The countdown begins.........

Only 4 days until MOVING DAY!  Am I packed?  No!  Will I be?  Hmmm, there's a good question.....  For all intents and purposes the house doesn't actually close until Feb 25th so I have some time but with everything else that's going on, the aim is to get out and be done with it......just a quick cleaning after we've left and that's it!

If you don't hear from me for a few days, at least you'll know why!!!!  Yesterday I packed up the studio - insomuch as I put everything in bags, packed up the machines, organized the current projects and moved them all to the store for safekeeping!  This way I will know where I can put my hands on a project I want to work on - not worrying about anything getting misplaced in the confusion of the move!

I did it!....or have I said that already!  Laurissa's quilt is done!  I can see again!  What's sad is you can feel the quilting but you really can't see it!  Doesn't matter, it is done and that's what counts......

Last night was Applique Club at the store!  Nancy was going to throw me out because I wasn't appliqueing, I was hand piecing but the girls voted and said I could stay.  I was working on my Farmer's Wife - I now have 12 blocks done.....and I love how precise they come out when I hand piece them......"99 blocks in the quilt to go, 99 blocks to go......"

This is block #34 - Flock - a little more fiddly but easily put together........

I still haven't found all the templates that I had cut but right now I'd say that isn't on my priority list.  I'm sure they're with another box of fabrics at the new house and after Wedenesday I can search at my leisure.  I am so looking forward to "unpacking"!  I haven't been able to fondle my fabrics since October - I'm having withdrawal symptoms!!!!!  I also need to amass all of my blues so I can get started on my Welcome to the North Pole which is due in 3 weeks!  We all know how quickly time flies when there's a deadline involved!

At any rate I don't think I'll be getting much quilting done in the next 4 days so I'll have to find something else to relax me.....tonight will entail packing, packing and more packing, maybe some laundry!?!?!

Will keep you all posted, in the meantime - have a wonderful, productive day!

Jo-Ann

Trials and Tribulations!

The order of the day - getting things done!  Yesterday began with my second meeting with a mover to get a quote!  His quote was so good I signed on the spot!  However, my son weighed in with "he and his friends will move us!"!  It was pretty tense in the house - Rich and I just sat there looking knowingly at each other as I signed the contract!  He really has no clue what this entails.....or why people use "professional movers" to move their valuables.....

Then I called the store to find out what was going on!  Sharon informed me that the water was turned off at 10:00 a.m. and hadn't come back on yet - it was 1:30 p.m. and I had to prepare dinner for 14 by 6:00 p.m. - this was not good news!

I rushed over to the store to see if I would be cooking at home and then transporting dinner or if I would have enough time to get everything done.  Luckily the water came back on around 2:30 p.m. so we were good to go!  I got busy preparing dinner and getting some stuff done in the office -

I have to say I love Friday night Sit & Sew, especially when I actually get to do some sewing too!  ....and I did!  I am embarassed to tell you that I am still struggling with Laurissa's quilt (which I intend to have done this weekend), that black on black is really murder on the eyes even with the Bendable Bright Light but I can say that without that BBL I would be sunk!  It's almost completed - another hour or two and I'll finish it tomorrow come hell or high water as they say!

Today was Heroes and Tiia brought a fabulous cheesecake, an Anna Olsen recipe with Bailey's Irish Cream - it was absolutely decadent!  I really need to get that recipe!  That was breakfast and lunch for me!  After work Jonathan and I went to Swiss Chalet to meet up with "family/friends", Mucie and Dov and my godson Oren and his son Shai!  Shai is now 14 months and just an absolute joy!  Every time I see him I just want to eat him up!  Loves to be kissed and when you ask him how old he is - he holds up one finger!  He's precious!

Then home to start packing but before I did I took pictures of the dining room from both angles for posterity......

I'm going to miss this house, but it will be fun to compare this to the new place!  I think next to my first love, which is fabric, my second love is decorating!  Aside from paint, there's really not much I have to do except place furniture and make loads of quilts to hang on walls, drape on sofas and adorn my new home!  It will really be great therapy for me to concentrate on this!  I need a good, productive year of quilting!  I mean really, don't we all! 

The intention is to take my time and do it right!  Of course, you may all be pretty bored by this procedure...it will include making a list of all of the UFO's I will be unpacking along with the stories that go with them!  But sometimes it's fun to see what others have stashed away!  You'll be surprised!  I could WIN the MOST UFO's category hands down!  They will be numbered......lol!

I still fully intend to finish Molly's Meadow first!  I already have a really good idea which wall it will eventually end up on.....stay tuned!

By the way - packing is a real pain in the butt!  I did get one box done tonight and will probably finish the dining room tomorrow night.....but there's way more then I thought there was (so what else is new!).....

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

Back again!

Sorry for the long pause between blogs but in this case it was not entirely my doing!  Bell Sympatico is partially to blame here!  My personal blog is usually done on my home computer, late at night, after a long day - however, it seems that our modem at home is giving us major problems and we have not had internet access consistantly for over a week!  That having been said I could have used the store computer but I never seem to be able to find that 1/2 hour and at the end of the day, I'm itching to get home and relax and quilt.

It's also been an eye-opening, busy week for me!  Yes, I sold the house, now comes all the planning!  The move, all the phone calls to utilities, etc., the address changes......it just seems to go on and on!  Not to mention the move itself which needs to be timed just right!

The lease on my Pontiac Torrent is up on February 12th and I have decided to turn it in on the 8th.  (This way I don't have to renew my license plate - my birthday is the 9th).  I haven't decided what I'm replacing it with or when so I'm trying to plan the move before the 8th so I at least have the car to do some running around.  I can't actually imagine myself without a vehicle but Rich said he will drive me where I need to go so for the moment we are going to try that.....we'll see how long it lasts!

The other deciding factor in this scenario is that I am having "minor" surgery on February 15th, so I definitely want to be in the new place before that and not facing the daunting task of moving, no less without the vehicle.  The house closes on the 25th, so, once all of that is behind me - I will make the "vehicle" decision......

It's a good thing I have my quilting to take me away from all the pressures of the day!  And so.....after sitting around a few days contemplating lifes ups and downs I got back to it!

Block 31 of Farmer's Wife is done!  I have one more block in my binder that was pre-cut with the templates I had prepared last year before I have to rip apart the store, the house and the townhouse to find those darned templates!  No clue where I hid them!  Of course, they are only plastic and I can make more but "anal" me knows they reside with fabrics I want to use in this quilt so I WILL FIND THEM!

I actually enjoy hand-piecing and this block really came out perfect so I am really pleased!  That's 11 of 111 - only 100 to go!  (100 blocks of the quilt not yet done, 100 blocks of the quilt - sung to 100 bottles of beer on the wall!)

 After completing Block 31 - I headed to the studio and worked on Molly's Meadow!  Wow - it is really coming along.  I have 10 of the applique blocks completely stitched and now they are connected to the checkerboards!  I am working one color at a time with the threads so that is the deciding factor in the assembly - but I'm loving it!  Actually hoping to have the center done this week.....not sure if I'll make that deadline but I am certainly going to try!

 This week is very busy at the store!  We had Baltimore Album last night, tonight is Art Club and tomorrow night is Sit & Sew so I'm at the store late all 3 nights which definitely cuts into my quilting time.....I even made plans to get together with friends on Saturday night so that may also be a factor in completing the center however, there's always Sunday night....

At some point, there needs to be some packing done - hmmm! Definitely not enough hours in the day.....but, we do what we have to do, so I know it will all get done!  Only my quilting suffers - ha, ha!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann 

It's official!

THE HOUSE IS SOLD!!!!!!!  I should be thrilled and I sort of am but now I have to plan the move......ugh!  It's really a good thing that most of the small stuff is already gone or I would be a mess!  Okay - so now I can move on! 

So what did I do to celebrate?!?!? 

Well, I organized The Farmer's Wife of course!  I had planned to do this a year ago when I started the project but as usual, other things took precedence and it didn't get done.

I would like to point out that I do not do this with ALL quilts, only "long term" projects.....and this is really a long term project (I mean it's already a year - lol).  Also, I want it to be as portable as possible.....

First I went to Staples and had them cut the spine off of the book - $3.00 + tax, then I asked them to make a copy of the spine on card stock for my binder......in colour of course (I'm anal that way!) - $0.49 + tax!

Here's the binder......

I purchased the kind of binder that has clear pockets in the front, back and spine and put the cover on the front, the spine from the book on the side and the back cover on the back...... I think it's a 3" binder.  This way I can find it in a bookcase or if it's lying on it's side (since I tend to misplace things!  Like books full of blocks!?!?).

 I also purchased page protectors - 100/$6.49 + tax.  They are the Staples brand and they are acid-free, archival quality.  In the first one I put the pages with the letters from the farmer's wives which is what the book was written about.....

 The next section are my spreadsheets which list the blocks and template numbers......the yellow ones are the blocks that are done!  There are "only" ten!

The next section is the template section, of which there are 106.  I have split them into 10 per page protector in order to keep them more manageable and easier to find.....I also purchased a package of yellow circle labels to mark the numbers on.....$4.96 + tax. 

 This page holds a copy of the block placements in the quilt - the back of the page is block 1......

 And finally the blocks, also marked with the yellow circles.....the finished blocks slip into the page protectors as they are done.  Keeps them clean and pressed and at hand.....

All I have to do now is organize the rest of my life like this and I'll be laughing!  I have to say it will be hard to misplace this binder(I'll  probably still manage to do it though!).  It cost around $25.00 including the binder but for a project like this I really feel it is well worth the extra cost to keep it organized.  I imagine it will be another year before this quilt is done and all of the blocks will be protected and in pristine condition when I'm ready to do the sashings and corner blocks.  Well worth the time and effort!

So now I can start planning my "big move" and paint colours and decorating and all that good stuff that comes with moving!  Okay, seeing the bright side again!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

It took two days........

but I found what I was looking for!  Before I tell you that story, I will give you the update on the "House Sale" (yet again!).  So the offer is conditional on financing and inspection - the time runs out 5:00 P.M. Friday January 14th (that way we can go ahead with the weekend Open House if it doesn't go through)!  So tomorrow is the house inspection scheduled between 2 - 4 P.M. however, we have not heard back about the financing, so, I am still crossing fingers and toes (and walking funny) but if they can't prove financing it will be a no go!

So - back to my story!  What was I looking for?  Well, last night was the first meeting of our new Sampler Club - Dear Hannah, Dear Jane, The Farmer's Wife is Nearly Insane! and since some of the girls want to do The Farmer's Wife - I was looking for the book and the blocks I had done, started last year.

I started looking Monday night, all over the house, mostly in the studio where I have been keeping all of my quilting projects and I came across the large plastic container with the fabrics I had been using to make the blocks.  However, the book and the blocks were no where to be found......so, next stop, the townhouse, where Rich and Jonathan had deposited all of the packed boxes from the studio.

Yesterday at around noon Rich and I drove over to the townhouse and went through all of the boxes that were packed.  His comment of course was, "You could open another quilt store in the house with what you have here!"  As if!  These men just don't understand the word STASH!!!!  Not to mention all of the projects, patterns and books!  In any event, after 2 hours of searching - nothing!  So back to the house to give another once over in the studio (I thought maybe I put them in a drawer or cupboard) - nothing again! 

Last place to look - the store!  In the meantime, I wanted to work on doing all of the pricing of the stuff that came in!  It was class time before I knew it and I didn't really have time to look thouroughly!  The class started and I headed for the storage room to look!  I managed to clean up a good portion of the storage room but no book, no blocks!  So far I only knew where it wasn't and after 2 hours of looking the class was about to end and I was no further ahead......I was frustrated, upset and depressed, thinking I'll just have to start over again!  At 10:00 P.M. Nancy and I went home!

So again, where did I find them?  On Sunday I had a customer who wanted to know how to do Sashiko, so I went to the back storage room and pulled out my basket of Sashiko.  I gave her a quick lesson, showed her the thread and then decided to take the basket home with me for something to do when I'm watching TV.  I found a Sobey's bag under the table in the classroom, I looked into it and found a flannel project I had wanted to start, so I just dumped the Sashiko into the bag and took it home.  I put it at the side of the couch in the living room and took the Sashiko basket out and put it on the coffee table.  Around 11:30 P.M. last night I decided to see what had to be done to start the flannel project and took it out of the bag!  Underneath the pile of flannel was the Farmer's Wife with all the blocks in the book!!!!  I just started laughing!  I mean how dumb can you be and isn't it always in the last place that you look!  The upside is, that I got half the storage room cleaned up!

So without further ado - here is the book and the blocks!  (I haven't found all the templates yet!?!?!- but I'm sure they'll turn up!)

 Blocks 1 and 2

Block 4 

 Block 6

Block 9 

 Block 11

Blocks 15 and 16 

 Block 21

Block 29 

10 Blocks done - only 101 to go!  I am so relieved that I found them!  Since I am doing them by hand, I am even more relieved.....now I can get back to them!  Not to worry, Molly's Meadow has not been forgotten.  Hopefully I will have some time tomorrow night for Molly....

There's also another plastic container somewhere with more fabrics and probably the templates I'm missing for this quilt so I'll certainly have to find that as well but I can make more templates and find more fabric if I need to - that's not an issue at all.....so my day ended well!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

Fingers and toes crossed!

It was what has become the usual Sunday ordeal today!  Getting Jonathan up and getting to the store on time with him in tow, never pleasant, but necessary due to the frequent Open Houses we have had to endure!  The day went rather quickly and around 4:30 P.M. I got a call from Tanzie to say that a couple that had been at the Open House today wanted to come by around 6:30 P.M. to see the house again!  She expected an offer! 

That kaiboshed any ideas of getting to the grocery store so plans for tomorrow's lunch changed rather quickly.  They arrived and walked around for about 1/2 an hour and then 10 minutes later I got another call from Tanzie saying she was on her way over for the offer presentation......

It was decent, although it took a bit of doing, she had left and her and Gord had to turn around and come back before it was signed, sealed and delivered.....but the offer is in pending financing (which this time does not look to be an issue) and a house inspection so by Friday at 5:00 P.M. I should know if there's a deal!  Hence fingers and toes crossed!  This could be it!

After they all left, I nursed my sciatica and took some drugs and figured I should get back down to Molly's Meadow and get something done....so with Totally Stable in hand, down I went!  Again I have to thank Barb for the great idea, what a difference working with the stabilizer - it makes such a difference......

Here are the first 3 blocks together......7th row center!  Looking good, I'm getting excited!

 A bit of a closer look and if you click on the photo you should be able to see the blanket stitch I'm doing around the edges of the applique in the center block.....

 I only have to edge another 24 blocks, 96 more appliques and I'll be done that phase of the project!  I did manage to put a small dent into it tonight and will continue with it tomorrow night I hope......I am really getting psyched about getting this quilt top done!

However, I am tired and tomorrow is another day, and I want to take advantage of the drugs to get some sleep - so I'll bid you all good night!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

P.S. If you couldn't actually see Simon peeking over the curtain in the photo yesterday, try clicking to make the photo larger..... 

Saturday January 8, 2011 - Let it snow?!?!

Okay not so much!  But I will not complain about the weather, we are not under water or being ravaged by tornados or mudslides or any of the other weather phenomenon happening in other parts of the world so we can live quite amicably with a little snow.......However, it's always that first one of the year that gets you!

I was contemplating calling this a "blizzard" this morning and not opening the store but alas, even though the following picture gave me a moment of pause - I knew in my heart that I would be disappointing the masses (okay just the quilting masses) if I didn't open the store and I was right! 

So I get to the store and it didn't look much better over there, I guess the property management didn't realize that it snowed or they might have sent a plow! 

Well, I have a secret weapon - I call him Rich and he came with the snow blower and dug us out of the hole at least.......bless him! 

 It was a good thing because there was a lovely couple waiting to get into the store before they drove home to Ottawa and they were really happy that I decided to fight the weather too!

The only problem was that my knee and my back were acting up all day so at 6:00 P.M. I packed it in (rather quickly I might add) and went home to bed where I promptly fell asleep for 5 hours - now I'm still in pain but wide awake!  With the weather the way it was we cancelled the Open House today but it will certainly be on for tomorrow so we're crossing fingers and toes again!

Thought I would share this photo taken yesterday afternoon!  This is Simon asking to come back in - kinda gives "peeping Tom" a whole new meaning!  Look closely between the house and the tree......

Doesn't look like I'm going to be doing any quilting tonight either - that's two days and I'm getting a bit antsy so I'll definitely have to get down to the studio tomorrow.......

Hope you all have a great day!

Jo-Ann