Hmmm.. I was cleaning up pics in picassa and Ooooppps...that deleted pics on the blog...I didn't realise that would happen.  I sort of wondered if it would, so I checked and good enough!  removed from the blog ....I will have to redo them and NOT clean up again!  lol  It's funny that happened because picassa was an online album and I used pics from my computer.  I don't enen know for sure how I accessed picassa!

Oh...my... I deleted a lot of pics...some I replaced ..others, not ...silly ..silly me!  I don't have the time to fix it all..so I will just leave it as it is, for now.  I have to read each blog and remember what pic was where and redo them..
Well, I know not to do THAT again!

all done

On a sewing note.... I have the binding all finished on the pink quilt.  Sewed some outside by the pool while Thing Two swam.  I think she has an earache now...sewed the almost all the rest in front of the TV.  Finished it up the next day.  It is supposed to rain for the next few days.  I certainly hope so..It is very, very dry.  With no snow to speak of this year and no rain..we are in drought!  I am making sure I water the large trees on our property, and especially the tree on the boulevard.

I hope to finish quilting the dolly quilt and have it bound before the June meeting.

Then I will not have to worry about that anymore!

So I have now sewn the binding on the pink quilt, it's all set to hand sew the binding.  I will sit outside and do that sometime this week or weekend and it will be ready to give back to outreach at the end of June.

I was certainly on a roll!  I had another quilt that I took from outreach that I decided to start quilting.

The maker of this quilt is Dorothy Baker...She made it and donated it to guild outreach.   I BELIEVE she designed this quilt as a pattern for sale on her blog....she has it in her pics of patterns..

http://dorothybakerdesigns.blogspot.ca/
It's a beautiful, little girls's quilt....all appliqued (by machine) and believe me ...you can NOT see the stitching!  So cute!

No one wanted to take this quilt to quilt it...they didn't want to spoil it!   I guess I was brave..lol..But the same thing...I was reluctant to work on it, because I didn't want to spoil it too!  So now I am working on it..I certainly hope I do it justice.

Here is a peek...not quite finished yet!

Almost finished the garden....just waiting for the huge plant of poppies to finish blooming so that I can plant there.  Then my hands will stay clean...and my feet!  I garden barefoot, walking in the garden, my toenails get full of dirt and my feet look terrible.  But I don't like working in shoes, sandals are worse..my feet sweat a lot so when I'm wearing something like crocs, my feet are wet, mix that with dirt and I get mud.  I hate having dirt in my foorwear. Boots are just too hot!  I would rather be barefoot!.  So, everytime I work in the garden, after I have to give myself a pedicure.
But now I can more or less enjoy the flowers now.
And sew with clean hands!

So, now my hands and feet are clean, I decided to quilt this little charity quilt for guild outreach. It's been hanging around for a while, I need to move things OUT.   I only quilted it, someone else actually made it...and now I need to bind it.

It took me only an evening to quilt it.  Probably another evening to handsew the binding.

I used a pink thread on the back and a white cotton embroidery thread on the top. 

 Actually, I used 3 different threads on the back.  It was amazing the difference between them.  Two threads pulled to the top and the last one didn't...it laid between the layers as it is supposed to do.  I was using up dribs and drabs of spools of thread that were just taking up room...not enough to do anything with.

Off to the dentist today.  I wonder how much that will cost?

I finished the little quilt for my sister..I think she will like it.. A trillum, Ontario's provincial flower.  I didn't put a sleeve on it.  She can use it on a table if she likes

   The machine was acting up when I was quilting it.  I don't know if it was the heat..(it WAS hot in here) or what, but I could hear the belt slipping. If it continues, I will have to take it in for service. I haven't used this machine for anything other than piecing, so just short bursts of sewing.

I went out the other day to buy some muslin. ...can you believe I couldn't get any!?

I wanted some for the girls to paint or dye, or maybe embroider...what ever they want to do and then cut it up and sew a quilt again.. I couldn't find just plain white either....hmmm.

Gonna hafta go to Hamilton to find what I want. 

Instead of fabric, I got a new ruler.  One of those fancy, dancy, no glare, no slip, sharpen your rotary cutter blade all at the same time, rulers.  Didn't need it, but I wanted the ruler that sharpens my cutter.  I am tired of dull blades. Plus, they are really expensive.

I have been working in my garden.  I am always slow to start and glad to get it done.  My back is sore and continually spasms..my feet are sore, my knee hurts and my hands are sore and my fingers are stiff.  But I am almost done.  Like I said ...bird seed makes for quite a few weeds.

I noticed today that there are two chipmunks that are coming to the feeders...  from two different sides of the yard!   And the bigger chipmunk doesn't want the smaller one to eat at his feeder.  chases the other away!  As I worked I kept an eye on them,  when the smaller one took all his seeds, I set out more for it.  I know they take away the seeds and hide store them in their burrows for winter.

I have been making some time to sew.  But I haven't been working on my FWSQ, hope to get back to that soon.

  I have been working on a special project.

My sister is coming for a visit from the US of A soon and I decided to make her a little gifty...SHHH!...Don't tell her her...

Here is a sneak peak!
Just a little bit of quilting left to do...
I hope she likes it!

Hmmm...gremlins again today..
Here is the first pic I wanted on todays blog...

the poppies...
still growing...blooming strong...must be a hundred buds on these two plants

NB...this is not the original pic posted...but a beautiful painting by Jacqueline Mia Monroe

Spring is sure early is year, summer is pushing it...it has been and is forecast to be hot and smoggy.  Some of my garden is doing great...the weeds are thriving..hahaha..some of my perennials are way ahead ...just look at this poppy...actually two different plants grown together.  I think I need to separate them.  One is orange and has a flower the size of a dinner plate...yes it's huge!  The other is peachy pink and a smaller flower.  Both plants are loaded with buds.  I have numerous other poppies growing in  my small yard..all from seeds of these two.....except for one plant...that gives great promise and never delivers.  The plant has always produced huge buds, then they don't open...they become misshapen and then just fall off.  I think it time to replace that one plant. 

I have a lot of daisies in my garden..rudbeckia(yellow and rust), echinacea (pink), coreopsis(yellow) and they all tend to take over.  Not that I mind...but eventually I have to tear them out... I'd rather be sewing.

This weekend we spent a lot of time outdoors.  The weather was fabulous and we worked most of the days outside laying the last of the  interlocking brick , gardening, opening the pool, and of course BBQ-ing.  One of those days we were sitting out eating dinner and a couple of ducks came to visit...wild ones..we usually do get a couple but when it's colder.  The female swam in the puddle of dirty water on top of the cover while the mallard strutted around the yard.  Of course MissT saw them and went into huntress mode.  While I joked about "duck confit".  Pictures don't do justice to the iridescent beauty of these birds...well the male anyway.  MissT tried a "rush and pounce", but she missed. 

The next day, I am busy cooking chicken on a rotisserie on the BBQ when I notice that MissT is acting a little strange by the edge of the pool.  I can hear a chipmunk "chipping". 

 So I went over, didn't see anything, but now the cat is on high alert!  Something is there!!

I lifted the cover a bit and she had a chipmunk trapped.  She grabbed it when I exposed it ...dropped it and it ran for the fence!...but she beat it.  For an old girl, she is still fast!.

At any rate, I'm dancing around swatting at her and yelling for her to drop it!  She finally does and DAMN!  I stepped on it!!  POOR LITTLE THING!...knocked it out!..did I break it's back?  It's bleeding from the nose or mouth...I picked it up and put it in the woodpile next door..I could hear it moaning and chipping softly..it finally moved away...hopefully it's not dead.

I keep telling MissT...if she keeps attacking her little friends, she won't have any entertainment and neither will we. 

P.S.
There were two chipmucks at the feeder today...had it recovered? or is it a different one?

I like to read other blogs about quilting sewing and crafting.  I often browse for new sites to visit.  One of the sites that I now check out every day is SEW MANY WAYS
http://sewmanyways.blogspot.ca/
A really neat blog of sewing , crafting and recycling..and how to write a blog!
She even has a "Find a friend Friday" where we can all add links to our own blogs from her blog.  I think this is a great idea! I check out all the links and then the links from those links!  I often wished that I could search for blogs about specific things at different times.  Different days I will sit here with my lap top and check out a different type of craft....like the other day I wanted to check out art doll making.  I never found a blog...So I checked out videos of doll making. I've taken a workshop and made a couple over the years and have a couple of books,and would like to read a blog.
The same with quilting I love to read all the blogs about quilting...
There are some really interesting blogs out there, but how do we find them unless we trip over them.  Leah Day is another really great blog..
http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.ca/

Today is a holiday here in Canada..so just a short blog today.

Victoria Day...named in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday.
Referred to by many as the 24 weekend..not to be confused with a 24 of beer..(a case of beer)
There will be fireworks and people will start their gardens with earnest if they have not started yet.












Too late for Mother's Day this year, but you could do this for Christmas, an anniversary or birthday, or just because!   Hershey's Kisses and cellophane..and a little wire and florists tape...makes a bouquet of roses!....give it a look!

http://alilbird.blogspot.comau/2011/02/hershey-kiss-roses-tutorial.html

One of many sites for this craft, but the first time I've seen it!  I think I might give this a try!

I don't really like Hershey's kisses, but I suppose you could find a similar shaped candy or chocolate to substitute.
Amazing what we can find online now

And it would be Quilt Guild again...that time of the month when we will get to see all the award winning quilts from our show.





When I was at the show there were many people saying that they could not chose  a winner.  I can't blame them....there were so many gorgeous quilts...

WHO COULD CHOSE?

  I put two quilts of mine in the show and the one quilt that was inspiration for me was there beside mine  How neat!

Mine was much smaller than the inspirational quilt.  Both are from the same book "Rose Window" by Anglea Besley.  Two different patterns.  I wasn't up to making the huge quilt that Andree made.   Andree won a prize for her quilt at our show.
The parade of beautiful quilts that won awards was stunning. 
and the battery on my camera was dying...well I've shown you all those quilts anyway.

Congratulations too all that won and many thanks to all the people who made the show possible!  Including you, Bev!





my inspiration (Andree's quilt)

Andree is my inspriation...80 some years old, sews the mose beautiful quilts!











OH MY GOD!
The police shot a young black bear here in Burlington at noon yesterday!
The day before, another larger bear was spotted in a field north and west of here.(Milton)  I can see the first bear sighting, that is a rural area.  But here?  The bear was in a small park, surrounded by houses... not far from a school...even closer to my daughter's house...less than 1000 feet away!!!  Far too close for comfort for me...good thing the girls are here!
I am still in shock!   Funny thing is...the city mascot is a BEAR!  called Burbear...Ironic!
anyway....on to sewing


 The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt is no easy task.. One hundred and eleven , six inch blocks..with sashing and cornerstones.

There are many groups out there (on-line, in quilt shops) devoted to making this quilt.  There is the book..(the letters are a good read, I really enjoyed them) and an add-on for Electric Quilt( xtra $).  EQ gives you the ability to print out the templates or a paper pieced block...in ANY size! ( It has some advantages).

   Some find templates easy, some people like paper piecing..You can rotary cut or not.

 Every one to their own....

I am on pinterest and one of my fellow members posted this page of templates for FWSQ.

I have absolutely no idea if they are accurate, but if you want them ..here is the link

www.scribd.com/doc/57812459/templatecombined

If you have been following me you know that I have been using Electric Quilt and the FWSQ 'Add-on' to print off my patterns for the Farmer's Wife Quilt.  Well, I printed off all the patterns when I first started. It took me hours to print them all off but it SAVES me a lot of time when I start a new block, then when my computer crashed (silly me, still no back up drive!), I had all my patterns printed out and all set to be sewn.  I can continue all night (yes, I sew a lot at night!) long if I want to.

So, if you use templates ..you are welcome to the link!
Enjoy!!

Ohhhh...the back yard....we had decided to replace some interlock bricks in the back yard last year.  After making a floor in the shed with bricks, I had enough and didn't want to do more.  too sore ..
Then, this weekend I decided..that was it! ..I was finishing it.  ....oooohhh..I am so sore..back..legs ...hands..and it's still not finished!..mostly ...but not yet finished...
and I haven't even tackled the garden yet.  
All that bird seed means LOTS of weeds in the garden...under the feeders.

I took out some Hostas that were HUGE!  the root clump was over 2 feet....I gave away 6 bags of hostas on freecycle
(an online group where we give things away).
 Sonny came home to wish me Happy Mother's Day and so we stopped working  while  he was here.  A couple of hours later neither the mister nor I wanted to continue with the paving stones...
So we put the roof on the sun canopy and put up the lights.  I got a new solar powered light for the gazebo.  I hope it's bright enough!

Oh, I am sore from working in the front garden...my hands are a little sore, but no worse than they were.
My thighs are sore from squatting.  I don't kneel when I garden.  the knees won't take it.  I have to squat...and of course THOSE muscles are not USED to that anymore...
So I thought I would go for a walk to help loosen up the tight and sore muscles....hehehe...nope ...that didn't work..so tylenol it is..

And in the mean time I got a few more blocks done for the FWSQ.
Up to block 71 now!

Block 67 is Pine Tree.
I used a pink and purple with green.  I really thought this is a nice colour combo.
Block 68 is Postage Stamp I did a while ago, because it was easy.  I didn't paperpiece it ..









Block 69  --Practical orchard...I went BIG-----orange!

I've had these fabrics for a long time!

Block 70 is Prairie Queen ... I used a background that I have favoured often for this quilt with a paisley fabric from my mother's scraps.

The fabric was a blue and red striped paisley, but the way I cut it, you don't see the stripes .

I decided to work in the front garden .  It was a beautiful day, so out I went.  I have twitch grass that I have to really work to keep under control.  I had a beautiful display of grape hyacinth, unfortunately, they tend to take over.  They produce both seeds AND bulbs, so I yank them out too.

 I pulled and weeded , I figure my hands are sore anyway.  I took lots of breaks, even stopped and went to the store for garden bags..NO WAY am I composting the twitch grass!  I didn't realise the mister had filled the pails up last weekend with debris when he worked on the lawns.

The cat, MissT sat on a large boulder  and watched me work for a while, then she decided to sun herself under one of the bushes where I was working..I don't like her there...she rolls in the dirt and dust, then brings it into the house. 

 Then she needs to get vacuumed.  Don't worry...she actually likes it.  I use a slicker brush and groom her while vacuuming the dirt from her skin.
Thing Two came home from school and we stopped for a PB & J and some milk. 
I worked while Thing Two chalked the driveway and rode her bike or looked for dandelions to pull up for Poppa.
This weekend ....the back yard!

My camera has been giving me a rash (just an expression!).  Pictures have been too dark and not really in focus, so I devoted some time to see what was up with it...going into all the menus and readjusting some settings.  I have two cameras and have to make sure the are both set correctly.  The shaking of my hands is not something I can do much about, except set the camera to not take a pic if I shake.
Hmmm..when did I change the light setting to fluorescent?  I must have,  I sort of remember one night, late, in my sewing room, changing that setting because the camera was picking up the wrong colour..But?  where I am taking pictures is fluorescent lighting....oh well, changed it to normal..put everything back to normal or default and we will see what happens. Changed the resolution to fine.  Hope that works ...time will tell.

I am cleaning up again in the sewing room.  I sure make a mess with the farmer's wife sampler.  Give the arthritis a rest while I clean out my machine and maybe put in a new needle too.  Almost every block has paper in it and I think it's time to change the needle.
I have dozens of needles..literally dozens.  Every time I go to the sewing store I buy some more.
 Why?

 Because they are the CHEAPEST part of my project and can have the most impact! One tiny little burr can shred my thread, a dull needle can cause many other problems, like tension and skipped stitches!  

 I used to buy quilting, embroidery, sharps, ...you name it..now I just buy top stitch needles.  They have a larger eye, (easier to thread with my older eyes)easiler to thread with the auto-needle threader, too and a larger and longer groove for the thread to lay in (easier on the thread)

I haven't tried the Titanium needles, yet.  Although, I hear they are really good and last longer.  Industry uses them..... A couple of ladies I know uses them and swear by them.                                                      

quilts are 4 kids

They were many kids quilt at the show..some were simple checker board with snakes and ladders,  all you need is a dice and a marker piece.

 there were owls.......





and sun and the moon

there were quilts of trucks

a grinch christmas

The was even a 3-dimensional quilt for a kid....

Lift the corners and there is a surprise inside!  Jake, the little boy whose quilt this is, loves it!  He doesn't ever tire of peaking inside the squares!

This is only a few of what was on display...

I thought that I would show you a few of the quilts that I admired at the show.  The first was made by Janet.  Very stunning with the black background.  Appliqued and embroidered.

This one was made by Maureen.  Pieced and embroidered on a neutral background, also very stunning

Janet's quilt is many different blocks and Maureen's is one block.  When I first viewed them I thought they were the same but they are not!  How could I possible thought they were the same??!!    There is no resemblance between them, except for the hand embroidery.   ps...I was wearing my glasses!                                                         

                                               

Then there is this one by Val                                                                                   

Last years   "Block of the month' ...............she beaded it all....

and then Val had this one

Also beaded...the beading changes the movement of the block completely

Fantastic...very inspiring!

I think maybe I have been doing too much sewing, well, too much cutting with the rotary cutter at the least. All my arthritis is acting up. My index finger has been getting sore and a little swollen.  It bothered me years ago, at that time it was so sore that I couldn't hold a tea mug...very bad for me...I drink tea all the time and back then, rotary cutters weren't available, so it wasn't that, but it was overuse.  This week my finger actually locked on me ...I had a hard time getting it unlocked and was very painful.  So I've been resting it.  My hands have both been achy and my feet so  I've been reading some books that I bought at the Binbrook quilt show and perusing the books I bought at the Oakville Quilt Show.
I didn't get any fabric YET!  I might get some tomorrow...I don't know yet..maybe I will see something  I like.....HaH!  Who am I trying to kid...OF COURSE I will see something I like!



Queen Anne Elegance

 And now the show is over...yes I saw fabric that I liked...but I was strong!  I didn`t buy any!  I admired fabric other people bought!...I got a lot of books...and some fabric markers, some more threads and a jacket pattern...that`s all...

This is the third jacket pattern by this designer that I have purchased.  The other 2 are strip pieced ...this one is more subdued..Looked very nice on the sales lady...so I bought a pattern...

I wonder if this is something that Thing One would like to make?  Maybe a summer project for her and Thing Two?
the website where you can see or order this jacket is
http://www.figureflatteringquiltwear.com/

We had Quilt guild meeting for the other guild I belong to...
I sat in an area that I thought would be good for taking pics of show and tell...it wasn't......oh dear...there were heads in every pic and the photos very dark.  I don't know what is going on with my camera.  I have to check out the quality of the pics..maybe my resolution it too low..
 My fellow members had some very nice quilts, but those pics aren't worth sharing..so on to the speaker!
Our program speaker was Dianne Bergman, she lives and teaches locally.  I asked if I could take pics of her work and write about her on the blog and she kindly said "Yes"!

A lively, animated lady who  specialises in miniature landscapes. 
Fantastic landscapes.  Some as tiny as 4" by 6"...one she showed was as large as 18" by 24"
Self-taught, she uses all sorts of different techniques that she has gleaned from various books.  She pulled some of those books from our library to show we had some resources of our own.  Hmmm...I think I might have a book or two myself.
 She does have some experience with painting and stained glass in a former life as a nun.
http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a457a4d6a55784f546b3d0d0a%26sb&blogview=true

Click on the link for a smilebox that I made of her work. IGNORE the part on th bottom half of the page about a PDF..is an add..just wait for the smilebox to open...thanks

She use various types of fabric ...silks..organza...threads...roving... fibres..tiny little snippets of fabric...roving.  Threads that WE would toss in the garbage, she saves  coloured co-ordinated in bins.  She uses her camera, computer, embellisher (felting machine) and now her embroidery machine to create these little works of art. 
Be sure to click on the link above...that's where I put her pics.

Oh the show! What a fantastic one it was...The room was filled with all our guild members work.
Our visitors were wowed by that vast amount of work and the quality of our quilts we had displayed.
We had a lot of food too...Quilters like to eat and sew.

My feet are sore, my back aches...but it was worth it..

This quilt won a ribbon....

and this quilt by Patricia won a ribbon 

I couldn't possibly put 200 photos on this blog, but here is a smile box of a sampling of them..                                click on the link, please          and enjoy....

http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a457a4e4463774f54513d0d0a&blogview=true

I really have had a push on for the farmer's wife blocks, because I got even more done!

I worked on this block. This was another block I thought would be easier to just piece.
 I went on-line for a half square triangle template, found one, printed it out twice, layered my fabrics rights side together and BAM!  almost done..assembled it carefully on my worktable, then sewed.

What was this one called??  gotta go check the book....oh yeah..#64 Peace & Plenty.

The night was young, the mister was out and Adele was on the CD player wailing out her misery....we had time for more sewing..

Sew, I did...

Number 65..Peaceful Hours, this one is called.  I though....oh  ..is it hard?   Nope, not bad at all...
Then I started to play with a notion I have called mirror tiles and took some pics  I wondered how some of these blocks would look as multiples.....




peace & plenty




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periwinkle

 

Today (yesterday ) was set-up day for the quilt show.  I took my two wallhangings down, made sure they were 'cat hair free' and took them over to where we are having the show.  I also took my three quilt racks...made sure I put my name on them, to be used at the show.  I hear there are over two hundred quilts being shown by our guild.

  I work on Saturday, but I plan on going over on Thursday or Friday to actually 'see' the show.  I want to take pics...so I will be a while..  The mister doesn't have to come to this one if he doesn't want to.

Here the ladies are checking in-coming quilts . One minute, they are just waiting,    the next minute, the table is full of quilts.

Quilts dropped off are labeled, then sorted into piles to be hung.

Here, the guys are discussing something of great interest...the hockey game?  where to grab a coffee?  or maybe what to do next ....their job is assembling the racks to hang the quilts..and then actually hanging the quilts ....they've been hard at work, they have some racks assembled already !                                                                                                     

Ursula is hard at work with the Tombola .   Members have made and donated items for a draw.  I want to make sure I get my tickets..   

     

Looks like everything is under control here...Every one has their job to do and it looks like things are running smoothly.   

Tomorrow ......................................................................

THE SHOW!