New Project :) ;)

Woohoo - I have finally got myself out of my slump and am starting some new projects. Well, actually I am finishing another UFO - YEAH

These are the leftover blocks from a Cobblestone workshop several years ago. I put them together in a random order and used the left over fabric for borders. It wasn't very large so I kept adding borders. I'm satisfied with it now and plan on hand quilting it for a friend at work who will be retiring sooner than me, which is only a couple of years away! It's lap sized so shouldn't take too terribly long. I need some handwork to keep me busy, I've been down and out with miserable allergies and at the Doctor's twice. Hate been sick :(.

Also, I finally cashed in the generous Xmas gift certificate from my sister and went to my favourite quilt store (Cornerstone) for the additional fabrics I will need for my paper piece/hand applique wall hanging I'm also going to start.  Here's the final collection, and I even got the backing for it! Looking forward to doing some more applique, not looking forward to the challenge of paper piecing. I am determined to work on it slowly and enjoy the process. One block at a time, maybe only one per week ? per month? Shouldn't be too stressful?

And of course I finally got my copy of the Lucy Boston POTC! It's everywhere on Pinterest these days! Totally disappointed with the book as it is a complete advertisement for Inklingo and very very limited about Lucy or her quilt. Also, since it is merely an ad vehicle for Inklingo, it gives limited instruction for those of us who don't want to print on fabric! Even the pictures are pathetic, too bad as I rely on pics BIG TIME to help overcome my incompetence in reading patterns ;). Ah well, I remain undaunted as the purpose was to have a long term, stress free hand project, and I still think this will fit the bill.  Between this and the hand appliqued Cats quilt I promised myself I would finally make myself, I should be busy busy busy for another couple of years!!

TTFN

Happy Father's Day

Well, it's another gloriously sunny Sunday - YEAH. Last week was the mater's 87th b-day.

Here she is with her grand daughter Lisa, the new mother, and Claire her great grand daughter :) We had angel food cake and ice cream in the afternoon and enjoyed getting together. Afterwards the mater and I cashed in a Xmas gift certificate and went out for a nice dinner in a  fancy restaurant.  So we don't forget this is father's day here's a pic of the happy family

That's Greg, Lisa' DH and the newest father in our family :) . This afternoon I am taking the pater and his partner out to see the movie Belle - should be a nice afternoon. Speaking of afternoons, I spent a couple of hours yesterday pulling suitable fabrics from my stash for my next project. - a pattern I clipped from a magazine many years ago - Wild Flowers by Judy Niemeyer. Should be interesting/challenging as it involves paper piecing (wish me luck!) as well as applique! You know it's amazing, I have this absolutely huge wicker basket filled with batiks in my stash, yet this is all I came up with!

Not nearly enough, especially for the main fabrics, the light backgrounds and the dark borders. Guess I'll have to go shopping ;)

TTFN

500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art !

Today is the mater's 87th birthday. So, yes, another celebration :).Left to right: my grandparents B (the mater's parents), my Great Grandmother M, me, (the youngest), the mater (now a great grandma)  and my sister (now a grandma herself!)

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Yesterday was a so-so day. It started off ok, another birthday cake made by 11 am, check, chicken soup in crockpot by 1, check. A beautiful day outside, so a couple of hours in my wee garden pulling weeds, check.Afternoon nap, check, then back into the kitchen.

What the heck! I have no noodles for the soup! Oh well, macaroni will do, will it? I'll tell you later once I've tasted it - it's next week's lunches! Time for dinner ... Now run upstairs and do some quick sewing...

I made 2 door jamb covers for baby Claire's room. Hint (for those w/o kiddies) you wrap one elastic around the door knob then stretch the cover around the door latch to the other door knob. Then parent can close the door w/o the door making any noise and waking baby! Good use for all those scrap leftovers! Ok, that's done, now run downstairs and ice the cake - what! it's flat as a pancake!!! DRAT, bake another cake!!! Now, collapse in bed exhausted as tomorrow is a busy celebration day! I'll be glad to get back to work so I can relax!!

TTFN

Celebrations

Last weekend was my B-I-L's 65th Bday so the family gathered to celebrate. He BBQ'd hamburgers and sausages and I supplied the cake and ice cream - chocolate this time :) Of course wee Claire, my great niece, was there ...

Here she is lying on the rocking horse quilt I made years ago for her mother, Lisa my niece. Can you tell it was the 80's ? For some reason I tied the quilt instead of actually quilting it. My sister must have liked it though - she kept it all these years!

The bear on the right side of Claire was a new present from great grandma :). Next weekend is her 87th b-day so we will be celebrating again with cake & ice cream!

I finally, yes finally got a new car trash bag made. It was a struggle as my Husqvarna's tension is all screwed up - darn last week's machine quilting foray ...  That machine just doesn't want to be "played" with so  I'll be working on getting it back to "normal" for I don't know how long .... grrr. I put 2 rows of curtain wire in the top to stiffen it, why ? I don't know!

It's been a perfect weekend - yeah. Here's a view of my front lower garden. The green fencing is already in place to hold up the huge white Hydrangea blossoms which will come later in the summer. They hide the A/C unit quite effectively :) The purple Spiderwort and yellow Day Lily  have yet to flower, but are growing tall, and my Wiegela has been trimmed twice already!

In the mean time here's a shot of my Lily of the Valley. Some people hate putting them in their garden as they spread fast and far, which is exactly why I planted it! They are filling in nicely :)

In the back my dwarf Lilac is in bloom and crowding out my Peonies. Ah well, at least they both survived last winter. I'm kinda worried about my Hibiscus which is growing leaves only at the bottom and so far all the branches are looking kinda dead - oh noooooo.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead ...

TTFN