Monday, March 16, 2020

Turquoise Scraps Box

It's done! I don't know if you are finding it a little harder than usual to focus, but I am. Understandable in these very serious and alarming times. I did get this scraps box done, but it took me both Saturday and Sunday!
This is my OMG for March. Now to remember to link it up when the last week is here!!

I had left it with just four panels done, ready to quilt. My favourite part is that orange Kaffe Fassett star! It's one of two I made a few years ago. The other was made into a mini for Preeti, Om the Sound of the Universe.



I love blue, as you well know. I particularly love turquoises and teals. Can you spot the word 'teal' quilted in the front top left of the box? I also love how Angela of so scrappy designed the box with a little handle on the front. And speaking of Angelas, I love that lining, a scrap from my 'Summer Breeze' quilt, which used Angela Walters' 'Drift' fabric.

Here is the bottom, which matches the handle.
This is an old, no, a vintage fabric, one I need to use up! I put a double layer of cardboard in the bottom. I also love seeing all the green shoots of grass springing up!

I posted this on Instagram last night.
She was eyeing this basket all along and the moment I set it down beside my machine and walked away, boom! Inside it she went.

I quilted it with mainly a meander, but with two words: teal and turquoise, and some outlining  of pinwheels, and ribbon candy here and there, just having fun.
Can you spot 'turquoise'?
I mentioned on Instagram how creating can help to calm one's nerves in these very unstable, downright terrifying times. Well, MacGyver has been busy creating. Just before IKEA closed our drop-off depot in Windsor, 😩 we were sure to order the two cabinets we needed to make our kitchen island. This makes the best sense for our smaller kitchen: it functions as a table, as a countertop/workspace and as storage!
Anyone notice a Bella photo bomb?

That is a temporary top. There is space for kitchen stools to go on two sides, so we can easily seat four. There is a ton more storage now! I placed my 'Burst of Spring' quilt, Tish's mystery last year, on top just to dress it up a bit while MacGyver is busy creating a proper wood top. We aren't sure whether we will keep the new one he is making or try to either match or coordinate granite with what we put on the countertops. Apparently it is no longer in stock where we bought it, but she was supposed to check warehouses and get back to me...

Since I started this post, I've been organizing my blue overflowing plastic bin to put the turquoise and teal scraps into this box.

That photo serves a second purpose: here is my double-Kallax IKEA hack cutting table today! I have only filled a few of the cubbies and drawers so far. On the opposite side I've left it all open as that is where the countertop will overhang. It is on rubber castors so I can move it around wherever/however I need to!

And another photo that makes me smile, something I, along with all of us, badly need to do today:

As of this morning the fitness gym where I teach yoga has shut. I'm so glad they are finally proactive. I am so glad our prime minister is acting with care and thought and listening to advice from medical and science professionals, and I hope all of us Canadians are listening to our Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tam to stay homeHere is her message. If you still think this isn't that serious, then click this link.

On two happier notes, Open Culture is a site I have just learned about from Julie Nesrallah host of Tempo on CBC Music. It is a wealth of free information, videos, audio books, online courses, on and on. You may wish to check it out!

I myself plan to make some shorter videos of Yin yoga flows that I would normally be teaching, maybe eventually a one-hour one, just not sure about uploading larger videos to my YouTube channel. Stay tuned here and on Instagram, as I'll announce it there first.

Please please please stay home, inside, unless absolutely necessary to go out. Wash your hands. My good friend Danielle, who is a very experienced nurse, also a quilter, worked through the SARS crisis, and is now working in this pandemic, gave me this advice, "Sing happy birthday twice, Sandra, while you wash; get between your fingers, wash all the way up to your wrists, every single time you reenter your house if you been in public even if you hand-sanitized. Don't touch your face. Wear leather gloves even in the grocery store to remind yourself of that. Do not go to Tim Horton's, Starbucks, Second Cup, or any restaurants now. Do not even take your own tea in your own travel mug in public."
Listen to Danielle. Remember for us Canadians CBC is now streaming LIVE 24/7.

14 comments:

  1. The photo of Bella getting in the scrap basket makes me smile and very happy on this very strange day. Virtual hugs to you; stay well and take care. We are hunkered down here and expecting to be this way for some time.

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  2. I love the photo of Bella in your newly finished scrap basket! Looks like your remodel is moving along so nicely. It will be so handy to have a cutting and working table that you can access from multiple sides! Wishing you many peaceful and relaxing moments creating.

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  3. They have just closed the building where I live to outside visitors as well as closing all our dining venues. We can order meals and they will be delivered to us, but everything else is out. If we leave our community, we have to have a health check on re-entry. Not sure how that's going to work when I walk my dog. Guess I will find out soon.

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  4. Love those teal shades. And while we personally do not have to self isolate, this is a god time to sort fabrics and strips and scraps.

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  5. Oh, I'm making these too! They're fun, cute, and useful, so a win all around. Love your new island and cutting table! I'll bet you put those both to good use while we're all stuck at home.

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  6. All hunkered down here except for necessary doctor appointments and I don't even like going there. Love the cutting table!

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  7. Love the new basket! It was generous of you to make such a comfy, cozy cat bed for Bella. Stay well, and happy quilting!

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  8. I think that is a Bella box if I ever saw one :-) Good advice from your friend. Most of the coffee places won't accept your travel mug, by the way, at least the ones we stopped at along the way. We pretty much kept to ourselves on the drive home, but we did need to stop to eat and sleep. Hotels were quieter than usual. Restaurants too. Gas stations were busy places, however. We did our best to wash and sanitize often. Glad to be home and so ready to stay here.

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  9. Love this basket! And a great reminder that quilting can include words. I'm just getting back to quilting after moving and not having any projects ready to quilt. Thank you, Sandra! Stay safe and be well.

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  10. So glad your studio closed and that you might post a few videos! Gotta get myself moving here...on so many fronts. Yesterday I spent 2 1/2 hours on the phone plus a conference call and had planned to make bread and chili. So I got nothing done. Today I best get moving!!!

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  11. Such a wonderful color, teal. Bella looks right at home....perhaps needs to have a larger size and could you add some bedding material? I so appreciate your advice as I've put it into practice myself. Friends seem to be surprised that I am taking this so seriously. Praying we all stay well.

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  12. Love your new bin. It is such a good idea to make scrap bins for each color. If I had the space, I’d do the same. It’s pretty scary down here, Sandra. At first, people surrounding didn’t understand why I was taking this so seriously, but now, little by little, it’s sinking in. Good advice from your friend!

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  13. Oh, Bella! Turquoise must be her favorite color! Thanks for the link to Open Culture. Looks like we're in for the long haul, and online entertainment is a great choice. And quilting. Of course :)

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  14. Pretty. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.

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