Posting from Winnipeg

Well no pictures today, cause I am not at home... but look back to the blog post on Saturday.  See the snow surrounding the house?  Well, there's no snow... Yet.  But it is windy, and there are lots of Halloween decorations out on lawns and even Halloween house lights!   Just in case y'all were wondering.

Packing?

I am going to the Old Home Town for a visit...

I know there is not quite this pile of snow but, gee, snow is the most common theme in a city like Winnipeg, and thats how I seem to remember everything there...

Perhaps this is more appropriate to the season...  Yes, that's me in the blue hair, which is actually a mop head attachement for an industrial size mop -- my husband worked at the time for a company that supplied all sorts of cleaning stuff and the mop head was borrowed for halloween night, I think 1980.  We did have fun!

And there's the old neighbourhood and the kids waiting for the school bus.  We lived in a brand new development and every 3rd or 4th house a repeat, in colour and floor plan.  My brother called it Baby City cause everyone on the street seemed to have a child under age two!  It was a great place to grow your kids.  A playground around the corner, and a dead end street, so the traffic was mainly just those who lived there -- but now the street has been put through and is a main access to a large residential section.

Lots of other things to see, but mostly people to visit.  The place itself is not so important anymore, my home is here, but the people still in Winnipeg and surrounding areas are mostly the people I really, really like and don't get to see so often!

So I am gone now for a bit over a week, til November 3 or 4...  See you back here again, then.

Sometimes...

I wanted to stay in bed this morning.  I had put a different quilt on my bed yesterday and it smelled like the blankets and sheets that my Mom would bring in from the clothes line when I was a child. I was warm and very comfortable.  The back of the quilt was a nice cotton flannel and was tucked under my chin and up around my ears on the pillow.  There was no place that the cold air from outside the wrapped-around-me quilt could get in.  There was a cat, Archie, laying curled up with his nose under his tail (as cats often do) and another cat, Fossie, laying behind the back of my knees and purring quite loudly.

Who would ever want to move from that very special and cozy place!

But.

There was no maintaining the feeling of comfort.  My husband was in the kitchen, coughing just often enough to cause a spike of irritation in me, everytime he did it.  The dog, ever at his side was pushing her food dishes around the kitchen floor, because my hubby was busy munching his toast and peanut butter and reading the paper, totally ignoring the noisy hunger pangs of Pearl. 

Outside our door, the workers who are doing the reno landscaping and some groundsloping and water proofing brought in their excavators and the motors started up and the front buckets started scraping and banging and dumping and moving...

No sleeping in, not even just enjoying the cozy moment of warmth and peace.  The peace was broken, and the warmth was becoming too warm and sweaty...

HO HUM, time to start the day -- with reluctance.

off topic

just for a bit of change, here are recent photos of the lovely Pearl.

She went for her first ever visit to the Groomers...

It tired her out - she was quiet the whole afternoon for a change.

Perhaps she was not happy with her Halloween scarf -- later she managed to get it off and within minutes it was shredded into what looked like a bird's nest!

Socky Things or How to keep your tootsies warm in Winter

A few years back, I found a free pattern online to make socks with polar fleece or most any not too stretchy fabic.  Previously I would crochet myself a few socks.  Not socks that you would wear in your shoes, but really rather thick and warm socks cause my feet just get so very cold at night.  I wanted socks that I could wear that had no elastic cause my feet tend to swell (the doc calls it edema) and elastic in socks would make it worse.

Anyway, my socky things are a yearly ritual, I make for myself a couple or three pairs of these cozy warm polar fleece socks.  I try my best to find the brightest and cutest and oddest polar fleece prints.  Mostly I hunt all summer and fall at Value Village for yardage, where it is WAY WAY cheaper than at the fabic store.  This year, lovely bright red with teddy bears -- last year it was purple with yellow elephants.

One of the things though is that  I have started making these 'socky things' as gifts and it has come to pass that I get requests for repeats!  So, it turns out that I make some for myself and then another half dozen or so pairs for others!  I surely don't mind making extras and am happy to know that my dear aunties have warm toes, on those cold Winnipeg winter nights!

 I sometimes will wear my own 'socky things' when I wear my Crocs, as the weather starts to get cooler. Some people have noticed my really odd socks when I have worn them in public, so I have given a few friends the link to the free pattern online.

 I don't know if anyone else is making these as regularly as I am, but these are also great for seniors or wheelchair bound persons.  Bright colours or more somber fabric choices even, make pretty good gifts for a diabetic, because of course there is no elastic to cause problems with circulation.

So if you might like to try out really cozy and comfy socks (that can be used as slippers --just put a safety tread on the bottom) here is the link i have been using now for close onto 10 years!
http://www.cedesign.com/familyphotos/sewing/holidays/fleecebooties.pdf   the pattern is easy, with very well written instruction, even explaining the "grainline" of polar fleece and how to tell the right side from the wrong side.  The pattern has sizing from a baby size two up to a men's size twelve!  It does help if you have a colour printer as the patterns are sort of printed overtop each other using different colour lines so that you can distinquish one from another. 

Make sure to make one pair to try them out first -- I need to slightly adjust the pattern because as my mother used to say, I have legs and ankles like tree trunks, so the ankle on my personal adjustment is slightly wider than the actual pattern as printed.

I use the pattern so often now, that I have made semi-permanent templates (using cereal box cardboard) of the sizes I regularly make.

Now is that a picture of newly made 'socky things' or a picture of Pearl the dog?  Oh well, they both look pretty good, don't you think?  Warm Feet Wishes, to Everyone!

Peace to Joy Mystery Table Runner Part 2 (and Reveal)

Now to finish up this little table runner top...
If you didn't notice, check back to part one, because there is a major correction -- I apologize if this caused more work than necessary and especially am sorry if you use precious fabric!

Just summarize: you now have  12 half square triangles made, 10 short piano key sections and 8 5" squares.

Step 3:  Now with your 12 half square triangles you will make 3 "Broken Dishes Blocks" (see the photo).  I have randomly placed the fabrics, without worrying if light or dark or medium happens to be too close or opposite, so your placement is as you so choose.   Below is the block you will create.  The block should then measure 8 1/2 " x 8 1/2" square, trim up to make it accurate.

Set these aside for a few moments

Step 4  Now you need to cut the necessary sashing strips in order to finish placing the components that are already sewn. 

I have cut my sashing from regular width fabric.

The sashing strips are cut 2" wide so that when sewn they will be 1 1/2".
You will need about 230" in total, which works out to 5 1/2 strips but might as well make it 6 strips that are 2" wide and 42 inches long (at least)

Now from the 6 strips you will need to sew together 3 lengths so that you will be able to cut 2 strips that are 48 1/2 " long (or just a tad more as a just in case)

from the remaining sashing fabric you will need to cut 6 - 8 1/2 inch lengths, and 12 - 4 1/2 inch pieces.

Step 5:  Now we can put together the main sections.  First we sew 2 strips using, the piano key sections with sashing strips and the plain blocks

** a little pause here ** before you continue to sew, you need to take those 8 - 5" charm squares and recut them so that they are 4 1/2" square.  Thats a 1/2 inch off top and 1/2 inch off one side.  Be Accurate.

Now.  You will sew 2 long strips.  Start with the plain square and sew a 4 1/2" length of sashing strip to it, then to the sashing piece sew a piano key component, followed by a sashing and a plain square.  Take a look at the photo below and make sure you put your pieces in the same order - you start and end with a plain square.  The strip should measure 48 1/2 inches long.  Did I say to make 2 like this?  Okay, Make 2. That should leave you with 4 piano key sections and the 8 1/2 inch pieces of sashing and the two long strips of sashing along with the broken dishes blocks.

*excuse my photography - it is gloomy and rainy outside and the indoor light does not do this justice*

Step 6:  This last section will be the centre strip of the table runner.  So beginning with a piano keys component sew a 8 1/2 inch sashing piece to the long side, next you will sew a broken dishes block to the sashing and another sashing to the other side of the broken dishes block.  Continue in this manner ending with a piano keys component.  These will measure 48 1/2 inches long.

Step 6 a:  Next you will sew the long sashing strips to each side of the broken dishes section.  See the photo below.



AND FINALLY ---

You will sew the two smaller strips , one on each side to the centre broken dishes strip and you will be finished your table runner...

I have managed to quilt my top, but not quite finished adding and sewing the binding on.  So here is the almost completed Peace To Joy Mystery Table Runner. . .



Did you work along without peeking?  Like I said yesterday, I do understand if you wait to see the end.  If I may be so bold as to suggest, that this is a pretty good project for using up those charm packs that you bought on a whim!

Well, now I am working on creating a pot roast for dinner today ---My Son doesn't much care for turkey and he has to work tomorrow,  so we indulge him and forgo the turkey for beef roast as our Thanksgiving Dinner.

May you all enjoy your Meal with family and friends around you in person or thought.

Peace to Joy Mystery Table Runner Part 1

**uh oh - check for a correction in step 2, it should be 6 squares of light and 6 of dark**

Finally!  I am back - I missed me, so I won't even ask if you did -- Gee this has been a miserable cold -- which really has not ended yet!  Something that I do wonder about, not to do with colds but to do with relationships...  Why is it, when I have a cold (perhaps you too?) does my husband insist on snuggling, or gathering up my carelessly dropped and used kleenex?  How many times did I tell him to keep back?  How many times did I tell him to not touch the tissues?  How many times did I tell him to not finish up the bit of 7-up in my glass?   And when he starts to cough now and then, why does he say no, if I ask if he has caught the cold???

This little Thanksgiving Mystery is done in only two parts.  If it was me, I would wait til tomorrow to find out if I want to actually make this project -- but that sort of spoils things -- I'm not very good at Christmas either!!  I just don't see any point in torturing myself...  Anyway...

Before we start sometimes it helps to know what some of the end will be – even though it is a mystery, in this case, this mystery, as with some mysteries we are told what happened at the beginning so that the mystery them becomes How or Why.

The end of this mystery turns out to be a table runner that will measure about 18” wide and 48” long – a nice size for a dining table or perhaps as a dresser “scarf”.

So we start with a selection of 5” squares. One Charm pack will do nicely as most charm packs, I think are 42 squares. If you are cutting your own 5” squares from stash fabrics, you actually  need 40 squares.

You will also need a sashing fabric that either contrasts or co-ordinates with one or more of your charm pack fabrics – in my case I chose a fabric that I also used in some of the 5” charms, the lightest fabric.

Step 1. From your stack of 5” squares or charm pack, make two piles, one light fabrics and one dark fabrics. Some of the squares may be on the edge of light or dark or even exactly in between and since this is a mystery, I will leave the decision of what goes in which pile completely up to you, the maker.

Step 1 A. Now choose 8 squares from your stack – any 8, light or dark or medium is fine – perhaps this is a good use for the medium value fabrics that you are unsure of if they belong in the light or dark pile? Well, thats what I did with those, not really darks and not really lights...

Set these 8 squares aside, til later.

Step 2: Now choose 12  6 light/medium charms and 12  6 dark/medium charms. Randomly match one light, to one dark, lay two fabrics together and draw a line across diagonally exactly from one corner to the opposite corner using a pencil then sew 1/4” from that line on each side fo the line. Cut them into two following your original drawn line, Press the newly created half-square triangle open with the seam pressed toward the dark fabric.

You will now have 20  12 sewn, half-square triangles. Take the time to measure and trim square these so that they are 4 ½ “ square. This will help to ensure that your points all come together nicely so  that all your seams will line up.

Step 3: Now choose 10 more light squares and 10 dark ones.

Cut all the squares in half horizontally, so that you have 10 light rectangles that measure 2 1/2” x 5” and do the same with the dark squares. Now match light to dark and sew light to dark to make 20 sections that when sewn will measure 4 ½ x 5”

With these 20 pieces, again randomly match them and sew them so that you  then have 10 short strips, each section sort of looking like “piano keys” and 4 pieces sewn together that will measure 8 ½ “ x 5”. Then trim up each set so that they measure 8 ½ “ long x 4 ½ “ wide.  (that means to take about 1/2 inch off one long side or a 1/4 inch off both long sides, measure carefully)

And that is it for today.

I Hab a Code...

My eyes are not up to staring at a computer screen, nor does my nose stop dripping onto the keyboard; my ribs are sore from coughing.

I don't feel like making stuff or doing stuff -- I will be back SOON!  I suspect that I picked the cold up on my adventure to the big city (Vancouver) to see Harry Connick Jr. in concert about a week ago...  A really fine concert but way too many people -- it was a full house and I am sure someone just had to sniffle and snort their way through the concert and I was lucky enough to catch one of the millions of little bacteria they passed around to the concert goers...