Sipiweske Quilt Designs

How are you feeling?

2012-01-09T07:02:00.001-06:00

Is 2012 treating you well?

Or are you feeling a bit like Mysty and me?

We would just kinda like to throw our arm over our eyes and bury our heads in the blankets and stay there for a while.

December brought us Mysty’s 20th birthday and a few new health problems to go along with old age.

And then . . .

A good friend of mine ran into some HUGE issues in December and we’ve been trying to make sense of these and work through them with her. Non-health related but very life changing for her and her family, and just about everyone around her! Sometimes it’s that slap upside the head that makes you look at everything just a bit differently around you. But . . . life still trudges on whether you accept it or not.

The quilt mo-jo almost left the house as well . . . although I did dredge up a little ambition to pull out some leftover bright colored prints to make a little baby quilt.

It did kinda make me feel better for a while. Then I made another one and another one – maybe the mo-jo is back?!?!?!

I received an email this morning from a very talented quilter in California. Barbara from the Pointless Quilter made this quilt from my recipe on The Moda Bakeshop – she even made it bigger with more borders added . . . amazing! I love how this email showed up at the same time as I was using the leftovers of the same fabric – this made my day. Thank you Barbara!

How is your January so far?

2012 is gearing up to be interesting if nothing else! Have a great week everyone . . .

Shopping and a Little Finish

2011-12-19T06:58:00.000-06:00

All those tempting sales that have been going on for the past month have just been too much for me!

Fig Tree put together this lovely package of Christmas colored prints . . . I couldn’t resist.

And then there was the scrap bags that she had put on sale – those just sent me over the top and I had to have a few of those bags. There are some of the strike-offs from California Girl and pieces of Buttercup and all kinds of other big and little lovely prints from other collections. The nice thing about buying scrap bags from the designer is that all the scraps blend . . . bonus, or what?!?!?

I finished another little miniature quilt for a present – tick another one off the list.

The finished measurement on this one was 10” x 10” and the corner blocks were 1” square finished. That makes the other ones about 3/4” finished. Talk about using up scraps . . . now I know why I have been putting all the scraps from previous quilts into baggies!

Oh, and then The Fat Quarter Shop had a 50% off sale on Reindeer Games a few weeks ago . . . couldn’t resist that one. I also ordered the background cream and the two border fabrics on spec. Not sure which quilt to make with this line, but I do have my eye on this free pattern over at the Moda Website –

from the Basic Grey Jovial collection or maybe this one . . .

All Wrapped Up made with

Flurry by Kate Spain.

(click on the red link for the pdf pattern pages)

If you haven’t been over to the Moda site for a while (or ever) – head over and have a look at the collections and some of the free patterns they have to offer. I found a couple new ones that I have added to my collection – just what I need!

Have a great week.

I’m still here . . .

2011-12-09T07:09:00.000-06:00

The days have certainly gotten away from me.

I know I’m not the only one that is stressing over this but as long as we are all participating in this full blown holiday season we will muddle through. Why don’t I just start sooner?!?!!? It sounds so simple.

How come we can think of great gift ideas during the year for people, but once December hits the brain goes blank. I know . . . make a list. Easier said than done sometimes. There are already too many other lists on the go!

I really do enjoy getting the house in order and all the preparation that goes into the season. This will be the weekend that we try and get all of the decorations done up and hopefully finish off the shopping, wrapping and other organizing. Need to get some parcels in the mail early next week . . . I better put that on a list.

I am longing for some down time to quilt and create but maybe there will be a snowday to take care of that wish. I sure hope so, because I’d like to make a few more of these little cards to use as tags – they are so simple and easy to make – once you get the graphics done up.

Here are some links to find the letters to use . . . some free, some not . . .

Alphabet Photos

Shanty-to-Chic

are great places to start looking at how you might like to use these alphabet letters in gifts. Be warned though – this is time consuming, but hopefully a very appreciated Christmas gift.

I have managed to make a couple of big mittens to give as gifts . . . and I’m just in the process of getting my ingredients together to make up a few gift jars.

from Paula Deen

and

from Tip Junkie

and then maybe make up a batch of these to wrap up and put in the mitten also -

Budding Baketress

For some other great ideas for Christmas gifts head on over to My Pinterest and take a look around at my pins as well as cruise around and see what everyone else is up to as well.

I’m just finishing off this little miniature quilt (10” x 10”) for my MIL’s Christmas present. She downsized this year and moved into a very small apartment so I thought this would be the perfect “little” giftie that would fit just about anywhere.

Plus these pieces make great conversation generators and I think she’ll really enjoy it.

I’m also trying to work on a couple of techie gifts that are very time consuming and I’ve also started another miniature quilt for a friend who may be moving in the next while.

Always something going on . . . have a great weekend.

Super Sleuth Soiree

2011-11-13T07:06:00.000-06:00

So . . . as hard as it is for me to believe . . . it has now been three weeks since we held our Super Sleuth Soiree Mystery Quilt Workshop.

I know I had some recuperating and adjustments to make because of my age . . . but really – three weeks!?!?!

Well let’s get started here and get everyone up to speed on what our little “Soiree” was all about . . .

First of all it was optional to come “dressed up” and we had some amazing outfits make an appearance for sure!

Lise absolutely blew me away with her hippie outfit . . . anyone who knows Lise, knows that this is sooooooo not her – but ended up just perfect.

We had gals in housecoats, Super Sleuth attire, old women, old men . . . the list went on and on. It was amazing to have everyone come out prepared for a good time.

After everyone got settled in and a “wicked” cackle and poem greeted the forty-seven participants we started with the clues.

Clue #1 was in a painted pumpkin tin with tissue paper and the ladies headed off to start their project.

The community centre that we were able to rent ended up just a little tight on space when it came time to “hide” our clues, so the newly renovated Men’s Bathroom ended up being Clue Central. Have you ever tried decorating a Men’s bathroom before? Very interesting concept – at least there was no urinal to deal with!

Another clue was attached to the back of these scary little skeletons. Some people may have needed glasses to read the details on this one! It was really just a guide for putting on the first borders, so not a big deal – I didn’t hear of any eye-strain accidents anyway!

Of course you can’t host a workshop without having lots and lots of food. This is a quick shot of the one corner of the dessert table. Before everyone got to this part they had pulled beef on a bun, cheese, pickles and coleslaw and . . .

. . . hot apple cider and hot apple/cranberry cider with creepy heads floating in the brine.

Decorated sugar cookies,

Mummy cookies, more decorated sugar cookies and candy corn cookies,

and three different cheesecakes – this is a photo of just the one, but there were two others that were just as gorgeous. Seemed a shame to cut into them! After all was said and done, there was about 1/2 a slice leftover and a few crumbs – tasted as good as it looked I think. I didn’t get a piece!

Here are a couple of more clues. Everyone got a treat inside the cello bag clue and everyone got a specially designed charm square inside the envelope clue. A “subway” style design was created with the names of all the towns that workshop participants came from. This was then uploaded to Spoonflower and the fabric was ordered. A small mug rug pattern was also included with the clue and the charm square in this package.

The clue inside these little boxes was rolled up and put on a spider ring along with another little piece of chocolate. We didn’t want anyone to go home hungry.

The final clue was put into this little fabric goodie bags all decked out in Halloween prints. Boy that was fun putting together 50 of these little creations! Thank goodness for amazing helpers that dug right in and got ‘er done.

Here is everyone hard at work – we really did have an excellent space to work in. Before everyone got there for the day we were able to get a few quilts hung up on the walls to make it a bit cozier and provide some eye candy as well.

Before everyone left for the day we had them take their partially finished quilts up on the stage so that we could get some photos of their projects. We also discussed some of the finishing ideas – yo-yos in those centre squares or maybe some appliquéd flowers; in some of the outer borders we discussed adding vines and flowers or crows and bats like in some of the ones from the previous post. Lots of ideas to make this quilt their own.

As you can see from the photos, everyone was able to get the centre and first borders put on.

Plus you can see the different impact that the fabric choices are making. The only instructions they had for choosing fabrics was that they had to choose 12 fat quarters that they loved.

I would have loved to get a photo of each individual quilt up close . . . they seem so far away, but at least we can see the different color values and how much they got done.

There is one lady there that has another border put on . . . that’s looking good too!

Quite surprising to me is that the gal on the far right hand side there used the same fabrics as my original quilt that was in the magazine. So she knew exactly how her quilt would look when she was all done just by looking at mine. All the fabric lines that are available out there and we used the same one! I bought my package of fat quarters over a year ago so I know we weren’t shopping in the same place.

There is a Christmas print one on the right and a “make mine pink” one on the left. There was pastels and brights and hand-dyes and flannels – it was so much fun to see the combinations.

And then we had a table of gals that obviously were drinking way too much coffee . . . they all had their second borders on and that really bright colored one even has her third border on. Amazing!

This was a HUGE undertaking, but so very satisfying and tons of fun. We have now started our idea files for the May, 2012 workshop and we’re pretty sure it will be just as much fun and the projects will be just as amazing. We have not made the announcement yet as to who we have coming as teachers, but we have people registering anyway . . . they say they don’t care who’s coming as long as they are on the list!!! No pressure there . . .

So . . .

2011-11-07T14:08:00.000-06:00

I’m told it is now time to move on . . . it’s been a week . . . a birthday is a birthday . . . get over it!!!

It may take some time though to get over the state I’ve currently found myself in . . . although it still looks like I’m smiling!!! Must be the Bud

This may be some old news for some, and some new news for others. This is the Fall Issue of A Needle Pulling Thread and two of my quilts are in there. Actually it is the same quilt . . . sorta . . . one is a smaller version of the bigger one.

This red and brown quilt is called “The Crows Have Flipped” and as you can see – there is the flipped crow!

The pattern (for either version) uses 12 fat quarters and some background yardage and every quilt looks different because of the fabric choices – you’ll see more of that in my next post.

Here is another photo of the quilts in the magazine. The teal and pink version is called “Shadows Cross” as it was the last quilt that Shadow, my 18 year old Tortoiseshell, helped me work on before she died. The yo-yos form a cross across the entire quilt.

Here is my Halloween version using the Trick or Treat line by Deb Strain. I’ve changed the borders on this one because the background yardage ended up being less than it was supposed to be. The pattern calls for a zig-zag border as you can see in the first photograph – I like both. My husband says there are too many bats but I’m arguing that usually you don’t see them all at once anyway and this way it doesn’t matter how I fold it, everyone will see a bat.

My quilter (Terry Whitman, Estevan, Saskatchewan) once again did an amazing job on all of the quilts . . . love the spiders and the webs that she’s done on this version.

I’m also in the process of finishing the quilting on the fourth version of this same pattern and I hope to be able to show that to you in the next couple of weeks. It looks completely different than these three as well.

We are hoping that we’ll have this pattern available to purchase as a PDF download sometime in the New Year. I’ll keep you posted.

The reason I’ve been keeping quiet on the magazine and the quilts is because this is also the pattern that we used for the Super Sleuth Soiree workshop that we held on Saturday, October 29th. Take a gander at that mouth watering menu!

The “we” I keep mentioning is my cohort in crime – Sheila M. and the two of us make up “As The Crow Flies Quilting Workshops” which explains our little crow references here and there. We’ve been having a blast planning and delivering workshops for local quilters with the help of Val T. and Sheryl S.

I have lots and lots of pictures of the workshop and they will be in my next post – way too many pictures for today.

Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Big, Big Birthday!

2011-11-04T06:42:00.000-05:00

Gotta hate those birthdays . . . they just keep coming and coming.

Most people say that’s a good thing as the alternative isn’t all that great!

I was surrounded, two days before my birthday, with 50 quilting friends who surprised me with this fabulous quilt cake. And yes it does taste as good as it looks!

I also had some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket and “just happened” to be in close proximity to a wonderful vendor opportunity.

Mama Bear’s Quilt Shop (no website) from Ashern, Manitoba set up shop for the workshop October 29th and Pauline brought some fabulous lines of fabric for us all to shuffle through.

In cases like this if you don’t buy it when you see it – it’s gone! Although Pauline assured us all that more was back home in the store. ‘ehm, maybe some of that Little Gatherings line would still look good in my collection . . . might have to give her a call.

I did get a couple of those prints, plus a few more. Love the Christmas lines that are coming out right now – Merry and Bright by Buggy Barn and The Great I Am by Leanne Anderson – both lines are by Henry Glass. They certainly do not go together but the designs and rich colors are amazing.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween (I know I did!) and that November is treating everyone kindly so far.

Quilting this weekend? Sure hope so!

Quilt Show Report

2011-10-20T12:54:00.000-05:00

I know . . . I’ve been missing in action for a long time! There just never seems to be enough hours in the day lately!

We’re getting ready for a big “Super Sleuth Soiree” Workshop on October 29th and there are a million-zillion details that need attended to. When we start planning one of these events it takes lots of list making, emails, laying awake at night thinking of things and lots of early mornings, to get everything pulled together.

The countdown is now on and it will be a “done deal” very shortly . . . until we start planning for another one of course .

In amongst all of the planning for this workshop, another group that I belong to in Brandon, Manitoba had their Quilt Show and there was lots of getting ready, setting up and taking down for that event.

I’ll let you scroll through the pictures so that you can pick out patterns that you’ve maybe made in the past or have in your stack right now to do . . . it’s always fun to see the colors and borders that other people incorporate into their creations.

There, how did you do?

Did you see some patterns that you recognize? Or want to make?

Let me know if you need any details on any of the quilts shown and I will track down information for you.

We had four vendors at this Quilt Show, a wonderful lunch, some amazing silent auction items and door prizes. Getting ready for an event like this does take a bit of effort, but the new people you meet and the memories that are made, far out-weigh the work.

I hope you enjoyed the tour and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks (sooner if I can get my act together!) with a report and pictures of the unveiling of the mystery quilt.

Then I’m going to clean my sewing room!!!!

Breakfast Out

2011-10-09T16:00:00.001-05:00

Recently we had the wonderful opportunity of sampling a wonderful restaurant in Winnipeg - The Falafel Place has an amazing atmosphere and is certainly worth a visit.

It’s loud, it’s busy and the food is awesome. This isn’t your quiet, reserved, elevator music playing in the background kinda restaurant. Everything is fast paced and you cannot help but be pulled into the atmosphere – lots to experience, taste and see.

The owner runs his ship with a firm hand and everyone on staff seems to be very aware of what their job is and that it better be done fast and efficiently.

Look at that stack of eggs there on the front counter – close at hand and ready for the non-stop rush. You will also notice that it is CASH ONLY . . . no fiddle fartin’ around with plastic stuff at this restaurant.

Ah, but the fresh squeezed orange juice is to die for! You witness them squeezing every orange, pouring it into your glass and then you get to smell it . . . and taste it . . . I died and went to Heaven. It was worth every expensive penny I paid for it!

I think he knew my daughter was trying to get his picture . . . he’s looking right at us - right? Remember that episode of Seinfeld ("soup nazi") where they go into the ~~bakery~~ restaurant and then get kicked out? Kinda felt a bit like that . . . rumor has it that if you linger too long at your table at the Falafel Place that he will ask you to leave so that he can seat more people. Business is business after all!

Well worth the trip and the experience and this restaurant has now become one of our favorite Saturday/Sunday morning breakfast spots when we’re visiting Winnipeg.

Falafels for breakfast – you bet!!!

Random Acts of Kindness & a Bat

2011-09-14T06:27:00.001-05:00

Isn’t this pretty?!?!!?

I received this standing in line at Starbucks the other day. A very nice man came into the building carrying a handful of roses and presented them to the women waiting in line. Didn’t matter to him if the woman had a husband in tow or not.

He told me that he has been doing this for a few years and that he enjoys carrying out his little Random Acts of Kindness and seeing the surprise and happiness that it creates.

After being taken by surprise with the RAK . . . I just had to go a little batty!

Have a great week everyone . . .

Quite some time ago . . .

2011-09-01T07:10:00.001-05:00

I won these wonderful 1/2 yard pieces of Christmas fabric from Myra’s wonderful blog.

Not only are the fabrics gorgeous but the card is also amazing! Each of the little “quilted” parts of the card are actual fabric pieces and someone has taken the time to ink in the stitches. What a wonderful package.

The package also came with a pattern that looks intriguing and will work good for some of those large print fabrics that are kicking around.

Thank you Myra!

(Oh, BTW, Myra is hosting a Mystery over on her blog – pop over and take a peek to find out the details)

I’ve been missing . . . once again . . . in action . . . excuses are many – many of the quiltie things that I’m working on can’t be shown yet and the rest of “the life” is busy with work and parents.

I will try and get back sooner than later and I certainly hope everyone is having a wonderful Summer. Holidays don’t start for me until the last week in September, so it feels like a long haul yet before I can concentrate on getting this sewing room cleaned up. Weekends are soooooooooooooo short!

Eye Candy For Everyone!

2011-08-10T07:35:00.004-05:00

How many of you have joined Pinterest?...

If you haven't yet...

and you love eye candy...

you just might want to go take a peek at what this is all about!

Gorgeous Color Palette

If you don't know what pinterest is...it's a really great tool that allows you to save pictures and links that you find on the internet.

Pinterest

When you save them...you pin them on separate boards like a bulletin board, or an inspiration board. You can then organize every single pin that you make onto it’s own board. It's a great way save tutorials, recipes, decorating ideas or even blogs that you follow.

Baked Apple Donuts

All of the photos that you see here are

on one of my pinboards.

Country Sampler Quilt Shop

The beauty of Pinterest is that every picture automatically comes with the link of where it was originally pinned....genius!

Now you don’t have to jot down the location of something that you want to remember or print out all of those decorating ideas or quilt ideas that you see. They are all organized on your pinboard.

Halloween Subway Art

That means...if you love the picture, you can click on the source link and find out more about it.

You can also follow other Pinterest boards so that you can repin their pictures onto your boards...a wonderful way of sharing creativity:)

If you would like to see my boards and the kind of pictures that I think are inspiring...click here!

Teddy's Sleeping Bags

If you are already a member of Pinterest... and you like what you see...I would be thrilled if you decided to follow my boards. Remember that I’m just starting out so there’s not a ton to see just yet, but it is building!

Once you are on a Pinterest site you can type in and search for what types of things interest you and BOOM! - there is an overwhelming selection of photos and links that pop up for you to scroll through. Of course everyone knows that I’m stuck in Halloween mode right now (and lovin’ it!) – type that in and see what you get . . . amazing! I’m avoiding typing in Christmas for now . . . but it’s really tempting. I can’t imagine the ideas that will materialize under that search!

Gathered Round Basket

There is so much loveliness and inspiration available on the internet...and I am thrilled that I now have somewhere to store all those little snippets that I want to keep for reference.

I love Pinterest...I hope you get a chance to have a look to.

Artistically Challenged . . .

2011-08-05T14:17:00.001-05:00

So………………. I took an art class.

and I’m going to show you the teacher’s samples . . .

because mine didn’t work too well . . . not the worst, but certainly need to give it all another try . . . another day.

It was lots of fun though – met new people and learned a few things about painting that I hope I’ll remember when I get another chance to sit down and play.

Right now though I’m going to stick to quilting and Halloween.

Here are my little baggies all ready for some mystery sewing. We have a class scheduled for October 29th and there are going to be at least 40 stacks similar to these. It’s going to be sew much fun!

Wish everyone could come and make a mystery quilt with us – that would be even more fun. In the meantime though you’ll all just have to wait until October 30th for the unveiling of what we all get to make. I know that I’m going to have four samples all ready to show . . . one is country, one is Halloween, one is teals and pinks and one is purples and rusts.

I’ve got some more Halloween planning and sewing to do . . . I better keep at ‘er.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Inspiration abounds . . .

2011-07-27T15:13:00.001-05:00

Here is my inspiration for the week.

I was looking through some old Quilt Sampler magazines (I have them all!) and I kept coming back to this photo. I love those scrappy stars!

What inspires you? Colors, texture, patterns, fabric? You know the feeling . . . the one where you just want to/have to start something new or doodle something on a piece of paper or take a picture of a page out of a magazine! What stirs your brain into action?

I’m also a tiny bit inspired by all of these little Henrietta’s scampering around my sewing room right now. They are so much fun to play with! These Bunny Hill blocks are coming along great – just imagine there are only two more blocks to come . . . I better get stitching them down soon.

I’m also lovin’ these orange and cream pinwheel blocks . . . which just may go with . . .

this happy little character.

This is only one of four and I love them all equally! I’m having a great olde time putting this piece together . . . I never know what is going to strike my fancy next and where that little piece will end up. Right now I’m thinking this will be my super, duper bestest Halloween wall hanging yet!

And then just to inspire myself some more, this wonderful bundle of fabric showed up in the mail yesterday.

Trick or Treat by Deb Strain – gorgeous! Look at those rich colors . . . how could I resist?!?! I do have a fabulous plan for these prints and will show you what that plan was on October 30th.

Oh and I had to drool some more!

This was also in the package . . . Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater. No plans for this fabric line just yet but the wheels are always turning.

Let me know what inspires you . . . I could use some more pointers! Vacation starts for me on Friday at 4:30 . . . I want to be super inspired so that I can get more done. Help me out people . . .

Creepy . . .

2011-07-17T13:19:00.001-05:00

sticky, icky cobwebs . . .

everywhere I turn they are clinging to me!

So it got me thinking about . . .

Halloween!

Look at those adorable faces and bats . . . aren’t they sinister looking?!?!? Wonder where they will end up?

We’ve got a party planned for October and I’m thinking wayyyyyyyyyy ahead here. Lucky Halloween is such a special day for me and that I love to decorate for it. I love the colors, the shapes and yes even the . . . mystery!! Some of you will know what I mean by that :)

Here is a shot of a corner of the yard. Did you know that this is called “Sipiweske” – definition is Light Through The Trees. There are some wonderful photos out there that capture this beautifully.

Oh . . . I forgot to mention that it is super hot here right now. This poor little hot, hot kitty is passed out on her princess blankets (I think there are 4 in the stack) with the fan blowing on her rear end. Every time I wonder where she’s at I can find her here – age and heat just don’t go together very well - but she is finding a solution of sorts.

Hope you are staying cool wherever you are. Have a great Sunday!

PhD Report

2011-06-30T11:31:00.003-05:00

two more down!

I certainly will not be hitting my lofty idea of getting nine done by June 30th,

(see sidebar for more details)

but I have been able to get 7 completed and about 3/4s of the 8th one done (still working on binding!)

This is a strips & curves pattern that has been sitting in my stack needing to be finished for a long time. So this was a great push to get ‘er done.

Not impressed with my machine quilting on this one except for when I got to the borders I tried this new little design I found. Little snowflakey, star type creations that work great with the loopy meander.

This will more than likely end up as a cat blanket . . . not really proud of this one . . . but it is done.

Here is another one that I’m not proud of. It was supposed to be a Christmas tree skirt but ended up looking more like a watermelon!!!

Also not really happy with the machine quilting I did on this one either – I think I better stick with what I know!

The binding is interesting though . . . learned how to machine stitch the binding down. Still need some practice – I’m only showing you the part that actually worked. Maybe if I had practiced on a straight edge quilt instead of a curved one might have made a difference. Oh, well . . . have to learn these things somewhere, right?

Ugly quilt!!!

The 8th PhD has about half of the border sewn down (machine sewn again) and I’m not sure if I’ll get it done before midnight tonight or not. Off to help serve supper to sandbaggers tonight so not sure how long I’ll be away doing that and how I’ll feel when I get back.

Either way I feel pretty darn good to get almost 8 PhDs done – that poor 9th one hasn’t gone any further than being pulled out so far. It will be on top for the next go round . . .

Have a great weekend everyone!

On Alert!

2011-06-28T14:35:00.001-05:00

Should we start building the ark now?!?!?!

What an unnerving couple of weeks lay ahead of us here in Southern Manitoba. Melita, Hartney, Souris and Wawanesa are all on flood alert with the Souris River hurtling mega volumes of water our way. The destruction in Minot goes without saying and the ferocity and speed at which it is coming here sounds unprecedented.

I have been told that the blue tape on the pole represents the expected level that the water will crest at and the red tape shows where the dike needs to be built up to. In my mind that is huge! The river is already over it’s banks by a long way and in relation to where that blue tape is makes me shutter in my rubber boots.

This is the view from the driveway across the street from the river – in most years you would be hard pressed to see very much of the river except over at the very far edge. The rest is usually grass and river bank. You can see there on the right hand side of the photo where they have started to build a clay dike. The view outside of these people’s front window will be reduced to nothing but a clay wall by the time all the construction is done.

We took a late night walk last night so that I could have a look at what has been going on. My husband has taken the past two days off work to help in the sandbagging efforts and we are told that a mandatory evacuation for this whole block of town comes into effect sometime this afternoon. Once that evacuation is in place I’m doubtful that they will be letting anyone past the road blocks so I figured that this was my only chance to get some photos. As someone said to me – “This is history in the making.” I hate being a lookie-lou, but luckily most everyone had shut down for the night and we weren’t impeding progress with our little tour.

At this particular house they have had to rip off the deck completely so that they could place sandbags around it. It is rumoured that this house has had water spurting in the basement walls for the past couple of weeks – not just from seeping up from the floor but actually spurting randomly from all over the walls. This house is one of the closest ones to the river and usually has concerns during regular years – this most definitely is not a regular year.

There are 17 houses and the personal care/hospital evacuated at this time and another whole section of river front homes has been put on alert.

Our house is four houses up from the evacuated area.

Everyone is hoping for the best but preparing for the worst – the crest is expected somewhere between July 7th to 11th. Certainly nail-biting times around here. Some meander quilting going on when I get a chance – calms the nerves you know!

Joan Statz Workshop

2011-06-17T15:37:00.000-05:00

Last Friday and Saturday, June 10th and 11th, Sheila and I (cohorts in As the Crow Flies Quilting Workshops) were thrilled to host Joan Statz from Joan's Own Creations.

What an amazingly informative and fun teacher she is! Everyone was intent on hearing her instructions and busily jotting down notes for future reference. Joan was so relaxed and nothing, I mean NOTHING fizzed on her - see her arm thrown through the opening in the sewing machine - busy explaining the ins and outs of correct satin stitching.

Joan had everything kitted up and ready for us to start on Friday morning. Many of her patterns come kitted up or she will do them for you if she doesn't have one available. She went home with a list of kits to make up for some of the gals that attended over the two days.

A photo just doesn't do some of these creations justice! The level of detail on each of these pieces is amazing. The plants in this quilt are all individual leaves and there are little buttons and bobbles here and there throughout the piece that just keeps your eye moving.

I can't even imagine attempting this vase of flowers! The details are amazing.

Here is a work in progress . . . pretty darn nice job.

It amazed me that the most appropriate fabrics were used for every part of the quilt . . . everything blended so perfectly.

This pattern was very detailed and you really had to study it to see every part of it.

Here is a close up of the sewing machine . . . amazing stitching goes into these finished quilts.

Here is an example of one her "easier" patterns . . . I also purchased a pattern for a gingerbread table center that I'll have to get a photo of. Actually there are four different designs in the same pattern pack, but the one I got was a kit to make the gingerbread version. It is very cute and now on my list of things to get done before Christmas.

The class was limited to 20 people because of the detailed level of instruction. This class filled up in less than 24 hours when we advertised and only one person had to drop out . . . which still left some disappointed people on the waiting list.

It didn't seem to matter what make or model of sewing machine that she sat down at to demonstrate a technique . . . Joan made the machine do exactly what she wanted and made a few of us stop and think about why we are so timid with our machine settings - just dive in and make it work for yourself - you can't break it!

Thank you Joan for travelling all the way to Manitoba from Alberta - we have you pencilled in for a 2013 workshop and will certainly be back in touch.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ghost Towns, Shopping and Graduation

2011-06-15T07:02:00.001-05:00

I decided I’d show you the shopping first. That’s always the most interesting part – right?

From Country Quilting & More in Delburne, AB I bought the two books and five fat quarters of wonderful Whimsical fabric. There’s nothing better than being on a road trip and having some good quilting books to read.

This is my niece who graduated on June 4th in Olds, Alberta. They had a wonderful grad . . . it’s always fun to see all those glowing young faces ready to face the world head on. Kaylene loved her quilt and will be taking it with her when she heads off to school this Fall. She is currently thinking she would be interested in Child Care but who knows . . . minds have been known to change!

Now back to our ghost town tour . . .

I love seeing these old buildings preserved . . . it is so much better than the alternative. The small town that I grew up in has almost completely disappeared – I believe there is an old church and a school bell monument and that’s about it. I much prefer seeing the old buildings maintained as a reminder of the past.

I know some people might not enjoy these type of blog posts, but in a way these posts are a diary of sorts and it has been wonderful when I can go back and see the pictures of where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing – both travelling and quilting.

My Dad was with us on this trip and was one of the reasons that we decided on the ghost town tour. He loves toodling around the countryside and seeing whatever is out there and he quite enjoyed this trip.

This window cracked me up . . . do you think we could get by with only holding Court on Fridays for four hours now-a-days? I guess there weren’t as many people in the world back then – or maybe not as many bad people.

This building also made me smile . . . “We Repair Anything” . . . wonder about that foundation there at the back. Sure could use some TLC I think.

Old barns and out buildings that are still standing straight are wonderful to see. They are so haggard and worn but stand tall on their piece of earth.

It was the boards running on the angle on this building that intrigued me . . . puzzled me as to why . . . but interesting.

This is a photo of the entire street in this little ghost town. Whoever maintains this is doing a wonderful job and my hat goes off to them – we enjoyed our visit.

On the way out of town was the train station. I’ve seen some of these falling down in other towns and I’ve also seen some that have been converted into museums. In Manitoba we even have an artist that paints all of the different train stations that were in the area – probably mostly from photos now-a-days.

Back with the workshop photos in a day or so . . .

Dinosaurs and Quilt Shows

2011-06-13T07:18:00.001-05:00

We got home from Alberta last Monday and immediately got sucked into work and other ongoing life happenings. Over this past weekend we held a fantastic quilt workshop and I’ll have more details of that in a couple of days.

Of course going to the part of Alberta that we went to just happened to be close to Drumheller which is home to dinosaurs and very interesting rock formations.

They have some hoo doos also that were just a tad bit disappointing after seeing the ones out in the BC mountains. Interesting just the same.

Then we decided that it would be a good idea to look up old ghost towns in the area and therein our tour of the area began.

This little town was on the list as a ghost town but there was still a saloon open and a few houses.

The whole area was comprised of these desolate, craggy mountains/hills jutting out of the ground. Just a bit different scenery than we have here in Manitoba!

I can’t remember which little town we found this blue church but I thought it was quite unique in it’s color – pretty much the first thing you saw when you drove into the town. As you can see the day was quite overcast and I did get some interesting sky shots.

I did find a little quilt shop in Delburne, Alberta called Country Quilting & More.

And while I was in visiting these great gals I found out that there was a quilt show over in Stettler. It just so happened that we were able to stop in Stettler for lunch and the guys dropped me off for a half hour tour of all of these gorgeous quilts.

I believe the quilt above is a Whimsicals pattern and was done up beautifully – I love Whimsical fabric and patterns!

I’m almost sure that this gorgeous quilt is made from a 3 Sisters line of fabric called Aster Manor or Park Avenue . . . whichever line it is doesn’t matter – it was delicious!

This area was set up with little vignettes and was very nice. The little quilt in the middle at the front was a little doll blanket made with 2 1/2” squares that were stitched directly onto the background. The stitching was about 1/2” away from all edges of the block and once it was washed a few times it would get nice and raggy and yummy. Loved that idea.

And how could I pass by the cat quilt. This was the one that I chose for Viewer’s Choice just because it made me smile. I did not hear which quilt won the award but I thought they were all very nice and they should all get Viewer’s Choice.

It was great fun to find a fabulous little quilt shop in such a small town and then to attend a quilt show as well. Totally unplanned -sometimes that is more fun anyway isn’t it?!?!

Back in a day or so . . .

A Hodge Podge . . .

2011-05-30T14:35:00.000-05:00

of this and that!

Lots of little things going on but nothing that seems worthy of posting . . . therefore I've been silent again.

Actually having some issues with blogger and Live Writer and that just gets me frustrated and I move on to something else.

I got a nice photo of the button jars that I'm working my way through. Don't they look delicious!!! I even went to a flea market and found a special button jar of my own - I'll try and get it filled and then show you.

Snow of May 28th?!?!!? Actually once we got closer we found out that it was really hail that had fallen. Thank goodness it fell before we got there and not while we were driving through it.

Very strange to be driving along on wet pavement and then through this. It covered about a three - four mile stretch and that was it - back to regular pavement. Weird! The weather here is horrible - lots of wind and rain and it is expected to last for a few more days. Farmers are pretty much done for . . . fields are too wet to get onto and even the ones they did get to last week are now too wet to germinate or the seed is floating away. Not looking like a good year in this area.

I have officially finished quilting my niece's graduation quilt and just need to hand stitch down the binding on my brother's quilt.

Need to get that done by tomorrow night and get the two of them washed up and ready to head out on Wednesday morning. The graduation is on June 4th out in Alberta so we've got a bit of a trek ahead of us - sure hope the rain isn't there also.

I did get to play in my scrap bags and have gotten blocks four . . .

and five done on the Bunny Hill Henrietta BOM. I shouldn't say "done" as there is still all of the machine applique to do. The fun part for me is choosing all of the different prints - I love rootin' around looking for that perfect piece.

Well at least this time I have a good excuse for being away for a few days . . . hopefully I'll get some pictures taken while I'm away and be ready to hit the blog running when I get back.

Have a great week!

Tick and Tick!

2011-05-16T06:30:00.000-05:00

Two more down! Yahoo, yipee!

Here is my Seasonal Tablerunner all done up and ready to go.

I love the colors that I found for this project and it's going to look so wonderful come Fall on my dining room table. This was a little tricky to figure out how to quilt, but eventually I think it came together. A little smaller scale quilting than I have been doing and just had to tighten everything up a bit. Quite happy with it though - nice to have done.

And here is my next one that is all completed - the one that I really don't like the fabrics in. Although now that it is all done and the flowers are on there, it is growing on me. To test my attachment to a quilt I will sometimes ask myself whether it is a quilt that I want to keep or should I give it away . . . I'm still literally still on the fence with that question!

Look at those happy flowers . . . gotta keep them around for a while yet!

I received a wonderful boxful of buttons on Saturday and have slowly been going through it. I've found a couple of really nice big ones that will work great on the front of the basket there - I just need to narrow it down to which button. Thanks Mae for all the little bits and baubles to go through - I'm having a blast!

These two quilt finishes will make it five down on my list of Myra's PhDs (see sidebar) and four more to go.

Two more quilts are waiting in the wings all ready basted and ready to quilt; one more needs backing pieced and then basted and one is still being looked at. June 30th is the deadline . . . and it keeps creeping closer.

Nothing seems to stand still does it? My car just keeps ticking down the kilometers. So very sad :(

All is well though and we'll keep tickin' down the miles together . . . still haven't seen a new one that I like better - at least that's in my price range. Of course there are always other ones I could drool on - I just wouldn't like to be paying the monthly payments - really nice to have that extra cash in my pocket every month. And NO I am not buying fabric with it all!

Have a great week everyone!

Seasons . . .

2011-05-01T17:31:00.001-05:00

Happy May 1st everyone!

Is it football season yet?

We’ve gone from raking and clearing the lawn to searching for our snow shovels. Temperatures dropped, roads are closed (in some areas) and the wind is howling and the snow is swirling – this is the view from our open doorway showing the little snowdrift that has settled against the door. You can also see the new snow banks that weren’t there on Saturday morning.

Our sidewalk is to the right hand side of the tree trunk . . . so is the green grass!

Waiting, waiting, waiting for football . . .

Playing Around . . .

2011-04-25T07:01:00.001-05:00

I’ve never been the type of person to decorate much . . . Christmas and Halloween yes, but things like Valentines, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. just aren’t my cup of tea.

And then I started seeing some of these cute little bunnies out in blogland and I thought – Why Not!

I love the ears on the tall bunny – stuck in some pipe cleaner pieces so that I can bend them around how I want them.

And then there is the little muslin rabbit . . . ehm, must be about 20 years ago that I made that little guy. Not even sure where the pattern is for that one – haven’t tripped over it in years. He actually sits out all year on a little shelf in my sewing room – he is still my favorite.

Of course there is no pattern for any of these guys . . . bits of inspiration from here and there and improvising as I went. Do you think I can plan these things ahead of time and actually order patterns? No way – always spur of the moment for me!

Now back to my PhDs . . .

Moving forward . . .

2011-04-23T11:11:00.000-05:00

I found this wonderful bread recipe over at Crazy Mom Quilts and let me just say – YUM! I made the recipe (with a couple of changes – honey instead of sugar and added whole wheat flour instead of all white) and once the dough cycle on the bread machine was complete I opened the lid to a HUGE ball of dough. I figured that this was just way too much for one loaf pan so ended up making two smaller loaves – this works great if you’re trying to watch what you eat – smaller slices are still so very, very satisfying.

So these little loaves of bread of seen me through many a lunch lately while we’ve been dealing with this . . .

lots, and lots of water and damages. Many areas that are closer to the big rivers and streams are just getting ready to hit their crest starting today and running through until the 28th.

All of the damage in my municipality was caused from lots of snow and a quick melt. After many early morning meetings and a couple of late nights, we feel that we are now in pretty good shape as far as the road repairs being done. We’ll cross our fingers that we don’t get anymore really fast melts (there is still some snow out there) or lots of rain – both would cause our problems to start again.

We are now at the stage of watching our surrounding neighboring municipalities and towns to see how they make out with the overflowing rivers. The next week will tell the tale.

So, now on to more fun stuff . . .

Yes, I know . . . I’m supposed to be working on PhD’s but once again I’ve been sidetracked . . . but only three times . . .

This black and white quilt is for my brother - who I have never made a quilt for - it is made from the scraps from making my niece a graduation quilt . . .

Kayleen told me a coupe of years ago that her favorite colors were black, white and red, so ever since I’ve been picking up fat quarters of these colors from some of my many shopping excursions. I found one with horses and horse shoes on it and I found one with ants all over it. I figure that if you like horses you should be used to ants also – and besides . . . they are really cute ants!

I also started on another “can’t tell” project. Wonder what all those little stacks are going to be used for? Sure are a lot. Love this Buggy Barn fabric – Harvest Moon – should look great with a few crows thrown in there somewhere.

I am also still working on the binding for two of the PhDs and have completed three more of the PhD quilt tops and they are now ready to baste and quilt – oh, and add in the graduation quilt and my brother’s quilt and that makes five that need to be quilted. Just need some of these flood waters and road washouts to get fixed up – oh, and I need to reduce the number of meetings we’ve been having at work . . . very time-consuming and draining!

This is a pattern that the “Undercover Strippers” group is looking at doing as a BOM starting in the Fall. I love that moose! Can’t wait to start this one . . . I will find time . . . I know I will.

Who Knew?

2011-04-10T11:31:00.001-05:00

I was clicking through my feedjit stats and noticed that someone had connected to my blog through this link:

50 Best Quilting Blogs

and of course it didn’t sound at all familiar to me so I had to go and check it out.

This is what I found:

“Quilting is a time-honored tradition. The intricate designs, precise stitches, and beautiful color work have been admired for generations. If you love quilting, or want to learn how to make your own pieces, look no further. We’ve scoured the web and gathered the top 50 quilting blogs for you. We’ve stitched together blogs that offer tips, how-to posts, and showcases of quilting’s best -- everything you need to create gorgeous quilts.”

Source: http://www.guidetoartschools.com/tips-and-tools/best-quilting-blogs#ixzz1J8OKuO8q

Scanning down the list of all too familiar quilt blogs that I visit on a regular basis my heart did a little flip when I got to #38. OMG – there was my blog listing!

I know that there are lots of voting/calculating/polling of various quilt blogs that I’m not (and never will be) listed on, but this made my Sunday.

Thank you to the powers that be that reviewed my blog and decided it was worthy of being included. I promise I’ll try and not be MIA for two weeks anymore . . . somehow I don’t think that is an acceptable practice for being part of a review.

Off to do some more quilting . . .

Where Have I Been?!?!!?!?

2011-04-08T13:17:00.001-05:00

That is a strange question that I don’t have an answer for.

I’ve been at home and at work – nothing fantastic like a trip around the world or even a trip to the big City – I’ve just been around. I know . . . yawn . . . what a boring existence!

My workplace has decided to go with paperless meetings and have therefore had me researching the ins and outs of laptops versus iPads. I made my presentation and they loved the iPad idea and I’m just in the process of getting everything that we need put on all eight of them. Then will come the training part (some of my guys are OLD!), and then eventually the implementation in May of our first paperless meeting. We made our decision right around the same time as the new iPad2 was ready to launch so decided to wait for eight of these brand new systems.

I love my iPad!

So what else have I been doing when I was away doing nothing? A little quilting . . .

These two blocks are for the 2009/2010 Peace by Piece garden theme BOM project.

I’ve added these two blocks of my own . . . just to be different!

I’ve also been working on a little binding . . .

these two should be done very soon and will knock off two more PhD projects from Myra’s challenge (see side bar for details).

I also made two blocks for the 2010/2011 BOM log cabin project that I’m doing with the Peace by Piece group that I belong to in Brandon (sorry girls . . . I promise to show up for a meeting someday soon!)

Oh . . . and I’ve been shopping . . . again!

Half Moon by Moda

More Sunkissed by Sweetwater

Fresh Flowers by Deb Strain (reminds me that Spring must be coming soon).

Stitches n' Giggles is an awesome on-line shop that I just found. Service and pricing are both fantastic (shipping to Canada – you need to be patient). I know there must be other on-line shops out there that sell by the individual fat quarter, but this is the first one that I found and I really like choosing exactly the prints that I want.

Lori even does a follow-up email to make sure that you are enjoying your fabrics and that the order was successfully received. Go take a peek!

Have a great weekend everyone,

3rd One Done!

2011-03-22T06:58:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is the third out of nine that I have now completed.

As an art quilt I think it does make it’s own little statement. It is going to hang in my laundry room which also has a yellow/gold (Dijon) colored wall. You can never have too many cheerful things in a laundry room!

Moving on to other things that are progressing . . . this quilt is in the process of getting it’s final borders put on. Lots of appliqué on those snowflakes . . . could take a while.

This PhD has gone from just a flimsy to a basted quilt – just another few big steps further and we’ll add it to the pile too.

Have a great week!

Class is Out!

2011-03-21T06:45:00.000-05:00

Some of you will remember that this was my first finish over at Myra’s PhD Challenge (see sidebar). This was also the demo quilt for a beginner’s workshop that Sheila and I have been teaching over the past three Saturday’s.

This is Deanne’s quilt all ready to move on to the next phase. She unknowingly, as a first time quilter, went to the fabric store and chose batiks. She went in and picked what she liked and then almost dropped over at the cash register when the total purchase came up! I guess we should have had a class in that as well . . . good news is that it was the fabric that she loved and that makes all the difference in the world.

This quilt belongs to Wendy who is not a beginner quilter but came to cheer on her friend Susan – what a great friend! This quilt reminds me of a cottage country garden – very serene and restful.

And this is Susan’s quilt – Wendy’s friend. She fell in love with the black and white prints and that gorgeous hot pink and I think it’s easy to see why! A very striking quilt that makes a statement. Love it!

I wasn’t handy with the camera when Angie and Julie had their quilts laid out, but I will catch them in April when everyone is coming back to learn how to use up the scraps from this quilt to make another one.

I think there are a few patterns around the quilting world for this pattern and the second one but what we did was take a 12-pack of fat quarters, plus some yardage, and calculated it all out so that you get a 60”x60” quilt (as shown - “All Cooped Up”) and . . .

a 50” x 50” quilt called “Stiks” which is like a stacked coins quilt. I love getting two quilts from one package of fabric and they are both so different.

I also want to thank everyone who sent condolences on the loss of our Shadow. It is an adjustment when we’re used to seeing someone everyday for 19 years and then they are no longer there. We had her cremated and she is now home again and that makes me settled.

BOO!

2011-03-16T07:01:00.001-05:00

I’ve gotten another one done!!! Yippee – and – Yahoo!

I love these pumpkins and I’ve hung them up just for you – for now. They are on their way to the storage closet as soon as they come down and they won’t be back on display for another six months or so.

But they are sure fun for right now!

This is my second PhD (projects half done) from Myra’s challenge (see side bar for more details). I love a good finish.

I also have two more PhDs to add to my completed list and will try and unroll a post for each of them in the next few days. Life is just a tad hectic right now . . . but I promise to be back soon.

I’m Having Fun . . .

2011-03-08T14:34:00.002-06:00

with a little squirrel – Henrietta to be exact.

What an absolute little sweetie to work with . . . always happy and chirpy, plus . . .

she has some pretty fun friends also!

Henrietta is one lucky gal – I know the squirrels in my backyard would like nothing better than a little red wagon to truck their little stashes from place to place.

So, yes – I know . . . on Sunday I should have been working on PhD’s and what-not's, but I just couldn’t resist getting a start on these little blocks that have been stacking up since January. Lots of blanket stitching and embroidery to do on these before they are done but at least they are started.

If you haven’t already been over to Bunny Hill to get your free blocks I urge you to get over there! I’ve also finally gotten around to putting Henrietta’s link over in the side bar if you happen to be looking for it later.

It’s also time for me to start looking for what type of border fabric I want to use for the Bunny Hill “Snowbound” quilt (see link in side bar).

I was able to get all of these blocks sewn together last night finally and I LOVE IT!!! Of course I didn’t have enough of the brown print to use for borders because it came out of my stash . . . now I will have to try and match it up with something that will work. Shopping is half of the fun of quilting after all. Right?!?!?!

Have a great rest of the week . . . I’m off to some non-quilting related convention and will be gone until the end of the week. I hope you gets lots done while I’m away.

Sneak Peeks . . .

2011-02-27T06:59:00.000-06:00

and that is all I can show you right now!

You know the only reason I show you these things is just so that you know that I'm not just sitting around just doing my nails or something.

I really am working on some projects - actually mostly binding this week, but soon I'll be able to move on to something different.

These two need to hit the mail truck sometime this week so the pressure is on to get them done and outa' here.

We also had to say goodbye on Friday to one of our little family members who has been with us for the past 18 1/2 years. We will all miss Shadow and we're going through a bit of a mourning process this weekend. Life and death are hard, especially the goodbyes and adjusting to not having them close by.

The End . . .

2011-02-21T17:42:00.000-06:00

to my long, productive weekend . . . so very sad.

I'll show you what I did today though.

This was the boring start to my morning - 1 1/2" strips just waiting to become something.

This little angel was completed just in time to be added to . . .

my "blocks-are-completed" Snowbound quilt.

Of course there is still lots to do on this particular quilt, but it's come a long way from where it sat this morning! I think it is going to be the perfect Winter-time quilt when it is all done - just need to find some border fabrics, square up all of the blocks and get them sewn together and then quilting . . .

Great long weekend if I do say so myself!! Can't wait for the next one.

This Is SEW Much Fun!

2011-02-21T06:00:00.002-06:00

I've been able to get almost two quilts completed.

All of the quilting is now done and just the ends need darned in and the binding done.

Blogger and I are fighting right now - how do you use this program?!?!!? I need to get the LiveWriter downloaded on this computer . . . it would make posting a lot more fun, let me tell you!

This picture is supposed to be rotated a quarter turn counter clockwise - so you'll just have to imagine this one. The yellow thread I used for this background was wonderful, silky and shiny stuff that was bought at the same time as I made this quilt (which was about 5 years ago!) - there is no label left on the spool, but it was gorgeous to work with!

When it came time to quilting the borders - I was stumped. What to do? I came across this simple little freehand design with the loopy that carries on into making a double heart type of design which flows into another loopy. Love it! Unfortunately the borders are so dark that you can't see the design until you turn it over and look at the back - oh well, I'll make sure and use this pattern in another quilt. It's always nice to learn something different than regular meandering and loopy meandering - now I have something new in my quilting toolbox.

I then meander quilted the background of my little pumpkin quilt, but really wanted to add some dimension to the actual pumpkins. I had initially thought I would use one of my white marking pencils and then remembered this little tool that I had. It's called a Chaco Liner by Clover and it worked really great for marking on the sewing lines. I'll have to remember what drawer this gets put into when I'm done - very handy, and rubs right off!

And this is what they look like all quilted up. I love those oranges and browns together.

And here is a bit closer up look at the quilting. Something so simple adds so much dimension and I think once it's hung up on the wall in the Fall I'll see a lot more of the dimension. This one will have to get tucked away for a few months, but at least it's ALMOST off my PhD list (see sidebar).

So there we have it - two very-close-to-being-finished projects. I have two quilts coming back from the machine quilter tomorrow and I need to get the binding done on them right away so these will have to sit patiently and wait their turn to have their binding completed. You will be seeing these one more time when they are all done.

Now I'm moving on this morning to working on the filler blocks for the Snowbound quilt. I'll be back later to show you my progress on that project.

I love long weekends . . .

Things are moving along!

2011-02-20T08:42:00.000-06:00

Not only did I get the one quilt ready to quilt . . .

I got three!

What a great feeling that is.

And then while watching a movie last night, I was able to get eleven of the twelve blocks done and the twelfth one is almost done on the Snowbound quilt. This morning I have found the coordinating fabric to use for the chain blocks and have also proofread two patterns.

Not too bad . . . it's not even 9 o'clock here yet!

What are your plans for the day?

Today is the day . . .

2011-02-19T11:18:00.000-06:00

to get things moving around here!

I've got my roses to keep me company . . .

I've got my trusty sidekick (not exactly enthused about sharing her space) . . .

I've got the backside of one of my PhDs that is on my list (see sidebar for details) . . .

and I have the front side of one of my PhDs . . .

and I have one more rose to keep me company also - they are just so darn pretty and won't be lasting too much longer I'm sure - enjoy them while we can!

I have grand plans to get some things done in the sewing room this long weekend and I hope to be back a few more times over the next three days to keep you posted on my progress.

I hope everyone is also having a productive, creative weekend - let me know what project you're working on.

Catchin’ Up . . .

2011-02-08T13:32:00.001-06:00

I need to catch up with this blog thing . . . I’m falling so far behind on everything in life right now!

On January 15th, my daughter and I went to the Winnipeg Kitchen and Bath Show – a huge trade show held annually. My daughter is a Kitchen and Bath Designer so it fit right in with what she wanted to do that weekend.

And, of course, she found out early on that Sarah Richardson from HGTV was going to be on hand, so tickets were quickly purchased for that show.

For those of you that do not know Sarah Richardson she has had numerous shows on the HGTV network and she also indicated during her show that there was a station down in the States that was going to be carrying one of her shows. Here is her website so that you can go and check out the best paint colors to choose and for some really interesting decorating solutions http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/. Her presentation was great and so was the glass of wine that we had. Even more fun was watching some of the people in the crowd . . . wow, there are some interesting people out there!

My sewing room has been rather busy, but it is projects that I can’t show too much of.

One of these has just headed out the door to the machine quilter and the other is getting pretty close to that stage as well. Once they are gone I can get back to concentrating on my PhD Challenge – its almost the middle of February already and I’ve only got one of the nine done so far . . . gotta keep moving . . .

I'm A Sucker . . .

2011-01-26T06:17:00.000-06:00

for new fabric!

Just look at this beautiful collection . . . and it's sitting on my cutting table right now.

I'm sitting here in restraints because all I want to do is dive right in and start something new. I feel very stressed that I have too many other things on the go and this little scene will remain just a tease for quite some time yet.

I have finished the second part of the beginner quilt pattern project and we have just nicely started advertising the class.

Both of these quilts (see previous post for the other quilt) are very yummy and I'm really glad they are in my "collection" - doesn't matter how simple the pattern sometimes, it's the fabrics that make the quilt and how we feel about them afterwards. I LOVE these ones!

This is another one that is now completely done and if there is enough interest in beginner quilt classes this would become Part Two of those lessons. There are a lot more seams to match in this particular quilt, but once again the fabric selection is easy - just one charm pack and lots of background, with a bit of border print mixed in.

And this is the reason that I cannot cut into that wonderful stack of goodness shown above . . . this project needs completely done and in the mail by March 1st. I'm getting close to the end of this one, but then it has to head out to the quilter . . . this is the type of quilt that I want some extra special quilting done on. Not my usually squirrely, squiggle stuff. Interesting colors - eh?!?!!?

And this is what greets me every morning as I drive out of my valley . . . very cold and dismal. I believe that the morning I took this it was about the -27C with a wind chill - always perks me up in the morning! No winter depression around here :-)

Have a great week everyone,

One Down . . . Eight to Go!

2011-01-17T19:45:00.000-06:00

My first PhD finish . . .

(if you're new here, click on the logo over at the right and it will take you to where you need to go to find out more about PhDs)

and one of my favorites! Not only is it done, but I love it . . .

the colors, the super, super easy construction . . .

the skinny little border insert and the simple, all-over meandering . . . all make this one of my current favorites.

Having said that - just wait until you see my next two finishes . . . no, they are not PhD's but they are really, really nice; really, really easy - and they are done also!

What a great week . . . and it's only Monday!

Meandering Through Life . . .

2011-01-12T13:47:00.001-06:00

Yes, there has been a bit of meandering going on around here.

Some regular meandering . . .

and some loopy meandering.

The first one is almost complete . . . just two more edges that need the binding sewn down on. The second one will be coming with me for the weekend road trip and will hopefully have all of it’s binding done by then also.

And then the mailman finally arrived on Monday with some fabric that had been shipped on December 20th. Thank goodness it wasn’t for a particular project . . . just a gleam in my eye at this point. I LOVE those prints – look at those little trees and the beautiful colors on all of them! When I see a sale I just have to stock up on the things that I like. I had already purchased the charm packs back in the Summer/Fall on one of our little road trips, but I had nothing to go with it until I saw some of the coordinating prints come on sale. Opportunity was a’knockin’!

On the same sale were some 3 Sisters prints (Park Avenue?/Aster Manor? – I can never keep them straight!) that I needed for “potential” borders and also some more red and black flannels to go with a wonderful package that I had bought back in October from The Quilt Patch girls from Moose Jaw. Isn’t that black gorgeous?!??! I need a flannel project to start on one of these days – anyone have a suggestion?

Applique . . . Done!

2011-01-07T20:26:00.000-06:00

Ready to baste and quilt . . . yahoo!!!

AND since this is the PhD that I hated the fabric that I had used, and the whole thing had been stuck in the bottom of the stack . . .

. . . I'm pleasantly surprised to say that I'm beginning to think that it might be growing on me.

The turning point was the cream centres in the flowers that have tied the whole thing in with the light colored squares in the quilt top.

Kinda surprising what a little bit of applique can do to a ho-hum project. Of course the jury is still out until the quilting is complete and all is said and done . . . but I am feeling a bit more optimistic about this PhD.

Thank goodness!

I basted two of the other quilt tops together this afternoon and hope to get started quilting on the one first thing tomorrow morning. I'd really like to get it done by Monday and move on to the second one . . . these two have a deadline while the one above is "just a project" and can wait in line for a few more weeks.

Oh btw, how many of you have been over to Anne Sutton's blog to get your free copy of Henrietta Whiskers - block number one is now available and the cuteness is indescribable! This is the first of nine BOM patterns and if the first one is anything to go by, I've just added another project to my list of things to do in 2011. Go have a peek . . .

Wishing everyone a productive weekend . . . happy sewing!

Another Quilt Top . . .

2011-01-03T16:18:00.000-06:00

that's ready to be put together and quilt.

This "stacked coins" quilt (48"x57") is made from the leftovers of the "boxed in" quilt (58"x58") . . . how fun is that!!! One 12 pack of fat quarters and 3 1/2 yards of background fabric made these two quilt tops.

Of course there is that tiny little border strip there and the binding to purchase, as well as all the backing fabric . . . but I still have two quilt tops!!! AND I love them both.

These are actually class samples for a quilt workshop that is being planned for February and they really need to get done as soon as they can. Unfortunately, once again, I do not have enough backing fabric to complete these and all the yardages have been added to an ongoing and constantly growing shopping list for the next time I'm in "the big lights".

What do you think? Would these two samples make you want to sign up for a beginner's class?

Too easy? Too difficult?

Let me know what you think - PLEASE!!!!

Progress Is Being Made . . .

2011-01-02T14:50:00.001-06:00

and it's feeling pretty darn good!!

PhD #8 - All the pieces are now appliqued and it is now time to decide what I'm going to do with it. The original kit was for a pillow that measured 16"x42" . . . where on earth would I store something like that for 10 1/2 months of the year???? I considered finishing it as a table runner but all the pumpkins only face one direction so that just looked weird and then I considered finishing it as a pew seat topper (we have an old church pew in our front entry) - everything would just get dumped on it and we'd probably never see it. So now I'm looking at finishing it as a wall hanging without tabs and installing a new rod in the dining room and using the clip system so that I don't have to worry about putting tabs on everything (I hate doing tabs!!).

I'd say I've made a good 50% progress on this PhD so far . . . obviously the grand finale is still to come.

PhD #2 has progressed to the finished quilt top stage. All the borders are now applied and I need to go looking for a backing.

On the border of this one I inserted a folded red strip to accent the creamy border - I like the subtleness of this look and I think that once the red binding is attached this quilt will look pretty darn good. I do not have the backing purchased for this quilt either so another shopping excursion will need to happen before I can layer and baste this pretty quilt.

AND . . . you can go ahead and shoot me now . . . I have started my first new project for 2011! The scraps from PhD #2 just needed to be used and I am neck-deep in this process today. I hope by the end of tomorrow I will have another quilt (small) that will be ready to layer and quilt. I guess we'll see, won't we?!?!?!

Happy sewing everyone . . .

Happy, Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T11:25:00.000-06:00

What a glorious day!!!

I finally feel like I have some energy and motivation to move forward. The old flu/cold bug hit me right around the 20th of December and has had it's evil grip on my days and nights. This is the first day that I woke up with motivation to do any sewing and I'm well underway with that.

Thanks to Myra and the PhD Challenge I have . . .

calculated, cut and started attaching some borders on PhD #2 . .

and made the bias strips for the Halloween #8 PhD and got all the pieces laid out and pressed where I want them. I have even started blanket stitching the vine down!

I've also been watching Planet Patchwork's site and keeping tabs (but not participating!!!) on Merry Mayhem's New Year's Day Mystery.

I love a good mystery and I love seeing what the ending is going to be. Maybe you have some scraps laying around and want to join in . . . they are currently at step 3 last time I checked.

I hope everyone is having fantastic day and that you get lots accomplished on whichever project you've decided to work on. Right now I hear my sewing machine calling out to me . . .

Projects Half Done (PhD) Challenge

2010-12-30T13:17:00.001-06:00

Ok, Myra has done it again . . .

Thrown out that challenge that just makes me want to prove to myself that I CAN do this. I start all these wonderful things and then something new comes along and POOF! I’m sidetracked again. This morning I grabbed up my camera and started walking around my sewing room taking photos of projects that are started and not completed. That was all the ~~humiliation~~ push that I needed to take the bull by the horns.

So, I’ve signed up over at the PhD Challenge blog and if you want to join all us (I think there are 53 of us now!), you have until tomorrow night at midnight to sign up. How many PhD’s can I get done between January 1, 2011 and June 30th, 2011?

The following is my list of shame . . .

This was a mystery quilt that I have been working on and it still requires one more border with some appliquéd words on it. Need to find the right print for that final border though, so that will require a shopping trip.

The borders have been decided for this one and just need to be cut and attached. Also have plans for another quilt using the scraps from this one – we won’t include that one in the PhD challenge though!

This was from a class that I took about 4 years ago and it has been hanging in my quilt room ever since. The border fabrics are bought and just need sewn on. I think what stopped me four years ago from finishing this one was that I didn’t know how to machine quilt back then . . . or if I did, I didn’t have the confidence to dive into this one. Now I think I know what I want to do and I’m going to commit to getting this off my sewing room wall and hung up where it was intended to go in the first place.

Is the Hopscotch pattern . . . and

I don’t like my fabrics! BUT . . . I’m going to commit to getting it done. The wool is all picked out and sitting on my cutting table to make the appliqués and then get her layered up and quilted . . . I have six months after all – right??

The backing fabric came for this just before Christmas so I’m ready to get this one done also . . . just need the time.

This one was a workshop that I had taken a couple of years ago now. Just last month I pulled out all the pieces and put the blocks together and then the quilt top . . . all ready to layer and quilt.

This was supposed to be a tree skirt for this Christmas. Once again – not happy with the colors I chose, but the backing fabric has arrived and it is ready to be layered and quilted also.

Here’s an easy one (I think!) . . . The appliqués are all done up and ready to be stitched down and then it’s ready to layer up and quilt and tuck away for October, 2011. I’m going to be ready for Halloween this year!

This is a Sipiweske original and I don’t know where I went off the rails with this one but it’s been almost four years since it was started. It has never been tucked into a drawer though . . . it remains out in plain view to taunt me for my procrastinating ways. It’s time I showed it who’s boss!!!!

So there we have it . . . “9”, NINE – I tell you, NINE projects half done . . . can I really do it? Keep reading and you’ll see that I could have gone with more than nine, but even I know when to cry “uncle”! So the rest are goals for the remainder of 2011 – after June 30th.

************

To Complete in 2011

*****************

Bunny Hill BOM – still need to complete a bit of embroidery and then setting everything together and quilting.

The Brandon group’s BOM – garden theme. A couple of blocks to complete and then finding a layout. Plus quilting.

Great intentions from last year never came true! Still love this quilt and haven’t lost my enthusiasm to make it – I lost the time somewhere along the line though. One block done, fabrics chosen for the remaining eight – would love to get this one made . . . love it, love it!!!

Also another one that I love and can’t wait to get going on . . . so far only the one block cut out and ready to go, although I had fun one day deciding which fabrics/prints I wanted to use on the other blocks. Would like this one done for Fall 2011.

Have most of the blocks made for this quilt . . . still ironing out some of the details for the remaining couple. Original designs always are a work in progress and this one is no exception. The Fresh Cotton fabric is gorgeous and I think this one will be a favorite – if I ever get it done!!!

What plans do you have for 2011? Joining a PhD group?

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T13:20:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone is all ready for Santa's arrival.

My last gift went out the door on Wednesday night and I even found the time to make a cute little gift tag to go with it. Really easy stuff and I think it will make a great little Christmas tree ornament once it comes off the gift.

This one finished up just as easy as the first one did . . . only difference between the two were some of the fabrics of course and this one has plain meander quilting while the other one had loopy meandering. Gotta make one of these for my Christmas table next year - too cute!!!!

I even managed to get the cookies baked for Santa. Mind you there have been a few going missing here and there ever since they came out of the oven, but I've got a couple tucked away and Santa won't be going hungry at our house.

Merry Christmas!

Counting Down . . .

2010-12-21T15:01:00.000-06:00

I'm almost ready!!!

and this little guy came to the rescue . . . just in the nick of time.

The two of these came to together in almost no time flat and one headed out the door this morning for delivery.

Of course I couldn't locate a pattern for them, but had a photo from last year and sat down and drew out the basics. I love these little guys and need to get one on my table for next Christmas - my hat is off to the gal who designed these little guys - they make me smile everytime I see them.

I am also managing to keep up on my group's BOM . . . well almost . . . when these ones were shown we also received the next one. Something to work on between Christmas and New Years maybe?

How are your holiday sewing projects coming along? Everyone done?!?!?!!?

OMG – I’m In A Mess . . .

2010-12-13T12:08:00.001-06:00

I’ve lost track of the number of projects that are underway!

My sewing room looks like a whirlwind of inactivity and that just needs to change – and soon!

There are pieces of that and pieces of the other – everywhere. There are leftovers, scraps and things waiting for things.

Here is something completed . . . a little Christmas gift that needed done for “soon”. I also picked up some more flannel to make a couple of more (if I can find some time). This pattern works up really quick and if I make two or three at a time and do the steps assembly-line style, I’d be done before I even started – almost. I just noticed in the photo that my mitten is for a righty and the one on the pattern front is a lefty – is that an oops or just being creative?!?!!?

I did start machine quilting another Christmas gift (quilt) this morning and I don’t even see it in any of the photos – must have been under something else at the time. Nope . . . wait . . . I think it might be over there on the ironing board. Anyway, it is now underway and once I get the machine all set for quilting I like to keep at that one project – maybe by week’s end it will be ready for some binding – let’s cross our fingers!

Christmas is coming . . . and quick . . .

The winner is . . .

2010-12-11T17:35:00.001-06:00

I just got back from RANDOM.ORG and punched in the numbers 1-64 . . . the lucky winner is #50 . . .

Northernknitter said: Oh my b-day is on thursday this would be so fun to win! I'm dreaming that the quilt faerie will come and clean up my sewing area so I can get rid of the guilts!

How fun is that? A birthday winner . . . congrats Northernknitter!

I'll be in touch tomorrow . . . if you see this before I get an email off to you, please send me your mailing information.

Thanks to everyone for entering the giveaway and especially for all the wonderful comments. You've cheered up my Season and I'm hoping that I can now get moving on all the Christmas sewing that I need to get to - your good wishes have rejuvenated me!

Thank you!!!!

Bad News and Good News

2010-12-09T07:32:00.001-06:00

First of all I want to thank everyone who has stopped by and left such wonderful comments on my blog as well as over at the Moda Bakeshop - I really appreciate each and every comment!

Now for the bad news . . . I can't believe how many of you gals who left me such beautiful comments are set to - NO-REPLY.

I would love to reply to your comments, but I can't. {insert a very sad face here}. So we can't let this continue . . . we CAN fix this!!!!

What is a NO-REPLY blogger?

You may not even know that you are a NO-REPLY blogger. But don't worry! Follow these instructions to see if you are a NO-REPLY blogger:

1. Sign in to Blogger and bring up your Dashboard or Profile Page. Click on EDIT PROFILE.

2. In the third box down (SHOW MY EMAIL ADDRESS) there should be a check mark in it and then scroll down some more; see the section titled IDENTITY. See the box labeled EMAIL ADDRESS. Your email address should be in that box.

3. If there is no email in that box or if you don't have the Show My Email Address box checked. You are a NO-REPLY blogger.

So here's your assignment for the day. Check your PROFILE. Are you a NO-REPLY blogger?

Use the instructions above to make sure your email is in your profile, and email me with your comments before tomorrow night to get in on the giveaway for the little tablerunner.

If you want to remain NO-REPLY, just please remember to put your email address in the body of your email.

Now for the good news . . . for all you bloggers who do have an email associated with your blog - YOU ARE MOST DEFINITELY IN THE DRAW!!! Actually your chances just may be better than you think because of the number of NO REPLY comments that I received. Of course these gals still have a chance to get their actual addresses to me if they leave me a comment before tomorrow night.

There is also some medium good/bad news - for anyone who is set as NO REPLY and if one of your names is drawn, I will still post the winners name and then place a deadline for them to respond to me. If there is no response then I will have to redraw and repeat.

So good luck everyone . . . pop over and check your profiles!!!!

Now on to other news:

If you get a chance to head over and take a peek at this over at the Green Fairy blog make sure you stop and drool on this photo . . . I wish I could machine quilt like that!!!

Also - don't blame me if you pull out your credit card - you won't find any better pricing on pre-cuts around . . . I LOVE this site!!!!

AND . . . have you ever played Holly Jolly Bingo? It is so much fun and it's back again for the second round! But be quick . . . it starts tomorrow so get over there and choose your words and get registered and ready.

See you Saturday . . .

Dream On . . .

2010-12-06T06:30:00.001-06:00

Yes, here in Manitoba we are in the cold, snowy grip of Olde Man Winter already and my dreams turn to owning a lovely cabin in the woods.

Maybe with a lovely fire crackling in a beautfiul stone fireplace . . . watching the sun sinking low . . . curled up on the sofa . . .

. . . dreaming of Spring!

Yes, there has been some sewing going on here in the past couple of months and this design is now ready to share with everyone over at the Moda Bakeshop. I hope you get a chance to head on over and have a look at this pattern - even if you didn't want to tackle the whole quilt (and it's not difficult!), you could make just one block and make it into an extra happy, cheerful pillow top. . . .

or . . .

. . . make two blocks and make it into a small tablerunner. Of course you could make four or more blocks to make the tablerunner the right size for your table . . . it just so happens that I have a nice small area that needed a short tablerunner and I just happened to make two of them!

Wonder what I should do with the second one? If you would like to get your name in to win the second tablerunner just leave me a comment before midnight, Friday, December 10th and I'll announce the winner on December 11th.

If you want to make your own you can follow the directions posted over at the Moda Bakeshop or you can decide to skip some of the applique and use rick rack for the flower stems and skip all those buttons ( I LOVE buttons!!!) and make yo-yo's in whatever size you want.

I also LOVE yo-yos so it was lots of fun to make the two versions.

So click on the comment button and let me know what you're dreamin' of - is it something for Christmas? Looking forward to Spring like me? Or dreaming of that cabin in the woods . . . which by the way is not mine . . . that's why I'm dreaming - right?

Have a great week and I'll be back on Saturday!

Bad, Bad Blogger

2010-11-30T16:10:00.001-06:00

I’ve lost it!

My motivation, my zest, my get-up-and-go – everything . . . got up and went!!!

I think it was the municipal – stupid- convention . . . it just sucks the enthusiasm out of life and then there’s nothing.

No incentive, no desire, no wanna-get-it-dones – just nothing.

Sure I’ve started a few things . . .

worked on a couple of old things that still need to be finished before the 24th.

Plan on starting something new again tomorrow . . . just to try and rejuvenate some enthusiasm – maybe.

I’ve been to a Saturday quilting day – a couple of weeks ago . . . love what Karen has been working on.

Makes me almost want to go and make some HST – almost.

Here’s hoping for a great weekend – I hope you get to do everything that you were wishing for.

I WILL be back on Monday with a giveaway that ties in with some baking that I did a while back.

Stay tuned . . .

A Week Late and a Dollar Short . . .

2010-11-16T06:40:00.001-06:00

. . . although maybe the Golden Boy could help me out with the dollar part (he's not really gold I'm told - darn!).

Last Tuesday we headed into Winnipeg for a "do" at the Manitoba Legislative Buildings. My hubby was receiving a plaque for long-term service with the Manitoba Government and we were invited in for a tour, munchies and the presentation. I've lived in Manitoba for a good number of years (I'm not telling!) and this is the first time I've ever been to the Legislative Buildings. A lot of schools used to do school trips but I never hit it lucky there. Actually going now was probably more interesting than going as a youngster with a whole gang of people the same age. We appreciate things more when we're just that tad bit older :)

We got there a little early just to make sure we got a parking spot close by and had some time to wander around the grounds for a while. What a gorgeous day it was - November 9th and we even saw a few dandelions hanging around - hardy little beggars, aren't they!

I love these polar bear!. The artistic license that each maker used is remarkable - I wish had got there earlier so that I could have had a closer look at each one.

This is the River Walk . . . but I don't think anyone better try walking down there right now. Manitoba rivers, streams and creeks are seeing their highest levels in any one's recent memory for this time of year. Once this all freezes and it snows on top of it - what will the Spring bring - lots of forecasted flooding.

I took a few photos inside the Legislative Buildings, but I think this one was the best - I love the statues and the beautiful marble and the architecture is amazing. Always amazes me with the detail in these older buildings . . . we have all the conveniences of modern tools and equipment and yet none of the new buildings I have seen recently can measure up to the scale of these amazing structures. The good old, quick and easy approach is the way we do it today . . . I suppose that goes for quilting also!

Lovely snowfall on Thursday, plus a ton of frost yesterday morning . . . temperatures are certainly changing. Calling for snow possibly for today - Winter is here.

And . . . I did some digging in my vintage sewing supplies the other day . . . not to be revealed until December 6th I'm told . . .

Did some more sewing on my circle quilt and I can certainly see it done in a dozen other color ways different than this one. Not sure where this one is going to go . . .

I lapsed in my last post by not mentioning where the pattern came from - this is an excellent book for all kinds of circular quilts. I hope to try another one at some point and will certainly keep this book in my stash.

Oh, I got bored on the weekend. Actually inspired was more like it. What do you think of this one? It's not an original, but one that I had seen elsewhere and thought it would be pleasing to the eye. A Christmas gift for someone maybe?

Have a great week!

Weekend Sewing . . .

2010-11-09T09:16:00.000-06:00

One of the groups that I belong to got together on Saturday to take a workshop from Shirley from Shirley's Sewing Room. Shirley made the trek to Brandon to teach the twelve of us this wonderful circular quilt.

There was a homework sheet that we all received ahead of time so that we would have all of our strips cut and sewn together in the proper order. Thank goodness we did that because that was probably the most time consuming part - although with just doing a few every morning and evening seemed to go pretty quick for me. I couldn't imagine doing that for a whole or part of a day - it would get pretty tedious!

I can't remember who's very organized pile of fabric this was but it shows that some organization skills are certainly a good thing for getting this quilt put together properly.

Here is part of mine laid out and you can see that the swirl is starting to form. Still not too keen on my color selections, but one thing I've learned about quilting is to never give up - keep going until the quilting is done and it just may turn into something spectacular. The original plan for these colors was to make a tree skirt, but I'm a little concerned that the pink in there might be throwing things off. We'll see.

Oh, by the way, this pattern actually creates the cuttings for a second quilt. Not only did I create one more UFO for my sewing room, I've created two!!! There is a whole other pile of sewn strips sitting off to the side that will be used for another smaller quilt or tree skirt . . . I better get used to the colors soon.

The Peace by Piece group that I belong to has started another monthly block group - each member will take turns every month to bring the directions for one log cabin variation block and by June or maybe it's next December (I don't keep track of these things!), we'll have enough blocks to make a quilt. These are the two so far and I think they are coming along quite nice - I'm using a fabric line from Kansas Troubles and it's looking kinda cozy so far. I also want to intersperse the log cabin blocks with a few Sunbonnet Sue/Sam blocks in the same prints - at least that is the plan so far. These little blocks work up very quickly and are a nice break from some of the other sewing that is going on right now.

We decided that it was time to get started on some Christmas decorating outdoors and purchased two little trees that came in these planters. Unfortunately the planters were more orange than red and of course we have a red front door.

So after a few coats of paint with the door color I am reasonably satisfied that these are not orange anymore but have a red/orange glow. I'm hoping they will look good in the snow once it arrives . . . later this week???

Have a great week everyone.

It's Been Busy . . .

2010-10-31T16:56:00.000-05:00

. . . way too busy!

As many of you already know, I work for a municipality which includes the wonderful job of tax collection. This always falls with a deadline of October 31st and is one of the busiest days of the year.

This year, because of the weather I think, the whole past week has been extremely busy. So I must apologize for being MIA for quite some time!

This little lady is another reason. Two weeks ago she showed up at our house and decided she really liked it here. We tried to ignore her, and not feed her (that's a really hard thing to do!) . . . . and she still wouldn't leave.

She is the friendliest, purriest, happy little kittie that we've seen in quite some time . . . unfortunately it was the wrong time and place for a new pet in our lives.

I put up posters at the office and asked everyone who came in - "Do you need a cat?" I have now heard just about every cat story that is out there . . . everyone has a cat tale to tell!

Eventually someone did say that they would take her as a farm cat and she was delivered yesterday afternoon to the farm. Not my first choice of homes, by any means, but an absolute necessity for our life. So if you live in the Brandon area and would like to save her from "the farm" please send me an email . . . I'm convinced that she would make an amazing house cat and would dote on all the attention you could give her - then maybe my daughter would quit crying!

Remember these two old girls - the one of the left is 18 and the one of the right is 19? Not very accepting of anything new in their yard and territory - just a little crotchety in their old age - but aren't we all?!?! Things haven't been running too smoothly for the past two weeks on our home front! Today is the first day of peace that we've had . . . these two can once again go out and sun tan and monitor the yard perimeters without fear of meeting someone new. Ah . . . peace!!

Last week I won a giveaway! Just when I thought I would never win anything again . . . I get the email announcing that my name had been drawn. Myra and Cori over at Blue Meadow Designs recently held their Fall retreat and had a couple of goodie bags left over and they generously put them up as a giveaway on their blog. Look at all these great quilting items . . . three charms packs, a sketch book (I can't wait to play in this!), crayons, a Spring 2010 stash (that will be great with my EQ7 which has so far hardly even been used), and a 2008 issue of Quilt Sampler - it doesn't matter what year is on these magazines . . . I constantly refer to them for so many different reasons! and a couple of really nice labels that will come in very handy. I love my goodie bag and would like to dive into it right away to start something new, but it is unfortunately a ways down the list right now . . . other things are stuck at the forefront right now.

Unfortunately it is not this lovely stack of "Bliss" that arrived earlier in the month. It is all pressed and sitting on my sewing table looking so adorable . . . but not touchable at this point in time. Look at that white thread stuck on that beautiful red fabric . . . doesn't that just make you want to come and clean my sewing room? Those little things drive me nuts - lucky I can ignore the big things though!!!!

Today is birthday day once again for me - another year gone by and another one to eagerly look forward to! I can't wait to see everything that another 365 days bring - I hope it's all creative and colorful and really, really fantastically fun! Happy Halloween everyone - I hope you're having a great day too.

As The Crow Flies . . .

2010-10-23T07:55:00.004-05:00

Quilting Workshops, (the name we selected for our new venture) was so excited last Friday and Saturday to welcome Shelley and Jeanne from The Quilt Patch in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Sheila and I have been planning this for almost five months and once the day arrived it was everything that we had hoped it would be! One of the gals that was helping us out had this perfect crow quilt to bring along to drape at the front of the room – thanks Gail!

What a great bunch of ladies to all converge on Brandon for the opportunity to learn and visit with others who are as passionate about quilting as we are.

Of course there was a bit of shopping to be done at the Trunk Show on Friday night . . . what a wonderful selection of fabric and kits. I've already shown some of my goodies in a previous post and still have them sitting out so that I can look at them - plus I'm running out of room to store all my "stuff".

Jeanne and Shelley brought some wonderful quilts to show to the 115 attendees at the trunk show. Some were from their book of course and others of of some of their Fall/Winter patterns and classes that they will be holding. It was interesting to hear their story in how the book came to be and the processes behind the whole undertaking.

Flakey Friends is the name of this one and it's one of my favorites! I’m pretty sure it is available on their website or give them a call and they'll know which one you're talking about.

Here is a shot of everyone working really, really hard on Saturday at the workshop. We had the most wonderful gym to work in with nice bright lighting and lots and lots of room for the 58 registrants.

There were seasoned quilters and really new quilters in the room that worked together to learn new things and pass on tips and tricks from previous projects.

Everyone’s version of the project was just a bit different from the next . . . some people used felted wool, some people used different colors for each stocking and someone even had blue trees for a more modern look to the whole project. It was so much fun to see the different interpretations of the same project. Unfortunately we did not get a photo of the whole group together . . . I’m not sure if I could have grouped 58 people all together and get them all in one shot!

Of course there was lots and lots of food for the trunk show and then for the workshop. We had a wonderful quilter who catered the whole thing and everything was scrumptious. The Saturday morning muffins and coffee were prepared by four very special quilters and I think that got the day off to a wonderful start for everyone.

This is my version of the quilt that was taught at the Saturday workshop – I’m sure you’ll remember seeing little snippets of it in previous posts.

This is another version of the same quilt, but I used some other appliqué patterns from out of their book ‘Tis the Season to make the top half of the quilt. I call this one "Prancing With The Stars".

I love them both and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to part with them at Christmas as was the original plan.

And here we are: Sheila is down on the right end there, then Jeanne, Shelley and myself. This was taken right at the end of the day and we’re still smiling so that is, as Martha would say: “A really good thing”. We’re already planning for the Spring of 2011 and can’t wait to see what materializes for that one!

Have a great weekend everyone. I’m going to be catching up on a few things that have been left undone for a little bit too long . . . wish me luck!!!

Housekeeping . . .

2010-10-21T12:50:00.001-05:00

Sipiweske Quilts door prize donation for The Quilt Patch trunk show October 15, 2010.

Kerri m. was the lucky winner of a couple of my patterns last week and as soon as I posted her name she was in contact with me. So sorry folks, there will not be a re-draw on that one! Kerri chose Prairie Pine Burrs and Shadow Stars and I threw an extra one in there for her as well just because I didn't have to pay for any postage. Turns out that Kerri lives only about an hour away from here and she made the trek to The Quilt Patch trunk show in Brandon last Friday night. It was so great to meet her in person and be able to hand over the goods - if I remember correctly I think Kerri even won one of the door prizes - I don't think it was my Halloween Tablerunner though.

Sipiweske Quilts door prize donation for The Quilt Patch trunk show.

Over at Pastimes Online (Val's Quilting), where she did such a wonderful job on putting together an e-interview for Sipiweske Quilts, another drawing was made for two patterns on Friday the 15th. The lucky winner was Kim Benner in Alberta. Kim also chose Prairie Pine Burrs and her second choice was the Simple Stitches Needlecase. Kim these will get mailed out today.

The Halloween tabletopper shown above is the the free Moda Bakeshop project that I had posted a while back - this version uses bats instead of the daisies. You'll need to find some bats to trace out or make your own - they are quite easy to do. Click on the "Free Projects" tab at the top of the page and look for the link to Moda Bakeshop. Please send me photos if you get one made - I'd love to see it.

I'll be back soon with photos from the weekend.

Monday, Monday . . .

2010-10-18T10:24:00.001-05:00

Oh how hard it is to get moving on Monday mornings!

I have so many pictures to show you from our quilting weekend but they are on my other computer and will just have to wait for another day.

On Friday night we had a wonderful trunk show with Jeanne and Shelley from The Quilt Patch in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The turn out was amazing and the shopping was just too darn difficult to resist.

Here is my stack of goodies that was purchased over the weekend. That stack of red fat quarter flannels just needs to be used . . . and I hope soon – it is gorgeous! And then there is the red and green felted wool and the Santa’s Mitten kit that is the cutest thing I’ve seen in a while – I hope to get one of those made up and hung on my front door very soon.

Then there are some charm packs and a few orange toned fat quarters as well as a couple of pumpkin themed patterns that I just couldn’t resist either.

And that was only the trunk show loot – you’ll have to wait until I get my next post together with all the details on the trunk show and workshop shenanigans.

So Sunday was a day of rest and relaxing in a bit of sunshine.

Of course these two old sweeties just love to soak up a few rays every now and then.

Shadow is on the left and she is about 18 years old and Mysty is on the right and she is about 19 years old.

They didn’t get to these ripe old ages without figuring out what cameras are all about and have it down pretty much pat as to how to ignore one.

Hope you have a sunny week wherever you are!

Happy Saturday Giveaways!

2010-10-09T07:24:00.001-05:00

I have two wonderful jobs to do today – one is making the draw for the winner of two of my patterns and the other is to let you know that there is another giveaway for two more of my patterns coming up.

The first giveaway is here on my blog and goes back to this post where everyone was asked to guess how many women were at the mock emergency exercise.

Unfortunately Enbridge does seem to be a very male dominated world and on that particular day, I was the only female present. Fortunate for me there were never any lineups at the ladies washroom and everyone was on their best behavior – although I got the feeling that this is just the way these guys operate.

kerri m is the lucky winner – BUT I don’t have any contact information for you Kerri! Please get in touch with me before next Friday the 15th with your mailing information and tell me which two patterns you have chosen. If I don’t hear from you by then I will have to make another draw.

Friday, October 15th is also the day for another draw. A few weeks ago I was tickled pinker than pink to be asked by Valerie over at Pastimes Online to do an e-interview with her.

Valerie has done a fantastic job of laying out this interview - so pop on over and take a read – I’m not the most fascinating person to read about but I know it’s always interesting to see how people get started – at least I like reading about other people. Check it out!

So back to the giveaways . . . also on October 15th Valerie will be doing a draw for two more of my patterns – winners choice. So be sure and stop over and leave her a comment.

While you are over at Pastimes Online make sure you check out the online shop – where else in Canada can you find such gorgeous fabrics for $8.75 a metre and fat quarters for $2.75?!?!?! These fabrics are amazing! Plus there are rulers, threads, patterns, dupioni silks and lots of other notions as well.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Halloween and Christmas . . .

2010-10-08T11:05:00.001-05:00

are colliding at my house!

I’m busy finishing off a little Halloween table runner and having a blast!

Halloween fabrics are so much fun to work with . . .

and then of course it is even more fun to put on those little appliqué details. I love the beady little eyes – they make the bat!

We’re also down to the last few details for the upcoming Trunk Show and Quilt Workshop next weekend in Brandon – what a lot of planning these things take! We’ve got lists on top of lists right now, but things are slowly getting marked off and the plan is to be ready by 7:00 p.m. next Friday.

The Quilt Patch girls are going to be showing us all how to make the cover quilt from their new book ‘Tis The Season. We are soooooooooo looking forward to seeing everyone come out for this and I sure hope to have lots of time to take pictures of the whole event so that everyone that can’t be here will at least be able to see what we were up to!

Also just a reminder that if you want your name in for the pattern giveaway, you have to leave a comment on my last post by 6:00 p.m. tonight.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Mock Emergency . . .

2010-10-02T20:12:00.001-05:00

I know . . . this is a quilting blog, but really there is more to life -unfortunately!

Honest – I would really rather be quilting.

So just to briefly explain – my day job as an administrator also includes many other hats that need to be thrown on at a moments notice. This includes things like election officer, development officer, cleaning lady, weed inspector, financial officer, etc., etc. I think you get the picture! It also includes the duties as the emergency contact person (EMO officer) for the municipality.

As the EMO contact (I even have a certificate for this!) . . . I was contacted regarding an Enbridge Pipelines mock disaster exercise that was being held on Wednesday.

So I figured that I could leave the 2009 financial statements, that are still not done, and head out of the office for the second day in a row this week.

If, at some point during my administration, any type of emergency was to happen, it would certainly be beneficial to see how the pros deal with a situation. The safety procedures that these guys used were amazing!

I must say that Enbridge (maybe due to some of their recent situations), seems to really have the situation under control if and when something was to happen in this particular area.

The exercise started around 9:30 a.m. and for the next 1 1/2 hours, everything was an indoors course of what types of safety concerns the participants might encounter, the procedure and work lists for the various points which included site containment, implementation and use of the apparatus that was needed; deployment of the boom vane and the set up of the skimmer.

It was very interesting to be part of the “viewing” group that had each step explained as it was happening . . . usually only see this kind of thing on a news cast and never see it happening “for real”.

Every guy on the scene knew what their particular job was and everything appeared to be implemented like a well-greased wheel.

Once everything was in the water and the peat moss was released (to simulate oil), everyone had a bit of a debriefing on site as to how the deployment of the boom vane and the orange collection tubes had unfolded.

Of course, some fella’s jobs didn’t look as exciting as others, but were just as important in the whole exercise as the ones that were down there getting their feet wet.

The river water is pumped into this collection centre and the oil is skimmed off and pumped into a collection truck . . . skimmed water is sent back into the river and will eventually be re-skimmed a number of times before the job is done.

(Disclaimer: I had other people talking in my ear at the same time, and this is my understanding of the whole procedure – I certainly hope I don’t have it too mixed up!)

Enbridge Pipelines provided an excellent lunch and educational morning. Even though it wasn’t quilting – it was certainly worth knowing and learning about.

Any guesses how many women were there?

Give me your guess by Friday the 8th at 6:00 p.m. and I’ll have two Sipiweske patterns for the winner!

This is also my 300th post and I certainly hadn’t planned on it being about skimmers and vanes and such . . . but what the hey! – 300 is still 300. Hope to stick around for another 300 – have a great week and good luck with the guesses.

I’m curious to see how many people actually make it to the end of this post to give a guess – good on ‘ya if you made it this far!

Strange Week . . .

2010-09-30T19:51:00.000-05:00

Just a bit more weirdness in my yard . . . maybe I’m living under a mushroom also!

There are certainly days where I wonder if that is not really the case . . .

This mushroom has a very interesting design on top . . . wonder how that happens . . . air flow, light, . . . I wonder? Thank goodness the sun has been shining all week so far and these mushrooms will disappear as quick as they came – I’m not used to seeing these popping up in the strangest places!

On Tuesday I attended a district meeting for my organization and it was held out in the country. Look at the Prairie view!

This is where the meeting was held . . . an historical Church that has been converted into a restaurant/meeting place and also a bed and breakfast. It is called Cafe Bru and is located about 3 1/2 miles from Cypress River, Manitoba. You have to drive around on some gravel country roads and then you climb a steep hill and once you get to the top – there it is . . . the Church steeple can be seen for miles!

The architecture, antiques and the meal they served was fantastic and is certainly worth a second visit.

As far as I could tell all of the stained glass windows were still intact and were breathtaking . . . the details and colors were awesome!

And this was the side yard of the Church looking towards the owner’s house . . . very picturesque spot indeed!

I have been quilting this week in the evenings but of course most of the stuff I can’t show anyway so scenery it is!

I’ve had an interesting work week and I’ll be back hopefully tomorrow to show you what I was up to on Wednesday. Something else that was just a little “outside-the-box”!

Workin’, workin’ in an Autumn Wonderland

2010-09-27T07:01:00.001-05:00

Well this project is the one thing doesn’t fit in with the rest of this post – figured it better go first and get it out of the way!

The colors in this little flower are geared towards Spring and Summer but this is definitely a project that I’ve been working away at this past week. Lots more buttons to come . . . I’ll keep you posted as to when the big reveal will be.

It’s been so cloudy, gloomy and rainy around here that taking photos (at least for me!) is almost impossible. Having a bit of fog roll in certainly doesn’t help the brightness factor.

Look at all the beautiful leaves though . . . it’s really too bad that they eventually will all need to be raked up.

That gold color is gorgeous and should really be used in a quilt, don’t you think?

Maybe we should throw a little bit of red and green in there as well.

All of these nice earthy colors have ended up in the quilt that I’ve just finished quilting. Might be a Christmas present but I’m not sure about that just yet. Sure looks really, really good on my sofa right now. In three weeks I’ll be showing you the finished quilt . . . hope I can find time to do the binding before then!

And this brings me to showing you the weird, weird things that are growing on our lawn. Well I suppose these aren’t quite that weird, but these . . .

are just kinda gross – fungi heaven, I guess – let’s pretend they are little bubbles or something cute.

There’s a little bit of prancin’ going on in the sewing room lately also. This one is just about ready to be layered up and quilted and then ready for show and tell in three weeks. No deadlines in my life right now!

I just hope those leaves can stay on the trees until AFTER all my deadlines have been reached. Sure would hate to take time out to go and rake.

Anyone out there looking for a great outdoor job? Payment would have to be in quilts though!

Have a great week everyone.

Where Are My Pins?!?!?

2010-09-13T16:23:00.000-05:00

The place is a mess!

It’s no wonder I can’t locate my little tiny appliqué pins . . . they could be hiding just about anywhere.

Are they on this end of the table or that end of the table. I know that I had seen them just the other day – how far could they have really gotten? I really need them so that I can move on with my new recipe – what’s a good recipe without all the ingredients?

I checked in the fish bowl with the thread and they weren’t there. I also looked in some of those bins of UFOs – they weren’t in there either.

I stood back and took a little broader look to see if something would jog my memory.

And it did! Not sure what it was, but I remembered I had put them here -

so that I wouldn’t lose them. How handy and organized was that? Such a safe little place to tuck away the little tools we use.

Next time I’ll start in the “safe” places and then branch out.

Do you think maybe I should finish some projects soon and do a clean up?

Shopping Trip - Complete

2010-09-09T20:03:00.001-05:00

I can now carry on with all of my projects . . . which one should I choose – there seems to be so many piled around the room right now.

I’ve been noticing on some of the blogs out there in blog land that the new Quilt Sampler magazine came out recently. I always have to wait another week or more before I see it here in any of my local stores – Wal-Mart pulled through today and it was sitting there just waiting for me.

This has been one of my FAVORITE magazines for quite a number of years now (only published twice per year). I have every issue that has ever been printed and as my daughter loves to say lately – they form part of my ~~hoarding~~ collection. I refer back to these issues every chance I get and love to throw a couple of the old issues in to the car when we go on a road trip – I love them!

So . . . today I love them just a little bit more :).

Look up there in the upper right hand corner – way up there.

They didn’t tell me it was going to be in Quilt Sampler!

I knew it was in another magazine (that shall remain un-named), but I never dreamt it would be in this wonderful issue.

I love quilting and I LOVE magazines!

(And I am really not a hoarder – don’t listen to my daughter!)

I’m Baking Again . . .

2010-09-08T07:01:00.000-05:00

Oh – the colors of these ingredients are just so scrumptious!!!

This looks more like a Spring recipe than a Fall one.

Maybe we’ll call it “Dreaming of Spring” or “Spring Dreams”.

Then again maybe we’ll just see how the quilt turns out first and then give it a name. What color of thread do I need for this one? More things to add to the shopping list.

Happy sewing . . .

Works in Progress . . .

2010-09-07T07:01:00.001-05:00

Oh . . . I was so close! I ran out of thread with only this much left to quilt. The shopping list has started now.

Another little WIP that has had to be put aside . . . I don’t have that shade of orange – it goes on the list also.

I cannot show this whole quilt until October sometime. It was basted together over the weekend and then guess what? No thread! Sure I could use a light beige, but I have my heart set on a butterscotch color that will blend better. Plus the back is a nice chocolate brown and I think the butterscotch will look much better.

Since I was on a roll with my plaids and Christmas prints all pulled out and laying around, I decided to have a go at another quick Christmas quilt. This one also can’t be shown until after the middle of October. I’m ready to move onto the appliqué parts of this one today so I better get cracking!

Umm . . . wonder what color of thread I need for this one?

Have a great week everyone . . .

Apes and Muffins . . .

2010-09-04T13:08:00.000-05:00

I know! I am such a bad blogger and a bad quilter too!

The extent of my “sewing” this past week has been to repair this wonderful character . . . a golf-club cover of all things!

Good news is that he is all set for his Fall appearance on the golf courses. Sure glad that repairing things is not something most quilters need to do – but people always assume that because we know how to quilt that we will love fixing anything with a needle and thread. Boy are they wrong!!!

I did manage to squeeze in some baking with my new ‘muffin top’ pans – pumpkin spice muffins even . . . wow the smell in the house was awesome.

A person needs to bake these every day of the week - trouble is someone would also need to eat that many in a week . . . not around here. We’re not really '”sweet” eaters, so baking is a rare occurrence in this house. Maybe I just need to bake them when I know that company is coming over :)

We also made some mini carrot cupcakes – obviously some were minier (is that a word!) than others.

K – enough with the food stuff, I’m off to do some machine quilting. Have a great weekend everyone!

It’s Starting . . .

2010-08-24T13:44:00.001-05:00

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 . . .

2010-08-17T19:32:00.000-05:00

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

2010-08-15T17:00:00.001-05:00

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 . . .

2010-08-02T14:19:00.001-05:00

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!

Over the weekend . . .

2010-07-26T07:14:00.001-05:00

there was a bit of progress in my sewing room.

A few more swirlies and what-nots were prepped . . .

cottage roses and buds were almost completed (still need a yo-yo in the center) and . . .

some more tulips were stitched in place. (These are two different projects just in case you were wondering about the colors.)

There was also a little bit of relaxing time. Everything was so very quiet this weekend . . . no barking dogs, no screaming kids or cars . . . so peaceful. Even the mosquitoes have decided to ease off a bit.

Did you find your weekend to be a half-full or a half-empty kind of weekend? Mine was on the fuller side and I really liked that :)

Have a great week everyone.

Ah! It’s Saturday . . .

2010-07-24T08:43:00.001-05:00

and I’m in my sewing room for the day (I hope!).

My newest favorite book arrived in the mail yesterday – I really LOVE a lot of the designs in this book and just like the title says – you get two quilts from one jelly roll – how fun is that!

Unfortunately I won’t have a chance to test out any of these patterns for a while as I have other things on the go here . . .

A little bit of Bunny Hill block 7 preparation is under way, and . . .

some more designing and sewing on my Fresh Cottons project.

I’ll be back tomorrow to show some more progress.

Sunny, Yellow . . .

2010-07-18T07:16:00.001-05:00

days of Summer . . .

My garden is just a mass of overgrown beautiful blooms right now. Of course I’m always worried about the weeds that just never quite get tamed all year but I had that all put into perspective the other day. Two little kids from next door came running over when I was out in the garden - the boy was maybe six and the little girl was four or five. They bounded up to the flower beds and started smelling all the flowers they could and then they looked up at me and said “we just LOVE your garden - it’s so pretty and there are SO many flowers!”

I think I’m going to try and stop more often and just enjoy all that is here – weeds included!

Something I always enjoy is continuing on with a project - and sunny yellow, pretty pink, dilly green and grassy green spools of thread will allow me to do that. Shopping trip completed for that – and that’s all I bought - thread!

This pretty package showed up in the mail – needs to find a spot in the stash somewhere.

This is one of my flower pots near the driveway . . . a little bit of July 1st still remains mixed in with the “pretty in pink” Communities in Bloom display. This is so much nicer to look at than the snow banks that are there the other six months of the year!

Hope you’re having a great weekend!