What AM I doing Today in the World?

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LovelyLadyLux
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Off for a conference sponsored by RCMP for all Block Watch Captains. Going to get updates on Organized Crime in the city, Gangs, Homeless issue, demonstration by one of their Police Dogs. Going to be interesting.


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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by Grandad »

The most important event today was my wife's eye appointment this morning. Her eye injection regime is anything fro 4 to 6 weeks frequency depending on the scan. We are planning to take a short break in 5 weeks so we were on tenterhooks until her eye was scanned. Happily the condition is under control so next injection in 6 weeks. That will be injection #53 in that eye :o
I am hoping to have something to tell you about after our trip 'Oop North' ;) :up
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Community "Safety Meeting" today held at the Golf Course (they have a large conference room there) so am heading over early to the Restaurant for breakfast and meeting up with a gf and her husband who are also going to the meeting.

Other than that I got another quilt sandwiched together yesterday and started to quilt it which brings me to a question for Ruby Slippers. Do you use cotton thread or polyester thread? I'm running out of black thread and need to buy more and don't want to wait 'til I get to the States again. Cotton thread here costs a mint but polyester thread price-wise isn't too bad. Does polyester thread work for quilts?
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by Kiya »

Grandad glad to hear Mrs G is ok to go, bring back lots o' photos :)
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Not too sure what all I'm doing today. Have been watching TV and following our Gov't starting to fall apart with the abrupt resignation of yet another Senior Cabinet Minister over concerns of corruption. Election time is going to be October this year and hopefully our current PM will be gone. As per statistics he has given away more $$ than all other Prime Ministers combined to the detriment of Canadians. It will take our Grandchildren to reach age 60 before they pay off what this man has squandered away.

On another note weather is still cool and crisp. Can't garden yet as snow still blankets everything although all the spring plants and bulbs are arriving.

Mardi Gras events are happening however we're not big on it as an event.

I guess I could start to clean and sort through a few rooms here but :tk :tk Nah......will have to think on something else to amuse me to do today.
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by Mad Dilys »

I use a rule of thumb as an employer that for every 13 employees to expect there will be at least one not entirely honest. I guess it's the same for politicians but I hadn't thought of it before. ;)
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Broke down yesterday - probably too early weather wise but I bought a hardy Holly Fern yesterday. Couldn't help but go and look through the local Garden Center and they had a new tray with 4 of these so I took one. It said these ferns do well in deep shade so I thought "Perfecto" I can plant it outside under the stairs off the deck with gets a bit of dappled sun in the morning but otherwise is pretty shady. It can grow up to 1 meter high. The photo on the card looked interesting so am hoping the fern looks equally impressive growing in the ground. Now to keep it going & growing until the snow melts and the ground unfreezes.

I also dug out the begonia tuber from last year and planted it. I only had 1 pot in the house that was quite wide so I also sprinkled a few Hellebore seeds on the other half of the pot. I want to get a couple Hellebores but here they are ridiculously expensive. Hopefully I can get a couple going from seed. I think they're quite beautiful plants and I just might have to break down and buy one (just hope I can avoid the temptation until growing season starts).

The plan today is to finish a quilt however am pretty immersed in listening to all the testimony on TV of our Gov't people who have abruptly resigned.
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by Grandad »

I have said in the past and I repeat here and now. 'I do not have green fingers and have only minimal interest in growing plants'. however.....
Nearly 2 years ago I purchased Amaryllis Minerva from Amazon, followed the instructions, and it never showed any sign of life. I binned it then rescued and potted it about a year ago and left it on the bench of my north facing workshop.
I did have Amaryllis Red Lion which bloomed eventually early last year. I cut this right back and left that on the bench behind a cold north facing window.
I didn't even water them but about a week ago BOTH started shooting so now I am taking interest in them and nurturing them......

Also last year I had three tomato plants that yielded an abundance of fruit. We prefer smaller cherry types and I bought a packet of seed which I sowed in a tray yesterday.........watch this space I suppose. ;) :lol:
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

@Grandad - I still find it a bit baffling that your amaryllis didn't just grow as any I've ever bought can't be stopped once they start to move. I now have 2 in the garage. The one from 2 yrs ago (Super Star) and the one (Minerva) from this past Christmas. They're now just sitting and drying and resting however the bulbs have shrunk in size. I'm going to knock the dirt off them shortly, dry them out and then will re-pot them to start growing this fall but am not too sure what they'll do. I actually do not want them to bloom I just want them to get a bit stronger.

I know I posted on my other post that I'm still on the fence re: orchid however I just moved the yellowing orchid when I went into the kitchen to get another coffee and the leaves fell off soooooooo I've not just made a trip to the bin cause there isn't much to really save. Not going to keep a small stump in a pot. I don't mind letting something linger but the plant obvious decided to off itself! ;)

Down to 3 orchids now however the biggest one is setting out new flower stems from the old ones. These new stems are only about 3" long but will hopefully FINALLY produce flowers!

On another note - am on the run today. This morning I go to Probus (short for Professional Business) which is a group of about 225 retired people. Every month there is a speaker and coffee then a business meeting and this groups also does a whole host of other activities you have to sign up for. Not that I go to many of these - I've enjoyed the craft days but they offer cards (Canasta, Bridge, Euchre etc), Board Games (am thinking of going to the Scrabble afternoons), Hum 'n Strum, Women's Luncheons, Garden Club, Golf golf and more golf, Pub nights and another one called "Appy's & Appetizers" whereby you get into a group of 20 and then take turns hosting and going to each others homes for Appies & Appetizers. They also host a few day events i.e. Christmas Party/Dance, Summer BBQ, Day trips etc.

This afternoon is Pottery and then this evening I'm meeting the RCMP Officer who does the Community Block Watches for our annual community meeting. I think I've got 40 or so families coming but he has included 3 other Block Watches too so it is going to be a huge evening.
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by Grandad »

LovelyLadyLux wrote:@Grandad - I still find it a bit baffling that your amaryllis didn't just grow as any I've ever bought can't be stopped once they start to move.
LLL, it is all about nurture or the lack of it. I don't really have anywhere to keep plants in some warmth. We won't have them on window cills and I don't have a greenhouse, so they have to struggle on the bench in my workshop. This, as I have said, is not heated and is north facing so anything that survives out there deserves to be brought inside or planted out when the weather warms up.

I mentioned last year that I took 12 cuttings from the geranium plants. Well 8 of them survived the winter and are now receiving some deserved care and watering, but still on my workbench until we get around to planting up the patio pots ;) :lol:
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I quite enjoy plants and gardening and probably have too many outside that require hand watering during the summer but I enjoy them so although I swear to cut down I always seem to end up adding more. Inside I only have plants upstairs. I have no windowsills either in that I have blinds that go right down and sit on the windowsill so am not able to put a plant there. I do have plant stands, table & dresser tops though that gets lined up with plants. I have windows on all 3 sides to it helps to get lots of indirect light in here.

Outside I have no lawn. Wasn't into cutting grass so everything is either gravel or patio stones with plant pots on them. I'd prefer few bigger plants and am slowly turning all my small plant pots into stands to hold solar lights in that I have the solar lights you'd shove into earth. Instead I've removed the stake part of the light and then put them into the pots and hold them in place with gravel. I can easily move them around this way.

Today am off to the Crow 'n Gate Pub for lunch. Am hoping to get a window seat as they have lots of feeders placed just outside the window and any number and variety of little birds that come to feed from them. It is a British style pub and the lunches are fantastic.
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Grandkids all coming today. The twins got cameras for their birthday so we're all going, since the sun is shining, for a walk about so they can photograph whatever they're seeing. Granddaughter can use an old camera of mine.

Cooking a turkey too. Just realized :o I have no frozen cooked meat to eat. It's my preference to cook a turkey or large chicken and then package up the cooked meat into meal size chunks for later.
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by Ruby Slippers »

LovelyLadyLux wrote:Community "Safety Meeting" today held at the Golf Course (they have a large conference room there) so am heading over early to the Restaurant for breakfast and meeting up with a gf and her husband who are also going to the meeting.

Other than that I got another quilt sandwiched together yesterday and started to quilt it which brings me to a question for Ruby Slippers. Do you use cotton thread or polyester thread? I'm running out of black thread and need to buy more and don't want to wait 'til I get to the States again. Cotton thread here costs a mint but polyester thread price-wise isn't too bad. Does polyester thread work for quilts?



Sorry, LLL, I must have missed this in the flurry of activity last week! I don't subscribe to the purists view that one should only use cotton thread for quilting! I have been using a rayon thread called Glide since last year and also Simthread. My favourite is Superior thread called King Tut which is hellishly expensive but is cotton but I match threads to the quilt, not the other way about! :D
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

@RS - when I did briefly join the Guild here the one Workshop they did have that I attended was a discussion of thread and basically it was "Cotton, cotton, CoTTon, COTTON, Cot-ton" and on and on. Apparently if you use polyester it is sacriledge, would probably cost you your membership complete with severe shunning and the attitude was to the point polyester thread will just cut through cotton fabric like a knife! I must also say the ladies quilting here all seemed extremely competitive, secretive and had all quilted for 50 - 60 yrs and were taking any secrets they had to the grave so getting questions from a complete beginner (me) was not really welcomed. Hence I quit going to it ;)

Accordingly I've bought cotton thread however at my level of quilting (I'd describe me as a beginner on a learning curve) I just want to keep learning to quilt using different techniques vs worry that one type of thread is going to totally chew through fabric ;) BUT what I wasn't sure of is if I did mix polyester thread with a quilt and it washed would one type of thread actually pull the stitches, push the stitches, warp the stitches etc. although in my own mind I'm not too sure that flat materials sewing in essentially a straight line or maybe with a blanket stitch would totally kill a quilt.

I was running out of black thread however on literally scraping the bottom of my quilt drawers I did manage to find 1 more spool (350 yard size) of a black cotton so am happily using it to finish off what I have.

Cotton thread is ridiculously expensive here and mostly "no name" and/or "Coats 'n Clark" however not so bad in the States. I've written the brands you've mentioned onto my shopping list and will look in the Fabric stores there for them. I'm about 75% sure I've heard of the Superior brand. Seems mostly I'm using white, light tan and black however the quilts at Christmas were red, pink and a bright green which was an awful thread. I think I must've got a bad spool as the thread would break, was sort of stiffish and almost felt waxy. Had quite a different feel to any other thread I've ever bought. I put it down to a bad dye lot but how can you tell prior to buying in that here they have plastic around all the thread on the spools so you don't get to really pull out a bit or feel it.

I also have to say there are specialty quilt stores in the USA. Here we had 1 general fabric store (Fabricland) but they just closed. You had to buy a yearly membership to shop there to get their discounted price which "I" had to object to (although the daughter bought the Membership and if I really really needed something I'd go with her). So far they have not re-located anywhere here but their closing has created quite an absence in what I can find sewing supply wise.

I also use Schmetz needles size 14 or 90. Other than generic from China they are the only sewing needles I can find here that the Janome uses and I've always heard Schmetz needles were the only way to go too.
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Today is time change day - daylight savings here. We do have a move afoot whereby our Premier has gotten together with the Governors of Washington, Oregon and California and together they're all petitioning or doing whatever it takes to eliminate the time change. I'd favour that myself. I've never minded going back 1 hour in the fall but this SPRING ahead one hour in the spring is a pain.

Grandkids are still here this morning. Their Mom flew in quite late last night. Am sure she'll be tired from the full travel day across Canada, getting in late plus a time change. They're anxious to see her and I've had to say "NO phoning Home" to ask her when they're getting here. Doesn't help that she has told them she is bringing them presents from Quebec and their Aunt.

The twins brought their cameras with them. They're happily taking photos of anything and everything inside - too cold and too early for us to go outside to take pictures. The Canadian geese are nesting in the marsh now along with lots of ducks and the only melted water for them to swim in is close to my side of the marsh so getting close ups is a possibility. Swans are gone though.
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by Ruby Slippers »

LLL, needles are a different matter to thread - apart from being the right size to accommodate the differing threads! Over here, Organ needles are quite popular and you can buy them in bulk from Amazon. I wouldn't particularly go for cheap needles, so if you can get Schmetz you are probably better off using them. I do hate clubs like you describe! I don't go to any clubs now because I wanted to specialise in quilting rather than craft, so it seemed stupid to go to the craft club. I might join another one if I can find one where I feel comfortable, but it will be a quilt club, not craft. On the subject of FMQ, look at YouTube videos and maybe buy specialised books from Amazon. You will get there! Also, have a look at the work being done with a home machine and rulers, particularly Westerlee rulers.
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

@RS - You've totally lost me re: RULERS?

I googled Westerlee rulers and I got this: https://westalee.com.au/store/westalee- ... uler-feet/ Which is Westerlee Ruler Feet? As in there are special feet for sewing machines that use RULERS?

I get the words and can see the photo but ??? Do you put the ruler down on the fabric and then somehow sew through it? on it? over it? Or do you trace the ruler pattern? or ?? I've never heard of using a ruler in quilting - well - I use a ruler and mat to cut the pieces but that has been the extent of me using rules.

Will definitely have to read up on this one - you've got me curious and thinking now ;) :P (Is this like free motion quilting?)
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

OMG!!!

I just watched the two of the video tutorials and all I can say is OMG!! and here for all my life I thought all those designs on quilts were highly talented quilters who were FREE MOTION QUILTING!!

I've never heard of a RULER and here for the life of me I always ALWAYS thought all those quilts with all the patterns were made by highly talented extremely artistic (well must be anyway even using a ruler) quilter!

I have no idea at all that the patterns on all the quilts I've seen over the years could have been made using a quilting ruler.

Actually NOW I don't feel so bad cause when I tried free motion quilting I've been able to make some fan/feather designs but none were totally precise - they were FREE motion! My motion. They looked "OK" but not nearly as precise at this ....... GEEZZZ!!!!!

Thank you RS! :up :up :up :up You've explained an encyclopedia of wonder on my part in one sentence....now....back to watching the tutorials: https://westalee.com.au/
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by Ruby Slippers »

No, no, no! Ruler work is mainly for those who have a sit down machine! You can emulate the effects that a longarmer gets with FMQ. A longarmer will use rulers to a degree but most of the patterns are done simply by eye and lots of practice! It's a mixture of both on a longarm. However, someone decided a few years ago that rulers can be used to similar effect on a home machine which is what you were seeing. You need a special foot called a hopping foot, which has a deeper design, to accommodate the rulers. The rulers themselves are 1/4" thick so they don't vanish under the needle. Even with rulers, you still have the problem of manoeuvring the bulk of the quilt under a small throat though. I think it's quite slow on a domestic machine but a lot of home sewers are turning to rulers as a way of getting some really nice effects.
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Re: What AM I doing Today in the World?

Post by Ruby Slippers »

One other thought struck me after I'd posted. A fair amount of quilters who do it professionally, use computers, which means that they set all the info - e.g. pattern, size of quilt and design, placement, number of repeats etc. into a computer programme - and push a button! Job done almost! ;) I haven't got this - yet! I can't see me getting it either because I don't do enough to make it a viable proposition, and I don't quilt for other people - yet! ;)
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