Movin' right along...

That would be the days; not me. I seem to take so long to get things done, but I am making progress, so I will show you a few things I have been working on.

(this was not staged; I was working away and next thing I knew Mr. O was taking a pic)

I have been working away at a few Christmas gifts. A set of placemats all pieced and quilted; 2 complete

and 2 patiently waiting for their binding.(hopefully today)

I pieced and quilted a table topper for another gift.

Do you have any idea how much mess I can make in my sewing room, making a simple table topper like this one? I pulled out 28 different fabrics from my stash. Well, once they are out you need to measure and cut etc...so they are stacked on the side of the table waiting to be returned to the shelves...

That's another thing I really need to do today is tidy up a bit...I like to tidy between projects, but I have been a bit slack in that dept. lately. ( Hey folks, just keepin' it real! Not so real that I am going to show you the mess though...lol)

I also made binding for this...

Taa- Daa!!

Did the hand sewing this weekend and it is done!

I used a lot of the leftovers to piece the back too. 

More than once people have said," did you know some of your whites are a bit yellowed? Well yes, I do know...I looked for those kinds of whites .My first thoughts when I saw this quilt a few years back was that it looked very old, scrappy and sort of having a feel like the woman who might have made it years ago used whatever she had available..whites, off whites, ecru, all kinds of reds; not from a "kit" or a "collection". That was the look I was striving for, and I think I did it. 

I hope to start another one after Christmas. Not the same pattern, but the same style. It is this one...

I have already starting collecting the fabrics, which is why I was able to pull 28 tan and blacks for the above table runner.

Fruitcake baking is a little late this year, but the fruit is all cut and ready to be added to a batter later this afternoon. Probably make a light fruitcake tomorrow. I am trying a new recipe this year; anxious to see how it turns out.

Let's see...what else have I been up to since we last met? Oh yeah, I have been waiting for a back order of yearn for scarves since early October, but thought maybe I couldn't hold out any longer, so I am making this scarf in white instead of the color I originally intended. If the one I am waiting for comes in this week then I guess I will make another one. Check this out.

I am so blessed. A friend who knows I have been carrying a heavier load these days made supper for us Thursday of last week. A wonderful steamy pot of Italian soup, and a orange rhubarb loaf. Another friend added the fresh rolls and voila! my supper was ready. Thanks girls; it is much appreciated.

Also had friends stop by yesterday for a visit and came bearing gifts, a rose for Rose, a fruit tray, a seasonal plant and a beautiful digital photo frame. If I ever start in to whining about how tough life is, please remind I have no call to complain. I am more than blessed...

Busy, busy day today. I gave the elves the day off so I have lots to get done. 

It's that time of the year!

I am starting to panic...I just looked at the calendar and it says it is Dec. 1 tomorrow! What in the world happened to November? Never mind November; what happened to 2010?
I had such grand plans to be ready for Christmas way early...what a laugh!
I may need to hire me some help to get all the things done in my sewing room that I want to get finished. This gal looks like a likely candidate...(not sure where I found this picture, so I can't give proper credit)

Doesn't she look like she means business?

This is how I will be moving in my studio the remainder of the week. I am hoping by Friday I will have 2 or three finished things to show you. One of them is a big one too...

are you curious yet?

In the meantime, I have a few more pics of some of my fine feathered friends.

I love my chick-a-dees.

I also wanted to mention I am making progress on my Birthday Block sampler that I am hand quilting. 

I have 4 blocks quilted and am working on block #5 . Only 7 more to go...oh yeah and the sashings and borders. Slow work, but fun to see the progress. This is the block I am working on now. My stitches are not that great, but I keep telling myself that practice makes perfect.

A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.  ~John Henry Newman

Stuff

I seem to be having a hard time to settle down and write these days. I like to have a bit of a focus to my posts, but this one will be a little bit of everything...hence the title...STUFF.
My company has been and gone. Our birthday celebration was not a riotous affair.

At 96 we tried to keep it somewhat low key, but still we managed to tire our "party girl" a great deal. So much so that she wanted to do nothing but sleep the next day.
This morning I was admiring "Mom's" yellow birthday roses. It is ten days since we bought these roses and just look how lovely they still are.

Yellow roses are her favorite and looking at these beauties it is easy to see why.

I know it is late in the year to be doing this job, but I did mention a few posts back that I am still doing my "spring cleaning". This week I cleaned windows...a dreaded job, but this was my "frog" for the week. Looking through sparkling clean windows makes it so much nicer to enjoy the outdoor antics of my feathered friends.

In the case of the blue jays...beauty is only skin (or feather) deep. They are such aggressive birds and so greedy. They chase the doves, sparrows, grosbeaks and chickadees away every chance they get. I guess I will just have to consider them  my "winter crows".

I mentioned last post I was taking a quilt as you go workshop. I have gotten 10 of the 12 blocks all quilted and 1 row of 3 blocks assembled/quilted and 2/3 rds of the second row of three together as well. It is not a technique that will work with all quilts but it is very suitable for this one. I have had to set it aside to work on a few Christmas gifts, and hopefully I will have a few finished projects to show next week.

My daughter in law received her tree skirt in the mail and assures me she loves it. My niece also received the baby quilt I sent and she is thrilled. I am pleased...

Just look at me, I don't post for a week and when I get started I don't know when to quit.

One last thing I have been meaning to mention is this...I owe you an apology for a post I made in Oct. I had to laugh when I went back and re-read the post. I know what I meant to say, but that is certainly not what came out...

Remember this?

Do you  remember what I wrote concerning this pic?

Let me refresh your memory...

"You've heard it said, "Somedays you're the statue, and somedays you are the seagull".  Today I wish you a "statue" kind of day."

Now how rude was that! ...do you see what has happened to that statue? What I meant was "I hope you don't have a statue kind of day."

My apologies.

Have you missed me?

I've been busy, it takes a good part of my day(and night) tending to a frail, vision impaired, (somewhat demanding) elderly person. I have no training or experience in the type of care I am giving and it has been a 24 hour a day job. My husband and I are the only family around so we have agreed to getting some outside help, but it was a long time in coming. (long story) I do hope that things get settled and Rose will be able to get back to the care home she was residing at previously(another very long story). In the mean time, her daughter and son in law have driven here from Ontario to visit and celebrate her 96th birthday on Friday.
Just a small family supper.

I have a workshop on Saturday I thought I was going to have to cancel out on, but my sister in law will be here to relieve me of my duties for a few hours so I will be learning to assemble a full sized quilt in a "Quilt as you go" fashion. Hopefully that will help the UFO basket to get emptied out...well a girl can always hope! We were to have several blocks made and sandwiched ready to quilt, so I chose to use a collection of blocks I won several years ago in an on-line challenge. We all had to use the same fat quarter of fabric as our inspiration. Funny how people pick up on one color over another to accent with. I am hoping that a brown sashing will help unify them. No matter; it will make an excellent car quilt. Here is pic of how I am choosing to lay out the blocks.

Can you figure out the common fabric we all received?

In the mean time I have managed to get another batch of apple butter made...yum yum!

I discovered a new recipe quite by accident... I started out to make a batch of molasses cookies from a favorite cookbook I ordered free on-line about 10 years ago. 

Half way through the assembling of ingredients I realized I was following the ingredient list of the recipe below the one I actually wanted to make and therefore ended up making a batch of molasses date bars!

I also made the cookies though so all was not lost. I am a messy cook, but I did discover a new recipe that I will definitely be making again.

I leave you with a notice of a give away from a fellow New Brunswick quilter and blogger. Drop by here to see what she is generously offering. You won't be sorry...

The Latest News

Well let's see where do I start? The other Mrs. O has come to live with us! My 96 yr. old (well she will be 96 on the 19th of this month) has temporarily moved in with Mr. O and I. Needless to say, there has been a bit of adjusting to do.

The "other" Mrs. O;  all smiles after her sponge bath, new hair do and breakfast.

I received an e-mail from Martha. It reads as follows:

Dear Wendy:

I received your package yesterday.  The fabric squares are beautiful and I am looking forward to making a quilt with them.  I would like to thank you again for such a fun giveaway.  I enjoyed looking at your great blog.  I will be visiting often to see your great quilts.

Martha deHoop

Happy to hear your package arrived so quickly Martha. 

I finished my penny rug candle mat. It is done according to the kit I received; however I may make a few more and add to it, thus changing it from a circle to an elongated diamond shape. 

I have been enjoying watching the birds at the feeders and tried to get a few shots of them this morning. I have not been able to get the chickadees yet, but I did capture the jays and the grosbeaks.

Other critters have been entertaining us with their antics, one of which is a local squirrel. He is very busy these days hiding apples in the trees. Apparently he is not content with having them in the apple trees. It is not high enough for him. This is one of a few he has tucked into the branches of the spruce in the side yard. 

These apples are about 20 - 25 feet up. I sure hope this is not an indication of how much snow we will be "blessed" with this winter.

If you look closely in the second picture, the squirrel is below the red apple and a little to the left. There is also a second apple in the crutch of the tree near the bottom of the photo.

Not having a cat around leaves the birds and squirrels free range of the place. I do however miss Sadie very much. She has been gone quite some time, but I still miss her. I am working on Mr. O, but he says "No more pets! We are on the road too much..." but I say, " A house is just not the same without a pet..."

Our beloved Sadie

"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."  ~Mary Engelbreit

Where do I start?

Well it has been a whirlwind 2 weeks! As you may remember I mentioned that Mr. O was away for 2 weeks. I was fortunate enough to have so many things fall into place while he was away. I had 2 quilt retreats back to back, a workshop scheduled, and my old quilting buddy (who had moved home to Newfoundland and was back in the province because of her husbands work) was able to come and stay with me while Mr. O was away. Now you may be wondering if it was because I am nervous to stay alone, but that was not the reason at all. When we used to be neighbours she would come and stay with me when her husband was on the road and we would stay up till the "wee" hours quilting and piecing and enjoying each others company.

It was just like old times to be able to do this again for 2 straight weeks. I neglected the housework, yard work, and anything else that might have stolen time away from quilting. It was like a holiday and like most holidays you need to come home to rest afterwards. Well for me I needed a couple days rest afterwards too. We were up till 1 or 2 (or 4) almost every night and hard at it again the next morning.

It was fun!

I managed to finish the top of my Winter Wonderland quilt, and I hope to take it to the long arm quilter today.

The workshop we took was for a tree skirt and it is finished and bound and ready for gifting.

I also made a quilt for my niece's baby. The pattern was courtesy of Moda Bakeshop, and I added a few prairie points for a little interest. 

I purchased the fabrics at "Life's A Stitch" in Sault Ste Marie while I was visiting Mom in August. I also managed to find the perfect backing..have a look.

  

I used a Hobbs Heirloom 100% fusible batting. This was new to me. It was a pre cut packaged batting sized for a baby quilt. It is a little thinner than most cotton battings I have used but was sure a breeze to sandwich. Just layer and press and quilt. Easy Peasy!

At our guild meeting we had Sande Gunning from The River Gallery make a visit and introduce us to wool. She brought a nice selection of batiks, threads, wool cuts and books. I know I said I was buying nothing else until I used some of what I had but what can I say I am so weak, and actually I have used some from my stash, so I guess it was ok. I also purchased a lovely book of wool projects.

We made a small wool needle book and then the next day Cam and I took a wool penny workshop. I will be making a candle mat in scrappy colors. Here is the start of it.

Before Mr. O left for Australia I left a little note in his wallet with the names of some Australian quilting magazines. I said I really wasn't interested in Opals or other trinkets but I would love a few magazines. Look what he brought me!

13 magazines, one of which came with a finishing dvd! 

If you look close you may notice that 2 of them are actually American magazines (which made me chuckle,) but hey his heart was in the right place; and the nice thing was I didn't have those specific magazines! Thank you Mr. O.

Well my friend has gone back to Fredericton to be with her husband for the remainder of her time here in the province and life is somewhat back to normal (whatever that is) here at home. Mr O is having trouble adjusting to the time difference of 13 hours and can't seem to settle into sleeping during our night hours, but that will come. I know I won't be able to keep the same sewing pace as the last 2 weeks , but I am motivated to get at some projects that have been dragging, so I hope it won't be too long before I can show some other FINISHED projects. Till we meet again...

May your fingers be nimble,

Your threads seldom tangle,

And your love be apparent

In all you create.

I apologize for keeping you waiting so long

So sorry for taking so long to post the winner. As I said Mr. O was away so I wanted to have several witnesses when the winning name was picked.
I took the names and the prize with me to the retreat because I knew that three of the participants of the draw would be attending the retreat.   There was an awful lot of whining going on because their name was not picked. At one point in the evening I was even concerned that the charm pack had gone missing... it did eventually show up hidden under my notions case. The pressure was quite intense at times.

The winner of the 100 scrappy charm  pack is Martha!

It really was all in fun although they did assure me that if you did not respond to the e-mail notifying you of your winnings they were expecting to have their names added to the "re-drawing".
Martha would you please get back to  me with your full name and address so I can drop your prize in the mail.

 I will post a pic of what I worked on at retreat...and all I can say is HOORAY!!!
It is finished! ...well almost finished...I am over half finished piecing the back and then it is off to the long arm quilter.

It is not an especially clear photo, but I had a friend send it to me from her camera. Hope to post another when the binding is on it.

I have spoken to Mr. O and he is having some unique experiences in Australia. Went out for supper with some co-workers and had crocodile and kangaroo for an appetizer; and guess what? The crocodile tasted like chicken...lol He really did not have anything to compare the taste of kangaroo to, but others said it was similar to horse! Blech!

I've been on a trip!

I just finished cutting the last of the 100 scrappy charms and it was like a trip down memory lane of a lot of past quilting projects. What I made and who I made it for; easy pattern or not; wish I had bought more of this fabric; man! ... I will never make that again....
Now I know I said I would post a winner this morning, and I have not forgotten; however I have been so busy getting ready for not just one quilt retreat, but 2 of them; back to back! Poor me eh...
Not only that but Mr. O has gone away so he can't make my draw. What I am going to do is take the names with  me to retreat and get someone there to make the draw. When I get back I will post the name of the winner. I may not be able to take photos because Mr. O has taken my digital camera. You see he has gone to Australia on business for 2 weeks.  Again I apologize for the delay in posting a winner, but when I get back I promise to post the winner.

Now what is a post without a photo? Borrring! So I will leave you with a vacation photo or 2.

Mr. O and I at Stone Henge.

Oh by the way...

You understood the pic in the last post right? It was a stack of 100 (fence) posts; get it? for my 100th post? Yeah I knew you got it, but I was just making sure.

I entered a give away as well as posting one. It is for a charm pack and a pattern book. You might want to check it out here because if you were lucky enough to win mine and then win that one, then you would have a pattern book to help you with your 100 charms. Hope to post a pic of the100 post anniversary prize maybe tomorrow. I have some cutting to do though...
Can I bore you with a few more vacation shots?

Don't you love the character in these old stone and thatch cottages? They seem to hold such a charm and romance about them to me, although I think that the long ago residents may have thought differently.

another lovely Scottish image.

the very charming little village of Grasmere in the English Lake District quite close to where Beatrix Potter spent her summers and where Wordsworth is buried.

"The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love". William Wordsworth

Train station in a little village in Wales. This village has the longest name in the world. It means "The church of Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the church of Tysilio by the red cave". I'm sure glad I  was not the conductor who had to call out the next stop at this junction.

My maternal grandmother was a Gladstone and my paternal grandmother was a MacGregor so I was always on the look out for those names while touring. Below is one of the times I was not so impressed to see the Gladstone name. (click on the photo to enlarge to see what I mean)

You've heard it said, "Somedays you're the statue, and somedays you're the seagull".

Today I wish you a "statue" kind of a day.

A milestone

If I showed you this picture would you know what I am celebrating?

Nope! We are not enlarging my sewing space...

How about this picture?

100 posts!

It took me a while but I made it. Now you can't celebrate without gifts ...

There is so much talk about scrappy quilts these days. 

I see more and more patterns for scrappy quilts, and honestly they are my favorite. They just have so much interest and character. 

So I am going to go through my stash and make up a bundle of charms. 100 to be exact! ( I may even post a photo of them after I get them all cut)

Add a nice neutral to them and voila you have the makings of a scrappy quilt, or split them up and you have enough for a couple of totes or table toppers. 

If you would like a chance to win this bundle of charms, just leave a comment(I love comments). If you want to tell me what your favorite charm pattern is that would be good too. 

I will take comments until Thursday October 21st, 9 p.m. local time. 

If you are posting your comment "anonymously" just leave your first name at the end of your comment. If you are the winner I will announce it Friday morning and then you can e-mail me  privately to leave me your address. 

You could even go to my profile and send me an email, if that's is easier for you.

Good luck and don't forget to tell me your favorite charm pattern.