No one can get inner peace by pouncing on it. -Harry Emerson Fosdick

On Monday my Mum and her friend Sandy came down to Toronto and the three of us headed to the Canadian National Exhibition (also known as the CNE or the Ex). Mum and I go every year and Sandy has been with us once before - it's basically a huge fair with vendors, animals, food, demonstrations, contests, games, and rides. We never go on the rides (I've only been on some - the year my Grandpa and I went together) and rarely play any games but we do a lot of shopping, eating, and catching up with the alpacas, cows, sheep, and horses. I was very disappointed since it appears that they no longer have the quilt exhibit - I couldn't find it last year and didn't find any mention of it on the website this year. However there was a Lucy Maud Montgomery exhibit (which I've actually seen before) so I was pretty happy about that! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from that day since my Mum and Sandy were taking pictures but we had a good time!

My Mum's birthday a couple of weeks ago but I didn't see her until she came down so I gave her her presents while she was here.

I made her a little tote for carrying stuff around - I thought she could use it for books but she may end up using it to take her lunch to work, hehe! I did put a book in the bag though - the new Kathy Reichs novel Flash and Bones which is the latest book in the Bones series  (the TV show was based on it) which my Mum really likes. I wanted to get her the newest Jeffrey Archer novel, Only Time Will Tell, (he's her favourite) but when I went to store I was told that they had three but weren't allowed to put them on sale until the day after I needed it - ugh!

My Mum collects sock monkeys so I've made her a few things over time incorporating some of this Erin Michael fabric - she just loves it! I'm having some problems with my sewing machine and don't have a usable walking foot at the moment (which I'll tell you a little bit about in a minute) so sewing the block to the tote didn't go perfectly but I think it's cute!

I dunno if my Mum will be okay with this but I wanted to show y'all her new haircut!

Hi Mum! Yup, that's my Mum! She was a young'un when she had me - that's for sure! Isn't her new hair pretty cool? On top of having a full-time job and a part-time job (she is apparently bored without me at home to keep her on her toes) she is also a hair model for Paul Mitchell. She will basically let them do anything to her hair - I think it's really fun!

So about my machine and the lack of walking foot...my machine has not been in for a tune up in the entire time I've owned it and it badly needs it but unfortunately with the lack of job-finding I can't afford it right now. Then on Sunday while I was quilting this...

My walking foot exploded and spilled what looked like dried oil on to the quilt top - ugh! I guess the walking foot didn't really explode so much as the plastic part holding it to the shaft of the machine splintered sending plastic flying at my face (I'm okay though) and rendering it unusable. This is actually the second time that this has happened to me so, having spoken to a Janome dealer at the CNE, I am going to get a new one made by Janome that has metal clips that hold it to the machine. And no worries, after much fretting and worrying the oil did clean off the quilt top! *sigh of relief* The quilt above is part of a special project I'm working on for a friend's mum but I'll tell you guys more about that when it's completed.

Also, I'm going to be destashing some more of my fabric collection in my shop on Etsy (and putting the money towards having my machine serviced) but wanted to tell you guys about it first - I have some West Hill, Mendocino, Flea Market Fancy, 1974, more Heather Ross, and others that I'll be putting up for sale so if anyone wants to claim anything before I get it up just send me an email and I'm sure we can work something out!