Mother's Day

Mother's Day is so much more special when your children are close, and unfortunately that is not the case for me. Still, it was nice to talk with each of them today and know that they were thinking of me. My daughter gave me my present early; when I was visiting with her last month and my son told me today that he will give me his gift next month when we are together.

Mr. O gave me some lovely flowers and a very pretty card.

Mother's Day Menu:

Baked Ham

Potato Salad

Salad of greens/berries, sliced pears, candied pecans etc

Devilled eggs

Fresh rolls

Sides of relish/pickles, tomatoes, cheese stuffed celery

Peach/strawberry punch

Cheesecake

Tea and coffee

We had company for dinner today after church and as always it is nice to spend time with old friends. Mr. O helped with the morning preps and then did most of the dishes while I set things aright and put away food and tidied up afterwards. I may be one of the few people left who does not have a dishwasher. I had one for many years when our family was all home and busy and it was a real timesaver, but when we did the renos a few years back I decided that we didn't really need a dishwasher for just two people. We had our kitchen cabinets custom made and I had one cabinet made so that if I ever changed my mind, a dishwasher could be added, but it just never happened.

We are fed, and alone now; Mr. O is watching golf; there are enough leftovers for munching and supper tomorrow, and I plan to sew away the evening. Pretty good day I think.

The only thing really missing is not being able to call and wish my Mom a Happy Mother's Day. It is almost two years since she left us, and I still catch myself thinking of things I want to tell her. I wonder, does that ever go away? I miss you Mom.

Happy Mother's Day to all my friends who are Mom's.

Here a few smiles for all my friends who are quilters;

I am off to have fun, and maybe next post I will have something quilty to show you.

We have a winner!

On my last post I thought it might be fun to have a bit of a contest to see if you could guess how far we drove on our US trip.
I had said I would put together a prize and show a picture of it, but I have been kind of busy and just didn't get to it. I tried to make the prize as flat as possible for mailing purposes and this is what I came up with.

there are 2 quilt labels, one quilt block charm for identifying your scissors or rotary cutter etc., one red fabric charm, compliments of Pearl Louise in Rapid City, N.Dakota, a mini triangle ruler(can be put on a key chain or used for cutting), and one pattern purchased in either Oklahoma or New Mexico. I loved this pattern immediately. The quilt sample was hanging in the shop and I knew I wanted to make it right away, so I immediately started buying lovely cosy flannel fabrics for it along our route. I know I probably purchased enough to make 2 quilts like this, but that's another matter all together.

Now you are probably wondering why I am giving the pattern away the first week I am home... well...no I didn't make a copy of it for me.( Just in case, some of you must have been thinking that... lol)

If you remember along our route, one day I stopped at a quilt shop in either Northern California, or Southern Oregon, and they had some older issues of quilt magazines they were giving away free to anyone who might be interested. I chose a few at random for evening reading enjoyment and I think the very first one I looked through, just look what I happened across...

As you can see, I have no need for the pattern packet, so I thought maybe someone might love it as much as I do and might just want to make it along with me...It wouldn't be the first virtual/computer/Skype quilt along I have ever done and it might be fun to do another, so into the prize it went! 

Are you anxious to know who won?

Have patience girls, I am long winded, but I will get to it shortly.

Iam a little disappointed there was such a few people who took the time to offer a guess, but it is fun just the same. 

Now Mr. O is a statistics and map kind of fella and he is always keeping track of things along our way. He even had a spread sheet ready with all dates, stops, gas, lodgings, general expenditures, and quilting expenditures for our border crossing back into Canada. The Customs people loved him...so organized!

Here is a map of our route

If you start on the left hand page at the top right corner, that is HOME. We travelled south and did a lot of zig zagging and dipsy doodling around and then crossed over into Western Canada, then back down into the Dakotas and across to Michigan, back into Canada and then back home.

Here is a list of the participants:

• Denise   23,000 KM
• JoAnne  10,750 MILES = 17,300.4 KM
• Jackie    32,876.4 KM
• Barb      18,289 KM
• Claudia  13,767 KM
• Sue        24,050 KM

The number Mr. O gave me as our mileage recorded on the GPS is

24,723 KM

The winner is Sue! with a guess of 24,050. So close!

Congratulations Sue, I will get your prize to you as soon as possible and I hope you enjoy these little souvenirs of our trip.

I have a small "runner up" prize for our second place guess. Denise guessed 23,000. I will get that in the mail this week Denise. Thanks for playing along ladies.

Now, I am sure some of you may be wondering about some of the other info on that spread sheet of Mr. O's. I don't have his spread sheet in front of me, so the only number I can give you is the amount of days were gone, which was 71. 

The $'s spent on quilting stuff sort of eludes my memory, but I do know that it started with a 3 and it had a few 0's in it; and that's all I have to say about that!

Want to see what it looks like all gathered together?

Now before you get too excited, and to put things in perspective, just look what Mr. O bought on our trip.

Hmmm I don't think I saw that purchase on the spreadsheet, I must go check...

A Schnibbles and a contest

Sinta and Sherry announced a new Schnibbles for April, but because I was away on an extended vacation, I was not able to get to it.
Mr. O and I arrived home on Sunday evening, with just 2 days to spare in the month of April. That meant, I could waste no time getting down to my quilting studio, but....
There were suitcases to unpack, groceries to shop for, laundry to do, 2 1/2 months of mail to tend to, appointments in town, and various other things that were demanding attention as well. What's a girl to do?

Well, it was full steam ahead on Monday and by late afternoon, I was able to get down to my studio and cutting table. and fire up my machine and get at it.
Our April project is Carrie Nelsons "Hat Trick". Thank goodness the pdf patterns are available on line!
I had no shortage of fabric to pick from, but with a deadline looming, I decided to forego the  scrappy look I had intended, and used a couple of charm packs I had stashed away. I managed to find some matching yardage from a different line and we were off to the races.
I was only about an hour into the project when I received an email from my Schnibbles partner; Sue, with a picture of her finished Hat Trick quilt top! That was all the inspiration I needed to work quickly! I mean, if Sue was in the parade, then so was I...we were partners, weren't we?

Sue made her "Hat Trick" with civil war repros. For me it was love at first sight! I find I am more and more drawn to the civil war fabrics and this was no exception. Great job there Partner!

By bedtime Monday night I had about 3/4 of my 9 patches made, but I knew we had a busy day today so I really could pull an "all-nighter".

I woke at 5 am and contemplated getting up to so for a couple hours, but decided against it. When I woke again at 7, I headed to my machine for a couple hours before showering and leaving for errands in town. Mr. O had an appt at the dentist and so we didn't get back home until about 2:30. Groceries to be put away and a few other things done and then I was back at my machine...time was my enemy! By midnight the top was pieced, sandwiched and mostly quilted and by 1:40 am the binding was on and sewn down by hand!

I present you...Hat Trick!
Pattern by Carrie Nelson, Fabric is Wild Rose by Blackbird Designs, piecing and quilting by Moi.
There is nothing like a deadline to get me moving! I often joke  that if it wasn't for the last minute I wouldn't get anything done!
I am looking forward to the Parade tomorrow, be sure to check it out!
Now on to the contest...we had a wonderful trip and saw many amazing things, but I stopped at a quilt shop or two while I was away and I gathered up a few things while I was away. I thought it might be nice to put together a package for a little contest. It is a bit late tonight to gather everything together, but maybe tomorrow I can get a pic of the prize.
Earlier, I said to pay attention, there might be questions asked; well here is the question.
We left home on Feb.16 and arrived home on April 28.
We travelled through 20 states and 4 provinces.

HOW MANY KM. (or miles) DID WE COVER?

You have until Sunday evening 10p.m. Atlantic time to leave your answer in the comment box, or email me your answer. I will announce the winner on Monday May 6.

The prize will go to the closest guess (above or below)

Tomorrow I hope to have photos of some of my quilty purchases all piled together as well as another fun purchase that Mr. O made.

Y'all come back ya hear; and bring a friend!

"Happiness is found along the way, not at the end of the road."
Sol Gordon

Still on the Road!

But hope to be home by Sunday! It has been busy these last 2 weeks...what a surprise eh? Goodness, it has been a busy 2 1/2 months. Who knew vacationing could be so tiring?
We spent a week in Saskatchewan with our daughter and son in law and the grandkids. Spoiled them a bit...well more than a bit, but it was fun!
Grand-daughter S. and I did a little sewing for great grand-daughter M.
We made a cloth book from a printed panel. Normally that would be a pretty easy project, however we worked on a 37 year old Omega basic sewing machine. I had to go out and buy scissors. I had my new fancy ripper, no straight pins but I did have a small pkg. of safety pins in my toiletries bag. It was a "make do" kind of project. I did take a picture of S. at the machine, but can you believe I forgot to take a pic of the finished project.

I visited three of the local quilt shops in Regina, and had picked up the prettiest piece of colourful sketched bird fabric. I really had no project in mind for it, and at 15.00 a yard I only purchased a half yd. It hardly seems fair that they have three quilt shops in the immediate city and we have none! If you get to Regina, be sure to check them out; Cindy-Rella's, Astrin's Attic, and Peachtree.
Later that day, my daughter called from work and said, " Mom, can you make me a microwave rice bag for my aching body from that pretty bird fabric?" She manages a fitness centre, and right now is training for a gruelling " Tough Mudder " competition, charity event. If you google "tough mudder" you will get an idea of why she has sore aching muscles after training. The rice bag I made is sort of "U" shaped and goes behind the neck, down the shoulder blades, and over the shoulders in the front. It is channel quilted and each channel filled with rice and then closed up. Pop it in the microwave to heat it up and enjoy! Just the thing for "tough mudders" AND quilters with aching neck and shoulders. It was a pattern from an on-line tutorial. This is the second one I have made, both of them were gifts, but I intend to make myself one soon!
Again though, I forgot to take photos.
We bought S. a little used car for getting to school and for back and forth to work. She was thrilled!

Grandson K. has his own car, but what you do for one...so we decided to start an RSP for him of the equivalent value. He too was thrilled and has since started a payroll deduction plan to contribute to his savings! You are never to young to start saving for retirement!

We had a busy week and I left the picture taking till the last night and had little or no cooperation from my subjects...sigh

Pa and Madison were really the ones who cooperated!

Can you believe the amount of snow they still have! Very unusual for the prairies, and it was snowing again the day we left!
After tearful good byes we headed south of the border to North Dakota, across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan and up to Sault Ste Marie Ontario.
To ease my breaking heart at having to say goodbye to the grandkids Mr. O took me to a quilt shop in Minot, North Dakota . I chose a shop from my trust Quilter's Travel Companion, and when we found it out in the countryside in a private home, I thought it might not be too extensive and said I would probably just be a few minutes...HA!
One hour and more than a few dollars later, I returned back to the car and a waiting Mr.O. He had been able to hook up to someone's wifi service and had kept himself occupied, and so had I.

Some of my haul.

In Sault Ste Marie, it was a very busy 5 and a half days. So good to see my sister and brother again, as well as cousins, and my aunt and uncle. We moved my brother from his old nursing home residence to a brand new facility. There were a few, well actually a few dozen kinks to iron out, but I think everybody was happy with the results when we waved goodbye yesterday afternoon. It is always so sad to say goodbye leave and him there, but it is good to know he is safe and well cared for.

I am writing this as we are driving down the hi way, and will post as we get some service. Hope to have some fun news for my next post.

Big Sky Country, a little more S. Dakota and a lot more Pearl Louise

Our plan was to head towards Sidney, Montana first thing this morning, but we both decided that there were a few things we wanted to see before leaving the area. Custer State Park was at the top of the list, we started with a drive up Iron Mt.

It is famous for its scenic, one-lane tunnels aligned to frame the faces on Mount Rushmore, its "pigtail bridges", and its sections of divided highway but with single (and narrow) lanes on each roadway.

After Iron Mt. we continued on the Wildlife Loop. We saw a good sampling of the area wildlife...

Buffalo(s)

...why is it that there is no "s" when pluralizing buffalo, moose, deer or elk?.... but there is with dogs, cats, birds and pigs....the English language is a very,very curious thing indeed.

Pronghorn...many, many of them!

Wild turkeys.

White tail Deer

BigHorn Sheep
We also saw several prairie dogs and mule deer (no pictures)
The most entertaining though were the local Burros.

Talk about friendly!
We drove a long way to see the Needles, only to find the road closed. You would think the Parks Rangers would have a sign at the entrance, so a person doesn't drive 30 or more miles out of their way for nothing!

Oh well, the wildlife made it worth the trip!
After a quick stop in Sturgis for souvenirs for a few family members, we were on our way to Montana.

They don't call it Big Sky Country for nothing! Very pretty drive.

No quilt shops today, but I'm still reeling over yesterdays, so a few more pics from Pearl Louise and Quilter's Village

One of my favourite displays.

There was so much more, but you get the idea.
There were 12 shops participating in the two week Shop Hop. At each stop you got a free pattern for one block. If you gathered them all, this is the pattern you end up with...designed by none other than Miss Pearl Louise....

I obviously did not get all 12 blocks, but I did get the centre block with the bicycle and one of the star blocks in the upper left. SCORE!

Of course , you know I had to take a pee(k) and get a shot of the restroom!

What did I buy?
I bought this book...

And this book....

This pattern...

A dozen flour sack tea towels and embroidery patterns for them. A charm pack of one of Pearls collections, and a couple fat quarters.
Now that is what I would call "power shopping".
Back in the Homeland tomorrow, and time with family!