Friday Night Sew In Report

Well the moon was really bright last night, shining right in my window so I couldn’t sleep.  I heard that this is the biggest moon in 30 years, but I haven’t checked the facts.

Here’s what I created in the light of the moon….

This is intuition block for Sue; a round robin she and I are doing as part of Victoria's 15 Minutes of Play.  I worked on it for a while last night.  I think I’m done now and I’ll be sending it back to Sue.

Then I made this block for Brenda who is collecting B’s to make a B..B…B…Birthday quilt for herself. 

And here are my measly offerings of leader and ender blocks for my postage stamp quilt from the evening. 

And a swap block received in the mail yesterday from Robyn in Australia.  Doesn’t it shimmer!!

Now I’m off for a couple of hours sewing with my local sewing group.  It is National Quilting Day after all.

Janet

Fabulous mail again!!!

Sometimes mail takes so long to get here that I start to wonder if I’m going to get the fabric I ordered or the item from my swap partner.  Other times it seems to travel at normal mail speeds.  Please understand that mail is not delivered to the house here.  It goes to a post office, delivered there three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Letters go in my box and I can pick them up anytime, but I have to get parcels when the post office is open – basically 9 to noon and 2 to 4 M, W, F and 10 to 11:45 T and T.  Sometimes I cannot get there to pick up parcels for a few days.  I had a parcel card on Monday and another today.  And this week it seems the mail is arriving in a timely manner.  I got some lovely items when I went down to pick up my mail and parcels today.

First up, my March hexie flowers.  It is one flower Wednesday after all, but I’m going to have to call it two flower since Hanne sent me two…  They are so pretty Hanne; I love the fabrics you chose. 

 

I also received Sue Mobilia's base for the scrappy felt pincushion round robin organized by Fiona.  Sue sent along some scraps I can use for embellishing these pincushions – great colours that I don’t have in my small stash of wools… I can’t wait to get started working on this project….

And last, but overwhelmingly not least, I received my pincushion in the Flickr pincushion swap.  It is from Laura (Flicker site lel6419)  and is just so fabulous.  It includes the pincushion (yes branch, leaves and bird), three homemade pins, a little pin holder and was wrapped in a lovely piece of red and white polka dot fabric with a white ribbon.  Laura this is too cute!!

Thank you to my swap partners, for making my day brighter.

Janet

The weekend of the Fridge

WARNING!  This post contains mature subject matter.  Reader discretion is advised.

My friend Nancy has a cottage in a beautiful small town 150 km from the beautiful small town where we live.  It isn’t really a cottage as it has power and running water and all the amenities, but it is a wee house and she and her partner use it as a place for retreating from everyday life.  Periodically Nancy and I go there for a weekend away.  She isn’t a quilter but she likes to paint and she likes getting outdoors and doing things, just like I do. She and I have been unsuccessfully trying to line up a weekend away since the fall.

Last weekend Nancy had a job to do in the town where her cottage is.  She collects blood and medical information for insurance companies.  The company said they would pay her gas to go down and it seemed an opportune time for our retreat.  We left about 1 p.m. on Saturday, so she could be there with a bit of time to spare before her 4:30 appointment.

Well it turned into…..”the weekend of the fridge”!  We arrived to discover that the fridge had failed, sometime in the last two weeks since they were last there.  Her “above the fridge” freezer was jam packed with meat and fish which was now a huge mess of bloody odiferous substances.  We had just enough time to gingerly remove the offensive objects to garbage bags and throw them out into the freezing air before she had to leave.  While she was gone I huddled in the other room, not the kitchen area, thankful that I had some hand stitching to distract me from the smell which became overpowering if I breathed too deeply.  A neighbour arrived with some super strength Arm and Hammer and I held my breath long enough to dump a pile of it in the freezer. 

Once Nancy got home the rest of the evening was spent trying to clean up the interior of the fridge and freezer enough that we could sleep in the place.  As it was we had to go out for dinner because cooking and eating in that room would not have been possible.  So fortunate that 1) there is a restaurant in that town 2) it was open at 8:30 at night 3) the food is pretty good. 

The next day was spent preparing the fridge for transport; this included another cleaning so we could stand to get near it.  A neighbour with a truck came to take it and the bags of now partially frozen specimens to the dump.  Only some bloody water crept out on to the carpet while the fridge was being moved – more cleaning to be done.  Then we had to go and look at a used fridge that someone had, and suddenly the day was gone.  I guess the “springing forward” didn’t help.

The consolation in this saga is that at least it didn’t happen in summer.  Can you imagine the flys and the maggots and the smell??? (I did give you a warning )

Anyway enough about fridges and rotten meat.  These are the hand sewing items that I worked on this weekend.

A little toadstool pincushion that’s been on my UFO list since last fall. Cute eh!

 

And a hexie made from fabric ends from a kaleidoscope quilt.  I just love the designs these fabrics make.

I have to post pictures of a few things I’ve received in the mail lately.

I won Sweet Camilla from Mila in the OWOH extravaganza.  Such a cute little bunny.

This is my February hexie in the Inchy Hexie Swap.  It came from Melody in Australia and she sent a couple of gorgeous bird coasters and a cute card as well.

Cheryl, also from Australia, sent me this gorgeous block for the February Christmas block swap.  She also sent some lavender, a really pretty card, a postcard of Aussie phrases and a little change purse (behind the post card – you can’t really see it) which was put into immediate use! 

And finally I received this

from Jane .  This was my surprise fabric package in the Very Berry Fabric Swap.  Look at the goodies she sent….

Some gorgeous Joel Dewberry’s and Amy Butler’s, some mint greens and beads and embroidery thread.  A lovely haul!

Thank you to all my benefactors.  Once again I am very lucky….I always feel like what I send is not anywhere near as fabulous as what I receive….

Janet

A great weekend!

The weather here stays winter-like much longer than it does for the rest of North America.  But we don’t fret that because this miraculous thing happens in February/March.  The days grow longer and longer.  It is still cold out, often –25 at night, but the sun shines brilliantly during the day and the temperatures creep up to –10 or so.  It is fabulous weather for outdoor sports and just soaking up the sun rays after a long hiatus without. 

This weather has been slow coming this year but it arrived this weekend.  I spent long hours out snowshoeing, cross country skiing and walking.  And I also managed to do a little sewing!  Mostly swap items.

I completed my pincushion for the scrappy pin cushion swap…my secret partner likes The Wizard of Oz….(thanks Lesley and Julie for the yellow fabrics)

I completed my March hexie for the Inchy Hexie Swap….

And I put together my base for the scrappy felt pincushion round robin…

I also attended a wool dying workshop today and made these lovelies…I have plans for a sweater.  It will probably take me a year to make

My DD gave me more completed hexies from the vintage trash retrieval pile… There are now 105 of these completed and DD and I need to start thinking about what we are going to do with them….

Quite a productive weekend!  Energy from the sun translates into human energy and the brain (my brain) gets a new flood of endorphins resulting in more energy and smiles

Janet

Teddy Bear Picnic

An entry for Melody's Teddy Bear Picnic.  Raggedy Ann was made by me 30 years ago for one of the DD’s (there are dissenting views as to which Raggedy Ann belongs to which daughter now). Pinky was made by DD # 3 when she was 4 or 5.  She made a couple of dolls – totally as a surprise for me.  She didn’t ask for permission, help or guidance. 

These dolls are picnicing inside today as it is snowy and blowy outside.

Janet

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig

Our last day of travel was cold but sunny and beautiful.  The scenery along the Alaska Highway is spectacular, and because the road is narrow and windy you have to slow down enough to actually see things. 

 

We saw some animals today -

This herd of bison live between Liard Hot Springs and Lower Post…

The herd of caribou live between Watson Lake and Teslin. 

We saw a couple of moose as well but it was too dark for photos by then.

And finally, home sweet home…

We travelled 8,736 kilometres over the last twelve days, with four of those days spent visiting family in the east.  So the driving was basically done in eight days.  I am still feeling dizzy.  

Janet