Still Raining.

 It is still raining here.  I went to Huntsville yesterday for an eye test and we watched the sky progressively get darker and darker.  We did get a bit of a sprinkle but nothing much until after we got home.

Today I have to phone my internet provider as my router wasn't working properly.  It was a simple matter of doing a reset which I tried but didn't hold the button long enough.  Not that is done and all my devices are back on line, I can add the new tablet.  This one is 10 inches with a better keyboard.  It will be easier to respond to emails and read my books.

I am not getting much else done although I am feeling better.  I have been trying to drink more water and that seems to help.  Of course, it also means more trips to the bathroom!

By the way, if you go on line searching for help with an internet problem, you may get a sight pop up that promises to give you the help you need it you click on a button and agree to pay $2.00  refundable.  If you click, you will be taken to your PayPal or chosen method of payment which will show you owe $68.00.  I am sure it will go up after that.  Always someone trying to scam up.

Our community had a Heritage Day Festival on Saturday and it was great.  I think this is the second year for it and by far the best event in the area-and it is free.

I hope to have some quilting progress to share soon.  Hope you are all saying well,

blessings,

Pillowcase Dresses

 Well, I have done it.  I have wanting to make some little girl dresses to be given to an orphanage in Cambodia.  They were to be adapted from the pillowcase dress pattern.  I had set aside some fabric but that is as far as I got.  I have been feeling ill for the past couple weeks and finally went to the doctor this Tuesday past.  He is scheduling a bunch of tests including blood work in hopes of find out why I am feeling ill.

I hadn't been able to stray very far from either the couch of the bed so wasn't getting much done.  Today, I decided I had enough of that and was going to ignore everything but the dizziness and get moving. I did a bit of gardening, filled the bird feeders, some housework and then started sewing.

I have the first little dress cut out.  I made a pattern for the armhole so I can reuse that.  I haven't checked to see what I have in the way of trim and bias binding yet but will do that before my eye appointment in Huntsville next week.  Walmart will have all the odds and ends I will need.

My dear hubby has been so patient and understanding with me.  He has had to drive me where ever I've needed to go and has got most of the meals.  He is very much a keeper.  My dear friends have offered any help I need so, all in all, I feel loved and looked after.  I am a fortunate woman.

I hope to have a photo of the dress soon.  If you would like to check out the pattern I am using for reference, it is: weallsew.com

Blessings,

Break Time

Time for a break.  I have been sorting fabric for nearly 2 hours and, except for a few moments when I contemplated throwing it all in a fire, I am making headway.  Fabric, as you know, once it arrives in your home, immediately molds itself into various shapes and sizes.  Combine that with theme fabrics, minky, solids, seasonal, panels, and flannel (to name just a few) and the beckoning housework becomes a siren song.  The photo shows how I have been folding the fabric ready to go on the shelves.  I will be printing these pictures for future reference. I still have a large spool of elastic from my face masking making days and I am using it to keep the bundles in place.

I have managed to get all the baby panels into one area as well as some baby themed fabric. Larger amounts of material are folded and placed on two shelves.  I am now working on all those smaller bits and pieces.  Some are set aside to cut into charms, others have been folded and packed vertically in a clear plastic bin.  The cutting table is still piled high so a fire could be a possibility yet.

My computer tells me that we will have heavy rain soon.  I am not sure how long 'soon' is but it doesn't really matter.  I didn't risk hanging the laundry out and everything else can wait.

Hope you are enjoying your day.  In the midst of all my faux grumbling, I am aware that I am very blessed,

blessings to you,

Gardening.

Today may be the only  one rain free for a few days so I got outside and did some weeding and trimming.  It isn't possible to see any improvement but I know I have done something.  We should get a good crop of veggies and wild berries this year so I will be canning, freezing and making jam come fall.  Often I get together with a couple of friends and we pool our efforts.  It is a fun way to fill the freezer and pantry shelves.

I need to move some of the spring flowers.  Does anyone know whether I can do this-carefully-before the stems die down?  If not, I will have to mark where they are so I can find them in the fall.

I wrote all this earlier and then the internet went down unexpectedly and everything disappeared.  Annoying.  It is now after lunch and I am working in the studio.  I thought everything was a real mess again but was pleased to note that previous organizing efforts have left its mark.  I am going through all my fabric and taking photos so I will remember what I have.  I am also being ruthless and getting rid of material I don't like.  I don't expect I will wake up one morning with an inspired use for fabric that feels like cardboard and is a wonderful pattern of  browny orange with pink snakes.!!

One other project I have on the back burner is to look into the particulars of ecommerce.  I need to talk to someone who is already doing this so I don't get led down a muddy slope.

Happy Independence Day to all our American friends.  We see your licence plates at the grocery store, main street and the pub.  Glad you are getting some sunshine.

Blessings,

Canada Day Company

 I hope everyone had a great Canada Day yesterday and a good weekend prior to it.  We were fortunate to have our nephew and two of his sons come for a couple of days and try out our (my sister's actually) new camper.  The older of the two boys cleaned the chicken coop which was badly in need.  His Dad helped hubby with a couple of things that needed doing and the youngest son petted our dog. I enjoyed getting to know the boys better.  They are a wonderful, considerate family. We loved having them and look forward to another visit.

Yesterday I had 3 dear friends come for a cup of tea and dessert.  I set everything up in the camper so they had a chance to see it.  We spent a couple of hours just chatting.  I am not a great one for company but these three women accept me as I am-foibles and so I don't get all stressed when we get together.

Today, all is back to normal.  I took Heidi for a walk over to our neighbours and visited a while and now I have some quilting to do. I am still not feeling completly better although not as nauseous as I was.  The headaches have also lessened.  An odd illness or whatever it was.

Stay well.  Blessings,

Bearly Done

 I have been feeling ill for a week.  I thought at first it was connected to my Meniere's disease but as a friend in Alberta has the same symptoms, I accepted that it is a bug of some sort.  Just in case that you have also been unwell, here are the symptoms:  dizziness, nausea, headache.  I have also had a weird feeling in my upper chest that I thought was my blood pressure dropping too far.  A test showed that it was normal but it sure felt odd.

I have finished a baby quilt and am pleased with how it turned out.  I did a lot of infilling quilting as you can see in the second photo.  All those little circles take time but I like the way they look.  Now this quilt and my customer one is finished I am going to reload the one I removed so I could do the other projects.  I have never reloaded a quilt before so am going to have to take extra care that I get it straight.  

While working on that quilt, I have a rather large job I want to do.  I am going to take all my fabric from the shelves, lay them on the table (a few at a time) and take photos.  I will then be able to see what I have without rummaging though everything.  Of course, I will have to add and delete as time goes on but I think this will be a help.

Monday is Canada Day.  I am having a few quilting friends over for tea and cookies and to show off the camper we got for my sister.  She and her family will be able to use it when they visit from England and it will be available to our Canadian relatives as well.  We are really pleased with it and are having fun adding bedding etc.  Of course, I will have to leave something for my sister to do as it is her until but, in the meantime, we are playing house.

Happy July 4th on Thursday to my American readers.

Blessings,

I am Creative, not Messy.

 It is really hot here.  It would be worse if not for the 80 foot plus  trees that surround us.  Also, our home is very well insulated and we have an AC.  I try not to grumble (not always successfully) as we are much more fortunate than many.  I also have the choice of doing nothing if I choose.  As a contrast, I have friends in the western provinces that have had to worry about frost.  Canada where the weather is never boring.

I have been getting ready for the Burk's Falls Art and Crafts Centre's first sale of the year.  I have a good supply of quilts and, I discovered, some smaller items that I forgot.  I am not making anything else.  I was going to do a crib quilt and, in fact, am working on it but I decided not to push it.  There will be another sale later.

Now that everything that was pressing is done, I am back to my least favourite but necessary task.  The studio is piled high with fabric that was pulled out to model for a project.  Of course, I never put anything back until I am finished which means the pile of material gets higher and mixed in with cut fabric.  I have given up trying to clean as I go as apparently that isn't my nature.  I have a little mug mat by my computer that says I don't get messy, I get creative.

I am very creative!!!!

blessings,