Friendship – Page 2 – Juanita Collins

April 11, 2015April 11, 2015

The Joyful letter J

Wishing you a joyful Saturday. I hope you spend today doing something that makes you happy.

This morning Mr C and I are enjoying a good visit with old friends…good coffee and good conversation, lots of laughter. Later we’ll be celebrating our son’s birthday with my sisters & brothers-in-law. Good food, good conversation. Laughter – lots of laughter. And cake! Today will be a joyful day from start to finish.

What brings you joy?

I’m participating in the Blogging From A-Z challenge. One blog post for each letter of the alphabet, each day of April (except Sunday).

April 10, 2015April 10, 2015

I Got Rhythm

This is my friend Colleen McCarthy on the trombone in I Got Rhythm with The Big Band in Whitehorse, Yukon.

She really rocks this number. Enjoy!

I’m participating in the Blogging From A-Z challenge. One blog post for each letter of the alphabet, each day of April (except Sunday).

February 10, 2015

Thankful for Rick Rack: The Simple Woman’s Day Book, January Edition

Today I am taking part in The Simple Woman’s Daybook. I haven’t done it for awhile. Today seems like a good day for it. Check out the link to see what other simple women are up to today. And if you’re a blogger, join in! 🙂

Outside my window… The sky and the lake are both the same colour. Fog obscures the far shore. Everything is shrouded and still.

I am thinking… about how I am procrastinating this morning. I mean to wash the floors but keep finding other things to do first. Like this blog entry. And how I couldn’t do anything (even get dressed!) until I sewed a bag. And my fiction story is waiting for me. I would prefer to devote the majority of my day today to it. And I just might do that! Who needs clean floors, anyway? (insert shifty-eyed emoticon here)

I am thankful…for the love of my husband and the care of my friends and my laptop and the web. And for pink shoes. And rick rack. Definitely thankful for rick rack this morning!

In the kitchen…no mess! Nothing baking, nothing cooking. Just the kettle waiting to be filled.

I am wearing…leggings and my funky green baby-doll top, my favourite brown sweater that could really stand to be new (but maybe that’s why it’s my favourite – well used/loved), beige & brown polka dot socks and my birks. and a good collection of loose threads. Insulation, you know!

I am creating… a bag! I needed a bag for the Friendship Garden Quilt that I finished (click the link to see it) and just happened to have some happy denim-like sunflower fabric that I got at the thrift store that actually kind of matches the quilt! But I had some bobbin tension issues…

Ta da! Rick rack to the rescue!

The bag looked kind of small. Would the quilt fit?

The pattern is from The Green Bag Lady. I changed up the pattern a bit…4″ straps instead of 3″ and I used French seams.

I am going…to the Big Band Valentine’s Day dance in Whitehorse on Saturday! Pink shoes, you know. Just sayin’.

I am wondering…who of my old friends will be there to dance with me? 🙂 …And also what it would be like to write a song. My friend Fawn Fritzen, who is an awesome singer, is taking part in FAWM (sort of like NaNoWriMo except it’s February Album Writing Month) where she has to write 15 songs during the month of February. It would be fun to write a song together, except maybe more fun for me than for Fawn, lol! since I have never written a song in my life and can’t sing a note to save it!

I am reading…Festive in Death by J.D.Robb. I checked it out from the library and it is due tomorrow!

I am hoping…that I can finish this book tonight! Shouldn’t be a problem…I love J.D.Robb’s Eve Dallas stories. 🙂 (did you know that J.D.Robb is actually Nora Roberts? Such a versatile author! And prolific…eee gads, that gal can write!)

I am looking forward to…spending time at the Fox Lake cabin. Really looking forward to it. I want to walk in the door and not walk out again for days and days. I love it there so much!

I am learning…always.

Around the house…dust bunnies to sweep. kitty and doggy footprints to mop, a rug to vacuum, a bathroom to polish.

I am pondering…whether I should sign up for a free Open University Future Learn course called Start Writing Fiction, which focuses on the central skill of creating characters. It’s 8 weeks long and starts at the end of April. Only 3 hours per week, but I am so slow, I know I will need to devote more time than that to it. I should sign up for this. Yes, I should. But I’ve never taken one of these free Open University courses before. Have you?

A favorite quote for today…“If we walk far enough,” says Dorothy, “we shall sometime come to someplace.”
― L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

One of my favorite things…cold left over pizza and tea, earl grey, hot – for breakfast! Served with a good book in a corner of the couch and don’t talk to me until I’m done!

A few plans for the rest of the week…Spend time writing on my fiction piece. I need to get another couple of chapters ready to send to my two critique partners, Holly and Lisa. And I’ve got Holly’s chapters to read and make comments on. Plus, I am determined to make 14 (yes, I said fourteen) baby elephants for the elephant-a-long that I’m participating in. 🙂 Here are the momma and daddy elephants:

A peek into my day…because no matter else what I may or may not do today, writing is at the top of the list. 🙂

and this:

with a good dose of this little guy who will need to go for a walk.

What are you doing today?

February 1, 2015

Slow Stitching Sunday

Today is one of those honest, old-fashioned lazy days. The kind we always wish we could have. The kind we imagine we used to have, back in the good old days, whenever those were. Of course, we can’t actually remember any specific lazy Sundays. But they must have existed, right? Because we remember them.

Maybe they don’t happen very often. Maybe that’s why they’re so special. Like today.

Outside my window the snow is falling and everything is covered in drifting white. The wind is ringing the chimes outside the front door. I have a cup of tea at my elbow and Mr. C is ~~snoozing~~ reading on the couch while our fur babies enjoy a group snuggle in front of the fire.

Today I did not get up with any particular agenda in mind. I may spend some time with my latest hand quilting project. This little quilt is so sweet. I’m quilting white-on-white because I want the quilt to look embossed when finished.

If you’re interested in quilting by hand, I’m using 40 weight YLI quilting thread in “natural” and John James size 10 hand quilting needles. I’m also quilting it directly in my hands instead of using a hoop or a frame. I’m also using a product called Thimble Pads on my pushing finger: little sticky leather dots. I love them.

I’m really enjoying quilting directly in my hands this way. I don’t know if I’ll go back to using a hoop after this. My stitches are a bit coarser, but they’ll improve with practice.

Other news: my critiques are all in from my little critique group. I will probably spend some time looking at them. Or maybe not.Maybe I’ll save those for tomorrow, because I know that once I open them I’m going to want to get busy with edits. I won’t be able to help myself. And that sounds like work. Not worthy for such a deliciously lazy day.

Later on my friend Cynde is coming over and we’re going to eat some of the apple cake that I made yesterday (recipe here), drink tea and watch a Craftsy class together.

Oh dear. I’m sorry I disturbed you, Sam!

Today I’m linking in with Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy’s Quilts, and at Lily’s Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet. And that’s all the work I’m going to do.

I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday as much as I am enjoying mine. Are you being lazy, too?

January 19, 2015February 4, 2015

The Friendship Garden Quilt

Warning: this post is photo intensive!

Let me introduce you to The Friendship Garden Quilt!

It comes by its name honestly, because it started out life as a bee block!

I am part of a Flickr group quilting bee with 5 other ladies. We call ourselves We Bee Canadian. We each make 2 blocks for the month’s Queen Bee.

When it was my month to pick a block (a couple of years ago!), I asked everyone to please make me two bow tie blocks using garden-themed fabric.

Because we were all pretty much beginners, nobody’s 1/4″ seams were very good and the blocks didn’t square up very well. There were an awful lot of mismatched seams.

Then I had an idea!

I decided to cover some of the wonky seams with English paper pieced rosettes. Perfect! Before you knew it, I had hand-appliqued a flower in every single blank square, wonky or not!

Because a garden should be an absolute riot of colour, don’t you agree?

I used a bed sheet on the back. I think it would qualify as a vintage sheet. I remember having sheets like this on my bed in the 70s.

The quilt is hand quilted in circles.

I don’t think I’ll try to do hand quilting through a bed sheet again. I actually bent needles and had to use pliers to pull the needle through the layers. Ouch!

Mr. C. did a marvelous job behind the scenes, don’t you think?

I used black for the binding to set off the colours. Oh, how I love this quilt! It is so cheerful and bright and sunny! A bit of summer in the depths of winter.

I hope it will be as loved in its new home as it is in mine 🙂

These photos were taken at the sweet little Notch Hill Community Hall and Church on the only sunny day in January.

Linking up with the binding blitz at Julie Quilts and Lets Bee Social at SewFreshQuilts.

October 10, 2014

A Yardstick and a Sneak Peak

I have the most wonderful husband in the world. Have I ever told you that?

“Honey, do we have a yardstick?”
“Nope! I don’t think they even make them anymore.”
“Oh.”
“Why? Do you need one?”
“I need something to measure my hem from the floor”
“Do you want me to make you one?”

Aaaand…he knows how to use it!

He’s a gem.

I think I’ll keep him!

And now for the sneak peak: