Wowsers!

Go figure, in a fit of (sunshine) induced energy, I finally finished my Japanese quilt top AND my ghastlies quilt top!

The Japanese quilt I started back on the coast, did most of the work when we first moved north. In fact, I was sewing it on a rubbermade bin as I had nothing else to work on. This made for less then stellar squares and I gave up at some point when things weren't squaring up nicely. Ugh. But I persevered and finally finished the top - I finally had to add a black strip to make things work. Not the best answer to the the problem, but then again, it's finally done and who knows how long I would have waited before I finished it otherwise!

I was puzzled as to how I wanted to finish the corners on the Ghastlies quilt. I tried a few options that weren't working out and then I just decided to treat them as 'fun' blocks. I'm a bit worried that the top is larger then my backing, but I'll leave that for another day!

Ghastlies!

Well I finally bit the bullet and ordered fabric for the first time from an etsy store Poppyseed Fabrics.
Excellent service and the fabric was awesome! I'm still working on the huge quilt, but I decided to take some time playing with these fabrics. I came up with two quilts, one is a basic "picture frame" style, but the second one I'm thinking will be a coffin style!

Giant Quilt

Well I'm still quilting my giant quilt... it's about 84"x84" and it's sometimes overwhelming! Also, I made the unwise choice to use some threads my grandma had given me, but they are older and the threads keep breaking so I'm afraid to tug to hard on the threads - not ideal! I didn't realize this until I had done a lot of sewing though so I'm stuck with it.

The method I used to transfer the pattern was trace paper I happened to have on hand. At first I found it hard to use and then it got easier the more I did (as these things tend to do!) I'm not sure where I got the pattern from, it's a photo I saved a long time ago. I printed it out and taped it down to trace the pattern.

I also tried using the tulle method, which requires tracing the pattern using a water soluble pen but I didn't like this method, as the pattern can stretch out. And oddly enough, I kind of enjoyed tearing off the trace paper!

Pattern on the backside... I changed from pink to blue in some places as the pink does not show up well on the pink fabrics - something I should have realized before I started!

Someone wanted to remind me it was time to be fed

Inspiration

Over Christmas my grandmother passed away. Grandma was the quilter and crocheter of blankets. She made slippers and stuffed animals and barbie furniture from plastic canvas. She was a real inspiration for quilting and her blankets were usually a very traditional pattern using scraps.

A funny story. We had her 95th reunion in the summer, and during a quiet moment in her apartment in the seniors home, I showed her a picture of my rag quilt on my phone. She kind of looked at it, then looked at me with a look of confusion and she muttered something about the quilt... and I realized she just didn't get such a 'messy' quilt... why would you show all the edges?

 rag quilt post

Grandma raised all her kids after my grandfather died young. I can't imagine how difficult that must have been and I really admired her life. She kept busy with her church and with her crafts and her family. I can remember when I found out her friends called her "Bernie" - but that's a boys name! And when she'd pull her teeth out and put them in the glass on her nightstand, we were all fascinated.

For a few years she would send matching crochet 'pockets' with drawstrings. No one knew what they were for, so we'd put nice smelling soaps in them and put them in our drawers.... years later we found out they were slippers!

grandma blankets and other projects

Rest in peace Grandma. I only hope I can one day quilt like you did.

Catch Up Part 2 - Ontario-o-i-o

In September I took a trip east to visit some friends I hadn't seen in years. I flew into Ottawa, and being my first time there, I found it pretty interesting to be in our nations capital! I had a tour around the city, visited a museum and hung out.

Parliament buildings.

 My friend Jo enjoying a drink, as did I.

After that I headed on the train (first class!) to Kingston where another friend lived. I'm familiar with Kingston so it was more like visiting a place that was old friend. She;s my lovely friend I've mentioned before "J" who knits, makes jewellery and stained glass amongst other talents!

 First class meal!

 Comfy seats!

We went out the haunted walk (Kingston is a very old place)

I met her dog Sir Thomas of the Bountiful Hair.

 And we had breakfast at one of our favorite eastern chains, Cora's

Then I took the train back to Ottawa, and flew home, much relieved to see my Cowboy and the doggies.

Adding Insult to Injuries

If you can imagine this....

A giant turkey given to us by the company The Cowboy works for... everything is looking good, it's roasting upside down in the pan and I decide to make some guacamole. And promptly stick the brand new, extremely sharp curved knife through the avocado into my hand.
Ouch.
So a friend 1# comes over and we rush over to the emergency where I get a few stitches. I still managed to get turkey dinner on the table and oddly enough, it was the best turkey I've ever made, including gravy!

Then in December, I'm shoveling a path so the delivery man can bring my Christmas present from The Cowboy (that I ordered for myself, heh) and manage to put my back out for the first time. It wasn't so bad the first day, but I must have twisted something later that night because suddenly I.could.not.move.
I have never had back pain before and it was horrible. Unfortunately The Cowboy had worked extremely late that night and was incapable of driving me to the emergency room, so friend #2 who works the night shift kindly brought me in at two pm.

 The dogs have an escape plan.. push enough snow against the fence and they can step right over!

 The path that destroyed my back

 My poor, poor car!

But hey, the dogs don't care either way, a bit of snow and -35 weather doesn't seem to phase them!
What was my Christmas present you ask??

A floor quilting frame so I can finish my large quilt. I've managed to get the top done, I've ironed the backing and purchased the batting and a large box of curved safety pins. Guess the next thing to do is put the sandwich together and start quilting!

Trip to the Coast

We took a quick trip to the coast to switch two vehicles and decided to try the route through Alberta and Jasper. Gorgeous!!