hunkered down .....

Last weekend was cold and blustery so we hunkered down indoors and this was what I occupied myself with .....

and these .......

  The mice are Helen's pattern.

I also tried my hand, with great success, at making spreadable butter just by adding canola oil and since we had some Meyer lemons I made up another jar of lemon curd that is so good we could eat it by the spoonful!! 

And what did Little Dog do,  you ask?  Since it was too cold for her to be outdoors for any length of time this was her favourite spot .....

the eye of the needle ....

The eye of the needle seems to be smaller these days and the needle seems to need re-threading more often ....... some days stitching and/or hand sewing is frustrating.

I've been doing more sewing and made another pair of knit pants.  I'm on a roll since I have a good pattern and some knit fabric.

I decided to do less cross stitching since I already have so many stitched pieces and work on something different.  This door hanger is my latest project  along with the angel stitchery.  The door hanger is already hanging up and I'm not sure how I'm going to finish the angel - there are a few options rolling around in my head.  The door hanger would be nice appliqued - something to think about for the next one.  I 'grunged' it with cinnamon so that it smells nice.... The Man of the House commented that he could smell something baking - silly man.

This is officially seed catalogue time in our neck of the woods - we start dreaming about and planning our gardens for spring.  I've spent a few hours with this catalogue and I'm ready to order. 

feels like spring ....

It has warmed up so much that it feels like spring! 

 That put me in the mood to use some flowery fabric to make a box .... when I was done it reminded me of a tulip.   The fabric I used is 'Scrumptious' by Moda and lives up to it's name. 

  You'll find a fabulous tutorial here.

The Man of the House is painting the wall along the stairs to the basement and we need something to break up the expanse of the wall so we looked through our pictures and decided these two would be just right. Unfortunately, the stitching needed to be removed from the frames, pressed well, and framed again.  The lily was stitched in 1990 and the rose in 1991 ... they're almost vintage.   The designs were featured in a magazine such as Cross Quick.  The aida cloth that I used is such a nice soft fabric that I can't seem to buy today.

what's a girl to do ....

What's a girl to do when it's extremely cold but stay indoors where it's warm and sew.  Of course, after browsing Pinterest and seeing this cute Japanese kimono I had to make one! It's not quite perfection but .... it is what it is.

Here's where you'll find a  tutorial.

By the way, the weather is starting to warm up considerably and we call it the "January Thaw" - here's hoping this one lasts a long time.

A couple of finishes this month include a birthday card for a
 friend and an ornie honouring Nigel, the cottage squirrel.

a doll of a quilt ....

Mariana  sent me her doll quilt pattern a few weeks ago and I made one just before the end of the year  -  the vintage bunny is just the cutest!!!!  I know that I'll be making more of these.

The cold weather continues and 'they' have suggested that it will be with us through to the end of January - ugh. 

 Just now I'm reading this book and it's a fabulous read.  It's described as riveting and gruesome, which it is and I will add humorous to that description.  This is the first time I've read this author and I'm captivated.  This is his first novel (at least with this character) and I cannot imagine how he could improve. 

Whilst putting away our Christmas décor I decided it was time to empty my 'orts' - I believe that's what these bits and pieces of thread are called.  This collection has been building up since October and was well packed.