Friday, November 11, 2011

Just curious...

This summer when I was away on vacation, I had my daughter with me at a quilt shop I was visiting. She fell in love with several patterns from this book

This is way out of my comfort zone and very far removed from my choice of quilting patterns. However once I sat and took the time to look at the patterns in the book, they started to grow on me.
I decide to purchase the book with the intention of making one of the quilts as a Christmas gift for my daughter. Well as you may know, my life ended up taking a few unexpected twists and turns and I have done little to none in the quilting department. One thing good though; the book has no "best before" date so it's project will sit patiently waiting until I can get to it.
So what I am curious about is this; do you find yourself making the same kinds of projects,with the same colour ways, or do you venture out and try all kinds of techniques, colours and styles in your quilting?
While browsing different blogs this morning, I stumbled across a BLOG offering a Karla Alexander pattern give away. You had a choice of several patterns and lo and behold when I checked them out it would seem K A definitely has a wide range of patterns to her credit. She is certainly not stuck on one style! If I win and I am not holding my breath here people; but if I win, this is the one I would choose

It is called Fish Out Of Water. A perfect wall hanging for the wall at the cottage, or for my son who is an avid salmon fisherman. Wish me luck!





Lest We Forget

11.11.11

It is a very nasty day today and I would much rather stay home and sew, but I will be heading into town to honour our Canadian soldiers. I can't help but think that many of those men and women would rather have stayed home safe and warm too, but set that aside to serve for our country. It is the very least I can do.
Every time I listen to this song (and watch the video) it brings me to tears. Take a minute...




In Flanders Fields
- John McCrae

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

I entered a give away

for a primitive snowman.



I think he would look lovely in my sewing room. Made from an antique spool. Check it out here

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

She had me at "Hello"

I knew yesterday was going to be a busy day. I decided to put supper in the slow cooker, so Mr. O would not have to wait too long for his supper.
(Nothing fancy; a small piece of beef, some onion, fresh garlic, potatoes and a few carrots. Quick and easy.)

A trip to town to do a few errands, and then hurry back home for an appointment with a gentleman from Edmonston. When he arrived he introduced me to Ruby. She is a real gem.

Meet Ruby...




You know how sometimes you go somewhere and you just fit in right away; there is a comfortableness that comes over you and you just know you are going to like it there? Well that's how Ruby feels...she fits in perfectly! Really she does. I was concerned about my Horn sewing cabinet not being compatible with Ruby, but they just go together like two peas in a pod. Perfect. Meant to be!
Mom (bless her heart) left me a bit of money in her will and I wanted to treat myself to something that I normally would not have purchased. After all;  my other Janome is a real workhorse and I love her to bits...but Ruby is a big girl with an opening space of 11 inches! Lots of room for machine quilting there! I did a bit of shopping around at several different brands of big machines and I kept going back to the Horizon, so I made arrangements for Ruby to come for a visit to see how we would get along. when I was asked what I thought about her, the first thing that came to mind was a scene from the movie Jerry McGuire where Tom Cruise is trying to explain himself to Rene Zellweger...he is rambling on (quite eloquently I might add) when Rene interrupts and says, "You had me at "hello". I couldn't have said it better.
When Ruby stepped out of her box


I was smitten!


Thanks Mom! I love you.

p.s. in case you haven't see the movie


Thursday, November 3, 2011

What's In A Name

Today while reading some comments on my sisters blog For The Love Of Threads  I clicked on a link from one of the commenters. That took me to Carri's blog entitled A Passion For Applique . While there I was checking out her Blog list on her sidebar and decided to check a few of them out. That brought me to Dawn Hays blog As Sweet As Cinnamon . Scrolling through her posts brought me to this . 
Dawn was having a give away and brought up the topic of how we chose the names we do for our blogs. She has a place to list the link to your blog and asks that you give a bit of an explanation of your blog name. Well that got me to thinking back a couple of years ago when I started blogging and the history behind my "handle". Long before it was a popular expression I used to say just that. It is what it is. This is what has happened or this is what we have or these are the rules...it is what it is, we have to deal with it. I am sure my kids would remember me saying it to them many times..."I know it isn't fair but that's life and it is what it is..so let's make the best of it and carry on. I wanted to primarily talk quilting on my blog but soon realized that I would not be blogging often if I only talked about my quilting accomplishments, because  if you go back and check this out you can see that quilting didn't even make it into the first post. Not THIS ONE either. It was only post #3  that I first talked quilting, and showed a quilting cartoon. Post #4 I did some stitching. Well you get the idea...my quilting blog became my "this is my life blog" for no other reason than It Is What It is. I promise quilt talk tomorrow though...sigh.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Remember this one?

Thoroughly enjoying my book. Of course it has me humming some of these oldies.
Beautiful day for a walk and maybe a few more stitches to my dresden plates.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

November 1

Like many other people my mind always turns to our Veterans and war time songs and movies at this time of the year. Even though none of my immediate family are/were soldiers there is something that always tugs at my heart especially at this time of year. I have just started reading a book by JoJo Moyes entitled Ship of Brides. A book about a journey from Australia to England in 1946 on the HMS Victoria. A transport ship for some of the last Australian war brides to leave Australia; young women who had married servicemen and now being transported to their new lives, husbands and homes in the UK. A story about 4 women from extremely different backgrounds, brought together through having to share a cabin during their long journey. 






"The year is 1946 and all over the world young women are crossing the seas in their thousands en route to the men they married in wartime, and an unknown future.

In Sydney, Australia, four women join 650 other brides on an extraordinary voyage to England - aboard theVictoria, which still carries not just arms and aircraft but a thousand naval officers and men.

Rules of honour, duty and separation are strictly enforced, from the aircraft carrier's captain down to the lowliest young stoker. But the men and the brides will find their lives intertwined in ways the Navy could never have imagined.

And Frances Mackenzie - the enigmatic young bride whose past comes back to haunt her thousands of miles from home - will find that sometimes the journey is more
important than the destination.

Based on the true voyage undertaken by HMS Victorious,The Ship of Brides is a novel about love, blind faith, and an age when the collision between duty and love could leave you with more than a broken heart."


Hoping to sew a stitch or two on my dresden plate between pages, but I have to tell you I am hopeless with books. Hate to put them down til the last line is read.