Sunday, December 31, 2017

Happy New Year!

I had a long, lazy stitching time this morning. I don't know if it's the extreme cold making me want to hibernate, sit under a lap quilt and do some applique, but I'll go with it!


Not much in the way of interesting photos to share of my stitching....I'm working on a lot of vine at the moment on my Down the Rabbit Hole. I do like working on vines....just mindless stitching along while watching tv or having some thinking time.

In January I'll be piecing the final border on this quilt. The problem is that I have no idea what fabrics or colours to use. Scrappy?....or consistent to give the eye a break? I've seen many ideas on the DTRH Facebook page and they are all wonderful!

Why not visit Kathy today at Kathy's Quilts for the last Slow Sunday Stitching of 2017? 

Happy New Year!....and for any Scot's in the crowd, "Lang may yer lum reek"!





Tuesday, December 26, 2017

OMG - One Monthly Goal...Done!

I'm so happy that I finished my goal for December, with time to spare!

My goal was to finish the two rabbit borders for my Down the Rabbit Hole....



I'm quite happy with them. I hope to have some time this week to do some major prep work for the final two borders.

Here is a reminder of the quilt so far...




Within the last two weeks I heard about a Boxing Day race down in Hamilton, so that's where I'm off to today. It's freezing out there but at least it's not snowing and blowing. I much prefer running in the cold than in the heat and humidity!





Have a wonderful day!

I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal December Finish Link-up Party.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Christmas Eve Stitching

Well, here we are.....Christmas Eve morning.

Today is the day I celebrate with my family. I'm so looking forward to it. I just love setting a nice Christmas feast. This year I'm trying a couple of new recipes, so wish me luck!

When the kids were young I would wake up so early on Christmas morning and wonder what was wrong with everyone in the house...how could they sleep in so long!!?? Things don't change much, yesterday and today I've awoken at 4a.m. with my head just full. Hopefully, on Christmas morning I can have a long, lazy sleep!

The bonus of an early start is starting my day with some stitching, of course.

I settled in to watch a sappy Hallmark Christmas movie (my guilty pleasure!) and started the two final borders for Down the Rabbit Hole...


I'm still having problems with getting pictures to transfer to my blog so that's all you can see for now.

Lots to do this morning....but it all comes together on time, doesn't it. I was able to do some meal preparation yesterday. The Instant Pot sure came in handy...I actually used it three times yesterday! Once was a cheesecake, the other some baked beans (I know, not traditional, but there's a reason!) and in between that we threw together a quick lunch in the Instant Pot...


....very yummy!

This feels like it will be a special Christmas. I hope yours will be special, too. 

Although, I am a little nervous about my family travelling to get here...as I type away at this a Special Weather report has come through on my phone warning of snow later today :(

Have a great day and I hope you can take a few moments to visit with Kathy to see what others are working on for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Merry Christmas, xo




Saturday, December 23, 2017

PEIMQG Mystery, Clue #4....Done!

With all the hustle and bustle that comes with Christmas-time, I almost forgot about completing Clue #4 of the PEIMQG Mystery Quilt-along that needed to get done by the end of the month. 

I took a bit of time Thursday afternoon to work at it. There were three methods to choose from on how to construct the blocks...I chose "improv with improv". Everything worked up so easy, I really like the method.

Here are my blocks...



Usually by now in a mystery we can take some pretty good guesses as to how the quilt will evolve....so far, though, I'm stumped!

If you want to join in, I'm sure you can catch up...you can look into it HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


As of this morning I have completed my OMG-One Monthly Goal, which was to finish the bunny borders on Down the Rabbit Hole. I'm very happy about that....not so happy about some of my fabric choices, but I'm sure it will work out in the end.....right???


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lately I've taken note of all the quilts I have in this house and realise it's time to gift some of them out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not stingy with my quilts. Many people have received them as gifts and my children have many, as well. 

When the family comes home for Christmas Eve they're going to take some quilts home with them...


I think there's still a couple more to add to the pile! This is feeling good!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a reminder to think about joining in on the 6 & 6 in 2018 challenge issued at Pomegranite and Chintz

It is a challenge to help move some of our ufo's along....and then fun of starting some new ufo's projects!

I have been mulling it over and am sure to have a few ufo's to put on the list. I'll get my list together before the end of the year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Does anyone have suggestions of  good shows on Netflix?

We recently finished Mad Men, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Finished The Crown, although I think I slept through most of it. I came across a mystery series called The Five and we enjoyed that, too. 

I haven't watched the second season of Stranger Things yet, maybe I'll do that soon.

I am linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? 





Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Bees, bunnies and kitty-cats

Well, time certainly does seem to speed up the closer we get to Christmas, doesn't it?

I started on a bit of baking yesterday and will do a bit more today.

I've rarely made these cookies that my sisters and I enjoyed when we were young....


...because they have coconut in them and my kids did not like coconut. I figure I'll give them a try now to see if the grandchildren will eat them. 

I also made some cookies to share with my grandson, as he was coming in the afternoon to help put up the Christmas village. He was a good helper and was enthralled with all the music and moving parts...


Of course, there was one unhappy camper who hated to give up her cozy nest so the village could be built...


While out and about this week we stopped in for the first time at a new cafe in Simcoe, Joy's Bakery and Cafe, where we had lovely lattes and one of the best scones I've ever had! Two thumbs up from me....we'll be back!


Not much sewing done this week, I hope to rectify that shortly after Christmas, but I'm making good progress on my applique.


I'm very much liking my bees...even more so now that I've outlined the wings in a stem stitch. They were kind of disappearing into the background before. I'll have to find a bit of time to do a bit more applique prep-work in the next couple of days.

I kind of like that I'm showing my bees and am linking up with Let's Bee Social with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts.

I am also linking up with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers.

Have a wonderful day :)

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Sunday Stitching

It's so nice to be on Christmas break!

People are always wanting snow for Christmas....a lot of times in recent years it just doesn't happen.

Well, this week has certainly made up for it. My Christmas break started with a Saturday morning run...



I was wishing for cross-country skis at this point of the run. It wasn't a terribly long run as I had a full day in store, but my legs are telling a different story today!....running in the snow really does use the muscles in a whole new way. I don't mind running in the cold, I actually prefer it, but I may think twice in the future about running in slippery conditions. We'll see.

After the morning run I had to rush home, have breakfast, shower and get going to my LQS for the monthly Border Creek Mystery class followed by a truly lovely lunch with an old friend. I think that is one of my favourite "over-50" activities..."doing lunch", lol.

Today I am ready to slow down a bit and start getting the house in order for Christmas, but I did begin the day with a bit of stitching, of course.

I took the time today to finally put a label on my A Year in My Life quilt. It had to get on the quilt as the six hearts included in the label make up part of the "year".



I hope you have time to visit with Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. You'll be able to see what others are stitching on today!

Friday, December 15, 2017

Who's ready for a challenge?

I've recently come across a new challenge to begin in the new year.

The name of the challenge is 6 x 6 in 2018. The idea is to make a list of 6 UFO's you'd like to finish up in 2018, and 6 new projects you will start...although you don't have to list the new ones as you may not even know what they are yet!

You can read about it HERE at Pomegranate and Chintz or HERE at Frayed at the Edge.

There are a few(!) UFO's I'd like to get to so this sounds like fun to me. I also hate to admit it, but I already have a few new projects starting up in 2018, too. 

I hope some of you will join me in the challenge, as it's always good to get some motivation to attack some UFO's!

*********************************************************************************

Again, another post thinking ahead to 2018 can be found HERE at Quilting Jetgirl. There is also a "button" to the right entitled #2018PlanningParty that will take you there. 

Yvonne is asking us to reflect on our quilting year and list some goals for the year ahead. 

You don't have to write a blog to take part, there are a couple of ways to join in....and to make it even more fun, there are many prizes to be had!

I will be mulling over my projects and deciding soon what will be on the agenda for my 2018.

******************************************************


Today should be my last day at the longarm for 2017, unless I work on something of my own on my Christmas break. I know I would love to have some time do some piecing, that's for sure. Except for the actual busyness of the couple of day around Christmas Day, I hope for some peaceful stitching time.

I came across this teeny quilt that I won earlier this year, made by Sandra Walker at Musings of a Menopausal Melon...



It's been in my living room all year but now it actually goes with the decor! When I took this picture today, it was the first time I noticed that Sandra had actually fussy-cut a star to top the tree, lol! So cool!

******************************************************

I like that the last client quilt of the year is one made by my sister-in-law. For years she has said that she'd like to learn to make quilts....and now she has!

I also like that she took a beginner's class at her LQS, it certainly pays off. 

I especially like that this quilt is Canada-themed....a nice one to close out our sesquicentennial year! There are even patches commemorating the Tragically Hip.




We had a couple of errands to do on Thursday, so we stopped for lunch at Urban Parisian in Port Dover. I also had the free Peppermint Hot Chocolate that I'd won....so yummy and so worth the sugar intake!...



I am linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, and with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

Well, I'd best get at it. Looks like we are in for another snowy day so I'm glad I can stay inside and spend my time in the studio!







Image result for snowy day images

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Tips and Tricks

I was reading Yvonne's post today over at Quilting Jetgirl

The topic today is Tips and Tutorials and Yvonne is inviting people to write a post and link to her post.


Tips and Tutorials Tuesday



I have a little applique tip, but I think it is an important one....and maybe everyone this already, but here goes!

When finishing appliqueing a piece, make sure the tail of the thread is secured underneath the applique. Try to avoid leaving a long dangly thread.

Here is a bit that I appliqued today...


....and here is a picture of the back-side of the same piece.....



See the orange thread that I stitched with? Whenever I finish a thread I always tie a little knot anchored to the background fabric, then take two running stitches, making sure I'm just catching the background fabric.

Here's why...

As a  longarm quilter, I have quilted applique quilts where there have been long dangling dark threads. If they end up straying under a light coloured background fabric, they may be noticeable after quilting. Then your quilt could have what's known in the longarm industry as having "varicose veins"...not a nice look! 

By securing the the threads the way I have shown in the pictures, there is no chance of that happening.

Secondly, I always take these little stitches in the applique's seam allowance so that if I choose to clip away the background fabric behind the applique, I can do so without a problem.

On a side note....there is always discussion on whether or not to trim away that background fabric behind the applique.

 Here is my opinion...but in the end it's up to you since it's your quilt.....

I leave it if the quilt is going to be quilted on the longarm. If it's just a layer or two, I don't believe it adds much bulk. If I am going to hand-quilt the quilt then I will take the time to trim the background away, as it will be easier for me to quilt.

Next to be added are the bumble bees...


I may have to do the wings over as they should be further up the body of the bee...but maybe not, we'll see.

I'm quite on-track to finish the two rabbit borders this month. I'm pretty happy about that as I'm still hoping to begin hand-quilting on this one in February :)

As mentioned, I am linking up with Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl for Tips and Tutorials. I am also linking with Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social and with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers

Have a wonderful day and try to keep warm!






Sunday, December 10, 2017

Slow stitches....

Things are moving right along with my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt. I'm on track to finish the two rabbit borders by the end of the year, which give me hope that I'll be quilting this one by the beginning of February (crossing my fingers!).




Simple things make me happy....like how my leaves are actually little fussy-cut trees...



It's a slow start to the day, we stayed up way too late last night watching a few episodes of Mad Men. We're trying to finish the series before starting the second season of The Crown. I actually slept in, which is unheard of around here!

We hope to find something Christmas-y to do today. So far I'm just seeing some kind of Vendor/Crafter's event in Paris so that may be what's in store for today.


A few weeks ago we bought an Instant Pot and have had very successful meals. The other night we tried ribs for the first time. I'd say within an hour we had the best ribs that I have ever made.

We also did a practice run of risotto....this is something we make for Christmas dinner (mainly because my grandson can't get enough of it). We needed to see if we could tweak the recipe a bit to make it vegan-friendly. This year we have one vegan and two vegetarians joining us for dinner....not too much of a challenge, just a little planning involved :)


Happy to say, the risotto was delicious...I also have to admit that I do not make the risotto, my significant other is the risotto master in this household!

Here's a picture of the meal...I have to say the ribs probably looked better in person...they really were "fall off the bone"...



Have a wonderful day...hopefully you have time for some slow stitching. I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching to see what others are working on today.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

A return to Flowerville

It's been such a busy couple of weeks. I haven't been able to find any time to prep some applique work.

I have completed all four bunnies on the two borders of Down the Rabbit Hole...




....and completed the embroidery on this Life is Beautiful block, which just so happens to be read Life is Beautiful...



Life is Beautiful happens to be my go-to project when I have no applique ready to work on. 

My secondary go-to is the Flowerville blocks, so that is what I worked on this morning for my slow stitching...


I had an exasperating time at my local Canadian Tire store this week while I was getting an oil change, emission test and winter tires put on my car. As I sat fuming in the waiting room I was distracted by the tile work on the floor and thought it would make a great quilt border...



...but I can't even begin to figure how to do the math on it!!! Maybe I'll have to sit with a piece of graph paper one day and figure it out.

We had an errand to run this week and decided to check out the RetroFestive shop in Oakville. It was a blast...if you can, check it out!




My goal this month is to finish the applique on the bunny borders for Down the Rabbit Hole. Each of the two borders gets a tulip in the middle and some random flowers around the bunnies. So, not too much for December when life is so busy with Christmas coming up very soon!


I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching and with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal.

I'm going to take this opportunity to direct you to Yvonne's blog post for today at Quilting Jetgirl, entitled Why I Quilt. I found it quite thought provoking and hope you do, too :)

If I wasn't already in the Christmas mood, I would be this week. I have my two guild meetings.....one will have a catered turkey dinner and the other a huge potluck lunch! Bring it on!!!

Have a wonderful day...hopefully with some slow stitching of your own.




Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Completed...just in time!

I squeezed in a bit of time to get caught up on this month's sew-alongs....literally was sewing between 7 and 7:30a.m. to get these done!

I shouldn't have left it so long, as neither step was very time-consuming.

I have my blocks completed for the PEI Modern Quilt Guild Mystery Quilt-along....


....and I completed my monthly goal for November, which was the applique on the sunflowers and the pieced border for my Down the Rabbit Hole...


It's getting difficult to fit this one into the picture :)


I've had a lot of nice comments on Down the Rabbit Hole. Sarah Fielke's patterns are nicely written and come with a monthly video tutorial. Soon Sarah will be starting the patterns for her 2018 sew-alongs....that's right, she's offering two different quilts!

You can check it out HERE. I wasn't going to join again, but I have registered for her Simple Folk quilt.

Another bonus is belonging to the Facebook group for the BOM....lots of support and inspiration!

I am linking up with the PEI MQG for Clue #3 reveals. 

I am also linking with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social, Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Mid-Week Makers and with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal - November Finishes.

I'm not sure yet what my goal will be for December. There are a couple of items calling my name!

Have a great day!




Sunday, November 26, 2017

Bunny #4

An observation first....does it seem like we're all into the Christmas spirit early this year??? I know that I am! 

Maybe it's one of those superstitious things....like it means we're in for a traditional snowy winter? One thing I did hear that is supposed to be a "sign" is how heavy the pine trees are with pine cones this year. Have you noticed????


I have a lovely lunch to prepare for family today, but still managed a bit of stitching time to start my day.

I'm working on bunny #4 for Down the Rabbit Hole...



I love the background fabric for this quilt.

Soon all for bunnies will be done.....


...and I'll have to squeeze in some prep-work time for the next step, the tulips.

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching. Hopefully you can have a visit with her today to see what others are working on today.

Have a good one!


Friday, November 24, 2017

Alligators, bunnies and pups!

Yesterday I took a bit of time to get some piecing done on my Magnolia Mystery.

I like my fabrics, just not sure they are playing nicely together...but that's a mystery for you....just have to wait and see!



I don't know if that is the intended setting but I thought it looked nice!


In my last post, I shared pictures of a quilt that I had the pleasure of working on lately. You can read about it HERE




In some of the comments on this post, it seemed that some people thought this was my own quilt....it wasn't. This is a quilt made by one of my guild members in Hagersville...Betty. One day I hope to do this quilt though!


I've made good progress on my rabbits for Down the Rabbit Hole. 



The fourth rabbit is well on it's way, also. 

The other day as I was working, the thought crossed my mind to hand-quilt this one. I tried to push the thought away, but it kept niggling in my brain. I'd really like this completed by my guild's  quilt show next year, so it would be a challenge to have it done in time. Who am I kidding....it will be hand-quilted and I'm already looking forward to it!


As you know, we've had two litters of puppies with Cooper and Minnie and it's been such a wonderful experience. We even get the odd picture from happy pup-parents.....like this one just yesterday...



The white one is from our first litter. Turns out he has grown to 17lbs!!! So surprising as our dogs are 8 and 10lbs.

This week I decided to get Cooper neutered before Minnie comes into heat again....which may be soon. Ironically, we found out the same day that little Minnie has developed a slight heart murmur and the vet strongly recommends against any more litters. So, I feel better about the decision....and glad we found this out.

Today I am linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop! and with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

It's a beautiful day out there...hope you can get out and enjoy it!

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Jungle Friends

What a busy time of year, being a longarm quilter.

Pretty well any quilt done from beginning of November on is an intended Christmas gift. So much pressure to keep on schedule!

One quilt this past week was particularly fun to work on. It was a quilt made from a design by Lorna at Sew Fresh quilts.

The piecing was spot on, and the fabrics were perfect. Here's a couple of pictures...





I bought three of Lorna's patterns when I was lucky enough to see her trunk show...then I won two more thru' a draw at the PEI Modern Quilt Guild Mystery quilt! It will be difficult to choose which one to do first.



I ran in my final race of the year this past weekend....a Santa 5k in Hamilton. It was a lot of fun with lots of children and dogs running also. It certainly felt like being immersed in a Where's Waldo book!







...and a picture of all of us who participated from my running group in Port Dover, the North Shore gang (I'm the one give the peace sign in the back row!)...




I had some nice pictures to share of progress on my Down the Rabbit Hole, but for some reason they are just not transferring over to my blog.....next time, hopefully!

I am linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social and with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers.

Have a lovely day!!