To a Happy New Year......

Usually at this time of year I have a look back to see what I made over the year. Not much was done in 2016 due to unforeseen circumstances beyond my control.

Lots of hexagons were made and some more Wellie Wisher outfits to give my granddaughter for Christmas....sorry I didn't take any pics. Also I made some wee shoes....two pairs for Christmas.

And, my last creations for 2016 that I made this week.........two more pairs of shoes. They are a bit fiddly to make but turn out so cute:)

They are to go with two of the Christmas outfits. The little ribbon tab on the back is to help little hands put the shoes on. Works perfectly. I didn't even have to show her how. She very seriously told me that she knew how to put shoes on....LOL

I'd like to wish you all a Happy Hogmanay.....and a Very Happy New Year in 2017......all the best in the new year to come.

Take care:)

Ho Ho Ho......

Here's a wee bit of seasonal humour.......

Merry Christmas !!!!!!!!

Take care:) 

One Year of Stitches......

This is an interesting challenge. It's called "One Year of Stitches". I saw something about it on Pinterest and wandered around until I found a blog post about the project on Craftsy.

It would be an interesting way of showcasing some of the various stitches from the "Take a Stitch Tuesday" challenge. It certainly would be an organic piece of work as it evolved on a daily basis.

The only negative for me regarding the Craftsy challenge is that I don't use Instagram. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I have enough social media interaction to keep me busy...no more please....LOL

By the way did you notice at the bottom of the post that Craftsy is offering a free downloadable guide to hand embroidery. I'm all about freebies so I downloaded it :) It's very basic. Definitely for a beginner but a very good guide if you're a newbie.

Although the "One Year of Stitches" wouldn't have to be in a hoop. You could take this idea and really have fun with it. For instance here's Sharon B's Band Sampler. 

I like the idea that Sharon added special events and happenings in script as she went along.

Then I noticed that Pamela Kellogg is doing a "Never Ending Sampler Stitch Along".  Here's the link to her first post.

Lots of possibilities to keep me busy. 

Take care:)

Morris Hexathon.....the finale...23, 24, 25 and 26.

I have had the last three blocks finished now for a few weeks. However, block number 23 North End Crescent was beyond my patience. I gave it a few tries and wasted fabric. The slivers were very tiny. On a larger scale it would be much easier I think.

Here are the last three blocks. You will notice that I changed fabrics as I didn't really have enough selection of the original fat quarters that I used.


24. Brighton Church

25. Sussex Cottage

26. Floating Clouds

I'm truly done with English Paper Piecing for a very long while:)

The big news on the sewing front is that my husband bought me a new sewing machine. I think the swearing was getting to him or something...LOL. I have an old Singer that's about 25 years old and it's doesn't have the finesse it used to have. Specially with light weight fabrics.

The new sewing machine was on sale at Amazon and is very basic just like me. It's a Singer Model 4423 in a very stylish shade of gray. It will do everything I need. I'm quite chuffed.

Take care:)

Free Fun Felt Christmas Ornament Pattern Club........

Sassy Pack Rat aka Jennifer is having a free felt Christmas Ornament Club. If your interested you can sign up between November 1st and November 10th on her blog.....here.

Take care:)

Morris Hexathon ....Block 22

Another block for the Morris Hexathon.

22. Hyde Park

The next block is going to be interesting. It's all curves.

Plus, another little dress I made for my granddaughter's Welliewisher doll. The colour doesn't really show in the pic. It's a lovely cornflower blue:)

Take care:)

Morris Hexathon......Blocks 18, 19, 20, 21

I'm am finally up to date with the Morris Hexathon. Someone asked in a comment last post if these were hand sewn.

Yes. Every teeny tiny stitch.

I love to hand sew. That's what attracted me to the Hexathon. Next I'm going to try my hand at applique as I haven't really done at lot in the past.

It wasn't the best day to take pictures as it's raining buckets...not literally of course:)

18. Parquetry

19. Woodford Green

I was a bit worried about doing curves but in actual fact they were very easy to do.

20. Walthamstow

I didn't notice the thread in the middle until now...oh well

21. Queen Square

I didn't follow the original sample but did my own thing as I really don't have very many colours left to choose from...24 diamonds and 6 triangles.

I'm starting to run out of fabric so the next five blocks will be a challenge to eke out of what is left.

Linking today with....Books and Quilts

 and, Hibiscus Stitches.....

Take care:)

Morris Hexathon....Blocks 14, 16 and 17

Three more to do and I'll be caught up with the Hexathon. Number 19 has curves. I have no idea how they are done but I'm sure I'll find out.

14. Canterbury

16. Hammersmith

17. Folly

Linking up with Books and Quilts for........

and....The Needle and Thread Network.

Take care:)

WellieWisher makes........

I made two outfits for Willa the Wellie Wisher doll belonging to my granddaughter.  

Those of you who are observant will notice it's not Willa modeling the outfits below. It's Camille who lives with grandma. Yes.....grandma bought a Wellie Wisher to fit the clothes on. It's so much easier to have the doll there when you are making doll clothes.

The first outfit is an amalgamation of a free skirt pattern called the Four Seasons Skirt ...the link is at the bottom of this post. I made a few changes in construction because I was using denim but otherwise it turned out very well.

The top is called the Popsicle Top by Pixie Faire on Etsy. It went together very well as her patterns are professionally done. I wish I had made it a bit longer so it covered the elastic in the skirt...next time:) The hat is a pattern from Farmcookies on Etsy.


I'll be honest. I'm not in love with the hat. The lining is the same size as the outside hat so it doesn't settle very well. It's too loose. I've had a think about it and will make it differently next time. I added a lady bug button to the hat brim to match the lady bugs on Willa's wellies.

The second outfit is from a pattern called Love U Bunches Polka Party Dot Dress from Pixie Faire on Etsy. I was impressed with the quality of the pattern. The pieces fit together perfectly. One thing though if you are making doll clothes.... or even cloth dolls...invest in some hemostats. They are invaluable. The top half of the dress is self lined so you have to pull the dress through the narrow shoulders to get it right side out. Not a feat done without such a tool.

This dress was pronounced as being adorable by GD and her mum.

I asked the GD what her favourite colours are. At first she said pink and then very quickly changed her mind. She liked yellow and ...cringe....neon orange. Hmmm. I don't have much in my stash of either of those colours. Rats.

So back to the sewing machine to see what I can devise:)

Here are some free Wellie Wisher patterns that I found on the internet.

Garden Party Dress

Geometry Class Dress

Four Season Skirt

Play Date Pants

Trendy T-shirt 

Take care:) 

Morris Hexathon - Blocks 11, 12 and 13

Today I thought I'd hook up with Hibiscus Stitches for.......

and.... Needlework Tuesday at Books and Quilts 

Well. I'm almost caught up with the Morris Hexathon Challenge.

Three more hexies completed. I didn't do a great job with my points this time.....specially on number 12. Too many teeny tiny bits. The smallest are about 5/8th of an inch each.

Getting the points right on is so hard.

11. Merton Abbey

12. Hampton Court

13. Oxford Rose

I'm also doing something I haven't done in forty years or more. I'm making doll clothes. Yes I know I make dolls but that's different. These are clothes for a doll called Willa. She is a new doll from the makers of American Girl dolls. She is a WellieWisher and she's adorable. My 6 year old granddaughter LOVES her :)

Source

Because the dolls are fairly new on the market there isn't much selection as far as clothes go. The cost is also horrendous. In my humble opinion anyway. So Grandma is making some outfits for Willa. I'll give you a peek once I get a few made.

Take care:)

Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine 2018 Contest ........

Just wanted to remind you that the Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine is calling for submissions for their 2018 Calendar.

This time the theme is musicals. Wow the possibilities are amazing.

Here is the link but I also copied the guidelines as well.

Morris Hexathon......Blocks 9 and 10

I was behind as I started late but now I have only six more blocks to finish and I will be caught up with the Morris Hexathon. 

It has been an interesting experience. 

As I make each one I'm gaining more insight as to the best technique to get my points to match up. I notice that some quilters put together units and then stitch them together. I found I wasn't as happy with the result. I'm more successful when I add each paper piece unit one at a time. Definitely it's a skill that only comes from lots and lots of practice.

Block 9:  Red Lion

Block 10: Thames Path

Wait til you see block # 12.....some really itty bitty pieces....eeeek!

Today I'm joining up with The Needle & Thread Network. I haven't joined them in a long while but then I've been pretty quiet in the sewing department in the last 12 months.

Come on over and see what my fellow Canadians are up to this week:)

Take care. 

Morris Hexathon....Blocks 6, 7 and 8

I'm at the half way mark as the 16th block template was posted on Saturday.

6. South Kensington

7. Avebury Stones

8. Greenwood

I'm also back on TAST...Take A Stitch Tuesday. I've gotten way behind on that but it won't take me long to get caught up.

Here is stitch #29...the Barb Stitch. I did the beaded barb stitch version. It would make a lovely and very easy to do seam treatment for Crazy Quilting.

Take care:)

Morris Hexathon - Block 2, Block 4 and Block 5

Here are a few more blocks for the Morris Hexathon. Slowly catching up.

Block 2 - Crystal Palace

Block 4 - Box Hill

Block 5 - Upton

I think the battery in my camera needs to be recharged:)

Take care.

Morris Hexathon - Block 15 Kelmscott Tile

This was one complicated block. There are 48 tiny diamonds. Each is about 1 5/8 inches long and about 1 inch wide.

Sheesh.

I persevered and finished it.....:)

I have 13 more to do so I can catch up....eeeek.

Take care:)

Adventures in EPP....

I have one more radiation treatment to go!!!!!!


I had seen several mentions lately about a Morris Hexathon. I investigated and found Barbara Brackman's Material Culture blog. 

Barbara is a quilt historian and if you're interested there is quite a lot of interesting reading to be had on her blog. She is the source of the Morris Hexathon. There are to be 26 hexagons and so far 15 templates have been posted.

I'm a total newbie to quilting and English Paper Piecing but I figure you have to start somewhere...right?

Here is the post that introduces the Morris Hexathon.....link. To find the rest of the discussions you can look at the page I created on my menu bar across the top. I called it Morris Hexathon. 

I found 10 fat quarters that are sort of William Morris-ish in my stash. The fabric design is called All About Autumn #2362 by Laurie Godin for Northcott.


Fist off an admission. I should have read the tutorials but as usual I sailed off on my own...sigh. When will I ever learn?

I tried two of the Hexagons...Westminster and Camelot Star.

I totally screwed up on the little end triangles that finish Westminster as you can see. I don't think I should have all that stuff hanging down. It should be much neater. I will unpick those pieces and try again.

Camelot Star looks a bit more like what I think it should turn out to be in the end.

I will now go and read the tutorials ...:)

Take care. 

Crochet a String of Hearts...........

A friend sent me this link to crochet a string of hearts. She thought it might be used for a crazy quilting seam treatment. The video is in Russian but I think it's easy enough to follow.

There is supposedly an English version on their website but I wasn't able to find it but did find some other interesting things:)

She-Ru Knitting and Crochet

My First Issue With English Paper Piecing........

I started doing the sewing for the EPP project that I mentioned in my last post and I came across my first problem.

I was doing EPP diamond shapes and when I got to the pointy end I wondered what the heck do I do with the excess fabric.

I Googled and found these instructions.

English Paper Piecing Instructions For Using Diamonds

I'm sure there are other ways of handling the problem but this seemed the easiest.

I'm quite liking the whole EPP process. It could become addictive.

Take care:) 

Sewing Club.....

I've joined Mollie Johanson's latest sewing club called "Around The House". I did one of her sewing clubs about three years ago and I really enjoyed it.

Her projects are small but you get a sweet big return. Right now I need something to do that I can break into small steps and that's portable if need be. This seemed perfect.

It has embroidery and hand sewing which I love to do.

What appeals to me is her cute embroidery patterns and this time I was interested to see that it involved English Paper Piecing which is something I've always wanted to try.

Here's more info about the club on her blog Wild Olive. The club is normally $8 but Mollie is offering an early bird pricing of only $5 :)


Take care:)

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!

I heard my results from my doctor today with regard to my second surgery. The cancer hasn't spread to my lymph nodes....thank goodness.

I will have to have some kind of followup treatment along with the radiation but that's okay. I will be monitored on an ongoing basis regarding when to get future mammograms and so on which is fine by me.

Thank you everyone who sent words of support. You are the best.

Now to  get on with stuff. I feel like I've been holding my breath. It's been a dreadful time waiting to hear. 

Take care:)

The World Of Needle Craft Is Certainly An Unusual Place......

 The world of needle craft is certainly an unusual place. This is something I had never heard of before.

News........

So my news last week wasn't as good as I expected but it wasn't as bad as it might have been. I have what is known as DCIS.

Explanation of DCIS.

My cancer is "in situ" again rather than invasive. 

I was back in the hospital today for more out patient surgery. More poking about and a look at my lymph node thingies.

They injected me with fluid containing radiation to do some tracking. I was quite disappointed to find out that I wouldn't glow in the dark. They then took pictures of my breast with a huge camera that was similiar to an MRI. They lowered it down until it almost touched my nose. I won't say I'm claustrophobic...okay maybe a wee bit... but I was definitely getting uncomfortable after about 10 minutes of that.

I will be having further radiation treatment for five weeks so the glowing bit might come true yet....LOL

I am totally zonked. I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. to get to the hospital for 7 a.m. I only live about 20 minutes away but it takes that long to jump start me in the mornings. I'm definitely not a morning person and with no coffee to help out...eeek.

I'm trying to stay awake right now so I'll sleep through the night. Otherwise it'll be me staring at the ceiling at 3:00 am. 

The saga continues I guess. No worries.

Take care :)

Hello I'm still here with a long story and a happy ending...hopefully:)

I don't normally post about personal stuff because it isn't really my thing but something a family member just said to me and her reaction made me think.

Last July for various and sundry reasons I had a hysterectomy and my ovaries removed....not to worry all is well. While it was first stage cancer it was insitu as they say.

Sadly my own family doctor passed away very suddenly within days of my surgery so I was left high and dry. Now I had to look for a new family doctor which is not really that fun to do.

I had no real immediate health issues but I do have medication that I need to take. I figured since I had a few months worth left finding a doctor wasn't such a pressing issue.

Then...horror of horrors. Within a few months of my hysterectomy surgery some lumps I had in my right breast seemed to be getting bigger. I've had these lumps for quite a few years and I had never done anything about them. What's that word?.....oh ya...... procrastination...or it can't happen to me syndrome. I was beginning to think that maybe I was loosing it and that I was imagining that they were getting rather large....eeek.

Now the issue to get a new doctor was pressing...I did... and he's very thorough...sent me for tons of tests..... and of course he sent me for a mammogram.

Lucky me. My imagination wasn't playing games with my head. I had two lumps. I was called back for an ultra sound. They were still there :)

I was then sent to the Breast Cancer Clinic at North York General Hospital for referral. Yet another ultra sound.  I then met with this very young...to me anyway LOL.... General Surgeon and Oncologist to give me his opinion.

He wanted to do a needle biopsy and because I was his last patient for the day he decided to do the procedure then and there rather that have me come back again. I was given a needle injection for local pain. I was told the freezing would last for ten minutes and that I might have some pain from the procedure.

The needle biopsy was probably the strangest test I have ever had done. The sound and sensation was a bit off putting. Think about someone banging down on the back of a stapler to make it work....Jeez Louise.  The doctor was impressed at my calmness but I figure why freak out when it's something that has to be done.

I might add that despite the fact that they said there would be pain it was nothing. I had an ice bag and it only hurt for about five or ten minutes. The bruise though was gigantic and very very colourful,

So my results came back and I had what is known as Atypical Papillary Lesions. Not so bad. They could stay as they weren't cancerous. But.... he wanted to take them out and of course do a second more thorough biopsy.

So yesterday I went into hospital at 7:00 a.m. and after sitting around for what seemed like endless hours I had a Lumpectomy and finally after 2 1/2 hours of recovery arrived home about 5:15 totally shattered.

The aftermath has been relativity painless. I took an extra strength Tylenol before bed and today nothing.  The only lasting annoyance is a sore throat from the breathing tube they insert during surgery.

So the bottom line of this very long recitation is the moral of the story I guess.

I will never put off until tomorrow what I should do today regarding my health or something along those lines. I'm sure I'll think of something more pithy but whatever.

My whole attitude was rather stupid. I'm relatively healthy for my age and I figured nothing serious would happen to me regarding the big C. Well that was wrong.

Be proactive about your own health care. Go and get a Pap Smear done and, go and get a Mammogram done. 

I've had some near misses and have been very lucky. So now I wait to see what the final biopsy will find. Fingers and toes crossed.

Take care:) 

Kantha Embroidery of West Bengal......

An interesting form of embroidery.....and quilting as well. Enlarge the video to see all the stitching detail.

McMansions in the snow.........................................

Well March came in like a lion rather than a lamb. We had no snow and then...ah well. It's going to go up to a sweltering 14C on Tuesday so hopefully it will melt.

A few of you were asking about the new houses that are being built across the street from us.

Remember July 2015......here

Now....the new houses are almost finished.....they are still working inside.

What a difference.

They haven't started demolishing the house next door to us as yet. It's been sitting empty since last summer. Oh joy I can't wait......NOT!!!!!!

I dread the thought of another summer full of destruction construction fun.

Take care :)

A Finish....For CQJP2015

Er...... I think this is number 4 in my blocks for CQJP2015. At this rate I should be done by 2018...LOL

Ah well:)


December and January just dragged this year. I don't know about you lot but I always feel more positive in February. Spring will be here soon. I wonder if that pesky groundhog saw his shadow? I must check.

I had a difficult time finding good light to take pictures today. It's raining here which is perfectly acceptable weather. Anything but snow. 

There Is Nothing Worse.......

Crazy Quilting Challenge.....

I was wandering around Blogland at 5:00 a.m. I couldn't sleep which is nothing unusual...LOL

I discovered this post about a crazy quilting challenge over at Kitty & Me Designs that you might be interested in.

Here are the details.