O Christmas Tree

The tree was cut down & brought in last Saturday night. Bill cut down our own tree from our front yard! Yes on our postage stamp property in the core of the city, we have our own fresh cut tree.

 The tree was cut from this small front garden. As you can see it was very close to the house & the AC unit, that's been covered for the winter.

 Here's a small cedar that in about two years will be ready to be harvested too!

 It was not a very thick trunk but Bill finally adjusted it to hold the tree upright.

 Here's the first tree that Bill helped grow on our property, one of several but these cedars grow so fast & our neighbours yard is lined with them so seeds spread everywhere.

 Did I mention that this was a postage stamp property?

 Yes we're very close to our neighbours, just a car in between to separate the houses.

 Nick has a tree, well there's really two there! They too can be harvested in years to come.

Here's our Christmas tree for this year! We've not had a real one in decades...not since the tree holder leaked for days on the hardwood floor & heaved it right up. A new tree holder was purchased for this tree & wow the style of the base has changed too! The tree had to be cut down & we thought that this would be a great way to enjoy it this season.


Sewing Update...

 These were made from the 'not so perfect stars from Temecula's Christmas Countdown quilt. They're less than 3" in size & now hang on the Christmas tree.

 This is a runner I made for the top of the bookcase self that now holds the Christmas dishes. It was quilted in squares then brought together in the 'quilt-as-you-go' technique.

 This is the other side, it's going to be great for Valentine's Day.

 Here's the Temecula Christmas Countdown quilt, all bound & displayed in the lounge on a bench by the Christmas tree.

This is my Christmas sewing for me this year! Thanks for your kitchen space for my photo shoot Beverley!


Then from napkins & placemats from the 'after Christmas' sales from last year, I purchased these to use as pillow coverings for this year. :-)

 How elegant & washable these will be! Just as I was about to make them, I changed the sewing machine foot to the zipper foot & low & behold...my machine was NOT holding the foot, the ankle on the machine had broke, the spring was missing.
 I took my machine in ASAP as the one year full warranty would  run out on December 14th. It's now being shipped to Toronto to be repaired. I'm using my old Pfaff for now & forgot how much I love that machine. It has not bells or whistles but can sew beautifully & fast.

Voila, I made three pillow in total, two square pillows & one rectangle pillow.

The silver damask goes so well with the fabric in the chair.

 And my favourite black pillows too!

The placemats are keeping the dust at bay - not as noticeable on the silvery grey as it is on the dark stained furniture. This old 1916 house sure can collect the dust, Bill says it's because I have pets, I think it's because of the furnace blowing things around. The filters are changed monthly & still the dust magically appears.

 O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches!

New Roof Install

When I came home last month, I was trimming the lilac bush & noticed that that it had several shingles in the branches. I thought 'Some poor bugger had lost their shingles with the strong winds we had been having'. Well the next day I was coming up the hill, on our street with Bill & saw...that poor bugger was me! The west side of the house had shingles lifted everywhere!!

The next day Home Depot had the 'Don't pay for 18 months' promotion come through the mail & Bill & I were on it & headed to the Home Depot. A week later a sales person did the estimate & a week later the job started.

 There was over a foot of snow to be shoveled of the roof, then the layer of old shingles were removed. The whole process with all the snow was frightful for me watching these boys do their job.

 The icicles are on my house, I had double ice damning going on that day. The fellow would hold onto a rope with one hand & remove the shingles with a shovel with the other.

 This was the 'safety rope'... so long as you held on. lol

 The laneway filled with old asphalt shingles & the screen to the basement window didn't stand a chance with all the shingles piling up. I would soon learn that that would be the least of my worries.

After they had left & everything was quiet again, Boris wanted out & I opened the door & let him out.  I realized that he didn't want back in after a few minutes, where was he?

 Well, would you believe that I had all that shoveled out! The snow removal from the roof was everywhere & now blocking my pathway out & backyard gate.

 Where is Boris? ...

 The other gate was left wide open & packed tight with snow from the four workers & their wheel barrow. Boris had an opening out, I found him out front sniffing all the workers supplies that were left for the next day.

 I could not shovel the very packed snow with my plastic shovel. I called the company & he said they would have someone come back to make the yards enclosed, in about half an hour. And someone did come, not one of the workers from that day though. I thanked him for making my yard a closed one for my dog Boris & shoveling out my gate area. I was pleased with the service on Thursday the first day of work. I gave him a box of 4 rumballs for his trouble & thanked him again.

 Everything was placed in a tarp as I expressed my dismay when my neighbour next to me had a new roof installed & I got a flat tire from one of the roof nails that were missed.

 Bill arrived on Friday afternoon & he too liked the look of the new roof. It was Black Friday & the workers left early that afternoon. At 3pm Bill went out & came back in the house & told me why they left in a hurry or slinked out...

 Their trailer had backed into our house! The driver had to have felt that impact! Nothing was said from anyone. I was very disappointed in the workers & Bill made a call to Portman Roofing Ltd. but it was Friday at 3pm & Black Friday at that. No answer from the company. Then a call was made to the Home Depot Co-coordinator & he replied 'That nothing could be done till Monday'. So I know how my Monday will be trying to make this right again.

 Portman Roofing Ltd. of London did do a nice job on the 50 year roof...

 It was just how they left their job site...

 What a mess!

Portman Roofing Ltd. has a quote on their website ``When you hire us for your roof installation project, you`ll get a dedicated team of professionals every step of the way.`` Tomorrow will tell just how much they stand up to their motto.



On a lighter note, this one is for you Marg. I know how fond you are of Lucy & her outfits! lol

 My personalized sled from Miramichi,  New Brunswick & Lucy in her festive Santa suit I made her last year.

This little quilt finished at 32`x 40`` & is now ready to be quilted then have the binding put around it. I hope that you got yours done Ursula & Elizabeth...Beverley thank you for printing the pattern out for me & yes it was a lot of work!

I made this foyer entry planter by adding pussy willows & two small potted poinsettias to the Mother-in-Law`s tongue plant. I was pleased with these combinations and how one complainants the other. Red, green, & white, how could you go wrong. lol

December now begins, this is the best time of the year! I love Christmastime & my Sirus XM Radio is now on the Holly channel, only Christmas music with NO advertising or annoying announcers.
:-)  I`ve been making Rumballs & have more batches of raisins soaking in rum for more sharing of these yummies. Mitchell, your Rumball tin has been sent out & do share & eat responsibly, those raisins were plump with rum before I blended them into the other ingredients. Enjoy!
Let the festivities begin!

I'm Hooked & Sew Far

With the cold now here I've been busy with house organizing...which has been procrastinated with my creativity of sewing & hooking. Here's what I've been working on these days.

 The border on my big rug, which doesn't look so big with a 18 pound cat named Bose on it!
She too loves sitting in front of the fireplace, Boris was on the other side of her but moved when I went for my camera.

 This is the view from the lounge's bay window & look at natures design. It took my breathe away on how the snow scalloped around the birds aviary as the sun shone & the day really did look beautiful...cold but beautiful from the inside looking out. lol

 Well the dining room has the Temecula Christmas Countdown Mystery Quilt in the works. Girlfriends out east & now Bev here has been gathering the patterns off the website, it's free!
She gave me a copy last week, so I thought I too would give it a try. Oh my! I'm in for it now...what a lot of work for something so small. However with using just the red, white, & cream, I can keep it out for Valentines Day as well as Canada Day in July. Here's what's done so far...

 These blocks finish at 4 1/2" - I need to make 20 of these.

 These blocks finish at 4 1/2" as well & I'll need 56 blocks.

 Now this darling block finishes at 8 1/2" & I'll need 4 blocks.
As you can see it's very traditional & I'm enjoying the process. Those stars were a nightmare & I had made 9 before I realized that I don't need to be scant on the seam allowance, those will be a 'pointless rug mat' as all the points were lost cutting it to the 2 1/2" size needed!

 I had Bev order this for me last summer when I was at the cottage, it's a embroidered doorstop. I was living the moment of being at the cottage so I had her order blue...there's so much blue out there & none here, so when he's done I'll take him with me & put him in the cabinet in my studio out east & enjoy him there.

 Bev had given me a wee Primitive Gathering kit for a sewing cushion for my Bday, I never stuffed it with the walnut shells so I could use it in my Christmas tree.

 This is my Christmas tree from my studio here. On it are many things that I have made or have been given by my girlfriends over the years. It's a small tree so I put it on the kitchen counter. This is the view from the kitchen...

 Kitchen view.

 The view from the lounge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now some hooking updates.

 I've been taking technique hooking classes every Thursday evening. Here is a technique using coloured pantyhose for a sunset & wool yarn for the silhouette. I drew the picture then tried to transfer it onto the fabric to be hooked. I watched Gone With The Wind as I do every year, love that movie. I had the opportunity to visit the museum in Atlanta of the costumes & stage sets & to been in the house (apartment) of Margaret Mitchell. Wow, it was great & I've been hooked ever since.
My Katie Scarlett was distorted with the pattern transfer, I can really see that now with the photo.
These techniques are done postcard size so they work up quickly.

 Here's a shading technique, just like the rose I did last summer in Richibucto NB.

 A few more images of shading.

 My big rug...the border is similar to the kitchen floor I designed back in the 90's.

 Yes Margie, the cat Tommy, does love the rug too. I was going to fill the outer quads with colour but that would take away from the design. Then I thought grey, like the center if the design on the roof. But it was Nicholas that suggested that I use red, at first I couldn't see it working. Then I had the visual, it would work & enhance the inner design. Thanks Nick!

 I've done then stemming & introduced the colour yellow to my runner.

Here's a close up of the yellow, this is going to be a lot of work & designing to move the colour through evenly. I'm enjoying this process also, you could say 'I'm hooked on hooking right now'.

Bill has asked me to make a baby quilt for the new baby boy that will arrive in China this January. These are the colours that I've chosen for the wee boy. Once the Temecula Mystery is put together this is next! I'll post the finished quilt.
Stay warm, stay safe.