new patterns

http://www.unitednotions.com/un_main.nsf/free_patterns

Lots of good patterns here . You can download the pattern by clicking on the picture of the quilt you want.  Have fun downloading several  of them.
Ray and I had a lovely visit with Matthew, Caroline, Chelsea and Ryan.
Ryan graduated from high school this month and my how tall he has grown. Can you believe I did not take any pictures. Chelsea is home from university in Toronto. She has completed her first year and won another scholarship that will help her  with  this coming  year's expenses. Congratulations Chelsea and Ryan!

Katie will also be going to University in Toronto this year so that will be fun if the two cousins can get together. They are not going to the same university and that may make meeting a bit difficult as they are both very busy ladies.

So I went to bed this afternoon and slept for 2 hours. I am so tired of being tired. Oh well when you are sleeping you are not eating and gaining weight  LOL.

We watched a good film with Kevin Kostner and Clint Eastwood. I like Kevin Costner, he is  a wonderful actor and is different in each film he is in. I enjoyed him in The Garden of Good and Evil and just recently the Hatfields and the McCoys . Today, I  have lost the name of the film, but he was an escaped prisoner who had abducted a small boy and stolen a car. He ended up in a corn field and was found by a man who invited him to his home to spend the night. Teh man had a small boy and the two boys had fun together. It ended up with Costner's boy shot him with the gun Costner had told him to hold. He shot him because he had tied up the man,his wife and boy and the child thought he was intending to hurt them.
Anyway on the run with a shot to the belly he could not out run the police and ended up dead. Good show and full of emotion. Too bad I can't tell you what it is called. haha.

I found this on Facebook and I found it highly amusing. When we were going through Texas on one of our trips there were many, mnay of these windmills across the hills. Do they have hill in Texas? Must do if that is where we saw them. It was down south I know.  We made numerous trips across the USA . It was wonderful!

This is one of my favourite quilts to make. It seen so easy, just a triangle on each corner and you're all set to go.Mind you picture taking is obviously not so easy LOL. I made this one for my granddaughter Meaghan. I think it is time to make another one. Any suggestions on the snowball blocks? Black maybe Haha!! Not much like a snowball if they are black then.

I used to do cross stitch and I felt I was pretty proficient at it , something I have never felt about quilting for some reason. The reason was I guess that I am not that good.  LOL.

Tomorrow is Canada Day. Happy Canada Day to all Canadians.

My day is over folks. Have a great evening!

Buona Sera.

Eat chocolate.

marital conversations

He: Well you were there...
She: I'm not always there when I'm there.
He: Sometimes we're both not there when we're there.
Darn you have to be there to appreciate the irony of that little conversation which we had this morning onour way to the grocery store. Haha.

Have you seen the trailer for Magic Mike? Matthew McConaughey is featured in that and he plays the part of a male stripper inviting the ladies to touch. He is so arrogant and pleased with himself that I am not sure whether he is acting a part or if he is for real. 

More I Spy news:
Katy Holmes has filed for divorce from Tom Cruise . I heard the news while standing in line around noon at the grocery store. A strange man very excitedly told me the news.  I thought they were a pretty solid couple so I am kind of disappointed. But who knows what goes on in a marriage. I don't -even in my own LOL.

After we came home from shopping guess where I went . Darn I am wasting so much time being tired and having to rest.

Another conversation:
She: Ray this cole slaw is Wonderful. What did you use?
He: My special touch.
Haha he always amuses me!!
Anyway it was absolutely delicious, just the right amount of vinegar to oil, then a bit of salt and pepper. Simple yet perfect!

These little guys  sitting it out on a string under the little umbrellas . But note the little guy on the right side having a drink of water LOL.

 And this guy wants to go along too. one of MArg's cats used to haunt her suitcase when she was going on a trip. Her cat used to get very annoyed at Marg leaving and she knew when she was going somewhere.Animals are marvellous. I am readong that book I mentioned where the locale is St. Tropez. Two of the character took their dogs, one a dog with a lovely personality with one leg and a blind eye. He hardly seemed to notice it.  The other a nasty little chihuahua who snarled and nipped and yapped. Then a Stray came onto the scene, A yellow dog who attached himself to a boy whose mother had just left him at the hotel and then told him she was getting married to a man with three children and they had no place for him. Anyway the yellow dog gave him a friend and a new lease on life. The author had drawn the character  of all the dogs so very well.

Does this have any meaning for you? LOL.

Time to go. Have a lovely evening.

Dobro vece

lunch out!

Don't forget Olga , the dentist Aug 13 @ 2:15. LOL
I went out to lunch with my Healthy Heart Helpers group. We haven't met since 2010 some  time, I have no idea of the date but it has been a long time.
We had a lot of fun, all of us. It was really good to see my dear friends again . Maureen came by and picked me up. Thank you Maureen, it was very kind of you to help me out like this.

We went to the White Spot but were not very happy with the waitress or the food. I had the usual The Legendary. I remember when the legendary was so delicious , way be in the fiftties and upward. But they have hired special chefs and they changed it all. So the Legendary has changed, so much on it that kept falling out of the bun. The flavour was not as good as it used to be and don't tell me I am wanting the good old days.   No I want the good old food!  Then we ordered the strawberry tart ,the crust was so hard you needed a knife to cut through it. Our waitress was not good either, we waited a very long time for her even to acknowlege us let alone take our order. But guilty I am, I still left a tip. I tell myself it was because the boys are very nice and polite, they share in the tip so if you don't leave one then they don't get any tips either.
However the company was delightful!!! Thank you ladies for making my day.  Maureen can you send this reminder to Olga LOL.

I have just gotten home so have done nothing else yet.
Marg called and she is coming over with the books I lent her last week
So today has been a day of talking and eating LOL.
And now it is time for supper haha. It never stops. I think I'll wait some time before I eat again as I am still feeling full from lunch. Which by the way was 5 hours ago. Usually I am hungy after that amount of time.

http://quiltinggallery.com/2012/06/23/my-next-scrappy-project/?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=%5BQuilting+Gallery+News%5D+Lots+of+quilting+FUN%21&utm_campaign=Lots+of+quilting+FUN%21&utm_term=my-first-block-300x294_jpg

I liked the scrappy  aspect of this quilt, it should be easy and it looks lovely. Don't you hate these huge urls?

Sydney Crosby signed a contract today for a 100,0004 million dollars over twelve years. he is 24 years old. Wow I wished my sons could have gotten that good at hockey LOL. Maybe we could have received the new car we need from the hockey player .
I just spent forever looking for the photos I took and downloaded today. Nothing.....

I'm going now. Have a great evening!
Bon Soir!

puzzle

(http://www.jigzone.com/puz/zemThumb?p.jz.jzL.Wooly_Jumpers:jpg)"/>>

Jigsaw puzzle of grandma's knitting. Cute and fun too. Try it out and see.
I hope this puzzle works for you.

My computer is having a bird and trying to underline everything as well as changing the colour of the test without me telling it to do so.

I spent the better part of the day in bed. You know when it is time to rest and not keep pushing. That's what I did and I am feeling better.
But in the morningwe went to Tim's for a bowl of soup and then to London Drugs to buy a new fan for the bedroom. We bought a pillar as it takes up less room on the night table and works very well. So now we are all ready for summer if it comes LOL.

I bought a new book about Russell Williams the air force colonel who sold himself down the river by stalking women, invading their homes, assaulting them  and eventually murdering two of his victims. It is a puzzle to me that successful men and it is usually men who have this gene that causes them to self destruct. However Karla Homolka was a woman who helped her husband kill several times and one of the vctims was her younger sister. She gave investigators the goods they needed to get her husband and received a shorter sentence becaus of it. Now she is somewhere in the states and has three young children. How will those children feel when they discover this information which they will.
We have recently had a young man Luca Magnotta who dismembered a young man and sent his body parts to Ottawa, and two schools in Vancouver. Then he fled to Germany and took up his place at an internet cafe where he was recognized by a man beside his cubicle. Why did he do something that got him caught?
And the latest is a young man from Alberta who killed three of his co workers and stole $344,000 from their armored car. Then he ended up at a border crossing in Abbotsford, B.C. with the $ 344,000, when you can only have $10,000 with you when you cross the border,
no passport and his mother's license plate attached to his car and with a face that had been broadcast across the country. Think you won't get caught , think again. Now his life is over along with the lives he took.
So that is why I am going to read the book about Russell Williams to solve an issue I can't understand.

And I am reading a book that takes place in Saint Tropez I want to go to France!!

Now for pleasure:

A hollyhock at Hop On's produce and they have beautiful plants as well as produce.

Taken from inside the car so a bit dull.

http://www.quiltviews.com/free-rose-of-sharon-table-runner-pattern-by-sharon-pederson

Wanna applique, this one looks like fun!

http://www.spoolsstash.com/

Organize you embroidery files,  it is important that you do or it will be a total jumble. Just name your file for example "babies" and put all your baby designs in that file. I put my freebies in the correctly named file. Some file them under freebies but that can get complicated if you get too many freebies.

There I have certainly said my piece for today.

Have a lovely evening.

Buona Sera.

big day

I am feeling pretty ill tonight so may not get this blog done . I am thinking of going to bed.

I arranged for Juliet to pick me up as I thought Pat was away. But at 8:40 Pat called and wanted to know where I was as she was downstairs waiting for me. I was in my nightgown. I felt so badly but Pat was very nice about it. However she will  not be in town next Tuesday so Juliet will kindly pick me up. I am most fortunate in my choice of friends. 

But here are the things I did today, first to my regular Tuesday group where I just did a few yoyos and chatted with Betty Lu who recently came back from Maine and regaled us with the news of her new and first granddaughter.
Then I went over to Mary Alice's for the pot luck of theCommunity Quilts which is now called the Pumpkin Seeds. It is the first time I have been there for the afternoon since I got sick.
Mary Alice made a Storm at Sea. Here it is.

This is a very large quilt and I have never seen it made in these colours. It was spectacular. No here is the backing..

Lots of movement in this piece.

A lovely coiled dish made by Yoshiko who always does beautiful work.

Mary Alice also made this piece of Hawaiian quilting when she took a class from  Nancy Chong after the last guild show.

The following are quilts that are made for the hospital babies.

Sharon made this lovely quilt and not for the hospital. LOL

A little bit of pink.

Lots of colours here but I was not happy with the light as  the photo is not too clear.

And that is the show!!

My head is aching so I am finished here. I don't want to be a headache to all of you LOL.

Have a good evening folks.

bad floods in B.C.

<http://www.quiltviews.com/free-brilliant-cut-block-pattern-by-candy-goff>>

A departure from my usual offerings which tend to be easy. This one is hard but beautiful . All the instructions are there too. It is a challenge!

Now for the easy stuff  LOL
http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/CardShoppe/FreePrintableQuiltyBookmarks

The flooding in Sicamous has done tremendous damage and huge evacuations of residents. There was 2 months rain in two days so you can see that it would have a massive effect on the area. Roads have been undermined,  houses shifted off the foundationsand actual property eroded and of course there is no potable water in these areas and released sewage must be a problem.
There will be another 9 days of rain, I am afraid of what will that bring. 

Disastrous is the word for it.

We went out today for a while, to a little kiosk on the mall that offers healthy food , mostly fruits and veggies. Also egg sandwiches which is what we ordered. It also offers juices but no coffee. We went to another place for the coffee that we wanted . Then we went to the drug store for vitamins and tylenol.

I slept badly last night , sore hips and legs kept me awake. 

I wanted to do some more sewing today . What I did do was to prepare for sewing. I laid out the middle section 16 blocks of my

Drunkards Path quilt with the centre  circle and the surrounding blocks. I knew I would have a huge problem doing all the blocks so I decided to just do the centre 16 blocks. I squared them off and pinned them in the right order. That was it!! But I was happy to have gotten something done! I'll take a picture. LOL

There won't be any sewing tomorrow as  I will be out all day at my sewing groups, yes I am going to both groups tomorrow. Juliet is taking me to the church, then I'll ask Joan to take me to Mary Alice's huge group and the pot luck lunch, then we go to Betty's for tea before we come home. I haven't done that since I got sick 18 months ago. I am so excited about seeing everybody.

This epitomizes the word ugly but ugly can be beautiful too :((

Our street today we drive under a bower of green. It is always such a blessing. I love the way the sun dapples the street as it comes through the leaves. It is a beautiful picture.

Last night was so bad, I did not sleep much at all because of the pain in my hip and legs plus my shoulder. Too many spots of bad pain. Some nights are like that but thankfully not too many.

Ray cooked a beautiful pork roast for dinner and I made the beautiful gravy LOL. Both were delicious. He is such a great cook!!

Nice little block measures out at 8 1/2 ". You can see the four squares should be 2 1/2 " and the half square triangles in the middle need to measure out at 2 1/2" as well but cut at 2 7/8 ". and squared off at 2 1/2"
Looks like an easy block and just the right size.

There that's my story for this evening.

Kalispera. Have a great evening.

lazy day

http://pbtex.com/html/free_patterns.html
--Free quilt patterns , they look good. I see a neat table runner that I mightlike to make so I should download it.

I am not feeling very well again tonight so I won't be writing a long blog. Last night it was not so good either. I think I have been doing too much so I need to slow down a bit. I need to check my date book for this coming week.  Aha only two engagements this week, Tuesday is my regular sewing day and Thursday is lunch with my Healthy Heart Group.  Now if I can just get Ray to slow down I'll  have it made.

Adam is here today working on his notes from his business deal this week over in Victoria. I guess he was writing up his reports. He made his own dinner tonight, Halibut in the oven. I had a bite and it was lovely/delicious.

And Ray made his world famous spaghetti sauce, the best sauce one can ever eat. We had that for dinner. MMMM Good!!

I did the laundry this morning- 5 loads I think, washed, dried and folded. Big job for me today. LOL.

Then I had a big nap in the afternoon, felt so tired and  awful. I did not go out at all today. Ray went up to Safeway to get a few things, one of which was spaghetti and he forgot to get the spaghetti LOL.

Adam found a box of spaghetti in the cupboard and cooked up some of it for my dinner. Great hostess I am, my guest cooks my dinner. Oh well!! Thanks Adam, you are a real treasure . I lay down again after dinner  but got up to write the blog. Pictures coming up.

A Janome 12000 top of the Janome line, Kathy's new machine which she was using to embroider at the class at Tom's Wednesday or was it Thursday. Doesn't matter, it was fun anyway.

The 11,000 which was the top of the line machine before  the 12,000. The women in the class had either of these machines. There were two of us who just sat and watched the lesson which was an embroidered card.

Pretty isn't it. Oh how I love embroidery. I wish my little machine which isn't nearly as big as these two but still close to my heart.

My latest picture. I look abit saggy don't I?

The newest hydro box in my city. Lots of red roses.

and last but not least , Adam.

Oh and Ray's arm LOL.

time to go . Have a good but great evening.

Buona Sera.

By the way would anonymous who left the comment about the little dog please contact me at nanb@shaw.ca

dinner out

http://agirlinparadise.blogspot.com/2012/03/modern-folded-star-mini-quilt.html
Pretty little folded star quilt.

Tonight we are going out to the Keg with Adam and Sam. Adam is leaving a day earlier to go home. He said all his calls were taken care of and the the weather here has been awful- so much rain. It poured down last night but the sun came out today.  the river is high and rising along the lower Fraser.  I guess Adam misses his wife Lisa as well as his stated reason for leaving LOL. He is a good husband.
After doing our grocery shopping and coming home to put them away in the cupboards we have done nothing else. I have read all my mail and answered the ones I needed to reply to. i have a dear friend in Kansas who, I wrote to today. Sometimes we are not as vigilant in writing to our  old friends as we should be. That is one good thing about Facebook, nearly everyone is on it and you can respond to their entries. I wonder if Twitter is the same. Maybe I should try it although I am afraid that there would be way to many tweets. LOL.
I saw on Craftsy that they offer lessons on quilting for a small sum $29.95 , $19.95 and even free. They have introductory videos that are very nice.  Just type in Craftsy, join up and they send you good stuff Haha.

This one is a folded pinwheel. It looks like prairie points to me , not quite as simple as it appears to be.

Stick blocks look easy but I bet they are not quite the way they look as you would have to be careful with placement.

I have to leave for now but will be back later after dinner is over.

 Little daschund- what an adorable puppy.

Rain again

Raining all day ,it is worrisome   because of the flood situation . People not to far from vancouver are being evacuated. I hope the water starts to recede before it reaches Vancouver and New Westminster where there has been a lot of town houses that have been built on the flood plain. And I hope the dykes hold.

Did you see the video of the bus lady who was so ridiculed by 12/13 year old students. Last I heard there had been over a half a million that had been raised for her to take a holiday LOL. She will be able to retire and live the rest of her life quite comfortably. There is a God! I wish her a happy life from here on in. $$$$$$

We waited in all day for the water delivery, so of course we didn't get out at all. I had to cancel my hair appointment so it will be messy for tonight. I am sure you are interested in my hair LOL.

This is my teacher luck final until we begin again in September. My friend Jan is picking me up and we are going to another Jan's home . We have a small group of  nine women, all teachers and three of them are named Janet, 33%, that's a lot. I think they have all celebrated their 60th birthdays this year. Maybe Janet was a popular name 60 years ago. One, the youngest of us is not quite 60 yet , still a few years to go for her.
Something funny is going on with my laptop, it refuses to let me into my pictures. It said it blocked a POP UP from my laptop. Hmm. I think I'll turn it off and and let it reset itself. That usually works. Now let's see....

It worked Yeah! The youngest Jan is the one in the middle.

Time for photos!

That's one way to eat your pimento, looks like fun Haha.hat's one way to eat your pimento, looks like fun Haha.

 Apart from my thumb this is a good photo of the Trip Around The World that I made a few years ago. I am reminded of my friend Carol who passed away several years ago. She came with me to choose the fabrics as she had a great eye for colour and design.

And this one below was made by my friend Ranny who passed on this month.

This is the same pattern as the one I made which is called the Blue Lady. It is such a sophiticated pattern of an early 1900s lady.

Now I have to go and get ready for the pot luck. I'll get back to you later after I get home.

Have a lovely evening folks.

Not much to get back to you about after all. So I'll just say good night .

Bonne nuit

 

Slow day

What did we do today. I went to the podiatrist this morning. I go every two months for him to cut my nails. I have diabetes ,can't do it myself , afraid of cutting my skin , and I don't really trust anyone else . He does a really good job and tries very hard not to hurt me as my feet are really painful from the neuropathy. He did a great job today.
Then Ray said let's go to Brentwood. We went there and had some brunch at IHOP. After we shopped for a jacket for Ray but we are having trouble finding what he wants. I bought a book by Karen Rose.
When we got home  I was so tired because we walked a lotnd that takes it out of me. So I lay down for a nap and managed to get in a bit of sleep before Marg called. She didn't want Ray to wake me but I heard her voice and was afraid I might miss something LOL, so I got up !!
She brought dinner over for us , Michael made some pasta primavera. I had it for supper and it was very good! Thanks Michael and Margaret.

On one of my lists a friend who knows everything about the quilt world said that Pat Sloan had some different layouts for the Lil Twister templates. I couldn't fine them but signed up as a friend on her Facebook page.
When I was the president of our guild I had a number of conversations oveer the net about her coming to Vancouver to give a talk and a class. It was during the time when our dollar was so low and the expenses of bringing her here made it all out of the question. However Pat was so patient and kind that I have a soft spot for her in my heart.

Good colours on these patterns for Pat's Learning Centre. Looks easy doesn't it.

Now comes the animal segment section of the blog.

For all you dedicated scrapbookers these guys are busy doing what you would like to be doing.

It's all in the family for these guys! Aren't they adorable!! Who said dogs and cats are not compatible LOL.

-this one is for the birds, all so gorgeous!

And the rivers are high! Lots of rain and warm temperatures that melt the snow pack cause flooding. It is still further up the river and not here yet.

I think I'll do something with threads tonight, maybe just pull them off my clothes LOL.
I would love to sew but I am far too tired to do anyhting onthe machine, I'd probably run my finger under the needle. Tomorrow?

Ca c'est tout.

That's all folks. Have a great evening.

Hasta la vista, see you later!