New!!!!

Hi peeps!
Guess what my dear hubs just bought me…

…and it's purple!!!! Yay!!! Now I just have to wait 4-10 days till it arrives.

I am so excited as I have lots of things to show you!

That means I have a week or so to finally press the (unnamed)mammoth hexie quilt. I have been putting off the final press of the flimsy till it was a cool day outside, and well, let's be perfectly honest, I'm just not a fan of pressing. 

A few days ago I decided to tidy the 'forbidden closet', hoping to find the digital camera I got with Airmiles about 3 years ago. Well, the tidy turned into an all-out purge! I ended up getting several garbage bags full of old stuff to send to Value Village(that's Savers, in the USA). The closet looks pretty good, but I totally over-did it. Ended up with a multi-day migraine…but that is how it goes with me.

That's all for me today, thanks for reading!

Holiday Monday

Queen Victoria

Hi all, happy Monday!

Today is a holiday here in Canada, named after the above dour-looking lady. She reigned for many years and is the grandmother of the now-sitting Queen of England. Those of us living in a former British Colony get the day off, paid!

That being said, it also means there are no newspapers…grrrr….

So, I spent my morning-coffee newspaper-reading-time flipping through an old quilting magasine and a new-to-me quilting book.

I love foundation paper piecing as you get such nice, crisp points. Something which is kind of a hit or miss in my sewing room(groan…). This book has a bunch of great patterns to try and the foundation patterns are all to size. She even gives directions on how to re-size the patterns on your printer. Another thing I like about her pattern pieces is that they don't include the seam allowances. I just find that the least bulk possible is the best, when it comes to FPP, and I would cut the excess allowances off anyway, then trim my fabric to 1/4". And, instead of using pins(which can bend and become dull when going through multiple layers of fabric and paper) she suggests you use plastic-coated paper clips to temporarily secure your fabric to your paper. You wouldn't want to do that at intersections that need to be precise, she adds.
I got my copy on Amazon.ca.

Last night the kid was at a guy's games-night-sleepover, so the hubbs and I watched 3 movies on Netflix. The first was The American-George Clooney. Now, usually in my eyes, he can do no wrong, BUT this was a miss in my humble opinion. I guess that is why it wasn't at the theatres for long. We then watched Trespass-Nicolas Cage. Not bad, but I had figured out the twist soon into it. Last was a Pirate feature animation, voice of Hugh Grant, among others. My comic-book-artist husband giggled all the way through, but I was kind of meh…got A LOT of my hexies basted, to say the least.

I have been searching high and low for my digital camera, but have a sinking feeling that DH might have tossed it by accident. No fear, I have things in the works and hope to have a camera and pics on the blog, in the next 2 weeks.

That's all for me today, thanks for reading.

Day 2!

*This is me, at 9 years old!!!

Hi all!!!

Last night, we were watching Netflix(Contraband, starring Mark Walberg), I started basting the hexie fabric I cut with my Accuquilt cutter and new, $80 hexie die. The die has 2 sizes of hexies, one for cutting the actual-sized hexies out of card stock and the other(which is larger by about a scant quarter inch on all sides), for the fabric pieces. Now, before I got my new die, I had always cut my fabric pieces at 2.5" square, which allows for a generous fold over. Not any more!!! I now have to get used to a much smaller fold over. As I had been using up the remained of my 2.5" square pieces from my last hexie quilt, it wasn't until last night that I actually started on the new pre-cut pieces(of which I have already cut about 3,000!). Oh my goodness, what a change. I used to mindlessly baste, but now I have to pay attention as the very last fold/baste stitch is a bit tricky with less fabric to work with. I managed, and by the end of the evening(we also watched Frost on PBS), I had got the hang of it. I did have a scary moment…what if I can't get the hang of it and I have already cut a shoe box full of them???…but, as you now know, that has not come to pass! Whew!

We had to get some groceries, so we walked over to the grocery store. Boy-oh-boy, is it ever muggy today. It is overcast and I thought it was going to be cold, and put on a jacket…big mistake! In 5 minutes I was steaming! We got our groceries and then hit the chain pharmacy as I had some coupons for things that were also on sale. Talk about a double savings…that's my all time favourite way to shop! Got my fave ice cream(BREYER'S Mint Chocolate Chip) on sale and bonus store points too! I am saving up my points, as for one month in the summer you can get extra items(to the tune of an extra $50 worth of free items!!!). Every little bit helps! I wobbled home, and that was it for me and the stairs today(I have a bad knee, waiting for surgery).

Well, gotta put the leg up and hope the swelling isn't too bad...

hello?

knock, knock, knock…
is anybody out there?

So, what can I say???? This is day one and I am flying by the seat of my…well you get the picture!!!

My name is Jacqueline, pronounced Jack-lean and I am in my late 40's. I am a wife of one and mother to two boys, aged 23 and 15. I live on the West coast of Canada, near Vancouver, BC. It is beautiful here, but we, like all Lower Mainlanders, complain bitterly about the weather. It's true, though, that we get more than our fair share of rain!

I have been quilting for over 20 years, and do most of my piecing and quilting by hand. That being said, I have become recently infatuated with English Paper Piecing. I have just finished a king sized 1" hexie quilt, all scrappy, and have now started on another(would you believe it was the 15 yr old son that requested it??!). I also have a 2"(per side) 6-point star 'kit' all cut up and ready to go, if we ever manage to go on a camping trip this year!!!

I have Fibromyalgia and also suffer from Chronic Daily Migraines, so life can be a bit of a strain/drain. I do try to stay positive and quilting helps a LOT with that.

Plans for this blog are; quilty tidbits, some tutorials(if I can get that darn digital camera to work), some guest posts(hopefully), links to personal faves in the tutorial department. I would also like to share some recipes we have enjoyed, though the hubbs is the main family cook. I want to re-learn how to crochet, and possibly have a tutorial or three. In between hand-piecing, I also do embroidery on small things like flour sack towels and wall hangings.

That's all for me today,
I'll catch you on the flip side.