Wheels on the Cart!

A lot of work has been happening over the past few weeks at our cottage.  One bedroom that had dark panelling was transformed with a couple coats of white paint.  A new floor was also installed.  What a change.  Plus the outside of our cottage went from beige to Wedgwood Blue.  Sorry no photos, but we are happy with the changes.

While driving to and fro from home to the cottage, the fall foliage showed us its' glory.  This section of the gravel road to our cottage is mostly yellows.  Other sections are beautiful reds and oranges but we didn't stop to take photos of those trees.  We didn't want to linger on the roads too long as it is hunting season and we weren't wearing orange vests.

This was taken at our lake.

I've been admiring this cedar tree for many years.  It is over 50 yrs. old and was already there when my parents bought the property.  How beautiful those cedar trees have grown.  It would be perfect to take photos of one of my quilts hanging from a branch.

Here is my latest finish!  Whooohooo ....

The breeze was blowing and I had to quickly take my photos as the quilt danced in the breeze. 

Quilt Details:

I started making hourglass blocks in October 2020 during a sew along with Cluck Cluck Sew.  All my blocks were made using charm squares.  Yippee ..... that stash was greatly reduced along the way!

Then, I started playing with EQ7 to see what interesting design I could come up with to use all those hourglass blocks and viola "Wheels on the Cart" was born.

Started:  October 2020

Top finished:  January 2021

Quilt finished:  October 2021

Quilt size:  74-1/2" x 93-1/2" (top size before quilting, washing and drying:  76-1/4" x 94-3/4")

Batting:  Hobbs poly on a roll

Machine quilted by:  Kathy Wareham

Another quilt is done and the top was finished during the start of a long covid lock-down!  What can I say except how happy I am to have this quilt finished and ready to enjoy this winter.

This past weekend was Thanksgiving here in Canada.  This year, it was decided to spend the holiday at our cottage.  It has been over 25 yrs. since we last did that.  The weather was perfect and the temperature was warm and that is something we haven't seen in many years.  The younger generation hit the trails and roads on their atv's and what fun they had. 

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Wheels are moving!

In the right direction!  This top is now done and will be going to my lovely LAer pretty soon.  Just need to get a backing together and frankenpiece a batting.

My vision for this top came true and I am very happy with the way it turned out.   Cross one project off the UFO list.  

Now, another UFO has already been pulled out and it will be worked on this week.  More on this next post.  

Cherish you day, cherish your life!  Wash your hands, wear a mask and keep your distance.

Going in different directions!

More like spinning my wheels in different directions!  

All the wheels have now been appliqued onto the background strips.  Yeah.  Progress.  Something accomplished!  The photo looks washed out from the bright sunshine spilling into my studio.   It is cold outside (-17C or 1.4F).  It is good that we have snow on the ground, otherwise there would be water pipes bursting.  Still those wheels are something to celebrate.  Now, I can concentrate on assembling all the sections together now.

What else is keeping my hubby and I busy?  Chairs.  These chairs were purchased ages ago from a restaurant that was selling them.  I bought two and my niece brought two with the plans for my hubby and I to redo them.  Well, years passed and we are now dealing with them and all four chairs will be for us.

The before on the right and the after.  Huge difference!

The chairs have been in the dining room since the beginning of September.  You can see the chairs on the left of the photo.  What is everyone doing?  Helping to make cucumber relish.  It is good for others to help with the making so that they can continue when my sister and I can no longer.  We had such good help that day!

So, it has been a mess in my DR and LR for a few months now.  Something always came up that prevented us from tackling them.  This job has been hard on my hubby and I to do this time.  We are no longer young and what was done quickly before, now takes twice or three times longer.

It is our plan to have two done before Xmas as that is our gift to each other.  We will not gather for Xmas and it will be just the two of us for Xmas and New Years.  Next year will be different now that a vaccine (or two or three) is available.  Such good news, but we still must be careful about gathering and wearing our masks when around people not in our bubble.  And washing our hands.  Very important.

This morning, my niece sent me a couple of photos from the past.  She was cleaning up an old USB stick and found these photos of me in my studio in Scarborough.  My T.O. friends will remember gathering there to sit and sew and chat and laugh.  Such good times.

So, that was my week.  What will be accomplished in the coming week.  More chairs done, for sure!  Other things too!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Wheels keep moving!

I try to work on this project for a few minutes each day.  There are times when I'm just too tired to do much but look and admire what has been done.

Today, it was pinning the wheels to the background fabric to get started.

That wheel has now been appliqued on.  One down, another thirteen to go.  Today, another wheel will be pinned in place and so on.  Perhaps by mid-December, this top should/could be done?  Maybe?

Now, how about a guessing game?  Do you have any idea what this is?

How about a mask for Pixie (Elf on the Shelf)!  She has to have a mask for safe travels back to Santa's workshop!  We all wear masks here in the province of Ontario and that means the elf has to have one too.  She is outside the usual bubble and she has to keep her distance too!

I wonder what my great-nieces will think of this?  Guess I will find out later today as this is the first day Elf appears leading up to Xmas.  This will be the 3rd Xmas she has made her appearance with my great-nieces.  I can still remember the first time that I saw Elf and made the horrible mistake of reaching out and touching her skirt.  Oh my, horrors upon horrors!  That was a definite no-no.  Their Mom had to (and I do mean 'had to') write a special note to Santa telling him how Aunt Rosie didn't know about the no-touch rule and to ask Santa to reset the Elf so that she would function properly.  Last year, the girls reminded me not to touch Elf.  Years down the road, perhaps they might read about this on my blog and know where that mask came from.  LOL

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Wheels on the Cart!

Well ..... all the wheels/stars are done!  Whew, that was a job trying to select fabrics.  My friend, Darlene, asked me if it was designed to have a row of darker hour glass blocks above and below the wheel/stars?  Can you see those rows?  Oh yes, that was intentional!

Hour glass blocks are starting to be sewn together.    

Since there are so many seams, they are being pressed open.  Less bulk at the joins.

See the beige fabric in the wedge part of the wheel/star?  There is none left.  There are enough scraps to make a couple 1-1/2" squares, but that is it.  Close call, eh!

If I wanted the quilt to be larger, it couldn't without introducing a different beige fabric.  That would not be a problem, because I would make it work.  The quilt size will be big enough for a single bed.

Here is another wheel/star.  They were made using EPP (English Paper Piecing) method.  The thought crossed my mind to do them using paper piecing, but EPP is the method that was used instead.

Most of this top has been made from Civil War charm squares; but I did have to dip into my stash a few times to find the right colour that was not in my charms.  

This is what is left of my CW charms.  This drawer was so full that it could hardly be opened.  I'm thinking there might be enough charms to make a thimble quilt, so that will be a new project down the road.  That is, as soon as I find my Dresden Plate template to make the thimbles.  It is somewhere ....

To all my American friends, have a safe Thanksgiving!  We had our Thanksgiving last month and there was a spike in Covid-19 cases afterwards.  Be prepared to see a surge of spikes a few weeks from now.  In our district, we currently have 11 cases (10 from a close contact) of Covid-19.  So far, we have had a total of 65 cases with 1 death.  We take Covid-19 seriously in our neck of the woods!  Wear a mask, wash your hands, regularly wipe down surfaces (your vehicle and your home) and keep your distance.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

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