Hello...
The May long weekend is here...and it is going to be a rainy one. We really need the rain. Here in Calgary, our climate is generally dry, dry...and so the moisture will be welcome. Last year we had snow on the long weekend and so rain...we'll take it over snow!

It has been another busy week in my studio. I have been spinning wool...working on finishing a project assignment. I'll share my spinning adventures in the coming weeks. Fibre Week is gearing up for another session at Olds College in June. It will be nice to see everyone again.
On the quilting front...I have finished Week #3's homework for the mystery quilt. I still can't quite figure out where the "mystery" is going, but next week, the pattern will be revealed. So stay tuned for that...

BLOCKS SORTED FOR SEWING

SEWING ASSEMBLY LINE

This was the quickest method of stitching the squares together. Make sure your seams are lined up and away you go!

ALL STITCHED AND READY FOR THE NEXT STEP

SEWING 4 PATCH SQUARES

A 4 PATCH ALL SEWN

ANOTHER 4 PATCH

There are a total of 21-4 patch squares. The rest of the sewn pairs are set aside for next week. I can hardly wait to see how this all turns out!

HAND QUILTING VINTAGE ROUGE

I wanted to show you some of the hand quilting I have done on my Vintage Rouge Quilt. I did this quite a while ago, and will be putting on the binding over the weekend. I have had to set it aside for the past few weeks...too many other projects on the go. I'll share more pics when I'm done.

ANOTHER BLOCK FINISHED

I managed to get another block hand appliqued on my Sara's Revival quilt. Only 29 more to go!

Thank-you all for visiting.
Wishing you a happy weekend!

Another weekend almost here...this week just flew by. I did manage to get Week #2's assignment done for the Mystery Quilt my friend Doreen is doing HERE.
I can hardly wait to see how we are going to be sewing this together.
A few pictures of my progress so far...

CUTTING ON THE DIAGONAL

4 HALF-SQUARE TRIANGLES

ALL OF THE TRIANGLES IN SETS

OPENING UP EACH TRIANGLE AND SQUARING OFF

My triangles ended up being 6-1/2 inches when squared off. This was the most tedious part of the whole process of preparing our squares for sewing.

ALL SQUARED AND READY TO BE SORTED INTO PAIRS

THE PROCESS OF PAIRING

I had two of each color and so I was able to pair most of the squares light to dark. It is hard to see the color pairing well here, but they do make sense when you see them in better lighting.
They are awaiting Week #3!

A CRAZY CACTUS FLOWER IN MAY!

I will leave you with this picture taken yesterday of my Christmas Cactus blooming in May. It had already bloomed back in November and when I saw a few new buds the other day, I thought...how nice, flowers for spring. This one caught my eye though because of the way it seemed to grow in a curve underneath the leaves rather than straight out...I can't say that I have ever seen that before in all the years I have had Cactus plants.


Thank-you for visiting.
Wishing you all a happy week!

The beginning of a new week...
Happily sewing these last few days. I was able to finish 2 more blocks for my Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt. It is great fun to see how each block will look with the color choices I make. Eighteen blocks are now complete. This quilt could easily be done in a family of colors...such as all blues and creams, or a variety of reds with white etc...I have decided to make it really scrappy with no idea what I will chose for each block.

I have decided to join in with my friend Doreen to make a Mystery Quilt. Doreen is hosting the event which will include a few summer quilts. You can find all of the info about the quilts by clicking the "EASY AS 1,2,3" button on the left sidebar.
My blocks for the first quilt have been completed so far. Not sure where this is going, but it is going to be a lot of fun!

MORE HAND STITCHING ON A  SAMPLER BLOCK

EARLY MORNING WORK ON THE 18TH BLOCK...

18 BLOCKS IN THE EVENING SUN...

MYSTERY QUILT FABRIC

ALL STITCHED AND READY FOR THE NEXT STEP

I will be using a beautiful gray swirl cotton with a blue/gray dot for the background and "Coastal" batiks. There are 42 squares...10 inches all around. I will keep you all posted on the progress. We will get a new step each week for the month of May.

Wishing you all a happy day!
Thank-you for visiting...

Hello...
Fabric and hand work...two of my favorite things! I have been working on my Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt for the past week and a half. The thought of Hand piecing a quilt rather than piecing by machine took me back to when I started quilting almost 30 years ago...1984 to be exact! My very first quilt was completely stitched and quilted by hand. I treasure it. And the love affair with quilting had begun. When I ordered the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book, I had no idea that Laurie had pieced it by hand. I decided to tackle hand-piecing once again. I have completed 16 squares out of 111. A lot to finish...I have to complete 42 by June 11th...that is the date of the afternoon group of women meeting who are making the quilt too. I haven't been in a quilt group for years...I am usually teaching. It will be fun to see all of the different combinations of fabrics...

SAMPLER BOOK AND MY DIARY OF THE QUILT

SOME OF THE FABRICS I AM USING IN THE QUILT

HAND PIECING...SO RELAXING

HAND APPLIQUE AND HAND PIECING

The picture above is another completed applique block from my Sara's Revival Quilt. There are 4 of these squares...all the same, but turned at different angles to form the center. The other block is the first hand pieced block from the Sampler Quilt.

SIXTEEN SAMPLER BLOCKS COMPLETED...

The blocks above are not in the order they will be placed for the finished quilt...but rather the order that I stitched them left to right starting at the top. I have trimmed some and some still have threads and uneven edges...all will be trimmed eventually. I love seeing how they evolve depending on the fabric chosen. I am using fabric from my stash with the addition of some new materials...an eclectic mix for sure.

Thank-you for visiting.
Wishing you a happy day!

Hello...

I thought I would share a few pics taken on our trip to Banff, Alberta on Easter Sunday. We enjoyed a wonderful brunch at the Banff Springs Hotel with my sons and our grandson. The weather was just gorgeous that day...and the food, well what can I say...there was a lot of it!! Matthew, our grandson, spent a lot of time over at the chocolate fountain. It was an amazing station with everything you could imagine to dip into the warm chocolate.

PART OF THE BANFF SPRINGS HOTEL

ONE OF THE GRAND STAIRCASES AT THE HOTEL

A 3-TIERED CUPCAKE STAND

CLOSE-UP OF THE CUPCAKES...YUMMY!

AFTER BRUNCH...A WALK DOWN BY THE RIVER IN BANFF

Wishing you all a happy day!

Hello...
March just kind of flew by...and I didn't take the time to post. Just too many irons in the fire!
Spring is desperately trying to make its' way into the city...albeit VERY slowly. The robins are here and so surely nice weather can't be too far off...can it??

I am working away on projects this month. I am transitioning my website, which is also a slow process and it seems to be continuous...You may have noticed the right side board. I have added 3 new quilting charts. The first two actually have blocks completed...Yipee!! The 3rd is my Dear Jane chart which is empty for the moment. Hopefully I can get started on the squares soon. My friend Doreen, here is almost finished her Modern Jane...it is gorgeous! She is also a wiz at creating charts...

I thought I would share a few pics of what has been happening here during my time away from blogging...

LOTS OF STRIPES...

A NEW DESIGN WALL...

TILE PAINTING WITH MY GRANDSON

MORE TILES...

This was a great project to do with Matthew. He just loved it...and we had a great time painting. The idea for this was inspired by the show "The Chew". I will post the tutorial soon.

SURFACE DESIGN FOR A QUILT

A BIRTHDAY WITH ITALIAN CHEESECAKE AND ROSES

HAND APPLIQUE BLOCKS...

Wishing you a happy day!
Thank-you for visiting...I appreciate all of the wonderful friendships I have made through
blogging.

Hello...
March has come in like a lion...I hope it leaves like a lamb!! Lots of snow on the ground...
I have been a busy bee...sewing and cooking. I love to cook, but I just don't set enough time aside each day to do it justice. Maybe that is a good thing right now. Last year, I lost 45 pounds and am on target to my final goal by August or September...not too much left to take off, but enough! I am starting in with a new trainer next week. Motivation is necessary for the final push. I'll post before and almost afters soon.

Sewing and designing has been my focus so far this year. A new quilt is in the finishing stages. It was supposed to be a BOM for a store in Ontario...but she didn't quite get the idea of online tutorials and so I scrapped the class. I am finishing the quilt and may use it for a class I want to teach in the coming months.
I am spinning yarn too! Lots of yarn...love the gentle process of a spinning wheel. So calming.

You may have noticed the new header bar with words across the top of my website...I am deciding on how best to format what goes in the sections. I will probably do Pages. But I am also deciding on whether I should just re-design the whole website...decisions, decisions! It seems to be a continual process to keep it fresh-looking and interesting. Posting more would help!!

A few pics of what I have been up to lately...

MARCH SNOW AND LOTS OF SHOVELING!

VEGETABLE PASTA PIE AS SEEN ON DR. OZ...YUMMY!

A LITTLE PAINTING ON CLAY WITH MY GRANDSON

READY TO APPLIQUE...

MORE SQUARE COMPLETED...

The quilt squares above are already incorporated into the quilt...show and tell coming soon!
On my way to the spinning wheel!

Have a wonderful day!