Still WInter

It took a while but we have a sufficient amount of snow. It was been rather cold lately. It looks like next week will be a little warmer. Trish and I were out walking in the snow yesterday.

I have been procrastinating on quilting Mish Mash. I need to spend time working on it. But my first priority is knitting a hat and scarf for work. We had an on-line auction to help raise money for our MS Walk. I need to make the hat and scarf and send it to the highest bidder. Her three colour choices were midnight blue, black and brown. Romni didn't have a midnight blue and the black seemed flat. So Chocolate Souffle it is.

I have been thinking about what to do with all the fabric I got at Christmas. At this point the Kaffe Fassett fabric will be used in a pinwheel quilt. I was looking through the Kaffe Fassett books and made a list of patterns that would require new skills. The pinwheel won out (a photo of the quilt can be found at http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/acatalog/info_Quilt_1556.html). The pattern is on the small size (44 x 51), so I think I may try to make it bigger... I will need to get some solid fabric to go with it. Below is a photo of the main fabric I'll be using.

I also have a plan for the new Amy Butler fabric. I'm thinking about using the Wallpaper Strips Quilt pattern from Fassett's Quilt Road. But that may change...

Okay to summarize priorities:

1. knitting hat and scarf
2. quilt Mish Mash
3. use Kaffe Fassett fabric
4. use Amy Butler fabric

If you have any suggestions for the Amy Butler fabric, let me know. I'm always looking for new ideas.

That scarf is not going to knit itself. I better get back to work.

More later.

L

PS Happy Birthday, Dad.

Mish Mash Update

Yesterday I basted Mish Mash. It took over the living room floor. I have no idea how long it took. I was fully supervised.

Calle is a little more "paws on" in her management style.

The photo above is to give you a sense of the size of the quilt. The finished size is suppose to be 63 x 70.

I will start hand quilting today. It will probably take a few weeks to quilt and a day or so to bind. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I really like Amy Butler's fabric. Wait until you see my next two quilting projects (one will be in Butler's new line of fabric and the other will be Kaffe Fassett).

I have been knitting hats and scarves for the Street Knit Project. My work group was mentioned in a recent post on their site (http://www.streetknit.ca/). There are some photos of my co-workers also posted.

I need to go and find some cat grass. These means I have to leave the house... I'm not sure that is a good idea. It could be worse I could live in Manitoba...

More later.

L

Sorry it has been awhile since I last posted...

... it has actually been cold here in Toronto and I have been wearing my scarf and mittens indoors to stay warm. Today's high was predicted to be -15 (-31 with the windchill), so we are staying indoors. I almost got frostbite walking up the street to get the newspaper.

Next weekend is suppose to be warmer. My plan for next weekend is this. Find the Fabricland that is located near the HBC at Yonge and Bloor and get a zipper for Allison's cardigan. I also plan on basting Mish Mash. I finally got the batting out yesterday to try to get the wrinkles out of it. I need to sew the backing piece together. Calle will no doubt want to help with the baste part when the quilt is on the floor. To summarize I will be spending a lot of time with the sewing machine next weekend.

Last weekend I got up to get more coffee and this is what happened...

The boy stole my spot. This was Sunday morning as I tried to recover from Saturday. I meet Wendy and Lucie Jane at their hotel (Wendy was helping at the ONDP convention) and we went for breakfast. After that I met up with Allison and we went shopping. If you want a work out forget about the new Boot Camp fad. Go shopping on Queen Street West with Allison. We both arrived back here with bags and bags of stuff. Allison found some incredible deals. I got this great sweater from Preloved (www.preloved.ca). What they do is take old clothing, cut them and resew them together. I feel in love with a lot of their sweaters. The one I bought on sale for $20. It has some holes in it, that I will patch.

I have been having a difficult time taking photos of the amaryllis blooms. Here are two of the photos.

I like this one because you can see Calle in the background. I put the plant on the rad by the kitchen door to take the photos. That is Calle's usual perch. She is a little territorial.

Here is the second photo. I altered the lighting. I will keep trying until I get it right.

More later.

L