Home again!

new PJs all around

not to be left out

It has been a few very busy but relaxing days. We spent the holiday with our daughter at her house. With the crazy "no snow" weather the travelling was easy to do. We did a little shopping, decorating cookies and lots of movie watching. She lives near Lake Huron so with the big wind storm we had, one day we went down to the beach and the waves were amazing. It was the closest we got to being cold, with the wind whipping off the lake.

beach at Port Elgin

All the projects I wanted to finish were completed. Deadlines do seem to work for me.So here are just some of the things I have done but couldn't show until now.

 But now to catch up on things. I have fallen terribly behind on the Bonnie Hunter mystery. I think I started clue 2 and have gone no farther. So this week that is what is on my agenda. I also have to get the layout design ready for a class I am teaching in a couple of weeks. We will be paper piecing but I am not sure what the final project will be yet. YIKES!!!
Heading out with a get together with friends so not much slow stitching will be getting done today but check in with Kathy and see what others are up to today. If you still have family around ...enjoy and if all visitors are gone and the house is quiet...enjoy that too!!!

Done Yet???!?!?!

Here I am sewing and quilting like a mad woman. Good thing DH isn't too busy as he is cooking so I can keep sewing. I decided at the last minute to make two lap quilts as gifts. Crazy yes!!! Well they are almost done and I can move onto some last minute knitting that I have to complete. I have enough time...that is what I keep telling myself. I will share pictures after the holidays once all the gifts have been opened....don't want to ruin any surprises!!
Luckily Christmas is at my daughter's house so my need to clean and cook is greatly decreased this year. I only have to bring dessert and baking. I am making cookies at my house and we will decorate them at her house.

from 2 years ago...my Christmas card to you!!!

The ground is white here today and the snow is falling but they are calling for rain so not sure if it will be a white Christmas or not but at least for now a little white stuff at least makes it feel like Christmas.

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and all things new and exciting for the New Year. Have a great holiday with family and friends and we will visit again after the holidays.

Deadlines are looming

Noel and Holly 

Yes  we are starting that last full week before Christmas, when the push is on!! Why oh why do I do this to myself. I had all summer and fall to make stockings, quilts and other items and here I am trying to get everything done this week. Oh well makes for more to write about I guess.

3 stockings and tree skirt

So here we go...since DH and I are going to our daughters we needed new stockings that she can keep there at her house. "Oh and mom I could use a tree skirt too in gold and reds" she says! So they are done and I also finished the binding on this twister quilt that I started last month. I machine quilted it with the words of Jingle bells. It doesn't show up very well but I know it is there. The two bears Holly(red), Noel(green) were given to me by a friend. I have made them each a quilt and they are going to group that helps children in crisis.They may even help someone  this Christmas season.

Twisted Christmas quilt

blocks made ..top to come tonight

I have just added to lap quilts to my agenda. This is the layout of one, very simple so I can get it done faster. I belong to a fat 1/4 club and I am trying to use up some of those packages. This quilt is made with one set of fat 1/4 with a couple pieces pulled from a second one and black from my stash. I am trying to use up my stash but I am finding that I don't have the correct amounts for backings. I am taking a very large (6 meters) and cutting off what I need. Oh well it is getting used and that is the whole point...isn't it!!

I have had a few "ahhh" moments in the past couple of days.First my finger is healing nicely and I no longer have to wear a bandaid on it. You can read about it here...and it wasn't a sewing accident. My niece's friend got a puppy for her son and I got to meet him. Harley is his name and I am sure he is going to be so loved by this little boy! And today I delivered baby quilts to our friends who had twins in October. You do forget how tiny they are when you are holding such a precious little bundle. Almost forgot, my cousin's daughter had a baby boy yesterday. He surprised everyone as he was not suppose to arrive till next week...oh well!! Now I can make a little boy baby quilt...I have the fabric all picked out already!!
This is going to be a busy week of sewing but I have to take it slowly as I don't want to injure my back again.So bit by bit it will get done and I will rest in the evening with some slow stitching and catch up with everyone on Kathy's blog.
Still waiting and hoping to get some white stuff to fall but all it seems to do is rain!! Good luck with all your deadlines and other seasonal things you have to do...checking that list twice as to not forget anything!!

November is slipping away...

my colours for the mystery,changed grey to green

December starts tomorrow...are you ready yet!?! Well I know I am not, where does the time go!? Without the snow(we only have a  hint of white on the ground)it just doesn't seem like the Christmas season yet.
But it is that other season...MYSTERY QUILT! Yes Bonnie Hunter has begun her mystery. I had good intentions on the weekend but alas only got to finalizing the fabric choices(all from my stash) and cut a few strips. Today I will start the cutting of the triangles for the first clue.I will be joining her Monday link party to see what is happening and who is also joining in on the fun.

Twisted Christmas quilt

Most of this week was spent finishing up a quilt top from a class I took a couple of weeks ago. I was zooming along.I had just enough background for the quilt until I realized there was an error in the pattern. Now I was short 10...2 1/2 squares and couldn't find anymore of the same fabric. Plan B....I used different squares in the center of the quilt(the black ones) and followed the pattern for the rest of the quilt. Now to decide what to use for backing and this one might actually get finished for THIS Christmas!
Also on my plate have been these two bears...aren't they  just adorable. I feel like they are watching my every move in my sewing room. My friend Bernadette gave them to me and I will make a small quilt for each of them. Then they will be given to a guild member who will hand them out to children in difficult situations. I have done this before with smaller animals and they were must appreciated. I have scraps from some other friends and there is just the right amount to make the pattern I want...now you know it was meant to be.

making bear paw blocks

Although I am joining a day late, there was some slow stitching done yesterday while watching quilt cam and also last evening while watching Netflix. A very interesting documentary on Tesla, a very intelligent man who was wise beyond his years. He was credited with many inventions including AC electricity and harnessing the power of Niagara for electricity. But he was not a businessman and so he lost alot of his money because others took/bought his patents. I didn't recognize his name but he was in the company of great and powerful men like Westinghouse, J.P. Morgan, Marconi, Edison and even Einstein. That was my "learned something new today" for Sunday!!
Hope everyone has a great week...getting all those Christmas presents sewn up!!

Well hello ....I'm backkkkkk

It has been over a week but life really did get in the way and some things were not even in my control. A week ago we had a storm  blast its way across Ontario, leaving in its wake downed hydro lines and communities without power for the day or some the whole weekend. Once the power was back up(we had ours late Friday night) we realized that our computer wouldn't turn on. OOPS!! So I had to wait for DH to get a new power supply for it before I could blog again. Now that that it fixed, here I am!!
Also my daughter was home for a couple of days for hunting season. It is the last week of deer season with the rifles. So  as a family  we spent a couple of days together with no luck, not even a partridge which I missed. We are hoping the archery season will be more fruitful.
So now with things at a slower pace I can sit down and write a blog post and catch up on everything.
I have been busy too at the sewing machine.The day the power was out I did a lot of cutting in preparation for when it was restored. Some of that hasn't been sewn as yet, maybe this week. I managed to get three quilts machine quilted in the last week. One is for charity and the other two are for a friend who had twins in October...shhh don't tell her!!(hmm she might read this) I will show pics of them once they have been delivered.
So for slow stitching sunday with Kathy, I will be doing binding and enjoying live quiltcam with Bonnie Hunter,it has been awhile!!
We had our first dusting of snow this week too...Guess that means winter is on its way. Anyone else started thinking of Christmas yet....yikes!!!!
For those following along, the finger is healing nicely and showing no signs of needing amputation. But the nail is slow growing out and in order not to catch it on anything and rip it off(causing untold language and pain) I am forced to wear a bandaid on it daily. A small price to pay I guess.
Enjoy your week and whatever quilting or stitching you are enjoying!

Left in the dark!!!

As a matter of speaking, I am in the dark! The hydro was off from 9 am till 3 so what is a girl to do? Whatever it was, it was going to be slow!!!

BEFORE

I added labels to two finished quilts, finished stitching together a Christmas ornament we made at guild last week and then I spent the rest of the afternoon cutting fabric. I have been cleaning up my stash, taking all the little bits and anything less than a fat 1/4 out and chopping it into 1 1/2",2",2 1/2", 5" and then whatever is left for the string bucket.I did cut a few triangles for a 4 patch project I am working on too.It doesn't look like much but that is 4 hours of cutting. This is a very time consuming job but this was a good day for it...couldn't do anything else!!!

AFTER

The week ahead is planned out as long as I get my butt in gear and get this done!! I think though for tonight it is movie night and joining Kathy with some slow stitching on my hexies. Wonder if I will ever be done with that quilt? My life has been made easier by getting a fiskar cutter for the hexie shape from my friend Jessica. Now I don't have to keep reusing the papers endlessly. They do get a little "bent out of shape"!!!
A progress report on the injured finger. You can see what happened here. It is much better, a little tender still and of course I keep hitting it on things which instantly reminds me. I am extra careful around my knives these days too .....to say the least!!
Have a great week!! Happy November 1....how did that happen!?!?!?

Slowed me down a little....

Yes I was suppose to be sewing but I decided to make banana bread and you have to have nuts...right? Well I wish now I had skipped the nuts because while I was chopping and talking to my mother who stopped in to visit...I tried to chop my finger tip off. Lucky for me I have strong nails and the knife didn't get to the skin. It is tender but I have to say for a quilter, that was the finger to cut if I had to cut one...I can still sew, cut and stitch hexies.
So while trying to keep my finger out of harms way further..I have finished those paper pieced blocks and the table runner is done. My daughter will love it on her table at Christmas.
Last night at guild, a member Suzette was cleaning house and gifted to me five cross stitched blocks, pattern for an embroidered wedding ring quilt and a VIP panel of a goose which I made into a bag today.
Those curved pieced blocks that I have been working on, you can see some here. After several emails and some missed phone calls my "fabric piranha" friends came through for me. They were able to find the fabric and secure enough yardage for me. Big thanks to Louise and Barb and their delivery person. I know my daughter will be so relieved that there will be enough fabric now!!
After all that, I have to set those blocks aside and get busy on two baby quilts. They are almost completed flimsy, they just need an outside border and then they have to be quilted. I thought I had a couple more weeks but they decided differently and they were born this past Sunday. Can't wait to deliver them to the sweet princesses. I will post pics  once they are both done.
This evening will find me bundled up against the cold and rain and sitting in the treestand, hoping for my chance to come along. Wish me luck!!

One down ...one to go!

That is one hunting season down one to go!! Moose season just ended and so did my week alone. So now it is back to making supper, cleaning house and having hubby home!
Not that any of that is going to stop me....I am on a roll and I need to be! I have a few projects that have to get done this week and in between that I have monthly blocks from the guilds to complete.

ok so I have more to do!

Yesterday I took part in a workshop for paper piecing. I knew how to do it but thought a day of sewing would be fun. Who would have thought making four  8" blocks would take more than a day to complete. I got about 1/2 of the components made. So today I will try to finish them up so I can show it on Wednesday at guild.I am making 5 blocks instead of 4 and it will be a tablerunner for my daughter.

I completed two more blocks in our curve block of the month. But I have come to the realization that I don't have enough background fabric. This required immediate attention. So emails were exchanged and my friends Barb and Louise are coming to my rescue and will purchase more for me. I bought the fabric this Fall while on a quilting weekend with them and the store is in their neighbourhood!
I have been sewing on my newest machine this week and it is so smooth. You can read about my newest "herd" member here.
So for today slow stitching will have to wait till this evening.  I usually get a hour or two and get a few stitches into my hexies.
Check out what others are slow stitching today at Kathy's blog.

Happiness is.....

Outside our sewing window

Looking at the lake

Well happiness is many things today! We had our first taste of winter over the weekend. This made for a chilly weekend.
Although another quilting retreat has come to an end for me, it was a very successful weekend despite some minor issues with the place we were staying at.
I finished one machine quilted large lap quilt. I received some mentoring from a long arm quilter who was there and who was sure I could do this. After doodling on paper for a couple of hours, I started on the real thing. Lucky for me the fabric is busy and the thread is a very close match. I am happy with the finished product although there is lots of room for improvement. Did I mention machine quilting free motion is not one of my favorite things to do!!

my table mates

large sewing room

I had begun with a warm up of a smaller quilt that I was making for a friend for her dog. I think Chester will love his new travel blanket. After all that machine quilting...I just wanted to piece and sew on my featherweight. So on I went...pieced together two baby quilts and a few curved pieced blocks. That brought me almost to the end of the retreat. It can't be over, I still have projects to do!!!
Sadly packed everything up and headed home. Little did I know what was waiting for me.

While I was away DH and I celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary. Yes I was away!! But for several years before that he was away moose hunting so I figure ..turn about fair play!!!
Sitting in my living room/sewing room was a 301A sewing machine in a cabinet that he had found, bought and drove 3 hours there and back 3 hours so I would have it to play with this week while he was hunting. What a great surprise and what a sweet man..I think I will keep him!!!

I would like to send a little shout out to the previous owner...Barb. Thanks for parting with your machine...please know that is has a good home and will be so loved. I have named her(all my machines have names) Jiji....after all she was found on Kijiji!!!

curved blocks for my daughter's quilt

for Chester

machine quilting

large lap size quilt

After all this, I did get in some slow stitching for a Sunday with Kathy. I have lots of bindings to do after this weekend. So a quilt,  netflix, and a few hours and one quilt is done and another started.

So my plan for this week is sewing, playing and more sewing. That's my happiness is......

Almost ready!!

So excited...tomorrow is the day we leave for retreat!!! My friend and sidekick Susan got here yesterday and we have been very busy. I had to put her to work helping me get all my projects ready. Well I had most of them ready but needed to pin baste two smaller quilts. Tomorrow I only have to pack up the machines...yes two! My big machine to machine quilt and my featherweight to piece with...I just love my little machine! I am taking a couple baby quilts to do the tops, a bag, quilts to quilt and a box of scraps in case I run out of things to do. I also have along with me my tumbler-leaders and enders!
Of course the camera is packed too so if you aren't there, you will be able to see what we were up to!

This is at the door, loading up and we are on our way! See you on Sunday!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Turkey is ate, pumpkin pies are all gone and there is only enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow.Family dinner on saturday and relaxing yesterday with our daughter home and today sending her on her way again, that is the way the weekend went ...way too quickly!! But now is the time for me to get my butt in gear, there is a quilting retreat on the horizon.

newsprint background fabric

Yes this Thursday I leave for 4 days of fun and hard work(well not that hard). So I need to start gathering things and projects. I have about four blocks of the months to do, which I would like to precut before I go. That is what daughter Kelly and I did yesterday. She picked out fat quarters and background for some curved piecing blocks I am making. Also she found some Christmas fabric that will be used to make a tablerunner at a future guild workshop.
I want to baste two quilts to take with me to quilt also. Not large ones so it shouldn't be that bad. I will also throw in some string piecing and my leader and ender-tumblers to work on. I really am unsure of how many projects to take. But I guess I am not that far away if I really need to drive home for more to keep me busy!
I sewed up one block of the curved pieced blocks so we could see what they would look like. I think it will grow on me  but my daughter loves them!!
With what is left of today...the only slow stitching will be if I can get a few hexies together. Check out Kathy's blog and see what others were up to yesterday and today!!

Fall has finally arrived

not blurry just bad lighting

Yes the leaves are changing colour and the cooler weather has begun. I spent the other day clearing out the flower beds and gardens. I only have dill and some pumpkins still in the ground and they will be gone by the end of this week. It is a very rainy, overcast day so what is a girl to do but quilt.
Yes I am hand quilting and the end is very near. This quilt started out almost done in one week then a couple of weekends away and a sore back and now I just want it to be finished!!
I am starting to prepare kits for projects that I want to work on at retreat. My annual retreat begins in just over a week. My friend is coming to visit me for a couple of days and then we will head to the retreat lodge. Also for this trip loading and unloading will be easier as this week we bought a "new to us" van. DH calls it a grocery getter....I had to tell him it was a fabric hauler! Hmm not sure he is going to let me take it fabric shopping... ever !!!!

her name "Sandy"

I am joining the fun a day late but check out Kathy's blog and her slow stitching sunday to see what others are doing this Fall!
 Today I will be binding this quilt and stitching on it at guild tonight.
Hope everyone has a great week!

Looking for my quilting mojo

If it takes small projects to find my mojo than that is what I am doing! Today I completed two calendar blocks as part of a guild program. We are to make one for each month and these are my first two completed ones. I forgot there is as much work in these little ones(8x9) as in a baby quilt....haha!

This was also part of my slow sunday stitching. All the stitching, small amount of thread painting and quilting was done on my featherweight. They really are quite versatile little machines.
I spent most of the afternoon rummaging and searching through my stash for fabrics for three baby quilts. There are a lot of little ones that have been born over the summer and a few yet to come including a set of twins. Can't wait to make those princess quilts!
This evening I am resting this aching back and doing more hand stitching on my hexies. This seems like a never ending project but when I lay it out it is coming along nicely. I just love how the '30 prints play with the white. This will probably be the only one I make so I am going all out and going to keep stitching till I run out of the center purple colour. Then I will have to decide how large I will make the quilt. I was originally going to put in a green path but I let that idea go but I had already make a bunch of green hexies so there will be a white border all around the quilt and a larger green border...whenever I get to that point!!!

Every now and again you get reminded....

last night's finishes

The old saying is true. you never know what you have till it is gone or in my case almost gone! I had great plans for this week and then on Monday morning while getting ready I reached down to pick something up off the floor and BAM!!! I couldn't move, well I could but it wasn't easy. I had pinched something in my back. So needless to say no triathlons for me...getting in and out of bed was enough! It is coming along, had physio yesterday and have some exercises to do. So after resting most of the week, yesterday I thought enough!!
I tried to clean up some little projects in my sewing room. So finished this little baby quilt for the NICU and put together this pillow that will go into the fair next year!(needed to practice a little handquilting so I did the pillow)

only 12" left to go

Also today I want to put a few more stitches in this quilt. I can see the end, can you? I find this the hardest part of hand quilting...you want to be done but you don't want it to end. Oh well I have many more to quilt just waiting patiently in line.

almost like a jar of candy - so yummy!

While I was away last weekend, I had one day of sewing. I took my featherweight and a box of scraps. These are what I got done! 8 1/2" blocks. I have to say they don't look like much alone but when you lay them out, I think there is definitely a WOW factor happening. I will have to make a few more so I have enough to do something with. I will just say also that I hardly put a dent in my string box of scraps!

Now to decide what to work on today...finishing up something or starting something new? What are you doing in your sewing room today!!!

Off again!

Yes I was travelling again. This time a 5 hour drive took me south to my daughter's then onto a weekend visit with my Fabric Piranha quilting buddies, Louise and Barb.  I arrived on Thursday and was able to go to Louise's "after hours" quilting class. I was a nice evening visiting with some ladies that I had met before. After the class we got to go to Judy's (the teacher) house. Her home is the perfect quilter's paradise...bedroom, bathroom,kitchen, living room and the rest of the house including the basement is devoted to quilting!! I surely could live there.
I had the whole day Friday to myself so what is a girl to do....SEW!! Yes after sewing hexies in the morning, I dug out my featherweight and my scraps and made string blocks for the rest of the day. Once my buddy was done work, I picked her up and we met up with Barb and visited a new quilt store in the area.

a girl and her tractor

trailer full of pumpkins

On Saturday we were off to Quilt Expo in St.Mary's. Lots of vendors and a small unique quilt show. Each vendor made a quilt or wallhanging that was their interpretation  of the same original pattern. It was amazing to see how and what each vendor  did. They were all so different and visually appealing. So I didn't get any pics!!! We also stopped at a couple of quilt stores on the way home and one pumpkin patch. Pauline, who has her very own tractor, has a large pumpkin patch too! All shapes and sized of pumpkins including tiny gourds too!!
To finish off the day we went visiting. The skies that evening were so unusual. There were bright spots and not so bright areas. These pic don't really do them justice but it was the best I could do.

sunny but ominous

Now today was suppose to be a busy day for me......right up until I pinched a nerve or something in my back as I tried to pick something up off the floor. So now today is a sit in a hard chair, heating pad, book and maybe some hexies till the traffic jam in my lower back disappears. Arrggg....getting older is not nice!! So although there was no slow stitching done yesterday....I am thinking I will be making up for that today!

Just another kind of busy!

Where do the days go? I always thought that once summer ended and the kids headed back to school things would settle down and there would be more time for "stuff"!! Well for those who stop by my blog regularly you will notice....I can't even find time to blog!!!
Now I will start by saying this cold I caught from DH is still hanging on...nasty cough. Today at our guild meeting I wasn't the only one coughing and hacking, some were even sniffling! It even messes with your head and thinking. So no heavy quilting math for me!!

We should all be grinning when sewing with a friend

Last weekend I did a small road trip all by myself. I went back to my home town and visited my local and most favorite quilt store. Two hours just seemed to fly by. I also got to say hi to a few old friends. From there I met my friend Susan and we went to her house for the weekend. Although I brought lots with me, I didn't get much done. I took the opportunity to play in my string and scrap buckets. This was prep work for some demos and a workshop that will be going on at guild later in the year. I was able to put together string blocks and sashing to make a baby quilt for the NICU at our local hospital. As you can see we take over her dining room table that just gives us an excuse to eat on the couch!

baby quilt flimsy

This weekend I am heading out again! I am heading to see my fellow "fabric Piranha" quilt friends. We will be doing some shopping at quilt stores and attending a quilt show. We always have fun.I also have to look up a sewing machine that is for sale...not jinxing it so you will have to come back and see what happens.

The view out my front window

 We have been having some beautiful sunsets this past week. I couldn't resist going outside and get a pic...although it just doesn't do it justice!!!
Enjoy the rest of this week and whatever you decide to do with it!!!