Hi, I'm Kristie, I used to blog here???

It's been a while, peeps! How are you all doing?  Time flies when....you are busy as a bee, I guess ;)  Just thought I would pop in and say hello, and reassure you all that, yes, I am still living and breathing and even crafting!!  I am about to make the rounds on some of your blogs, too, and catch up a wee bit!

Summer went by in a flash of awesome and before I knew it, it was back to school.  The kids are at those perfect ages where they are quite independent and capable of doing so many fun activities,  but yet still enjoy hanging out with old mom and dad.  We definitely tried to make the most of that and have fun.  Look how big they're getting!

We did do a couple fun crafty projects at the lake while we were there.  One was a fireplace makeover by The Hubs.  Painted over the icky brass accents with a matt black fire-safe paint and voila!  Instant pretty fireplace!  The built in cabinets on either side of it are getting a makeover next :)

Our other project, and my favourite, was taking some paddles and painting them.  We added hooks and transformed them into a fun place to store life jackets and soggy towels in the screen room.  Wish I had better "final" pictures, because I seriously kicked some ass at this, I ain't gonna lie.  They are all cute and distressed and such.  But anyways, you'll get the idea:

Yah, it was a great summer :)

So much more to tell you about, including an awesome 40th birthday trip to NYC with girlfriends where I went to The Promised Land (aka Purl Soho), lots of finished projects, and then the EPIC trip to Nashville to attend Craft South with none other than Anna Maria Horner AND Heather Ross (I am still reeling).  I promise to be back to tell you about it soon, I do!!

xoxo Kristie

What I did on my Summer Vacation! by Kristie :)

Well, hello!  It has been a long time.  I certainly didn't mean to take such a long break, but have been busy enjoying an excellent summer and just never really made my way here.  Am looking forward to catching up with you and visiting some of your blogs that I haven't been caught up on in months!  Hope you all are well.  I HAVE been checking in regularly at Instagram, however!  So if you are there come say hello, my user name is Kristieocd :)

Getting right to it- I haven't really done any kind of crafting.  A bit of knitting here and there, but nothing finished to completion.  I didn't even touch my sewing machine for a record breaking 3 months!  But now that we are back to school and back to routine, my sewing mojo has come back with a vengeance.  Hope you have lots to show you soon!

So what DID I do?  Let me bombard you with pictures ;)

The Hubs and I enjoyed a KID FREE (!!) long weekend in Boston, for my cousin's wedding.  It was our first time to the city and I must say I fell in love with the area.

It was a whirlwind visit- a city tour:

A day in nearby Marblehead.  We spent a great day hanging out with my parents, can't remember the last time we got to do that!

Also spent a couple days visiting the beaches and shops in Cape Cod (and eating lobster, naturally), after all the wedding festivities!

Our other big summer event- we bought a cottage!!

If you have been around awhile, you may remember that our previous cottage was destroyed in a flood.  So, after a couple years of waffling on whether or not to rebuild, we opted instead to buy something else in another area altogether, close to where the Hubs grew up.  It is a great place, a 4 season home, really (it's been nicknamed it "The Lakehouse"- very tongue-in-cheek!),  It is on a beautiful lake in the rocky Canadian Shield, and has the most spectacular sunsets :)

We spent a wonderful few weeks, and some weekends, too, at the new place so far and we just love it.  What's not to love?  A gorgeous lake view, sunsets, swimming, boating, water sports, and a new place to make quilts for?  Talk about heaven!  We are very lucky.

So I guess you could say my creative energy this summer has been put to use nesting in our new place. Little touches, here and there, to make it feel like home.  A little painting here, some decorative touches there.  My cottage Pinterest board has gotten a little out of control.

A basket next to the slipcover couch for storing quilts.  Gotta have quilts to snuggle with on those chilly days!

I found a home for my Emerson quote mini quilt near the front door, along with a new twist on a guest book. We collected stones and have visitors sign them with notes about their favourite memories from their stay. We collect them in a large vase for display. It is a great way to make fun "decorative memories!"

I am also collecting wine corks and caps, having friends sign them to remember the glasses shared over sunsets and laughter!

After all, sometimes the memories get a wee bit foggy after a few bottles.....

An eclectic photo wall of happy memories.

But the best part of the cottage is what is outside, not inside!  The kids absolutely love catching all sorts of critters- frogs, bugs, garter snakes and crayfish are hunted down daily, and returned to nature every night :)

          

Swimming of course!

Tubing, waterskiing and knee boarding.

Boats of all varieties.

Fishing (it's all about using the right bait).

Spending time with friends and family makes it all that much more fun!

           


I have a perfect place to do some fabric cutting or sewing:

Last But Not Least lost her first tooth at the cottage!

We re-hung our "measuring oar."  We had a tradition at the old cottage to measure the heights of the kids on it every July, so we reinstated that here. Amazing how they have grown!

Speaking of that, this fall LBNL started grade 1!!  Hard to believe.  Which means (drum roll....) this is the first year that all THREE of my kids are at the SAME school, on the SAME schedule!  No more lunch hour pick ups, shuttling to daycares, etc.  Nope, all in school, all day long (and 2 out of 3 are excited about it ;)

What does this mean? Well, now when I have a day off work, I MAY just get some time for some sewing!  In fact, took advantage of that yesterday, and worked on this Heather Ross Briar Rose quilt top:

Well, that concludes my report on my summer vacation :)  Hope your was just as spectacular!  Looking forward to catching up with my crafty friends!  Thanks for stopping by!  And if I go AWOL again, you can likely find me here:

ode to the sea....

It is mid-April and summer is nowhere to be found in and around these parts.  The snow on either side of my front walk is still tall enough to conceal my Kindergartener, and I am beginning to spend every free moment day dreaming of sun and sand.

I decided to make a little mini quilt, incorporating my favourite summertime quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air."  

That is EXACTLY what I wish to be doing right now :)

I pieced random scraps of blue, using cottons, corduroys, linens, voiles, all adding to the texture, starting with darker tones at the bottom and graduating to lighter shades towards the top.  I added a scrap of precious Mendocino mermaids at the top.  I hand stamped the quote onto natural cotton, using lettered stamps from Stampin' Up and a fabric paint marker.  I cut the rows of blues in curves, to replicate the sea, and then straight cut in the quote pieces.

Free motion quilting was done in a sea colored thread, adding waves, crests and pebbles.

The binding is my favourite part: Joel Dewberry Aviary woodgrain fabric, cross stitched to the front with Pearle 8 thread.  I will be doing this again!

On the back, I added sleeves for a dowel for hanging, stamping my name and date, and what I was doing while I was making it :)

I am so very pleased with how this mini turned out.  As some of you may recall, our family had a summer cottage that was destroyed in a storm a couple years ago.  Finally, the rebuilding phase has begun, and I plan to give this mini a place of honour there when we start again.

I intended to enter this as my Sew Off Home Dec entry for week 2 of the competition.  And I DID make it through the first round- I placed 4th out of 12, with the top 9 progressing!  But, I opted out of the contest.  I am busy with so many other things needing my time in my life, and I realized I don't enjoy being judged for what I make...this is my hobby, my escape, and I want to do it just for ME!  So, thanks for your support and your votes, but this girl plans to stay contest free for the time being!

Wishing you a day filled with sunshine!

after the storm.

Well, as I have discussed before, we are having flood issues up here, and Lake Manitoba, where we recently bought a little family cottage, has been hard hit. It is a unique lake- a combination of large and shallow, which spells trouble when it comes to wind as it generates large, destructive waves. The "first" wind storm struck in late May. All communities on the lake had a mandatory evacuation, and no one was allowed back in for several weeks as the area was being secured. Monday things had calmed down enough that it was finally our opportunity to see the damage to our property first hand.

Our cottage before (last summer):

Our cottage on Monday, showing results from the storm:



You will notice- our big wooden pier (and only protection): lost. Trees: uprooted. Grass and yard: gone. Our siding torn off. The front end of the cottage suspended in air, all supports ripped away, inside floor visible through the holes in the exterior wall. Debris riddles the lake, sharp objects protruding from the sand.

Our neighbor: cottage owners since the 1970s, and permanent residents for the past 20 years. A sweet couple in their late 70s- he still water skis every summer! He was reduced to tears when he talked about being driven out of his home. They do not anticipate the area will be habitable again this year- residents must remain in hotels or with family members.



2 doors down: S. and D. had sent out invitations for their July 9 wedding on the beach. Not looking too "happily ever after." They are now scrambling to find a new venue....

So many stories like this. The worst part: the water continues to rise and is not expected to crest until the END of July. We spent the day Monday moving out all of our belongings, toting them to the road in a canoe across the back of our flooded back yard while wearing chest waders. There are fish trapped in our back yard, swimming around, pushed here when the waves rose up! We fully expect what is left to fall like a house of cards in the next storm :( As far as we are concerned, it is game over. Our cottage has already been deemed unsafe to enter by engineers.


If you can help people in the region....Thank you :)

Riding the Wave

Seems everyone is making these Oh, Fransson! New Wave quilts these days. Had to make one for myself! This was one of the five quilt tops I assembled on my holiday. These vintage-inpired Nicey Jane prints will go great at the cottage.

Now, I just have to finish it up in time for fall so I can snuggle with it before we close the cottage up for the winter. Sad to even think of that!