Winter Beanie New Year

   Wishing all of you best wishes in 2019!

   Here we are at the World Jr Hockey Games in Vancouver surviving the rain and little sunshine. Canada has just scored their first and only goal against the Russians. Nail biter. TG it wasn't a medal game.

   Hooray, another bonus block, Winter Beanie. Perfect for the hockey games.

While mom's away me and Phill will play.

See you next year.

Merry Christmas to All

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

   Did the shortest day feel like the longest day to you? Running errands, purchasing Christmas gifts, picking up construction materials, crowded roads and even more crowded stores. Oh the hustle bustle of the season.

The studio is coming along.

   How about the last minute stitches in these splendid sampler bonus blocks. A horn with champagne and o j for the new year.

   My first Christmas with mom. (thank you hallmark for creating an ornament especially for me)

Mom nicely put me beside the bird so I can practice my bird calling.

  From me to you a purry meowy Christmas!

One More Week

   Are you ready or do you still have to quilt that quilt or bind that quilt? There's only one more week. How about adding those buttons? I can attest to sewing shirts and adding snaps or buttons,  Button Up by Cecile McPeak and Rachel Martin, to them the night before wishing I was in lotus land, Lotus Pond by Fiona Wright.

   Them were the days before Christmas, sewing up a storm, Nancy's Spool by Nancy Zieman - error in book revised Page 8, all through the longest night, Changing Seasons by Jane Davidson.

   Now I sit and enjoy the 2018 murder mystery looking forward to find out who done it while watching/listening to the Hallmark Christmas movies.

   I am so thrilled. Mom got me my own personalized first Christmas ornament. I even posed so nicely for the portrait.

Plus I'm over by the bird so I can watch and practice bird calls.

Domesticity

   For the first time in a couple years I was all out domesticing. The two young men that are constructing the studio never eat lunch, nor supper should they come to work after an already long day of work. So, for the last few times I've been feeding them so that their brains and body are getting nutrition to work properly. I also said that their mother called to say they need fattening up.

What better blocks to represent this week, Nourish by Debbie Grifka and Balancing Reflection by Yvonne Fuchs.

After talking with the gals about eating salmon this weekend, it made me want fresh baked salmon with rice and salad. The salmon is in the oven and now the rice. Oh sister, where is the measuring cup for the rice cooker. Fifteen minutes later, okay then we'll cook up this rock rice that I've never had, by scratch. Now rice and me do not get along. Heck can't even make instant rice. Whoa, cover and put on simmer for 40 minutes and absolutely with your life do not lift the lid. Can smell it all now, burnt rice. 

In the meantime, still looking for that rice cooker measuring cup. Ah ha, it twigs, one day I was smart enough to put the rice in a container and the cup with it. So now rice on the stove and rice in the rice cooker - a fabulous invention. Now what, the electrician calls have to go let him and the manlift into the building to park ready for Thursday. Seriously, I'm in the middle of domesticity I can make it there in 1.5 hours. Woohoo both rices worked, the awesome salmon baked, and off to the studio.

This takes us Full Circle by Missie Carpenter, For Madge by Pat Sloan.

Studio day 4.

   It was a crazy day today. Mom was running around the island, checking drawers, checking cupboards. If the phone rang once is rang a dozen times. All I needed was popcorn kitty treats. What a show! 

Sunny Side Mountain Ash

   Here we are in the block of the days. Sunny Side Up is my version of the Splendid Sampler II blocks. These first 2: Piece in Chaos by Betsy Chutchian and First Aid by Jane Davidson.

Then out of the pan and onto the plate are Antique Memories by Pat Sloan and Precious Things by Patrina Jahnke.

   One of the picturesque images in winter is the Mountain Ash covered in snow under a bright blue sky. It reminds me of a Baltimore Album quilt in traditional colours.

   Enjoy the rest of your week!

Meowtings to everyone. The place has been a hopping lately. What with the snow shoveling, the insistence that mom let me outside downstairs and all the decorating for Christmas I'm so worn out supervising all the goings on. Christmas cannot come soon enough. I already smell the treats.

A Block Here A Block There Studio

   Who spent today cyber mondaying beside me. Oh my the credit card took a beating. But I helped in keeping the economy going.
   A busy last few days. We are at the block a day this week. Here are three of them.

And how many of you are still working on the Splendid Sampler II blocks. Did you get Thursday's bonus block? Here is my Sunny Side Up version.

   Next Step studio - scraping glue off the floor. walls surrounded the perimeter of the glue and cubicles were all around.

After day 1.

   Not quite the last leaf here, but pretty darn close. They are all frost and snow bitten and are still hanging on by their stem capillaries. Check out your Bonus free pattern The Last Leaf.

  Have you ever gone to use a piece of batting only to find out it was just shy of what was needed? I tell you what a pain! I use to hand baste pieces together thinking that stitching them wasn't that great. But, according to this video piecing batting together it is a okay.  Remember to use matching thread.

   It was a wonderful day for a walk today. Calgary has so much wildlife inside the city limits. Can you see the does and buck? They just look at us 2 legged creatures and carry on. No big deal.

For this time of the year it is down right balmy sitting in the sun. How many of you can relate to not having your picture taken? Mom, really do you have to? She's always trying to get a good picture. Even though I give her my good side, she says she needs a really good portrait not a cameo. Ugh!

Ice on the Lake

   Oh no, winter is really coming. Ice is beginning to form on the lake, there is frost in the mornings and we shoveled three times last week. Every year I say we're only going to shovel the front sidewalk and a path from the front door to the front sidewalk. So far so good. The new vehicle is bigger and higher off the ground so, will see how it goes.

  We are into week one of the next 80 Splendid Sampler II blocks. You can get your book in softcover or kindle version.

Here is my Sunny Side Up version breakfast for four. (top left clockwise) Curves Forever by Jenny Pedigo & Helen Robinson. We think this cool block would make a great border as well. Estelle by Joyce Beenes. Oh how I love the smaller pieced blocks and so easy to make. You can really change the block look by changing the values. Next is Hashtag Love by Jane Davidson. A wonderfully simple yet effective block. We all love the hashtags. Was hashtag even a word before social media? 😄 It definitely is better than pound love. Lastly, Ticker Tape by Debbie Brown. Check out her blog Higheredhands Debbie Brown Quilts .

  Do you see that white stuff? Who put it there? Brr. Hm! Since I can't go outside without getting a chill and my feet wet, I think I'll just lay in the sun till Spring.

The Final Block

  This is it. The 20th and last free block from the Splendid Sampler II. Thanks to Lissa Alexander for her block, Big Sun.

We found it tricky making the quarter square rectangle.

It was tricky making the rectangular quarter triangles. 

Lay out all the triangles.

Sew the triangles together. After pressing the seam so the white fabric was on top, the yellow fabric was showing at the edge (was wider in the seam allowance so that one could see it). We had to trim the seam a smidgen. The picture shows the scissors at an angle. This causes the white fabric to be a bit wider than the yellow fabric. Therefore the yellow fabric does not show.

Pin the center point to align when sewing the two halves together.

Open center, spin and press seams.

Align the triangle marked paper on the quarter rectangle and trim around the outside edge.

   Spent an extra long long weekend at Quilt Market in Houston. Outside the convention there is a beautiful park that is used for many events. Last weekend there were also street vendors. Look at what I found! Pac men carrying the garden gnome away. 

We are always amazed at the amount of fabric collections the are produced each year. And now with digitally printed collections they are enticing that much more. Aye E!
We've all seen Hoffman's big flower. Look what Cindy McCracken has done with her flower. This gives me so many ideas for my own design. So stay tuned.

Enjoy!   

   So while mom's been either on the computer or sewing, I've discovered birds in the front rose bushes. The continuous crashing of blinds one morning made mom raise them. So now they are raised each morning. (She's still in training you know and coming along just fine.) Now I can see all the birds. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for the birds, when they land on the window sill all I can do is slap the window.  It's so frustrating. I sit there and chirp call them but cannot grab them. What to do, what to do. I guess it's called practice.

Where are you my sweet birdie.

Here birdie, birdie. Come to my window sill.