One Monthly Goal....November

November??? Really???

Now that Hallowe'en is done, get ready for Christmas music in the malls today. 

Wasn't it just Summer a couple of days ago?...it sure feels like it!




This morning I put a few stitches into this Life is Beautiful block...

I'd misplaced my embroidery floss for this project, but came across a bit so I could work on the block. I hope I can find more of this variegated floss as the shop that I originally bought it at has closed.

My monthly goal for November is to work on my Down the Rabbit Hole....

My goal is to applique the leaves onto the sunflowers in the corners of the piece and to complete the elongated hexagon border. Should be do-able!

This BOM has been designed and offered by Sarah Fielke. It's the second one I've joined in on. This week, Sarah has revealed the designs offered for 2018. That's right, she's offering two!! 

Just this weekend I said I wouldn't take part in the 2018 quilt...but, oh well, a girl can change her mind, right???

You can check out what Sarah has in store for us HERE. When you do one of Sarah's BOM's, you get monthly instruction plus an video tutorial and a great Facebook support system.

Today I am linking up with...

Elm Street Quilts for OMG - One Monthly Goal
Sew Fresh Quilts for Let''s Bee Social
Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers

Have a wonderful November day!

Food, food and more food! (and Lorna!)

Well, I don't think I'll be eating much for the next few days!

I've had two guild meetings the last two days....and a potluck meal at each of the meetings. So good....so much food!

There was a festive air at both meetings, everyone chattering away looking forward to Summer. Almost the same excitement as when we meet again in September.

I've been looking forward to yesterday's meeting in particular since we had Lorna McMahon from Sew Fresh Quilts as our guest speaker. 

I knew I'd want to buy a pattern or two of Lorna's, and it was so difficult to choose....but I did narrow it down to three...

We got to see all of her quilts in person.....

...and listen to Lorna talk about her quilts.....she is such an entertaining speaker! Thanks, Lorna, for a great trunk show!

As for stitching....finally, I have finished this block for my Life is Beautiful quilt....

I've been working on this block since before Christmas. I haven't enjoyed it. The only thing I like about it is that it is done! Ha!

So nice to start on the next block...

I'm linking up today with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social, with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers and with Mama Spark's World for WIPs With Friends.

Slow Stitching....or, "When will this block be done!?"

Today I will need to find time to do some applique-prep. On days like this, with a lack of applique ready to go, I turn to my Life is Beautiful.

This block has been in the hoop since before Christmas....just dragging along, so much so that I really don't like it!

 Even my stitching is not working out so good. I think I've  just got to get it done and carry on with one I can enjoy.

The funny thing this morning is reading that Kathy at Kathy's Quilts is working on the same block and finding it taking a long time to finish, also.

I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching to see what others are poking at today.


I also wanted to share a couple of pictures of little Mina showing off her Shopkins/Batman skirt....she loved it!

....and being photo-bombed by big brother...

.....and trying out the Batman on the reverse....

I'm so glad she liked it!!

Looking for a new quilty project???

It's the same old story! 

The new year starts off nice and fresh with promises to get some of those UFO's completed....no new projects, right???

Well, I am here to tempt you a little bit.

There is a new sew-along on  the blog of Molli Sparkles called The Honey Pot Bee. It looks interesting, so I'm in.  You can read about the first installment here.

There was a bonus "wild card" block released ahead of time and it was so quick. It also started off my year of trying my hand with a bit of improv piecing...

The second sew-along was one I just discovered this morning while checking out a post over at Sew Fresh Quilts.

This one is a quilt-along called Have A Jolly Little Christmas and you can see I have the "button" for this project over in the right-hand margin of this post. 

If you visit Lorna's page you will see all kinds of ideas of what can be done with this project....from tablerunner to full-sized quilt!


I had hoped to get some tidying done this week in my sewing room. I guess I kinda got side-tracked...

It was a lot of fun arranging the block on the design wall. There were a couple of blocks that stood out a bit much and I thought about replacing them....but then I got over it, lol.

My goal this month is to have this top sewn together for my #100days100blocks. I'm off to a good start!

I went to Quilt Junction with full intentions of buying some sort of grey for the sashing/binding. Well, for some reason a bolt of salmon-coloured fabric was just calling my name! Not sure how it will look in the end, but I think I'm going to love it! I have a feeling that this quilt will end up on my bed.

I did have to sew in the sashing on the top row....just to see....

This morning I started my day with a bit of embroidery on a Life is Beautiful block. 

I've been hating my stitches on my recent work on this block...

For example, I had stitched some fairly decent circles at a previous time (the lower two in the blue circle), but the other two were a mess. 

I've just realised that I'm using some weird needle....I must have pulled it from my little sewing case, but I don't know what that needle had ever been used for! I switched needles and that seems to have solved the problem. What a relief, as I had wondered if the bit of arthritis in my fingers was the cause.

I am linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social.

Have a great day!....and let me know if I've tempted you with these new quilty projects!!!

A beautiful quilt to end the year....

Ever since I started my longarm journey I've promised myself the last two weeks of the year as "time off". 

It's usually a mad rush to get the quilts done that need doing before Christmas but this year I've seemed to kept up nicely and finished the last quilt of the year on Monday.

The quilt is a real beauty, designed by the piecer herself!

The centre was a perfectly done Mariner's Compass....surrounded by a large circle. The aim was to have this look like a Dreamcatcher...and I think we succeeded!

The eagle feathers were a feature that she was hoping could be incorporated...

We used wool batting (love!) and the back was a solid flannelette (I love that word, it makes me think of my mom) which makes the back as wonderful as the front....

Now that quilting is done for the year I can relax a bit....getting ready for Christmas, get some serious prep work done for applique ( I hope! ), do some organising in the sewing room. 

The last couple of weeks I've spent my coffee hour enjoying the quilting of my Quilty365....

I haven't hand-quilted a large project in quite a while. Today I find myself suffering quite a muscle strain in my hand. I'm figuring it's the quilting so this morning I took a break and did a bit of embroidery on a Life is Beautiful block...

My stitches are a bit wobbly in places, but that's ok....it's really all about enjoying the journey, isn't it? Just doing your best on any particular day.

Some of you know that I've been involved in a Learn to Run class.

I've never been anything close to what you would call an athlete. I still find it surreal that I've been going faithfully to this class for the last fifteen weeks. 

I've had the fun of sharing this adventure with an old friend...and made some new friends along the way! 

Thursday night we have our graduation run....we will run the entire 5K with no walking intervals. Wish me luck! I am quite proud of our whole group of "runners"!!!


I am linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social.

Have a great day!

A new quilter and a new runner....

I had to laugh....

This week my sister-in-law came around with her second quilt ever. It's very well done. Her first one was like a Turning Twenty quilt....not a lot of precision needed. This one is more traditional with points, flying geese, the whole shebang.

Her comment was, "A quarter-inch seam really matters, doesn't it?".

But that's not the funny part.

I don't see her very often, so I took the opportunity to show her my Quilty365/Year in My Life...

She loved it, and asked, "but wherever do you get all those different fabrics from?".....I laughed and laughed....my husband laughed and laughed. 

She is so naive....I'll come back to this conversation in 5 years and see how her stash has grown. I'll remind her of our conversation.....and she'll laugh and laugh!!! She was then taken aback to realise that most of the backgrounds in this quilt are different also.....oh my, the look on her face!

So much fun to see quilting through the eyes of a beginner! Love it!

....and it continues...

I showed her my FlowerGarden quilt....

....and she asked, "So what is the purpose of this one, why did you  make it?".....that got me laughing again as I explained to her that most quilters I know make a quilt for the fun and/or the challenge, etc. She is still at the newbie stage of making a quilt for a purpose or buying a piece of fabric just because it is needed (remember those days????). 

She did admit to having a feeling during the sewing of her sampler that she was itching to get to the next block, and so on.

And so it begins!....we have recruited our next quilter! If only she knew what she is in for. Although, maybe it's better that she hasn't a clue of the obsession she is about to enter???

I think she was well and truly hooked when I handed her a bag of about twenty civil war fabrics....bought long ago for a quilt that just never happened. Oh, the twinkle in her eyes as she peeked into the bag....priceless!

The weather here in Southern Ontario has certainly taken a turn towards Winter in the last 24 hours. As I sit here writing the wind is is quite blustery and there is a bit of the white stuff out there. A lovely morning to be curled up with some Slow Stitching, don't you think?

I finished a section of my Auntie Green's Garden. Now I have to prep a bit more before continuing...

I finished up the bit that was left on my current Life is Beautiful block....

....and then I was able to do some hand-quilting for a few minutes. I wish I could stay curled up with that all morning, but it's not meant to be!

Today is the Santa 5K in Hamilton. It is my first race and I've been excited and a bit nervous, lol. This morning, I'm thinking I may be a bit crazy.....why couldn't Friday's weather be happening today!!??...we had temperatures of 20 degrees, beautiful!

At the moment my phone is telling me it is -1 feeling more like -11!

The race is going to be down by the bay on Lake Ontario and I think the wind will be wicked. But I'm sure it will be a blast....everyone in their Santa suits...running with an old friend and some new ones. I'm sure I'll remember this day with fondness...and the weather will just add to the story of it.

I'm going to finish this post later today, hopefully with a couple of pictures of the race. Wish me luck!!!!

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

Well, I'm back and lived to tell the tale!

What a blast!!

It was windy.....and wonderful! So much good cheer.

So windy, my beard kept blowing up in my face on the trolley ride to the starting line...

There were a few people I knew from my running group...

So many Santa's in one room....so much fun...

At one point I wondered if I was close to halfway....then I saw the 3K marker.....awesome!!!

I had a time in mind that I would like to run the race in....and I think I beat it by a few minutes....again, awesome!

What an exhilarating day!

I had a couple more pictures to share, but for some reason they are not transferring over. Oh, well, this post is getting long enough anyway!


I am linking up with Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching and with Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh, Scrap!.

Have a great day!

Sunday Stitching

I'm pretty well caught up with my daily appliqued hearts and have had no opportunity to prep some more applique.

Luckily there is always my Life is Beautiful for my "in-between" times...

....so that is what I am working on today.

It's always good to have many projects just waiting for a bit of attention, isn't it!?...haha!

I never feel that this embroidery is pushing for attention....it's purpose in my life is to just be there when I need something a bit different to work on. I'm sure one day it will become a beautiful quilt.

My stitches on these blocks are not always the prettiest, but they are always the best I can do on a given day....and that's ok.


Like I've said, my Quilty365/Year in My Life will be soon done and the question of borders for this quilt will come up.

I came across two fabrics the other day that I'm sure I bought over ten years ago, thinking they would make a nice border....some day.

I've auditioned them in this picture....

I'm not sure if they are perfect or if they look dated. Opinions are most welcome!


I've switched up my "leaders-and-enders" for the time-being. I have almost 400 of my  5" Nature's Neutrals blocks waiting to be transformed into a quilt...

 ...so I am going to sew them together into "fours" to make them more manageable on the design wall. (An idea that I remember from a friend, thanks!)

I'm sure by making these neutral blocks my leaders-and-enders they will go together in no time! To find out about what leaders-and-enders are all about, you can read about it here at Quiltville.com.

We're in the middle of a baby boom around here lately. Our fifth grandchild, and second this year, was born this weekend! 

Meet Rennick...

....and now we wait patiently for the New Year, when we will welcome the twins into the family!

I am linking up with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts to see what others are working on for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Stitching on a Sunday

It's a foggy start to the day here and I woke up way too early!!!

I hope to take it easy today, maybe even a nap later on.

This morning I took the few stitches needed to finish this Life is Beautiful block...

....and I went back to this block and finished up the little bit that needed doing....

I still need to prep some hearts to get caught up with my Quilty365, but I did applique a few this morning...

If feels good to know that I am on the home stretch with the heart project. I still love it and can't wait to see the completed quilt top.


As one project comes to an end another is calling my name. This one is called Round the Garden by Wendy Williams...

What is it about quilts and paintings with houses that makes them so appealing?....I don't know!

About six years ago I saw this painting and had to have it...

It is by Ontario artist Kym Brundritt and is quite vibrant. I still enjoy looking at this painting. After I bought it, a friend who was with me laughed and pointed out that I am so drawn to houses. So funny, since I hadn't noticed that, but now that she's pointed it out I find it to be true. 

I think the fascination with house quilts, etc is pretty wide-spread. I don't think I'm alone in that.

I am linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Finally a real quilt, almost!

I've been working at getting my FlowerGarden quilt together these past few days.

I'll post pics today since this quilt has been featured in many of my Slow Sunday Stitching posts this past year....or so!

Here is the top half...

.....and here is the bottom half....

Now I just need four outer borders made up of 89 1.5" squares each. So close!!!

I think I'll have some sewing time later today, so my goal will be to get at least two of these outer borders done.

I am finally ready for this one to be a completed quilt!

Today, to switch things up I thought I'd start my day with a bit of embroidery on my Life is Beautiful quilt...

Most of the stitching on Life is Beautiful is back-stitching, so it was fun to do a bit of the feather stitch (I think that is what it is called).


On the kitchen front.....I've been trying all Summer to make sourdough bread with no commercial yeast. I've had a few failures, but yesterday I finally had success.

Here is my lovely dough, all ready and waiting...

.....and here is my first loaf...

I know it looks a bit short and wide....but that's because I think I should have seasoned my new pan....the bottom of the loaf stuck to it.

I have to say, though, the texture was great and it had wonderful flavour. We both gave it a thumbs up! I'll cook the second loaf today and see how things go. I can't even explain how exciting this was to me!


Someone who is new to needle-turn applique has asked me to post pictures of how I end off a piece of applique. This is by no means "my way", but just "a way" that really works for me. 

If anyone has a different way that they could share, that would be wonderful!

First, after the last stitch, I bring my needle and thread to the back and take a little bite into the backing fabric only, making sure it's within the seam allowance of the applique piece...

 ...then I tie a knot right there...

 I take a couple of running stitches in the backing fabric only. This is to ensure that that dark thread doesn't wangle itself over to the un-appliqued backing and show thru' after the quilt is quilted....causing what we in the longarm world  call "varicose veins".

 Finally, I trim the thread close, again to be sure a dark thread doesn't migrate. Again, note that all this is done in the seam allowance.

I am linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching and Oh, Scrap!.