Alas! No quilt top

I had hoped to get the Checkerboard quilt top put together this weekend... but it didn't happen.

Between the shopping

And the movie-going

And the house block-making

And the dog-walking (yesterday was a gorgeous day!)

And the taxi-driving

And a bit of cleaning and laundry,

I got this far by yesterday afternoon:

Then my friend Patt invited me to go and see a concert with her. How could I refuse? It was a great night out... and I feel a tiny bit rebellious since it was a school night.

Tonight, when I got home from work and the gym, I sewed the above pieces together into rows. And now I'm sewing the rows together. I don't know how much more time I'll have this week, but there's a Friday night sew-in this weekend so I should be able to make some more progress then.

Have you heard about the Friday Night Sew-in? Check it out!

I didn't do the January one, because I didn't know about it until Jen told me. It sounds like fun - and it sounds motivating. What could be better than comfy jammies, good music and my sewing machine on a Friday night?

Uh... don't answer that.

Anyway, I have about 1/2 an hour until bedtime, so I'm going back to Bernice and my Checkerboard. I want to leave you with a couple of photos that I took yesterday. Can you guess which one of these is my house?

haha

Goin' Plain Jane

I'm trying out the Plain Jane look on my blog. No cutesy background. What do you think?

I tend to get bored with things easily, so we'll see.

You heard about my Checkerboard quilt woes. I did get all the blocks sewn back together the right way. They're all laid out on the floor of the spare bedroom, waiting to become an actual quilt top. I didn't touch that quilt yesterday... instead, I made these:

They are all for Victoria's Basics Home Gather. If you want more information, you can visit her blog, Bumble Beans. It's a neat project - and for a good cause. The little houses were easy to make, using V's great directions, and - BONUS! - I got to use up some scraps.

So far, it's been a pretty good weekend. Saturday, I spent half the day with my friend, Anne, hat shopping, going to the farmer's market, having coffee and buying books with the Chapters gift card I got for my birthday.

The OnlyChild said I didn't buy anything fun. Methinks she is wrong, wrong, wrong! I love Kristin Espinasse's blog French Word a Day, so I had to buy her book; I need a good phrase book for my trip to Italy in July (it came with a CD); and I've been wanting to read Suite Française for a couple of years now. So, I'm very very happy with my purchases!

Yesterday, I went to see the movie The Young Victoria. I would see this movie again just to drool over the costumes. Wow! The movie itself was good, but the ending was a bit anti-climactic - sort of a "what? it's over?" kind of thing. But, hey, it was good to get out of the house for a couple of hours and hang out at the trendy old cinema on Whyte Avenue.

And today...well, today I absolutely must get some marking done (there's not much to do) and I really want to get back to that Checkerboard quilt. I'll let you know how it goes...

Happy Holiday Monday (whatever your holiday may be today). Aren't long weekends the best?

♥♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥♥

Our February ATC theme was "Vintage Valentine". I haven't received cards from all my swap group members yet, but I think I can safely show you the ones I made for them. I mailed them early enough that everyone should have received them by now.

This month, I made a different card for each person. Here are all five cards together.

And here are close-ups of the cards.

I always enjoy making these little tiny cards and this month was no exception. As soon as I heard the theme, I knew I would be using pink, doilies and ribbon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Arrrggghhh... Grrrr!

So, I'm sewing along, finishing the last of the blocks for my Checkerboard quilt, and I'm making good time. I'm just cruising!

I finish sewing, take them to the ironing board and press all the seams nicely.

Then I start to lay out the blocks according to the directions in the pattern.

And guess what...?

Arrrggghhh! I've sewn the second set of blocks together wrong. So the rest of this lovely Saturday evening will be spent picking out stitches.

Oh what fun!

I did get these made, though. Valentine's pillowcases for the OnlyChild.

I started them last night after I got home from my hair appointment, which was pretty late. Then, of course, I made a mistake and had some unpickin' to do. What the heck is wrong with me? Anyway, I gave up around 11:00 pm and went to bed. The finishing went smoothly this afternoon.

Back to those quilt blocks. Grrrr.

Num num

Tonight, instead of going to my dance class, I made these...

Valentine's cupcakes for my students.

Yum.

I didn't want to miss dance class. I really wanted to go; it's the highlight of my week and I rarely miss it. But I have a sore foot. I've self-diagnosed this problem as plantar fasciitis, but I could be wrong. I probably am wrong, because the pain is on the ball of my foot, rather than the heel, and radiates into the toes. It is so tender that I find it hard to walk... so dancing was out for tonight.

This has been kind of a blah week over all. I haven't felt like doing much, except moping around the house. You know... one of those weeks. Ho Hum. There has been no further progress on the Checkerboard quilt. I've only been to the gym once (stupid sore foot). I've been feeling a bit lethargic.

On the upside, this is a long weekend. I know the U.S. has President's Day on Monday. Here in Alberta, we have Family Day. I'm looking forward to the extra time and I plan (fingers crossed) to spend it in my sewing room working on my quilt and making a couple of house blocks for the Basics Home Gather over at Bumble Beans.

For now, though, I am hoping for an early bedtime. Night night.

Une leçon de français

Oh come on... you know you want to learn French with me. Let's begin with the easy stuff:



N'était-ce pas amusant?

Toutes les choses françaises

I admit it. I'm a bit obsessed. It might sound like some silly teenage fantasy, but I have always wanted to live in France, to speak French, to be French.

But I come by it honestly. My great-grandmother (my mother's mother's mother) was born in Paris. I never met her but I own several pieces of her jewellery. I feel the connection.

When I was in high school, my mother bought me a Sorbonne sweatshirt, not the genuine article but good enough for me. One year (grade 11, I think) we were planning to spend March break in England and finally - finally - I was assured of a trip across the English Channel into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, there was a death in the family and my mother had to fly to the UK for a funeral before that trip took place. In university I had a poster of the Eiffel Tower in my first apartment and I took French courses. The dream was still alive.

Then what happened?

Long story short: I met a boy.

So, forgive me if I spend the next six months rattling on about tout les choses françaises. I am excited that I will be spending a month in Paris this summer. Indulge me a little, would you?

A trio of Eiffel Towers in miniature lined up on my dresser.

A beautiful necklace from my mother, sent to me for my birthday.

My great-grandmother Marie-Amelia's brooch.

(As usual, excuse the crummy pics. A photographer I certainly am not! And my camera is a bit primitive - excuses, excuses.)

And my latest French "things" are decisions to be made - to choose the apartment in the Latin Quarter or the one near the Louvre? To register in Elementary French or Intermediate French classes?

Ahhh... life is tough...la vie est dure.

p.s. I'm still waiting for the OnlyChild to give me photos from the party. She is dragging her feet, making excuses, driving me bonkers. I even offered to upload them myself, but alas! I am not allowed to touch her precious camera. Sigh. She says, "Tomorrow"... or should I say, "Demain".