Ants on my Quilt and other Things

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Let me introduce my scrap quilt. It's still a work in progress, but I should be finished in a couple of days. It's going to be a picnic quilt.

My DD has been wanting one for years. It has taken me a long time to get going on it because all I could think of was putting a quilt on the ground and spilling food on it. And then there were the bugs that would be crawling all over. So I came to terms with the ground issue by using fabric that was destined for the garbage. (Well, not really. I just can't throw any fabric out - not even a tiny scrap.) It was a lot of fun sewing the blocks. They really went together quickly. But I still had to get over the bug issue. I solved that by hand embroidering tiny ants onto the blocks. Here is a close-up of my ants. They do look kind of real, don't they? What's a picnic without ants?

Then I sandwiched and quilted each block and sewed them together using the quilt-as-you-go method. I have finished all the blocks and only have to sandwich and quilt a few more of them and then sew them all together. I want to have it done by Friday evening. Wishful thinking? I hope not! DD is going to the beach on Saturday.

I only made one hexagon flower this week. Here it is outside in my garden with my summer phlox. When the picnic quilt is finished I will spend some more time on the hexies.

Some people were wanting to see a close-up of my little crumb blocks. Here is one that will finish at 3 inches. I have been making these as I sewed the picnic log cabin blocks. They are 'starters' and 'enders', so that my machine doesn't get a chance to knot up the top thread when I start to sew something.

We are in for a thunder storm this afternoon. I hope that will cool things down a bit.

Hot for Scraps

We're still having a heatwave! Boy, is it hot! But I did manage to get some scrapping done. Here are 7 more flowers for Grandma's Flower Garden.

When I put them on the floor I was afraid Mimi would get on them. But Mimi is one hot pussy today. She doesn't want to be bothered.

"Meow! Go away!"

Felix, on the other hand, used this opportunity to sit on my flowers. He loves to sit on my quilts and parts of quilts, but he never gets a chance to do what he wants when Mimi is around.

I have been working on the tiny scrap blocks I made using left-overs. I decided to start putting them together. I feel the need to finish something. I found this polka dot fabric in my stash. I bordered 2 in. of polka dot fabric around each 2in. block. I have seen this done with white fabric, but I am a lover of colour, so the polka dots seemed perfect! I hope I have enough of it. I still have a couple of rows to add to this top. My plan was for it to be 6 by 7 blocks, but only if I have enough fabric. Wish me luck!

If you want to see more Scrap Happy Summer blogs, go on over to Em's Scrapbag.

Flower of the Week

This is my favourite flower that is blooming in my garden right now. It's a Day Lily called 'Siloam Double Classic'. I just love the peach colour and they are very fragrant as well. The flowers are 5inches across.

Here is a close up I took this morning when the sun was out. It has clouded over now and thunder showers are expected to move into our area at any time. I am busy, playing in my sewing room. Will show you what I have done next time.

Family: Hemerocallidaceae. Genus: Hemerocallis.

Species: H. Siloam Double Classic

Now You See it, Now You Don't

We used to have a pool in our backyard. It was a fun pool! We spent many a hot summer day in there. When I lost the use of my legs back in 2007, I could no longer look after it. I had always done all the cleaning and chemical adding. My DH didn't know how to do any of that. The water turned a pretty green colour and later a thick pea soup green. We decided to fill it in and build a raised garden that would be easier for me to deal with. This is what it looks like now - the same view without the pool.We are still working on the patio. It will be where the shallow end of the pool was, right near the backdoor so it is easy to carry things out there and to use the barbecue.

This was the pool from the west side.

And here is my garden. from the same angle, as it looks now.

I still have a lot to do. Lots of my perennials, that are at ground level, will be moved to the raised beds. I have no idea how they will survive the winter, so I am just experimenting for now.

This is the back of my yard. The few cherries that remain are for the birds and squirrels.

This is the view along the east side of my yard. Still a lot of work has to be done here too!This is the raised bed that has my vegetables in it. That big sunflower was planted by one of my resident squirrels. I love sunflowers, but I think those squirrels had a mission, because they have already harvested several of the flower heads.

And here is a head-on shot of my vegetable garden - tomatoes, zucchini, egg plant, cucumber, basil, parsley, rosemary, lettuce and radishes. I also planted a couple of pieces of potato to see what would happen. They came up fine. I've never grown them before.

Like I said, we used to have a pool in our backyard. With all this hot weather we are having, I wish we still did.

Hot but Green

We're having a heat wave. The temperature for today is going to be 34C and with the humidity it will feel like 40C. The past few days have been hot too. Not much sewing got done. And to add to this, I seem to have been stricken by a flu bug of some sort. Haven't felt like eating and can only take sips of flat ginger ale, of which two-thirds have come back up. I won't bother you with the other details. I have spent most of the past two days in bed. Feeling a bit better today.
While I don't have much to show you in terms of sewing, I do have some shots of my garden. That's the 'green' part of this post. Or did you think it was my flu-like symptoms? Well, maybe.

On Sunday I spotted this zucchini. It is my first zucchini for this year! I ate it raw, in a salad. Delicious!


This morning I went out to water my pots and hanging baskets. It's amazing how everything suffers when I don't feel well and neglect things for a day or two. I noticed that my zucchini plant has been busy. That little zucchini in the photo above had grown into the zucchini on the left in this photo. And there were two more that needed to be picked. I guess there is going to be some zucchini bread in my future!
My tomato plants are looking good too. I have so many green tomatoes already! Here's an example. The plants are huge too. Much bigger than usual for this time of year.


I did manage to prep a few more hexagons for my I Spy quilt. I decided to work on this one this week because several people have offered to send me some novelty squares if I don't have enough.

What constitutes a "Heatwave" in Toronto? At least three consecutive days with temperatures of 32C and nights with temps staying above 20C. This current heatwave will continue for the next few days and maybe even longer. A thunder storm is brewing. That will be nice. Maybe I won't have to water my garden for a day or so.

A Scrap Happy Summer

I am officially joining Emily for a Scrap Happy Summer.

The idea is to make something using scraps. Since it seems that everything I am making at the moment uses scraps, I thought I'd join in. Here are a few of my projects, The first one is my klosjes. I have been working on these for quite a while and I am about halfway to my goal of 320 klosjes. So far I have used each spool fabric only once. Then there are my Grandmother's Flower Garden flowers. I am really enjoying these! I have no idea how big this quilt is going to get. These flowers are so much fun to make, I may have to buy a bigger bed!

An off-shoot of the flowers are these I Spy hexagons. I came across a box full of these hexies which I had started many years ago. I decided to do them in English Paper Piecing, since I really like that technique and this is what I have so far. I am hoping that I will have enough different I Spy fabrics.

Then there are the tiny squares which I showed you a few days ago. These things are very addictive. They are only 2 1/2 inches square (unfinished). I usually don't keep scraps this small, because there is a wonderful gal at our quilt guild who collects these tiny bits to use in her classroom. But it is summer now and I have no one to give them to, so I thought I would try making these little squares. And voila! I'm hooked. I have no idea what I will do with them.

And here are some strip blocks. I only have a few more to make. Hope to have a finished quilt to show you soon. These strips are also very addictive. You can't just make one!

As I am writing this I realize that I have a few other projects on the go that involve scraps which I forgot to take photos of. I'll leave them for next time.

Vicki from Felines and Fibre Arts came over for tea this morning. She brought me some delicious cinnamon scones. So yummy! And also this wonderful fabric yumminess - fabrics she brought back from her trip to Kauai a few weeks ago. Aren't they stunning? And as if that wasn't enough, she also brought me the cutest little chicken pin cushion! I don't know how I feel about sticking pins into this. He is just too cute! There is a neat story that goes with the chicken and you know me, I love trivia! Did you know that the island of Kauai is over-run with chickens? Apparently they're everywhere. It seems that there were a couple of hurricanes during the 1980s that freed the chickens from their coups. Since there are no natural predators on Kauai, the chickens have flourished. Hawaiians must have a great sense of humour because these pin cushion chickens are everywhere too. Don't you just love it!

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Happy Canada Day!

Canada is 143 years old today. Happy Birthday Canada!

An Addiction

Only got 3 flowers done this week. But that was because I got sort of side tracked. I was searching for a UFO that I started several years ago. I didn't find it, but I did find an 'I Spy' quilt that I started many years ago. It was a hexagon and triangle pattern. I had lots of hexagons cut out. They were supposed to be sewn together by hand. Since I have been doing grandma's flowers using the English paper piecing method, I decided I would never finish the I Spy quilt by hand. So I turned it into hexagons without the triangles. Here's what I have done so far.

I was also doing a bit of mindless sewing. Wanda from Exuberant Color gave me the idea. She makes little squares with her left over fabric. I decided to follow her lead. These little squares measure 2 1/2inches and will finish at 2inches. They're kind of addictive. I should really be quilting a couple of charity quilts I promised to make at our last guild meeting.

Just can't stop making these. But I really should work on my other projects. Yes, that's it. I am going to put these little squares away for awhile and work on my UFOs..... or, maybe not.

Our City Under Siege

I don't often use this blog to complain about the world around me. I know others do and I applaud them for their ability to speak their minds and not worry about what the rest of the world has to say. But the G8 and G20 Summits, which were just held in our province, have kind of stirred up my thoughts and given me the desire to share my feelings.

While the G20 members were calmly smiling, waving and posing for the cameras, our city was anything but calm. Thousands of protesters descended on downtown streets when the G20 Summit was held here this past weekend. Although noisy at times, they were mainly peaceful and nonviolent - lots of colour, lots of signs, lots of chanting, lots of music and dancing in the streets. When I saw them on television I was reminded of the 60s when demonstrations were held by flower-bedecked 'hippies' to make love not war. I wanted to go downtown and join them. If only I was 18 again. Here is a 2010 flower child, wanting to share her daisies with a cop in full riot gear.
I never doubted that our police force, as well as thousands of police officers from other cities, would be able to handle the demonstrators. But on Saturday, I was astounded to see violence and mayhem on our city streets. A group, calling themselves, the 'Black Bloc' splintered off from the main protesters. They wore black clothing and had their faces covered by balaclavas or bandannas in order to hide their identities. They started smashing store windows with anything they could find like bricks and boards. On other buildings they spray painted obscene graffiti. They eventually set fire to or destroyed four police cars. I watched the scenes play out in horror on my television - from the safety of my living room. What I really found interesting was that everyone at the scene seemed to have a camera or cell phone and was taking photos. I hoped that everyone of those violent protesters would eventually be identified and arrested.Our police have come under harsh criticism for their actions this past weekend. Some people believe that they didn't do enough to stop the thugs who tried to take over our city. Others claim that their actions were not democratic and should have been more fair. Many of the 'Black Bloc' were arrested and charged. In fact, it was reported that over 900 people had been detained and/or questioned over the weekend. I am proud of our police, even though they had to resort to firing teargas and rubber bullets into the unruly crowd for the first time in Toronto's history.

This whole thing has got me thinking. Our government spent over a billion dollars for security this past weekend. Wouldn't it have been better to spend that money on poverty, maternal health, the economy or whatever else they discussed at their Summit? The leaders could have participated in a teleconferencing Summit, each safe in his/her own country. But I understand the limited photo ops in that plan. I guess we can't have it all. Peace without policing. Government spending without a Summit. Photo ops without cameras.

Now it is time to clean up the mess left in the downtown area. I hope our city can go back to just being Toronto the Boring Good. That's the way I like it.

Cats in my Flower Garden

I've been AWOL for awhile. It has been a hot and humid week. The heat never used to bother me. I would just dive into our pool and cool off. But the pool is gone. We had to fill it in. So sad. (more of that on a later post) Now all I can do to cool off is stay indoors where it is air conditioned. And that's what I did. So you might think that I got a lot of quilting and sewing done - actually no. Nothing is completed for this month. I did get some flowers made. Five of them to be exact, but I was still working on them last night. Here they are.

"Oh, Mimi, get off my flowers so I can show them to my blogging friends."

"No way! Purrrr. I love these things. Just get that camera out of my face, Meow!!"

"Get off and I will go outside and get you some catnip. Ahhhh. That's better!"

Oh, no, not another one! Now Oscar wants in on the action! He always wants to do what Mimi does. Guess I'd better go out and get that catnip I promised them.


I also got a few spooltjes (klosjes) made. I have close to 200 now. I am trying to figure out how many I will need. Mine are 3inch blocks. If I make the quilt 48in. by 60in. I will need 320 blocks. Yikes! That's a lot! Guess I'd better get back to work.


And here is a gratuitous shot of Felix. He was polite enough to stay off the flowers, but I thought his photo should be in this post too. He is just so handsome.... and huge! My DS calls him 'The Big F".

Grandma's Flowers in My Flower Garden

I managed to get a few flowers made this week. It rained all day yesterday, so I couldn't take a good photo. But today the weather is gorgeous! So here are my flower blocks for this week.
First, 3 of them in yellow and green with my Verbena and Calibrachoa or Million Bells. I used to think that Calibrachoa were miniature petunias, but they are not. Although closely related to petunias, Calibrachoa has a very different DNA structure. They are wonderful in a hanging basket, and with the peachy Verbena they make for a colourful show in the garden.

I also made 3 in pinks and turquoise. Here they are in amongst my Phlox and Shasta daisies. The phlox is already beginning to bloom and the daisies look like they will open soon too.

A Volunteer Tea

The school where my daughter teaches is having a tea this afternoon, to honour all the volunteers who have helped out during the past school year. I am invited. I didn't do as much this year as I have in other years, but they invited me anyway. My daughter thought she would like to experience what it is like to bake a cake for such an occasion. Don't worry, she is not intending to quit her job and make cake decorating her career. She just enjoys baking cakes and decorating them. This one was a simple layer cake with butter cream icing. It measures 13in. by 18in. A couple of people expressed an interest in seeing the finished cake, so here it is.

Here she is putting on the finishing touches.

A Good Mail Day!

It's been a hot and sticky day today. I wasn't planning on doing too much in the kitchen. But then the postal service came and delivered a package. It came all the way from Australia and I knew right away that it was my apron from the apron swap that Sarah from Red Gingham organized. Hilary from quilary - take a peek over the fence sent it to me.

Here is my daughter modelling it. I am a lot bigger, so it fits me perfectly. I just love the little kangaroo and all the other Australian animals. So cool! So even though I now have this cute apron, I still didn't do any cooking. We ordered Swiss Chalet chicken instead. I'm not sure if I will wear it tomorrow either. I think I'll just sit and look at it for awhile. It's really too pretty to wear while I'm cooking and have things splatter on it. Hilary also included a couple of hot pads in her package. They will look great hanging on my kitchen wall! Thank you Hilary! You've made my day!

Flowers on a Rainy Wednesday

We are having a day of rain. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. We really need the rain. I can hear my flowers singing their hearts out in the garden. The birds are happy too! Guess it will be a sewing day for me and that's okay. I don't get much time to sew during the summer. Since it is Wednesday I am showing you some of my hexagon flowers. Here are last week's blocks. Only got three done, but it was a very busy week.

This week I did a bit better. I made 5 of them. Here they are in my vegetable garden. I planted the lettuce at the beginning of April and we have been eating salads for weeks already. The rows on the right are radishes. I still have to thin them out. But not today. It is too wet and cold outside. I think I will stay indoors and sew these flowers onto my flower garden quilt top.

Convocation

I haven't blogged in a few days - been too busy convoking. Ha! I don't think I have ever used that word before. My DS received his Bachelor of Education with 'highest distinction' last Friday. It was a proud moment for all of us! The university he attended is not too far away from home - only about 40km. It's a relatively new university. UOIT stands for University of Ontario Institute of Technology. I'm glad he went there for his educational degree since he was able to learn a lot of new computer skills. He is currently working for the university, preparing some mathematics resources for future student teachers - using the skills he learned. That's him in the middle of the stage with the blue trimmed hood.
We had a lot of rain this past weekend. But we needed it. My garden was reduced to dust. I did not take any photos of my spooltjes (klosjes) or my hexagon flower garden. I have been working on them - a little. Hope to do some more in the next few days. Then I will post them.

Nine Patch Challenge

As I wrote yesterday, we had our last Guild meeting for this year last night. The food was plentiful and tasty! The company was inspirational and friendly. There were lots of praises and fat quarters for people who had made our Guild such a success this year. Also, the winners of the 'Nine Patch Challenge' were revealed.

I was on cloud nine! Cloud Nine Patch, that is, because my quilt was lucky enough to win third in my category. How exciting! I have never won a ribbon before! (Probably because I have never entered a challenge before.) Here is my entry. I call it '27 or Nine times Three' because that is how many times the nine patch block appears in my quilt. First the little individual nine patch units, then the bigger nine patch units (the black and grey ones) and finally the overall nine patch units that make up the quilt. Can you see them?
I was also awarded a couple of beautiful fat quarters for all the quilts I have made for 'Quilts from the Heart' this year. Aren't they lovely?

We all said a sad goodbye for the summer, but promised to be back in September. I still have one more Guild function to attend and that is next Monday evening. There will be another potluck to welcome all the new executive members for next year. I am one of them. I will be doing our monthly newsletter. Can you imagine? I volunteered for that! I have no idea what got into to me. I think it will be a lot of work and will keep me busy and out of trouble for the next two years.