Quilting Gallery's Giving Thanks Blog Hop Party

Well...it's been awhile hasn't it?

I am still here but to be honest, this little slice of blogland hasn't been high on my priority list this year.  While 2013 has been a year of challenges, I'm still trying to work my way back and  couldn't think of any better way to try to come back than with a "Giving Thanks" blog hop being hosted by Michele at Quilting Gallery.

I have plenty to be thankful for including wonderful family and friends. The professionals in the medical field, and in the palliative care field I've dealt with this year have touched my heart and soul more than I can ever express.

My wonderful husband made a dedicated work area for me as a birthday gift, but I'm afraid I've lacked the focus or energy to do much sewing or quilting this year. I'm hopeful that 2014 will be a better year.

My finished projects this year are far and few between, but I did manage to finish a QAYG Noodlehead 241 tote for myself (working in very short spurts LOL)

 and a Made by Rae Geranium dress for a very special little girl.

And that's all I have to show from the past 11 months.

I have a half yard of Kona Solid to give away as a thanks for reading my blog. To enter, follow me on Pinterest (you'll find lots of tutorials for just about anything you could ever want to make!) and leave me a comment letting me know you are following me. (I'll be checking LOL). Sorry, but this giveaway is for Canadian residents only this time.  Giveaway open until 11:59 PM Sunday (November 24).   ETA--Giveaway now closed. Thanks for stopping by.

Mary

April Shower's Blog Hop

Save the best for last eh?  Welcome to my stop on the April Showers Blog Hop. I want to thank Erin of Sewing Mummy for all her hard work on this hop,,along with everything else she does. And let us not forget the         irrepressible Madame Samm over at Sew We Quilt! 

(Did you see her mug rugs? Awesome, as usual!) 

   Spring in my neck of the woods (good heavens, my Canadian is showing today!) means             C O L O U R ! ! ! after months of grey, grey and more grey. Those who don't experience winter think snow is a lovely white blanket, and everything is pristine, peaceful and pure. 
    
     Trust me,,,that snow is white when it falls, but before long,,the skies turn grey,,the fallen snow takes on a grey tint from sand laid by the municipalities to keep the roads passable and just from day to day life. There were far too many days in a row here this year where the sky, the roads (from salt being spread to control icy roads) and the snow were all the same colour of grey. And winter went on, and on and on around here. We had snow in our yard from last week's storm up until yesterday. I hope it's done for this year!

     Spring here also means bugs and butterflies and birds! We're so glad to see the colours of all of them showing up again, I can't tell you.

 


    When it came time to make my mug rug, I couldn't think of anything better to show my love of spring more than my treasured Kokka Echino Nico!
Bugs, and butterflies, and bees and birds! I've had this fabric stashed for a while now waiting for the right project,,and this is one of them!  

   I did a simple QAYG technique, and decided not to bind my mug rug, but rather to top-stitch it. I thought there was enough going on with the Echino without a binding adding to the busy-ness! What do you think?

   Now I'll be able to look at one of my favourite fabrics everyday,,,at least until someone asks me "ooo Will you make one for me too?"

I hope you'll visit the rest of my fellow blog hoppers on this, the final day of the April Showers Blog Hop.
  

Merry Gay @ Merry Gay in Stitches

Mary @ Sew Maybe I Can

Joanne @ Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Linda @ Buzzing and Bumbling

Mary @ NeedledMom

Sherry @ Peanuts Patchwork

Fredrika @ Feltfree på Åsly

Shauna @ Welcome to Shauna's World

Sharon @ Dancing thru Threads

Madame Samm @ !Sew WE Quilt! Thanks for stopping by! Thanks again Erin. Thanks again Mdm Samm! Mary

Google Reader goes the way of all my favourite Google apps

I'm sure you've all heard by now, that Google Reader will disappear as of July 1st, 2013. (Canada Day to me!)
  I'd like to encourage all my followers to migrate over to bloglovin'.  (There's a button right over there →  !  
  My big secret---bloglovin' is my favourite blog reader,,and has been since I discovered it. I have always found Google Reader messy and hard to find what I want to read when I want to read it.
  Bloglovin' is where I read my favourite blogs. (A lot of you will be surprised to know that's where I read your  blogs!
  Some of you have been popping up in my email with notifications you've already migrated over,,,and I thank you very much.
  For the rest of you,,check it out. There's a very simple button to push to migrate all the blogs you read over to bloglovin'. Easy peasy! It's very user friendly, and beyond simple to categorize your blogs the way you want to.
  Hope everyone enjoyed World Wide Quilting Day--I didn't sew a stitch. Life got in the way unfortunately,,,but I have great plans for tomorrow. 
   Have a super day everyone,,I'm on my way back,,,feeling better almost everyday.

Mary 

Standing with Angels

My brother Andy's journey ended on February 9, 2013. May he rest in peace. The amazing Anders Osborne in the video above sums it up better than I ever could.

We are numb, tired, and healing.  I'm trying to sew,,mostly unsuccessfully. But soon.  I'll be back.

Stomp on Cancer like it stole your wallet

      Please take a moment & watch this video done my friend Lynne Knowlton of 
Design the Life You Want to Live 

      And if you want to laugh till you cry,,,check out her treehouse post here 

     Check out her blog while you're there,,,Lynne will blow your mind! She is an incredibly talented woman with a heart & soul as big as the great outdoors (and we have lots of great outdoors up here in Canada!) Her DIY posts are terrific; her Cancer Sux series says it better than I ever could,,and Lynne is just all around one great gal.

Thanks
Mary

Popping in for a quick hello

   Just a quick hello--I'm still here, and dropping by with a quick hello. Not much sewing going on here. 
   We admitted my brother into hospice care last week, so I'm in & out,,mostly out; sitting with him.
    Hope everyone is well and getting lots of sewing time in--I'll sew vicariously through you all until I can sit in front of my machine again.
    For those of you sharing this stupid weather system with me,,bundle up & keep warm.

Mary

The Bag

Pictures of the bag,,,as promised.
  Please take special note of the pocket fail! I'm still laughing at myself.  I guess that's what I get for sewing at 2AM!

   The funniest part was not noticing for 2 days,,,until my daughter in law was marvelling at my ability to make pockets (trust me,,she's easy to impress when it comes to sewing LOLOL). I reached into the pocket to show her,,only to realize I'd sewn the velcro through the pocket,,,as well as to the front of the bag.

   At least I didn't sew it to the Echino!  (Isn't it gorgeous?)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

  Wishing you all the very best 2013 has to offer! May the year be filled with peace and love,,,,and lots of sewing time!
   I stayed in New Year's Eve and sewed myself a new bag to carry all the paperwork I need to carry with us for my brother's oncology appointments. Well,,I started it NYE,,,finished it New Year's night. Totally used my stash,,,including another piece of my incredible vintage fabric gifted to me by my mother-in-law. This fabric is one of my favourites and was used for a zipper pocket. I'm glad this zipper is finally in a project,,,I've tried to put it in 3 different projects, and each one has ended with the zipper torn back out! May it stay put where it is, and I never try to use it again!
   I started to upload my pictures, and my camera battery died,,,so maybe tomorrow,,,depending on when we get back from radiation therapy.
   Just a quick haha before I sign off,,,this is my life these days (Last count was 64 cm of snow--that's 25 1/2 inches or over 2 feet--and another snow storm coming on Thursday! Have I mentioned I hate winter?

Courtesy of Stitchin Heaven's newsletter.

Quilt Matters: An HBC Point Blanket Quilt Of Your Own

  To all my Canadian friends out there--I don't know if you all know/follow the fabulous M-R at Quilt Matters,,,but if you don't, you should. (All you non-Canucks should go take a look too! HBC is the original fur trading store from our country's early days,,and is still in business--however they don't do a lot of fur trading these days!)
   Take a look at this amazing HBC Point Blanket Quilt M-R designed & quilted. It's phenomenal,,,and just shouts Oh Canada!!!
    If you stop by to take a look,,,tell M-R I sent you! She's a wonderful quilter, and funny as all get out (to say nothing of generous with her knowledge!)

HBC Point Blanket Quilt

Quilt Matters: An HBC Point Blanket Quilt Of Your Own

  I hope 2013 brings you all a Very Happy New Year filled with health, wealth, happiness,,,and lots and lots of sewing!!!
Mary

Happy Holidays to all!

Courtesy of irrepressible, indomitable, insurmountable and certainly inspiring

MDM. SAMM!

May all your wishes come true!

Mary

A difficult time

  I've struggled with whether or not to write this post.  Things in household are not good right now, and finding the spirit of Christmas is difficult to say the least.

   As some of you I've emailed with know, we are facing a major challenge in my family, and I've had to take a step back from blogging & from commitments I've made.

   You see, a few weeks ago, my youngest brother was diagnosed with lung cancer and has had to move in with my husband and I so we can care for him. We are on what we lovingly call "The Cancer Merry-go-Round", and his first radiation treatment was last Thursday with another to follow Friday. With the major storm we had hit, we couldn't make Friday's appointment, but we are on our way in the morning (if the road conditions improve enough to drive the hour there!) for treatment #2.

   His cancer is Stage IV non-small cell squamous lung cancer, and is inoperable. Chemotherapy is not an option either, as his cancer is too far advanced, and he is too frail to undergo the treatment. Radiation is only palliative; there is no cure--only the hope we can make it easier for him to breathe.

   We are all very surprised we've made it until Christmas, and God willing, he will see in the New Year.

    Before anyone asks, does it really matter whether or not he was a smoker? He is dying of lung cancer,,,period. What came before does not matter; the only thing that matters right now, is making him as comfortable as possible in his last days/weeks.

    My friend, Hayley, at Mrs. Pickles Garden, is going through this nasty journey with her father right now, and while it's comforting to be able to commiserate with someone travelling the same road in our Canadian medical system--which is the greatest and the worst in the world all at the same time; although I wouldn't wish my worst enemy this journey.

   So,,I'll update when I can, blog when I can, and hopefully my weeping sewing machine will have some company (ME) over the next 2 weeks while my husband is on Christmas holidays (some holiday) and is easing my burden.

Mary
  

Merry Merry Christmas

   It's the most wonderful time of the year! Not!  We've had the snow/ice/freezing rain storm from Hades here since Thursday night! It started off innocently enough. Snow coming down so pretty. But then the damned stuff didn't stop! And the temperature rose, and we had snow upon snow upon snow, with melted slush underneath. And then,,,,it froze up solid. So now, we have snow packed roads, covered with 2 to 3 inches of ice, and then more snow today on top of all that.  I hate winter!
    There was a tractor trailer flipped on the highway outside our small town yesterday,,,so today they closed the TransCanada Highway to right the truck, and get it on its way. Which is a great thing,,,except they re-routed all traffic through our little town. Our main street got clogged so they (the police) decided to re-route the traffic down residential streets and the main street. It was lovely. Those of us who live here (aka "not from away") essentially stuck to our homes. What was supposed to be a 4 hour detour turned into 8 hours. GGGGGGRRRRRR.

It is not this pretty!
 

  I wish each & everyone of you who visit here the merriest of Merry Christmases, and may 2013 bring all the best to all of us.
  Have a great holiday season.
Mary

Winner! Winner!

  Wow! 255 comments and 112 followers! I can't believe it. It seems impossible to imagine 112 of you are following my blog, reading my posts and checking out my work.
   Thank you Thank you Thank you!

   The winner of my Quilting Gallery's 5th Birthday Blog Hop Giveaway is

 #156 ...OhioLori. 
   Congratulations Lori,,I wish I could have entered! I'd love the chance to shop at Julie's store on someone else! Who wouldn't?

  I have emailed Lori, and will be looking forward to hearing/seeing what she's going to buy with her gift certificate.

  Thanks again to everyone who entered, and most especially to all my followers, new and old.  

   Be sure to check back in,,I'll be having another giveaway to thank all my followers for pushing me over the 100 follower mark!

 And once again, I need to sing Julie's praises! With some issues that have come up in my life right now, I wasn't sure how I was going to live up to my obligation for this hop. Julie made it so simple for me to buy a gift certificate for this giveaway! Please go visit her, and give her some love (You could tell her I sent you!)  

  
In case you missed Julie's newsletter/blog, she has a coupon code this week (CORNER10) for 10% off your entire cart, and all Christmas fabric is marked down 40%.
Mary

Quilting Gallery's 5th Birthday Blog Hop Party

      Welcome to Michele of Quilting Gallery's 5th Birthday Blog Hop Party! This is going to be a fun one! Every blogger on the schedule (including me!) has a giveaway for you! This Hop is on from December 9th through until December 15th, and you can find the complete schedule at Quilting Gallery's birthday blog hop page!

     I hope you have a look around my little blog, and see what I'm about. I love to sew, whether it's clothing for me or others, quilting, home dec. I've been spotty with my posting, but I'm working on it!

     For this giveaway, I'm giving away a $20.00 (USD.) gift certificate to a great online fabric store, The Intrepid Thread. The owner Julie, has nothing but postive response from everyone, has great fabrics, at terrific prices and is just about to open a brick & mortar location! Julie will ship internationally, so this giveaway is open to everyone--whether you use that extra "U" or not!

     Congratulations to Michele on her 5th Birthday, and enjoy the hop!

    All you need to do to be entered, is have a look around Julie's store, and leave me a comment telling me your favourite new arrival.  For a second chance to win,,be a follower (new or old!), and leave me a second comment letting me know you are. This makes 2 giveaways in less than a month,,,so following could be a good thing!

    Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the giveaway. (Giveaway ends December 15, 2012 @ 11:00 p.m.EST, and a winner will be chosen by Mr. Random Generator.)

Mary

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS FOR STOPPING BY & ENTERING!

Winner,,winner,,what's for dinner?

   Just a quick post to let you all know that a winner for the 1/2 yard of Kona Solids has been chosen (by Rafflecopter) and it is #214,,,,Carla



Carla G has left a new comment on your post "Blogathon Canada Part 2 & Giveaway!": 

I love the blues - my favorite is Water! :) 



Posted by Carla G to Sew Maybe I Can at November 28, 2012 3:39 PM.   



I've emailed Carla to let her know the good news.
   Thanks again, everyone for entering, and most especially for following me, both here and on Twitter!

 Hope everyone has a terrific week!

Mary

One day left!

    I've been busy the past few weeks running to medical appointments with a family member (yeah,,that's the emergency referred to a couple of posts back) and couldn't believe my eyes when I checked my blog and saw I had 52 ,,,okay, 51 (one of the followers is ME--I had to make sure someone followed me, so I signed up too!) followers. 

    I don't know if it's the giveaway,,,but even if it is, I'm still very grateful that you all would take the time to check out my little corner of the world. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have truly humbled me. 

    A few weeks ago, I was wondering  whining to my darling daughter about what the point of posting was, and here I come back to find 50+ followers! (Trust me,,that lovely little lady I call daughter chewed me out but good, and told me to get my a$$ in gear and post! It may have something to do with her wanting the pouch I made for her tablet and me telling her I had to post pictures before I sent it to her!)

  Speaking of tablets, have you all seen the ASUS Transformer Pad? Daughter bought herself one, and brought it home on her last trip. It is way cool! Great graphics, fast as the dickens, has a keyboard, and the screen comes off & becomes a separate tablet and it's a great size! (I am not being compensated in any way for saying that, am not involved in any way with ASUS,,I just think it's a cool toy!)

   Anyway, just a quick thanks to you all for following me, and I'll be back sometime Sunday to announce the winner of the giveaway.

    Until then,,,enjoy your weekend. I'm going to try!

Mary

Blogathon Canada Part 2 & Giveaway!

I hope you've enjoyed all the Canadian blogs you've visited with SewSisters Blogathon Canada...I know I have!

I promised a giveaway, and a giveaway we shall have! I'm giving away a 1/2 yard cut of Kona Cotton Solids,,my choice. I'm using Rafflecopter for this giveaway (my first ever, and this seems to be the easiest way for me to do it!)

The giveaway will remain open until Friday, November 30,  2012 at 12:00 p.m. EST. (That would be noon!)

To enter, just follow the rafflecopter instructions.

Thanks for visiting.

Mary

ETA: There seems to be some confusion about Rafflecopter. I've put up an image from Rafflecopter that I hope will help.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Courtesy of: Rafflecopter

Blogathon Canada

Gidday eh? Grab yourself a Timmy Ho's and take a minute to take a little peek around my blog.

I'd really like to give a special shout out to Sew Sisters Quilt Shop and their blog for conceiving and sponsoring  this great blog hop! How wonderful to showcase Canadian quilters and crafters! I don't know about you, but I've seen a lot of new (to me) blogs this week, and I'll be following many of them!

From day 1 in BC, with Felicity at Felicity Quilts and Cathy at Blueberry Patch introducing the likes of Cynthia Frenette (of Kona Modern Quilt fabric fame!) to Krista at Poppyprint and all the other quilters in BC (did you check out Paul at Paul's Block Party? Wow!).

Day 2 brought us to the other coast, with Nova Scotia being hosted by Jeanette at Stamp*Stitch*Create and  Holly at Through My Window hosting for New Brunswick. Incredible quilter/crafters on the East Coast too!
Did you see Jennifer's work at Sister of the Brush or Sheila's at Sheila's Quilt World? (Her postcard project work is amazing!)

Day 3 and we're off to Alberta with Shena at Apple Pie Patchwork and Saskatchewan with Patti at Retired to Quilt (and I'm so glad she did! what fun it is to follow Patti! Did you see her coin purses--with fabric of toonies &  loonies she printed herself! Fantastic.)

Halfway through the week,,,and I'm going to stop here for now. I'll do part 2 later on today.

Thanks for stopping by.
Mary

Holiday Lane Pillow Blog Hop

It's begun!! The Holiday Lane Pillow Blog Hop is finally underway. I signed up for this hop back in September, and for some reason, our lovely hostess/cheerleader for this hop Pauline, The Quilt-N-Queen, thought I should post on day # 1. Scary stuff, when you see who else is posting today. There are some incredible hoppers on today's schedule: (And let's never forget the irrepresible Madam Samm at Sew We Quilt for coming up with these hops!

Wednesday November 21

Just Let Me Quilt

Simple Sew

sew.darn.quilt

 Color My World

Sew Maybe I Can (You're here!)

Handmade by Mary E

Sew Many Yarns

Pig Tales and Quilts

Tea Time Creations

Jane's Quilting

So,,without further adieu,,here's my pillow.  I really enjoyed making this. It's been many, many years since I've done any applique, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. 


 Notice the essentials of sewing for me--Timmy's cup,,sugar,,,water LOLOLOL

While looking for supplies for this pillow, I raided my stash and came up with a few changes in colours & materials. There was/is no white wool felt in my small town--anywhere! I tried regular craft felt, but it just didn't look right. So back to the stash I went. I found fur trim for Christmas stockings, tried it for the snow, and I love the way it looks!

  

If you look closely, you'll see I have a modern day Santa coming in,,,,,in a spaceship! The olive green house is a treasured piece of vintage fabric from the 1950s gifted to me by my wonderful mother-in-law. I love the way it looks.



I hope you've enjoyed my journey through Holiday Lane,,,I sure have.














My sincere apologies to everyone for my late posting. I've had an emergency here for the past 24 hours, and haven't been here.

Mary

Blogathon Canada Day 2!!!

    I hope you checked out the wonderful Canadian bloggers from British Columbia on Day 1 of Blogathon Canada. Yesterday's hosts were

                         Felicity     at    Felicity Quilts

and

                         Cathy        at   Blueberry Patch

    You'll find Cynthia Frenetter (Kona Modern Quilts Fabric) and Sonja of Artisania (paper piece pattern designer extraordinaire amongst the B.C. quilters featured yesterday.

     Today's hosts are from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, on the other side of the country & the Atlantic Ocean. They are

                          Jeanette      at     Stamp * Stitch * Create

and 

                          Holly             at     Through My Window

      Go give them a visit,,,I'm sure you'll fall in love with at least one blogger on the list, and no doubt someone will have some beautiful pictures of our Maritime vistas.

Mary