Breakfast Time

It is such a beautiful morning here that I just cannot help but sit outdoors and enjoy my breakfast. I also have a few knitted dishcloth patterns to catch up on so now is as good a time as any while the house is still quiet.

 

Coffee in my newest favourite mug, and spelt toast with sunflower seed butter. Someone I know and love will be receiving a similar mug very soon *wink*.

This is my catch-up knitting of the day. Pattern: Floral Eyelet Cloth in Bernat Handicrafter: Creamsicle (makes me think more of candy corn).

Have an awesome Monday morning!

Initial Heart Swap 2014

Woo hoo, my swap partner received her valentine's giftie...and in advance of the actual date. Now that makes me happy!

Hosted by Cheryll at Gone Stitchin'

My swap partner was Evalina Z of Marsh Lake, YT.  And now that she has received it I can show you the fun things I sent for her...

These are the little packages she pulled from the mailing box. Wrapped in red tissue, they had various button decorations attached.

I love pretty, yet practical gifts. So, I knitted a double heart dishcloth.

I also learned a new technique called the duplicate stitch, where you stitch over top of an existing knit stitch. Thank you Craftsy. This was a new to me technique, but you can rest assured I will be using it again. To use this technique to add Evalina's initials, I needed a cloth with the heart done in knit and not purl like the first cloth...so I knitted up this second dishcloth.

 

And then of course, a dish towel is also required, so I used a towel I had purchased fabric for (with the red stripe down the sides) and hemmed it. Then I used a cookie cutter to trace out two hearts and embroidered them and added her initials.



And lastly, I added some treats...

 

Loose leaf tea from Le coin du The. (The corner tea). There are two types, one is roasted almond and the second a chocolate mint. They had cute little valentine packages complete with chocolate. I also added a mini tube of hand cream (wild rose)...and...the "fragile" package...

A little chocolate box from "The Chocolate Shoppe" (La maison du Chocolat). This darling little box opens up to contain mini heart chocolates and chocolate drops. It was so nicely wrapped that I didn't dare open it to take pictures. But it was tempting! Pat Lowe, the proprietor is a darling woman. Not only does she make awesome chocolate, but she also (annually) teaches a class at the local elementary school so the littles can make their own chocolate. My son loved it when he was there! She is a super sweet woman, and was very happy to learn that I would be sending off a piece of her work to the Yukon as part of my swap.



Finishing up now with just a group shot...

 

Best of all, I'm really glad to have pleased my swap partner with her little gifts! Happy Valentines Day Evalina! Oh, and I meant to mention in my (super quick, scribbled note so I wouldn't miss the post office deadline for mailing), it really is ironic, but my mom's maiden name is Marsh...it made me smile to see where you live.



xox

And thank you Cheryll. I truly enjoyed being part of your swap in 2014!

FNSI, Quilty Stitches, & On The Needles

Got busy yesterday at my quilting guild meeting, and having the cat shaved, and didn't get around to posting until now. Had a productive FNSI but as you will see in the photos, it really doesn't look like much. Forgot how slow going larger-sized projects can be. Plus it has been a long time since I worked on 14-count aida. So much smaller than the 11-count I've recently been working on for my smalls! Oh, my poor aging eyes!

I chose different colours than Corey at Little Miss Shabby, mostly because I didn't want to wait until my order from Herrschners arrives. Love blues, greens, and purples so that is likely what I am going to continue to go with. The fabric is 14-count Aida in Antique White, so the white stitching doesn't show up very well. I figure it will show more once the other colours fill up the interior. And I'm likely to backstitch my project as well.

Also worked on some knitting and crochet projects...

This is the January mid-month cloth. When finished, photo will be added to my monthly dishcloth KAL page.

Always wanted to crochet in the round. So I've decided to make some round scrubbies. Once I work these out to my liking, I'm going to make some to add to my Christmas box with dishcloths and dishtowels.

Oh, and here is the progress on Sock 1 of my first pair of socks. Bit of a standstill cause I dropped a couple of stitches and picked them up but 1 or maybe two rows down. Guess I was too excited cause I was on my last round before starting work on the toe. Oh well, will pick it up again when I catch up on some upcoming deadlines LOL

Well, that was about it for FNSI and Friday on the Needles. Linking up with Wendy for FNSI and Judy for FOTN!

For your viewing pleasure...

Here is Harpo sleeping being disturbed while trying to sleep along the back of the couch. Yikes his ear is dirty; probably from hanging out in front of the woodstove.

And here he is again in all his furless glory...

I usually only shave him in the Spring, but this year he has begun shedding en masse already. Every time I pick him up, I get a nose full and shirt full of fur...so off with his fur! He doesn't go out so he is plenty safe snuggled up near the woodstove. I actually have to shove him out of the way in order to add wood LOL

Welcome to Quebec . . . Canadian Quilters Blogathon

If you are here via the blog party, or just because you may have taken a wrong turn....

Welcome!  

I live here with my husband, 16 year old son, and 70 year old father in a quickly growing village, about an hour's drive outside of Montreal. We used to be more rural, but that is quickly changing...progress eh? I guess I'll become "okay with change" if and when we get ourselves a serious fabric store!!

I love to dabble in many things, and am seriously proficient in none. I like knitting, mainly dishcloths and other small projects, a tidbit of crochet, cross-stitch, sewing---skirts for myself mainly, and of course curtains and such. I am sew hoping to finally teach myself to knit socks sometime this winter...seems I knit them inside out and can't for the life of me straighten them out LOL

I also love to garden---perennial flowers, vegetables, small fruit trees. My favourite time of year is Spring. I find it amazing to watch the world come back to life after such a long deep freeze...and of course I get to play in the dirt again...the joy of any gardener.

 Marigold started from seed

 I just love the variety of colour of lilies...

 

and of irises.

 Last January we had such a deep freeze...everything was coated in ice!

I am a newbie to the quilting world. I have one quilt completed...a gift for my sister-in-law.

I am seriously not a photographer but the love that went into creating this quilt was beyond enormous; and so many prayers for health.

The second quilt in my 2 quilt arsenal is not yet completed...but somehow will be for my son for tomorrow...

He just loves Dr. Who and the 50 year anniversary special is tomorrow.

Thank you sew for stopping by. I have really enjoyed this Blogathon...there are so many creative sewers, crafters, and quilters out there. Thank you for your inspiration!

Thank you to 

for hosting this blog hop...and for supplying so many wonderful prizes!

A renewed passion

I have begun cross stitching again. I am gratefully back into a season of life that allows me to craft again. I have been sewing, cross stitching, knitting, crocheting, and dreaming of future projects. It has been almost two years with no crafting. I think I may have been in a real low spot, because creating little things is such an encouraging endeavor.

Anyway, I am baaaccckk. Thank you Lord!Here are a few photos for you.

This was a gift for my granddaughter's 4th birthday in April. A crayon roll...

 for twistable crayola crayons

 and an apron (front)

 (back)

 for crayola twistable "pencil crayons". This project was a lot of fun to make, because I learned to make my own bias binding from an online tutorial, as well as this apron. Oh, and of course the crayon roll was a free online tutorial as well.

 I belong to a Yahoo group called "Monthly Dishcloths" where we receive 2 free patterns per month. They are KALs; one on the first of the month, and the second begins the fifteen of the month. We receive emails over about 5 days with approximately 10 rows per day. The cloth design is a mystery until completed. We have made some very pretty cloths.

 I love knitting these up and either using them myself or giving them away as gifts. I had stitched some simple crochet ones, with edging, but it seems I never took any photos. I donated them all last month to a fund raiser at the Day Centre my father attends. They raise funds for various activities for those seniors who attend the sessions weekly. I also crocheted a wheelchair wrap which I donated to them early this year as a prize for the resident's bingo session.

 I also love to garden. My irises came up beautifully this year. God sure gave us beautiful things to look at!

 Finally, I have resumed cross stitching. This is a bookmark I made last week...back view first :)

 And here is the front. Personally, I prefer the King James version of the fruits of the spirit, but this was a free design. I'm thinking of giving this one to my mother-in-law.

And I am currently working on the following free design...As Ye Sew So Shall Ye Rip

I'm onto the backstitching now so hoping to complete over the weekend, but there is a lot of stitching to do.