Monday, December 8, 2014

Can this be a super-productive day???

I have nowhere to go today. No errands, appointments, etc. I'm hoping for a super-productive day! I have a client's quilt to work on and then hopefully time in the afternoon to play at part 2 of Grand Illusion.

On Sunday afternoon, I had hoped to work on mudding the guest room, in hopes that it would be done and painted before Christmas. I really couldn't put my mind to it, though. Needed to go pet and play with some fabric in the studio to take my thoughts off of Buddy.

So, I can thank the president of the Norfolk guild for what I did end up doing! Each month she issues a challenge. This month is to do something with flying geese. Well, as it happens, part two of Urban Owls is mainly flying geese....what a great time to get at it. I have been putting this BOM off a bit as I'm not sure about dealing with the wool and such. Which is silly, I know, given the fact that I like doing needlework! I did finish the geese except for the trimming of them, which can be done another day. Here is my flock....

So thank you, Madame President, for giving me the push I needed!

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Sunday outing...

We have finally taken a drive to Port Dover to try out the The Urban Parisian. It's a nice, little cafe on the main drag that I'd heard good things about from a few of my friends. I ordered my favourite beverage, a Chai Tea Latte and am happy to report it was one of the best I've had! I also had a croissant with sausage and cheese it the middle.....again, yummy! We will definitely be back again.



I'm also happy to report that I was a good girl....when we got home I immediately planted my Spring bulbs. Who knows when we'll have a mild day again!

I would like to work on this quilt today and get the borders on. It's the only quilty thing needing to be done for Christmas. When we were in Alberta in September, my future DIL took me to a local quilt shop. Stacy loved this quilt, so back the kit came to Ontario to be made into the perfect Christmas present for her and Kyle.




Have a great day!




Saturday, November 29, 2014

Do I like to applique?...well, let me tell you!

Yes, I am an avid applique-er!

Most of you know that about me already, it's no surprise, I'm sure. I also believe in trying new techniques and gadgets to possibly hone my skills. I hate to say it, but as a longarm quilter I do see the work of those who do and don't try to dabble in new techniques to find out if there may be "a better way". I have tried new methods over the 34 years that I've been a quilter and my theory is that if it works then I have improved my technique.....if not, oh well, it was worth a try! And, yes, just because it wasn't for me surely doesn't mean that it won't be wonderful for you!

Well, this past week I have tried a new gadget in my applique. New to me, that is!


It looks like a pen, but it's actually a very fine, sharp stiletto. I also got the white, silicone (?) pad that you see on the right side of the picture. They are items I bought from the Thimblelady, based in Australia.  This is not the first time I've ordered from her, I have her thimble, as well, but that's something to share in a future post!

This stiletto is called the magic seam folder and you use it instead of marking your applique piece with markers, chalk, etc. As you can see in the photo, it makes a bit of a score on the fabric and then is easy to needle-turn. Actually, maybe it's hard to see the scoring in the photo, but it's there! I was skeptical that the mark would last, but as you can see it is still there after two days since I marked that particular fabric. Mind you, even though there is a mark, the fabric is not at all damaged. I'm glad I bought the little pad. It makes a good surface to do the scoring on. Apparently this "magic seam folder" can also be used to mark quilting lines on your quilt.

Just to be clear, I am not being reimbursed for any product I blog about. These are just my personal trials into the many gadgets out there! I will definitely use this product for certain applique projects, but will also continue to use the Frixion pens that I have really liked in the past year or so.

The project that is in the picture is an applique kit I purchased while at QuiltCanada this past year in St.Catharines. Here is a pic of some of the blocks I have completed so far....

 
About thirty blocks done, and forty or so to go! This is not a project that I work on every day, but one I work on when I don't have other projects prepared and ready to applique! 

I finished a quilt this week for a client using the Popcorn panto. Over ten years ago I started out with three pantos, and Popcorn was one of them. After all this time, it's cool that it is still the perfect design for many quilts!

Have a great Saturday, and here is the question of the day....Is it too late to get my bulbs planted?....and why does this happen to me every year?




Friday, November 28, 2014

Happy Birthday, Sister!!

Happy Birthday to my sister, Linda!

There are four of us sisters and here is a picture of us with my father, celebrating Linda's 50th two years ago.

What a surprise party for Linda it was that day....she had no idea a party had been planned!

Happy Birthday little sister!! xoxo



 Here I am just practicing....I took a picture with  my phone to see if I could figure out how post it here and somehow I did it! lol

We went to Main 88 in Hagersville last night for our favourite pizza and wings. Awesome crust! This is a fairly new restaurant, they changed over from another pizza joint, and I hope they make it since we really enjoy their style of pizza!

Of course, many of you know that today is the start of the new mystery quilt, Grand Illusion, over at Quiltville. I have decided to take part since the quilts are always beautiful and a few of my friends are going to do it. I'm not going to start today, probably will be early next week. I really have to finish up a quilt top that is a Christmas gift before I get side-tracked!

Have a great Friday....and, again, have a wonderful birthday, Linda!


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Monday, November 17, 2014

Pictures in Posts

In this post, I am going to try to figure out how to post a picture. I hope you'll bear with me as a lot of what I'll be doing this week is learning by trial and error.....hopefully not too many errors! As I tell many of the new quilters that I meet, "Allow yourself to be a beginner"! So I will practice what I preach and hopefully I'll make some progress!

Here is a picture of Buddy. He's my Bernese Mountain Dog. This is a picture of him when we first got him last Christmas. Doesn't he look sweet??....lol...he is most of the time, but it's been quite a year of puppyhood.
Well, I thought I was getting the hang of posting pictures, but have obviously a bit to learn as seen by this picture of Buddy and Reese! Reese is my daughter's dog and she and Buddy are best friends. This picture was taken this summer, only moments after the two of them were in big trouble for something and sent to the mat! I had to take a quick picture because I couldn't believe they could look like such innocent angels only moments after being such devils!!! Surely, those of you with pets can relate :)

I'll get on trying to figure out how to rotate pictures, that will be the next thing to learn on my new blog adventure! Thanks for having patience with me. I also need to figure out how to take a picture with my phone and post the picture to the blog. I'm sure it can't be that hard, can it?

Bye for now!

Friday, November 7, 2014

And so I am a Blogger

Today I have decided to jump into being a blogger. It's a bit terrifying, but I'll give it a try!

Yesterday I decided that I will take part in Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt which starts tomorrow over at Quiltville. I wasn't going to because I sure don't have time to do all the piecing I would already like to do!.....but I know I've regretted not taking part in her last couple of mysteries. Bonnie is a pro at leading us thru' these mystery quilts....she has the process perfected and I would suggest joining in to anyone!

To make it more manageable, I've decided to do a smaller version of her new mystery. Oh, and I guess I should mention the title of the mystery.....Grand Illusion.

My first order of business will be figuring out how to add pictures to my blog! Stay tuned, I'll get this figured out!

Have a great day!