Catchup - June 8th-17th

June 8th

Today I worked on the two inner borders on my HSTs blocks quilt top. I can tell you I was very uncertain of the gold print that I totally loved when I saw and bought at Marshall's on sale!!! While sewing it on I thought it clashed badly but continued and after picture taking I've decided I LOVE it! It's lots better in person. It's on and tomorrow I'll do the last 6" green and the top will be complete!!! Then off to Night Owl Quilting, and using my $100 MPQ retreat prize towards the interesting quilting Lori will do.

June 9th

First off thank you again Kathy for posting this “Year of Scrappy 52 Triangle Foundation” project and Liz's encouragement to finish it for a possible group showing, my top at least is DONE!!!

https://www.leilagardunia.com/blog/year-of-scrappy-triangles

I've plans now for a twin bed sized quilt for myself for future retreats! So I’d caught up on my one-a-day paper pieced 52 Scrappy Triangles blocks started late, February 1st, 2023! I’m not sure I like my selected colours but I’m using my scraps, not going into my stash! Here are the 52 blocks, plus the bonus block, plus an additional varied designs 10 blocks finished off with Kona Evergreen bought with my virtual retreat gift card for KTR!

Now initially I decided on a finished 6" outer border but might come down to 4.75" to kinda match the width of the inside green paths plus binding. This quilt was full of delimmas, but glad I persevered and now I just want it quilted by Night Owl Quilting & Dye Works and onto other UFOs!!!

After finishing my last border on my scrappy triangles quilt, I decided I needed some exercise! So off to Edna's for a walk along her beautiful balcony view of Sturgeon Creek pathway but she wanted to check a side path. I agreed but dang there were no benches and my hip/leg was giving me major grief until we came upon Superstore on Portage Ave and a bus stop bench. Once I'd rested I was good for the last little bit back to her new apartment and my car!!! I'm not taking that route again!!!

I hadn't set my tracker but it still counted the steps and time which was 3,154 steps in 33 minutes, a short walk but still good!!!

June 10th

GO OILERS GO!!!!! 🏒🏒🏒

Photo credit to Karen Balak.

Lovely overcast day for photos! I know I should have taken the tulip ones earlier BUT even now they still are beautiful!!!

June 11th

Yeah!!! I've finally picked up my tatting again! Now to figure out where to join with clear beads??? I also need to be more uniform in my picots of four different sizes in this pattern.

June 12th

That's the closest I've seen them before they skitter away to the rock cave. Obviously enjoying the sunshine to.

Now I joined Aida and her friend for a walk to the Forks and back. Beautiful day!!!

Then supper out with Sylvia meeting Florence and her friend from Dauphin.

Ohhhh that's exactly what I'm dealing with now but it's selvedges I'm sorting by lengths. Hopefully finished soo and ones not interesting are going to doggie bed usage! 😉

June 14th

What a busy couple days, running errands, sewing. My baby gift was unusual, thinking it was for a boy so I chose brown (not impressed) but actually too dark I think. And today the Assiniboine Circle Quilters end of year gathering and block of the month reveal. The group potluck was awesome. The reveal was great with 16 on display, flimsies to quilted. I don't have pictures as I was in that lineup too. Show n tell was also lovely too.

June 15th

HOLY CRAPPOLA!!!! Oilers 8-Panthers 1???

I think it was Florida's letting Edmonton win in the beginning to get next game and cup back in Florida. But it backfired - and now adrenaline for Oilers to hopefully regain the drive to win again and back to Edmonton!!!  

GO OILERS GO!!!

June 16th

For all those AV lovers!!!

June 17th

What a great idea!!!!

What a LOVELY day Sylvia and I had!!! Awesome weather and our checking furniture stores for chairs for both of us was rewarding, yep a great day!!! So first stop was J&S discount but zippo, then next door to Leon's where I've found my recliner but was told to wait till Thursday or Friday for 20% off sale!!! Then over to Dufresne, no recliners in small size for us, BUT my March found accent chair was now reduced like $400 and discontinued, so I bought it and will pick a new one up on Wednesday from the warehouse. I feel awesome!!! Then over to LazyBoy and there Sylvia found a floor model rocker/recliner on sale too and hopefully we'll pick up soon.

Leons Grayson recliner

Dufresne Bethany accent chair

Then over to Olive Garden for our yummy soup, salad and breadsticks, totally worth it after the shopping!!! Oh and McDs ice cream cone for dessert!!!

Now to get my 2 year old reclining loveseat out of here before fall when I get my recliner delivered!!!

Then over to the goldfishes home to return their keys and what a nice surprise to receive one of her kiln turned treasures to remind me of those pond visits. WOW, thank you Heather!

Catchup - Jan 6th-30th

Jan 26th

I've obviously fallen behind as this morning Day 7 TIAS was posted.  Easy peasy on this step!  AND I too thought of body parts the other day but then NAH she wouldn't, would she!  But now it looks like a skeleton head to me, holes and all, but what animal!  Or could it be a space alien?  I totally love these mysteries moreso than my quilting ones!  Course it's one or two colour threads compared to various fabrics for a quilt, my other passion!

Well I'm still feeling crappy 🤧 but am accomplishing things.  Got some tatting done, my English letter translated to Ukrainian and printed off so my sister won't be overtaxed doing such when she drops off my parcel for Hanna.  See I met this Dauphin family that left with ONE suitcase each and she showed me some embroidery that she used to do.  So I've purged what I can spare and recycling my excess to someone who has nothing!  That makes me fell really good!  Also an online friend said some supplies are difficult to find so I've some excess items going to her too!  It's not making a dent in my STUFF but am happy some is going out the door!  Also cut out another baby bath towel to serge tomorrow and hopefully mail out.  Now watching the Jets (recorded) and tackling a tatting UFO too with feet up!  🤗

Yeah!!!  I've completed a tatting UFO from spring of 2022.  Yes Jane's 2022 TIAS Doris the Dragon is now tatted, even tackling them awful SCMR self closing mock ring and I learnt lock chains!  Awesome!  Mine was tatted with Lizbeth size 20, #691 Mocha Brown Medium.  Talk about an appropriate colour and cutie too!

Now to find my other tatting UFO and decide how these mysteries will be displayed!

Jan 27th

Ohhhh my what a gloomy day out and me inside with this crappy cold!  AND look what fell overnight and still today!  My ledge was bare yesterday and now a 6-8 inch build up again!!!!!

Another baby bath towel set ready to be gifted!

While in the sewing room I noticed the snow bank is higher on this ledge!  SHEESH!!!

This cold has not diminished my appetite nor energy, thank goodness!  I made a major dent today in sewing etc with breaks when feeling tired (off and on).  Even put together another postcard  swap and close to finishing hopefully as it should be mailed out by month end.  Yeah I'm cutting it close!

Jan 28th

Okay Angie's flight at 6:30am was delayed 12 hours and good thing I checked my phone before loading up at 7:30am!!!  I took a Tylenol and back to bed till 10:30am!  I'm a WHIMP when sick or in pain!  

The one good thing with 12 extra hours, I got a good sleep after a rough night and finished off my PFA swap postcard too!  

From the back.

Front side.

Jo's picture on left from Auckland, NZ, my inspiration! 

WOW got lots done when you have to stay put and not galivant!  😂  So before supper I even mailed off my packages, got supper to go, home to load up with my kind neighbour's help with masks on, off to my sister's also mask on to swap fabrics for ink pencils then finally 8pm with the dogs!  

OHHHH these stinkers didn't even twitch in their naps after I sneezed half dozen times in a row nor after my coughing fit!  HMMMMM!  Not fair!!!! 

I pray their WestJet takes off on time after two more delays!  I'm too pooped to reload - so WestJet PLEASE listen to me and fly on time please pretty please!!!!!!!!

Jan 29th

OMGG I wish I was in Montana in Teresa's maybe "deep freeze" as she posted on TIAS !  Here in the Canadian prairies it's "extreme cold warnings" in -28C with wind chill of -37C and overnight will be -31C with windchill -42C!  🥶  Even the Bernese dogs run out and minutes later back in and I don't blame them!  Dang lucky Angie to finally escape this for Mexico!!!  Good thing it may only be a week then normal winter???

So today I'm tatting Day 8, cutting my blocks for a mystery quilt starting tomorrow and reading.  Now this tatting with a cold gave me a bit of grief but Jane quickly set me straight, "rippit" and VOILA I think I got it!  But now maybe my skeleton is off kilter AND if there was a head I'd say a swinging monkey?  Time will tell!

Okay I've decided on my fabrics and all cut out for the Block-A-Day Mystery Quilt Along with Melissa Marginet after seeing options others are using.  I want a scrappy but cheery type of quilt top and think I've got it, finally!  The red and blue/purply fabrics are the darks, rest are FQs of lights.  There is one light I didn't have enough for 2 pieces but will check my mask fabrics, might be in there.  If not then I'll go with option two.  So I've set up my machine and hopefully ready for tomorrow's start!!!

Option 1, if I can find more white with stars!

Option 2, if not found.

Jan 30th

Okay I've sewn up my 6" blocks and squared off but now wondering if the red in bottom row on right is too dark a yellow n red for a light?  I can still change this.

Ohhhh it feels so good to hopefully be over this yucky sneezing and coughing already.  Part of yesterday and all today felt normal!!! 

So I went to my embroidery tester pattern class (first of this needlework for me) and boy was I glad I did!  Even with personal instruction I'm not sure I totally understood and if I'll get all the homework completed before the next class in two weeks!  I'm sooooo glad Kathryn's hubby booked them a week's vacation, I'll need the extra time for sure!

Now  W H Y  did I sign up for TWO quilting mysteries besides the tatting one along with this class???  WHY, OH WHY, do I do things like this to myself!

Then back to the apartment to meet Florence for a goodies exchange and back to the dogs!  They behaved so I quickly fed them before they decide to have my pizza instead!

Catchup - Oct 27th-Nov 4

 Oct 26th

True and to the point!

Oct 27th

Well we had a productive day and both of us cleaned off our BLTs lickety split! I'm gonna miss the deer that's for sure! Too bad they are so destructive to property or they'd be loved by all!

Ohhh these critters are sure entertaining!

Hey I did it! The TV stand was bought so I unhooked the cords, we moved the cedar chest over and I reconnected them, hopefully correctly! Ummmm nope, no TV, says cable not connected! OK rechecking and one cord is hidden loose, found it's fitted space and VOILA - we're connected!!!! YEAH!!!! Awesome at home fish, chips and pork n beans for supper, relaxing the evening stitching and TV watching! Talk about fluky - my first time tatting this turtle by MC...H - many rippits and finally finished with just enough thread to bury! I love it and it's going into my Australian trip scrap book - remembering the huge turtle swimming by as I climbed outta the ocean onto the catamaran near Cairns!

Oct 28th

I wonder how many got wrecked before perfection was achieved! Smart idea!

Thanks Barb for this heads up!

Oct 29th

Today is kinda a rest day after yesterday's sort, purge etc day! So I'm tackling Linda's kitchen towels - now I know why I've not made anymore of these! Too time consuming and fiddly!

Oct 30th

Today was a coasting day, dropped off Christmas decor at the Thrift Store and brief shopping and home to slow cooked ribs - yummy! I'm not stepping on the scale when I get home that's for sure! So I finished off Linda's kitchen dressy towels. One does not have matching lace as it was too short to fit. Personally I like these without lace. 😉 OK, guess it's back to masks and a scrub cap for a friend and myself plus more tatting during our down time!

Oct 31st

Happy Halloween everyone!

This was at the Flower Forest shop here in Dryden. Real cool!

Today was again a take it easy kind of day, dreary weather! So Sylvia napped and then sewed two newer styled masks and then I sewed this scrub cap for Edna's daughter. Not sure what we're doing tonight!

Nov 1st

I agree Barb, made me laugh too!

Nov 2nd

"Rose Anne here are some photos of my goofs from our Halloween/ United Way costume contest from work on Friday "What can we say.... It's a Dog-Eat-Dog Wold" 🤪 We won 3rd Place 🤩🥉"

OMGG this is so hilarious and their expressions so precious! This was a Halloween competition at Taunya's work and they won 3rd place! YEAH!!!! I'm still wondering if they cooperated willingly or how many treats it took!!!! 😉

Another load to the second hand store today. Last night we packed up some craft stuff she's keeping and some for ARC Industries soon, more today again. It's sure lovely out again with grackles feeding like crazy and supposed to be warmer tomorrow so it'll be the garage sorting before heading home Wednesday.

WOW!!!!!

Nov 3rd

OMGG it's 13°C and sunny and 99% of the snow is gone! WOW!!! This morning Sylvia went through her quilting binders and purged lots and this afternoon we sorted half the garage into various hand-me-down boxes and what she wants to keep, the rest in garbage or thrift store piles. The son-in-laws or grandsons will have to sort the rest or just garbage the lot. 

A very productive day, tomorrow back home!

Well tonight is my last night in their Ontario home and I'm bringing home some momentoes. First off I'd done a bit of sewing but lots more tatting - three angels and two turtles - last of the orders for this year. Most know Sylvia's very artsy in all mediums and me being a Snowman/Angel nutso I chose a floor standing Snowman cut out by Len and assembled, painted and accessorized by Sylvia (picture when I get home as it's packed up). Also I have a Len smoothed walking stick he found in Arizona from the paloverde tree for my treks! And Sylvia ordered a Chinese supper for us, finishing off with evening snack of pumpkin pie with frozen yoghurt! Now to finish packing and tomorrow loading the car with various boxes for the family before heading home! And soon she'll be permanently in Winnipeg, even with this Covid-19 craziness.

Nov 4th

YOWSERS! I sure hope all who have received the 2-layer masks from me will insert some type of filter for the THIRD layer of protection being called for by Dr Tam now. Those that received masks April-June will probably be three layers with the filter pocket too. Please stay safe and healthy. 🙏🙏🙏 

 "The update to PHAC's guidelines came after Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam recommended the use of three-layer non-medical masks Tuesday to prevent the spread of COVID-19 ahead of winter weather that could bring more people together indoors." 

 "This is an additional recommendation just to add another layer of protection. The science of masks has really accelerated during this particular pandemic. So we're just learning again as we go," she said Tuesday. 

 "I do think that because it's winter, because we're all going inside, we're learning more about droplets and aerosols."

It was an unbelievable November day in awesome autumn conditions to drive back to Winnipeg. BUTTTTTT I can honestly say I was very very reluctant to return to this crazy Covid-19 hotspot! When are people going to get with the program and smarten up for the sake of their own and others health safety!!!!