Snowing and Sewing

It's still snowing here...

(Pictures taken today around supper time)

The awful weather gave me a good excuse to stay inside and get some things done. First, I started with marking. Considering how easily distracted I am, that job took me all day Saturday. Not to worry - I set aside Sunday for the fun stuff.

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I think I've figured out why we got snow in October. I took out the Let it Snow quilt again. You might remember me complaining about the weather back here and making the connection between the snow falling and this quilt. Yep, I did it again. Out came the quilt and down came the snow. Will I ever learn?

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I can only show you a peek for now. It's supposed to be a secret. (Shhh)
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I played around a bit with a Moda Swanky jelly roll. Ooohhhh... love those pretty colours!

This is also supposed to be a secret.

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And I did a bit of knitting.

Another little peek. It's getting close to Christmas (well, sort of...) so I can't give too much away. Full disclosure in a few weeks. Promise.

My ATC cards for October are ready to be mailed. I had a great time making this month's. The theme was "The Witching Hour." What clever person thought of that, I wonder... why, it was me! I can't post pictures of my cards until everyone has received them. More mystery...

But I can show you something Halloweeny. I made this little witch about 10 years ago and she hangs on my front door every October. I think she's kinda cute.

Today was planning day - getting everything ready for my classes tomorrow. I was supposed to do all this on Saturday, with the marking, but like I said, I'm easily distracted so the marking took me much longer than anticipated.

So, just a few more things to take care of - another border to sew on Let it Snow and backing/batting to prepare so I can pin it after school on the classroom floor - and then my day is done. It was a good weekend... and I was very happy to be reacquainted with Bernice. I missed her!

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Quilt Festival 2009

Amy at Park City Girl is hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival 2009. Here is a chance to showcase some of your work - your favourite, your first, your best quilt. There are hundreds of bloggers participating. You don't want to be left out!

Plus, there are some wonderful giveaways to go with the Festival. All you have to do is blog about a quilt, add your name to Amy's list, and leave a comment. Easy! Just click on the button above to be magically transported to Amy's blog.
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Here's my contribution to Quilt Festival 2009:

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This was the first big-ish quilt I ever made. It is one row shy of being twin size. Why one row shy? Well, I cut some of the pieces incorrectly and had to leave off one of the vertical rows. No worries. I never intended to put it on a bed anyway. It's the perfect size for snuggling.

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I made this quilt about 8 years ago when we lived in northern Alberta. I used to get together one evening every week with a few friends and sew in the home-ec room at school. I miss having quilting buddies!

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I really love the colours in this quilt. Red and yellow are two of my absolute favourite colours (green is the other - yes, like a traffic light haha). And I think the black and white just sets it off nicely. The backing has a 'racing stripe' down the middle, which became kind of my trademark (but it's really because I'm cheap and try to use up what I have by piecing my backs). The pattern was called Hometown and was from a quilting magazine, darned if I remember which one.

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I quilted a flower pattern into the quilt. I think that might have been my first attempt at free-motion quilting. I remember thinking that the flower would off-set the geometric blocks. The borders were stippled, because for me that was - and still is - the easiest way to free-motion quilt.

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Look at sweet AbbyDog. She still sits on the back of the couch and looks out the window. But now it's a different couch, a different window and a different view. And, thank goodness, different flooring. That blue carpet was hideous!

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Okay... back to my marking. My goal is to get all the school stuff out of the way today so I can sew tomorrow and holiday Monday. Wish me luck.
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Snow? Oh No!

Yikes! It snowed! And it's still snowing!

Yep, we woke up yesterday morning to cold temperatures and that white stuff covering the ground.

And despite my bold pronouncement in the staff room that it couldn't possibly stick around (after all, the green leaves are still on the trees), it's been snowing again today.

Here's the view from my office window at lunch time yesterday.

Sigh. I'm already tired of it.

Snow before Halloween? Before Thanksgiving, even? Disgusting!

I want to wish all my Canadian friends a Happy Thanksgiving. And Happy Columbus Day to my American friends. Aren't we lucky to have a long weekend?

I plan to sew. (After the marking, planning and writing, that is). How about you?

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Cats vs. Dogs, Women vs. Men?

Have you ever received that funny email where cats and dogs are contrasted? I can't even remember how it goes, but I know it made me laugh and it made a good point about innate differences. I thought about that email this evening as I contrasted how Mr. P spends his time with how I spend my time. Perhaps this is an activity in which I should not engage...

My evening:

• home from work.


• went upstairs to change


• took dogs out into back yard


• took laundry to basement, folded sheets that someone had unceremoniously dumped on top of the dryer, fed the cat, took out chicken breasts for supper


• put chicken in microwave to thaw


• went back to basement to clean up cat mess (ugh)


• prepared chicken, put in oven, set timer for 20 minutes


• read newspaper for 20 minutes until timer went off, telling me it was time to get veggies and pasta ready


• peeled zucchini and carrots, put pasta on to boil, prepared veggies and pasta dish


• ate supper


• marked tests and assignments while (sort of) watching Glee


• put laundry in the dryer, another load in the washer


• went upstairs, read chapter 5 in very boring textbook for my course, wrote really really long post in reply to the first assignment for this week


• 30 minutes reading blogs and posting this


• bed (I'm going now)

His evening:

• home from work (about 15 minutes after me)


• went upstairs to change


• grabbed a snack


• went into living room, turned on t.v.


• ate supper


• picked up the OnlyChild from an after school event


• watched t.v. (he's still watching t.v. as I type)

Okay... what's wrong with this picture?

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm complaining again. I just really really want to be sitting at my sewing machine and, instead, it's cultivating a fine layer of dust. The dust of neglect. (Cue sad music here.)

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Reading material

The other day I mentioned that I had recently won a giveaway.

Last week, a beautifully wrapped package arrived in the mail.


With a pretty little notecard.

Of course, it was from Jeanne at A Bushel and a Peck.

I was very excited, because I knew what it was. But it sat in my sewing room, still wrapped until tonight. Tonight, I carefully untied the ribbon and then ripped off the paper. And here it is...

My very own copy of Blogging for Bliss. I can't wait to sit down with a nice, hot cup of tea and pore over the pages. We have a long weekend coming up... maybe then.

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Thanks Jeanne! I love it!

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Autumn Haiku

Socktober

It's October. Now I can give myself permission to wear socks again. I've been holding out, you know. I didn't want to give in and admit that summer was over. But Environment Canada is predicting frost for our area tonight and somewhere in the province (I didn't catch where) there was SNOW this morning. (I know, I know - I said that dirty S-word again.)

I won't be wearing the socks pictured above. I don't actually own socks that look like that. I stole the photo from an online catalogue. The OnlyChild wears striped socks, though. Often odd socks. Not me. Mine are quite plain. With the exception of my little booties.

Speaking of booties... my friend Erminia phoned Nona (in Italy) on the weekend. Nona is thrilled that so many of you loved her booties. She's quite tickled to be famous in North America. Unfortunately, like many knitters of her generation, she doesn't actually have a pattern for the booties. She just knows instinctively how to make them and makes them by the dozens. Maybe I can start a bootie import business...

Anyway, it's definitely fall now. Time for socks and booties. Time to drag the boxes out from under the bed and exchange my summer clothes for winter skirts, sweaters and pants. Sigh.

I've been sick all week. I caught the OnlyChild's terrible cold. My head is so fuzzy I feel like I'm on something illegal (but I'm not, I assure you). The work hasn't slowed down - marking upon marking, still trying to write learning guides and tests, still working on that dratted course. I'm so looking forward to the Thanksgiving long weekend (Oct 10-12) so that I'll have an extra day to do my marking. Sigh again.

Back to the grindstone!
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