Fur ball and fall colours

I was a bit sidelined with a sore back after spray painting these chairs.  They have a coat of primer and will have to wait a few more days before getting their last coat of paint.  Warm days for painting will soon come to an end and they have to get done next week for sure.  By then, my back should be OK to continue spray painting them.

So, what to do in the meantime?  It was time for me to bring out my Love Is quilt to continue the hand quilting on it.  That is something that I can do while resting in my lazy-boy chair.

But first, there was 3 weeks of Miss Ashes fur that needed to be brushed off the back of the quilt.  Ummm, perhaps I should put a towel to cover up my quilt before putting it back on the shelf and have her lay on the towel and not my quilt.

This leaf was just begging to have its' photo taken.  Look at the dew on the backside of the leaf from laying on the patio overnight.

These fall tree photos are for my friends who love fall and there are a lot of trees here that are orange, red, yellow.  Gorgeous.

Have a great day!

3 weeks work

Now that I'm back home after babysitting in Toronto, I can sit back and relax and concentrate on getting some chores done around our home.  After unpacking, I was able to take stock of all the work that got accomplished and I'm very happy with my progress on these UFO's.

This is an overall view ... pretty impressive to say the least!  :o)

This is my hexagon hanging.  Still don't know what to do in the white areas.  Something will come to mind, but at least I can work on it now.  All the hexagon flowers and hexagon border are all leftovers.  What a perfect way to use them up!

My octagon project is coming along nicely.  Once I get the last two rows on the left sewn together, the half-way mark has been reached. 

These 4 blocks are from my Grand-daughter's Garden project.  There are a number of these blocks sewn together now and I do think it is time to put this back up on the design wall for layout and start sewing them together.  I'm not sure if the half-way mark has been reached for this project yet, but we'll see soon.

My last 5 blocks are from my Got Dots project.  It is time now to sew them altogether and get borders on. 

Oh yes, I'm very pleased with my progress.  I was asked how so much hand work gets done.  In the evening, after supper is my 'me' time and these projects get worked on while watching TV.  It is a big help when all hand work is prepped ahead of time so all that needs to be done is hand sewing in the evenings.

Miss Ashes has been my shadow since coming home.  When I sit at my laptop, she has to lay on the arm of my chair and have her paw on my hand as I'm using the mouse.  Is she afraid that I will leave again? 

Hmmmm .... do you think she has forgiven me for leaving her for 3 weeks?  She looks quite mean here, but she is such a loveable, gentle cat.

Have a great day!

Turning Leaves

Yes, our leaves are starting to turn colour here in North Bay.  We are starting to see a difference every day when we look at the trees up our hill.  Still, we are far from full autumn colour ..... but it is coming!  :o)

From time to time, I receive requests for Turning Leaves pattern and where they can buy it from.  I'm happy to report that Quiltmaker has it for sale on their website store.

 

This quilt was given away to a niece .... I do think it is time that another one gets made for our home!

 

Have a great day!

Hexies

Four UFO hand piecing projects came along with me to Toronto.  This is one of them.  The white background is being sewn to the hexagons.  There are a lot of pins holding this all together.

Lo and behold, it got done before I even knew it.  This is as far as I can go for now until I get home and start designing something (applique/embroidery) in the white areas.

Now, my Got Dots projects can be worked on.  Only 5 more blocks to go and then the center can be assembled.  The border will be interesting, but you will have to wait a bit before you can see it.

 

Seeing how much is getting done, is just inspiring me to accomplish more on my UFO's.

 

Have a great day!

Doing good!

Hand work is so wonderful to bring along when away from home.  Hand piecing, applique, knitting and crochet .... they are easy to pack and to work on. 

This is what I've done so far on my Ozard Cobble Stone UFO project.  Nine rows sewn together now ... only 16 more rows to go and then the border.

One more week of babysitting and then it will be time for me to head home.

Have a great day!

Silly friends

I'm currently in Toronto on a 3-week babysitting stint and recently met up with my two pals of We 3 Quilters group. 

In the afternoon of our first get-together, my grand-nephews wanted to have a play date and invited one of their school friends over (it is amazing how young'uns are so good at organizing play dates) and I was totally amazed to see them jumping for joy and talking a mile-a-minute once I agreed.  In retrospect, I had to laugh because that was going to be me and my friends once we got together for the first time since I moved away from Toronto.

Anyway, we met and had a lot of laughs and of course, they are so silly at times.  My friends do have faces, by the way.

All and I mean all of the blocks that you see above came from the drawer below.  Debra kept pulling and pulling and pulling and ..... blocks from this drawer.  She has enough blocks to make at least 3 queen size sampler quilts and perhaps more!  All I know is, my jaw dropped after she was done pulling the blocks out.  That was simply amazing to see.  Gosh, did we ever laugh!

This pile of blocks measured at least 12" high and there was more on the floor.   A lot of these blocks came from swaps.

Yipee .... Debra gifted me a UFO and a Sun Bonnet Sue block ..... I was never fond of the fan block, but am now after seeing what Tim did with his blocks.  So, I will be doing something with these blocks but will just drool over them for a bit.

Then, Mary invited Debra and I over for dinner this past Sunday.  Her DH Sam cooked us a gorgeous, yummy meal .... thank you, Sam! 

Anyway, while we were waiting for dinner Mary brought out her bin of blocks.  Mary was inspired by Debra's reveal and she wondered how many blocks she had stashed away.  Both Debra and Mary were in numerous swaps and there is quite a collection of swap blocks for both of them to work with.  So, this is Mary's bin.  That is a lot of blocks!

See, my friends do have faces!  That is Debra on the left and Mary on the right.  We had great fun going through all these blocks.  Mary figures that she has enough blocks to make at least 2 sampler quilts.

I will have a few more get-togethers with my friends before heading back home.

Have a great day!

Finish #6

Another finish for the year ..... the ball keeps rolling along!  Happy dance going on here!

Here it is, Miss Charlotte's quilt.  The teddy bears and kitties were fuzzy cut from a purchased panel and appliqued onto muslin.  This was a project started back in 2004.  Size:  39-1/2" x 53-1/4".  Hand appliqued and hand quilted.

 The back showing the hand quilting and the heart label.

We had a lovely afternoon with Miss Charlotte and her Mom.  Charlotte was having a rough day and was in a grumpy mood when she arrived.  Well, that changed when she saw her quilt!  Charlotte is laying on her Mom's baby quilt that I made in 1983.

 Here is mother and daughter with their quilts.  Aren't my nieces lovely?

 It won't be long before Charlotte is jabbering away at her quilt buddies.

Charlotte's quilt is the 94th quilt that I've made and her Mom's was my 6th quilt made.  I had a good look at the older quilt and could see how the fabrics have faded.  It got a lot of use from three children and I was surprised to see how well it has stood the test of time.   The photo below was taken back in 1983.

There are issues with broken threads all over the quilt.  I should repair the quilt so that it can be used again perhaps for another generation down the road.

Yes, another finish ..... gosh, but that feels good!

Have a great day!

4 Rows

That is what I have done so far on my Ozard Cobble Stone project. 

I was at the cottage when I took this photo on our lop-sided shed door.  Any hand piecing project is great to have for working on at our cottage.  It takes me about 1-1/2 days to sew on a row.  So, that is 4 rows done and 21 more to go plus some kind of applique in the borders.

Have a great day!

We 3 Quilters .... the same, but different!

My string quilt is finished and is perfect for our guest bedroom.

Finished size:  89-1/4" x 90-1/2" after washing and drying.

For my binding, there is a nice touch of blue in the fabric that goes well with the blue border .

Thank you Debra for giving Mary and me the inspiration to make this quilt.  What wonderful memories we have of all of us working together and then on our own.

Thank you Dorothy M. for the lovely machine quilting you did on my quilt!

Have a great day!