Costco Treat, Stitching Projects Progress, Still Winter

We had sun in spurts yesterday but today we are back to a white world out there both sky and landscape. It has continued to snow a lot- small flakes but they add up. The saying at home was "small snow, big snow" and when the snowflakes were large...."big snow, small snow". This has been a winter of small snow building up. The dogs love it all of course. I'm so happy that having obedient Petey, who comes when called, join us has meant Ned stays close too and no longer needs to be on a leash. This certainly helps his fitness.

I have a Cardinal pair who are regular visitors to the bird feeders. I notice them every evening while I'm getting supper. The female has such delicate colouring with reddish tinges throughout the wings and head.

I noticed the male is turning redder and I looked it up. Sure enough, this is the time of year he gradually becomes more brilliant ahead of the breeding season coming up. 

I just have the quarter moon pieces lodged there...now that is a Newfoundland usage of that word for you. I used it growing up when you want to put something somewhere temporarily and will move it later or pin it down. Perhaps everyone used it for that too. I'm wondering if I should make these quarter circle pieces a little smaller and show more of the blades. 

I've also been working on my Snowmen project. I'm trying to give each a little more personality and I thought of using the calendar months as a way to inspire embellishments. Like the baby snowman there with the giant candle...I so love embroidery and applique!

In my plan this week was to prep one of my flimsies for quilting. I have a few as you know :) and here it is Wednesday and no decision about that has been made. Sigh 

I'm 100 pages into this book and enjoying it very much. Lots of food/baking chatter that is very beautifully written. The premise in a nutshell is seventy-seven year old, lifelong baker, Jenny, decides to try out for the British Bakes tv show contest. 

 We are survivors here at the Wooden House...yes we made it to Costco and home again safe and sound. Tony is still getting his new glasses sorted and other than a scary ten minutes when I lost him and thought I'd have to get help, it went well. Turns out he'd left the agreed upon spot where he would wait for me and went off in search of socks- not part of the plan. What's the big deal he said when I lucked upon him.Thankfully, wearing his fur Mounties hat on his 6ft 4in frame had enabled me to spy him amongst the busy noontime crowd. And, indeed, in the end, it certainly wasn't a big deal and he got new socks. 

And we also treated ourselves to the Costco carrot cake with cream cheese icing. It is very tasty and goes well with a big mug of tea.

On that delicious note, I'll finish this post. I'll respond to LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's recent prompts in my next one. BTW, I'm so happy LeeAnna has a beautiful new dog!

Take care all of you and thank you for your lovely and helpful comments.  

Very happy to share this post with linky parties at Creations Art Quilts, Home Matters, The Inquiring Quilter, Kathy's Quilts and  Alycia Quilts.

Free Patterns, Applique 0f All Sorts

 Below is Ned on a trail we only get to walk on in the winter so it is a little bit special to be there.This is the wetland area that is usually under a couple feet of water. I imagine all the peepers, frogs, toads and other critters that are snoozing below our feet when I tramp along there. 

It's going to be all snow photos these days. We are having a pretty normal winter here in our corner of southeast Ontario. The colder days reminding of my Labrador winters. The crunch of the snow under my boots this morning brought to mind my northern memories of Baffin Island and Labrador City, two places where summers are brief and winters long. Around now in Pangnirtung, Baffin Island, we would be celebrating the return of the sun. It was always back by Valentine's Day and so welcomed. Days of darkness then spun on into days of continual daylight which I found harder to cope with than the dark. This weather phenomenon made it impossible for some southerners to live there and many left after their first year...some even before. Being told about something is one thing, living it is entirely different. What adventures!  

I've finished with blues, the RSC January colour, with this little gathering of appliqued quarter Dresdens. 

As a possible final arrangement, I think I like the half sunrise look the best. What do you think?

I've pulled out a few dark greens to work with next. I don't have many greens and since I'm still on my fabric diet, won't be purchasing any more. So I'll make do.This fabric with little hearts is the last of this one. 

And I've been steadily working on my Snow people for this project. I've decided mine are not just men.

Here they are and I just had to add more embellishments than in the pattern. This is relaxing and fun stitching.

I've been saving more links to free patterns so it's time to share a few more with you. 

At All People Quilt, you will find a true bounty of free quilt patterns. That link will take you to their bank of quilt patterns that feaure embroidery. They've kept the stitching designs simple with projects that would work up quickly. I love this I Love You redwork pillow. Of course, you could change out that message for something else meaningful to suit too. 

Another site with a huge bank of free patterns is Riley Blake Designs. They have this Happy Hen block that I love. It features Lori Holt's Farmer's Daughter fabric line which is enormously popular. There is so much more to find there so if you have the time and the notion, do visit. 

Lori is running a brand new SAL called Farm Fresh Sew Along. Her tutorials are so good too and I love all her tips and hints. She's a lady who's all kitted out with all the stitchy doodads too. 

Moda is another giant in the quilting industry and HERE is where they offer their free patterns. I chose this one to share wtih you as I saw a lot of folks sew it and loved it. It's called Baked Alaska which is so pretty in solid soft colours.

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt was to do with exchanging Valentines in school. Yes, we exchanged valentines back in my day too. All the way back then, we had to buy large books and cut out each valentine; they weren't fancy. We each decorated a tissue box too to hold our valentines. Some would have a shoe box. It was a given that we gave a valentine to everyone in the class. Did you?

On the agenda today is going to the clinic in our nearest town so Tony can get an ear syrnged. Yes, always exciting happenings here! But we are going to pick up takeout for supper so that saves me a bit of bother so it's all good. 

I hope February is turning out to be a wonderful month for you whatever the weather or the news (oh how I fear for our country, the Royal Family, etc.) you are coping with. Take care out there.

On a happier note, so glad there are linky parties for us to share like these ...The Inquiring Quilter , Days Filled With Joy, From Bolt to Beauty, Alycia Quilts and Quilt Schmilt. Thank you all for hosting!

 

Christmas and RSC Project Stitching

The lone rabbit is still hanging around. I glanced out the kitchen window and ears caught my eye amongst the old vegetation.

 And here's a closeup when he went under the bush and just sat there for such a long time I gave up and left. I had been curious to see what you would eat there.

 This is an Eastern Cottontail and he will stay mostly brown/grey all winter. I wish he would move on into the forest but there are so many places to provide sheltar for him here; I understand why he wants to stay. Lately I've seen his tracks going under this backyard shed. 

I'm rereading this book, Alice Munro's The Love of a Good Woman. It's wonderful. 

It was written in 1998 which was still a time when dish sets and china cabinets were prized possessions. I can't tell you how many beautiful china sets I see in thrift stores, all selling for a song these days. If you ever feel the need for such, do check out a thrift store. I'm loving the book and have no recollection of the stories at all which makes me question my memory. A.S. Byatt wrote the introduction for this book and that too is beautifully written. 

I've been working on the large Christmas table runner from this book...someone asked to see it. Tending the Garden from Blackbird Designs. I like every project in this book which seldom happens.

I have the second appliqued block finished. I didn't put in as many vines as in the pattern and added more flowers. I also picked a few brighter reds. I really enjoyed stitching this block. What is it about baskets that we love?

I wonder has this happened to any of you real quilters. I'm sewing along, so very happy to have taken the time to match up and pin the block seams, thinking that this machine sewing is such a breeze I really should do more of it. I get to the end of that very long seam and realize this.

It would have been one of the best/straightest seams of my life too. UGH

I've stitched by hand (where you know when you've run out of thread) more of the Peppermint Trees. My plan is to work solely on that project this weekend to get it moved along. 

And I'm down to just 8 more EPP Starry Hexagon blocks to sew onto this piece. I'm relieved to see it is not overwhelmingly blues, being that I had so many blue fabrics to choose from. Would love to have this all sewn by the new year too. 

King Arthur's flour has published their Rise & Shine: 20 Holiday Breakfasts Sure to Impress recipes. HERE is the link. I would be using some of these for dinner too.

I'll end with Ned falling asleep still holding his bone. The two of them had had a big play with it and he'd tuckered himself right out. Any second now we are going to hear a loud clunk!

I still have Christmas shopping to do. What about you? 

So happy to share this post with linky parties at Kathy's Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Songbird Designs and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

July Sunny Days, Slow Stitching, Sampler Quilt and Soups

I got up at 6 this morning and went right out in the garden by myself which has so many rewards. (But left two pouting dogs to do so.) Instead I had my shears with me on this walkabout and did a little snipping here and there. I disturbed three turkeys who I think must have overnighted somewhere nearby. I sat by the pond and reminded my body how important it is to relax. It is hard for me to sit and do nothing...by the pond like that early morning is the closest I can come. But even then I had to open the Merlin Bird Song ID ap on my phone to identify what birds were singing. Right away it identified the Red Eyed Vireo, Chickadee and Chipping Sparrow. Just awesome.

These late July days the showy Daylilies are blooming. I tried for a variety of colours when planting these. There are yellow ones and a paler peach about too.

Here's Ned and Petey on one of the more shaded trails later on this morning. Petey is twisting his head a bit and it is for a reason.

He had found and led Ned to a downed wasps' nest and they both got a little pinch before fleeing.

No worries...whatever they felt it was momentary as they were fine right away.

 It had cooled down to 20 overnight in what has turned out to be one of the hottest Julys on record here. Midday yesterday it felt like stepping outside into an oven, reminding me of Florida.

In stitching news and attempting to divide my time equally, I got out my EPP Starry Hexagon tote and worked on those while we watched tv last night. Angela has said Aqua is August's RSC colour but we can dig back into dark blues if we wish. I do have a little aqua fabric but want to save it for another project. Anyway, meanwhile I stitched these with lighter colours for the starry centers and will use darker for the outside diamonds.

I also spent one stitching session last weekend on Basket Love laying everything out on the table to take a good look. I sorted more blocks for another border, machine stitching little 3 inch squares into patches which will set off the appliqued border on the opposite side.

 I came across some interesting bits of fabric in my stash while looking for more to suit this project, things I forgot all about. I have no recollection of buying this but I seem to have fat eigth remnants.

These are autumn colours and it would be nice if I had this flimsy ready for fall quilting.

 I'm almost finished this book by the Irish writer, Colm Toibin. This one is a kind of quiet story but with characters interesting enough to keep you reading. 

I know not everyone enjoys stitching sampler quilts...the same can be said in the cross stitching world too. But this one is so special. I've been seeing folks working on this amazing quilt...Harriet's Journey by Jennifer Chiaverini. It features 100 beautiful blocks including different ones. I like how these quilts get attention again, usually on Instagram.  Here at Amazon if you'd like to take a closer look. 

Winter or summer, we both love soups and it's always good to not have to use an oven in extreme heat, though with A/C not so much of an issue which I'm loving this year. I had a summer plan to make a homemade soup each week and I've not quite/almost stuck to it by making a soup every two weeks. So far I've made vegetable barley, split pea, chicken with variations, lentil and bean and minestrone- not that adventurous. I wish I had the tomatoes that some of you are growing in your gardens. We love tomato soup and the fresher the tomatoes the better for that. 

I read this article, 10 Simple Ingredients to Give Homemade Soup OOmp and picked up a few tips like adding Worcestershire sauce or yogurt which I'd not thought of doing. Great ideas for ramping up the nutrition too. I made us a pork roast dinner on Monday and after another meal of hot pork sandwiches with air fryer fries, I still have leftovers today. I think I will use it in a rice soup. What's cooking at your place?

Hope your week is going well and you are coping okay with whatever is on your plate at the moment because we all know there is pretty much always something up, isn't there.

Happy to link up with parties at The Inquiring Quilter, The Quiltery Kathy's Quilts, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework and Alycia Quilts.

 

New Quilt Start, Embroidering Flowers, Journeying On

The garden and outside in general does call to me these summer days which answers LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color question of hammock or digging when it comes to gardens. I get up close with my flowers as I do a little weeding almost every day. There are many beds here and there is usually a point each summer where they "get away from me". I'll start out with them very trimmed but mid way, the growth takes over, especially in the heat, and I will admit it all becomes unmanageable. But since it's just us looking at it, I don't really mind. I also enjoy veranda sitting many days as well. Below is a very hot Ned in the back yard. We have had heat wave warnings and high humidity both of which are hard on dogs. Those are the three dead trees on the list to be cut down this summer, before an ice storm takes them down.  

Did I hear correctly that so many of you truly think I should finish the quilt top I shared in the last post? It's not that large so I think I could manage it. I'm giving it a good think. But I really need to get into the closet in the old sewing room and see if I have batting of any sort. I don't know why that sounds like such a big deal when it's just down the hall....  

I'm making progress on my embroidery Floralies piece...this part involved filling in a few satin stitch areas. I love working on this. 

With not enough purple to participate in another RSC month...that's two in a row, I picked up my Propeller blocks to work on. SO how did I get started with these???? Squirrel Alert!

 

Back in February I'd seen Samelia's Mum hand stitch a version of a propeller block that I loved. She's finished her quilt and you can see her very colourful start HERE. I think she used Jen Kingwell's pattern. 

Up till then the propeller blocks I'd seen had rounded edges like this one that Rose Prairie Grass and Farms shared ages ago. 

And that led me to search in Karen's, Quilts, etc. archives to find that she had stitched a Retro Air Ship Propeller quilt...to see her pretty blocks go HERE. Just gorgeous!

Some propeller patterns involved adding more blocks inside the block like this one free here at Quilting Daily...

But I wanted/needed something simple. While combing through so many scraps looking for blues to make strings, I realized I had scrap pieces that were just large enough to make four propellers. So I made my own template with longer propellers and started a rather wonky version of a propeller quilt. Each of the small four blocks is being stitched by hand and then joined on machine. I notice that last bit is speeding these up which is a good thing. Here are some of the blocks I've made to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I'm trying for colourful here and it's nice not to be working with all blues plus a real bonus is using up more of those pesky smallish scraps. But I've just this minute realized I may be making a version of a Windmill quilt. What do you think? Oh dear, I can't go down another rabbit's hole...

A first for us here at the Wooden House! The Phoebe pair are raising a second brood in the same nest on the back of the house. What industrious little birds! Even Tony noticed their activity and wondered why they were still around. I read they can raise up to three broods a season if the nest site has been successful for them. Below is the view from my stitching chair. Their nest is on the sound box above the furthest light. Tucked away nice and safe. And they take advantage of the bird bath which is just in front of them there on the left of this photo. I make sure the water is changed and nice and cool for them.

A mosquito was buzzing around my head in the night. I slapped at it a couple times and went back to sleep. When I looked in the mirror this morning, guess what was plastered on my forehead. Tony said well, you do have a knack for getting those guys. It's good to be good at something!

Thank you all for the very kind comments and emails; I'm very sentimental and often read them with a tear in my eye. I had a poster years ago that said "Life is a journey, not a destination" and I believe that. I've always been open to change and, like so many of you, loved travelling far to make a home in different places. In this blog space, while living here at the wooden house, sharing my ups and also some of my downs is important for me. Putting things into words helps make aspects of this leg of my journey more manageable for me and hearing from you with your "along the journey" stories too is also really helpful to me. So, to all of you, a huge thanks for listening, sharing, commenting...  

Also thankful for linky parties...Quilting Patchwork Applique, Kathy's Quilts, Alycia Quilts,   Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Songbird Designs, The Inquiring Quilter, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework and Art Quilts Whatever. Thanks ladies for hosting!!

8 Marvelous Things This Week

We have a Phoebe nest on the abandoned sound box on the back of the house and a robin's nest on the front veranda. I tried to discourage the robin because, years ago, the last to nest there came to a sad end. But my banging about out there didn't work. How I wish she had chosen the light on the wall just opposite her. Last year's robin family did quite well there. 

This was a good week for me and here are some of the things that made it so. 

 #1This bird below is another first for me! I know I've never seen one before. At first glance, I thought it was some kind of swallow. But no, from my birding books, I think it is an Eastern Kingbird. While staying put only a minute, I was lucky to manage a couple of shots. A pretty looking bird.

Part of what made it a good week was getting lots done in the garden-between rain showers- and around the house too. I tidied the small garage where I park the car and cleared out more trash. For me, it always feels good to be getting rid of stuff. 

And we have a house guest. Ned's brother, Petey, is staying with us for a couple of weeks. He is getting a little slower and is not as rambunctious as he once was. He's a sweetheart of a dog who we would keep if Beth and family would let us. Here they are tired out from a little ball playing in the backyard. And that is a good thing for me too...keeps me moving. Enjoying keeping up with Petey and the added benefit of being able to help out family is #2.

The last time I sorted scraps I put aside a bag of small ones and started a new leaders/enders project on the machine. I cut 3 inch squares from a thrifted cotton sheet at night in front of the tv. (mostly remembering to use my pinking shears) and, in the sewing room, am sewing a little bit of coloured scrap to one corner. So my #3 is having a satisfying, very easy machine stitching project to do, one you don't have to think about. 

Layout to be determined later

Also satisfying stitching...the last of my EPP starry hexagons in greens- had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find these but happy to be moving this RSC project along. 

 I realize I have a theme when it comes to projects and feelings. First I get excited, then I get critical and it doesn't take long for one to turn into the other. Being critical can stymy creativity and progress that's for sure. Does that happen to you? But then, maybe months later, I'll pick up said project and get going again as if the crisis in faith never happened. Sometimes I'll even feel excited about it again. Maybe that's just me. Do you find your interest ebbs and flows?  I saw this quote over at Michele's  3 P's and a Nana post and thought it brilliant. #4 is when we find words/sayings that amuse, inspire or motivate us to keep going.

It's so nice to visit folks who just seem to keep producing beautiful quilts. Like Jeni at In Color Order. She just finished a gorgeous take on the vintage schoolhouse pattern. She used old sheets and has made a vibrant beautiful and summery quilt. I actually have one of the sheets she used! And there is always a good selection of sheets to be found at thrift stores, a win on a couple of levels. 

HERE is a link to Jeni's Quilting Category and you'll see why I like her work. I think I could stitch them too. #5 is enjoying all the online wonderful, hard working quilters and the inspiration they give us. 

Paige Alexander reproduced a page of an old hand writing practice manual in this quilt. It is hard for me to believe that cursive writing is no longer taught in school. It used to be thought an essential life skill and I enjoyed the little writing practice book we worked our way through in grade 3. I was a bit of a nervous student so this time would have been calm and relaxing for me.  Anyway. what a neat quilt! She is found on instagram  @quiltedblooms.  #6 is when we find something that stirs good memories and the internet sure is great for that.

A couple of things I'm checking out... Dish podcast on YouTube daughter told me about. They have celebrity guests each show. I watched the one with Stephen Fry and enjoyed it very much.

And English Heritage ...In this episode, Mrs. Crocombe makes Sad Cakes, the kind that would have been fed to servants. What a great name but I would call them cookies.

Besides cooking and baking, they cover a wide range of topics including Elizabeth 1's makeup routine, for instance. Finding great podcasts/channels- especially ones you can stitch to- on YouTube is #7.

And #8 is the reason I keep writing this blog. Having readers who take their time to write me and share their ideas, wisdom and kind words always brighten my day and is the best thing about having a blog.  

Be sure to drop over to Not Afraid of Color where LeeAnna and other folks are sharing their likes this week too. 

Happy Weekend All!

Glad too to link with Alycia Quilts, Quilting Patchwork Applique, Kathy's Quilts, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Creations Art Quilts.