Ahhhhh Those Flying Geese

Honking, honking, honking, the Canada Geese are returning, possibly Miss Spring is on her way and cannot be very far behind them!!  
Both today and yesterday I was wakened by the noisy sounds of honking from the Canada Geese flying overhead and for the past few hours this sound is all you can hear.  This time, I managed to grab the camera and take some pictures to share, there have been so many just these past two days and I know there will be hundreds more over the next few weeks, all heading North from where I am.  Probably headed towards the marshy areas fit for wildlife between here and Algonquin Park. 

Just tiny dots in the sky above until their nearly close enough to me.  I noticed yesterday each group of a few hundred would come flying across in hourly intervals.   This morning I managed to capture some of the formations which were flying overhead this morning.

Thanks to Maria O'Haver of Pangor Quilt Design Studio for sharing her beautiful  Curved Flying Geese Quilt with her readers for which she has a class to teach on how to achieve this designed quilt.  Maria is a Designer, Long Arm Quilter as well as a Teacher.  It would be fun to take one of the classes where she is teaching her students how to accomplish the technique you see in this Curved Flying Geese Quilt. 

Also this past weekend the cardinals began serenading in my back yard, first time I have ever heard their song, what a wonderful experience it was and a real treat, go to the Soundboard. and you may listen to it yourselves.  These cardinals sing such beautiful songs. 

Sadly it will soon be time for me to stop feeding the neighborhood birds.  Once Spring is here and the trees and grass begin their rebirthing, they will naturally take to hunting for their food again. 

Even though these wonderful feathered creatures won't be sitting so close to me on the veranda, I will have the excitement of hearing many more bird songs as the season warms up.

Thank you for stopping by, as today is a quilting day, I'll go and make a fresh cup of coffee on my way to visit the sewing machine to finish piecing the blocks for a little baby quilt I have been planning.  

He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.  ~Friedrich Nietzsche

Nostalgic Thoughts Today

Hey there, here we are, another Sunday already and officially Spring is into its' 3rd day!  Looking back in review of this past week I confess I haven't accomplished very much other than to sit and crochet or read, physically I didn't feel up to much and mentally, well we won't go there because there's nothing of value to discuss. 

Notwithstanding my inability to motivate myself into any accomplishments which can be considered noteworthy, I have made some headway with my evening "tv watching" project, not too bad and it is coming along nicely. 

I have also been busy surfing through boards on Pinterest and adding anything and everything I happened upon or liked to my own Boards.  I managed to spend a great deal of time in looking for sewing room ideas.  My friend who has returned from out West will be having her boxes and totes currently being stored in my one spare room removed by the end of this month,  leaving me a month to transform that space into a guest/sewing room.  I know it won't be totally what I have visions of, but for the time being it will have to do because the "guest" part takes precedence over the actual sewing area.  Henry David Thoreau said "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."  

This May one of my Dutch cousins will be making her very first visit to Canada and I am excited about showing off this beautiful part of the county I now live in.   Thus my interest in turning this tiny spare room of mine into a welcoming guest retreat, so there is no haste because the sewing/crafting area can be refined later. 

The internet is such a wonderful entity and I have been thinking about how far our societies have come since computers have overtaken our lives in such a short span of time.  Can you remember your first computer?  Remember Dos?  I shudder from the memories of having had to learn Dos, remembering my frustrations as well as temper tantrums over the many mistakes I made when entering a string of Dos commands, only to get no where or to losing all that work which you were going to save to those large floppy disks only to discover you lost it all, and growing with all the changes to computing, like graduating to the smaller hard disks which held so much more information, seeking storage solutions for the hundreds of disks we produced, the agonies of searching for information on them because the labels were not long enough , the extra space needed to hold all those hard plastic disk storage cases, the constant rebooting, and with those long bands which connected the computer to a printer!!!... somehow the growth from this first system to the notebook I use today are such worlds apart that sometimes I question my memory of it all, and, that I actually was a part of this growth.   

Image courtesy of SHADES OF TECHNOLOGIES
No quilting pictures or patterns were harmed in this process because theses items were not to be had away back in those olden days!  LOL   I know my grandchildren will never understand those old fashioned gizmos......

Before I leave you today give a look back into the past to those "vintage years" when Aunt Grace or Granny Lil" would patiently wait for their mailman to deliver a pattern they purchased through their local newspaper for 10 or 15 cents plus a prepaid stamped addressed envelope. 
Today, we can locate hundred of thousands of patterns, tutorials and images of those same patterns right here from the comfort of your own home in an instant.  An interesting article on this can be read over at Shop Martingale which has an image taken from the  Book...........

Fancy to Frugal - Authentic Quilt Patterns from the '30s

By Karen Earlywine, Kay Connors

Thanks for your visit today, I think I have forced enough of my old memories upon your to last awhile, but remember, your thoughts, ideas or comments are very much appreciated and I do hope you'll come again.

It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.  Makes you wonder what else you can do that you've forgotten about.  ~Alan Ball

Catching Up

Hey there, good afternoon to you!

I managed to get myself past St. Paddy's Day, the wearin oh the green as well as the shenanigans that most people around me who are not Irish tend to get up to 

and finally feel like I am almost human once again. 

My physical condition isn't what it was this time last year and this wacky weather had my bones in an uproar. 
I have over the past few weeks been taking lots of hot showers, then on a reading binge, (as one friend said to me, "you have an addiction" to books), learning to do some light yoga attempting to stretch out the joint kinks in my fingers, hips and knees, but, honestly not wanting to do very much and just making myself do only the necessary or even just whatever took my fancy, like exploring around Pinterest - what fun it is to be visiting sites that so many others find interesting and becoming interested in may of these sites myself.  If you have not yet had the Pinterest experience, you must try it, your certain to while away many hours there.
Today being sunny but extremely cold, I might just possibly be able to convince myself to do more than just lay around eating, reading and listening to the Easy Listening Galaxy music station and watching the brightly colored feathered friends who visit my feeders. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal, a large family of blue jays, Mrs. Dove, the nut hatches and sparrows were here as well as Mrs. Black squirrel.  What a pleasure it is to see some of natures creatures up close.  Forgive the loss of color, not enough sunshine to filter through the screen on the window, but, still you can see them.

Today I am being serenaded by one song bird and so far I haven't been able to spot it. Soon as I do I hope to capture it on film to share with you what a glorious sound it is. 
On Friday I actually got myself out of doors to visit and have some quality time with family, especially my new wee granddaughter, Ella, who looked long and hard at me wondering who this new person was!   It has been months since I first made contact with her and being just 5 months of age I am sure she would have forgotten who grandma was.... she is just too sweet for words and I held and played with her as long as she would allow it.  

Ella has Blue Eyes, the only one on my side of the family and a girl so this makes her extra,extra special. 

Sitting with her dad while at the restaurant

As her granny I know I am biased, but here she is wishing all of us a Great St. Paddy's Day - isn't she just adoreable?

As I had already cut fabrics to make my buzz saw blocks and upon sewing them together I soon discovered some of these don't go together too well because I had somehow neglected to cut the strips the proper size, after scratching my head and whining about it I have had to set them aside to work on at another time when I'm not feeling so dissatisfied with my abilities....

I have found a new FREE Quilt pattern over at Quiltmag.com  to share with you and you can find it here, this is my type of quilt lately, so filled with color.

Please, everyone, when your speaking with Ms. Spring, ask her to hurry my way, I simply cannot take this bone chilling cold anymore, I really want to see the narcissus and daffodils gently swaying in a warm spring breeze.... 

This is enough of me for today so go and grab yourselves a box of Crayolas and have a wonderfully bright filled day, but, before you go sing along with me in wishing my best friend a HAPPY Butterfly BIRTHDAY

Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon.  A happiness weapon.  A beauty bomb.  And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one.  It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air.  Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas.  And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight.  Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in.  With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest.  And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination.  ~Robert Fulghum

EAGER WITH ANTICIPATION

You are about to enter a magical month that will bring a planetary lineup so rare and beneficial to you that you won't see this type of sparkling support again for decades.  

The above was taken from Susan Millers' Astrology zone and it refers to the many 1000's of people born in the month over which Pisces is the ruling sign and I am one of those people.  Now I look forward to it with anticipation.  

Yesterday I celebrated another year above ground - YAHOO!  One of the greatest blessings any human or creature alive today can be thankful for.  I was surrounded with best wishes from many friends via e-mail and in the post, and just look at these pretty and mouthwatering gifts I received. 

Just when I believed my wonderful day was ending,  a knock at my door last night proved me so wrong.  Two special friends came bearing gifts. 

and with those tulips a PIZZA which I have been craving to eat for weeks now!  Unfortunately they were unable to visit long so they missed out in sharing my mouth watering pizza.....LOL  IT WAS mouth watering satisfyingly delicious!!!!
Thank you both, no need for names as you know who you are, you capped off my special day!  No, no picture of the Pizza to share with all of you because I gobbled up three tasty slices before thinking of taking a picture, sorry!    

In the post I received a new copy of my most favorite of pieces of symphonic music a CD of Ralph Vaughan Williams "A Lark Ascending"  with this beautifully hand made card from my best friend.

I even had cake!  My friend and neighbor brought with her her little Doxie, Trixie for a visit and with them came these tasty loaves of Banana Bread all nicely tied up in colored ribbons.   How very thoughtful of her to bake these for me.  YUMMMMMMMMM

Telephone calls from my son and family and many wonderful friends also highlighted my special day.  AND the frosting of my day was that in between all of these wonderful gifts was that I actually had the energy and fun of sewing all day, then, to top of my beautiful pizza, I sat and watched some of my favorite programs which I had recorded and thoroughly enjoyed watching until 4 a.m. this morning!   This last deed made me rather groggy this morning,  something akin to having a hangover from too much imbibing the night before.  LOL

NOW tell me, am I not blessed?  

I so enjoying my sewing yesterday and once I finish my housework this afternoon I intend to sew some more of these buzz saw blocks.  Shamelessly I ignored my house and spent that time doing just as I pleased, I chose bits from what fabrics I have in my drawer, cut and pieced a pile of blocks and then began sub-cutting and finally began piecing the actual blocks together.   

 THIS has been the BEST BIRTHDAY ever!!!!

All in all, it was such a wonderful day and one which I am hoping you do not mind sharing with me?
March has come in not meekly as a lamb, but roaring in but also bringing with it the approach of Springtime, which season I am so looking forward to arriving.  I cannot wait to plant an array of colorful wild flowers, rose bushes as well as vegetables and herbs to adorn my little space outside. 
SO please Spring, if your reading this, please get her sooner rather than later cause I sit in anticipation of your arrival.....

This then is my version of the beginning of the Month of March, and waiting with eager anticipation for the "Magic"  to continue as Susan Miller believes this particular March will be! 

 Thank you for allowing me to share with you today, do come again, I'll treat you to a slice!

I know what things are good:  friendship and work and conversation.  These I shall have.  ~Rupert Brooke

Quirky Weather and Competent Young Women

Hi there, it's been a few days since my visitor moved into her own space and left me all alone to my own devices, and those devices were not what I would term as having been very productive.  
I lost my e-mail account but that is a chapter in and of itself and for another day!  
I haven't done much in the way of anything quilty, other than to roam around the internet looking at the thousands of pretty quilts which can be seen at Pinterest or Flicker and hundreds more links I chose to follow.. I have my sewing machine all set up again, my latest UFO is sitting there waiting patiently for me to give it some attention, but, I simply haven't had the energy, so have been on a reading binge.  
The weather is playing a huge part of my discontent too, my joints are simply being stiffened by the swift and weird weather patterns. 
Oh the storms and the vastness of these is so mind boggling.  Look at the swath this latest storms is cutting!  Thank heaven I do not need to leave the house though I feel rather sad for those that do need to leave the safety of their homes to work.

The little red covered dot is the area in which I am living.  It rained through the night here in Delta and now giant wet globby flakes of snow is falling. 

Those white marks you see are the huge flakes I attempted to capture to share with you, but I am certain many of you living in North America know all about it because most all of us are being affected.  It is much worse for those living in the United States and Eastern Canada.  I really do wonder just how very much the greenhouse effect has in the worlds weird weather happenings and disasters?


My grand daughters are feeling much better and the wee one was sprung from the hospital, so fingers crossed that nasty virus has left them and all should be back to normal by this weekend.  Apparently this virus is making the rounds fueled of course through the schools and public places where others sick or contagious have gathered and are passing it along...guess it is a good thing I remain housebound for awhile longer, I don't need any more nastiness from germs...

As said earlier, I have been visiting the Quilters on Pinterest and have seen some very awesome quilts and even techniques. 

In my roaming around Pinterest as I told you earlier I found many wonderful quilt tutorials.  Cherilyn of "A Farm Wife's Journal" has the sweetest Candy Hearts table runner pattern tutorial.  Her blog is so interesting and I can see she is extremely organized.  Cherilyn also has an Etsy Shop, you'll find the link to her shop on her blog.  Where she finds the time I simply cannot guess.

She has managed to make it look so easy, look here for her tutorial.  Very country farm looking.  Thank you Cherilyn, I bet everyone loved seeing this pretty table runner on your kitchen table!
Then too, another wonderful tutorial from Amanda Herring from her blog The Quilted Fish  it is a very well written tutorial on a beautiful Diamond Quilt, one of her many tutorials.  Amanda also have a Shop which you can visit through a link on her Blog. 

In reading about Amanda, I learned she has a wonderful sense of humor.   I could just picture this pretty girl making these wonderful items and sharing the how to with her readers.  Thank you Amanda!

I chose these two tutorials to share with you today because of their use of the colors, these two pieces cheered me up today, fresh, bright, pleasing to my eyes and overall the tutorials are well written.

Thank you for visiting with me today, I do hope you found my sharing and introduction of these two artistic and creative women of interest today.  There are hundreds of competent young women making their mark in the Quilting Community, these women are but two.  
Strangers are just friends waiting to happen.  ~Rod McKuen 

LINKS to FREE and EASY

Saturday, it is Saturday - hip hip hooray!  The weather is on and off snow with the possibility of rain or freezing rain later and the temperature is hovering at 2 Celsius not bad, hopefully spring is coming soon cause I dislike winter....

I do so hope those of you living in those states across the border are able to take the snow and blizzards, our weather forecasters told us over 20 states are feeling the awful effects of the latest storms. 

I am still waiting for news on my granddaughters, now my 9 year old princess has been sick all yesterday afternoon and evening and I have not heard from mommy as to how she is feeling today, and then wee Ella is still in hospital, hopefully she may be discharged tomorrow.  Apparently somehow they picked up that rotten (RSV) Respiatpry Synctial virus.....which is very contagious.  That means one gets it in the household from somewhere outside the home and it gets passed around, yuck!!!  I am happy I am not there this weekend, with my immune system being what it is lately I would be certain to catch it.  
It is important when your out and about away from your home that you refrain from handling too many things which others may also have handled and if you do touch something, washing, washing is the best way to keep yourself safe from contracting a gift some other sick individual is gifting unknowingly to others....

I went surfing again today and discovered some wonderful free and easy quilt patterns which may interest some of you, and, if you'd like to investigate then here is where you can begin looking!
I join as many sites which offer up video tutorials as I find because I am the type of person who needs to see how something is done so that I too may learn.  Free Quilt Patterns Info. is one of the most collaborative sites I follow regularly because of its varietal pattern choices to share.

For instance, Jenny Doan of the Missouri Star Quilt Co.  shares a new tutorial which you may not yet have seen through the Free Quilt Patterns Info site called Double Slice Layer Cake quilt, so easy, fun and just think if your sewing scrappy for charity then this pattern would be a wonderful choice for such a worthwhile gift. Jenny also shares on her site another new to me tutorial, Keyhole Block Quilt using Honey Buns, how neat is this quilt?  I love it because not only honey buns may be used but 1.5" scrappy strips can also be utilized from your stash, another great and quick quilt to make for charity sewing. 

If your like me you might enjoy many other ways to craft and another favorite site of mine is the  Inter Weave site - this is where they offer you free e-books as well as videos for a variety of crafts.....this makes me a Grabber - I take full advantage of the freebies which feed my hobbies.  Honestly, if you haven't been to this site, I swear you'll enjoy visiting and accepting some or all of the offered freebies which connect with your interests.  You can spend days looking over this site and choosing from such a vast selection of craft titles, it is almost endless.   "FREE" who does not like something for nothing.  Joining is the exercise I do most of when on the internet, especially sites which feed my interests.  Written by many of the crafts celebrities just for you!   In the "Quilting" section alone there are 23 titles to choose from, how great is that?   

Then there is Quilting Daily which also offers freebies and has a font of information to share with its readers, free e-books as well as patterns, this only needs you to join, quick and easy too! You might also like the Free Quilt Patterns site if you have not already discovered it!  This site also covers other genres of the crafting world for you to take advantage of.   

These are but a sample of the places I surf to when seeking information, or a new pattern, or a technique, these are only a few of those special places on the internet which will teach you anything you might wish to learn of a hobby or a special craft you might wish to learn or expand upon.  These sites approach those skilled professionals and ask them to share and teach, how special is that?  All you need to do is join and you'll receive newsletters outlining what new freebies are being offered at any given time.   Saves a lot of individual searching around cyberspace!

DO YOU have  special place on the internet where you turn to for information or new ideas for your hobby, for me it is all about quilting, knitting and crocheting, and I utilize free to the enth degree.   IF you do have a link which I may not have included here, please, won't you share it with us, it is always a BONUS when others share great and informative sites.

Thanks for your visit with me today, keep safe out there with the weird weather as well as sickness  invading our spaces and remember if your out and about then make sure you WASH those hands every opportunity you get before carting a germ home with you. 

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.  ~Author Unknown

Relief

I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich.  ~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford 

Before I get into my post today I thought I would share with you something so heartwarming!  

When first I saw this picture I was shocked, didn't pay close enough attention and was thinking my goodness, she has a broken arm!!!!  Silly g'ma, it is a splint to hold the IV in place.  My son took my wee Ella to hospital last night because she was so sick.  The doctors thought it might have been pneumonia, but this morning after reading her tiny x-rays they believe it to be a case of bronchitis.  I admit I have heard of croup, but not bronchitis in such a little one before.  
Last week she was happy and smiling while visiting with G'ma and G'pa in Florida, and today she's visiting the doctors and nurses at her local hospital!
However, as this pictures says it all, Dad and daughter seem to be doing just fine, both sound asleep after a long and difficult day and night.
Though I managed to give myself a good old fashioned scare when first I saw this picture.  Now I am much, much happier knowing the full story!  Thank goodness for cell phones and the internet I am spelling my happiness today as RELIEF!!!

Now on a happier note, I received a newsletter from Free Quilt Patterns Info this morning and I wish to share it with you, it contains several free patterns and if you haven't seen it yet, then possibly this  might interest you? (No affiliation here).  What peaked my interest was the free pattern called "Checkered Past Quilt Pattern, by Hancy Reynolds"  and it is free for anyone and everyone to share around.  I just have to show this off to you and if you are interested in all free patterns, this is a site you might like to join?  I am one of those who haunts the internet for free patterns because I simply cannot afford to buy any more quilt magazines (which I think are great to have), and Free patterns make me a happy quilter.
Not only am I a fan of free pattern sharing (especially those which have no copyright) and this pattern it states is totally free and may be passed about without fear of the copyright police taking um-bridge.. this Civil war quilt is ideal, and also can use up those reproduction fabric remnants you might have from other projects and the pattern has history, thanks to Barbara Brackman!  Here is an excerpt from the free pattern page where you will find a link to download this free pattern!
 Barbara Brackman is a quilt historian and her blog, Material Culture, is an excellent source of information and resources having to do with historic quilts.  This pattern is a free one she presents on her website and was originally designed by Hancy Reynolds in the Civil War era.  More from Barbara:

"A simple pattern alternating two blocks recalls the somber year of 1862 as the Civil War marched on, the year of Julia Ward Howe's Battle Hymn of the Republic.  This scrappy design is made from Jelly Roll strips, extra fat quarters, and border yardage. 

It is so nice that our famous quilters make and take time to share with us through their web-sites and blogs, sharing their talents, skills and time.  Makes me feel proud to be a part of the quilting community, because Quilters really are some of the most generous people.

My post is a bit discombobulated today, but, I am one of those bloggers who rambles most of the time on any given day anyhow.  

My friend has left, she's found digs to stay at much closer to her mother and so I am back to being on my own again.  Since I made time yesterday to visit the Library, found 8 wonderful novels I hadn't read yet, and since I worried over my little angel being in hospital this morning, and now having been deserted by my visitor, I think a nice hot cup of coffee, some light instrumental music and one of my novels is in order and tomorrow I can return to the sewing machine....

Thank you so much for stopping in to visit with me for awhile this afternoon, I really needed the company.  Please, comments are free too, won't you share some of your thoughts with me?

Jumping for joy is good exercise.  ~Author Unknown

Working With My Own Obstacles

Whoa, days have slid past me since I last posted, like driving to Ottawa to collect a friend who flew in from Calgary and who is currently staying with me and somehow, the days are flying past faster than I can manage to keep up.
My daughter-in-law and one of my granddaughters flew off to Florida for a nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa and now their back already, where has the time gone?  

Pretty in Pink

I just  love my new dress

Hmmmmmm, whats this?

At 4 months she's such a charmer!  I just bet mommy and Grandma had their hands full....
Besides just sitting and relaxing and catching up with one another, Liz and I have also been watching the CURLING which has been on all week, it is the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, what a great week it has been so far.  Those women curlers make it look so easy and believe me, I have curled and it is far from being easy!!
TODAY after doing some much needed housework, changing bed linens, and a huge load of laundry and giving my washer as well as the dryer the third degree (seems one of my pillowcases is missing) I have searched everywhere and either I need new glasses (yes, I do need new eye wear) but, haven't found it.  Hopefully it will turn up somewhere.  Once I finished folding and putting the washed items away I discovered it was already very late afternoon.  
I have no real notion as to where time went, but as a treat I decided finally to get out my Scrappy Hearts blocks and finish the last block. Cindy has some terrific free quilt patterns for you to make on her blog. 

I have decided to make eight of these scrappy hearts and seven alternating blocks  to co-ordinate with these and hope the idea turns out to be just right, and if they don't make the scrappy hearts stand out nice and pretty then I guess I will be making more scrappy hearts.
I so love Cindy's quilt, but my goal is to make one that is just a bit different.   
I have walked around these blocks for a long time and finally I believe I may have found what I believe might be nice and different to add to these blocks and give me a finished top.  I can never overcome some of the mental obstacles I seem to have in my head right away, I always have to mull it over for a long, long time. 
BUT, I have come up with an idea to make my Scrappy Hearts blocks stand out and yet make my quilt different.   Once I make one of the alternate blocks I am thinking might be just right, I will take some photo's and share with you, but, until I physically make the block and set it beside the Scrappy Hearts, it may not look as good as I am thinking it will.  There is that obstacle I was telling you about.
DO YOU have moments like this?  An actual brain freeze and then out of the blue you come across or think of an idea which you believe will work?  How do those ideas turn out for you?
DO you walk around some projects for a great length of time before actually beginning it or finishing it?  Sometimes it is like writers' block, I simply cannot seem to find it in my minds eye or even envision just how it should look. Then an idea takes shape and I simply have to try it out.   I so enjoy doing something a wee bit different or off the wall now and again.  
While my friend is visiting, I have been on the computer a tad more than usual for me, so I have been surfing and playing games without the inclination to do much work, more or less I have frittered the past week away.   WHAT FUN giving yourself time off because you can! 
TODAY I felt like I really wanted to sew!  The feeling is rather a joyful one.  I will share pictures of my progress in a day or two, soon as I finish this one last Scrappy Heart and cut the corresponding blocks to which I want to add the hexagonal flower.  I hope my idea isn't a crazy one, but in my mind I see what it is I think I want, LOL!
For the back I actually had an almost brand new 100% cotton sheet, but it was white and I wanted it to be a creamy beige, so, out came the boiling water and lots and lots of tea bags.  I now have a beige sheet to use for the back of this Scrappy Hearts quilt.  
Since moving I find there isn't as much money for fabric purchases as I would like and fabric for backs is going to be in huge demand very soon, unless I get healthier.  Once I have more mobility back and be able to climb stairways I will be collecting fabrics from my former home and bringing them here, then, I shall once again be in the stash and what a stash it is!  Once that stash has been nicely stored here I won't be trying to convince myself to buy fabrics or to spend money I don't have, if that is at all possible.   
I have joined the Needle and Thread Blog Network, and if you feel like meeting some very interesting Canadian Bloggers it is here you will see a great selection of fabric, thread artists, fiber artists, quilters and needlework enthusiasts.   WIP Wednesday was yesterday and these days are always of interest, makes me really want to sew again and seeing what others are working on provides so much inspiration, don't you agree?  
I hope you will enjoy the sites I have shared with you today?  I personally love surfing and meeting Bloggers I have yet to have discovered and that these wonderful people are eager to share of themselves with others is awesome.
Remember, if you have a comment or a thought or a site to share, please, won't you share it here with myself and others who come by for a visit?


Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.  ~Henry Ford

Love is in the Air Today

Happy Valentine's Day, the entire day is devoted to LOVE!!!!

I apologize for not posting the last few days, I have a friend visiting and have also been resting my back, because the back and hip problems have returned with a vengeance. 

TODAY being valentine's day makes me want to shout to all the people's of the world, hey, lets Love one another and make a long and lasting peace!!!!  Wouldn't it be great to annually celebrate PEACE DAY?

Thinking of peace, led me to look for some special quilt to share with you today and I believe I have found a very special quilt. 

 It is called the RED CROSS Quilt, and a free pattern can be had for this quilt, should you be interested in it.  The history of the quilt is interesting, and we all realize just how very loving and kind the people who work and volunteer for the RED CROSS can be.  It seems these quilts also raise much needed additional funds for the organization and the important work it carries out.

Since today is Valentines Day, the one day in each year that reflects on sharing love one individual has for another, it seemed somehow fitting to sort of single out one of the thousands of organizations that shares its love for humanity.

A unique and different slant on a heart quilt can be found over at What A Hoot! Quilts you will see a pictures of a very pretty quilt which looks black and white with rainbow motif hearts on it, very, very pretty and different from many of the heart quilt patterns we normally see.  I even pinned it on Pinterest.   Look around this Blog, there you will see variations of this specific quilt.  A very interesting Blog it is too! 

Not only do I love the art of quilting, but, cake decorating is also a favorite for me.  Not that I bake cakes and can decorate them, far from it, I am not capable to decorating a cake, but, I am a fan of Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss from Hoboken, N.J., you know, at Carlo's Bakery and with a few television shows to his credit?  Since it is Valentines Day and since sweets like chocolate are a special item today, why not go and visit Carlo's Bakery Grab & Go page, I put on the pounds just looking at all of these tasty treats.  I especially love it when every once in awhile, during the series, Buddy decorates a wedding cake! ..he does such a fantastic job decorating.

Time for me to make an effort to tidy up and have a nice hot shower to give my back a treat this morning.  Staying under the hot water long enough to provide me with the stamina to sit and sew for awhile.  

Have a wonderful Valentines day today and don't eat all of your sweets at one sitting, save some for me, please?  

There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them.  ~Sylvia Plath

And Now Sunshine

Happy Saturday, the storm for us here in Ontario is over for the time being and the sun is shining though it is cold 

and windy still and there is a great deal of snow to be cleared away.  Though my friends along the eastern seaboard in Maine as well as the eastern provinces of Canada are still being hit quite hard with all of the nasty white stuff falling from the skies, but, it is great for those ski resorts whose places haven't seen enough snow for their business' in the past several years, so for those I am happy.  However, it is very dangerous for those who might be caught out in it, especially along the eastern coast of Canada and the United States, just take a look at these weather statements and storm pictures!!!  This is where you can also see the radar map showing the movement of this storm as it heads out towards the Atlantic. I am very happy to be here in my little house safe and warm.

Where I live looks rather pretty all decked out in that white stuff see how nice the snow looks on my neighbors roof line, almost a Rockwell!

Thanks to the wind, my deck received a good cover as well, and the ramp is not too useful at the moment and the bird feeding stations have disappeared under the mounds of snow.

Now all I need is to buy a snow shovel, that seem to be a very important utility tool I forgot to purchase.  

I have a boneless pork roast in the slow cooker and the aroma wafting throughout the house is wonderful.  I am going to have pulled pork this evening, I can't wait.  Yummy.
A few years ago I began a quilt for a friend using the free 2008 scrappy hearts free pattern from Cindy Carter using some of her mums' clothing in it as a memorial quilt for her.  I had used some of the clothes to make pillow for her brothers and sister, but the the rest were to be sewn into a quilt.  I only have 2 more blocks to make and then I can begin to assemble it, but for some reason it seems to be avoiding me, I just can't seem to get the feeling to work on it.  I promised myself I would finish this quilt and this is the time now to pull out the blocks and get it done, even though I am really wanting to work on the pieced border quilt, but that too is facing a problem.  The design roll I bought doesn't seem to have a huge variety of fabrics in it so I will be cutting some from the bit of stash I have here..  Last night in anticipation of me finishing the Scrappy Heart, I tea dyed a nice white cotton sheet for the back of t, but it turned out light even though I used quite a number of tea bags soaked in very hot boiled water, the first time, it was too light, so I did it again this morning, but it hasn't turned out much darker I may have to break down and buy some dye.   
It never hurts to have a few problems with a project, those rekindle some of the energy to get the problems solved and finish it.  Least ways that is how I sometimes get through those projects I seem to have lost focus in. 

Time for me to say cheerio for the day, so come back and visit with me tomorrow, hopefully I will have something of interest to share.

It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.  Makes you wonder what else you can do that you've forgotten about.  ~Alan Ball