Great Giveaway!

Little Bluebell is having a giveaway for the new DS Quilts Collection fabric!  It looks like very nice fabric but I may never know because it is carried at Joann's and we don't have them in Canada!  I did make two trips to Michigan to check it out at the Joann's there but they weren't selected to carry it.....sigh.....
This giveaway is open until the 5th of May so quick, quick go check it out!  And while you are there check out some of her very cool quilts!  Love the colours!

Not a whole lot of sewing here this week, hubby had a bad reaction to some medication and well...that took all of my attention!  This weekend though, should be good for at least a few good stitches!  Until then, here is one of my favourite pictures from Easter.

What a great Auntie and Uncle!  They were so wonderful with her...I was a proud Nanna!
Have a great weekend.

Happy Easter!

We had the cutest little bunny at our house this year!  Better than any eggs or chocolate!! We loved finally getting to see our newest grandchild.

The quilt looks so much better with a beautiful baby on it!  Her Mamma loved it and we think she liked it too. Bean is shaping up to be a great Uncle, he was quite smitten with his niece!

 I quickly whipped up some burp pads to accommodate a fussy tummy that came with the long car ride.

The best thing that came from this visit was the lift to my hubbies spirits.  Just having his baby here, with her baby was the best medicine.
It is going to be a long journey for us with chemotherapy and radiation treatments so he really needed this boost.  There is just something magical about a baby that makes you realize how special life is.

I hope every one is having a great Easter!

I thought it was spring!?

Well, last week we had beautiful spring weather.  The kids and I went for a lovely walk and took lots of great pictures of the arrival of spring.  These two are my favourites:

This is a pond near our house and we love feeding the ducks here all summer.

These are winter berries covering a grate with run off water rushing underneath it.

                                    
Now however......we are completely covered in about 6 inches of snow which is covered with a sheet of frozen rain and another dusting of snow is falling as we speak!  So much for my daffodils that we peaking through the ground!

On the other hand, the nasty storm had me held up inside so at least I got somethings done.  Most importantly of course was my granddaughters quilt.  It was waiting for a label and a wash.  This is my first rag quilt and the first time using my new Accuquilt GO! fabric cutter.  It was cut using the 8" rag die which made it much simpler than using snips to cut it afterwards.  I had no idea how it would turn out but everyone loves it in my house so I hope that she loves it too! Figuring out the label was the hardest part but now that it is done I love it! I labelled it this morning and my hubby took it to the laundry mat this afternoon to wash it..... he wanted to have some part in this gift!

This is the front

This is the back.  Can you see my little mistake? One of the heart squares is the wrong way!  I  was sooooo cautious with this part of the quilt....yet a square is still side ways!  So, I am leaving it because obviously that is how it was supposed to be!  Quilts are not "supposed" to be perfect. 

This is the label before the wash.

This is after the wash!

I love the border behind the label!

Look at how fluffy!! I love it!

Well, that is it for the baby quilt until there is a baby on or under it!  Thanks for sharing it with me.

Have a great week!

Penny

Is it blogger or is it me!?

I am not sure what happened but when I opened my blog this morning, all my followers pictures were gone! They still showed up in my dashboard but not in the blog view.  Sometimes it is blogger, but maybe it was me!  At least they are back now, whew, I hate feeling like I am talking to myself!

I made one of our favourite snacks the other day and it is so simple that I thought I would share it with you.   It stores well and travels well in case you like to keep a snack in the car for those days when the kids are starved and you are not at home to feed them.

So here is a very easy recipe for Nuts and Bolts:  (measurements don't have to be precise)

1- 400gram box Cheerios cereal (454 grams is 1 pound)

1- 350 gram box of Crispix cereal

1 450 gram bag of mini pretzel twists (I don't use the whole bag)

450 grams of cashews (approximate)

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch (dry) dressing mix

1 cup oil (I use canola)

 1 large roasting pan

Heat oven to 250 degrees.  In a two cup measuring cup mix one cup of oil and the dressing mix powder, stir with a whisk and set aside.  In the roaster, place a small layer of each cereal, nuts and pretzels then drizzle with the well mixed oil mixture, stir.  Repeat until all ingredients are used or roaster is full!  Cover and place into oven so pan is in the middle (I have to take out my top rack).  Cook for 1 hour in total but  every 15 minutes you need to take the covered pan out and shake it to mix the ingredients around so no part gets too toasted.  I leave the lid on and just look like I am doing the "shake, shake, shake", all around the kitchen! Anyone who laughs doesn't get in on the first round of taste testing!!! These are so good, NO ONE says anything!)

I let them cool in the pan and then I store them in glass preserving jars.  They last a long time stored like that (if I hide them well enough!)  For the car I put some in a large Tupperware or Rubbermaid container and those ones never last very long.

Well I am off to sew up a bag I wanted to get done at Christmas!  My granddaughter's quilt is done and I will post that as soon as I get a good picture of it!

Have a great day!

Some fun things I have been up to.

Well, Hubby is home from the hospital and although the recovery is slow, it is steady.  I haven't been able to do a lot of sewing while he was in the hospital but now that he is home I am back at it.

 This is my first attempt at using my new GO! fabric cutter. Over all it was great for cutting the rag squares and clipping all at one time.  The downside of course is that threads get caught in the cutter and they have to be picked out.  I'll just say that picking is easier on my hands than clipping!

These are some of the squares that I have cut out and I am working on an arrangement (2 sided).  Let's just say after midnight is not the time to be assessing for placement! I am almost done and I will post a picture of the final project.

While hubby was in the hospital I have to say that I did a little retail therapy to reduce the stress.  I tried to be cautious with money so I hit Value Village between visiting hours.  Some times they have fabric or  other sewing gadgets.  This particular day I got really lucky....

This is a 1968 Kenmore.  It is beautiful and the machine itself is in pristine condition.  I took it in for servicing and a cleaning and it purrs like a kitten!  Just straight stitch and zig zag but the feed dogs drop with the turn of a button and I found a free motion foot that fits it so I can practice free motion quilting on it easily.  I am so excited about this because it was only $5.99!  Technically I bought it for Bean because his sewing machine is a little off balance since he sewed through his finger.  This one is so smooth he is not scared of it at all and besides, it is green, his favourite colour.

Well, I better get back to that quilt or my granddaughter is going to be an adult before she gets it!
Happy Monday!

Breaking through the surface!

It seems like forever since I have posted.  In the little nutshell of my world it has been!  My husband is finally home from the hospital, it took 15 days for him to be released.  Not better, just released.  He is well enough that I can take care of him at home.  What a challenging journey.  Thank you to everyone who has been sending messages and saying prayers for us.  It seems they have been heard, our results from pathology are in and the cancer has NOT spread as first thought!  We may need to do some radiation or chemo but that should be fairly mild.  What a great result after all the original, dire expectations!



So other than keeping my head in the game for my husband I have also been tending to the little ones in my life.  During this whole journey my Moo turned 10...."Double Digits" she calls it!  She was so excited that it was finally her BIG birthday and I was so desperate not to disappoint her by letting her big day be over shadowed by our current battle.  I booked her a birthday party at Spa World before the surgery, so I wouldn't let it fall through the cracks.  It was great!  They got their nails and toes done and a goody bag was included (WHEW! I had no time to shop!). She had a great time and then we also had a birthday dinner with family at home. Her big thing for that was that she wanted to bake her own cake....ah....OK!  Worked for me!  It turned out great and looked fabulous!

I also finished her dress (that I started at Christmas!), the child has the patience of a saint.  I found this fabric years ago and had no idea what I would make out of it but it had Moo's name written all over it, so it had to come live at our house until I discovered a project for it.  This dress was her pick and the fabric was mine.  She loves it!  (And it gave me small moments of focus).





















I also joined an apron swap over at Country Pleasures (cause I didn't have enough to do!) and I did manage to finish and ship this apron over to my great partner Missy.  Hope she likes it! My daughter sure didn't want it to leave the house!.

I also calmed my mind by doing some thrift shopping between visits to the hospital here and there, but I will post on those finds later!  Hope everyone has a great day!

Let the healing begin!

Thank you for all the wonderful comments and prayers!  It has been so inspiring to know others are keeping us in their thoughts as we go through this journey.

The surgery was difficult but it went well and they removed the whole tumour.  For now the doctor just wants him to heal from this and then we will see what further treatment he needs.  The first few nights were difficult in the hospital but with a little medical help last night he slept for the first time!  What a blessing!

I am so thankful that this is the March break and I am off from work.  We had planned to go to Ottawa to see our new granddaughter but those plans had to change.  She is planning to come up and visit us later this spring.  So while I waited through the surgery, I sewed this little Amish Puzzle Ball for her.  There were others in the waiting room with us and we had a great discussion on what other populations would benefit from these little balls...so many ideas!

In the days before the surgery the kids wanted to make something for him so when he woke he would know we were there.  Of course what wraps you in love and hugs better than a blanket?  So they went to work, they found the perfect pirate fabric and started to tie.

The blanket is soft and beautiful and when he came out of the anaesthetic he was wrapped in our love. The first thing he said after I love you, is where are the kids.  Then I knew...all was well.
Thank You.
Penny