Cake, EPP Stars, Pumpkin Mat, Blackbird Designs Book, Grand Plan

Well, it's November, a harder month it seems and more than a few steps closer to winter here in Ontario. We had a week of heavy rain which I think the earth needed but there were driving winds with it and so cold. It's freezing overnight regularly now here in the Ottawa valley. 

But I'm very thankful those rains have restored our little pond. It is very muddy looking from all the downpours. It will be interesting next spring if I hear the sound of peepers and frogs, etc. because we keep wondering where did they go and what did they do when the water all dried up. 

We had a celebration for Robbie's birthday which brought together family and was just wonderful. Here he is sitting on their laneway ten years ago when I would babysit him a couple days each week. I still feel it was a gift to very lucky me to be able to spend those hours with him. He was sweet then and I'm  happy he is still kind and caring today. Kindness matters more in this world than ever before it seems. 

Beth made him a remarkable chocolate and cream cake that the restaurant staff -and us, made a fuss over. It was a replica of the hat he was wearing. Isn't it neat!

Tony and I gave him a Sidney Crosby hockey jersey which he loved. Something that will be a keepsake forever. 

I have made a start on sewing together my RSC  EPP Starry Hexagons. It is enjoyable stitching while catching up with my favourite Flosstubers. 

Below here they are still in their cardboards/papers so bumpy but I'm happy with how colourful it is looking. The 80+ stars will definitely make a rainbow.

The small 4 pumpkin mat is at this stage. I added a couple of leaves and tendrils as they looked kind of bare.  I'd thought of embroidering crows here and there. And I then I decided to applique one for the center, also to add a little more interest. Still have to finish the feet. Do you think it will look okay here in the middle? This is layered with frankenbatting-very old batting pieces I stitched together. 

Grand Plan

I have a plan to sew something from each of the books I've gathered over the years. Yes, a plan that will outlive me, I have no doubt. But I've made a start with this marvelous book, Tending the Garden, from the wonderful Blackbird Designs.

 There is a Christmas project in it that I've been ogling for a decade, certainly long enough! I've copied the stencils and will make a small start this week. I'm hoping that sharing this project idea with you all will keep me motivated. So stay tuned to see if it worked!

Thank you all who shared your morning routine with us in your comments on the last Post. I loved reading them and was struck by how similar we all are. 

I hope you are enjoying these November days with American Thanksgiving on the horizon for our American friends and Christmas beckoning for all of us. 

Happily sharing with Quilting Patchwork Applique, Quilt Schmilt, Alycia Quilts, Days Filled With Joy, The Inquiring Quilter, Kathy's Quilts, Sew Can Do and Creations Art Quilts.

Wooden House Weekly Wonders- Inside and Out

All quiet just now here at the Wooden House. Morning chores all done including the best and most important one- a big walk about with Ned and Petey. Heavy rain showers are forecast for most of the rest of the day which are much welcomed. It felt marvelous outside in the much cooler temperatures. Even the dogs were friskier. Ned especially doesn't like heat which may have something to do with his very dark brown coat. 

Here is a side view of the overgrown Hydrangeas outside my sewing room windows with Petey taking his morning sniffs. These bushes are so pretty I hate to trim them down though it might be better for them if I did. I usually do some cutting after all the blooms have died but I am a hesitant trimmer. 

 They are changing colour and turning pink due to the cooler temperatures. A sure sign the season is changing.

And here is a close up of one of my Great Mulleins just coming into bloom. I have four tall, very ungainly Mulleins in the garden this year and, though ugly like the Thistles, I let them grow. 

Many birds and insects get sustenance from Mulleins. Three Red-breasted Nuthatches have been pecking at the one in the front garden. You can see how much this stalk has been pecked at. 

And this disheveled looking Downy Woodpecker has been here a lot too. Mulleins can be a medicinal plant for humans too. 

Are you particular about the mug you use?  I have smaller ones more suited to specialty teas like my peppermint and I own much larger ones for coffee say or my regular tea. I like to have enough cups so I can pick and choose and suit to the season even. This is something Hubby just doesn't get. In fact, it baffles him... he will stand in front of my cobbled together -at least half are thrift store finds- mug collection and shake his head. Anybody else feel like the cup you drink from is somehow important?

I remembered to grab a photo of my birthday cake. The marshmallow frosting was so good. The recipe is Rock Recipe's one bowl Black and White Cake with fluffy marshmallow frosting...yum!

I'm reading an ebook right now. Though I can get ebooks from both libraries I joined, it seems to slip my mind that I can do so. Or maybe I'm a bit torn about adding more screen time to my day or it could be after all these years, I'm still addicted to paper. But whenever I do check out an ebook, I marvel at the speed of delivery and convenience. I don't have to leave the house and can even borrow books from my bed if I want to. I'm reading East of the Mountains by David Guterson and enjoying the beautiful writing. I've set my ipad to a special reading nighttime mode that's easier on the eyes. This book was made into a movie by the same name and starring Tom Skerritt. I'm going to look for it. 

I have the wonky partly hand sewn Propeller quilt top done. It measures 50 in x 50 in and I liked this slightly stained glass look of it outside.

After much looking and mulling over- no gnashing of teeth thankfully, I settled on a fabric from my man's shirt collection to use for borders.

 Btw, you can get from 2 to 4 fat quarters of fabric from a man's shirt depending on the size it is. I always start my thrift store search in the XXL section. 

 It echoes the pattern and in a neutral very dark grey, works okay with the colourful blocks. It looks busy up close but isn't really in the big picture. It's looking much darker in this photo than it is.

I am now stitching the pear on my G. Leger 1898 project. Panicked a little about the called for yellow thread as it just didn't show up against my fabric. I could have proceeded but using a colour you'd have to strain your eyes to see just doesn't make sense to me. I had to search in my box of Mom's embroidery thread leftovers to find a shade that was a tad more colourful to suit. 

A couple of points about this photo above. It shows the slightly peachy/golden mottling in the fabric which has been hard to catch in photos; this provides a little more interest in blank areas of a design. And the quilted mat there shows my hand stitches from four or five years ago?. I'm thinking my stitching is not improving with age. I must do a comparison with how they look on the mat I'm presently quilting. Or perhaps not... 

So are you stitching or starting to think about stitching leaves, pumpkins, Halloween?  How we love all the good and wonderful things each new season brings us! 

Stay snug, cool or warm wherever you are!

Sharing with parties at Alycia Quilts, Creations Art Whatever, Kathy's Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Songbird Designs and Quilting Patchwork Applique. 

     

 

Big Birthday, Cake and Special Flowers, Blue String Blocks, Thrifted Quilt Mat Find

  Well we celebrated Tony's 86th birthday in fine style. It was a hot, sunny day and the family took us to a restaurant in a nearby town. We had a feast of surf and turf, oysters, tuna tartar, shrimp and a bread choice I really liked. It was sourdough bread with whipped feta cheese and honey, a concoction I could make at home. It was all delicious. 

And Beth made him a wonderful Black Forest Cake so the feasting will continue.

 I planted these tiny little flowers for ground cover in a shady spot in the back garden, an area that doesn't get walked on. After a couple of seasons of little growth, they are finally making a much better show of themselves which pleases me no end. 

                                       

This was a sentimental choice for me as Forget-Me-Nots were Mom's favourite flower. Also Newfoundland has a special connection to this little flower that grows wild there. It is worn on July 1 which is Memorial Day in Newfoundland, a day to formally remember the tragic losses at Gallipolli during the first world war whereby the Newfoundland regiment was virtually almost wiped out. Folks gather at the Cenotaph where the tomb of the unknown soldier from that war is interred. I took photos of it last year when visiting. 

There are two Tombs of the Unknown Soldier memorials in Canada, one is the National Tomb in Ottawa and the other is in St. John's Newfoundland. Because we were still a dominion of Great Britain at the time of the Second World War, our soldiers signed up with British forces. That included my grandfather, Mom's father. He was a seaman and the ship he was on, the Europa, got torpedoed. He survived this and was taken to a hospital in England which then got bombed during the Blitz in 1941 and my grandfather was gone. My grandmother had first gotten a telegram saying he was injured but would be coming home so there was much jubilance in the house, then got the awful second telegram with the news of his death. My grandmother, to honour him, never remarried and received his British war pension all the rest of her life and she lived to almost 89 years. ( If she'd remarried, she would have lost it...for a number of decades, they would send a fellow out from England to check the status of these Newfoundland war widows.) So Mom grew up without a Dad and, while always very sentimental about many things, especially so about anything related to the war. Her wedding ring had a circle of engraved Forget-Me-Nots on it. 

I've been trying to remember to swap out my small tabletoppers and mug mats. I have them tucked away in various drawers and it seems with me more and more, out of sight is out of mind. Here is one featuring the Disappearing Pinwheel With Arrow block, a pattern new to me.. A little wonky on the sides but not as wonky as it shows here. This was a rare thrift store find...I always look but have found real quilts only a couple of times which I hope means folks are enjoying and keeping them. 

The fabric up close is so pretty. Anyone recognize it?

 LeeAnna's Not Afraid of Color prompt this week was do we shop at thrift stores, flea markets, etc. Well I guess we all know by now my answer!

 Becky at Patchwork Posse has a good video showing how to sew this easy block.

I'm making good progress with machine stitching more of the blue strings blocks. I need five more to complete the forty I need for a yet to be determined design. 

The heat wave is continuing here. Very hot with high humidity making it feel like 40C or more at times during the day.

But, my how the garden flowers are just loving it. All the beds are looking lush and this may be why those Forget-Me-Nots bloomed so well. Here the Hydrangeas are overflowing and blocking the shed door in the back yard. 

Just a glorious mess!!

Hate to cut them so I'm trying to figure out how to tie them back. Suggestions? This has never happened before. 

Okay rambled on so long I've had to divide this post into two. So more to come soon. Hope I've not bored you to tears! And hope your week has gone well with more to look forward to. Take Care All!

Happily linking with Creations Quilts Whatever, Quilting and Learning, Quilting Patchwork Applique, Songbird Designs and  My Thrift Store Addiction. 

More Presents, Cakes and Stitching Notes

A crisp -23 C wind chill out there this morning. I'll bundle up for the morning walk, maybe even break out my balaclava. I'm now filling two bird feeders with black sunflower seeds. These little guys are getting snacks from the ground. 

I have my little 2025 planner ready to go. I looked at many fancy and even beautiful ones and in the end opted for this $5 one at the Dollar Store. It ticked all the boxes for what I need. Beside it is the new address book I bought from Amazon. It has a special section to record passwords which is handy as we seem to have a slew of those these days. I spent more money on that because I hope to have it a long time. And on the other side is the very old (10 + years) address book that has fallen apart. Tony keeps all his info on the computer and wonders why I don't too. What do you do?

Another of my presents to share with you...

This lovely sampler quilt book below that was on my wish list. Alice's Wonderland Sampler Quilt by Alice Caroline which promises to improve my sewing skills. 

 I first heard of Alice when I followed Rachel who used EPP to sew Alice's Flower Garden of the Month project using Liberty of London fabrics. So pretty!

And I must share with you Beth's Christmas Day Cheesecake. It is Rock Recipes Turtle Cheesecake and was, as they say, to die for. Tony was so happy we hosted as we got to keep the leftovers. 

During Christmas holidays, Robbie played in a weekend hockey tournament and we got to go to the last game. The arena was on the opposite side of Ottawa, far from us. We hadn't driven the major city motorway, the Queensway, in years and it was quite crowded and a bit scary but we made it. We got to see awards presented and were so happy Robbie won one- for the hardest working player. I think that is a wonderful thing to get recognition for. He is loving playing so much which is what it's all about.

That is his little 3 year old self up in the left corner. Oh my, those years are just a blink in time it seems.

 

Slow stitching this weekend was spent with Redwork Noel still. Here I've finished a couple of cross stitched versions of trees.  It is narrowing to form the bottom of the heart design. 

Huge thanks to Frederique who is again collating all the BOM"s and QAL's now for 2025. The link is 2025 Quilt Challenges if you'd like to check them out.

I am so happy to have Jenny back blogging! I always loved her blog- Jenny of Elegantz, and she is offering a lovely BOM called The Free Sewing Room BOM. Her embroidery designs are sweet and uplifting too. 

I have much more to talk about like my hair, for instance, of all things, and a decluttering plan but I don't want the posts to be too long. Next time then... 

Stay warm or cool depending on what part of this wonderful world you are living in!

Happily sharing this post with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Birthday Cake, Carolyn's Everglade, Feeling Low

 On the drive to our place there are lots of fields, farms and horse ranches. Many of the original zigzag cedar rail fences built by the pioneers have been maintained.  

I had my late August birthday too...73 trips around the sun now. Beth made me a wonderful chocolate with marshmallow frosting cake.

The butterflies were edible! Very special and on such an occasion good to take stock and feel so thankful for the folks in my life.

It is my habit to choose a theme for each year and this years' is music. I love music but I don't listen to it as often as I should. So I'm making a point to have music accompany my early morning rituals, my workouts, etc. I used to use music for those times and had gradually moved to listening to you tube videos. 

My new sewing area is taking shape. The furniture, two small tables, two narrow storage closets and a bedroom armoire, have been moved into the new space and I've begun filling them up. I'm trying to sort as I go and so far, I've filled a bag to go to donations as well. It is very satisfying to do such a clean sweep, as it were. It really is wonderful to go through every piece of fabric and dream about how it could be used. I'm still on the fabric fast begun last year and probably this will be permanent, not a diet. I have great fabrics on hand that definitely need to be worked into a project. 

With that in mind, I put aside a bundle of autumn fabrics...colour wise. I've had Carolyn Friedlander's Everglade Quilt pattern in my drawer for a few years. Seeing it again gave me the impetus to try it out. Here are the first four appliqued blocks. There are a few different options for arranging these unique shapes and I like all of them. An interesting design. 

On a personal note...I've shared before how I overthink things, usually at 3 am but something different is going on with me these last weeks. I'm finding it a bit of a struggle to maintain a good mood. I'm not having bad moods, just feel low if you know what I mean. ( While writing that the old Eno commercial jingle popped into my head; remember this....feeling low, take Eno.) For me right now, it's a general lack of interest in things even blogging that is not like me. I keep thinking I will snap out of it. I'm trying out all the usual antidotes especially exercise which always worked for me. Has this happened to you and what did you do??? I'd welcome any advice you are willing to share. 

Meanwhile, my hope for you is that you are enjoying every minute of every day!

Tablerunner, Cross Stitch, Tony's Birthday, Cake

Summer of 2024 has settled around us here at the wooden house. What is a garden without weeds. You can't have one without the other. I've pulled a bushel and if only they were worth something! A very tall thin plant infested the beds in the front but offered no resistance to the pulling out, roots and all. Horseweed took up residence in the backyard beds-unfortunately not so easy to pull. I've been favouring my right hand...the stitching hand, so the left has had a workout. Ah well, small price to pay for the enjoyment the garden is providing this year. 

Perhaps the prettiest of weeds is the Purple Loosestrife that caused a fuss back ten years ago. When a plant gets labelled "invasive" it sounds so scary. Here it is on the wet land area near the pond and it seems to have stayed just to that location, not spread. And on the plus side it is a source of nectar for the bees. Another plus...I don't have to weed it.

I will show you two more pieces of "found" items in my old boxes. Things sewn before fabric collecting as such, using bits I had on hand. Another cobbled together tablerunner with no batting. Too bad I didn't know about Kantha stitching at the time. It would suit this one.

And this cross stitched piece that I shared here many years back. 

Tony celebrated his 85th birthday this week!

The cake Beth made was wonderful...a chocolate filled Kahlua Tiramisu cake. It was so good and kind of light, I had two pieces.

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week is about going to outdoor concerts. I've been to Shakespeare in the Park in St. John's a couple of times and also a very special one there where over 100 fiddlers performed together in a park. That was wonderful to see very young children and also the very old performing Newfoundland songs together on the fiddle. But my most memorable was a story I've shared here before... the time I got to see Gordon Lightfoot at Camp Fortune waaaayyy back in 1968 here in Ottawa. I was on a Young Voyager trip with 19 other 16 year olds. I remember the concert because when it got darker the fireflies came out which fascinated me -we don't have them in Newfoundland. I'd only read about them till then. What a nerd! How about you?

I had something to do mostly off property each day this week. I hate when that happens which worries me a little. Am I becoming a recluse, I wonder. One of the definitions of recluse... "Being able to not only enjoy but look forward to doing things by yourself." Yes, that's exactly me... a nerd...and a recluse! So be it! Ha ha

Cardinal Rule, Tilda Orange Peels, Cakes, Free Patterns

Thanks for the lovely comments about my veranda views. I miss Newfoundland very much but I certainly can't complain about where I'm living these days. It is beautiful and I enjoy all the critters so much too. Of course, those photos don't show the mosquitoes or the heat. However, no sun this morning; it is rather gloomy with promised thunder and lightening today.  So it goes.

Our busy week is over that included two medical appointments for Tony. And we did take Ned to the vet and now he is on two drugs and has a special shampoo. One week into the treatment and he is already feeling much better. Fur is growing back in a spot he had scratched almost bare. Perhaps this will do to see him through the hot summer in comfort. Hope so. At the practice we go to, the vets are all young women. They are slim, energetic and favour athletic wear. They are eager to share their knowledge and are kind with us too. This latest doctor immediately called Ned "Neddy Boy".  I noticed how she could kneel down, pop back up, get down on one knee, etc. with such ease. I could do that once but not anymore and I don't know when exactly that became impossible for me. I wonder is it retrievable??

Tony is enjoying another lovely Chocolate cake from Beth. I had a sliver and it is rich and delicious. Here is the link to Rock Recipes 20 Best Chocolate Cake Recipes that includes this one.

Here is my progress on the Chookshed Stitchers Challenge for June... Cardinal Rule. So it begins...better late than never!

I used the machine to stitch the background and then prepped some leaves.

These wools are thin and very soft-lovely to the touch. But look so much alike, it was a challenge to keep them straight. And they photograph poorly. Here is part of the vines and I am hand stitching them using easy blanket stitch .

How bad is the lighting in the sewing room?  I didn't know these vines were a deep greenish shade till I brought the piece out to the tv room. I've had to use the lighten button on the computer so you can see any of this clearly. When these are all secured I can begin to attach the "fun" bits. 

It's also fun stitching these appliqued Tilda Orange Peels. The freezer paper prep for each takes longer than the stitching. I've found a few solids to work into the mix too. I realize these have such a sameness about them...perhaps I'll show them on the wall all together so you can better follow the progress. 

Over at the FAT QUARTER SHOP, they are readying for Christmas in July. Then they are offering their FREE Star of Wonder Mystery QAL and SAL, a Christmas quilt and cross stitch design. I'm interested in seeing what patterns they will be offering this year.

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week is did we ever go to camp as a kid?  I did...once. It was a Girl Guide Camp beside a beautiful lake near Corner Brook where I grew up. It was held over a long weekend and we were able to work on our outdoor related badges. I remember two things...the mosquitoes (I returned home with a ring of bites around the back of my neck that Mom made a fuss about) and how much I loved the singsong around the fire each evening. What about you? Did you get to go to any summer camps? 

I've got a chicken soup with lots of vegetables cooking in the slow cooker and I'm looking forward to catching up on my cross stitching while watching several of my favourite Flosstube stitchers this weekend. What about you? Any similarly comforting or special weekend plans?

Happily sharing this post with Kathy's Quilts, Bolt to Beauty, Melva Loves Scraps and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.