What have I done while I missed class

On Thursday night I didn't go to my sewing class, and my teacher Anne said she will keep an eye on my doings here on my blog, as next week is the school's winter holiday and we can't have our class. I bet she doesn't control everyone's absences like this, but I have been in her class for several years already, and hardly ever absent. And I have reason to believe she was joking, but here it comes. First the 5 socks I have knitted, the tiny one is for a Unicef doll. I have started knitting a third pair of normal size socks and will use the rest of the yarn for the dolls' socks.

Then some strip cutting on Thursday ...

... to make a new lot of QAYG blocks for Oz Comfort Quilts.

I have bought 1.5 yards of lovely  fabrics from Sew Fabulous, it arrived on Thursday:

I think I have made space for some new fabrics in my stash, so this is to fill the gap (gap?) and "just because it was lovely".

I have also worked on the everlasting wall hanging project, adding some shoes in the lowest part, and batting and backing for the first panel:

and the two first shoes for the second panel. There will be five panels in all, so I know I'm far behind my schedule. My original plan was to finish the whole thing by the end on 2010, but sometimes projects just don't happen as planned. These shoes still need the satin stitch which I will add as soon as the other shoes are ironed on.

I have also received some lovely mail this week. First from Candace a handmade fabric Valentine's Day card with some chocolates for Mr. K and me (we had some for dessert before I took the picture!).

Sweet Houseelf sent a cupcake mug mat  (free pattern by Stephanie can be found here) for her housewarming guests, and for me she added some plant dyed embroidery threads and what looks like handmade buttons. We have a Bag Club with her and Suzie and Simone, and I think the buttons will be used in one of the bag I'm going to sew with them later this year.

The weather keeps staying on the very cold side of the thermometer, and on the coldest days the little birds may save their energy and not fly to our restaurant. This was the newest cold record at our place -29.5 C or -21.1 F on Friday morning. We now light the fire also in the morning to keep the house comfortable. The sun works wonders: during the day the temperature can be nearly 20 C higher, around the very comfortable -10 C to - 15 C. That feels very OK after a long period of colder days. 

From other blogs I have read about signs of spring, and it sounds a little comforting. The only sign of spring here is the increasing amount of light, and I think without it the winter would seem too long.

Enjoy your weekend!