On our Way!

And the waiting begins...and the, "oh darn, I forgot ...." and of course the adventure too. I thought I was so prepared...handwork ready...check! ...IPad charged check!
Charging cords packed...check!.....
So here I sit through security...time to get out the IPad and do a blog post...first .thing I see, is a warning...only 10% power...apparently the cord was not fully plugged so the IPad is NOT charged. Ok, so I get out my cord to charge it and
I brought my Kobo cord by mistake...
Thankfully a kind gentleman stranger loaned me his, so we are back in business. Good thing to, because it is time to post our Schnibbles for May.
of course you know you always get two Schnibbles for the price of one, because Sue and I work tandem on these monthly projects.
We actually were having a chat about our Schnibbles projects and both agreed how good they have been for us, to keep us motivated to be in our studios in spite of being busy and always short of time and another thing we both really appreciate is the fact they are not just simple mindless sewing projects. Angled cuts make for trickier piecing, and placement usually keeps you on your toes, so they challenge you a little bit too. Of course I get to use some of my "meagre" stash And the best thing of all...I
get a lovely little quilted project when all is said and done!

Here is Sue's. She used a collection called ...oh my goodness, can you believe I have forgotten the name of it? I will, of course remember it the exact second I hit the "post" button, when it is too late to change it...sigh.
Of all the thing in life that I have lost, I miss my mind the most!
OH, I REMEMBER!...French General, La Petite Ecole...YES!

Last year we made a spool quilt for a friends 60th birthday. While in the planning stages I came across a spool quilt done in reds and yellows. I loved it and tucked the idea away for future use and when Gentle Art was chosen for the May Schnibbles, I knew exactly how I wanted mine to look. The collection I used? My STASH...I went through my stash and picked out 13 reds and 12 yellows; threw in a white tone on tone and Voila! I had the makings of a great combo for my Gentle Art.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> fast forward 5 hours. The kind gentleman asked for his charge cord back, we boarded our plane in Bathurst, but on a small plane there is no way to charge your devices, so I continued until my IPad died. We landed in Montreal AFTER our connecting flight had started boarding, so there was no lolly-gagging around. Mr O and I hit the tarmack running and headed for our connection to Frankfurt, Germany. Our flight attendant had called ahead to let them know we were on our way, but the pressing question on our minds as we sit here in a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, is whether our luggage was fast tracked to our connection or not???
I guess we will find out at noon tomorrow when we land in Madrid. Wish me luck!
My IPad is charging, I have been served a lovely "gourmet" meal a la Air Canada; i have finished watching Safe Haven (another N.Sparks love story) and I am ready to finish my blog post.

OK, back to Schnibbles talk...last month after the Schnibbles Parade, my sister Barb, who is also a blogger and a quilter, asked if it was too late for her to join in the Schnibbles Parade fun. Well, of course not! The more the merrier, so she dug out some scraps from a BOM project from a few years back, got herself a pattern, and looky here...another version of Gentle Art.

Now I ask you, what is better than 2 versions of a Schnibbles? Why of course, it is 3 different versions. We almost have a little mini parade right here, and we are 2 days early! Consider it the "appetizer" before the "main course".
But be sure to check out the Parade on June 1 at Sinta ( pink pincushion blog)and Sherry's ( a quilting life)blogs. Sorry I can't remember the exact link address and I don't have an internet connection as I am writing this but you should be able to google them. You won't be sorry...sort of like a little quilt show and you can do it in the comfort of your own home!
When we land in Frankfurt, we have a couple hours layover, so I hope to have an internet connection to be able to upload this. Wish me luck...

** added in Frankfurt.
I know this may seem to be a strange statement on the heels of a driving trip of over 24,000 km, but I have come to realize I am not a great traveller. #1. I get motion sick. #2. I don't sleep well in a vehicle and #3. I retain fluid terribly which causes my feet and ankles to swell. This trip; all of the above!

You define a good trip by negatives: you didn't get hijacked, you didn't crash, you didn't throw up, you weren't late, you weren't nauseated by the food. So you are grateful.
Paul Theroux

...but I am grateful!

Just 6 Days...

The countdown is on. Just 6 days left till we leave on our next adventure. Before I go any further on that subject though, how about a little catching up?
Mr. O and I have been busy, sprucing things up around the house. Spring cleaning? Well yes, but we have decided to sell our home of over 35 years. It was a big decision; especially since we really are not completely decided what we will do if/when it sells. However, the first step has been taken and we will wait and see how things go. I firmly believe that if it is meant to be, the house will sell for what we are asking and things will all fall into place in time.
The sign went on the lawn this morning and by 3:00 we were contacted for our first showing...OH MY NERVES!

If you look really hard you can see a sign at the end of the drive...it has been a lot of years since our neighbours have seen a "for sale" sign on this property!

Something else that took 2 days of my week was a mini quilt retreat at a friends camp about an hour from home. We were a smaller group this year, but we certainly were productive and everyone enjoyed themselves.

This is one of the things I worked on...Gentle Art. Our Schnibbles project for May. I had a few other pictures to share, but they are at home on my Mac and I am sitting in a hotel room over two hours away, so this will have to do.

I have so many things pinned on my design wall. I have put them there in hopes it will inspire me to get them finished, but time is slipping away so quickly, that they will have to wait until I get back from our vacation.
Another thing I worked on this week was a table topper and set of coasters to donate to a fund raiser auction my daughter is involved with.

I hope someone likes it well enough to give it a new home.
I also have another project all cut and waiting to be sewn together. Perhaps on Sunday...

Oh yes and my May Schnibbles has to be sandwiched and quilted and bound. Hopefully I can get this done by Wednesday, and still have time to pack ...our next adventure? Well, we will be taking a 2 week tour of Pain, and then we have rented a house in France. I have always wanted to do this...and the icing on the cake? Our son and his family will be joining us for two weeks! The house is a 300 hundred year old Norman farm house, fully restored and nestled on two acres of country property. I hope to keep blogging from there, so it should make for some fun stories!
Today the weather was absolutely despicable and after we tended to a few appointments Mr. O said "lets go to Moncton for an overnight trip"...so we called ahead and booked a room, threw a few things in a bag and off we went. Upon arrival, while checking in, Mr. O asked for an upgrade to our room. He was told they had no upgrade to give us, because they had booked us into the Presidential Suite!

Well, I guess there is a first for everything and this is definitely a first for us! The Presidential Suite?? Really?? I was curious to see what was going to behind that door...

Did you notice that one of the bathrooms had TWO bathtubs in it! One regular tub and shower and one whirlpool tub (complete with a collection of candles)! The suite is 6 rooms. ( 2 bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, dining room/kitchen, and a lovely comfy living-room with 2 sofas, a fireplace, several side chairs and tables. Lovely REAL living plants...no silks here!
3 televisions...
Kind of nice to see how the other half lives. It would be really easy to get used to this kind of accommodations...I'm just sayin'...

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.

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