My Trapunto Progress

Since I was off this Monday, I made sure I had a productive one! I managed to get 5 Trapunto blocks trapuntoed!!!!!! I still have a ton more to go, but hey it's a start right!!!



The other big thing I did today was pick out the paint colours for my new house! It was a really nice sunny day and the sun was just pouring into the condo living room. So I took the ton of paint chips and colours booklets I picked up last week and chose all the rooms! I'm soooooo excited! This Trapunto quilt will be for my bedroom! I used a muslin for the fabric. I want to put the room in creams, browns and blues. With the trapunto quilt on the bed, I am thinking of a nice chocolate brown for a bed skirt, then make lots of nice pillow accents in browns, creams and blues!!! ooh and my kitchen walls will be a chocolate colour!! hee hee do you see a pattern here??? Chocolate all over the house !!!! I will post some photos soon of the paint chips I am thinking of using soon. First I want to take them to the house this weekend and see how they will work up against the walls. The closing day is Thursday!! I can't WAIT!!! Soon I will have the keys in my hands!

Til Next Time!

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

The Weekend Productivity

For a weekend that felt very blah and hard to get my energy going, looking back I think I did okay. Yesterday I taught my Double Irish Chain Quilt. All three girls had their quilt tops together, although I only managed to get one photo of Joanne's Pretty in Pink Quilt. All three girls are now working on their seminole borders. They managed to get all their fabrics cut and ready for assembly. This week for homework they have to sew all their strips together and have them cut for next class. Next Saturday, they will learn how to assemble the cut strips into 4 seminole border pieces. I should have more photos to take then.

In the meantime, here is Joanne's quilt.




This is a photo of my Double Irish Chain Top with the Seminole border. Mine is a queen size.


While they were working along cutting their strips, I took out my Grandmother's Garden fabric and templates and started cutting out more pieces. I have 13 blocks completed.




Last night my friend Dodi came over with her knitting and lots of chick flicks. Our fellas got together with some of their friends to see a concert, so we took full advantage of this time and spent some quality time knitting and quilting.

We made sure we supplied ourselves with the essentials, chips, cheesies, Cadbury mini eggs, and Orangina drink.. I sooooooo love this drink!




This is Dodi working away on some scarfs she is knitting for charity for Christmas. She is a great knitter!


This is how I camped out on the sofa with my Grandmother's Garden hexagons, paper gluing the templates and fabric in place. I started block #14 too!


Tonight Trevor left to work another overnight shift. I haven't had my sewing machine out all week and I was starting to get some serious withdrawls!!! The machine is out on the dining room table now (for just a few more weeks then I'll have a REAL sewing room to play in). I decided to take out my Trapunto quilt blocks and work on them again. I really want to have this quilt made before Christmas to put on my bed in my new house!!!!



So without further ado, I think I am going to sign off here. The sewing machine is calling to me to pay attention to her again, and I just noticed that in 15 minutes Masterpiece Theatre comes on. Charles Dickens if featured this season!

Tomorrow is a day off for me from work, as this is the St. Patrick's Day Long weekend. Although St. Paddy's Day is not until Tuesday, many offices here are closed tomorrow to celebrate. I hope to spend more time at my machine working on my Trapunto!

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

Sad News to Report

Since my last posting, something terrible has happened off our coastline here in St. John's, Newfoundland. Yesterday morning a Cougar Helicopter left St. John's airport to transport 16 people to the offshore oil rigs about 90 minutes off our coastline. Part way into the trip, the helicopter experienced technical difficulties and radioed for permission to return back to the airport. About 10 minutes after they turned around and their mayday message, the chopper went down into the frigid Atlantic Ocean. One survivor, one body found (the sole female passenger, only 25 years old). 16 still missing and now presumed dead. My Mum works with a woman whose husband was on that chopper. He was in his early 30s.

If you wouldn't mind keeping these people in your thoughts and prayers for us this week. Mum's friend's husband is one of the 16 missing.

Sorry I have nothing more to talk of today, but I suppose things are a bit somber right now. I hope to write of better things soon. Perhaps I will have better things to talk about tomorrow after my quilting class. My students should have the main part of their quilts completed and working on their seminole borders. I'll take along my camera tomorrow morning.

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

Good News!!!

So before I get to the good news, today was such a gorgeous sunny warm day, when I got home after work Trevor and I went for a walk in Bowring Park. This is a pretty little park here in the city that has nice walking trails and a duck pond, complete with 12 swans (yep I counted them)!! After being in a stuffy stale office all week, I really needed some fresh air in my lungs and a nice walk. Here are some photos from our walk.



Trevor taking photos of me taking photos of ducks and swans!!!


I love to take photos!


I love these type of ducks. They really widdle waddle and they have the cutest little feather curl down by their butts!


One of the 12 swans in Bowring Park.


I am a home owner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! err well I still have to wait til next Thursday for the final closing, but if everything goes well I'll be a new first time home owner as of next week!!!!! wooopieeeeeeee!!!!!! I'm excited, nervous and scared all at the same time!!! People ask me how I feel, I saw I'm FINE... Freaked Out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional!!! But other than that, all is good!

The other night Mum and I went to some of the local hardware stores such as Home Depot and Kent Building Supplies to look for paint chips. Mum will be moving to the 2 bedroom basement apartment. She is planning to retire soon and will enjoy her retirement being close to me. I have a good idea the colours I want for my house but I grabbed a pile of colour chips and colour booklets to get me thinking. Hopefully next weekend, we will go into the house and put the paint chips to the walls to see exactely what I want.

Now the challenge is to choose the right colours. This is just a few of the MANY more paint chips booklets I have!


The house is empty already both upstairs and down, so we will paint our spaces before moving in the furniture! I will be posting lots of photos during the whole painting and reno process and of course when all my things are moved in and we are settled away. Oooh the sewing I'll be doing the next few months!!!!!!!

oooh ooh and one important thing to note is that in the basement of my home there is going to be one kick ass (pardon the french) sewing studio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Right now the rec room is in two rooms, but I'll be breaking down one of the walls to open it into one big room. I might not be able to do much renos on the place right away, but eventually I will work on it little by little. I want to put in a nice hardwood floor, find a nice paint colour (something nice and bright, I'm thinking a mustard yellow actually), and then really pretty it up with wallhangings and other projects! I want to make a big message board and design wall, and and and...ooooh my head is hurting from so many ideas I have going around in it! Hopefully by next year (possibly Fall 2010) I'll be able to offer private quilting courses.

After looking at paint chips we headed to one of our favourite stores, Chapters for a coffee and to look at some of the many books we would love to buy. In the end we sat down to coffees and I bought two of these quilting magazines!

These two magazines have some really cute projects in them and I can't wait to get started on them!


I'm figuring I'm going to be spending so much on the house the next little while, I might as well buy the magazines while I can. I will also be going to my own stash more than buying more! LOL I see lots of scrap quilts in my future!

With all that said, I still don't have the keys to the house, but hopefully if all goes well with the lawyer, I'll have those keys in my hot little hands next Thursday!!! Keep your fingers crosssed!!!

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

Not Much to Report

I haven't alot to report at the moment. I haven't been sewing the last couple of days as I find myself very tired by the time I get home from work. I'm not sure if I am coming down with something, but my energy level is just shot! Sunday night I did a bit of hand embroidery work, but that was about it. I find all I want to do is take naps when I'm not working. I came home from work this afternoon, and I went straight to bed for about an hour or so for a cat nap. I probably would be there still, only I am meeting up with an old friend of mine tonight I haven't seen in years! She and her family are now living in CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia. Her hubby is with the Canadian Military and currently stationed there. She is home for a few weeks right now as she is looking to return to university via distance to do her Social Work degree. Tonight we are planning to meet up and catch up on the latest news with each other. I'm looking forward to seeing Jackie tonight. It's been almost 10 years since we last saw one another.

I hope to have more to report about the house hunting in the days ahead. Right now I am waiting on a few phone calls. The waiting is driving me crazy!

Sorry I have no photos for this post, but as I mentioned, I have been too too tired and lazy to even get out of my own way LOL!! Tonight after meeting up with my friend, I might try to hand stitch a couple more hexies to my Grandmother's Garden blocks.

Ooh, I forgot to mention, only 6 more weeks to our vacay getaway to Vancouver, BC!!! Trevor and I are going to meet up with his friends that live in downtown Vancouver for 12 days. I have never been to Vancouver before, and I'm really looking forward to the trip! Needless to say, I will be hunting down some quilt shops while I'm out that way. If anyone knows of any good shops I should check out please share with me!

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

Maybe Today I Will Get Good News

The house I looked at last week fell through. The home inspection came back and there were alot of hidden issues that would have cost me a pile of money to fix. Since then I found another really nice house, (actually nicer than the last one) and it fits my shopping list alot more. The home inspection is this morning for this one. I am reeeeallly keeping my fingers crossed that the results are more positive. The advantage to this new house is that it is already empty, both upstairs and the basement apartment, so I can get all my painting done before I move in one piece of furniture! I'm trying hard not to get too excited, just in case I get let down by another failed home inspection. The waiting is KILLING ME!!! breathe Andrea.. breathe...... I should know something within the next 2-3 hours. Maybe today I will get good news. If I do, ooooooooooh have I got the perfect sewing studio!!!

It has been a while since I posted here, and I do apologize. But between house hunting, and work I haven't had much "me" time to sew or play here on the Internet.

I managed to get in some sewing time on Thursday night with our sewing group. I finished sewing all the rows together on my Crumb Quilt.

I think the Miss Mew liked the quilt. Next Thursday, I will start making my crumb borders. I decided to make that project my Thursday night project for the next little while.



This week I also plan to take up my Trapunto Quilt again. I haven't worked on it since January, as I had other projects to complete. I am anxious to get back to it again. I will post more photos of it later this week when I have something to show!

Yesterday I had my quilt class. My students are doing fabulous with their quilts! This weekend they have started sewing their blocks together to make the main quilt top! Here are a few photos of their quilts so far!

Madonna is sewing her blocks into rows.


Shirley is ready to start matching up the next row


These are Joanne's Pretty in Pink Blocks. Next week she says she will have her quilt top ready!


Well I am off again. I brought home some work to do over the weekend. The sooner I get that done, the sooner I can break out the sewing machine and the Trapunto blocks!!!

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

For Now I Wait

For the last two months I have been house hunting. There hasn't been alot to choose from that were half decent and in my price range, but I think I finally found one and it is looking good that it could be mine! I am getting a good friend of mine who has his own home inspection business do an inspection on the house I am seriously looking at buying. If everything pans out with that, and passes the inspection, I will officially be a brand new first time home owner!! The home owners accepted my offer, so I wait another day or so for the inspection report. The waiting is driving me nuts! I could be moving as early as April 1st!!!!!!!!!!!! If I do get this house, I will FINALLY have a real live sewing room!!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Please keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well.

Now that the Double Irish Chain is done, I decided to get back to putting my Crumb Quilt together. I found out about Crumb quilts through Debbie's website! I am addicted to them! I have so many scraps, and my students have been giving me scraps over the last year, that I want to make more crumbs and more scrap quilts! Here is what I have done so far with this Crumb Quilt. I have all the rows made, and I started last sewing sewing the rows together into pairs. Tonight I will start sewing the rows to make the quilt top. After that I plan to start with a little border, then another border in more crumbs, all the way around the quilt! I still have a ways to go on this quilt, but I am in no hurry. I'm figuring once I move to my home, my funds may be a bit tighter, but I will have plenty of scraps to make up more quilts!

You will notice one of the side triangles are not sewn right. Yep.. I had a Duh moment.


I also made up a batch of muffins using the Epicure Very Berry mix I mentioned some time ago. Silver Thimble and one of my quilting students asked if I would post the recipe for those muffins. So here it is!

Very Berry Muffins


(This recipe is from an Epicure catalog but they used Tropical Fruit Dip Mix. Since I didn't have that one, I substituted with the Very Berry Fruit Mix. They were very tasty)!!!

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Very Berry Fruit Dip Mix
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup canned or freshly diced pineapple, drained

Preheat the oven to 350º degrees celcius. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and Very Berry Fruit Dip Mix in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat egg. Add milk and oil. Combine wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, stirring just to incorporate. Add pineapple and lightly stir. Fill a 12 cup muffin pan approximately 2/3 full with batter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until browned on top.

Enjoy!!!

Well I am off to do a bit of sewing on my Crumb quilt before 24 comes on! Til Next Time!

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea