Its been 7 Months..

To my faithful readers I apologize for not posting in the past 7 months... life's just been so busy I barely check my email..

I've been quilting like mad lately and working as usual the trophy shop. I need a full time job if anyone is hiring: I have an English degree which means I can read and write and think so feel free to throw job options at me!

My sister is recovering nicely- we just celebrated her 7th month post surgery- and hoping to be med-free in another 5 months :)

I will throw some pics of my recent quilts up on here as soon as I can get my cell phone to let them go...

Now for more exciting news :  I'm Engaged!!!!

Yep that's right, it finally happened :) On September 27th in Niagara falls... We were attending a Conference put on by Branches Catholic Ministries called Regernate(d) and the Holy Spirit inspired my beloved into action. I am now the proud of wearer of a wonderfully nontraditionally gorgeous aquamarine stone <3 Will put up a pic or two soon I promise!

Hope you got your fill of Turkey... I can't believe Winter is Coming :(

<3 C

My sister Tania..

Today my sister Tania underwent brain surgery to make herself seizure free.. it was a success! The surgeon even commented that he wished all of the cases were like hers, everything was so perfect and right. Thank you Lord Jesus for all the gifts you give us.. for the love you have for us.. for the surgeons intelligence and steady hands.. for my sister's courage and strength.. for her husband's understanding and patience.

Father grant them both peace tonight. Amen.
God is so good! So great is our God! We bow down to You gracious Lord and thank you with all our heart's.

Join us in continuing to pray for Tania and Pedro her husband, during her recovery this week.

♡

First post of the new year..

Well it's February 1st 2014 and I can't believe how quickly we transitioned into this year.

I didn't give you a 2013 Christmas recap like I usually do each year.. things have just been too busy. I spent most of my time quilting and even then, I still haven't finished some of my pre-Xmas projects. I've also been working and writing since this past November and let me tell you I could use a vacation!

Things in the trophy shop are alright.. my boss went away again to someplace hot and I was dealing with the shenanigans of customer service again. Thankfully my coworkers are great *respect to the UT crew especially the after dark bunch* and we pulled through with minimal scrapes. If this week has taught me anything, it's that it really pays to be organized, and that you can't trust two things in the world of customer care: technology and customers. Our shop printer broke finally and had to be replaced at the end of the week, and we reached our 100mb storage space on the email- did you know that those still exist? If true.. certain companies (c****o) haven't come into the gigabyte age yet for email storage space. Incredible! The only bonus about technology this week is that I was able to click three times and a new printer was delivered to the shop and 10 clicks and a CD run set up later had it printing and behaving like a good lil' Brother should. Customers on the other hand aren't as easily fixable or replaceable. There's no point trusting them either.. it's like my boss says "nobody dies if  they don't get their trophy on time".  Why bother with setting a pick up date then? You're not go die? Why should I bend over backwards if they're not concerned?

Anyway.. it's been a long January and from the looks of it I'm gonna be hanging 'round the ol' scrap heap a little while longer.. seems no-one wants to hire an English major for a job that barely requires highschool. I need to find full time work though.. guess I just gotta keep trying. They've raised minimum wage were in ont. from 10.25 to $11 but it won't take effect til June. I'm hoping to find full time work for higher pay than that by then. *fingers crossed*

Well I guess that's all for now, Its time to sleep before my usual weekend insanity...

5 masses between now and 9pm Sunday night. Am praying I'll wake up without a voice tomorrow morning but I'm just not that lucky. 

♡

Adding to my sewing arsenal...

I started messing around with some basic quilting projects a while back- you may remember hearing about my very crazy attempt at a rag-quilt made out of jean patches for my sister and niece who live in MB..

If not then by now you've certainly read my post about the superman blanket for my bf... haven't you? It doesn't entirely qualify as a quilt, but rather as a hand pieced applique blanket. Either way...

Well I just completed my first true quilting project- a 3x3ft table square, which I have to say was not fun but very fulfilling. It started off a bit crazy, having to find a pattern for my quilt top (that's the top part and most intricate of the three layer "quilt sandwich") and then having to figure out the size for each small square plus how much border width i'd need to ensure it turned out a decent size post-quilting. I'm so very proud of myself for it and am so thankful that YouTube exists sometimes! Without the internet at large I never would have run into Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company who not only taught me what to do with a jellyroll, but inspired to me reach the finish line of my own jellyroll race- i'm not talking doughtnut here folks- to come out with a successful and attractive quilt top which i'll show you another time *teehee*.

The quilt pattern that I chose to use on this project is called The Drunkard's Path and is easily made up using circles that get sewn onto squares and cut into four pieces. Each pie shaped piece of 1/4 circle on 1/4 square gets used in a variety of directional ways to eventually make a pattern that is wobbly and curvy and interesting. Once I pieced out my pattern, sewed my centre "medallion" together- its one of the shapes you can make using the pieces for Drunkards Path- and figured out what to do with the bordering before attaching it all to a cotton backing that was pre-batted, the rest was easier than pie. While I understand that I cheated a little by using a piece of fabric with batting already sewed on, it saved me a lot of time and effort. Choosing and purchasing batting for quilts is harder than you may think... and for a project as small as this, I figured I could get the best out of both worlds when I found a festive cotton backed batting for $5 a meter at Fabricland and only had to get the full meter.  It definitely gave me an advantage and I was able to quickly learn how to work with this kind of fabric. 

The first two fabrics were used to make my quilt top
and the very red and gold fabric was my pre-batting'd backing.

Once the "3" pieces of my quilt sandwich were attached securely- remember quilt sandwiches are made up of 3 layers: the quilt top, the batting and the backing- I decided to "stitch in the ditch" since my quilt top had the seam lines running vertically and horizontally already from each of my attached squares- Id read that it adds extra security before quilting and I was not disappointed. From there I went on to apply a sort of basic wobbly quilting stitch that i'd watched some videos about.  The stitch I ended up doing comes from a meshing of two types of quilting stitch: a wobbly curving stitch called Stippling and another one that employs looping as its main attraction and is usually paired with heart shapes. I then cut my bias tape, with mediocre help from a male quilter on youtube- hold up! allow me to note here that I LOVE that men are quilting,I just didn't appreciate how vague this particular male quilter was- chain stitching each bias cut strip to make one long strip [Thanks Jenny@MSQ!!] which then got folded in half and ironed so it would stay put while I attached it to the edge of my quilted table square. 

Here are some pics of my step by step quilted Christmas table square.. Crazy right? 

Simplicity EZ Quilting Circle Cutter

What pretty circles it allows one to cut :)

I attached my circle to the square with a tight zig-zag stitch.

Then I cut it into four even quarters.

I started my Medallion from the middle outward.. this is the very centre.

and then I added on...

and added on...

and added on..

until I ran out of drunkard path squares.

Then I cut two small circles and
 another 6 small green squares to finish off the topper.

This is the reverse side.. looks kinda neat too

This was my first attempt at freemotion quilting on scraps.

I stippled and looped all over with my newly acquired free motion foot

This is my free motion quilting foot in motion :)

I wobbled and looped thread all over the green,
leaving the very centre for last and
ignoring the patterned fabric deliberately.

After filling in the centre of green space with my quilt pattern,
I attached my home made bias tape to the front side...

I tucked it around to the back and stitched again to finish.
The Finished Piece :)

Never in my life did I think I could create something like this, but I am so glad that I tried it because I am totally in love with quilting! I have made more trips to the fabric district of this city in the past 3 weeks then I have in my 5 years of machine sewing. For this project alone I made 3 trips for fabric and 2 trips for supplies. I purchased an extension table for my machine- which has not come in from Nova yet- along with the fabulous little free-motion quilting foot that is pictured above. I have bought another rotary blade: It's an 18" blade specifically designed for the circle cutter I have, and I had to buy it on Etsy.com because no one sells it in Canada and the Simplicity website won't ship here.. Thank you Alice from AliceInStitches!! And I bought a longer omnigrid see-thru ruler. Among countless spools of thread, and different quilters cottons, my new sewing room is holding up to "hurricane Quilty" that hit it this month *teehee*, and my Janome SUV1108 is getting a much needed workout :) 

Oh yeah... I converted the computer room into a usable sewing space- I got rid of the old broken futon and have some more fabric storage. More to come on that later..

I've got at least two more quilts to work through between now and Christmas Eve and I can't wait to get started!! I'm going to be doing a crazy drunkards path quilt for one of them, and the other is going to be either a basic 9 patch block quilt or a log cabin.. still not sure. The hardest part about quilting so far for me is coming up with the overall layout for my blocks. Anyway I hope to be posting again soon about it all.

If you don't have a hobby but would like one- budget depending- then you should try quilting.. it can be done by machine or by hand because honestly all you need is a strong needle, thread, scissors and fabric. The only downside to quilting is that it can be truly expensive by the time you've chosen your fabrics and bought your batting etc. But if your like most quilters you'll either do them to sell them or for people that you care about which makes it all worth while :) 

SO its onward and upward, to the cutting table I go, armed with rotary blade and circle cutter and determined to cut most of my block pieces before church tonight *hehe*. Thanks for reading..

XOXO

C 

Another year, another birthday... Im 24... im twenty-four... ^_^

Wow, another year has passed and it only felt like a weeks worth of time but here we are again.. another year older, another year wiser.. another year of trying to read, trying to write, trying to blog.. and another birthday.

I am twenty-four years old.. man what happened to being 20? There is something almost comical in birthdays, because you know that time is passing- every day is another number, and after 28 or 30 or 31 days its another month, another season.. and before you know it an entire 365 days has passed you by. The funny part is that we continue to both loathe and love that day, each year its exciting because the number of years that your on earth changes and yet its just like any other day. You attack your alarm clock for 5 minutes before dragging yourself into a 5 minute shampoo rinse- because you slept in again- then dress yourself and try to dry your hair in another 5 minutes before filling up your water bottle, throwing your scarf around your head and hoping you grab your purse on your hasty exit. Yet, there is something magically wonderful about your birthday day. I don't know if its just me but i couldn't help but be happy and giggly and cheery today.. and the sarcastic comments from your co-workers, or the "oh so your not open on Saturday" that comes from the other end of the telephone conversation you've have 50 times already can't get you down. I was whistling and humming and full on singing today... I felt very blessed today, and for the minute before opening the door to the trophy shop I stopped to thank God and reflect on the sky as I usually do- i'm stuck in a kind of hole building for 4 and a half hours right- and  it was warm and sunny and the sky was bright and blue today, 12 degrees Celsius and I couldn't help but be humbled in the beauty that the Lord gave me in this morning of this wonderful day.

I even got sung a beautiful rendition of the traditional happy b-day song by my 4 and a half year old niece that went something like "tante costoline a te" which translated to "many little rib-lits for (to) you" (because costlina = rib in italian). I got a fabulous Nightmare Before Christmas tee-shirt along with a hand-drawn picture of donald duck- also from my niece- and I was able to thank my mom for my life.. Id say its turning out to be a wonderful birthday. My bf and I even went to see The Priests in concert a few days ago,which was amazing and had been kept a super secret from me til 5 minutes before the show began and the night was incredible!! Now im going to be eating my favourite pasta of all time- pasta carbonara with big hunks of panchetta cuz we don't mess around- and spending the evening watching some good movies and enjoying some really great company.

I hope anyone else who shares my November 15th birthday is having as awesome a birthday- day as I am..

Thank you God for giving my mother the strength to bear me for 9 months and give me life 24 years ago.

Check out this years birthday Google doodle:

Another post about why I haven't been posting...

Yes i realize that my last post was a long time ago... I've been busy with work and reading a lot, and I lent my laptop out to my bf for school in September- do you know how tough it is for type an entire post on a little Samsung cell phone screen?? Touch screen texting is so not conducive to easy typing.

I've begun NaNoWriMo again and intend on achieving my 50k words but we shall see what happens as the month wears on. My new story is about a girl named Charlotte Hume who desperately seeks a home in which to plant her roots and has issues with commitment and relationships because of never having ancestral and familiar solidity. On top of it all, along with Hume manor, Charlotte inherits another set of mysterious gifts  from her great aunt- her sole relative and the previous inhabitant of the large estate- which make her life even more challenging. I'm 1000 words in and i'm slowly running out of days but I intend on making the best of it.  Did I mention that I'm writing it all into a notebook? Remember I lent my laptop out? And I don't think I've mentioned that my sister and niece are here visiting til November 20th from Manitoba... Obstacles will never stop me, gainsay who dares!!

I hope to be back up and blogging soon enough.. or at least in time to give you a post-autumn flash back in pictures before everything gets covered in white up here in the "true north..."

<3

What is it? Why, It's an Art Attack!

The other day at work my boss was showing me how to take the adhesive paper off of pre-cut Plexiglas and he was adamant about two things: not touching the glass on either side with your fingers once you've removed the paper, and making sure to pull the adhesive covering paper down slowly so that little particles don't fling onto the glass and get stuck. After having removed quite a lot of the protective adhesive papers, my boss walked by and decided to "show [me] something really neat you can do with the paper once you've removed it".  He slowly and fluidly removed the paper off one of the sides of a piece of Plexiglas and did so in a way in which allowed the paper to curl into a funnel. He then proceeded to throw it onto the workbench, and repeated these curling and throwing motions until he had lovely artsy looking pile. In case you are wondering, these protective adhesive papers are exactly what they sound like- sticky!  He then proceeded to tell me that he had once stacked up over 200 of the adhesive papers and that it really did look like a beautiful modern art sculpture.

I was intrigued by this and therefore began to make my own pile of these rolled papers until even I- a simple lowly inexperience trophy building serf was able to create my very own work of art.  Further inspired by the idea of off shapes and modern looking art piles, I also made a haphazardly constructed pile of engraved 1"x3"metal plates that I spent the majority of this morning "lifting" off of resin awards.

Check out my modern creations below, and feel free to comment/e-mail..

XOXO

Adhesive paper tower...
 yes its sitting on the very full shop garbage can.

Pile of engraved plates.
I call it... Scrap Metal.. lol

The paper is a brownish colour.. 

Close up of the engraving... 

Glorious B&W