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

A post a month...

Okay I am a slacker when it comes to posting. I have also been slacking off on the new quilt. I have an idea of how to do the back, but I have not started it. That is my plan for tomorrow. Iron and cut the fabric. And on Sunday I will spend some time sewing.


The construction workers are still working outside our place. The massive machines are hard at work making noise. They start up at 7am. The construction workers also need to turn off the water since one of their projects is upgrading the water mains. On Wednesday night the water did not get turned on until after 9pm. I think the city should reimburse us for all the take out we have had to get the past month and a half. Today the water has not been turned off yet, but I am ready in case it does. I have several jugs of water in the kitchen and the bathroom sink is full of water. What this means is that the water will not get turned off today.


Calle is adjusting to life without Trotsky. We took her the vet on Tuesday. Trish thought that Calle might have ear mites. She was right. The vet said that her immune system is probably weakened since she is mourning Trosky. We knew Calle was having a difficult time understanding where Trotsky has gone. But hearing some one else talk about Calle grieving was hard. The vet suggesting giving Calle Star of Bethlehem to help her.

Here is one of the last photos of Trotsky.

I went outside this morning to take photos of some flowers. Calle managed to make it to the mudroom. Here she is taking a look around.

This is Eros.

And this is Gilded Coral.

I'll take some more photos of the new quilt this weekend.

More later.

L

The Top is Finished

The top of the Morning Garden quilt is now finished. I sewed the side borders this afternoon. Next I need to sew the backing together. I don't have a definite plan for that yet, just an idea. I need to see how much fabric I have left over. Here is a photo of a corner of the quilt with the border.




Here are a few new photos from the garden.

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.

Spring is here

I have been a little busy the past few months with school and life. I finished school last week. On Saturday I fly to Halifax to visit my folks for a week. I start work on May 4th. I'll work four days a week in the summer.

I have started to hand quilt Mish Mash again. I am almost done. I have less than half of the outside border to finish. Then I'll trim the batting and backing and sew the binding. I cannot believe that it has taken me so long to get working on it again.

I have a sewing project to work on while visiting my parents. I am making Trish a top as part of her birthday present. It is an Amy Butler pattern. Trish picked out Kaffe Fassett fabric.

Have no fear. There will be be no flower or tie on Trish's.

I should go and spend some time tidying up the garden.

More later.

L

Blog Blog Blog

Wow it has been a while since my last post. I have been a little busy. Also the projects I was working on were holiday gifts. Those are my excuses.

Here are photos of Allison's bag in progress.

The above photo is the front panel. There are two pockets in the front.

It is not your eyes. The photo is blurry. This the bottom of the front of the bag.

This is the inside of the bag. There is a place for pens and a wide pocket. There was suppose to be a zipper near the top. The interior fabric is too light for the zipper, so I improvised with velcro.

This is the finished bag. I'm not sure if the bag will be delivered to Allison. I think Mom may try to steal it. It took a long time to make it. It took me almost seven hours to cut the fabric. It also took a while to figure out the instructions. But once the bag started to take shape, it got easier. I have the fabric to make another bag, but that is going to wait until I have forgotten how frustrated this bag made me.

I also knit a sweater for Mom. Tomorrow I'll sew the zipper in. Below is the back in progress. It is a great shade of blue with flecks of other colours in it. Unlike Allison's bag it was ready to be unwrapped on Christmas Eve. Just barely...

Well Canada is playing at the World Juniors and the intermission is almost over.

More later.

L

Almost a month

It has been a month since my last post. So much as been happening. Okay, not really. Well yes it has.

I have registered for my courses. Started to get exemptions from some courses. I have completed reading two texts and have started a new one. I have started a new knitting project. It has been too hot to quilt (at least that is the excuse I'm going with). I have filled in several ideas on my Christmas 2007 spreadsheet.

Here is Royal Tiara. This is the best year for her. Her colouring gets blotchy when it rains.

Here is Gilded Coral. She has had another good year.

Here is Perl. He got a little over run by the Bee Balm this year.

Here is the baby changing pad that I commissioned from Wendy for Nette. It received the cat seal of approval.

Here is my current knitting project. It is for me, again. In the top left corner you can see the quilt that I liberated from my mother. This will be a cardigan when it grows up.

Well, I should get some work done. More later.

L

Busy Saturday

I had a busy and productive day. I met Heather (http://www.friendsknittogether.blogspot.com/) at the Bathurst subway stop. We went to the Quilter's Palette in Etobicoke. Heather got a few fat quarters of blues. I like the fabric she picked. Oh, if I didn't have so much fabric already. I have fabric for four quilt tops and Mish Mash to finish hand quilting.

I got some fabric for the border of the Ohio Star quilt I'm going to make with Amy Butler's Belle line of fabric. I also got Butler's pattern for High Street Messenger Bag. I think it has the possibility of gifts.

I went to Grassroots and got a new polo shirt. I bought 4 pepper plants. After spending some time with the cats, I returned my extra yarn to Romni for a store credit. Not sure what my next knitting project is yet. I went to Pre-Loved and picked up a shirt for Trish and a shirt for myself.

Tomorrow is time in the garden. I watered the garden today. I'll water first thing in the morning and spend some time weeding and trimming the trees. I'll also hand quilt, while I watch the Under 20 Canadian team play.

I also have reading to do. I have read a little more than half of the course kit readings for one of my courses. It is the kit from last fall. I'm not sure how much it will change. But is giving me a sense of what to expect in terms of readings. September and October will be busy with working fulltime and going to school.

There is a session that I'm attending on Tuesday called "What is Community Work; Highlights of the field". One of my goals is to get a sense of how many hours I'll need to make up at work.

More later.

L

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