199

Yes, this is post number 199.

Am I excited about this? No . . . I am very frustrated! I didn’t get creative with my 100th post last year and now I’m lacking anything creative for this upcoming looming milestone.

I’m in a super busy, funky/bad mood lately and it’s hard to get motivated about much of anything. See this little piece of quilting? It’s been stuck on my dining room table for over a week now without being touched . . . of course the cat has sat on it a couple of times . . . but I haven’t even turned on the machine. Very sad state of affairs in this house!

I’m even pulling photos from last year to post. I was out walking the other day and saw these foxtails waving in the wind and I remembered that I had great photos tucked away in a file somewhere. I like the simplicity of this photo – total opposite to the millions of plants blowing in the wind.

And then there was this one from last year also – the black background just sets it off perfectly. I wonder if the green in those two photos is close to the same color as my green bathtub that I’m trying to design a new room around? Could make some nice wall art – blow the photos up and have them mounted – might work!

Well I’m off to the “big city” again this weekend (was there last weekend also), to pick up my son. Life will be changing around this house for a while . . . all my quilting stuff laying around and all his art stuff mingled in . . . we’ll never be able to find anything. So do you think my mood will be improving anytime soon?

I’ll try and think of something for the 200th post during my trek to the city and back. Check back next week.

‘til next time,

M.

Window Shopping

Well . . . it seems that my postings have become only a once-a-week happening! So I guess this will be my mid-July weekly report . . .

I know I planted this little cutie last year, but do you think I can remember what it is called. They stand on nice tall stems with the flowers spaced along very nicely. That white centre thingy looks like the beaters on my mixer . . . interesting how intricate these little blooms can get.

This shows how far I have come with the Bunny Hill BOM . . . not at all! I was stumped for a while as to whether I would use something other than wool for the little sheep but decided in the end that I REALLY wanted wool, so had to locate a little shop to send me a little piece (and a couple of other things as well!). Then something about the block started to niggle at me . . . it was all those stars. Would work well if I lived in the U.S., but maybe not so well here in Canada . . . so I've been thinkin' about changes . . .

This shows the pathetic little bit of quilting (and I'm using that term loosely!) that I got done this past weekend. We were busy shifting our empty-nester house around to make room for a "return-to-the-nest" person - none too happy about the situation either (him - not me!) Life has it's constants changes, doesn't it?

Last month's shipment from the Fat Quarter Shop was from the "Kansas Winter" line by Kansas Troubles. I've been so busy with other things that yesterday was the first opportunity I had to get these ironed and folded into their neat little stacks. I have a couple of patterns that I think would look great in these colors . . . one of them was posted recently on the Moda Bake Shop site. Christmas Table Topper by Rachel at P.S. I Quilt is a very striking quilt and looks pretty quick and painless (I say that about all of them and then they drag on and on!)

Of course the pattern posted today on the Moda Bake Shop site Christmas Table Topper Ensemble by Jodi at Simply This That and The Other could also be adapted to work with fat quarters - would need to sit down with the old calculator and pencil to see how many triangles I could get, but it could be done. Never a shortage of ideas! Make sure you stop over at Jodi's to get your name in for her giveaway . . . the table topper, table runner and pillow are all up for grabs!

And this month's shipment is from the Glace collection by 3 Sisters - one of my very favorite designers. No plans for this stack just yet . . . it's going to sit there on the cutting table for a while. Gotta live with some of these special things to get a feel for them.

And . . . yes . . . we really did go window shopping this weekend. Just like everything in life - there are so many choices! I like this style - what do you think? Not in green though, that would not work on our house - white it will have to be.

But the shutters can be a different color . . . remember our front door? It's about that color of red there - might look good? We'll wait and see. Windows are planned for sometime in September and shutters - who knows? This year or next.

Have a great week people . . . enjoy your days wherever you are!

'til next time,
M.

Pink, White and Yellow – YUM!

Another wonderful weekend!  Weather was good and I had no interruptions to work on my newest project.

Who could ask for more?

 

Pink, white and yellow, plus some green of course . . . my new favorite colors.

Yellow has always been a favorite of mine but it never seems to show up in too many of my quilts.

  The quilting is done on my latest project and the binding is even sewn on – (this picture was taken prior to that).  Had some trouble with the thread frazzling and breaking all the time, so after much frustration and darning lots of thread ends in, I decided to try a new needle (a brand name) and threw out the (no-name) brand one.  Never had frazzled thread again.  Live and learn!

Another quick trip to the garden provided me with some new blooms for my kitchen table.  Look at the yellow!  I think that shade is somewhere in the quilt also.

This yellow is much more subdued than the daisy up above . . . I think I prefer this softer shade – don’t you?

 

The next step is to get the instructions written in a format for my pattern tester and get that shipped off to her.

I LOVE THIS QUILT!!!

 

‘til next time,

M.

Weekend Flowers, Sewing and Other Stuff . . .

This is a wonderful time of the year!  Just to think that these flowers are right outside my back door and ready for the picking is just so satisfying! Anytime I want fresh flowers all I have to do is open the door, run like He-- to avoid getting eaten by a kazillion mosquitoes, cut flowers as quickly as possible and race for home. Until I reach the safety of the kitchen sink I really have no idea what condition the blooms that have just picked are in. This batch is gorgeous! And just look how nicely they match my new quilt . . . see it there . . . in the background? It has some flowers also.

So now that I have my flowers all picked, it was then time to surf the internet and browse around. On this particular day I veered away from the quilting sites and headed towards some of the remodeling/home decorating sites. This is where I found a few new favorites to add to my list, and I thought I would share some of the ideas with you. Rare and Beautiful Treasures and Urban Farmhouse and also Shabby Chic.

Wouldn't it be nice to have furniture and rooms that were straight out of a magazine? This is a "after" photo from one of the sites I visited and please forgive me, but I don't remember where I was or what the site address was. When I start flipping around, I forget to mark these things down.

Looks like a bit of work . . . but what's life without a little bit of effort? What a difference a bit of elbow grease and some white paint make!

I have two of these tables that were purchased at a yard sale quite a few years ago - I hate the finish on them. How would they look done up in a fresh coat of distressed white?

This night stand is in one of our spare bedrooms . . . it belonged to my grandmother, but my mom had painted/stained it this awful color about 30 years ago. Imagine living with something like that for all these years! I'm thinking more white paint . . .

Here's another sample from one of the sites I was on . . .

. . . and here is the after picture.

I don't like the color or fabric that they recovered the seat with, but the paint color on the wall is almost the same as in our newly renovated guest bedroom. That doesn't have any furniture yet!

 

This is a picture of one of my stools that needs refinished. Can you see it painted white with a beautiful floral pattern in the same shades as my new quilt?

 

And here is the stool that matches that hideous bedside table shown above. Still the original fabric on the seat - time for a change do you think?

I think I need someone to host a refinishing party weekend . . . that would be the only hope that I will have in getting any of these projects started and completed. Any good party hostesses out there?  Or even some good hints on products to use to remove the old finish would be much appreciated!

'til next time,

M.

New Tools . . .

Yes, the mid-week holiday found us at my daughter’s house in the big City. Every summer there is a new project that needs to be attended to, and this year it was the backyard fence (so far!).

So these were my new tools for the two days I was there . . . Randy is still there until Sunday doing even more projects . . . I came home to work (and hopefully get in some quilting before he gets home!).

Really the tools are quite similar to quilting – wood instead of fabric; tape measure instead of Omnigrid ruler; pencils never go out of style. Marking is always the most important job – at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

As the official marker, go-getter and haul any-thing-er person, it turned out to be quite the busy two days. This photo shows what she used to have to look at across her back lane through the old chain link fence . . . which was gobbled up by a next door neighbor in about 15 minutes flat after it was torn down.

And here is what was accomplished before dark last night . . . gate is even on! Still a few narrower boards need cut and put up, but basically done. It looks like a big empty room doesn’t it? Landscaping just may be in my future plans for this yard.

This hosta just had to come home from the nursery with her . . . of course I told her it couldn’t go back by the new fence because it is too sunny back there . . . it still came home though. So I got that planted for her before I headed home . . .

I think I deserve some quilting time this weekend . . . made a bit of a start on my appliqué pieces this morning before work, so hope to get right back to that when I get home.

Hope everyone in Canada had a great Canada Day and that our neighbors to the South have a wonderful day on Saturday! Enjoy your weekend wherever you are.

‘til next time,

M.