The Miramichi Bay Is Open = Spring!

 This morning I can see the top of the black deck railing! Yes, the wind is howling today making the trees dance but it is a blue sky & blue water kinda day!

 Snow is still around & it will be for a while, usually the 1st week of June it is done!

The Miramichi Bay has now opened up & that means spring has arrived in NE New Brunswick!
The snowdrifts are shrinking & the windows are making noise as the wind gusts invisibly throw themselves into them.

This was a couple of days ago & so much more ice has left the bay giving way to seeing the water come in & out with the tides. The blue water & blue sky makes your heart sing!
Bill makes me go outside on nice days, I'm an inside person & always have been but life is changing & we too must change with the times.
I really enjoy my time outside & will be doing more of it as the days warm up.

I made a spring arrangement from an old part of black/white pokla dot boots.
The look & feel of the days to come as spring morphs into summer!

 On our out & about time on our property last week, Bill cut down some pussy willows for me to decorate with. Such a sign of spring to see those fuzzy branches!
It was warm this weekend so I put together this arrangement with the found nest placed in the bottom.
You really do feel a connection with nature & a grounding of oneself when you walk about.

 I moved the boot arrangement to the front entrance, not that anyone comes with this social distancing time but it does make me feel better seeing spring decor. :)

 With some of the leftover pussy willow branches & some fabric flowers that were the colour of daffodils, I made an arrangement in for the potting shed window box.
The potting shed is going to be moved this summer to the otherwise of our property so it will be close to the new Porage Garden that will be going in.

The fire pit area is starting to show it's a brick structure. What an exciting time of year to see the ground once more. The tulip bulbs are coming up around the lilacs too!
I hope you enjoyed your outside tour, now let's go inside to see some projects that I've been working on.

Sewing Inside

Block two of the Christmas Carol from Farmhouse Threads & Friends.
I was so excited to see this block that I made one for the quilt & one as a hanging...

It was perfect for the Christmas dishes, so I did this on in white with gold hatching, an old Joanne Fabrics piece from my stash.

I just loved how it worked out & will look forward to seeing it again at Christmas with the dishes!

 Then I stitched around a woods & wolf silhouette that I had done a few years back. The plan is to make a small decorative lumbar pillow, with dark brown faux suede fabric on the sides & back.

I had a week moment at Walmart a few weeks back & thought I would have this done in no time as it was all prestamped. I was wrong! I've undone so much that I'm hoping there's enough thread that I don't have to dig into my stash DMC. I thought it would compliment the lumbar pillow, must take time to work on this!

 I had ordered an April Cornell dress for Easter, I've always had a new outfit every Easter since I can remember, & it was so long in length. The cotton dress fabric & slip fabric made a nice dress for this colonial doll. I needed to play with some colour & design in a miniature size, she looks better now!

 A Kathleen Tracey Mystery quilt that I never finished will be a pillow for the front porch this summer. I added Rexton & Mr. Boots to the front to personalize it a bit.

 I love this sewing room fabric & used it on the back of a scrap quilt.

 A wee scrap quilt from the Peter Rabbit quilt I made a few years back with some gingham homespun fabric & some more caps. I love to play with scraps!

This is a fabric collection & accessories that I was to make a sample dress for the Alberta kids' wedding this fall. I will have to start it soon but with these uncertain times, I just don't feel the urgency yet. Everything I wear usually has to be modified as I'm 5'2" & Boddy modifications are always needed too. So a muslin pattern is made & modified before it even sees the true fabric making a more pleasing outcome on the finished project.

 Block # 3 - Oh, Frosty The Snowman is now done! On Wednesday they will revile block #4.
Each block is so different, just like each of the designers that design them!

Rexton the Manx is feeling the spring days too & lucky her got a gift of catmint from Lynn.
Lynn can grow anything! I can't wait to see our portage order from her, even Heather, my avid gardening girlfriend gets plants from Lynn!

 Rexton just loved the nibbling on the catmint. It will be planted outside in the new garden later in June. Remember all the snow, yes, this too will pass.

I was surprised when he threw her body into the plant & was rubbing her fur on it. Oh, the sight, smells, & feel of spring that we all need!

I've had time to take in YouTube classes on making felted creatures. I saw the rabbit & it was adorable & so spring-like that I made this one! It is not as large as the one in the kit that the instruction was for but I do enjoy smaller things that can be added to my shelf. I used the cat's whickers that I find around the house to enhance the rabbit's whiskers, I was going to make a blue jacket for it but now I'm seeing it as a cotton dress & apron kinda rabbit. For now, I'll just enjoy getting it done!

The province of New Brunswick is doing better than other provinces but we've been told it is not over yet & more time is needed. It is a vaccine that is much needed & is being worked on.
So until that is done, life as we know it is & will be different. I hope that you are taking the time & caring for yourself even if you are not going anywhere. This is part of history that we are living & I'm grateful to be in such a wonderful country with all the help & technology that is being offered to keep us safe.
What is old is new again as people learn to bake bread & rolls creating a shortage here in flour & yeast! There's a lot of yummy smelling kitchens here, the smell of home cooking everywhere.

Thank you for stopping in for a visit.
Stay safe, stay healthy.
Cynthia

Spring Where Are You?

A week of April has come & gone & the spring days were felt on one occasion. Bill & I got so excited about the feel of that sunny day. The wicker bistro table & chairs were brought out of storage & we had a coffee on the porch enjoying the end of the day. Then the cold winds came & we will have to wait until another warm sunny day displays itself so we can once again enjoy our time on the porch. Snow is coming in again at the end of this week. :(

 I worked on the Missouri Star - Irish Change Pattern in the restroom. It is a queen-size quilt & I needed a large area to spread out, I had help with Mr. Boots as he rearranged blocks for me. lol

 I now have all the blocks together with just the 2 1/2" sashing & a 6" border to add to it.

 I somehow messed up with these blocks & will make something else with them in the future.

 All the blocks have been embroidered. I used the backstitch on the worded blocks & the stem stitch on the floral blocks. I was pleased with the look of the blocks on black fabric...

 So each block was outlined with a black/grey check border, it still needed another solid small border to finish the blocks off.

 I really like the look of the blocks in black. I'm now thinking of border fabric to finish it off.

 Here's a close up of the black borders put together, I really like the outcome. ;)

 Every day this is what I have to deal with, Rexton the Manx, she owns the ironing board & my sewing chair & I'm always moving her when she's in the way.

 She's loving my new wool felted ironing mat that stays warm with my ironing or just her body heat!

 I think she wishes I got the larger one for her! This is the 14" x 14" pad, she's one big kitty!

 Beautiful words of love.

I picked up my 2018 Kathleen Tracy Mystery Quilt & worked another round on it. So many UFO's to keep me busy.

 I gave new life to Mr. Rabbit by adding stuffing to his head(and a plastic dowel) & torso.

 I also finished his Easter vest. He looks so dapper now!

 In my dressing room, I had so many hair accessories that they were always falling off the lingerie dresser. I made a fabric container from black/white jellyroll strips & now everything looks neat & tidy!

 I had this on a large black anchor button that was perfect for the front of this fabric basket.

 I know where to find my hair accessories & the Boston's went crazy over my grey rabbit pom-pom's, so glad they are out of sight from them! lol

 The laundry room geraniums are filling out beautifully & some are starting to bloom!

 More laundry room geraniums, it's such a joy to see how they are coming to life with spring, even if it is inside the house with the snow-covered landscape outside.

 Bill moved the cement geese outside & I'm glad that they are dressed as it snowed overnight last week. It was just a dusting of snow that they call 'Shelia's Brush' out here on the east coast.

 I'm trying to make it look like spring...

 It certainly looks wintery though.

 The front door has a lot of colours, come on spring!

 Bridget got a new fleece-lined onesie & loves it. Baxter is so much harder than her.

 Her onesie has been washed & dried & shrunk a bit, fitting her better.

 Here's Bridget styling her onesie!

 I've been spending so much time in my sewing room that I organized my pincushion collection into the primitive dough bowl behind my sewing machine.
The whole collection makes me smile with the memories of those that made them!

 Farmhouse Threads has started the BOW with different designers & I was hooked on the first one!
Thank you Bev for sending it my way!
This is the first time I've used the Stretch & Seal embroidery technique, I was amazed at the results!

 I also added another cat to the scene, one with no tail! lol.

I also needle felted smoke coming out of the chimney as we have our firebox going nearly every day.

 This was Bridget this morning, she was chilling in her onesie. lol

 The snowdrift is coming down but still higher than the deck railing!

 I've been making COVID-19 makes with Batik fabrics & Pellon, making them three layers of security & still breathable. Several were delivered to my non-sewing friends for their protection when they venture out into the community.

I also added a doubled pipe cleaner zigzagged in to shape the nose bridge for a better fit.

Tomorrow, I will make more for the community. We have been so very lucky to have only 2 cases of COVID-19 in our zone. I stay home & Bill does the groceries.
It sure is a different life these days but our location makes it easy physically & mentally.

Thanks for stopping in & I hope that you too are staying the 'Blazes' in & are social distancing when you are out. This is a very unsettling time & we are all part of this history.

Please stay safe.
Wishing you health & happiness!
Cynthia