Ready for gifting - ahead of schedule - Yeah!

I love it when I finish something ahead of schedule. I had hoped to have this ready for giving by May 28, so yeah!
This is the photo I've shown you before of the finished top before quilting.
I did a wandering feather pattern over the center of the quilt. The inner border has topstitching 1/4" in from each edge.
The outer border is feathers again, this time following a foundation line of a single wavy line. This is the first time I used a foundation line and I like how it turned out. It made it easy to adjust the feathers to go around the corners and to keep them a uniform size.
Here's a pic of the matching pillow shams. I had two blocks that turned out just a bit smaller than needed for the quilt, so this was a great way to put them to use.
The body of the pillow sham is quilted, and the fringe is plain. It is completely reversable so the other side matches the backing of the quilt. That way there are two options! Love options!
Here we are packed up with the care instructions packed with it!

Now, what shall I tackle next?

London Modern Quilt Guild, next meeting

The next meeting of the London Modern Quilt Guild will be held on May 31,2011. It will run from 6:30 - 8:30 in the conference room of the Talbot Center Mall at the corner of Richmond and Dufferin Streets in London, Ontario. New guests/members welcome! Don't forget to bring your show and tell item - either in the "flesh" or digital, your sense of humour, and your quilty sense!

It's been a good news, bad news kind of day.

Most days I love being a homeowner. Some days I don't. Today was a tough one.
My boarder had pointed out that the hydro was 'flickering' and yes, last evening I noticed it too.
Then today, she told me that there was a burnt smell in her room and the power bar with the surge protector wasn't working.
So, I bought a new one.
Then when I got home, the washing machine was full of water and clothes, and wouldn't spin. I played with it for a while, flipped some circuit breakers to no avail, and called the service guy. He can't make it until Monday.
So, in frustration, I called the Hydro company. (for my American friends - it's the electric company).
They sent out a service man and he had a good look around - outside because they're responsible for the hydro up to the point it enters your house, then it is your baby.
He knocked on the door 20 minutes later to tell me it was a problem on the outside of the house (whew) and that he had hooked us up through a HUGE extension cord to the neighbour's power but assured me that they would not be billed for my use. And then he told me someday, not sure when, the crews would come out and locate the services (I know they run under the driveway) and then proceed to dig up said driveway, and part of the lawn to fix the problem. Now, normally the thought of having your driveway dug up would make a homeowner weep. But you see, my driveway is in desperate need of being dug up and repaved. The area where I park has divots about 4"deep where my tires fit in perfectly. But the downside of that is, in the winter, the tires are frozen in their little ponds of ice.
I had been thinking of getting an estimate for repairing said driveway, but basically was afraid to. So now, fingers crossed, they will do the digging up and repairing for me - and at their cost.
Now that's a bad news turned good news kind of day I can handle.
Bring it on!

eBook readers - what NOT to buy...

Ok, consider this an unofficial consumer survey on ebook readers. I looked at the Kindle, but since it will only accept titles from the Kindle store, and I want it to borrow books from my public library, that was out.
So, I looked, briefly at the Kobo at Chapters/Indigo. Good price, fair quality, not a lot of bells and whistles, etc, but you can download library books, and you can buy books online with gift cards (I do not use credit cards. - long story) So, I kept looking.
Then while in Costco, I had another look at the PanDigital Novel that they carry. Unfortunately, Costco being a warehouse store, had no staff to discuss this with, so, being dazzled by the pretty colour pictures and the promises of all things digital, and a good price, I bought it.
HUGE mistake. I should have read the reviews first because from the first hour, I was ready to throw it out the window. After 24 hours of not being able to get it to download anything, even the program that the library gives out FREE for reading their books, I called my IT guy. He agreed to look at it for me. Now, I trust my IT guy, he's extremely good at what he does, he's quick, he's flexible and he's not bad to look at either (but seriously married I might add.)
I left it with him and 2 days later he called. He was choosing his words very carefully, explaining that he spent 4 hair-pulling hours on it and finally got the updated firmware installed. Then the library's program, and yes - we had books. But only the preloaded ones from Barnes and Noble - you know, the gut wrenchers (sarc.) like "Little Women" and "Pride and Predjudice." He was sure it was on it's way now, so I paid him and went home dreaming of what to read first.
ARGH!!!!!! Yes, it would download the library books now. But, not in any format that would fit the screen. I could only use 1/4 of the page at a time and no changing of the font size, or telling it to "fit to page" would solve it. When I tried to scroll across the page to see the second half of the sentence - it would skip to the next chapter. Ok, now I'm really getting p****ed off.
This morning I spent a hour and a half at the library, with the help of their IT department to try to resolve the 1/4 page issue. Nada. Nowhere. So I left, leaving the IT person sending emails to the powerhouses that run those programs.
I spent the rest of today struggling with that darned thing, and finally it broke me. At 8:20, ten minutes before closing time, I returned it to Costco. I told the cashier I was surprised that they did not ALL come back - she did say they had received a few back... an understatement I'm sure.
So I phoned my IT guy on the way home to vent and basically tell him he's right, they're junk, and he has my permission (as if he needed it !) to tell anyone, anytime about my experience and warn them to stay away!
So, I am again eBook-less. I'll take some more time to shop around, and when I do decide, it will be coming out of the box IN THE STORE, and prove itself BEFORE I even take it home.
Who ever said technology was the way of the future? Some days, it just sucks!
So, my friends, on my personal advice, stay away from the PanDigitalNovel. Save yourself the stress.

It's about time.....for gardening.

I've gone and done it. I've tossed tradition out the window. Local gardening "rules" are that you don't plant any annuals before the May long weekend because there is still a chance of frost.
Tough. It has been probably 3 years since I've put any effort into the front flowerbeds because of illness, depression, finances, etc, etc, etc. It just never got to the top of the to do list. But today was different.
You see, I had an appointment with an Oral Surgeon today about a lump on my tongue. He was the same doctor who did my jaw surgery as part of orthodontics many, many years ago. Anyway, I've had a lump removed about 6 years ago, and was worried that this was another one. My dentist agreed that it needed to be "looked at." Well, the surgeon doesn't think it's anything serious, probably scar tissue from biting my tongue (that's a whole different ball game, Me? biting my tongue LOL, but we'll go with it) but agreed a quick biopsy was a good call. So that's booked.
What has that got to do with gardening? Well you see, his office is only a couple of miles from the absolute best gardening centre in this part of SW Ontario. Canadale Nurseries in St Thomas, Ontario. I could spend hours there just browsing. And since my appointment took less than a half an hour, and cost less than expected, I went shopping to celebrate.
That started it. Then I went to another nursery closer to home on the way to picking up DS at school. So now I have
1 new shrub for the front (to replace a dead one)
3 varieties of annuals that are drought 'resistant' since the prediction is for a hotter than normal summer.
and 2 varieties of tomatoes, and just for fun - a clump of parsley.
I got the small bed between the front steps planted tonight. I live in a semi-detached house and there is about 3-4 feet between the steps that we've always put flowers in beside the now dead shrub. So it looks marvelous now. I still have to get some more mulch to put down to hold the soil in place, keep the moisture in, and most importantly - keep the black topsoil mud OFF my dog's feet.
Tomorrow I'll deal with planting the rest, but the night is falling, and my sofa is calling.
TTFN.

"Stones and Skins", my version.

This is the WIP right now. It's destined to be a wedding quilt for the son of a friend. The pattern is "Stones and Skins" by Sue Harvey and Sandy Boobar of pinetreecountryquilts.com. I used the Stonehenge line of fabrics by Northcott, but substituted the zebra/leopard/snakeskin prints because they just aren't available here yet. The pattern is in the April/May edition of "The Quilter Magazine."
I added an extra row of blocks width wise so it becomes a square quilt to fit a queen size with lots of drop down both sides. That way, no one gets a draft when there's two bodies in the bed ! :)
The top is done now, so soon the quilting will begin. So far, my friend loves it.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRoad Trip !!!!

Who doesn't love a road trip. On a cool, dark, drizzly day, nothing can top a road trip. I needed to shop for a fabric for sashing in a quilt I'm making (I didn't love my first choice) so I planned to head to Coldstream to The Marsh Store. If you've never been there, you've missed out on the hospitality of Shirley, (human) and Nellie (canine). This shop is a delight to visit as it's in a historic home, complete with wonky hardwood floors and nooks and crannies that hold all kinds of fabric and notions. It's a destination in it's self.
So, I said to myself, "why not take a few friends along?" The first phonecall had a resounding "Yes." As did the second and the third. So the four of us set off in the rain to go shopping.
Except for the little issue of being a half hour late due to an unfortunate interaction with the local constabulary. "Oops."
But we did get going, and once we were laden down with our purchases at The Marsh Store, we headed to Komoka for lunch. The Hearth restaurant served up a yummy split pea and ham soup (almost as good as my mom's) and sandwiches, and - really, really good coffee.
Then finding an hour left to spend, we headed to Mount Brydges, to Sew Creative. Here we were hosted by Joan in her shop and more petting of fabric ensued. We oohed and aaahed at all the beautiful quilts on display, and did more shopping, of course.
So, by 2:30 pm, we headed home. Just in time to drop off my three amigos and be at the school in time to pick up my son at school.
I was treated to a short nap after school. Thank you son!
Now I'm all set to continue with the quilt top in process. Stay tuned for photos - soon, I promise!

A good, or at least interesting day.

Today started off by taking a cranky kid to dentist. Cranky because he was hungry. You see, DS is an extreme, let me repeat, EXTREME needle phobic. So, he gets nitrous oxide for his dental work, which by default, means he has to fast from midnight the night before his appointment. This is a kid who is ravenous at breakfast, so, he was cranky. Then we were going to "try" to go without the nitrous, which lasted oh, about 4 seconds. An hour and a half later, we were home. Now he was cranky because not only was he even more hungry, he now had a frozen tongue and lip. FINALLY about an hour later he felt he had recovered enough that he ate a bowl of oatmeal and was much happier. At least the oatmeal didn't dribble down his shirt!
The rest of the day was spent with him trying to keep busy with tv, and video games, and books because the weather, (sigh) is still yucky.
Then the real fun began. A friend asked if I could bring her son home from school. Since my guy wasn't at school today, I hesitated, but then figured he would be ready for some play by that time, so agreed to go pick up her son. Well, you need to know that these two 10 yr olds got into a punch up in the playground a week ago. The 'friend' made it perfectly clear on the way home that all is not yet forgiven. (another sigh) So, Grandma picked him up earlier than planned.
Then a miracle happened! My son cooked supper. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My boarder told me that she had conspired with him to do this so I went on a convenient errand 20 minutes before suppertime, and when I returned, there was a steamy, hot meal of KD and beans ready, with a kid beaming from ear to ear! I like those kinds of surprises - keep it coming!
On the sewing side of things, I hit my favorite thrift store this afternoon and scored a dozen or so pairs of denim jeans. I've harvested the fabric, so I have enough now for my denim quilt. I think. Then I had the hand - forehead moment! Hey, I should use one of these discarded tops of the jeans to make a bag! I did, but not before a few blue words came wafting through the house, and 2 broken needles, and a couple of "error" alarms on the sewing machine. A curious note - when I do something nasty like that to my Horizon, she fights back! She runs backwards!!!
If I grab the handwheel to stop a needle breaking - you know - when the machine makes that awful grinding noise and you know it's not going to go through the fabric? When that happens, I grab the wheel and hold it until the machine gives up and stops. Well, the princess doesn't like that - oh no. If I don't turn the machine off to reset her brain, she runs backwards until I do.
I guess that is equivalent to a toddler having a temper tantrum when he doesn't get what he wants eh?
Anyway, the bag is done. She has a lovely bright pink zipper. I did sew the fly closed so there are no accidental loss of items. But considering it cost me less than $2 to make - it's pretty cute.

Noah's Ark

I just have to vent about the weather. I'm not a rainy day person. Rainy days suck the energy right out of my bones and numbs my brain into a coma. Today was one of those days.
This morning started with a bit of sunshine which quickly clouded over into a torrential downpour. Then it was just overcast and warm and muggy all day. I nearly melted in a store today because it was so humid and warm, and I didn't want to take my (light) jacket off because of a snack explosion that happened on the way there. (Just another reason why I should never wear white.)
I finally had to just bite the bullet and let the world know I had on a dirty shirt and take off my jacket after the cashier asked me if I was OK. I mumbled something about a "tropical moment" and mopped up my face - again.
So then I got home and unloaded, just in time for another downpour. I swear I saw Noah waving from the Ark as it went by LOL.
Enough already. I know, yes, my hyacinths look grand, but I'm craving sunshine!
(Click on light therapy lamp here.)
Between naps, I've been surfing.
I really like the new features on the Thousands of Bolts online store. They have a Quilter's Toolbox now where you can add fabrics to your wishlist and then design a quilt, plug in your fabrics and see how it will look. Then with a magical click of a button - you get an exact list of your fabric requirements for that project. AND you can just save your designs to your account or even share them. Like ! Check it out for youself!
http://www.thousandsofbolts.com

London Modern Quilt Guild - Inaugural meeting!!

Tuesday night I was honoured to attend the inaugural meeting of a new quilt guild here in London town. The "London Modern Quilt Guild". Wow. The turnout was fantastic - 14 ladies were in attendance with a few more who had to send regrets. Chantal Lynch (from Hyggeligt fabrics) hosted the group in the conference room at the Talbot Centre Mall on Fullarton street in London.
What a great collection of inspiring minds! We look forward to seeing what we evolve into and also look forward to a sharing, learning, caring, and FUN !!! group.
Stay tuned for updates. Oh, and new 'members' are always welcome.

LOOKOUT LONDON - HERE WE COME!!