Great Grandson

This is my new great grandson - Ethan. He was born at 7:30 a.m. and this photo was taken about twelve hours later. He is gaining weight and is a happy baby.

Patricia

Guild Meeting

We had a great guild meeting last night and some members displayed their lovely quilts during show and tell.
It was really nice to get out with friends for a couple of hours and our host made a yummy dessert for lunch at the end of our meeting.

Today, however, I am fuming. I had to make a visit to the grocery store to stock up the pantry.
Bags in the trunk, key in the ignition and gear in reverse to get out of my parking spot. Pulled out into the exit lane to leave, and was just putting car into drive, and then saw the reverse lights come on in a van which then proceeded to bang into my rear bumper despite me honking my horn loud and clear. There does not appear to be too much damage, but the cars these days are all plastic and nine times out of ten everything has to be replaced as it can't be repaired, and shop costs are expensive. I want it repaired so off to get an estimate. Needless to say I won't be buying much fabric for the next little while.
Patricia

Guild meeting....

.......tonight is my monthly quilt guild meeting, I feel that I need to get out for awhile so my plan is to attend. I have nothing quilty for show and tell, as I am still working on projects for the competition I am entering, but will take a photo of my new great grandson to show instead.

We have come up with a plan so that OH will be able to give himself his insulin, get his snack, make a bathroom visit, and the phone is close by if he needs me to come home.

We were at the Dr's this p.m. however, know no more now than before we went in, Dr only confirmed what he told OH in the hospital . We made another appointment to visit our family Dr. next week, so will have to wait a little longer for any information.

Worked some more on some hand sewing last night, and I must say I think it is coming along nicely.

We have a damp cool day, and we can expect the weather to get colder as the day progresses, expected low tonight and tomorrow night is -7 C.

Hope everyone is have a great Thursday,
Patricia

Not much ....

...........going on today, I was able to do some more hand sewing on the wall hanging yesterday, and should be able to complete the top tonight and then start putting on the borders. I have a good idea as to the quilting i am going to do, so its coming along nicely.

After a night of high winds, we have a dull damp day, with the promise of late day sun, we will see how accurate the weather forecast is.

Have a great Tuesday,
Patricia

Health Care Workers

If you have been reading my earlier entries you know that my OH was in hospital. He is now at home, and is having to use a walker once in awhile, and cannot change his position from laying, sitting and standing by himself. He is 6ft and me just 5 ft. so you can imagine what I have to do to get him moved. I know the correct way to move him, however, the muscles I didn't even know I had are shouting at me.

To all of the health care workers out there, I have a new found respect for the work that you do. Especially if your job description has these words in it, " assist patients moving from one position to another". Thank you.

I am getting quite a bit accomplished on a wall hanging that I am currently doing, so that is a good thing.

My Great grandson, Mum and Dad visited us last night, our first meeting with the little fellow, he is such a sweetie, will have to post a photo later.

We are back to seasonable temperatures today, with possible mixed precipitation showers.
Have a great Sunday,
Patricia

Mother & Child

I have been working on a wall hanging that I am calling Mother & Child. It is another project that is going into a competition in May of this year.
It is all hand stitching at the present time, and if time permits I will quilt it by hand otherwise will have to do it on the machine.
After having two glorious days of record breaking temperatures, we are now back to cloudy skies and single digit temperatures. Some showers are in the forecast so they should give the plant life a good drink and then they will start growing.
Have a great day.
Patricia

OH home...

from the hospital, however, having quite a bit of trouble getting around, so he has to use a walker. Don't know if this is a result of the problems he had on Sunday, staying in bed for 4 1/2 days in hospital, or something else.

Scheduled for more tests next week, so time will tell.

I was able to do some hand stitching on a wall hanging that I am doing for an upcoming competition, that made me feel better.

Another beautiful sunny day, however, out unseasonable warm weather will be coming to an end tomorrow with rain in the forecast and seasonable temp.s

Hope everyone is having a great day.

Patricia

A movie star????

My son has been unemployed for approximately six months, however, recently he called to say he has a new job.
Sounding very excited he advised his Dad and I that he was finally in "show business", namely in the movies.
Now we were wondering what talent he would have to be in the movies, as we have never seen any indication of any. He was not particularly show biz material, other than getting dressed up as some of his favorite movies stars on Halloween, such as the Blues Brothers and Sir Elton John.
Finally he tells us that he is working for Blockbuster, we think, Oh no! he is one of the counter staff that says "Hi, how are you, welcome to Blockbuster" when you go into the store. As it turns out he is a Systems Analyst, for Blockbuster Canada.
I guess we know what we will be getting for Christmas this year, Blockbuster gift cards.
Not much quilting stuff going on yet.
Patricia

I have flowers.......

...... crocus and daffodils are blooming in my garden. There was also a chipmunk eating some seed from underneath our bird feeder, so he/she is out of hibernation. It must be Spring.

OH is still in hospital but now out of ICU. The Dr's are now saying they believe his problems were caused by low blood sugar (he is diabetic), however, I am having a hard time agreeing with them. But then, what do I know, they are the experts.

Not much sewing being done, soon I will be having withdrawal symptoms and will have to get a fix. Maybe tonight when I get home from the hospital.
Hope everyone is having a great day.

Patricia

Plans were changed

Yesterday we had planned a visit to see our new baby, however, OH had a dizzy spell and collapsed on the bathroom floor. The day then went from bad to worse, I won't go into details, called an ambulance took him to hospital, tests and more tests, and at present he is in ICU.
Short and sweet today.
Patricia

Baby

Well, I am feeling a bit older today, as I am now a great grandma. One of my granddaughters gave birth to a healthy baby boy yesterday, Match 13. Ethan weighed in at 7 lbs 10 ozs, and 21 inches long.

Plans are to go and see him today.

Have to get busy with his quilt, and get it finished before his graduates to his crib.

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday.

Patricia

Spring....

Yesterday I saw a robin in our back garden, a sure sign of spring in my books, and several were back again today.
They visit a fruit tree (I think it is either a crab apple or cherry which still has fruit on it) in my neighbours back garden, they also paid a visit to some of the seed under by bird feeder. Rain is in the forecast for the next few days, which will help the frost out of the ground and allow the worms to come closer to the surface, a choice meal for the Robins.
The rain will also mean a few days to stay inside and quilt, what more can one ask for ---signs of Spring and a rainy days to quilt.
Have a great Friday
Patricia

Finished

Well, its finished, all but some additional embroidery to highlight the path and flowers.

The photo is a bit washed out due to the sun shining on it, and it was blowing in the wind, but it gives you an idea of how it looks. Now I have to decide what border to put on it and how I want to quilt it. Edited March 16, the size of the top is 74 by 78 inches but I have yet to add the borders.

I have learnt many lessons doing this project.

1.Organization. This is the only thing that kept this project manageable. When I decided to do this I went through all of my embroidery cotton and picked out the colours that were to be used for the cross stitch. I then pulled fabric out of my stash which was close in colour to the embroidery cotton. Each piece of fabric was then identified with the colour number and the symbol on the graph. One thing that I really didn't consider was the amount of fabric I would need.

2. Cut your squares to the exact measure using the same ruler for the entire project. This is true in all the fabric you cut, however, when dealing with such a small piece to begin with, it doesn't leave much room to compensate for that fraction of cutting error. I wasn't able to do much strip piecing due to the frequent changing of the fabric colour, so each square was sewn separately.

3. Sew a precise 1/4 inch seam. Use the same sewing machine for the whole project.

3. Pin all of the seams so that they line up. I spent a lot of time doing this step.

4. Patience.

5. Patience.

6. Patience.

7. The most important lesson. What was a thinking, was I mad???? a bit crazy??? a little bit on both counts. If you decide to do a project like this, DON'T, change your mind and forget it.

Don't get me wrong I did enjoy doing this project, and now that the time consuming part of it has been completed I am glad that I did it and I am very pleased with the result.

Hope you are having a great Wednesday.

Patricia

English Cottage Garden Quilt

Well after a year's work putting together this quilt the top is F I N I S H E D.


I have converted a counted cross stitch pattern into a quilt, each cross stitch equals a one inch square of fabric, and 5,424 squares later it is completed. At the present time I am embroidering tree branches and outlining some of the flowers and leaves, I am pleased with the way it is looking.


Now I have to decide what kind of border to put on and also how to quilt it.



Tomorrow I will post a photo and would welcome any suggestions you might have.

Below is a photo, (not a very good one) of the counted cross stitch as it appears in the magazine where I found the pattern.

Hope you are having a great Tuesday.

Patricia

Baby Quilt

My great grandson (am I really THAT old to have a ggs) is due this coming week, but his quilt won't be ready for awhile yet. The fabric was purchased some time ago, however, my life has been quite busy during this past ten days so have not started his quilt yet.

Finally chose a pattern I want to use, it is a easy one so once I get started it won't take too long to put it all together.


Here is a picture of the fabric I am going to use,(the colours look a bit washed out from the flash) however, it will give you some idea. His nursery is decorated with African animals, so when I saw this fabric at Joann's I just had to pick it up. I wondered if the colours might be too dark for a baby, but decided to use it any way.

Today is promising to be another lovely day, but mid week the forecast is calling for some snow.

Have a great Sunday

Patricia

Good News today

My Mother is now out of the hospital and staying with my sister until she gets back on her feet. The medications were very effective, however, it taking awhile for her to become her old self, as she gets older it takes longer for her to bounce back. At 92 years we can't expect too much. Unfortunately she will not always be able to live by herself as she has been doing. Dreading the day when that happens. Taking one day at a time, at least she is still with us, so what more can we ask for.
OH's Dr. ordered prednesone which is relieving him of the pain and the swelling is going down on his right hand. So that's an improvement, but it is making his sugar readings high and could cause his blood thinners to react differently, so more blood tests. We saw an arthritis specialist today, her report, he has a severe case of Tophaceous Gout, which has been in part caused by his kidney disease, and his other health issues. His health problems complicate the action to be taken to help the Gout. We will get it all sorted out one way or the other.
I was able to get into the sewing room last night, only three more blocks and then the top of the English cottage in finished.
Hope everyone is having a nice day.
Patricia

Hoarders

In our morning newspaper today there was an article about hoarding. Have you watched the TV programme "Hoarders", if not, it is a weekly programme which shows a different individual each week, and the stuff he/she hoards. These people collect everything from apples to zebra's (the toy stuffed kind) and lots of it. The show then provides help to get rid of the accumulated stuff. The solutions include changing their feelings, attitudes and relationships with their possessions, and underlying emotional issues are also dealt with by professional counsellors.
These things provide comfort -- no matter the discomfort and chaos the collecting causes. Hoarders waste away in all of the possessions and accumulations, yet they don't see it. Its their normal. The overwhelming clutter makes for chaotic living conditions which impairs daily activity, physical and mental health, relationships and living conditions. It creates fire hazards and health concerns not only for themselves but for neighbours and family.
We all buy too much, are attached to things and keep things we don't need, we are a culture of stuff. However, there is a difference between the chronically disorganized and hoarders. Disorganized people feel stress relief when organized; hoarders actually feel more stressed when organizing.
In this article it noted 10 of the most commonly hoarded items. The 1st. on the list was - Paper, especially newspapers. number 4--clothing, number 8--tools, nuts, bolts, screws and building materials.

Ladies and gentlemen: number 9 on the list------Wool, fabric and craft supplies.
Now, according to the information in this article I think quilters, sewers, knitters and crafters will all be OK and not be classed as a hoarder---
-fabric provides comfort, so we can't be overwhelmed with the need to acquire more-we have to keep the collecting under control --- Oh my goodness, I am in trouble already.
-we can't waste away in the accumulation -- we have to keep it organized--buying more shelves should do the trick---Oh my goodness, that's the second strike against me.
-hoarders have a distorted emotional attachments to items ---I love my Janome--Oh my goodness, three strikes.
-many hoarders are extremely successful and seniors in their areas of expertise---Oh my goodness, I am successful and I am an expert in many things.
I am a "Hoarder"!!!!
I don't mean to make light of this disturbing issue but just had to smile when I read this article while having my morning coffee.

Patricia