Goodbye 2020

 Well, we've made it to the end of what has probably been one of the most difficult year's most of us have ever been through. 

I do want to reflect a bit today on what good I want to take from this pandemic time into my future....things like slowing down the pace a bit, and enjoying life's little pleasures.

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but I do have one in mind inspired by my friend Terry. 2021 will be the year of tackling UFO's!!! Really, I mean it this time!!!

I also want to continue the Intermittent Fasting lifestyle that I've enjoyed for over two years now. I can't see any reason that I would stop since I feel much healthier and younger for it.

Yesterday I pulled out the first UFO that I had in mind to tackle...my Geometric Fun quilt...

This is three of the 20 blocks in the quilt. I have to say, it is not a user-friendly pattern...which is why I walked away from it in May 2019. But, I've always intended to get back to it.

Looking at it on the design wall I just felt a bit of dread. So, I've let this one go...no longer a UFO, but a ______ (we have to think of an acronym for a quilt that we decide to never finish). Quilting is something I do for fun...this quilt is not fun and there is still much to complete. I do feel a sense of relief making the decision to not continue....so it must be the right choice.

So many choices of what to work on. I've decided on returning to my Midnight at the Oasis, a Jen Kingwell design...

I'll say this one is 4yrs old....I know I was hand-piecing the triangles on the centre medallion on an airplane in December of 2016. There are a number of small churn-dash blocks on one of the following rounds and that stopped me from continuing. I am glad to return to this quilt...what a difference from when I had the previous quilt up on the design wall!

You'll notice that I've added a new "button" over in the right-hand margin for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2021. I think I may join in on it this year (crap, did I just break my resolution before 2021 even started????). It's a way of busting the stash a bit....it's worth a look if you want to consider joining in. Just click on the button and it will take you over to SoScrappy's blog, the host of the RSC. The colour for January is pink. 

I've finally had time during my Christmas break to do a bit of sewing. I think I'll try to incorporate a bit of sewing in each of my days....I really do seem to get a lot more done by hand than machine!

Here is what I've been working on this week, my Spice Market quilt...

This is not the final layout for Spice Market, it's just all the blocks completed so far, hung willy-nilly. The next step is many, many appliqued circle blocks. I find the solid fabrics very unforgiving when doing needleturn applique....I will have to some fancy quilting later on to disguise that fact!

I've just thought of something to work on for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!....and I won't be breaking my "no new project" resolution!  I have been working sporadically on my Chapman Coverlet....well, not quite sporadically, make that rarely. So I will make 10 blocks per month....they are quick and so easy, they just measure 2.5" unfinished. Easy peasy.

I will be very happy to get back to my Chapman Coverlet. It will be a glorious quilt, I'm sure....if you like scrappy, and I do.

 Has anyone watched Bridgerton on Netflix? I finished it yesterday, and I find myself reading this post in the narrator's voice, who happens to be Julie Andrews. 

Well, I'd better go and get something accomplished...or not. It may be a lazy day today. I've actually dressed up a bit to usher out the old year in style....so maybe I'll relax with an extra cup of coffee and my book. 

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

Happy New Year everyone!

Oasis, Shopkins and Batman!

I'm finally making some headway on the latest round of my Midnight at the Oasis. 

Lots of orange peel blocks needed, but as of today I only need two more.

I'm still not quite happy with the very centre, but I'll leave it for now and see if another fabric that will do better comes to mind.

Yesterday was indeed a Throwback Thursday....I haven't sewn clothing in a few years...maybe since my daughter was a little girl??

Well, lately I read on someone's blog (sorry, I really can't recall who's) about a twirly skirt she was making. She was using Shopkin's fabric and I have a little granddaughter who is obsessed with Shopkins. Whenever I see her she shows me all the the different "characters" she has.

I did find the instructions for the skirt HERE if you want to see how it will look.

A couple of weeks ago we searched high and low for Shopkins fabric in our area. I got the impression it is a new fabric that hasn't come to Canada yet. I did find it on Etsy...ordered it and it arrived quickly....

As it happens, little Mina also loves Batman. This skirt is reversible, so here's a peek at the other fabric I'm using...

This is an easy enough skirt and I think she will live in it all Summer long, but it sure uses skills that I haven't used in a long time. There are a couple of tiers and ruffle so there is a lot of gathering to be done.

Here it is, so far....still another tier and ruffle to be added, and the Batman skirt to be done...

Linking up today with Sarah for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?,  and with Myra for Finished or Not Friday.

There was so much rain, thunder and lightning here yesterday and today is starting out very foggy, but I have a feeling when the sun comes out it will mean the first mowing of the lawn on Sunday. I'm looking forward to getting out and tidying up the yard and getting ideas for this year's garden!

Have a wonderful day!

Wednesday, prepping for Retreat

I am continuing this week to start gathering projects that I'd like to work on at Retreat next week.

One will be to do a bit of work on the 54 Churn Dash blocks that will be needed at some point for my Midnight at the Oasis. I made one up yesterday just to see how cute it would be....these will work up as 3" finished blocks!...

I also took a few minutes to sew some of my Orange Peels to the centre medallion...

I have to confess, I've known for a while that my orange peels were not the correct size but went on anyway. Yesterday I had a moment of wanting to start them all over again. I have fourteen appliqued of the twenty needed. 

I've decided to leave them. Even though they are not going to give the effect that is intended in the pattern, they are still sweet little blocks. Or....I could do them over....I don't know, I don't know :(


I think today is my first time sharing the start of my Down the Rabbit Hole, the 2017 BOM offered by Sarah Fielke.

I'm a little behind, but not too much, since I've wanted to get close to finishing last year's first. That one, Happy Days, is nearly done....I think it will be on the list for Retreat!

This BOM is a medallion-style...and this will be the centre of the quilt. I've plopped a circle/flower on it so you can get the idea of where this is going....after all the stems are sewn on, there will be flowers and some leaves added.



Linking up with Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers and with Silly Mama Quilts for WIPs - Works in Progress and with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social

Oasis Update....and a bit of running...

I've been enjoying catching up on some hand-quilting this past few days, but I guess I'm a bit out of practice....my thumb knuckles are a bit sore. 

So, back to some applique this morning.

The orange peel blocks seem to be slow-going, but that's ok, no hurry!  These are for my Midnight at the Oasis and here is what I have, so far, up on the design wall....

I first saw this quilt at a quilt show....probably last Spring now. I was with my friend, Terry Anderson. We saw two of these quilts hanging side-by-side and kept coming back to have another look.

It's actually not unusual for the two of us to be attracted to the same quilt....it's happened a few times!

Terry has been kind enough to share a picture of her progress on her Midnight at the Oasis....

As you can see, Terry has a real eye for putting fabrics together! Her quilts are always brilliant....just look at that choice of background fabric....love it!

Terry is doing her trunk show in Hagersville in May at the Haldimand Quilters' Guild. I will have the honour of introducing my friend. If anyone has an interest in attending...just send me a message for details!

On the longarm lately was a beautiful, traditional Dresden Plate.  I did all the SID first, then went back and filled the background in with a simple meandering, which seemed most appropriate. Look at the way the wool batting makes the plates just "pop"...

------------------------------------------------------------------

Now....for an update on my running this past week!

As many of you know, last Sunday I ran the 5k portion of the Around the Bay Road Race for the first time.

What an experience.....the excitment, the atmosphere and the fun of enjoying it with five of my run buddies from the Learn to Run programme!

We were all feeling anxious beforehand, admitting to shaky legs, feeling like we were going to hyperventilate and I was even feeling a little vertigo!....but I knew we would be fine once we got started.

There were thousands involved in this race....it actually took me over four minutes to cross the "starting" line because of the throng of people!

We all had our "chip" attached to our shoe....

.....which records when you cross the start and finish of the race.

My goal was to beat the time of my Santa Race that I ran in October. This should have been easy since I've been working hard at it, but with the back problems I've had this past month I wasn't too sure.

I'm proud to say that I clocked in about four minutes faster than the Santa Race.....not bad!

The next race will be The Chocolate Run in May....maybe the promise of a chocolate martini at the end of the race will help me run a new Personal Best?

I have to say that I am not practiced at taking "selfie's" with my phone. I have to admit I'm pretty bad at it.

In the Bay Race, at the marker indicating 2k left to go, there was a very tall Grim Reaper heckling the runners....evidently he's a tradition at the race. I could have been 20 seconds faster if not for stopping to take this selfie with the Reaper...

...so bad that it's actually kinda good, don't you think???

Here I am, about to cross the finish line...

And, the icing on the cake....

I'm still on a high from the experience....running in the race is something I'll never forget.


Today I am linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social, and with Silly Mama Quilts for WIPs - Works in Progress, and with Mama Spark's World for WIPS with Friends.

I am also linking up with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers. Such a surprise when Susan contacted me to let me know that I am one of this week's featured bloggers....thanks so much!!!

Have a wonderful day!!

Feeling side-tracked

Today will be a long day at the longarm working on a beautiful Dresden Plate...hopefully I will complete the rest of the stitch-in-the-ditch today and get to play at the background fill tomorrow.

It would be nice to fit in a bit of prep-work for my Freefall Spring quilt-along. The cutting directions have been released this week.

I purchased the background fabric and focal fabric last Friday but still needed to poke through my stash for the leaf fabrics.

Didn't my eye rest on a stack of bright Shweshwe fat quarters stacked on a shelf and right away knew they would be so much fun to work into this quilt....

This quilt won't make too much of a dent in this group of fabrics, but if so I'll be able to replenish at Quilt Canada in June, as I'm pretty sure Celeste from Meerkat Shweshwe will have a booth there.

I'm moving right along, slowly, on the twenty orange peel blocks needed for the next border of my Midnight at the Oasis...

A friend of mine is doing the same quilt and she has quite a bit more of the quilt completed and it's looking fantastic. I wish now I'd taken a picture of hers the other day and asked her if I could share it here. I'll be sure to do that next time we see each other!

I am linking up today with Silly Mama Quilts for WIPs - Works in Progress and with Lorna for Let's Bee Social.

A couple of my friends traveled to Norwich on Monday to see Lorna's trunk show. I couldn't make it but that's ok as she is speaking at one of my guilds in June! I wish we were doing a workshop, too....I already know which of her patterns I want to purchase....I think!!

I am also linking up for the first time with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Mid-week Makers!

Have a lovely quilty day!

Stitching on a Sunday

For me, yesterday was a slow, lazy day. I don't think I've had a day like that in a long, long time.

It started with a feeling of accomplishment in my Saturday morning running class, but it sure did kick my butt for the rest of the day!

So, along with some slow stitching this morning, I actually got some extra stitches done yesterday.

I'm working on these sweet little blocks for the next part of my Midnight at the Oasis...

Although, after reading the post over at Kathy's Quilts this morning and seeing her Life is Beautiful progress, it's made me want to get back to my own.

This block has literally been on the go for months...

I think it comes down to the fact that I just don't like it! This block will be a priority in the next week, just so I can put it away and get to the next one.


Next week is the Around the Bay Race in Hamilton. Back in September, a couple of weeks after I started my Learn to Run class, I signed up for the 5k portion of the race as a goal.

I've started peeking ahead at weather reports for that day, knowing that things could definitely change in the next week. When I checked yesterday, it said it would be 6 degrees Celcius....not bad! Today I check again and it says 11cm of snow....what the heck???

Maybe I'll stop looking and wait for the day to arrive to see what it brings!

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

A day off....

I am going to treat myself to a day off today....and what better day for it than International Women's Day! 

I've been bothered by back pain the last two weeks that has escalated until yesterday when I had to leave my guild meeting before it even started :(

I think I may feel a little better this morning (finally!), what a relief!!....unless it's just the fact that I have taken a very strong painkiller. We'll see around lunchtime when the painkiller wears off. 

The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy, which hasn't helped matters much. So I'm definitely going to take today and maybe even tomorrow to rest. I may even treat myself to binge-watching Call the Midwife, which I've been wanting to do for a long time.

If I feel up to it, I'd like to do a few blocks of my 150 Canadian Women quilt. I'm quite behind, but I don't think it will take much to eventually catch up. I think they are up to about Block 50, and as you can see here I've done only nineteen...

It's even been difficult lately to do my morning applique, but I have managed to do a few wee blocks for the next border of my Midnight at the Oasis. I quite like doing these blocks!

I'm slowly making progress in getting closer to finishing my Happy Days quilt....which means I'll get to start Sarah Fielke's 2017 BOM, Down the Rabbit Hole!

Here is my most recent block....I love it!...

Hmm, sorry for the fuzzy pictures, maybe it's indicative of how I feel this week :(

I am linking up today with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social and with Silly Mama Quilts for WIPs- Works in Progress.

I had planned on telling you about the wonderful 25th Anniversary Tea put on by the Haldimand Quilters' Guild on Monday but that will have to wait for another posting as I'm ready for a bit of a lounge on the couch.

To all you wonderful women out there in blogdom....have a great International Women's Day!

Shweshwe anyone?

I'm happy to say that I've completed the centre of my Midnight at the Oasis....

I'm pretty happy with it and I hope that was the most difficult section of the quilt!

So much to do lately in the sewing room. Our twin grandbabies are arriving in just a couple of days now. Luckily, they won't know that they will have waited a week for their quilts! I have the first one put together...

Such a quick and easy pattern suggested by a quilty friend and it all starts with a charm pack. Love it!


Also, on the design wall this week was December's block for the mystery quilt offered by one of my guild's.

I have to say, it's quite the thing....through absolutely no added effort on my part I've constructed the ugliest block I've ever put together....

....and a fuzzy picture to boot!

Will this block make it into the final quilt?...who knows, only time will tell.


At guild yesterday, we had the pleasure of listening to a wonderful speaker, Celeste Compion of Meerkat Shweshwe.

 I say pleasure, because she had her audience totally enthralled for probably 90 minutes! She was afraid that she'd talked too long, but the crowd reassured her that this was not the case.....as evidenced by the crowd of people buying her fabrics during break-time!

Celeste also had an example of a quilt she is working on called Dutch Treats. Here is an image of it that I've scooped off the web...



I had one of those "squirrel" moments that Sandra of Musings of a Menopausal Melon talks about....when you see a new idea that you just have to try! Oh no, here we go again!!!

I was almost going to walk away from the idea when I realised that it was all done in reverse applique...but I think I'll try a block or two to see what I think.

I even think it may be a good quilt to try Back-basting Applique, which I talked about HERE.

Of course, I took the opportunity of buying a few fat quarters of some shweshwe fabric to use in Dutch Treats. The quilt is traditionally done in indigo prints, but I couldn't resist these beautiful, bright fabrics!...

That's it, that's offically the last "start" for the next ten years.....really!!!

I am linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social and also with Silly Mama Quilts for WiPs, Works in Progress.

Have a wonderful day!

Stitching on the Oasis...

It's a busy day in store here today, but luckily I could start it with a bit of stitching.

I've been working away at my Happy Days quilt but put it aside this morning to try to figure out the centre of my Midnight at the Oasis. 

I had put the pieces of this together on the flight to Alberta at Christmas. 

English Paper Piecing was not the method that was instructed in the pattern, but I thought it would help with my accuracy. Now I've been in a quandary as to how to get this into the final centre block.

My first thought had been to applique it on to a background.....but then thought there must be other options.

I ended up coming back to my original thought and started to applique it to the background this morning...

Not bad, I think it will do.

When it's all sewn on I'll clip the background from behind it so I can remove the bits of paper.

I wasn't sure which colour thread to use to applique all the different coloured triangles, I didn't want to switch colour thread every couple of inches!

I settled on a nice soft grey, using my favourite applique thread, Superior's MasterPiece.

Perfect, it blends right in!....

Here is the block so far with one of the points appliqued down. There is a problem I've had to overcome....I won't tell, so see if you can spot it! (it's ok, if you see it you can keep it to yourself!).

I have to say, this block has been very labour instensive as well as brain intensive (so much thinking involved, lol), but in the end I think it's going to be okay. I'm not usually too, too picky, but when I'm working on what's going on in the very centre of my quilt I like to do the best that I can.


In my running group there is a challenge this month to walk/run/move for thirty minutes per day for 25 days. I think it's fun to take part since normally in February I don't think I would move much at all!

I started out well on Friday. I had an appointment in Cayuga so afterwards I went over to the new arena. They've incorporated an indoor track for the community to use for walking and running. So fantastic....more communities should try to do something like this. I hear that this track is well-used by many....including the seniors from the Retirement home practically next door!

So, Day 1 of the challenge started off well. Day 2, not so good. Oh well, I'll try to pick things up again today.

Here's little Minnie, using Cooper as a pillow as she's watching do my stitching this morning. I'm so glad we made it through the week puppy-free! 

We did not want to breed the two at this time, so when Minnie went into heat at the end of November she went to stay with my son for a little holiday. Well, the day after she returned didn't I catch them at it! It was only the once, and at the very end of her heat. I didn't think she was pregnant but wondered if she might have a single pup....luckily, her supposed due date has come and gone....woohoo!!!

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

Have a wonderful day!

Social time....

The centre "motif" of my Midnight At The Oasis quilt is complete and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

I'm not sure how I'm going to get it attached to the background as I stitched this by doing English Paper Piecing. 

My thought was to lay it on the background and applique it down. Now I'm thinking of something different. Maybe it would be better to form the background into EPP segments and attach it all together?

Before that, though, I have a quandary that needs figuring out.....what background should I use???

Here are three choices....

a dove grey polka-dot

a lovely grey print

dark polka-dot

My first choice when I started was the dark polka-dot. Then I wasn't sure as it almost gives me vertigo to look at the fabric! 

One of the two MATO that I saw last year at a quilt show was done with dark dot fabric...and the other with a lighter background. I did like the darker quilt better. Actually, now seeing these three choices in photos gives me a clearer picture of which one I like best.

Please feel free to voice your opinion on the backgrounds! Part of me even feels like browsing for something entirely different....but I think I'll control that urge and keep my choices limited to the three above.

This week Sandra Walker at Musings of a Menopausal Melon has written a post regarding DrEAMi Moments....meaning "drop everything and make it". I think I've already had one of these in 2017. 

I mentioned in an earlier post the new sew-along, The Honey Pot Bee. Well, I just had to make the first two blocks....

Plus, the bonus block given at the end of December...

The star block gave me an excuse to use my BlocLoc ruler...

I enjoy this ruler but I don't use it every time I need to make HST's. When I have to make many of the same colour combos I will use other methods, such as my Easy Angle ruler or Thangles, etc. But when I just need one or two I will use this ruler. It was not cheap, but it's a pretty cool tool.

This is a very relaxed sew-along. I think the plan is that two blocks will be released per month, and you can choose to do both or one, whatever you feel like.

I'll finish up by saying how saddened I am by the passing of designer, Sue Garman. I have a few ufo's in my sewing room that are her design as well as my wonderful Omigosh...

I am linking up today with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social. You'll see that she is tempting us today with her Have a Jolly Little Christmas sew-along that starts this week!

Have a wonderful Winter's day!