Did you remember...

I have moved to my new blogspot... http://www.notionnanny.blogspot.com/

See you there!!!

"Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while." (English proverb

Oh MY GOODNESS!!!!!!! I have been so busy the last 2 days... I am not sure whether or not I am still breathing! In fact, I was so tired at 5 o'clock last night that I fell asleep in the chair and missed the ball game (which really wasn't much to miss from the score!) and slept right through the night. I just can't believe how much there is to do when you are starting a new business.

The other day, my brother came up stairs and asked me if I was just going to live on the computer from now on. I told him what I was doing and he said, "Good thing you finally got yourself something to do because all you ever do is lay around on the couch all day and do nothing"! Let me assure you that his black eye is healing nicely!
(That's him, reeling from the blow!)

But really, they say if you want something done you should ask a busy person, but this busy person is going to have to learn to say no! For a little while now, this business is going to take up all my time and resources, so "NO!" (blanket no, to cover all future enquiries!) OK, well maybe.

Yesterday, I got my first delivery. I didn't realize that all that money would come in such a small box! And when I opened it, half the box was empty boxes filling space. But, I have to say when I got into the meat and potatoes, there is something to be said for that first moment when you see and feel those beautiful notions coming out of the box. Well lets just say, one might need a private moment!

I love notions, not the ordinary ones like the ones you have to have... irons, rulers,cutters, (well maybe I love them just a little!) but the extraordinary, "gotta have that one", type of notions. The ones that fill your boots when you use them. The ones you can tell your friends about. Sometimes it's not even a new product or idea, sometimes its a discovery you make when you try something that has been hanging around for a while and find out it really does what it says it will do and then you find an exclusive to you idea that makes your heart pound and you think "Why didn't I think of this before". It's a great way to start a sewing day and I suggest you all dig deep and find that wonderful notion, hidden in the recesses of your sewing room, drag it out to the light of day, AND Try it. If you can't find the instructions for it.. don't call me, I've lost mine, too!

I told you I would have some news for you, but unfortunately, I can't share today as it hasn't really happened yet. And now it probably won't happen until next week, so I don't want to Jinx it.

What I can tell you is that I have my web site up and running FINALLY, and as abbreviated as it is, it's actually up and running.

http://www.notionnanny.ca/

I added my shop on Monday night at 2 am... just as a test, but I am taking it off for a few days so I can get the products up on to it. Believe it or not, it took me hours to get the few things I have there, up and running. So hopefully I will get time this weekend to do some more.

And best of all, I am off to Guelph for Kevyn's 40 birthday. First time in 37 years, that I will have a chance to wish him a happy birthday on his birthday. Look at me, I am crying already! but I will have time to work on my blog so you'll hear all about it!

I have moved.... look for me on my website www.notionnanny.ca or on my new blogspot www.notionnanny.blogspot.com

Hello.... anybody still out there.

Parc de la Chute-Montmorency

Well... I am back, momentarily. LOL

I have been in the process of setting up my own web page and was hoping to move my blog there, but it hasn't happened yet so, I thought I would check in here so you could catch up.

I have been busy, busy, busy! End of year for my husbands business and we needed to get the books all up to date and all the year end junk done. As a present from hubby, he took me off to Quebec City for the weekend and what a QUILT that was!!! I have pictures! I have many favorite spots in Canada that I love, Newfoundland is my most favorite Province, the Glacier Highway in BC is my favorite path and Quebec City is now my favorite city.

Old Quebec is the most beautiful setting I have ever been in. What a surprise I had when I arrived and saw all those old wonderful mortar and metal houses with their beautiful little porches, surrounded with flowers.

One little house had mirrors above their window box so people down below could enjoy their little garden.

Every corner brought a new hill and every hill was filled to the brim with shops and homes and history. A peek through the trees gave you a beautiful view of what was to come as we traveled down those curvy hills to the next level of explosive colour. Too beautiful for words. The St Lawrence River flows past and ships and ferries and yachts and boats and kayaks and jet skis dot the surface as the blue shimmers and mixes with the reds and greens and yellows and blues and oranges and golds of the houses on the hills. The only words I could find to say were, "Oh what a quilt this would make"!

On our way home we stopped for a night in Montreal and it was the crumbs after the cake and icing. We did go to a wonderful restaurant, Moshies, a man ran to take our car on a busy street and park it who knows where, a doorman opened the door and escorted us in. We were seated with the utmost care and before our waiter arrived with the menus, a young man filled our table with the most delicious dill pickles and coleslaw and a sip from your water glass was all that was needed to summon a refill. The meal was delicious, (although we loved the pickles and coleslaw the best) And our waiter was there at our every beck and call. But the big disappointment came when there was no Creme Brulee and they arrived with the bill instead. Next time we are heading for the deli... for pickles and coleslaw and saving our money for fabric!!!

This is the quilt that sits on my table all the time... I love this quilt. Our guild is doing a windmill block exchange this year and I am going to make another quilt, just like this one from the blocks, only my exchange is all white backgrounds so it will be nice for spring and summer.

Ok, Ok, so I don't have a picture of the FINISHED Nutcracker... No! not even half, or a quarter. In fact no sewing yesterday at all.... grrrrrrrrr. I was detained by my own self. Who knew that someone who wanted to sew as bad as I did, could stop me from sewing the whole day. WHO KNEW?

I know my friends are all saying, "I did, I did"... Well my real friends will keep that to themselves. I started out well, but the day flew by and the next thing I knew it was midnight and I missed the whole day. I would like to think I am the only one that happens to, but I am sure there are a ton of people who have it happen to them and I bet they all, pick themselves up and say... OK... Today is the day I finish the Nutcrackers.

So... today is the day I finish the nutcrackers. ( Are you buying it?) hmmmmmm.

(Don't You love this quilt... someday after the nutcrackers I am going to make this quilt and hang it on my sewing room wall... If I lose 40 more pounds I'll look just like her.)

http://www.amybradleydesigns.com/

I don't know exactly what happened yesterday. I spent some time on here and

then some more time on here, I washed my kitchen floor and more time on here while the floor dried. I went for lunch with Mariona, and then the girls came over to sew and I got 4 baskets ready for an applique project I am working on, and then I watched one episode of The Mentalist that I had taped, ate a sweet potato, went and visited my granddaughter, went and visited my friends Aimee and Sharon and came home at MIDNIGHT and went to bed... Did I mention that I am a bit of a procrastinator.

I did find a very interesting web site, actually my friend Aimee found it for me... http://www.quiltshops.com/ . It's a virtual shop hop and well... if that doesn't keep you up at night, I don't know what will. We spent at least an hour cruising around at Aimee's and then when I got home, well, all I can say, is if you see me yawn today, don't ask why! Amazing.

Anyway... no matter what, I am not even going near that site today. I am going to do Nutcrackers.

This little quilt was made by making 9 patches and cutting them through the middle both ways and repositioning them, then sewing them back together... sounds complicated but it was easy and fun and I made them for the grandchildren one Christmas. I put Minki on the back and they were the most cozy quilts!

Well, here I am back again. I didn't think I would say this, but I have missed my little blog. It's funny how having structure in your life helps you to motivate yourself to do the things you don't want to do.

And speaking of doing things you don't want to do... today I am going to FINISH those nutcrackers... I don't care if I am up till midnight. There, I have written down and now it will become stone!!!!! (We'll see; I will tell you tomorrow how I make out... LOL) (this is the quilt as shown at

http://www.quakertownquilts.com/

Mine is nothing like it... except ofcourse the nutcrackers! Pictures to follow, tomorrow, maybe!)

Funny how things happen, isn't it. I was sitting here yesterday thinking I needed to get back to this little blog when I got an email from a friend of mine saying how much she missed it. I hope she wasn't just being nice, because I am back and intend to commit to another 30 days of something... I am thinking about something like... pieced blocks and how to construct them... What do you think... would that be interesting? Well, you can let me know in the comments.

A recent acquaintance who has become a friend, is opening a quilt store here in the next few weeks... I for one am very excited. She has some great ideas and it looks like I will be teaching some basic classes with her, this fall. My long time friend who has the quilt store in Harrowsmith is planning some Bernina classes with me too and I have another iron in the fire that I am still trying to wrap my brain around, but any way you look at it it will be a busy, busy fall for me.

I have a new product for you... well new to me really.. but it is real fun to use. Take a look at it here:

http://www.kaleidoscopecollections.com/

I have a project in mind for it... but it's a secret... I'll post a pick when I can! I first saw this at the Sewing and Needlework Festival in Toronto, and then on a couple of Internet quilting sites, but when I saw some of the finished products, I really fell in love with it. If memory serves, it wasn't at all expensive and I spent hours, the first few days I had it, putting together a bunch of things with pictures I had taken... Now to put them into a quilt. But not today... today I am doing the nutcrackers!!!! Remember!!!

Cute little baby quilt that I made using embroidered blocks from one of the cards for Babylock. this Quilt went to Sweden

I've turned a corner. Sleeping is impossible.The problem is there are too many forks in the road and I can't choose!

Yesterday I did something nice for my Very Best Friend. She didn't get it. But I felt so good. It's one of those things where you have something that is meaningless to you and you know it will be meaningful to them. So what's the point of hanging on to it... So I put it in her hands. Traded it for something she wasn't happy with and I didn't care about it, one way or the other. Life is so good. And the lesson I learnt? It didn't cost me anything to be nice. Sometimes I forget that!

I won't be spending any time on notions for a bit... sorry... but I have to get some sewing done. after all you can only procrastinate for so long. Another week and it's Guild again and I still haven't done last months pinwheels. I am going to do both months this week and get it out of the way. And Cathy's block is not done and soon Bev's block will need to be done... late probably, but done, none the less. And I started that BOM... late... and another month has just been put up and well... I need to sew. I like this ... blogging... so I probably will see you here each day, just need to spend a little more time at my machine.

And sleeping. I need to clear my mind so I can choose a fork to follow. I have been awake since 3 am... I need to sleep But first... I NEED to go to the solitude of my sewing room, close the door and SEW! (and listen to Neil Diamond)

My Daughter and I went to Toronto to see Neil in concert last year. She was 9 months pregnant and I had a bad case of vertigo... What a Beautiful Noise!

My Twosey-Foursey Quilt by Cathy Wierzbicki using the all-in-one ruler ! Fun and easy project.

Yesterday I was thinking... I should start knitting or crocheting again. I was trying to work on my grandmothers flower garden blocks but it was getting dark and I didn't want to put the light on and seriously the pieces are about 1/2" across so its not like working on a "mega" quilt. I must have been crazy the day I planned to start this quilt... had to be a full moon or PMS or something. I will stay with it, but for the moment I need a break and so, in the mean time, I might crochet something... I will research that! (translated, that means for the next week or two I will be sitting watching the ball games thinking.. oh yeah, I was going to find some crocheting to do, then I probably will let that feeling pass and get back to grandma!)

I got some new OLFA FROSTED RULERS yesterday, it was like Christmas... opening the box and touching each ruler, running my hands over the little numbered bumps, appreciating each sharp point on each corner. I had to do that, because I know I will eventually not have those corners so it is nice to enjoy them while they are still with us. I love new toys, and silly as it sounds getting something new, never used before, brightened my whole day. I ran into the sewing room stored the rulers in their new homes and sewed 3 blocks in my BOM. Now that's living!!!

The spring version of hay is attacking my eyes and nose right now and I am reluctant to go too far out of my house. With it came a little case of vertigo and all though my husband says I am dizzy all the time, I am not enjoying the dizzy I am right now. I was hoping to quilt some quilts, but unfortunately, standing is not great when you are not sure which end of the room you will land in when the spell subsides. So maybe crocheting is the answer.. more pondering... hmmmm.

Back to the tools. Believe it or not I had to think about what to talk about for a very long time. After all I only have ten more days left and it seems to me, I still have lots of gadgets left to talk about. But I finally decided to share some of my Value tools. Another 3 in one day.

First off... I love my value finders. Some people don't get it at first, but once you see how easy it is to tell whether a fabric fits into your quilt project scheme, your value finder will become your best friend. What happens with a value finder is, that it takes colour out of the equation and only leaves you with lights and darks. The most stunning quilts I have ever seen are usually made by someone who has a full understanding of what a dark valued or a light valued fabric will do in a quilt.

The value finder is easy to use. Choose your fabric and lay them beside each other, place the value finder up to your eyes, (its best very close) and look at your fabric. What you will see is lights and darks... no colour. If all your pieces look like one fabric, then you have no value changes in your fabric. When you make your quilt all your piecing will be in vain because there will be nothing to distinguish the pattern. A stunning quilt will have many value changes even if the quilt itself is 1 colour.

The other two products take it one step further. The Kaleidoscope to the right, is a great tool for seeing how all your fabrics will work together by chopping up a pile of fabrics visually. When you place it to your eye, it will create a beautiful Kaleidoscope that will immediately show you if your fabrics will be effective when placed next to each other. The Quilt and Print viewer to the left, is great for placing blocks into a quilt. Once you have your blocks on the wall it helps you "Step back" to see if everything is working right. Sometimes, the slightest shift will change the whole appearance of a quilt (or a block) and being able to see the whole picture is always a benefit.

Not everything is black and white, but in quilting, it should be! (with a whole lot of colour thrown into the mix!!!)

Not a great picture... but I do like the Delectable Mountains... Quilt in a Day Pattern

A new week. And I don't really feel like last week has ended yet. Wouldn't it be nice if every week had 5 more days... nah... I'd never catch up!

My friend K at the Rock watching the sun set over Lake Nipissing with her beautiful dog Nikita!

I had an incredible time with my friends in North Bay/Calendar/ middle of no where! It's just like them to live somewhere so remote that even the black flies hadn't found them yet. A few more weeks and it would have been an art quilt. They live on Lake Nipissing and it was beautiful there. I would say it was peaceful, but the 14 year old had a birthday and there were so many teens running in and out, peaceful wouldn't really be a word. But, being with old friends, if for only a few days... priceless. I did find a new favorite "notion". Ivory Soap. My friend gets leg cramps and his father told him to put a bar of Ivory soap under his sheets and voila... no more leg cramps. They say it works for restless leg syndrome as well... off to buy Ivory Soap! (but I think any soap will do!)

I also, learnt, that you can purchase the Proportional Scale at a Quilt Store. Golden Threads has one available. (I paid about 3 dollars for mine and this one was almost $9... I'm just saying...) I found it while browsing around a cute little quilt store in North Bay, Homestead Stitches. The store interior is charming. They have a whole wall full of old display cases that they have their fabric displayed on and the store reeks of antiquities when you walk in the door. Yum! I didn't buy much as I plan to go back when I am on my own and spend some time there, but I did manage to buy some Misty Fuse, which I have been looking everywhere for. I have heard it is wonderful with the Accu Quilt (which I am hoping to buy soon) and also for Bernina owners who are using the BSR. Also... it is so light weight, it feels like a product you won't know is there when you apply it, so I am anxious to try it... if it works out, you will hear about it!

This was a consignment quilt I made for a lady in the states. She sent me a box of silk ties (over 300) her father had collected over the years and I made this quilt for her. I printed her fathers picture and it is in one of the squares on the outside edge.

I am in a hurray today. We are going on an adventure and I am sooooo glad to be getting away. We are heading north to see some really good old friends, who I have not been good at keeping up with, but they are very forgiving. It always amazes me that good friends always stay good friends even when distance, time and money get in the way.

This is my friend Rod, who I am going to see this weekend

performing the wedding ceremony at my Scot's wedding.

I love this family and their 4 kids and although it will be hectic, I know that I will come back refreshed and ready for what lies ahead... but I won't be seeing you, dear blog, till I come back. I would like to say I will miss you, but it will be nice to wake without the stress of heading to day 30, for just a few days.

It turned out to not be such a grey day yesterday, it warmed up nicely and the coats were back in the closet by noon. But now I feel so extremely guilty for all my whining when I heard on the news that my dear friends in Calgary are expecting a blizzard today. 20 cm of snow may fall. Fortunately, my mom who lives in Medicine Hat will be spared. She hates winter more than me.

As predicted, I spent an hour cleaning up the sewing room yesterday and ended up not starting, continuing or even planning. No motivation whatsoever. Part of the problem I have is that even though it is a sew day, my dear friends come at 2 and we hand quilt. Its a wonderful time, but all morning I kept thinking there was no sense getting started when I still had to clean the house. House work is a wonderful release when you would rather do that than yell at someone, but the rest of the time it gets in the way of life. Anyway, procrastinated on that too and other than the necessary bathroom clean, they saw my house the way it comes and I didn't get any sewing done. Oh well!!

I pieced this plaid cushion for my living room. I could have bought plaid fabric, but this was way more fun!

Today is a sew day!!! yippee. I can't wait. I think I will work on....

You know it's a hard decision to decide what to work on when you have so many WIP's . I would like to stop "starting" new projects, but I think it comes with the creative gene so medically, I am unable to stop "starting". What a relief. I wonder if there is a pill. Seems to me there are pills for everything according to the medical world... another story, won't go there!

So knowing that, I intend on going into my sewing room and standing aimlesslyy for about an hour while I pretend to tidy up when really, I am trying to figure out what I am going to continue to do today or what I might start. What ever it is, it will be bright and cheery, because the weather is not! Imagine stopping in the middle of spring to have winter again (as per my 4 year old granddaughter, who will be a philosopher I am sure!) Its cold out there and I need to go put socks on!

The picture is of 2 of my granddaughters,

laying on a sensory quilt made by

a dear friend who is an ECE student.

I am almost at day 20 and it is getting harder and harder to find the perfect tool to talk about. Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of gadgets left, just not all of them are my favorites. And through out this, I have been looking at many new products and well let's just say my allowance is dwindling. I haven't found anything new that has knocked my socks off yet, but I did get something very interesting in the mail this week and I am dieing to try it. It's called the "Sew'nSharp" needle sharpening pad. The ad said "just sew through the pad to sharpen the needle" so I had to have it! If I get a chance to use it before the 30 days are up I will be sure to mention it! you can get more info @ http://www.usasharpeners.com/ (and yes, I ordered the rotary cutter blade sharpener too, just to try it out).

Woke up this morning and it was snowing... yuk!!! Reminded me of these little quilts I made. The pattern is called Snow Babies and they are all sooooo very cute!

Well 3 days of the flu and my weekend was shot!. No time away with Victor although I did get some time away FROM Victor... I stayed in bed and heaven only knows what he did... Yesterday was a busy day, although in retrospect, I don't think I got much accomplished. I was trying to make a block for my friend Cathy for our gift quilt exchange at Nifty's, but as usual she will have to wait till next month to get it cause I didn't get it done... I am SO last minute, not a good thing!

I took a pile of stuff to Nifty's last night... some new toys, some old books and some more circle things, but the best part of our meeting was the introduction. Every month everyone introduces themselves and there is always a little something you have to say... this month it was to tell about a new technique you had learnt or were going to try or had tried in the recent past. Amazing to see what variety there is in a group of 20 women and for almost everyone, we learnt about a lot of new techniques last night. That was very fun. I am sure a lot of the group will be busy at their machines today, trying out some of the fun things we heard about last night. The picture is a Nifty's group shot taken at one of our retreats.

The best part about these instructions are that they are all on the scale itself so you don't have to try and remember which number to place where or how to read it. (Mind you, you may need a magnifying glass to read the fine print...)

Not forgotten...

You are not forgotten, dear blog... I have had the flu all weekend and today was a busy away day. I will catch up tomorrow, promise!

Snail's Trail Tablecloth... doesn't show a thing!!

TGIF!!!

Victor and I have decided to fly the coop this weekend... What a relief. It has been a long stressful week and we both need to just go away.

Disappointed that the Jays are in Sunny Florida or we would go to a game. I dream about sitting in the seat next to the couple that sit right behind home plate. Sometimes I wonder who they are and how come they have those same seats game in and game out, year in and year out. I wonder so much that I get distracted from the game every time she orders popcorn... Well this year, I told Victor we were going to get the seats right next to them and I am going to ask them... then I can get back to watching the games! tee hee.

I have started a block of the month... no, I am not finished the Nutcrackers or any of the other 3 dozen projects I have started in the last 3 years.... but I needed to do some piecing and this block of the month is all piecing. It's the Sue Garman BOM on http://www.quiltshow.com/ and it is a lot of piecing. I joined late last year, too late to start last years block of the month although I thought I would do it, but didn't, but my good friend Cathy did it and hers is beautiful. My new daughter in law wants a quilt with stars and this BOM has plenty of stars, well as a matter of fact it is all stars... If you haven't joined the Quilt Show, you should! There are some pretty cool shows on there and these block of the months are great even if all you do is read the notes and watch the videos.

And today I am going to try Superior Threads' Texture Magic. I bought it a year ago at our Guilds' Quilt Show and haven't tried it yet. Anita Zobins from Cotton Mill Threadworks has a great tutorial on her website, check it out!

www.cottonmillthreadworks.danemcoweb.com/shop/product/texture-magic/

I want a chance to use my BSR on my Bernina and this looks like I can kill two birds with one stone. It's been a long time since I have free motion quilted on a domestic machine, so wish me luck!

Shining star. I found this pattern in a little Mennonite store in Elmira, and plenty of beautiful yellows

Some days, it seems to me, you just don't get anything done. You have really good intentions, but nothing seems to fall in place... Yesterday was that kind of day.

I did however get my floor washed. I have a room that is about 10 by 26' that is all linoleum and it has had many licks and promises, but yesterday I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed! I realized in the first few minutes that many licks and promises is OK, for somethings, but not an off white linoleum floor with bumpy parts... go figure! Even my husband saw right away that I had scrubbed it! Now that was amazing. Now, I am a little embarrassed about this, but honestly, a wet mop twice a week, and it looked clean and besides, who has time to clean when there is sewing to be done. At any rate I was so exhausted after I cleaned the floor I had to sit down and eat chocolate and enjoy that clean floor. What else could I do?

These are my sons, Kris and Scot. Cute, eh?

My son turned 32 on Tuesday so last night we went to Red Lobster to celebrate! YUM YUM!! do I need to say anything else. We had a great waitress.. Michelle, so if you go to the Red Lobster in Kingston, be sure to be sat in her section and tell her I sent you. She is fabulous, best waitress I have ever had! In fact, I am writing Red Lobster an letter today to praise her.

Before I say too much today, I just want to scoot you all over to Mark Lipinski's blog http://marklipinskisblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/ Mark seems very positive about his diagnosis, so lets hope everything goes well for him!

I love spring... I just hate the allergies that come with it... The trees are in full bud and so are my eyes and nose and...sleep habits. I have been up between 4:30 and 5 am every morning for the past 4 or 5 days and by 6pm I am ready to go back to bed. I have been helping my daughter with her kids in the evenings and last night I crawled into bed with my granddaughter and I am pretty sure I won the 'get to sleep, first" race! I finally bit the bullet and took some allergy meds this morning, but it will take a few days before I will be feeling like normal.

I did get out in the gardens on Monday and that was uplifting. I got all the front flower beds de-leafed and raked and ready for spring growth. We have very little to no sun out there so everything takes a lot longer to bloom. But I did see some little Hosta shoots...

Laura's Quilt. I made this quilt for my nieces 16th birthday. I showed it in our Guild show that year and won a ribbon for it.

We have a lovely old fashioned "sit and swing" in our back yard and my granddaughter is finally old enough to reach the floor with her feet so she swung me for a few minutes yesterday. It was peaceful just sitting and swinging and reminded me of my love for the old fashioned. I contemplated getting busy and making another Dresden plate quilt and I think I will, I just need to find some nice old fashioned prints to make it with. Then I will be able to take it out and hang it on the swing for those days when I just feel like contemplating!

My idea of gardening is making these lovely wall hangings... full of flowers. This was an ugly fabric challenge ( see the pot) I used it for all the flowers except the white one which is silk...

What a weekend this has been!

No Sew Day on Friday. as it turned out, my 5 month pregnant daughter had some kind of mini stroke. She lost the feeling all down her left side. She is off to get an MRI this morning so hopefully we will know for sure in a few days that everything is OK. Very stressful! So this weekend I spent most of my time trying to help out and do some sewing when ever possible. I have all my blocks for the nutcracker finished (stick and paste applique), now I just have to do the stitching on 2 of them and then the quilt will be put together. YEAH! This one is called the Skier. After I get the applique done I embellish it with tons of stitches from my machine... He is my best so far..

Today I have to make more pinwheels for my Guild (one more month... hurray!!!!) and this morning I HAVE to get in the garden... I have so much that needs to be done and no time... The weeds are all ready plentiful and most of my flowers haven't popped up yet... go figure... and it is freezing out there, and how will I know the flowers from the weeds if I can't see the blooms. Oh well, those are my excuses for today. LOL

I love red quilts. this one was made on the serger... simple rail fence!

I had to get up early today to work on this blog. I have a sew day today which will be very fun but I have made a commitment to work on this every morning before I do anything else, and I thought about writing it yesterday which I probably could have done, but I didn't get a "round tuit".

Yesterday was another great day, but not for sewing. I didn't manage to do any sewing yesterday at all. But I did get a chance to go to a few Quilt Stores and that is always fun. It's not only that you get a chance to feel some fabric and renew your sense of purpose (I love to sew), but the social part is the best. I love to see people and find out what they are sewing and ohhhhh and ahhhhh over new projects and beautiful quilts. and yesterday I found out that my LQS owner joined a gym.... why? I don't know! She looks fabulous already but I guess she was trying to kill some time. I would rather find something to sew but I guess that's why she looks fabulous and I look... well... less than fabulous!

In a very few moments I will be packing to sew today so hopefully tomorrow you will get an update. I will pack my camera!

A work in progress...

I have a beautiful magnolia tree right outside my window and over the past few days it has broken out in full bloom. My daughter gave it to me 2 years ago for Mother's day and I never dreamt it would be such a beauty. It would make a beautiful wall hanging so I might take a picture of it today.

My favorite picture of my
granddaughter, Ella... You can't hear her but she is
saying... Help! Help! Help... too
cute!

No time in my sewing room yesterday. Wednesday is always a busy day for me. I generally have to do bookwork for my husband (grrrrr) and then in the afternoon a few of my quilting friends come over for a few hours of sit and stitch (translate how you wish)... handwork. I am preparing appliques for a Rabbit Factory Quilt I am planning on making. I calculated yesterday there are about 300 leaves on it (maybe more) plus the flowers so I might be a while getting it ready to machine applique. My buddy Elmer is helping me out with a little help from my Clover Mini Iron.

Today I am back at those pesky Nutcrackers, although I may run out to a couple of quilt stores instead... we will see! (Procrastination... next to talking it is my most favorite thing to do!)

The Pointless Wonder Quilt (a Quilt Country Pattern). I love pointless things... don't you?

Well, I guess I should have waited until today to do my update from yesterday because now I don't have any news from yesterday for today.... tee hee! I am speechless! (all right, those of you who know me know that's not true.)

It is a balmy 17 degrees Celsius here today... yeah! I could be like most of my fellow quilters and say I am going to the gardens today, but I am not. I love the way they look and promised myself a month ago I would spend time out there, but... I would much rather quilt than "feel the earth between my fingers". Besides I just got a manicure!

I was telling some of my best quilting friends the other night that our awning had finally bit the dust and I called several awning people to come in and give us a replacement quote... One local guy arrived and as he stepped out on my deck, proceeded to say..." Yah! I have been here plenty of times when the old owner (we have lived here 3 years) was here and I tell you this backyard was beautiful when he lived here". I almost threw him off my deck and I gave my business to someone else...

I found another tool that I might have to have... the Simplicity Bias Tape Maker... it is getting great reviews, but I haven't talked to anyone who has one... although it wouldn't matter I would have to buy one and test it myself to add it to the favorites list. But I see Mark Lipinski likes it and anything he likes is good enough for me.

See I told you... speechless!

Well the day is just about gone, procrastination took its early morning toll, but I did finally get at the nutcrackers, got one block done, printed out the new pattern in anticipation of possibly having time to start it some time this week and then the UPS guy showed up with my books from Amazon... Well frankly, I didn't really feel like sewing today anyway!!!!

Well yesterday was a productive day! I finished one of the three remaining nutcracker blocks and started drawing out the pieces for another. Hopefully today I will get both of the two remaining blocks cut out and pasted and tomorrow I can work on getting the quilt together. But... I did find another little project I would like to work on too, so either I will spend the whole day in the sewing room working on nutcrackers or spend some of the day procrastinating because I would really like to start this new project... either way, it will be a great day to sew.

The new project: I got side tracked first thing this morning with an email from one of my lists, about this great little back pack that has some nice use of patterns from your machine. I love my tools but I don't tend to be a creative thinker so when someone else does the work for me, I am always grateful. This backpack can be found at http://www.hopeyoder.com/ and the best part for me is that she takes PayPal and emails you the pattern right away... love it. She has some cute stuff on there, gave me some great ideas. (thinking Nutcracker!, Nutcracker!... new project... NO NUTCRACKER) oh man this is going to be a tough day! Stay tuned.

Our guild executive meeting was yesterday and that is always nice, getting together with a bunch of ladies trying to decide about the future happenings and direction of our guild. I am past president right now, but hoping to take on a new little position this fall so I can stay in touch. (All though I am so opinionated, I am sure that some of the guild members would rather I just didn't show up)I love our guild and want to see it flourish. Next year is our biannual quilt show and so lots of planning to do on that. I am hoping to have the nutcracker ready for the show... so I better quit talking and get to procrastinating so eventually I can get sewing.

Here it is Monday already... where did the weekend go. I babysat my 2 granddaughters off and on during the weekend. Their mommy (my daughter), turned 30 this weekend (ugh) and daddy took her off to Montreal to see a Montreal/Leafs game. How fun for them. While she was gone and Nan was doing her shift, I came home and made Sue a bag.. It's my new favorite thing to make ... soooooo easy! There is a pattern for it, I'll have to find out the name of the pattern for you, but I just make them from 5" squares. They are quick and easy and this one was #5 since February. The blocks and handles give me a great opportunity to use my patterns on my new machine, although this one was done on my embroidery machine. It was supposed to be a Kenny's creation purse, but I liked the bag better!

I also had a chance to catch up on my pinwheels for our guild exchange, but I tell you, I will be super glad when it is over in May!

Then last night I went back to the Nutcrackers I started almost 2 years ago... only 3 left to make and the quilt is done... (this is my layout from EQ5) and I would really like to see it finished before Christmas this year!!! (you can find the pattern at http://www.quakertownquilts.com/ BOM)I am going to give them high priority this week, so hopefully every spare moment will be devoted to them.

By the way, my daughter is having another baby at the end of August and we just found out on Friday it's a boy! Daddy was very happy with that, although he loves his Darling Daughters to bits... how exciting for him to finally have a son!