Reminding Us It's Winter

January arrived for real some time last night, with snow and blowing snow, temps of -22C with a wind chill of -31C.   My furry companion, Diesel, knows exactly how to deal with this weather: turn one's back on it and catch a few z-z-z-z-z s.

Blanket Buttonhole Stitch Block - TAST Week 2

Me? I've been in the Sewing Studio.  Last evening I set my mind to this week's Crazy Quilt Block for TAST, and this morning, while listening to the podcast at Nonnie's Quilting Dreams, I finished it.  I had great fun with this piece, and got a bit carried away with the beads.  My in-line blanket buttonhole stitch is quite good, but it proved a challenge to use it for couching and on velour.  And yes...my 'wheels' need work if I am to do them on fabric that's not specifically laid out for embroidery (silk is quite different than aida cloth or even-weave linen!)

Then, with Peter Tongni and CBC 2's Choral Concert as accompaniment, I headed to my sewing machine and made up a couple more rows on the Orca Bay Mystery Quilt top.  So large that it now fills my design wall, hanging down to the floor, I've decided to make a separate unit of the last 8 rows.  I'll attach it to the first 9 once I'm finished.  Measuring for the borders will be tricky -- I'll have to move furniture to lay it out on the kitchen floor!  This is not the largest quilt I've ever made, but I lived in a larger house the last time I did something like this...

Certainly this top has more pieces than any I've ever created, and will have to be very densely quilted to deal with the bulk of all those seams and junctions!

What's in the plan for this afternoon?  As it continues to blow, I'm staying warm with The Quilt Show, (always lots to see on that site!), perhaps an episode of Antiques Road Show, my knitting...and maybe -- just maybe -- I'll curl up with Diesel.  Stay warm!

Enough for Today

...I think.  Having decided, due to the wind chill (-29C and it hasn't budged all day) to play hooky from my monthly volunteering at the Stettler thrift store, I have now cut out and sewed up my second batch of hour glass units, working a bit at a time between about 8 a.m. and now (2 p.m.).

Sleeve #1 awaits a fitting

Maybe God's rapping my knuckles for staying home.  Out of a potential total of 52 units (cumulative -- yesterday's and today's), I have 40 that are 2.5" square (the desired size), another 9 that are 2 3/8" square (and in piecing, 1/8" makes a significant difference) and  3 that are smaller (2.25") or just plain wonky.  Sigh.  I know I was a bit loosey-goosey with the first batch, but today I took particular care in cutting, marking, sewing and pressing (even turned off the steam, which I am not usually wont to do; I like steam!)

Ah well...I'm going to take a break and do more hand-stitching on the front of the hanten jacket, and maybe -- finally -- pick up the stitches for the second sleeve of my daughter's Christmas Sweater -- all the while entertained by TQS and a couple of new-to-me podcasters (Pam Holland -- an infrequent podcaster, but arty and interesting; and Sandy, the chatty host of Quilting for the Rest of Us.)

Stay warm!

It's a Winter's Eve...

And I've been stitching while I listened to various podcasts. I love 'em! My favourites include:

• Craftcast with Alison Lee (lively interviews with people involved with a variety of artistic media);


• The KnitPicks Podcast with Kelly Petkun (enthusiastic about everything knitting, punctuated with great interviews);


• Annie's Quilting Stash with Annie Smith, a bubbly host who travels to teach, who designs, and who loves to interview the famous and not-so-famous in the world of quilting;


• Garrison Keillor's daily 5-minute podcast sponsored by Poetry magazine; and


• Two CBC Radio podcasts involving literature and authors -- "The Next Chapter" with Shelagh Rogers, and "Writers and Company" with Eleanor Wachtel.

Tonight I've been stitching on a piece for my art quilting group, the Free Spirit Artisans. Our next monthly gathering is Tuesday evening, and our theme for this past month's project has been "A Favourite Book, Movie or Song". I was at a complete loss till the other night when, as I drifted off to sleep, it came to me...Photo in a later post!

I've finished my Christmas knitting, but have a wee bookmark to cross-stitch for a friend, and a pillow sham in applique to finish and quilt for my sister. The latter is Installment 2 of her Bedroom Decor Series (remember, I made a neck roll pillow last Christmas? and a quilt the year before that?) One more sham after this, and it will be complete!

In between, I found this marvellous pattern with which to comfort my dear old cat, Fred. He's going on 20, and is skin and bone from kidney problems. Nonetheless, he rules his little corner of the world -- and my heart. He has me well trained, for sure! Anyway, he's really been feeling any slight bit of chill or cold, so I made him this ribbed vest, courtesy of a pattern at ChristineLandry.com:

Here he is snoozing in the vest, on his favourite chair. He doesn't seem to mind wearing it. We'll see how it goes over the next 24 hours. It could be a bit longer, I think...but I am glad I didn't put in the sleeves; I don't think he'd have liked them.

On the website, there are photos of real cats wearing their sweaters or vests, and apparently "Crazy Aunt Purl" (of Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair fame) had a 'cat sweater sweepstakes' -- there's a link to the photos!

Enjoy! -- and remember: In the midst of the holiday rush, Take Time to Knit!