In Between Periods...

I was working on this...

I love love LOVE these colours. It's a simple design, no special pattern. Sashing vertically and horizontally, and then I think I will frame it with a few rectangle borders to mimic the inside blocks.

What a nailbiting, fight to the end, game. That's exactly how good hockey should be. None of this 9-0 scoring stuff, or no scoring for an entire period. I love me a close, high blood pressure game. What a perfect way to end 3rd period with a tie it up score during those last seconds. Awesome. It could have gone either way at the end, but in the end, let me tell you - what a grand feeling to win that battle. Congrats to USA, and thank you for making it such a nerve wracking experience! Personally, I could care less about the medals we've won...it's the incredible Canadian spirit, excitement and patriotism these games have drummed up!

Closing ceremonies tonight...and then what?

Ah yes, SPRING and gardening!! Okay, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself on that one...

Be one of them too...

Today I was one of them.

Foreshadow quote "You sure picked a great lineup today, didn't you hon"

I went with my youngest for a jaunt to my oh so guilty shopping at the big box Blue and Yellow store. You know, the one that you know the politics and ethics of the company are quite icky? I go there because, well, on one income, I really need to watch what I spend and I save money there. So, I do.

Ham was on sale for $8.77, wahoo, on the main display aisle, so I picked one up and was on my way.

Went to the checkout (first in line yahoo!) and put all the stuff on the counter. Watching what scans as what price, especially boots on clearance for ds for $3.00 wanted to make sure that went through as $3.00 and not 24. $3.00? for boots? I know.

Ham was a problem. It scanned through for 9.47 , not 8.77. I'm cool. Ask her what it scanned as and mentioned that it's posted as a different price IN THE AISLE DISPLAY DIAGONALLY FROM HER. It's blatantly posted there. In big numbers. She still needs to phone and get a verification of the price check. *blink. blink*

*understand that at this point, there is a woman with her two younger girls now lined up behind me with a crap load of stuff on the counter.

So, her phone P.A system doesn't work. She needs to go to a different phone. One 4 paces in front of her. STILL A MERE 30 PACES FROM HAM DISPLAY

As I'm waiting, ds needs to go to the bathroom. Of course. In a plight of bravery I send him on his own (he's 4) to the bathroom....it's right in front of us and I could whip my cart yell at anyone there from where I was.

All this going on, me being nice and letsnotgetanyoneupsetandrea personality tells her to cancel the ham and put through the other people's orders while I'm waiting.

*there are now 5 people lined up behind me.

As I'm waiting and laserbeaming ds to emerge from the bathroom, I look down at the counter to read something about scanning code of practice. Have you heard of this?

Scanning Code of Practice If the scanned price of a non-price item is higher than the shelf price or any other displayed price, the customer is entitled to receive the first item free, up to a $10 maximum. If a Code of Practice problem cannot be resolved at the store level, please call 1-866-499-4599 to register your complaint.

Finally, finally someone calls back to verify, that yes, indeed they are the price I said they are.

*blink* *blink* (remember...it's right in front of us)

And yes... I, at this point, am ONE OF THEM. The person who makes the cashier give my 50 cents back if I am overcharged. But it gets even better. I point to the scanning code of practice sign on HER counter and say I'd like to use this please.

Now she's the one who does the *blink* blink*. She's never heard of it. It's right on her counter. And on the one 4 paces away that she goes to verify.

And this is when I heard You sure picked a great lineup today, didn't you hon from someone way back in the lineup.

If anyone knows me, I am not one to want attention, I'm shy, I just want to blend in.

Blend in I did not today.

But I did respond to the comment. I replied quietly blushing red in the face, eyes glued to the ground

I'm really sorry about the wait. But the price was wrong, and now instead of saving 50 cents, I saved nine dollars. Ham dinner is free tonight!

And she gave me an encouraging smile and said - make sure you go to DQ (ice cream) for dessert then tonight!

So...I'm not sure if Scanning Code of Practice occurss in the USA, but it definately occurs in Canada....CHECK your scanned prices!! Even if something is two cents difference, you will get the item free!

randomness...

So. I have been busy. And I have a million thoughts going on in my head. Again.

Like.... will my living/family room ever be free of dinosaurs, lego, trains, kidstuff?

Will my kids ever opt to wear clothes in the middle of the day?

I made a cover for my itouch and my new camera. My husband says they are very 'Andrea'. What is that supposed to mean? (paranoia has set in over that comment)

I've discovered that not only am I NOT a clothing sewer, I am not good at little projects (like itouch covers) My excuse? I didn't use a pattern. This time.

I'll stick to quilts, I guess. My little project is done, just need to get the binding sewn on, and then I can share more. And it's patterned, because that's what it is. My solids goal is still there. But hey, when I'm given free fabric...I'll take it.

Will his teeth always look that big in his little mouth? Good grief, he really needs a haircut.

I love and hate blogging. I love to document what I've been up to, but I don't love how it sucks you in....like really, do I plan on getting famous and appearing on Oprah over my itouch cover? Nope. I see some bloggers really making things happen and getting 'known'. But how known are they. Really? I think of crazymomquilts, and how popular in the blogging world she was, but really, if she quit the blogging world, was all the blogging effort worth it after all?

If I were a cat, would it really matter?

I dream of a career in quilting - somehow working with textile companies as a rep or distributor or SOMETHING to keep me in touch with my love for textiles. But then I think....my job as an elementary teacher, as a music teacher is far more rewarding salary wise, vacation wise, pension wise, and of course I love the kids. Except when they fart near me.

Just kind of wrapped up in a million things right now. And that's only the stuff I'm able to talk about publicly....as in my household, there's always plans unfolding and in the works and I sure don't want to jinx it.

Inukshuk...

INUKSHUK

Pronounce the u's like oo in book in -ook-shook.

I've been eyeing this for quite awhile. It's from Costco (I love that place!). My dearest predictably surprised me with this yesterday after we spoke about it while watching the Olympic opening ceremonies.

It is made from stone, and is just so beautiful the way it captures the light.

Inukshuk is a stone figure shaped in the image of man to guide lonely travellers in Northern Canada. They point the best and safest passage, land or water.

You will notice the Inukshuk in some of the Olympic signage....

Thank you honey...I love it to bits. I know it's perfect for us and is pointing the direction home!

Thoughts on the ceremony...

It was very Canadian. Mellow, unassuming, beautiful.
Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams - too hollywood for me (lipsyncing was evident too) (how on earth could she even stand in those shoes?) and paled in musicianship to KD Lang.

Oh my goodness KD Lang's voice just haunted me and gave me chills. No lip syncing there! Just so unassuming, audience embracing and captures our souls with her voice.

The poet Shane Koyczan from the Northwest Territory - honestly, I've never heard of him, but he resonated Canadian culture through and through. What a proud moment to hear his poem.
What an incredible speaker, writer and representation of a Canadian.

The hologram shows were stunnning and beautiful.

The final torch bearer to light the Olympic flame - meh... Gretzky. It wasn't who I thought it would be, and it wasn't as magical. But I guess he is the 'Great One' in hockey land. Moving to the US way back when is still a little bit of a dagger to many Canadians here. Don't get me wrong, I'd move to the US (certain parts) if I could.... if I would have the healthcare plan as I do here!

My thoughts on Gretzy's lighting of the outside cauldron - sheesh! So much money put into the performance of the ceremonies, and the poor guy had ONE police car escorting him? Did you see the people racing alongside the truck? I thought he was going to get pulled down! ;-)

Onwards - onto quilt posts again!

Olympic Countdown...

I'm on pins and needles. You can feel the vibe everywhere, and we're a 12 hour drive from Vancouver! My friends and family in Vancouver say the feeling around town is unbelievable!

The opening ceremonies will be a tear jerker for me I'm sure. There's much speculation and secrecy about who will light the Olympic Flame...and I'm routing for one special person. And if speculation runs true, it will be absolutely unbelievable.

I have diet coke, ice cream and kleenex box ready!

Wow...

Thank you so much to all of your suggestions and comments. I'm totally blown away. It's amazing how many different suggestions there were, and how (happily) divided we were in our opinions! Love that!

I took a day or two off from the colours and said hello again last night. I finally caved and made a makeshift design wall in the spare bedroom *gasp! There are 6 pinholes in my wall now!! anyone grow up in a household where one was never supposed to put pins in the wall??? yup, me!

The design wall made a huge difference in plunking blocks here and there. I've tried the scattered white, gradation, no white, pale blocks, black blocks, charcoal blocks, pastel blocks. I think my design is just evolving, I'm afraid. I came to this last night, and it will likely be charcoal or black sashing. I really wanted to stay away from the comfort zone of black. It's just so typical, and I didn't want typical. It's not cut and done yet though...so maybe I'll let it rest another day.

My next load of fabrics came in, I tried to pick modern neutrals, and I have a plan to do wonky rectangles for this one.

Hope everyone is enjoying the week!

Workshop in Progress...

I need help.

I love my solids projects...okay I love designing and coming up with a plan, but when it comes to fruition I start to hate it. So, as I'm organizing the blocks in my quilt, I get a few rows done and realize - yuck. I think it's the white I hate.

Do I change the white blocks to another solid, like black or charcoal? OR do I trash them completely and put all the coloured blocks together as I did near the bottom? or do I keep the white and keep going?

Ugh. I hate when I get to this point. I think I'm using too many colours.

If this is the rate my solids are going, I'm ditching the project and getting me some Moda love.

;-)

A new use for my old toy...

So, I've had this little suitcase for 34 years. It was large enough to carry crayons or a lego stash for visits when I was young. I got it in Germany when I was 4, and have kept it in great condition all these years. I love the pink colour of the lining...and I think it would be adorable one day for my sewing room. For now, I filled it with a bunch of my collection of solids...recently my bloggy friend Jenny and I did a swap - I sent her some fq's of FleaMarket Fancy, and in return, I received a delicious assortment of colours to add to my collection for the year! Thanks Jenny!!

My February solids quilt is almost done! I've had a very busy week, and even though the kids had a few days off last week, it was taken up by sniffles and kids demanding my attention. (the nerve!) Today we are hosting a superbowl party...funny because I know nothing about football, but hey...the food is always fun!

In other news, I received really exciting (like omg dancing with excitement news like a little girl who just found out she's going to meet one of the Jonas brothers) news. I'll let you know in a few weeks - it's not that huge in the grand scheme of things, but for ME it's huge! It's quilty related so I'll be sure to let you know!

KatieJumpRope Quilt (designed by Ethan)

Washed, bound and crinkly. Just the way I like it.

Blockmaking - using graph paper was really helpful in figuring out measurements and cutting for blocks. *never forget that 1/2" extra for seam allowances!

Fabric Choice - originally I wanted to use some solids like Ethan's drawing but I didn't have any (at the time) and I don't have a big stash of bold pinks.

Batting - I had a crib sized batting piece in that polyester thin batting. I was worried about it when I was putting it together, but after washing it, it's just as soft as other kinds. But, it is thinner, and so this is more of a lightweight summer quilt.

Spray Basting - wow, how super easy it was! I used 505 brand, as it was recommended to be less smelly. It was a great method for a small quilt. I'd get nervous using it for a larger quilt, but I may experiment on a larger one, just for kicks. I'm pretty liberal with my shoving and manipulating the quilt around on my machine, so often wondered if the layers would unstick or shift. Not the case. But again, smaller quilt so maybe better result?

Machine binding - let's just say it's quick, but I don't like the results at all. Perhaps it's that my binding looked uneven at the back or the stitching looked uneven at the back - it looked awesome at the front. But I didn't like the look of it on the back. In addition to uneven, it also looks too flat and not as fluffy as when I hand stitch.

**and yes, this quilt is made of patterned fabric - all from my stash. The only fabric I've allowed myself to purchase this year is solids, batting and backing. I need to use up my stash as well this year, so you'll see a few stash quilts here and there!

**My next solids quilt is all cut out and ready to piece!

Friday Progress

Katie Jump Rope Quilt  (aka, Ethan's Design)  is almost done.   It's a very easy quilt, and is baby size, but it's been a busy week.  Life comes first, and then quilting.  bah!

I'm experimenting with several things in this quilt - making up my own blocks, spray basting, a different kind of batting (thin poly blend I had from my stash) and machine sewing the binding.

I'll let you know what happens.

Vancouver 2010

I saw this video today, and totally cried my eyes out.  It's my home.  Some people wonder what makes it more special than any place else?   Why would I want to move back home?  Well, here it is....

Yes, there's lots of rain, but truly, it's like this. One cannot, however, embed the smell of the trees, clean air and the ocean in this video.
15 more days until the Olympics!!

Solid Goodness

My order from FabricShack arrived today.  See the colour card in the background as well?  Even my kids got excited and have been drooling and reading all of the names of the colours.  My one gripe - they had sold out of white.  What?  How can you be sold out of white?

I may sneak a solid white from my local shop for now... 

edited to add.... my LQS had ONE bolt of Kona.  ONE.  and it was white.  And I got the last 1.4 meters of it. 

Wait till you see what I have planned.  I'm so excited for this next quilt.

Chemo scarf

It looks alot easier than when you actually plan and make your first prototype. There's a cap inside and all of the seams are inside out to protect the sensitive scalp.  The scrunchie makes it looks cool. Played around with my stretch stitches, as well as my rolled hem foot (didn't like)    This is my prototype.  If I had a serger, it would be a breeze to make these.

I know my mother in law rocked the chemo scarves this season.  She looks amazing in them.   

Can you see it?

Can you see the quilt in this?

How about a simple quilt here? Or a quilt block?

I'm in it bad. I get flyers for storage, and I find it useful for quilts.

One thing I'm learning - triangles do nothing for me. I'm a squares, rectangles and circles kind of girl. Not sure why.

Christmas Gems...

finally, finally finished. My gosh this was the longest pitter patter procrastinating quilt ever. It was supposed to be a gift for my friend. Maybe next year ;-)

It measaures 45" x 55". The pattern is from Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. I didn't use jelly rolls though. I pieced the back and actually like the back more than the front. Funny how that works.

The binding is in dots - love em!

Washed and crinkly and ready to fight over.

This quilt has given me inspiration for a solids quilt - if you look closely it kind of looks like ribbons woven together - I'm going to modify the blocks into something that will look more like solid ribbons weaving together. That's my March quilt. February is designed, waiting for fabrics and then set to cut.

I still have never made quilt labels for my quilts. Now that I'm more serious about quilting, I need to research that. I like those little twill tape ribbons or just ribbon with a name on them. I know it's not traditional, but I like that.

Green with Envy

The envy being the red in this quilt ;-) Windy day here. Enlarge the photo and hopefully you can see the red better....I wish I could figure out photography. Oh well, this is an amateur blog, so I hope you understand.

I'll post more details as to the size; pattern I somewhat followed; colours of Kona used; etc.... but here is the quilt top done. Now to baste it (blech) and quilt it. Any suggestions on quilting it? I'm thinking horizontal meandering, but I'm kind of nervous about all of the seams. I may just leave it for a bit. I'm kind of sick of it.

My Simply Solids Project is definately underway! I've ordered more solids for my next quilt, which I made the pattern myself.

My Ethan quilt is underway too - I'm using a selection of Katie Jump Rope fabrics, rather than the pink he coloured with. He was okay with that ;-) I just wanted to get something fresh and simple started, as this Green with Envy quilt just kind of made me feel blah.

Kona Colours Used for Green with Envy:
Asparagus
Black
Brown
Charcoal
Chartreuse
Chocolate
Coal 
Espresso
Kiwi
Med. Grey
Pepper
Ruby
Sour Apple
            

Progress..

My solids quilt top is almost done. It's been a tough one. I figured out that I've sewn 9km worth of seams for this. There are a lot of seams. And now, I'm onto the vertical seams, which I'm having to press open..fun. I'm still not sure about this. I've been calling it my reefer quilt.

LOL

If you click to enlarge the photo you will notice that my dog decided to camp out on my layout this afternoon without me realizing it. And...tons of threads. Kona Cottons fray and shed. ALOT.

**the colour that looks yellow is not yellow, but a limey green with a yellow undertone. can't for the life of me adjust it on camera or in iphoto.

My heart melts

So, that box of pencil crayons? They're no longer MINE. One day in this house, something will be all mine...not shared, not communal. Just mine.

But this morning I woke up to the sweetest gift. "I drew this quilt just for you" My son has designed his first quilt. And I'm going to make it.

**on another note...my camera was dropped (again) and I need a new one. Again, see comment above about things being mine vs shared. *rolleyes*

The Olympic Torch!!

The Olympic Torch came through our community today...and I pulled my boys out of school and preschool (as well as 1/2 the schools!) to watch. We were so very lucky, we saw it go by twice! The second time, we were kind of stuck in traffic on the way home, and lo and behold, the traffic was stopped because it was going by! We had so much fun and felt so nostalgic. 30 more days! GO CANADA!!!!