Round up

Well it has been a busy week and a half. Piranha Extravaganza is over and so much fun was had by all. There were various projects started, worked on and some even completed. I only have blocks to show for my time but they will eventually get made into something ...a wallhanging perhaps! Check out this previous post for details. There was more in this post too!!

Great minds...copy each other!!!

I loved the photo Kathy took for her blog so much I tried to replicate it for mine. I didn't even know she had used my little sign! This creek runs through my back and side yard and it great to listen to all summer when the windows are open.

July is a busy birthday month in my family so I had my daughter's birthday friday and brother in law 60th on Saturday and I was in charge of a penny sale for my church picnic sunday. So it has been a busy weekend, so today is a relaxing, let's get some sewing done, kind of day. Enjoy your Monday and whatever you are doing.

More extravaganza fun

All  my company has gone now...the gloomy day matches how I feel after having so much fun and having to say good bye to my friends this morning. It will definitely be a birthday to remember even though my real birthday was back in January...celebrating can last a whole year

Barb's blocks

Barb's minis

row by row and shop hop blocks-Barb's

After supper we put some of our finished blocks on the clothesline for a photo op! Unfortunately we only got two peoples work  because it started to rain. Barb got lots of blocks sewn and a few mini quilts made too. I worked on blue and white snowflake blocks from a shop hop 3 years ago...never too late to start! I have one more to applique(I think you can see the pins in it on the clothesline) Louise machine quilted a baby quilt and got the binding on it and she also completed a tablerunner and started a second one.Kathy was working on lots of little mini blocks. She moved from project to project so fast I forgot to get a photo of her stuff. But she took a few for her blog and the mini near the water is taken in my backyard on a bridge! I didn't even know she took my sign outside with her...sneaky!!!Last night we relaxed and watch Bonnie Hunter's quiltcam...where we even got our message read by Bonnie and she said hello to our one friend who had to leave on Monday.(very exciting)

Quilting is great fun and relaxing but it is even more fun when done with friends who enjoy the adventure as much as I do!! Thanks "Fabric Piranhas" for a great birthday weekend.

My snowflakes

Now for a little fun. Kathy calls me her "northern blog stalker". So in stalker fashion here are some shots done with only fun and giggles in mind. Large sense of humor needed and maybe a little wine was involved!!                                                   

Kathy is actually at my house!

almost the same nail polish but definitely the same shoes!!

Lots of laughs and fun with girls I call my quilting buddies!

PIRANHA EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

You have been warned

Slow stitching Sunday in the gazebo
Kathy,Me, Louise and Barb

Well it has been a wonderful, funfilled, oh my stomach hurts from laughing weekend/few days, complete with our own "Man Servant". My DH cooked and did dishes for us on the weekend till he had to go back to work. He was even getting into the lingo and was getting afraid of all the estrogen in the room! What I thought was only going to be a weekend has continued into the next week with a couple of my friends. Unfortunately one of us had to return to reality and work!

We took over my family room

Now to explain..We get together every May to attend a quilt festival in Southern Ontario. Barb and I would be on our own scouting till Louise arrived. Louise would check in on our purchases. The one with the most was Piranha 1(usually me) and so the week would go on.When we all turned 40 we got together for a retreat and Barb hung a sign in the door welcoming us to the "fabric piranha clubhouse". We have tried to live up to the name ever since. So on this weekend we welcomed  a new member to the club. We have made many blocks, quilt tops and a few completes have been made. And it true what they say ...that machine quilting is easier after a few glasses of wine!!no pictures necessary!!

I had no idea what I was going to work on but did find a box in my sewing room with blocks from a shop hop I did three years ago. I have been working on them all weekend. Some applique, pieced and some ugly (which I was strongly advised not to proceed with) and have replaced with a nicer block!Unfortunately the new block had Y seams...yikes!!!!!!!!




Yesterday we took a break and went to visit my local quilt shop, The Cottage Quilter. We made a few purchases, bought ice cream on the way home and continued with our shenanigans!!

up close view

So today we continue to sew and quilt and giggle! Louise had a unfortunate incident with her glasses. I had some colourful duct tape which wasn't enough but those red Wonder clips served dual duty. It is our last day sewing as my friends leave tomorrow. Then it is back to reality for all of us. I am sure I will have another post of some finishes later in the week but I have neglected my blog for too long so I am posting today!

Wonder clips not just for quilting!

Today's paper pieced block and one more patched one to go

And oh the things that are growing in my garden...if only it was that easy...where do you get those kind of seeds!

These however are real and flourishing. Red poppies everywhere it seems in my garden...beautiful yes but it means I didn't do enough weeding in the Spring!

I would love to thank my friends for making this a birthday to remember. Quilters really are true friends and I am lucky to have some of the best ones!!

Well.....hello!!

It has been way too long I realize! With summer well underway my time is split up in many directions. Hubby has been out of town with work so I get lots of sewing time during the week, which means yard work on the weekends. Two days versus five days!!! hmmm

sampler quilt

I have been getting things done in the sewing room though.Sandwiched this quilt and am in the midst of machine quilting it. I will do some hand quilting in the large open spaces...just can't bring myself to do it on the machine!

large quilts to big for me to quilt

I also prepped the backings for two very large quilts(one is 101" square and the other is 96x102) that I am sending off to my friend to machine quilt. On the left is Easy Street Mystery from Bonnie Hunter and on the right is a class I took in Fall 2012.Yes I will be quilting them by cheque!!! Also I made the bindings and I am keeping them where I can find them once the quilts come back. I have done this before and lost the bindings. arrgggg!!

bindings marked and ready for finished products

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This past week I had some time to sit and do lots of hexies. To the point where I have to soon decide what I am going to do with them. I have made one decision and that is to turn them into diamonds. So all the flowers that I have need two more hexies. Then I have to decide about the pathway. White/green/white or green/white/green or just green or just white. There are so many colours in the flowers that I think that I can start joining them with the pathway. I am hoping that way to free up some of my cardboards from in behind my work so I don't have to make many more. I don't think I plan on ever making another hexie quilt after this one, so I want to do something special! When the purple fabric for the center runs out I will be done because that is all the fabric I have and can't find more!I thought I had a lot more flowers completed already. I fear there is a box of them somewhere!?!?

I am planning and preparing for company this weekend. Three of my friends/fellow quilters are coming to stay at my house for a quilty weekend! PIRANHA EXTRAVAGANZA that is what we are calling our retreat. You will have to come back to see why!!!
It is all part of my 50th birthday present from my hubby. Food and treats and maybe a bottle of wine or two is all on him!!! I am really looking forward to this. We all got together a couple of years ago for a day so having a whole weekend is going to be nice. You can bet there will be pictures to follow. One of the girls is Kathy from Slow Stitching Sunday, so I am sure some pics may find their way onto her blog as well.
Although I am posting this on Monday, I did get some more hexies made last night.