Tag Archives: weather

Butterfly Stars Update

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Suddenly, the rows seem to be going together much quicker than the first one did. This is good news as I’d love to have this little top ready to quilt by the middle of February. I still need to make quite a few more stars, so will do that over the next couple of nights and then it will just be a matter of lovely continuous stitching as I add stars and then butterfly hexagons till it’s done. The six butterfly hexagons in the last row were joined within a couple of hours.


We’re having a charm swap on the Inklingo list of apple cores. More apple cores!! I can’t wait. More lovely curved piecing and what will hopefully be a true charm quilt.

Tuesday night it began to snow. And it snowed. And then it snowed some more. Lots and lots of snow. It was still snowing Wednesday afternoon, when I took these shots.



Lester doesn’t care — he’s cozy and comfy in his kitty bed.

Smudge is also quite unconcerned. Look at this extended paw!!


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Butterfly Stars

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This is the baby quilt at the beginning of the week. My goal is to have all of row 3 of the butterfly stitchery hexagons and the stars surrounding the bottom of them added by the end of this week. Then I’m right on track for having the piecing completed by mid-February.


It was bitterly cold here on Monday. It appears, from the forecast, that we’ve got 3 or 4 more days of this cold snap and then it starts to warm up. I’m hoping that this is it and that the rest of the winter will be a bit more temperate. I always think once we get through January that we’re through the worst of it. February is a short month and then we’re into March, which means warmer weather can’t be too far off. I hope.

Lester is happy in his favourite spot on the windowsill.

As is Smudge, curled up. Smudge got a very shaggy winter coat this year. Much more so than previous years, I think. I hope that’s not a sign that I’m way off in my hopes that this is the last cold snap of the winter.


Apple Cores and More

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As I had made some progress on Butterfly Stars during the week last week, I got to play with apple cores this weekend. Row 2 is now complete and I’ve started Row 3. I love how they’re turning out — but wish we could get better pictures. This time of year is hopeless!! There’s never good enough light!

The back of the section where row 3 has started. It is so easy to press these like this and it makes the whole thing lie wonderfully flat.

I was very, very glad I was a quilter this weekend. In the middle of the night Friday night/Saturday morning, the power went out. It was a bitterly cold night and very windy and it got quite cool in here pretty quickly. I piled some quilts on top of the duvet and it was toasty warm. However, the cats were quite upset. Smudge’s eyes were the size of saucers and he couldn’t settle. Lester just paced.

Thankfully, the power outage only lasted about two and a half hours. I didn’t sleep until the power came back on. I was really quite stunned at how quickly it got very cold in here. I suppose facing north on a very windy night when the wind chill is around -25 had something to do with it.

Edited to add: There was nothing on the news about the power outage, no information on the power provider’s Web site — nothing to be found anywhere! So I have e-mailed the service provider to find out what happened.

Lester, getting a warmed-up tummy from the heat:


Smudge, in one of his poses. And they are poses — he knows he’s being photographed.


See? Same pose, same time, different angle for photograph. He has an eye open watching us to make sure we’re admiring/taking photos/whatever.


Butterfly Stars and Apple Cores

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I didn’t quite make my goal of having row 2 done by the end of the week but I do have all the little butterfly embroidery blocks done for row 2 and a good start on those for row 3.


I just cannot seem to stop myself from working with those apple cores! If I’m not piecing them, I’m cutting them out. Even cutting them out is fun and looking at the little stack of apple cores growing is quite satisfying.


It is bitterly cold here. We have wind chill values in the range of -25 or so. I think we’re supposed to start seeing something more bearable sometime tomorrow night or Sunday. There has been a power outage in part of the city and there are something like 5,000 homes right now without electricity and heat. The city has set up warming shelters and is getting people to them. The subway system has been affected quite a bit as well. Apparently the morning rush hour was a nightmare with shuttle buses being utilized along the route of the subway to get people through the city. Makes me very glad I work from home!

I have my computer set up by the window. Normally, this is perfect. In weather like this? Not so wonderful. We face north, which is great in the summer, but not so great when the wind is blowing and the temperatures are this low. I can actually feel a difference in the temperature between sitting here and further away from the window. Guess I’ll wrap a quilt around my legs while working this afternoon.

Lester doesn’t care how cold it is. He perches on the windowsill above the hot air and is quite comfortable.


Smudge, on the other hand, just treats us to yet another of his crazy poses and sleeps.

Butterflies and Snow

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Last night I started on the little butterfly hexagons for the stars. These are 2″ hexagons from the very first Inklingo collection. I’ve used an inexpensive white muslin behind the white on white on which the hexagons are printed and love the fact that that will successfully stop any shadowing through of the threads.

Hopefully, tonight I’ll get at least one or two hexagons joined with the stars.

What did we wake up to? Snow. Lots and lots of snow. It’ still snowing. It started snowing around 10:00 last night and it is still coming down. It’s pretty but I think it’s more than we were expecting. Right now, the snowflakes that are falling are huge! True winter wonderland. The trees now have that dipped in icing sugar look.



Lester on the windowsill.

Smudge, in one of his endless poses.


And Still Madly Stitching

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Remember this picture of 3 stacks of pieces?

It’s now down to this — one little stack and maybe one-fifth of the second stack. I can finish the last piece tonight and the third? Well, I figure I will get up tomorrow morning, throw some Christmas movie on and sit and stitch and stitch and stitch. Then baste the 3 sometime tomorrow night. Get up on Wednesday and quilt and put the binding on them. It may be a tight squeeze but I think I can do it.


It snowed and snowed over the weekend. This was how it looked Saturday morning. The sun was out and it looked nice — but it was bitterly cold. Wind chill values of -23C aren’t fun.

Then yesterday — more snow. The picture may look a bit grainy but that’s because the snow was falling as I took this.

It is supposed to get much much milder tomorrow and Wednesday and we may even have some rain to help wash away some of this snow.

Lester is fine. That in itself is a huge Christmas gift. It’s been a bit cold for the windowsill so curling up in a comfy chair seems to be his choice right now.


Now to finish work and then I’ll be stitching!

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Snow, Snow and More Snow

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It snowed yesterday. And snowed.

And snowed some more. It started at daybreak and went on till about 6:00 p.m. The roads were apparently a nightmare, the commuter trains were delayed and/or cancelled, flights were cancelled, offices closed early. The wind chill value was around -23.


The worst of it? There’s more coming starting tonight. We have yet another storm warning for another “significant” storm that will start sometime tonight and go on through tomorrow.

We took advantage of it last night and went downstairs to the retail mall to do some last-minute shopping. We tend to buy a lot of books as gifts. Normally, the last Friday night before Christmas the line-ups at the bookstore would be unbelievably long. Last night? Last night we had our choice of cashiers, no crowds in the store and line-ups at all. May do the final bits of shopping tomorrow. The storm may hit but, when we don’t have to go outside to finish up the shopping, we won’t mind!

The kitties don’t worry about the weather. Smudge:

Lester, curled up and very cozy in his kitty bed. He seems to be fine, no repeat of that coughing or whatever it was.

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Another Snow Crystal and …

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… snow. Real snow. It’s too early!! This was the roof garden around 2:30 yesterday afternoon. Just a little snow.

Around midnight last night. A little more snow.

This morning. Lots more snow.

I love the look of the snow on the tree limbs — almost like they’ve been dipped in icing sugar. But that wears off real fast. I’d much rather the snow left now and didn’t come back!

This is my kind of snow crystal. One doesn’t need boots and a coat and gloves, scarf and a hat to appreciate this snow crystal.

The kitties before the snow began to fall. I don’t think they like it all that much either — they have not been in the window watching the snow at all!


Another Snow Crystal

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… is finished. I love this pink. I wish I knew what it was as I would search for more of it. This in itself would make a fantastic deep pink and white quilt. Working with it has been fabulous — it has a wonderful feel.

The back of these blocks is as much fun, to me, as the front. Finger pressing as I stitch the block makes the final pressing go very very quickly.

Smudge, looking reflective. Lately he’s turning into a snuggle cat at night. He glues himself to my side and it’s almost impossible to move! If I try to move him, a paw comes out to give me a not-so-gentle reminder that he does not want to be moved!


We’re going to have a glorious week, by the sounds of it, with temperatures in the 60’s. How wonderful for the first week of November! Environment Canada released their long-range forecast for the winter and they’re saying (not that I believe this totally) that we will have a mild winter with much less snow than last year. Their forecast for the summer was way off, so I’m hoping that their winter one is at least mostly right. It would be fantastic to have a mild winter.

Fabric Snow Crystals …

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… as opposed to the real thing! Yesterday we saw a few white flakes drifting past the window. I decided the clouds must have dandruff as the thought of snow in October when there are still green leaves on the trees is not something with which I can cope. Winter is my least favourite season so thinking it was off to such an early start was terrible. This is odd weather that we’re having. Yesterday cold, windy and white flakes and last night it went down to, they say, -2C. Today and for the next week or so, highs in the 13 to 14C range.

The latest Snow Crystal block is finished. They’re fast to put together and, thanks to the different pinks in each block, I am not getting the least bit bored making them.


Pressing this one was a bit challenging. Interesting how some fabrics press differently, even though they’re all cotton. I think I may have to use a bit of steam on this one to tame a few of the seam allowances and get them to lie really flat.


This will be the next snow crystal block. I love the richness of this pink.

Can you imagine being this relaxed? Smudge sleeps like this a lot but last night was hysterical. We noticed the pose, went to get the camera and saw that Smudge had an eye open, watching to make sure we were about to take his photo. He held the pose till we had. He sure loves having his picture taken.