Reveal day!

A while ago (maybe two years?) a group of us started what we were to call our Shoebox exchange.

Everyone was to choose their own themes and make a block to start. We put our blocks in a shoebox (or something like it) and it was passed through the group once a month. Everyone added to your quilt and after a year (since there were twelve of us in the group) we were presented with our own shoeboxes, full of blocks everyone had contributed. 

In that year, we had not seen what was being added. At the end of the year we had a Reveal Day get-together where we finally saw our blocks. It's been a while now, but we set today as a day to try to have our blocks assembled into a quilt top!

To remind you of my Shoebox quilt, you can look back to post here. 

Here is a picture of the finished quilt, Moonlight Thru' the Trees....

I had hoped to host today's Reveal outside with a bit of a Garden Party feel. Well, Mother Nature has other plans with heat and humidity to feel like the upper 30's! I have a feeling we'll end up in the house with the lovely A/C!

I've always liked to bake, but sometimes success doesn't happen when it counts....for company!

Today I have prepared a treat from Pinterest, Berry Pie Bars. Luckily it has turned out delicious and looks just like the pictures on Pinterest!

 Of course, we had to do quality control....yum!....

I'll take pictures today during the gathering and hopefully the ladies will agree that I can share the pics later in my next blog post. 

It will be so fun to see what everyone has done with their blocks. We had so many themes....snowmen, an I Spy quilt, trees, baskets, fairy gardens, etc.!

I have to show a picture of how my border of FlowerGarden is doing. I'm loving the big beautiful flowers. The one at the top measures 8 or 9" across.

Puppy update

Today the pups are five weeks old. I can't believe how fast the days go! 

We have set the pups up in the living room in a small wading pool to keep them contained when we don't want them wandering about. Now they are getting big enough that we've had two escapees already. 

We've had a challenge starting them on kibble, but now we've found an answer and they are taking to it...

So much cuteness around here this summer!

I am linking up to Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social to see what others are up to today.

Have a great Summer's Day!

A Pressing Situation

What a beautiful morning! I wish I could spend the day outside puttering in the garden.....maybe later.

I've been stitching away at my FlowerGarden and really liking how it's shaping up. I think I'm on track to have the two borders complete by the end of Summer.

My husband made a great find at Ikea yesterday. He went to find a certain cabinet to be made into an ironing station for my studio....but, no surprise, he wandered thru' the discount section and found a similar one. This one was basically the same but doesn't have doors. The original one was $205....and the discounted floor model...

Here it is in the sewing room waiting to be modified...

I got the idea from another blogger I came across on the weekend. You can visit Lori at Crossquilt to see her awesome ironing station!

I am linking with Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social. Check her out, she is having a great giveaway this week!

Puppy Update

We bought a kiddie pool to provide a new "nest" for the puppies. They have very much outgrown the box they had been in....and are more active every day!

Have a great day!

Relax and Rejuvenate

I have to say, I'm ready for some down-time. Life has been so full of excitement in a short period of time I've felt anxiety welling up inside :(

Of course, what always helps is hand-stitching, my personal "yoga".

The last few days I've worked on a flower for the border of FlowerGarden. The long stem is basted on but I thought it would be fun to do the occasional flower. There are some beautiful flowers on this border. This one involves reverse applique....which I find a little tricky but the effect is worth it. I started by doing the reverse applique "off the block"...

....and a bit more...

...and, done....

I'm taking part in the SummerSolstice QAL with Happy Quilting. It started Thursday, so still plenty of time to join in. There will be two weeks between segments, this week was all the cutting. I've decided this will be a baby quilt for grandchild #5 due at Hallowe'en. I've been inspired by some of the Modern quilts I've seen lately and have chosen to work with Kona solids...

Does this happen to anyone else?.....every time I put a new blade in my rotary cutter I realise just how dull the old one was. I'm sure I've been using the old blade long after I should. Then the new one goes in and it seems like a revelation every time as to how sharp the blade should be! 

So far, I'm on schedule with the cutting done....

Puppy report

Up 'til now, Cooper has been leery of the pups and Minnie hasn't really been friendly about letting him near. 

Now that the pups are getting their "legs" things have certainly changed....

Something that's come in handy is the basket I bought at Quilt Canada. Great for taking the pups out all at once to play outside...

Actually, that is a picture of them all tired out after being outside. At three weeks old it only takes 15 minutes of playtime for them to conk out again!

Saturday evening it was so nice the we decided to eat outside....and we fed Cooper and Minnie out there also. Olaf decided that something smelled good...

Maybe it won't be long before the pups are eating puppy food!

On a hot day I do like to sit outside with a cooler and this year there is a new flavour. I give it two thumbs up!

It looks like another hot day ahead....so maybe some outdoor stitching is in order. I do have the binding to finish for our new grandson, but I don't fancy sitting in the heat with a quilt draped over me! Maybe a bit of catching up on my daily hearts.

I am linking up with Happy Quilting with Melissa for my Summer Solstice, and with Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh, Scrap (for my scrappy FlowerGarden). Because I've added to the stash, I am linking up with Molli Sparkles!

I'll also be linking with Kathy's Quilts where Kathy is celebrating a fourth anniversary of Slow Sunday Stitching!

Have a great Summer's day!

Babies and Puppies and Weeds, Oh my!

So much going on in our little part of the world lately!

On Tuesday we welcomed the newest addition to the family, my grandson, Lachlan!

Everyone is happy and healthy! But how can time have flown so fast? This seems like only yesterday!.....

Of course, I have made a quilt for Lachlan...it just need quilting. I think I've put it off because I'm not happy with it. Oh well, he'll receive plenty of quilts in the future!

We have another wee one due in November. I know I want to try something a bit more modern, inspired by my visit to Quilt Canada last week.

As luck would have it, I've come across a Quilt-along that starts this week and the quilt is done in many sizes so I will join along and have a baby quilt in the end. I think I'll do mine in Kona Solids.

The quilt is called Summer Solstice and you can see it here at Happy Quilting. Maybe you'll even want to join along!

I also have a "button" over to the right of the post to take you there.

I've been making progress on the right border of my FlowerGarden. I have the leaves appliqued and the long stem basted on. I'm so happy to be back to this quilt.

Hmm, I said long stem, but it doesn't look like it in the picture! This is a short segment, the rest of the vine is about 60" long!

I have to say, lately I've been having more and more qualms about using the Frixion pens for my applique. They are soooo nice to use but I am on the look-out for the next best thing. Any recommendations would by greatly appreciated!

I love how the perennial garden changes from week to week. Two weeks ago everything was purple. The colour of the week this week is white. 

Included in the white flowers is this invasive weed...

Usually I yank this out as it tends to choke the intended plants in the garden, but I'll leave them a few days because they are kind of pretty. I guess it's a matter of perspective....because I didn't plant this, it is considered a weed....if I had purposely bought it as a groundcover I'd be so happy with the results!!! 

Puppy update

Today the pups are three weeks old. On these nice warm days, we've been taking them outside a bit so they can stretch their legs.

I took Minnie to the vet yesterday. One thing I was told was to maybe buy some puppy milk to give to the pups as a bit of a reprieve for Minnie.

Here they are trying it for the first time. Well, to honest, this is a picture of them falling asleep on the edge of the dish after they had taken a few sips...

Adorable!

I am linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts for her linky party, "Let's Bee Social".

Have a great day!

Sunday Stitching

Summer weekends....just love them! ( I know it's still Spring, but we're getting close!)

My weekend started out Saturday with the big reveal of the mystery quilt I've part of at Quilt Junction. I had a marathon sew-day on Friday trying to get caught up before the reveal....you can read about it here.

My sew-day didn't go exactly as planned. I decided to try the method shown for HST's.  Here is a picture of what I was supposed to do...

....and this is what I did....can you see the problem??....

I was not supposed to sew on either side of the horizontal and vertical lines! I didn't realise it 'til I cut them apart and saw this...

Seams on two sides!...that's not gonna work!!!

Oh well, it's like they always say, it doesn't pay to do things in a hurry!

The "reveal" was fun.....nice quilt and nice people taking part.

Then home to lunch made for me by my husband....yum....

I know...sausage and cheese wrapped in puff pastry not such a healthy lunch, but oh, so good!

We also decided to take a nice drive down to our favourite winery, Kacaba, for a food and wine pairing. It's the first time we've done such a thing and it was a beautiful day for it!

On the way back we stopped at quilt shop in the Beamsville area that I hadn't heard of before attending the Dunnville quilt show two weeks ago, The Quilted Cardinal. A nice, bright shop with lovely fabrics (of course!).

The great thing about visiting a quilt shop is that even when you don't "need" anything, it's nice to add to the neutral stash!

As we were going out the door on Saturday I noticed some twigs on the porch, so I looked up and saw this nest....

I've never seen anything like it so I googled it and it seems to be the nest of some kind of swallow. I'll ask my bird expert on Monday when I see him!

So that brings me to my nice, peaceful applique time this morning. Love it! I've taken up my FlowerGarden quilt again in hopes for it to be completed by the end of September.

Just need to complete the left and right border and it's a real quilt!

These borders look pretty tame compared to the top and bottom borders. If I could handle those then these will be a breeze, right?

 It will be amazing to finally see this quilt come together!

Puppy update

Today the pups are 11 days old. I expected their eyes to start opening by now, but soon I'm sure. They have, though, attempted to get up on their legs and take steps. Their legs just aren't quite strong enough.

Here's Batman (who happens to be a female)...

I also added to my daily hearts this morning with some scraps from a friend to commemorate the pups...

I am linking up with Kathy's Quilts to see what others are working on today!

Have a wonderful day!

Quilt Show Season, Part 2

This weekend was the quilt show for the Hamilton Quilters' Guild held at the Ancaster Fairgrounds. What a very good job they did of hosting a beautiful quilt show! 

One always hopes to come away with just a glimmer of inspiration. Well, this show certainly provided that for me!

A while back I stalled on my Gypsy Wife quilt, designed by Jen Kingwell...

There were two Gypsy Wife quilts hanging at the show....

...stunning!....and now I want to get back at mine. I know why I stopped, there was part of it that intimidated me but I need to get over it!

There were many beautiful quilts...and I found myself drawn to the more modern looking ones...

  

We had fun cruising the vendors. Caught up with Lana from Quilt Junction...

Then I saw it...."the" quilt!....actually there were two of "the" quilt, hanging side by side....

This one is called "Moonlight at the Oasis" by Jen Kingwell ( I do like the Aussie designers! ). No surprise either, one of my friends loved it, too....we do seem to like a lot of the same quilts. 

Something of interest was a booth devoted to Featherweights. They were so pretty! 

I've always wanted to do a Spiderweb quilt and there was a beauty at the show...

I actually have some yardage of bubble gum pink fabric that I've put aside for over 10 years (15?) for my Spiderweb quilt! 

One day....one day there will be time to do all the quilts I dream of....won't there??? lol

This quilt show reinforced something I've realised lately. It's been a long time since I've made a quilt using something other than a scrappy look. These truly are my favourites!  Even though some of my quilts use similar fabrics, such as my Happy Days Sarah Fielke BOM where I'm using mostly TulaPink fabrics, they still have that scrappy quality about them. 

Talking about Happy Days....this is the block I am working on today for some slow stitching...

This block has given me trouble. Well, not so much the block as my fabric choices! I've changed this up a couple of times and I'm still not sure but it's not being changed up again. Just a few more leaves and it will be complete. 

I've really been side-tracked by a few wonderful projects and they have taken the focus off my two main applique projects. So, after this block is done I will return to my FlowerGarden. It's sooo close...maybe two months of morning applique and it will be done!

Puppy update

Here the pups are this morning at four days old.

My grandchildren came for their first peek at the pups on Saturday. I let them name the pups. They are Olaf, Buddy, Batman, Ana and Marshall!

Minnie was a proud Mama and let the kids hold a pup for a few minutes. 

It's an overcast day here today, maybe a perfect day to make a new tote bag to take to Quilt Canada in a couple of weeks! I am going to use the pattern that is in the current Canadian Quilter magazine designed by Laura Coia. 

I am linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching and with Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh,Scrap!

Have a great day!