Irish Fame, Shopping, Cakes, Cross Stitch, Special Moments

Of note this week...

A little bit of Irish- I spent a lot of time with William's wonderful words in younger days and also off and on throughout my life. A key 20th century poet and Nobel Prize winner and Irish as well.  I especially love his phrasing. 

You may have seen this popular quote below sometime. I remember writing it in my diary when I was not old and gray, both of which I now am. 

When you are old and gray and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire, take down this book and slowly read, and dream of the soft look your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep.

William Butler Yeats

Now for the mundane...

Researched and ordered...a new bread machine. Fixed a couple of times by hubby,  the old one finally gave up the ghost. The new one is a larger Cuisinart with over six thousand good reviews so must be okay. Looking forward to getting it. 

Ordered also this Cobble Hill jigsaw puzzle...Dog Quotes; a fun puzzle to greet spring.

There is a matching amusing Cat Quotes one too...A link is here

Sandra at MMM Quilts just listed the most gorgeous quilted bag in her Etsy Shop. Made with some vintage fabrics, it is simply stunning. 

Meanwhile my own stitchy flower garden continues to grow...

Mornings are definitely my favourite time to lay a few cross stitches and think how lucky to be retired! 

Daughter tried her hand at another flan this month.  This one is served with a blueberry compote. It is light and delicious. Here is the link to Blueberry Sour Cream Flan at Rock Recipes.  No flour in this one.

I watched this beautiful video from Sandra at Cherry Heart blog; it is part of her restful Moments series. This one features pretty crochet and also very pretty quilting. Partway through this video you can see her latest EPP project which I love very much ( I must have mentioned this before).  

It is a BOM called Flower Garden from Alice Caroline. What a lovely site with many things to admire there. However, Liberty Fabrics are SO expensive especially to get them delivered to here. I am sure there are many suitable substitutes that are available and would be just as pretty though.

I'm in the process of clearing items from this computer. I had a cache of over a hundred quilting/stitching/arts blogs/sites in my onenote and am reviewing each.  I've been surprised and saddened by how many are no longer maintained. Some with a final farewell but many just stopped without a word. That makes me wonder what happened. Life I guess, the fabric of which are inescapable ups and downs.

Sunshine and warm temperatures yesterday; the snow is taking quite a cutting, as we used to say at home. I had to forgo the heavy coat and mitts for my walks. The air, while cool, felt wonderful. 

 I hope you are all feeling wonderful too!

Also lovely things to see at Not Afraid of Color.  And joining the slow stitching group at Kathy's Quilts.

Maytime, My Design Wall, Hand Pieced Projects, Bee's First Food

My Design Wall
Three hand pieced projects on the go right now, the Book Club Hand Pieced QAL, the Grandmother's Flower Garden and Basket Case. I took this photo this morning with a weather statement in progress about heavy rainfall so rather dull.  Colours are much brighter than seen here.

I'd like to complete the Book Club Hand Pieced QAL blocks this month. I'll set that as my OMG  for May at Elm Street Quilts. At first, I wasn't sure about my colour choices as they are outside my comfort zone but I'm glad I did that for a change. It accomplished this...it reconfirmed for me that while my likes are somewhat eclectic,  I need to work with fabrics that bring me happiness. Not ones chosen because they may be considered cool or artsy. We all should choose the fabrics and colours that, as so many of you put it, make our hearts sing.  I think we all know by just looking at them which ones accomplish that.

Melva has released another block for the Pieces of the Past SAL, a Kansas City Star, that is just wonderful. You can find the pattern and information in this post.

Hubby took apart my camera to see if he could fix it. He's been working on it off and on all winter and watching various videos to guide him.  But still no luck. I've been looking for another new one.  For bird photos especially, I really need a better camera than my sturdy little carry along which is great for close ups. Doing the research for a new camera has been fun and a learning experience.  I've done it before but need reminding of the details.

Here is my May redwork  block from A Patchwork Year called Bees 'n Blooms by Kathy Schmitz. Hand pieced as well and I can tell how much my piecing has improved when looking at the wobbles in this. But note the little bee!

And the little poem by E. Parker Kathy included with the pattern says
              Oh! In my garden every day,
              It should be always playtime,
             And every bird should have a nest
             And all the world be Maytime.

Yes to all the world being Maytime!
Grandson with his sunny smile feeding their chickens. Don't worry; the chickens have a much larger enclosure to roam in surrounding this little house. And return to live with the farmer for the winter.
                                 
We have  a solitary dandelion flower in bloom.  Everything else is just popping through the soil so this was quite a surprise to see in the middle of the side lawn. Such hardy little blooms and the first food for all the bees.

A bit more brightness on this rather gloomy day.
Hope it is anything but gloomy weather wherever you are in this big world of ours.
Linking this post with Not Afraid of Color, Floral Friday Foto, Wendy's Quilts and More, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Madd Quilter and Alycia Quilts.

Various Slow Stitching Finishes, Surprising Top Five Blog Posts So Far

Facing down another year with 2020 a few days away.  It does give one pause doesn't it.
But before looking back at the whole year I have to give December its due.  It was a wonderful month with lots of good things, family time and celebrating certain events as well in it. 
I was also pleased with my stitching this month. Though I did poke a few holes in two of my right hand fingertips, it was worth it.  I did not finish 10 more of the Dresden blocks as was the monthly plan, but I did prep 5 more to hand stitch.
In its place, I finished a project that consumed almost all my time and became a special Christmas gift.  I followed a pattern found in this issue of Quiltmania Simply Vintage, Winter 2017,

called Frosty Night by Emmanuelle Specque-Lafouasse.

Here is my version which also sits as my Blogger Header photo these days.  I wanted it large enough to use as a throw.

 The little recipient loves nature and the various animals I included especially the turtle and the fox.  It was his wild turtle that went in our pond and helped the turtle population so I added a little sleeping turtle too.

I hand stitched blanket stitch around almost every item plus filled the sky with quilting stars but used the machine on the binding and did a double row just to hopefully hold it all tight.
Such a fun applique piece to work on and my reward was an enthusiastic reaction as the animals and owl got checked out.

This month I finished this pillow with an old cross stitched piece, Just Believe with a Santa Snowman.

I also stitched and gifted these two items, a table topper and Kantha style stitched redwork runner, which were well received and I was happy about that.

Now is a good time to look back at Canadian Needle Nana and which posts garnered the most attention this year. While none of these posts received my highest pageviews ever, they were the highest in 2019.  This is the only time I pay attention to pageviews; I'm much more interested in comments and the possibility of connecting with you that they bring.
Beginning with the most pageviews....
#1 Links, Woolworths Famous Cheesecake, Flowers at Last.  This post included the no bake recipe and my photos of my version.  This brought back a lot of memories for many of you and I received many wonderful comments.
                               
#2 was Two Trends I've Noticed and I talked about how last January saw many stitchers anxious about finishing up old projects and also scrap busting. I was in the finish up camp which is right where I am this year! And I'm also, in my somewhat frugal heart, a happy scrappy quilter too.
#3 was titled Free Patterns, Stitching and Feeding the Birds. 
In this post I mentioned a link to free patterns by the wonderful designer Karen Kluba, my Cornwall Cottage piece and feeding the birds in a snowy February.
#4 Spinner Rings, Finishes, Domestic Minutiae
I was quite taken with a spinner ring Daughter gave me. I'm still on the library hold list waiting to read that book! It is immensely popular!
#5 Sensational September, Stitching, SAL, Squirrels
I included a photo of my Kathy Schmitz redworked squirrel. There are a lot of redwork fans out there!
                              
Roseanne at Home Sewn By Us mentioned this link, Ranked Blogs, so I went to the site to give her a thumbs up vote and it was a total surprise to see Canadian Needle Nana was on the list. I don't know what the numbers represent but having said that, perhaps I should learn more about it just because learning is good for the brain. But numbers don't really interest me so I probably won't. :)

 But what really interests me is hearing from you, learning about you, being inspired by your skills and creativity.  Connecting in this big, wide world of ours.
Also happy for these link up parties- Meadow Mist Designs, The Madd Quilter, Gone Stitchin',  Kathy's Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Devoted Quilter and Elm Street Quilts.

Flag and Maple Leaf Blocks, Crochet Granny Squares

This award winning project/book called  The Lost Words came about when it was revealed that 40 words of nature had been dropped from a widely used children's dictionary.

                                 
 I read about it first in this post at What About Rheema? and have since researched it a little more.

  I couldn't believe words like acorn or wren would be dropped from a dictionary. In fact at first, I was appalled.  But after thought, I realized it is a reminder that the world keeps on changing and language in everyday use is never stagnant.
When I see beautiful tea cups, china, embroidered items and crocheted blankets at the thrift store, I'm reminded of how our love of things keeps evolving. What is revered by one generation, gets sidelined by another. They have things of their own choosing to use, enjoy and love, I guess.
And that goes for the words they use as well.

Time to revisit the plans I'd made for the October OMG and posted at Elm Street Quilts as goals for the month.  It's been a productive month, what with a family Thanksgiving, a Halloween Birthday party, time spent with friends and grandsons, medical appointments seen to, firewood chopped and stacked, some winter shopping done, fitness goals worked on and of course, lots of stitching time too. Make no wonder our days just whiz by!
 And in the sewing room...
 I easily made the goal of 10 more of the flag blocks. Dipped into green scraps for these. This simple block can't be beat for how it eats up little bits of fabric.

Have not finished my granny square scarf though have been valiantly working on it.  Here is my little pile of yarny goodness now today and I guess I need to decide how wide and long the scarf needs to be to know when to stop.

And as you know, the autumn stitching is well underway.  In fact that is going to be my slow stitching this weekend.
I have four maple leaf blocks made plus that brown background one that was a test block and now will applique the stems. Thank you for the ideas of how to do this and in particular, to those suggesting insetting it properly when stitching the block.  That would have saved stitching time that's for sure. I wondered why I hadn't thought of it and then discovered why. Duh!

 Here is the pattern I was following...

from this book by Ruby McKim and the instructions are scant but do state to applique the stem onto the finished block.

I'd also already cut the blocks so I figure I will proceed with the hand stitching. They won't take long.

Sunny and pretty outside but look at all the leaves down.
  Our trio of white tailed deer (the third is off to the side) are enjoying taking turns getting a snack of sunflower seeds at the bird feeders in this photo taken from my kitchen window.
They are not pushy with each other at all. Certainly appear to be gentle creatures.
Hope your weekend is wonderful!
In addition to linking with Patty, also joining Viewing Nature With Eileen, So Scrappy, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Pretty Piney, Em's Scrapbag and Kathy's Quilts.

Sensational September, Stitching, SAL, Squirrels

The little red squirrels are running all over the place, frantically it seems, gathering stores for the winter. There's no doubt their internal seasonal clock is working.  And they are completely unafraid of me as out on the deck, one ran across my feet!
I couldn't get over how like my photo this cross stitch design below is. I guess British red squirrels must be very similar to Canadian ones.  It's a kit from Bothy Threads, part of their Wildlife series. This is a link to more information about Bothy Threads.  It would be an appropriate piece to have here at the wooden house.

But a piece that is on the wall here at the wooden house, September's redworked stitched block of A Patchwork Year designed by Kathy Schmitz.

My brief online shopping this week brought this Welcome Fall pattern by Kathy straight to my inbox.  Just love these stitching patterns that can avoid the international shipping costs. I love acorns!
                     
A wonderful season to be working in wool and what lovely wool to crochet, the Debbie Bliss Andes, which is an alpaca blend. These are miniature granny squares and at this rate I figure I'll need a gazillion to make a scarf. Perhaps Sophie Digard's prices are worth it! Check out Sophie's scarves here.

So enjoying my "new" cross stitching project, Swirling Flowers by Karen Kluba for Rosewood Manor. The 32 count antique linen is working fine for me with my new readers. So far, so good!

Our monthly SAL linkup is today. Thanks to Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea for hosting this group of international stitchers.
Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon, Susan, Anne
There is a certain stillness in the flower beds, nothing new opening, it is all shutting down I guess. Even the bees are slowing down. Browns and duns and grays slowly taking over. But no sadness here, just glad to be here to enjoy another season spinning round. 
And with that, a last look at my single patch of planted autumn asters, one of the Gaillardias, caught by the September sun.

They went out in a blaze of glory!
Sunday linking with Kathy's Quilts where Kathy has announced her first stitching retreat outside Guelph! Also linking with Nina at Creations- Quilts, Art, Whatever where she shares 25 ways to find inspiration, with Viewing Nature With Eileen where Eileen shares amazing bird photos from coastal Iceland and Floral Friday Foto where I learned the lilac tree is a species of olive tree. Happy as well to link with Life in Pieces where Kate is maintaining her goal of 15 minutes a day of stitching.

Recap of a Busy Week

This turned out to be a crazy busy week for us...with the caveat that this is from the point of view of two old retirees!
 Besides the vet day and all the puttering Hubby has been doing opening and getting things up and running for the summer, he had two medical checkup appointment days downtown. This means we may as well scrap the whole day as the getting down there through all the traffic and finding parking, etc. is time consuming. Also both of us feel apprehensive about the test results so overall a bit stressful as well.
 Friday, homeward bound, we got stuck for almost two  hours in the evening rush hour and we wondered how can people do this every day. Luckily we both enjoy cars so had a great time checking out all the kinds of vehicles while we were stopped/crawling along in the middle of the three packed lanes.  Saw one Nissan Leaf and two Teslas and declared the Honda Civic the most changed vehicle in our time.
The good news...Hubby is fine and can now go from yearly to every two years for these checkups so we won't have to face those runs for a while.

Some photos I took of the hospital neighbourhood gardens which are very posh and much further ahead than mine outside the city.

This "host" of yellow tulips lining a busy sidewalk; such a sweet sight for walkers.

I can only imagine the level of enthusiasm for container planting as evidenced here. 

So many beautiful blooms weighing down the branches of this tree... taken in sunnier times in May, 2016.  We noted it didn't have nearly the blooms this year.

Ask Rex and Murphy why so downcast?

 Because we woke to the sound of heavy rain on our metal roof which they know means our walk will be a little delayed.  Note Murphy the Diva commandeers Rex's nighttime bed for herself.

I did manage to sew another flower on a stringed block mostly to see if I liked it. I do and now have a bunch more prepped to applique today.  The upside of the rain...slowing down with indoor activities like stitching.

I have a beef roast thawing out for supper that I plan to pop in the slow cooker..still can't completely shake the idea that Sunday supper should be a special one.  Any of you feel like that?  Cooking a big meal as a little reward for Hubby.

I'm recalling happy moments stitching this... Kathy Schmitz's A Patchwork Year June block called Tweet Home.

So from my little corner of rain drenched Ontario, Canada, Happy June all!
Happy as well to link up with others enjoying hand stitching at the Kathy's Quilts post today. Also linking with Love Laugh Quilt and Em's Scrapbag.

Glad Surprise That is Spring

Heavy rain and the odd thunderclap were keeping us inside for the most part. It came with wind too lashing about the trees.
 We went out for our walks but I worried Hubby would get cold from the dampness.  I grew up with those notions; did you?
Bit brighter today and there is no doubt "spring is breaking in glad surprise" all around us.

For instance, the phoebe has returned to the rafters of the tiny garage by the pond. Last year two nests were inside and the birds didn't seem to mind the closeness. Having a pond on one side and meadow on the other provides lots of food for these little insect eating birds.

And all the rain didn't stop this mother robin (can you see her?) from continuing her most important work, nest building.
Which she is accomplishing in a tree overlooking our back deck conveniently placed for me. I can stand in the patio door and watch her at work.

Nests with their precious cargo make me think of baskets.  Did you know humans have been forming baskets as far back as it is traceable?  Like mother robin, our need to collect and carry inspired every form of a basket.
I have this woven one that I love, bought at a thrift store years ago.  I keep my best magazines in it.

A few yellow appliqued baskets have joined the browns/tans on the wall. Think I'm going to keep the colours very controlled; maybe just in this range of tans, browns and yellows.  Putting them together on the wall makes them look like something which is encouraging to me.

I feel like I should have felt more upset about the fire in Paris which was truly horrible but we seem to be hearing about one catastrophe after another. Just this morning, dreadful news from Sri Lanka, for instance.  The way the world is these days, some things just have to be thrown overboard.  Lamenting heavily every single bit of awful news, I guess, is one of them. You can't carry it all, I tell myself.

But on a positive note our love of wild birds here in Ottawa means the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Center is getting a brand new building by 2020. The 17 acres to house it have been purchased and we have seen the new design. I'm very happy about this and support it all the way.

Special visitors at the front of the house yesterday stopping by the bird feeder- two white tailed deer.

 Happy Easter to all who celebrate! This is April's redwork block called Buns and Peeps from A  Patchwork Year  by Kathy Schmitz.

 I'm stitching appliqued pieces on my Spring Strings blocks today and also giving the Cornwall Cottage piece some attention.
Hope your Sunday is calm, peaceful and you are doing something that you love too.
Something else I love is joining these link parties. Kathy's Quilts, Viewing Nature With Eileen, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Busy Hands Quilts.

Free Cross Stitch Patterns, Stitching Cornwall Cottage And Feeding the Birds

Happy February to all!
Half way through the winter and the sun on our backs this morning had real warmth to it despite the freezing air temperature.
Here is the February block for A Patchwork Year called Forget Me Not, designed by the wonderful Kathy Schmitz.

Hubby has just had to use one of his favourite toys, the snow tractor/blower. ☺

A little update on my Cornwall Cottage Sampler, designed by Karen Kluba for Rosewood Manor.  It is large at 294 x 294 stitches, 2 strands on 32 count linen.  It features a border of half quaker motifs...a pleasure to stitch. Click here to check out some free charts from Karen.

The beginning in January 2017.

Stitching on the veranda in the summer of 2017.  Oh how I liked that.

The purchase of this Ott light greatly helped these old eyes with the counting.

Present day; its' time has come to be finished. I took a hard look at it and decided to make this my OMG for February over at Elm Street Quilts...not to be completely done, nooo, but to have all the quaker motifs stitched. I think I can do that as they are my favourite to stitch.

And with that in mind I am also joining the SAL at  Sewing Beside the Sea, a stitch along designed to give encouragement to get a started project moved along or finished or to work on a new one. Perfect for me.
And here are all the stitchers taking part so far. Perhaps you'd like to check out Avis' blog and read more about it.  Meanwhile there are wonderful projects being stitched by these ladies...take a look.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen,Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny,Carmela, Jocelyn

  How do these little mites survive in such frigid temperatures!  Here are a couple of American Goldfinches with a chickadee coming in for a landing during the last heavy snowfall. Taken from my window and closely cropped.

On this February Sunday I will be filling the feeders as well as stiching. Take care out there; this polar vortex thing is serious stuff. And likewise, enjoy your warmth but stay cool my friends in the southern hemisphere.
Always appreciated: joining the slow Sunday Stitchers at Kathy's Quilts. Also meeting up with the folks at Viewing Nature With Eileen, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, and Pretty Piney.