August and September Goals

Summer has been very busy here buy so enjoyable.  The heat lingered far longer than appreciated .... at least we had heat.   We are having a false fall right now.  Temps at night got a tad cool last week and at our cottage, we were under frost warning.  It didn't happen, but had to put an extra blanket on me in the early hours of the morning.

Cottage season is slowing down and next month we will be closing it for the season.  How time flies when we are having such fun.

A lot more sewing got done this month.

This is how my sides are being finished off. Seams will show here but only slightly.  There are no seams anywhere on the top, except on the edges.

When a circle gets joined to the rest of the top, there are a lot of pins holding the circle to the background fabric and then the hand sewing commences.  To make sure the circles don't get turned around (has already happened), little tags are now pinned onto the completed section and to the circle.  It is so much easier then to place the circle in the right spot and pin, pin, pin away.

This is where my Joseph's Coat top is currently at.  See the bright green square at the bottom.  Only that circle and a half circle beneath are all that remains to be appliqued and then the joining happens next.  Borders and then I can cross this project off my list.

Ridley always had a way of just plopping himself down onto my handwork when it was nearing his bed time.  So, no more work gets done when that happens.  You know, I would have finished this project sooner!  LOL

A quilt did get its' binding sewn on and that will be shown in my next post.

My September goal for Chookshed Stitchers 2025 Challenge will be to finish the Joseph's Coat UFO and to maybe get binding onto these two quilts.  Days and nights are cooling down and they will be warm on my legs and feet.

I've shown before how one niece really loves her quilts.  On any road trips for hockey or soccer tournaments, she brings a bit of home with her.  This is in a hotel room with her special pillow and her quilt that seems to be making the rounds lately whenever she goes anywhere.

That in a nutshell was my August.  

Cherish your day, cherish your life and cherish your country.  My country will always be CANADA

Tulip Time

Not up here where I live, but tulips in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.  My sister, her youngest daughter and I took a quick trip down (about 5 hour drive south) to see the tulips and the magnolia trees in bloom.  

We went to a tulip farm and what a pleasant time we had there.  We were each allowed to take 10 tulips from any row we wanted to and we did.  It was a beautiful day and the temps were not too hot for us to stroll along the rows of tulips.  We went at the right time as most of the tulips were in mid bloom.  Another week and the petals would be dropping.  Same with the magnolia trees as some were already dropping in places.

I took a selfie of myself among the rows of tulips.  I used to take selfie's of myself when I was in my 20's, but had to wait until the film was developed to see how they turned out.  Nowadays, it is instant.  How times and technology have changed how we live today.

From our hotel room, we had views of the falls.  This one is the American falls.

There was often mist shrouding the Canadian falls.

We had great meals throughout our stay.  We did a bit of shopping and donated money to the casino and then it was time to go home.

Back home, this little guy was happy to see me.  He snuggled in and slept like a baby in my arms.  

Fifteen minutes here and there on this project has progressed to a few rows sewn together.  This project has all Xmas fabrics and it looks like Xmas wrapping paper.  Love it.

Two quilts came back from the LAer and this quilt in being trimmed and soon binding will go on.  It will be gifted later this month.

I will be taking half an hour of time to clean in my studio before heading to bed each night.  So far, it has been working and I can see some progress in the scrap piles.  Scraps are getting sorted, cut down and ready to be sewn into blocks.  Happy about that.

Cherish your day, cherish your life and cherish your country!  My country will always be CANADA .... glorious and free and we stand on guard for thee!

February and March Goals

What did I accomplish this month for the Chookshed 2025 Stitchers Challenge?  

Well, two tops.  Yeah me!

This one was shown a few weeks ago.

This one was finished last week.  Looking at the bottom section, it sort of goes too light compared to the top section.  How did I miss that?  No matter .... this will be perfect for the cottage or donation.  

A bunch of luggage tags (sorry, no photo) got made for my niece and her family for their upcoming trip to Mexico.  They would have gone to Florida, but not this year.  My niece asked me if I could find fabric that had red maple leafs on white background.  Yep, found it and I bought extra in case her friends want some too.  She wants the Mexicans to know that she and her family are Canadian ... not American.

For my Chevron Log Cabin, only 7-1/2 blocks got made and sewn onto the quilt-as-you-go quilt.  I wasn't quite as ambitious with this.  My goal for March will be to complete those blocks and get a start on Row 10.

My other goal for March will be to get a start on this new project.  It is for my young niece, Charlotte for her birthday in May.  A year after she was born, this pattern appeared in McCall's magazine.  I just had to get the fabric.  She has looked at the pattern and fabric and loves it.  Recently, my lovely LAer also bought a machine quilting design called .... guess what ..... Charlotte.  This is all meant to be!

It has been a while since you have seen my little guy.  It will be almost a year since he came into our lives.  He is warming up in front of the fire.  See the yellow flooring tile behind him?  That is his scratch pad.  We have other scratching posts scattered around the house, but he likes this one.  Better that than my furniture.

It is a blustery, snowy day outside.  Nice to be sitting by the fire.

Politics:

I heard something really crazy the other day at the grocery store.  There were two middle aged men talking about how Trump wants to rename the USA to Trumpland.  I thought to myself, what crazy black hole on the internet did those guys spiral down into?  Seriously?  Thinking again, it just might have a tiny bit of truth to it as we all know that he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico, he wants Canada to become 51 state, he wants Greenland, he wants the Panama Canal, and his image on Mount Rushmore .... so ... it could be true.  You know how he loves to have his name on buildings, golf courses, food, alcohol, sneakers, clothing, etc., etc., etc.  Mind you, Trumpland just doesn't have the same oomp when a crowd starts shouting USA,USA,USA and instead shout Trumpland,Trumpland,Trumpland.  You know, it just doesn't sound right.  Crazy times, eh!

Cherish your day, cherish your life, cherish your country and Canada is and always will be my choice!

Christmas is over!

What a busy month and Christmas day.  Chalk that day up for being done and enjoyed by family.

I was busy this month putting bindings on quilts.  It was a hard go with this guy plunking himself down on top of what I was trying to do.  I did get three quilts done this month.  Yeah me!

 Two almost identical quilts.  The borders are different blue fabrics. So, why two?  Read on.

Quilt Info:

Pattern name:  "Berry Smoothie" by Villa Rosa Designs

Size:  61" x 78"

Batting:  Polyester

Machine quilted by:  Kathy Wareham

So .... why two?  My grand nephews will be two and three at the end of January.  They fight over toys, so we end up buying two of some toys.  I just knew there would be a lot of crying if they didn't each get the same quilt.

Christmas morning and this little guy was opening up his sack.  He is thrilled with his new quilt.

When the oldest nephew saw his brother's quilt, he said "I want that" twice.  Oh dear.  A young niece was helping him open his sack and told him he had the same quilt.  Whew .... all was well again!

The oldest loves his new quilt!

I was busy making this pillowcase for a young niece who is going to summer hockey camp.

After the quilts were opened up, I was reminded again by a niece that she needs a quilt for her new bed.  She has moved from a single to a double and none of her quilts fit.  There is a reason why I make quilts.  They are enjoyed and wanted!  LOL

We have had lots of snow and cold weather this month.  A new snowblower was purchased for me.  A machine that I can handle.  It is battery operated and so easy to operate.  When I went to the store, I asked for a machine that I can handle and not jolt me off my feet once it gets started.  We had a snowblower that did exactly that.   The sales rep. showed me a machine and said that it was the easiest and least complicated one to run.  Sold!  I'm happy.

As the month and year closes down, I still would like to finish up two projects.  We'll see if time allows.  I'm not spending as much time in my studio lately.  It shows with the lack of posts on this blog.

Oh, and nine years ago today, our family made a trip to our cottage on Boxing Day.  That was such an enjoyable day.  You can read about that day here.

Cherish your day, cherish the rest of this year, cherish your life!

Happy New Year!  2025 ... Bring it on!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back!

Well, here I was sitting quite smug with myself.  Row 7 of my Chevron Log Cabin was ready to be sewn onto the quilt.  Wait a minute .... something wasn't quite right!

See the column on the right?  See those white squares?  The backing for those two blocks were the wrong fabric.  How in the world did this happen?  I was so frustrated that the quilt sat for almost two weeks before it was pulled out, those offending blocks ripped off the row and then the deconstructing happened.  All the hand quilting removed.   All the hand stitching removed.  Then the correct fabric pieces were pulled out and the hand stitching and hand quilting resumed.

Finally, Row 7 has been sewn on and Row 8 has been started.  Four rows left to do.

Then .... a squirrel came to play here.  I ignored it and even threw snowballs at it.  It kept dodging those snowballs and kept taunting me ..... until ..... I caved and started a new project.  A Xmas tree project.  It is a free pattern by corianderquilts.com called "Scrappy Tree Quilt".

I try to get one block laid out at night so that it can be sewn up in the morning.  The red hst's need to be made up, so this block is not quite ready.  At least it is a start.

It looks like winter has arrived here.  Snow is on the ground and it has stayed this time.

Ridley is finding it cold in our home and likes to cuddle for warmth or sit in front of the fireplace.  When he has enough of my hand sewing, he is not shy about putting out a paw to halt me in my stitches.  LOL

Late at night, we are both looking for warmth while I watch t.v.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Progress slowing down ....

Gosh, I had to think hard about doing this post.  I just don't feel like much has been happening the last two weeks.  But, surprise, surprise!

This is the back of my Hexie Log Cabin quilt as you go.  I've been working on Row 7 and when my last two hexies are completed, then that row can be added to the main body.

Then, I was busy cutting out strips ....

... to make another bargello quilt like this one below.

Then, I was busy pulling out fabrics to see which ones would work for borders for this top.  Lots and lots of fabrics were pulled, auditioned and these are the final decision.  This was a hard choice to find and I'm not totally happy with the final choice, but it will do.

The days here are getting cooler.  Our temps have been hovering between 0C to 10C and this little guy is looking for warmth.  He likes our fireplace.  We even find him laying on top of the fireplace to soak up any extra heat.

Why do I feel that not much progress has happened?  Night time is my time to do handwork ..... except Ridley has decided that is his time to cuddle on my lap or literally in my arms like a baby.  Not much happens then except watch some t.v.  He had two seizures last week and the vet has increased his meds.   We will see how long before the next round of seizures happen again.  I do find after a bout, he is even more cuddly.  His seizures this time have changed.  Towards the end, he suddenly surges forward and will crash head first into anything.  I stay with him and try to restrain him to prevent hurting himself but he is so strong.  The first bout, he went head first into a corner where my quilts are stored.  That was lucky for him.  Second bout, he went head first into a wall until I was able to grab him and then hold him down.  After these two bouts, his recovery time was much longer.  Poor little guy.

Blogger has been doing changes to their system and is screwing up functions.  Just to do this post was difficult.  Also, when anyone leaves a comment, I am unable to reply back as everyone comes through as no-reply.  So, lately, if you left a comment .... thank you!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Log Cabin and Enough!

This is the UFO that I've decided to finish for my BIL.  There are quite a few pieces already made and it won't take too long to see progress.

As I'm cutting out for some of the blocks, I'm also cutting out pieces to make another of this quilt for my sister.  It will be queen size and will need lots and lots of wee blocks.  The pattern is called "Fragments of Cloth" by Norma Whaley.  So win-win.  Use up scraps and stash for both projects!

Now, about the Enough bit in my post title!

This little guy has decided that at night time, it is time to stop sewing and it is playtime instead.  He will get up from lying down and come over to my sewing machine and plonk himself down on my stuff.  I try to get two blocks ready to sew the next day, but he has had enough!  So, playtime it is and then bedtime.

 

Good progress so far!  

 

See my Chevron Log Cabin hanging over my door in above photo?  Four rows are done.  Row 5 has a good start.  The pile on the left are all done and joined together.  Only 3 more to do and then the row can be added to the other rows.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

A Pile of Quilts

This is the aftermath of changing out the quilts each month ..... a huge pile of quilts to roll up or fold.

Help is always appreciated when doing this job ...... but this fella kept getting in the way!  He really liked the rolling bit and the string tying.  Play time!  LOL

Sister and I went to the cottage for an overnight stay.  We saw a momma partridge and four babies.  Momma just sauntered slowly across the road in front of my car and her four babies flew across the road.  If you look closely to the left side of the road, you can barely see a baby there.

We've been seeing this deer carcass for a while now.  It has been picked clean.  A pack of wolves or a bear must have brought down this deer.  There were actually two carcasses ..... a doe and a baby deer.  The rest of the bones were plowed off the road by a truck, but something dragged out this carcass.   Sad yes, but that is Mother Nature.

Change of topic from sad to beautiful.  

I don't get many comments for my posts and wonder about those that do not comment.  Do they like what I write about?  Do they like my photos of quilts?  Regardless, I just write anyway and hope that I strike a cord of interest with my followers/readers.

Then out of the blue, I do get wonderful comments and I'm taken aback by their lovely words to me.  Thank you Ruth F for your comment .... it sure made my day!  I couldn't reply back to you as your email is set up as no-reply, but I just wanted to acknowledge you here.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!