party time

We went to a retirement party this morning for a co-worker of Ray's . It was a wonderful  time with old friends. I always feel as if I was a part of that company as everyone treats me so well and comes to hug both of us and makes us feel so welcome. Some of the younger men take good care of me, carrying my walker down the stairs and taking  my arm so I won't fall. It is so nice... The food was beautiful and wouldn't you know I forgot to take photos. There were cheese plates,  meat plates , sandwich and pickle plates, Salad fixings and a fabulous cake. It was so good and not really too sweet so it was easy to eat. I am going to ask Tamara where she got it. I'll get a smaller one for my next pot luck where I have to bring dessert.
We had to go to the post office to mail three blocks to Sue in MN . She is making a quilt with blocks made by my Flylady list who have decided to make a quilt for Richard. I sent in three blocks today made by my friends Betty Lu, Diana , June here and Ione sent one herself too. The calibre of the blocks I have seen is amazing and all related to his love of the sea. It should be a fabulous quilt. I can't wait to see it.

This darling block is Ione's.

 

 

When we came home it was to find that Jim had worked on my computer and printer. Now my printer works from anywhere . I tried it out .I took a embroidery design from my desktop and ordered it to print. Lo and behold the printer which was on the dining room table started and a print of the design plus the colour chart came out of the printer... hurrah! I am so happy it works.

We watched TV for a bit and talked over it . Why do we do that I wonder. Ray likes the noise of the TV.
Then it was time for us to go to Mr. Ho's for Chinese dinner. Jim picked up his friend Ahmed    and we all met up at the restaurant. I wore a red jacket and had many compliments on how nice I looked and Surprise the waitress in the restaurant  said the same thing to me, plus she said red is for Chinese New Year and it is lucky.

Jim and Ahmed, the extra Chinese food is in front of Ahmed.

Ray and me sitting across from the other two. We had a great dinner and a good time.

Now we are just relaxing for the evening. Watching Big Bang Theory for laughs.

Block of the Day.

Brave World, four patch , half square triangles and other things LOL.

 

Download now as a pdf pattern

Haha. A turtle train. Funny thing about the turtles I see at the pond in the park they all sit together side by side on a log, so I guess they like each other's company.

 

Tutorial for Disappearing 9 Patch on this site.

And it is a good clear tutorial . Even I understood it.

 

http://valentinequiltworks.blogspot.ca/2009/02/disappearing-9-patch-quilt.html

 

This picture totally amused me so I thought to share it with you. Sweet couple aren't they. Maisie and Bert I call them , all dressed up for Spring.

 

A great blue heron watching out for a fish or frog to eat. I love these birds, there are many around in this area near the ocean and rivers. We are fortunate to be able to see them. The great blue heron is a wading bird .

 

No dogs tonight LOL.

 

Time to go and watch Criminal Minds.

Have a great evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cute stuff

 http://www.craftycupboard.net/2013/02/ruffled-business-card-holder-tutorial.html

Tutorial for business card holder.

A pretty holder just for pretty women.

very attractive black/white/red D9P
http://www.quiltingboard.com/pictures-f5/black-white-red-quilt-done-t41032.html

I love this beautiful quilt and think all it needs is a binding, no border.

  http://cadouri-din-inima.blogspot.ro/2013/02/triangle-corner.html 

A great tutorial for adding corners to a block without having to either draw a line or to to iron a crease. I sure like this one and think I'll put that tape on my machine soon.

Download now as a pdf pattern

Little cabin in the woods. All you need now is trees and a bear LOL. Oh you could add a face to the window or a candle or curtains.

 

Jim will be here shortly. He is driving in from Calgary where he visited with Peter and Rick and Ricky too. So I might be a bit short on my blog or a bit late. Late is more likely.

 

We went to our favourite Cinnabon today. As soon as she sees me coming she says one big on cut in half and two coffees. Then she brings it to the table and sets the table up to fit my walker . Next she brings over the cream. What wonderful service. 

 

I wanted to go to Chapters and we did .  When  opened the bag I thought I had bought three but there were four in the bag.

 

 

 

We went to Michaels to buy some more cottons for the dishcloths I make. My pile is getting a bit low and so is my bag of yarn. I also bought some of that curly yarn that makes a twisted scarf. I have no idea how to do those scarves but I have a friend at Tuesday group who has made a number of them. I'll ask her for help.

 

 

 

Something is not right with my blog browser. I hear you Not Again. Again and the photos are not showing up right now so we'll have to wait until I shut this down and open it up again. Lots of agains tonight.

It's good now. turn it off turn it on seems to be the answer!!

 

Pat made this lovely baby quilt for her coming great granddaughter. It is so beautiful like all Pat's work. She is an excellent quilter.

 

A table runner made by Joanne for a friend who loves elephants. Binding still needs to be done but you can see that.

 

I want to visit with Jim now so I'll say good night.

 

Have a cozy evening by the fire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quilts and blocks

http://www.thequiltery.com.au/
This is a great site for wonderful designs . You can see it is an Australian site where  many great designers work their magic.

Here is an article with some valuable information about scraps and scrap quilts
http://blog.shopmartingale.com/?utm_source=Stitch+This%21+blog&utm_campaign=9a7a4faf27-Daily+Email%2C+Quilting&utm_medium=email


If you are up for compass blocks here is a lovely collection of the same. I however would not even attempt such magical blocks.
http://www.quiltingonthesquare.com/bcc.aspx


Now to start my blog Haha. I have been thinking of the talent my son Richard has. I wish my writing was as good as his is. He is actually inspirational in his discourse. He has a great command of English, his work is truly inspirational in thought and true in content. He has a beautifully descriptive way of expressing his thoughts and emotions. My own writing is more like a journal  while Rick's is like a poem. So he didn't get that style for me obviously. 
I remember the time when he wrote manuals for some company or another. He is clever.  All my sons are clever each in their own ways . I am so blessed to have had five wonderful sons.
Really I am quite emotional tonight.

Matthew is missing. From left to right, Peter, Richard, Me, Ray, Jim, Sam Adam Rodger and Ricky in front. April 2012.

 

Today was my sewing day , Pat picked me up and we did our usual Starbucks visit. It was great . Then we went on to the church where I finally completed the applique on my butterflies, now just the bit of embroidery to do. There were some beautiful quilts there today. I took photos . Of course I did. LOL. We had our visit time with each other. Betty Lu and June gave me two blocks for Rick's quilt. I must get them off tomorrow. They are lovely and I am grateful to them for taking the time to make a block . Diane also made one which I showed earlier.

Betty Lu's gorgeous block for Rick.

This colourful block is from June.

 

We sewed and talked and viewed quilts. Then we had lunch. Helen brought some lovely little cupcakes with such tasty icing on them. We all took one and the last one came home for Ray .
I took several pictures of quilts but I'll just show one tonight, the rest tomorrow.

One of Betty's lovely heart quilts for Pumkin Seeds. Some lucky child will love this one.

I got up to get ready to go to Community Quilts when I had a severe attack of dizziness. That really frightened me as I think is might be another attack of infection which means hospital. SO I asked Pat if she would take me home. I was so sorry to miss my next group but there was no other way but to go home. I missed tea at Betty's too. When I got home it was straight to bed for me. I called Ray when we got close and he was there to help me get to the apartment. It is a long walk from the elevator to our apartment so I was happy to have him with me. 
Then I went to bed and slept for 2 hours. When I got up I felt better.
Ray got my dinner for me which was pasta that Michael had made and brought over. It was very tasty Michael. Thanks for the effort.
After dinner and the news Ray said he wanted something tasty so I made him popcorn. That should keep him for a while haha.
We are watching The Big Bang Theory. It is always funny to us .It is a low level of comedy with an intellectual overtone. But we like it. I first discovered it in the long days and nights in the hospital.

photos for the day

LOL.

 

Rolling along, just having fun. What a great use for a bagel haha.

 

So cute . My boys just lay face down on the floor. We did not have such beautiful cars but I love the concept. It would have been perfect for them.  Popcorn and Kraft dinner is on the menu.

 

What is this :))

 

Maid of the Mist takes you right behind the falls. I was a bit scared when I first got on the boat but it was okay to go behind them just got a bit sprayes by the mist.

Time for me to unload my camera. I'll put some of the quilts up top and maybe some below.

And time for me to go.

 

Have a great evening.

Good night.

 

 

 

 

booties

Converse baby booties made with our Cotton-Ease yarn by
williraye via Ravelry!
Pattern: http://lby.co/13in943

There they are .. so cute, and good for a boy or a girl.

 

 A gorgeous little bird, don't know what he is . I'll try and find out. His beak is sort of like a pigeon's.

Pink Headed Fruit Dove , close but no cigar! LOL.

 

Off to lunch to day with Sam, Chicken ,baked potato and gravy. Lovely meal and a great visit with Sam after we ate. We stayed for a long time then had to come home because the cleaning lady was coming.   I took a photo but it would not come off the camera. I had forgotten the card so it went to the camera system itself. Maybe it was annoyed because I hardly ever use that system.

 

I see that the Mediterranean diet is on the news again as being healthier that most ways of eating.  I have to say I have not seen many lean Mediterraneans. But still we use olive oil and are not slim but we are here LOL. We both like olives and fresh veggies so maybe we do eat like a Roman.

Looks good!

 

We came home and Ray went out while Lynn was here, he usually does for some reason. I think he just likes to get away on his own without me once in a while. He also has tomorrow alone since I will be away at Sewing.

 

All I plan to do is applique a heart on a square, haven't made any heart quilts for some time and I can send these to either the guild or maybe my little girls would like one. Nothing wrong with two quilts. Anyway I have plenty of time to think of what to do with

them. This is the last one I did.

I really like this look . It went to one of the little ones in Quebec , can't remember which one.

 

We didn't need to make dinner tonight as we had a good lunch. I just had noodles and Ray had a sandwich with hot peppers and meat. He buys the small hot peppers and cuts them up and fries them. It is pretty red and green but very hot. He loves it but when he is cooking them I have to leave the room.

I boiled some eggs , sliced and diced them added the mayo and mustard. Now they are ready for my lunch sandwiches tomorrow. I did 6 eggs,  enough for more that one sandwich but Ray likes them too. We both love the eggs on toast. It will be a good evening. LOL.

Adam becoming a young chef if he follows in his grandpa's footsteps. He looks happy in the kitchen. See all that sun, they are in Louisiana, just in case you might think they are here haha.

 

I like this guy he is a good student haha.

This shot of great colour should keep me awake.  Two gorgeous macaws , a scarlet and a blue and gold. Macaws are the largest of the parrots some of them reaching a length of 3 feet from head to tail.

 

Another boat pattern.

 

Download now as a pdf pattern

 

 

 

That's the day for us. Have a great evening.

 

Good night folks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cactus block

Download now as a pdf pattern

Cactus Plant. This block looks like a cactus. Many blocks have no relationship to their names. Good colours in this one.

 

 http://www.handcraftsbyjennifer.com/patterns.html  

Amazing Twister patterns. You'll be surprised. I  certainly was.

 

http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/video---double-slice-layer-cake-quilt-tutorial.htm

Missouri Star Quilt Company , a video and fun as always.

 

We had a busy day . I had virtually no sleep last night and was sitting here with my laptop planning to write my blog and fell asleep with it in my lap where it always is LOL. I slept for a while , not long, since I don't do a good sleep in my chair. Because I had so little sleep my legs were like spaghetti and so were my arms. Sleep is so important to my  day.

Richard came and he too was having trouble with his legs and getting in and out of his wheelchair. He used my walker for support

to aid him getting up and down. My legs will get better with sleep but his poor legs will not get any better just worse. He was out on the boat with Chris and Chris and though they are so good with him it was in my opinion just too hard for his poor body. 

He was not in good shape. It is heartbreaking.

 

A look at the beautiful B.C. coast.

 

Ray took this picture of Rick and me.

 

 

 

Then Sam came over to visit with Rick , to watch the hockey game against Detroit which we lost... badly... Sam was taking Rick to the airport to help him  with that and to have dinner together. Sam is such a kind man. We will be going with him  to the Chicken Palace , really the Swiss Chalet but Sam always calls it the Chicken Palace.LOL.

I did a bit of knitting on another of my dishcloths.

By then it was dinner time , we were too tired to cook so Ray  had a can of beans and and I had a can of Ravioli. Not a good meal but what can you do when you are really tired and your legs won't work. I should have had soup. Haha. 

Patricia A Sloan shared American Patchwork & Quilting's photo.

Share this post !! Way to go American Patchwork & Quilting and QuiltCon making 533 pillowcases for the Austin Conkerr Cancer Chapter!

QuiltCon 2013 was a success! 533 pillowcases were made and donated to Austin's ConKerr Cancer Chapter. Thanks to everyone who helped!

This is a factory where women sewed up uniforms , taken in the early 1900s.  Great old treadle machines. Can you imagine the noise when all these machines were working at the same time. We have a somewhat romantic idea of what was going on in these sewing factories but I am sure it was not a great time.

 

Another old time sewing machine, it looks like it says Singer on the lamp but my eyes are not very good so I am not certain. However I love the pink paint. Singer sure made many interesting machines.

I love all these different sewing machines old and new. Our new computer machines are such fabulous working machines but the old ones keep us entertained with their beauty and the romance of sewing.

 As for sewing I have not had any time for it these days and next week looks busy too. Jim will be here for a few days on his way to Los Angeles. That will be fun for us.

 

Time to end this conversation folks.

 

Have a great evening.

Good night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

control panel

A friend offered me some help with the printer issue. She said to go to the control panel and check out devices to see if the printer is checked off. So I am going to do that right now. Be back shortly.
Well it was a bit longer than that. And no luck. So I'll have to wait until Jim gets here next week. However I did spend some time going through all my photos, still more to go. Tomorrow I'll get back to that job.

I think the Block Of the Day for today is another flower, since Spring is on the way I am sure there are more to come.

 Download now as a pdf pattern

The colours are so nice, who could go wrong with blue and yellow. I particularly love the blue. Of course it would not be in the stores, it's like the quilt magazines, no chance to find the fabrics they use. The block is by Quilt Pro.

 

I look at the stats for my blog every day, particularly look to see how many people checked in that day. Some days it is pretty good and others not so. I wonder if the title of the blog may be the reason.  Today's is Control Panel, sounds like a 50s girdle LOL.

I think I'll think more about the heading. There is also a distribtion of viewers on the world map and it is so interesting to see which countries the viewers  are from. So if you blog and haven't checked out the stats do so, it is fun.

 

We did our usual grocery shopping and I sat and checked out the magazines. But I didn't buy one this week, maybe next week.

 

But we did buy another mum since our yellow one gave up the ghost. The flowers last about a month. They bring such lovely colour to the living room. This one was only $7.99 , instead of $9.99. Worth spending the money for the pleasure it brings .

 

We had lunch at Tim Horton's. I had the potato soup. I really like their soup.

Then Ray took the car to get it washed and vacuumed . He was gone for an hour and a half as the day was quite sunny and there was a line up for the car wash.

 

I used to wonder how this was done with the Flying Geese in perfect harmony. How did the quilter happen to get them at just the right angle to make a perfect circle.

I think I may have figured it out, the dreaded paper piecing. Think so?  There is no other way to reach such perfection.Have any of you ever done this circle? However this makes a great wall hanging or table topper.

Last night I went through my picture files and deleted over 600 pictures, it took most of the evening. But it is now easier to go through them.  Have you seen the picture site called 60 photos.  There are so many photos of family and friends that I had not seen before and so I downloaded most that I didn't have. Good thing I made room for them LOL.

 

 http://www.amisimms.com/ddruler.html

 

This is an interesting ruler. Ami Simms has a video that show how to make a Double Diamond bookmark. The ruler has other applications too , for instance it can be used on quilt borders and as decorations on clothing. Looks like fun.

 

LOL 

 

Great grandson Adam in his younger days has caught his first fish. Big time fisherman LOL. He is a sporty kind of boy.  Look at that wonderful smile.

 

 

Another great smile, Meaghan ,Charlotte's mommy, Richard's daughter  and my granddaughter . Great lady.

 

Such lovely hearts in pink and green or as charlotte says breen. All her colours are breen. LOL.

 

Time to go folks.

Have a great evening.

Good night.