Secret Santa Christmas Swap 2011....!

Hello everyone!  Merry Christmas! I hope you are enjoying a pleasant holiday celebration.

I would like to share with you the rest of my gifts from the SSCS 2011 swap.  Here are the rest of the goodies I received from Lurline.

Thank you Lurline for the wonderful gifts and thank you Donna from Chookyblue for hosting such a wonderful swap.

Prim Swap

I so enjoy belonging to swaps during the holiday time.  There's something about exchanging a hand made gift with another quilter that just makes my heart sing.

Another swap that I enjoy is one from a Primitive Folk Art quilting Group.  It was organized by Debbie of Woolensails.

My secret swap partner was Barbara and here is what I received from her.

Sweet hey?! ;o)

When I first saw that table topper I thought "that sure looks familiar!" Come to find out, it's from the very first issue of the Primitive Quilts and Project magazine. The pattern is call Cold Days by Lynda and Rebecca Hall.

I also received these two little guys. Aren't they cute! Now if that wasn't enough...

Barbara made this very nice framed prim cross stitched.  I just love how it looks old, something I have yet to master.

Thank you again Barbara for the wonderful goodies you sent me!  Cheers!

Secret Santa Christmas Swap ....!

Every year Donna from Chookyblue Blog Spot organized a swap known as SSCS and ... I haven't missed one yet!

When my parcel arrived from Australia, I was all excited to see what my ornament would be. This is what I received from Lurline.

Isn't she just the cutest?

I love dolls!

She makes a cute addition to my growing collection for ornaments from Blog Land!

Thank you again Lurline for the ornament! I love it!

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Antique Quilts .... another treat!

As of late, I have been racking my brain in an attempt to figure out why it is that I seem to continuously be rushing here and there and everywhere.  Even staying up till 2 in the morning does not give me the time I require to do the things I want to do.  Yes, I am exhausted!

I am also starting to sound like a broken record with "It's been so busy" and "Just playing catch up here". At last, it has occurred to me this very morning, while writing my standard broken record phrases on blog land, to do a bit of math regarding where I spend my time.  Well....... I found the culprit!

The ICE RINK!

Yes indeed, I spend on the average 12 hours a week at an ice rink, give or take a couple of hours.  All for the love of my daughter.  Oh.. and I do love her dearly!

Now that I know the culprit, will I do something about it?  Not a chance, but it does make me feel better to know that I am not inappropriately managing my time.  Do you think the rink manager would let me set up a sewing area?  It would be a tad cold thought! Br.....

Here is the other antique quilt from Barbara Stadnicki's collection that I promised you.

This little gem is actually foundation pieced.

The block pattern is a variation of courthouse steps, however Barbara said that is is also called Chinese Lanterns. Can you see the lanterns?

It's construction is quite particular as it does not have batting in between the layers. The maker merely finished the quilt by sewing on a binding.

Look at that tiny binding. It is not more than a quarter inch.

A block showing the various fabrics used.

Another block.

Just so you get to see a variety of fabrics, and we quilters do like fabric! ;o)

Thank you again Barbara for allowing me to share your treasures.

I hope you have enjoyed this little treat. Thank you for stopping by my little corner in cyber space! Cheers!

Antique Quilts ..... what a treat....!

Being an owner of a quilt Shoppe that specialized in 19 century reproduction has it's fringe benefits!  I would like to share with you two beautiful antique quilts that I had the privilege of admiring, for the first time, last Summer.

A few post ago, I shared with you an historical club that I organize called Prairie Women Sewing Circle Club.   I am fortunate to have a participant who not only collects antique quilts, but is presently working towards becoming an appraiser. Her name is Barbara Stadnicki, and she has allowed me to share with you a couple of beautiful quilts she brought to our last meet for other club members to experience.

Those of you who love antique quilts, you are in for a treat!

The first quilt I want to share with you is a doll quilt. Doll quilts are a rare find. As you can imagine, they are loved to pieces by the child who was privileged to have one.

This little gem is a unique piece and is quite valuable. Barbara had it appraised when she acquired it.

It's increase in value, aside from being a doll quilt, is due to having the bed post cut outs.

I am told that this is very rare for a doll quilt.

The bed post cut out provides a clue that this doll quilts most probably comes from the New England area.

According to Barbara, judging from the fabrics, it dates anywhere between 1825 to 1850.

A block from the quilt!

If you look closely at the bottom right square, you will see that two pieces of fabrics were sewn together to make a bigger block.

I purposely left the picture size large so that you could admire its construction.

Here you have the side of the quilt.

Notice the same technique of adding/sewing an extra piece of fabric in order to create the proper size block. That is one small piece of fabric.

They truly did not waste fabric. I'm sure our fore-mothers would be outraged at what we throw out as "useless scraps!" lol

They were also not afraid to work with directional prints! And.... they matched the pattern to the sewn piece! Wow!

The back of the quilt!

A pieced back, three panels plus a side strip.

The quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted. Most probably made by a 9-10 year old girl. Unfortunately, it does not have a label.

Words cannot accurately explain the feelings I experience when I am admiring this quilt.

To touch a time in history!

If the maker only knew what joy her creation would bring to another quilter centuries later!

Thank you for allowing me to sharing this beautiful creation with you.  Stay tune for the second quilt.

Cheers!

Stuffed.... but content.....!

I do hope that those who celebrate Thanksgiving had a wonderful time.

This year I decided to let someone else handle Fibre Junction and celebrated Thanksgiving with Stephen's family.

What a wonderful time we all had.  Everyone pretty much over ate... you know... the normal stuff! lol

On the following day, it is customary for us to do something as a group. Richard, our host, decided that we would walk around New York City. More specifically, we visited the World Trade center.

Look at that majestic tower!

It is the Freedom Tower!

There are still quite a few stories to be added!

I have been told that it will be taller than the original towers.

Quite impressive, don't you think?

This is "us" along the waterway, Battery Park.

Quite the group!

Yes we are a large group.  Hum... 30 if I am not mistaken.  We were much larger for Thanksgiving dinner! ;o)

We all had a wonderful time visiting. I love New York City!  Although I enjoy living in the country, I do miss the city!

Thank you for visiting with me.  Keep well everyone! Cheers!

Turkey time....!

It is that time of the year when we take this special time to be thankful!

I want to thank you for visiting my little corner in cyberspace! Although I do not post as often as I would like, I truly enjoy having a blog.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Keep well everyone!  Cheers!

Magazines.....!

I love magazines!  I think some would say that I am a magazine junkie!  There is just something about looking at wonderful pictures of whatever pleases me.  I especially like to look at holiday issues!

One magazine that I would like to tell you about is MaryJanesFarm.  Why you might ask?

The December/January issue has a nice article on the Buggy Barn Ladies and their annual quilt show.

Oh how I would love to visit!

One day, I will be there!

There's nothing like looking at photographs to take you there. They certainly did a great job of doing that in this issue.

Aside from the quilting article, it's actually a great magazine.  Although I have been raised in a large city, I'm a farm girl at heart and this magazine satisfies that inner calling. ;o)

On the Buggy Barn note, I did start a new project.

Folk Art Bloom by the Buggy Barn ladies!

I'm using lots of plaids as well as scraps from prior hand applique projects.

So far I have 4 blocks prepared, ready for the hand work.

I cannot wait to finish one so I can show & tell!

I'm lovin' how it's turning out!

On the Cyber Club Front, there does not seem to be enough quilters that are interested in participating, so I will put that on the back burner for now. I just thought it would have been nice to have a place for those interested to meet and have fun.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Keep well!  Cheers!

Clubs, clubs and more clubs... Sew much fun...!

Some of you might know that I have been running a number of clubs at Fibre Junction.   Allow me to share with you a new one I have started that is called Prairie Women Sewing Club, designed by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts.

The first Journey was conducted in the summer and actually done in French.  What a blast it was!

Although my native tongue is French, I have lost some of my abilities to communicate in that language.  When your world is continuously in English, it is difficult to maintain a certain level of "French conversation".  The opportunity to conduct this club was quite a welcomed challenge.  Thank you Diane, Gisèle and the rest of the  Mötley crew! ;o)

The pattern for Gathering 1 is called Leap of Faith.

The key concept of this club is the "make-do" mentality, which is not as easy as one thinks.

In a disposable easily accessible world, "make-do"  has become quite foreign to many, including myself.  It is much easier to run to the quilt shop and buy more fabric than it is to look for something else that would work.

This quilt offered my first opportunity to "make-do".  I ran out of the background fabric!  Off I ran to Fibre Junction to purchase more, only to find that the bolt was sold out!!!!  WHAT??????

I seriously thought of making another top by buying using a different fabric.... but... that would be cheating.  Right???

I was forced to "make-do."  ;o)

The background on the outer edge is actually a fabric I bought back in 1996.  It was a remnant from the sampler quilt that is responsible for this obsession hobby of mine! lol  You may read all about here.

If anyone of you are interested in doing a "web" based Prairie Women Sewing Circle, send me an e-mail and we can chat about it.  I would be happy to open a group where we can chat and share our projects.

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

Time is relative...... Thanks Einstein!

How easy it is to get caught up in time.  The next thing you know it's been a couple of weeks since you last blogged! sigh!

Here I am.......

Did you ever have that feeling that someone is trying to tell you something?

Leave it to my 14 year old Pumpkin to get a subtle point across! ;o)

Yea, the Spring Fling quilt is still on Penelope and has been for quite some time!

I guess it's time to take her for a ride and get that top finished once and for all!

Keep well everyone!  Cheers!

The designer gene...!

There are some individuals that were born with the designer gene.  They just seem to have a knack for decorating.

Take Kaaren from The Painted Quilt blog, she is just one of those talented people that I admire.  I look at the pictures of her home and WOW!  Wish I could do that.  She has such an eye for colour and placement.  There are many on blog land that I admire and I enjoy reading about their decorating adventures.

Sadly, I do not seem to have been born with that special decorating gene.  To compensate, I subscribe to magazines and at times buy books on the subject, all in the hopes that it will come naturally for me.

Let me share with you my latest magazine find.

A Primitive Place and Country Journal, what a great magazine!

If you are into primitive anything, this is the ONE for you.  Well worth the price!

I just love looking at the photographs and day dream!

Oh...... how I wish my home looked like that!

Of course,  I have to be realistic.  I could have it looking like that but ... I'd be spending my day following DD and DH with a vacuum cleaner and bucket to clean up after them and/or replacing the items to it's original place! lol  I would much rather be quilting!  Oh well!

They do have a blog called A primitive Place and Country Journal, for those that are interested.

Simple Country Wisdom - 501 Old-Fashioned Ideas to Simplify your Life by Susan Waggoner it another of my find.

Lots of pictures, which I so enjoy, and wonderful suggestions!

I have not finished reading it yet.  It has been so busy with the many quilting classes that I am teaching, but I have enjoyed what I have read so far.

On the quilting front, Spring Fling by Jane Patek is still on Penelope.  Sigh!  Not enough hours in the day!

I still have not attempted to transfer the design from the Santa's Comin' to Town pattern, so that means I am still itching for a hand project.

Today, I will be making an attempt to dig myself into my sewing room.  Yes, you read right!  It's been a dumping ground for the past 2 weeks.  Anyone want to come over and help me dig? lol

I did pick a winner of the "name that quilt" challenge and it is Pam from Pam's Place.  Pam, if you would kindly refresh my memory as to where I should mail this little prize, I would be much obliged.

Thank you for stopping by.  If you do not see me again for a while it may be that I have become lost in my sewing room.  Perhaps even managed to be under a fabric avalanche! lol  Cheers!

What's new in my world.....!

Really not much!  I do need a hand project badly, so yesterday I proceeded to work on getting some blocks ready for hand embroidery. Off I went to work on this pattern:

Santa's Comin' to Town by Olde Green Cupboard Designs.  I just love their logo, don't you?  Sweet!

I picked this pattern because it reminded me of the old colouring books I had as a child.  Besides, I love Santa and this project certainly has a lot of Santas! lol

So off I went to cut out my blocks and get them all ready to be marked.

I choose a pattern sheet, place it on my light box and proceed to trace.

Hum..... this isn't working very well ..... oh turn on the light......

Well.......!

That made it worse because the designs are printed on both sides of a thin sheet of paper.

Okay, so I guess I need to photocopy these pattern sheets if I want to be able to trace it. Somehow that bothers me! I paid $20.00 for this pattern, you would think I wouldn't have to go to a photocopy shop to get 9 sheets printed. Sigh!

It's those little things that really makes a difference between pattern designers.

You know, I have a whole new appreciation for those little things that makes working with a pattern simple!

Thanks for stopping by!  Keep well!  Cheers!

Talk about a good laugh....!

Donna from Chookyblue made a wonderful suggestion about placing a page translator on our blog. What a great idea! .

Of course, I have to try this gadget out!

So, I asked that my blog be translated into French and started reading.

Coming onto the post "Driving me to the Brinks," it could not translate the word "brinks"  (for the translator: Edge - like the guitar player in the band U2 ;o)

I continued to read and came upon the line, "there are quilters and than there are sewers."

So here is what the translator wrote in French, "there are quilters and than there are sewage systems"

I couldn't stop laughing!

The word "sewer" is "egout", which is correct except that I did not mean sewer in the sense of waste system but in the sense of a person who sews!

Hum... Although it is funnier as "sewer", I did reword that! lol

On a quilting note, guess what I'm working on?

I have just started a new BOM that Fibre Junction is offering.

I have completed 12 blocks so far! For a close up look, click on the block.

Let's have a little fun!

Since I haven't done a give away in a long time, if you can guess what the name of this new BOM that Fibre Junction is offering, your name will go in a draw for a notion holder.

 If you are not familiar with a notion holder, they are beautifully made by my DH, Stephen.  You may check one out here.

And ...... if you can guess which block I have not completed and your name is picked, I'll include an extra surprise!

The "give away" will close on October 1, 2011!

Thanks for stopping by and having a little fun/laugh with me!  Cheers!

A done deal.....!

I like to think of myself as proactive!

What a fancy word for what used to known as "planning ahead". When I worked for a corporation, our vocabulary was full of buzz words! I've forgotten many of them. I just don't get to use them in a quilt Shoppe! ;o)

Knowing that I had hocuspocusville to machine quilt, I went ahead and ordered a larger spool of YLI monofilament thread. I figured that normal little tiny spool just wasn't going to get the job done.

Imagine my surprise when I received this in the mail!

Yea! Okay, what the heck is this?

That ... is what they call a pound of monofilament thread!

It does not look at all like the picture on the website! As a matter of fact, far from it!

Does this actually fit on Penelope?

Surprise, surprise it does!

Needless to say, I have monofilament thread to last me a couple of life times! I just hope I not only remember where I placed it, but that it's actually still a good thing to use when I come back for another round! lol

After finally finishing to croak Hocuspocusville, I went to work with Penelope and now have a finish!

Tah dah!

Use lots of monofilament thread on the houses. ;o)

No.... I did not put a dent on that huge spool, if you want to call it that. lol

I do like the way it turned out!

I chose not to hand embroider between the blocks. I wanted the quilt to look like a neighbourhood!

Of course you all know what is on the back! The Ghaslies!

You know, it's a great feeling to be able to cross out a project from my 2009 UFO list! Hurray for me!

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Driving me to the brinks.....!

You know, there are quilters and there are sewers  people who sew. I'm a quilter! However, some people seem to think that just because you can quilt, you can sew. Well, I've got news for you!

I cannot say that I know how to sew. Sewing is a specialty just as much as quilting is a specialty. However, just because I do not know how to sew, it doesn't mean that I will not, on a rare occasion, try to sew something.

This weekend was the Battle of Plattsburgh. I had been asked to participate by offering to teach children to sew. Of course, I felt that I had to dress the part.

So off I went to make myself a skirt and petticoat/undergarment, easy enough ... so I thought! Jennifer was kind enough to make the apron!

Well.....it took many nights of going to bed at 2:00 a.m. to get this, what seemed simple enough, project finished ... It doesn't even have a zipper!!!!!! .... You know it wasn't invented in 1812! ;o)

So I did wear the skit and no it did not fall apart! However, it's too big! Will I take it in? No way nor am I gaining more weight so it fits! lol It will just have to hang loose on the hips! lol

Thanks for stopping by. Now that this project and event has passed, I have more time to concentrate on quilting.... something I know a bit about! ;o)

Cheers!

Rip it....rip it....!

I've been croaking!

All because of this race to get some machine quilting done!  Not sure who I'm racing against, but I think it's winning.....

Way too many mistakes for my liking.  And... you know what happens when you make mistakes?  Out comes the seam ripper..... Yep, spent 4 hours ripping out a design all because I was in a hurry!  Sigh!

A while back, my friend Cheryl, from Oz, sent me this little gadget:

It's called a Cotton Picker!

And you know what? It works...

That little gadget was quite useful to help rid of the threads left behind from croaking!

It certainly made thread clean up more tolerable!

Now that I'm done croaking, perhaps I can get Hocuspocusville machine quilted!

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

And the beat goes on.....!

Ya know, all these new tools I have blogged about (here and here), they are really helping me finish my hand work. Goodness, are they doing a great job at keeping my fingers from getting sore.

I can hand applique for long stretches at a time! I'm talking until I get tired of it and/or need a change of scenery!

I no longer need to take a break in order to give my fingers time to heal! Yea, I'm on a roll! ;o)

Penelope has also had a tire change, those new M & M wheels I bought at VQF! DH finally set aside some time to change them.

So, I needed a quilt top to take those new wheels for a test drive.  Given that the blocks were all done and that it was just a matter of piecing the top, I was able to quickly finished this little quilt!

The Orange Peel quilt from Kathleen Tracy's book Remembering Adelia!

Yea, those new wheels make such a difference!  Smooth!

You know, I really like that I used scraps for make the center of the quilt.

I'm slowly getting proficient at scrap usage!

It used to be that I could not work with anything smaller than a quarter yard! lol  Now, I'm using up pieces as small as 1 1/2" and it's not in applique projects but actual piecing.  And.... I actually enjoy it! lol

Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace!  Cheers!

A new Flimsy....!

Yeap, I've been a busy bee!  I started this hand applique quilt back in July!

The pattern is called Spring Fling By Jan Patek!

Whenever I start a hand project, whether hand applique or embroidery, I always begin with the block that requires the most work.  I then work my way down to the simplest block.

I really find it easier for me to get motivated to finish the quilt, as the blocks get less and less intense.

I also tend to prepare all of the blocks at the same time.  When one block is completed, I can quickly pick up another.

I'm also a gluer!  I'll have all of my pieces glued down.  It makes my blocks portable, allowing me to work on them whenever and where ever!

I do like the way this quilt turned out.  I think I will call it Summer Days 2011.  We really did have wonderful weather this summer.  The quilt is now awaiting its turn on Penelope.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Keep Well!

Another Fat One bites the dust....!

I've been plugging away at the Fat Quarter Book by Lori Smith.

I've had this little quilt done for quite some time. It was just a matter of loading it on Penelope and getting it machine quilted.

The pattern is called Square Dance. I actually foundation pieced the center of the quilt.

If you've been following my blog from the beginning, you know that I am not a fan of paper piecing. The technique and I just do not get along.

Way back in 2007 I even wrote an entry on 10 reasons not to paper piece! lol

I've worked around the whole personality conflict thing by using Ricky Tims' Stable Stuff Poly!

I print my blocks and piece accordingly. I do not have to remove the foundation. Once washed, it blends in with your batting.

I don't even have tension issues!

Yea, I'm in love with Stable Stuff! lol Basically, it's machine embroidery stabilizer cut in a convenient size 8.5" x 11" sheets. Works for me!

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

Plugging away ....!

I managed to put on the borders for Hocuspocusville by Meg Hawkey of Crab Apple Hill Studio. I haven't decided if I will be doing the hand embroidering between the blocks. It's now on my design wall awaiting my decision.

However, I have picked the backing. I've waited for this fabric for a whole year and it has arrived at Fibre Junction.

The Ghastlies!



It is so perfect as a backing! Although the Shoppe has a few colour choices, I chose the dark grey! I first saw this fabric on Thimbleanna's blog and immediately fell in love with it! Oh yea, it's a beauty. ;o)

On a different note, I continue to plug away at the Farmer's Wife and have completed the following blocks:

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Guess what's on my design wall......?

It's been a long time coming! Hocuspocusville by Crabapple Hill.

Gotta get more fabric for the borders! I knew I shouldn't have touched that black for a another project!

Oh well, off to Fibre Junction for border fabric! It's rough.... but I gotta do it to get that quilt off the wall! ;o)

Enjoy the day!

Vermont Quilt Festival - Some of my favourites......!

This has got to be one of my all time favourite! Of course, I'm just a push over for a hand applique quilt!  Stunning! The picture does not do it justice!

The Pride of Iowa Revisited made by Miki Peine of Saint Paul, MN

"This quilt was inspired by a picture I saw while visiting Marge Lydecker. Each night as I fell asleep I saw this picture of an antique quilt from Old Sturbridge Village. Hand quilted."

Vitamin C - Marion Perrault and Helena Scheffer (Beaconsfield, Quebec)

"Dozens of oranges were sacrificed in our quest for the perfect model for this quilt. The orange is composed of hundreds of fabrics collaged onto a flannel foundation. The pith is made of cotton batting painted, dyed and quilted. The background fabric was dyed and over dyed, then free motion quilted using 100 weight silk thread. Stationary machine quilted by Helena Scheffer."

Licorice and Lace - Birgit Schueller (Germany)

"After I pieced the top that is an original pattern, I thought the contrast between the licorice candy colored printed fabric in the triangle and dark brown background was too strong. Thus, I used my melon template set by Kim Brummer to design the very geometric quilting design. Contrasting thread and Swarovski crystals softened the contrast and added a filigree feeling like lace. Track machine quilted."

I did not re-size the photograph so that you could enjoy the details! What a gorgeous quilt! The machine quilting is phenomenal!

For those who enjoy looking at the machine quilting detail here are a few of my favourite:

These are just a few of my favourites. As with many quilt shows, there were so many beautiful quilts. 

Thank you for your patience. Keep well! Cheers!

Vermont Quilt Festival - Antique exhibit......!

Okay, it's been a while and I do want to apologize. It has been so insanely busy, I will spare you with the boring details. Today, I finally sat myself down and organized my photographs from the Vermont Quilt Festival, you know, the one I attended back in June! ;o)

The exhibit was entitled Patterns of History: Quilts from the Vermont Historical Society collection sponsored by Yankee Pride Quilt of Essex Junction, Vermont.

It should be noted that all these quilts are documented as being made in Vermont. The captions under each photographs were taken from the Vermont Quilt Festival program. If you want to view the quilts in greater detail, just click on the slide show.

Enjoy!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Canada Day!

Quilting therapy....!

I've been spending the last couple of days in Vermont!   Doing what you might ask?  Visiting the Vermont Quilt Festival, walking the many quilt exhibit and doing just a bit of spending!

Bought Penelope a new set of wheels!

Yep, M & M wheels, "decrease friction and increase fluidity". She's getting a tire change as soon as they come in! I can't wait!

I'm off to organize my photos.  I have so much to show!

Thanks for stopping by!

Farmer's Wife Part 6...!

Yep, I'm still at it. Of course the customer commitment certainly helps with the motivation! ;o)

Thank you for stopping by!

Life, the universe and the possibilities of UFO quilters....!

I seem to be picking up a tad of a gloom and doom attitude as of late! Have you ever watched the series Ancient Aliens?

It is/was a documentary on the History Channel about Alien earthly visitations (past and present) and the "evidence" they have.  Anyway, it's scaring the crap out of me! Not that I think their theory is well supported, it's just my imagination that is running wild! Sadly, so far none of the aliens appear to be quilters!

As hand applique entertainment, I tend to watch Netflix instant view. It's great if you're like me and do not watch TV; all of the older programs are new! lol I think I will revert to scientific and historical documentaries for learning entertainment! ;o)

As a quilter, I am always looking for tools that make my quilting experience more enjoyable.  One of the issues I had with hand applique was the soreness of my under finger as the needle picked through the layers.   A while back I had written about the UnderThimble as a possible tool for hand applique (you may read about here)!  Why not, it worked great for hand embroidery.  Unfortunately, it just didn't cut it for hand applique.

However, Thimble-It works wonderfully!

What I do is cut the ovals in half, round off the corners and place it on my index finger.  Voila!  My finger is protected.

I can go on for hours and days hand appliqueing with no pain!

The problem with the UnderThimble was my inability to grasp my work tightly.  Thimble-It is more flexible, allowing me to get a firm grip of my work.

If you are like me and unable to hand applique for long periods of time, you might want to give Thimble-it a try.

Thank you for stopping by!  Keep well and if you meet aliens who quilt, do let me know.  I'd love to see their work!

The wonder of it all.....!

I have been living here in Upstate New York for quite some time. In our back yard, we have some beautiful old trees, some are more then 100 years old.

More particularly, we have this thorny tree that Stephen calls a Locust tree. I have never much appreciated this tree and often wondered why we had not taken it down.

During this time of the year (late spring), we would always get this wonderful perfume smell in the air. A smell that not knowing any better I had attributed to honey suckles. Strangely, we have no honey suckles around, but I just could not figure out where the smell came from that is ..... until tonight.

As I sat outside this evening enjoying the sweet smell in the air all the while reading my book, I looked towards the Locust tree, which is in the middle of the yard, and noticed it had blossoms. Hum..... I've never seen this before...

So I walked over to the middle of our yard and saw these beautiful blossoms on its branches, thousands of them!

As I stood under its canopy it smelled oh so sweet!

I ran to the house to get DH!

Believe it or not, he did not know that the tree blossomed in the spring. Well...

Now I know where that beautiful smell comes from and it's not from honey suckles! lol

And if that wasn't enough....

It was buzzing with activity!

There were these huge bumble bees buzzing about from blossoms to blossoms.

As I stood underneath, all I would hear was the buzzing of bumble bees.... and there were many.

I soaked it all in....!

It is amazing how blind we were to its beauty! I will never look at our Black Locust the same again! When it shed it's thousands of pods on the lawn, I will remember my Spring experience! ;o)

On the quilting front I have been a busy bee, buzzing from one project to another. I have finished a hand applique quilt that I hope to show you soon.

My orange peel stack is slowly going down.

I have 18 more peels to hand applique! I will then be ready to piece the top! Yea!

I'm off to do a bit of hand applique before it gets too late!

I wish you all a wonderful week! Thank you so much for stopping by my little corner in cyber space! Cheers!

Farmer's Wife Part 5 ...!

Another month done! 

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Another Fat Quarter one....!

I finished this little quilt from the Fat Quarter Quilting book by Lori Smith. This project is from the hand applique class that I am presently teaching at Fibre Junction.

It's called Vase of Flowers. Not sure what I will be calling it! Any suggestions?

I do like how it turned out!

It is one of my favourites thus far!

It has a flat piping and would you believe it's actually the first quilt that I actually sew/use a flat piping?! I cannot believe I waited so long! lol

The designer called for 3/4 of an inch folded and I thought it would be much too small to be noticed, so I cut mine 1 (one) inch!

Thanks for stopping by! Keep well!

Helping others .... !

So much devastation on this good earth.

Picture by Nasa

If you are moved to assist the Southern areas of the United States, those that have been battered by tornadoes, Checker's Newsletter blog has posted information on how you can help by donating quilts.

Please send them to:

Skip and Peggy Ackfeld
Ackfeld Manufacturing
360 Emerson Road,
Reeds Spring, MO 65737

They will deliver the quilts to the Red Cross for distribution.

You may read the post here.

Namaste!

Hand embroidery project .... why not.....!

Back in August 2010, I saw that Wendy from Snippets of a Quilter was working on a new hand embroidery project. I just knew that I had to make that quilt!

You know, I love blogging but gosh darn, the hidden cost associated with this media is phenomenal! lol

Anyway, I loved it so much that I went and purchased the pattern. What is it called you might ask? Ruby Garden by Waltzing with Bears.

Here are all twelve (12) of them waiting patiently to be pieced together!

Believe it or not, I have had all of the blocks stitched since September 2010 and haven't done a darn thing with them! Well, I was going to offer it as a block of the month at Fibre Junction, but I ran out of time. We do have the 

patterns should anyone be interested.

I'm liking this Picasa web album program. Could you imagine if I posted each block? That would be 12 entries! And to say I could have blogged more often last year! lol

Hope you are enjoying the hand work coming from a stitchin' fool! Told you so! ;o)

Keep well! Cheers!

Farmer's Wife part 4...and some goodies.!

Will you look at those sweet fabrics! I won them for Field Trips in Fibre!

The colours are just lovely.

I haven't decided what I will do with them yet... but I'm thinking! ;o)

Thanks again Vicki!

As for the Farmer's Wife, another set done!

I am slowly catching up to where I should be in order to have this quilt finished in 18 months!

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Rain, Rain and more Rain.....!

Yep, that's been pretty much our weather as of late. So, being of the "practical nature" kind of person that I am, I decided to make the best of it and put up my pool.

Yep, that's right! Why not?!

No, it hasn't rained that much but we have certainly received quite a few inches of rain.

Given that the forecast is rain for the week, I turned off the hose and allow Mother Nature to do her thing!

With the 4,000 gallons required to fill it, every little bit of help counts and.... it doesn't cost anything! ;o)

On the quilting front, I continue to keep myself out of trouble be productive and finished this little hand appliqué gem from the Fat Quarter Quilting Book by Lori Smith.

The pattern is called Tumbling Leaves.

It's been a flimsy for quite some time awaiting patiently to be loaded on Penelope.

The dilemma was, how do I machine quilt it?

After much thought, I decided to make it appear windy ...... sort of give it the blowing leaf look! I call it Blustery day!

Thank you so much for stopping by my little corner in Cyberspace!

Keep well everyone! Cheers!