Still searching for Inspiration...

After about a month of snow one longs to see the color of spring- Bruce brought this pot of Narcissus to brighten up our winter table. Today it is snowing outside and the weather remains reasonably mild for an Alberta winter.

We went off to see the Edmonton Oilers lose to the Dallas Stars on Friday night.(Unfortunately the Oilers are not the place to find inspiration right now- they are on a lengthy losing streak and currently in the basement of the league). The tickets were a surprise gift to my husband(from a group of friends) and I was the beneficiary of a date with my spouse. It was a nice way to spend the evening even if the boys did lose! We stopped to have dinner at a favorite local Vietnamese restaurant where we enjoyed noodles, vegetables, shrimp and spring rolls. Yummy!!

Bruce and I have been to hundreds of hockey games over the years - both NHL games( the professional league) and to community level where our son played from the time he was 5 until he was 18. Kevin no longer plays in a league but often heads down to the local community rink to skate and play a pickup game.

Here is a shot of my dining room table - covered with quilty things - some current magazines (some interesting projects but nothing that said choose me now. You can see some blocks that I am working on ( more wonky tiles).
I finished about a dozen more of them and will soon have enough to make a couch quilt for a friend. While they are pretty and I am sure the quilt will be lovely - it is not a new project. Still it is a start ...

Margaret of a bit of Kaos sent me this lovely pink piece of Asian fabric along with a wonderful quilt daytimer and Australian magazine - some wonderful patterns to view and interesting articles to read. Thank you for your generous gift Margaret- it was such a lovely giveaway prize.
Kati Cupcake is having a giveaway of these beautiful fat quarters- GO soon and check it out..


I have been doing a bit of organizing of fabric and my bead collection. These two bags hold plastic trays with beads of different sizes. I bought a second bag because my first bag of five trays was overflowing and I couldn't find anything in them. While the new one is pretty full, it is so much easier to find the colors and beads that I am looking for.

The photograph is of my great grandparents on their wedding day around 1900.My aunt gave it to me not long ago and I think I know where I am going to hang it.
A friend gave me a coupon to a local bead store who was having a great sale on most of their beads. I bought some wonderful stone beads( jasper, rose quartz, tiger glass and amethyst) as well as bali copper and silver. Wonderful things to make bracelets and earrings and pendants- I just need to start playing with them...


This poor wrinkled pillowcase is my first log cabin quilt made over twenty years ago. It was almost in total tatters so I decided to rescue it. While its not perfect and will probably not last much longer,I have returned it to a more useful state. Strange isn't it, that I could probably make a new pillowcase in the time it took to repair all the little tears in the seams. It just needs a good pressing and will be loved for awhile longer. Somehow it seemed more important to repair it than just toss it away.

Speaking of old things- Did you know that if you lived in the early 1700's and wore cotton you might have been burned on the street?
Some boy, who was paid a penny,and found you walking on a dark street would have come up to you and started your dress on fire because it was made of cotton rather than wool. This information came from an interesting article that I read this morning in our local newspaper about the Cotton Riots during the 1720's.

Here is a quote from today's article taken from August 13,1720.
A quote from Applebee's orginal Weekly Journal -August 13,1720 in Gloucester England:
"Thomas Singer an officer of the Excise of Bristol was try's for killing a Weaver and was found guilty of Manslaughter only: because he did it in defence of his Wife who was assaulted by a gang of weavers who tore her Callacoe Cloths off and used her very unmercifully ..."
more snippets like this can be found under
snippets of history from 18th century newspaper by going to edmontonjournal.com/education

Cotton was first available in the early 1500's from India. If you are interested in the history of cotton and designs to check out Barbara Brackman's blog on my blog list.
Perhaps these templates are what I am looking for - to inspire or get my
mojo firing .... HMMMMMMMM

So here I am, it is nearly the end of January with not much quilty to show you. I have spent a good deal of time looking at magazines and patterns. I am still searching for a pattern for a family member. I am not sure what I am looking for and don't know what I am going to make- I see many beautiful fabrics in my stash, and on line, but I am waiting for one to grab me -- so far no such luck.. Some patterns I have been looking at, are Mumbo Jumbo and Bento box... even Storm at Sea... The problem is not enough choices but just the opposite..There are so many gorgeous fabrics and patterns that it makes it hard to choose.. So if you know of a pattern that is suitable for a man who lives by the sea and loves to cook- let me know...

My quilt Mojo seems to be hibernating somewhere- if you see it, will you please send back to me? :O)

In the meantime, Happy Quilting!
Warmest regards,
Anna