I'm Done In!!!

Well yesterday was a high when I realized I had one month left on my loan and also I was able to lock up more funds into RRSPs in one year than I've ever done and to top it I arranged for bi-weekly transfers into my TFSA!!!  WOW!!!


Then I'm sent in the opposite direction with this nightly trudge down this street in snow covered sidewalks with drifts, still more snow in the yard and the dogs need their nightly walks after the shovelling!  Well I'm not used to this type of exercise and for some some reason today these two girls decided to "race" home and there I was trying to keep up through this snow!  A couple of times I just started to laugh and told them to slow down but some times they just ran out of leashes as I just could not keep up.  Sheesh!!!


Then we get inside and naturally is a brisk towel rub down for them and today they are still wound up and Lilla who is usually the more subdued is chasing her tail on the couch and Molly is just looking at her!  FUNNY!!!


Glad curling is on - I can now relax for the evening.

Stitching Friends Gather

Well it was not exactly "Family Day" activities for February 20th holiday, but it was a gathering of stitching friends for some food, fun and laughter that day.  See I'm house/pet sitting and invited my friends Florence and Michelle over for visiting and stitching with me so I could be home with the dogs as the parents had just left.  So first off - what a coincidence - Michelle walks in and the first thing she spots is her dough art piece on the kitchen wall - WOW!!! - which must have been a special order as she mostly used Ukrainian words.

We just chatted and stitched until it was lunch time where we had kinda a full meal - not a light lunch so to speak with Florence's yummy salad and Michelle's homemade apple crisp for dessert and I served the meatloaf and baked potatoes with cauliflower, onions and celery - YUMMY!!!

Then after lunch we got down to the serious stuff at the cleaned off kitchen table.  Michelle was tatting and is in the process of using up her yarns with a knitting mystery - WOW - then she checked out Florence's book that she's interested in.

Florence wanted to see if she could finish off the binding on my MPQ 2012 Quilt Reflections challenge piece and she just about did it!  I really like what she's made and I can see it gracing some cottage wall somewhere!

As for me, well I think I became the entertainment, maybe even frightening Molly to the bathroom corner with my laughter, poor girl - I did try and cuddle her to calm her!  See I was attempting to work on my china saucer pincushions in an attempt to have them ready for the MPQ 2012 Quilt Reflections boutique and kept having all kinds of problems.  I even scared the girls as I was using this 6" long doll needle and there were some close calls of piercing myself besides other happenings.  But with their help in choosing colours and buttons I did accomplish to finish off three of them and have a few more ready to work on. 

this was hard work and
and needed concentration

 

Michelle got a chuckle from this one

 

scissors caught up in the stitching

  

Yes, I'm hoping they are a hit in the boutique and again at Lace Days in June.

Tribute to Gina Brummett - Completed

Finally with size 30 cotton I'm able to complete the piece I selected to honour Gina Brummett - fellow tatter.

I think it's very lovely and once I master the finer threads I'll make another to compare.

If you want more on this topic please see my previous post.  Thank you.

Crazy Patched Nickel Block Swap

OK I again was one of the tardy members of a swap (first time in WWCQ) and this one I honestly thought I had tonnes of time to prepare and STITCH the nine - four inch blocks in the two months we had before Christmas.  Well talk about unrealistic thinking in my books considering other commitments in my back pocket etc.  Then the swap was dropped as a number of members had dropped out but then in January it was resurrected and a 6-week extension given so I jumped at it again.  See I had the nine blocks all started - I just needed to do the embellishing - no problem - or it should not have been!!!

After putting in a couple of weeks OT at work and then a quilt retreat which I worked on charity quilts that were sitting for a while too (all done now) time once again ran out but at least I was about halfway through when I found out I had the DUE DATE and MAILING DATE mixed up - SHOOT!!!  Anyways I did finish them off last night and today (3 days late) I Express Posted them and they should arrive in four working days in the USA!  I pray delivery is as speedy!

So here is the group picture of my nine blocks - they are similar construction, similar embellishments (not going to post individual blocks) and because of this I thought it would go faster - still not!!!

Now after participating in this activity I think that if there is a next time, I'll start right away with planning different crazy patched blocks, and also different types of seam treatments.  Then if by chance the number participating is less than the number of blocks I've made, and someone has made double, then I still can swap all my blocks.  This way who wants two the same blocks - I'll probably be getting a few back - that's OK - I'll just include them in some other projects!

Guess I better see what else I've signed up for and check the deadline dates!!!

Tribute to Gina Brummett

In my short tatting past I unfortunately did not meet Gina and I'm not sure if I came across any of her tatting patterns.  Unfortunately Gina has passed on and is truly a tatting goddess or maybe should be a tatting angel, but her patterns are still there for members to enjoy.

Some of her patterns were shared with Georgia at the Online Tatting Class for the Learning Centre at this site.  I have tried one of her patterns yesterday and was on the LAST corner and the LAST HALF of it when I made a mistake, split the threads unpicking it, shredded one strand and was attempting to pass it along with the working thread when I made ANOTHER mistake and my ring would not move.  At this point of unpicking I BROKE the thread - not good!!!

Guess I've learnt something from this attempt of a lovely pattern.  Yes it is NEVER attempt a new pattern with thread size you are unfamiliar with.  See I'm very comfortable with size 30 now and venturing into size 40 with a bit of difficulty but this was size 50 and I did not have my magnifiers on either.  So hopefully tonight, now that I have my nine crazy patch swap blocks finished, I'll relax and watch some hockey and try to tat this medallion once again.  I truly do love it and maybe someday will try other patterns by Gina Brummet - hopefully now resting in peace!

February 17th is Friday Night Sew In

Hmmm this sounds like a good idea and I will enter it into my calendar for future months and try and work on or finish off some UFO project on this specific night and blog it on the Saturday!!!  I have so many piling up - I need the incentive etc to "finish off" already!  Thank you Kerry L for having this on your blog for me to check out!!!  Also thank you Heidi of Handmade by Heidi for dreaming up this monthly VIRTUAL QUILT RETREAT!!!

Well for starters this Friday, I'll be finishing off my WWCQ Nickle Blocks and get them into the mail to Leslie E and patiently await my swapped blocks coming home to me.  I know I've learnt something already from this swap - small sized blocks are deceiving workwise timewise - also I don't seem to have the imagination timewise to dream up nine "different" embellished blocks - not fun doing the similar embellishments nine times over!

Crazy Quilts are Quilts Too!!

Oh My I just had a lovely time going through the Competition Album and choosing the one entry that I just loved and spoke to me so much.  So if you are wondering what CQing can be there are some awesome examples in this Pigtales and Quilts blog.

And when you're done with that there are the various entrants' blog links at the top of the page and then various other CQers who are linked to this online event near the bottom. Have fun checking them out but ensure you have some refreshments nearby as it may take some time.

Again thank you Thearica for your visions and goals for crazy quilting!  Now for my own introduction!

Hello, I'm Rose Anne who has sewn since she was 10 on her Mom's old treadle Singer, from Manitoba Canada who has been quilting since the late 1990s.  More recently was introduced to CQing by my "Going Crazy with Quilting" wall hanging where I crazy patched the heart and appliqued it onto the white background, then passed it around to my fellow Aurora Quilters' members for their added rounds.  It's still on display over my computer and yes I'm very pleased with the outcome and then started searching for more information on Crazy Quilting.

That naturally led me to Crazy Quilting International, Crazy Quilting Friends, Chain of Hearts, Crazy Quilters Canadian, SewBuds, and recently World Wide Crazy Quilters  and my local fabric artists group Ravenesque where I can honestly say that my love of crazy patch has grown by leaps and bounds.  Here are some items I've worked on and I'll try and put them from beginning to current.

Crazy Quilters Canadian - bookmarks

Crazy Quilting Friends - bookcover

CQI - Faces DYOB - for Leslie - 3D view

CQI - Christmas/winter DYOB - for Karrin

CQI - Making Memories 2010 block donation

Chain of Hearts - Christmas heart swap

Chain of Hearts - DYOB 1 - my own block

Chain of Hearts - DYOB 4 - swap block

SewBuds - Susan's RR block
- my work white & yellow patches

Ravenesque - MPQ Quilt Refections 2008
- by fish badge - BenFi

For more on my crazy quilting or CQ embellishing just click Home and then scroll down to Labels on the right hand side and look for appropriate tag names.  This will resort the blog and bring up only those posts that I've tagged with that category.  Have fun but remember to have your refreshments handy.

I Won a Prize!!!

Well I went to check out Crazy Quilts are Quilts Too!!!  and linked my blog which has lots of crazy quilting within it (my love of my life so to speak) and then left a comment on Thearica's blog and this morning there was an email that I had won!!!   The following was extracted from Thearica's blog with links so please go visit it too:

Courtesy of my shop "Cover Your Little Piggies" is this bundle of new laces that are being added to the shop this weekend and a yummy candle.  (My shop has a new face lift and name so don't be confused . . . )

February 11th winner!  -  Rose Anne B




Ohhhhh my I am so excited and can't wait to receive these lovely laces.  Thank you Thearica.  Maybe next time this event comes about I just may have an entry for the competition - it just was not possible this year.

Heavenly Angel

Yes I think that is quite appropriate for my newest angel's name.  See she is a free standing machine embroidered lace angel stitched for me by my girlfriend Linda M.  This baby took her over 10 hours by machine just to get the pieces done, then having to put it together was a bit more.  The head and wings alone was over 2 hours.

She has given me a couple of smaller hanging lace angels in the past - compliments to her awesome embroidery machine that I will not touch!!!  Linda was to stitch and gift her to me in the spring time after my Father's passing but has herself been under the weather with some awful back pains and has just recently started to feel better enough to get back to sewing.  So again THANK YOU very much Linda!  She's up in my china cabinet above the TV with my own crocheted angels so in very good company and where I'll see them often.

Supper together @ Wok Box

Front view

Back - complete with
wedding dress button closure
- machine embroidered

Crazy Quilts are Quilts Too!!

Oh My I just had a lovely time going through the Competition Album and choosing the one entry that I just loved and spoke to me so much.  So if you are wondering what CQing can be there are some awesome examples in this blog. 

And when you're done with that there are the various entrant's blog links at the top of the page and then various other CQers who are linked to this online event near the bottom.  Have fun checking them out but ensure you have some refreshments nearby as it may take some time.

Again thank you Thearica for your visions and goals for crazy quilting!

"Mark the Goat" is Complete

Yep that is what Jane the designer has named this specific goat pattern challenged by Mark Myers.

I'm kinda sorry that I used the green shade of cotton but glad I chose the pearls - kind of classy looking is my "gruff goat" minus this scraggly goatie!!!


Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7 - here I thought it was an animal of some kind

Day 8 - here I knew it was a goat!

Day 8

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12 - The END!!!

I just LOVE these TIAS - Tat it and See what it grows up to be!!!  It's too bad Jane does these only yearly, but I'm sure it takes ages to plan them out and then prepare the individual steps for all of us to enjoy!  So yes I will wait patiently for the next one.

BUT in the mean time I think I'm going to prepare a type of CQd block for the two I've participated in and do some kind of wall hanging that will grow with each new TIAS I participate in.  Yep I like this plan more and more.

2012 Gimli Quilt Retreat

WOW this was my SIXTH year at this retreat - how time flies when you are having fun!!!  And this year it was even more so having my sister enjoying it too - see she was very ill last year and it took two surgeries and nearly life threatening circumstances to finally fix the problems.  Yes she's bouncing back slowly but surely and awesome to see her enjoying her meals again!!!

This year I convinced Sylvia and Pat to come out a day earlier so we actually had two full and two part days for sewing and relaxing with friends.  On our way out of Winnipeg we were surrounded by dense fog and the closer to the lakes we drove the heavier it became but the roads were clear which was good!  We stopped in at Stonewall to Quilters Cottage (a first for both of them and a return trip is a must now) and then onto Winnipeg Beach for lunch and a stop at Keeper Quilts (a regular fabric stop enroute) and also took some pictures against the hoarfrost covered trees on the lakeshore.

Rose Anne & Sylvia (sisters)

Pat & Sylvia (daughter & Mom)


So here we are stitching away at our various projects.  I had gotten Tami, Florence and Kat at our Aurora meeting to sort through my recycle grocery bag full of swapped 6.5 inch charms and they came up with a blue and green collection all pinned together for me.  When I started I needed to "trim" all these charms and tried to keep them in order before sewing up the quilt tops on point along with blue end triangles and a finishing 2 inch border for both quilts. 

Now these finished quilt tops were shown on Sunday's Show n Tell and then handed over to Edith for their "Quilts of Valour" for war veterans within Manitoba and maybe Canada.  I'm hoping to maybe make up another one or two tops in 2012 as I do have many charms left and there are other patterns out there too. 

 
Here is Pat pressing her scrappy quilt top - she too was trying to reduce her stash but also found she barely made a dent - just as I realized too.  She will maybe be adding a narrow inner border before the 2" scrappy strips stitched together for a wider outer border.




And here is my much rejuvenated sister (still on the slim side me thinks) doing what she loves - quilting and playing with her own twist to some patterns.  This disappearing 9-patch is utilizing some of my black & white charms once again along with some of her own stash with a red zinger fabric for the centre 9-patch block.  It is AWESOME!!! 



Dianne (on the right) is a friend of Pat's from years back pictured here with her two cousins that also enjoy quilting together.  This was a "relaxing" weekend for the girls and especially Dianne who has had her share of medical setbacks too with the worst I think is breaking her left shoulder - shuddering!!!


AND here last but not least is the AWESOME MPQ 2012 Quilt Reflections raffle quilt on display during our banquet Saturday night.  Tickets are still available from various guild members and "maybe" at the Quilt Show, April 13th-15th (limited number for sale).

Now if you're wondering where the other pictures are don't fret you can view them in my Webshots album.  Sorry if you see your quilt but I've not recorded your name, but be assured it is your quilt - not mine.

TIAS 2012 - Day 9, 10 & 11

Yes it was "catch up" time after my 4-day quilting retreat this past weekend.  As I had a meeting last night I then tatted all three steps tonight.  Here are the pictures of my "Billy Goat" with pearls.

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

 It's close to being finished - one more leg I think!