Things to do....Squirrel!!

Beautiful eyeliner lilies

garden is growing

Popping in to visit when I should be binding, sewing or stitching. The hot weather has taken a break and I have all the windows open even though it is a bit chilly. The fresh air feels so good and thought it would help me to get moving but here I am typing on my blog and playing catch up with all of you!

Everyone said it was going to be a hot summer, so far hot and muggy  spells mixed with rainy days a nice mix. All that rain is making the garden grow. I can already see a difference from May blog post to today. I am finally eating fresh lettuce and onions and the peas have become pods and are growing!

blocks done, top to come

The sewing room has been buzzing. I pieced a toddler quilt and it sits blocks done waiting to become a top. My hand quilting has become a Wednesday with the girls project and is about half done. Two friends and

hand quilting in Q-snap frame

 I are doing the 365 blocks quilt with Kathryn Kerr. I have fallen behind and hope to be caught up by this weekend. You can read about my start here. There is another finish about to happen but will share more on that after it is gifted.

My long term hexie

 project is nearing completion. I have a small part of the last border to attach and complete a section of one of the other borders and the top will be done. Then I will have to think about how I would like to finish it. I do believe with all the hand stitching I have done on it, that it should be hand quilted. My quandary is do I follow the lines of the quilt or do an all over pattern like Baptist fans? I do not want to go around each hexie!

August will be prepping for guild in September as a friend and I are the program committee. We plan all the projects we will be doing for the coming year. We left them in June with the start of a mystery quilt. They got to see the quilt top but they are getting clues each month of the summer to finish and in September we will give them the layout. I have made two of these quilts and hope to have at least one done for the reveal in September.

Hope your summer is going well and that you fit in some quilting/sewing around vacay and family gatherings!

Holiday weekend

 The first long weekend that signals the beginning of summer. While I was suppose to travel to visit my daughter, plans changed and I am home getting lots of things done. I have been working on my gardens and have only a few more things to  plant. My body however has other plans and is warning me to sit and rest. So once again in my favourite chair on the front porch enjoying the gentle breeze and the shade(for now till the sun comes around the house). Been here too long the bugs have found me!

mini quilts for stuffys

This past week I was part of a mini retreat. We rented a banquet area of the local golf course and had 3 days of sewing. I unfortunately could only go Monday and Wednesday. My furry critter doesn't like me being gone that many days in a row. I didn't do any sewing by machine at this retreat, I set up my Qsnap frame and did hand quilting for the two days. Oh how I have forgotten how much I enjoy hand quilting. This might be the kickstart I need to getting one onto the big frame soon! While at retreat I was given a couple baggies of scrap triangles. I have turned most of them into little stuffy quilts. Last night I sandwiched, quilted and bound them. Quick work fun and done!

lilacs almost ready

Today after working outside a bit and then cleaning inside, how does it get so messy if I am outside!?! I am planning on catching up on my 365 blocks. I am about a week behind.

After I see what Kathy is slow stitching today, I will be heading indoors where it is much cooler. I like the sunshine but not the hot temperatures anymore.
Have a great week!

forget me nots in bloom

Let me introduce myself....

 It would seem that maybe I should re-introduce myself as I have been away from blogland for way too long. I have heard from some of my readers that they thought I disappeared. Let me catch you up!

March was a warmer than usual month, well our whole winter was warm with not much snow so when the temperatures started to rise it didn't take long for the snow to leave. So in March when the snow starts to melt I start thinking of maple syrup production and this year it happen early. I started around March 2 and was all done in two weeks. The week I finished was the same week last year that I began so that tells you how early sapping season was this year. Before I knew it March was over and we were into April.

April was a crappy weather month. You just didn't know from one day to the next or even from morning to afternoon what was going to happen. I spent April catching up in my sewing room. I took on the 365 day challenge, doing a block a day for one year. Friends Mallory and Pearl are also working on the same challenge with me. Took most of April but I did get caught up and now I wait each day for the next block to come out. If you haven't heard of this Kathryn Kerr has been doing it for a few years. Check it out! This is my top so far, no surprises I am working in blue.

stuffies with quilts

charity quilt

 I have also finished a couple quilts for gifts for friends, some charity quilts and even completed a few of my own UFOs. My friend Natalie and I are doing a sort of mystery quilt for our guild ladies. We have started the installments and they will continue to receive them all summer. Our hope is they will play along and in September we will give them the final instructions on how to put all the blocks together. Pics of that quilt will come at the end of summer. I have already made one top and the blocks are made for a second one. Luckily it is not a large quilt.

playing with scraps

Call it Spring fever or cabin fever, but this Spring I have found myself "squirreling" a lot! My mind is wandering and I can't seem to settle. So it is no surprise when rereading all that I have done in April that I now find myself in May!! Now my sewing/quilting will have to share time with gardening and lawn mowing!

tulips about to open

spent some sitting time

Fighting a head cold, I couldn't resist going outside for a bit yesterday. I installed  the wooden screen door and brought out my favorite chair. I even planted some gladiola bulbs that had started to grow in my garage. Thought the fresh air would make me feel better and it did, also aired out the house and hoping to chase those nasty cold germs away.

Although I have been MIA, I am still very much a blog reader. Keeping up with the goings on here and there and especially with my friend Kathy and her slow stitching day. Sunday afternoons are my stitching time while I watch the Nascar races!! Will check in with Kathy and all her followers once I get this long post up!!

Spring runoff just about done

You just never know!

 The other day a friend texted me and asked if I recognized the photo she sent me. It was a photo of a quilt, one that I had made last year and donated to our local hospital. She told me her granddaughter was at the hospital for a procedure and it was the little one's birthday so the hospital gave her the quilt. When my friend saw the quilt and the label she just had to let me know. It feels good to know these quilts I make and donate do find a home. For the most part I don't know where they go or who has them. Needless to say that made my day!! You can read about this quilt from a previous post here.

mystery clues almost done

This week I have been catching up on my Bonnie Hunter mystery. I thought I had 3 clues done, nope only 2 completed. I now have up to clue 6 done and clue 7 is on the machine to work on today. That is my daytime work and for the evening I usually am found watching a movie and knitting. I have finished my socks so I started a sweater I bought the yarn for last Fall. I think it is time to get to it!

A couple friends and I are also starting the 365 challenge quilt. It started January 1 so we are a bit behind!!They are small blocks mostly 6 inch finished but the starting blocks are 3 inch finished. Shouldn't take long to catch up. I have a bushel basket full of scraps and my intention is to use it only to complete this quilt. Wonder if I can do that!?! We are planning to only work on these blocks on Wednesday when we sew together. I will keep you posted how things go with that.

Once this is posted I will pop in and visit Kathy and all the slow stitchers.

Hope you have a great week!

P.S. short post as the computer isn't cooperating!

Batting has arrived!!

 Why is the fact that batting has arrived important...before Christmas I ran out! I did not even have big enough pieces to sew together for a quilt. I was fortunate to be gifted some for Christmas (thanks Louise) and some for a birthday gift(thanks Barb). My piranhas are so good to me!! Then another friend played pick up and delivery service for an order of two rolls. I should be good for a bit!!

latest finish

So to put the batting to use I finished a quilt for a friend to gift. I made the quilt and she put the words on it. Looks pretty good, the words make it even more special. You can read more about this quilt here. Also the socks in that blog post are finished too! Then I moved onto finishing a quilt of valour as I needed the safety pins that it was basted with. This week I have finished a lap quilt that I will be gifting in February and have basted a toddler quilt for my great nephew that I hope to get to today. Wow that seems like a lot but in between there I have been curling and there was one full week of shovelling. Seems more like Spring here right now but I know winter isn't done with us yet!

Here is a fun thing that I have done for a couple of years now. I save all the thread spools that I empty and see what I have at the end of the year. Of course not totally accurate as some were used in the previous year and some spools aren't empty yet but it is a good showing of the sewing I have done. A couple of those spools are hand quilting thread too.

It is getting to be that time of the year for me, I usually set up a quilt to hand quilt during February and March so I can quilt and watch curling championships on TV. I wonder which one in my pile I will chose...might be next week's post when I get to that!! But for now going to get a coffee and sit and see what the slow stitchers and Kathy are up to today.

Have a great week everyone and remember there is always something, however small, to be grateful for!

So much has happened

 Christmas, New Years......My Birthday!!! This year was a big one too 60th! My daughter put together the best day for me. Morning into afternoon was with some girlfriends. Some games, lots of laughs and giggles and snacks! That was followed by a family dinner. All this and I didn't have to do anything!! It really was an amazing day with lots of hugs. My only moment of sadness was knowing I was doing this for myself and my dear late husband. He was meant for other things and never got to celebrate turning 60. This year I dedicate to him, going on adventures, doing things we wanted to do and finishing things we started together.

quilt for a friend

Those are some hefty goals for me but I am determined to see what I can do. But you have to know that my quilting and knitting will be there with me too. 

I fell behind on the Bonnie Hunter mystery over the holidays. I have finished step 3 and have the rest of the clues. I was going to start that this weekend but I got an order for a quilt from a friend. I have made one for her before to give away and this one is the same. I will go into more details once it is delivered but I have included a pic to see where I am. It will also be my slow stitching for today as I do the applique on the ribbon. I will check in with Kathy and the gang later to see what they are all slow stitching on. I am sure Kathy will be cross stitching something today!!

socks for me,new chair table

We went from a green Christmas to winter wonderland just in the last week. So I have also been sidetracked with snow removal. But coming home to my sewing room is very relaxing and slowly I will get back into the swing of things. My friends want to do the 365 day challenge. Hmmm....it is January 14 so that means I am already 14 days behind. It is a make a block a day challenge but the blocks are fairly simple to start so should be able to catch up in no time. More posts on that in the future I am sure.

Well blogging is caught up and I have some applique to get to. Enjoy your day and the week ahead!

we had to wait but winter came

Happy New Year!!

 Holidays have kept me busy with no time to sit and blog. Then after the gifts were opened, food ate, wishes and hugs shared  and all company had left...I got sick! A nasty head cold has kept me on the couch and I am just starting to feel like doing something or anything!

I was in bed early but a book kept me up till midnight. So I was awake when the new year arrived and today it is kind of sunny ,cold and a few snowflakes are falling. Although most of the yard is green which is very unusual for us here in my neck of the woods!

quilt and guilty party

Not much quilting has been done in the last few weeks(reason above) but I have been knitting again. I got two pairs of socks done for Christmas for my daughter and I to match our Christmas pjs. This week while recuperating I was able to finish another pair for a friend.

This week I am back into the sewing room and am working on a special project. It is a repair for a quilt I made for a little friend. Her puppy decided he REALLY liked her quilt and chomped a large chunk out of it. I was going to bind the jagged edge and leave the hole for story sake. BUT  she wanted the hole filled in because and I quote she said "my quilt looks like a pair of pants!" She is not wrong! Okay Lauren I will try my best to get it fixed and have it ready when mom stops to pick it up!!

part of repair

The funny part of this story is I have some of the original fabrics but Lauren has loved and carried this quilt with her lots in the 6 or so years she has had it, that I can't use them. They just wouldn't look right so I had to improvise and use different fabric so it would kind of blend it with the rest of the quilt. Not sure if this follows any rules for quilt repair but it is what I am doing. I will post the finished repair later in the week.

I am late but joining up with Kathy and catching up with everyone and all  the slow stitching.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and hope you all have lots of quilty/stitching projects to work on!