Busy times!

I hadn't thought I'd do a post today, but it's been such a hectic four or five days I'm just going to take a few extra minutes of down-time this morning.

I attended a guild workshop yesterday....lots of fun and food and great people. It was "VP day"....the vice-presidents of the guild present a fairly easy project to work on for a fun sew-day each year.

The pattern was interesting to work on....we all were to cut our fabrics ahead of time so we could get right to it. I decided to try my hand at some mostly Kaffe Fassett fabrics...

We sewed the 6" squares into large nine-patches and chopped them up and moved them around...

Then some more moving around and more sewing...

....and in the end I'm not sure I like how mine is looking :(

The pattern makes a wonderful looking quilt, but I just don't think mine is working.

So here's the question. In this case, do you just plod on to get it done....or see the day as learning experience and not worry so much about actually finishing???

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I had a wonderful time on Monday at Selkirk Heritage Day. This year I had a small quilt on a frame for people to try their hand at quilting. Even though last year was successful, the fact that we had a hands-on booth this year made it that much better.

At the beginning of the day I guessed we'd maybe get three people willing to sit down and give it a try. Well, I was wrong! We had people all through the day wanting to put some stitches in.

I wasn't surprised that a lot of children were curious to try quilting. 

We had from the very young....

....to an experienced quilter I've known for many years, who will be 91 this year and who spent the better part of the afternoon quilting with us....

I also got to visit with dear friends in my community...

On another note, please send your thoughts today for my sister, Linda. She is in the advanced stages of Multiple Sclerosis and is in the hospital with an awful case of pneumonia and influenza. We will make our way to the city today to visit with her. What a truly horrible disease....it makes me cry thinking of what my sister has faced in the last thirty years. She is absolutely the bravest person I know.

Today I am linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social, who is also a very brave woman. And with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers.

Binding, and more binding

I don't always have a lot of "finishes" in one year as many of my quilts are ongoing applique projects that tend to take a long time.

This month, though, is different. I am currently working on the third binding this month.

Sewing the binding down is not my favourite thing to do, but sometimes it's nice to just have some mindless sewing to do.

It was nice to sit and put in a few stitches....

....before heading out to the Baptism of my twin grandbabies. I only managed to get a picture with little girl twin....

....who looked like a fairy princess in her little dress. (Sorry for the bad photo!)

The service was followed by a lovely meal, surrounded by family who we only seem to see once or twice a year. The weather is gorgeous today for an outside celebration. 

Now for a little bit of a rest.....it's been a busy weekend! But that's what Summer is for, right???

I am linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching so we can see what others are working on today.

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

What a busy weekend!

Friday we had a great outing to the Lighthouse Theatre in Port Dover to see Pete Paquette perform his "Elvis, the Moments" show. We were given tickets as a wedding gift by a good friend (thanks, again!) What a fun show....such great performances by the back-up singers and band members, too.

Saturday we went to Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton. Neither of us had ever been so were looking forward to it. It's a wonderful theatre. The play we saw was The Big Sleep, which was originally a movie in the 40's starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. The production of the play was fantastic. It was amazing the way the changing of each "set" was done. The only problem was that it was just slightly hard to hear the actors, which meant really straining to pay attention as this play has a ton of dialogue and it's very fast-paced. Other than that....great time! It would be nice to go back once a year to see a play there.

I'm linking up with Kathy at Kathy's Quilts to share with others on what I am stitching on today. I'm in between having applique pieces ready to work on (hopefully will find time for that today), so I pulled out my go-to project....which happens to be the same project

as what Kathy is showing today!

As I was working on this with my morning coffee I saw that Kathy was contemplating some wise words she has come across. It got me thinking and I figure I will share my words of wisdom that have helped me at times. I'll say first off....I am the oldest of four sisters. I'm sure that younger sisters always think that the oldest thinks she's a know-it-all. In my defense, I do think that older siblings do have a lot to share!!!

 A few years ago the words that help me deal with my "know-it-all" attitude are these...."Just because it's not my way, doesn't mean it's not the right way", meaning, of course, that there are often more than one way to do something. I can't you the number of times that these words have rung thru' my brain when I want to convince someone that they should look at things my way.

Of course, maybe these "wise" words are not my own at all! When I was a little girl I remember trying to convince my family that I had come up with this brilliant little poem. That was dashed when I heard a neighbour chanting the poem and I remember wondering how on earth she had learned my great poem!!! The poem was "Liar, liar, pants on fire", etc.

Well, I don't know if all this reflection makes for a good blog post, but there you go! Off to get ready for a fun afternoon at my grandson's first birthday party. Happy Birthday, Silas!

....and, here's a shot of Minnie, who' taken to snuggling up beside me in the morning as I do my stitching....

Have a great day....and remember to check out what everyone else is working on at Kathy's!






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