Update or not on projects!

It has been a busy month for hubby with appointments, etc.  Still, a bit of work did get accomplished.

Meet Section B of my hexie quilt.  Can't believe that all these hexies will be assembled into a section!  These will be put on hold for a while and will be worked on later while sitting in our new gazebo and also for cottage trips.

Then, this UFO was pulled out and worked on.  After many, many years ..... a layout was finally decided upon and then pinned onto the design wall.  There will be some applique in the white border areas.  Soooooo happy to have finally made a decision!

It is hard to move or work on anything when this little guy flops down into my arms and sleeps like a baby!  What do I do?  Well, just sit back and adore him and watch some t.v. or even have a nap together.  Why not? 

A few weeks ago, when we still had snow on our back hill, five deer came for a visit.  Ridley wanted outside and he found an area with no snow and looked up at this deer for a very long time.  The deer stamped it's feet a few times but that didn't scare Ridley at all.  Can't see the deer?  It is just in front of the clump of three trees.  So very well camouflaged.  

I have also been busy hand quilting on my secret mini quilt for the Humble Quilts 2026 Challenge.  Just binding to add and a label, wash and dry and it is ready to be shipped out.  More on that quilt later once it has been received.

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

Elbows up, eh!

April Showers .... er ..... Snow!

We've been having snow and rain lately.  This coming week the temps are supposed to remain above zero .... so perhaps we will finally move into spring?!  The snow we had overnight has melted on our driveway and the sun is shining today.  

March was a productive month for me but not much for showing.

My hexie project has moved on quite well.  The blue border in section B has now been fully sewn together.  Yeah!

Lots of hexies have been prepped.

Alas .... there are still lots more to prep before I can start pinning them to my design wall.

What else did I do?  Curtains.  I'm recycling the curtains from my living and dining rooms.  Ridley, the cat, tore them down two years ago when we first got him.  He tried to climb the curtains but they and the rods came tumbling down.  Now, Velcro tape has been added and that is what is being used to hang them just in case he decides he wants to climb again. My curtains are just side curtains so they don't close.   So far, he has stayed away from them.  Perhaps he remembers what happened last time he tried to climb them.  Now, those rooms feel more like home once again.  The vertical blinds work, but they felt sparse and too clinic like.  When ordering the blinds, I requested something that he couldn't climb and he doesn't even try now.  Also, the blinds are easier for my hubby to open and close as he just has to stand still in one place.  Less chance for him and me to lose our balance.  That is so important these days with our disabilities.

What will I do for April?  

Well, more hexies for sure.

Plus, a secret project that I'm working on for the swap challenge with Humble Quilts.  I've decided to participate again this year.  This will probably be my last year to participate, so I will enjoy working on my project and to receiving my mini swap quilt.

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

Elbows up, eh!

Start of a new section

Here is the start of the next section on my Hexie quilt.  The blue borders will go on first and then as hexies become complete, they will get pinned in the center and probably moved around and around many times until I’m satisfied.

We have found out that Ridley loves playing in the snow.  He loves to chase snowflakes but can't find them when they land.  LOL  All of the paw prints in the snow are from him chasing the flakes.  We laugh each time we see him doing this but never have a camera on hand to catch him in the act.  Oh well, it just makes us happy to see him play and have such fun.

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

Elbows up, eh!

Longing for Spring!

Oh yes,  I'm so looking forward to spring.  We are supposed to get some more snow for the next couple of days.  There is still about 2' of snow in our backyard and more where the sun doesn't shine.  But, enough about that.

My hexie project is moving along.  Since this photo was taken, all the fabrics for the next three sections have been cut and placed in their separate baggies.  My plan is to have the same fabrics in each section.  As each fabric was found and cut out, a blank hexie was pinned to the fabric and onto the next one I went.  That is why you are seeing a lot of white.  Now, the hexies can be basted for the next section.   The blue hexies for the border are all ready, so I'm thinking of pinning those on the design wall.

Since today is also Caturday .... how about a photo of Ridley.  Some mornings, he just doesn't want me to get out of bed and he just wants to cuddle and snooze.

This is the quilt he is laying on and the quilt on my bed for the month of March.  This quilt was finished back in 2022.

Cherish your day, cherish your life, cherish your freedom and cherish your country.  My country will always, always be CANADA regardless of what chaos the orange clown will create next!  After he is done with Cuba, he will go back to Greenland and then Canada.  It so saddens me to see how he and his cronies are destroying the USA from within.  Canada has moved on and so has the rest of the world and we are not going to get sucked into his madness.  Remember to cherish, cherish, cherish and cherish!

Elbows up!

Spring Ahead

Well, I didn't get the memo and forgot to change the clocks before heading to bed.  Luckily my ipad is programmed to change and it did and when my alarm went off at 8:30 a.m., I thought it was 7:30 a.m. because that is what my beside clock said.   Nope.  No problem, I can have a nap later to make up for the lost hour.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to my niece's hockey game.  The calibre of play was incredible for under 11 yr. old girls.  They lost their game but improved for their next game this morning which they won and then won a shootout to determine who was going to the playoffs.   They are now off to the playoffs.  Woohoo!

What did I accomplish this past week?  Well, more than I first thought.

My four corner blocks are done for my Down Home Christmas project.  This is a night guild challenge and I want to get it done to show at our Xmas meeting in December.  There will be about six applique blocks to be done and they will get prepped and ready to sew while hubby and I sit in our new gazebo this coming spring.  Spring is definitely coming as the temps are hovering above zero for the next few days.  Such a nice, lovely change.

I've also been busy prepping for the next three sections on my hexie project.  See all the paper hexies pinned in place?  That means that the fabric has been cut out for the next three sections.  The blue borders are already all prepped, so I can start on the next border any time now.

These are my three little piles of fabric cut for the next three sections (there are lots more in their section baggie).  It feels so good to make a start on the cutting.  I could have cut all the fabric at one time, but I didn't know how it would look and instead decided to concentrate on just the first section.  Now, it is full steam ahead.

I was looking for another UFO project and will be doing a clean up on a few shelves in my studio.  I also found a pattern that I have been wanting to make for about a decade.  Some fabric had already been pulled to help me make a start anytime now.  I need to resist until a few other projects have been dealt with first .... unless a squirrel happens to drop by ...... LOL!

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

Elbows up!

One quarter done

Well, I’ve been busy sitting in my chair watching the Olympics.  Nice and cozy warm under a quilt just hand sewing my hexies.

Before I knew it .... my hexie project is one quarter done!  I'm in love with it.  I'm now starting the prep work for the next quarter.  Lots and lots of hexies to prep.  That will be good for evening work.

We are in a bit of a warm spell for now.  So nice after the bitter, bitter cold.  Yep, so nice!  The cold weather was especially hard for both hubby and myself this winter.  Heading to warmer places is not an option, so we just stay indoors and stay warm.  Spring will be here in a few months and we can get outside then.

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

Elbows up, eh!

A Hexie we will go ….

I’ve had a great week ….. got to work on my hexies.  I could just work constantly on this project and not do anything else, but I have a few goals to try to achieve this month.

This is 1/4 of the top.  

The top section is all sewn together as you can see by the white part showing between the sections.  Oh yes, I could easily just work on this.  This will be handy to work on while watching the Olympics next month.

Mr. Ridley is quite comfy to stay indoors these days.  It is -17C this morning and he just sniffed the air and walked away from the open door.  He remembers that was the temperature when we rescued him nearly two years ago and he doesn’t want to go back into that temperature again.  Here he is in his cat tree.  I bought a wicker basket for him to sleep in instead of the flimsy bed that came with the tree.  I had to cover the wicker because he started to chew on it.  The basket is screwed onto the tree so that it will not fall off.  Do you not think he looks like a prince surveying his territory?  He likes to watch the humans walking their dogs.  I wonder what he thinks of the coats and booties that the dogs are wearing?

Deer are back eating the leaves off of this shrub.  There were a total of four that came that day.

Freedom ….. I see the American freedom disappearing daily.  Is this what you really want?  What will you do when you are ordered to show up for an event and clap and cheer like crazy?  Wake up before it is too late.  

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

Using up scraps time!

Since I’m drowning in scraps ….. what is a gal to do …… but start a new Hexie quilt.  I needed a project to keep my hands moving and this is perfect.

There will be a blue border all around and all other colours inside.  I’m still designing as I go along and the inside could change.

I’m staying warm and cosy inside while we have sleet and a flash freeze happening outside.

So, I think I will just pull out my 37 pencils and sharpen them up ….. because I can and don’t have an orange clown telling me I need only one.   BTW, can a person buy just one pencil?  Nah, they come in a box of 10 at least.  What an idiot.  While your economy is going down, down, down, our Canadian economy is doing ok.  Our BUY CANADIAN is strong and growing.  How lovely to see more and more Canadian products on the store shelves these days.  Oh and there is a FB site to warn us of products that were made in USA but labelled to make us think it was made in Canada.  We’re on to your scam!  We have moved on and won’t be back because there are a lot of American idiots waiting in the wings and we have learned our lesson.

Today, I bought a dark fruit cake that has been soaked in brandy.  Does anyone else eat fruit cake?  We grew up eating it at Xmas time and I’m always looking for different brands in search of finding the version that my Mom used to make.

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

Summer Picnic

There, my January binding challenge is done.  Yeah me!

This was a LOT of hand stitching, but, so worth it in the end.  Whenever this quilt is shown, everyone remarks at all the embroidery that I did.  Nooooo ...... those images that you see are all from a pre-printed panel.  All I did was fussy cut them down to size and appliqued them onto a hexagon frame.

A mix of white, cream and off-white fabrics have been used throughout.  Below, it looks more beige on the right hand side, but it is just a shadow.

Then, I've also been asked about the hexie border.  Was that a printed panel also?  Nope, that is all hand pieced.  It was remarked that I have a lot of red fabrics.  Oh yes, I do!  LOL   The hexie border was a lot of work, but so worth it in the end!

I do like how the vertical diamonds in the the centre gets carried onto the top and bottom border.  Had to do a bit of thinking on how to bring everything together.  That happens when I come up with my own design.  Sometimes, that is the reason for a project to sit on the shelf for a long time until a light bulb moment happens.

Every time I look at the quilt and the images, it reminds me of summer and a picnic blanket .... thus the name.

Quilt Details:

Hexie size:  1-1/8" on the edge

Started:  July 2020

Top Finished:  August 2023

Quilt Finished:  January 2024

Quilt Size:  55-1/2" x 62-1/2" (top size before quilting, washing & drying:  57" x 64")

Batting:  Hobbs 80/20 

Machine Quilted by:  Kathy Wareham using Gothic Vine by Willow Leaf Stufios

This quilt is now hanging along with all my other red/neutral quilts for February and then it will hang again in June.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Just Hexing along ....

Can you see me rubbing my hands with glee?  Much, much progress has been made on this UFO!  Part of the red hexie border has been sewn together and attached to the center.

  

Three small sections are now ready to be attached to the center and to the border.  One section at a time and this top keeps moving along.

This photo below gives you a good idea of what remains of the red border to do.

Labels have been pinned to the left side border and photos taken.  Soon, all these hexies will get pinned onto my working boards so that they can be taken anywhere I go to work on them.

I'm still aiming to have this UFO as a flimsy by the end of August ...... and one small section at a time will see this done.

All of my UFO's are now being reviewed.  Which one will be worked on next?  There are still so many ....

Oh, and there just might be a squirrel showing up!  LOL

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Hexie coming along!

Much, much progress is getting done on this old UFO!  So, so happy to see this happening.

All the red hexies have now been prepped.  Sewing of them will happen along with the remainder of the white hexies.  Got to switch from white to red occasionally to keep boredom from coming and stalling this project. Still, isn't that red hexie border going to be gorgeous!  It will give the project that zing that I hadn't initially thought about.  My dear hubby suggested it to me and he was so right!

For the last section, all the white hexies have now been removed off the design wall.  They were carefully labelled and photos taken so that I will know where they are to be sewn onto the last section.

Here is where they all went.  Pinned onto these quilted squares.  Recently, when cleaning out a cupboard, they nearly got tossed, but the light bulb clicked on and they are perfect for this project.  They are easy to take along to the cottage for those lazy days of sewing on the porch.

One square of pinned white hexies have been sewn together and attached to the last section (bottom right).  Oh yes, lots and lots of progress happening.  My goal is to have this as a finished top by the end of August.  

Since taking the last photo, a section of the red hexies were removed and pinned onto a styrofoam board and ready anytime I feel like sewing on them.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering ..... that pile of red scraps didn't make a dent at all.  I'm still left with a good pile.  Hummmmmm ..... perhaps another red quilt will need to be made?

My July binding challenge is done and photos of the quilt will be coming soon.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Cheater hexies

In a bid to move this hexie project along, it got hung up on the design wall and the light bulb clicked on and I started to play.

As my idea was a happy thought, more and more white hexies were made.  This project is now moving along very nicely.  Why cheater hexies, you are wondering?  The centers are cut from a cheater panel and then appliqued into a hexagon frame.  If I didn't tell you this, you would think that hours were spent embroidering all those designs.  No, not this time .... but the panel did appeal to me and I just had to have it.  It was bought many, many years ago when that was quite the thing when vintage quilts were showing up on internet and in magazines showcasing cheater panels.  Most folks did theirs with pieced blocks, but not me!  LOL

The border will have red hexies ..... much more work for me.  At first, I was going to do a simple border, but my hubby really liked the border on this quilt and I have to agree that it is quite effective.  So, it shall be ...

Now, my "Hexie a go-go" is being worked on as well.  My goal for June is to finish it.  Right now, it is more than 3/4 done.  The section on the right are all attached and there are 3 more rows almost attached Still to do are just 3 more rows.  Getting there!  So, I will just plug away at it.  I do have to say that right now, the completed section feels soft.  It will be interesting to feel it once everything is attached and washed and dried.

My sister and I spent a day at the cottage this week.  When we arrived, we heard quite the commotion and we just stopped and listened.  It was a flock of geese flying overhead and they landed in the water.  Now, this was quite odd.  We normally hear them and then seeing them flying in formation in the spring and late fall ...... but not at this time of year!  What is going on?  We debated about this and decided that the smoke might be affecting them further north and they decided to just fly away from it; thus landing on our lake.  We are not affected by smoke this week.  They swam in front of our cottage and after counting the heads ..... there are over 50 geese in the group.  When we left after supper to head home, we could still hear them honking down at the end of the lake.  Will they stay the whole summer?

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Hexie a go-go Again

I do think that is what this quilt should be called ..... Hexie a-go-go!  Has a nice ring to it!  It is off the design wall and ready for taking along with me to the cottage for sewing together or along to babysitting (rest of June is going to be a busy month with babies).

The bottom four rows are now a finished section.  The next three rows up are attached into individual strips.  These strips just need to be sewn together and then sewn to the bottom section.

It is the middle of the month and this quilt is at the half-way mark.  I will plug away at this quilt and see if it can be finished by the end of June.

Here are the rest of the strips pinned together and marked so that they don't get mixed up.

This project was taken off the design wall to make way for this UFO.   It has stewed on the shelf for many, many years and the light bulb clicked on with an idea to finish it.  More on this project later!

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Busy as ....

This past week was busy and so is this week.  My Hubby has one more week with the Parkinson's program and then he has homework to do to keep up the exercises and tips for getting up when he falls, for putting on a winter coat walking, writing and so on .....

He did have a memory test and didn't do so well.  Based on this, the Doctor is reporting him to DOT and they will send him a letter revoking his driver's license.  I'm happy about this as he was doing some funny things while driving and hasn't driven for about a year now as I started taking him everywhere.  On the upside, he has been referred to a memory specialist and they can determine if his memory issues are related to Parkinson's or the start of dementia.  We will also have a home inspection to ensure that our home is safe for us to get around.  He has also been referred to a speech therapist.  There will be a lot of appointments coming up.

Aging sucks, doesn't it ....

On a happier note, my hexie quilt-a-long is coming along quite well.  There are about 60 full hexies and 7 half hexies to do and then I can start sewing them together.  

This photo was taken on an angle so you can easily see how many have been done and how many to go.

Sadly, the binding for this quilt has taken a back seat.  This morning, fabrics were pulled to see which one would work well.  Maybe I might do something outside the box for me and make a scrappy binding!  Oh my!  LOL  It is a small wall hanging, so it won't take long to finish this quilt.  I may take it with me to the cottage this coming weekend.  This needs to be done by the end of this month as it is this month's binding challenge.  Better get cracking!

Nights have been cool lately with chances of Jack Frost visiting.  These are my annuals and they will stay in the garage during the night.  After June 1, it might be safe to finally get them planted in pots and placed outside.

Back to the issue of the b.e.a.v.e.r and the tree it chopped down by the lake at our cottage.  At the water edge, all these branches were picked up by myself and my sister.  These were brought home and I will wash them and then place them in a pot for display.  I was totally amazed by the workmanship the b.e.a.v.e.r did in stripping the bark off these branches.

Look closely and you can see teeth marks.  Some are single, some are by two and some are by four to indicate upper and lower teeth.

When I picked up this branch, was this mud?  Nope, for some reason, the b.e.a.v.e.r skipped over a couple of inches of  bark.  Weird, huh!

How many hours did it spend chewing away the bark?  We will never know.

 

The cottage is now open for the season, but with a few hic cups.  We may need a new water pump as water was gushing out from the connection under the sink.  Yikes, it took five towels to soak up the water.

Ah well .... cherish your day, cherish your life!