THE END OF AN ERA

For the past seven years, I have been sewing and trading bee blocks with wonderful on-line ladies.  It has been a lot of fun. and i have sewn some blocks that I never would have otherwise.
The other night, I mailed my last three blocks away. It was such a relief, but I also know that I'm going to miss doing it, and getting them in the mail.
This coming year will be weird as I will be sewing just for me. Imagine  : )

I have been busy finishing up some stocking stuffers. As usual it's the last minute...........

For my grand daughters I decided on a first pair of skates for Christmas. Of course they will need some accessories, so I made mittens.  Those two are all about the sparkle, so I have done the cuff out of some 'tinsel' yarn

Little miss 'J's are nearly done. Her hands are no bigger than her baby brother's so I had to adjust the pattern some.  They are so tiny!

Their mom and dad have built a doll house and are trying to furnish it.  My daughter in law asked me for a duvet cover for a twig bed they have built.  She wanted 'soft'. I really had to dig for this fabric as most of my stash is now modern.

I tied it with embroidery floss and added some buttons across the top.  I hope she likes it

I have wanted to make this little pot holder all year!  My son moved out and I had intended to make him a bunch of stuff.  I hope he's forgotten...............

This is why I haven't been sewing. Ever since I opened the shop, my sewing room has become a dumping ground.  I'll give you just a peek

It is soooooo overwhelming that I can hardly breathe when I go in there. So I don't.  This Christmas day and boxing day my hubby works, so I plan on spending two days in there shoveling.  That is going to feel so very good.

Merry Christmas to me!!!!

I'll leave you with something that's not a mess.  A picture of one side of my little shop.

We moved a couple of displays to make room for more inventory that is coming.  I'm pretty full now and things are going great. So very blessed : )

Merry Christmas to all of you dear readers.  I will see you in the new year !

Carla

WINTER

It's here.  This will be my life until about February.  Cold, dark, and snowy  : (

I've never been a fan of winter, but let's have it so we can get it over with !  I will keep myself busy by sewing and knitting the months away.

I made Cindy's block for November.  She is doing the words from a song she loves.  I thought the music note fabric was a perfect background for her word.

I finished the sweater and hat for a little guy to be born this month.  This is yarn from Sackville NB and it is dreamy to work with

The colour is sweet potato, and the hat is made from a Koigu yarn

My little grand girls have been asking me for fingerless mitts a long time. It snowed, so that motivated me to get going.  1 down.......

The winner of the note cards is Soma!  I will pop those in the mail to you this week. Please e-mail me your address  : )  Thank you to every one who entered as well.

Have a great week
Carla

NOVEMBER IN REVIEW (and a give-away)

Does time fly if we are having fun, or as we get older ???  I think both.  November is nearly done and we all know what that means.

*******a little business to start. There were a few comments last post about the slippers etc that I couldn't reply to because you have no e-mail address on your google account. Nothing. Zip. I tried, I really did : (   I will do a proper post soon and include a link to the pattern ok?

I changed my window out again for the season.  This was a lot of fun.  My son welded me a little girl out of re-bar that I could dress up in winter things.  I love her.

A view from outside

Who doesn't love a smiling snowman? I try to make the shop look warm and inviting

These little cards were designed especially for my shop by Kody Stewart Illustrations.  Little knitty note cards.  So cute!

My time doing bee blocks is nearly over.  These ones are going to be for a comfort quilt.

and Anne wanted B's for her quilt. This one will be fun

My needles are rarely idle while sitting. This little sweater is for a friends niece who is having a baby in December. A little boy. I will make a hat to match which will finish off his outfit nicely : )

Did you like the note cards?  How about a chance to win a half dozen. 2 of each design.
Leave me a comment to be entered and how about tell me how your Christmas prep is coming?

Make sure I can get ahold of you : )

Have a fabulous week!
Carla

COMING FULL CIRCLE

I was eight.  My grade three school teacher taught me how to knit by making slippers.  Recently, I saw some very similar slippers posted on Instagram and had all the memories come flooding back.

I've been teaching beginner knitting at my shop and thought, ''wouldn't it be fun to teach others to knit making the same project I learned some 45 years ago'' ?  (  45!!!)

 So I cast on

I just love this yarn!  It's called Rhubarb by Lichen & Lace from Sackville, NB

This little slipped stitch edge adds just the right touch.  My next beginner class starts this Thursday and I'm looking forward to telling them all about how I started knitting on slippers almost exactly like this : )

Enjoy your week.  It's going to be a busy one!

Carla

OCTOBER

Don't fall over.  I actually found the time to sit and write a bit in this space.  I have missed being here... the interaction with you

Since I last posted I have been kept busy with family things and my shop.  Thank you to all who commented about my Mother's stroke.  She is still battling fatigue, but is so much better.  Not back to bowling yet, but soon. This is Mom at my grand babe's 1st birthday party. She looks tired, but still likes to look her best : )

This is the birthday boy. The photo is a bit fuzzy, but he just doesn't keep still

Precious as the day is long !!  He's wearing the sweater I knit him. The hat was a no go.

I got my September's block pieced.  This is for Rachel who will soon be a bee keeper.

Good thing I double checked my word for the month because I had it in my head that I was to piece 'Larry'.  Seriously?

I'm knitting my daughter a large shawl out of a wool/alpaca blend. She is anxious to have it so I best get cracking

Saturday I had a 'Food for Fiber' sale. It was very well attended and we collected a lot of food and raised some cash for a local charity. Customers received 25% off if they brought a food item or tossed me a townie. I'm thinking of making this an annual thing.  So much fun!

And, this bad boy is quilted.  Happy dance!  Now the task of making the binding, but I do enjoy that part. Hand sewing it is a favourite because I get to snuggle under it in the process.

Thanks for reading today. It was nice to chat again : )

Carla

A FINISH AND A BLESSING

About an hour after I hit publish on my last post, I heard my mother very weakly call me from downstairs. She was having a stroke. Thankfully, I knew what was happening and called 911.  Fast forward to today, and Mom is home and doing amazingly well.  She has no lasting effects from the stroke except fatigue. For this I am eternally grateful.  She will slowly build up her strength until she is back to normal. My mother is nearly 83 and very active. She plans to be back to her bowling league sooner than later : )

Sunday afternoon while the house was quiet, I decided to tackle the borders on Metro Area.  I hadn't touched my machine in two weeks and it felt so good to be sewing again. I find it very relaxing.

Borders are on !  Yay!

This quilt is a big one. 90" square. Now I hope to put it in the capable hands of my long arm quilter so she can work her magic on it.

More about that later.
Happy stitching and thanks for reading.

Carla

1 PLUS 1...........

.....equals two scrappy quilts for two darling little girls !  I had these beauties over for dinner and was able to give them their new quilts.

For the most part, these quilts were made from scraps that were laying around the floor, sewing table, and wherever else I can stuff them.  It felt great to be using up and not buying.  The backings were yardage I had in my backing cupboard.  Linda did lovely free motion on one, while I did straight lines on the other. If you would like to know cutting measurement etc. the original post is here 

I think their smiles say it all  : )
I am one happy Grandma

Happy stitching and thanks for stopping by

Carla

TUESDAY SNAPSHOTS

That's it. Summer is over. We had SO much rain that it felt like fall the entire time! Oh well, it's great stitching weather. None of these projects are finished, but they are sure close!

The second 'plus' top for my grand daughter. I need to pick out the quilting I've done so far. I don't like it. Sigh.......

My Metro Area blocks from Patchwork City.  So excited for this one to be done !

My second top down sweater.  I love how these are constructed. No seams when the knitting is finished.

Changed out the window in my shop for fall, and I warmed up 10 degrees just looking at it : )
So many rich colours of yarny goodness.  I really need to get cracking on some Christmas gifts.
Have you started?

Happy stitching,
Carla

SPOUTING OFF

It was the first thing that came to my mind when I thought about writing this post : )

I finished my bulky sweater the other day. I soaked it in some no rinse solution, and it took 2 days to dry.  It smells so lovely and feels very soft.

I started with a very basic top down cardigan pattern and made some changes. For one, the yarn is Cascade Magnum and it's knit on a 10mm needle. This yarn is meant to behave like the buffalo wool we used to see sweaters made from. Then, I googled 'whale chart patterns' and got a whole page full. Once I had an idea,  I drew up a chart to fit my number of stitches.

The rolled collar with be extra cozy in winter.  I haven't had a baby to try this on, but I'm thinking it will fit about a 2 year old

The wooden buttons are from my stash. I just knew they would come in handy some day

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and would definitely make another.  We will see if someone wants one or not.  Next up -- a hat!

Happy stitching and thanks for stopping by.

FINISHES !

How is your summer going?  My most recent finishes won't come in useful until winter, but I feel good about being ahead of the game.
I made another 'Gellatly' hat. This time I used yarn from Lichen & Lace from Sackville New Brunswick. Ohhhhh it feels wonderful.

My daughter gets this one.

These socks.  How cute are they?  I can just imagine my little grand babe having toasty toes. The yarn is Zauberball from Germany.

Not to forget the rest of my family, I canned peaches this year! I never crack open a jar until the snow flies.  So worth the wait  : )

I finished my bee blocks I was re-doing.  Now you can see how the first time I made the 'yellow' block, the white wasn't quite white. I feel much better about sending the block now.  Sally, is for another member

Last weekend we had a big birthday bash to celebrate all the family birthday's from the past 3 months.  I'll just show you a few of the littlest people in the family

This precious little guy turned 1 and it called for lots of whipped cream and berries!!

Trying to decide how to best tackle it........

Oh. My. Heart.

His little cousin crawled over to give him a hand  : )

and then it was time to get cleaned up.  Too cute!

Enjoy your week.  Thank you for stopping by.
Hello to Alison who reads from New Zealand, and to Kim who reads in Tasmania, and Susan who reads in Australia!  So fun to connect with people with just the click of a button.

WHEN BEE BLOCKS GO BAD...

.....they can go really bad.  I was running behind last month because it seems someone took out a few of the days.  Last time I checked, it was June : )

This block is (was) for Simone.  She asked for coloured words pieced in different colours.  I pieced this one in a dark purple as requested, and with a white background. Or so I thought.

When I went digging through my whites to piece another block, I discovered that the white I used wasn't really the stark white she had wanted. It's slightly off.  Back to the drawing board : (

Remember these blocks?  I was so happy with how they turned out. Especially my 'e'. They never arrived in Australia.  In all the years I have been swapping bee blocks I don't think that's ever happened.

Susan has been so patient. I have started making them again.

I love me some log cabin blocks. I'm late with these.  These were fun. Fun enough that I made some for myself too. It seemed easier to make blocks than to clean up my scraps. True story

Lastly these blocks are for this month. Yay!  Mary wanted watery colours with a 'white' background.
I think I got these right

I've got to say, running a business takes ALL the time.  I don't have much time for anything else. It's still fun though and I'm glad I took the plunge : )

Happy stitching!

Carla