Is it really the end of January?

What a beautiful weekend....makes a person feel that Spring can't be far off! I think what I miss most this time of year is the time spent outside in my backyard and garden. Oh well, we know to make the most of it when we can.

I've been hard at work lately quilting a couple of custom jobs. They've both been a lot fun, being able to use what I have learned in classes the last couple of years. I won't show the sampler yet that will be finished today as I haven't asked permission yet of the quilter...but I can show a few pictures of the one I finished before this one!

As soon as my friend brought me this quilt I had to ask if I could "play" with it! Here are a couple of close-ups...

I've been trying this week to make some head-way on our wedding signature quilt. By happy accident I found the perfect border fabric!

It's quite a lovely coral colour, I'm not sure it shows well in the picture.

The blocks in the 365 Challenge are starting to get a bit more intricate. They are adorable.

Our fireplace project is coming along nicely. We had great luck on Saturday at Lowe's and Habitat for Humanity ReStore for supplies. I love going to Habitat....you never know what you'll find!

As for this morning, I started the day as usual with some applique. This week I got a lot accomplished on my lower border of my Flower Garden.

 Today I tried to get caught up a bit on Quilty365/Day in My Life hearts. I've been doing the prep work almost every day, but it seems lately the applique falls behind a bit. They don't take long to applique, so I want to try to keep up and not let this fall into the dreaded UFO pile(s).

I was just reading Kathy's post over at Kathy's Quilts. She talks about staying on track and not veering off course. Lately, I feel like I'm veering wildly off course!!! There are so many projects calling my name. Somehow I have to learn to say "no"!

Have a visit with Kathy, HERE, to see what others are stitching on today.

Funky trees and samplers!

What a dreary day it is today....so far, anyway. Just makes a girl wish she could stay curled up in her special chair cozied up with a quilt and some applique....here's what I'm working on this morning, a funky tree on my FlowerGarden.....

Poking at my applique is not the plan for today though. Soon the "guys" will be here to install the new fireplace...yay! Which means tomorrow while I'm curled up in my special chair with my applique, I'll be doing it in front of a lovely fireplace. Sweet! I don't mind giving up our winter trip for this, we'll be enjoying it for years!

Also, I'll be working hard at this quilt on the longarm today....

It's coming along good so far! It's a sampler, so lots of different spaces to fill. I must say, samplers are maybe the most fun to quilt on the longarm....every  block different presenting lots of room for imagination.

Have a great day!

A frosty Sunday!

What a pretty morning. Everything outside is covered in frost and it feels a bit warmer. It's hard to believe that in our area, at the end of January, we have only had one day that we've had to actually clear snow from the driveway. I'm okay with that!

It feels like the kind of day that I wish I could just stay curled up in my special chair and work away at my applique....but that's not going to happen. I was able to catch up on my Day in My Life/Quilty 365....

As you can maybe tell, I am still giving "back-basting" a try since my blogpost a couple of days ago explaining that I was attempting it for the first time. I'm still quite happy with the results.

Also, as you can see by the new "button" off to the side of the screen, I am starting yet another project... My Small World by Jen Kingwell. It looks like quite an intricate project! 

The house once again feels like chaos. We keep saying "no more renovating"...but here we go again! Actually, it's not so much of a reno as it is a project. It should also go fairly quickly....it just feels like a bit of a mess at the moment. We have decided to take this year's holiday funds and put it into having a gas fireplace, yay!

Here's how it looks so far....

The "guy" comes on Wednesday to do the installation, so we've had to hurry on getting things set up. Not a bad start after one day! The only down-side is that while I have my applique time in the morning I can just listen to the tv and not properly see it. That's ok, it's just for a week, maybe.

I hope to spend an hour this afternoon on the signature quilt from our wedding. There is now a deadline to get it done. I'll just have to go out and get some nice border fabric. My first thoughts, since the blocks are all Kaffe Fassett fabrics was to do a narrow solid border and a wild Fassett outer border. But now I'm thinking of doing a similar border treatment as the quilt in the banner of this blog. Any thoughts would be greatly welcomed and appreciated! 

Here it is so far....

Actually, the first three rows of blocks have been sewn since this photo. I also have some blocks that weren't signed and am still thinking to add them to make another row. We'll see!

Today is the day to visit with Kathy's Quilts to see what others are working on for Slow Sunday Stitching. Also, a head's-up that Kathy herself will be teaching at Quilt Canada in Toronto this June! Way to go, Kathy!!!

Have a great day!