Auntie Green's Garden update

I haven't done much applique with AuntieGreen'sGarden lately. 

I consider this quilt and my FlowerGarden to be my "main" projects this year. I may stray with others....ie: Quilty365/Year in My Life...but these two are the biggies.

In prepping for my trunk show, I thought it might be nice to attach the border I've had done to the main body of AuntieGreen's.

Well!!! I'm so in love with this quilt still!...and seeing it on the design wall again has given me a push to get back at it. It's kind of taking my breath away! I know it may be a bit "too much" for some people....and that's ok. For me, it's just right!

Have a great day!!!!

The best laid plans

Well, I've been trying to get going on my AuntieGreen'sGarden since Christmas to no avail.

I've blamed it on being busy with the holidays and with starting new projects, but I realised yesterday that it wasn't that at all.

Many times to keep on track with a project I'll set myself little goals. For AuntieGreen I had worked it out that if I did a border a month, etc...then it could be done for the Fair in the Fall. I've had my timeline on the brain so much that this applique has become more like a "job" or a "chore". I still love it, but yesterday I gave myself permission to give it a little rest and pick up my Flower Garden for a few weeks.

Here is a picture of how far I've come on this quilt....

 Sometimes it's difficult to put aside the time to do the prep work on a big applique, but I did do that yesterday. The bottom border of my Flower Garden has 157 pieces, not counting 24 1/2" circles! It has such a different look than AuntieGreen!

I thought I'd start this morning's stitching time with what looks like the most difficult piece of this quilt! Here is the freezer paper pattern ironed onto the fabric...

It took quite a while to cut out the pattern itself! This morning it took at least two hours to cut the fabric and baste it onto the background. I did manage to get a few inches stitched....

While coming to the decision to put AuntieGreen aside, I did manage to do a bit of other sewing and stitching.

One of my Life is Beautiful blocks....

I don't really "get" this block, oh well, lol !

I decided to start sewing my Day in My Life/Quilty365 blocks together so I don't have 365 to assemble at the end of the year! Ive decided to sew them in chronological order...

I also completed my first block in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

There's a linky party over at SoScrappy of people sharing what they are doing for their Rainbow Scrap Challenge. You can check it out HERE.

Another Linky going on today is at Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching. You can visit with her HERE to see what others are poking at on this dreary morning (at least it's not snow!).

And, just because they're so cute, here's a picture of Cooper and Minnie ready to curl up on the couch with me lately....


On a side note, we had taped a new TV show on Wednesday night and finally watched it last night. It's called "The Indian Doctor" and is about a couple from India moving to Wales in the 60's to take over a medical practice after the local doctor dies. We thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it. I hope it lasts because it is a challenge to find a show that we both like! I don't know what we'll do when Downton Abbey comes to an end!

Have a great day!

P.S.
I'm just adding on another linky that I've remembered...great blogpost over at "Quilting is more fun than housework"! I can certainly relate, and to the post she mentions of another blogger, Mangofeet.
Have a look HERE.

Sunday Stitches

The last Sunday before Christmas!

I'm definitely going to take some time for some Slow Stitching today before trying to organize what still needs doing for Christmas. One thing on the list is re-arranging the rec room as I believe we will overflow into that on Boxing Day...not a big deal, though!

We really want to get the last of the groceries today, so a list is definitely in order. I wonder what other people have on their holiday menu that is a little out of the ordinary? Ours would be Risotto! My grandson will have three helpings then ask to take the leftovers home!

I've been keeping up on my Day in My Life/Quilty365. Sometimes I fall behind by three days but then catch-up before this becomes a dreaded UFO....and I don't want that to happen!

I want to start thinking outside the box on this project. One day I threaded the needle and just started a running stitch. I did draw a freehand heart but then let my needle go where it wanted to....

I've always be intrigued by the thought of doing an applique quilt in silks. This morning was actually the first time, I think, that I've actually used some silk...

I know I'm going to start roaming the thrift shops now for old silk ties!

I think I'm being influenced strongly for the Quilty365 by Stephie over at Dawn Chorus Studio.
I'm sure you will agree that she is a very creative artist and hopefully you'll find inspiration in her blog as I have.

I've been so inspired by Stephie that I am taking steps to explore my creative side in the new year. I won't share what it is yet, I want to wait to see how it goes. Sorry! 

I'm glad to say that my longarm commitments were completed on schedule on Friday. How satisfying to have worked it out just right!

Now comes the time to finally quilt my son and his wife's Christmas present! This was a first attempt at using the Quick Curve Ruler. It's not perfect, but it was fun and I'll definitely use the ruler again for another quilt someday! The plan was to get this started on the longarm on Monday, but as you can see I'm actually ahead of the game. I had thought they may just receive a "flimsy" for Christmas, but I'm starting to think they may get a completed quilt, yay!!!

 On Saturday evening we had a nice festive evening out with my son's little family. First a little review of the restaurant we had dinner at, the Tai Shan Express in Simcoe. I didn't even know it was there!

The restaurant had a pleasant atmosphere, prices were great and we were served very generous portions. The food was delicious and very fresh tasting. We will definitely go again!

Then we took a stroll around to see the displays at the Simcoe Panorama with the kids. I haven't been in years and loved seeing all the little children running around here and there to take it all in. I tried to take some pictures but our littlest was so enthralled with the goings on that it was hard to get her attention. This is probably the best picture I could get...take note of her mittens which my son referred to as her oven mitts....

Also, this morning I was able to do a bit of poking on my AuntieGreen'sGarden. This was the last of what I have prepared, so I'll have to try to find a bit of time to get a few more flowers ready to go. I'm just realising that this border is almost complete so one of the things on my to-do list between Christmas and New Year's may be preparing the next border...so exciting!

I hope everyone can take some time to relax and enjoy some slow stitching today. I believe even just a fifteen minute break from the hectic Christmas schedule can count as a de-stressing, meditative time that is so good for our health. I could go on, but \I don't want to start sounding preachy....I just believe in this so strongly!

Try to take time, also, to visit with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts to see how other people are taking time to take a break and enjoy the holidays! 

Have a great day!

Stitching on a Sunday

So the countdown is on!

 

Any longarm quilter will tell you that this is an important time of year. Almost any quilt scheduled in December is a quilt that is most likely a Christmas gift for someone. It takes careful planning to get the scheduling done just right so everyone gets their quilts on time.

Ever since I started my little business the only time off that is written in stone (kind of) is that I like the last two weeks of the year to be time put aside for my family and me. Saying that, my hope is to be on holidays as of December 19th. I feel good that I'm on schedule, but we'll see if that's still true at the end of the week!

We did the obligatory Christmas trek to the mall yesterday. I almost feel claustrophobic in the city this time of year. I think we're done...just have to buy a roll of Scotch Tape and we can start wrapping!

Today I started my day as usual with a bit of applique. I hope to squeeze out an hour to prepare more of my AuntieGreen'sGarden today as I only have one more little flower ready to go. I don't usually have a problem picking out fabrics, but I'm a bit stuck on what colour the flowers should be in the middle of the right border......purple, maybe???

Also, I was able to catch up on my Day in My Life hearts this morning. One day this week I realised I had gone two days forgetting to pick out my heart of the day....too much to think of this time of year, I guess???

I think with all these projects and more slated to start in the New Year it would be nice if I can start to finish my workday at 3:00 every day and have late afternoon to work on piecing. Well, I can dream, can't I?!

Today is Slow Sunday Stitching over at Kathy's Quilts. Have a look at her blog today to see what others are working on!

I'm also linking up with Cyndy at her blog, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework. I think both of these projects qualify for her "Oh, Scrap"!

Circles!!!

Well, these might be the smallest circles I've ever appliqued!

Circles were definitely the hardest thing for me to master in my applique, and now I feel back to "square one" looking at this wee beasties!

....but as you can see by the dime these are quite small, so I'll just decide to be happy with them. I have to admit that after the third one I had the thought to search my stash for some polka-dot fabric that could be fussy-cut for these bits!

They do look better now they are actually appliqued onto the quilt....

After this morning's coffee and applique I have all the pieces appliqued that I had had prepared. I hope to find an hour of time today to get some more pieces ready.

Here's how Auntie Green looks this morning on the design wall, I think I will try to pick a perfect colour flower for the bottom right-hand section today. I am worried that the greens I've chosen for that section are quite dark, so I want to balance it out with a good fabric choice for the flowers.

I'm still concerned with the pale yellow flowers on the upper left border. I think they look better now that there is more going on around them, but I'm still not sure. I think part of me just doesn't want to take them off and do them over, to be honest, but in the grand scope of this quilt it wouldn't really take much time.

I don't see many Auntie Green's Garden quilts so it was so odd when in the space of half an hour I spotted one on Pinterest and then the same exact quilt on a blog I came across! This one is done in all neutrals and is exquisite!

Here is a picture.....
....and another....

 
I encourage you to visit Hilda at Every Stitch to see more of this beautiful quilt (the quilt shows better in the pictures on her blog). You will also see the lovely quilting she has done on her Auntie Green!

I came across Hilda's blog thru' the Linky for Quilty365. Her take on this project is done in indigo fabrics and you can be inspired by her post HERE. 

I think on my Quilty365 for today (aka A Day in My Life) I'd like to try to be a bit more creative. I do have some precious time available for sewing today (woohoo!), but with Allietare, Border Creek Mystery, fabric bowls needed for Christmas presents, will there be time?.....oh, yes!!

Have a visit at Kathy's Quilts to see what others are taking time to poke at today!

Have a great day!



 

Stitching on a Sunday

I'm making wonderful progress on my Auntie Green's Garden. I'm still so happy with it and could have been finished the left border except for the fact that the fabric I had chosen for the very last flower was very much a wrong choice!

Here is how it looked yesterday up on the design wall....

I enjoyed my stitching this morning, I think because I like doing this type of flower.....

I was also able to pick a few fabrics for the right-side border, so I hope to make good progress on that in the next couple of weeks.

A project that has to get done soon is fabric bowls for the microwave. These will be stocking stuffers for Christmas. The pattern is so simple, what could go wrong? Well. my first attempt doesn't look anything like the picture on the pattern.....

Sometimes it doesn't pay to hurry!!

I had a quilt on the longarm this week that sure put me in the Christmas spirit......

The pattern is called Fair Isle and the quilt will be featured in Quilt Junction for their Christmas Open House later this week. Love it!

I feel so indecisive today. I have decided to celebrate Christmas in  "minimal" way. I don't know why I don't have it in me to do all the regular decorating. I'm still looking forward to putting on the huge dinner, so that's ok.

I've bought a cute little EASY tree...

It literally took less than 5 minutes to put up! The picture isn't the best, but in real life it's all lime green and glittery. Cute!

But now I'm totally re-thinking it! I think I'll miss putting the beloved ornaments up. I also miss having a real tree, which we haven't had in about 5 years. Oh well, change is okay, right?

Have a visit with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts to see what others are working on today.

It's a Purple day

Today I'm experiencing what I think is Sciatica pain. Not a good thing any day, but has me a bit panicky since a lot of my day today and the days of the next three weeks involves standing.

As any of my longarm friends can attest to, these next three weeks leading up to Christmas require careful planning. Almost any quilt that will be done now will be one that someone needs as a Christmas present.

So, what to do? Push through it, or take it easy for a day?

As I am pondering the fabric for my daily heart applique for my Day in the Life/Quilty365 I am wondering what colour could represent a bit of pain. I've decided on purple, even though I do love purple!

I really don't mean for aches and pains to be a part of my blog postings, I guess today it's just not good timing for this!!!

Especially when I have this facing me at the ironing board.....

....fabrics that need pressing for the beginning of Allietare tomorrow......woohoo!!!! I can hardly wait til tomorrow to see what the start of this mystery is with Bonnie at Quiltville.

Even though it was difficult sitting in my applique chair this morning, I did stitch a couple of "off the block" flowers for Auntie Green's Garden. It was nice to work on something other than green leaves and stems for a change! I do like the simple work of stems and leaves.....but I think that's ALL I've done for the last two weeks. Oh, except for my wee hearts!

Have a great day!

Stitching on a Sunday

Looks like nice, bright Fall day, but as I look out the window I find I'm already missing the leaves on the trees and sitting out in the evening with a glass of wine. This summer went entirely too fast!

I started my day with some catching up on my Day in My Life (Quilty365) hearts. I have prepared them each day, but this morning appliqued them. 

Next was poking at my Auntie Green's Garden a bit. I'm a bit nervous that the green fabrics in this section are on the dark side. I think it could be remedied with the perfect colour flowers....maybe?

I'll have to audition some fabrics carefully for this, I think.

Sometime this week I plan to get it all up on the design wall to make some colour choices. I finally am getting the feeling that I'm getting over the hump on this quilt! 

As usual, it's a good day to visit Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts to see what others are working on today. Altho' as of this moment she is having trouble with her usual Sunday Linky....so maybe we'll see later on today. (....and, it's always a good day to check out her blog!)

A visit to Sparta

What a beautiful looking day! All sunny and no wind....although I hear we are in for more wind mid-week, similar to the wind we experienced last week, yikes!

I had a full day yesterday, starting off with the introduction of the new Border Creek Station mystery club called "Quilters' Legacy" being hosted by Quilt Junction. The pattern in being offered is two colour-ways and here is the stack of lovely fabrics that I will be working with....

I was really having trouble liking the green fabric, so I've had to swap it out for the red one in the picture....this feels so much better for me! I hope I haven't compromised my quilt, but probably not. The fabric line is Mon Ami by Moda.

I'm still determined to keep up with doing a heart per day for my version of Quilty365. It's funny how things work out sometimes. I had thought to do a heart in memory of the awful news out of Paris this weekend, so I appliqued a blue heart on Saturday....then went to the first mystery class. At once I noticed that the above green fabric is all about Paris, going so far as to have pics of the Eiffel Tower and the word Paris....

So bizarre! So today's heart is a no-brainer...

For more on this project, visit Audrey over at Quilty Folk! I swear this is only taking approximately 15 minutes of my morning applique time....worth it!

After my morning at Quilt Junction, we headed out for an afternoon drive to Sparta, Ontario. I have never been but heard a lot about it through friends. Of course, the first thing people say is that you have to get the candles!!!

So, yes, we bought candles...lots of them!....but most will be stocking stuffers.

Everything in Sparta is quaint and the buildings/architecture is old. Lots of little shops, featuring different artist's studios, as well.

Sparta Candles...

A shot basically capturing most of the town....

There were many quilt blocks on buildings and barns in the area, but I only thought to get a picture of two....

We took the opportunity to visit a couple of the local wineries, Quai du Vin (I meant to ask how to pronounce it, but forgot) and Rush Creek Wines. They were both lovely and friendly and we'll visit again if we are in the area.

I didn't realise that Rush Creek was all fruit wines, no grapes. I think a little-known fact is that if you are one to get migraines from wine, that it is probably the tanins from the grapes and fruit wines shouldn't bother you...at least this is what I have been told!

I bought a nice Pear wine which was much like a Reisling and another berry blend wine that I thought would be great for the Christmas table...yum!

It was an adventure finding one of the wineries....I'm sure we missed the "easy" way but we saw this tiny, tiny sign and followed it....

It led us along a winding, steep road that, I have to admit, made me scream a little, but we eventually ended up where we wanted to be!

Needless to say, after a busy couple of days I was ready for some extra applique time this morning. I'm still stitching away at my Auntie Green's Garden. I think, at this rate, by the end of the month I'll have both side borders done.

Have a visit with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts to see what others are poking at today!

Have a great day!

P.S. This is a message for RG....you have swayed me, as evident by the return of the Allietare button off to the right! lol

Stained and Trimmed

Trimmed

Cooper has been getting thick, long hair and it's been hard to keep up with the matts he's been getting....so I booked him in for grooming this month.

I was brushing him last night and one thing led to another....

That is about half as much as we trimmed last night. Usually he won't let me come near him with the scissors, but he seemed to put up with it this time. I think I'll have to invest in some proper tools if we are to do this on a regular basis. I'm almost embarrassed to show the picture of how he looks now but I know if we do this a couple of times we'll get better at it, right????? lol

One ear seems to be a lot shorter than the other :(

Stained

I was putting some stitches in my Auntie Green's Garden this morning. I'm always so careful so I don't know when this happened....

Can you see the coffee stain on the background right in the middle of the picture?

I'm not sure what to do. I think this is a first!

I almost tried to spot clean it with a bit of soap and water, but was hesitant since it may remove my placement markings. I think I'll try it when I'm finished this end of the border.

The other option would be to applique a nice circle over the stain... that's probably the easiest remedy! We'll see.

It's Remembrance Day, a day to be proud of the young men and women who serve our country. I feel even more pride this year now that I call this man my stepson...

We are so proud of you, Sergeant!

Decisions, decisions!

So many decisions and preparation this week leading up to retreat with some friends this weekend!

First, the figuring out of which UFO (or three) would be fun to work on! That's actually not a hard choice afterall......I've planned for a while that I would assemble what I have ready of my Flower Garden. So exciting! I can't wait to see it all together.  Here is how it looks before retreat...

Just a pile of blocks! I have all the blocks done and one border. Now they get put together with sashing made of 1.5" squares. I hope I have enough!?

I

Oh well, I'll sew as much as I can and stop if I run out!

This morning I didn't have as much time as I would like to applique, but I did finish a bit of my Auntie Green's Garden. I really enjoyed the soft yellow flowers......but then I hung it on the design wall and now I'm not sure they are going to be a "fit". Hmmm, good enough to leave for now and see if they grow on me (nice pun?). They seem a little washed out with the other flowers, but maybe they'll play nicer once there is more appliqued around them.

 I realised this morning that this border is going together faster than I had thought, (woohoo!!) so maybe I should try to have a bit of the right border prepared for the weekend? Possibly the stems and leaves could be ready. For me, the prep work is what takes the time. At least I have the pieces all drawn out on freezer paper...but cutting them out will be time-consuming also. It is a job that can be done while watching television, though.

There they are, the next 138 pieces! I should really be keeping tally, shouldn't I? It would be something to say,"Here is Auntie Green's Garden and there are 2,580,000 pieces in it"! lol, maybe I exaggerate a little, but I'm sure there could be a couple thousand.....or a few hundred?

I have to say, that seeing the picture of this quilt makes me realise how much I still love this quilt. The thought makes me happy, since I've been working on it so long and still have a lot to do. I did have a quilt that took a long time to make and by the end I didn't even want to look at it. I really don't want this to happen with Auntie Green!

Here is the quilt that took so long. It now resides on the rec room wall. Still not my favourite, but at least I can look at it, appreciate it , and maybe admire it just a little.

Have a great day everyone! (and wish me luck on the next phase of my Circles quilt, which goes off to the next level today)

Where did Summer go???

 I swear it feels like we were enjoying lovely Summer weather just a couple of weeks ago!.....and, yet, I drove thru' two snow flurries yesterday!

I guess that's Canada, lol, and the different seasons are one of the reasons I love it....but I could have done with a bit more Summer.

Enough about that!!

Another thing to be glad about being Canadian is our right to vote....                                                           

After such a long campaign, I think it will be an interesting day tomorrow!

I wanted to make it up to Waterloo yesterday for their quilt show.....but I had plans that were awesome!

I was asked to join a group of women that enjoy a weekend cottage retreat together regularly. They invited me to share some of what I know about hand-applique. I had a great assistant in my friend, Terry, and we had such a fun day. So much fun that I forgot to ask the women if I could take a couple of pictures :(

I'll have to remember six months down the road to ask if any of them have stuck with this peaceful hobby! I think I'll guess 4 out of the 6 of them, that would make for a successful class, I think.

Today I have to finish up a quilt that will be heading off to Houston this week. Hopefully three hours will do it, then I can enjoy the rest of the weekend with perhaps a trip to Waterford for their Pumpkinfest. I've never been....and honestly don't really think it will happen today, but we'll see.

Of course, I started my day with a little bit of stitching. This morning I was determined to change-up the flower in my Auntie Green's Garden that has bothered me. Not fun, really, having to go back and make a change, but I feel better now.

Here it was before....

....and after.....

Actually, seeing the pictures now, the original wasn't so bad maybe, but it's done now....no more changes!

Have a visit with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts to see what others are hand-stitching today!

Have a great day!