Stitching on a Sunday

Looks like nice, bright Fall day, but as I look out the window I find I'm already missing the leaves on the trees and sitting out in the evening with a glass of wine. This summer went entirely too fast!

I started my day with some catching up on my Day in My Life (Quilty365) hearts. I have prepared them each day, but this morning appliqued them. 

Next was poking at my Auntie Green's Garden a bit. I'm a bit nervous that the green fabrics in this section are on the dark side. I think it could be remedied with the perfect colour flowers....maybe?

I'll have to audition some fabrics carefully for this, I think.

Sometime this week I plan to get it all up on the design wall to make some colour choices. I finally am getting the feeling that I'm getting over the hump on this quilt! 

As usual, it's a good day to visit Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts to see what others are working on today. Altho' as of this moment she is having trouble with her usual Sunday Linky....so maybe we'll see later on today. (....and, it's always a good day to check out her blog!)

Thursday Recap!

I'm pleased that I have been keeping up with my plan to be part of the Quilty365 project! I get the feeling that this is snowballing a bit and a lot of people are joining in ...... so how about you???

Here are my first week's blocks, they look great up on the design wall together!

Yesterday's isn't appliqued yet. All of my stitching right now goes to the binding of a client's quilt. You can see my "wild and goosey" blocks insisted on photo-bombing the pic!

If you check in at Stephie's blog at Dawn Chorus Studio you can see her beautiful blocks. Reading her post this morning raised some questions in my mind.

Wouldn't it be nice to keep a daily journal to jot down the meaning of our block that day?

and 

Do I wait til the end of the year to decide on a layout?

Or would that be way too much work with what will hopefully by at least 365 blocks? 

These are a couple of questions to think on early on in this project. I think I may do as Stephie mentions and maybe sew the blocks into nine-patches along the way. 

A cheerful "Day in My Life"

A cheerful day....because the incredible weather is still holding on this late in November, and because this quilt on the longarm just cheers me up....

I'm wondering if this is the first Kaffe Fassett quilt I have quilted for a client? I think maybe it is! The large blocks are perfect for showcasing the fabrics. 

I am also cheered by the fact that I get to meet an old friend for lunch on such a sunny day. Woohoo! I have to say that now that I am at this stage of my life, going on lunch dates is one of my favourite outings to do. Every chapter of our lives has it's perks, and going for lunch with a friend is definitely high on my list.

Just working with this quilt today makes me want to go visit a quilt shop, but I will resist that urge and save that for another day. 

I have been influenced by the mood of the day to do a bright heart for my Day in My Life project....again, a project started by following Quilty Folk's Quilty365!

 I guess you would almost think it's Spring-time by the look of this block....and it almost feels like Spring out there!

Again, you can see on this unfinished heart how I like to finger-press my seam before doing needleturn applique. This has improved my work tenfold and is easier to do, as well.

I have a feeling looking at this heart that I may be inclined to fussy-cut along this journey. I also notice that the day-by-day hearts are in no way going to be matchy-matchy...and that suits me fine. I know a lot of people need to have more of a controlled theme, and that's ok, too! Afterall these quilts are for our enjoyment, right?

A visit to Sparta

What a beautiful looking day! All sunny and no wind....although I hear we are in for more wind mid-week, similar to the wind we experienced last week, yikes!

I had a full day yesterday, starting off with the introduction of the new Border Creek Station mystery club called "Quilters' Legacy" being hosted by Quilt Junction. The pattern in being offered is two colour-ways and here is the stack of lovely fabrics that I will be working with....

I was really having trouble liking the green fabric, so I've had to swap it out for the red one in the picture....this feels so much better for me! I hope I haven't compromised my quilt, but probably not. The fabric line is Mon Ami by Moda.

I'm still determined to keep up with doing a heart per day for my version of Quilty365. It's funny how things work out sometimes. I had thought to do a heart in memory of the awful news out of Paris this weekend, so I appliqued a blue heart on Saturday....then went to the first mystery class. At once I noticed that the above green fabric is all about Paris, going so far as to have pics of the Eiffel Tower and the word Paris....

So bizarre! So today's heart is a no-brainer...

For more on this project, visit Audrey over at Quilty Folk! I swear this is only taking approximately 15 minutes of my morning applique time....worth it!

After my morning at Quilt Junction, we headed out for an afternoon drive to Sparta, Ontario. I have never been but heard a lot about it through friends. Of course, the first thing people say is that you have to get the candles!!!

So, yes, we bought candles...lots of them!....but most will be stocking stuffers.

Everything in Sparta is quaint and the buildings/architecture is old. Lots of little shops, featuring different artist's studios, as well.

Sparta Candles...

A shot basically capturing most of the town....

There were many quilt blocks on buildings and barns in the area, but I only thought to get a picture of two....

We took the opportunity to visit a couple of the local wineries, Quai du Vin (I meant to ask how to pronounce it, but forgot) and Rush Creek Wines. They were both lovely and friendly and we'll visit again if we are in the area.

I didn't realise that Rush Creek was all fruit wines, no grapes. I think a little-known fact is that if you are one to get migraines from wine, that it is probably the tanins from the grapes and fruit wines shouldn't bother you...at least this is what I have been told!

I bought a nice Pear wine which was much like a Reisling and another berry blend wine that I thought would be great for the Christmas table...yum!

It was an adventure finding one of the wineries....I'm sure we missed the "easy" way but we saw this tiny, tiny sign and followed it....

It led us along a winding, steep road that, I have to admit, made me scream a little, but we eventually ended up where we wanted to be!

Needless to say, after a busy couple of days I was ready for some extra applique time this morning. I'm still stitching away at my Auntie Green's Garden. I think, at this rate, by the end of the month I'll have both side borders done.

Have a visit with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts to see what others are poking at today!

Have a great day!

P.S. This is a message for RG....you have swayed me, as evident by the return of the Allietare button off to the right! lol

A Day in My Life

Well, after much thought I've made some quilty decisions...

I AM going to take part in Quilty365 that I posted about yesterday.....

....and I AM NOT going to take part in Allietare, Bonnie Hunter's upcoming mystery!

I don't have much time to piece, and was already feeling a bit of anxiety at the thought of trying to keep up with Bonnie's mystery, especially since on this upcoming Saturday I start a new Border Creek mystery at Quilt Junction in Waterford.

As a longarmer, this is my busy time of year, so one labour-intensive project is enough!

As for Quilty365, here is my first block....

.....and here is the back...

I have decided to cut my backgrounds at 3.75", to be trimmed to 3.5". They will probably be in the buttery colour that I like for backgrounds, but that could change depending on my mood each day!

This circle was done using a 2" Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Circle. Many of my circles will be using this size, but I'm sure that I will mix this up to make it interesting!

I picked the fabric that was peeking at me from a pile of scraps because I thought it would be a fresh look for a new project....or it could mean I'm bloomin crazy for starting a new UFO!!!

When I finished this first block, I pinned it up on the design wall so I wouldn't misplace it. Boy, does it look tiny! My first thought was to take the project up to 4.5" blocks, but no, I'm going to stick to this size......I think.

Later this same day.......

Well, another change of plans! I still love the idea of this project, but I think I'll go back to my long-ago idea of small hearts.

As I was sitting coming to this conclusion, a Beatles song that I like was running thru' my head. It's a favourite of mine called A Day in the Life and you can hear it HERE. This is what I will call my daily heart blocks, A Day in My Life, since each little block is to reflect each particular day!

I will include the circle block as my first block, I think, but here's a look at my first official heart block.....

I like it!....and I like the idea of this project. As I said yesterday, it would be awesome if some of my friends are inspired to take part, as well, be it with circles or hearts or whatever! My only advice would be to keep it simple or you'll be setting yourself up to fail.

I also sit here thinking of the group of ladies involved in my applique class last month. I wonder if any of them are bitten by the bug of hand-work? If so, this may be a fun little project...but if you need to make it more manageable, try a small block per week, perhaps?


The wind is still strong in my neighbourhood. I think it's supposed to be nicer out on the weekend, which is a good thing since we've decided to take a day-trip to Sparta. I've always wanted to go since I hear good things. It will also be a first trip of it's kind with the pups. Hopefully they will enjoy the day!

Have a great day!

Help ma' Boab!

A rough translation for the title of this post would be "goodness, gracious me"!

I'm actually considering another project....what's wrong with me???

I was reading a blog this morning by Stephie at Dawn Chorus Studio which you can also read HERE.

 She talks about taking part in a Quilt-along (aka QAL) with Audrey at Quilty Folk which you can check out HERE. 

The concept is to make a small circle block each day, picking out fabrics that reflect your mood on that day. It's even suggested to write the date on the back of the block in the seam allowance so if you choose to assemble the blocks in chronological order you will have that option since you thought ahead to date them!

Now, Stephie's blocks are beautiful, and she says it will only take about an hour a day to pick out fabrics and do the block. An hour????, hmm, I don't think I will stick with it if it takes an hour. I'm thinking, though, that some days could be spent on a more intricate circle, but a lot of time it really could take much less time.

I just recently completed my Circle quilt, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I'm tempted!

Then a far-off memory niggled in my head....I'm pretty sure I had wanted to do something similar at least 10 years ago with small heart blocks! How come this memory can come forward but I can't remember what I had for dinner two nights ago?! Even as I was in the shower this morning another picture came to mind....I think the couple of blocks are in the drawer of my "applique table"....and sure enough.....

These are only about 3.5" blocks, so quite do-able. I'm pretty sure these were done at least 10 years ago!

So, I'm posting the "button" on the side of my page to the right, entitled Quilty 365. I'm going to think on this for a couple of days. Audrey says we can start anytime, so I don't feel the urge to jump right in. Will I follow the group and do circles?, or stick with my original heart blocks?

I hope to hear from a couple of my quilting friends saying that they would like to join in, also! How about it????

Have a great day!

Stained and Trimmed

Trimmed

Cooper has been getting thick, long hair and it's been hard to keep up with the matts he's been getting....so I booked him in for grooming this month.

I was brushing him last night and one thing led to another....

That is about half as much as we trimmed last night. Usually he won't let me come near him with the scissors, but he seemed to put up with it this time. I think I'll have to invest in some proper tools if we are to do this on a regular basis. I'm almost embarrassed to show the picture of how he looks now but I know if we do this a couple of times we'll get better at it, right????? lol

One ear seems to be a lot shorter than the other :(

Stained

I was putting some stitches in my Auntie Green's Garden this morning. I'm always so careful so I don't know when this happened....

Can you see the coffee stain on the background right in the middle of the picture?

I'm not sure what to do. I think this is a first!

I almost tried to spot clean it with a bit of soap and water, but was hesitant since it may remove my placement markings. I think I'll try it when I'm finished this end of the border.

The other option would be to applique a nice circle over the stain... that's probably the easiest remedy! We'll see.

It's Remembrance Day, a day to be proud of the young men and women who serve our country. I feel even more pride this year now that I call this man my stepson...

We are so proud of you, Sergeant!