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!

It's a Sew Day!

Since last Fall I've been involved in the latest mystery quilt put out by the people at Border Creek Station called Quilter's Legacy hosted in my area by Quilt Junction in Waterford.

Needless to say, once again I've fallen behind! 

Tomorrow is the final "clue" and we'll see the reveal. I've decided to take as much time as I can to try to catch up before then.

Things were going along fine 'til I realised that I hadn't completed a clue from months ago....128 HST's! 

I know I should have done this step with my Easy Angle Ruler, since it would mean no squaring up...

....but I decided to follow the pattern's method this time, which is this way...drawing lines on these 7" squares and sewing on either side of the lines, then cutting on the lines...

Since I don't think that this method is my forté, I have a feeling that a lot of squaring-up will be in my near future :(

On the bright side it will give me an opportunity to use my new BlocLoc ruler. I got it not too long ago, it was pricey, so maybe I should give it a try! I'll be sure to give a review!

I would encourage anyone who likes doing mystery quilts to try the ones put out annually by Border Creek. They are very well written and so organised! 

All along the way we complete the clues and put them in numbered baggies to keep organised...

Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll be ready to empty all the baggies and assemble a king-size quilt with all the components!

Puppy Update

The pups are nine days old now. There are only a few changes to report so far. The three white ones...Buddy, Ana and Olaf are developing some barely-there cream markings. They have all grown quite alot in a week. I expect their eyes to start opening on the weekend.

Minnie takes longer breaks from them now. If they are all huddled in a pile napping she will come out of the box into the real world....sometimes to just take a nap herself in a sunbeam...

She is eating ALOT! I looked it up and read that her appetite could increase 25% per pup.....and I would say that is accurate!

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can provide some actual action shots!!!

Have a great day!

April goals...

I'd like to say that today will be spent doing some "slow" stitching....not to be. It'll have to be a work day for me, but that's ok since it's such a fun quilt that needs finishing! I'll have to ask if I can share pictures for next time.

I was able to spend my morning coffee-time putting in a few stitches, of course. I finished this month's block for the HappyDay BOM. 

I don't know that it shows well in the picture but it's really pretty in real life.

I have two goals this month. One is that before I pick up another bit of applique I want to finish quilting my Moonlight Through the Trees. Here is a reminder of this quilt....

It's not a big quilt and I have incentive to complete it...I'm doing a trunk show in May and think it would be nice to include this quilt. I am quilting it with perle cotton, which is new for me, and it should quilt up quickly....if I keep at it!

The other goal is regarding a BOM I'm doing at Quilt Junction. We meet once a month (yesterday) and get the next set of clues for a mystery quilt. The quilt is Quilter's Legacy by Border Creek Station

Somehow I've fallen quite behind. Yesterday was the sixth of eight installments....I came home and finished installment three. So I have a couple of weeks to get caught up....and I'm determined I will!

Hopefully everyone has a bit of time today to take it easy and do some peaceful stitching.

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

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