A Little of This and a Little of That . . .

It is so hard to believe that it is already the end of January!  Once again time does not wait for anyone. 

 

I have been doing a bit of work on my Bunny Hill BOM Phd (project half done) . . . 

It is sitting under the needle of the sewing machine right now . . . waiting for me to get over there and continue with the machine quilting.  Hope to get this one done over the weekend – or at least to the point of sewing down the binding.

This is a new project that I’ll be working on – but there won’t be any progress pictures to show on this one.  Should be done and revealed by June though.  Yardage will be arriving at my door next week.  All you Canadian gals can find this in your local quilt shops right now – Robyn Pandolph has created another soft, romantic collection especially for us Canadians – check it out if you get a chance.  I believe there is also a contest underway to create a quilt using this line – go here to check that out.

Besides the new Snowbound BOM by Bunny Hill (see sidebar) I have decided to also work on the Autumn Houses quilt as an additional BOM for 2010.  I LOVE the houses, birds and pumpkins in this one.  Not a very good start though – it’s already January 30th and all I have done is the block pieces traced out on fusible.  Need to make some fabric choices over the weekend and commit to them!

 

This is the January BOM for the Brandon Peace by Piece quilt group . . .  I’ve got a good start on this one but need to finalize stems and flower placement and get the stitching done.

I bought this book last May when we were out in Kelowna, BC for a wedding and I love the patterns in it! 

So in 2009 I bought a fat quarter stack and some yardage of the Blackbird Designs “Beach House” line . . .

and this is another quilt I’m tackling as a BOM.  I LOVE these houses.  I have all the pieces fused for the first block and every spare few minutes I get, I cut out a few .

So let’s recap this:

1.  I have seven PhD’s (over in the right side bar).  I put them there so they will haunt me every time I have to go into my blog!

2.  I’ve started four BOMs.

3.  I’ve started a project that has to be done before June so that it can be revealed in June.

So I guess I better get moving here . . . Saturday’s wasting away!

What are you working on this weekend? Wanna pop over here and help me out for a while?  Would love to meet you!

‘til next time,

M.

Projects Half Done (PhD) . . .

So here I am . . . ready to ‘fess up to all my undone projects. Really most of these are “half-done” as implied by my recently acquired PhD!

My Bunny Hill 2009 BOM just needs quilted . . . should go quick.

My mysterious tulip quilt does still need some more appliqué done before it’s ready to quilt . . . shouldn’t be too difficult.

My Drunkard’s Path quilt (I love this one!) needs the borders attached and then quilted . . . easy-peasy.

My purple quilt needs some more appliqué done before I’m going to be happy with it . . . the hard part is done – right?

My blue triangle quilt (I also LOVE this one!) is almost ready to be put together and then borders and quilting . . . easy finish.

Oh . . . my Basic Grey Happy Quilt – I was working on this one this morning before work – sure brightens my day! It has some more appliqué to complete on it and then it’s ready to be quilted also.

You say that June 30th is the deadline for these . . . sure – I can do it.

If I don’t start anything else of course!

Like another one of these . . . which somehow has missed my list of 6 – so really I guess I’m at 7 PhD’s that need done for Myra's Challenge.

Just calculating how much backing fabric I need for all of these has me cringing . . . where’s that VISA?

‘til next time,

M.

Road trip report . . .

Very, very bright and early on Saturday morning, fellow quilter Sheila and I headed for Moosomin, Saskatchewan for a day of browsing, shopping, visiting and eating.     Shirley’s Sewing Room has been in Moosomin for quite a number of years and my husband always like to skirt around and avoid stopping here.  So this was a wonderful, focused trip with no other reason except to shop!

Look at all the samples that are up on display . . . amazing!  You can just stand in the middle of the shop and slowly turn and absorb everything that you see – great displays.

Lots and lots of patterns and books to look through and lots of  fabric to make just about any project you have your mind set on (right Sheila!).

Oh look!  There’s a little elevator pattern that looks kinda familiar.  I think I walked past it a couple of times without even noticing.  Here is a different kind of quilt – possibilities for a group project here I think.  This book was so interesting that it even came home in the bag with me.

Here are a couple of other things that also came home with me – a 2010 calendar with patterns for every quilt in there; a Nancy Halverson book called “I Believe” which has some really nice Christmas items; some batiks for a table runner (next photo); and some yardage that has little tiny stars and dots that might work for a snowman quilt.

This is a table runner that we are hoping to do as a group project, although some gals have already made one (or two!) of these.  Very striking design and I can’t wait to see how those colors that I’ve chosen will look in those circles.  I still need to find a light centre color before I can get started, but all in all I’m closer to starting than I was before.

This Hunter’s Star pattern (the blue and the brown one) uses a special ruler to make it, but it looks so wonderful and different depending on how you use your colors and lay out the design.

This project would also work great for a workshop day . . . everyone’s quilt would look so different.

And I just thought this guy was adorable . . .

and this one . . .

and this one too!

We had such a good day and the weather was beautiful – great day for a road trip.

Oh, and my VISA is now stuck in my wallet and cannot come out for a couple of weeks.

‘til next time,

M.

Home Cookin’

Yum . . .   and Yum!

Fresh baking smells on a Sunday afternoon . . . yummy!

‘til next time,

Marlene

It’s finally here . . .

 and it’s so pretty! Now I need to find a good recipe and just see how good this convection cooking technology is.  Anyone have a recipe that they can recommend? 

I can even show you the inside of my oven . . . this would never have happened with my old one – way too embarrassing!  Love the blue interiors on these LG ovens . . . just something a bit different.  Still nowhere near as exciting as a new sewing machine would be – but fun just the same.

I’ll be back later with my road trip photos and also my list of PhDs.

‘til next time,

M.

Well . . . imagine that!

It’s been eleven twelve days since I’ve been here to post anything.  Sometimes this outside blogland world takes over and time just gets away from us.

The Saturday quilt group that I belong to got together last week and we’ve finally decided on a name . . . “Undercover Quilters”.  We know that this is not a unique name – but so very fitting for most of us members!  I had my camera with me but was so busy working on sewing my Bunny Hill 2009 BOM blocks together that I didn’t even get around to taking a picture of it until I got home!  Anne had the most beautiful flannel woodlands kinda quilt with moose and bears on it . . . and some of the other projects that were in progress were coming along quite nicely.  I hope everyone brings their finished projects for the February get together so that I can redeem myself.

Oh!  You’ll also notice over there on the right, that I’ve added the 2010 Bunny Hill Snowbound BOM to my sidebar.  How could I not participate in a snowman BOM?!?!!?!  I’m in and will start as soon as the fabric I want to use is released in March – I’m thinking maybe the Martinique line by 3 Sisters might be just what I’m looking for.  So I’ll be stock piling my patterns until at least March/April before I can even get started . . . that’s going to be tough to sit back and be patient . . . patience is a virtue that I missed out on!  If you haven’t joined yet just click on the picture and it will take right there to get a copy of your first pattern – it’s really adorable.

These are some of the stacked pieces that I’ve been working on the past eleven twelve days – I guess that’s why I haven’t been blogging much . . . too busy with these pieces.  Love this Fig and Plum line from Fig Tree – hubby hates it!

 

I was so busy with all those units that I actually finished the quilt!  It measures about 76” x 76” (or thereabouts) but I can’t show it to you just yet . . . I’m not sure where it’s going to end up and I can’t give away too much just in case.

But I can tell you that I now have an official PhD (Projects Half Done) – or actually I’ve registered for one over at Myra's for the six month challenge.  I’ll be back really soon (I promise) to list the things that I will try and have done by June, 2010 . . . that will make me sooooooo accountable to everyone – YIKES!

I’m off on a fabric shopping road trip tomorrow, so wish my VISA good luck!

‘til next time,

M.

Welcome!

. . . to everyone who connects here through the Quilter's Connection magazine’s newsletter link (and everyone else also).

I was thrilled when Heather asked if she could use my Loonie Blooms pattern in the January, 2010 newsletter.  You can download the pattern from the January newsletter link or you can grab it over in the right hand column.

This link will take you to Scribd.com directly to my folder –  and it should open up for you (really quickly)  so that you can download it or print out.  Please let me know if you have any problems and I’ll try and help you out.

If you head over to the Quilter’s Connection blog, you will also read that the magazine will now be available in all Chapter’s bookstores across Canada beginning  in early March - or of course you can sign up for a subscription and get it mailed directly to your door.  Sounds like there will be some interesting articles coming up in 2010 . . . can’t wait to see them all!

And, before anyone tells me . . . I know that my website is completely out-of-date!  I’d rather be quilting than updating the site – horrible of me I know . . . but, really ever since I started the blog it’s been kinda tough to get all that difficult website jargon figured out.  Blogging format is so much easier to deal with!  So that will be my New Year’s resolution – fix my website!

H      E    L    P  !  !  !

‘til next time,

M.

Looking backwards and forwards . . .

Remember this?

My broken and so very sad looking stove . . .

Now look at my new, fabulous, wonderful, soon-to-be delivered new stove!  I can’t wait!!!  I’m so excited – smooth top cooking surface, no knobby knobs to clean around, convection oven . . . plus stainless.  I’ll have to watch for flying casserole lids though!

Remember this fabric?  It became a Christmas gift for my nephew. Pattern for this one is on the Moda Bakeshop – really easy and fun to do.  I used twelve fat quarters and made it extra big.This is the pinkest quilt I’ve ever made!  I had the package of Robyn Pandolph’s charms from the Sumptuous Living collection plus some yardage from my stash that really needed to be used.  This was a mystery quilt that Myra and Cori over at Blue Meadow Designs  sponsored early last year.This quilt makes a nice sized lap quilt and I made it as a last minute Christmas present for my daughter.  I was a little concerned that it might be too pink but soon discovered that it was just pink enough!  The only thing I had to purchase was the backing fabric which turned out to be absolutely perfect even though it wasn’t from the same fabric collection.  If you’re looking for a quick and easy project for a charm pack and a bit of yardage this pattern is great.  I’ve made it twice now and will probably make it again in the future. Now about that Christmas day thing . . . I was really spoiled!  A little iPod Nano from my daughter and the dock/speaker system from my nephew are wonderful additions to my sewing room.  Although I am finding that I’m way behind on the news now because the radio is never on! My husband and son gave me this fabulous 19” flat screen TV and even mounted it on the wall in the sewing room so that it wouldn’t take up precious counter space.  Now I’ll be able to keep on sewing when my favorite shows are on.  I’m beginning to think that they really don’t want to see me upstairs anymore . . . all these goodies will keep me very occupied in my basement!

And my daughter didn’t forget that the best gift of all for a quilter is more fabric.  The cutest little mini honey bun package with Crazy 8 and Glace fabric collections and also the Fig Tree charm pack.  More fabric for my collection!  I’m beginning to feel a bit like I should be on the “Hoarders” show . . . probably next year!

Although I have a pretty good shot at being added to the scheduling in the next couple of months!

  

Oh, by the way . . . I started another new project!

No New Year’s resolutions for me – nope – I’ll continue as before.  Starting new projects as they pop into my head is so much fun!  The non-fun part is watching all the UFOs stacking up . . . but, what the heck, I’ll deal with those as I come back to them.

I hope you have a spectacular New Year planned for yourself and if you have any special resolutions that you’ve made that may help me also, please let me know!

Happy New Year!

‘til next time,

M.

Virtual Christmas Quilt Show

You need to head over to SewCalGal’s Virtual Christmas Quilt Show and check out all the beautiful quilts that have been completed for the Christmas season.

SewCalGal says:

There are so many talented people with beautiful Christmas Projects.  I'd love to be able to collect them in a way to allow easy viewing for everyone to enjoy, plus create some holiday fun.

There is no judging in this show.  This is truly a virtual Christmas Quilt Show, where SewCalGal hopes you'll share insights about your quilt and what you enjoy about the holiday season and/or traditions you enjoy.

  

This is a fun Christmas/Winter quilt that I made a couple of years ago and it hangs in our living room for most of the Winter season.

This is a quilt that I made for my Dad last year and it was made using scraps from a quilt that I had made the year before for my mother-in-law.  Sorry about the colors in the photo – I believe the picture was taken at our quilt group last year and the lighting in that basement leaves a lot to be desired!  The borders are made with even more scraps – lots of stars and circles.  This is really one of my favorites with the cozy flannel, cheerful snowmen and raggy trees.  There are not too many scraps left over now, but with the ones that are still in the scrap bin, I’ve been making these little tags -

These look great hiding in the tree branches and also make excellent gift tags when wrapping presents.

Enjoy your Christmas Eve and all the little preparations that still need to be done.  I’m off to darn in some ends on a quilt and get it in the washing machine.  Can’t wait to see how crinkly and soft it will be when it’s done!  I’ll be back with pictures in a day or two. 

Merry Christmas!

‘til next time,

M.