THE BEST PUPPIES!

I was sent these puppies by my bridge friend Barb. I couldn't resist posting them. Are these not the cutest ever ?

Abviously the mums are the largest of the large and the arranger is super talented.

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She could probably do hand quilting too I'll bet.

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We are off to the cottage so the past few days have been filled with getting supplies to stock the essentials for our coming season. I tell you that because I've not been looking at any quilting projects at all.

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You know cottage loving and living is a tasking effort as one ages. Each season, new ketchup, mustards, flour, coffee, sugars, crackers, salt, pepper to name a few must be restocked!

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Now when we were up a bit ago, did I check to see what I had left there last year? Nope, didn't open a cupboard to see if I have coffee or any dry goods. I was too busy

just being happy to be there.

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So today we leave to officially open up. Thank goodness for the inclinator. No carrying of supplies up to the deck. Can't wait.

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See you next week!

FIDDLEHEADS, A SIGN OF SPRING!

A sure sign of spring for me as Acadian born that I am is that fiddleheads are ready to be picked!


I can't remember a time when I didn't eat these delicacies. They are tender, taste a bit betweein asparagus and spinach I suppose but, oh so much better.

There is a very short window of opportunity to pick them for their best flavour. The time is usually the first couple of weeks at the end of april or first of May depending on the weather.

Well, Sunday one of my boys, Martin to be exact and his friend Carolyn went picking for me. Due to the hip thing, I really couldn't have bent over to do the job of harvesting these little critters.

They freeze well too, did I say that? Well they do,
I just blanch them for about 2 minutes in the
steamer and pat them dry, freeze for whenever I
get the urge.

There are many recipes for fiddleheads, but simply
cook them till just tender, drain, rinse, and add a bit
of butter and vinegar to taste and YUM!

I have been on a stall on the fans! Need I say more?
Decisions, decisions and more. So, I'm going to sew them by machine using the blanket stitch and leave the lessons of the hand part for the dahlia quilt.


This is a big project while the dahlia one that I posted last week is much smaller. With that in mind, and also I noted that Sunshine (at The Cutting Edge on my blog roll) has done some amazing curved piecing and used her machine to do her curves.
Her work is aways so interesting. So have a peak.


I'm going to relax and enjoy making my fans today, even
though the weather is so lovely. We are still in the city,
but come Thursday afternoon, the cottage beckons.

Enjoy the day!

PS...did I see that Crazy Mom Quilts is coming back?

FANS AND MORE FANS

First, I want to thank you all for your kind words of encouragement yesterday when I blogged about my very ambitious project!


I didn't know that I should have cut the foundation block about an inch larger...thank you very much for tell me that...the pattern did not state that!

Also, nowhere did the pattern say how hard it would be to turn those curved suckers! Nosireebob! No statement to that effect!

After getting lots of comments about doing this, I tried, lord knows I tried for a long time to practice on those extra pieces to make them look like the samples on the quilt pattern.

Didn't happen. I may need to make something so that I can indeed curve the tops. I was very very frustrated. I am going to see if Helen can show me how to do this without my going nuts! I don't know how you hand quilters do it! I am now understanding what
makes you tick...


So, then after thinking about it, I did make a practice square by using a blanket stitch that I think Jane or Anya (bloggers extraordinaire) did sometime back and thought that my Janome must have this stitch.

So, without much frustration! Some, but not much I say, I managed to do this block. My sweetie, who is always coming up with opinions (I didn't ask for this one) said that it was nice, but didn't look like the hand quilted one in the photo......NO, it DOESN'T. But, it looks pretty good.

So, I'm putting this away till I see Helen, and if I don't get the hang of this, then, I shall do it in the blanket stitch, and improvise the finishing.

Since I use cotton batting for most quilts, I'm thinking poly to do some hand work, I'll need advice on this. I know that Helen used a silk batting on one of her quilts, but I don't want to spend that kind of money on this . What do you use to hand quilt an ordinary project?

I'm further thinking, yes the mind is reeling from all the goings on! I'm further thinking that I shall do the bottom in yellow, and not blue, finish the border in yellow which would make it go with the nine patch I did last summer and be on the bunk bed with that one.

Always thinking folks, always thinking. However, I must put this to print as my mind is like a sieve and I shall have forgotten it all by tomorrow.

Again, thank you those that left the little comments of advice. I probably wouldn't have started it all if I had read them.before, as it is a daunting endeavour for me to do on my own, which is why I'm waiting till I get to the cottage.

Have a fun weekend.

PS, just noted Green Fairy quilts is have a jelly roll sale, $25.95 ea. Lots of them.

TWO NEW PROJECTS!

I found these two lovely quilts in a book that I have at the cottage...given to me by my buddy Helen...I love them both.



I honestly have never done applique work. This Dahlia one, (that's the name of the quilt) is a 1930's scrap quilt.



I am of course thinking of more modern colours for the flowers and a more subdued yellow for the sashings.



Not only that, but I am thinking of trying Lap Quilting!
Yep, this is a whole new venture for me. I have been
intrigued by this method, specially so that if I was making a large quilt, wouldn't that be easier? Don't know how the method works, but I've seen a video a few times on it.

Ok, I've watched it a dozen times and for the life of me,
I can't figure the sashings that join the blocks together.



But...and that's a big but (my other one is too) I'm a
great stitch picker, so I suppose I'll figure that out too!

This one is also a 1930s quilt, and I love this pattern, I figure, that I can machine sew the fans together and do the curvey part by hand.


I made the mistake of asking my sweetie what he thought of the quilt with the blue sashings, (which I don't particularly like) and he says that he thinks that it is great with the blue.


What? there is nothing blue in our lives, not even when we are down....blue is not what I would call it!

Ok, so now I'm thinking blue...nope not gonna happen!

I have cut out all the fans using the jelly from American
Jane which is more country, so I'm getting ready to
start this.

Now this one is a Granny Fan quilt, fabric is also from a 1930s stash . I love this one, no sashings, which I couldn't do the lap quilting thing, but more to my liking I think.


I bought muslin fabric yesterday to cut out the 8 1/2" squares that they both go on.


Which to do? Also thinking of making the dahlia one with the Chez Moi fabric. More modern but still I think using only 8 colours to do it.


So, I'm not going to pump out quilts as I usually do. These two look like projects of an undertaking in a whole new direction for me....Helen is getting ready for these two.


We are heading to the cottage for good in the next few weeks, so I'll have them cut out and hopefully started with some semblance of order.


I'm feeling retro!

TWO MORE QUILTS FINISHED!

Here it is, the last big orange quilt that I'll ever make. If I do decide to do another, please feel free to shoot me!


I was looking at the finished quilts on my shelves and I have at least four which are orange as primary colour.



This one measures about 50 X 65, so it's an odd size too.I ran out of the large orange dots. My sweetie loves this one too as you can imagine. He looks at the work and not the colours.



I finished this little quilt for my friend. The back has
the black dots , yep used up a lot of the dots fabrics I
have too.



I didn't quilt the hats but just outlined them, so they are unheaded by any black threads. It's cute. And finished.



Too much going on yesterday to get to the workshop to see about doing a new project, but what with the new fabrics, I do have a couple of ideas beyond the new pattern I bought.


Getting caught up on my blog roll was quite time consuming yesterday, but worth while, http://myfatquarter.blogspot.com/ has a story of her daughter who has had 17 years living with a liver transplant. I should never complain of my life's little ills. The story is very moving and this young woman has a definite Passion for living. Worth a read.

Another sunny day...isn't life grand?

LUNCH AT THE COTTAGE

Well I did say we were going to the cottage to see what had happened to our little piece of paradise over the winter.

Helen and I brought lunch for the four of us. It was a warm, sunny day so we had lunch on the deck. Helen's sweetie has been making wine...We toasted to his success at making pinot grisot and celebrated the opening of the cottages.


We brought so much food that the four of us could have actually stayed over for a couple of days!





Here is a photo of our place all boarded up, not very inviting at first glance. But a half hour later, shutters were off, the deck was swept, the chairs were out and we were in business.


We had a broken glass on one window which appears to have been caused by the wind! Wierd, since the screen was undamaged, and just glass on the deck. We are so far out, about 6 miles that no one ever goes out there in the winter, too cold, so we never worry about breakins.

We were also surprised at how little debris there was around us. Usually, there is so many branches that have been blown off by winter storms and we need to clear a path to get to the cottage, but not this year.


Leaving the cottage, of course the wind came up and
we all got fairly wet going into the wind to return to
the marina. Not a nice journey, but still all in all
we are back at the cottage for the season.



This is the other jelly that I purchased, and I have brought home from the cottage a couple of patterns, one being a fan, and the other a daisy pattern.

I am thinking a 1930's style of quilt which I love to look at. It must be something in me that does that, as I love the fashions, and the movies of that era.

I have finished quilting two quilts which I will post tomorrow and am ready for new adventures!

Exciting things ahead.

http://robingallagher@blogspot.com is having a giveaway of fat quarters to celebrate her birthday. I am posting this, but don't expect to win as I see some of the lucky people are entered.....I have some irish blood in me....what happened? But since Barb posted about it, now so many people will enter, so there you go.

COTTAGE STUFF AND QUILTY THINGS!

I've never really followed a pattern to its exactness and probably won't do this one either, but I have the idea of what to do with one of my jellies that I received this week.

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When doing a quilt, I do like to have a pattern in my head though so I'm thinking of maybe using the Happy camper with this one and doing a sashing of, say navy to really bring out the colours. Thinking this. I'm not a green person so, the navy (I'm not a blue person either) could just make the colours stand out.

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I love the Chez Moi patterns, so ordered two of the same

although, I'm not sure what to do with either one. They were on sale which is why I ordered this one.

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The small one is going to be easier to cut than the other.

Do you have a hard time cutting into new fabrics? I do.

It's that first cut with a new blade and then the anticipation of what it will all look like when finished.

It's the mystery of the "magic" that results in the work created by each of us.

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Yesterday, I visited "Stichery Do" where I saw these

blocks which Shirley called "Beach Birds" I just loved

the simplicity of the blocks and the very calm look of

the work.

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I'm thinking that there might be, just might be some colours in the Chez Moi that I might use, although Shirley's has a very subdued look to it. Oh listen, it's why we all do such different works isn't it?

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I was happy to see that there were at least some instruction to cutting the large squares. It was surprising to see that this was included on the back of the board.

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I know that lots of quilters have ordered so much that this is all old hat to them, but it's not for me. I am very thrifty when making quilts. It's my nature. I am always looking for bargains. I must say that the Green Fairy Quilts site was priced right up my alley, so I shall keep looking there in the future.

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My granddaughter (the Olympic hopeful one) is wanting a Canadian Flag quilt. I think that she wants one with maple leaf pattern in the quilt. I think that her red and white colour idea might just work out ok for me. I know that Bronze Wombat aka Jennifer did a maple leaf quilt last year, so I will show this to Courtney to see if this is what she wants. That should do it for her birthday.

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We are off to the cottage for the day tomorrow. Helen and I will tag along with the sweeties to make sure they are fed and that we don't stay too long at our precious little cottages. It is only going to be about 46 F. so I'm not inclined to linger over night.

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This is the earliest that the ice has left our lake. Usually around the 23rd of April, but this year it was out in the first week...such crazy weather we are having. I think that we are due for some serious bad weather though so haven't thought of going there for the "season" as we say for the next couple of weeks.

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Hummingbirds have been sighted in Ontario already. Honestly would they come this early if they didn't know that we are in for a long hot summer? I'm putting the feeders out in any event when we go. I can't help myself, I'm crazy about these little birds.

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Have a great weekend all!

I"VE GOT MAIL!

The mail came today with the label from Trish that she made for me.

I am completing the quilt with some of the fabrics that I inherited from my grandmother's stash.


I am so grateful to Trish for making this for me. The label will be put on the quilt and then sent to my aunt who gave me the fabrics. She doesn't even sew buttons I think, so this quilt will be much cherished.



Also in the mail packet was this quirky book, The Dorky Homemade Look.

It's very funny and written in the vein that I certainly share, in that "no one will notice" if the points don't line up or the 1/4" seam isn't actually 1/4".

My saying is always "I'm not showing this at Paduccah"
and I mean it.



So thank you so much Trish from All things Crafty. She does different creations than I do, but still we are
connected through blogging. She is the first on my
blog roll, so give her a boo and see what she does.





Of course as I've said, "I've got mail" my fabrics came in from Green Fairy Quilts. I love everything. This one is from Happy Camper and I do think that a navy colour just might do for the sashings or "big" colour to go with this jelly roll.



The packet was mailed on March 13th, and I do think that it was sent by pony express. Honestly, sometimes mail from the US comes in 3-5 days, other times, it takes a couple of weeks or more.


I have more to show, but I've not been blogging as you must have noted. I did sit at the computer a couple of times but honestly no words, no thoughts no little light came on so I just walked away. I did read a few of my favourite blogs but even there didn't comment. What was the matter with me? I always have something to say!

I wasn't even quilting during this time, but then thought that if my fabrics arrived and I hadn't finished the couple of items then, I couldn't start on the new stuff. So I finished my little Red Hat Society quilt, except for the hand sewing and oh my goodness.....I am finishing the last of the orange buck eye quilt. I am done with that colour and that pattern. I think I have made 3 buck eye patterns.


I was reading that little Dorky book and in it there is a statement that some of us have favourite blocks that we make, such as Ohio Star, which I know is Helen's favourite and also she loves the Irish Chain. Me?, well I think that I like just about anything that ends up squared at the end of the project.

So today, I am finishing my projects in order to start on my new fabrics. I do have more photos but that will keep for another day.

Again, I had no idea how exciting it was to get mail. I also received a thank you note from Ilene in Australia for the little nine patch blocks I sent. There were two quilts made from the blocks that were sent. Both are so different and so much appreciated.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER QUILT

Last week I used up a bunch of 4" blocks that I had cut and put in a bin. I thought that I would put the black print border on it.



Well, it really looked awful as I looked at it yesterday, soooooooooo, as an expert picker.....I undid it and made it larger too so that it will be more servicable. I don't know what border I will put on it now, as it is five rows bigger which means I must look for what is left in the strip bin. I do have lots of blue striped fabric, and some yellow checks, but I don't know how much would do yet.







It took me about 15 minutes to remove the sashing, no time at all.
I can use white as a last resort to finish it.



This is a much better size too. It is much more versatile.
I've used up most of the four inch squares. I only have about a hundred left....wahoo!








When I went to the quilt show, I received this red hat
fat quarter from one of the shops. Also the little packet
beside it was a gift from Peggi who said there were all
kinds of goodies in it.



There was! I ate the chocolate bar for energy last night.

It has items that are designed to make my day in the sewing room fun. I don't know if you can read the list but it was cute.





So, since I am meeting my friend for lunch next week
and she belongs to the Red Hat Society, and she
has survived breast cancer and heart surgery as well
I put together a little strippie quilt for her.



I used up a lot of pink here and also plan to do the back in the black and pink dots.


I squared up the fat quarter and went with it. I have just enough of the pink print to do the border.


I haven't received my fabric from Green Fairy Quilts as of yesterday. It does take a bit longer to receive what is considered international mail even from the US. I hope it isn't held up at customs and then they ask me for duty....yuck.


Well, I have my spray glue so nothing should stop me from quilting the unfinished. I swore when I started quilting that I would finish what I started. Well I now have three little projects just sitting awaiting to be finished.


I know that spring will not keep me quilting. It's almost April and I know that by the 24th we will be opening the cottage. I am getting so anxious! There is a pile of stuff in the basement, of course the pile of stuff in my head doesn't help anyone regarding getting "stuff" into the storage bins to take with us.


As Scarlet said."tomorrow is another day!"

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QUILT SHOW CONTINUES

At quilt shows, I'm sure that the quilts that appeal to one person differ from the next. For me I had to be careful to make sure I was looking at all the different styles of quilting.



The quilt on the right was so cute. It had all the colour elements that made it a simple but totally effective work of art for me. The quilter just had the right stuff to make this quilt really have zing!



It was approximately 50 inches square. The stripes on the border were for me an example of perfect framing.




This blue quilt which I could only get parts of it in the photo was
all hand appliqued which for me would be a lot of work yet it's a simple
quilt in its elements.



It was a large quilt probably would be a queen but fit on a double with lots of hanging over the sides.


I loved the blue as it gave the quilt a very polished look.



For those that do hand quilting and appliques, well this is your baby!







Then there was this gem. It was very white and black.



I'm not into this kind of work, but oh my it really stood out and the eyes looked like they could actually blink!



What a perfect wall hanging this would be in a modern house. this was one of my very favourites of the show.






Then, I came upon this little quilt, well actually not very little, but free motion quilted and look at the little
bear that she did. The whole quilt has all these different
little animals all over the front of it.




I took a few close ups of deer, ducks, dogs, cats and I may post a couple more another day.


Now that's a lot of practice to do these. Wonderful quilt which I'm sure she did a lot of practice to make these animals!

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Yesterday, being a rainy Sunday, we more or less lazed around the house not doing much. My sweetie had taped Julie and Julia which we watched later on in the afternoon. I loved it as it was a total chick flick! Meryl Streep is such a fine actress who had the Julia voice down pat. What a love story her life was even without all the cooking stuff.


When we went to lunch at Helen's the other week, she served her Julia Child's french onion soup recipe which was so delicious that I will use this as my favorite from now on.


I remember watching Julia on tv years ago and loved how she was just like me when cooking. Not always ready for prime time, a bit clutzy but still made meals...Fun to watch and I watched one this morning with her making her french tart...it didn't look perfect, but I'm sure it was really good!

We also watched The Pacific in its third episode. I'm not sure I like this series...It sure doesn't compare with the Band of Brothers series which had me in its grip from the git go. I still cannot identify the characters when they are telling their story. I find that they all look alike almost. We will continue to watch it, although historically it may be factual, the story doesn't lend itself like the Band of Brothers did.


I know it will be more brutal than the European conflict and I am not sure I can cope with that.


Well this coming weekend is Easter. Our gang is coming for brunch. Planning ahead is what I like to do, so I'm thinking....Rhubarb coffee cake, parmesean chicken, sausage strata, fruit plate, (Kelly) also Mary is making a salad and asparagus and tomatoe parmesean for veggies...Sounds pretty yummy to me so far...



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MY FIRST QUILT SHOW!

Yesterday I went to my very first quilt show! That in itself is a surprise to me, but the fact that I was invited by my blogging buddy Peggi that only lives blocks from me is the biggest of the surprises.


Imagine that! Here we have been following each other's blogs and only a couple of weeks ago realized we were really in close proximity to each other....


I loved this teapot quilt which reminded me of Roz who
has been doing some pots also.




This next photo is shown for the quilting that was done. The quilt was quite large and hanging in a small space so the onlygood shot I had was picking one appliqued block. This was a queen size quilt I think and it had various shades of blues making it a very effective and simple quilt. I loved this one so much.



There were other colours to compliment the retro look of this quilt. Very effective.






Now I know that some shows don't have too many what I would call modern quilts, but this one did. The show wasn't large but the guild in Etobicoke which put the display on had lots and lots of different quilters showing their creative sides.

This simple black and white quilt with little bits of colours popping up all over it was fabulous.




The quilt had lots of various fabrics in it and many looked like men's shirtings. The beiges were so subtle that at first it just looked black and white....really a great quilt.






Now what would a quilt show be without ORANGE! Yes of course I found this one. Peggi saw it first and as the joke goes....she said ooooh
Orange Nanci! Yes, this was spectacular! There was a woman next to
us who said she was a yellow freak and lots of laughs were exchanged
over quilters obsessing about their favourite colours.





I liked the quilt, but the blue that was on the border just didn't do it for me. I don't know what colour I would have put with this quilt, but it would not have been this pattern. I thought it needed a more modern fabric. The fish on the side were super, but it was the fabric.


Oh, yes me the expert.....don't I say?






Now this quilt which is also a lot of black and whites, was really super and the border colours just made this quilt sing. The little pieces of sashings were fabulous accents to the whole process.



I don't know why the camera cut off some of the photos, but you get the idea. My first quilt show was fun. The guild had gloves given out so that if you wanted to touch the quilts...use the gloves...neat idea I thought.

There were of course vendors but I thought that $5.00 for a fat quarter was quite a lot. Me, being the 50% off sale queen sure didn't see any bargains.

The entry fee included a free fat quarter from one of the shops, which was pretty good, but not their "select" fat quarters, but I got one for the red hat society and will make something out of it for my friend who has survived breast cancer and heart surgery too. I love it. I may have to ask Peggi for hers too as she picked the same fat quarter.


Our driver, known as Peggi's dear heart also got a free fat quarter which Peggi picked out. And of course here is how my luck is....I bought Peggi's ticket, hand her the booklet.....and she won a door prize...but being kind she gave it to me. It's a lovely little sail boat with a quited sail perfect for the cottage.

I do have a few more photos of the show which will come another day. Just a note that Peggi picked up her Gwen Marsten quilting book of Liberated quilts and what fabulous photos in there. She didn't give the patterns but techniques for inspiring yourself to be creative....I can do that!

We also stopped in at a little quilt shop which I can't remember the name of right now, which had great bargains on bamboo batting, but you know me....a jelly roll 30% off but when I added it up, it still came to $50.00 Canadian....way too much money even if it was Oh Cherry Oh! Tempting I tell you.

USING UP STASH...NO ORANGE...HARDLY.

I really have made a dint in the stash! On the weekend I made this top. Now I'm waiting for the sale on Thursday at Fabricland, 40 % off for members on everything, so I need spray basting badly and will see if I can find something in new fabrics too.


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Yes, I'm going to buy some fabric. It will be in neutral shades as I have ordered from Green Fairy Quilts a bunch of different items she had on the site. It's so much cheaper than Moda, yet I bought all Moda fabrics. How does she do that?

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I'm very excited about it all and if the fabrics come before Thursday, well wahoo, I will be able to match up some of the colours.

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The spring weather we've been experiencing has gone elsewhere to make other folks happy I am sure. Although all the spring break people that have returned from warm weather are experiencing rain, sleet and basically sucky weather.

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OMG. I just realized that the photo is on it's side...I don't know how that happened, but the quilt is square, I took the photo upright and when it downloaded...opps on the side and I have no idea how that happened.

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I have still some 4" squares that are cut, I can make nine patch for a project of kids blankets I suppose or even more lap quilts. I like those anyway.

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http://greenfairyquilts.blogspot.com/ is also having a giveaway this week. I am never lucky at these things and have noted it many times. As I said, she does have great prices so check her out. You know me, price is everything...good luck too if you enter....no, bad luck as I want to win the jelly roll that she is giving away.

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THE LAST ORANGE QUILT, I MEAN IT!

I am so sick of using up my stash! I just don't think I can go on with this commitment! Honestly, it's really hard to do week after week.

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I've made a dint in it, I used up all the red squares that I had, well only 4 others left, but I threw them in the garbage bag...I'm done with them!


On the other hand, I still have so much orange left over,
and I don't think I have enough time left in years to use
it all. Really! It seems that I must like the brightness
of what it is, but using it all the time is just making me
stressed out!


On Saturday, I started using the little orange and white triangle squares, and used up some of the same size in just squares, I had to add white because I had to finish using up the stuff!

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It's probably a crib size and actuallly looks ok, but let me tell you I am having withdrawal jitters as I just am sick and tired of looking at orange!

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Needless to say, I didn't have a hard time finding something to put on the back...yep, lots of prints in these colours also.




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I s'till have scraps of orange left over, I still have some of the dots in orange and white left over, but to tell you the truth, I'm putting it all in a ziploc bag and putting it away at the bottom of my stash.

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I'm going to spend money and buy fabric and if I look at orange again....shoot me, I mean it...do it...

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The top quilt is for my sister in law's birthday. She doesn't read my blog so I know that she won't see this, and as she is tall, this quilt will be well used. The back is beige and it is a simple quilt.

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We are having glorious weather, I mean glorious. Yesterday, I did my hand work outside and actually had to come in as it was so warm in the back yard. Wahoo for all of us who know that spring is so close. Crispy also warned me that she may be sending us a snow storm from the Dakotas, so I'm not going to get the shorts and sandals out today. Some green though as I shall look wierd at bridge without it...

SATURDAY DILEMMAS...

I have lots of orange...I don't know why, but I do...like the song says. I made this block on the right one day while trying to figure how to use up dots that were left over. But as usual, the cuttings took on a life of their own and I ended up with this one. I like the block, can't remember how I got it, but it's just too orange.

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When I first started quilting, I made the quilt on the right

(with a 9 X 12 cutting board) and I still have so many of

the little orange squares left over, so I thought

that today I would use them up. I have lots of squares

left so I put together some of the fabrics I thought I would use up and see if I could do something.

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Actually, it proved harder than I thought and I had to consult the mathematician in the family to figure out the green squared triangles that I thought I wanted to use.

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Since I had orange blocks, I also had orange flowered print that I've had for ages, and thought I would put the orange from my first quilt in the centre, use up the green fabric.

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Well as you can see the creative juices weren't in sinc with the practical uses of fabric.

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The orange in the centre is awful in real life. So I called the person in this family who really can see colour as it is and asked....Nope, it doesn't go he said.

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So then I laid it out this way and he was happy with it and also putting the white triangles to the centre block was more to his liking.

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So, no orange stash used up. I'm not doing what I set out to do, which was to copy my grandmother's block that I restored last year remember?

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I have no idea what the one my

grandmother made is called. But the idea was to make a quilt similar.

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The orange stash will be used somewhere else. I just don't know if I like this enough to make a quilt out of it.

You know, the colours are nice, but it doesn't "sing" .

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It's a crappy day anyway, so I may go back and create something else to bore you with.

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Something good did happen today though, one of the blogs I follow turns out to be practically a neighbour, about 5 minutes from me...Quilting in Cyberspace...now isn't that something?

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How many of us ever meet? It all started when she mentioned a favorite area restaurant and I thought "what the h?" So I emailed and we now know where we live....and we will meet soon to have coffee. How good is that? Other than Helen my cottage buddy, I don't know anyone from around here that quilts.

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The Para Olympics are on and we are watching. Amazing what these athletes do! Truly inspiring.

FRIDAY FLUFF AND STUFF!

It's almost cottage time. Yes, that time of year is dawning and I have started thinking of what I shall do this coming season at the lake.

I think the mild weather we've been having has made me jump the gun a bit though because when we did go a bit north this past week there was still snow on the ground in a lot of areas.

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When I took this photo last year I had no idea that it would turn out so well and that when I look at it, it makes me yearn for the peaceful life there.

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So, I've opened the first binn to start packing up "stuff", napkins, placemats, new sheets, pillowcases to start.

I always take quilts back and forth and this year will not be an exception. I need my quilts close to me.

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Yesterday while doing not much I went to a site that my friend Helen recommended. It's called Pink Paper Peppermints and has great crafting ideas. The blog is very cute in design too.

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Then I dropped in to Sew Many Ways which is always always fun to see what Karen comes up with for her Tool Time Tuesday ideas. Never has she failed to make me wonder where she gets these ideas and sometimes I even laugh outloud as she can be so funny.

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I don't know why but I seem to find Australian blogs when surfing around. What's with that? They are a small country, similar to Canada in population, but I find them more than Canadian blogs...Stitcherydo is one that is quite fun.

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I think that it is hard to have so many followers and have a blog that takes on a life of its own. Crazy Mom quilts comes to mind as one that did and then she just couldn't keep up the pace that maybe we put on her. I do miss her blog sometimes.

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All the blogs on my blogroll I visit regularly which inspires me so often, even those that hand quilt...gee they make it look so easy too! So to all of you and all the others that I don't know, thanks...it's always nice to have coffee with you before I start my day.