Odds and Ends

Last November I had a total knee replacement, I have healed well and went to physio for 10 weeks. I am so much better now thanks to the great staff at the Fisherman’s Memorial Hospital.

Big news from our family in Calgary! They have moved to the Cayman Islands! Calgary is having the coldest winter in 40 years, perfect time for a move! It has been a crazy time for them, packing up their entire house took 400 boxes! A container was loaded and shipped by train to Halifax, then ship to Miami, then smaller ship to Georgetown where it sat till it was processed through customs and then delivered to their new home! We Facetimed (is that a verb?) last night and they are slowly getting sorted out and settled. Andrew will be traveling a lot throughout the Caribbean.

A regular visitor to their 2nd floor balcony much to the delight of Marcus!

Meanwhile back on the quilting front I am slowly getting back to finishing up some UFO’s. Our “Slow Quilting” group continues to meet bi-weekly at a local cafe. We take over their “Library” and really enjoy the time together sharing and stitching. We are in the process of making our own banner for the room! It just needs to be quilted and bound then we can hang it.

More adventures to come, I am determined to be here more frequently!

A Little Marie Kondo Going On...or Not!

The time had come to finally tackle my messy sewing room, perhaps I have been slightly influenced by all the Marie Kondo talk on social media these days. I didn’t quite ask each item if it “sparked joy”, I just knew what had to stay and what had to go! I have a lot still to do but I am still trying to find a happy medium of being on my feet or sitting. I feel fine then it hits me, sit down!

That looks a bit better but I still have a way to go. I did get three pillowcases cut out for my 2 grandkids who have just moved from Calgary to Grand Cayman in the Caribbean! And one pillowcase for my Harry Potter loving great nephew. I still have three more to cut out and then I’ll get busy sewing.

I do like lots of “stuff around me! Time to really tackle my sewing table, there isnt much room there. I need a good way/place to hold my “WIPs” instead of in piles on the table.

I taught a Stab Stitch quilting workshop last weekend and I needed something to quilt so I quickly basted this top. I hand sewed all the Nine Patch blocks when my Dad was in the hospital and then at Camp Hill Veterans Hospital about 15 years ago. He never wanted me visiting and just sitting, he wanted me to do something, he was quite pleased when I brought in this project to work on. I had sewn the top together years ago. I must say I am enjoying the simplicity of this quilt. I think I will call it “Pat’s Pieces”. My Dad’s last name was Paterson and as a young man during the war he was always known as Pat. Seems fitting.

Time Flies!

Yes, time flies when you are having fun! Except this past year has had more challenges than fun. I just didn’t feel like writing about it all. Yes, there were good times and great moments but somehow I let the difficult times and sad moments take over. The last thing I wanted was to sound like I was saying “oh, poor me”. Life just moves along so here I am back and determined to use this space, share my quilting and the grand adventures we will have. In a nutshell my brother Don (my only sibling), my “big brother” was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He fought it like a trooper for more than a year, he was doing well but then the cancer came back and he died October 30. I still can’t believe he is gone. I have been nursing a very arthritic knee for the last 6 years or so, finally 2 years ago the orthopedic doctor put me on “the list” with a promise that I would get my new knee in 18 months to 2 years. Finally in November almost to the 2 year mark I had my surgery and I am now 7 weeks with my new knee! Physio is going well and I am finally having a decent night’s sleep!

Flocks By Night, my most recent finish in time for Christmas. The pattern is by Wendy Williams from Australia. I loved making this wallhanging. The houses, trees and sheep are wool applique and hand embroidered, the stars are machine pieced and it was machine quilted by Heather Stewart. I really wanted to hand quilt this one but was afraid of damaging the wool when I put it in the Q-Snap frame to quilt it. Heather did a super job!

Falling Charms, a story quilt (each print square is different) for great nephew Drew. Machine pieced and machine quilted by Anne Morrell Robinson.

Merry & Bright , a pattern by Corey Yoder, she called the quilt Persimmon, but since I used all Christmas fabrics I changed the name! All the fabrics were from my stash, it is machine pieced and machine quilted by Lynn Jones.

That sort of brings me up to date! I am looking forward to getting back to some hand quilting and more hand piecing. Slowing down is good for the soul!

The year 2019 is a year of change for our family as our son and his family move south from Calgary to Grand Cayman Island! In a week they will be there! We are looking forward to a visit in the near future once they get settled. The organizing of this move has been a huge job and it all happened so fast.

One more picture, a house somewhere near Beach Meadow with a wonderful message! Wishing everyone much JOY in 2019!