It’s Starting . . .

to feel a bit like Christmas!

 

I’m having so much fun working with all of these colors and prints.  Everything is getting pulled out and decided on for the quilt on the front cover of this book.

What do you think - plaids work for you??

I had a question from Donna (set to no-reply) asking which book this wall hanging by Nancy Halvorsen was in.

It is in the “I Believe” book by Art to Heart and this is the first of a few patterns that I want to make for this year.  There are also some wonderful Christmas card designs and that great card holder on the front cover.

Please grant me more time at my sewing machine . . .

A Short Stroll Down . . .

Academy Road!

This is one of my favorite streets in Winnipeg . . . there’s a little bit of this and that for shops – always worth a little bit of a stroll.

I remember a few years ago when I was taking an entrepreneur workshop that the owner of this shop gave a short talk . . . not sure if she is still there today or whether it’s been sold to someone else since.  She gave a wonderful talk on starting her business and some of her retail experiences.

There’s lots of outdoor furniture, gardening supplies, candles, and other outdoor living accessories.  Always worth a little look – my backyard would never look like some of these displays though – it would take me hours to carry it all out and get it set up just right and by the time I was done, it would be time to take everything back inside and find a place to store it.  It’s always fun to look and dream though! 

There is even a small sewing centre located on Academy Road where I found a few fat 1/4’s to add to my stash.  I’ve always seen the signs, but it is such a tricky little spot to get at, and we always seemed to be in a rush to go somewhere else, that we just never stopped.

The shop is called Carellan Sewing and they are moving off of Academy Road on September 1st  over to Corydon in the 1600 block.  I think it’s going to be easier to get at and they assure me that they will be carrying more quilting cottons – yippee!

I’m starting on my Christmas gift sewing list and this is the first of at least three.  I love this layout of Nancy Halvorsen’s – this is going to make a great wall hanging!  Look at all the different prints a person can use from their stash . . . time to do some widdling down :)

Also getting started on the latest Bunny Hill Snowbound block – machine appliquéing the two projects at the same time cuts down on the number of times I have to change thread colors – black’s done, moving on to blue . . .

How’s your week going?  Getting lots done?

Summer Vacation

   I’ve been gone – just here and there – a little south of here and a little east of here.

Last weekend hubby and I headed to Minot, North Dakota to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary and to see some country that neither of us have seen for well over 25+ years.

Of course one of the first stops was at the Prairie Rose Quilt Shop where there was such a vast array of quilting cottons that I never even thought to pull out my camera until we were driving away.  There was everything from Whimsicals to Moda 3 Sisters and patterns and books everywhere.  This is the kind of shop that I will need to go back to without hubby in tow.

I really had no “shopping list” for fabric, so I was just winging it.  I fell in love with this package of 3 Sisters prints and the green floral and the green check were “just because”.  The bundle of white Kona cotton I found at Hobby Lobby for 30% off and you can never have enough white cotton!

Those were the two stores that everyone told me that I needed to stop and see and since we were on a limited time allotted to “my” shopping, I think I did not too bad.  It was VERY hot and humid when we were there and it didn’t seem fair to drag someone around to these kind of shops when he really didn’t want to.  Don’t get me wrong – there was no complaining – just the occasional eye roll.

 

We hit for the Zoo on Saturday morning before it got too hot outside.  Mall shopping is not one of our favorite things to do so we look for alternatives and one of those is strolling through zoos.  Every advertisement I saw indicated that there would be giraffes there and sure enough . . .

 

I found my giraffe!  I don’t know how many zoos we’ve been to and there was never a giraffe.  I love these animals . . . they are amazing.

 

Don’t you just love the giraffe door?  This female really didn’t want to be outside and she kept heading over to the door – must have been on one of her “off” days.

 

Penguins are another favorite of mine.  How come every time they do a statue or an advertisement using a penguin they always make them look way bigger than they really are?  These guys had a beautiful pool to bathe in for the day – what a way to keep cool.

I just had to include this Aussie-type photo – the gal that I work with is from Australia and I thought this one would either make her miss home or be glad she’s not there in the heat.  I’m not sure whether she would think the mosquitoes in Canada are more irritating or the kangaroos in Australia – I’m thinking it’s probably the mosquitoes – don’t you?

Have a great week,

This & That . . .

I’ve been working on a little quilt using a layer cake of the Rural Jardin line of fabric by Moda.  This is one of those designs that didn’t turn out like I wanted it to and now I’m in the process of trying to save it and move on.  I’ll have to see how that works out – it may end up in the bag of UFOs to be dealt with years from now.

Still working on HST, Snowbound appliqué and some other curly q’s.  There always seems to be something in multiples sitting beside the sewing machine lately.

I’m anxiously awaiting the delivery of this book into my mailbox.  This book is the first from the owners of  The Quilt Patch in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and I’m so looking forward to getting my hands on it.

There is a workshop planned for October 16, 2010 in Brandon, Manitoba and the quilt on the front cover is going to be the project of the day.  I understand that there is only a few spaces left in the workshop so if anyone who is planning on being in the Brandon area on October 16th, please drop me an email and I’ll get the details out to you.  There is also a trunk show of Jeanne and Shelley’s quilts scheduled for the Friday night, October 15th, and I’m looking forward to seeing all the projects from the book as well as some of their new Fall designs.

I’ll be able to mark one Christmas present off my list once I get this quilt done – some lucky family member is going to find this under the tree with their name on it!