Stars To Hexagons, Barbara's Free Bird Patterns, Companions on the Journey

I've just made myself a nice decaf coffee with frothed milk made from sweetened almond milk. I think of this as a tiny treat- this time after picking up a load of sticks to use as fire starters while walking Ned. Toting the bag and with Ned on the leash made the going a little rougher especially as our trails are still not flattened. A good little workout though. The cute appliqued bear placemats were found at the thrift store, still in their original ( I thought) box, which was quite crushed, but they were completely unharmed. Finding such makes me wonder how some things wind up there. Who wouldn't like checkered bear placemats?

I've been adding to the EPP stars and realizing I need to work out the background for them. I mentioned I might applique them to a neutral shade of fabric. On Saturday, I tried out adding the border triangles which changes stars into hexagons which can then be hand stitched together. Here is the first one.

I think these coloured triangles are more interesting than the plain backgrounds would be so I'm going to proceed with these. More hand stitching overall which I don't mind. And I get to dip into more of the scraps so it's all good. Here are some of the pinks and blues huddled together for a group shot.

It took me a while to realize the talented Barbara Brackman writes two blogs, both of which I've been reading for years. The history of quilting is interesting and I love to know the background of blocks we use today. ( One of the reasons I enjoy reading Michele's Pennsylvania Piecemaker blog where she often includes history, etc. about quilting). Barbara's blogs are  Civil War Quilts and the other is Material Culture. Barbara is offering a free applique 9 block SAL featuring birds at the Civil War Quilts site. 

Well, you know that caught my eye and I always like having an applique project on the go. These are simple shapes to work with too. Anyway I downloaded the patterns. One of these days I'll get a colour printer. 

I'm trying to decide which colours/fabrics to use. I'll check out similar quilts to see what inspires me. What a wonderful conundrum to have. 

The hospital visit went as well as such could be. We are fortunate to have 3 A+ accredited hospitals surrounding us and just short, easy drives from us. No longer having the long drives on busy highways to the big Ottawa hospitals is such a boon for us...just the parking alone was always a nightmare. I hate huge parking garages especially when at busy times we would have to wait for someone to leave and try to take their spot. We both would feel stressed just getting into the hospital, never mind what medical issue of Tony's that brought us there.  

In comparison, going to these country hospitals is a breeze. The CT scan of his midsection went like clockwork with no wait time for Tony. This had been ordered by his cardiologist who is attempting to rule out cancer. We are really not thinking this is his problem so we will wait now for the results. We thank you all sincerely for the good wishes. 

While I waited a woman arrived carrying a well worn quilted bag and, of course, I had to ask did you make that and she did. She was happy to let me take a picture to share with you. We didn't get to chat at all which was disappointing as she got her call almost immediately too. 

I have lots of hand work to keep me busy which is good. I'm pleased with how I'm keeping the home fires burning -literally- and the house mostly under control. But especially keeping the big bad thoughts at bay. 

Ned is such a wonderful companion too and I'm so grateful to have this little soul who watches my every move with me on my journey (as I am on his).

And I'm so grateful for all of you too! You put a smile on my face with your thoughtful and kind remarks. Thank you!

I'll be linking this post with Days Filled With Joy, My Quilt Infatuation, Alycia Quilts and The Inquiring Quilter.