OHIO STAR...A HELEN CREATION AND LABOUR OF LOVE!

 Here is Helen's labour of love for her
daughter Marci.

This quilt, Ohio Star was started by Helen a number of years ago.  It is hand pieced, hand quilted.

Marci loves blues and this beauty has taken a long time to make because it is so large and Helen's fingers needed  lots of rest between putting the pieces together.

The quilt has silk batting which Helen
said was a dream to quilt as the silk was so light the quilting needle just slipped through it.

This quilt was done with a quilt hoop. I first saw this a few years ago when Helen had it on her lap here at the cottage.  At the time, I had no idea the true meaning of hand quilting.

The label denotes Marci's loving nic (?) name of Marci Mouse.

So for all of you who know the true meaning of quilting.  This is for you.

The beautiful photos were taken by Helen's sweetie and Helen around their cabin in the woods of their cottage....a perfect setting.




















 

WONKY STAR AND WONKY THOUGHTS

 I was looking for a Wonky Star pattern.  The  Sillyboodilly blog has an excellent tutorial. I also wrote to thank her for it and for using her photo yesterday without linking as I can't figure that out!  Yet.

So getting my thoughts together without seeking Helen's advice regarding patterns and such, I went ahead and made this one.

Well, you know you make one and it looks like it works, well when four or five get put side by side....it's a WHOA moment.  So I finally asked my private teacher Helen for advice....she said "oh this
is so YOU!"

I wonder what she meant?  In any event,
I've cut out 15 blocks so of course, I need
to put some sashing to at least make it
worth doing.  The dark blue might just
be the ticket.

Why do I do this to myself?  Well the good thing is that my sweetie loves the colours!  Really?

I thought it would be a good thing to make muffins out of my rhubarb coffee cake recipe....didn't work as you can see.

But no one seemed to care, as the first bite was a  "so what" moment...they are still truly yummy.   Another lesson learned this summer.

I have this flower in my beautiful pots.  I think it's a verbena but can't place it.  Do you know?  It really is a beauty but there aren't many  in the pots.  It appeared about a week ago.

Okay....I read that one can never have enough stash.  I now believe it!  I have a cedar chest full of odds and sodds of fabrics which just don't match to my minds eye...Helen is not surprised at this.

I think I need more white or yellow to make some tops to get rid of some of these unwanted or unloved fabrics.  Shopping is in the forcast!

The weather has gone somewhere else today.  We are going to have some serious rain I suspect.  The humming birds woke us up this morning to fighting and yelling at each other.  They just never learn to get along....and to boot, there was a couple of squirrels egging them on at 5:30 in the morning.   I wanted to close the windows there was such a racket.  

Our neighbours have gone home for a few days.  It always feel strange when the lake becomes quiet after the activities of the last couple of weeks.  Here in Canada the last week of July and the first week of August is the time when people take their holidays as there is a stats day in there so everyone in the country gets a long weekend, which means an extra day. 

The holiday is called Civic Weekend.  It celebrates not much but fireworks and a day off for Canada is a great summer excuse.  In February we get Family day in Ontario.  I really think we get it because from the first of January till Easter there wasn't a long weekend...How great is this Country ...eh?

MONDAY IS WASH DAY

I got this photo from the Sillyboodilly blog.  The photo was on a "wash day" photo file....  It's about washdays here at the cottage, which like my mother before me I like to do the big ones on Monday.

Since we are on septic system here, as so many people who live int he country are, I thought I'd try and do something a bit different for washings as we really can't use bleach in the septic or as
little as possible at least as bleach kills the bacteria
in the system.

Last year a miracle happened!  I discovered that
the TV ad regarding Oxiclean is just what it says
it will do and it's relatively safe for the septic.

We have a ten foot umbrella on our deck which
over time went a bit green and gray from mildew
and just plain dirt.

So, we thought we'd need to take it to the
commercial laundry to clean it, but when we
took it down, we discovered it was light and
fit into the washer very easily.  I put about
half a cup of the Oxiclean, let it soak about
two hours with a cup of Tide.  Let me tell you
that that umbrella came out like new.

I am totally hooked on Oxiclean.  Whites are
whiter and the stain remover is awesome too.

Now, Tide has been a different matter.  In my previous home we had a front loader.  I used any detergent that was on sale and liquid which was so much easier to use.

Well, the front loader stank to high heaven, so what to do.  I read that Tide...more expensive too...granuals...in a box...would eliminate all the oders.   It did and I also used less than required as we had a water softener.  The water here at the lake is also soft....so less soap, and of course the mighty Oxiclean in whites...

It takes out mustard stains too, which I learned from not spreading mustard neatly on a sandwich....yeah all over my Tee shirt...out with Oxiclean.

I read that Tide was first advertised in 1949...Proctor and Gamble advertised it on the Red Skelton show...remember that?

So, today is washday, my clothes are blowing in a wonderful breeze that we have today, very little humidity so how good is that?

I love summer.

SUMMER IN FULL SWING AND BLOOM!

It's hot August nights and also the days.  Other than having had a very dry season, we are so enjoying these summer days.

I love lilies...I have a few varieties on the septic bed to go with the bee balm or monarda as these red flowers are called. 

The humming birds have been going crazy eating from the bee balm.  That makes me so happy.

The flowers are what one sees coming out of the bunkie/cabin  in the morning.  Isn't that a sight?  Even if it is a septic bed, I've planted perennials there for colour.  I love this photo taken by our nephew Jamie who has such a touch for photography. 

This is the bunkie that has a two piece in it.  The sink is almost the size of what one would see on an airplane, only in white.  I have heard it said that one can sit on the toilet and brush their teeth at the same time...it's that small/big take your choice.   But everyone loves the feel of this little place.  It''s cozy, simple, and private for those of us who must rise in the night for business.

We have finally got our granddaughter Alex to get up and water ski.  She has passed her swimming lessons and with the confidence gained, got up to ski around our lake.  We are just thrilled about her accomplishment.

The lake temperatures are in the mid 20s/70s and
this summer season is the best in ten years I swear. 

Even this old body of mine has been swimming more than ever.  I think I've been in the lake more this year than any other that I could remember.  I am pain free and able to just climb that ladder so easily.

Final photo shows our nephew Jamie doing an incredible cannon ball into the lake!  The way to get young children used to the lake is to take action photos of jumps and turns and cannon balls.

At the cottage of Jamie's the kids don't have a deep jumping spot, so this was so fun for them although I am only showing Jamie as he loved having photos taken of him instead of him being the photographer.

The quilting has taken a back burner in these past days as there has been so many visitors, action on the lake and heat.  I had to turn the fan on so close to me to get air and it was too warm for comfort.  I'm not complaining here, just saying.

I love summer.  I love summer. I love summer.