A new technology affair and some quilting

Where have I been??

I have fallen in LOVE...with an iPad. (Yes...I realize that this may make me sound like I have my priorities out of whack....and YES, I do know that it is not a person...but I still have a deep affection for my iPad). This is the first big tech item that I have ever purchased for myself, and man is it FUN!


Also...have you discovered Pinterest yet? If you are a visual person (like me) then this is the place for you. It is essentially an on-line version of an "ideas" bulletin board. So much inspiration! You can find me on Pinterest here. The combination of the iPad and Pinterest together is deadly. It's like a time sucking vortex. You have been warned.

In spite of all of the summer time spent with my family and iPad, I have managed to complete some crafting. A long time family friend had a baby this month. I didn't know if the baby was to be a boy or girl, but I did know that her parents like colour!

Tada!
Close up (with polka dot binding):


The back (you can see that I opted for my usual favourite - straight line quilting 1/4" on either side of the seams):
This quilt definitely delivers on the colour front! I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I hope that baby Marion and her parents like it as much as I do.

X-Stitched lemonade from a lemon

I made this cross stitch at Christmas for one of my very dear and crafty friends.

I had plans to wrap the finished cross stitch over an artists canvas, as I had done with some pieces for the craft show last year. I like how it makes the cross stitch look really simple, clean and a bit more modern (cross stitch can easily walk the line into the dreaded "quaint" territory!).

The problem??? Once again my lack of planning. I thought that I was being clever in using up an end piece of aida cloth (the fabric used for cross stitch). I thought that it was just "the right size". I thought wrong - AGAIN. Hmmm...Why do I always feel the need to "feature" my crafty mistakes???

This does not make for a pretty, modern, clean edge at all. Behold...the Frankenstein of cross stitch!

I set this monstrosity aside and did not deliver in time for Christmas. I just couldn't stomach what my lovely cross-stitch had become (visualize a dramatic crafter with her had placed dramatically on her forehead here).

When I was finally ready to revisit this project, I was able to adopt a more reasonable approach. I decided to do what is done with all major flaws - cover them up!

I made a strip of fabric and wrapped it around the canvas, sort of like a quilt binding. In the end, I rather like how it turned out!

That is what I love about the hand made...It forces me to get over my "imagined" perfect ending and make the best with what I've got. From Frankenstein to an extra excuse to add fabric to a project. Hmmm....there could be a lesson for me to apply to my life in this....

PS - Martha is doing a cross-stitch feature in her March issue. Find a preview here.

Where art thou spring??

OK, so it looks like this outside this afternoon:

Sadly, this is an improvement from this morning when there were big, wet snowflakes falling from the sky. Snow is lovely in December....and generally I love winter - truly I do, but I think that I am over winter now. So very over. Over the grey, over the snowsuits, over the mushy and mucky snow, and sooo over the flu and colds that seem to proliferate during the winter! (can you tell that I am down with another flu????).

To combat the winter that it raging outside our window, we have moved spring indoors! My lovely mother came for a visit and we spent some time at our favourite flower shop. We just couldn't resist bringing a few bits of spring loveliness home with us...

These beauties were purchased for my mother's arrival. I don't think that there is anybody who appreciates tulips more than my mother (and truly...what's not to love?!):



Isn't this little arrangement scrumptious???!:



And finally, we couldn't resist this:


Ahhhh....Spring is coming my friends! May it come very soon.

How the other half lives...

Don't you just love seeing how other people decorate/live in their home?

I love looking at our local real estate website to see how people decorate their homes (let's face it, generally people are presenting their homes at their best when they are for sale). I also love this site for partly voyeuristic, partly inspirational reasons.

I was particularly taken with this inspiring house tour. I have had to go back 3 or 4 times just to admire. You may recall that I recently repainted my "oh-so-dreary-came-with-the-house" beige living room and dining room. I like to think of it as the first step to creating a space that feels at least a little bit like Christine's. (c'mon....at least a little bit!!!).

The blue looks much more grey in this picture than it is in real life (there is just no natural light in Ottawa in the winter!).

Be sure to go take an inspirational tour...then you will understand how I intend to live!

My mother is coming for a visit later this month...perhaps that will inspire me to get more organized and decorated? (hmmm....somewhat doubtful, but hope springs eternal!)