What I'm Working On

I have been out of town for a few days.  Just got back yesterday.  I didn't have much time for machine sewing.  But I did do a couple of small things.  I started to make the basket blocks for the bow tie quilt I started last month. This month's blocks were small baskets.  I don't really like them; just a bit too small and fussy for my liking. I only made two of them and I don't think I will make any more.

I know I promised not to start any other new projects, but I just couldn't resist when I saw the elephant baby quilt on the Sew Fresh Quilts site.  The sew along started on February the 1st.  I made one elephant block so far.  It is so cute and it took no time at all.  I will definitely make more blocks of this quilt.  But I will finish some more urgent quilts first.

While away from my machine I worked on some crocheted granny hexies.  I spent a couple of hours each day working on these.  I think I have enough for a small baby blanket.

Today I am heading to my sewing machine.  I really have to finish that jungle quilt before William is too old for it.

Where Has the Time Gone?

I can't believe that it's been over a week since I last posted something.  Time just seems to fly by.  We still haven't had any real winter - no snow and average or above-average temps.  Apparently our resident groundhog did not see his shadow last week, so we will have an early spring.  That's of course, if you believe in rodent prognosticators of the weather.  Just hope it doesn't snow in July!

I made five houses last week and so far I have four more to sew together for this week.   I like this little task, especially when I don't feel much like quilting.

How many people are still doing hexagons?  I decided to start a new hexie project.  (The other hexie projects are now officially UFOs.)  I needed a hand project to do at our weekly mini group meetings.  When I saw one of the other members working on her hexies, I got addicted again.  Not to finish my UFOs.  Oh no!  Of course not!  I started a new one.  This one will be stars with probably some black and white pieces to join them together.l  I haven't got that far yet - still thinking.  I am trying to use up everything that is in my stash.  This is my evening and Tuesday group project.

I also started an applique BOM.  So far I have been able to keep up.  But it's only February.  Two blocks are posted every month.  I am hand appliqueing them, because I enjoy the handwork.  I find it relaxing.

My Christmas cacti are still blooming.  Some even have a lot of little buds on them.  This is my reddish/orange one.  I love it!  Only one flower right now.  It just opened this morning. 

BOM - A New Start

At our last Guild meeting, about 40 members showed off their beautiful quilts, which they had made in a BOM club last year.  It was announced that a new quilt was going to be started for this year - a block of the month.  That sounded doable to me, so I decided to join in.  It only amounts to one session per month.  Most of the work will be done at home.  I believe there are 50+ of us doing this year's quilt.  It is called 'The Queen and her Court' and is by A Wing and a Prayer Designs.  It will measure 96in. by 108in. when it is complete.  Here are my first two blocks for this month.

I think I was inspired by the fall colours all around me.  I hope I will still like it next year when it is finished.  One of the perks (or downfalls) of this group, is that we will be doing a lot more than making our blocks.  We will have coffee or tea and lots of conversation, tips and instructions.  A goodie of some sort will be brought each month by one of the members.  Today is my turn to bring something to go with our tea.  A recipe will accompany my treat of a lemon loaf.  Copies will be made and given out to the others members.  By the end of the year we will, not only own a beautiful quilt, but will have collected lots of recipes too.  

Today is Wednesday, I Think

My day has held a lot of stress for me. I had to meet with my financial advisor to figure out how I will survive on my pittance of a pension for the rest of my life. He thinks he can do something for me, but I have been hit hard by our tax man. It seems I paid too much into my RRSPs and now I have to pay them back- the tax that is. This is going to take a huge chunk out of my new kitchen fund.

Then my DD phoned me to tell me that she was in a car accident on her way to work this morning. She is okay, but the car may not be. The couple that ran into the side of her car are okay too. Can't blame this on our winter. We had the most beautiful day today. The sun was shining and the temperature was not too bad. There was no ice or snow on the roads. DD thinks it was her fault.

I have been waiting for the guy from Home Depot to call me regarding my kitchen cabinets. We are supposed to okay the deal and order them tonight. Then the destruction work will begin. I'm dreading that. Just more stress.

I decided to make my own pattern for the paper pieced camel on the Block Party this week. I am not very happy with the way he turned out. But maybe amongst many other blocks in a child's quilt he will look okay.


And something I told myself I wouldn't do.... I fell for the cuteness of the Henrietta BOM. (You can find it on my sidebar) I decided to machine applique the blocks so that they would not take too long to make. I still have to finish them.

I have no pictures of my hexagon quilt. I misplaced one of the fabrics and spent most of my day looking for it. The good part is, I got my sewing room tidied up. And I found the missing fabric, so I will have lots to work on this evening, while I stay up late to watch 'Off the Map' at 10:00pm.

Valentine Kisses and a Mug Rug

I have not been working on my UFOs as I had promised myself. I have just been playing with my fabric. This is not a good thing because I really have to get out of this rut and actually do some real quilting. I did finish my February block of the Birdie Stitches BOM. (see my side bar) It's cute, but it's not a finished quilt. (sigh)


I also made this mug rug using a cat pattern I had downloaded somewhere a long, long time ago. It's kind of cute, but it also is not a finished UFO! This week's block on the Friday Block Party is a cute, fat chicken. I may have to make another mug rug, but not before I finish something else.

So now I am going to tidy up my sewing room and look for a UFO quilt that I can work on this month.

One Flower Wednesday and Other Stuff

I have been busy with my hexagon quilt. Last Friday I showed you the inside of this block. This is all I got done this week. Once the piece gets bigger, it takes longer to go around. Six more hexies are needed for each round. This is where I am at now. Still lots more to go.

It has been snowing every few days since the beginning of the year. My backyard is covered in snow. I took these shots from the doorway. It is too icy today for me to walk outside. I am too afraid of falling. It's dark and gloomy. The snow just keeps on falling - tiny flakes that are almost invisible.

I started a new BOM. I know that I promised myself I wouldn't do that, but I just couldn't resist this cute block. I am going to do it all in black and white.

And speaking of black and white... Here is Oscar. He kept putting his nose into my camera lens until I finally relented and took his photo. Now he is purring! He's so vain.

My internet provider is acting up lately. If it seems that I have not been visiting your blog or not leaving any comments, it is because I only have a few short moments when it works. If this doesn't get better soon I guess I will have to phone the cable company and find out what is going on.

Wednesday is Flower Day!

The summer is just about over, but I still have some lovely flowers in my garden. This one is called Lavatera. I started them from seeds, indoors. The package said they were mixed colours, but most of mine are this wonderful pink. They are a member of the mallow family. Can you tell? Other plants in the mallow family include hibiscus, okra, hollyhocks, cotton plant, Rose of Sharon and many more. In fact there are about 200 genera and over 2000 different species in this family.

Here is a close up.

A few white Lavatera came up too. I really love the large, snow white blooms.

Family: Malvaceae. Genus: Lavatera.

A couple of other flowers are blooming in my hexagon garden. I made several this week. I joined them to the others, so I am not exactly sure of how many I made, and I am not going to show you how it looks at this point. These flowers are rather small and it doesn't look as if the quilt is growing. I'm afraid if I take a photo every week I will get bored and not finish this quilt. Yesterday I joined a small group of quilters for tea and quilt talk. I was able to make two more flowers. I now have 35 flowers altogether.

I decided to join an online BOS (Block of the Season). I know, I know. I already have too many projects waiting to be finished. But this is going to be a small cat wall hanging. I just couldn't resist. Check it out. It's on Ellie's Quiltplace. Or click on the Cat Quilt icon on my sidebar.

BOM - A Tisket, A Tasket. Twelve Months of Baskets

I am caught up in the Bunny Hill Block of the Month (see my side bar), thanks to my sewing machine problems a couple of weeks ago. I'll show you them all now, but in the future I think I will just put them on my side bar.
Edit: I saw them on the side bar of Latane's blog. What a great idea! Thanks Latane!

This was the block for February:



This one was for March:


April:


And finally, May:

Edit: Well, I thought I was all caught up, but then realized that we are already in June, so I should have six blocks done. It turned out that I hadn't even downloaded the pattern for June. But I'm going to work on it.......... soon.

Some of My Winnings!

I entered a few give-aways a couple of months ago. And I won some really neat stuff! The first package came from Barb at Ruminations and Reflections. She had a give away to celebrate her first blog anniversary. Barb included a lovely star ornament, which had some of those sparkly little gems glued to it, a Christmas ornament, some little notepads, Valentine heart candies (yummy) and a set of very useful coasters. They are done in cherry fabrics and I love anything cherry! Thank you Barb! This was a very nice present to get in the middle of winter, especially when it arrived on a very dark, dull, rainy day when I was feeling depressed and fed-up with winter!

My next gift was this wonderful set of little earrings. They are from Red Dirt Woman. Check out her blog. She is a hoot! She makes these earrings herself using little heart-shaped glass beads! I am impressed! They are so cute! Thank you Red Dirt Woman. I will wear them with pride.

And lastly, although I didn't win this, it makes me feel like a winner! I finished the first block in the Baltimore Bliss BOM. (see side bar) I love this block! It was fun to make - relaxing and very rewarding! I can hardly wait for next month's block!

Block of the Month Mania

I have been infected by the Block of the Month bug! I can't help myself. I see these blocks on other people's blogs and I fall in love with them. And, after all, it is only one block a month. How much work can that be? But multiply that BOM by four or five others and you have a lot of work. It is only February and I can't do much outside right now, but what will happen when the weather is nice and my garden starts calling me? Maybe I will have to revise my schedule. Here is what I have done so far.

This is the second block in the bunny hill "A Tisket, A Tasket, Twelve Months of Baskets" BOM. The first one was the snowman block I posted last month. They are cute, easy and they only take an evening or so to complete. I think I will continue to do them. A little applique, a little stitching - those are exactly the things I like to do.



Then there is the Willowberry Designs "Verandah Views" BOM. I wasn't sure about doing this one at first, but I kind of like the simplicity of these little stitcheries. They also take only an evening or so to do. I think I will stick with this one too. I can always sit outside in the summer months and stitch these.


Then one day I saw this applique BOM and BOOM, I was hooked! It is Fat Cat's "Baltimore Bliss" BOM. I really like applique. I've probably told you that before. This block is not the easiest, but then, I like a bit of a challenge every once in awhile. I haven't completely finished this first block yet. It only started this month, so I am not behind. So far it has taken me several evenings. But I think I will get it done tonight. Here is a shot of part of it. I think it will be a lovely quilt when it is done!


And if that wasn't enough, there is the paper pieced "Geese in the Forest" BOM. I like paper piecing and this looked easy. I thought of doing it for the Black and White Challenge. (like in black and white with a lime green or something) I saw a couple of the blocks last night on A Latte Quilts. Paula inspired me, to say the least! So this morning I started one of the first blocks in this series. I don't know what it is about this block, but it isn't talking to me. Maybe it's the black and white when I have a very colourful block in my mind. Or perhaps it is because there is not enough contrast between the fabrics to set this block off. I have only made one block so far. There are six of these in the finished quilt. I think I still have to think about this one. I might do it in colour instead of black and white. A few paper pieced blocks a month can't take that much time. Can they?

So there they are! Four BOMs! And that does not include the weekly Block Party blocks. Or my UFO bin, full of things that beg to be finished! And the inspirations I see on other blogs every day! And when I think of it, I haven't knit or crocheted anything in a long time! OMG! I feel overwhelmed! Kind of like my Christmas cactus that is flowering right now. A sort of identity crisis! If this is Wednesday, it must be applique night. Hope I can stick with all of these!

Late or Early?

I have finished my first quilt for this year! I know it's a Christmas quilt, but I started it in early December. I just couldn't get it done before Christmas. Because I didn't want it to end up in my UFO bin, I decided to finish it. So, the question is..... am I late or am I early? I will count this as my first finish for this month in the One Project a Month Challenge. (See side bar)

I used Christmas-themed scraps, which were fun to work with in December. I found the pattern on the internet. It's called Nine-Patch Christmas scrap quilt. See it here. It measures 50in. by 61in. (127cm by 155cm) Almost big enough for a single bed, but nice and cosy for a lap quilt.

Mimi likes it. She couldn't help jumping up on it as soon as I threw it over a chair to take a photo. I didn't even see her until she was up on the quilt and I had already put my camera away. I tried to take another photo, but wouldn't you know it! My batteries were dead! Why does that always happen to me? I guess I should heed the 'low battery' message on the screen!

Does this quilt meet with your approval, Mimi?

"Yeah. meow. It's okay. I see a fabric with some cardinals on it, but absolutely no cat fabric! What's with that?"

Not every quilt can have cat fabric in it, Mimi!

"Okay, consider it approved! But next time use some nicer fabrics, like cat prints or something! Now I'm going to kick Oscar off my favourite chair. I feel a nap coming on! Meow."



I also downloaded this cute little snowman applique from a Block Of the Month by Bunny Hill . It was supposed to have a heart button at the top, but I could only find an apple button. I know I have some heart buttons somewhere, but where? I think this made a very cute little block and since the temperature is only -21C today (windchill is -30C), it's quite appropriate! Because this is a BOM I guess there will be more blocks to follow. If I have time I would love to make them all!