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

July and August Goals and yo-yoing along

It has been a while and I've been lazy posting lately.  Too much going on here right now.

Much, much progress has been made on my "Joseph's Coat" UFO.  There is a lot of appliqueing going on and it is slow going, but I can see the end in sight.  There will be another row added to the bottom and then borders to be decided.  That is still a ways yet.  This will be my goal for August for the Chookshed Stitchers Challenge.

Three quilts were picked up from my lovely LAer.  The Xmas quilt  (on top of the pile) will also be part of my goal for August.  I need that quilt for a demo that I will be doing for my night guild in September.  Hoping for a couple of cool days to get the binding on and sewn down.

My young niece went to hockey camp last month.  She took her pillowcase that I made her and then she snuck a quilt into her duffle bag.  She just needed something from home!  I laughed when I saw the photo.  My quilts are definitely loved and used.

Now, this bit about yo-yoing along.  Meet Yo-Yo.  A stair lift (this is the folded up position) .  Both my hubby and I are in need of this device.  We are both having difficulty using the stairs.  My hubby has Parkinson's and dementia and I have something that is related to Myositis (my legs, my hands and arms are affected).  More tests are needed to figure out my issue.  So, a stair lift was ordered from the U.K.  You know, we here in Canada are boycotting American made products and the decision to look at the U.K. instead was made.  Sad that we have to do this, but this is reality right now and in the future because once the Taco man is gone, there are many more crazy politicians ready to step in and take his place.  Not good for any country to only deal with the U.S.A.

So why the name Yo-Yo.  A friend and I were chatting on line and I said that I need a name for the device and it had to be quilt related.  She suggested Yo-Yo.  It is quilt related and like a yo-yo, it goes up and down.  Perfect!  LOL

We now have a keyless entry to our home.  Now family members can come by and just put in the code and enter our home.  Safer for both hubby and I and saves my energy going up and down the stairs to open the door for them.  That is where I'm at with my health.  I have to conserve my energy if things are to get done around the house.

An OT (Occupational Therapist) came to our home to give me advise for myself.  When we went down to my studio, she gasped when she saw what I was using to stand on to pin stuff to my design wall.  I have to change what I'm doing big time as I am unsteady standing.  More on that later as I have to get a special stand built and she is coming back next month to check it out.  She was happy to hear that I have been doing physio every week since January.  The physio is helping but my life will never be the same again.

This afternoon, my sister and I are going to a nursing home to look at respite care for my hubby so that I can have a break when needed.  This is where we are at with my life right now.  My hubby needs more help these days.  Guess what I will also be doing when I'm at the nursing home .....

Life is getting more difficult these days and my posting will become less and less.  At some point, my blog will close, but not just yet.  

So .... cherish your day, cherish your life and cherish your country and my country will always be CANADA!

June and July Challenge Update

June was a good month for me for the Chookshed 2025 Challenge.

Good progress on this project called "Simply Serene".  I scrapped the brown out and replaced with floral looking fabrics.  This will be perfect for a donation quilt now.  My goal for July will be to assemble all those blocks and add borders.

Now, for this UFO .... as you can see much progress has been made on "Joseph's Coat".  The 'before' on the left vs the 'after' on the right.  My goal for July will be to move this project along more.  Seems my mojo is back!

My sister and I have been spending a few nights at the cottage lately.  On one of our trips, this flock of geese came and spent the day on our lake.  This is so unusual, but we think it was because of the air quality from forest fires up north and they came south for fresher air.  The flock has since gone back north.

Canada Day is July 1 and we are celebrating our freedom and as the country of CANADA.  To Taco Man ..... well, you will just have to get over it and move on and create another crisis (as in 24/7 chaos mode) of your making.  

To all my fellow Canadians .... Happy Canada Day!

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

May & June Goals

Well, well .... May was a good month for me for the Chookshed Stitchers 2025 Challange.  Got lots done!

First, this Xmas top is assembled.

The following photos show off the fabrics.  They look like Xmas wrapping paper to me!  There are a lot more fabrics than shown here, but you get the idea.  I've been collecting Xmas fabrics for a while now and it was time to start cutting up the fabrics.

Borders got sewn onto this top.

There are now 5 tops to go to the LAer.  I did get backing done for one top, but that is all.  Ran out of time and energy.

My Chevron Log Cabin is done.  More photos to follow later.  I've been toying with an idea to add something to this quilt and will have to experiment to see if my idea turns out or not.  

Now, for my June goal (singular, not plural) will be to move this project along a bit.  There will be lots of applique involved.

Cherish your day, cherish your life and cherish your country!  My country will always be CANADA!  Elbows up, Canada! 

January and February Goals

It has been a while since I last posted, but I have been busy.  My computer is old (like me ... LOL) and is giving me a bit of grief every now and then.  I know that a new computer needs to be bought, but darn it, I like this one and to learn new computer functions is not enticing me to go out and buy one.  If it ain't broke, don't change it!  You know what I mean!

Also, I'm busy doing other things now around the house and don't have as much time to sew as in the past few years.  Life happens and I have to go with the flow.

Anyway, my January goals for the Chookshed Stitchers Challenge have been met and then some.  Two tops completed.

First one is "Scrappy Xmas Trees" by Coriander Quilts.

This one is a scrappy log cabin.  I have no idea where this pattern came from.  It was started back in 2014 thereabouts.

Row 9 was added to my Chevron Log Cabin quilt-as-you-go quilt and Row 10 has been started.  This will be my goal to finish Row 10 for February.

Also, for finishing into completed tops will be these two projects.  The one on the left is "Unallocated" by Michelle McKillop and the one on the right is a scrappy bargello by Bonnie Hunter.  The difference with this bargello is that the rows continue all the way across the width.  I just had to do some math to make sure that there was enough fabric to go all the way across.  This is more of a controlled version.  I've been dipping into scraps and stash to make these two projects.

Our winter has been very cold lately and you know it when going out into public people are complaining about the cold.  With the snow and the cold weather, ice fishing has started and there are all kinds of huts out on our lake.  Also, our ski hill is open and I can see people coming down on skiis or snowboards as I drive by the hill.  Oh yes, winter is definitely here until we get a thaw and the snow and ice start to melt.

The deer have been visiting our garden in the front yard looking for food.  They were here last year and remember a certain shrub and are back again to chew down on it for food.  If they were to venture into the back yard, there are two more of that same shrub that they can eat.

Cherish your day, cherish your life, cherish your country!