Tuesday, May 13, 2014

End of Hibernation

I feel like I am just coming out of hibernation.  I can't believe my last post was in November and we are now in May.  I wish I could say I was travelling the world or on the verge of some great discovery ... but, I wasn't.  I had thyroid surgery in mid-December "to keep me healthy" then spent the rest of the month and Jan recovering; Feb to March catching up, getting a grasp on  "keeping healthy" turning into the discovery of stage one cancer on my thyroid and a slew of new doctor's appointments; April diving right into organizing volunteers for an Orffestra Music Educators National Conference in Halifax with my daughter's dance competitions the week prior and the week following .... and ending up with both kids and husband home sick the week of the conference.  May ...I'm recovering from the month of April!!!   Sounds glamorous, doesn't it!!  

My apologizes to those that follow or have commented and I have not responded to your lovely comments. This is my fresh start.  After the twists and turns of this past year, I am looking forward to getting back to what brings me joy ...spending time with my family and in my spare time (hahahaha) spinning, quilting, drawing.....

Knitting was one thing that I could do after my surgery.  It kept me focused and brought me a lot of comfort. In the fall I posted some pictures of my Skywalker shawl off of the needles and the beginnings of my Clarus shawl (both designed by Laura Nelkin).  I have FINALLY blocked them and am so pleased with how they turned out.  Tonight, I am casting on a new lace shawl ... another beautiful design by Laura Nelkin and I am knitting up a gauge for a lace shrug.  I will hopefully get some photos up for those tomorrow.

Skywalker Shawl


Blocking Clarus Shawl


Knitting this shawl brought me so much comfort after this surgery.  I feel extremely blessed that my cancer was discovered extremely early and that they got it all with the surgery so I don't need any treatment other than thyroid medication and follow up appointments.  I know there are so many other families coping with so much more.  My thoughts and prayers are with those families. It seemed only appropriate that the shawl that I knit through my own recovery be used to raise funds to help others.

I have donated this Clarus shawl along with a table runner to help my children and their friends raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.  Their Relay for Life team (Rabbits for a Cure) is hosting an online auction on Facebook.  If you would like to help them with their Fundraising please join the auction. Auction ends May 28th at 9 pm

or support them through their team pages

Love and peace xo


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Heading to Oz




Welcome to my blog.  I'm so excited that Sew Sisters is doing their Blog-a-thon again.  Last year, I met so many wonderful quilters online and made new friends.  What a great way to see the awesome talent that we have in Canada.  Thanks Adrienne for being one of our Maritime hosts and for asking me if you could feature my blog on your list of Maritime bloggers ... what a nice compliment!  Half the time I think that no one reads other than my family ... actually, I'm not even sure that they know that I blog! lol  Take some time and see what Canada has to offer.  Head over to Sew Sisters to find the schedule.

I have called Nova Scotia home for just a little over 3 years.  I was born and raised in Ontario; I was married in Ontario to my wonderful and supportive husband ... also from Ontario...and had my two daughters in Ontario.  When my husband's work asked him to transfer here, we jumped at the chance and haven't yet regretted that decision.  We have met so many great people here and have had some fantastic opportunities that we probably wouldn't have had back home.  The past few months we have been spending a lot of time with the St. Luke's Community Players theatre group and I am blessed to call them my friends.

It has been pretty busy around here.  My sewing room has been moved up to my living room and kitchen and my patient family is just dealing with it.  I haven't done a lot of quilting lately.  My main focus has been learning my lines for the Wizard of Oz, making sure that I get my girls and husband to rehearsals and helping with costumes and props.  I swear that every surface in the house is covered with ribbon, glitter, fabric, suit jackets, dresses and crinolines....and I love it!  Oh, I forgot ... TV trays for the family to eat at and do homework on.  This has been our life since the end of August.  It will be so weird when the play is done!

If you are in the area, the play is at the end of the month.  The Sunday matinee is SOLD OUT!

Someone donated a bridesmaid's dress that they wore back in the 1980's for the Good Witch.  I brought it home to clean it up a bit and add a little glam to it.  I love coming up with costumes with what we have on hand.

This was the view from my sewing machine Saturday morning....sitting at my kitchen table


Looking into the living room ... yes, even my cutting table has been brought up


Adding the layers ... there was a lot of peach happening on Saturday!


The finished skirt tied over the original 80's dress ... front


Back


Not very clear ... too give the skirt some sparkle when the stage lights hit, I gave the top layer a coat of Krylon Glitter Spray (the nozzles clog up easily and it smells horrible so make sure that you are outside when you do this)


If you would like to make a lovely tulle skirt, check out Photography by Amy Mildren on Facebook 
(if you Like her page and msg her, she will send you .pdf instructions)

...and of course, every Good Witch needs a wand.  This was lots of fun to make and extremely easy.




Today ... I focus on constructing the crown.

When I haven't been working on lines, running kids everywhere, or working on props and costumes, I have been knitting.


This is the shawl that I was working on in my last post on using Lifelines.  It still needs to be blocked and the ends woven in.  I love how it turned out.


This is what is on my needles now (see that wonderful lifeline).  This is a hand dyed yarn by Fleece Artist called Sumac.  LOVE IT!  70% Merino 30% Seacell.  The pattern is by Laura Nelkin and is called Clarus.

I need to get to making the crown but just wanted to also mention that yesterday I read on Adrienne's blog that she is starting up a Maritime Modern Quilter's Guild.  I am so excited about this!!  If you are interested in joining go to her blog http://chezzetcookmodernquilts.blogspot.ca/ and message her OR go to the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild webpage http://maritimemqg.blogspot.ca/ for more information and to contact her about joining/helping/having fun.


Enjoy visiting the Maritimes!