Spring is just around the corner

Someone sent me an e-mail with this title and an attached picture of a corner of a building with a big spring poking out from around the corner.  It was cute….unfortunately I couldn’t figure out how to copy it. 

I just figured out a way to add the picture....Sometimes I'm really computer savvy!

But I do have a picture of flowers to show.  These aren’t exactly spring flowers….my Christmas cactus has decided to bloom.

Looks like I need to do some spring cleaning!  Look at all the dust!  Or rather don’t look at all the dust!
I’ve been a bit delinquent on posting some lovely things that have come in the mail.
This is my March Block Swap Adventure block from Helen.  Isn’t it fabulous!  She sent me a few scraps to play with too.


Here is the block I sent her…I hope she has received it.  She wanted pale yellow and grey.  It turned out quite wild!

This is my March Christmas block swap received from Teena.  A lovely wonky star – and the first block I’ve received with any reds in it!

And the one I sent to her…

Teena also sent me a lovely dish towel with Melbourne scenes on it; unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it. 
I thought there was a lot more that I’d missed but I guess I have just been overwhelmed!
Janet

Brown Bag Quilt has occupied my week

I have been working on the brown bag quilt every spare minute this week.  I didn’t get it finished….no that would be a novelty for me.  I did get the top done though.  And I posted my photos on Flickr seven minutes before the closing time!  I can’t help it….I am just a slow poke quilter.  Anyway here are the fabrics I received from Les last fall…

And this is what I have done with them….

 

We were allowed to use any amount of fabric from our stash, and to purchase one new fabric.  I bought a fat quarter of the navy with flowers that it is in the corners of the yellow and blue round.  I needed something to finish the round and didn’t have anything in the right colour.

I had the central block and the blue Moda marble in my stash.  I have used everything Les sent me except for a small scrap of the white with flowers and an even smaller scrap of the blue watery fabric.  I’ll put those on the back.

DH had an inordinate amount of comments to make about this quilt.  He said I should stop after the yellow and blue round.  I said no it’s got to be bigger.  Then he said I should stop after the blue/blue check round.  He said it was busy enough.  But I wanted it to be bigger, so now it is asizzle. 

The lighthouse fabric was the challenge – each little square in one inch wide and twice that long. 

I might take those piano keys off and replace them with equal size strips of the Moda blue.  The piano keys would look good on the back I think.

Many people are showing photos of spring flowers on their blogs.  No flowers here yet, but this is the glorious weather we have at this time of year…

Fun in the sun, skiing on the lake….

I’ll have some photos of recent mail tomorrow.

Janet

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

Leg 5 – the Prairies

There’s just no way to get around it  - Canada’s prairies are FLAT.  From Manitoba…

through Saskatchewan and Alberta…

There are some interesting sights in the grain elevators…

and trains…

and hay bales…

We had a couple of adventures on this leg.  We saw the first animals of our trip; eight or so deer leaping across the road in front of us outside Yorkton, Saskatchewan.  We also got a little lost, went up a side road thinking it was the highway and got stuck in the snow.  The tow truck driver was friendly…

Who would think you could get lost somewhere so flat or mired in so little snow…

Edmonton was very snowy and blowy so we didn’t even get the relief of seeing the Rocky mountain foothills. 

Canada is really just a series of hick towns with a few cities.  The prairies show that off to its fullest.  DD and I have been trying to send a postcard from every province.  Well in Manitoba and Saskatchewan we couldn’t even find a postcard to buy.  When we asked where we might buy a postcard the reply was “Postcard… why you would get that at the post office wouldn’t you?”  We’re not completely out of Alberta yet so I’m holding out hope that they will know what postcards are here.  After all it is the home of spectacular scenery and one of the earliest tourist areas of Canada were in Banff and Jasper in the rocky mountains.

Today we are on to the last leg of the journey, heading north on the Alaska Highway.  The road will no longer be a divided four lane highway, or have passing lanes built in every 10 kilometres or so.  But I’ve driven this road at least once, sometimes twice, every one of the last 30 or so years, so it’s familiar to me. 

Two more days of driving and we should be home.

Janet

Leg 4–Ontario

We’ve made it through Ontario; a province of many contrasts.  My impression for this trip was of trains and trees.  Oh, and hockey.  Many Canadians love hockey.  And we don’t just watch professional hockey, we play it in one form or another as well.  Some people play on recreational leagues, or old timer’s leagues.  A lot of people just play “pick up” hockey; playing on a backyard rink with whoever is around.  Lots of people make rinks in their yards, or on the local frozen ponds. 

Notice the watering can…. that’s for smoothing out the rough spots in the ice.

We took the northern route around the great lakes.  The southern route runs along the lakes and there is beautiful scenery, but it has many twists and turns.  The northern route goes up and around through the bush. I’d never been this way before so it was interesting to see a new area.  The road is mainly flat and straight and the view looks like this for miles and miles.

 

Beautiful sunsets though…

 

We stayed one night in Cochrane, Ontario.  In Canada there is a chain called Tim Horton’s.  It is a coffee and donut place, that also has bagels, muffins, sandwiches and soup.  Canadians love Tim Horton’s (Timmy’s) and the shops can be found everywhere.  Tim Horton was a professional hockey player in the NHL (National Hockey League) and he started the coffee shops when he retired.  He was from Cochrane, Ontario. 

Cochrane is just a couple of hundred miles from James Bay – polar bear country.  In Cochrane they have two polar bears in captivity.  We didn’t go to see them  but maybe we should have as I’ve never seen a live polar bear before.  There is a stuffed, mounted polar bear in the Inuvik airport, which I went through regularly for six years for work.  It was huge.  It was standing up and it’s head brushed the ceiling.

The polar bear is Cochrane’s mascot.  Many small towns in Canada have mascots and large statues of their mascots.  We’ve see giant blueberries, lilacs, sasquatches and more.  This town didn’t claim the snowman as it’s mascot, or announce that it was the home of the largest one, but I haven’t seen one bigger.

 

I didn’t get any pictures of the beautiful lake country in Ontario.  Or the Terry Fox monument.  Terry Fox was a young man who lost a leg to cancer.  He wanted to run across the country to raise money and awareness about cancer.  He made it from St. John’s to just outside Thunder Bay, Ontario, when his cancer returned and he had to stop his run.  He died shortly afterward.  Such a courageous young man.  There is an annual Terry Fox run in Canadian communities to raise money for cancer research.

We passed the longitudinal centre of Canada yesterday, between the Ontario/Manitoba border and Winnipeg.  Since our destination is about 500 km short of the westernmost point in Canada, I would say we are well over halfway!  Leg 5 – the Prairies.

Janet