One Flower Wednesdays

Happy New Year from Boo and Me!

The dark orange fabric reminded me of fireworks for the new year and I tried the strips 2 different ways.

I'll be on holidays for the next 4 One Flower Wednesday's. I might take my sewing kit with me and post from the road.

Going to Arizona with my husband. Will be a welcome change from the cold weather, although it wasn't too cold over  Christmas, but -15C and snow today. 

I hope everyone had a wonderfully Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year.

One Flower Wednesdays

In keeping with the season I found some Christmas prints to use this week. I especially like how the blue houses turned out. Now that I am trying fussy cutting, my dilemma has been deciding which way to orientate my hexagons when sewing them together. The houses were easy to decide because of the spires pointing outwards. I know it sounds simple but sometimes 2 choices are too many for me.

Another question for the week - I kept track of how long one hexagon flower took to sew up, not including finding the fabric and cutting it up. 39 minutes was my time, has anyone else done this? I thought it would be interesting to know how long my quilt took to make when I finally get it all sewn together.

I am so excited that my Jade Plant bloomed I had to share. I am sure I have had this plant for over 20 years and this is the first time blooming. It has such pretty delicate flowers.

And finally a small 21" X 21" quilt for my granddaughter's teddy bear Mary. I realized I hadn't made Violet a doll quilt yet. I also have to remember to put on a label. After years of giving away quilts I have started putting on labels and taking pictures. Maybe years down the road it might be of interest. I have quilts from my Mom and having a label made by her would have been nice.
Now I am going to do some Christmas baking, I can't believe I haven't done any yet. Oh well that means there will be more for the actual day instead of eating it all beforehand. 
Merry Christmas to everyone.

One Flower Wednesdays

I accomplished 12 flowers this week, still finding pink fabric in my stash to work with. It seems I am always in a hurry Wednesdays when I take my pictures. Of course the battery in the camera was almost dead too, so they are not as clear as i would have liked.

Another question - How many of you cut your fabric into hexagons? I cut mine into 2.5" X 2.75" rectangles. Not sure if I will trim the  backside before I sew them all together. I also leave in the stitching on the back.

Only 3 blooms so far for the Christmas Cactus, at least it is true to it's name and I managed to keep it for more than a year. I'll have to try and find another one to buy with more flowers. My trouble is that I like all the colours and can't decide. My mother-in-law had one that was huge but I don't seem to have as much luck with them.

Snowflakes

 They say no two snowflakes are ever alike. I don't know about that, but I tried to photograph some the other night. It was one of those rare snowfalls where every snowflake was an individual and didn't clump up too much, usually it's just powdery or blowing too hard to care.

 I tried shining a flashlight and not get too much of a glare.

 Here's a perfect one on the bottom left clematis seed pod.

 Found my weeding tool waiting on the sundial for Spring. Only 4 to 5 more months to wait!

 Even the poor elf got snowed on while peeking around the corner.

Some of these showed up pretty good. I was getting cold by this time and had to get in the house.

One Flower Wednesdays

I have admired the fussy cut hexies of others, so I did my own. The fabric has another possibility I will try for next week. You can see the re-used copy paper hexagons through this fabric, it is on the thin side.

I have used this fabric in a couple of little quilts, an apron for Violet and only have enough left for a few hexies. How come all the little thread ends show up when I take a picture?

 I also found a few scraps of this nice pink. I have been trying to use up scraps and making every flower different so far. How many stitches per inch do you all use when sewing your hexagon flowers? 11 seems to be my average.

My Vinca didn't flower until I brought it inside this fall. Taking the picture I see an aphid in the centre. I'll have to check the plant and see if there are more to get rid of. This is the only flower I have right now, but the Christmas Cactus is almost open, a few more days.. Oh, I see a couple small buds on one of my Orchids also. Can't remember what colour it is, will be a surprise when it opens.

A successful birthday present.

 Here is the apron that went along with the Easy Bake Oven. Took me almost all day to make, I had to go to town to buy the pink towel. I think it turned out pretty good.
By the way the Farm Grandma & Grandpa are us, the two on the left. You can almost see City Grandma on the right, she's in the video though, and City Grandpa is on the far left in the video.

I've heard of buying your head in the sand - but what about burying your head in the snow!

I know there's a mouse down there somewhere!

Paper Gift Bag Tutorial

 First I got a package of 24 scrapbook Christmas papers from Wal-Mart for $4.97 and a glue stick.
Fold and tear in half. You will have pieces measuring  12"X6"

I lined up a 12.5"X12.5" Omnigrid ruler with the 11.5" line even with the bottom edge and folded up 1/2" on both ends.

 I made a template 2" in from the edge and down a bit on a piece of paper, and used it to punch holes with a hole punch through the top and bottom folded edge.

 Lay the ruler at the 5" mark along the folded edge and fold up the middle part. Flip the paper and do the same on the other end. You will have 2 creases through the middle. Next lay the ruler at the 5" mark again along both long edges and fold up 1". I missed taking that picture, but you can see the fold above.

 You will have a little 1" square on the middle outside edge. Cut it just to the 1" fold so you can flip and glue it up. Put your glue on the right side of the 1" piece so it folds under the long edge.

 The 1" piece was glued with a glue stick and the side folded over it to make a nice square bottom. Flip over and do the other side. Glue the remaining 1" long flap over the just glued piece to make a box. Repeat with other side.

 Lay down the bag and glue just inside the top flap between the holes and fold to the inside.

Thread a 16" piece of ribbon through the holes, tie in a knot and pull to the inside. Congratulations, you just made a cute little gift bag. These took me 8 minutes to make including taking the pictures. You'll get 48 bags for about 11 cents each, not including the ribbon, but I had some on hand so didn't factor that in. Have fun.
This is my first tutorial, if you have any problems just ask.

One Flower Wednesdays and Upcoming Craft Sale

Managed to get 2 hexies done last night.

I think I am finally finished making items for the craft sale at the UFA this Saturday.
I am hoping it won't be too cold, it is being held in their greenhouse.
Below are 30 mostly sea glass wire wrapped necklaces.  My sister-in-law picked up the sea glass in Peurto Rico early this year on their holiday. She has made necklaces also. Wish us luck with the sale.

I didn't know it would be so hard to find a good place to photograph this. My house is so filled with stuff I don't have a very large open area, and it is too bright outside with all the snow. I finally took this in my bedroom against the door with the blinds pulled to keep out the sunshine.  Not all that clear, but I already tipped it over once,  had to rearrange the necklaces, and I'm running out of patience.

 I had lots of fun making these bookmarks. I scavenged some of the dangly bits from a computer key board, my husbands parts drawer, the local re-cycle give and take, leftover beads, and a few from a bead store.  

 I am trying to capitalize on the present trend towards using  re-usable grocery bags and sewed 40 tote bags. I've used them for years, and have given them to almost everyone I know.  I even remember trying to use them years ago and the strange looks I got from the grocery baggers. They couldn't figure out why anyone would use their own bag. My son and his wife say everyone comments on the the ones I gave them, so I thought why not try and sell some.

They always say prices go up at Christmas. Now I have proof. The left picture shows the regular price $9.99 on sale for $11.27.
This is the first picture I have taken with my new cell phone, sorry it is not very good. Just after I took it I heard them call for security over the intercom and I got nervous that they were after me.  I still have my phone so I guess it wasn't me they were worried about.

Seems wine is cheaper with GST and deposit also.

I used to work for a newspaper back in the day when ads were done by hand. I had to cut and paste (actually wax) the individual lines. I don't think these kinds of mistakes got past our proofreaders, who were actual people very often.

The first Snowy Owl of the season. Saw her on my way home from town just a bit north. Luckily she was still there when I went back with my camera.
I am pretty sure it is a female or perhaps an immature Snowy.

One Flower Wednesdays

6 flowers I made last night. With our cold weather, I thought these blues were perfect. I did one to remind me of the summer past.These are still fabrics from my thrift sale find.
I got through 4 before I pricked my finger pushing the needle through the fabric. I was wondering if any of you use thimbles? I can't get used to using one or they just don't fit my finger right. I have a leather one with a metal disk but it doesn't seem to be in the right spot. I use a small piece of white medical tape over the end of my middle finger, the one I use to push the needle with. I am using a quilting between size needle, maybe I should be using a longer one.

Another cold day, -32C (-25.6F) this morning at 9:00. Missed the full moon by a couple of days. Yesterday was -34.5C (-30F), Friday is supposed to go all the way to -1C (31F). We do live in a crazy area!
Nikki hasn't ventured outside, but likes to look out and watch the birds.

 This is a great cookbook, I found for a few dollars at a garage sale. It has just about every soup you could want to make. Every recipe I have tried has been good so far.




  Pictured is a beef cabbage soup with dumplings I made for supper last night. The dumplings had cornmeal, corn and cheese; a different take on what I usually make. They were almost too light, but still tasty.