Staying Busy To Pass The Days Of Winter Away

This season has to be the longest! Snow started in October & accumulated in November then never left! I've been doing my best to stay busy & focused into spring. Although U is for Unicorn has not been touched, this snow weekend is going to be a productive one working on just that quilt of 42 blocks of extensive applique & embroidery... focus!
Easier said than done.

 Back in early 2000, I was presented with this one of a kind fused glass Degas styling ballerina by Bison, a company that we did importing for through our company Richardson Acess Elevator Inc. I knew the artist, Marilyn O'Keeffe of Consent England, she was most helpful & I always enjoyed visiting her shop when I was in England on business.
This treasured piece had a bit of an accident when my son Nicholas swatted a fly on the window & the ballerina when flying through the air & hit the ceramic floor & became many shattered pieces.
This week whilst working with several of my students the idea came to me...
I'll foil the pieces back together! I had saved all the pieces to place her into a cement stepping stone for the garden but this idea seemed much more fitting & I had all the pieces!!!
I've started to grind the sharp edges & will show the next step of foiling next week.
Some things just have a way of working out!

And some a way of digging out!
Here is my winter wonderland as seen from inside the house.

 The great room garden doors to the sunporch, look at the height of snow on the outside deck through the 54" x 54" windows! No view out those windows till spring thaw.

 The great room window looking east. The snow pile is on the blueberry bush that is beneath a sandwich board for protection.

The dining room bay window that overlooks the Miramichi Bay, spring thaw will bring that view into place too. 26 days till spring!

This is a view from the laundry room door to the side pen that was made for Baxter & Bridget. They cannot leave the dugout area of the porch & now run where the plow has opened the parking lot out front of the house. It is a winter wonderland here & more snow on the way this weekend!

Day Dreaming of Spring's Sights & Smells
 

 On grocery day I put these two hyacinth bulb plants in the grocery cart, a glimpse into the future.

 And they look & smell heavenly too!

 With St. Patrick's Day coming up next month I started working on green outfits for the geese on the porch. I used Mary Maxiums Goose pattern & modified it by adding stripes & arms put into pockets.

 This is the knit sweater that is being used this time of the year. It was purchased in London ON where the cement geese came from but they've gone out of business. This is knit & I've crocheted the green one, it took two full green Briggs & Little skeins to make the sweater & hat & two other skeins were used as accent colours.

I'm going to make a dress & scarf hat with this t-shirt knit fabric for the other goose, I have some green beads to accessorize with this outfit too! lol
They have not had a green St. Paddy's Day outfit, till now.
My Irish Grandma, God Bless Her, would've had the biggest smile seeing these! XO

 The Regatta is now left to just hooking the blue water & it's more difficult to get the tightness near the ends. This is so close to being done for the summer days ahead in the sunporch.

 My very talented friend Deb painted this picture & gave it to me for Christmas several years ago. It was packed away with the move out east & last week Bill & I were unpacking one of many boxes & when I saw it I couldn't believe how wonderful it was going to enhance the great room's new teal colour of velvet drapes. I showed it to some of my girlfriends & one of them got goosebumps looking a the picture in the great room & how it was just meant to be! Great talented find from a great friend! XO Sure feels like home!

Thank you for the visit, I hope you have a wonderful safe warm weekend wherever you are.
We are bracing for another snow storm this weekend & I can be found in either my sewing studio or my stained glass studio, either way, it is KYROTIME!!

"To be an artist is a privilege. To ignore artistic urges is immoral."
                                                               John Hubbell - human artist, sculptor, architect

Snow Is Piling Up!

Today was another snow day & did the snow ever pile up & snow will continue into the morning.
The good news is Bill is snowed in at the Baltimore Airport & will be arriving tomorrow sometime to help dig me out of this winter wonderland.

The snow is now passing the fence height in the Boston terriers pen!

Bridget is not enjoying herself outside & Baxter wanted in on that fun, he likes outside!

So sorry Bridget Loree but no one can control the weather & I'm happy that you can control your bladder till you get outside!

It was two years ago today that Bill & I drove through a huge storm to pick up the Boston Terrier puppies in Keswick NB.

 Bridget Loree 8 weeks old.

Baxter Loree 8 weeks old.

The snow drifts around the house are really starting to pile up!

Bridget & Baxter watch out the dining room bay window.

The backyard is piling high with snow too with more snow overnight!

The snow at night looks like a white-sheeted ghost looking in, I close the thermal lined drapes!

The first beginners' stained glass class finished their glass project. It's so spring like!

And together they look like a beautiful tulip spring garden! Great job on your first project ladies!!

This year I took the time to make this Valentine Hanging that Liz had but the trunk for me. It was one from Whitehorse Yukon Canada at Bear Paw Quilts & their motto 'compassionate care for the quilt-addicted'. That motto makes me laugh every time I read it!

The needle punch Regatta is now afloat in water. I stitch this summer scene in the evenings when it's dark out & think of warmer days ahead.

An idea I'm trying to bring to life.
I was looking on the Hudson Bay website at a beautiful red with black stripe blanket coat & thought that's what I need here on the northeast coast then I glanced at the $795 price tag & knew that would never happen.
The more I thought about it, it's a pure wool blanket coat & I have an old woollen blanket that the dogs were using. I washed it & dried it in the dryer & it was lovely. The only problem was the holes that were chewed into the middle.

It's not the Hudson Bay stripe but an east coast stripe of greens & the body of the blanket is a creme colour. I placed the pattern pieces on it & there was enough for the front, back, hood, & if I slim the wide sleeves down it fit, so I cut out the woollen jacket.


With only this much of the $4 blanket from the Thrift shop!
Tomorrow is another snow day so I will make it a 'Sew Day' till Bill makes his way home later in the afternoon.

Thanks for popping in on this snowy day in the northeast coastline, with more snow ahead winter is coming in still & next month is March with the beginning of spring. That is so hard to believe when you look outside on days like today but I know what lies under that snow & it is going to be exciting to watch Mother Nature come to life again!

Something to think about.

Dreams and dedication are a powerful combination.
                                                                                                             William Longgood

Have a safe weekend, stay warm & cozy wherever you are.
Cynthia

Colour Surprise This Week!

Have you ever seen something that you thought was 'just perfect' & turned out to be a surprise?
Well, that is what happened to me this week!

I always buy offseason to get the best price on fabric. I wanted a good flannelette for Christmas pj's this year as I get all the kids home for Christmas. I would need a lot a fabric as they are all adults now & the PJ bottoms take at least 3 meters for a pair & there will be 8 pj's made, bottoms, nightshirts, maybe a housecoat. Thinking this fabric collection was going to hit the mark, what a surprise when I opened the box!
The what I thought was navy was purple!!!

 What a fitting scene, it's what the woods have growing & living in there here & the white background is the main winter colour here!

 The coordinating flannel fabric for accents on the pj's match the scene fabric & it is purple!

 This Christmas has a new colour to it this year 'PURPLE'. I'm going to find that faux white Christmas tree & decorate it with purple tree hangings.
I have to admit that the colour is growing on me & Elizebeth told me it is a royal colour!
Sew, let it be the lemonade solution to my online ordering, purple it is!

Hardwicke Stained Glass

That is the name of the glass studio that I run from my home here in Hardwicke NB.

I have started beginner glass classes & here is the progress from the three different classes so far.

 This is the piece that I had made many years ago for Namama for Christmas one year, she died in 2001 & has several broken pieces in it & will be hanging in the garden this summer. That's one of the problems with glass, it cracks & breaks when it falls.

I had used that pieced pattern for the new student beginners.
It has everything that they are going to need to know for cutting & piecing glass.

 I redid the pattern again for an idea of timing for the 2 1/2hr sessions & have added on a week or two to the three-week class, now a 4-5 week class. It is a process the same as quilting, it needs to be done in many stages before completion of the project.

 No breaks in this one! ... yet lol

Here are the students work done in many stages.

 This is the first week

 First week

 First week

Third week

 Fouth week

 Fourth week

Fourth week

 The studio has a lovely large window overlooking Miramichi Bay that opens into the Gulf of St Lawerance. The day class 1-3:30pm  gets to see it but the night class 6-8:30 only sees the darkness.
Everyone is enjoying the art of making their stained glass piece & are thinking of their next design, one that I know is going to be so much easier than the challenge I taught them on!

 Sewing Time

If the upstairs studio window looks familiar to you it is.
My sewing room is located right under it & they both have the same windows!
I enjoy my time in both mediums with the colour & design.

 I have not touched this quilt since I corrected my mistake of placement, hopefully, this week I can make some progress on it.

 I've been working on fabric choice for this piece that I pull out every Valentine & must complete it by Thursday or away it goes for another year! lol

With the new teal velvet drapes & having eight of us this Easter, I thought I would make chair cushions from a sweater that I purchased at Zellers many years ago. The front of the sweater made one cushion & the back made another. I still have the sleeves that I can either make lumbar pillows or cut it into squares & combine another fabric to make a larger pillow... decisions decisions.

I used the top turtleneck roll to accent the paperwhites pot, just a warmer touch to look at during all these snow & ice storms these days.

I also crocheted a runner from t-shirt loom fabric for my girlfriend Cecile. I made it for the table that was in our parlour growing up. I ate many a supper on that table with my dad on the couch having his supper. He was wheelchair bound & would have a tray on his lap. Looking at the table now, it is the same but seemed so much larger when I was going up.

Rug Hooking

The needle punch rug hooking is coming along nicely but I had to stop after a bit. My hands have been drying up with the fabric, glass, & wool drying them out.
I usually do this in the evenings watching TV but lately, it is with all kinds of hand moisturizer to give my hands a drink to stop the drying & cracking of them. I think it's the winter to that is drying them out.

 The front of the Regatta rug.

 The back of the Regatta rug, I took this photo fast I was racing Rexton the photobombing cat. She can be seen sneaking across the top of the photo!

 Thank you for visiting this chilly, windy day on the bay. The wind can be heard from inside, it is giving whiteout conditions outside. I'm going to stay in & sew today.
I hope you too are staying warm & cozy through this winter, stay safe.

Have a great week wherever you are!
Cynthia

Vortex Is On Us

It has been so cold this week, today it was a -32C beginning for the day with 50km winds!
At this rate, I really am preserving myself in the cold!

I had a surprise package from London this week!
My girlfriend Sandy sent me a calendar from the University of Ottawa Equestrian Team, her daughter is one of the riders, gorgeous pictures of the horses with their riders.
Sandy also included a hot/cold thermos with Boston's & a nautical theme, how appropriate!
But wait there was more, I told her of a night that I awoke to feel so cold & when Bill was here he had adjusted the timer on the thermostat to go to 17C at night. It was OK when he was here but that kingsize bed was freezing that night! So Sandy fixed it, she sent me a cozy minky nighty!

The nightgown was wrapped in brown paper with this written on it! lol, I've worn several times this week & it is so nice!

 Rexton has taken up napping in the wicker basket that holds the unfinished blocks for the U Is For Unicorn quilt. She is also on the registers grabbing the warmth from the forced air furnace.

 The afternoon sun is beautiful & Bridget & Baxter take it in & the heat from the firebox too!

 Quilt Up-Date

 The upside of this project is that the metallic thread is working beautifully around the applique. I used the gold for the lettering & silver on the unicorn.

The downside is that I made the first block wrong! The unicorn is to be placed 'under the 'U' not over the 'U', so I made it again the right way & the wrong on will be made into a pillow cover.

 I'm really enjoying the needle punch rug hooking, this is the right side of it. The boats look very busy & the look will change when the blue is added.

 I'm working hard to make sure that the back is just as attractive as the front, a lot of redoing, it is new to me & I'm still enjoying the process of doing it whilst watching TV at night.

 Bridget Loree is staying in these days as she cannot take the cold. She's enjoying her chair with the borg blankets on it & a few of her toys to keep her company.

 The thought of going outside doesn't excite her anymore, it is so frigidly cold that she's limping just coming in for her washroom breaks.

A pair with cabin fever, you should hear them wrestle each other & run up & down the hall.
Like everything else this too will pass,  it is so cold to even be cozy inside you can hear the wind outside & the sunshine is so deceiving!

Thank you for stopping in for a visit, I hope the firebox made it a little cozier for you as we sure are enjoying that radiant heat from it.

A thought for this weekend.

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
                             Edith Wharton

Have a warm safe weekend.
Cynthia