Next I want to make a quilt block for my quilt frame I bought from Angela's site. I found one I like that I think will look great done in Christmas fabrics. And then I want to do a small wallhanging for my kitchen. The block I may be able to do today. The embroidery wallhanging will take longer, of course.
Not much else going on. I've been spending way too much time on Ancestry.ca filling in my family tree. The number of connections in my dad's line are crazy. The family stayed in Cornwall, England. None of the Cornish ever left home until one of my ancestors dared to cross into Devon and then his son and family came to Canada. And I wonder why I get nervous travelling.. maybe it's a genetic fingerprint or something that makes me happy to just stay in my own area.
If you're looking for a great book to read for Christmas this is one of the ones I'd sure recommend. I've seen books by Debbie Macomber before but had never bought one. With the grocery store lineups so long these days it was sitting right at eye level and if there's one thing I can't resist it's a cozy book. Add angels to the mix and I gotta have it. After reading this one now I have to order all of her angel books from past Christmases. I just enjoyed it so much! I'll try the library and second hand book store first, of course. The Angels are Shirley (the smart one *LOL*) Goodness and Mercy. They get themselves into trouble a lot but Gabriel keeps letting them come to earth to help get prayers answered. 
First of all thanks for sharing your pant hemming stories with me yesterday. It made me feel better. I'm going through a rough patch on the road of life, as we all do at times, and it's so nice to have such supportive friends here. What also made me feel better is that my daughter called me on the way home from work and said she'd worn the pants and they were fine. I thought she wanted to tell me something else as well but she said no she just wanted to let me know the pants were fine. She's such a nice kid sometimes - yes, when you get up here where I am 33 is a kid.2 cups instant hot chocolate
You fold it up and put it into what looks like a pocket on the front of the bag and it fits in your purse.. or whatever you carry... so if a shopping spree hits you... like you see a quilt shop.. you're all set to bring your stuff home and be environmentally friendly at the same time.
I made some changes. Her pocket was single layer and so was the bag. I can't see one layer being strong enough and I wanted the pocket to be heavier. So I can see I need to make the pocket a tich longer so the bulk of the bag will fit better. And I did my handles my way... okay, I admit it, I got lost in the directions half way through and made the rest up. I even had to make my own continuous bias binding.. which actually took me longer than all the rest of it put together. I think I'd like the binding a different colour from the pocket too. And I need practice putting it on better. Maybe I'll use commercial binding.
Thanks for looking. I'm going to make a few for Christmas gifts. I'll keep this one and use it myself cause I don't care what it looks like.
Here's my post I was telling you about. I just wanted to have a picture to show before I posted. A number of weeks ago I decided I wanted to get one of the Quilt Block holders that Jim, Angela's husband, makes over at Country Scrap Quilts. I LOVE it! Guess you'll have to click on the picture to get a good look at it. I haven't decided what to hang from the pegs yet cause I just got it but never fear, it won't take me long to decide. 
Okay, off to make my annual Marmalade for my father-in-law. Scots love their marmalade and he swears mine is better than any you can buy.. even the expensive ones. When should I tell him I use the recipe from the Certo box? *LOL* Oh well, it's a Christmas tradition and it makes an easy gift so what the heck. It takes longer to make than most jams cause you have to cut up all the oranges, grapefruit and lemon but I think I can manage that once a year.
Have a great day.
I guess one of the things that blows me away are the prices. Of course wages weren't as high, but a sewing machine for$12? Such a deal. And with the treadle part you get exercise at the same time.
Well I had to post some picture didn't I. This is what we spent last night doing. I don't think I got very far with pressing straight but I still have 3 more to do.
On the other hand I did learn some neat stuff that I should have known eons ago. First of all how to get an exact 1/4" seam. I had no idea you could move your needle back and forth, did you? You put a ruler under your presser foot and measure the distance from the edge of your 1/4" foot to the point of your needle. Move the needle to the 1/4" spot and then back one notch to the right so you will end up with a scant 1/4". You can see the way mine was set at the factory it is one to the larger side of the 1/4" line than to the scant size.
I was disappointed because instead of taking my own FQ I decided to just buy some. The shop doesn't really sell FQ like they used to but they do sell bundles. We needed 5FQ and there was a bundle of 10 of these retro Christmas ones so I took them. Boy I hate them *LOL* They just don't fit in with my decor. I think I'd need to be younger. And that line isn't cheap :0(
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Not that it helped cause I had taken my Janome Gem to class and I can't sew 1/4" to save my life on that thing. Oh well. I re-sewed all the seams this morning so they should be all 1/4" now.
The reason we were doing this particular project is look at how many strips we had to cut! I have to do that 4 times to make 4 placemats. Since I've already cut them I'm going to continue. I never know how to cut. I thought my hand was turning and that's why my measurements were out. I was doing 2 things wrong. First of all there's a little ridgy type thing on the top of your cutter. I didn't know I was supposed to keep my index finger on that while I cut. That will keep you from cutting on an angle.
The second thing is where you measure from when you're cutting. I always measured from the black line... it's better to measure from the bright line just to the left.
This also gave us a LOT of pressing practise.... which I still need more of.
The last thing I learned is if you're not hungry before you go to a 6:00 lesson eating a big bowl of fancy lettuces is not enough to keep you full til the end of the class at 9:00. Take a sandwich. I couldn't think straight so at 7:30 had to run next door to the Sushi place and get something to eat. I have no idea what I ate just that it tasted good and filled me up. Kinda looked like Japanese Perogies but with pasta instead of potato. And it didn't make me sick *LOL
So now that I said I had nothing to post about there I go. There is a difference between have to and want to.
Cut one more shape from cotton batting, and another from Insulbrite. Note, do not iron the wax template to the batting because you won’t get it off again. It’s better to pin and cut. The reason I also use the Insulbrite batting is to give extra protection from heat. Make sure the shiny side is facing towards the part of the mitt that will be touching anything hot.
These end pieces will now become your template for the finger pieces of your mitt.
On the left is the back and on the right (below) you can see the pouches where you put your fingertips. 
October is blood test month for me. Every three months is blood test time. But October is the one where they do who knows what and I have to fast. I know Cholesterol is one of them. The nurses at our local lab are very nice.... but today I think I got Miss Ratchet's illegitimate daughter.
To everyone else Happy Monday!
Life sure isn't like it used to be. Things like Thanksgiving used to be a big family deal. Maybe it's cause I'm not a kid anymore and my family is mostly gone now but I don't think so. I think the world is just moving so fast that the thought of slowing down and being thankful, counting our blessings, is overshadowed by sales and just plain shopping. Most people have to go out to work just to make ends meet so there is no other time for them to shop.
When I was a kid stores weren't open on Sundays and holidays, neither were movie theatres. We didn't have a television until I was 10 and even then television on a Sunday was rarely allowed.
We had time to *gasp* reflect, to spend time with family and friends and enjoy it. Maybe my mom who was stuck doing the cooking didn't think so but I never heard her complain. She never entertained at any other time so I guess she looked forward to it.
This year we're having our turkey a week late cause our daughter has 2 other places to go and she really wants to have the time to enjoy it at home instead of having it blurred into yet another dinner. My husband is retired and I'm kinda retired but still today is just another Monday. Except that I'm trying to focus on the things I am grateful for. It isn't difficult.
Have a great day.
Today's the day! I hope none of you are dizzy from being shaken around in a plastic lunch bag *LOL*
And the winner is
Quiltluver! Congratulations Karen.
I'll go down and press them (honest) and get them into the mail as soon as you answer my email giving me your address.
The little scarecrow above I made 5 or 6 years ago when I was in my need to try something new period. He turned out pretty well. I saw a photo and just tried to recreate it my way. He turned out kinda cute. His pumpkin is a plastic one I bought that has batteries in it and the eyes flash green when it's turned on. I really should try to find him and dig him out for the season.
Had a rather odd night here last night. I always say our area is so safe I could go out for a walk at 3am and not worry. We've been here for 15 years and I think that concept is changing. Probably cause life is changing... on weekend nights anyway.
A few weeks ago there were two groups of kids down the street and it was getting pretty rough. A girl started to scream. So I called the police and they said they'd already had calls. Of course by the time the police got here half the kids were gone. But they questioned the ones who were left and maintained a presence for a couple of hours.
Last night at 11:00 an ambulance came down the street. No biggie, the ambulance is frequently going down that street cause someone down there must have a medical problem. But then I heard a helicopter overhead. It was the police copter flying at about 200 feet, doing a grid, obviously looking for someone. First thing we locked all our doors and windows.
First thing I did this morning was snap on the 24 hour radio news channel and there it was. Stabbing in Cromie Park, which is at the end of our street. Yikes! It's a soccer field and has bright lights they turn on for night games but they really need to be on all the time cause teens do congregate there. That would be one heck of an electric bill though huh? No specifics yet, of course, but I'll be watching/listening throughout the day to find out what happened. Used to be the biggest thing that happened around here were horses falling in ditches. Times have changed.
Don't forget everyone that tomorrow is the day I choose a winner for my Blogtoberfest Hallowe'en giveaway. If you haven't entered yet go to my post here to sign up.
This one I'm actually going to try to hand quilt. I figure it won't be that hard, quilt around the squares and then put a snowflake in the between spots. Haven't decided about the borders yet. Something simple.... maybe smaller snowflakes. It's going to be so snuggly. It's a very soft flannel.
