Mid February & I'm Back In Isolation

 Yes, I'm back into 14-day isolation as Bill arrived February 12 from working in Brampton for a week & which means everyone in the household must isolate too! He was able to have a Covid test after being home for 5 days, then another in 5 days but Brian Higgs put a stop to that, with no reason. If he was a trucker or worked in Quebec or Maine he could be released from isolation as it does not apply to those essential workers.  It does not make sense to us or others that are in our situation being an essential worker that works away.

Enough, it is what it is right now so we will make the best of it! Together!!

With Bill working from home I too like to stay busy in my own 'kyrotime' fun.

I made this small Bernie Sanders for a laugh to sit on Bill's shelf to entertain those viewing him on his zoom meetings. Laughter is the best medicine!

This wee fellow was 17 pages of instruction & a lot more work than I had thought.

I have to count every stitch being worked into him!

I was happy with the way he turned out! Bill put him on the family group chat & Leslie fell in love with Bernie. I sent him to go live with her as she too does zoom meetings with her job & Bernie I know has a good home! I've started another one for Bill...

Billy the Badger needed a new jumper/sweater for these cold days. I needed to knit after all that crocheting & counting. Knitting needles are calming to me, I was taught to knit on the fourth floor of Eaton's in London. My dad sent me for lessons with my childhood girlfriend Sharon, we were taught to make an egg cozy. By doing so we were taught to knit, purl, increase & decrease, funny the things we remember fondly.

I used these old leather vintage buttons from my button stash.

Because I used scrap yarn, I thought I was going to run out doing the sleeves so I made him look sporty with the chocolate brown stripes. I did have enough yarn to do all one colour & I'm glad I did do the stripe!

Is he not a handsome fellow?!

Baxter & Bridget are loving the radiant heat from the firebox these days.

Baxter will bark at you to start the fire in the box & old Boris use to do the same thing!

If they were cats they would be purring! lol

Bridget is such a sweetie, she hugs her stuffless stuffies & that tongue of hers!!

Bill keeps them busy with him when he is home & by evening they are exhausted & warmer by the fire.

Here they are in the front foyer waiting for Bill, they know he's going somewhere...

There was a very large package delivered this week, Bill ordered a 6' sleigh to haul the wood out of the woods. Now to put the handles on the sleigh with his audience watching.

Bill put their blankets into the sleigh to see if he could get them to ride inside the sleigh.

After assembly, he took it out for a ride! Yes, they would jump into the sleigh but jump right back out.

Bill is enjoying having it to haul the firewood out of the woods that he's been putting a trail through.

With St. Patrick's Day coming next month, I thought I would make the geese an outfit only to find out what I had already done last year! Rexton was sitting on my lap so I thought she might like to try on a sweater.

The next morning was Bridget's turn!

Baxter was jealous of her getting all the attention & a new sweater! Settle down you two!

Bridget feels the cold more than Baxter & I just need to lengthen the top back & add leg straps to hold it in place.

Bridget looks so Irish in that colour! lol

The front length should keep the winds off her.

Now to measure her width that is needed.

And her length & oh my, I do have a hair appointment to get those fast-growing snow-white roots covered the day after my isolation is over! 

Winter has arrived, not the usual winters that I use to. I can still see out all of the windows!!

I've always wanted to make a scrappy crocheted granny square afghan, so I started one this week!

 

All the centers will be black & all the joining of the squares will be black. Hopefully giving a kind of stained glass look to this very colourful afghan. 

It's a memory afghan to me too as I'm using my MIL Eva's scrap wools whilst I create it!

The doggie dorm room now has a curtain closing to it!

I used the fabric I had purchased several years back at Fabricland London for some outdoor cushions to be covered & never got around to it. So glad I did not, everything for a reason for sure!!

The location of Baxter & Bridget's room is under Mrs. Maday's original artwork that we have been gifted. She was a Hungarian artist & friend to Bill's mom & Namama. 

This fabric could not have been any better for complimenting her colourful artwork.

These plates still have to be hung but look at the colours she worked in! So vibrant, so alive!

I cannot find anything on Mrs. Maday & don't know much about her other than Eva & Namama would curate her shows & help with the sales of her items in London ON.

She worked in many mediums, this is an oil on canvas of Mrs. Maday.

Mrs. Maday was a very talented woman & one that I do wish I would have met. I enjoy seeing her work every day coming down the hall & seeing this beautiful picture in the great room.

Bill has levelled out the fireplace mantel & I can once more hear the chiming of Dad's old clock.

I forgot to post that Luna has a new dress & apron!

It was all made from the fat 1/4's that cousin Ann gifted me several years ago. Luna was so perfect for Valentine's Day!

Now she has a new nightie! I think Alfie is jealous that he doesn't have new PJ's too. 

She is a most stylish lapin!

I love Boston's & have a quilt pattern to make a Boston blanket! So I started playing with the FatCat Pattern & had another idea. 

My girlfriend Deb, while her daughter adopted a special needs Boston & they called him Joey!

Joey was born with very impaired vision & is in such a home of love right now.

Deb tells me all about him & she has never met him due to Covid, so I am making her a pillow of her grandpuppy. I hope she likes it. I'll post the finished pillow next post.

Thank you for stopping in for a visit during my isolation! Please stay safe & wear your mask, wherever you are. 

Enjoy the last turn of winter because spring is just around the corner! 

Cynthia

An Icey February - Happy Valentine's Day

 We've had snow, freezing rain, & temps that are unusually warm. It is an unusual year for sure!

It is a winter wonderland outside right now, it is beautiful when there's sunshine, it makes all the ice look like crystals.

We never lost any of our electricity either.

All these pics were taken from the front porch, too icey to venture out!

With Bill home, the birds stay well-fed & the chickadees eat out of his familiar hands.

Nature is so beautiful through the seasons it is ever-changing!

I love everything about Valentine's Day! The colour, the love, the chocolates... lol

I made these muslin bunnies back in 1990 & have dressed them in cotton & red velvet outfits that I made back then. Their little shoes were Mitch & Nick's baby shoes from the late 1980s. These have become memory bunnies every Valentine's Day when I bin I open for the home decorating. 

The pillow sleeve is a memory for me too when several of us use to gather in Bev's dining room every Thursday morning for some stitching time & inspiration on projects that each of us was working on. The pillow sleeve came from Bev's pattern when she lived in BC, I embellished the pattern with some pearls & used scrap fabric from the table-topper I had made.

This is my pattern of blocks, tatting, embroidery, a folded fabric heart & scrap fabrics from other projects to create this 'Valentine picture'. 

Let's look at more decor...

A vintage Royal Doulton Valentines Day plate & a red wool/cotton candle mat that I made whilst practicing machine quilting.

A button card that Bill gave me a few years back & roses that are brought out of the bin for this special day of love. This is the table-topper that I made several years ago from a Valentine charm pack.

I love how the black & white dining room looks great with all the warm red accents!

This little quilt always makes me laugh! I date my work & finished embroidering this snowman in 2010, then finally finished incorporating him in the center of this red/white quilt in 2018. Talk about 'round-to-it-projects! lol

This little quilt comes out at Christmas & Canada Day too! It was a mystery quilt with Primitive Gatherings years back. And that's why it is important to date your quilts!!

This is the wall quilt this winter as the Christmas one has been put downstairs in storage.

The title is called South Shore, a Quiltmaker magazine pattern that Liz(RIP) & I did back in 2004.

I taught her how to paper piece with this quilt, she was a wonderful quilter that wanted to learn so many different techniques. It was always a joy to see what she was creating. She sent me a trunk of finished & unfinished quilts that I will finish for her. I think she had the east coast in mind as she embroidered lighthouses to be put in a quilt, in my favourite colour, blue!

Happy Valentines' Day & I'm glad you're virtually visiting today!

This large glass heart was purchased at Open Door Antiques in Chatham NB. I miss not being able to frequent Louis shop, I love browsing through the past.

I made this piece this year, it's a Buttermilk pattern of the month. I added silk tassels around it & used my Pfaff's fancy stitches with variegated threads.

This silk ribbon was made into a bellpull many years back for our century home on Kennon Place.

I added a heart around the window candle star & love the silhouette that appears.

This bay window is the furbabies favourite spot to look out to the backyard & watch the smelt fishermen glide over the ice in their skidoos.

The Bay du Vin island is the strip of land that can be seen looking out now.

It is such an unusual year to be able to view this, usually, the window is covered by a huge snowdrift but we have not had much snow nor drifting.

It does make for a more pleasant winter for me as I don't go outside & view it from indoors.

I laugh at seeing the Skidoos far off on the iced Miramichi Bay as they resemble ants going across a white table cloth. lol

Baxter loves to sit in the vintage wicker chair from one of my England finds with Nicola, she is fantastic at knowing all the charity shops in northeast England. Fond memories. 

Bridget likes the chair too, they're so sweet together!

Here is my finished Valentine picture! It finished 3' x 5ft' & Bill was so helpful in bringing my idea to life! The frame is from a bevelled Costco mirror that hung in our workplace in London ON. 

It broke when we were moving out of that building & I saw a beautiful frame for a quilt one day & here is one of many that I will make for this monthly/seasonal picture to be exchanged with seasons & special events.

Thank you Bill for moving that frame through the years & bringing my idea to life!

I was pleased with how it turned out.

I had put the pink checked heart in but it did not seem right, so I added a finish around it, still was not right...it seemed empty. Marva gifted me with a tatted heart years back & I placed it on the checkered area & voila! The heart in a heart was what was needed. To secure it, I embellished each picot by sewing a pearl on it. I then added a snowball corner to make it look like the old pictures that were held in with triangles pieces.

The top left & bottom right silk photos were from Bombay photos that were removed to use the frame. I had planned on making a pair of pillow covers from them & loved how they auditioned in this quilt.

I embroidered four cupid squares whilst doing my ice/heat therapy then coloured them with soy crayons that Paulette had gifted me years back. I added granddaughter Madison's favourite rose to them.

Years back we made this folded heart at a workshop at the London Friendship Quilt Guild & every Valentine it too comes out of the Valentine bin & was auditioned for the quilt & it too made it in.

I wanted the frame to be hung in the great room mezzanine to be viewed from that room & for guests to see as they enter the guest wing of the house.

Thank you, Bill! 

+

Block seven of the Hugs & Kisses quilt is now done! See the 'X' for the kiss, the next one I will work on will have the wreath style for the 'O' hug. XO

Looking at Luna Lapin's poster bed - I had an idea to use the Lexington Moda 2 1/2" squares for a wee quilt, that quilt used two packs, with only 6 squares left for an accent something?!

Here's Luna's Valentine's Day tea party!

I think Billy Badger is smitten with Luna. lol

I had made chocolate chewies that morning & made some for this photoshoot too!

Luna has a new apron for her dress & a necklace from Billy Badger. I've had this miniature cake stand & cake's that are changeable with different events. It is perfect for the table & will be seen again & again with different settings.

LOL, I just noticed that I was auditioning shoes on Luna to see which one was perfect for her outfit...I never made a choice of sparkle or plain. lol

Alfie Lupin is reading the story of Beatrix Potter, what a very special talented, giving woman she was. 

Alfie is having green tea with his cookie & carrot!

And Bill photobombs my photoshoot as he reaches to steal a cookie from the table!

Talk about being caught in the act! lol

His comment to me is 'You're having too much fun with this!' Yes, I am! 

It is a world that I escape all the COVID doom & gloom from if only for a few hours before life surfaces to the top again.

I added a dust ruffle around Luna's bed.

I'm pleased with the way the blue & white look with the white poster bed.

I had ordered a Nautica sheet set & the kingsize pillowcases are just too long for our pillows, I cut them to size. With the leftover fabric, I had enough to make this bed a fitted sheet, flat sheet trimmed in gathered eyelet, & a pillowcase! I just love the look that is under the new quilted cover!

Rexton the Manx just loves the new quilted cover too!

So glad you stopped by for a virtual visit!

An update on my MRI, I've L3 & L4 slightly bulging disc problem & will be seeing an orthopedic clinic as my GP wants a second opinion on the pain that I had experienced.

I am feeling much better & must work up to a 30 min brisk walk a day, Dr's order. , to start slow & steady with that & any exercise that I do. Bloodwork was good except for the triglycerides keep creeping up, which has put an end to my potatoe chip/cashew days.

Thank you for stopping by & visiting!

A saying from Helen Keller - The only thing worse than being blind is having sight and no vision.

Happy Valentine's Day wherever you are. Stay safe.

Cynthia