Must be a long weekend

Okay it was a four day weekend for me. Oh the joys of working only four days a week. I finished sewing the main part of the backing of the quilt. I need to figure out how wide the border needs to be (since the backing is suppose to be longer and wider than the top). That can wait for another weekend. I still need to buy batting for the quilt. Perhaps that could be the top item on my gift wish list. Here are two photos of the backing. Of course Calle was helping me to position the fabric just right.





I was back at work today. This week is only a three day week. Life is good sometimes.

We will have some tomatoes soon.

I hope we get more than three tomatoes. We will have a lot of basil for pesto. We may need a new freezer.

I hope to have more photos of the quilt soon. I am going to try to save my money to buy some batting.

More later.

L

Morning Garden Quilt

I have started a new quilt. It is from one of Kaffe Fassett's books. I am about 5/6 the way through sewing the top. I did a mock layout first using Excel to get a sense of how it would look with the fabric and to get an idea of how many squares I needed to cut out prior. Usually I cut the fabric and play with the layout. The finished dimensions are 95 inches by 62 inches.





For the backing, I'm thinking about doing another patchwork. All the pieces would be big. The instructions call for 6 yards of fabric for the back. If I use some of the left over fabric from the top, I will still probably need another 4 yards. I may pick 4 different fabrics and get a yard in each. I will finish sewing the top this upcoming weekend. I still need to get the batting as well. I'm not sure when I'll make it to the Quilter's Palette.

I need to work on decreasing the size of my fabric stash. I have a coworker who makes pincushions out of fabric scraps. I think I will give her some of my scraps. I have larger scraps that I can use for small projects (e.g. oven mitts and placemats). I think I will pick up some of the ribbon that I need to make some aprons (act surprised at Christmas).

I have almost finished cleaning up the branches that our lovely neighbour cut down and tossed in our yard on several plants. Seven plants were damaged. Most have bounced back. It took a while to cut up the branches. The leaves and branches filled five yard waste bags. I am still trying to think what is the adequate revenge is for such an inconsiderate act. If you have any suggestions please let me know.

More later.

L

Completed Projects

A few weeks ago I finally finished hand quilting Mish Mash. It looks great. When I started working on it again I forgot how bright and colourful the fabric is. It has been warmer at night, so it is getting well used.

Yesterday I finally finished Trish's birthday present. On Thursday I bought the buttons and brown thread at Mac Fab. Yesterday Trish and I figured out the correct length. I hemmed it last night. Just in time for summer.

Today I started cutting the fabric for my next quilt. It is based on Kaffe Fassett's Morning Garden quilt pattern. I 'm using Amy Butler's Lotus fabric for this. This fabric is perfect for the quilt layout. I'll post some photos once I start sewing it.

Trish and I need to spend some time weeding the garden soon. But unfortunately today was a little too warm. I did attempt to cut the grass this evening. I hope we get lots of rain over night.

I should get back to the fabric.

More later.

A Quiet Sunday at Home

Trish and I are enjoying Sunday. Trish is busy working (grading papers) and I'm, well not working. I have done some housework (dishes and the laundry is in progress). We did a bulk of the cleaning yesterday. We had lattes and chocolate croissants for breakfast from Madelaine's up the street. I have a few articles I want to read in the Sunday Star, but that can wait. I will need to make a trip to the grocery store, but first I need to figure out what I feel like cooking this week.

I had Friday off. I finally took the old desktop computer and monitor to Re-Boot to donate. The highlight of Friday was finishing the baby quilt for Nette. Yesterday I took some photos for my archives. Of course the cats were happy to help model with it. The quilt is now in the wash. I'll give it to Nette tomorrow at work. I send the extra fabric from the backing to Wendy to get a custom made changing cloth made (I'll post photos when I receive it). Wendy and two friends are in the process of setting up a small business. I have to find out if they have a website yet (I'll post a link for it).

I can now focus on finishing hand quilting Mish Mash. I also need to cut Allison's fabric for her Mish Mash. Once those projects are completed I can start on my next quilt. Allison got me two fat quarters of Kaffe Fassett from the quilt store on Bronte that is going out of business. I need to decide if I want to use the Kaffe Fassett or Amy Butler for my next quilt. Oh the terrible dilemmas I have. I'm going to use the left over fabric from Nette's quilt to practice making the blocks for the next quilt. Trish had the great idea of using the sample blocks and making oven pads out of them.

I still have to take the extra yarn from my Twisted vest back to Romni. Maybe next weekend. I am currently without a knitting project. I think I'm okay with that, I hope the shaking is from an excess of coffee.

Hopefully today we will have time to work in the garden. There is a lot of work to go. At the very least I need to water. Here a clematis. There are two other ones growing on the south fence, but there late bloomers.

More later.

L

Figjam

I have just finished sewing the top of the binding onto the quilt for Nette. Now I have to hand sew the back of the binding and it will be done.

FIGJAM. A coworker recently told me about this term. It stands for F#*k I'm Good, Just Ask Me (FIGJAM).

I'll take some photos once it completed.

Figjam.

More later.

L

Saturday

It has been a while since I have posted. I hadn't uploaded any new photos to my computer and I get bored of hearing myself ramble and figured you would too...

I have been working on the baby quilt for Nette. I have finished hand quilting it today. For the most part I have quilted it with circles. Now I need to work on the binding. I have started to cut the binding strips. It will be finished before she goes on mat leave at the end of the month. Here is Calle helping me baste it.

Things have been quiet. Allison was away for a few days (so she wasn't calling). We have finished watching season four of Monk. There are several options: Rome, Big Love, Deadwood. There is also the possibility of going to see a movie at the theatre (what a novel idea).

I'll leave you with some photos from the garden.

More later.

L

Sunday Afternoon

On Friday I cut the fabric for the baby quilt. Yesterday I went to the Quilter's Palette (www.quilterspalette.ca) and got the fusible web for the circle appliques. I also picked up batting and fabric for the back. I spent the afternoon sewing the appliques and then the blocks into rows. Today I sewed the rows together. I had a problem with my sewing machine that took too long to figure out the problem. Although sewing is faster, with knitting if there a technical problem, it is me. Oh well. I figured it out and it is okay now.



Here is the top of the baby quilt.

I think I'll hand quilt circles in the blocks. I still need to figure out my border. I'm not even sure I'll use a border. I'll sleep on that decision.

The fabric I am using is Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy (http://www.freespiritfabric.com/core-pages/gallery.php?gal_id=84). I tried to use mostly blues and browns, since it is for a boy.

I have almost three months until I need to give the quilt to Antonette. So I'm going to focus on Trish's sweater vest.

I saw a woodpecker in our yard this afternoon. Unfortunately if I tried to go outside to get a photo, I would have scared it off. So I admired it from a far.

How wrong is this? This afternoon I'll be cheering for the New Jersey Devils. If the Islanders lose the game, the Leafs will make the playoffs. "Go Devils Go".

More later.

L

Spring Snow

Last Friday (March 30th) I used my Volunteer Day from work to help sell daffodils for the Canadian Cancer Society. There were three of us from work selling. It was a lot of fun. We sold out of flowers. I'm not sure how much money we raised, but it was at least $1000, probably closer to $1200. On the weekend I had a nasty stomach bug. I called in sick on Monday. So I worked three days this week and am exhausted. Why are short weeks also so tiring?

All winter I thought there was a dog that was regularly running in the backyard and leaving "presents". I was convinced of this early in the morning as I'm leaving for work. By the time I'd get home, I'd be awake and using logic. I mean, how can a dog regularly get into our yard from the street. I know there far too many irresponsible dog owners in our neighbourhood. The people who think that the leash works if they have it in their hand but not attached to the dog's collar. I hate these people. I understand taking the leash off in a dog park. But walking down Bathurst is not safe... On Monday while I was looking out the window thinking of the possibilities of spring I saw a dog in our yard, in the process of leaving me a "present". I went out back to find its human to clean up after it. The dog ran to the back right corner and went under the fence to get home. I blocked the hole in the fence with a planter box. This dog was completely unsupervised wandering the backyards of Albany. Great humans. At least I'm not crazy. Okay not crazy about confusing a dog and a raccoon.

It has been snowing here. A light dusting of snow is on the garden. Foliage is starting to emerge from the soil. Most of the daylilies have appeared.

I have been working on Trish's sweater vest. Last night I was in the process of the starting the v-neck of the front, when I realised that I had managed to stop knitting one of the middle ribs. I had to take out almost 10 inches of knitting. OUCH! But I will survive. It was far too noticable mistake to try to pretend it didn't happen. What makes it hard is that I'm knitting using a 4mm needle. I still think I can get it done for Trish's birthday later this month.

Here is Calle modelling the sweater vest. I'm not sure the colour of the vest compliments her colouring...

I have a plan for baby quilt I'm going to make. It involves circles and applique, oh my. The fabric that I got at the Quilter's Palette will look great.

This is a sampling of the fabric I have.

Now all I need is to learn how to sew in circles for the applique. Oh and more fusible web.

I should start knitting. I have some time to make up. I also want to get some housework out of the way.

More later.

L

Spring has almost Sprung

It is starting to feel like spring here. There has been some rain, and some variations in the temperature. I took some photos of the snow drops that are almost in bloom.

I took a photo of Trish's sweater vest. I have done almost 17" so far. I have another 5" to knit before I can start the shoulder shaping. I should be done the back mid-week. This will jinx my progress, but it is going quicker than I thought it would.

I hemmed a pair of pants today. I bought three pairs of "boyfriend trousers" from the Gap. And since they are women's pants, they do not come in length, so they all require hemming. I'm going to hem another pair later tonight.

I only quilted one block of Mish Mash this weekend. I'll spend more time next weekend. I had some extra errands to run.

I am having some technical difficulties uploading the photos I want to show you. I'll try to add them tomorrow.

I have to go and watch another episode of Dead Like Me. The DVD is due back at the video store at 9pm.

More later.

Mid-Week Report

I have quilted one row of blocks on Mish Mash (6 of 18 bigger blocks are done). There is still much work to be done. But it is easier to work on it during the weekend. By the time I get home from work and have dinner it is almost 7pm and it is rather bulky. And as reminder, my blog is called OCD_Slacker...

Here is a photo from Sunday's work.

This is the last block on the middle row. This weekend I started another row.

I also need to start thinking about the baby quilt. Maybe I'll spend some time this weekend cutting fabric. I have until July... but at the pace I quilt... I should start soon.

I have been working on Trish's sweater vest. I have found out how to "purl through the back of the loop." It is knit on 4mm needles. Yes that is 4mm. Very small and slow. I have knit 4 inches of the back so far.

I'm getting ready for the Walk for MS on April 15th. To sponsor me you can goto www.supercitieswalk.com. Click on the "Get online with the Super Cities Walk for MS" button on the right hand side. On the next page click on the "Pledge A Walker" button. Enter my name in the "Find A Walker" field. Then enter the amount you want to donate to the MS Society. Thank you in advance for your support.

I should get back to knitting.

More later.

L

St. Patrick's Day

I met Allison at Islington subway station today. We went to the Quilter's Palette (www.quilterspalette.ca). I got fabric for a baby quilt for a coworker. Here is some of the fabric. The pattern I got is called "Trapezoids". Most of the fabric I got was in the store's sample. Some of the fabric is Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy from Free Spirit (www.freespiritfabric.com/core-pages/gallery.php?gal_id=110&PHPSESSID=a7fd9381f425093ce5c2c54d4a2023b7). The quilt is for a boy. I tried to get a lot of blue. I'm thinking a solid brown for the backing and binding. I'll wait until I have the top finished before making that decision.

I also picked up some more Amy Butler fat quarters. They did not have the Kaffe Fassett fabric that I need more of. Now I have a reason to go to Oakville. In addition to seeing Allison and Len. It has been a few weeks since I have seen the renovations they have made.

I still have more hand quilting to do on Mish Mash (I have 4 blocks done... so yes a lot to be done).

While in Etobicoke we went to Village Yarns (www.villageyarns.com). I got Rowan's Summer Tweed to make Trish's birthday present. The yarn is 70% silk and 30% cotton. The pattern is from No Sheep For You by Amy R Singer. Unfortunately the colour of the yarn doesn't look quite right in the photo.

I'll work on this in secret, on my commute to work. I have quilting to do at home.

After the yarn store, Allison and I went the the Shamrock and Thistle for a pint and some stew (it was beef) to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

My priorities for projects are as follows:

1. Mish Mash - hand quilting
2. Baby quilt for Nette
3. Trish's sweater vest (shh... secret)
4. Pinwheel (need more fabric)

I need to get some rest. Tomorrow is a busy day of housework and hand quilting.

More later.

L

Daylight Saving Time

The weather has been warm since Friday. Tomorrow the high is suppose to 9. I'm glad the snow is melting. It was startng to look and dirty. No doubt there will be new snow to replace the old stuff.

Last weekend I gave Allison her Christmas cardigan to get a zipper for it, since I had not found one yet (not that I looked very hard). Maybe she'll get one this week and she can give me the sweater and zipper to sew on Saturday.

Allison and I are meeting at the Quilter's Palette (http://www.quilterspalette.ca/) for their Open House on Saturday (March 17). I need to get some fabric for a baby quilt for Nette at work.

I have been busy handquilting Mish Mash. So far I have four of the 18 large blocks quilted. It is going well. I'm just a little slow. I'll take pictures once I have a little more quilted. It seems a little odd working with the old Amy Butler fabric after spending time looking at her new line.

On Wednesday Trish and I went to the Canada Blooms show. Saw a lot of beautiful flowers. I bought some more native plants for the back shade garden. They are from the Wildflower Farm (http://www.wildflowerfarm.ca/). Most of my native plants came from them.

We saw Patsy as we were leaving. I was thinking about her and Kathy as I wandered around the show. Several years ago I saw them at the show. Caroline was at the show with them but had gone off on her own for a few minutes. We had a good chat. She had to go and catch her bus back home. I forgot the camera, so I have no pictures. I'll definitely take photos of the new plants once they are planted.

I have signed Allison and Len up to join at this year's Walk for MS (April 15th). My work team has 7 people so far (including Allison and Len).

I should go and check on dinner.

More later.

L

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

Only a zipper away

I finished sewing Allison's cardigan. I finished knitting the collar on Sunday night. All I need now is a zipper and time to sew the zipper to the cardigan. There are no zipper stores in my neighbourhood (the purchasing of a zipper will require an field trip outside of the Annex...). I wonder if there is still a Fabricland at Yonge and Bloor? Then all I need is to remember what the zipper foot looks like for the sewing machine.

I have begun work on Trish's cardigan again. I have sewn the shoulders and am in the process of making the collar. I'll take some photos this week and post them next weekend.

We are still knitting at work for Street Knit Project. We gained our first male knitter this past week. Jim is a natural. He has been knitting on his breaks. We should have completed 50 scarves, 24 hats and 3 pairs of mittens by the end of the month in total since we started.

Several of the indoor plants are blooming. I'll take photos of them this week to post (help liven up the blog).

Next weekend is going to be busy. I'm having brunch on Sunday with Brian (since he left work to go back to school in August we have been trying to meet up for brunch once a month). Wendy and Lucie Jane are in Toronto for the ONDP convention. They left a few of Lucie Jane's toys behind at New Years that I should return. I think I also have tentative plans to meet up with Allison (she found the quilting pattern she misplaced at Christmas). I need to make a trip to the Goodwill to get rid of some old cloths.

Soon I'll start to work on Mish Mash again. I know I could get it machine quilted, but it is not that big. It is the basting that seems rather daunting to me. I need to iron the top and prep the backing. I also need to get the wrinkles out of the batting. I have only had that since September folded up in a bag. It will be nice to get it our from underneath the bed (although I am concerned to find other things that I have hidden under the bed).

Time to start dinner (there is a marinade that requires 2 hours of resting or whatever it does). I will have photos for next week and maybe funny stories about knitting and quilting.

More later.

L

It is actually snowing

I think today is the first time it has snowed this winter for an extended period of time. It probably won't stick around for long, so I have not gone out back to make a snowman. Of course we'll end up with a blizzard in mid-May.

I have been working on finishing Allison's cardigan. I have sewn the shoulders together and have started to sew the sides. Then I need to get a zipper and machine sew it in. The yarn is 100% Lopi wool.

Looking at the cardigan as I was taking the photo I had a nervous feeling that perhaps the sleeves were short. I tried it on to check (yes Allison I wore your sweater) and the sleeves seem fine. I can make an adjustment if they are short on Allison (knit a few extra rows in the rib pattern afterwards). I made one sweater for Trish that required extra length in the sleeves and body. It worked out well due to the pattern of the sweater. So no worries... okay maybe just a little one.

Last year I made Dad, Len and Trish one each of this sweater pattern in different colours. Maybe Mom and I will get one next year...

I'm trying to figure out how best to finish Trish's cardigan. The pattern calls for a ribbon, but Trish is concerned about washing. Maybe we'll try a button approach.

We ordered our two daylilies this week from We're In the Hayfield Now (http://www.hayfield.ca). We went with Hayfield Sunrise and Hayfield Sunset (they should come as a set). The 2007 introductions have been updated on the website.

I have booked my flight to Halifax for May. I had a credit with Air Canada I had to use before June 10, 2007. I compared the airline ticket prices to that of the train and a return train trip is $10 less. But it takes a day and half each way and there is the need to buy food.

I am still distracted by all the fabric I got at Christmas. I have found a couple of ideas, but I cannot start working on them until my Christmas knitting and Mish Mash is done.

I should get back to finishing Allison's cardigan. I may need to shove the walkway this afternoon. Where did I put the shovel?

More later.

L

Settling into 2007

My father called at 6:40 this morning to let me know that they arrived home safely. I spoke with both my parents tonight. I think it is best for me to talk to people when I have at least finished my first coffee of the day.


I took a photo of the white Amaryllis today. It will have three blooms on this stalk.

I hope to get the Ansel Adams exhibit before it closes on February 4th. The Emily Carr starts in March. When I first learned of the Carr exhibit, March 2007 seemed so far away. The restaurant at the AGO is closed during the renovations. We have lost a fancy brunch place.

I'm still working on finishing Allison's cardigan, then Trish's (I'll take photos of them in progress this weekend). My new years resolution is to minimize the number of projects I have going at the same time. Once the knitting is done, I can move onto finishing Mish Mash. I need to baste, then hand quilt it. First it will need to be ironed. I also need to de-wrinkle the batting.

I am still tempted by the new Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler fabric I got at Christmas. I also have about 25 fat quarters of Asian fabric to figure out something with.

I received the copy of Kaffe Fassett's Kaleidoscope of Quilts. I am disappointed. I ordered it on-line without seeing first. Basically it is the same patterns with his new fabric.

The Street Knit Project group at work is still going. I guess we will keep working until we are told to stop.

More later.

l

Christmas Eve

I went grocery shopping with my Mom first thing today. This afternoon I went to Dufferin Mall for the first time. I went with my Dad for his last minute shopping.

I hosted a Christmas Eve gathering tonight. Allison, Len and his parents (Walter and Evelyn) came over from Oakville for Christmas Eve dinner. I made a beef stew for dinner (of course it had a red wine base). Mom took care of the appetizer. Trish (even though she is away) made dessert (chocolates).

On the topic of Trish's Christmas treats. She added two new chocolates to her collection this year. The first was an orange and dark chocolate bark, the second was a Jackson Pollack inspired chocolate with dried apricots and nuts. I have voted that they make the list for next year and so did everyone else. They are gooood.

We did our gift exhange. I got some of the new line of Kaffe Fassett fabric and from Allison. She also gave me a bracelet she made. A flower press from my parents. I gave Allison her yet to be finished sweater. I'll get it sewn this week, then I just need to get a zipper for it.

It is late and I need to get some rest. Tomorrow we go to Oakville...

I'll post photos tomorrow.

They have arrived

My parents arrived yesterday afternoon. Their room was ready for them. They even got new sheets on the bed.




The quilt on the chair is the quilt my mom made two years. Allison and Len also got a quilt. Last year she gave me fabric to make my own quilt.


The cats are co-existing. They may spend time in the same room without hissing at some point. Elizabeth is being kept in the bedroom with my parents overnight to allow Calle to wander the house. The photo of Calle is before our company arrived. Elizabeth made herself at home quickly.



I should go. I'm being a bad bed and breakfast person. Day 2 has begun.

More later.

L