Quilting Complete!

This is my very first post on the iPad mini and its not all that easy so this will be short and sweet. Can't even figure out how to move the picture and I'm not wasting another precious second on it! This rail fence quilt was such a great project to start with. I dabbled with free motion quilting and loved it! The certificate is nothing fancy, just something for completing the class. There was way more homework than anticipated and even now that the class is over, I have to hand stitch the binding. Paper crafting is taking a backseat right now because I've been bit by the sewing and crocheting bugs! Have a great Sunday night! 

366 Photo Project - Photo 59: Quilting Update

I started a quilting class with my friend, Jinnee, a while back and I thought I'd post an update! I was driving one day and saw a sign for Sew Divine. They had an evening beginner quilting class on which worked perfectly with our schedule so off we went! It's a very basic Rail Fence quilt and I've learned over the last few weeks that it's very forgiving and if you have mistakes, it doesn't show in this quilt. One might ask why pay $120 for a class that you can learn through YouTube videos and such, but I like the social aspect of it and sometimes it's just easier having someone tell you what you're doing wrong instead of realizing the error when you're too far along. Some basic skills we learnt include how to cut fabric, square blocks off and press things properly. I'm very anal about getting things aligned so I admit, I'm a pinner. Just take a look at my photos! It's insane the amount of pins you need but in the end, it's worth it. I'll post the finished product once it's done. This week we basted our quilts and next week we will learn how to quilt all three layers together! 

366 Photo Project - Photo 58: New Scarf.

I've always been a knitter and if you know my hubby, you'll know that he's a knitter too. Recently I picked up crocheting instead because Jinnee peaked my interest in it by showing me some of the items that she's made. I found a pattern on People Webs and it seemed easy enough so I gave it a go. It took about 5-6 times of undoing and redoing with a whole whack of fudging with the help of my sister-in-law, Jane, to finally get the hang on this darn pattern. It's actually called a Catherine Wheel so if you YouTube it first, you'll understand the pattern a lot better. I thought it'd be a good idea to use chunky yarn since it's a chunky scarf. Big mistake. The scarf is too chunky! I'm on my second one with regular weight yarn to see if it'll be better. If any of you crochet, I'd love to see some of your projects too!! Stay warm everyone! 

366 Photo Project - Photo 57: Swimming Time!

How ridiculously cute are these two? My brother wanted to go to the dog park a few weekends ago so instead of driving all the way to their end of town, we made them come to us! If you've never walked along the Gold Bar off-leash train, please go! It runs parallel to the North Saskatchewan River and it stretches on and on. We used this trail to train Khuno how to be off-leash. It's not a big open field and yes, there are bushes he can run into and rivers he can jump into, but we usually manage to keep him coming back to us by running in the opposite direction. My brother wanted to bring along Chalkie too. We had three dogs under control for almost the entire walk. 

Right at the very start of the trail, there is a bend in the path and a little direct pathway that leads down to the river. Khuno disappeared so fast down that river path and Audi joined in on the fun. We looked down to see that we were 30 seconds too late and both dogs had jumped right into the frigid water. We climbed down to the river to have some fun with them since the dirtiness was already done. Little Chalkie doesn't have experience with moving water and since he loves hanging with the big boys, he hopped right into the water with them. His head dipped under and as he pounced back up to get air with little legs frantically doggy paddling, his eyes showed instant panic. I shouted to everyone that Chalkie was going to drown and my brother was on it! I mean, ON IT. Within a split second, he whipped the water bottle strapped around his chest off and threw it to the ground all while running into the water to grab his beloved dog. Joke was on him though because Chalkie's little legs got him far enough in that he was able to touch the ground and hop back onto shore. It was definitely scary though because if you know pugs, their breathing sucks. And inhaling dirty river water can't be a good thing. 

We hosed Khuno down in the front yard because he had way too much dirt clinging to his underbelly and then bathed him in the tub. We don't do this often as you can imagine the amount of work it is, but one trick to drying him after a bath is to use a shop vac. If you plug the hose into the other end of the shop vac where the air shoots out, you instantly have a cool air dryer! Works great and I feel a lot safer using that than a hair dryer. 

Happy Boss's Day

That's right, it's National Boss's Day. Did you wish your boss an extra happy day today? My staff did! I don't post much about work on here because I want to keep this blog about my extracurriculars and work just doesn't fit. I started a new job just over 3 months ago. It was a hard move because not only was it a new site, but it was an entirely new role. I had to leave my union and go "out of scope" which was very scary for me because that leaves me with no protection in this new job. I would also lose all my seniority within the union if I ever chose to go back. I've learned a lot these past three months. Some lessons were rotten and gave me a nauseating black hole in my stomach every time I went to work while others were great ones that allowed me to learn a little bit more about myself. 

You all know the saying, "Time to wear the big girl panties". I use this analogy a lot. I chose to make the leap over to bigger panties so I have no one to blame but myself. Sometimes I will slip them on just to get acquainted with my new intimate wear. Sometimes I look away and pretend they don't actually exist. Other times I will dream about my old little girl panties that fit oh so snuggly and comfortably, but alas, they are only a dream now. The few times I have slipped on these new panties, they were awful, just plain awful. I questioned how others could wear them for such long long periods, some longer than I've been alive! I'm learning different ways to put these panties on so that I can keep them on for longer than 3 minutes. Am I succeeding? Absolutely. Is it fun? Absolutely not. But I feel challenged, excited, anxious, and nauseated all at the same time and since I can't differentiate if these feelings combined equal good or bad... I'm just gonna go with the flow and see how I can make these panties feel like a second skin. Like I'm wearing nothing at all. 

Back to the whole point of this post, National Boss's Day. I know it may seem like a ridiculous... holiday? Occasion? Event? But the card I received from the girls at work made me feel so good. Today made all the hard panty days worth it. Happy National Boss's Day everyone. 

366 Photo Project - Photo 56: Twinsies!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of photographing some of my good friends who are expecting TWINS! We got up super early to catch some of that morning sun and although I don't have a lot of experience in using this golden light, we still managed to capture a few decent shots. Here are some of my favorites. 

366 Photo Project - Photo 55: Amsterdam

It's been too long since my last post and I apologize! Between the new job, weddings and home renovations, it's been hard finding time to blog. As I slowly work my way through all our honeymoon photos, I'll continue sharing photos that I have a story about. We booked over half our accommodations through airbnb and for the most part we had a great experience. This is the view we had from our balcony on the top floor of our Amsterdam bed and breakfast. We were warned about terrible stairs in all the reviews and past guests weren't exaggerating. The angle of the skinny steps were approximately 80 degrees. I had to actually turn my feet sideways or just use my toes to get up and down. I ended up slipping on the stairs on my way down for the first time. The stairwells were so long that they had separate light switches at every floor. 

We were fortunate enough to have the entire top floor to ourselves. This included a separate bathroom, kitchen with eating area and private balcony. We only got to enjoy the balcony once because of all the rain but it was fabulous sitting there sipping wine and eating cheese, even if it was for just one evening.