It's a Boy!

Yesterday was 2 whole weeks since I've had a foster pup to look after.  I love helping out this charity and having someone here with me.  I had a call from my trainer yesterday and she let me know I am expecting again soon, due date 30th of August.  He has a super cool name, but I cannot tell you due to patient (the blind person) confidentiality reasons. But I have to give you a hint!! You have probably seen the two goofy guys on TV in the ads for a brand of sheds..."T".. that's all I can say!

This is boy5.  Boy6 coming next week fits the same description though.  I am excited to meet him,
but I will only have him for two weeks.  He is at the very end of his two years of training and will go to the client right after he leaves me.  I can't wait to look after him.

I've done well with the blood tests this week with no leftover pain at all this time.  The arm where she stuck me once is fine and the arm where she stuck me twice only has the tiniest of bruises but no pain.  Happy!

Today I am looking forward to spending time with my dear friend De.  She makes me happy too!
Hope your day is nice as I know mine will be. xx debbie

Travelling Treasures, Life, and Dogs

I would like to offer my sincere thanks to dear Cheryll for helping to keep this little idea of mine going.  Cheryll was the July winner and she chose to offer a fun guessing game on her blog and the winner would be the next person to receive the Travelling Treasures parcel.

Lyndell H. was chosen for correctly guessing Father's Day as the answer to the giveaway.

Lyndell does not have a blog, so when the time comes next month, I will be happy to host the giveaway for her.   Cheryll has put together a lovely parcel and I can't wait to see how much it changes yet again.  Congratulations, Lyndell and I hope you have fun playing along.

Not long ago, I mentioned I needed a blood test and the blood collector hit a nerve,  causing me such pain that I was unable to sew at all for two weeks.  Unfortunately, the results of that blood test earned
me an invitation for another date with the blood collector.  I put it off for over  two weeks because I was expecting to be stuck twice: a fasting blood draw, drink a sugar drink, then another draw one hour later.  Well!!  If only!!  Today I finally got up the nerve to go again.  The blood collector  told me right away I would need 3 sticks instead of 2. Grrr..

The first stick was fasting and along with the other stuff ordered, she filled 9 tubes. Then I drank a sugar drink, and she stuck me again 1 hour later.  Then I had a third draw, one hour later again. I was there before 7 and home just after 10am.  At least she didn't hit a nerve this time, but she told me to rest all day due to the testing she did. Ok then.  I was SO happy to get  home after all that! 11 is not a nice number when you are talking about someone taking your blood LOL.  Another no sew day, too.

If you read my blog, you know I am a foster mum for some very special dogs.  The longest I have been without a dog since I started was 6 days.  Tomorrow will be 2 whole weeks since I said bye to
dear boy5. I have enjoyed having a little break, but I am so ready now that I emailed my trainer today
to say I  hope she finds someone for me to look after very soon. :)

 

This picture came in my email. It just makes me happy.

 

 

                            No idea who this is- it's another email picture, but I love it!

Don't know who to give credit to for this picture either, but I LOVE it!!  Don't know how they all  ended up looking the same direction  at the same time, but it makes me smile.  Do you see the four  odd coloured ones?   xx debbie

FNSI

Thank you dear Wendy over at Sugarlane Quilts for hosting Friday Night Sew-In.   I always find it
sew inspiring to be sewing along with friends from all around the world!

I had plenty to choose from on Friday night, but this project needed some attention.  I am behind on the blocks, but I will just keep doing the best I can for now. Sometimes life gets in the way.

I am still working on Block 3.  This block is huge! I spent most of the evening trimming these 16 blocks of 1/4 square triangles.   This turned out to be a bit tiring...but it is still an important part of the process.

I finished trimming the 16 1/4 square triangle blocks.  Here they are laid out, but not yet sewn together.
They are meant to make four pinwheel blocks with the two sets of colours being a mirror image.
I am not sure if these are correct or not, but I see four pinwheels, and that works for me!! LOL.

I've had this ruler for years. I am finding it quite helpful with this project. There are a LOT of
half square triangles which means one must be careful of the bias.  This ruler has channels for
the rotary cutter, which means I can trim two sides of a block before I have to move it. Considering
that bias can be a bit delicate, I am happy to have this ruler here.

I am also making this quilt in a Batik version.  When I finished trimming those 16 blocks, I went through my pile of Batik fabrics.  These are what I chose for my other Block 3.

I hope you had a productive Friday night too! xx debbie

Quilty Weekend

After two weeks of no sewing due to pain from the blood draw, I was finally feeling better and couldn't wait to get back to it.  I had a great time playing with fabric all weekend.

I sewed the  Happy Dance blocks into a flimsy.  Now that I see it made, I am thinking it needs
a white border.  It only measures 23 inches square.

I am happy with the colourway, but I probably won't make this quilt again. I found ironing all
the seams on the back to be  tedious. I ironed along the way, but the further along I got, I was
messing up previous seams trying to iron the newer ones.

The binding is all ready for when I get back to it. It WAS  some odd peacock feather fabric :)

 

I am also working on catching up on this quiltalong.  I am making two quilts at the same time.

 

 

                                                              Here is one Block two

                                                  Here is the Batik version of Block two

Here are the pieces for Block 3 for one of the quilts.  I think this is going to be a BIG block!!
I have plenty of trimming to do before I can put it together and I haven't even chosen the fabrics for the Batik Block 3 yet.

I also finished off some machine quilting for two baby quilts and made more binding.

They are both ready for the binding to be sewn by hand, then in the wash for some quilty love before they will be on their way to someone else.   Hope you had a fun weekend too. xx debbie

Travelling Treasures Giveaway

Hi everyone, it is Travelling Treasures time again.  The parcel has been looked after this month by
dear Cheryll.  She has chosen what she would like to keep and added some new goodies.  You can
see a picture over at her blog.  She is also holding a FUN contest.  Please
pop over to her blog and play along for a chance to be the next winner.

If you don't know about Travelling Treasures, here is the story:

I would like to introduce you to an idea I have had for awhile.  I think it will be fun and I hope you will join in.  The original idea credit all goes to dear Melody.  Melody offers a chance to win a giveaway on her blog on the second Tuesday of the month that is called Tuesday Treasures.  I was her lucky winner a couple of months ago and I have made the needle case from the pattern and fabric she sent me.  Since I don't need the pattern any more, I've been thinking that it might be fun to pass it on. Squishy mail is always better than a flat envelope!

I will post the pattern from Melody and include a second pattern from me.
I  will add a fat quarter to get you started and a little notebook for you to sign with your address and blog address. I will keep to the same date as Tuesday Treasures (2nd Tuesday of the month) to act as a reminder and avoid confusion. 

You can keep either or both patterns.  One month later, (Tuesday Treasure time), send any two patterns, a fat quarter, and the notebook along to the next person.  Offer a giveaway on your blog, then send the goodies on to your winner.  You can have a contest or use random # generator. 

To join in, you need to have a blog or a friend that will post an update on their blog for you.

Feel free to grab the button.  



 


Thanks for  all the well wishes about my arm.  I am hoping to sew tomorrow for the first time in two weeks!!

Boy 5 went back to his family yesterday.  Will let you know when I am expecting !!

xx debbie