Quilting Saturdays . . .

are so much fun!

But before Saturday comes the Friday mail . . . I received the Mill House Inn fat 1/4’s back in September from The Fat Quarter Shop and then found a sale on the jelly roll not too long after that – couldn’t pass it by! These colors are fantastic and will look wonderful on a white background.

And this little stack of fat 1/4’s showed up for the October shipment from The Fat Quarter Shop and it is called Astor Manor. What is it lately about all these wonderful colors and prints . . . it seems that I like everything right now!?!??! Many, many design dreams floating in my head . . .

I’m really enjoying the William Morris style of appliqué . . . I will most definitely have to work some of this into a few projects. There are a couple of quilts in this book that need to be added to that ever growing list of “wanna-do’s”.

Now moving onto Saturday . . . I’ll show you some food first - I love the display on this tray! How eye-catching is that? Of course I couldn’t try it – shellfish issues :(

Still looks good though!

Gail was working on this wonderful Christmas project . . . love the colors and the cats.

The borders were being made up as she went and there was much discussion as to which little panel went best with which border. I know it’s going to make a super gift for some lucky gal for Christmas and she’ll be happy with any decision that is made with the border. Love this fabric line!

Vivian was working on a table topper kit that was coming along quite nicely. I believe there was to be at least two more borders to go on even after this photo was taken – it was going to be a fair size topper! Love the colors!

I was working in purple mode on Saturday . . . making lots of half-square triangles and moving them around. This project is currently laid out on my sewing room floor with huge decisions being made as to what the next step will be.

There won’t be any sewing being done this weekend as we’re off to Weyburn, SK to do some family visiting – but I will be taking my doodlin’ pad along and trying to make the decision as to how my little purple design will end up.

‘til next time,

M.

I LOVE it!

This quilt turned out so much better than I was expecting!

 

Plus . . . it’s done!  Borders on and ready to quilt . . .

 

that will be another journey in itself, I’m thinking.  What color of thread?  Stitch-in-the-ditch? Diagonal?

I’m not going to worry about that right now . . . I’m just going to tack it up and look at it – a lot!  This photo could have been brighter, but the sun decided to pop under a cloud right about the same time I clicked.

I’m lucky that I wasn’t outside on Friday trying to take a picture of the quilt – this is what the day looked like then . . .

and then a little later also.

At least the snow is gone for now and the temperature is supposed to be a little warmer for the whole week – still nothing to brag about though.  It’s great if you like doom, gloom, snow, ice and cold . . . sounds appealing doesn’t it?

Here’s another giveaway that you best head over quick to see.  The Quilting Cat or actually Linda, the other half of The Quilting Cat, is celebrating her birthday with giveways to us . . . how remarkable is that?!?!?  Be sure and wish her a happy birthday when you get there.

 

Next post will be from my Saturday sewing day with friends . . .

‘til next time,

M.

Halloween Fabric Bundles of Joy

They’re mine . . . all mine!

I really hate to share . . . sometimes I’m very selfish . . . but if I want a chance to win, I’m told I have to tell all of you about the great giveaway also.  So here it is – head on over to Pumpkin Patch Primitives for your chance to win a fabulous bundle of fabric. 

I just saw this collection (Red Rooster's Pumpkins & Spice Fabrics by Whimsicals) somewhere (memory fails me – again!) and I thought it was the perfect country/primitive Halloween grouping that I’d seen in a while.

I’ll have to go tell Brenda that my birthday is on Halloween and that one of these awesome 27-fat quarter stacks would be the perfect present.

I’ve put Mysty on duty – her job is to watch for the postman.  She’s such a good employee!

‘til next time,

M.

Coffee, Fabric and Turkey . . .

Well really!  How do you expect me to quilt without coffee?!?!?  Have you tried this stuff yet?  Instant coffee from Starbucks . . . what’s next do you think?  Actually it’s not too bad, even though I was able to identify it as the instant coffee in the taste test they had in the store.   With a little splash of Nestle’s Quik syrup and another little splash of milk, this makes an excellent cup of coffee – give it a try!

I made a start on the Bunny Hill block #10 and I think it is just the cutest . . . that’s me with the little purse and black boots (who else would do that after all!!) and there’s Mysty in the basket all decked out in her usual gold and black.  This is going to be my favorite block – I’m pretty sure of that.

And here is my ghost/skelton guy – I really want to get a set of them made up for Halloween, but the days keep ticking by . . . still got some time left, so we’ll see what materializes with this idea.

 

This Thanksgiving weekend in Manitoba has seen it’s fair share of cold temperatures and the odd snow flurry.  Some other parts of Manitoba have seen much more than we have here in the sunny south . . . this little “skiff” is very minor in comparison.  Still say it’s way to soon . . . there’s going to be a lot of months with mittens, parkas and snow boots and it would suit me just fine if we could skip this.

This is really what has been occupying my time.  Candace saw this on the weekend and looked at me and said, “Mom, you really need a life!”  She thought I had cut each of these little squares out and then sewed them all together and she still can’t visualize how I’m really doing it.  Non-quilters . . .they just don’t get the concepts!

 

Rows 1-10 are now sewn together – that’s 1/3 done . . . wish me luck.

Now movin’ in for the turkey supper . . .

‘til next time,

M.  

Fall Quilt Festival - 2009

The Festival starts today!

Amy over at Park City Girl is hosting some wonderful festival activities which includes the viewing of many, many beautiful quilts.

So here is my entry into the festival - one of my newest designs that will be released very soon and this is your very graphic sneak preview.

Head on over by clicking on the link above or on the photo in the sidebar and check out all the talent out there.

How lucky are we that we can sit back in our chairs and have a quilt festival right at our fingertips! This is perfect.

Enjoy!

‘til next time,

M.

Another New Project . . .

and what a project it’s turning out to be!

This is a pattern by Dereck Lockwood called “Links” that will end up being 48”x66”.  Let’s just say that I’ve still got a ways to go – even after the rows are all in place everything will need sewn together.  I’ve got my fingers crossed that things don’t end up wonky – has anyone out there done one of these and are there any secrets you could send my way?  I’ve got my spray starch at the ready for when I start sewing the rows together – someone told me that may help.

 

I have another 18 rows to do . . . after the first 4 or 5 rows we got into our own routines as to what worked best for cutting, sewing and labeling and then things started to move a tiny bit quicker.  Fortunately I have not had to unsew very much . . . only a couple of little blurps to report.  I’m really liking the way it’s coming together and hope that it finishes up flat enough to hang on my wall.  I think it will be very striking!  Everyone keeps asking about my fringe and whether it’s going to stay like that – well, no it’s not – that just happened to be the size of flannel that I put up – should have used the 2 yard piece I guess.

 

This close up is Gail’s bargello with a completely different color palette . . . see how her pinks are jumping out whereas in mine it is the yellow?  The color combinations make them look so different!

 

This is Ramona’s gorgeous Halloween quilt . . . I think those witches really do look a lot like me and that it should come and live at my house.  It’s going to make a nice colorful statement for the Halloween season – love the colors!

 

Oh, I found out some more information on my “new machine”.  I phoned Singer and gave them the serial number on the machine and she told me that it was made on November 23, 1896 in Montreal, Canada and that it is a Model 27-2 if I was looking for a manual for it.  The patents on the throat plate are for that specific part of the machine and not for the whole machine, so that was interesting to learn.  Unfortunately I was not able to learn anything about the cabinet – still not sure whether it was made by Singer or another company or in what year.  Still love it though and will keep looking for some more history on it.

Back to my strips tonight . . . at least for a short time.  They’re going to haunt me until they’re done!

‘til next time,

M.

My New Machine!

Church rummage sales hold many surprises!

I had never expected to walk in and see this little gem sitting not 10 feet from the door. 

How it had not gotten snapped up in the first 20 minutes of the sale I don’t know.  I left Candace to stand guard over it while I went to find someone to get more information on it and whether the price of $50.00 was negotiable.  I couldn’t get much more information on it, but I was able to negotiate the price.  Candace had about six people move in for closer looks while she was on guard and it didn’t take us long to get the SOLD sticker put on it.  Even then there were quite a number of people stopping and looking at it.

 

This is the information on the throat plate which shows that the most recent patent on it was in 1887.

 

And I’m assuming that this is the model/serial number?  I’ve been to the Singer website and cannot locate a number that looks like this for those patent years, so I’ll have to keep doing some research.  I love the colorful decals and the design on it . . . it’s easy to see that it was a machine that was well used in the past – hopefully for quilting!

Of course I have no idea if it works . . . the lady I spoke to didn’t think so . . . but really . . . would I ever use it?  The belt mechanism is all behind that door on the right and everything turns quite nicely when you step on the foot piece, so that’s good enough for me.

 

Ah, but the sewing machine is only part of the purchase!  Look at this cabinet . . . the detail is fabulous – I love these old pieces.  Why can’t we build things like this in this day and age?  All our fancy new tools that are out there now-a-days, and this kind of piece, if made today, would cost beyond most of our budgets.  How long would it have taken a craftsman to complete a cabinet like this with the tools that were available to him back then?  It’s kinda sad that the selling price for a piece like this is so low . . . I, for one, appreciate the quality and time that were put into making this and I hope to treasure it for many years.

 

The detail on the sides, back and front are in excellent condition . . . all the drawers work and the hardware is original.  The base of the whole cabinet is one complete piece of wood.  Now I just need to find a little nook for it . . . out of Randy’s sight preferably . . . he’s not as excited about it as I am . . . he’s convinced we have enough furniture and there is no room for anything new (or old).  Oh, well, it’s home now!

If you know of a place where I can get some more information, please let me know – I’d like to collect some history on it.

I have FINALLY finished this embroidery!  It seems to have taken years, but now hopefully, very soon, I’ll be able to move forward with the project.

This weekend is an all quilting weekend and once again I’ll be starting another new project – why don’t I ever learn?  All these new projects need to find happy endings some day and all those some days are getting further and further away.  Ah!  But I’m still having fun!

Here’s a shot of my little house with all the windows all neatly inserted.  As I expected, it is pretty plain and white so I will be printing off some black and white photos of this little “plain Jane” and drawing some appeal on those pages.  Shutters, window boxes, landscaping?  Ideas on this makeover would be appreciated!  Do you have any links to makeover sites or a picture that you think would work?  Send me your ideas!

Have a great day . . .

‘til next time,

M.

Great Weekend!

My trip to the big city was a fun-filled weekend!

I should have taken pictures of our little pile of "giveaway" items on the curb Saturday morning, but we (my daughter and I) were wanting to hit the streets to see what was on offer in other areas. This was Winnipeg's first Giveaway Weekend and you can read a report at this blog. It was fun to tour around the different areas of the City . . . we didn't find anything that we were wanting, but were able to get rid of stuff that we no longer wanted! We did find a Church rummage sale that I made a wonderful purchase at, but I haven't had a chance to take any photos just yet - later this week. I still need to get someone to help me get it out of my trunk . . . maybe when I see it in proper daylight I'll be asking myself "what were you thinkin'?" Let's hope not!

12:00 Noon brought the opening of the Show Homes for the Parade of Homes in some of the new developments in the City. All I can say about them is WOW!!! I could have spent the entire two days doing just that . . . the doors, the flooring, the kitchens, the new products . . . WOW! We started with the least expensive home listed at $209,000 and decided we better stop when we went through the $700,000++ home.

I thought that this was a very unique display wall - empty frames painted a crisp white and then any item could be hung within the frame. That particular grey on the wall seemed to be appearing in a lot of the show homes . . . must be an "in" color this year - the white frames certainly popped off the wall at you!

And here's me with my bathtub color "sample card" on a new line of arborite counter top - I've never seen that striated design before and the color was pretty close to the paint chip - there is going to be a large vessel sink set on top of the countertop so not too much of the design will show anyway - this seemed fairly light and unassuming. Now I need to have someone research what line this is and where to find it.

This was a shot of some of the 12,500 people that packed the MTS Centre on Saturday night. The Keith Urban tickets were my Mother’s Day present and Candace has had this marked on her calendar right from the first moment the announcement was made that he was coming to Winnipeg. I’m not a big fan of large crowds, but I must say that the folks in our row stayed put the entire show and didn’t do that up and down and “let-me-out” “let-me-in” thing all night long.

Lady Antebellum was the opening act and they were quite good – not a big fan of the “lady” part but who am I to say – carries a tune better than me I suppose! Quite a few recognizable songs that have hit the radio recently.

Ah! And then there was Keith!

Seemed like a really awesome down-to-earth kind of guy and came across as very sincere. Made sure that all the fans, in just about every section (except ours!) of the MTS Centre had the opportunity to have an up close performance. Not only did he have the front stage, he also had a mid-floor stage and even went into the crowd on the side opposite ours. Certainly worth the price of the ticket – not that I was paying, though!

Excellent voice, awesome guitar playing and wonderful extra large screens to see the whole thing. Picture taking was a huge challenge with all the different lighting and long-distance focusing headaches, but I was able to get a few good shots and I’m happy that I had the opportunity to go. Thank you Candace!

I’ll be back in a few days with photos of my recent antique purchase and maybe I can squeeze in some sewing to share with you also.

‘til next time,

M.

Just dropping in . . .

for a minute . . .

to let you know that I got all the blocks done . . .

and the quilt top is complete!

 

This was a tutorial over at the Moda Bake Shop by Rachel Griffith and something about it just begged me to make it.  Mine is quite a bit bigger than the featured quilt – I used 12 fat quarters cut into 5” squares, so I think when all is said and done it should measure around 68”x68” – a nice size snuggle quilt.  When I was looking for a quick, easy project to work on last Saturday (something that didn’t require too much thought!), this is what I pulled out of the stack.  I like it . . . the white sets off the deeper, country colors.

This quilt, when completed, is a planned Christmas present for someone – I now have three months to finish it – three months exactly now that I look at the calendar.  Are you ready for Christmas?

You also need to pop over to Paulette's to enter her really cool giveaway – I love that pattern and the fabrics look delicious!

Well I’m off to the big City this weekend – Keith Urban is calling my name – we’ll see how that goes!

Have a great weekend everyone.

‘til next time,

M.

A Little Quilting, A Little Destruction, A Little Weird . . .

Saturday was a quilting day!

Ten of us got together and sewed for the whole day.  Everything was perfect . . . good company, good laughs, good projects – the only thing that was missing was the AIR CONDITIONING!  Of course Saturday turned out to be one of our hottest days of the year and there we were slaving over hot irons.  I even saw a special flannel project being worked on . . . I think we’ll check the forecast before starting another one of those next time.

I shouldn’t have, but I did – started a new project.  It’s going together really quick so it shouldn’t be a problem – right?  I have until December 25th to finish it, so I should be OK.  Famous last words!

 

 

Sunday was destruction day.  New windows arrived on Thursday and we wanted to get them in as soon as we could.  I wish I had taken a before picture before the siding had come off – this picture looks like the house should be condemned!  Honest though it didn’t look like this before we started – it had two nice windows there without a door – we had that boarded over a few years ago when we re-did the kitchen.

 

By the end of the day we were able to get everything tidied up and the new windows in place.  The upstairs windows will be tackled later this week and then the new siding will soon follow.  There are also rumors of shutters, window boxes and new landscaping, but we’ll have to wait and see what year that all materializes.  Right now I’m just happy with new, fancy windows.

This is a new little idea that I came up with this morning . . . weird, right?

That morning brain kicks out some interesting stuff!  Stay tuned to see if it morphs into anything worthwhile . . .

‘til next time,

M.

Evening Stroll

Since I didn't have any photos in yesterday's post, I thought it was only fair to get a few in for today.

Actually I felt kinda guilty that I had a whole post without a single photo in it, so I took the camera outside last night and wandered around. I actually thought maybe it was too late to be taking any photos, but snapped away at a few interesting things. The little pathway lights had already come on and cast some very interesting shadows and detail.

Look at the background in this one . . . I can't decide whether I want to focus on the background or on the details.

Seems like everything has some kind of berry on it right now, and I couldn't resist getting a shot of these two snuggle berries.

OK! Next time I'll have something quilt related . . . I promise!

'til next time,

M.

Mid-Week Blahs . . .

Seems like a long week already and here we’re only sitting at Wednesday!

I attended the Peace by Piece quilt group meeting on Monday night in Brandon and had a wonderful time hearing what everyone had been up to over the summer months. They are in the process of planning their Quilt Bonanza show on the 26th . . . not too many days left before the big day.

I won’t be attending the quilt show – but my quilts will be! My daughter gave me a ticket to the Keith Urban concert for Mother’s Day and it is also on the 26th – I can’t be in two places at once – DARN!

If you have some time today, stop over at this new blog . . . very interesting! Gum Tree Designers are a group of Australian ladies who have started this blog to give, that’s right, give away some of their designs for free – starting October 5th. But if you stop over there in the next while, you can enter for some wonderful giveaways by visiting each designer’s site . . . and the prizes look pretty darn nice!

The only thing I’ve been REALLY working on these past few days is trying to figure out Wordpress – does anyone out there use it and if you do, what do you think of it?

I do have a quilting weekend planned (at least on Saturday) and I can’t wait! . . . which project(s) should I take? . . . oh these darn decisions!

‘til next time,’

M

I Won!

What a wonderful, happy day!  The sun was shining and the mailman woman was very generous!

A week or two ago I won a giveaway over at BJ's  blog, and now I have some of her new line of fabric called SOHO from StudioE Fabrics in my hot little hands! BJ Lantz is a very talented illustrator and designer and I’ve been stalking following her for a while now . . . I’m so jealous that she has all these talents and can express them so well!   In my next lifetime I’ll come back with the ability to channel my creativity more constructively!  Thank you so much BJ for inspiring me with these wonderful prints. Of course this has started another mind-whirling design episode and I have narrowed it down to two designs that I would like to try with this fabric.  Now I’m just looking for that elusive free day that just doesn’t seem to materialize.Yellow has always been my favorite color (as if I’ve never mentioned that before!) and this just so happens to be one of the favorite prints in the selections that BJ sent to me – I think this is a perfect print. 

And this morning while I was waiting for the internet man to call to help fix my internet problems (which he didn’t) – I fused and cut my little pieces for the September Bunny Hill BOM.  My Scottie dog is just a bit on the “mature” side as you will notice a little bit of grey mixed in with his darker undertones . . . I think he is very distinguished.  How’s your Scottie dog coming along?

‘til next time,

M.