Canada wins gold in men's hockey :D

Our son and his girlfriend watched the whole game - the rest of us listened vicariously as scores and critiques were shouted out from the living room, lol.  When USA scored their second goal with only a few seconds left in the 3rd period, there was more than a bit of swearing heard!!  Then in overtime we heard a big cuss and thought that USA had scored the "gold" goal - NOPE!!  Canada won the GOLD!!!  GO TEAM CANADA!!  14 gold medals - un-be-frigging-lievable!!!  Congratulations to ALL of the athletes - your families must be SO proud of you!!!   Congratulations to the USA and Germany for their outstanding medal counts - 37 and 30, and to Canada for their outstanding performance as well --- 14 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze.  WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

And in the spirit of the Olympics, here's some reindeer poop :)  I'm not sure why I can't get a decent picture with the camera, but that could very well be from a lack of photography skills from the photographer - aka ME :D Reindeer pattern by by Sharon Bennett aka Daffycat (she has another reindeer pattern here!)--- poop idea provided by Aubree, LOLLLLLL!

Deliveries made today ...

Today hubby drove me to the shelter in East Gwillimbury where we dropped off a container of pillowcases (about 50 of them!!!!) plus 6 quilts I've made in the last couple of years.  Then we went to the thrift store and dropped off a bunch of junk valuable goodies ... then it was off to the OSPCA  in Newmarket where we dropped off a bunch of cage quilts and some donation items for their next fundraiser.  The ladies I met up with at the OSPCA were delightful and most appreciative of the stuff I brought in.  I'll definitely be making them more goodies!  We saw lots of beautiful cats in the viewing rooms - it was hard to walk out without a new kitty - I wish I could have brought them all home with me!  We did tell Zoomer that he needs to be on his best behaviour or he's history ;)  (that's a joke - he's beyond spoiled, and definitely rules the roost, lol).

Pictured - projects from the last day or two - the last of the breast cancer pillowcases, 3 cage quilts (18" square, 20" square and 26" square), and a tote bag with matching zipper bag.

Edited to add a whiney gripe:  when I dropped off the p-cases and quilts at the people shelter, the person who took them was a young man of about 18.  Very polite, but it didn't make my day to drop off 50 handmade pillowcases and 6 handmade quilts, with the only comment from the shelter being "Thanks, I'll take these to the laundry room".   I didn't make the stuff for the accolades, and I know a kid doesn't care about (and I'm sure didn't even notice!) the handmade aspect, but it mattered to ME, right or wrong. I'll be doing some research before deciding on the recipient of my next batch of pcases/quilts.

New car :)

Our car boy (aka our youngest son Chris) traded in his "old car" (purchased in May 2009, lol) for different one - he puts a lot of miles on the vehicle and wanted a 4 cylinder vehicle :D This is a 2006 Cobalt SS. It's almost the same color as our Challenger, lol! It's a standard, so he's out "practicing" now. Any excuse to drive, hehe - that's why he's our car boy!

Happy birthday Brian ...

Our brother Brian (the baby of the family, and the other redhead :D) would have been 46 today - happy birthday Buzz :)

I've been working hard in my (basement) studio doing a major declutter - in between declutterage and organizationage (yes, they're words, in my world :D) I whipped up some more items for the local animal shelter - a couple of dog print zipper bags (pictured) and a few cat pillows and cage quilts (not pictured).  The zipper bags aren't very good for stashbusting, but the cat pillows and cage quilts are!!  My stash got enhanced yesterday when a girlfriend brought over some fabrics from HER stash (thanks Nancy "Tilda Tavern Wench"!) - they'll be perfect for tote bags for the shelter.  So much to do - so little time :D

Wordless Wednesday :D

Pretty in pink :D

Tomorrow if hubby gets home from work in time, we'll head up to the shelter in East Gwillimbury and drop off a load of pillowcases and other stuff I've gathered up.  I have quite a few girly pillowcases whipped up - I don't have nearly as many boy type cases - I'll have to see what I have to even up the numbers a bit!  The zipper bag is just for fun, lol.  It's even lined with fabric that says "Meow" :D

Tied baby quilt :)

Yesterday I found a YouTube video on how do a proper knot to tie a quilt - I tried it, and it worked great!  Hey Chris - do you remember the duck fabric?  You gave me some scraps a few months ago - I have enough squares cut out for one more little quilt as well - thanks, milady!!  This quilt measures 35" square, and is backed with the same yellow TOT that's in the top :)

Here are some bibs I made a while ago - I posted them to my blog but I had photographed them backwards (lol) - I'm too lazy to go find the post and change the picture :D

Two more zipper bags for the shelter - the color didn't come out very nice in the photograph - it's a pretty soft blue with ivory dog bones on it :)

New bedroom furniture (well, new to US, lol)

We bought this vintage (mid 60's) bedroom set a few weeks ago, but just got around to putting everything together.  In the spring we're going to redo the bedroom - new paint, light fixtures, bedding, curtains, lamps etc. (we'll likely keep the carpeting tho - it's a huge bedroom [$$$$$$ to replace] and is in perfect condition).  We got the furniture from kijiji - the seller only lives 2 blocks away, LOL (hi, Anna, hi, Paul!) :)

The headboard, which is almost obliterated by the pillows, and that's only one pillow each - we use 5 altogether, lol.  We'll have to rejig it to make it higher.  I'm sure Dennis will be thrilled ;)

Dennis' nightstand and his necessities - phone and alarm clock :D

My nightstand with my flamingo bag holding my psoriasis lotions and potions :D

A bit of a better view of the headboard :)

Tall dresser - Dennis' dresser :)  (that's our old ugleeeeeeeeeeee headboard on the right).

My dresser - aren't the curved drawers fantastic?  That's what drew me to this set - the shape is so pretty!!


I love my new bedroom set :)

Olympic luger killed in crash :(

"WHISTLER -- A men's Olympic luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia crashed training for the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Friday and has died from the injuries.


Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died from injuries suffered in the crash, German IOC official Thomas Bach confirmed."  (Clip and the rest of the story here).

I'm almost speechless - this is so terribly sad - his poor family and friends :(

I needed the patience of Job ...

to sew this paper pieced magnolia block - lawdy lawdy!!!  16 sub-sections, 62 (give or take) pieces - definitely a challenging block!  I wasn't all that happy doing such a detailed block - I used to enjoy them, but now - not so much :D

This is what the finished project looks like - it's Magnolias by Claudia Hasenbach from Germany :)  I bought the pattern a few years ago and am just now getting around to working on it.  Hope to have it finished by the time spring rolls around!! 

The bibs and zipper bags were far easier to complete ;) OH lolol I just realized I photographed the back of the bibs instead of the front - they have red trim on them!  I'll have to get a new picture tomorrow :D

Shelter items, kitty pillows and a pretty view :)

A few recent finishes - pillowcase and 4 zipper bags - these will go to the shelter nearby.  Free tutorial @ The Creative Thimble for the round bags :)

Here are a couple of cage quilt/pillows for Sew Sisters quilt shop in Toronto - the next time hubby takes me down to Toronto, I'll drop off a bunch of pillows for the kitties :)  I try to add an applique to the ones I make (when I remember) - it's either a fish or the letter Z (for Zoomer, of course) :)

Here are the next 4 bags ready to be put together - they'll get filled as I create more scraps, LOL. 

My design wall (aka a piece of styrofoam insulation covered by a vinyl tablecloth, LOL) - don't the blocks look pretty and colorful?  It's quite lovely to look at!

The perfect model :)

  Look what I made last year :D  No, not the gorgeous baby (my friend Mickie's delicious grandson Miles) - his snowman bib!  Doesn't Miles make a most perfect model?!  I want to pinch those chubby little cheeks!!!







And here are a couple of blocks for a foundation pieced log cabin quilt I'm very slowly working on, based on this project :)

A bit more stash busted :)

Two pillowcases for the shelter ... 

as well as two zipper bags :)

Showing off my panties ;)

I made myself a pair of panties (or rather - a panty!) today :D  The free pattern and tutorial is from a Japanese site called SewLover.  I'm not creating a link to their site - a friend just went to it and got bombarded with pr0n-type photos.  YUCK.  My browser is set up to delete all that crap so I didn't realize.  If your computer is well secured, you can check the site out, but consider yourself warned, LOL!!  The gingham bag worked out quite nicely as well - I pieced some fabrics together to make it big enough! 

Recently I picked up a package of Color Catchers to try out - they help prevent fabric dyes bleeding and staining other fabrics in the laundry.  They work quite well, as I discovered when I washed all the fabrics I bought in Buffalo!  I didn't want to throw them away after they were used (it also drives me crazy to throw away used dryer sheets) so I used them as foundations to make string blocks for this cat pillow (11 x 18") :D  The stuffing is fabric scraps saved from sewing projects, and the backing was from a big piece of fabric given to me by a friend!  A nice example of re-and-upcycling, if I do say so myself :D

Spaghetti and denim :)

A couple of days ago I was making spaghetti for supper - I had a pot of water on the stove heating to boil, then I broke the spaghetti in half and put it in an empty pot beside the water, so I could drop it in when the water boiled.  Somehow I turned the burner on under the pot holding the spaghetti :D  Did that ever stink!! 

My oldest son asked, a few days ago, if I could make him a zipper bag out of his worn out jeans - to hold his safety glasses so they wouldn't get scratched in his toolbag.  Here's the bag I made :)

Here's the label I sewed inside - awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!

Sewing with knits - YIKES!

For the February "12 months/12 sewing challenges" challenge, we have to sew something with knit fabric. I haven't done that in 30 years!! I remember making a really simple dress back in 1980 (I know the year because I made it for work, and I was working at Giffords, LOL) with a pretty purpley knit fabric I had purchased at BouClair on Baseline Road in Ottawa :D I was a lot skinnier back then and the drapey fabric looked good on my (somewhat overly) curvy figure. Now I would just look like a sausage stuffed in a stocking, LOLOL. So I doubt I'll be making an item of clothing, but I'll find SOMEthing to make :D

Puppy quilt and cat goodies :)

The quilt is going to a nearby shelter (in East Gwillimbury) and was made using up most of the two puppy fabrics (the remainder of the fabrics have been cut into blocks to go into a future scrap quilt), and most of a piece of blue TOT (backing and binding). It measures 41" square :)
The cat pillowcase and matching zipper bag will also be going to the shelter - this project used up the last of the blue TOT fabric (pcase cuff) and the piece of cat fabric (which was purchased @ Joanns in Ohio last year - hi Trishy, hi, Patty!!!!) :) I had a really nice piece of trim (from Kinkos ... Kinkys? Kijiji? I can't remember the name of the store in Ohio, lol) to embellish the bag and the pcase, but my sewing machine refused to stitch it - the machine kept herking and jerking and skipping stitches, no matter what I tried. Messy! I even tried a ribbon foot but that didn't help. So - no blue trim!