Old and New Stitching Projects, Spring Delights

Outdoors, the world is awakening; every thing from the biggest to the tiniest is changing now. I'm out tramping about three times a day so as not to miss anything. I almost missed the White Trilliums, Ontario's provincial flower. They are a little scarce here on our property and bloom far apart so was happy to spy this one. 

Also happy to see these all over...white Dog Rose.

Flower centers are so interesting! Not wild but can you guess which spring flower this is?  

Meanwhile, inside I've been keeping with my plan for a little machine stitching now and then. 

 I've stitched four more Flicker bocks. There is very little orange, the RSC colour for May, in my stash and what I do have is being saved for a Halloween applique quilt. This burnt orange will have to do. 

And it's time to share with you a new quilty start. I'm always late to any new pattern craze and have had this one in my file for a couple of years now. It's the Liberty Puddles quilt. While I have a few bits of Liberty fabric, I won't be using them. I'm continuing digging deep into my scraps instead. Hexies are the perfect pattern for using smaller scraps. I'm hoping by choosing the very bright yellow it will give all the so so patchwork hexagon colour mix a lift. HERE is a link to free printable Hexies in sizes ranging from 2 to 4 inch.

And you can get a free 1 inch pattern at the pretty AppleGreen Cottage site HERE.

I'd wanted to use up this green fabric below, kind of a spring green for the solid Hexie borders. This is a piece I've hung onto forever. 

Then I worried about running out of it and finding a match would be a challenge and also break my plan not to buy any more fabric. The yellow is easier to match up and I think I have enough on hand to get this one done. I'm, per usual, cutting the hexagons from old flyers and papers. EPP is the perfect sewing in the evening in front of the tv. This is #2 panel this size I've made so far.

 Did you know they are putting vitamins in coffee now? We received a notice that Tony's Nespresso coffee is available with B12 added to the pods so we've been using them.  I've been worried too that, with his waning appetite, I haven't been able to get enough protein into him. We decided to give one of those meal programs a try. This one, Factor, promises more protein in the servings. Anyway, our first box is proving to be successful as he is enjoying the meals and eating most of the servings. Last night he had green curry with rice and vegetables and really liked it. That's my salad there.

If he likes these it would take a little pressure off me to keep him fed properly. 

I really liked what Prime Minister Carney did for the Canadian astronaut, Jeremy Hansen, who was part of NASA's Artemis II team who flew around the moon. He presented Jeremy with the Canadian flag that was flying on our parliament building Peace Tower the day they successfully touched down off California.  

In far less exciting news, we are getting the pool opened this afternoon. I plan not to heat it again like last year and I'm really looking forward to a daily swim.

I hope there is something you are looking forward to too. We must do our best to keep moving and enjoy the odd treat from time to time too. 

Crochet, QAL's, Wool Shopping, Billions

Autumn Marigolds with a little dew, very early morning. Flirting with frost warnings this week.

Through the camera lens, this one looked like it was made of porcelain. 

 Something I saw I wanted...with heating with wood during our winters, there are cold nooks and crannies about the house. I think I need one of these...I was given a short one last winter which I loved so a full length might be even better. I think I'm going to put it on my Christmas gift list for the girls too. Definitely not chic! At Amazon (not affiliated).

Speaking of cold and blankets, I picked up my crochet blanket project again. It got held up as I ran out of several of the colours and I didn't want to make it any scrappier than it already was. At that time too, the weather turned to spring and I lost that work with wool feeling. 

 I ordered four balls of wool, enough to finish, from the Wool Warehouse UK which offers excellent service and has the largest array of my favourite yarn, the Stylecraft Special DK. There is also a wide selection of fabrics, patterns, notions and haberdashery items to be found there.  (also not affiliated)

 I spent an enjoyable time last night crocheting while we watched this. Excellent characters/acting.

I'm going to check out the current QAL's that are on the go. Joining that Rainbow House QAL last spring did make me stay focused in the sewing room and on task, so perhaps joining another just now would be a good thing. I'll be checking out this list to see if anything jumps out at me ...

Thank you Frederique for this wonderful roundup of present QAL's ....Quilting Patchwork Applique 

Any tweaking your interest?

Of course, finishing the bindings on both the Aqua and the Plus quilt will be my focus this week. Almost there!

Before I leave you today, I would invite you to read THIS POST by Gay at Sentimental Stitches. I had no idea of her family's background and affiliation with quilting through many decades. SO much interesting information about this wonderful past time of ours and the amazing collection she has now inherited.

This week, even with a wet weather forecast,  I have to start clearing out the garden. I usually pull out the dead Hosta leaves and tidy up a bit around the beds. I like to leave some leafy debris for the critters and doing that has never affected the next spring's growth. There are two kinds of Hydrangea here, one is the kind that tolerates being cut back now. As well, I'll be spreading some of my composted soil which is working so well. Very happy with the composting.

Also happy to join Songbird Designs, A Stitch in Time, Floral Friday Foto and It's A Small Town Life.

 

Free Patterns, Seed Packet Quilt Talk, Slow Stitching Updates

Do you shop at the Bulk Barn or similar such store? 

 I went in there recently and was overwhelmed by the array of products. I had no idea they offered so many surprising items like teas, dog biscuits, vitamins, plus a full gluten free product section. I usually buy sunflower seeds for the birds there because there are no broken/empty shells in what they offer and when I saw some unique dog treats, bought those too. I find dog bones have become very expensive here.

Here is my capture of a White Breasted Nuthatch, one of the many that enjoy my sunflower seeds. 

 LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week is do we have a special baked goodie for Easter. I have never made Hot Cross Buns though Mom did and they are very popular this time of year. When the girls were little and I made my own bread, I would form bread rolls into a bunny shape to bake. I'd do the same thing for Christmas dinner forming a candy cane. I'm looking forward to what the Thursday group will share for this prompt...good eating going on there.

My spring jigsaw puzzle arrived lickety-split from Amazon. How do they do next day delivery??? I realized it fit in with all the planting/garden chatter we had per LeeAnna's last Thursday prompt. It is fun to read about planting/garden hopes for our rapidly approaching summer (I hope!). And pick up some tips too. 

I love the beautiful poster featuring vintage seed packets that arrived with this puzzle. 

Funny how one fairly uncommon thing can thing can suddenly appear somewhere else. I've shared Kate at The Last Homely House before when she got me started with the Plus quilt. Turns out Kate is also making the Kaffe Fassett Seed Packet quilt.

You can see Kate's version on her video below. I think she bought the kit so received the fussy cut blooms perfectly cut and ready to sew. If you love bright colour like Kate does, Fassett fabrics are for you.  I have a few stowed away somewhere and retrieve a bit when I want a piece of brilliant colour. But what a great choice for a gardener to work on in springtime especially when that spring is a grey, still freezing one. Sigh

The pattern is a simple one and any fabric with a pretty flowery motif could be substituted of course. 

My own stitching this week consisted of much more subdued sewing-joining more of the EPP pluses together in yellows and that interesting greenish yellow fabric.

I also began embroidering the third block of Snow Days. 

Thursday's Three Free

At Center Street Quilts Kristina shares her tutorial for making this fresh looking table runner. Tulips certainly remind me of spring too. How about you?

BTW, one of my favourite imaginative quilters, Audrey at Quilty Folk just finished another tulip motif quilt. It is her first finish of 2023 and it is so beautiful. 

At Coriander Quilts, Corey offers the free pdf file for a pretty springtime quilt she calls Tiled Blooms. So lovely with endless possibilities in terms of colours.

At the Fort Worth Fabric Studio's blog you will find a Beginner's level project tutorial and layout to stitch their Tea and Biscuits Table Runner. So pretty in spring colours too or this would also work well in autumn colours for all my friends in the southern hemisphere into autumn now.

Spring projects are not complete without a cute bunny design. Our Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Quilting and Stitching generously shares many patterns with us including this sweet one...Beatrice's Carrot Haul. Just love cross stitched bunnies!

She showed us her Bunny Tree in this post; amazing is all I can say!

I just love noting and sharing wonderful projects gathered from all over the internet. How generous so many designers are to provide the patterns free. 

When the Doggy Daycare closes for the weekend, I look forward to getting in the sewing room. Hope you have something to look forward to as well!

Loving linking with Quilting Patchwork Applique, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Kathy's Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Wendy's Quilts and More.

Three Free Patterns, More EPP Pluses, Embroidered Snowy Scene, Muffins, A Show to Watch

 My Jasmine Magnolia is bravely blooming a little. Photographed against a screen and that backyard bank of snow.

I'm a bit proud to have kept this one alive and kicking. And thanks Mary Anne, Magpie's Mumblings, for that tip about banana skin water being excellent for houseplants too. We eat a lot of bananas so I will definitely be adding it to the mixtures rather than straight to composting.

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week was about favourite spring flowers. Think it will be a while before I'm seeing any flowers here. This is our front steps where that dip is, well it was ...much shovelling in my future which, don't worry, I will take breaks.

That is all snow off the veranda roof. But I know when the snow starts to melt it will go quickly. Of course, I love to see the early flowers but they tend to pop up before the weather is quite ready for them. Spring is when we get freezing rain and that usually kills any flowers. But nothing is going to be popping out of the ground just yet and that is why I love it when you share your spring blooms. 

Daughter shared her walnut and bran muffins with us. She had cut the sugar in half and realized afterwards that that was a tad extreme. But with butter and raspberry jam, they are delicious. 

It's coming to the time for Easter and bunnies. This fabric, Dandelion Easter, showed up in an email from The Quilted Boutique, one of my favourite shops to explore.  So pretty. 

 Slow stitching this week is taken up with my Crabapple Hill Studios' Snow Days blocks. Here is the first block finished.

And stitching in front of this series which we have finished now...I even got used to Harrison and Helen together which seemed odd to me at the start. Thanks all for the recommendation of this one.

I stitched a couple more of the Pluses in greens...

Thursday's Three Free

I'm seeing this kind of scrappy triangle pop up here and there around the web and many are calling it the modern triangle. Here is Rebecca from Bryan House Quilts showing how to make the modern triangle and form it into a heart shape too in this case. Lots of good info and ideas here and on her blog too.

From the folks at Sulky, in their free pattern bank is this very cute pattern called Irish Twins.

Also there you'll find the link to make this 50 States Wallhanging. Along the way is the template for each state to personalize your hanging. 

I'm always spying ways to use up scrappy strings and this is a neat quilt below called Diamonds and Strings. Made by  Beth on her YouTube channel My Sewing Room. Beth shares something I've always wanted to know how to do... how to draw an accurate diamond shape, in this case out of cereal box cardboard. The video is called Make a String Quilt using A Diamond Shaped Template (homemade of course).  Beth's scrappy stringy diamonds are really pretty.

That night I was browsing 

At Sum of Their Stories and I found this wonderful post that takes you through how to crochet a granny square.  Then they show you all the wonderful items you can make with them. 

And as always for my cross stitching friends, Smart Cross Stitch has a bank of very neat patterns to download for free. Like Christmas Deer below. I especially love the embellishing stitches on this one.

I'm enjoying my week with the dogs. They are so happy for any little time and attention given them and return to us such love and affection back. 

Sharing this post with Floral Friday Foto, Kathy's Quilts, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Free Patterns, Ned's Birthday, Thrifted Fabric, YouTube Channel to Watch And Learn From

This fellow, Our Ned, is two years old! 

He is a quiet dog, rarely barks or makes a sound. His favourite thing in the world is playing ball with Petey and Abby; a close second is taking up most of the bed at night for his long winter naps. 

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week is to talk about our dedicated sewing spaces if we have one. I have a bedroom converted to a sewing room and love the way I can close the door on the mess as it were. It is small and oddly proportioned and there isn't room for a cutting table which is a drawback. What I like best about it is the window and its view of a portion of the back yard. That changes with the seasons. Here I am in my room with said window engaging in my least favourite part of the quilting experience...using the machine- in this case  to join those pumpkin blocks. There comes a point in almost every project where I have to use the machine.

I had good luck at the Thrift Store when I went through the men's shirts section there in early February. I was looking for the largest size and they had to be 100% cotton which these four are. I'm always surprised by how much fabric can be retrieved from a shirt. I'll just show you that black print up close. Now you can see that green circle. Neat modern design and I thought this would make a good binding fabric. And it makes me feel good to possibly be saving fabric from the landfill.

I have almost all of one block embroidered for the Snow Days quilt. This is the most enjoyable embroidery one can do. Simple running stitch with no colour changes. 

We are watching Noraly's, Itchy Boots, motorcycle adventures on Youtube. We followed her all the way up North America to Alaska last year.  Now in Season 7 she is in Morocco and the Sahara Desert. Just sand but encountering small groups of people living there. I'm totally captivated as such an environment is so foreign to me. How they manage water and food is fascinating. 

It's funny now that when I first thought of making it a Thursday "feature" to offer three free patterns each week,  I thought I would run out of free pattern sites to share with you. Silly me. There are thousands of quilting sites; no end it would seem to the free patterns they are offering either. Lucky us!

 Thursday's Three Free

From The Fabric Hut Blog comes this pattern called Neon Bow Ties.Adaptable for all sizes including a table cloth.

At The Vintage Sewing Box site, Emma offers a bank of free patterns and tutorials for stitching items using English Paper Piecing like this- Butterflies in different sizes. SO pretty.

I saw this block and thought it neat.  Especially as we all get so good at sewing flying geese.  From Quilting Daily comes the PDF download for this block called the Gosling-Go -Round block. At that site you can see Marcie Patch's pretty lap quilt made with this block. I love this colourful scrappy block.

At Days Filled With Joy you can find the first download for Joy's SAL called Teacup Critters. Embroidery blocks combined with quilt blocks, very cute. 

I'll show how my indoor garden is doing in the next post. It's hanging in there.It was -15C on my morning walk but sunny and pleasant. However, another weather event is imminent. Snowfall warning for overnight into Saturday with high winds. 

But it being March, it won't last too long, fingers crossed. 

So happy to join these linky parties...Kathy's Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Free Patterns, Valentine's Gift, Prairie Schooler Slow Stitching

Heavy downpours of rain last night. Everything strange outside this morning with slush, ice and also bits of grass showing through. Our walk under a dark and gloomy sky but the air pleasant at 5C. 

Hubby did present me with a Valentine's Day gift, a surprise.  This card comparing me to his favourite food, pizza... 

He was impressed with the technology included whereby pressing the button activates a voice that tells me I am hot and there's not mush-room for improvement, amongst other "cheesy" phrases. LOL But he also gave me a certificate to the local spa which I will look forward to using soon. 

Slow stitching this week is a catchup with my winter cross stitch project. Vintage looking Button Up patterns from The Prairie Schooler. 

I'm stitching these on 28 count Lambs Wool Jobelan Evenweave as decorations for a tree. The colour is a little darker as I wanted the snow to show up.  Pattern and fabric are from one of my favourite online shops for cross stitch supplies, 123Stitch.com. They provide very reasonable shipping rates and speedy service.

Just finishing the snow on this one.

My needle minder says Dogs leave paw prints on your heart.  They certainly do! And LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week is to honour a mate, be it human or animal, that was special and there for us.  Here is a dog that never left my side- Rex, the German Shepherd. I was definitely his person. 

Still love him and miss him! I labelled this photo below Rex at my feet and orts on my dress. Both constants in my life!

Thursday's Three Free

This is the link to Purl Soho's Free Patterns section. There you will find categories to check out including knitting, crochet, embroidery, sewing, weaving, etc. All their patterns are basic and beginner style so easy to follow instructions. Below is Broken Dishes Baby Quilt.

I'm so happy I found this site, Pink Simplicity, and their Free Patterns and Tutorials section. Lovely items to stitch like this and lots more.

Not free but so pretty..Lovingly Lissa has this pattern for sale. Really neat seeing how to turn a log cabin block into an apple. She has made a hanging with four of these blocks and it is stunning. 

For my fellow slow stitchers...from Hodgepodge Crafts, comes this lovely spring like design called Floral Meadow that is a free download along with the instructions on stitches used, etc.

Thanks as always to these clever folks who share their talents with us.

Hope your weekend will be fabulous!

Also fabulous to link up with Kathy's Quilts and Songbird Designs.