Walking Foot Quilting, Sunday Sampler

Come get your tea I say to hubby several times a day.
 As the chief cook and bottle washer here, I try my best to serve him not only tasty meals, but nutritious ones. Sometimes though I think he would be just as happy with only bread, biscuits and bacon, his favourite B word foods washed down with lots of steeped for five minutes black tea.

So for the most part, he has been remarkably easy to feed.  If  the rare time I'm stuck for something for supper, he'll say in that English way that makes it sound much better than it is, how about beans on toast. But we must be doing something right in the diet department as the doctor has dropped his metformin after a decade of monitoring his blood sugars and finding them stable.  So yay to that.  I think the two daily walks also help that status greatly.

While in the sewing room, I could hear something knocking on the side of the house. It was constant enough that I put on my coat and went out to investigate.  This fellow, a male Hairy Woodpecker, was having a great time breaking through the motar it looks like with an actual hole made in the house!  I could also see many other places where he'd been pecking.
With a wooden house I'm a little surprised this is not more of a problem.  After taking his picture, I shooed him away and haven't heard him since.
I was pleased my close up showed how he is using his stiff tail feathers for support.

Meanwhile our daily walks show us many messages in the snow, something different each time we go out.  Like the amazing fingerprint of feathers surrounding this tiny hole.  What lives(lived!) there I wonder. With rabbit tracks as well.

Or the fact that little birds possibly juncos and chickadees, and red squirrels marched around here. Looks like they were having a dance.

I've finished appliquing snowmen bodies and now working on the little embellishments for each one. These are small blocks about 6 inches and there isn't a lot of room for much around them, but I'd like something extra of interest in each block...besides the hats.

This is a great little project and I'm determined to use my scrap bin fabrics for it so it's fun to see bits from former projects making an appearance.
  This is my daily hand stitching fix and in front of the t.v. sewing, -very enjoyable to me.

My hours in the sewing room this week were at the machine.  I can't use the word enjoying to describe my walking foot quilting efforts, but I am pleased with the results I'm getting. I'm using #71on my Singer Quantum Stylist machine embroidery options; that is an undulating line and very useful.
Subsequent to this is my renewed determination to learn more about what this machine offers. I'm currently using about 10% of its capacity, not unlike my brain. :)

This is my Garden of Contentment under the needle, presently my ginuea pig for this week.

Why not the Redwork piece?  No red thread! I couldn't believe it when I scoured my spools box. I have to get to the fabric store soon! :)

Today finds us having a mild spell with the snow melting. Very tolerable. Hope it is the same where ever you are. And to my friends in the Southern Hemisphere, enjoy those warm breezes.
Happily linking with Kathy's Quilts and Viewing Nature with Eileen. Also linking with Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Love Laugh Quilt, Em's Scrapbag, Our World Tuesday and What a Hoot Quilts.

Tree Buntings, Dacquoise Cake, December Walks

I'm starting to dawdle more in the mornings.
 Last September marked the first day of my life that I did not have to set an alarm for either morning of the week.  No babysitting in the mornings any more. So gradually I've embraced this and turned it into an excuse to have a second cup of coffee and keep reading, googling, etc. A case where I look up and it's already after ten and I get a little start like I'm supposed to be somewhere and have forgotten about it.  I've already talked about being pathologically punctual so being late for anything is a fear of mine.
Another phase of life for me. Something that mattered so much doesn't matter any more.  Where ever I'm going these days, the timing of it is more or less fluid.  So relax, Jocelyn, relax.

I joined Daughter and younger grandson on a nature walk in a nearby park area last Sunday...the only sunny day in a long while.  Glorious!  Abby, their Black Lab, joined us and had a ball retreiving sticks. She was relentless; I don't think she would give up till she physically dropped.  We noted one very tiny nest and one large one that Robbie said must be a raven's. I think that was a good guess.

Rosy cheeks and snow angels- very Canadian!

  

Little boy in a tall wood

I just love trees and they are everywhere you look with the Christmas season in full swing.  This is too cute...a wonderful tutorial on tiny trees for decoration or a bunting from Svetlana at s.o.t.a.k. handmade. Another great stash project too.

                             
Did you see this tree pattern at Amanda Jean's Craftsy Shop? I was sorry to read that Amanda is ending blogging at Crazy Mama Quilts but is off to explore new adventures, I'm sure.  I liked how, though it was her business, Amanda's posts were not inundated with sponsors' ads popping up.

                                  
And a photo of our tree.  I'd been making do with old lights and decided on new ones for this year and multicoloured too.  There are 200 on this 6 foot tree.  On the mantle are the Ikea squirrel lights and the santas are in full view on the sofa table this year..

And I made the Dacquoise cake.
At the last minute, I had a hankering for an old fashioned sponge cake for the layers instead of chocolate.  I baked three of them to use and they were good enough to eat without the meringue layers.  However, the three meringue layers do add a slightly crunchy texture and more flavouring.
But next time I'm cake making, it will just be the sponge with some fruit and cream which suits me fine.  Anyway, here is my very tall December version of a Dacquoise cake.  Leaning ever so slightly and not exact sizes of layers which would cost me presentation points on one of those baking shows.

The recipe for theVictoria Sandwich sponge cake is Mary Berry's  so you know it is good.  Very difficult to cut small pieces of this, I tell you.
 A last look...my alterations have been made...cornerstones added, red blocks switched out and an extra star embroidered for the hare.  Going to be smoothed out and made into a quilt sandwich today.

The count down is on in earnest!
Lots of Thursday Thankful things to see and read at Not Afraid of Color.
Also linking this post with Sew Fresh Quilts, My Quilt Infatuation, It's a Small Town LIfe, Brian's Home Blog, Our World Tuesday and Quilt Fabrication.

Unsewing, Cake Making, QAL's

On the phone, my mother, who is days away from 85, asked me if I had my Christmas baking done. She loves to talk cooking and baking with me and laments how her kitchen days are behind her. She still speaks with surprise of how I don't bottle things because we are so alike and that was something she did often with food.  Her reasoning being, if company dropped in, you always had something you could make a meal out of for them, the real Newfoundland way.
 Bottling food was something I never really had an interest in, perhaps because it sounds like botulism(LOL), and I know I would be terrified of getting the whole tight seal thing right.  But she bottled jam, meat, vegetables, etc., fed it all to many and never harmed a soul.

Speaking of baking, I made Christmas scones on Friday.  Several facebook friends have links to King Arthur's Flour and I saw this recipe for Ginger scones scroll by. I love anything with crystallized ginger in it.
 It was chilly yesterday with -20C windchill so it was nice to come in from the morning dog walking to this.  Hot tea and a scone with extra old cheese and pear for lunch, a combination Hubby loves.  There he is lurking with his newspaper at ready waiting  for the photo shoot to end so he could chow down.

This is finally a flimsy and on the wall.  I freaked a little when I saw it together for the first time...thought it just too much red.  But having it hanging around has enabled me to get used to it and now I'm okay with it.  It is a Christmas project, so is what it is.  Some of the hearts need their papers removed still and here is what I'm pondering :- adding more hearts to the plain blocks, more cornerstones, substituting those two red blocks for the gray starred ones.  I am definitely going to stitch another star in the hare block.   The more I look at it, the more those two red blocks have to go. My stash pile is a whole lot prettier from this project!

While I had the little Brother machine out stitching these blocks I sewed together more of the scrappy Lily blocks, a super stash busting project.  Cutting the pieces for this in front of the t.v. is a great activity for me...suits my multi tasking personality.

I love the idea of QAL or SAL's.  2019 promises to be a great year for these events. For me, I have to proceed with caution as I have finishing requirements on a number of projects.  I can't believe I've fallen into this as I used to be a strict "one project at a time" stitcher.

Kristin at Simple. Handmade.Everyday is joining with Patty at Elm Street Quilts to conduct a sewn by hand quilt along. This promises to be interesting with two such experienced quilters providing tutorials, etc. along the way.
                                  

Another lovely Quilt Along is happening at  Patchwork Posse.  And there are baskets...which I love.

                                         

The wonderful Myra at this post of Busy Hands Quilts is again collating links to many of the 2019 QAL's.  Nice to find them all in one place if you want to have a look. Also great to see what is still available from her 2018 list.  Please let me know of any you are finding interesting...

Besides the unsewing in my day today, there will be cake making...have the eggs out of the fridge to get room temperature whites for my meringue...wish me luck.  So all good here at the wooden house.  Hope it is likewise for you in your corner of this world.

Lots of lovely hand sewing happening at Kathy's Quilts as always. Also happy to link with
Free Motion by the River, What a Hoot Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Em's Scrapbag, and
Love Laugh Quilt.

What Turned My Head, Three Christmas Projects, Multiple Layered Cakes

Do you try to fit other things into your little container of yogurt?  I do mainly because I don't want to dirty up a bowl which is ridiculous when you think about it especially with a dishwasher under the very counter I'm leaning on poking around in the yogurt. I try to put in bran buds, or dried cherries, or flax seeds depending on the day and mood.
  New to me is Icelandic Skyr yogurt available here as a Liberte product and I like it.  So many new products all the time!

Why do we love all things Nordic I wonder.  Maybe because they are at the top or nearly there when the countries get ranked for the good things we all want in our lives.  #1 in government transparency for example and very high for eating well.

And leaning on that same counter I spied this little guy...saw the tree wiggling and up he popped. Can you see him?

Inside, my Crabapple Hill Shiny and Brite is hanging in the foyer again, with the choir of angels poised permanently in song beside it. Here is a link to the Crabapple Hill Design Studio free downloadables page if you have a minute to take a peek.

A close up of the crayon tinting, stitching and hand quilting I did on this piece. All aspects of this project were so enjoyable.  Do you look at certain projects and remember the pleasure of making them?

But about my Present day projects
I mentioned I've resorted to the walking foot to quilt around the building and roof tops of  the After the Snow panel. Gosh, I hope this works out....so far seems to be okay.
But I had to give up on getting a photo showing the actual stitching...after about 10 tries and none of them really capturing any mounds or valleys.  Grrr...

And my true Christmas piece for this year, the Scandinavian Redwork.  I wasn't totally happy with the fabric I showed you before so went back to the cupboard and pulled a few more.  Since I have sewn on all the borders, this is it!  The red is a very good match to the DMC 321 I used in the embroidery.  Hopefully I'll get the outer border of appliqued hearts sewn on today.

And proving orts get everywhere even on my constant (underfoot) companion! Remember when Hubby found one floating in the acquarium!

What's turned my head this week
I used to make a torte back in the day that had a layer of meringue, something I really like. I saw the most wonderful looking cake in this post at William Morris In Quilting with Michele which made me think of making one again.  A little search and I found this one from  the Sugar Coated Cottage called Butterscotch Pecan Dacquoise Cake.  Looks heavenly! (My little torte looked nothing like this mind you.)
  We just had our anniversay and I think I'll make this one this weekend as a special treat.   Love triple /mulitple layer cakes!

                                          

Dacquoise is basically a meringue and here is a link to Craftsy explaining all about it.

So visions of cake and meringue are floating in my head...yum!  Also 2019 BOM's which are starting to be talked up around the net.  Next time I'll give some links to a couple I'm eyeing.

Thursday's linking with Not Afraid of Color as always. And these as well: The Needle and Thread Network, Brian's Home Blog, The Inquiring Quilter, Quilt Fabrication, Silly Mama Quilts, and  
It's a Small Town Life,  Viewing Nature with Eileen,  Crazy Mom Quilts and the Quilting Room with Mel.

Christmas Scandinavian Stitching, Norma Whaley's Silent Night

Old St. Nick, a Kathy Schmitz design for A Patchwork Year

Happy December!  On December 1, the sun shone all day like a bright shiny gift to us so welcome after the endless greyness of this year's November.

The tree is up and all ready to be decorated with the help of our special little elf, 5 year old grandson, Robbie. This is just 6 feet, pure fake, but enough to satisfy my Christmas tree need.  Yes but oddly sheds the fake needles just like a real tree.  And I really shouldn't complain about this once a year chore of sweeping them up.

I'm almost at a point of not knowing what Christmas means or doesn't mean to me anymore. This may be a consequence of not attending church regularly or maybe just my age as I move further and further away from the intense belief and joy in everything Christmas that meant the world  to me as a youngster.

Meanwhile in the sewing room...
I looked through online Scandinavian motifs and settled on hearts for the border for my Redwork Blocks. I used freezer paper applique...the red on light grey and stitched 32 of them while watching t.v.

And pulled out a few choices for fabrics for edgings... creams, greys and reds.  I think the grey patterned one on the right looks suitably Scandinavian, however I only have a small amount of it. Drats!
 I'll have to wait to decide if this all coordinates with the embroidered blocks. Or I just might have the fixings to cook up a completely new project!

My After the Snow panel has not been neglected. I am using the walking foot on my machine to outline all the straight edges- I'm finding out there are a lot of them so it's taking a surprisingly long time; as well I have my machine on a slow speed to make me mindful and hopefully do a good job. Photos soon.

On my wish list (for a couple years now).  My quilting group facebook friend and a most wonderful quilter, Norma Whaley, designed this quilt called Silent Night. I love the use of log cabin blocks to edge this one. I love Norma's style, kind of primitive but yet not. Norma is noteworthy for her constant encouragement and praise for all our efforts.

The pattern is for sale as a PDF digital download at Norma's site Timeless Traditions Quilts. Digital downloads certainly seem to be the way to go especially for someone like me who often has to pay shipping fees when ordering from Canada.

Here is a brief video of Norma discussing her quilting.

Hope your week is off to a good start, everybody.
Happy to link up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, What a Hoot Quilts, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Bambi's Show and Tell Monda, Free Motion By the River, Esther's Quilt Blog and Cooking Up Quilts.

Chosen Vital Things

                         
I like this saying and I think I had the fortitude to choose mostly, but I'm not sure everyone has that ability and certainly not all the time. For instance, last Tuesday I felt sad all day.  No idea why, no reason that I could pinpoint, just mopey and teary with a feeling of weight on my mind. I went about my business as usual but felt like I was going through the motions, as it were.
When I woke on Wednesday, I could tell immediately the feeling had lifted a little, and thankfully wore off throughout the day.  So what was that?  I don't think I could have done anything differently. I'll say again, if that is what depression is like, then it is horrible.

But speaking of choosing...here is a list of all things chosen including rescued Murphy!

But speaking of health, I've treated myself and just ordered these from Costco online, $40 off the regular price, my only online shopping for Cyber Monday.  I'll look forward to trying them out with the hope that I will be able to do it. Bout time as I've talked about snowshoes for a couple of years now.  Did you get any bargains?


Murphy with snowflakes on her nose.

 Rex has still not figured out he can come to the window by my pet chair to get my attention when he wants in. Miss Smarty Pants does it all the time.

Stitching all those little flowery loops on the antlers seemed to take forever.  I kept reminding myself, you love doing this, right.

And a whole lot of stitches later...

It is quite a vision and a little overwhelming compared to the others. Am now putting the six together in some sort of arrangement.  Those background pieces are all the same colour and material, btw.
My OMG  for December will be to have these put together with border at least to the flimsy stage by the end of the month.  I'm working hard on that border now, BTW.  Photos Sunday.

Sorry about these strangely tinted photos; living in hope that the sun will shine again. 

New to Me...Christmas Marmalade!  I had no idea you could get such a thing. It is a bit spicier than the regular stuff but very tasty; Hubby loves it. This version is Mackays' Christmas Marmalade with Cranberries and is also recommended for basting ham or serving with cheese.

Also new to me; I had no idea cats were so cooperative!
 I liked this because that cat did not look like one that would at all cooperate, but it sure did. In fact, I would say he actually seemed to like it.

I'm off with Hubby for a bit of a shop in a neighbouring little town and lunch out. Hope there is something fun in your day today.
And yet another chosen thing is linking with Not Afraid of Color where the things to like on Thursdays keep on coming. Also linking with Brian's Home Blog, It's A Small Town Life, Sew Fresh Quilts, Busy Hands Quilts, Elm Street Quilts and Em's Scrapbag.

What Bores Me, Winter Panel Stitching, Snowmen Too

Growing up we were not allowed to say we were bored...well not allowed is a little bit strong...encouraged not to say it would be more accurate. I have no memory of either parent ever really putting their foot down. We would always be pointed toward a book, our school work, go outside and play or hobbies if we ever looked like we needed something to do.

Since I grew up sooo long ago, I always had a shoe box with paper dolls and paper clothes cut out of old Sears or Eatons Catalogues to play with. We also had scrapbooks made of those cheap newsprint type pages to glue things in and decorate with crayons- pencil leads never made bold enough colours on that paper to suit me. In the fall, I would always fill one with different kinds of leaves I'd collected tramping through the woods behind Charles Street.  This would inevitably become a crumbly kind of mess by February.

 Imagine pointing a 10 year old towards doing those things today! What did you do that would be a hoot for today's child to hear about?

This made me think about journals or planners or calendars with the 2019 versions fresh on the shelves. Is it me or is this getting to be an even bigger "thing" each year.
Here is a beautiful example, the Quilter's Planner from, yes, Quilter's Planner, pricey but what a great gift. And great video too.

A magazine comes with the planner and  it all seems substantial if you know what I mean.

                            

I've tried to write the way I do some things and I bore myself to death and then I think, if I'm bored then you will be bored.  So I admire those of you who write tutorials which I love to read and learn from.
A person who writes great tutorials is Connie at Free Motion by the River and this is a link to one of her over 100 tutorials; this one, Peace on Earth, is a sweet Christmas table runner design.  Pretty fabrics, heh. I like those greens.



I also dislike writing out recipes...you may have noticed I will always praise you when you do that.  I also find that kind of boring.

Rock Recipes, a food blog by fellow Newfoundlander, Barry Parsons, is one I love to search through.  Barry has gathered over 1600 recipes, many celebrating the kind of home made, home baked dishes we grew up with in Newfoundland and Labrador.  Obviously, it never bored him to write out recipes! 

 I also follow the blog, Lillian's Cupboard, where the amazing 86 year old writes out full recipes from her files of basic, old fashioned fare. I love it.  Just about anything you ate or heard of as a kid and had a mother, aunt or grandmother make is in her archive. Update, 2019...Lillian's daughter announced that Lillian has sadly passed away. I miss her.

A whole lot of Christmas stitching enjoyment in my pet chair...My After the Snow panel to be quilted and my Snowmen in Hats applique blocks at the start.

This will sound like heresy to you wonderful piecing quilters, but I find time at the sewing machine boring.  Just making those 46  blocks for the panel border was my limit.
 I tried to sandwich it on the floor but honestly, it hurt my knees too much so the kitchen island was the better spot.  I lashed it down with lots of masking tape- not pretty but it worked, and spent an hour doing the basting which I did not find boring.

I plan to hand stitch around the bits of batting I've glued to the roof snow. Thought of it after all the basting was done- I meant to show you a photo of that.

A little snowman start! Do you like the polka dot background fabric? Think I'll make 6 or 9 blocks...see how the snowman sewing spirit moves me.
Such an easy little project; definitely not going to stress myself about it, just going to enjoy the stitching journey! Great way to use some of those scraps I have under new management. LOL

Technically neither of these projects are Christmas, more winter; they can languish into January.  Now my Scandinavian Redwork pieces really are Christmas, so I must get that last reindeer's antlers stitched.  I think it was my OMG for November.
Anyway, so happy to have enjoyable projects in my hands, on this, the last Sunday in November, 2018.  No time to be bored!

Also enjoyable to link with Kathy's Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Em's Scrapbag, Love Laugh Quilt, Cooking Up Quilts, Sew Can She and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.