Finally...

We got the tree up and it's been decorated.

This snow lady goes up every year. It was my first applique piece in the class I took in quilting. She's not quilted, though. Her pocket always has to have at least one mini candy cane.

Last Friday my kitchen tree looked like this. I just wanted a lot of lights on it. This year I didn't put any bulbs on. My husband wrapped the little lights around it since I didn't have the time or the patience.

I have a built-in desk in the kitchen and it gets decorated every year.

This is the other half of the desk. I may have added a few more items since I took this photo.

The quilt is back up in the hall.

I have two of these door jingles and I put them there for the little ones. I don't mind if they take them off and play with them.

My plain wreath got wrapped in some red mesh this year. I have my daughter's wreath to do now. she liked mine so much and I had mesh left over so she gave me her wreath. It doesn't take long to do.

Even my Christmas kitchen curtains got hung.

Last week I managed to make 4 loaves of pulla and some apple muffins. All were given away to family. While baking I listened to Christmas music. My all time favourite is the Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers Christmas CD. I did have the tape and the vinyl of the same but the CD is easier to pop on. Another favourite is Alan Jackson's Christmas CD with the tune "Please, daddy (don't get drunk this Christmas.)" I'm still waiting to hear "Grandma got run over by a reindeer (while walking home from our house Christmas Eve)" on the radio. We have one station that plays nothing but Christmas tunes at this time of year.

I'm off to get more cookie baking done now.
I do hope none of you are stressing out over getting things done. Be kind to yourself and prioritize. If it doesn't get done before Christmas, it can get done after. 

Flashback

We finally have a bit of snow. It came on Thursday but it was light and sweepable. The volume had us all taking our shovels out to clean up the walkways.

I just noticed that this looks like a black and white photo but it's not. It's our backyard way back in 2008.

And this is the tree that we planted one day. I am posting this photo because it is no longer this size. Had we known then what we know now, we would have planted it farther to the end of the backyard. We do have a lot of space.

This is how big it is now - 8 years later...

Here's the trunk. I love trees but feel that this is too close to the house and it drops volumes of needles that have to be cleared away.

On a sad note, we lost our little Digit earlier this year.

She had a good life and was 19. Her sister is still with us and has become so needy for affection.

Here's Pixel and me in 2008. She now gets clipped about twice a year because her fur gets so matted.

Busy, busy...

I'm sure just about everyone is busy preparing for the holiday season. I've been quiet on the blog but busy creating. I have a list and am crossing things off as I go. Not everything on the list involves sewing or quilting.

I have decided to join in on the 150 Canadian Women sew/quilt along. This is the first block and that's how far along I am. I am not a red person but as I go along, I am finding reds to add to the stash for completing these blocks. I'm not keen on 6.5" blocks but since next year is Canada's 150th birthday, I thought I should do something to commemorate it. The stories about the Canadian women that go with these blocks are very interesting. Let me know if you want to join in and I'll send you the link (it's free) or just search the internet for 150 Canadian Women and you will find all the information you need.

The twins are growing so quickly and they needed longer sleep sacks.

 The cat fabric on the right is directional and since I didn't have enough fabric to make both the back and the front go the correct way, I decided that the front could seem like it's upside down but when the little one wears it, it will be the right way for her.

Here's the knitting I am currently working on when not sewing. I have never made anything with circular needles before and so this is a first. They are gifts so I can't say what they are. In order to mark the beginning of my rows, I used an elastic band. I started it at my daughter's house and needed something so - "necessity is the mother of invention." It works and that's all I care about - and besides, it was free.

Just a snippet of the Frozen fabric I purchased at Value Village. There's just over a metre there. It sparkles. I don't know what on earth I will do with it but since the little girls have a book on Olaf, Anna and Elsa, I thought I could use it in the future for something.

I've got to go now and sew up a little gift while this little guy is napping.

Teemu was intrigued with a musical rocking Santa.

He's a very musical little guy. He loves spatulas because he plays air guitar with them. His mom video taped him playing the harmonica earlier this fall while walking along on the street and just recently, she taped him plunking away on a big piano. He may end up as a musician...

Various things

My December installment for the mystery quilt is complete.

The pieces that were previously cut and sewn have now been made into 12.5 inch blocks. No more until January. I can now concentrate on my list of things to do.

This is a lap quilt that Marg and I are working on. We have switched our focus from baby quilts to lap quilts for the Veteran's wing of Sunnybrook Hospital. They are for wheelchair residents and are about the same size as the baby quilts we like to make. Those strips are not cut and sewn into the blocks. I borrowed a book from the library called Sliver Quilts by Lisa O'Neill and these blocks are made with her instructions. Once you cut a block to any size (in this case 9") you then iron a fold into it - right sizes together. A folded strip of another fabric is then placed into the fold and sewn in place. It's then opened up, ironed, the other side of the strip is sewn down and then the block is trimmed. We chose to trim to 8 inches. These are not completely sewn. We think we may add a small border around the whole quilt. Our next one will be in oranges and browns. 

I don't often go into Value Village but my grandsons like stamps and Luc is presently making bracelets out of colourful rubber bands. I just wanted to check it out to see if there was anything that might be useful.

I wasn't looking very hard and I certainly wasn't looking for rulers but for $2.99 I couldn't pass it up.

There was also a bag that had wool roving and needle felting supplies. Hopefully, I'll be able to find some time to play with it all.

I made 8 new hand towel bibs yesterday for the twins. They are getting so big and needed something more substantial to help keep their clothes clean. Little Teemu refuses to wear a bib.

I'm going to see if I can get a bit of knitting done now.

Carrying on

I am working on a mystery quilt that Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs has created and so far, I have kept up. It's not a large quilt - 60 inches square. I'm using my stash to get it done. It's been fun to see all the different fabrics the other participants are using. The posts are viewed at the facebook page. Here's my version of November's instructions.

I think the blue is a tad darker in this photo.

This is closer to the true colour. 

It will be interesting to see how all of the pieces fit together.

I'm linking up once again with The Needle and Thread Network.

I'm off to get some sewing done. Perhaps a bunch of bibs this time - since new ones are needed.

New quilt

It was a quick visit and my youngest daughter is now back in the UK. She came for the weekend. Ayla's hubby surprised her and found a great deal on a ticket for her so she arrived on Friday and left yesterday. Ayla missed the twin's birthday and wanted to connect with them and little Teemu in person instead of just over the internet. I had started a quilt (a wall hanging) for her birthday (which was in July) but didn't have time to finish it so the two weeks before she arrived, I got it completed.

I was initially just going to make the nail polish as one quilt but then I found the lipstick. After that, I decided that it needed a couple of bottles of perfume. The quilting motifs include little girl hand prints, hearts, flowers and stars. All of the patterns were freebies so just search the internet.

And here's Ayla with her quilt.

I'm off to finish a few more projects before the Christmas rush kicks in.

Linking up with The Needle and Thread Network. Pop on over and check it out.

Knit much? Want to win some yarn?

I was contacted by Tiffany of Yarn Canada to let you all know that they have a contest where you could win "Socks for Life" or at least 25 years worth of yarn to make socks - or whatever else you want. The contest is open to Canadians and Americans. You have until December 7, 2016 and the winner will be announced on December 14, 2016. Good Luck!

This is what Tiffany had to say:
"We at YarnCanada.ca feel there’s too much pain and suffering caused by chilly feet.

That’s why we are changing somebody’s life, by giving away a lifetime supply of socks (well, sock yarn, what happens with it is up to you!). The prize ($1000 worth of yarn) goes to whomever can show they will be most impacted by winning.

This is a very important "cause" and we need to raise awareness."

Here's the press release. ----

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Win Socks for Life! Well the yarn, you’re on your own after that.
(Vancouver, BC) “To be fair, it’s actually only a 25 year supply, so we can only hope the winner dies early to keep me an honest woman.” - Nikki Smith, VP YarnCanada.ca
After extensive research YarnCanada.ca discovered two key issues which continue to plague the world which we’d like to help bring to an end.

1. Some people have hobbies other than knitting 
2. Other people buy socks at Costco 

“With one final blow we’ll give someone years of knitting and make it so they never need to succumb to Fruit of the Loom again.” - Robert Matherson, YarnCanada.ca
Don’t want to use all the yarn to make socks? That’s okay, no hard feelings.
Yes, some marriages may end as the winner ignores her husband in a multi-year knitting frenzy. But that’s simply a risk we must take. On the other hand, maybe getting non-terrible socks for Christmas could bring families closer together.
The prize will go to whomever can show how their life will most be changed by winning and what you will do with the prize.
Anything could happen:

“I’ll use the yarn to start a knitting business on Etsy!” - Beth C, Winnipeg

“My friends always get together to watch The Bachelor, but goodness it’s boring, now I’ll have something to do to keep me distracted.” - Janet G, Toronto

“Honestly I have no self control. With all that yarn I’ll knit non-stop, stay up for days and miss work. I’ll get fired, not be able to pay rent and get kicked out of my apartment. But… I’d have so many socks!” - Samantha T, Vancouver

“I’ll knit them all up as fast as I can and give them to charity.” – Nicole

Whatever the reason, let us know why knitting is important to you and how a lifetime supply of sock yarn would change your life.

Enter to Win a Lifetime Supply of Socks

Durham Trillium Quilt Show - Part three

More photos. Enjoy.

This year's Row by Row. The theme was "home sweet home."

Last year's Row by Row where the theme was H2O.

A gift for a husband.

A pattern called Quiet Cove by Canadian, Joni Newman.

A close-up of a fun quilt for a child.

Same pattern as the quilt above but it looks totally different.

And yet again, the same pattern.

One more mystery quilt and I leave you with this one...

"Chubby Chicks" one of two quilts made for 3 year old twins.

I hope you enjoyed the show.