September Quilt the North. A Little Late

 The Quilt The North box arrived right on time. However, I had forgotten to unbox it for you.

The September box is designed by Pam Robertson Rivet, from Medicine Hat, Alberta. As always the box was full of delightful goodies.

Always beautifully presented, with a custom box.

The first thing I saw was a candle.

Monica asks when you register if you have any allergies, and I was pleased to discover my candle was unscented.

We received an introduction to the designer and some info about Medicine Hat.

We also got a sticker.

The quilt this time is reverse applique and the design is called Mugs Up.

The fabric selection is quite nice.

It looks like a fun project. 

Our bonus pattern is Saamis Tepee. This is based on an artwork in Medicine Hat.

I must get to work and make these quilts. I need to take a bag break and return to my roots, I think.

I did do some sewing this yesterday. I made Daisy a new collar, since she had outgrown her puppy collar.

It gets lost in her floof.

However, I was pleased with how it turned out. It was a quick and easy project, and I had everything in my stash. I followed a tutorial from Halifax Dogventures. There seem to get lots of tutorials on the web, most have you cover the webbing with quilting cotton, but I thought the webbing was quite pretty, 

I also cut out a bag, today. I'm trying to get back into my daily sewing routine. Cutting and interfacing all the bag pieces always seems to be the most time consuming part.

Maybe I'll have a bag to show you, next week.

I also think a picture of Daisy, at the car wash ends things nicely. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

How Quickly They Grow

 When we were told that our puppies adoption was approved, we did a quick trip to the pet store to get a few things. One of the things we bought was a harness, to tether her in the car.  She was tiny, so it was tiny. Mudd seems to be checking out the whole thing.

It was the same size as my tea mug, so I decided she was a Teacup Husky.

That was nearly 2 months ago, and she outgrew that one in about 6 weeks, so I figured I could make her a new one from my stash. 

It turned out that the only thing I was missing was a side release buckle. So I ordered some online, and started to make the harness.

The buckles arrived this morning, so the harness is finished. Yes, there are Daisies on the fabric. 

It seems the hardest part was putting the buckle on.

It took me about 6 tries to get everything the correct way around. I realized the when I do these on purse straps they don't have an up or down. These ones are curved. so  I kept putting it on the wrong way round. I'll save the picture for the next time.

I tried it on Daisy, and she did her version of the fashion runway strut.

Adorable, though not quite what I was going for.

The good news is that it does fit. It will do for a new car harness.

I am going to try to figure out a larger version of the first one she had. It will make a better harness for walks.

After the sock that didn't work, last week, I am back to a trusted pattern.

Kate Atherley's Baby Sock pattern, at the baby bird stage.

Hotumn

 I saw the term Hotumn on social media and thought that defined it. Our weather has been going up and down. Today it is 13C, while on the weekend it was 31C. However, it still looks like autumn.

The flowers are still doing their thing.

Meanwhile, I've been knitting, and frogging.

This baby sweater will never be finished, so I got real and turned it into yarn I can make hats and mitts from.

My September socks got finished, 4 days into October. Mudd helped with the photos.

I was helping a friend learn how to quilt on her machine, so we made Hemmingway style bags. These are our first ones (a pair of fat quarters makes 2 bags.)

It was a lot of fun to sew together.

I actually got a start on a new bag. I have the card pocket panel finished.

One should always check to make sure that a credit card actually fits in the pocket. I once sewed a bag together without checking and one side was just a tiny bit too small, and the cards didn't fit on one side. Lesson learned.

I made a quick project bag for a friend, and added a ball of yarn and a pattern for mittens. I thought she needed a project bag for waiting rooms and the like.

The epic clear out continues. It is amazing how many things you realize you just don't need. We took a car load of stuff to the church flea market. Hopefully it all sold and raised some money for the church. 

It is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. No big excitement, no turkey, just a quiet weekend, with nothing that needs to be done. Hope you all have a peaceful weekend.

What's the Story, Morning Glory!

 

The morning glories on the fence have started to bloom.

We might get tomatoes soon. We are having a drought so the pots need to be watered.

Things are not as bushy as they were last year.

The two main men in my life left on an adventure, this morning. They are off exploring Vancouver Island. Meanwhile, I have the house to myself, and I can think of lots of things to do but too many of them sound like work.

I have finished 3 of the requested 6 baby socks. I also started the second sock of the July/August socks.

I made the smaller adventurer a pair of cargo shorts to take with him.

Four pockets!

It was the cats' Gotcha Day. They got their favourite chicken to celebrate their third year with us.

Mudd is looking for his chicken, while Emme is chilling under her chair in the sun room.

We said good bye to our Doug Dog . He has been my big goofy companion for nearly 11 years. The house feels very empty without him.

We're Having a Heat Wave

The current temperature, according to the thermometer in my kitchen window, is 35C. which is 95F if you don't speak Canadian. I sat outside for awhile, but I am now hiding in the A/C.  I'm a delicate little flower, who wilts when I get too warm.

Yesterday, I was doing some sewing prep in the basement'

I'm using my lovely big table to tape together a pattern for cargo shorts. The young man in my life likes lots of pockets in his shorts. The printer paper turned up during the great cleanup. so I figured I would use it to print my patterns. 

This is the fabric. It also turned up in the great cleanup.

I received requests for 3 pair of baby socks.  So my evening knitting has been the little socks.

I finished the red sock, but was having a hard time casting on the second sock in the late evening, so I cast on a blue one. They will all get done in the end.

I finished the first sock of my July/ Aug. pair.

I broke my usual rule and didn't immediately cast on the second sock. However, it is up next, after the baby socks.

In my buy Canadian effort, I found this yarn. It is actually from a very local hand dyer, and the yarn is from Ontario sheep and goats, and spun in Ontario.

They look like they might like to become mosaic socks or gloves or?

The heat is suppose to continue into the week. If you are looking for me, I'll be in the basement.

Snow, Cold, and Now a Thaw

 It started to snow after my last post. In a 4 day period, we ended up with 80 cm of snow.  If you don't speak metric, that is a lot of snow! It has also been cold.

The snow on the road got plowed out fairly quickly, but the snow contractor for Canada Post got lost, and didn't manage to plow out our community mailbox.

The carrier couldn't put any mail into the box, because he couldn't get the doors open. We were three days without mail. Because that carrier didn't want the parcels to pile up (parcels go into the big boxes at the bottom that you can't see) he went door to door delivering them.  This meant that I didn't have to wait for some beautiful yarn I had ordered.

I couldn't resist these colours. It is from a hand dyer in Regina, SK, Area 51. 

https://area51fibres.com/

Yesterday and today the temperatures have been above zero, so some of the snow is melting. I looked out this morning and saw this on my neighbour's shed.

It looks like someone has piled quilt batting on the roof of the shed.  All ready for 5 or 6 beautiful quilts.

We had Valentine's Day, in the middle of the snow, so I made a heart shaped pizza. If one has a heart shaped pan, one should use it at least once a year.

My February socks are coming along nicely.

I'm just turning the heel, then it is straight to the toe! I have 4 days to finish.

I was looking for a fat quarter for a new pouch pattern I wanted to try. I opened my drawer, where I keep my fat quarters, and it was a mess. So, I spent much of today sorting and folding everything, again.

I still have a few more to refold, but I think they look very good. I probably should have sorted them by colour, but this is so much more fun to look at. I found lots of things I'd forgotten about.

Here is Doug, playing in the snow. He buries his ball and digs it up again. He really enjoys playing in the snow.