Bramble Blooms QAL, Quiltmania Xmas, Sweet Gifts

 We dog sat during the holidays while Beth and family spent New Years Eve at a hotel which is their tradition. This is Petey and Ned after the ball playing... panting at me, right in my face. Just don't care at all. :D  You can see the difference in height between the two brothers in this one.

We finished Billions...loved all the many references to sports, books, history, philosophers, politicians, pop culture, etc.; their research team must have had a field day.  I also loved the music that was chosen for each show. We are now watching something much gentler -Season 10 of Doc Martin. As they call it- 10 Surly Seasons now, :D. Those who watch "the Doc" will know what that means.

We really ate well during the holidays and are actually still eating Christmas treats that I froze. Amongst them was this large tray of homemade cookies and squares from family...the snowflake tray is unique and of course, the sweets were delicious. 

How did you fare with the temptation of treats, etc. during the holidays? Do you have a sweet tooth?  Tony certainly does!

I stitched another of the Quiltmania Xmas blocks. Poor tiny mittens are almost thumbless. I still have a little embroidery to do on the trim. 

My Bramble Blooms QAL project is moving along. I really took my time making a decision about this one. It is meant to be improv and I just kept wanting to make the blooms small and neat and to look like actual flowers that I could name. But improv invites you to think differently and throw caution to the wind as it were. 

The very gloomy weather must have been an influence as I gravitated to bold colours. Or it may have been the beautiful Poinsetta we got for Christmas from Tony's former inlaws influencing me.

More later about that lovely Ardisia plant that came with it.

 They are such beauties and I'm determined to keep them alive. I managed to keep a Poinsettia alive for a few years once since moving to this house. Any tips?

  Anyway, back to stitching- I made my cloth blooms really blooming big with overblown sized petals. I didn't draw a thing on paper first either, just went at with scissors on cloth. All from the scrap bags too. I used embroidery and matching perle cotton to stitch them down so they won't blow away and to tame the tattered edges. We are ready for the first borders. My mind is all over the place with that mainly because using up my scraps is my number one aim just now. What fun and a big thank you to Audrey at Quilty Folk for this entertaining QAL.

Speaking of which, our friend, Frederique, has updated her page of current 2024 QAL's here....  Quilting Patchwork Applique. So many wonderful projects! Thank you for sharing!

January can mean fresh starts which certainly feed into the sense of newness that belongs to a brand new year. What are your fresh or new/old reimagined starts?

Have a great week all!

Linking up with Quilting and Learning, Creations, Art, Quilts, Whatever, Alycia Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Quilting Patchwork Applique and The Inquiring Quilter.

Rainbow Purple House, Strawberry Pattern, Gardening Chores

 Inside too there is more green and also white growth. I like how the white Polka Dot plant is becoming more dotty with the longer minutes of light. Like its true self is emerging.  It makes such a difference!

I cleaned several windows outside and liked how the outdoor greens were blending with the greens inside. I use a 3 step stool...don't feel comfortable going any higher these days.

I did get some items on my last Tuesday's To Do list done. I spent a couple of hours also cleaning and tidying the garage. I cleaned the inside of the car at the same time. Sure feels good when these chores are done.

 This week's chores include Ned's vet appointment to get his tick medicine and checkup. That's tomorrow. Great to have that done too as we are officially in tick season. Ugh! On that outing we'll go through a car wash so the outside of the car will match the inside. And pick up some grass seed too. Where the dogs have been playing ball, the grass has taken a bit of a beating. 

Now about the weekend stitching...

I said I'd learn a lot taking part in the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL. Here is Lesson #2, Accuracy is so important in piecing blocks... I don't have to tell you seasoned quilters this. But me...I need reminders! I'm careless about this aspect of quilting, always wanting to hurry it up. Someone mentioned to me one simple way to improve accuracy was to attach this special seam tape to my machine to help maintain the quarter inch seam. 

Ordered off Amazon and already feel it is helping. It provides a sort of runway up to the needle. I received four rolls from here if you'd like to check it out.

Also reminding myself to not drift off when ending a sewing seam which I have a tendency to do. Ugh!

With that being said here is my purple house.  I had little purple fabric in my stash and was happy to find the piece with the magenta? flowering throughout it.

I did enjoy handling this pretty fabric and the search for a match among my meager solids. That being the pretty magenta/violet colour. Black bears have been sighted -alarmingly!- in the south Ottawa area which made me think of a Bear Claw simple block.

*Thank you to the quilters who've offered to help me and provided tips and suggestions. 💓 I love the supportive community I have found in our little corner of the web!!

 A huge thank you to Sandra of course for hosting this very successful Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL. 

I will start a little indoor planting this week too. The last spring frost can occur up to May 15 here so pointless to put things in the ground before that time frame. In my eagerness I have been known to start this process too early. I usually sprout marigolds, petunias and begonias for a couple of pots on the veranda.  This year I've got a little help having ordered a heating mat from Amazon...taking good advice from Texas Quilt Gal, Linda.

 Hopefully it will speed up the sprouting and encourage more of the seeds to sprout too.

And for you, when I mentioned Pat Sloan HERE, I had intended and forgot to include one of her free patterns to stitch cute strawberries. 

That's a season we look forward to...fresh strawberries are so good...mouth watering as I write that. The PDF is found at this link...

Download Pat Sloan Mar 2019 Button Club

Anyone planting strawberry plants?  We have a strawberry farm in the nearest town 10 minutes from us so I haven't bothered with trying to grow them.

 It probably would be a challenge with all the wildlife traffic through the garden. Like these herbivorous beauties who stroll through almost daily.

Hope you and yours will have a wonderful week!

It's also wonderful to link with The Quilt Schmilt, The Inquiring Quilter, My Quilt Infatuation, The Quiltery, Alycia Quilts, Wendy's Quilts and More, So Scrappy, Creations Quilts Whatever and Quilt Fabrication.