AN OPEN HEART WILL FIND THE CONNECTION!

There have been so many times in the last three years that I have had a very strong feeling of my Mother being very near.

A feeling is perhaps not the right way to describe what I am talking about, but I feel her presence as being very close to me at times.

It is a great "feeling" - this feeling I have that I could turn around and see her sitting right there not far from me.  I wish it were so in reality - but today it is 35 years since we last had a real conversation.

To say that I am not the same person today as I was then, is the understatement of all time.  Thirty-five years ago, I was a young single woman, with my whole life ahead of me... I had a career as a registered nurse, my own apartment, independence, and confidence - due in a large part from my Mother, and my Father as well.

It wasn't fair loosing her so early in my life - she and I missed out on so much that a mother and daughter should experience together.   Life led me in a different way, or should I say Death lead me in a different way than I expected -  to experience the rest of my life, without my Mom at my side.

I'm not complaining about my life - it's been as it should be - lived well, lived happily, lived fully.  I have been surrounded by family and friends that have loved and supported me every step of the way... but 35 years later - I am still missing that one person in my life - my Mom.

Until three years ago - I missed her with an unease...
I have always been uneasy with her death.  She was too young, too vibrant, too healthy, I have always had the niggling fear that not enough was done at the time of her death - I have nothing to base that fear on, but it has always been there, just the same.

For some reason unknown to me, living where I do -  I feel a connection to her that I have never experienced before.  This connection I feel has nothing to do with my own personal memories of my mother and the time we had together - this is totally different.

My mother was born and grew up on a prairie farm about 35 minutes from where I now live.  When I drive down the highway towards the place she knew as home - she comes to mind.  When I turn the corner that takes me to what once was a hamlet called Waldersee,  I look to the left, and wonder if her childhood home still stands.  She is in my thoughts in ways she has never been before.

When I drive by the church in Waldersee where she attended church as a young child and woman, I think of her, young and beautiful, smiling and happy.  I did not know her when she was young - but I can now feel her that way.

Maybe it's an aging thing - maybe everyone has these thoughts and feelings as they age.  I am now two years older than my mother was when she left us.  

The unease I used to feel has now turned to comfort.  I feel connected, sure, comforted and peaceful - because I have opened my heart and allowed the connection in.

The past has become the present, we are not only connected through my memories and through our history but now also by place - and somehow that place has made a difference in my understanding of the person my mother was.

She has always been near - I know that now  - and she always will stay near.  My open heart knows - and so do I.

I love you Mom!

Till we meet again!

IT'S HAPPENING!

No more wondering - Spring is here at last!

In the past week we have seen almost all our snow gone.  There is a little bit here and there, but mostly it has vanished.  And truly - vanished is the correct word!

There are no puddles or standing water anywhere on our property - however, some ditches this past week have been very full, and in some places along the highways, there is the occasional flooded field, which I am sure will also disappear quickly once the ground opens up enough - spring runoff aside, as we still are very dry from the past few years drought.

Can you imagine what I have been doing?

I will be honest - I have been driving myself quite mad, walking around the property looking for signs of life - of which there are none.

I have also been plotting and planing this years vegetable and flower gardens.

I have started my tomatoes, peppers and Aunt Molly's ground cherries, and I have really wanted to start other vegetables, but happily there is a smidgen of common sense still left in my Spring induced brain!

I am growing 7 varieties of tomatoes this season:

Centennial Rocket
Prairie Pride
Amish Paste
Purple Russian
Manitoba
Super Sweet Cherry tomatoes
Midnight Snack Cherry tomatoes.

For peppers I am trying:

Blazing Banana ( HOT)
Corbaci (sweet)
Purple Beauty (sweet)

Aunt Molly's ground cherries, are a new crop I am trying, for salads and also for making jams and jellies.

Next seeding of vegetables will be squashes, pumpkins and melons, but that is still a month away, and following that will be cucumbers, cucamelons, and brassicas, shortly after.

In-ground crops will be seeded the third week of May or so, once the danger of frost is past.

In the meantime, there is a lot of bed prep needing to be done, some new beds to create, and lots of cleanup around the property, which will keep me busy for the next six weeks.

And right in the middle of all this outdoor activity, I have had such a urge to knit myself a cardigan.  Where in the world did that thought come from?

So now I need to go yarn shopping... somewhere!

At times like this, I wish I had pursued my original dream of moving to the county and opening a wool shop.  I got it half right - but there still is a real need for a shop that carries wool, yarn and basic handicraft items.

Is this Spring Fever then?

You tell me!

BUNNIES AND BATS!

Here we are back to Monday of a new week once again.  I hope wherever you are, that spring has reached you.

Spring is happening here with a sudden warm up and lots of melting.  The sudden melt is not what anyone has wished for because of very real threats of overland flooding in many areas of the province.   Still, we don't control the weather - all we can do is deal with what is given us.

This morning I was able to walk to the post office in just my running shoes.  No snow boots, not even rubber boots ... yeah!  It kind of felt funny, to tell you the truth!

How was every one's weekend? 

I managed to finish one project that I had started just when my Elna decided to go on the fritz.  This is just something I designed on the fly, mainly to use up some pretty blue scraps, and because I wanted something blue in my dining room to go with my terracotta- coloured walls.

The Elna conked right in the middle of this piece as I was doing the blue daisy stitching around the little saying.  I never did get to finish that stitching all the way around to the bottom of the heart.  My other old machine doesn't do fancy stitches, so I just did a plain stitch in white to complete the bottom of the heart.

Because the heart in the middle of the piece didn't exactly turn out the way I thought it would, I decided to add the three little hearts on the side.  I kind of like how it turned out in the end.

I found a cute pattern for a long eared bunny on Pinterest, so I am in the process if making a couple of little bunnies for the grand-daughters for Easter.  I will also make the girls a few colourful headbands, one can never have too many of those.

Here is the first little bunny, sitting in a pile of ribbons, waiting to have her legs and tail attached.  She is made from pink felt, and the inside of her ears are just a cotton print fabric.   

I think I will do the second bunny in a print fabric.  I did some modifications on the pattern, and  I added my own stitching for the face.  I still need to add a white dot on the eyes to give her some expression.

I made a little Vlog yesterday, just a chat about spring, garden plans, some house ideas, and a surprise visit from a tiny misplaced creature.

so if you are interested here is the link to that.

https://youtu.be/LZGgwbHXo3g

I will talk to you in a few days... enjoy these beautiful spring days!

SPRING MIGHT BE HERE AT LAST!

I do believe spring has finally arrived in our little corner of the world.  I see grass showing in places where the snow was not so deep, and for the past couple of days the snow piles have receded quite a bit.

It makes me realize that I have to get a move on and get stuff finished in the studio, because I will probably be working outside  even before all the snow is melted.

I have so many new things I would like to try, but play time in the studio is running out for me.

One of the things I really want to try is free-motion quilting.  Even though I do not have the right kind of machine to really do this, there are some adjustments I can make to my old machines in order to try to accomplish this task.  For free motion, the feed dogs need to be dropped, and most newer machines have a button you press to do this.   My old machines can be adapted -  I can tape a credit card across the feed dogs so the fabric will be able to be move freely while quilting.  I don't have a free motion quilting foot, but I do have a embroidery foot which is almost the same thing, so I might yet give this technique a try.

I also want to try my hand at fabric painting using Inktense pencils, which are basically a coloured pencil, but when used with a medium will permanently dye fabric, once heat-set with an iron.  This means I could draw or write my own words on fabric and then quilt them into them a project...
I can't wait to try this technique as well -

But first, Dale needs to finish things already started.

Yesterday I managed to finish the other bunting - this one is for our 4 yr old grand daughter.  I love how colourful and bright it is.  I am very pleased with both the banners.  I have never made these before, but would certainly make more sometime.

So here is the second finished bunting, and now I am going to spend the next few days getting rid of the piles of projects on my work tables.

Here's hoping I don't run out of coffee!

I will talk to you again next week... take care, everyone!

 

JUST ONE MORE - I PROMISE!

I think we should get back to some more blue jean projects - don't you?

I'm kidding!

Well maybe I'm just kidding a bit.  I have been working on one more thing using blue Jeans.  I decided to make a couple of banners (bunting-style) for our little granddaughters.  They are going to be for their bedrooms, and because they will soon each have their own rooms,  I decided to put their names on the bunting.

Zhanna is older, so I used blue jeans to make her bunting, and then I embellished each flag with a lot of bling.  I just finished hers up yesterday.

Here's a closer look at each flag.

 

 

Azaria's will be made from brightly coloured and patterned cottons, she too will have her name on hers but less bling because the colours and patterns of the fabric will be the bling.

I am still working on the blue jean purse, and as well I am putting together a very large tote bag from assorted jean scraps, for carrying knitting or stitching projects when I need to transport them along with me.

I don't think I am over the blue jean fever entirely, but once I finish up this projects that I have already started, I may put away the blue jeans for awhile.

My goal in the next few weeks will be to finish up things I have been working on this winter, and tidy up the studio before gardening season truly begins.

I can't wait to be outside all day long!

A LITTLE TEST!

This past weekend, we upgraded our Internet to a much faster Internet.  We have been limping along with the service we had installed when we first moved out here, but our frustration levels were getting a wee out of control so we decided to make a change.

I am excited about the change, because it means that with more speed, I can now upload videos to my You tube channel much easier.

So I decided to do a test video yesterday, to see if there was any improvement.

There was - I was able to upload my video in less than 30 minutes.

Now I can proceed with my plan to make regular videos, featuring not only my crafts, but also my gardens and more importantly, to capture my progress of completely re-vamping the yard and gardens this year.  I think it will be very helpful to be able to look back at my work on our property in the months, and maybe even the years to come.

So here is the little video I shot yesterday - it is only a little over  5 minutes long.

I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to click to subscribe to my channel... it will always be commercial free - I promise!


https://youtu.be/rZocd1vhmjg

YUMMY MINESTRONE SOUP!

Good Monday morning to you all!  It is a beautiful morning, quite mild, and finally a feeling of spring in the air has brought a spring to my step!

You all have been so patient, through the Blue jean series, that I thought I would give you a break today, and share a recipe that is fast becoming a favourite in my kitchen.  I have made it twice now and each time it was great.

We love home made soups and I try and make some type of home made soup several times a month, if not more.  I have a pot of turkey rice cooking this morning, and already the house is smelling so good!

This soup is a Crock-pot version, but I am sure you could adapt this to a regular stock pot, or whatever you prefer to use to make your soup in.

You still have time to make this up for supper tonight...

Zesty Minestrone

1/4 cup Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing

1 cup chopped onions ( 1 medium)

1/2 chopped celery ( 1 stalk)  I used a couple.

1/2 cup chopped carrots ( I used more than a cup)

1 can 540 ml diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can 540 ml red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans 284 ml each vegetable broth... ( I used the Campbell veg broth in the boxes)

 2 cups water

1 tsp Italian seasoning ( I used my own grown herbs - thyme, oregano,)

1-1/2 Cup small pasta shells, uncooked

1/2 Cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Heat dressing in a large nonstick skillet on med high heat.  Add onions, celery and carrots, cook 2 minutes or until crisp - tender, stirring occasionally.  Spoon into slow cooker.  Add tomatoes with their liquid, the beans, broth, water and seasoning: stir and cover.

Cook on LOW for 6 hours ( or HIGH for 3 hours)

Stir in pasta and cook 10-15 minutes more or until pasta is tender.  Serve and sprinkle with cheese.

These are great served with some biscuits, a cheese bun or a dark rye bread.  Add a salad and you have a filling meal.

Enjoy!

I'M NOT DONE YET!

Just when you think you have exhausted any and all projects to do with old jeans - well - you find some more....

My friend Kate from the UK, makes these adorable little fabric boxes.  Very simple to make, and very adorable.  I had just the right amount of material, so I decided to make one for myself.  So I made the template, and started cutting.  I chose some old PJ's ( the legs) to use as a lining.

Kate has designed this little bling idea for one of the sides, so I tried it out, using some net, and some beads and sequins I had lying around... adorable.

I appliqued a flower on another side , and a pocket on a third side,

These would be great for a teenager's desk,  or dresser -  filled with hair accessories, or makeup - If I would have had one of these as a teenager, I'm sure it would have been chucked full of makeup and sitting on the bathroom counter!

I think I will give this to my older granddaughter for her room... and I also have a couple more things to go with it....

Like this little clutch - can be for makeup, pencils, anything really....  I just need to add a Velcro fastener, and maybe another one of my button flowers?

Next up?

I guess you will have to wait until next week to find out!

Have  great weekend, everyone!

A LITTLE LEFT OVER!

 So while I am still working with the old jeans - up cycling them into purses and things, I stumbled upon yet another cute little idea for some of the leftover pieces.

After I cut the straps for the purses from the legs of the jeans, I had a little bit left over on the cuff end of the leg.  These were obviously skinny leg jeans,  but still useful in making a couple little cute decorative snugs or holders, bowls - whatever you want to call them.

I turned the two pieces of the skinny leg jeans into little holders for my studio.  But if you used a larger leg, you could make these for going around pots with plants in them, or even into little fabric baskets.

Just by adding a bit of trim, and bling, you can have a cute little accent piece for your desk, your kitchen window, your bathroom, your patio table - whatever you want to use it for.

They are simple - just cut the bottom off a leg of a pair of pants.  Because these were skinny, I cut about 8" from the cuff.  If I was covering a flower pot, I might start at 12".

Sew the cut end together, and box the ends by sewing across the ends of your seams,

 turn your piece right side out and roll down the cuff to the length you want and embellish as you want.

 

                                 
















I went with this in the end.  And another of my little flowers!

I think we still have some pieces of jean material left - Hummmm.... What's next?

A PERSON REALLY SHOULDN'T CLEAN!

When I was cleaning through the studio, I stumbled up a bag of 4 " fabric squares.  I had forgotten about the idea I had to cut all my scraps up and make a tied quilt of assorted 4" squares.    I piled them beside the Elna, just to let it know I wasn't giving up without a fight.

A day or so later, I decided to try sewing the squares on the Elna.  I had about 40 squares, and I managed to string piece them all in a very short time.  The machine ran - not real speedy but better than it had the last time I tried.  Progress!

I had been watching a lot of video's during the time I waited for the Elna to make up it's mind what it was going to do, and one of the video's was of a woman making over the shoulder purses from jeans.

Jean purses are not a new concept, and I kind of get my dander up a bit when people make video's about their creations and portray the notion that they invented the idea.

Well not in this case.  My Aunt Margaret made me my first jean purse, made from the top part of pair of blue jeans in the 1980's.  So it's been around awhile...

I have made some myself over the years, and I just happen to have a lot of old blue jeans in my stash - So why not?

I like to use fancier jeans for the purses, and if you hit the thrift shops, you can find a lot of really cool jeans to work with...

So I got out some jeans and started cutting out purses.

You can either use the whole bum part for a full size purse or bag, or you can cut the top of your jeans in half right beside the zipper - this way you get two smaller purses.

So you cut across the jeans at the crotch and then cut down about 1/2" from the zipper from the waist to the crotch, and the picture below is what you have when you open one side out.

Here is the first one I have been working on...

I have been doing some embellishing.. I stitched some contrast fabric behind the pocket, and I think I will also add some tiny lace along the angle opening of the pocket, just to finish it off.

I sewed a scrap of fabric on the small pocket. and added a lace flower at the bottom.

On the back I appliqued a butterfly over a piece of scrap fabric.

Purple is the accent colour on this purse.

This will be the front of the purse

and this will be the back.

I decided to add one of my button flowers on the lace flower..

I like this now.

I am toying with the idea to add a Boho tassel on the back, but not sure yet if I like it.  This one is just lying on top  of the piece so far.

As this purse in intended for a younger person, I still think it needs more bling!

I will probably do something at the band of the jeans, and now I have to fully line the purse, and I will be using the same material that is at the back of the front pocket, and I will add some sort of closure as well.

I use the legs of the jeans to make the strap for the purse, and this one will be an adjustable shoulder strap,

Oh - and you will never guess how I have been sewing this so far. .. 

Machine sewing - on the Elna - which has decided that it likes this project much more than the wall -hanging, I guess!

You see - I have decided that I deserve a brand new computerized crafting/ quilting machine... and I have been muttering about it constantly as I have been sewing...

And it's not an idle threat...

Have a Great Day!

STITCHING AND - - - WELL - YOU TELL ME!

Last week I decided to go through my bags of scrap fabric with the idea of making a small wall hanging for my dining room.   The walls are a terracotta colour and the colour that looks absolutely gorgeous against those walls is a dark blue, so I pulled the bag of blue scraps.

I had stitched a little saying on some muslin with blue thread, so I decided to make two crazy quilt squares in different colours of blues to attach above and below the saying to form my little wall hanging.

The two crazy quilted squares went together without a hitch, and are gorgeous.  Then I got the brainwave to use my old sewing machine to do a decorative heart in blue daisies around the saying... so I did that.

Well that didn't turn out quite as I planned because the daisy embroidery stitch pulled the muslin kinda wonky.

I added my batting and backing to the piece and decided to just do a simple machine quilting, so I started on the lowest blue square - yeah - I know you are supposed to start in the middle - but in this case,  nope - not happening.

About 6 rows into the quilting the Elna just quit.  Lost power - Finished!

Oh boy - the squares were not the only thing blue, I can tell you!  What the heck??

So I oiled the machine... nothing, I worked on it for a couple of hours, and I did manage to get it to a crawl, but that's it.

I was so frustrated because I have two machines, one the light just blew, and the other dead!

Well I showed them both - I cleaned!

Not only did I clean - I completely tore the whole studio apart, rearranged the layout, reorganized everything -

And still the machine wouldn't run faster than a drunk snail!

So there that projects sits beside the machine.... waiting!

A CATCH-UP ON THIS THAT, AND THE OTHER THING TOO!

Here we are, another new week in a new Month.  I can't seem to catch up with these weeks, no matter how hard I try!

I guess that means I have been keeping busy - and I'd say that was a good thing.  The busier I am, the faster the time goes, and the sooner it becomes spring... Right?

Well it sounds good, anyway.

So what has everyone been up to?  I have to tell you that I am so excited with the success of my Geranium seeds.  I planted 30, and I have 28 healthy plants growing.  They have pretty much all gotten to their real leaf stage, and in a week or so, I will be transplanting them in larger pots which they will stay in until they go outside.

You can even see the classic red stripe beginning to happen on the leaves...

The Pansies, did not go nearly as well.  I have abut 10 plants, but they are puny at best, and none have got to the real leaf stage.  I only have 1 Bee Balm up, and no Marigolds.  I am counting the days until March 25th, when I will be starting my vegetables for my outside garden.

IN THE MEANTIME...

I finished my quilted eggs.  My gosh they are so pretty.  Take a look...

I am pretty sure the Catbird who left me this nest last year would be horrified to see the eggs in it now, but I happen to think they are quite nice.

I attached ribbons to the rest of them, and instead of hanging them in my old window, like I originally thought I would, I have them hanging from twigs in a vase which is sitting on my piano.  

and then I found this little sweetie for .10 at a local thrift shop and decided she needed to be on the piano as well...

How adorable is that!

I have lots to show you this week - so check in for more finished projects, and some in progress as well...

See you soon!