What happened to April? where to start.........

Started off the month of April sewing sleeves on articles to hang at the quilt show, and sorting through things to put in the Boutique there. Then life took a turn for the worst as I struggled with the mess renovation was creating in my life. I like to see things around me neat and tidy, (and I'd like it even better if someone else would do that chore!) And when it ISN'T that way, nothing gets done. Then Emails started coming in about my Mom's health, so I made plans for a visit home to Ontario. She had no illnesses (unless you count diabetes, but it was controlled with insulin), but was over 97 years old and life was taking its toll on her body and mind. Booked a flight home (my REAL home.....Ontario) for April 15th at 7 a.m. and alas, Mom died in the early hours of that same day. It would be cruel to wish her still here unless we could magically have her back as the happening,lively chick that she was, but we do miss her.

After my trip home, I got back here to where I am blooming (with very shallow roots) where I have been planted) yesterday very early hours and when my brain catches up with my body will post more. In the meantime, hope every body knows I am content in the knowledge that Mom is in a better place and that I will see her again and we will spend eternity together, with no more troubles for either of us. Not that we had that many; we have been very blessed.

Here is a photo of some of us (me and some of the brothers at the celebration of her life after the Requiem Mass and the interment at Sacred Heart of Jesus RC Cemetery in Marmora.

Hard to believe that 22 days have flown by since I last posted! Time flies when you're busy living life and not having enough hours in the day to write about it. I finished quite a few projects, like the little sweater and hat for Emily and the hat for Emma (knitted things) and made a great start on my challenge quilt for the Quilt show coming up at the end of May. And then after last guild meeting, I stayed to take Carolyn's class on fabric postcards and now I am hooked on that. So now you can catch me running back and forth between my sewing room and the scrapbooking/cardmaking room because a lot of the stuff I am using for the postcards comes from the scrapbooking room. It will be so nice when it is all together in one room.

Speaking of that, Jeremy started last Monday (the lucky 17th) framing and insulating that section of the basement, with a finish date of 3 weeks. If I could think of a way to transport everything neatly down 2 flights of stairs and have it magically go where it will be most efficient, then I would truly think I had died and gone to heaven. One of my online chatters has named it "No-Man's Land" ; after I got done laughing, I thought it would be a great name for the christening of that room. I did take photos of the before and am anxious to take the after pics. Will share them there when it is all done.

Scrap booking: I learned how to change a DVD case into a photo album that would make the neatest gift. When I get photos in it I will post that here as well.

We had a very quiet Easter here, quite chilly at only 8 degrees C. When we visited Amber and the kids, Emma asked me if the Easter Bunny came to me. She was quite sad that he came to Granddad but not to me. And it's not that I don't like chocolate! More that the Easter Bunny doesn't believe in ME!

Surfin' for quilt patterns

Well this is all you get done when you spend 4 hours online looking for the perfect design with which to quilt a delectable mountains quilt! One site links to another and before you know it the day has long shadows. So to make up for my lack of anything productive having been done, I had to make some peanut butter cookies and this is what they look like........And here's the recipe (if you're not on a wheat free diet, just use regular flour and skip the Xanthan gum).

In mixer bowl, blend:

1/2 cup each of brown sugar, white sugar, peanut butter and regular butter

1 tsp vanilla

Add One egg and mix till fluffy.

Stop mixer and add:

1+ 1/4 cups g/f flour mix

1 tsp Xanthan gum

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Blend on med. speed till mix leaves the sides of the bowl and the beater. You may need to add a few more Tbsp of sweet rice flour to achieve this.

Using a med scoop, scoop out dough and place on cookie sheet about 2" apart. Mash down with fork and sprinkle with a dash of white sugar. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. Cool on rack. Makes 2 dozen big cookies.

For Jane and Philip: i gathered up some bubble wrap and got your parcel ready today, so don't drop it on your way from the post office!

For Sandie: Same thing

For Scott: Did Emily get her doll stuff yet?

For Kevin: Will try again to call you tonight.

And can you believe we are into March already? Plan tomorrow is to stay in my sewing room and not come out till I get my challenge quilt ready to photograph for the quilt registration. So it can rain all day if it wants to.

Working away on my Challenge quilt today, have the center completed and the borders are cut and ready to be added. The theme was "Once Upon a Time", so I have a fairy sitting on a branch in my garden watching other fairies, (which are invisible to all except virgins) dance. I also Put a quilt that I am making for Kelly on the frame this morning, but am still figuring out how to quilt it, I want to find something with shamrocks in it so may end up having to doodle one myself if my search is unfruitful.
And last, but not least, I am so close to being done with the cookbook. That will be a day to celebrate, when that is downloaded to disc and ready to be shipped out. One more day and I will have met the last of my movable deadlines! Instead of printing out hard copies, I am copying it to disc. That seems to be the latest way to disseminate information. Takes up less room than a hard cover book, and if you want to copy it, go for it, you have my permission!

Isn't this the cutest thing?

Did you ever take a class with a bunch of professional scrap-bookers who knew what they were doing? Did that on Saturday down at a new (to me) store, opposite Jazz-Ma-Taz on Montrose St. I think it's called Urban Trends. I think the gal running it used to work at Suki's on Granville. Well at least she had the same attitude! Part of the project (making a Vintage Photo Album) consisted of applying "Rub-ons". So you take a Popsicle stick and run it over the lettering while holding the lettering in place in the spot you want the design to be transferred to. So I'm rubbing away, thinking I will discover fire before this thing gets transferred. Turns out you have to remove the plastic from the back of the rub-on first. Since the "teacher" assumed we all knew what we were doing she neglected to tell us that. Nice to give folks a reason to laugh at one of the newbies.....moi. Oh well, been laughed at before and will be again. But it definitely gave me a reason not to patronize this store again. Hate to have to run all the way to Chilliwack to Classics on Alexander but they are most helpful there and never make you feel like a kindergartner in University...even if that is what you are. I did finish the album though and it got me back into the scrapbook room. Now I'm searching for a red album that had photos from 1986 to 88.can't find it anywhere. And all the albums are in that room, so where oh where could it be? Do any of my children know????

Did you see the moon?

I went out and sat on the driveway last night for a half-hour to watch the eclipse, and it was so exciting to see the moon emerge bright and white after the 'shadow' had passed. Held my arm up to see if it would show up, but couldn't see it with my naked eye at all, at all.

we went to the States yesterday on a little shopping trip and I found all the rulers that I have been searching for ever since the Carolina Crossroads mystery quilt challenge. so now they are neatly stored in my Omnigrid rack awaiting the next time I do hourglass blocks, or half square triangles, etc. got some really nice St. Patrick's stuff too, fabric with shamrocks AND ladybugs too, how cool is that! and socks and stickers, oh I could have spent a fortune. Just love the ABUNDANCE down there! And clerks who seem to be so happy you're a customer in their store. Strange feeling to have a smiling clerk!

And will post photos at last of my Red and Black jacket and convertible mittens while we are still in a month to celebrate the color red.
Finally...Happy Birthday to my number one grandson, james, who celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday. Congratulations James, and on your new career as a soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces. Travel safely.

Tuesday, Tuesday, Can't stand that day

My brother Peter visited Mom on Family Day (a new holiday in Ontario) and sent me photos of the flowers I sent her for Valentine's day. They look so beautiful to me, and I am glad that one can order flowers long distance and the florists have a big enough heart and morals to comply with your request. Mom turned 97 last Thanksgiving and looks so sweet in these photos that I wanted to share with everyone. I wish I could have been there to give her the flowers in person. Maybe next St. Valentine's day!
I got a welcome sign for my lawn that will hold a little quilt and am making plans to get a placemat sized "flag" done for the holder. And got a head start on March by hanging up my St. Patrick's wreath and foyer quilt; was getting tired of February and the Valentine stuff, so they're packed away for another year.
And I finished my red/black jacket, but am still beading along the bound edges of it so will post that photo later. Here's the pics of Mom and her flowers.

Heritage week in Abbotsford, BC

I'm still trying to figure out the plot twist in "Scotland Road", the play we saw in Langley at Trinity Western last Wednesday evening. So if anyone reading this has any idea what the meaning of the play was, please clue me in. I overheard someone in the lobby saying, "Well, you know, Art! It is what it is" But it didn't have a satisfactory ending to me. I hate things where you have to make up your own ending, or it's left open for a sequel. Gr-r-r-r.

This week coming up is Heritage Week and Downtown Abbotsford is celebrating with all sorts of offerings. Such as: Braiding Bread; Making a Vintage Friendship Album, etc. So to celebrate, I am taking a class on how to make infant moccasins at Big Foot Moccasin. Always wanted to make my own shoes and should be able to size these up to make something for my foot too. And the vintage photo album might be an interesting thing to do too, if I have time that day.

I finished my quilted jacket for the quilt show and am starting my challenge quilt tomorrow, so that, with luck, I will have all the things done by March that I will enter in the show. Was hoping to do some journal quilts but am just not all that enthusiastic about making something that has no functional use. I guess I could alwys just stick it in an album to show that at one time I DID at least try to be artsy-fartsy. I cannot do art for art's sake, it must have a purpose to be allowed space in our home.

We got the quote on the cost of renovating the basement for a quilt studio for me, and it seems feasible, but there will be a lot of work between now and when I turn my machines on in the completed room. Almost 5 years ago, I went through everything in my sewing rooms (2 back bedrooms upstairs) and discarded over 3 garbage bags of "junk" mainly lesson plans for things I was never going to teach again, and patterns that were hopelessly out of date. Now I look at the accumulation in there and am just amazed at how little time it takes to completely overload a room. So I will have a major job of chucking out before I move downstairs. I will have to look for a gas firelace too as it can get quite chilly downstairs, and if I'm going to hang out there for 12 hours a day, I don't want to get chilblains.

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Well, I give up on searching for the choice of colors for this post, pretend it's red! I will be too busy tomorrow melting chocolate to post and wanted to wish everyone a happy day. Wondering today why the Saint was dropped from the greeting.....we don't say "Happy Patrick's Day" on March 17th, so when did St. Valentine's Day become just Valentine's day???

Today I am working on my red and black jacket for the Quilt show in May. The fabric was quilted to the batting and lining on my Inspira frame, so now I have to conceal the seams' raw edges with a Hong Kong finish. It's looking rather neat, but takes so much more time than just zipping along with the serger. But I think it will be worth it in the long run......something else to take up space in my closet while I run around in the same old dorm pants (otherwise known as flannel PJs to us grannies)

I finished my Convertible mittens last night and will post that photo very soon. Since they are red, will try to get it in this post.

Little quilts and little loaves

Looks like the bunny has claimed the little purple disappearing nine patch quilt! Too bad for it has been promised to Emily along with some more diapers for her little dolly.

I think I've got the disappearing nine patch out of my system for now, and will move on to other things. I quilted the fabrics for my jacket entry in the Guild Quilt show for this May, and drafted the pattern to make it. Will post that after I get it together. I did finish my Guild Mystery quilt this week, and it's just waiting for a label. I want to photo it, then print out a black and white label for it, showing the quilt in one corner. Still working on that...if it works, that's how I will do my labels from now on. I use freezer paper, cut to 8'5" x 11" with the same size muslin ironed to the shiny side; then it goes through the printer just like real paper and you can get some really neat labels or fabric that way.

And I finally remembered to take photos of my freshly baked gluten free bread this Wednesday too. I can no longer remember what wheat bread tastes like, so this tastes as good as it looks, at least to me. Here's the recipe for the English Muffins (which I use to make hamburger buns or just sandwich buns if I'm not doing hamburgers:

DRY MIX: (in large mixer bowl)
1-1/2 c gluten free flour mix
1 t. Xanthan gum
1-1/2 t baking powder
1 t. Knox gelatin
1-1/2 t Egg Replacer
1/2 t salt
1-1/2 T sugar
2 T ground flax

WET MIX:
1 c warm water (with 1 t sugar to proof yeast (2-1/4 t) in
1 egg
3 T soft butter
1/2 t vinegar

After yeast is proofed, pour this mix into the flour mix, add egg, butter and vinegar. Beat on med speed for 3 minutes. Fill 6 English Muffin rings (which have been placed on a Pammed cookie sheet and dusted with cornmeal. Let rise for 30 minutes then bake in a 375F oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on rack. Can be stored in freezer and then toasted when needed. If you double the recipe, don't double the yeast measurement. For Christmas buns or Hot Cross Buns: add mixed peel or cherries and some nutmeg and cinnamon. Bake as usual and frost with Crosses in white icing.

I'm grateful this week:

*that Jane called from Nashville to let us know that the tornadoes that devastated the area between Nashbille and Memphis, did not harm them, except for a few trees down.
*that I can see the end of my editing on my cookbook
*that we are all coping with winter, whether it takes the form of huge dumps of snow in the Toronto area, or too much rain on the Wet Coast, or tornadoes and wild weather down South.

The photos below show the red bag inside and out finished at last! And the layout of the Mystery quilt from Carolyn of the Abbotsford Guild. The predominantly green borders sparked it up a bit from all that black in the quilt blocks. Guess that's the danger in a mystery, you never really know how it's going to evolve. But overall I am so pleased with this one (Peek-a-Bamboo) that I am cutting out the strips tomorrow for another one using a Northcott "Quest for the Cure" fabric , a large print with tulips on it, and will use a bright gold for the background and 2 other colors for the A and B fabrics (likely red and green, though there is black in the background of the tulip print, so maybe throw a bit of black on it too.
I'm still finding my way around the layout of the blog thing, so I'm trying to post the photos and then have a description underneath. but it's coming out upside down, so will try again to right that.
Tomorrow I will quilt this Bamboo quilt and then take a break from quilting for a week or so. Need to work on the recipe book for awhile.

Now that it is February, I'll switch to red ink, but only till the 14th......
Every now and then we do get a touch of winter out here, though not as severe as what they are getting in Ontario right now, it's still hard to pull on those old winter boots that have been in storage the past few years.

I finished the blocks for the "Peek-a-Bamboo" quilt today and have them laid out on the design wall to see if it plays okay. Was a bit worried that all the black in the quilt (used as the background color) would make it a very depressing quilt, but against the bamboo green it is quite stunning. Will make a great quilt for St. Patirck's Day!
In my warped little mind, I imagined that the Pandas were Koalas, and I have been calling it my "Ned Kelly" quilt..because it is almost a kelly green and that seemed to fit. Then as I was squaring up the blocks, I realized that koalas are not black and white. They sort of look like they are peeking out from the bamboo shoots, thus the name. Will photo it tomorrow when the borders are on and before I put it on the quilting frame. So glad to get this one done, now all my have-tos are done for the month and anything else I do will be a bonus. (Like maybe get that darned old cookbook on paper at last. Okay, that's my goal for the month of February 2008.

Took this photo this morning before I dusted the "powder" off my car so I could get out to the Celiac Support Group meeting at the Gourmet Gallery. Nice and feathery , would have been grand for skiing, but I had places to go and people to see. Waited around at the Gallery and no one showed up. Oh, yeah, I forgot, this is the Fraser Valley where no one goes out if there's snow on the roads. The plough had gone through, missing our cul-de-sac as usual, but with a Jimmy it's still a piece of cake to be mobile. Have to admit that for living in a place where snow is a rarity, we've had more than our share this winter. And with the Arctic Outflow forecast for this evening, it will likely still be there tomorrow.

Well, I did get my letters off in the mail, along with some helmet liners for the grandsons, and picked up a brochure for the DH, but (insert grieving sound here) Curves was closed (sign on the door.closed, due to weather). So I missed my workout today, was almost tempted to strap on the cross country skis and get in some exercise that way, till I heard a moan from my sewing room.yes it was that other mystery quilt calling out to me. I managed to get the first 2 steps done on that before lunch. Took a break and after lunch I quilted the little blue disappearing nine patch that I put on the frame yesterday. And took some photos of the bags I finished last night. so it looks like I am on track to get my "chores" done before guild day.

Made some brownies for the meeting today, and they are delicious. Will freeze some for the meeting next week Hope they taste as good then.

The Art Institute called to let George know that his wine class has been cancelled tonight...due to , wait for it.......yup! WEATHER! We are so soft out here.

So here's a few photos of my finished projects today.

Ta-Da! Here are the photos of the last steps in the Mystery. And now I can get to the other mystery that has only just got the pieces and strips cut for it.....the one Carolyn is doing with the guild. This afternoon, I will also get a bit quilted on the one I put on the frame last night.one of the Disappearing Nine-Patches baby quilts that I did to keep myself amused while awaiting the next steps (published weekly) in the Carolina Crossroads Mystery. This one is Christmassy in Blues, or maybe is Hanukka-y? It will tell me when it's done.
And this evening while sitting by the fire, I will finsih up one of the bags mentioned previously. So far a good start on projects for 2008. Hard to believe we are in the last week of the first month of the year!
The sun is shining brightly today and I ALMOST talked myself into going for a walk after my Curves workout, then I read in the paper that we Canadians are deprived of Vitamin D in the winter because the sun is too low on the horizon to do any good. Well, that excuse seemed like a good one to me, so back to the sewing room. I can wait till its above 80 degrees to get some fresh air. It may be sunny, but the damp out here will never leave my bones. I can relate to Sam McGee.

Writing in my happy color today! Finished my Carolina Crossroads quilt except for sewing on the label and hand-stitching the binding to the back side of the quilt. So can't legally post the photo of it till its ALL done, maybe tomorrow? All the time I was quilting it, my thoughts kept turning to one of my sisters-in-law from my first marriage. She and I used to sit around an old wooden frame made up of 1" x 2" strips of lumber and held up by 4 kitchen chairs, hand-quilting queen size quilts. I kept the frame in the basement in a room next to the laundry room, so that in between loads, I could quilt. Those were the days that we used templates cut from Kellogg's Corn Flakes boxes, drew around them with pencils, cut 1/4" beyond the markings and then sewed the pieces together by machine. We hadn't heard of chain-piecing or rotary cutters or all the neat tools that quilters today have.
And I wondered, since we've lost touch with each other after I moved out here to the left coast, if she is still quilting. and wished that she lived near me so we could still quilt together. Her birthday is half the calendar apart from mine (I'm March 24th, she is Oct 24th), and I think she needs a surprise for my birthday. Yes, that's what we do now, when we have a birthday, instead of getting pressies, we SEND them. Won't she be surprised to see how far I've come from those days 40 years ago.

And tomorrow, I can start my other mystery that had only just begun when I got caught up in this Carolina Crossroads madness.........it is by a member of our local guild and I MUST have it finished by guild day, the second Tuesday in Feb. Piece of cake. And must also finish the 3 bags I started in classes in early January. 2 just need the leather handles sewn on by hand, and the 3rd one still has to have the quilted bits assembled. It is the easiest one to do, I think, and I will post the photos of all 3 when they are done.

I would also post a photo of the buns I made this afternoon, but some friends were walking by and looked cold, so I called them in for a cuppa hot chocolate just as the timer went off for the buns. So they are in our tummies now and unavailable for a photo op. Next time, for sure!

Happy Robbie Burns Day to all my Scottish friends

I have begun quilting my Carolina Crossroads quilt in an oak and maple leaf pattern, with the borders being done in a smaller leaf pattern. It is going quite smoothly, in spite of the many seams. So far so good.

Today I helped a friend load a king size quilt onto her Beeline frame, the only way to do a large quilt like that is to have 2 buddies helping out so it doesn't go all askew.

Tomorrow, hopefully I will get my quilt finished and get the binding on it, not that I am rushing to get it done but I still have to finish 2 more we care quilts and 3 bags and another mystery quilt before the second Tuesday in February. And that other mystery quilt has only just got started. So this is the pressure I put myself under. Always saying, "Next month will be easier". And it never is. Still swooshing by me is the sound of the deadline on my Celiac cookbook, but the sewing this month has prioritized itself over the writing.

Also tomorrow is Amber's little boy's first birthday celebration so we have to go into North Vancouver to help blow out the candle for that. Might be fun as snow is forecast, and that's always a big treat out here.

Posting a photo of the Carolina Crossroads on the Inspira frame, with one border quilted.

A sunny Monday in BC

Well, at last! Had the living room floor covered with my batting and completed blocks, all laid out in the order in which to sew them. Moved my sewing machine down there too, so I could sew each row and not get them turned around. And they all went together very nicely, and proves once again that only God can make a perfect thing, if you loook closely you can see that some of my nine patches are a thread or two off the mark. But overall, I'm pleased with the way it went together. And it's time to update my photo, so the photo today will show me holding the completed quilt top, folded in quarters, without its borders, as I returned home from my workout at Curves. Love my new haircut too. And wonder of wonders! The sun actually came out today and stayed several hours, so I got a little bit of Vitamin D after all this week. Off to sew the borders on now. Goal: to get this on the frame by bedtime tonight so I can get on with finishing up the projects I started while awaiting the new steps each week. (A couple of bags, and 2 more Disappearing 9-patch quilts)

I really must shut this off and get back to sewing. This break is lasting longer than intended, but it occured to me that some who know me may wonder at my return to my maiden name. I just got tired of people asking me "where in Greece were you born"?.....and Menassas is just some name I borrowed from my husband. Now if I lived in Quebec, I would still be an O'Neill, so I'm just going to pretend for a little while that I live in Quebec City where one doesn't have to relinquish one's maiden name upon marriage. Now I'll be quiet for a few days till i get this thing quilted. Well I may post a photo of it on the frame, and the pantograph of the rosebud design with which I will quilt it.

Here's the block layout for my Carolina Crossroads mystery quilt. Now to roll it up in its batting and sew the rows together. Hope to get it on the Inspira quilt frame tomorrow. My stars don't "pop" like they should but it just goes to show you, "Even though you can't always SEE the stars, trust that they really are up there, doing what stars do....."

and yes those ARE wine bottles at the side .......and I didn't even have to open one during the making of this quilt

Passionateseams

Saturday January 19th, 2008

Heading to the 'storeroom' to find a chunk of batting 90" square to lay out my blocks for the Carolina Crossroads mystery I have been working on since the first of December, '07. I have squared all my blocks up to 9.5" so they should go together neatly. With DH away in North Van baby-sitting his 2 grandkids, that leaves me hours to play. Step-grandmamas can easily avoid babysitting when a mystery calls for a solution! With leaders and enders used to transition from block to block without gnarly starts I now have a shoe box filled with 4-patches, which I will mix with some HSTs to create a baby quilt for Wee Care. A few crumbs to add to the "dog-bed" bag and one of these days I may see the bottom of my cutting table.