Today was a Good Day!

Hope you all had a good Easter!  We celebrated yesterday, because Alex's mom had to work, so we had fun in the backyard instead!

Spring has sprung where I live!

 

Although I originally come from Ontario, Canada, I am so grateful my parents made the decision to retire on the West Coast.  I affectionately refer to it as the Wet Coast due to the amount of rain we get, but I honestly feel I live in the most beautiful place!  And that is no truer than this year, where we are having the warmest, sunniest March in 30 years.

 

 

Blue skies have been around for a week now, and are expected to last at least through the Easter weekend!

 

The bald eagles have arrived for the salmon run!  Here in the Fraser Valley we have one of the largest congregation of bald eagles every spring.  On my way home from work last night, there were seven or eight flying over my car, so I followed down a dirt road to see more roosting in the trees.  I'm sure glad my phone has a great camera.  Even the zoom function was better than my first digital camera 10 years ago.

 

 

Where else can you ski and golf on the same day?  This is my view on the way home from work (here I'm only 5 minutes away from my house)

 

 

And on my way in!  I live in a community nestled at the foot of the Cascade mountain range, the same range that follows the coast of Washington and Oregon states, through to Northern California, but I can drive on the flat roads of the Fraser River valley and the temperatures are quite moderate due to the influence of the ocean less than 100 kms west (60 miles).

 

 

 

I get to see mountains from every window in my house, and from my back deck, where I am enjoying the sunshine today.

 

 

 

 

And my garden is starting to bloom!

 

Of course, not every spring is like this and even if it is, we can still go from this:

 

 

April 14, 2011

 

to this overnight!

 

 

April 15, 2011

 

How is your spring shaping up?

 

Hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend, however you may celebrate it!

 

(This post is part of a series Project 365. Day 4 - Be more grateful and be more impulsive! For more, see here) 

 



Project 365, Day 1 (non-quilty post)

Note:  This was supposed yesterday, March 26th.

No, this is not about photos and the popular Photo-a-Day concept.  This is about 365 days to a revitalized me (and I won't necessarily post everyday).

 

Monday was my birthday, and I've always viewed it like a lot of others view the New Year - a fresh start, a chance to change things I don't like and try to establish new habits, etc. So to that end, I want to have a strategic plan to get there by my next birthday.  I've already figured out my non-specific goal:

GOAL:  Be the best I can be, the woman I know I am – strong, independent, happy, fun, outgoing, vibrant, healthy, fit, and ready to take on the world .

 

And this is the most important thing I want to do for the rest of my life:

 

 

Me with grand-nephew Brayden (9 months), and grandkids Alex (4 1/2) and Zoey (21 months)

 

Enjoy my family, close and extended!

 

Sunday Stash Report, Week 12

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I did a stash report!  It's a day late, but I don't want to put it off again. Getting called back to work with no notice, and working full-time instead of four days really threw me for a loop. This weekend it all started to come together and I feel like I'm back to a normal routine.  Sewing has been sporadic and I've made some headway on some projects but no finishes yet.  Hopefully I'll churn out something this week.

Used since last report: 0 metres

Used Year-to-Date: 9 metres

Added this week: 19.25 metres

Added Year-to-Date: 54.5 metres

Net used/Added for 2013: 45.5 metres

 

 

This week I received a fun parcel from Ozark Fabrics (and other fun stuff).  There was a super clearance sale and I couldn't resist $3.50/yd, so I added some some fun stuff (21 yds - yikes!) to my stash!  I justified it that my birthday is coming up, and I've done better than this time last year.

 

 It's a wild mix which included enough for cute boy's quilt, some Christmas pillowcases, library bags for the kidlets, and some Daisy Cottage by Lori Holt (Bee in a Bonnet) that I've coveting.

 

 

A little more about Ozark Fabrics: Owned by Tonya Owens, she currently operates as a Facebook group but is about to open a Web Store; she does this to support her family because her husband is extremely ill. Her personal blog is Hillbilly Handworks and you can join her group on Facebook by clicking on the link above.  Give her a try!

 

On another note, I love reading everybody's blogs - I learn so much.  I discovered this little tip from Bonnie Hunter to protect my little Featherweight machine:

 

 

A cute little crocheted flower keeps any size thread spool from scratching the surface.  And I didn't even have to make this one, thanks to my overflowing craft bins.  I think I'm going to try and figure out the pattern and make one for my sewing buddy!

 

 

And finally, with my limited sewing time, my room looks like a tornado hit it!  Thank goodness for a 4-day weekend coming up - I might get a chance to clean up!

 

 

 

Have a great week,

Terri in BC

 

 

 

A experiment in low volume

My kids came over Saturday for dinner and to celebrate my and my daughter's birthdays.  The little ones had fun playing with the boxes and wrapping.

 

It was fun to see them dressed almost alike - unintentionally since my two daughters didn't check with each other.  What a sassy look on Zoey's face!

 

 

 

This is a much more typical look!  It's hard to believe she'll be two in June.

 

The next afternoon I spent cutting out some spring and summer outfits her.  I mostly used poly/cottons, some which dated back to when her mother was a baby!  Pink rosebuds, gingham and eyelet are timeless.

 

 

I dug through a bin of fabrics to find these - they had been put aside because they weren't quilting cottons.  I also found scraps from some of the clothes I sewed for my girls when they were little.  I decided it was time to bust those scraps!

 

 

I cut them into strips and squares of 2 1/2", 2" and 1 1/2".  Then I just started sewing them together in pairs, regardless of width of the strip.

 

 

Then I cut the paired strips cross-wise at 2 1/2", 4 1/2" and 6 1/2".  I did end up with a few at 3 1/2"  so I've thrown them in the mix too. Even though there were some purples and a bit of pale green in the stash, I only pulled the pink, blue and white fabrics for now, to attempt to have a bit of cohesiveness.

 

 

At first I was going to piece them into 6 1/2" blocks, but I changed the plan part-way through.

 

 

I've pieced the various pieces together to a consistent width of 6 1/2" and I plan to sew them together in 6 panels of about 45" long. 

 

 

That should get me a cute baby girl quilt measuring 36" x 45", perfect for a stroller or playmat. Since it is made of poly/cottons, it will probably wash up easily and doesn't have to be treated as an heirloom.   I think I have enough strips to make two or three of these! 

 

If it works, I hope to make a more detailed tutorial.  And hopefully get better pictures that aren't taken late at night, on a really gross ironing board cover ;o)

 

 

 

 

Happy National Quilting Day!

 

 

Going back to work full-time has been a big adjustment, it's been years since I've worked more than 4 days a week.  It's amazing how much that extra day of work takes away from getting things done at home.  Not a lot has happened on the sewing front, but I have been working on some cross-stitch Christmas stockings for the kidlets.

 

But I still want to celebrate National Quilting Day so the plan of attack has been drawn up!

 

Today, my family is coming for dinner to celebrate two birthdays (my youngest daughter (28) and mine) so I'm going to try and sandwich a couple of hours of sewing this afternoon after I:

 

- get the housework done

- get the laundry started

- throw on a batch of Crockpot Lasagna

 

After they all leave, I want to sew late into the night with The Quilt Show keeping me company. Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims are opening up free access to over 140 of their shows from their website through to tomorrow, with lots of great prizes.  (Personally I hope to win the box of RJR Fabric's Fat Quarters, valued at $450 US.)

 

So...how will you celebrate?

 

 

Good things come to those who wait!

Six months ago, I was laid off.  To keep my mind off things when I wasn't job hunting, I buried myself in sewing and scrapbooking. 

 

 

 

I got my projects organized and finished some UFOs.

 

 

I even started some new ones (and finished a couple)!

 

 

But the fun is over.  I was called back to work to start immediately, and I've been working full-time since.  I'm happy to be back at work and it feels like I was never gone, but I can't wait until Sunday, when I have set aside some time for sewing!