On a Whim

So far, this month has been a bust for quilting.  Life has been busy and I'm tired by the time evening rolls along.  Now that it is mid-month .... I had better get my butt into gear and get something done!

I did pull out my donation box looking to see what was in there that could be used.  These two blocks were pulled out and I wondered what could be done with them.  There were other blocks but .... blah .... they just didn't work.  So, these blocks stayed and then I started to play.

At night guild, we were shown a new block to do and once instructions were sent to me, viola, here is the block.  Except, I did a boo-boo and didn't quite make the block correctly.  I'm ok with my mistake and all four blocks will stay as is.  No, Jack the Ripper is not coming out.

Then, in the box was a strip of these pinwheels and they got ripped out and used.  Four churn dash blocks got made.  The blocks are starting to add up and fill in spaces.

Then another four blocks of this one.

Below is what my top is looking like so far.  There is still one more block to do and I'm searching for a pattern.  I'm thinking of doing the potholder method to quilt this top.  I've been wanting to experiment with this method for some time now and think this will be perfect.  If it doesn't come out the way I envision, it will be a utility quilt for the cottage.  If it looks nice, then it will be up for donation.

Last week, my sister and her two daughters and I had a marvellous evening out dining in a dome outside on the restaurant patio!  We were told to dress warmly and in layers.  The dome was heated but we were provided with blankets to wrap around our feet and legs.  The temps was just above freezing and we just sat back, drank and enjoyed the food and company.  We had a blast!  My sister's hubby did the driving of us back and forth so that we could drink and not worry about who would be the DD.  Below, is my sister (on the left) and I.  There is a photo somewhere of the four of us, but I just couldn't find it in my files or phone.   

The month of January and half of February were like spring.  No snow and daytime temps were above freezing.  The snow was melting.  Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.  Then, we had a dump of 6" of snow yesterday.  So, so happy to see that for this summer and forest fire season.

Two deer came around this morning and nibbled on our euonymus plant.  We think it is the same deer that decimated it last winter and remembered and came back again.  No problem, the leaves will grow back in the spring as it did last spring.  No photo of the deer, just their footprints in the snow.  Hubby woke me up at 6:15 a.m. this morning to show me the deer.  After admiring the deer, I crawled back into bed.  We were busy later shovelling the snow.

From time to time, I receive emails from followers who have been reading my blog for many years now.  They just want to say how much they enjoy my blog and how much they have been inspired.  Some, I can reply back to but most are no-reply addresses.  Thank you, kind readers.  I'm getting close to 1.3 million views, so I know that I have reached out to many quilters over the years.

Yesterday, I received an email from a gentleman whose wife has terminal cancer.  She is an avid reader of my blog and he reached out to me to tell me.  So, if you are reading this and you are the wife of Jason Burnside, 'hello' and thank you for reading my blog.  I hope that you also have been inspired by something on my blog over the years and have enjoyed reading about and seeing my quilts.

So far, I have made over 200 quilts ..... from NICU blankets, to runners, place mats, lap size to queen size quilts.  You, dear readers, have been part of the reason for me making so many items.  You have kept me motivated to show something on my blog and the results are there for me to see.  Many of the quilts have been kept for hubby and I ..... but quite a number of quilts have been gifted or donated and I'm moving into more of the donation period now.

Next week, I will have been blogging for 17 years.    As long as my eyes and my hands work and I'm alive, then I will be blogging for many more years.  Heck, I have the stash to keep me busy!  LOL

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Oh, how rude of Mother Nature and a squirrel!

Rain, rain ..... lots of rain .... and then SNOW!  That was our Thanksgiving weekend here in Northern Ontario, Canada.  Our wood stove was constantly burning wood to heat our tiny cottage.  If you would like to know what our life is like at our cottage, then read on.

The rain didn't hold back the ATVers.  Out they went, all bundled up against the cold and the rain.  They came back drenched and cold, but quickly warmed up in our warm cottage.  There were a few times the sun came out but it didn't stay for long.  This is hunting season for partridge right now and everyone had to wear orange when out and about.  There were 2 side x side ATV's (holds up to four people in each) and 3 regular ATV's.  Good thing our cottage lot has lots of room for parking 4 vehicles, 3 trucks plus 2 trailers holding the ATV's plus all the ATV's once off the trailers.  It was quite chaotic in the back lot.  As long as there was a clear path to get to the outhouses ... no problem.

A couple of the guys ventured onto a be.a.v.er dam.  Walking carefully, it held them up, no problem.

There were lots of quilts on hand to keep everyone warm at night.  The temperature dipped to around 1C (33.8F) at night to around 4C (39.2) during the day.  So, it was a cool weekend.   

Just a few days before we were having such beautiful autumn weather and then it quickly dipped.  We are hoping that we will return to more weeks of nice weather to go back out to the cottage.  We didn't close it up for the winter, so there are still chores to be done.  We did get our screen porch wrapped in plastic and a post installed to support our roof against the snow load to come.

No quilting stuff came out with me to work on as there were just too many people in our small cottage.  Only embroidery on this pillowcase.  Not much got done as there were two babies to look after and they didn't nap at the same time.  As you can see by the date on this photo, I don't think it has been touched since.  Time to get the second pillowcase done and out of my cupboard.

Then, on Monday morning, we woke up to about 2" of snow on the ground.  Gosh, but it looked like Christmas morning.  So quiet and white.

There was enough wet snow to make a snowman.

My sister and my cottage with the screen porch all wrapped up in plastic.  

Just three of the littles that kept us busy.

I asked this one if she deliberately brought out an elf costume in the off chance of snow?

Board games came out and a bunch played or looked on.  There is no electricity at our cottage (only minor solar power) .... so we have to find our own amusement.

This was the road on my way home.  Snow on the edges and quite muddy in places.  There were some downed trees on the road; but, they were all cleared by the time I left.  So, that was our Thanksgiving weekend.  Very busy!

This is the be.a.v.er dam at the bridge that was shown in an earlier post.  The dam was built up again after the last breakage and here it is opened up again.  Probably, next time we go to the cottage, it will be built up again.  It appears that someone is managing the level of the pond so that if it does break naturally, the rush of water won't wash the bridge out.  This was the best photo that I could get as a truck pulled up behind me and I was blocking the way.

  

On the quilting side, I'm starting to play around with this new project.  It will be a quilt-as-you-go.  I just had to start something new.  Oh, that pesky squirrel.

Cherish your day, cherish your life! 

Hexie a go-go

So, so happy to have this finished and not have anything else left to do on it.  From start to finish, it took me about two and a half months.  Used up charms and lots of scrap batting.  Did I mention that I'm so, so happy?  LOL

The fact that the back looks just as good as the front ..... two for one!  Bonus!

Now, for some random outdoor photos.

Quilt Details:

Started:  April 7, 2023

Finished:  June 27, 2023

Hexie edge size:  2-1/2"

Quilt size:  56" x 78"

Batting:  poly scraps

Hand pieced and hand quilted!

Now, for my next quilt-as-you-go project .... this will be it.  This won't be started for a while as there are a few UFO's that I would like to move along, or hopefully finish to a flimsy.  Once started, this will consume all my time until it is done.

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!

Hexie a go go!

Great progress has been made and my goal is to complete it this month!  Can I do it?  I think I CAN!

This is how my sewing of the pieces look.  I can see a bit of thread from the front.

This is the back showing my whip stitch.  A variegated crochet poly/cotton is being used to sew the hexies together.  It is a tad hard to sew with the crochet thread, but it will be stronger than just regular thread.  Plus, this was in my stash and a good way to use some of it up.  Waste not, want not .... use it up or give it away.

 

Some readers have been wondering at the size of these hexies.  The edge size of my front hexie is 2-1/2" so that my hexie finishes at a good size.  Roughly 5" high and 4-1/2" wide.  Perfect to use up repro charms for the front pieces.  Batting was cut out the same size and some batting strips were frankpieced.  Again, use it up as those strips would have ended up in the landfill.  I'm feeling very resourceful these days!  LOL  Use it up ..... use it up .... use it up ..... that seems to be my motto lately.  The more that gets used, the less in my stash.  I'm looking ahead ..... years are adding on to my age and I won't live forever to use up my stash.

The violet template (below) is my backing template.   Fabric squares were cut out at 5-3/8" wide x 6-1/2" high and then trimmed using the template.   The template could have been bigger to make turning the edges over easier, but this is what was found after rummaging through my EPP templates.  The sizes turned out great for me after all.

This is what my project looks like so far.  The bottom two rows have all been attached.  The next two rows up will be next to sew together and then they will be attached to the bottom two rows.

Only 5 more hexies to make and then I can concentrate on finishing this quilt.

Oh happy, happy days!

My mind has been dancing with new ideas to try out.  I'm thinking the Kingfisher quilt but with a twist.  Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Our area has been having air quality alerts from the forest fires in Quebec.  Yesterday morning was pretty bad.  The smell of smoke was quite noticeable.  We so badly need a couple days of rain to put out those fires.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

Hexie Quilt-a-long and 46th wedding anniversary.

Much, much progress has been made on this project .... because ....  that is the only thing I'm working on right now, except for bindings!  I'm obsessed with these hexies!

After looking at this photo, I realized that most of the hexies have been turned around ... so great progress has been made.   Since this quilt will be reversible, I want the back to look interesting too and colour placement is crucial.  You can probably see some triangle scraps sitting on top of some hexies.  Those are the back colours that will be used of which some are off on the side waiting their turn to be used.

A lot of batting pieces have been used up in the process, of which I'm totally pleased about and a lot of charms as well.  My charm bin is reducing, but there are a few more quilts that can be made using them up.

The program that hubby is on for Parkinson's is working for him.  He can now get up off the floor or ground when he falls.  Gardening is now better for him.  He can pull weeds without falling over while on his knees.   He still has issues with walking, but there are still two more weeks to get into a good pattern for that.  There has been improvement, but more to come.  The important thing is to keep up the work after the program ends.  Heck, the program has been good for me too.  I participate in the warm up exercises and then sit back and observe for the rest of the session.  Next up that I need to obtain is a doctor referral for a speech therapist and another for dizziness.  He is having great difficulty speaking some days and the dizziness is an ongoing situation for a number of years now.  He has had an MRI showing nothing to cause it.  Dizziness is part of Parkinson's, so that could be the cause.

Cottage season is now here.  My sister and I took a run out with a load of supplies.  A beaver has been busy chopping down a tree.  I didn't take any photos but will next time out there.  We did have some flooding in our area and our lake was up about 4-5 feet above normal.  We can tell by the debris left on the shore how high it rose up.

Today is Mother's Day as well as our 46th wedding anniversary.   I've never spoken of this to too many people as I didn't and don't want sympathy.   I'm writing this for posterity for my descendants to know the story as this post will be published into a blog book as well as recorded on the family tree info.  This is a happy/bittersweet day for us.  We were married in 1977 at 2:00 p.m.  My Day died from a massive heart attack on the way to the reception.  He was gone around 4:00 p.m.  My brother's girlfriend had a baby girl around 6:00 p.m.   To compound the issue, my Dad's mother passed away on the same day in 1969.  A day full of joy and sorrow.

I remember telling my parents our plans and they looked at each other when they found out the date.  I wish they had said something at the time as the date could have been changed for another day.  After the funeral, my Mom asked me why that date was chosen and I told her that was the only time available for the church as well as venue.   Would it have changed the outcome?  Probably not.  It is what it is and life goes on.   I was 16 at the time my Grandmother passed away and I didn't keep track of important dates back then.  I wish I had.

In hindsight, our wedding was small with only immediate families on both sides.  Our parents were our witnesses to our wedding and what an honour to have their signatures on our wedding certificate.  A friend of my Mom's was going to write up about our wedding in our local paper because this is how weddings were done before the invention of the current wedding parties.  

So, now you all know.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

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