Wednesday, February 29, 2012

HELLO LUSCIOUS

These jellyrolls came into the shop over the week-end.  "Hello Luscious" by basicgrey for Moda.  The colours are so fresh and springy. I am going to start cutting into this today.



On Sunday we had a little farewell dinner for Chad. He wanted some time with his little niece before he left and I happily obliged.  Before he left, I snapped a picture of the two of them.


Now that he's moved, I am happier than ever about Facebook , Skype,  tracking devices............
Hope you get some sewing time today.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

GUATEMALA BOUND

These little quiltys are off to warmer climates. Lucky them. When I took this picture, it was -8c. Brrrrr




Every year the grade 10's in my daughters school go to Guatemala on a missions trip. Three of my kids have been fortunate enough to go and see that not everyone lives like they do. They do things like poor cement floors in "houses" for families living on dirt, build playground equipment, and stock hospitals with supplies. Each student takes a hockey sized duffel bag with them, full of items to be handed out or left there for future use.  For the past several years, I have chosen to send quilts and baby items down. I feel for these young Moms who have so little to start, and then have a new one to care for. When one of my kids was there, they were at the hospital, and witnessed a mother taking home her baby in the dad's t-shirt. That's all they had.  Some mothers deliver, and sneak off in the night, leaving baby because they have nothing at all to provide for him/her.
  Anyway, I like to put together layettes, to be left at the hospital so when Mom comes in she is given a little bundle of things to help her take care of baby. A little bundle of "encouragement". Thank-you to those of you who have made things and spent time and money on items to go there. Much appreciated for sure.

Today, (and every day) I am thankful that when I brought my babies home from the hospital, I didn't need to worry about how I was going to clothe or provide for them. We are blessed.
Happy Sunday : )

Friday, February 24, 2012

FEATURE BLOG and an UPDATE

Today I want to introduce you to Debbie. She blogs over at A Quilters Table. Back when I started blogging, Debbie was already a well established blogger, but she took the time to check out a few of us little guys, and post some words of encouragement. I have followed her ever since. 25 years ago, she took a beginners quilt class and never looked back.  I am not quite sure how she gets so much done, but she posts nearly every day, enters challenges, and cranks out the most beautiful quilts! Head on over and have a look around, and say Hi while you are there.

After my last post, Gramma Quilter asked if I could post an update on my Farmer's Wife blocks. Here are the first 22  This is not the setting, but it gives you an idea of where I'm headed with this.
This picture is for you Donna : )



I guess this makes me 1/5 th of the way there : )
Have a fabulous week-end.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

SOME FARMING and a FAREWELL

My youngest son is leaving town-- Sniff : (    He is off to bigger and better things.  I told him I think he should come to dinner every night until he moves. Apparently, he thought I was serious because I have seen him more in the last 10 days than I have since the fall.  We will certainly miss having him around.

Yesterday, I felt the need for some "retail therapy" so hubby took me on a little road trip. It's always nice to get out of town for a few hours and see different things. We stopped at a couple of quilt shops and I picked up some flannel backings for baby quilts, and some stuff I thought I couldn't live without.



These alphabet bugs had to come home with me for no other reason other than that they are so stinkin  cute!




After we got home I hit the sewing room and did two farmers wife blocks.


This one nearly got treated to a blow torch


Not too bad but I will lose a point or two when I put the sashing on.
Blessings on your day.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

SOLIDS, SCRAPS, and a FINISH

 When I started quilting, it was such a no no to put a solid in your quilt. Now, they are quite popular. I saved a picture of a little quilt to my desktop about a year ago. So simple, yet I can't forget about it. Finally I have the time to make it.  More on that later.....



Now for the finish. My Reunion top is done.  This was a strip tube quilt that Andy over at A Bright Corner had a little tutorial for. I made it in a few days because it's such a fast method. This is a quilt I would definitely do again. There are quite a few settings to play with.


Hubby held this up for me this morning.  We got more snow last night and I thought the tree was so pretty. 
Have a great day.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

FEBRUARY MODA CLUB SHOW & TELL

Today's meeting was lots of fun. Thanks to all you ladies who came out again : )
The following pictures are show and tell from both the morning and the afternoon meetings.
It's real nice to see some quilts being made from patterns given at previous meetings. It inspires me to keep sewing.
There are quite a few here, so you may want to grab a cuppa and enjoy . (I apologize for the background "clutter" in some of these pics)









I want this next quilt......just sayin





























Memo to self: don't take pictures with the ironing board in the background.

Talk to you soon.

Friday, February 17, 2012

ON SHARING

Anyone that peruses quilt blogs, has been inspired by someone in one way or another. I certainly had my eyes opened when I discovered all the amazing quilters out there! A few posts back, I quoted Albert Einstein as saying "Creativity is contagious, pass it on."

Because of that, I would like to start a new feature here, once a week, showing you different blogs that I follow or that follow me. We are all part of a huge blogging community that I have only scratched the surface of I'm sure. It's always nice to see other people's work and encourage them in what they are doing.

So, to start off this show, I would like to introduce you to Linda (if you don't already know her).She has been a real encouragement to me since I started my whole quilting life about 12 years ago. Linda is a quilter of many talents. I have shown you her quilting here on some of my quilts before, because I give my big tops to her to be quilted. She is the "queen" of rulers. She's doing the farmers wife quilt using rulers instead of templates, because she's smart like that. I asked her a couple of questions.........

1. When did you start blogging?
 
     Linda said "I was inspired to start blogging back in June of 2011 after discovering how easy it could
     be".

2.  What is your favourite part of blogging?

    " Definitely the comments and the encouragement that comes along with them." She's always grateful      
    when someone takes a minute out of their day to say Hi.
   
How about popping over to Linda's blog and having a look around. While you're there, why not say Hello.

On a side note, it snowed all day yesterday which was a good thing because I needed to get my sewing done for the club this Saturday. I also snuck in a couple more granny squares--just for fun. These are just scraps laying on my sewing table. Sure hope they're not for another project...........



Have a wonderful week-end : )

Thursday, February 16, 2012

THE TEALS HAVE IT... A WINNER...AND A SCARE


After several people commented that they would choose the teal birdie, I went with it. Truth is I was leaning heavily that way myself. I have started to sew them together in groups of three, surrounding the bird and I plan on adding a couple more birds to the mix once it gets bigger. I am really enjoying these hexagons!


Thank-you to everyone who took the time to comment on the give-away. I asked hubby to do the random generator, and it chose #31. Jera MacKenzie I will be contacting you via e-mail .

Something really scary happened this morning. I tried to log on to my blog to write this post, and a page said "this blog has been removed".      EXCUSE ME?  REMOVED? I have read of other bloggers who's blogs have just disappeared.  Once I could breathe without the aid of a paper bag, I went to the help page where I read of similar stories. I punched in some code that a machine called in and it came back on line.
Phew!  5:45 a.m. is way too early for heart palpitations.

Come back tomorrow for something new here on the blog : 0 )

Monday, February 13, 2012

MY 100th POST and a GIVEAWAY !!!

Give-away now closed.


Hard to believe, but it's true. According to my little stats counter, this is my 100th post.  When I started this blog, I remember seeing people on other blogs celebrating their own milestones and wondering, "Will I ever get there"?
It certainly has gone by fast, and has been loads of fun!  I believe it's proper blog "etiquette" to host a give-away on such an occasion, so last Thursday I whipped up this little mug rug while thinking about YOU.


Also I have 2 charm packs, and some chocolate from Purdy's. If you are from Canada, you know all about Purdy's chocolate.


Soooooo, wanna sip tea, eat chocolate, and cut into some charm squares?  Just leave me a comment on this post.
 I will leave it open for a few days and then get my hubby to do the random generator thingy to choose a winner.
Thank-you for all the encouragement over the past year and a half : )

Carla