Busy, busy...

It's been a busy week with a lot of fun, laughter, family, & friends.

On Monday, there was a rug hooking day with the Critchlow Rug Hooking Guild. What a fun day that was. I traced a couple of patterns onto linen burlap to do this year. And I took a original Bluenose pattern to show & share piece that I had purchased in New Brunswick a few years back.

I'm going to take a pattern off it & place this one in a frame, it truly is a work of art! To my surprise, Beverly was working on a Bluenose piece too! Another company has revived the Bluenose patterns & is selling them today. It is quite the story of the finds in the basement & trying to copy the old paper patterns. I stumbled on the story on the internet, looking for the rug above!

Beverly, displaying here Bluenose pattern. How lovely is this organic, beautiful rug going to be?!!

 Lynn & Deb, my Thursday morning stitching girlfriends. joined in to do a little rug hooking on their own. With Deb, little is not even on the radar...

This is Deb's first hooked rug! Go big or stay at home, right Deb?!! It's for the front of her patio door. This door leads to the garden & pond. This woman does everything & does it well! Kudos to you, Deb! She's the girlfriend that did the Crazy Stars quilt, via email, with me. What project will we do via email now?

I recognized Lee's work before I saw her. I've not seen her for a couple of years, her bear is coming to life. It was being drawn the last I saw it!

 I love white polar bears. With the global warming, their habitat is being lost. :-(

Norma worked on this sweet piece, in memory of her mother.

 Dorothy has been working on this ambitious piece. I just love what she has done & I have an idea on what to do with those worms!

 Dorothy used a variegated Briggs & Little yarn for the whipping on the edges, how clever is she?!!

The day at the church, with the Critchlow Guild lasted from 9:30am to 3:30pm, much like my weekly meetings with the Miramichi Rug Hooking Guild. I enjoy rug hooking & will be home to see them soon, after Mother's Day!

A New Gadget!

This product by Sharpie, is what the rug hookers have been using to trace their patterns out. There are never any black marks left as this sometimes happens with the 'permanent black marker'. Never has happened to me but, good to know & have hindsight on a white hooked area. Thank you Connie aka Vanna the hand person, for this photo! lol

 I've been working on this sewing bag...

 This is the outside, I was auditioning what button to place on the pocket. A Mary Englebriet, bowl button with a black & white checkered striped bowl? No.

     A black & white zebra? No.

A ceramic houndstooth heart? Yes.

If in doubt with choices, it really plays to audition the choices through your camera. I have even found mistakes in my quilting, with this technique.

I will show the bag that took me days upon days, to make on the next blog. It is one way to help keep me organized. This is the year of 'organizing'! 

I was at cousin Ann's place & fell in love with her front garden! How beautiful is the colour of spring?

 She has the lovely garden outfront, the one that boosts all the colours of spring. Next weekend,  I can't wait to see my 347 bulbs coming to life! Oh Mother Nature, bring it on!

 While I was at Ann's, her beloved 16 year old cat Eddie, was striking his natural poise. I got my camera out & captured him!

                               It's the way Eddie positions his paws that really caught my eye.

 Ann said 'Eddie always has had that poise'. And she purchased this pillow because it made her think of Eddie! How true, Eddie is a gentleman indeed!

Farewell Dinner With The Sew What's, Sewing Group

John, our chef for the dinner. And what a wonderfully delicious dinner he prepared for us! And our home hostess June, that greeted us all with open arms as we entered. Thank you both!!

I asked John to write down what we had for the dinner & here is our Indonesian Dinner menu! 

Babi Ketjap - Pork tenderloin in a Sweet Soy Sauce with spices

Sambal Telor - Hard boiled eggs in a coconut/curry sauce

Nasi Goreng Ajam - Chicken Fried Rice

Gado Gado - Blanched Fresh Vegetables with a peanut/coconut sauce

Chicken Stir Fry - Fresh vegetables stir fried with chicken & spices

Dessert - Fresh Fruit Salad

And a wonderful evening unfolded...

 June has a very large dining that comfortably housed 10 of us sitting around the table. John was also our server for the night, you can see him in the far background in the kitchen preparing our meal.

 Left to right.  Lou, Ann, Elaine, & Pat, a waiting patiently. Everything was presented so beautifully!

Cynthia & Cynthia,  the only Cynthia I've know in this lifetime, I'm going to miss you my friend!

 Mibsie, Susan, & Cynthia are a waiting for the meal to begin...after a few photos... And what a meal it was!!

 I think everyone had seconds of their most favorite dish, me I had seconds of everything!

 This Gado Gado Salad, was just one of my favourites! Indonesian food I had never tasted, ever. And I think I'm going to look for that food elsewhere. Very different than North American eating.

 June told us that John was preparing for days for this meal & wow was it good!!! Thank you John, I know June has told us that you like to cook & last year I missed that meal but I'm sure glad that the group scheduled this dinner around my leaving & it was my farewell dinner. What a sending off for me.

 The dinner then finished with the fresh fruit salad, with exotic fruits. Mmmm seconds on that too!

Then it was a sit around time looking through Junes magazines.

 Elaine, looking over the magazines with Cynthia on Tea Times & the food that goes with it.

 Pat looking through a quilting magazine. She's a longarm quilter & works at Fabricland, you could say she lives & breathe fabric! lol

John also put together 'doggie bags' for those that wanted to take some food away. Of course I took some away & had it for lunch the next day. It had to be all gone before Bill's return as he has a nut allergy. So I made that happen! lol

Susan, the Magnolia Tree

 Nick's tree is now budding out. I just love this tree & it has taken hold & is blooming.

 The colour is everywhere in our neighbourhood, as several trees are blooming, all in different stages, depending on the sunlight they receive.

 Susan the Magnolia is in its beginning stage. See the little hat it wears? As it blooms the hat is thrown off & a beautiful, fragrant,  bloom will appear!

Napping Rexton

 Bill & I laughed as Rexton covered her eyes for her afternoon sleep in the sunny lounge.

 She has turned out to be quite a character & is bossy with Mr. Boots. Beware of Mr. Boots Rexton, he has twice, the right of weight on you!

Old Tom is going into his 18th year & wants nothing to do with those other two & he likes it that way.  To keep his coat healthy, I have to brush him regularly now. I love this cat! He's so easy going & touches me with his paw to have his head & body pet, so affectionate.

Well I've touched base on fun & freinds, now for the family. I went to the nursing home to see my Mom. She's now 84 years old & with the numerous mini strokes has memory & speak problems.
She cried twice whilst I was there & I would just comfort her, the frustration she must be having with this life change in a very controlled nursing home. She cannot live on her own anymore & is well cared for there & is safe.

Mom & I, doing a 'selfie'.

She thought that this was a great thing, a selfie photo & was looking & laughing.

A nurse came in when I was leaving & asked who the beautiful woman was, who was visiting her? I looked around too, she was referring to me, how kind! Mom replied 'This is my daughter.' I nearly fell over as she usually doesn't remember much. She knew me, maybe not by name...but she knew me. She then walked with her wheeled walker, down to the elevator with me. Hugged & kissed me good-bye, I don't know when I'll see her again but she knew me. :-)

Next week will be one of deadlines as I pack to go home again.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit.

Have a wonderful week...mine is going to be a blurr!

Thought for this week. 

'May you do what you love and love what you do!'

Sewing Gadgets

This week I started packing for my trek home to the east coast. Whilst in my sewing studio I spied my Molly Mouse in her nautical coloured outfit. She has to go with me this trip!
I brought her into the house & thought I'd empty her pockets...

 Molly has six pockets in the front of her apron & she would sit next to my sewing machine & hold items needed for that project at the time. Back then, I did so much sewing for a growing family & sewed their clothes & toys. Not like now with so much quilting & decorating going on. Although after seeing the price of clothes!! I'm going to start sewing clothes again.
Back to Molly. She has been a real gem to me over the last 25years or so & helped to keep me organized. I emptied her pockets & it looked like chaos!

I even found things that I had placed in her pocket for 'safe keeping'. lol

 I took the time to organize this chaos & it made a lot more sense to me, I had several of nearly all the items! Just the other day I was looking for a metal 6" ruler, I now know where 'they' were. lol

I even found my lost Mustang pattern, this is the one I use on my post cards. Maybe this year it will have a wreath around it's neck for Christmas post cards!

                                      As you can see, Molly holds a lot of pins & needles too!

 She was a VIP print panel, you would cut it apart & sew it together & stuff. I weighed her down with a lot of rice & it has worked for years.

 I noticed that I even filled the back of her hat & cape with things for safe keeping.

                                      Her sweet cape, on the outside, has the cutest print of scissors on it.

 And the inside print, of her lined cape ,has just about every item that can go in those six pockets on her apron.

 She has been handy over the years & I'm going to put her back into action on my sewing table. :-)
Sewing accessories, they've been re-branded as 'gadgets & gizmos' . lol
Whatever the name, they sure make a sewing job easier!

Molly had her button sewn arm repaired, she's as good as new. Ready to take on a new sewing project & she's already wearing nautical colours. Her next destination is in a studio that faces the Miramichi Bay, that opens into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Oh the breeze from the bay this summer & the hours of fun we're going to have! lol

 I went into the parlour to take a photo of the finished quilt & found Tommy sound asleep on it. I didn't have the heart to move him. He was half on Sweet & Sassy & on the end on the quilt. You could say, he has covered what I've worked on this week. lol

 Rexton gave Tommy a lick on the head & he just slept right through all that was going on around him. The quilt is off to be quilted & I'll take my camera & get a full picture of it then.

Sweet & Sassy Doll

Sweet & Sassy has her slip & dress,  now,  just the pinafore to go.
She has a real Little House on the Prairie look to her or much like Michael Landon's,  son's new show, on the Hallmark Channel, When Calls The Heart. It's a step back to the challenges of the 'simpler times'. I watch it on the TVonline.cc as we've given up on cable channels, so many channels...nothing to watch. This makes so much more sense to us & we watch TV,  without commercials, when we want to watch.

Bill's back from China & these are the photos he sent me from China.

                                              Chicken feet or duck feet, for dinner tonight?

 He always comes home thinner than when he'd left. Different culture, different food...No thank you.

He sent me this picture of a candy packet. It just doesn't translate well. Yes it has a 'creamy center that oozes out'. It just isn't as appetizing, with the word 'Pus' in it! lol

 Bill took this picture from the taxi.

The guy on the motorcycle has two butchered pigs tied on the back!
I've had several invites to go to China & it is not one of the countries that I want to visit. My dream country was England & I've been there through the years of business, more times than I can remember. It's only an 8 hour airplane trip, China is 16, in-flight, hours. I don't know how Bill does it.



Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I must pop out to have the quilt machine quilted by Liz in Dorchester & to attend my tatting class this afternoon at Stitch Central, in Ingersoll.

A thought for the day.

A well-spent day
Brings happy sleep.
                        ~Leonardo DaVinci

Have a wonderful day!

Two Block Design...WOW

I've been working on a large quilt this week. It is done with just two block designs & then borders are added. I was in wow, when I joined the first of seven rows together!

These are the two blocks. The top one has 25 pieces & it takes 32 of those for the quilt top.
The bottom one is only five pieces & 31 of those blocks are needed. Now with placing them together.

How cool was that!! I just loved how the pattern just came to life, with just two block designs!

It has a nautical feel to it so it will be perfect for the cottage.

The name of this pattern is Connecting Threads 2010 (Yes it has taken me 5 yrs to do it)

 Cottage Lane, how appropriate! lol

Bill Celebrates His Birthday! 

 Happy Birthday Sweetheart! Nicholas jumped at the chance to get a DQ ice cream cake. I too indulged in that wonderful sweet, with my sweetheart. lol

Rexton , from Rexton NB.

 She watches the outside birds daily. I know she would hunt them down, if she was allowed outside!

 She loves Mr. Boots perch. Tommy really likes the inside of it for his sleepy quite time.

 The grocery store pretty pink tulips with the back gardens daffodils. Last week they were covered with snow, several times! I brought them inside to watch bloom & enjoy!

How perfect is this wonderful happy yellow flower?! Thank you Mother Nature! :)

 The Autumn Fairies are nearing completion. Each leaf has its veins hand embroidered.
The yellow pins hold the leaves in place, I'm auditioning the placement right now.

Present Surprises!

 Thank you Bob for my east coast bird house! I love hand gifted presents & my feather friends will too, for years to come! I've admired Bob's creative work for years & now have a piece of my own!
A true labour of love. XO

 Thank you Gary!! For these wonderful hair sticks! They are just perfect to placing my hair up when I'm working, having a bad hair day, or just cooling my neck this summer.

 These beauties are hand turned wood. Gary does exquisite work & has been published, Bev your a lucky woman!
This was my week of wooden present surprises!

Must get to my sewing machine & sew up a quilt. Liz & I've been to several quilt shops this week. We traveled over hill & dale to get to them & what fun that was! More fabric, more ideas, oh my.
Must stay focused...today anyway! lol

Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I hope you too can stay focused but it is so hard on these beautiful sunny days. Hope the sun is shining where you are!

Tatting On...

I went to another Tatting Meet this week & a friendly woman named Margaret took me under her wing and patiently walked me through a few stitches. She even wrote down a pattern for me after she taught me to make a very small dove. I missed three stitches & mine looked more like a bumble bee!
The art of tatting with a shuttle will come next...I feel like I did when I was first learning to drive standard. So much to remember & coordinate all at once. I did & still do drive standard & I'll master this too! lol

                How sweet is this wee slipper that Michele had done & brought for show & tell?!!
                                    Yes, I'm going to master this textile art form of Tatting!

Theory will inform, practice will convince! Our hostess Deana, gave me a pattern for Tatted Booties & told me it was an easy pattern...we'll see. lol

I went for a walk this week & found some finds on the way. It was garbage day & I'm a firm believe in recycling. Look what I found!
One dolly's highchair in perfect shape, two wicker wall scones, & to Rexon's delight, a cat tunnel complete with ball! These were not found all in one garbage but in several as the walk was 25 minutes, each way. I'm trying to burn off some of the city/winter fat, in a healthy way. I've also gotten back to the 'write before you bite' routine, so out of control with food & portion size. I've been to Weight Watchers twice, so I know the drill...just need to follow it!
How rewarding it felt to do the walk & find the finds!

Doll Making

Remember way back when I was making dolls, well my curls from brush cleaning had filled the box & it was time to make another doll. The doll on the left is she & the doll on the right, sporting her Richardson tartan, was made way back around 2004.

                                  It takes about three years to save enough hair for one full head.

 This has been a couple of years worth of curl saving. I clean my brush out (I'm the only user of the brush) twirl to twist the hair, then wrap it around my finger & spray it with hair spray. Then the single curl is put onto a crystal ring holder to dry & stored away in this miniature like hat box. When it gets full I use it up on the doll head, it takes a lot of hair & I laughed at the different shades of colouring that I've gone through. Very Blonde, dark brunette, light brunette & back to blonde, heading for very blonde again to making colouring this white hair of mine easier!
  

 As you can see she looks like a 'monk' with the hair still to come from my brush, she may not have hair till next year! But when she does, my DNA will be here long after I'm gone. lol

 I've been embroidering the leaves & applying them for auditioning, I'm not even 1/2 done so I'll show you more later as it processes more.

Cousin Ann gave me a bundle of Sweet & Sassy fat 1/4's a few years back & that's what her outfit will be made up of. I think she's going to be just that...Sweet & Sassy!

I'm sure glad I used my Airmiles points to purchase the Dyson Animal hand vacuum. I leave it in my bedroom & vacuum the comforter every night. These boys, Tommy & Mr. Boots sure enjoy their afternoon sleeps, on my bed!

It's been a busy week & the next four will fly by as I get ready to go home again. I can't wait to see my gardens that were worked on last year. Spring is so exciting as Mother Nature comes to life!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit & have a wonderful weekend!

A Nice Thought - That came in my fortune cookie!

A friend is a present you give yourself.