Saturday....and some free time!

What a nice peaceful morning....even though the sky looks so bleak out there!

I have my errands run and some ironing done. Now I find myself with a couple of hours to do with what I choose. I could do a bit of housework, but I know I'm going to do a bit of piecing up in the studio. I think I'll work on my Nature's Neutrals for a bit. Here's a picture on one block...and many, many more are needed! They will finish at 4.5"....

They are cute blocks, and all different, except for the fact that they are all neutral fabrics.

I finished working on a custom quilt this week. The piecing was perfect, it was a delight to work on. An added bonus was being able to have the perfect quilt to try some new techniques on.

After finishing that quilt, I put my "Raise the Barn Roof High" on for a quick basting on the longarm....

This morning I was able to sit quietly with my coffee and put the first few stitches into the quilt. It's hard to describe the feeling as you quilt those first stitches but I like it! I'm going to do one giant spiral from the centre out. The first bit is drawn on with a template, but after that it will be a bit of freehand. I hope it looks good in the end. It's not a large quilt, so it won't take long.....and it will be something crossed off my UFO list at one of the guilds I go to!

Have a great weekend!

Waiting for the snow...

We are supposed to get some snow today. The sky is grey and it's a bit windy out there. I think they are calling for 5-10 cm, but somehow I'm feeling it will be more.

I'm working away on a custom quilt today. I have an errand I should run, but I think I will leave that til tomorrow so I don't get distracted from the longarm.

I hadn't thought to post today but I took a picture of Cooper and had to share. I think he is quite relaxed by the hum of the longarm, wouldn't you say?.....

Have a great day!

New rulers!

I'm having a lot of fun trying out my new rulers that I ordered after classes this past year with Linda Hrcka of the Quilted Pineapple. These are rulers that she developed herself and the possibilities are awesome.

Here's a couple of pictures of what I'm working on at the moment. Hopefully I'll make real headway on this quilt today now that I'm on a roll with the design.

The rulers are also safer to use than other rulers I've tried in the past....bonus!

The only thing that will interfere with my day is extreme fatique! Not much sleep last night so I may have to have a little nap to rejuvenate myself....such is the life of a new puppy owner. :)

After the retreat.....

Well, I have been to my first retreat. I somehow thought I'd come back all rested, relaxed and rejuvinated.....but I'm pooped!!!

 I think if it had been a day longer, maybe there would have been time to sit back and enjoy a good book (which I took, but didn't get looked at) or gone for a nice walk on the grounds of Five Oaks. It seemed like such a beautiful, tranquil spot...what I saw out the window, at least. I will definitely go again if given the opportunity.

There were nice friends, some old and some new. Lots of sewing accomplished. And a wee bit bit of wine consumed. Here are a couple of bottles that sums up the weekend ...

"Relax" was recommended by my son....it was a bit sweeter than I'm used to, but the second glass was much better!

The food at Five Oaks was wonderful. Lots of variety and we didn't go hungry. A favourite of many of us was a coleslaw with some diced apples and cranberries in it.

I was able to get some serious sewing done. I did get to my "Raise the Barn Roof High" by Victoria Gertenbach. You can see her blog The Silly BooDilly HERE. I've been waiting to start this project since November when another mini-retreat was cancelled. I arrived at Five Oaks and immediately got at it and was done by lunch the next day! It is a small quilt, 36" square inches or so. I think I'll hand-quilt it...Victoria's is done in a spiral and looks fantastic. I'm not sure I can manage that on the longarm so hand-quilting it is. I'm looking forward to it since I have a new quilting hoop I've been wanting to try and, also, the fabrics were so soft I'm looking forward to the feel of the quilting of it. I don't know if I'll piece with Oak Shott's (sp?) again since they were so stretchy but it should make for a nice, mooshy quilt in the end!

Here is a pic of my quilt, very much like Victoria's since I liked her colours so much!....

One of our guild members and her friend from Calgary were working on matching wall-hangings....what a great time of year to work on something celebrating Spring, it gives you a reminder that it will be right around the corner!

Here we all are working hard in the room that we had for sewing.....lots of room for each of us to sew, cut and press, and still space left for a table of treats to keep our energy up!

I also had time to work on one of my oldest UFO's....started eleven years ago. All the blocks were hand-pieced back then and all that needs doing is the pieced sashings and borders. I made real progress on that. Also, worked a bit on the mystery quilt I'm doing at Quilt Junction in Waterford. I was able to poke a few stitches into my applique project....but not as much as I thought I would.

So, the retreat is now over. That means that it is time to buckle down and start my journey to better health. I think I'll post on here a few times a week any new foods or recipes I may try so I can maybe use this blog to help me keep on track.

The first new food was one I had last night. Some kind of vegetable called Bok Choy. I have never tried it before although it was probably hidden in some of the dishes in  Chinese restaurants. My sister recommended it, actually the Baby Bok Choy....and I sauteed it in a bit of oil with mushrooms, garlic and a touch of salt and pepper. Good stuff, we'll definitely have it again. I'll have to google what kind of nutrients are found in Bok Choy.

That's all for now...I'll just share a picture of Cooper and me cuddling before I had to leave for retreat the next day!

A "before" pic !

Today I'll be  working away at this quilt. It's hand-appliqued and immaculately pieced.

I'm going to use some of the techniques I've learned in the past year, and am looking forward to what I have planned for the border.

I'm finding it a bit hard to concentrate, though, as my mind is reeling on what I want to get ready for this weekend's retreat. Maybe I'll take an hour and pack up my projects so I can then give this quilt my undivided attention!

Have a great day!

Modern quilting....

I finished quilting this quilt lately. I am so happy with how it turned out! I can't take all the credit since the client knew exactly what she wanted. I enjoyed doing it and would never have thought to just quilt a quilt with staggered straight lines, but I hope I get an opportunity to do it again because it is striking....

Also, on the weekend I finished quilting a Round Robin for a friend of mine, I hope she likes it!

I've had a couple of custom-quilted jobs this month and I have a couple more to come, but I think today I'll take a breather and work on an edge-to-edge quilt....and if there's time after that I have to start getting projects ready to take on retreat later this week!

Our guild in Vittoria has a UFO challenge going on this year. Each guild member was asked to submit a list of five UFO's and they were allotted points depending on how much work was involved to get each project done. The guild has been divided up into three teams and the points of the UFO's completed by May 2015 will count towards points for your team.  I would like to work on at two of my UFO's on my list during the upcoming retreat.

One of the UFO's is not a big quilt, and it's been cut out, but that's all. It's a pattern I purchased from Victoria Gertenbach who writes a blog, The Silly BooDilly. The pattern is Raise The Barn Roof High...and here is a picture of it....



I've been wanting to have time to work on this wallhanging for a few months, so am excited to be able to start next weekend!

I think I'd like to make some serious headway, also, on what has been my leaders/enders project for a few years. I think I'm finally getting bored of it and would like to get it together so I can start on something new. I'll show some of that later this week though!

Have a great day!

P.S. Here's a little bit of cuteness to start the day....

Rainy Days and Sundays...

Yes, how strange. It is a rainy, January Sunday. Oh well, better than the white stuff!

As I sat with my applique and coffee this morning, I had the thought that I would be happy just sitting back and continuing with the hand-stitching all day.  I may be slightly influenced by Kathy over on her blog, Kathy's Quilts. She advocates a bit of hand-stitching on a Sunday to help slow down the busy pace of life. Well, my only difference is that I like to start every day like this!

Kathy is asking other bloggers to post a picture today of their hands doing some stitching.

Here is my hand working on some circles. I really thought I should be almost done this project since I've been working on it pretty steady. I'll have to do a count.

In the background are some pieces being prepared for my next couple of Flower Garden blocks. I may just put them aside to be packed up for my quilting retreat next weekend. I've never gone on a real retreat. I have no idea of how much sewing to take, but I'm pretty sure the answer to that is to take more than I think I can do....Heaven forbid I should run out!

Have a great day and I hope your day will include poking a few stitches into a project!

My Flower Garden

Last week I was reading a blog on getting one's stash under control. I found it inspiring, even though I didn't follow her steps to find that control....who has time??? LOL


This morning I found myself feeling overwhelmed by the ufo's !!! It's getting a bit tiring having these feelings about that which is supposed to be my enjoyable pastime. I'm not sure which direction to take but what I'm doing now isn't working. I find if I look back over the last two years, I see that I really haven't completed many quilts at all.  I think I keep flitting from one project to another.

Other than BOM's that I'm involved in with my local guilds, etc., I think I'll try concentrating on one UFO til it's complete. My outlook will surely improve if I see some real quilt tops, don't you think? Well, that's my theory (for now) and I'll try to stick to it.

On to applique.....

I don't think I've every found myself with so many hand-sewing projects! I really don't want to put any of them aside and concentrate on just one because I'm afraid the projects that are put aside will never see the light of day again! LOL, and I still really enjoy each of them.

This morning I was tidying the sewing room a bit while I was having my morning coffee. I had a look at my Flower Garden by Kim McLean. You can see the whole quilt HERE . I've been enjoying this applique very much....the blocks and pieces are big and there are lots of gentle curves. Not an intricate piece, but relaxing and enjoyable. Plus, I'm loving the look of it.

I pinned my blocks onto the design wall and was surprised that I have completed more blocks than I thought. Two more and I'll be halfway done.....not counting those borders!

I'm glad I took the time to pin these up, it cheered me up seeing that I'm making some real progress in my projects! Here's what I have so far.....

Have a great day!

Putting things into perspective....

Here's a picture my daughter took this morning of her dog, Reese, and my pup, Cooper. It gives you some perspective on how tiny he is right now!

I wasn't going to take a break from "feathers" today to post on my blog, but couldn't resist sharing this picture.

Have a great day!

Is it Spring yet?

As I'm sitting writing this, I'm facing the front window and seeing a lovely sunrise. It looks like a Christmas card out there with the covering of snow and the big pine tree dusted with the white stuff. Ok, enough of that! I'm looking forward to Spring already....I hate being cooped up, although it would probably help to put a positive spin on it. There's no reason not to bundle up and enjoy the great outdoors, I just am not motivated to do so, I guess.

Something I do like to do in Winter is to try new recipes....and Pinterest has sure helped with that. This week, though, I concocted my own new salad. It was inspired by a bit of salad I bought from the deli at my local supermarket. I'm not sure why I bought it as I find deli salads usually too strong in vinegar. I've had a "new to me" ingredient in the house....Orzo. I'm not really sure what to do with it, but I did throw some into a soup last week and liked how it didn't get all starchy. Here's my salad...

I cooked the orzo and just added some chopped grape tomatoes, olives, red pepper, feta and Greek salad dressing. It turned out yummy and I'm thinking it could be changed up somehow to have an Italian flavour, also.

I've been quite distracted this week by the new pup. I think I finally know his name...he's Cooper. I've always wanted a Mini Cooper and now, in a way, I have one. He's cute and comical and will be a good chum for me. So far he weighs all of 2.3 pounds. I worked a bit on the longarm yesterday and was afraid he'd be terrified....but all was good.

I'd better get to work now, I predict many feathers in my future...

Dusty

Well, this post is more of an introduction to the newest member of the family...

I think his name is Dusty....or Twister.....or Reggie. Not quite sure, but I think Dusty will be his name! Maybe I should call him Distraction, because I should have started working on the longarm by now!

Stash-talk

I've somehow come across a blog the last couple of days called Kimberly's Quilting and Sewing, you can check it out HERE.

The last few days she is talking about being paralyzed by the "stash". A lot of what she is saying is resonating with me but I'm also finding it a bit frightening....what is she going to tell us to do with our lovely stash?...I don't know, but am thinking of trying to follow some of her suggestions.

This past year I had a couple of good friends offer to help organize my stash somewhat. I had put their offer off for quite a while because, quite frankly, I felt humiliated by the fact that I may need some help. They assured me though of the pleasure they get out of seeing (and petting) fabrics of other quilters, lol. We had a great day and made so much headway.

But there's still some work to do. Why do I think I can put a day aside to deal with something like this....

I`ve had these two bags around the house for probably over 5 years. They move from spot to spot, with me thinking that someday I`ll devote some time sorting, pressing, etc. Another little voice tells me just to chuck it....if I haven`t looked at it in so long, will I really miss it? Probably not, but the other little voice is screaming, "Noooooo!!!".  I know that one of the reasons to hold on to these is that I am basically a maker of scrappy quilts.

Some of what Kimberly writes about does speak to me, though. I think sometimes our taste in colour, genre, etc can change. I've said it before.....I think I've been going thru' the "fabric change-of-life" the last couple of years! My  colours over the years have always been warm, country colours. Lately, I've been buying brighter colours, even being influenced by other friends and trying Fassett fabrics, and the like. I'm loving the whimsy of Australian quilters and the fabrics they use. Maybe it IS time to weed thru' the stash??

Now for my nutrition tip of the day. No, this probably won't be a regular feature, but I guess many of us have little tricks to get a bit of "healthy" into our day, don't we? Here's mine for January. I want to try to sneak a tablespoon of this into my diet every day...

There are so many benefits to Hemp Seeds....protein, iron, etc., and it's easy to add them to your meal. I've just finished my porridge and I threw some in there and didn't even taste a difference. Not that there is anything wrong with the taste of them, at all. Another way to use them is to sprinkle them on your salad.  This big bag was bought at Costco.

On the quest for healthier eating, doesn't it seem like the universe is plotting against you sometimes??? What did I find this morning but some leftovers from Christmas...

There was a little bag of about 15 Hershey Kisses. I thought all the temptations had been gotten rid of (meaning eaten!).

Time to head off to the studio to work on a friend's quilt. I'm spending a couple of days doing all the ditch-work, then on Monday I can start the fun!

This quilt is a round-robin. Check out the way someone added "wedges" to get the "on point" centre medallion to be squared up....

So cool! My friend wants feathers to fill the cream "wedges". Not a problem, love doing me some feathers!!

Here's a picture of the outer border, which may give some of you a clue to whose quilt this is!!!

Have a great day!

It's a Porridge Day!

After listening to the strong winds the last couple of days I was comforted by the thought of porridge for breakfast. I love porridge so much, I don't know why I don't eat it everyday. I can go a long time without even thinking of it as an option for breakfast but this type of weather makes it a perfect start to the day.

I am starting the year off with trying to make some healthier choices for my meals so I can fit into "the dress" come July. I know in the fall I tried to watch my carbs a bit, and I noticed immediate results. It just takes some thinking ahead and planning....which is hard sometimes when all you want to do is grab a pizza out of the freezer for lunch ( like yesterday!) .Maybe I'll take the dress out of the closet everyday and hang it in view for inspiration.

This month I find myself at the start of a long list of custom quilts. I usually just like to book one per month since they are more intense. My usual process is to agonize for a couple of days while displaying the quilt so I can get ideas. Then I get it on the longarm and somehow the ideas start to flow and I wonder what I had been beating myself up about! I swear, it's like this everytime! So, this month I'm going to trust myself and just get at it!

I started the week with something a little easier just to get myself back into the groove after the holidays. It is a "modern" quilt and I think it turned out fantastic! I can't take all the credit, though....my client knew exactly what she wanted so I just went ahead. I can't show pictures yet...I'll wait for her permission.

Today I'm on to custom #2...a beauty done by a friend of mine. She asked for feathers in a certain area, but has given me the go ahead to experiment.

I have to say, though, I wish I  had one more week of holidays so I could just sew! When I finished work yesterday I turned my attention to Grand Illusion. I think in an earlier post I may have pointed out that my four-patches were sewn in every which-way....

I had thought to just leave it be. That was probably a decision made after an afternoon of sewing. Well, looking at it again yesterday with fresh eyes, all I could think was that there had been so much sewing done already in this project that it deserved to be corrected. All it took was barely an hour of frogging and re-sewing, and I think it was worth it!

I really would just like to keep at this today and have it done! I haven't actually sat down and did the math, but I do think I'll be needing more border units. Also, since I have done only 12 blocks instead of 25, I know that I'll have to do some figuring on the width of the inner border to make it work. I can't wait to see it all put together!

Something else I'd like to do is find the project I want to take with me to the quilting retreat later this month. It's a pattern I got from Victoria Gertenbach at  The Silly BooDilly. The pattern is called "Raise the Barn Roof High" and you can see a picture of it HERE. Now, it's just a matter of remembering the so-called "safe place" that I put the pattern/fabrics! We all have that proverbial safe place, don't we????

Have a great day!

Another "start"!

What a dreary-looking day out there. Just makes me want to go into hibernation in my sewing room for the next couple of months!

This afternoon is one of my guild meetings. I do want to go....we are getting info on the retreat I'm going on later this month! I know, though, that if I don't go I will get the information by email....but still want to get it first hand!

I'm also looking forward to the speaker, Maggie Vanerweit from Stone Threads Fibre Art. I think I may have seen her at a booth at Quilt Canada this past year. Fibre arts isn't my forte, (yet!) but it's always nice to see or hear of different people`s passions!

I've put my first few stitches in Life is Beautiful. It's obvious that I haven't embroidered in a while....but it's only the first block. Those little stitches will surely improve as time goes on! I like to take some hand-work to guild, so I thought I'd get this little cutie started so I could take it along. I love the tan fabric in that I don't have to worry as much about little "varicose veins" showing thru'. Of course, this means I'll have to take a trip to Quilt Junction for some co-ordinating reds and tans. Or maybe a subtle hint to my children that a G/C to Quilt Junction for my birthday is in order???? Here is a picture of my start this morning...

This project is taking me back to my childhood. I have fond memories of my mother teaching us to embroider by using iron-on transfers on the cuffs of pillowcases. It would start with a trip to Kresge's to pick out a transfer and some floss....and, of course, a pop and pastry at the lunch counter....

Does this picture bring back any memories??? I was always fascinated by all the lovely baked goods displayed under the glass on the countertop!

Have a great day!

Grand Illusion Spoiler Alert !

I was able to sew on the weekend and make good head-way on the Bonnie Hunter mystery, Grand Illusion, found HERE on the Quiltville blog.

At first, my head was swirling with the motion of this quilt, but now that it's been on the design wall for a bit I find myself liking it, afterall. There is a lot of interesting new concepts in this quilt, such as the sashing is different "measurements" than the blocks themselves so that there is not much in the way of matching up the seams. Hard for me to explain, but if you're doing the quilt, you'll get it! Here's a picture of what I have so far....

I have to admit that I've made a mistake in my piecing, but there's so much going on in the quilt I don't know if I'll go back and correct it or not!! As I was piecing the main blocks, I made a mental note to myself to remember that the four-patches in the centre of the blocks should all be sewn in in the same way. Obviously, the over-50 rule was in effect.....which is - make a note, don't trust my memory!!! Well, as soon as the blocks were up on the wall, I noticed that the four-patches are sewn in every which-way. Now, on another quilt I'd for sure go back an correct this, but on this one, I think it's going to be "as-is". Maybe a case of picking my battles?, I think so!

We were out-and-about yesterday running some errands and ended up in Port Dover so we popped in to the Urban Parisienne for a hot beverage. My go-to in a coffee shop is a Chai Tea Latte, and this little restaurant sure makes a fine one. Very smooth flavour. It happened to be just after noon, so I thought I'd try their soup of the day. Now, Iain judges a restaurant on how well they make a salad entree....for me it's all about the soup! Yesterday the soup-of-the-day was Broccoli-Blue Cheese. I'm not a fan of blue cheese, but thought I'd take a chance. So glad! It was awesome and I think I'll go there again to try other soups they offer.


I'll have to try harder to become a good blogger. I know that other people share pictures on their blog of nice meals they experience. Well, that thought occurred to me as soon as I took the last spoonful of my lovely soup. I'm going to share the picture that I did take and promise to try to do better in the future!!!

Obviously, pictures aren't so tantalizing after the fact, are they? :S

On the subject of food still.....We have had such great success trying recipes off of Pinterest this last year. I think I'll share the occasional experimental dinner. Tonight I am going to try this...Spicy Honey Glazed Chicken. (I'll have to try to figure out how to share Pinterest pics on here).

 We're finding that we can find healthy recipes on Pinterest and they taste great using all kinds of spices, vinegars, and oils. I remember back 40 years ago to my mom sitting down to a naked piece of fish or chicken, trying to lose weight with one group or another. No wonder she was doomed to fail, depriving herself of great tasting food! I`m hoping that I can achieve some success at getting the belly down before the wedding this summer....I have a dress I need to fit in to!

One last note....yesterday I tried to change the settings on my blog. If you would like to leave a comment and don't have a google acct, etc., then you should be able to choose "anonymous" below and now do so.

Have a great day!!!

Happy New Year!

Well, it's a dull, dreary, but mild, day. A good day to devote to a bit of organizing in the sewing room? Maybe!

I think every year at this time I try to think of a new way to become a more organized person, and it never works :(    There must be some method that will help. I do have to say that little by little there are items in the studio that are finding a nice, labelled home and once they have a home they seem to stay there. So maybe the secret is to just perservere, slowly but surely? I guess the state of the studio gets me down at this time of year because since I'm on "vacation" the last 2 weeks of December everything seems to get stuffed in there over Christmas. Tomorrow is "back to work" day, so it would help to have a bit of a fresh start.

In another "what was I thinking" moment, I purchased a new pattern over the holidays. It's a quilt called Life Is Beautiful and you can click here to see a picture of part of the quilt. What drew me first was the beauty of the book/pattern itself.....

In the foreground is a lovely fabric that will be used for the embroidery. Now to find my small embroidery hoop which I haven't used in years. A quick trip to Port Dover this afternoon may be in order!

I don't know when I expect to work on this project! I'll have to make it a certain kind of project, maybe one that is worked on at guild meetings? Or just tell myself to complete two little "circles" per month? hmmm....

I think I'll get a block ready soon, though, as it is embroidered using a variegated floss and I'm looking forward to seeing how that looks.

Now I'm procrastinating so I'll say "have a good day" and be heading up to the studio to start a bit of organizing....or put the last 2 blocks of Grand Illusion together!...haha.....