Fun In The Sun with the G'ma P's Treasures

I'm tuckered out ready to inspect my pillow, sun ripened, with a full tummy and why?  Well, I  spent a wonderful day with the grandchildren at the KOA campground today what fun, and spent lots of time in the pool with all of the children (6 of them) boy did we have fun....

 Ella has a new playmate, Mr. Alpha Caterpillar 

 Zachary and Brayden showing off their new tatoos

Naomi thinking about what she'd like to do next and Mikayla looks like she needs a nap.

Mr. Caterpillar makes a wonderful and comfy group pillow which they're all checking out before heading to the fire for S'mores.....YUMMY

How could a gran not enjoy these moments?

One thing I'd love to mention is that the little quilt I made for Same has been entered at the Quilting Gallery for the Weekly Theme, so if you have an extra moment or two, head on over to the Gallery and look at all of the entries there are some beautiful little ones quilts in this week.  My entry is number 61, you scroll down to see all of the entries and

if you think it worth a mention, please vote for this little quilt, each voter may vote for 6 of their favorite entries.  I love the Teddy Bear quilt, it is so cute!!!

I managed to piece together two rows of my latest project so hopefully tomorrow I will have the rest pieced and ready to share with you.

Thank you all for stopping by for a share of my day, I am off to put my old bones to bed and I hope to see you again tomorrow. 

Love puts the fun in together, the sad in apart, and the joy in a heart.  ~Author Unknown

I Can't Count!

Seems I cannot count properly today.  I have 34 of these blocks and should have 35 - seems like I goofed...one more to make!  Here I was thinking ahhh finished piecing but not so. 

I have laid out the 30 on the bed and from the pictures I believe some of the blocks need swapping because there is a row that has no red in it.  So the finished layout will be a tad different as opposed to the colors.  What do you think?  

 I keep going back to the scraps and for some unknown reason these never seem to diminish.  Hmmmm I wonder, is there a scrap weed growing on the bottom of the pile, you know the type of weed that just keeps on growing and growing and growing no matter how often you cut it down.    

Have you seen the latest Missouri Star Quilt Co. tutorial?  Isn't it marvelous how Jenny comes up with these wonderful and quick methods on piecing a block and getting a quilt top done in no time at all.  I simply love her tutorials and her ideas!
This latest tutorial of Jenny's is called the "Merry Go Round Quilt" and it's fabulous! 

If your interested, just click on the highlighted title of the quilt and it will take you straight to Jenny's tutorial. 

Now it is back to the sewing machine, one more block to make and then see how quickly I can put this together, sandwich and quilt it.  

Hopefully by the weekend it will be a completed quilt.  Tomorrow though I get to play with my grandchildren, hooray!!!  They are camping at the KOA campground up my way and so I have given myself the day off to go and play.

Thank you for continuing to check in on me, I rather enjoy sharing with you and do hope you'll return again.  Should you wish to leave a comment I would love to know what your current projects are.  Do you find your scraps never deplete?  

What you can't get out of, get into wholeheartedly.  ~Mignon McLaughlin

It's Been Awhile But....

Hello, it has been awhile since I posted anything, but with company, nasty storms, no electricity and pet sitting for others I have been kept busy, and too tired to do much thinking let alone any blogging.  
The weather isn't too bad today, we are once again expecting rain showers, but it has cooled considerably, making sitting in front of the sewing machine more comfortable than it has been over the past several weeks.
Since my last post I managed to finish off Sams' little quilt, packed it up and off it went home to Holland inside my cousins' luggage and been delivered.  YAY!  

Finished and delivered to Mama and Papa for their little boy Sam!

Sams' papa is reading all of the words and phrases I embroidered willy nilly inside the white centers of the squares, all relating to little people and what it is they do while moving from infancy into being a toddler which I had so much fun with.

I also managed to make a decision on the borders for my Scrappy Hearts quilt top, have those on finally and decided it needed something, what?  Walking around it I just couldn't seem to come up with an answer until one evening while vegging out in front of the tv and making hexagons I thought why not some hexie flowers, which is what I did. Not all have been sewn down because I am still playing with the placement.  You see I want them to look strewn instead of placed so I am still playing with those.  What would you do differently?

I also made a new bag for one of the seniors residing at my friends' retirement home, as the first one I made for her just plain wore out.  She carries so many things for the hours she's upstairs from her room downstairs and she just washed the old one far too many times, this one is the same style just great for her arthritic hands to hold.

 Then because I actually had so much fun with quilting the upholstery fabric and making the bag from it I dug out some of the left over upholstery fabric samples and made an armchair caddy for my friends' gazillion remotes they have...

As can be seen I have at least been quilting around my various busy activities, just small projects, nothing too much but fun to do all the same. 
What with the heavy thunder and rain storms we have been having to endure, and while waiting for a pet owner to come and pick up his Big Girl "Flippy", I decided I would set the scrappy hearts aside and make some four patches from bits of scraps I want to whittle down. 

Here are some, most are almost complete and ready to be pieced into another Charity Quilt top. 

I am thinking if I apply myself this afternoon I may just finish piecing the rest of the blocks and get a good start on the top. 
This then has more or less brought you who do read and follow me up to date.  I thank you for your patience with me, but as I said, I have been busy and not doing much computer time as I would have liked. 
Thanks for stopping by today, hopefully I will have a top to share with you tomorrow and no more pets this week to care for.
Don't say you don't have enough time.  You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.  ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

It's Been A Perfect Day

What a fabulous weather day today, the temperature just perfect and a wonderful breeze.  I spent the morning finishing the Scrappy Hearts blocks,

 then auditioned fabric for the borders

Right side of fabric where the green is bright, or the

Wrong side of fabric which is muted, or

this blue with faint beige dots....

and because I simply could not make up my mind I decided that I'd take full advantage of the weather and sit outside and work on more hexagons, a most enjoyable afternoon.  Slowly my top is beginning to grow and of course I am adding them as I go along and not waiting to systematically put the individuals in a pile to sew together once there are hundreds, LOL.... I never was one for following rules!  I so enjoy hand sewing but my arthritic fingers can only go for so long and then I must stop and rest a bit.

Before sitting down to sew I decided to check on my garden and have discovered why the Clematis was withered and looked like it was dying!  Some critter (my neighbor thinks it may be the new baby rabbits from the wooded area across the way) has been eating at it,  I thought that it had been cut by a weed whacker, but not so, it is definitely a little creature that I share my surroundings with.   At least the roots are still in tack and in the ground, so hopefully it will begin to grow again and possibly I may end up with beautiful flowers to enjoy.  My rose bushes are doing well too, the red one named Coco looks like it will burst forth with a bloom very soon and the yellow bush named Lemon Meringue now has three buds ready to burst open with beautiful yellow roses.  I just love roses and these two bushes are climbers, I cannot wait to see them grow and prosper. 

Now, I have put away my sewing all to be picked up tomorrow.  

So what do you think?  About the auditioned fabric choices?  The blue looks like it may do the Scrappy Hearts more justice than the busy patterned green with black.  I wouldn't mind your opinion on this....  

Spend the afternoon.  You can't take it with you.  ~Annie Dillard

MONDAY AND NO SUNSHINE YET

Hey there, it's Monday and I have been keeping busy.  Took out the Scrappy Heart Blocks I was working on last year to finish this quilt off, trying to get another UFO finished.   My wonderful Easy Listening station is just about half way to full blast with all that wonderful music it plays without commercials 24/7 and I filled several bobbins and went to work.  Mind you in the beginning everything I attempted seemed not to be working well for me but, after a lovely hot cuppa and lunch it finally began to come together. 

My blocks are finishing out at 15.75" which seems rather weird, but rather than worry about it and seeing as I seem to have made the same consistent mistake, I'll carry on. 

Thinking it might be nice to add a large strip of square in a square blocks between these huge blocks, but, as per my usual routine I will walk around that thought for awhile until all of the blocks are fully sashed.  Possibly it might not look as busy if I just go back to my first idea when I began this project and add a huge border between the sets and then carry on that same border around the outside.  I am looking for ideas on how to make those scrappy hearts look like their floating...with my skill set I often get my ideas from seeing how other scrappy quilts look when sewn into sashed settings... Am I making any sense???

It should end up being a lap quilt size and I want it to be comfy.  

Our weather doesn't seem to be getting better yet, still rain and darkened days, hopefully real sunny weather with nice summery temperatures will arriver sooner than later.   So far this year has been on the damp side which isn't doing my arthritic joints any good. 

As i promised, there are a few more of those quilts Liz and I saw this past Saturday. 

This color combination was very restful, a rather nice teal with a beige against a lighter shade of ecru and I just wish I could have shown off the quilting in it much better, believe me it was lovely. 

This postage sized stamp quilt was nice and colorful.  Apparently it was a queen size and hand quilted. 

These quilts were displayed along side the Alter leading into the Tea Room, I this black, white and red finished up nicely, don't you?

This blue on white was exquisite but was set into a darker corner of the Church and my camera simply didn't do it justice.  It was pieced and quilted by machine.

This utility quilt was rather colorful and seemingly a very efficient way to use up left overs from other quilts. 

Back in the beginning of April I began a little quilt for a wee lad born to friends in Holland, well while my cousin was here I managed to squeeze in the finish and off it went with her to be delivered.  Here then, if you didn't see it on my Facebook page is the finished tiny quilt. 

Time to get going, I will wish you all a wonderful day or evening depending on where it is your reading from. 

If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.  ~Thomas Alva Edison

Sabbatical Has Ended

In case you hadn't noticed I have been on a bit of a self-imposed sabbatical.   No real excuse but to say I felt funky and decided a rest might do me well, and, it has!  I am feeling much improved over April and May and ready to show my face again.

So, if your still checking in to see if I had anything to share with you and your still interested, then I have a tiny treat for you today. 

My friend Liz accepted my invitation to attend a local guilds Quilt Festival in a quaint and beautiful small church about a half hours drive from where I live this afternoon.  When Liz arrived she brought along her new furry four legged companion "Kiki" who is but a year old, a rescued pup.  My goodness but she is so sweet and took to me right away and I had the greatest amount of cuddles all afternoon, admittedly I missed these types of teeny wet kisses and adoring looks. 

Isn't she just too adorable?

The guild members from what I could gather are all 70+ and older, so these quilts are very special.  I digress, on to the Quilts!

This was so so well done, hand pieced and hand quilted.

Because of the lack of space in this small church, each quilt was folded over on the pews and then displayed rather nicely in front of and upon the alter area.

I would love to have seen this colorful Bargello fully displayed.

This Log Cabin was also very interesting as each part was different shapes, only this one flower was visible.

This beauty was hand pieced, appliqued and hand quilted and my camera somehow does not do it justice.

Now this too was all hand appliqued and hand quilted, a striking display of fruits.

Liz really liked this one with a huge variety of blues and hand embroidery around the printed patterned medallions.

I was partial to this interesting red and white.  All pieced, embroidered and quilted by machine.

This is the final quilt of the day to share with you, pieced by machine with all hand applique and quilting. 

There were a few more, but I think I will save these for another day.  I was awed by the beauty of the quilts, the skills of those women and their sisterhood.  This exhibition was to assist in their fund raising for more fabrics.  Their guild makes beautiful Cancer quilts for those patients in hospital.  A remarkable amount of quilts are made this way by the Victoria Quilters Guild of Portland, Ontario, Canada.  After the exhibition, tea and biscuits with strawberries and clotted cream was served in the anteroom off the Alter, and delicious too (the clotted cream was to die for, but, being on my best behavior today, I only had one....

I am so very happy to be back to blogging again and ask your forgiveness for staying away so long...I hope you'll come visit with me again.

Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.  ~Guilaume Apollinaire

Crystal Clear, Winter is Still Here

It's Friday once again, that last day of the working week when many look forward to a weekend.  Fifty-two (52) years ago today, the day was hot and sunny!  How do I know this, because it was on this day I met my DH!  Oh my, that was so very long ago!

As you know, I have been longing for Spring to arrive bringing with her warmth and sunshine, but, as many of you can attest, Spring remains in hiding.  For your information.......

"Important Features of Spring according to Maps of The World states in part that........
Extreme weather conditions characterize the spring season. This is due to the fact that during this season the warm winds coming from the lower regions are accompanied by the cold air which originates from the Polar Regions. During the spring season, days are longer and the weather is severe. The seas and rivers are full because the snow begins to melt. Rainfall is also heavy often leading to serious flood situations. Floods are most common in the hilly areas. In addition to all this, tornado, hailstorms and heavy downpour are also common features during the spring season. "

According to meteorologists at the Weather Network,  this storm isn't over yet, and has created much havoc throughout the mid-west United States and is making its mark throughout Canada.  Here in eastern Ontario, while no snow, it is the ice we are battling!  

Now enough is enough, but thankfully this is all my tiny corner of the area received overnight!  Absolutely a crystallized wonderland around here and while no sunshine, these trees sheathed in ice are so beautiful. 

Compared to the news coverage my area was supposed to have been hit much harder than this by Ole Man Winter, but it is what it is!  Seeing news reports of other areas in the path of this latest storm     North America, others have not fared well, heavy blizzards and snow, even some tornado's were spawned.  So winter seems to be having a difficult time releasing its' grip on us!

In describing the beauty of the ice on the landscape here, I also remembered seeing a very beautiful quilt, one of the Bloggers as well as Esty Shop owner, Tami Levin,  created this stunning quilt for a Winter Quilt Swap.  I really love this quilter, she is so diversified and neat.  Her Blog, Lemon Tree Tales, is a very interesting place, you just have to visit, I am sure you'll enjoy your visits there as much as I do.  Her swap quilt, "The Four Seasons"  has a tree that really quilt depicts the ice swathed trees outside my door so beautifully. 

Oh my goodness!!  Just now a very loud clattering noise from my roof!!!! - after getting my heart to settle I went to inspect what had made such a sound,  at first I thought it was ice sliding from the roof, but, no, it was a beautiful section of the tree at the back of my house, some of its beautiful limbs broke from the main trunk and fell to the ground!!!!  Ahhhhhhhh, bet it isn't the only tree to be broken today!  While the ice has made the trees looking beautiful crystal, it can be devastating to the trees and here is proof  of that.  Darn, I dislike seeing damage done to Mother Nature's children.

This is enough for now, the electricity is flickering so shutting down now would be best for my computer.  

I am so hoping none of you are experiencing winter, but if you are, then I pray your safe, warm and comfortable and that nothing untoward is happening to you, your family or friends and neighbors.  

Thank you for visiting with me today, I certainly so appreciate your visits.
 When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure. 
Alice Hoffman

SEW - I'M A CHEAPSKATE!

Someone called me a Cheapskate the other day and after thinking about it, I conclude their so right!

Just about everything in my house is second even third hand and I love my possessions, I am so fortunate as to have good friends who deemed me worthy enough to ask if I would use or could make use of certain furnishings and objects.  Needless to say, I said YES and cannot express my thanks enough for my treasures.  My closet is testament to my good fortune and when I dress up for an event I look just as stylish as those in the room having paid more than I can afford, even my new winter boots were actually brand new and possibly only worn once or twice were a fantastic find for me with a price tag of FREE....I love that price!!!!

TODAY is Wednesday, the day the sales papers are delivered in my neighborhood to all homes in my area!  So I will invest the hour to sit and go over all of the savings offered in those advertisements.  Mostly because, this year more than ever before in my lifetime I find that my budget is being stretched to its limit.  To this end I have been surfing the internet to see what others are doing to stretch their budgets. 

I have come across some very wonderful sites, but one in particular called  Debt Free, Cashed Up and Laughing - the cheapskates way to living the good life!   I visit this site so often and love it there.   The ideas and solutions expressed make such good common sense and I have really learned from Cath's Blog how to save even more money than I had thought possible. 
The laundry detergent (washing powder) recipe alone will save so very much money, just this one item and you'll be amazed.   Mind you it takes a bit of doing to find some of those ingredients in Ontario where I live, but, it can be accomplished.   I am now aiming to try out the Miracle Spray and the MOO stain removing soap.  These are just for starters for me. 

Then there is the getting of almost free fabric, by simply visiting some decent second hand stores.  I haven't done any of this type of shopping since leaving New Brunswick  all I have to do is to find a good source around here to take advantage of gently used cotton shirts or sheets, this would aid and abet my quilting habit, a good source for nearly free fabrics.    You do have to be vigilant in what you find at the thrift stores though you really have to take your time and look at the labels to make certain it is a cotton shirt or sheet..  Another great site with lots of good ideas and solutions is Make It and Mend It.   Up-cycling is really not a new idea, pioneer women up-cycled much of their fabrics all of the time.  Some sites even advocate dumpster diving, but that is one method I would not attempt, with my good fortune I might fall into the dumpster and not be able to get out..oh my, that would not do!  LOL

In New Brunswick we had second hand shops called Frenchies, here in Ontario, it's Value Village, the Salvation Army Thrift shop and the Mission For Bibles and there are so many more, many I haven't discovered just yet, but I will..  These stores provide those who practice being frugal a good supply of items needing a new purpose or a continued use in someone's home.   

Making headway in Cyberspace are 100's of sites that advise, inform and assist in finding uses for unwanted items, even assist you in finding sites in your area of the world.  One such effective site is Earth 911 -  a huge and very informative and interesting site, look one such topic alone is Staying Green in 2013  and crazy DIY project ideas.   

What you can make from old floppy disks..

Then, if your seeking to purchase something recycled or upcycled, go to Etsy and search for such shops and you will find a varied amount of vendors who are really cutting down on the carbon imprints by recycling and reselling these new products made from unwanted items or materials, clothing.. hand bags, totes, shoes, art works you name it, I tell you it can be found.   You and I know that Etsy is just one such place to find these sort of finds.  So much fun searching around the internet for motivation and ideas.  There are so many very clever people out and about in our world. 

What is it like for you in your area, do you have outlets which provide you with a way to really stretch your budget?  Do you enjoy visiting these shops, do you enjoy paying a little to gain back so much more? I sure do!  

If your still reading, I'm so happy you stopped to share some of your time with me today.  I hope you stop in again. 

"In the old days a man who saved money was a miser; nowadays he's a wonder." --Author Unknown

Where is Spring?

I realize I have been missing for several days, and here it is, already another Friday!  So, I am shouting out a Howdy to you all!  
As I said it is Friday once again and ole man winter is still hanging on, just cannot bring himself to leave!!!  He continues to leave his mark!

Image courtesy of Simon Howden at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 There have been sightings of Ms. Spring, and I have even witnessed several of her attempts to return and stay, 

Image courtesy of Maggie Smith at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

but, this year ole man winter stubbornly refuses to budge!  Not fifteen moments ago the sky clouded over and snow began to fall, aided and abetted by strong winds and not at all warm.

Not sure about you, but, I am becoming rather impatient waiting out winter and spring cannot come soon enough for my liking. 

Meanwhile, I have been keeping myself busy, attending to my lazy streak and making the huge effort to make myself get up from my reclining posture and do something useful.  I haven't managed much, just some hand written letters and cards to friends who are celebrating birthdays this month, a trip to the Library for DVD's and more books, a trip into the city to pick up a free bed, some much needed groceries, and some actual time behind the sewing machine to make a tiny baby quilt. 

On March 22nd, Sam was welcomed into the world by his parents and to my way of thinking his entry into our large and loud world makes it necessary for him to have a quilt of his own, something special from me to welcome him.  So Sam, here is hoping your bonding with mama and papa and that you'll enjoy this little gift I have been creating just for you and you alone.  

From my scraps

Image courtesy of Keerati at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I found a remnant of pooh and friends print which I fussy cut squares from and randomly set these into a tiny quilt which will make a nice little play mat for him. 

So far this is the top.   As you can see I put those blocks together randomly without a tight control as to the colors, hopefully with the embroidery it will look more complete.  Normally I cannot help trying to control everything, but this time I just enjoyed the process nd surprised myself. 

See, no real conformity to the setting of the blocks.  I am rather pleased with it even though it wasn't a controlled piece of work.  

One of the quilters sites I subscribe to is Rose Smith of Ludlow Quilts in the U.K..  Rose gives such wonderful and easy to follow tutorials of the projects she is working on at any given time.  Todays' project/tutorial is no exception, it is the COG QUILT pattern, I am sure you'll enjoy this project.   Rose makes her free pattern projects quite easy to follow along and I have learned much from her over the past several years.

Now to play with the embroidery and see how that will turn out.  My cousin who is coming out from Holland in May will take this home with her in June, so hopefully it will not look too shabby. 

Thank you for joining me today, I hope Rose inspires you to make the cog star block, it really is a nice looking quilt she has put together with this block.
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.  ~Irish Proverb