HOME SWEET HOME

It's so good to be home---in my own bed. Our little holiday was very busy seeing lots of family and old friends. I haven't been to Vancouver Island in years, and it has sure changed.

First we went to Victoria, B.C.  It was fun to be a tourist and walk around the inner harbour. We walked all the way down to Fisherman's Wharf.  How would you like to live in one of these cute floating houses? There was one for sale..................$384,000.00

Now wouldn't this make a nice quilt shoppe?

After walking around for a couple of hours, we took a water taxi back to the inner harbour.

Up Island, is Parksville and Qualicum Beach. We used to live here.  We stayed in a beautiful hotel right on the beach. To think I used to bring my kids here for free!

The view from our balcony

Parksville also has a new Quilt Shop. Sweet Pea Quilting has lots of bright fun fabrics and the owner is very nice : )

and, I had to go to the Coombs market to see if the goats were still on the roof. Yup, still there. I wonder what generation these ones are?

I did manage to find a couple more quilt shops, but I only brought home a few treasures:

I'm looking forward to dusting off my sewing machine today, and getting back in the groove : )

Happy Stitching.

PEBBLES, PEBBLES EVERYWHERE

The quilting is finished on my Dresden Plate quilt. I think I was doing pebbles in my sleep!

It took a tremendous amount of thread and time, but the effort was worth it. The natural light really shows the quilting.

I still may try and do some quilting in the star flower........

Also, I had a bit of fun with the binding. Everything else is scrappy, so I went with a bit of a scrappy binding. Just a few colour changes.

This will go on the ever growing pile of "what do I do with it now" quilts !

The next week will be spent with family from both sides. I don't imagine I will be able to get any sewing done, but maybe they won't mind if I work on my hexagons while we visit.

Have a great week, and when I am back, maybe I will have something new to show you : )

linking up with Connie at Quilting by the river

FRIDAY PHOTOS

Lest you think that all I do is sit around basting hexagons, I thought I would show you what I've been doing the last couple of nights. My dresden plate quilt has been basted for over a year. I'm not sure if that's really bad, or a great advertisement for 505 spray baste  : )

Anyway, I had this picture in my head of the background filled with pebble quilting (the one thing I can sort of do other than squiggly lines)

After the first 10 or so pebbles, my thought was to pick it all out and throw it in the corner.  Then I thought, dang it! I am doing this! Some of them look a little more like kidney beans, but oh well.

Each one of these blocks takes a whole bobbin of thread. On the top I am using a Mettler variegated #9817

The fabrics in this quilt were scraps from my string quilt, jellyroll bits etc. I made it using the english paper piecing method just like the hexagons. The little star flower shape was a gift from a friend (thanks Dawn) and I think it makes it just a bit different from most dresdens.
This is going to take me a while to finish, but I will show you the end result soon.

Have a fabulous week-end and don't forget the sunscreen  : 0 )

DONE, DONE, and DONE

The weather here on Sunday was so hot, I had no choice but to hide in my sewing room. I got quite a bit accomplished.  I figure the only way to keep on top of the blocks I have to do for the groups I have joined , is to just DO it.

July blocks for the Heal@do.Good stitches group (these blocks will go into quilts for hospice)

the fabrics in this block were given to me by a co-worker (thanks Jeannie) and I have no idea what they are, but I love how they look in this block

July block for Scrappy?Sew bee it group. This one is off to Wisconsin !

and of course there are always hexagons being pieced around here

#27

#28

I have had several people e-mail and ask about the hexagons I am doing. They are a block-a-week hexathon through the shop where I work. If you care to know more details or join in the fun, you can e-mail Katja at   katjasquiltshoppe@telus.net


Linking up with Connie today at quilting by the river 

SATURDAY SNAPSHOTS

This is a look at the layout I'm playing with for my Blitzen quilt.   This may not be the final one, but I am liking it.

I got my wish for sun!  I sat outside and got quite a few hexagons basted until I felt myself starting to fry.

and I managed to do week #24 hexie. I had been avoiding this one, but it's done now.

Hope your week end includes family and fun : )

W.i.P WEDNESDAY

This is a late post today, but I am linking up with Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday.
If you have time, check out what all the other people are working on this week.

I finished row 2 of my "Bird on a Wire quilt". Making the little quilts has been fun. I'm still not sure what I will make to hang on the last clothesline, but there's time yet.

I love the little girlie clothes : )

mini tumbler

Also today, I made my second (extra) block for the Heal at do.Good stitches.  They are in the mail tomorrow.

That's it for now. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 27 degrees so I will be sitting in the sun, basting hexies to my hearts content.

Happy stitching!

CHRISTMAS ALREADY

Why is it that summer takes it sweet time coming, but before we know it, Christmas is here? BasicGrey has been a favourite designer for years, and this is the new Christmas line called Blitzen for Moda. The teals and grey are such a nice combination. There is some red and green as well. The background fabric is so gorgeous!

I am working on a simple quilt that will feature the fabrics more than the piecing. Not everything has to be a lot of work to be nice. This will be for the Moda club at Katja's in September.

I worked on #26 of the hex-a-long

and this block is for the heal @ do.Good stitches group.  One of the group members has a co-worker who has been diagnosed with an aggressive type of cancer. We are making blocks for a quilt for her.

She asked for wonky stars in happy colours : )

The sun is finally shining so I hope to sit out and work on my hexies this week.
Happy stitching.