What I live for ....

A week off !!!! Woohoo ! of course the fabulous weather started today, Sunday, the last day off - grrrrr. None-the-less I had a fabulous week off :) Why you ask? well, I went to a great Quilt show with a friend (in her new SUV) - the Quilts of Great Britain. Thanks Cynthia it was a great day!
Here's a peak of what we saw

 My current obsession - Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses.

 

I still like the Celtic look and someday ..... will do another quilt with this technique!

I also love the William and Morris look and have started to collect some of these fabrics. Who knows .... maybe

Sorry - the pic is not so good, I just loved the horse quilted
into this one about Sutton Hoo.
Of course it appeals to me with my current obsession for
anything Viking!

 

Aren't the colours in this one just absolutely gorgeous!!

Another one that speaks to me - for some reason I love red berries on an icy blue background. Even though it evokes memories of winter, I still like it!

 

 

And this one was too cute with it's cat theme!

I also just loved this one ... She used old linens for the tablecloth - not just one but layered linens on each other (hope you can see that in the pic). I also love the fact that the tablecloth drops down below the "quilt" !

What else did I manage to accomplish on my week off? Well, I did some housework, and some gardening, and read a good book - Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. I saw the movie several years ago with Maggie Smith and cried my eyes out. The book also made me cry, sniff sniff. I also accomplished some sewing ... got this new mug rug completed for the mater for her Bday in June. 

My favourite quilt store, Cornerstone Quilts and More, (shameless plug) had the perfect green rick rack - woohoo! She also ordered the Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses book for me. I know - I could order it online myself, but I believe in supporting my local Bricks & mortar shop and ordering through her! I have almost completed a new door hanging for the mater as well - here's a pic while still at the machine being quilted. This was the first time I used that plastic ring driver thingee (anyone know what it's called?) Anyway, I wanted to outline quilt the Dresden fan blades and this seemed to really help me keep reasonably even distances from the previous rounds .... Here's a pic of it all quilted, not yet bound!

 Time to get baking - Bday celebration today for the B-I-L and I'm bringing the cake (Chocolate!) then lunches to make in prep for my return to work :(.

TTFN

 

Good Morning Sunshine :)

Good morning :). Well, it's the long weekend (at least here in Canada) and much awaited. This is what we have all been waiting for and much deserved after that long long cold winter! Had breakfast on the patio - yeah, listening to the wee chicks chirp away everytime their parents come home with some grub! Last year it was a family of Cardinals in my Forsythia bush, this year it is a family of Red Wing Black birds just on the other side of the walkway. My Caragana is starting to blossom, so the bumble bees have arrived. In fact I had one reallly big one in the house last night! That makes one live mouse and one live bumble bee so far this spring!!

I spend the evening cutting out Dresden plate blades in blue, pinks and yellows. In fact I thought I had cut out enough for 2 wall hangings and 2-3 mug rugs. Well, I guess it's been a while since I have done this as I forgot how much they shrink once sewn together ...

Looks like I have some unsewing/reverse sewing and some more blade cutting to do for this afternoon. OK by me as I have a whole week OFF WORK- YAHOOOOOO.  Eat yer heart out all you out there who have to work next week ;)
TTFN

How's your Sunday going ?

How's your Sunday ? I know, it's Mother's day, but being an independent woman (aka not married) and not a mother it's one more day in the calendar when the world excludes me from it's celebrations :( . I spent yesterday with my mother, treating her to brunch and a lovely Zinnia plant for her balcony. I've had a pretty good, that is exhausting day today, so far :). My b-i-l and nephew came over and did some work in my garden and put my patio together for me to enjoy next week while I'm on VACATION - oh yeah ..... So, we went from this broken down dried up garden

with rotten mini tie holding my mini garden,  to this

2 new mini ties - check, a whole lot of new red cedar chips- check, black soil tossed about so I can, once again this year, sow some grass seed - check, patio furniture set up - check, A/C unit setup & ready for the upcoming heat - check, winter stuff put away - check. YEAH  - I'm ready for some serious sitting on the patio reading a book time :) THANKS GUYS !
So, since I am being stingy with myself and not splashing out for this year's end-of-year Quilt guild banquet, last week was my last chance for show-n-tell. I managed to get the beastie done, and here's the finished pic I promised ... all bound and ready for  ????

She's not big but she's done. Her reception was pretty good as they all shouted out "Quilt Show", which I gather means they want Felines and Flutterbies exhibited at our guild show in the Fall.  Sounds good to me. Now, what to start next, hmmmmmmm ? Mother once again has asked for a new hanging for her door. I have one in mind .... stay tuned :)
TTFN

Awhhhhhh

Life is good again - after a whole month of no Irish Breakfast tea, I found it WOOHOO! So I bought 3 boxes and will go back for more ...  Breakfast was wonderful again, oh and the sun is out also . All smiles here :)
Not that I'm superstitious but, I'm going to whisper this one, I think Spring is finally here. My Forsythia bushes are gorgeous this year, thanks to a trim up from my brother-in-law last fall, my Daffodils have finally opened and my Peonies have broken through. It's a riot of yellow and I'm loving it !!

My favourite non-quilty website, Arts & Letters Daily led me to an interesting article, Confetti Uncut. It's a fascinating article about the history of Confetti - who knew! Here's the best sentence I've read in a very very long time:

"These novel fistfuls of paper, thrown by parading merrymakers under a flapping tricolore, thus complete the dynamics of bourgeois counter-revolution in that century, whereby gaudy rubbish (the byproduct of capitalist accumulation) was retailed back to workers, who celebrated therewith, in collective rituals that borrowed liberally from religio-aristocratic forms, their suicidal devotion to the rising bitch-god of nationalism."

That's a teaser, you'll have to read it for the sentence to make sense.
Another terrific bonus is that I not only got my taxes done (on time) I FINISHED, yes, finished Felines & Flutterbies. Another big WOOOHOO! The binding goes on this afternoon, and I'll spend the next couple of  evenings hand sewing it to the back. Just in time for the last guild show-n-tell.

Here's one last look at it on the design wall - next week I'll post a pic of the bound final edition.
Now, what to work on next ? My To-Do/Wish list is HUGE, and the patio is calling me. I've started to accumulate some summer reading - Kafka by the Shore, 100 Year Old Man who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, Flight Behavior. I need something to do since Vikings and Downton Abbey have reached their season finales :(  .
TTFN