Little Lamb

Finished!

I didn't count the buttons. But there are lots!

So stinkin' cute I can barely stand it.

These pictures were taken in daylight, without the benefit of the sun. I can't remember the last time I saw the sun. It's so dreary and dull around here.

Mother Nature, I'm going away for a few days. You have until Thursday to produce some Spring. Or Else!

p.s. Let me know if you can see the photos in this post. They show up in "edit" mode but not when I publish the post. I just see a little box, but the pictures are displayed when I click on that box. Blogger is being difficult today.

Edited:
Blogger finally cooperated so I was able to re-upload the pics. Yeah, it only took nearly a week...

Idle

[ahyd-l]

–adjective

1. not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing: idle workers.
2. not spent or filled with activity: idle hours.
3. not in use or operation; not kept busy: idle machinery.

(dictionary.com)
 
Lucille has been idle (I blogged about Lindsay's giveaway from work yesterday).
 

Bernice has been idle (except for sewing a tear in my yoga mat bag last night).

My Lamb Mini has sat untouched since Sunday.

O'Cherries needs basting and quilting (and I need some inspiration on how to quilt it).

And my two jelly rolls await the day when they will become a Postage Stamp quilt. Jen of Miss Punkie Pie and I are going to do our own little quilt-along. We both wanted to participate in this project but didn't have the time when Rachel introduced it in January. We've decided to start in April (and keep each other motivated to finish).

I haven't been idle, however. Work, marking, kettlebells, yoga, sick for a couple of days. The week just flew by in such a rush that I didn't even notice.

And now it's Spring Break. Yipppeeeee!

(Well, it's a break, but no sign of Spring so far...)

Vintage Sheet giveaway!

Lindsay of Lindsay Sews and Craft Buds is hosting a wonderful giveaway at

The Vintage Sheet Blog.

Click above or on the photo

Hurry over... you only have a few days to enter!

You may not believe it

Mr. P and I went to an antique sale on Saturday afternoon. Here is a list of all the things I did not buy:

• a little manual typewriter in a little leather case. I really wanted this so I asked the seller the price and he said $45 - $50; I said $20. He wasn't even willing to budge. I walked away.
• another globe. This one was on a stand, not a great big stand but it still would have been too large for the space I have on top of the bookshelf.
• an antique sewing maching. In working order! With all the parts! But the asking price was $290 and that was just a weeeee bit too much. Plus, where would I put it in my little house? (You know that question came from Mr. P.)
• countless bags and jars of BUTTONS! I know - I can't believe it myself. The first thing I said to Mr. P when we arrived at the sale was, "Don't even let me look at any more buttons!" And then I regretted it because I so wanted some buttons. And there were lots! And to his credit, Mr. P didn't say a word when I stopped to caress yet another jar of buttons.

So, what did I buy? you ask.

Not that much, actually. I bought the antique spool below - I should have taken a couple of pictures before I wrapped it in all that giant ric-rac, but my camera batteries needed charging at the time.

I also bought the cute little stacking snowmen (oh so much cheaper than the stacking Santas I bought my mum in Paris last summer). There was also a set of little Easter bunnies and I can't believe I passed it up. I was trying not to be too greedy.

But aren't the snowmen so cute?

And I bought some vintage postcards (dating from 1904-1912) with messages written in the most wonderful script on the backs of them. And I bought some more antique milk bottles - a steal of a deal at $2 for eight of them! I hadn't been looking for more, but I'm sure I can find something to fill them (more buttons?) and my friend Kim will take a couple for her own growing button collection.

Speaking of buttons... I started a new project this weekend. I need something to do while quilting designs for O'Cherries percolate in my brain, so I began a mini quilt for Easter.

This kit was a Christmas gift from the aforementioned friend Kim. It took no time at all to get the top put together and appliqued, but sewing on all those buttons is a bit time-consuming. Totally worth it, in my opinion. I think it's adorable!

I knew I'd find a purpose for all those buttons!

But I still can't believe I passed up the chance to buy more...

p.s. This post was linked to Fabric Tuesday on Quilt Story!

A night in with the OnlyChild

Last night was FNSI and so I did both - sew and stay in, that is. I had company, too. The OnlyChild wanted to "do something creative" with me.

First, I sewed on the borders of my O'Cherries quilt. I didn't take a photo - you've seen it before so imagine it now with 5" white borders...that's as far as I got. Meanwhile, the OnlyChild started making a pillow:

She based her design on a couple of patterns I got from Kellie of Don't Look Now. She didn't get to the sewing part yet. I have a feeling there will be much tutoring in that department since applique is a new skill to be learned by the OnlyChild. Her comment while cutting out all those little pieces: "I'd rather be painting."

But then things got a bit wilder. Together we made Leon:

Leon is another creation from the book Sew Me, Love Me (in the book he's called Scrappy Lion). He was a collaborative effort. I did all the machine stitching and the OnlyChild was the stuffmaster, hand-stitcher, and button selector.

He's got personality!

After all that work, the three of us shared a bottle of wine. We felt we deserved it!

This bottle came back from Italy with me last summer. I wasn't really saving it for an occasion of any sort - just waiting for an opportunity to suck back the whole thing with a good friend.

There are some perks to having an adult daughter when you're still only 29 (hahaha). Yes, she's "legal" - 18 is the age of majority here. Crazy, eh?

The three of us sat and chatted and the OnlyChild and I planned our summer trip to San Antonio, Texas. I'm going for a conference in July and she's tagging along. We are so excited!

Does anyone out there live in or near San Antonio? Or has anyone visited before? We'd like some advice on what we must see and do!

So...to recap... a good night was had by all (except for Mr. P who went to bed early because he has to work today).

Top o' the morning to you!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Being more Scottish than Irish, (although my grandmother was a Collins), we don't do much to celebrate the day. I wear green to avoid being pinched at school. Last year, I forgot and one of my students did pinch me. Hard. Needless to say, I pinched back.

Anyway...

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the Friday Night Sew In. If you haven't signed up, head over to visit Heidi and add your link!

I'm looking forward to this one because I found some more Kona White under a pile of fabric in my sewing room and that means I can finish O'Cherries this weekend - and without having to devise some kind of pieced border from the leftover honey bun strips. Hurray! Basting and quilting... well, that's another matter altogether. Not to worry, though. My fabric order arrived this week so I could be working on other projects, like that skirt from Sew Serendipity.

Except, it will be months until I can wear a Spring/Summer skirt. Look at what greeted me this morning when I left for work at 7:30:

Mother Nature obviously wasn't listening.

O'Cherries

I've decided to name this little quilt O'Cherries - not in honour of St. Patrick's Day (it certainly won't be finished by then), but because it's an Irish Chain made with Oh Cherry Oh.

The finished size is supposed to be 45" x 45". I'm trying to decide on borders. I don't have enough of the Kona White left to make the 5" borders suggested in the pattern. I could make 2" white borders then finish them off with a sort of picket fence border made from the leftover pieces of the honey bun (there might be enough).

I also have some beautiful Kona red that matches nearly perfectly.

It's a possibility for the binding, but probably would be a bit too much for a border.

Hmmmm...decisions, decisions. I have a few days to think about it since I probably won't have much time to continue the sewing until the weekend.

In the meantime, let's enjoy some homemade chicken soup.

It occurred to me as I was making this last night that I should have been taking photos so I could post a how-to for you. It's easy, but takes quite a long time to make.

Next time we have roast chicken, I'll be sure to make it again and write up a recipe tutorial. It is delicious!

Come over to Fabric Tuesday. I linked...you should too!

Dear Mother Nature,

I just wanted to remind you that it is only a week until the official start of Spring.

It really doesn't look very Spring-y here.

There's an awful lot of snow still on the ground.

And more in the forecast? You've got to be kidding!

We turned out clocks ahead this weekend, Mother Nature. That should be a wake-up call for you. Or have you, perhaps, forgotten about us way up here?

I've been keeping myself busy inside for the past few months.

But I really want to spend some time outside, in the sunshine.

If you're not going to cooperate, I guess I will just have to pretend. I will bring out the Spring colours, paint my toenails, and look at other bloggers' photographs of green grass and flowers blooming.

But, seriously Mother Nature. It's time. Truly it is.

Love,

Rachel

Introducing...the Be Yourself quilt

A Friday Finish and a New Project

Be Yourself is officially done! It is, right now, in the washing machine. Pictures tomorrow in the daylight (even if it's snowing), I promise.

Onto the next adventure. I have this:

an Oh Cherry Oh honey bun and some Kona white. I will make this:

This is the Irish Chain Flower quilt by Sheri Howard, found on Moda Bake Shop. Love it! I will be making it without the flowers, however. It will just be a scrappy Irish chain quilt.

I'm still waiting for my fabric order to arrive. It's been nearly three weeks! Arrrggghhh the mail is so slow! I need it so I can start the Postage Stamp quilt, using the Oh Cherry Oh jelly roll I have been stockpiling since last year.

I will have a matched set for the spare room when I'm done those two projects - one for the bed and one for the dresser or chair.

And there might be a small sewing project or two in between...you never know...

Waiting...waiting

Until I have time to complete the Be Yourself quilt.

I finished quilting and sewed on the binding Sunday afternoon/evening (after I finished all my school work, of course).

Last night, I didn't get home from work until after 10 pm! We had our annual dog and pony show Open House to attract new students to the school. As in previous years, I was in charge of costumes. This year, our theme was Happily Ever After which meant we had to outfit 37 students in fairy tale costumes. What a huge job!

Today after work I had to go downtown to the court house. Last week I received a juror summons for a trial that was slated to begin in April and last 18 weeks! Eighteen! Let's see... that would take me through my International Baccalaureate students' exams in mid-May, through the rest of the semester and my grade 12 students' provincial diploma exams and... all through summer vacation. So...no. My employer wrote me a letter asking that I be excused and it was accepted. Whew. I am so relieved.

Tonight is kettlebells class. I'll be home around 8 pm, but who knows if I'll have the motivation or energy to hand-sew at that time. I'm thinking an early bedtime and a good book might be in order.

So, until I have a fairly lengthy chunk of time to devote to it, Be Yourself will just have to wait.

And wait some more...

...probably until the weekend arrives.

p.s. I linked to Fabric Tuesday on Quilt Story today!

haiku to encourage spring's arrival

Good afternoon

Well, good evening to you.

But it was a good afternoon for me today.

It's Teachers' Convention - today and tomorrow, we get to attend PD sessions and have lunch like real working adults (rather than gulping down some soup and running off to a meeting or supervision).

Today, I attended a session called "Creating Accessories" put on by a lovely woman at one of the public high schools in the city. This session won't really help me in my day-to-day job since I don't teach Fashion Studies anymore, but I went with my friend Sandi (who still does teach Fashion Studies) and we made:

A Hobo Bag!

This was a very easy pattern. I had mine done in two hours and that's with the non-stop chatter!

I chose bright, summery colours - not usually my style but I am so tired of looking outside and seeing white everywhere.

All I have left to do is sew on a button.

Where oh where can I find a button...?

Ha!

Now back to quilting Be Yourself.