TIC TAC TOE QUILT ON THE GO...

When Helen, my private quilting teacher (oh yeah I have luck here at the cottage) was showing me a pattern she would cut out paper or light cardboard of different colours to demonstrate a project. Well it paid off yesterday when I was doing the Tic Tac Toe Quilt layout.

I actually read the directions on making the template. However as a lot of you probably know, sometimes the book directions aren't quite what we understand them to be. I did cut out fabric 8 X 11 directed, but when cutting the first template, there was no way it was going to end up a 6 1/2" block....so I fiddled with the template a bit and voila!



I actually have two of them done to absolute perfection. I am so over the moon happy. Helen's patience has paid of and I have it in my head how to do an accurate template.


I made the blocks in reverse of each other and learned that the fabric must all be on the right side of each other or else
the blocks would be in reverse and not match. I only have
seven more to go as these finish out 18" squares. The photo
yesterday showed it using "scraps" well I don't have enough
of them here, but this is such a fun and funkie quilt that I
think I could do this in yellow, black, white and red for my
grandsons who never get a quilt because my quilts are to
"girlie" for them.



Our helper Alex left us yesterday, which is a sure sign that summer is at an end. She put her little boat away and said that her life would have been perfect at the cottage if her friend Brianna had only been here to share it with her....We miss here already. Mind you, we will have food in the fridge and don't have to oil its door any longer....I'd forgotten how much teens can eat!



Have a great Labour Day Weekend. Next week all our lives change as the children go back to school, we see the yellow buses and the stop flags in full operation. Let's keep them safe.

ISN'T THIS CUTE?

Can you see this cute quilt? I am going to make it next. I have been looking at it for ages. You know I love bright colours and this one is so perfect. It is from the Quilters Newsletter. Now I did see one similar in another magazine, but the instructions (oh yeah those) seem to be better with this one.



Of course the flash dimmed the photo a bit, but it's a go for today. I am excited for this one. My sweetie loves the look of this one. I don't have the exact fabrics of course, but will try to make
a funkie quilt.




We put a small bathroom in the new bunkie. It is just to the right of the window that you can see. That's Alex our granddaughter putting the final touches to the lattice work to finish it off. We lost both the large pines that were in the front of the bunkie. One when we built it and the other when my sweetie noticed that it wasn't healthy when he was putting in the plumbing lines across the roots. The 50ft tree actually moved a bit. Talk about great timing for the tree guys to appear the next day!


Alex has great dexterity with tools. It is so
strange as she has difficulty with small motor
skills at school. This made her grandfather
very happy that she could get under there and
finish off the trim. Who knew? She could be
a plumber too!




Here is the bunkie, trimmed out. We are putting an bear chair (adirondak) on the little deck when it is put together. My sweetie made a bunch of these and we have two to put together still. He moans that we have so many chairs. Of course the stump chairs don't count.



Yesterday was a clean up day here at the cottage.
We all pitched in to rake, organize the outside, and the inside got the floors washed. Oh yeah!
The little grey dog is white. It took two washes to achieve the job. I dried him with the blow dryer and he is fluffy and looking like the "show" dog that he is.


Have a great day everyone.

IT'S ANOTHER QUILT FINISHED!

Here is my newist quilt finished. I tried to make it a photo op, but it just looks ordinary. I think some people really have the "knack" for photos. In any event. I am so pleased with it. I managed to get the backing for $4.00 per metre as stated yesterday. I have another small pieced quilt like this one to complete.








I don't know if it's just me or what, but I find that my larger quilts are quite heavy. I can't remember why some seem lighter than this one just completed. I use bamboo batting or warm and natural. Is that it? I don't like using the poly one which might be the lightest batting to use.





I know that the larger the quilt the heavier it is, but mine seem to be more winter weight if you know what I'm saying here.





It was such a beauty of a day yesterday that the boats were just nicely lined up. We had to move the middle boat (aka my boat) on Saturday due to the horendous east wind we had that banged the boat on the dock. No damage to the boat which is a Key West and similar to Boston Whalers in construction. My very precious item

here at the lake as it goes really well in rough

weather.





The little one is a Water Mouse which was really

popular at Walt Disney world in Orlando, but I

understand that it's not made anymore. This

little sucker is 9ft X 5 ft wide and has a small

motor for the children to just drive around.

Yeah, imagine us having that when we were young

and our parents giving us this little gem! Our

granddaughter Alex has inherited this and she

drives it all day long. Yesterday she took me

for a ride. Trust me, It was very hard to get

out of. Not getting in, but I sure had a hard time

getting out.





We took the dog, Alex and me in that little boat

and did a tour of the island. Close to shore and

we were looking for the beaver den. No luck.






Here is the woodpile I mentioned. Can you imagine piling this as neatly as this? The guys that cut the trees, actually cut, chopped and piled this in about 3/4 of a days work. From 9 am till about 3pm and taking coffee and lunch breaks too!





The first photo is of the oak tree that was piled to

dry over the next year as it needs to dry quite

well. And the second is the size of the pile. It will last us a very long time as we are only here from May till late October, weather permitting of course.


It is so quiet here at the lake. There is no one here on our little island. One can tell that school and holidays have come to an end. At night we have wonderful views of the stars as there is so little ambient light making the stars so very bright.


My biggest job today is to bath a dog that should be white and he is now grey as he is so very dirty that brushing just isn't cutting it. He needs a hair cut, but not till we return to the city. He hates the bath, but boy, when I dry him and use the blow dryer, he even gives me a paw, he loves being dried so much. He comes into the bathroom in the morning when I am drying my hair and likes to get dried too. Stupid Dog!

PS.
Does any one (Chris) know how to remove a photo once it's on this page....sorry about the duplicate.

FALL IS HERE...WHAT HAPPENED TO SUMMER?

After being away for a week, I have returned to absolute

perfect weather at the cottage. It is now a perfect fall

day here at the cottage. What? Fall is here! I can't

believe that I missed summer! The nights are cool

now and we must put heat on to make it comfy in

the early mornings. I do like the colours of fall, but

I miss not having had hot days this past season.

Oh there is always next year, (sigh)

The photo of the gang of young athletes in the first photo is of our aspiring olympic athlete. Can you see her? I tried to get her by using picasa to zero in on her. She made all her races to the finals only to place a very close fourth in all her endeavours. We are so proud. She was pleased with herself too.

We had 6 large trees cut down last week and my sweetie asked that the stumps be made into seats. We have three of these now, all in a row up the hill behind the cottage. The tree cutting was quite an operation. It took an hour of just positioning the ropes for each of the trees so that they wouldn't cause damage to buildings and other trees on the property. We have enough fire wood here now to last for years! The trees are now cut and stacked to dry. I hope I love long enough to make a dint! I must take a photo for the next post!

Oh! That's me sitting on the stump chair.....not much room for the butt!

It's good to be back. I have been sewing and did manage to get my fabric to finish the black quilt that I pieced this summer. $4.00 per metre for the black and I also bought some yellow and soft green fabric which was the same price and I love the fabric. I have the pattern in white and it's just super! I must take photos of this too.