An Excellent Week

I have had an excellent week, filled with fun activities and lots of stitching time so there is lots to blog about today. As you know, I like to cross stitch in the car.  This week, I finished off the light purple lupin on the right side of my cross stitch project and now I am working on the lighter green coloured leaves at the bottom.  There are also a few more pink stitches to add, but I will soon be doing the outlining stitches. 

A friend has a new granddaughter and, of course, I made baby E a quilt.  Her parents sent me this picture along with their thank you note. Such chubby cheeks!  So cute.

Earlier this week, I noticed a Facebook post by Nancy at the Secret Life of Squirrels.  Nancy is a retired teacher turned squirrel photographer and children's book author.  Several years ago, I offered to send a mini quilt I had made to her for one of her squirrel photos.  She used the little quilt in a scene with a sewing machine that she made out of modelling clay and then returned the quilt to me.  The next year, that photo was included in the calendar that she made.  This week, her FB post was about a new puzzle by Cobblehill Puzzles that features nine of her photographs, including the one with my little quilt in it! How exciting!  I went into my quilt storage area and pulled out the little quilt to show my husband.  I ordered a puzzle at a local store and will take my quilt in to show them when I pick it up. 

I made this little quilt at a miniature quilt making class over 10 years ago with Kathy W. who hosts the weekly Slow Sunday Stitching link up on her blog.  It was made with scraps from another quilter at the workshop. Each HST is 3/4" --the quilt is 6.5" square. 

Our shamrock bloomed this week.  This plant once belonged to my husband's Great Aunt.  When she died in 1977,  his parents took the plant home and it bloomed happily on their back deck for many years.  His mom gave it to us a few years ago and we shared a piece of it with my SIL.  It makes me happy to see this plant come back to life every spring after spending the winter dormant in our basement. The flowers are very tiny--my picture is taken very close up so it looks much bigger than it is. 

Finn has been a hot dog this week!  He still likes going outside though. The heat wave has broken where he lives and he is looking forward to finally being able to go for a walk today. 

I worked on my hand quilting project for a few hours this week and it is coming along. Lots more to do but I am enjoying every stitch!  The pattern is called Put a Ring on it by Latifah Saffir

A friend retired recently and hosted friends and family for a celebratory dinner this past Thursday.  I made her a Sew Together bag.  She told me she is hoping to have more time to sew now. The outside fabric is the same as the one I made for Christine for her birthday but the lining and pocket fabrics are different.

I bought the cute little measuring tape tag at QuiltCon at the Sarah Hearts booth a few years ago.  I wish I had added one to my bag too but forgot that I had them until this week.  The wool piece is a needle landing. 

The garden is exploding with colourful flowers this week. All that rain and hot weather has helped! This first flowers is called Veronica.

Shasta Daisies

Coreopsis

One last bit of good news--I heard that Quilts for Survivors far exceeded their goal of 1000 blocks donated at Quilt Canada!  I was very happy to participate in this very worthwhile and meaningful project.  I will link up with Kathy and Frederique as usual.  Thanks for stopping by.  I love to read your comments. 

A Little of This and a Little of That

I seem to have a bit of a green theme in this week's post...  My hand quilting is coming along slowly, as most hand quilting projects do.  I added some stitches a few days this week and decided on a diamond shape in the four patch sections.  

These shapes will each get this pattern--there are five of these to do and one is done.  I used a bread and butter plate to mark the curves. 

The lupins did not get much attention this week.  There is one more light purple one to add on the right (I have just started the first few stitches on the bottom right) and more medium green to add to the leaves at the bottom.  I hope to work on this on the weekend. 

We think this little Carolina wren has built a nest in one of our hanging baskets.  Last year, some mourning doves took up residence in our hanging baskets.

My Stella D'ora day lilies are out this week.  They look pretty after it rains. 

I'm making another Sew Together Bag for a friend.  The lining is green.  The wool needle landing is actually orange but looks gold in the picture. The cute little tag was purchased at Quilt Con from Sarah Hearts.   There is a looming deadline for this project so it will be done soon. 

My friend, Pat, is making quilts for her grandchildren.  This one is for her grandson who is graduating from high school this year.  All the fabrics (except the red and white) are leftovers from PJ's she has made for him over the years and are all sports related fabrics--hockey, golf, soccer, baseball,  and football.  She came over to my house one day this week so we could figure out a layout for all the blocks. She is madly sewing them together now to have the top done before the family BBQ this weekend to celebrate his graduation.  She will be adding a border before it is quilted.  

My daughter's first crochet project is growing.  She has learned increases and decreases.  The bottom part in the picture is actually the head of the gingerbread mad she is making. 

We are hoping that Finn does not think the gingerbread man looks good enough to eat!

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique on the weekend. 

A Little White Lie

 When my friend, Christine, asked me what I was sewing at the guild sewing day, I told her a little white lie.  I told her that I had worked on my sew together bag and that I had finally finished it. She asked me to send her a picture, which I "forgot" to do, until today, when I actually finished it!

The reason why I was not working on my Sew Together bag is because I was making one for Christine for her birthday.  I took her out for a birthday lunch on Friday and gave her the bag, and then told her that mine was not finished yet...   She was very surprised that I had made two of them! Here is Christine's bag: 

I did some cross stitching several evenings this past week. The lupins are coming along nicely now!

Friday night, the northern lights were visible in our area, so we went for a late night drive down a dark country road to see them.  We could see something faint but as soon as I looked through my phone camera, the pinks and greens were very clearly visible! It was a "wow" moment, for sure!

My husband and I went for a hike with the local hiking club one morning this past week.  It was a gorgeous day and there were lots of wildflowers in bloom.  This is cow parsley.

A dandelion seed head. 

Jack in the Pulpit

Finn is glad to be back home with our daughter and has settled into the routine there. 

He was an enthusiastic walker when they went to the pet store to get his food one day at lunchtime.  He was not so happy to leave the pet store...  They give him treats there. 

The deutzia bush in our front garden is starting to bloom.  

And, the clematis by our patio is starting to bloom too.  I just love this time of year!

The Quilts for Survivors of Residential Schools group is collecting 12.5" blocks at Quilt Canada in Edmonton, Alberta in June.  Members of the Oxford Guild have been asked to make blocks to give to this worthy cause.  One of our members who will be attending Quilt Canada has agreed to take the blocks in her suitcase to Edmonton for us.  The blocks are due at our June meeting. I dug into my bin of batik fabrics to made some blocks.  I challenged myself to use two fabrics in each block and to make each block different from the others.  I made six blocks this afternoon and hope to make more before the deadline.  I have not run out of batik fabric yet...

I have another block cut out but not sewn yet and some more fabrics are paired up waiting to be cut and sewn into blocks.  I'm aiming to make 20 blocks--enough for one quilt.  The blocks will be sewn together at the QFS booth at Quilt Canada and they are hoping to get enough blocks (1000) to make 50 quilt tops.  I'm hoping they far exceed their goal. 

I will link up with Kathy's slow Sunday stitchers in the morning and Frederique's link up as well. 

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and those who take on this role in other's lives.  

My Sew Together Bag

I bought myself a kit to make a Sew Together Bag at QuiltCon in February...it came with a booklet of instructions which I have been following carefully to make my bag.  I have one more zipper and some binding to add before it is done.  The dark turquoise square is a wool needle landing.  This has been a fun project to work on and I look forward to finishing it this week. 

I worked on my cross stitch Lupins this week too, adding more purple stitches as well as a few cream coloured ones.  If you use your imagination, you can start to see the lupins. 

The bleeding hearts are blooming in my garden as well as the yellow tulips that my daughter planted in our side garden 24 years ago.  

I have several friends who are rug hookers and one of them invited me to see the rugs that were on display at their annual provincial conference in London. Here are a few of my favourites.  

This next one, inspired by a Group of Seven painting, was hooked by my friend Joanne. 

I thought this lighthouse looked familiar to me and when I checked the information about the rug, I found it was based on a photo that someone had taken at the Rose Blanche lighthouse in Newfoundland.  We were there last summer when we were in Newfoundland!  I have added my photo of the lighthouse. It was raining when we were there so the sky was not blue with white fluffy clouds as shown in the rug.  If I was not a quilter, I think I could be a rug hooker but I'm not willing to invest in the equipment and wool stash at this time. I have a kit that I purchased in Newfoundland last summer and hope to work on it sometime.  A kit is the way to go for me right now. 

Finn and I enjoyed several hours outside in the sunshine this week.  I read my book while he basked in the sun. 

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers in the morning.