Slow Stitching, Patchwork Testing, Puzzles Too

 This is a painting by William Kurelek called "Balsam Avenue After Heavy Snowfall", 1972.  This area of Toronto just had a huge snowfall so I imagine the present day residents doing just this. Shovelling snow is certainly something all Canadians are very familiar with. Do you like the way William used pops of colour here?

We have an extreme cold warning this morning. It is just -23C but there is a wind making it feel like -34C. Be assured I wear all the gear for our walks so I'm quite comfortable and so far I've been able to stick to the 30 minutes of fresh air morning and afternoon. Tramping about makes me feel so good and, of course, the dogs love their runabout.   

Speaking of which, I have three dogs for the weekend. We are looking after Abby, Ned and Petey's mother. Her family is off to a hockey tournament in North York which puts them about a 35 minute drive from Balsam Avenue. They are very busy but it's fun busy which is great.

 

 Meanwhile, our busy is completely different but we are managing the ups and downs. Tony's CT scan got postponed because of weather so that is now next week. Thank you all for the very good wishes about that. I'll keep you posted. But while speaking of these things I must mention our stitching friend, Coni, who is the Spinster Stitcher. I've been following her since she began her blog in 2008, through the loss of her much loved little dog, Stewy, and her kidney transplant journey. She is very ill again just now with a perforated colon. She now has a colostomy so her journey towards good health continues. 

I've been busy stitching. I finished the house on What Remains is Love and have the large central flower almost finished. I chose a slightly brighter red than the called for to make it stand out. I also turned the house into a one story just like the house I grew up in. I had to unstitch the middle of the leaves. I thought the colour looked too light against the outline colour; I'll look in my floss collection to find a colour that blends better. 

I'm enjoying that crossword book and though rated medium,some of the clues stump me. I go back and forth between despairing because I can't remember something I think I should know to feeling awesome because I did remember something. Do you do crosswords? This corresponds with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt for this week. As you all know, I also love jigsaws too and will be getting one out soon. Meanwhile, I find it relaxing to do an online free Jigsaw almost daily from Jigidi. I'm working my way through the Winter section favouring puzzles that feature birds or cosy houses in woods. I also do 7 Little Words and enjoy that challenge very much. 

Back to Cross Stitching, Alice at Rabbit Girl Crafts has links to  9 Free Winter cross stitch patterns to download plus she offers her own free patterns too. 

I mentioned I was alarmed about my scraps. Thank you, S, for sending me a photo of this easy unnamed patchwork block to use up scraps without a whole lot of measuring and cutting. She seems to know me well :). I am testing it out and like how many old scraps this can use. Is that a good enough reason to make a quilt??? This is one of those stitch and flip blocks and I haven't been able to find the name. If you know it, please tell me. So I started with blues for the last of the January RSC. Now that I have them all together like this, I'm seeing butterflies.

I was given several stitching kits for Christmas. I must share those next time. Today I'm working on  Snowmen and making more fans for the Dresden Quarter Blocks. I never have to cast about for something to do here and I love it all. Hobbies are tried and true remedies for worry.

Hope you are similarly happily busy with all the things you love.