Beautiful Free Patterns, Valentine's Gifts, Slow Stitching Projects

 I'll speak of weather and get it out of the way as it were. We got advance warning of a winter storm so I was able to fill the feeders, get in my bit of firewood to start the fire and have an extra long walk in the evening thinking I wouldn't get out the next morning.

 When I got up at 7, everything was calm, snow gently falling. Quite a bit of accumulation, around 30 cm by then, so the snowplows had their work cut out for them...So Ned and I tried out the trails. It wasn't a walk, more of a slog. At the point where I was furthest from the house, I had to take a spell before trudging on. Ned was disappointed as the snow had covered up all the scents and not one track was seen to be followed. 

School buses were off the roads but schools were open and teachers expected to be there. Everything here goes on as normal, even city buses on the roads which seems so dangerous to me. And it is...there are numerous accidents being reported. 

Inside I had cooked us a roast beef dinner with lots of veggies including turnip and cabbage the night before so we could have leftovers if the power was lost. And a bit of a treat for Valentines' Day.

Tony surprised me with a Valentine's gift- two pretty posies, Dianthus and Campanula, both of which can be put in the garden later on if they survive. I really liked the card.

And I contented myself with lots of slow stitching like more embroidery on this very large Snow Days motif...how appropriate!

And quilting lines on the Red, White and Blue table runner too.

I also cut out two mug rugs for little gifts as my small scrappy stitching this month. 

I'm not spending time on the internet like I used to by having days I don't open the browser at all. But like every rule, there is an exception and mine is listening to an audio book or music, both of which I do a lot and are found on my computer.  During my now more precious browsing time recently, I noted these results for beautiful and free quilt patterns....

Art Gallery Quilts has their free patterns for gorgeous more modern style quilts HERE.

I had a lot of fun looking through Riley Blakes' free patterns...so many I loved. HERE.

I like how at American Patchwork and Quilting, they include smaller projects too in their free pattern inventory. So many patterns! HERE

We are under another snow storm watch for overnight so I'm also ending this post talking about snow. On the plus side, this snow will be good for maintaining ground water levels in the spring so the forests won't get too dry. I always worry about a fire here in our 10+ acre woods. 

Hope you are staying warm and toasty or cool and calm wherever you are in this wild world of ours!

Sharing this post with Cynthia's Quilting is More Fun Than Housework party. 

 

Slow Stitching the Winter Away

It still amazes me when I read your blogs where in your corner of the world, summer is now in full swing with the flowers and leafy trees and blue skies. I look out on blue skies too like today... 

But it is still very cold staying well below freezing. This turkey gang appeared late one day. I counted 17 scattered about, the largest number ever to grace our garden. One male and I guess you could say his harem. 

Deep into winter now and I couldn't have a better excuse to stay inside and slow stitch. So I've been moving along a couple of hand stitched projects. Embroidery was one of my first loves in the stitching world...I had one of those Dimensions kits of flowers in a field with me when I moved into university residence back in 1968. That one used crewel wool which I used a lot in those days. Back to the present and here is my progress on one of the Snow Days motifs.

Someone asked- I use those needles pictured mostly - I can buy them at Walmart. I'm not particular about needles but prefer a shorter one overall for embroidery.
  And my cross stitched Cozy Into Winter is moving along too. There is space beneath the basket to stitch a message. The pattern has three rows/bands of motifs there but maybe it would add interest to have words instead. 

I just have to highlight the talents of one of our blogging friends, Gwyned Trefethen. Check out her beautiful little framed attic scenes featuring vases of flowers and blue skies. Link to her post is Here. Actually I'm in awe of all the talented stitching I see when I visit your blogs.

*About my last post- Thank you so much for your wonderful comments. Yes, as some guessed, all the stars shown were made from men's thrifted shirts. Thank you for sharing your favourite/prettiest quilt pattern too. It made for very interesting reading. 

From The Tiny Buddha

Having a bit of a wobble lately, mostly mind wise. I've been practising stilling my thoughts, blocking the negative ones especially. One of these days I'll get good at that. Yes I know I will feel better again soon which is a comfort in itself.

You all take care of yourselves.  

Sharing this post with parties at  Good and Random Fun, Alycia Quilts and It's A Small Town Life.

Old Folk Issues, Me These Days, Happy Hand Stitching

The male and female Red Cardinals have been visiting the big feeders late afternoon just at almost dusk. Maybe they load up on a little nutrition to get them through the cold night. It's hard to get a photo of them together and this was taken from a great distance. I wonder if they are the same pair I see all the time as it's believed Red Cardinals mate for life. 

You've probably figured out by now that my favourite stitching is hand stitching. With that in mind, I've started another EPP project, this one stars. I've wanted to stitch stars again for a while and I like that scraps can be put to use too. And I'd kept all the cardboard triangles I'd used in Panama Pyramids and just have to trim them down as I want these stars to finish at a smaller size. This is another project that perfectly suits the monthly colour changes at So Scrappy though January's colour, pink, is scarce in my stash. I can trim the triangles in front of the tv while taking a break from Redwork Noel which is almost done. 

I also got out my winter embroidery project, Snow Days, from Crabapple Hill Studio. 

 I have five of the winter scenes finished. 

The very big light box inherited from first wife had to be used to trace two more of the larger patterns. I use a micro pen for this so the line can be easily hidden with two strands of embroidery floss. I'm using a dark brown, DMC 498, and very easy enjoyable running stitches with a few French knots and back stitches thrown in.

Now for a hair update...white hair issues are definitely an old folks problem so skip this part if you aren't interested. 

I don't know what it is about hair salons that make me want to stay out of them. I've never had a bad experience or anyone be mean to me or anything really that would account for why I don't enjoy the experience.  It takes a lot to get me in one but I finally did recently. I was pleased with the professional trim, mostly on the sides, not an overall cut. The stylist listened to me about keeping hair on the top of my head that I can fluff up a bit...I look awful with flat hair. (If I thought it would suit me, I'd be happy to have one of those buzz cuts all over. ) Here is my post salon bathroom portrait where the lighting has erased all my wrinkles and turned back time. A miracle! And back to a time when Cat eye reading glasses were in style too. I think this length of hair suits me the best these days so if only I could keep it exactly like this. 

Wow, my cozy sweater stripes are really not slimming. 

  

She said I shouldn't be afraid of using more product on my hair, to experiment and find out which may cause yellowing. I guess a lot of folks complain to her about their white hair and it's different for different folks. I did buy a product from her; she looked for the volumizing mousse but they were all out so I'll check that out online. I'll share what I bought next time- a leave on conditioner, which was $30- a splurge for me. I hope she got a commission because she was so patient with me even if she did say I shouldn't cut my own hair ever again. 😊

We enjoyed this series very much, The Essex Serpent. It's billed as a moody romance which it is. It stars Tom Hiddleston and Claire Danes, both actors we enjoy. Claire, who we enjoyed in Homeland, does harrowing facial expressions so well. 

Well, I've rambled on long enough. Time for a bit of lunch. I made this for myself yesterday. Sourdough bread with peanut butter and banana. And those are Mini Medjouls there...dates with a little cacao and coconut. We both like dates.  Is that something you would like? Which reminds me, thank you for all the comments on the food I share. I love reading them.

Take care of yourself out there. The times, they are a changin' and not for the better or at least that's what many of us old folks think. But then when did old folks ever think changes were for the better? 

Linking up with Cynthia's Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Brenda's Song Bird Designs party, Kelly's My Quilt Infatuation party and Kathy's Quilts too.

Cakes, Tiny 9 Patch, Snow Days Embroidery, Free Patterns

I have a male and female cardinal visiting the feeder. They arrive very late, almost dark, getting a little  last minute nourishment before the long night begins. The male is not nearly as bright as he will become very soon. Did you know they mate for life?

I've not shown a lovely cake from Beth in a while...here is the latest. Dark chocolate for Tony and Marshmallow icing for me.

 It is delicious and I've been eating a small piece after supper with a cup of Chamomile. 

I've been working steadily on my EPP Tiny 9 Patch blocks...the 3 inch size.  What a great stitch along! Here are more of the reds and pinks so far. Still in their cardboard/paper templates.

And as I was stitching one of the Crabapple Hill Snow Days blocks it occurred to me, I have the real snowy fir trees right outside my stitching chair. Yes, lightly snowing as I write this. 

A couple of free projects running just now...

Debbie is hosting another free BOW, this one called Summer Picnic. Details here... Piecing the Past. I like all those special blocks.

Another wonderful QAL with a beautiful quilt to stitch...Puducah in Bloom by Emily Cross is being offered by the folks at American Quilter. All the patterns are there at that link to download now. Shown in different colourways including this pretty one...

Update...
So I handed in my monitor and had my Stress Test on Saturday. The 86 year old woman who went ahead of me passed and those of us in the waiting area applauded her when she announced it to us all. She was a small, wiry kind of person, full of energy. Oh to be that vibrant at that age! Anyway, I did okay too...everything fine though it was a lot shorter than I had prepared myself for....and that made me wonder... how our minds default to the darker so easily.  What was interesting was the technician was from the Ukraine, here 3 years. We had a good chat and I learned a little more about the crisis there. She is hoping to move to Spain as she finds it expensive here and the weather cold like home. I don't blame her as housing especially is through the roof ( no pun intended) here and of course, winter in Ontario, nothing more to be said about that. And Spain...I had a mental image of oranges growing on trees in February. Ahh... Anyway, my testing is done and next up is to sit down with the cardiologist on the 7th. 

*Several have asked why I put a u in the word colour. Simply put, we use the British way of spelling words in Canada -especially use "ou" in words like colour, neighbourhood, habour, etc.  Whenever I write, Not Afraid of Color, LeeAnna's blog title, I still have to make an effort to write color like that because it feels wrong. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Linking this post with Quilt Fabrication, Alycia Quilts, So Scrappy, Quilting Patchwork Applique, Kathy's Quilts and A Quiltery.

Crabapple Hill Snow Days, Crossroads Quilt, Goals and Prompt Chat

 I have my other winter slow stitching project to share in this post. Snow Days by Crabapple Hill Studio Designs.

My Vintage Seeds Packets jigsaw is moving along...loving all the little details in this one-a superior puzzle.

 I finished three of these large Snow Days embroideries last winter and have prepped three more for this new month and would like to see them finished when the snow outside is done too. Photographed here in the back hallway design wall where the lighting is terrible.

I use General's water soluble marking pencils to trace the design. It was the wonderful stitcher, Hilda, at Every Stitch that suggested these years back and I have used them ever since. 

It was sad when Hilda stopped blogging in 2017 but I now follow her on instagram where she shares her marvelous quilts all the time. I trace the designs with the help of the very large light box I inherited from first wife. She used it for her amazing stained glass creations.

The embroidery is easy running stitch in dark brown DMC 610 on Kona Eggshell fabric. 

And in the sewing room, I've stitched four more of the Crossroads Quilt blocks with a nod to red, the So Scrappy's RSC colour for February. I had to check and was relieved to find that yellow square is not crooked like it is showing. Phew! I hope to be able to keep up my goal of four of these each week in February. 

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week is about friends... that is a tricky topic for me as I have to fight my own innate notion that people disappoint. I prefer to stay to myself generally and if I've been an acquaintance/ friend at some point in the past and then drifted off, that absolutely is all about me, not you. And her other question was what attracts you in a man/partner. I always liked bespeckled, smart guys. My present hubby is one of the smartest people I've known personally. It's a given they would have to be nice...kind, animal lovers, etc. I've read women often answer that question by saying he's got to be able to make them laugh. What about you? Is that what you love about your partner? 

And this is what we are contending with regarding the snow and warming up. Our metal roof is quite slanted and any milder temperatures mean the snow starts sliding down. This is at the back door. 

However, on the plus side- wonderful, almost above zero temperature to walk in today. We were serenaded by the distant whine of snowmobiles on the public trails...super weather for that. What a great Canadian mid winter sound!

Sharing this post with Stories from the Sewing Room, Quilt Fabrication and Sew and Tell.

Free Patterns, Lucky Thrift Finds, Slow Stitching

 It's an interesting time of year here in the north as we can watch the season change.  Each day brings new growth pushing up through even ice it appears. It is always fascinating how quickly the earth turns green once started. 

I got to go thrift shopping, one of my favourite kind of outings. I'll share two of my thrift finds with you in this post. One is in the middle of the table there and is that bird. I paid $3.99 for it and I think it was a good deal. 

In the photos are Tony and I at our marriage ceremony, us with Murphy in the back yard, and Tony as a little fellow on a bike.

#2 thrift find...I was happy to find this book below; it is in pristine condition complete with all the patterns intact. Shizuko specializes in hand quilting. I paid $3.99 for this too and I checked on Amazon- $24.95. I'll share my other finds another time.

Here is a video of Mypoppetblogs showcasing this book.

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week has to do with favourite smells or scents. Here are three I love...

Salt water smell when I get back home to Newfoundland. The air in general is cleaner, fresher smelling there. I never appreciated that till I was away for a year and went home...walking from the plane to the little airport it hit me how wonderful the air smelled. But maybe it felt like that because it was home. Though come to think of it, SIL has told me he notices the same thing.

Ned's paws...they smell like corn chips.

Library smell...in the stacks amongst the books there is a certain smell to be found there that I love.

What are your favourite smells?

In the sewing room, I've started another house for the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL. I found a piece of purple fabric that was large enough for the house front. I wonder what lesson I'll learn sewing this one!  Speaking of houses, I've also gotten this far embroidering another Snow Days house. Fun to see this too emerge from snow.

Thursday's Three Free

At Quiltatious there is quite a bank of free patterns- 23 pages of them. I downloaded one called Seaside Serenity. Those sail boats with those wheels appeal to me. I looked through the patterns and I liked how they broke down each block so I think they are also well written.

Quackadoodle Quilts Anna and Sarah have a 2013 post that is still active  featuring 25 Free Quilt Patterns. I'm drawn to the Peppermint quilt and seeing the list also reminded me that I want to make a Bow Tie quilt sometime. Perhaps you'd prefer this scrappy Chevron design.

Bev at Flamingo Toes has a bank of free patterns at her site as well. Included is this pattern which is neat. Her own Neighbourhood quilt. Window boxes with little French knot flowers...so appealing in a mini quilt.

Bev offers lots of really cute patterns and tutorials on her site, a great spot for a visit and look about. 

And for us who love hand work, Spruce Crafts has 8 Scandinavian Embroidery Patterns to try. The work of Mollie Johanson and I love them. 

I just saw this pattern for sale at the Posie Gets Cozy site and thought, yeah that's me. :D Any of you identify?

Alicia creates such pretty designs to cross stitch and embroider. Her latest spring designs are gorgeous.

As soon as it warms up outside, I'm off to give the inside of the car a cleaning...hasn't been cleaned since last fall.

Hope you can get outside too and enjoy the day!

 Sharing this post with Alycia Quilts, Kathy's Quilts and Quilting Patchwork Applique.

Three Special QAL's, Three Questions Answered

                                          

                                            It's Spring. Theoretically. 

From Sandra Boynton

So we have officially changed seasons but the weather is still a bit on the wintry side. Freezing rain and snow overnight Friday and into Saturday with about 5 cm of fresh snow on the ground. I got snowed/rained on with ice pellets while playing ball with Ned and it was a bit hard staying upright.All in all, a little like spring in the air but definitely winter underfoot.

I'm receiving this magazine after a three year break. Quiltmania is always inspiring and something I look forward to getting in the mail. Do you get any magazines in the mail these days?

I have access to hundreds of magazines for free through the library system but I just don't find it very satisfying to read them online for some reason. I've gotten used to ebooks so maybe I should try harder to like emagazines. 

I had a good weekend in the sewing room. Wheel Within a Wheel blocks got sewn together and into rows. Then I mislaid two rows which I was baffled and frustrated by. The space is not that large. Do you have sewing room mishaps such as this? They will turn up I know. 

And I cut and stitched a few more foundation pieced Tiny Trees. I can't seem to give up on this project as it and the stem three piece section use up scraps so nicely. I will sew another row of these together this week.

That's a corner of the Lone Star Medallion getting ready for a backing. Also something I want to have done this week. I'm happy to have it at this stage.

Three QAL's I Love

Sandra at MMM Quilts has announced her QAL this year called Rainbow Neighbourhood. |Like so many of you, I love house blocks and keep saying I want to sew some. I've purchased the pattern so we will see if I start this or leave it for later. It will be fun to follow along and see the neighbourhoods folks will create.

. Another stitch along I wanted to mention and that I like is being offered by the wonderful Temecula Quilt Co. Sheryl is calling this one Whirl. It is really neat looking...you'll have to go there to see for yourself how she is working out the very simple blocks- 9 patch blocks, into a novel design. Found Here. Sheryl is also generously offering a free pattern there called Egg Basket.

Most of you know Sheryl specializes in small, gorgeous quilts.

And Pen + Paper is running the lovely The Sparrows QAL that I would like to sew... of course!  However, it says it's for the Advanced Beginner Sewist which I don't think I am- definitely not on the machine. 

I've gotten a few questions that I thought I would take time to answer.

The header cross stitched picture is Strawberry Thief, a William Morris design. I have the book called The Art of William Morris in Cross Stitch that I used the pattern from.

The embroidery blocks I've shared lately are part of a large project called Snow Days from Crabapple Hill Studio. That link will take you to the Snow Days page.

No, our wooden house is not all heated by the wood stove. We have a propane furnace as well that cuts in early morning during the winter months. We also have AC but seldom use it as all the principal rooms have ceiling fans.  The wooden walls tend to retain heat in winter but also keep things cool in summer we've discovered since moving here- a good thing.

I'm running a doggy daycare this week which is keeping me on my toes. Daughter's two dogs, Abbey and Petey, are here during the daytimes to get exercised as daughter heals from her exercise injury. Ned is in his glee!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Also great to share this post with Songbird Designs, The Inquiring Quilter,  It's a Small Town Life, My Quilt Infatuation,  Alycia Quilts and Quilt Schmilt.