Wildflower Wednesday and Other Stuff

Today\s wildflower is Jack-in-the-Pulpit, also know as Arisaema triphyllum.  It is a woodland plant.  There are several species.  The kind I have in my garden are green, but they also come in brown striped and an almost dark burgundy.  There may be more.  This one was growing in the park near my house.

Last spring I found a bulb in the path around my raised flower beds.  I guess the squirrels had dug it up.  I had no idea what it was, but it looked sort of like a tulip bulb, so I stuck it into the ground beside some other tulips.  I was very surprised when it came up and turned out to be a Jack-in-the-Pulpit

And where last year there was one plant, this year there are five or six.  This plant is poisonous, although native peoples prepared and boiled the bulb and ate it as a vegetable, I would not recommend this.

I also worked on a Journal Quilt this week.  The president of our quilt guild gave us a challenge - to make a journal quilt.  On Monday evening we displayed them and they were judged by the guild's members.  I did not win anything, but I feel this journal quilt is very significant to me.  It is a photograph of prostate cancer cells.  I found it on the internet.  My husband was recently diagnosed with this cancer and I thought this would make a great journal of our 'going through treatment' time.  I printed the picture onto cotton fabric that had been ironed to a piece of freezer paper.  Then I free motion quilted it in tiny circles to indicate the individual cells.  And that is what I ended up calling it - just simply "Cells".   It measures 8 1/2 by 11 inches.

I have also been working on my hexie quilt too, but not too much.  I have another baby quilt to finish today and then I will concentrate more on the hexies.

We have had heavy rains here for the past day or so.  I heard that we got around 50ml in some areas of the city.  The Don Valley Parkway is closed right now due to flooding.  And we are expected to get more rain today.  Since it was so gloomy yesterday I started thinking about what I will work on when I go outside this summer.  I know my plants need the rain, but I want some nice summer weather soon.  So perhaps a crochet project would be good.  That at least won't blow around when I am working on it.  So I started making hexagons yesterday afternoon and joining them as I went along.  I have lots of left-over yarn so this will be good to keep me busy and get rid of some of my stash.

This Should be a Happy Day, But...

Hope you get a chance to quilt today.  It's International Quilting Day!

I made this little quilt a few days ago in order to test my machine.  It still wasn't working right the last time I got it back from the repair guy.  I had trouble with the bottom thread when I was machine appliqueing, quilting and sewing on bindings.   It just wouldn't pick up the bottom thread, so I tested it and double tested it and it seems okay now.

This little quilt is based on a wall hanging called, "Celebrate Each Day' and it is part of the 'Backdoor Quilt Series' by Cottage Creek Quilts.  I bought it about 7 years ago in order to contribute to breast cancer research.  I didn't make the whole wall hanging as the pattern stated.  Mine is sort of a Journal Quilt, only a bit longer.  It measures 8.5 by 13.5 inches.  I guess it is sort of fitting that this was a breast cancer quilt since my DH has just been diagnosed with the male equivalent, prostate cancer.  He goes for radiation treatments next week.  Perhaps you can send prayers and healing thoughts his way.  Thanks!

An Applique Journal Quilt

I've been busy doing hand applique in the evenings lately.  I used to love doing it and then I took a break.  Now I am back into it like there is no tomorrow.  I had a lot of blocks already prepped for Eleanor Burns' quilt.  In the baggies, I found a small applique piece that was not finished.  I finished it and because it was not big enough for any of the quilts I am working on now, I decided to make it into a Journal Quilt.  It measures 9in. by 12in.

I am calling it 'Applique Mania, 2013' in order to have a memory of this very intense applique time.   I am also calling it a finish for this month, because there may not be too many more.  I had to take my machine back to the shop.  It just won't stitch through anything thinker than two pieces of cotton fabric.  I used to be able to sew denim and corduroy, but now it won't pick up the bottom thread when I do.  Machine quilting and machine applique are also no longer doable.  I hope they can fix it.  If not, I will have to start looking for a new machine.

I Caved

I know I said I wouldn't start anything new.  Or maybe I didn't say that.  I think I said that I wanted to finish some things first.  But my machine is still not fixed, not because it can't be, but because I have not had the opportunity to take it to the repair guy.  Until my machine is back in working order, I can't do too much to finish anything.  Anyway, that's my excuse.

And those Scrappy Trip blocks are so addictive.  Bonnie Hunter is responsible for that.  You can find her tutorial here.  I have made about 1 block per day.  I use the 2 1/2 inch strips like leaders and enders, working them in between my other blocks.  The Super Heroes quilt is almost done.  Just have to sew the sashing and rows together.  I'll show you when that is done.   Then I am going to send it off to a long arm quilter.  That way I know it will get done.  So here are my scrappy trip blocks so far.  They are not in any particular order.  I have done 12 of them.  Don't know how many more I will make.  Maybe 12 more.  They are so much fun!

And here is a little journal quilt.  It only measures about 10 inches square, but I am counting it as a finish for this month.  Otherwise I will have nothing to show as far as finishes go.  Although I am hoping to have the Super Heroes quilt done to the flimsy stage by Thursday.

My First Day of Christmas

Today is the first day of my Christmas this year.  We are getting together for a family Christmas this afternoon.  Lots of food, presents, fun and family.  The way Christmas should be.  There are four grandchildren all walking around this year.  It should be good.

To get me into the Christmas spirit and help celebrate this first day, I made a little journal quilt.  It measures about 9 inches by 11 inches.

I am busy doing some laundry, baking an apple pie, preparing veggies for out pot luck dinner and wrapping presents.  Felix is helping me.  Well, sort of.

My sewing room is a disaster and Felix loves it that way.

Apple Day

Day 4 of Blogtoberfest.  So far, so good.

Click on the icon on my sidebar for more information

That feeling of wanting to bake something never left me after our trip to the Markham Fair last Sunday.  So this morning I baked a Mrs. Van's Dutch Apple Cake.  So easy and now my house smells fantastic.

This is my latest journal quilt.  It's based on a pattern that Barb from Bejeweled Quilts sent me.  I tried to free motion quilt it, but my machine did not cooperate.  The thread bunched up on the back and sometimes it didn't pick up the bottom thread.  I still haven't gotten it fixed and I don't know when I can it over to the repair guy.  So I just sewed the binding on it and took the worst of the quilting out.  I will fix it when I have my machine working properly.

For Valentine's Day

In honour of this day of love I made a little journal quilt.  It measures about 8 by 11.  I heart this quilt and I heart you!

Happy Valentine's Day

Journal Quilt

If you stopped by to see my Pets on Quilts Show, please scroll down to yesterday's post or click here.  And if you can, please leave a comment.  Mimi loves to hear from everyone, especially when they say nice things about her.  Like that she is cute, for example.  Oh Mimi!  You're so vain!

Nothing has been happening on the quilting front these days.  I got my sewing machine back, but it is still giving me some problems.  Sometimes it doesn't pick up the bottom thread and then the seam just opens up and falls apart.  But I did make this little Journal Quilt.  It measures a mere 8in. by 11in.  I used it to try out my machine, so don't look too closely.

This quilt is based on the book of Calendar Quilts by Kim Shaefer.  I don't have the book yet, but I loved her little quilt for June.  So I sort of did my own interpretation of it.  It feels more like a journal quilt for July or August.

And here is another mystery vine that grew in my garden beside the pumpkin vine.  I think the squirrels are responsible for this one too.  But that's okay.  I love this blue morning glory.  This is the first bud to open.

Journal Quilt

This is a journal quilt which I started several weeks ago, before all the problems with my sewing machine and computer.  It was back when the crocuses were just coming up and there was still snow on the ground.  All the snow is gone now, but it is still cold, wet and windy.  We are patiently waiting for spring and wondering if it will ever get here. This quilt measures 8 1/2 by 11 inches.  

Creativity out of Chaos

The computer guy came at noon today. He played around with my machine and then went on the internet to find the download for my printer. Apparently my printer had not been downloaded correctly by the store. Then he played around with my camera. He had to go to the internet for that too. It seems that my beautiful camera is 'old'. What's up with that? At least the fact that my computer wasn't working had nothing to do with my computer skills.

When the computer guy left I tried to blog about my predicament. I couldn't get blogger to work. And even though my computer's problems had nothing to do with my skills, I was feeling very computer illiterate by that time. I felt tired and fed up. My bed looked very inviting. I could have slept all day. Then my sister phoned me. She convinced me to leave the computer for awhile and try my sewing machine.

So I didn't go back to bed. I went to my sewing machine instead.

It seemed to work okay. It was greasy and dripping oil, but I wiped it clean and started putting some little scraps together - my favourite past time. And I came up with this little journal quilt. It measures 8 1/2 by 11 inches. It represents the chaos in my life over the past couple of weeks. But out of chaos comes creativity. And I found it. I also found this catnip plant. It's just starting to grow. Spring is taking a long time to get here. But this little plant will grow and grow as the weather gets warmer. Mimi will be happy!