I'm Primed! I'm Psyched! I'm Ready for Tomorrow!

Gloria Loughman was the guest speaker at our Guild meeting this evening. She is an Australian quilter, lecturer and instructor. Her talk this evening was inspirational! Her life has been very interesting! She has a great sense of humour! She paints on fabric and is wonderfully creative! And she is an exquisite quilter! The following are just a few of her quilts and also some of her student's quilts. Sorry, I don't know which is which. But they are all so beautiful!
The best part of all this is coming tomorrow. Gloria is going to instruct a day-long workshop on her techniques to members of our guild. I signed up as soon as I heard about the workshop.

I must admit though, these gorgeous works of art are a bit intimidating. I hope I will be able to make something that comes even halfway close to these wonderful pieces. I can hardly wait to try. My machine is oiled and ready. My fabrics are in a huge bin. And all my other sewing things are packed and waiting by the front door.
The workshop is titled, "Layer by Layer". We will be making an abstract landscape wall hanging, similar to the ones above. My original idea was to do something based on works of the Group of Seven, like Tom Thompson's "Jack Pine" or maybe "West Wind". (I am including Thompson in with the 'Group'. He is my favourite!) Harris' "Northern Lake" and Lismer's "Bright Land" might also work. But I would have to draw them up as a template and I am really not sure what, exactly, we will be doing. So I think for tomorrow I will do one of the patterns that Gloria will provide for us - at least until I learn the technique. She has four patterns to chose from and all are equally wonderful.
I hope to have some more photos to show you tomorrow. And maybe a WIP (Work In Progress). Yes folks! I'm primed! I'm psyched! I'm ready!

OH, NO! Hope This Wasn't My Fault!

I spent last evening working on this week's UFO project. I worked on it until well after midnight.
It's a wallhanging with the words, "Let it Snow!" on it. And then it snowed - all night! We woke up to about 3 inches of the white stuff.
It's really very pretty. I love the way it is all piled up on branches, trees and fences, But it is a little early. Don't you think? I mean, it isn't even December yet. And winter doesn't arrive for another month! I took a photo out my front door. That's as far as I was able to get. I don't dare take my scooter out until the ramp into my house is cleared of snow. Don't want to get stuck out there, ya know! It's cold! Cold, but beautiful!

Applesauce!

I made applesauce today! I got the apples at Highland Farms. They were very nice looking MacIntosh and Courtland apples! And the best part is, they were grown right here in Ontario on Highland Farm's orchards. Sorry I didn't take a photo of them. I was too excited to get started! (Yeah!, right!)

I peeled, cored and sliced 50 MacIntosh and Courtland apples! Then I cooked the apples in a small amount of water until they were soft. I also sterilized some jars and then filled them. I got the canner out and processed 4 batches of jars. It was a lot of work, but it netted me 23 jars of applesauce. Yummy! And that's applesauce without sugar, salt or colouring! Yaaaa!

Well, that's it for domestic chores for me for awhile! It's nice to do some simple pioneer-type stuff once in awhile, especially in these crazy economic times, but it's a good thing I don't have to do this every day. I'm exhausted! Think I'll go back to my sewing machine now!

Skirt Completed!

Thank Goodness! The 'Talking Tree Skirt' is Done!

It was really annoying to have to listen to that thing nagging at me all the time! And since I wrote that last blog my DS has totally disowned me! He says it was just too weird to read about his mother talking to a piece of fabric - a piece of fabric with attitude at that!

This tree skirt was pieced entirely by hand. That means I started it many, many years ago, when I was still afraid of my sewing machine. Each year after I started it I would take it out just before Christmas and look at it. Sometimes I resolved to finish it, but most of the time I just gave up on the dauntless task of hand sewing all those pieces. There were only three pieces left to finish this year! Can you imagine? It only took a few hours to have a finished tree skirt! I think I gave up the last time I worked on it because it looks as if I had put those last three pieces in backwards or something and after I took them out, my enthusiasm for this quilt must have left me. That's when it ended up in the bottom of my UFO bin! But it is finished now.

Thank goodness it had a voice, or I may never have completed it! And even Oscar, my most demanding and descriminating quilt inspector, gives it his thumbs, I mean paws, up!

Right Oscar?

Yeah, man! I love this thing!

I didn't have any Christmas fabric that was big enough for the back of this skirt, (it's about 50 inches square) so I pieced a giant nine-patch. Then I machine quilted the whole thing. I think it turned out okay. Times have changed. I'm not afraid of my sewing machine any more. Hurray!
Oh, boy! I can hardly wait until Christmas so that I can put a tree on top of it. Not a real tree, of course! That would be cruel! Just a little artificial one from Canadian Tire. That will do us just fine.

Sail Away Felix

What do you do when life gives you lemons? You make lemonade, right? But what if your Guild gives you a "Quilts from the Heart" kit that contains some really cute boat fabric and also some of the ugliest orange sky stuff you have ever seen? The pattern for the quilt was supposed to be a sort of "Puss in the Corner"block. The ugly sky fabric (turquoise with orange clouds) was intended to be the main fabric in the centre. And not only that, but the clouds would have been going up and down! Never, without a few margaritas, have I ever seen a sky like that! This called for some creative thinking on my part. Good thing I love that sort of thing. I cut that ugly sky fabric and used it in smaller portions throughout the quilt. And I drew sailboats on the back of some "Steam-a-Seam" and did some simple machine applique. This is the result. I am quite happy with it. I think a small child will love the bright colours! And Felix loves it too!

I put some star fabric on the back I used this quilt to practice some machine quilting. I'm not very good at it yet, but I am getting better. I'll just keep making these charity quilts and using them for practice!

Oops! OMG! What was that? Oh, my goodness! It's a UFO! An unfinished tree skirt just fell onto my machine! And, wonders of wonders, it talks too!

Pardon? What's that you say? You think I should stop with the charity quilts and the summertime themes and start catching up on the Christmas things? I still have time!

What? It's only how many days until Christmas? 45? That can't be! I still have so much to do! How will I ever get everything finished? Oh, well. There's always next year.

What's that? You're tired of sitting at the bottom of my UFO bin for how many years? Oh, come on now. It can't have been that long! Really? Oh, give me a break. No, I didn't mean to break anything! Oh, please spare my machine! Okay, okay. I'll do it. From now on I will only work on Christmas stuff. Except for that workshop I plan to go on at the end of the month. Can I please go to that? It's still three weeks away.

What? I have to finish three things before I can go? That's one per week. You drive a hard bargain, but okay. I guess it's for my own good. I am such a big procrastinator! Guess I'd better get off this computer and get started.

Finished Disappearing Nine Patch Quilts

- well, almost finished.

A few days ago I promised to show you the disappearing 9-patch quilts I had done. Sorry! Life, the great weather we are having, as well as Seabiscuit and Wilbur got in the way of that. I will show them to you now. This first one has already gone to one of the shelters here in Toronto. It is a 'Quilts from the Heart' quilt, so most of the fabric was supplied by our Guild. Because I wanted to experiment with the disappearing 9-patch, I used some of my own fabric too. As I
had some fabric left over, I decided to make another 'Quilts from the Heart' quilt by adding a bit more of my fabric. This quilt was the result. Because all the blocks were the same, I pieced it in rows, (one quarter of a block each) rather than in large blocks. This worked out really well because I could press the seams in opposite directions and everything lined up nicely.

Since I made two quilts out of one kit, I had to play with the batting and backing material in order to make them fit. I pieced some left over batting strips to finish this quilt, which was around 34inches by 45inches. Then I found some really cute fabric in my stash. Unfortunately it was just not wide enough for the back. The selvage sides had a cute border print. I decided to cut the fabric in half and add a couple of inches to the middle in order to make it fit, but then changed my mind because I thought it would look as if I ran out of fabric. Instead, I cut the fabric for the back into thirds and added two strips of another fabric to give me the length I needed. This was the result. I think it worked.

And finally, the top of the last disappearing 9-patch. I have not finished it yet - still cutting strips to create a sort of piano key border. But I think this block is out of my system - for now anyway. Now onto Christmas stuff. Time is going by too quickly!

Wilbur's Wonderful Witty Wednesday Words! Wow!

"Oh! Look! These are just like the eggs I came from! Hey Mom! Can you make me a brother?"

A Seahorse Out of Water!

Last Friday, Opal had a couple of adorable little Amigurumi Seahorses on her blog. I couldn't resist! They were calling to me to make one of my own. I went to the pattern which she mentioned, but I soon realized that the pattern was for sale - for a lot more than I can afford to pay. So I sort of crocheted a little seahorse of my own without a pattern. I just made it up as I went along and I don't remember exactly what I did. So, sorry, I can't give you the instructions. I don't think that I will ever make another one exactly like it. He's a one-of-a-kind Amigurumi!
He is 'swimming' on the new fabric I bought last week. It sort of looks like the deep blue sea, doesn't it? I was going to use it for the back of my Disappearing Nine Patch quilt, but I think I will just use some for a border on the quilt top and save the rest for another day. Look, here he is, swimming right towards you! I think I will call him Seabiscuit.
Yes, Seabiscuit it is. He seems to be smiling. I think he likes his new name.

The Disappearing Nine Patch

This is the quilt block that became an obsession for me for the month of October! I first saw it at our Guild meeting in September. I loved it and wanted to try it, but no one could tell me how it was done. So I 'Googled' it. (Just an aside: Did you know that the word 'google' is being added to our dictionaries because it has become a real word? I love new words!) There were many sites which showed finished Disappearing Nine Patch quilts.

I decided to practice the block with fabric from my stash. I think this would be a fantastic way to use up charm squares or stash fabrics. Here is a quick tutorial of the technique.

First start with a simple 9-patch block. I used dark colours for the corner squares, light colours for the in between squares and assorted reds for the centre squares.

Press the block and cut it in half and then in half again. You now have a 4-patch.

Then rearrange the four sections by turning the two opposite quarters 180 degrees. Like this.

Finally, resew the blocks and arrange them on your design wall - or in my case - my design floor. Place them so that the colours are balanced. I really didn't even bother to do that. I just sewed them as I made them. Since I can't get around very well and things that are on the floor are difficult to reach, I decided to just let the colours happen. I used many different fabrics, so I knew the result would be very scrappy.

The result is a simple quilt, that looks intricate. The fabrics line up nicely without too much fuss. I have finished the top of this quilt, but I have not quilted it yet. I think that I want to put a couple of borders on it too, but I want to think about that for awhile. Tomorrow I will show you a couple of quilts which I finished using the Disappearing Nine Patch. The sun is coming out, so I think the colours will look great!

Happy Halloween!

I managed to make a patchwork pumpkin after all. This is from the same pattern that Rachael Rabbit had on her blog as a tutorial last week. I crazy pieced a large square and then cut the pumpkin shapes out of that.

And as if that isn't enough, I also made some little crocheted pumpkins. I used the Amigurumi Pumpkins pattern that Opal had on her blog.

"Oh, my gosh! These are like sooooo fun!"

Those are the words of a former student of mine. It's been years, but I can still hear her enthusiastic voice! When it comes to these little pumpkins I have to borrow her words and her enthusiasm! Because they were easy, fast and fun to make! Also addictive! But then anything Amigurumi is addictive for me! I did them all while watching a movie on television yesterday. Thanks Opal!

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy All Hallows Eve!

First Snowfall!

Snow on Geraniums!

Aren't they beautiful? I wonder if I'll still say that next April. Oh, well.

Yes, folks! We had snow last night. Not a lot, but enough to create havoc on our streets during this morning's rush hour. Driving was treacherous! Bridges freeze first and it seemed that every bridge had an accident on it! Traffic was snarled and people were late for work. But I didn't care! I got on the wheeltrans bus, scooter and all, and was driven to my physiotherapy appointment. They were at my door half an hour early, so I enjoyed the drive, looking out in wonder at all the snow. Most of our trees still have leaves, so they were heavy with snow and looked amazing! This is what was left in my garden when I got home around 11:00am.

Thank you to everyone who left such wonderful, encouraging comments on my last few posts! I really appreciate it! Thanks again!

Cats and Pumpkins

Done! In time for Halloween!

I started this little wallhanging a couple of years ago. At that time, I thought it was very cute and I had great hopes for it. But, unfortunately, I didn't get it finished before that Halloween and as a result it has been languishing in my UFO (UnFinished Objects) pile for over two years! But my UFO days are over! Well, not really. I still have lots more to finish. In fact, I don't dare admit to how many there actually are! But, in my attempt to finish as many as possible, I sandwiched it and quilted it last week. It was a good opportunity to practice my stipple quilting on the background. Then I had my DH hang it on the wall at my DD's house. I am very pleased with the way it turned out. And now it has a place of honour to greet her Halloween ghouls and goblins.

A Quilt Show in the Autumn of My Mind!

Autumn is in full swing around here! And as with autumn, my mind also seems to be in its latter stages of development! Some days I am glad that there is no one around to ask me who I am, where I live and what day it is! That is why this little miracle is so important to me!

Now, I know this is just a small step and I know I am not becoming a computer geek, but it is nice to be able to make my computer perform functions that it was meant to perform. What I am trying to say is, "I think I have figured out the 'link thing'!" It was not a revelation. Nor was it carefully researched, studied and implemented. It was more of an infant-learned thing. Kind of like a second childhood, I guess. I was typing on my blog and suddenly a 'link' came up. I had no idea how I had made that happen. Kind of like an baby who waves a rattle in the air and is astonished by the sound it makes! I tried to duplicate the sound, er, I mean, 'link thing', but couldn't remember which keys I had hit. I tried different combinations, and after many, many tries, I finally had a "By gosh! I think I've got it!" moment. Those are the exciting times of my life!

So now that I am able to 'link' stuff, I'd like to tell you all about the upcoming Rouge Valley Quilt Guild's Quilt Show. Just click on the icon and it will take you to the home page. Then click on 'quilt show' and you can read all about it! I am very excited about the Quilt Show. Not because I have any quilt in it, because I don't. I was not able to complete anything last year to enter into the show! But it will be great to see what all the other members have been up to! And I am also excited because I am now able to link to anything on this blog! The show runs this Friday and Saturday (October 24th and 25th) out in Ajax, so if you're in the Greater Toronto Area, why not come along for some lovely eye candy and maybe a cup of tea and a slice of banana bread! There will also be a vendor's marketplace. That's where you'll find me! I can't wait to see what is new on the quilt scene! I haven't been out much lately!

And now I leave you with a gorgeous image of Highland Creek in all its autumn splendor! Kind of like my mind - a little over-exposed perhaps, but colourful just the same!

See you at the Quilt Show!

My Little Ponies

It was a lovely fall day. The sun was shining brightly. The air was crisp and clear. Nature was at its fall best - warm autumn colours against a beautiful cerulean sky! Breathtaking! The ponies decided to go out for a walk in the park. They love the fall colours! And they love romping around in the grass! Ponies are like that, you know.

PUMPKINS!!!!!

Thanks to Rachael Rabbit's blog, I was able to make some really cute little pumpkins! She has a tutorial for them on her blog. Check it out. I didn't follow her instructions exactly. Instead, I used a different piece of fabric for each of the six sections of the pumpkin. They are sooooooo easy to make! But I have to warn you. They are highly addictive! It's impossible to stop at just one! I made five of them in an hour or so, in different sizes and colours. I think I like the orange one the best. I might make a few more in that colour, but in patchwork, the way Rachael suggests in her blog.

Introducing........................(drum roll please)

Wilbur, the newest member of our family.

The pattern came out of a Japanese Amigurumi book. Isn't he cute! Mimi doesn't think so. She wants nothing to do with him. But Oscar thinks he is great!

"Isn't it nice to have a brother, Oscar?"

"Yeah, I guess so, even if he is a dog!"

Happy Friday everyone. It's the start of a long weekend here in Canada. We will celebrate Thanksgiving Day on Monday. Have a great weekend!

"Oh, boy! Turkey Day! Can I share it with my new brother?"

"Yes, Oscar. That would be very nice!"

Mimi, Come and Take a Look at This!

We Have Mail! Real Mail!

Me: Look Mimi! I got a package in the mail today!

Mimi: You woke me up for that?

Me: Yes! Isn't it exciting? It's from Nicolette in Holland! It's something I won in her last contest when she posted her 70th blog for this year! I can't wait to open it!

Mimi: Oh, it does smell interesting. Okay. Open it and let me see what she sent you.

Me: Oh! This is great! Absolutely super! It's a cloth covered notepad, just as she promised! Isn't it beautiful? And you know me! I love notepads! I love to write notes!

Mimi: Yes! I know!

Me: The colours are very beautiful and Nicolette's sewing skills are fantastic! And look, Mimi, she has included some real Dutch candies. Hopjes! Echte Haagse Hopjes! I remember these from when I was a kid. They still look exactly the same! It seems as if nothing has changed in the last 50 years!

Mimi: Except you!!!

Me: Be nice Mimi! Actually now that I have this gift, there is nothing that you can say to make me feel bad today!!! I feel great! Oh! I have to send her a thank you!

Mimi: Okay. I'm sorry. Can I help you write a thank you card?

Me: Okay. Here's a pen.

Mimi: Hmmmm. This is hard for me to do. I can't seem to hold the pen right.

Me: Okay, then I will do it! So...... Thank you Nicolette! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love my new notepad! And the Hopjes! You're the best! And I love your blog!

Mimi: Can I go back to napping now?

Me: Yeah, Yeah, sure, whatever. Oh! I am going to make a list of quilts that I want to finish! And a list of all the plants in my garden. And maybe a list of questions to ask the specialist on my next visit. I can take notes when I watch the next quilt show on television. Oh, and things to buy at the quilt shop. What to make for dinner. Recipes. Quilt ideas. And.............

Mimi: Nicolette. I think you have created a monster! By the way, say 'Hi!' to Midas for me.

One Down, a Few Dozen Left to Go!

I am happy to say that another one of my UFOs became a completed quilt this morning! I started this quilt about two and a half years ago. That's a long time, I know! It was meant to be a 'teaching' quilt. A friend of mine wanted to learn to do this 'Quilt as you Go' technique. After I had cut all the fabric, she decided that it was too complicated for her. I decided to finish it anyway. It really isn't complicated at all! I used a Christmas bear design for my focus fabric. Then I used up all kinds of scraps from my stash. It was fun to make, even though I had to put it down several times when life got in the way. This quilt measures 53in. x 66in. (135cm x 168cm) It will add to my Christmas decorations this year and will keep us warm while watching those great seasonal programs. I can hardly wait for the Grinch who stole Christmas and Charlie Brown!This is the back of the quilt. I used a variety of Christmas fabrics. Each 6 1/2in square was constructed individually, then joined with strips of sashing which had to hand sewn on the back. Everything else was done by machine. The pattern for this quilt came from a 'Simon Says' technique which Irene Dewar taught a few years ago at the Quilter's Garden. I really like this method because the quilt doesn't have to be sandwiched and then quilted. Everything is done in one step. I made this quilt with Irene using a 'Dick and Jane' fabric.

This fabric was really cute and reminded me of my early school years here in Canada. That is not to say that they were fond memories! The fabric is copied from the Dick and Jane series of the 'Early Readers' used in Toronto schools during the late 50's. Fortunately these readers are no longer used today!

I immigrated to Canada in March of 1957 with my parents and sisters. In Holland, the country were I was born, I was in grade 3 at that time. When my parents went to enroll me at school here, the principal had no idea what to do with me! There were no ESL programs in the schools at that time. I was put into a grade 2 class, even though it was almost the end of the school year. I didn't speak a word of English, so I had to learn it. Each morning during language class, I had to read those 'stupid' umm I mean, fascinating Dick and Jane books. "See Dick! See Dick run! Come, Spot, come! See Jane!" OMG! I even had to take those dumb books home and practice reading with my parents - who were delighted with my dubious progress! I couldn't wait for June!
I was only able to get a few yards of this fabric. It was very popular when it first came out! I even ordered more, but found out that it was no longer being produced. Apparently the designer had 'stolen' the Dick and Jane pictures without permission. So I have fabric that is probably illegal! But that fits in perfectly with my memories of those books!
I used an allover star fabric for the back. This quilt measures approximately 40in. x 53in. (102cm x 135cm) I think I will save this one for a future grandchild - if there is one. I just couldn't give away all of these wonderful memories!

Foto Friday!

Oscar

Clean and Find!

Me: Hey Mimi! Wake up!

Mimi: Whaaaa? What do you want? Oh, jeez! Can't you see I'm napping?

Me: Come and see this! I just finished the bear quilt! Isn't it cute?

Mimi: Yeah, yeah. Great. (Yawn) Can I go back to sleep now?

Me: Okay. You sleep while I do a bit of cleaning up. This is so exciting! I love it when a quilt is finished! It is so satisfying! This quilt is based on the bear quilt that was included in the current Fons and Porter magazine, "Love of Quilting". I used the bear template, but I changed the layout. It went together really quickly and I am very pleased with it. Now I want to work on something else, but this sewing room is such a mess! I can't find anything! So..... Hi Ho, Hi Ho! It's cleaning up I'll go!

Mimi: Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Me: Hello? What's this? Look what I found Mimi! A bag full of stuff.

Mimi: Stuff? (Yawn) What kind of stuff?

Me: This stuff. They're body parts.

Mimi: Body parts? What kind of body parts? Are they edible?

Me: No Mimi, unless you want to eat acrylic yarn stuffed with polyester fiberfill.

Mimi: Yuck! No thanks. Then what good are they?

Me: Oh, you'll see! This is great! I'm going to sew them together. Do you want to help me? Hmmmm. I guess not.

Mimi: Zzzzzzzzzzzz!