a new banner

that is screaming "spring" to me. You wouldn't have known if you were here last Saturday. I awoke to this...yeesh.

on the other hand, crazy weather like that doesn't last very long this time of year and it was well on it's way later in the day. but still...I like it when things more like this in April.

I'm signing off for the weekend. Tomorrow is Good Friday and with Easter around the corner I still have to find the Easter baskets for filling. Hope you have a lovely weekend and I'll be back in this space on Monday.

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Happy Easter! 

quiet

Things are a bit quiet here at the moment as I have a girlie who is feeling under the weather with spring time sniffles and such. It's not leaving me a lot of time for making, but I've been through this before and I know the drill: slow down, nourish, read more and all those comforting things that keep wee ones content.



Instead of starting a new project I decided to take out a project that I started 2 years ago, ahem, no one is really keeping track right? If memory serves me, I originally put it away because I didn't want the pieces getting lost and all scrambled in the renovation chaos. I'm thankful that I was at least thinking about the {scary} possibilities.



 It took a bit to figure out where I left off and what I was doing. It seems (no pun intended) that I am in the middle of opening and ironing seams. It also seems that a few of the seams are not exactly 1/4 inch so I've been getting real acquainted with my stitch ripper, par the course.

brunch or lunch

Good morning folks I thought I'd start the week with a little food. Yum! I am always in search of the tastiest omelet to amaze and feed my cronies. I'm also big time into using what I have on hand.  This particular day found me nosy-ing around in my fridge for some ingredients:

eggs -
havarti cheese -  
asparagus -
tomatoes (on the counter) - 

(I'm assuming that you have a rough idea on how to cook an omelet, if not give it a quick google, then come back for the rest of the instructions.)

This quick omelet goes as follows: Prepare asparagus by cutting off the bottom ends, you will be steaming them for a minute just to change the colour of them slightly. I like to do this by heating up a steaming pot to boiling and then turning it off and then adding the asparagus for approximately 1 minute. The heat of the pot does steam the asparagus but prevents it from becoming over cooked and rubbery, thus allowing it to have a nice crisp but soft texture for eating. Wash and slice tomatoes very thinly. Beat x number of eggs and add (very) little water (1-2 TBSP). Heat a little olive oil (or butter) in a pan on medium-high heat until melted. Add eggs, let them cook on medium heat with the lid on. I like to add an additional tablespoon of water to the edges of the eggs so that they can "steam" cook. You may need to adjust your heat depending on whether your eggs are cooking to slow or fast on the bottom.  Once eggs look like they are beginning to take a solid shape and there is less liquid on the top, add a slice or two of havarti cheese and arrange the asparagus on top of the cheese, finally top it all with thin slices of tomato. Put the lid on, turn the heat down to low and let it cook just a bit longer so the cheese looks melted. Serve with a freshly ground black pepper. Voila, enjoy lunch.

Happy eating on this fine Monday. 

wip: block number 5

I'm pretty much caught up on my free piecing blocks, this is the second block for the month of March. This last block was a girl and you know I couldn't resist making her into a witch given that this is going to be a Halloween quilt and all.



This block involved more thinking for me as I added a few extra details such as the broom and hat.  My original sketch had her wearing some shoes and her hat tipping but my witch ended up too tall to add the extras. That's the thing with free piecing, the work sort of evolves along the way and you have to take detours when things aren't completely working out as planned.



I am happier with my witchy block than yesterday's ice cream meets clown, the verdict is still out on that one. I fussy cut Miss witchy poo's dress to reveal her spidery ways and did the same to show the wee itty bitty spider on her broom. Lots of fun!



For those of you who want to play along, there is still time to catch up, visit the flickr group. Molly just uploaded April's new block and already the wheels are turning for me. I'm signing off for the weekend, hope it's a good one for you. xxx

wip: block number 4

March's block for the free piecing quilt along was a wonky star. I was looking forward to this block as I have always wanted to give the wonky star a go (it looks so cool and rad in a quilt). I assembled my fabrics, sewed, pressed sewed and then bam... my block fell short. I am not totally sure how I feel about this block right now, disappointment is a good adjective, as it is not looking as wonky as I'd like. Instead it looks a bit like upside down ice cream cones that merged with a clown costume.



Since I don't know quite what to do with it I am going to leave it for now in hopes that it will grow on me. If it continues to bother me then I will have to do something about it. Maybe if I interchange the middle square for fabric with more contrast, or redo the fatter star points making them skinnier, or just make it less equally wonky, or ... *sigh* I guess this too is part of the process.

a sort of wordless wednesday

 

"the most regretful people on earth 
are those who felt the call to creative work, 
who felt their own creative power restive & uprising 
and gave to it neither power nor time." 
 

~ mary oliver

making it work

picture from Patons website

I wanted to love these socks, really I did, the spiral variegated yarn looks uber cool and I've knit with it before. Alas I found myself feeling :meh: while knitting. In retrospect I think what was bugging me was the pattern and it's absence of a heel. At first read, I thought "no heel, sweet, these (socks) will knit up super fast", but as I was knitting it dawned on me that the combination of stretch yarn plus no defining heel would mean the socks might end up slipping off your foot and that would be annoying, certainly not gift worthy.



I was going to scrap the socks but I couldn't do it. Instead I modified the pattern to allow for a heel and now I am in a much better head space. My like has returned and I have just turned the heel corner and am heading for the home stretch. If all goes well, I'll be casting on another in the near future.  Wish me luck!



If you are interested in knitting up a pair you can find the pattern here on the Patons website or on Ravelry, you will need an account for both sites to access the pattern.

sisters

Somedays life seems extraordinarily peaceful in our home.


Sisters in the early stages of reading, cuddle together hoping to recognize a word or two from one of our very favourite books.



Working hard and trying to understand why the English language gets to break so many rules - naughty, naughty.

Wishing you a peaceful Monday, xxx

remix: feed the birds

We revisited an old idea this week that we love making time for: bird feeders. It's a fun activity for both child & mumma (or dadda) and the most basic of tools come from your own recycling bin; from there you can add (to your project) other items on hand such as string, tape, exacto blade - with supervision, etc.... really the possibilities are endless.

I won't go into much instruction, instead you can follow along the with the photos and visit my previous posts for more information and inspiration. 

Abby was my very willing helper this time around and we decided to use a discarded yogurt container and a 2 litre jug of milk. As you can see our design was pretty simple: cut a hole, make a perch for the bird to sit on, fill the feeder and equip it with string for hanging. A little play antics is optional and highly recommended.

    

Don't forget to top up the outdoor feeders that might be empty. 

Next time you are looking for an afternoon activity with the kids raid your recycling bin. It's an easy craft that children enjoy participating in and it goes without saying that the connection to nature is invaluable for all involved.  Have a great weekend! 

80

news flash: I'm taking the day off from blogging to celebrate my mum.  She turns 80 today and I hope I look and feel as good as she does when I roll around to that age. Here she is a couple of years back.



Happy Birthday Mum! Now off to eat cake.

the melt

During our break last week, we took a walk around a local park to view the spring melt in action. I always think of spring as my least favourite season because of the messiness. In my brain it should be a cleaner process: winter ends one day, snow melts for a day or two, and we all begin our life outdoors - very tidy and systematic.  Ha! not that way in these parts, it usually takes a month or two for the snow to disappear and during that time the streets are so dirty from all the gravel & sanding that our city does to the winter roads so our cars don't crash into each other. 

But all this got me thinking that the man side of spring and nature side of spring are two different things. On the one hand we have the mess that man creates by necessity and on the other hand nature does spring so beautifully. The snow melts, the water pools and waits to find a place in the ground, our feathered friends return to their summer nesting ground, trees come alive with buds and blooms, days grow longer and the sun grows warmer, while more critters and creatures wake up to show their faces.

;

I can't think of anything in those descriptions that I don't like. In fact I love it all!  Yay, Spring!

vintage sunshine

I've been collecting all winter long, a pillowcase here, a pillowcase there. Last week I added another and was pleasantly surprised at how tall my stash is getting. I think I'm feeling another vintage quilt coming on and really I am without excuse don't you think?

wip: block number 3

Phew, made it through the last week. It was spring break here for kids in the school system and we partake by shutting things down on the school front so we can overdose on friends and family. Our week consisted of a 6 day sleepover for my nephew, oodles of late nights, an adult niece sleep over and more visiting with friends. Busy, busy, busy. Yesterday afternoon our house was strangely quiet and the boys went into cousin withdrawal - poor fellows - they all have such a good time together.



While the kids were occupied last week I worked on the next block - a free pieced heart. I went for the high contrast of orange/red with black for my square, I wanted it to be a little creepy. I started reading Dracula by Bram Stoker a couple of weeks ago and I think it might be infecting my work as the point on the bottom of the heart looks sharp like a vampire tooth. I can almost see it dripping blood...Oooo scary {{{shiver}}}.



I'm having lots of fun with this quilt so far and am really enjoying the whole learning process. Today as we be settle back into our daily rhythm I'm hoping to squeeze a bit of studio time in. Next up is the wonky star. What are you up to on this happy Monday?

I've got spring on my mind, yes indeed. I'm dreaming of green grass, ..grass so green that you can't help but lie down in it. I'm thinking about warm summer days, gardening and pool side play. I'm thinking about it all and wondering when this shift in temperature is going to take place. (Even those flakes of snow that fell last evening can't hide the effects of spring all around. It is coming, that I am sure).



In the absence of green outside my latest knit project will have to suffice. It's for the littlest of our home and in full disclosure I do knit for dogs. It's a Christmas present for Miss Lily, way ahead of the game, though I'm sure the kids will convince me to let her wear it a little sooner once they see it completed ...and they won't have to twist my arm.



Happy Weekending. xxx