Done!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Yesterday our family cat named Hello Kitty passed away.  Not sure why or from what.  He had been acting strange the previous day but not suspicious enough for me to take him to the vet.  Yesterday was a hard day for all of us.  For now I am DONE with having a cat.  That may change in a while but it will again have to be a special kind of cat.

This afternoon I finished up knitting my August Sock Crush socks.  These socks are an Afterthought Heel sock and have taunted me for 4 months now.  Here they are completed and I am victorious over this process.  I do not think I will under take this style of sock again any time soon:

TAH DAH!!!!  I am DONE!!!!

For some reason over my hiatus from the real world I discovered a knitting phenomenon known as the Temperature Blanket.  It's basically a blanket that you knits according to the weather outside and a chosen set of colors.  I live in Alberta where temperatures will range in either the Celsius or Fahrenheit scales from below zero to ridiculously high in the summer months.  These are the colors I have chosen for my project:

Normally I do not knit with Acrylic yarns but since this is going to be a rather large project I did not want to spend a lot on a most likely goofy looking knitted blanket!  These are all skeins of yarn that I picked up in Spruce Grove the other day as part of my road trip and my latest soap box mission of not shopping in Edmonton or as little as possible (bus tickets for my son).  DONE!

This evening we are headed out for dinner and the fireworks in Sherwood Park to bring in the New Year.!!!!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and overall wonderful 2017 and hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

One Day At a Time....

Good Late Evening Internet Friends!

Today was the first day since Christmas Vacation started that my son and I were up at a civilized hour.  We even went to bed on time last night.

The reason; we were making a road trip to my friend Julie's farm for the day and staying for dinner.  Julie lives on a farm about an hour away from us.  There are two quilt stores, a craft store, a bakery and a kitchen store that I stop by when travelling to her farm so we needed to leave in early enough time to get to these places as well.

I will show you some of these treasures in the next few days but alas, have not yet taken pictures.  

Julie lives on a mixed farm with the more of the emphasis being on cattle.  Of course this means butchering the cattle for meat.  I always pet the cattle when I'm out there which of course they (cattle included) look at me like I'm nuts.  I thankfully grew up with dairy cows so petting and hugging them is totally regular.   

The last butchering that they did they remembered that I have a giant dog.  So they saved four Maverick sized dog bones:

Maverick is so EXCITED!!!!  He has four cow legs to chew on and no other pet can take these away from him!!  ☺

Since I was still wide awake when we got home I decided to make Block 17 of my Scandi 3 quilt.  Still trying to see if I can get this done before I go back to work....

Now it's off to bed for a long sleep hopefully as I did not have a nap today....

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

I Lost Today...?

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Okay, so I have no idea where today went!!!!  I really did nothing yet here it is almost midnight and I have not much to show for it and the day is gone.  This is almost as bad as a work day yet there at least I could say I was employed for 8 hours (notice I did not say I worked for 8 hours).  On top of that there was not even an afternoon nap today!!!!

I did complete another Scandi 3 Quilt Block this evening:

This is Block 16 of the 25 I am currently making.  Tomorrow I will hopefully start on the next colour of blocks.  I still LOVE this quilt.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Another Stay At Home Day!

Good Evening Internet Friends!!

Today was another Stay At Home Day!  Once again, we slept late.  I cannot remember the last time that I have slept for 10 hours straight.

After breakfast I did one load of laundry and that actually has taken all day (just recently put it in the dryer).  Did a bit of applique on my block from yesterday, a few rows of knitting, watched a movie and after a late lunch took a nap!

Before a late dinner my son and I shoveled the side walk and then took a box of cookies over to the neighbours and then walked the dog down to the River Valley Trails.

This evening I finished the applique on my 2016 Row by Row block from Along Came Quilting:

TAH DAH!!!!

Here are the 7 rows that I have managed to complete "sew" far:

In order from the top these blocks are from:

Calgary, AB

Fort St. John, BC

Swift Current SK

Lethbridge, AB

Moose Jaw, SK

Havre, MT

Edmonton, AB (vertical block)

Now only 15 more to go!!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

A Canuck Kinda Day

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today was another successful DO NOTHING DAY.

We slept late, even the dog after the long walk yesterday ☺

One of the things I found while Christmas shopping was:  

A HBC tin (I LOVE HBC for many reasons) filled with:

Cookie Cutters!!!!

This afternoon my son and I baked sugar cookies:

And iced them ....(I ran low on red food colour gel):

After left over turkey for dinner I did the red applique on my Row by Row from Along Came Quilting.

Then I decided to knit while I watched the World Juniors game.  I chose to start a new pair of socks.  I have had this Team Canada Hat Trick yarn in my stash now for close to a year which meant watching the game tonight was the perfect time to start on these socks.  Maybe by the finale I can have these done!!!!!

Likely not, but hey, I have a goal.......

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas Internet Friends!

I hope that all of you had a wonderful day with your family and friends.

This morning my son and I (and even the dogs) slept late.

My son wanted Ebelskivers for breakfast.  While making these a friend of mine stopped by to drop off fudge.  She partook in some fresh from the pan Ebelskivers too:

After breakfast we opened up the remaining Christmas presents.  Always so fun to watch the fun of Christmas in a child's eyes!

Then I started about the dinner preparations.

First I made a poppy seed cake:

It was dressed up for Christmas Dinner Dessert with a cream cheese frosting:

So YUMMY!!!

While the turkey was in the roasting my son, dog and I walked down to the river valley to find some sledding hills.  The snow was more of a powder we found out though so not very good sledding conditions but the walk was beautiful!

After dinner we watched a couple movies and now it is time to retire for the night.  As my son said when I tucked him in "only 365 more days til Christmas"!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Merry Christmas Eve!!!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Well it's HERE!!!!!  I LOVE Christmas.  I wait for it all year and it's arrived.  I LOVE everything about Christmas and I feel incredibly blessed to live in Western Canada where Christmas usually contains the picture perfect snow.  That was actually today!!!  We slept late but awoke to snow that had started yesterday evening.  My brother stopped by on his way home to Saskatchewan and informed me had been driving most of the way from Fort St John in snow.  Although I felt bad for his road trip I have to admit I was excited for a Christmas snow storm ☺

This is my front yard this afternoon:

The streaks in the picture are snow flakes falling!!!  It's so beautiful outside.

I have been busy finishing a couple of last minute gifts the last two evenings but I finished everything today in time to go out for a late lunch early dinner with my son.

 A Fisherman's Wife Cowl for my colleague and friend.  We will be attending church with her and her family this evening.

A grocery tote bag for my neighbors sister.  She seems to think that if she drops off fabric I will just sew it up for her.....it was Christmas "sew" I did.  

Home made (of course) Chocolate Toffee for friends and neighbors all packaged up. ☺

Lastly, the very last of the baking; Cookies for Santa:

Classic Shortbread cookies for Santa.  So YUMMY!!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!

Kathy

Three Days....

Good Evening Internet Friends!

This evening after getting my son to bed I went to my craft room again.  

I chose to make a few more Christmas cards.  Again, nothing special, but I got to have fun making these cards!  I am not trying to keep up or impress anyone with these cards so they were just fun to make!

Yes....I put glitter on the branch berries!!!!  I thought it looked fun!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Four Days Before Christmas....

Good Evening Internet Friends!

It's officially 4 days before Christmas according to the count down calendar on the buffet and I have decided to start my Christmas cards!  Yup.  You read that correct.  

For the past few years we have been in the mountains for Christmas and I would mail my Christmas cards from there so that they had a Banff post mark.

This year my son and I are staying home for Christmas and making our own traditions, which I believe this year will include getting my Christmas cards written, and walked to the post box.  Seriously!  

Here is what I have made so far:

Nothing "over the top" fancy or talented, but simple and classic and I like that.  I actually had fun making these.

Over the past few years I have to admit that I lost interest in card making as everyone was making bigger and better and all I wanted to do was make something that made someone else smile and feel special.  These do that for me.  I love the sentiment, the thought and the overall simplicity of these cards!

Now to do a bit of knitting before bed as still have three more days of work before Christmas Holiday Vacation ♫

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Re - Starting......

Good Evening Internet Friends.

Well, as my son would say "Re-Starting".  The weekend is over and it's back to work and school for one final week before Christmas Holiday's begin for both of us.

Yesterday was ridiculously cold.  Somewhere in the -35 C (-31 Fahrenheit) and the wind was strong.  We did not leave the house yesterday.  It was a pajama day.  We watched movies, made popcorn and had hot chocolate a few times.  In between fun I organized my quilting patterns and knitting patterns into their proper folders, organized some of my craft projects, sewed on a couple of projects and made Sticky Pecan Buns:

Finished wrapping the Christmas presents for under the tree.  Put the extra leaf into the dining table and started to put out the Christmas runners and placemats.

And yes, we are currently using up a stash of party napkins that I found from various birthday parties over the years ☺

Today we ran a few errands and got parcels in the mail (late.....I know).  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Friday Sewing.....

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I have been busy this week and simply did not have time to post any of the Christmas things I have on the go....too many projects.

Earlier in the week I did obtain more fabric that I just HAD to have.  As you may know from following my blog there are certain products that I am super loyal to. 

Last night I got this fabric and this evening I made:

A Grocery Tote!!!  It's not Diet Coke but I love the bears.  Thanks to Coca Cola introducing Diet Coke when I was a child with Juvenile Diabetes I will always be a fan of their product.  It's not that I drank a lot of it, but it was the simple ability to have a treat that no one could try to make me feel guilty over.....ice cream, even chips were all things that I was "judged" for eating.  Diet Coke gave me the freedom to have a treat that I did not have to take insulin for or watch my blood sugar.  

Inside the bag!  

Of course while sewing this I could not help singing:  I'd like to buy the world a Coke!

Now that you have that song stuck in your head.......

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

It's SEW Cold

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Okay, seriously though it is REALLY cold.  I know that the thermometer thinks that the temperature warmed up today, but I am still frozen solid, so I'm not feeling it.  I actually put my parka on to get the mail and yes I still have doorstep delivery!

My original plan today was that since I do not accomplish anything on my turn around from weekend evening/night shift that I would work a part day shift and that would at least make me functional in the real world again for Wednesday.

Arriving home my son was coughing and sneezing and looking generally ill.  So, since hubby had to be elsewhere I took a "mom" day and crawled into bed.

The temperature outside is extremely cold so I was not too sad to stay home,  It seemed like it should be a "SEW" day.

 I did not accomplish anything of significance however.  When I finally woke up it was a toast lunch.  Television this afternoon.  Turkey soup with garlic toast for dinner.  A hot bath and back to bed for my son.  He seems to be breathing easier now, so should be off to school tomorrow.

After he went to bed, I opened the door to my craft room.  It is still perfectly preserved from the way I left it almost a week ago!  Seriously, have not been in the room for anything at all!

"Sew" I decided to make another of the Scandi 3 quilt blocks for this quilt. .  

This is Block 14.  There are 25 blocks with different coordinates.  My hope is to have this quilt top completed and out for long arming before Christmas.

Before you laugh yourself silly.....remember I get to celebrate 2 Christmas', so the likelihood of my being completed for Christmas is favorable!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy 

I think Winter is Coming.....

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I have lived my entire life in Western Canada (except Manitoba).  One would think I would be used to winter and be ready for it.......nope.......never....  It's COLD out there.

I made an egg bake and a serving of hashbrowns for breakfast this morning.  It was warm and delicious:

Then we watched a Christmas movie on the tele.

After lunch I started on one of the quilting projects that I picked up recently.  It is a panel that has cut outs to make the quilt 3 D.  There are probably several ways to do the cut outs, but I chose to cut the pieces with about a 1/4" border and press the border back:

Then I placed the tree shape on my batting and cut along the edges of half of the tree.  When I was done that I shifted 1/4" the entire tree cut out and cut the batting along the other side of the tree so that the batting would fit inside my folded edges:

I pressed all the edges down once again and then placed on the panel and appliqued around the entire tree:

TAH DAH a puffy tree on the quilt panel!

Then I decided I need a quilting break and my son, his dog and I took a walk down to the River Valley.  Not too long into our walk it started snowing:

It was a creepy feeling crossing the bridge today as we could hear the ice flows getting split as they came in contact with the bridge pillars 😓😓😓

The snow was starting to stick to the trails and drift by the time we crossed the bridge.

On the way back we could no longer see down town!  By the time we got back to the house the wind and snow were almost like blizzard conditions!!  I HATE winter.  Seriously.

After dinner we put the last few ornaments on the Christmas Tree and put the boxes back in the cupboard.  The last 2 ornaments to go on my tree:  

These two ornaments are the last two to go on every year because they require a special spot.  The Snowflake is an ornament that was made by a Grandmother of a patient that I looked after on ECMO fifteen years ago.  During her time on ECMO her Grandmother made these snowflakes for each of us to remember Bethany.  Bethany was originally from Nova Scotia.  I was given the Nova Scotia Angel by my mother in law who has now also crossed over.  I keep these two ornaments together so that the Angel is able to watch over the snowflake.  It makes me happy that way and it feels right.  

Now it's time to get prepared for tomorrow and maybe get some sleep.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Saturday Adventures

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today I went and did some Christmas shopping (for me) and some Christmas visiting with friends and neighbours.  

I made some Christmas cards and I stamped some shopping bags:

I thought and so did everyone else that these cards and bags with the dog theme were really neat ☺

This evening after dinner my son and I watched the marathon of Home Alone movies and I knit on my Reyna Shawl:

I am using one of my Sock of the Month yarns from Sweet Georgia Yarns.  I am not sure which month this came from because I put the tag in the recycling bag before taking note of the information ☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

It's Friday!!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today I got into all sorts of crafty activities!

I white washed half a wooden box.

I knit a few rows on each of the three pairs of socks I have cast on right now.

I knit a few rows on the three different shawls that I have cast on.

I started cutting more paper for some Christmas cards I am making.

I made two packages for a modified Advent Calender for a quilting friend of mine:

I used Designer Series Paper (retired/expired Stampin' Up), my Advent Stamp Set (retired/expired Stampin' Up), a package of tags that I found and left over red yarn from some fingerless mittens I knit last winer!

I was pretty excited about how these turned out!

This evening I did a couple of baking things: 

Skor Bar Square with frosting (had some recently without frosting - just not as good)

Drop Sugar Cookies with Christmas sprinkles!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Christmas Cards

Good Evening Internet Friends!

It's finally my version of the weekend!!!

This evening after dinner and getting my son to bed I spent a bit of time in my craft room.

As of now I have made 16 Christmas cards :

I had a lot of fun making these cards!

Might get me motivated to get started on my own Christmas cards soon ☺

After making the cards I decided to make another Scandi 3 Quilt Block.  Meet Block 13:

TAH DAH!!!!   

Feeling somewhat accomplished for tonight.  Now to do a bit of knitting and then off to bed as tomorrow is a long day or errands.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

It's Snowing!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

After dinner and piano lessons this evening my son and I stopped by the library.  By the time we came out it was SNOWING!

Yes, I am probably the only person excited about snow right now, but seriously, this is Western Canada and almost December and there is no snow on the ground and the temperature has not been below - 6 C (21 Fahrenheit).

After getting all the household chores done and preparation for lunches and clothing for tomorrow I took five (okay maybe seven) minutes to myself in my craft room!

Since there appears to be snow outside I decided to make snowball blocks for a quilt panel that I should have finished a while ago.....

Fourteen more of each of these and I can sort of start the assembly....still not sure how exactly I am going to do the panel.....but inspiration will hopefully come sometime before Friday evening.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Block 12!!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Back to work today and it seemed even more busy than a Monday should have!  Monday is usually my busiest day due to being off most Friday's, but today was non stop!!

Home for dinner and then off to Boy Scouts.  Returning home it was time for home work, piano practice, laundry etc. etc. etc......

Once I got my son settled into bed I decided that the rest of the chores could wait until tomorrow and I would spend some time in my craft room. ☺

Meet Block 12 of the Scandi 3 quilt that I am making:

Now to retire for the evening with my knitting and see if I can get some sleep ☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Grateful

Good Evening Internet Friends!

It is officially the start of the Christmas Season in Kathy's world.  I LOVE Christmas.  It is my absolute favorite holiday.  

Yesterday while kiddo and I were out we discovered what I think are the MOST beautiful poinsettia plants.  You may remember that my son used to sell poinsettia's as a school fundraiser.  Each year our close friends would always receive one of these as their Christmas present from our family.  My son no longer attends that school, but every year I still keep the tradition of the poinsettia gift going.

This year I decided that I would not only gift these to the usual poinsettia gift friends, but also my friends who have been there for me over a very difficult time in my life.  Not only did these friends all receive a poinsettia, they all received a poinsettia in a Kathy color and with GLITTER!!!!!

This is my poinsettia on the dining table!  I LOVE the color!

Now for gifting it to the friends I wanted them to know that not only was this a gift like previous years.  It was also a Thank You for how truly grateful I am to all of them for the support they have been over the last year.  That meant I needed to make a card.  Don't get me wrong....I have made a few cards over the last year just because I had to, but today was different.  I wanted to make these cards.

Here is the card I made:

I had so much fun making this card and even remembered why I used to like making cards ☺ Plus I got to use glitter .....

The last card and poinsettia was delivered this afternoon to a friend and colleague of mine who has been encouraging me to join a women's group that she belongs to.  For that I am truly grateful.  I met a fabulous group of women, who truly care for, love and support each other.  Today was their last get together of the year due to Christmas activities and as such their Christmas Party.  Guess what we participated in at the Christmas party.........Card Making!!!!

I did have to fix a couple of these when I got home as some ink ran, but otherwise I LOVE these cards.  They made me happy not only making them but also being with other people who are so super supportive of each other.

For my family, my friends, and for all the support I have received this past year and the ability to really and truly look forward to Christmas this year (not just going through the motion like last year) I am so very truly Grateful.

I hope this inspires your own creativity.......I know mine has been sparked again ☺

Kathy