Spring Begins!

Spring has officially begun! But you would not know that by looking out the window here on the NE corner of New Brunswick. The days are filled with sunshine throughout the sunny days & that helps melt the snowdrift banks down.
Bill & I are listening daily to the COVID-19 reports that have changed everyone's world as we once knew it & I know you too are living these days in isolation. I have turned to my KYROTIME of sewing & creating to pass the days. Bill is in the basement organizing our 'stuff' from the move from Ontario...I think I'm a hoarder of textiles & that has come in handy these days!

 Yes, the view has not changed much over the weeks & Bill is reassuring me that over that drift the grass is showing near the edge of the rock breaker wall.

 The sunroom is still cold with no view insight of the Miramichi Bay.

 The window door offers no help with the view either! lol

 The houseplants are enjoying the longer days of sunlight & are thriving inside.

 I look at lilac bushes outside the great room window & know that in just weeks from now the buds will begin to show signs of life.

 The March winds are blowing hard these days & there's a lot of ice where the puddles accumulated on those sunny days.

 Sunny days are favourite days for Baxter & Bridget to sunbathe in.

 Rexton the Manx cat, enjoys the Boston terriers pillow by the firebox, which is burning wood daily now.

 I finished a wall hanging kit that I've had since 2010 with the hope that bulbs will be peeking out soon after the snow melts away.

 Easter baskets or the May flower baskets?

 The colours were fun to work with, 22 colours in all!

 Will leftover fabric scraps from the Fracture Heart quilt I have this octagon star. I still need to add the bias binding to it.

 And one round one too!

 There were precut scraps from the quilt too that I made into a table runner.

 I used Lori Moore's pattern file pattern to download her free wool patterns to add spring to the plain blocks.

The rabbit pattern has a needle felted nose & tail, with a satin ribbon rather than the embroidered one.
I enjoy the spring colour the wool adds to the blocks. :)

More Ideas!

 I need to quilt up this fabric for cushions for the bay window. Mitchell brought back the black/white raven fabric for me from his Yellowknife trip years ago, I love how the kids feed my fabric passion!  I never had the heart to cut it up into pieces & knew it would make it would be perfect if I quilted it into cushions covers for the black/white kitchen. Seashell fabric is an enhancement to the waterfront bay window too!

 When I was online ordering the crackle fabric for Mitch & Nicole's wedding signature quilt, Sew Siter's had this layer cake fabric (10"x10") on sale. I love Laura Ashley products & Missouri Star Quilts had a tutorial on making an Irish Chain quilt with a layer cake. I'm going to stay with the Irish theme & use this Deborah Edwards by Northcott green fabric & a white Kona fabric to bring this pattern idea to life.

 Liz gave me many scraps as she knew I enjoyed creating from them & this pink & green colour is spring in colour!

 These are scraps left over from a quilt that she had made, what could I do with them?

I pieced two together & liked the look of it...

 With piecing more together, I was able to make this octagon placemat!

 I placed my beloved spring characters on it & realized that it mirrored the colour of the geese boots,
funny how things just work out!

 I was able to make five of these placemats & used an Easter fabric of eggs underneath to make it reversible!

I have be trying to stay positive & busy through the COVID-19 pandemic with keeping busy with my sewing.
 I worry about my kids as they all live away & are still working on installing & serving elevators.
 Bill is working from home & I've not spent this much time with him in 15 years!
 I am enjoying our time together as with all things, this too will pass.

Stay safe & isolate yourself from others as much as you can. Canada has done on a great job on getting ahead of the curve & I hope the days ahead are healthy ones for our country.

Thank you for visiting & I hope your isolation is not taking a toll on you & yours.
Health & happiness through this trying time.
Cynthia

St. Patty's Day Is Nearly Here!

Friday the 13th has come & gone, now for St. Patrick's Day! With having 26% Irish in me(according to 23 & Me) I have always enjoyed St. Patty's Day with the excitement that my  Grandma Haynes had instilled in me since childhood. She was proud to be Irish & would tell me stories of yesteryear & London ON St. Patrick's Day parade with her father's Clydesdales horses with their tails braided with green ribbons.
I have Boston terriers that I spread the joy with. lol

 Bridget wearing her green sequin hairband.

 She was so funny when I put it on her, she immediately hit the floor & stayed there. lol

 Baxter is such a handsome dog with his bowtie & when I asked him...

 "Where's your daddy?" The ears come up & I have to be fast with the camera as he gets so excited.

 I was having my morning coffee last week & was looking at all the Prarie point stars that many YouTube popups were doing. Shabby Fabrics, Sew Very Easy, but the best one that caught my interest was Crouton Crafts as he explains how to do your own template!
I made the small one on the chair first, then I made another small one which got me thinking about how to make a bigger one. I made this one & used it for the rabbit's rug!
I had changed her dress & hat from the Easter one that you saw in my last post.

When I was making this Easter rabbit from a VIP print panel, I used the pattern for making a green one too. March 17th is just weeks away from Easter every year. But I need to see spring colours to make my heart sing & eyes focused on what will be.

 This is the 2nd one I made & have it at the front door on the granite pillar.

 They are all reversible & I loved this St. Paddy Boston fabric that I had a scrap of!

 Grandma would be delighted to see these & they had her in mind when I did these.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 We still have a lot of snow & strong March winds on most days.
The sky was such a glorious colour one morning & these are the photos for you too to enjoy!

 Mother Nature really does have the best colour palette!

Snow Days - Sew Days

 This little antique doll was used for an idea I had for the crocheted set that I was working on.
I washed & dried the muslin fabric & went to work on it.
She got new bloomers...

 And a new slip to go under her dress.
I wanted to see how picot crocheting would work on the muslin & was quite pleased with it.

I worked it on the neckline & the hemline with the problem that the crochet hook needed to do this was cutting my hand up with the pushing pressure needed to pierce the fabric.

 With that idea worked on & pleased with the antique doll's new underpinnings, I knew that the crochet set would have to be done differently.

 The crocheted neckline turned out nice...

 As did the crocheted hemline.

 Enhancing the dress that she was wearing when I purchased her years back.

 She was wearing a satin sailor styled dress that now has more volume with the muslin underpinnings.

 Back to the idea of adding volume to the crochet set...

 How pretty is this?!

 I went through my studio stash of vintage lace & found this three-tiered lace that complimented the fabric & style beautifully.

 I also made a diaper cover to complete the set.
The bootie pattern is so hard to do, I've tried it so many times & the instep is my problem, I think leather Robeez it is!

 I gave the slip a 3" hem to weigh the slip down so it shows under the gown.

 I used shell buttons for the closure on the back & I am very pleased with the way the whole ensemble turned out.

With this project now done I started to do an embroidery project by Paula Stoddard & to keep my hands moving & arthritis in my hands at bay, I've begun this project.

 The 24 blocks are 4 1/2" each making it an easy project in the evenings under the ottlight.
I had scraps of fabric left from the Vintage Tin pattern years & I wanted to use black DMC 12wt thread to embroider with.

 This is a verse from the bible that I do enjoy. It gives me pleasure & sadness as I remember it being read at my Aunt Madeline's funeral back in Sept 1987. She attended our wedding in July & we attended her funeral in September, just after showing her my ultrasound for Mitchell, she said 'What a beautiful baby boy!',  ' A boy, how do you know I asked?'  I just do was her reply. Madeline was my father's only sister & she was gone at the age of 49 due to complications during bowel surgery.
She was an extraordinary woman in her time, she was love to me.

 As you can see, I still have three blocks to embroider & then the blocks need to be squared & fabric sashing & borders to be added.

I'll post more as I bring this together as a wallhanging.

 This Laura Burch fabric has been in my stash for quite a while, she was a designer that I admired for her use of animals & colour. She had her own way of styling her designs.
I made a quilt for my granddaughter Madison one Christmas with her fabric collection, it too was all with cats!

 Love her cats & the tapestry bag came to life with them!

 I underlined the tapestry bag with black polka dot flannel fabric, giving more body to the bag.

 I'm glad I took the day to play & make this fun bag! Sewing is my 60 beats a minute, it calms me & makes me think in a suspended time of the creation of my own as thoughts in my mind become reality.

Thank you for stopping in for a visit.
Stay safe this Covid-19 virus. I have Bill at home with me now & I'm enjoying my time with him as he's grounded to Canada. Both of us healthy but with the kids scattered across Canada & working publicly, I worry.
The times are a-changing with this worldwide virus & life as we knew it will never be the same.

Wishing you health & happiness.
Cynthia