Birthday Outing, Scones, Autumn and Christmas Stitching, Links

The Japanese Anemones did not put on their usual wonderful show this year. Later to bloom, they were affected by the July drought. I regret not watering more, a lesson learned for another season. They are a very hardy perennial and, hopefully, this won't affect future growth.

They are such a pretty flower and the bees love them.

I read a wonderful and detailed post at Rebecca Grace Quilting where she compares hand stitching in applique to using her machine to applique. She is appliquing blocks for her Stonefields project. The Stonefields Quilt is by Susan Smith, a lady who has had her quilts featured in movies.

 I was interested in Rebecca's discussion as someone who loves appliquing. I've read the number of tiny stitches needed is often debated. I once compared my number of stitches to those Jenny of Elefantz said she made. Mine were fewer per inch for sure. Btw, I am so sorry that Jenny did end her blog as I enjoyed her posts very much...they were the kind you look forward to reading because she kept things real and shared, besides lovely stitching and beautiful food, so much of her day to day and sometimes bumpy life. All very interesting and of course, it became one of the most successful stitchy blogs ever on the web. 

Jenny of Elefantz is still available for reading and retrieving the free patterns and recipes too. 

My own stitching the last couple of days was to find...not an easy task, orphan blocks that would suit for a backing for Tony's bureau mat. The searching for such took up a lot of time as I wound up doing more organizing as I went along. Here is what I've cobbled together.

And here is the top blowing in the tiny breeze that appeared that day just as I was taking photos.

I've now readied the three layers for hand quilting. And I've marked stitching lines with chalk which I've seen many of you use. First time for me so we'll see how that goes.

 While autumn squirrels have been sneaking into my sewing room...Anyone thinking of Christmas stitching?? I've saved a file of free Christmas patterns sites so I should start sharing those. Here is the link to the American Quilters Society page with the free patterns for their 2022 Christmas Countdown with Janome project. There are twenty five very cute blocks in this project and they included pinks and aquas with traditional reds and greens for, I guess, a more modern vibe. You could pick and choose a few favourites for a table mat or runner.

So I had my birthday. Yes, 74 trips around the sun complete. As the joke goes, no wonder I feel tired sometimes. What we wound up doing was a complete surprise. I'd thought we were staying local, maybe visiting the thrift stores but no, Beth and family took me all the way downtown! The surprise destination was the Chateau Laurier, my favourite hotel (not that I've been in that many) and a place I joke I'd like to live in. (The fellow who conceived the idea of this castle like hotel died on the Titanic so that gives you an idea of how old it is; yes, older than me.)

We had reservations for their popular afternoon tea. What a treat! I've had the pleasure of doing their afternoon tea a few times and it is always special. Here are a couple photos. I read that the ornate gold and pink china pattern by William Edwards was created just for the chateau to suit its historic decor. 

We chose mint tea.

The scones with cream and jam were delicious...

I think I may have shared this before but here is a scone recipe that I've used many times and works well should you have a hankering for such today. The English pronouce it without a long o, so just "scons" which defies the spelling to me. 

Walking around downtown was interesting too. Tourists were about and traffic was heavy. We passed an entire wedding party, led by the bride, heading to a church which was fun. Living on the outskirts in mostly farm country here we tend to completely forget there is a bustling city just 40 minutes away. 

And now I have a chocolate with marshmallow frosting cake to eat too...photo next time. Having birthdays is a good thing!😊

Also a good thing...sharing with linky parties like Songbird Designs, Sum of Their Stories, Happiness is Homemade, Quilt Schmilt, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework and Melva Loves Scraps.