week.

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 In a recent discussion with Bill & my UFO's he said if I stayed focused more would get done! And did I really need to start a tea cosy?
Yes I did! Most of the woman at my church's Craft Guild were knitting & I've not knitted in a while. I love a good hot cup of tea & a tea cosy would give me that 2nd cup, good & hot.

I made this same pattern in 1976 in orange & white to co-ordinate with my sheer curtains with the ruffled trimmed orange & white gingham. Yes I have the harvest gold fridge & stove, a very vogue kitchen at the time. lol
Now I wanted the same for my newest kitchen. I started knitting the cosy in black & grey, I chose those colours to match the kitchen flooring - one thing that would not be changing in my lifetime & remembering how tea stained the white on the orange/white one. Well the black/grey colour, I didn't like the look of it with the Friendly Village dishes...so I tore out all those stitches.

I started it again, this time in a dark brown & a light mint green. It did have a contrast with the colours chosen, however I didn't like it with the dishes. I tore it all out again.

Going into my Briggs & Little stash I found a khaki green & with the dark brown it enhanced the dishes & will not show the tea stains. Voila! I just have the other side to do now. I like to have something in my hands at night...other than food!

I know Bill's right, I'm going to try to stay more focused & productive this spring/summer & work on UFO's & not take on too many 'new projects'. Oh but the flesh is weak! And the ideas that are swarming around in my head & need to come out to be visualized.

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I've been working on Nick's Spirit hanging too. I'm going to buttonhole stitch down as much as I can so he can have it many years to come. It is heat & bond but I don't know how that will stay on years from now & they recommend that you straight stitch around it. I'm going to treat it like an appliqued piece & buttonhole stitch in the same colour.

Sew much to do...sew little time.

Pleasant Surprise

Last July, I accompanied my husband Bill to Vienna & then to the Czech Republic to a village called Uherske Hradiste in the Slovako Region. That was the location of the factory that Bill was visiting  & welcomed me in on the last day.
I met a friendly, helpful female secretary from the factory that Bill was working with. And with Bill's recent visit, she presented him with a gift for me.
My grandfather Mitro's  family was from that area, grandpa died & was buried in 1942 at the age of 42, in Ottawa Ontario. I never had the opportunity to meet him but staying in that somehow made me feel connected to him. These thoughtful gifts were a very pleasant surprise!

 The gift of a hand painted vase and wee ceramic hand painted ceramic tassel, both are painted in the flower styling & colour from that region. I love the colours!
With many Budapest Hungarian ceramics & linens from Bill's Hungarian relatives, these pieces are right at home. What a wonderful surprise! Thank you my Czech Republic friend! :-) Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated.

Roman Sades Finished!

This weekend was a busy one finishing the Roman Shades for the lounge. I had purchased an extra curtain panel to just that! The challenge came when I didn't have the length needed to cut it on the straight of grain. So with some justification that it would be stitched every six inches...and I would have enough fabric if it was cut on the cross-grain for all three panels & a small rectangular pillow, I began my project. The blinds have blackout lining to aid with the seasons harshness. And I'm very pleased with all the work for this out come!

 This is an evening photo of the roman shades closed.

 This is a all pulled up photo, ready to greet the snow this morning!

 An evening shot to show the drapes hanging with shades down. The drapes are lined with a light cotton & I'm going to inner line them with the black out. The west setting sun in the summer is so intensely hot.

A morning shot with Bill working from home on his laptop, after arriving from China last night. He's having a hard time with the cold, I keep the house at a even 64F & it was 28C in China yesterday & very humid.
This room is nearly done. I'll have about 20 roman shades to make at the cottage this year! I took advantage of the Fabricland sale this weekend & bought a spool of blind tape & a 1000ft spool of the nylon/polyester thread. The salesperson asked if I had a business & I just smiled & said  " well kind of, with a house, cottages, & rental property, it does keep me busy." I'm very pleased with the outcome of these blinds! Just a drop in the bucket for my summer days ahead with all the cottage sewing of roman shades & drapes. I love decorating though!

Very Sad Morning...

I awoke this morning to get ready for the early morning church service & just before leaving I noticed my cat Jerry stretched out on the living room rug. That cat never stretches out, he's always curled in a ball. I called out his name & then the gut wrenching feeling hit me.
Oh my... he was dead! I heard a cry out in the night but sometimes they do a howling sound at other cats that are outside around the house. I thought this cry was different but it awoke me from a sleep, then it was quiet in the house. Boris got out of bed but returned, I'm sure it was Jerry's passing.

Just last night he was with me on the couch, his paw on my arm as I was knitting & we were watching Alfred Hitchcock's horror film, The Birds.

Jerry was born July 1998 & in October 1999 had his left leg amputated after being hit by a car. The vet said it was broken in 5 places & it was best to remove it as it would be more of a hindrance to have it. The vet reassured me that he would only loose 10% of his mobility. Jerry survived that operation & years later would loss an eye to a raccoon fight. Five years ago I was told by the vet that he also had a heart murmur. With everything Jerry had endured in his life, it was a long happy one.
My heart is heavy today & St Paddy's Day will have a new memory of its own.

His brother Tommy is next to me as I'm typing, purring & touching me as the tears flow from my eyes, a very sad morning indeed.