Breathing Space

swoon blocks

I have had a couple of days to take it easy and recoup! I had my friend Susan here for two days. We visited and attended our guild meeting. She lives about 1.5 hours away but enjoyed visiting this guild and decided to join for this year. Guess she will be there next year too as she has signed on with two others and myself to do the program for next year.
DH was away overnight, so yesterday was a day of sewing and figuring out what I wanted to work on next. These swoon blocks we worked on awhile ago, so I dug them out to see how much further I could get with them. I am working with a pack of 10 fat quarters and some background yardage. I think I can get 9 large blocks, which should be enough for a lap quilt.

July 1st Wallhanging

I can finally show my red and white challenge piece. It turned out pretty nice even though it didn't win any of the challenges.I did the paper pieced curved flying geese and it wasn't so hard...there will be more of those in the future.

We have been having lots of rain and I am sure others have. It is a good excuse to stay indoors and sew.
Today is knitting with the girls and getting ready for the weekend. A BBQ for my DH band who are playing in two locations for Canada's 150th birthday weekend and more sewing for me. Enjoy your weekend!!

Slowing life down a bit....

A lot has happened in the last week and a bit. My holiday with the girls was great and very busy. We were in the van almost every day.

my basket with ALL my purchases

I arrived on Thursday and got to join in on their Thursday night sewing group. I know Judy was feeling bad because she was working on the same thing as the last time I was there (a year ago) but I made her feel better as I was working on the same hexie project too!!
Friday we  gathered everyone and six of us headed to Toronto for the Canadian Quilt Association juried show with vendors. We spent the morning looking at quilts and the afternoon was for shopping and visiting with the vendors. I was pretty well behaved with my big purchase being this basket.
Saturday we headed to two local quilt stores, one that was having an anniversary sale(that is when all that good behavior went out the window).40% off makes a quilters see future projects even if there isn't enough time to do them!!
Sunday was baby shower day. I got to finally see and hold baby Lauren (my friend's first grandbaby).
Then before I knew it, it was Monday and time for me to head home but not before one more stop to buy flooring for my kitchen.

Before

after

While I was away and not in the vicinity of my DH, he did more work on my kitchen. It started three years ago as my 50th birthday present. Then life happened and things were put on hold.Now we are almost done. Yes I came home, didn't even unpack and was painting the same night, flooring the next day and then the rest of the week was cleaning and putting things back together. We have just a bit of trim work to do and the counter top. It looks clean and new and I am getting use to it.

more binding required

We finished this past week off with a wedding. My cousin's daughter was married and it was a happy and a bit teary day. The bride's mom passed away six months ago. Her presence was very much felt and missed that day but they honored her very nicely without the day being sad. It was nice to visit with old friends, our family members and just catch up with each other. My face hurt from smiling and laughing!!

charity quilt needs binding

So needless to say not much quilting was done this past week. So today is for catch up. I have some blocks that need making for Wednesday's guild meeting, a presentation on sashing and borders and some binding for a couple of charity quilts that my friend  has quilted for me.


I checked in with my buddy Kathy a little late but it is always fun to see what everyone is up to!! Missed you Kathy at CQA and belated Happy Birthday too!!!

Heading South

Today I leave for my girl's weekend. We are loading up the van tomorrow and heading to Toronto for the Canadian Quilter's Association show. It will be a day filled with vendors, quilts and I am sure lots of chatting and giggles. I will post more about the show once I return. I don't travel with a computer so I will take lots of pictures and fill you all in next week.

Also this weekend I get to meet a new little friend. Her name is Lauren and she is the first granddaughter of my quilting buddy Louise. We will be attending her baby shower on Sunday.

It is going to be a busy weekend and I have a five hour drive ahead of me today. So off I should go.
Have a great weekend everyone and come back and see all the things I saw and did while I was away!!!

My Girl Vacation

my lilacs are later bloomers-deep purple

This is the start of a busy week. I have some knitting to finish for a baby shower next Sunday, some plants that need to be put in the garden, binding on a challenge piece that needs finishing and of course I have to pack and make my shopping list for CQA.

I head out on Thursday for my friend's house and on Friday a van load of us are going to CQA in Toronto. It is a juried show of quilts from across Canada but also there will be vendors to see and buy things from, all under one roof.

poppies are starting to bloom too

It is a beautiful sunny day here but the black flies are so thick, I just can't stand to be out in them. They seem very bad this year. We are hoping with a few hot days,,,their numbers will dwindle. So I will be indoors getting things finished.
Yesterday was World Wide Knit in Public day and my friends and I went to the local Farmer's Market where  they had rocking chairs for us. It was a fun morning. Unfortunately I have no pics but I am getting better....at least the camera was with me!! bahaha

coming together

more to sew

I will be hopping over to my friend Kathy's blog and doing some slow stitching with her today. See what others are up to today. Are you a hexie fan...she is looking for others and trying NOT to become one of us!!! Let's see if we can convert her!!Here is a project I have been working on for awhile now...it is definitely a long long term project!!

Knitting day!

The sun is shining and finally I get to open the window of the house and air it out. We have been having cooler than normal days with lots of rain. It is so nice to be able to hear the birds and the creek while I go about my day.
I have cleaned the house and am ready for visitors. The girls are here for our knitting afternoon today.Always a fun time of catching up (some of us haven't seen each other for a day or two!!)haha

I have take the last couple of days to just play in my sewing room. Really playing. I pulled out a small box of scraps and just created. Now with them being small scraps of course all I did make was small quilts. The smallest ones are 1: finished squares. I make small quilts to go with small stuffed animals that are given to a group in my area. It is a victim help group. They attend scenes of accidents, domestic disputes and other such things. If there are children involved the stuffed animals can be a way of keeping them occupied while police and medical persons do their jobs. Such a little thing that can be so helpful.

In between sewing I have been experimenting with the wood cook stove we have outside in our gazebo. Once the fire is on and the stove is warm...oh the delicious things you can cook. I baked chicken with veggies(what was left in bowl), stewed rhubarb on the top and baked a rhubarb dessert for the girls today!There really is a different taste cooking this way. I think I may have been a pioneer in another life!! Tonight we are trying a pork roast and one day homemade bread maybe!!

Enjoy your Wednesday...hump day!!!

Lost in my stash

That is how I am feeling...so much stash and I just don't know which project to work on! This always happens to me after finishing a big project.How about anyone else? Do you find yourself wandering around your sewing room, cleaning and moving things about, thinking you might find something that will peak your interest. Let me assure you, it is not from lack of UFOs
or projects set aside to start.
Oh well it will happen I am sure.

Me(left) and Evelyn

I did finish "that quilt" and you can read about the delivery of it here. Evelyn was so happy with what I had done and was happy to have her quilt back! Her appreciation of my work made all those days of quilting worthwhile!

It is June and for most of us guild meetings are coming to an end for the summer which means banquets and potluck dinners. It also means challenges are due!I have four due. An ugly fabric challenge, orphan block challenge, and 150 Canada challenge. I only had to make 3 as I will be using the 150 Canada piece at two different guilds! That is also the one that I still have to finish, the other two are done! I will show pics of them later as I don't want to spoil the surprise.

turning into a poppy flowerbed

I am also busy knitting. My best friend became a first time grandma and I was so sure it was going to be a boy. So now I am knitting a little girl's sweater!!! I have two weeks before I head to grandma's house for a visit and be able to see the baby. We are also heading to the  CQA show that weekend. One van, six or seven ladies and a road trip! There is sure to be talking, giggling and shopping! CQA is the Canadian Quilter's Association show in Toronto. A juried show of quilts from across Canada with vendors too.

couple of sad but happy flowers in my garden

Today I get to sew and maybe finish my challenge because it is rainy here. Yesterday was my sewing day but the weather was nice  and the bugs were few...couldn't pass that up!!! So more of the garden was put in and some flower seeds planted. These are the flowers that are blooming in my garden now. Also the lilacs are in full bloom in the neighbourhood..you can smell them!

Also today I am playing pioneer of sorts. We have a new addition to our gazebo...a wood cook stove. DH has been baking suppers in the oven. It has made amazing chicken pot pies, baked potatoes and corn in husks. Tonight I am making roast chicken.

I am also checking in with my friend Kathy and her slow stitching Sunday and seeing what everyone is up to. She will get to see our stove first hand later this summer. Maybe DH will even cook for us as we sew the weekend away for our annual Piranha Retreat!

Hope you all have a great week!

Signed, sealed and delivered!

Evelyn's Mother

Yes "the quilt" has been delivered to its rightful owner. I finished the quilt in early May and had to wait a couple of weeks to deliver it to the owner. She was so excited to see it and loved it once we got it out of the bag and onto her bed. She said she was sure her mother was dancing in heaven seeing the quilt finished. It looked so perfect on her white bed and she was even dressed in pink to match. It was nice to chat with her for a bit and learn more about her.

Evelyn and myself.

So I talked to the owner Evelyn to get the story of the quilt so I could make the label. She was 10 years old when the quilt was made and finished in 1945. Her mother and sister worked on it and Evelyn got to do some of the work on the flowers. The mother's sister crocheted all the trim on the quilt. The quilt was a wedding gift for the sister from her mother. The sister passed away a couple of years ago and Evelyn bought the quilt from her niece. It will be part of Evelyn's family now and will be passed down to her daughter and or grand daughter.
What a special story and quilt and I am so happy to be a small part of that story. For more pics from other posts, you can see them
 here and here.

Now that that is done, I can play catch up in my sewing room. Many challenges to get completed for June meetings. I have 4 to do and they are all done except one that still needs quilting. That is what is on the agenda for today.