Family, Life, Quilting

Another Wendy Day

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I didn’t spend as much time in the studio on my play day 3 but I did manage to get a quilt loaded on the longarm and the squares cut out for the half square triangles needed in my latest quilt.

 

My daughter Sarah asked if we could go for groceries together in the morning which we did. I think I’ve mentioned before that she’s an amazing cook. Well when we brought the groceries home she suggested that we clean out the fridge first, the two of us working together made pretty short work of a fairly big task and when we were done she put the groceries away and made us a lovely lunch and later made Mexican for Supper (a healthy version I might add)

 

I had planned to sew all evening but the girls talked me into going to the show with them.

It was opening night for The Last Song; this movie is a big time Chick Flick! If you are going to see it make sure you bring along some tissues!

 

 

All in all it was a great day!

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Play Day 2 aka Someday

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This morning I read a post by Darlene @ Quilters Daze where she has written an excellent post about and 8th day of the week. You know the days that we would be able to do what we want to do or to be able to accomplish the things we can’t in 7. I so often feel like I live my life on a treadmill.

This week I’ve allowed myself time to do what I want totally unscheduled days. Yes I’ve had to say no to my girls about some of their requests (like my youngest who would like me to just taxi her around a bit more instead of taking the school bus home) I learnt a very long time ago that its alright for a mom to say no sometimes and to take care of herself and not feel guilty about it. Somehow I forgot to really learn that part the not feel guilty part, I think that’s part of being a Mom?

I had a visit with a very good friend of mine yesterday she has been my quilting mentor for almost 20 yrs now. We first met when Quilt Canada was here in Thunder Bay and I was at the very beginning of learning to quilt. She was a helper in one of the classes I took and after that I seemed to run into her in the fabric/quilt shops every time I was looking for help on a project I was working on. She has been an amazing cheerleader in my Quilting and a true inspiration, I love her quilts.

This quilt she brought to discuss the border colours and that it will be coming soon for quilting, and another that’s ready for quilting that I will share pictures of soon.

Alva is never shy in her use of colours and most of the time she uses very bright and vibrant colour. I wish that I would have gotten a better picture, and I hope she doesn’t mind being included in my blog.


I also finished the Stars yesterday for my latest quilt, and also started the next blocks delectable mountains with too many half square triangles.

It was a beautiful day so I went walking, a good fast pace and it sure felt good, when I got home I decided to tackle a bit of cleaning….under the stove/fridge and the outside of those appliances one thing led to another and I was exhausted. Thankfully my eldest daughter asked if I’d like her to make me supper!! She made her own version of gumbo and oh it was good. That husband of hers sure is a lucky man!!

I spent some more time getting to know my new camera; I think it will be a lot like my longarm……practice, practice, practice!

Today promises to be another bright sunny day so I’m going to walk again and maybe take my camera this time. And of course time in my studio without the phone!

Have a great day!!

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Play Day 1

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This is one of the two customer quilts I finished today and I’m well on my way to the other half of the star blocks needed for my newest project.

I almost let myself get sidetracked by pulling out another little project. Its just a little wall hanging that would be nice to have up for spring time, so depending on how much I accomplish tomorrow I may be able to get it on and off the machine.

My camera is also taking up some of my time. Lots of practice shots and playing with settings. It will take some time to feel like I know what I’m doing with it.

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Where to Start?

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This week is a gift to me. It’s like a clean page that I am allowing only myself to write on. I’m using up my comp days from work and I’ve made it really clear to my girls that this week is mine.

I had originally thought I’d use the time for some spring cleaning and painting but then I thought better so…….

 

I’ll be working on my next project; the above picture shows what I’ve done so far.

I will of course work on customer quilts and there are some cleaning projects that I do want to accomplish, it is spring after all and there really is nothing like nice clean windows in the spring and since I don’t live in a house that’s terribly large it isn’t that huge of a project. Also there are some dust bunnies that really have to be caught and released that have been living under the fridge. I just don’t want to get too carried away with spring cleaning and not get some piecing accomplished. Oh and there are a few recipes that I’ve wanted to try … I have 8 days left of my little break!

I played around with my new camera this weekend and also with photo shop. It rained almost the whole weekend but today looks more promising for a walk and some outdoor shots. Not that I’m counting but there are only 67 days til my grandsons approximate time of arrival!!!!

 

 

 

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Decisions and Time

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First thing, I made my decision on my new Camera. I decided to go with the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS model. I’ve had a couple of Powershots already that I was really pleased with and this camera has all of the features and more that I was looking for. At this time in my life I don’t really have the time to invest in learning to use the SLR that I’d want to so for now I’ll stick to the point and shoot side of photography. This camera though will give me more options than my previous camera. Hopefully I’ll be very familiar with my new camera before the newest member of our family arrives in June.

Of course I had to try out my new toy last night and took a few shots in my studio of the latest customer quilt that just came off the frame

This was such a pretty quilt to work on this week, I’m going to have a hard time parting with it, I’m sure that my customer will want it back.

 

Now onto time. I really enjoy my day job; for the most part it is very interesting and challenging. I work with some great people and my desk is situated beside one of the sunniest windows in the office. (I thrive on daylight esp. when its sunny). My main complaint about my day job is that it takes up so much of my time. I often joke that I wish I had a clone to send to the office for me, so that I could spend more time doing the other things in life that I enjoy. I suppose that’s the wish that most full time employees have.

Anyways I’ve given myself a little treat. I have taken a 10 ½ day Easter weekend with no major plans other than quilting, some spring cleaning, and lots of Wendy time J which is why I picked up my new camera after work yesterday. I’m really hoping that this break will give me a chance to recharge my personal batteries.

I’m also hoping to have a chance to spend a little more time blogging…I guess time will tell.

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It’s the Middle of March?

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I’ve been keeping up with my Designers BOM from fatquartershop.com though I really should start on the finishing kit so I’ll be ready when the blocks are finished. I’m planning to have this quilt finished by the beginning of December so that it will be my official Christmas bed quilt.


I’ve been researching Cameras, I love taking pictures and I have a great little Cannon Power Shot but lately I’ve wanted more that this little camera offers. I don’t want to give up the simplicity of a point and shoot so I’m wavering on moving up to a DSLR Canon Rebel XS. Do I really have the time I’d need to invest to learn how to use it?


Or do I stay with a Point and Shoot and move up from my Powershot A720 IS to Canon PowerShot 12.1MP Digital Camera (SX20IS)

 


At this point I’m leaning towards the Power Shot, it has 12.1 Mega Pixels and 20x zoom compared to my current cameras 8.0 and 6x zoom.

With my little grandson on his way and some other events that are coming up and the fact that I love taking pictures by the thousands I want to be ready. Does anyone reading this have any opinions on these two cameras? I only have 82 days left until his expected arrival.

And moving along to is it really only the middle of March??

Living in NW Ontario spring does not arrive until May and even then its not unheard of freezing weather for the May long weekend. Well this morning we had breakfast out on the deck it was over 14C which is a huge treat for us esp that it happened on a weekend! We even went for a bike ride this afternoon! Afterwards we took a walk through the woods and look what I found!!


 

I’m sure we’ll see more snow before the month is over but this sure gives me hope.

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Perfect Flying Geese

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This example will give you 4 perfect 2 ½” x 4 ½” blocks. I alter the size of the original squares based on what size I want the blocks to be. For example for the Madeline quilt I used 5″ for the goose and 3 ½” for the sky giving me 1 ¾ x 3 ½” blocks.

The one thing I don’t know that would really help is the math to figure out the sizes of starting squares for different size blocks. Any numbers people willing to help?

So to begin I started with a 5 ¼” square for the sky and a 7″ square for the geese.

With right sides together and the smaller block centered on the larger block, draw a diagonal line down the centre and sew a smidge smaller than a ¼ seam on each side of the drawn line.

At this point I like to give the unit a quick press. Now cut this unit down the centre line (your drawn line)

Press both units open (I usually press to the dark) These Half square triangle units do look pretty odd

Now place one unit over the other dark to light and light to dark corners matching (other than their funny tails)

Draw a line again down the Centre as shown and sew a smidge smaller than a ¼” seam along both sides of the line and cut the two sections apart on the drawn line

And press the units open giving you these very interesting units.

Now using a ruler with a 45 degree marking, line up the ruler as shown, making sure to allow for the ¼” seam allowance on top, and cut the unit apart, now turn the unit and cut to make it a perfect 2 ½” width.

Next align the ruler so that you have it centred on the block to the size you want in this case 2 ¼” and trim the side and finally trim the other side to make a perfect unit.

Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions. This technique works so well for me that I find myself looking for projects using flying geese units just so that I can make some more J

Blogroll, Life, Quilting, Uncategorized

The Pink Purple and Red Quilt

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This little quilt was made for my friends 3 yr old daughter Brooklynn. I had made a quilt for her when she was born but her mom wanted to use it as a wall hanging. One night I was on the phone with Brooklynn and she told me that she can’t use her quilt because its a “Only on the wall quilt” so I asked her if she would like me to make her another one. Yes she said, and would you make it Pink, Purple and Red so mommy won’t hang it on the wall. How could I resist.

I had originally planned to add a red block but instead I settled for


After making my Madeline Schnibbles which I haven’t posted the finished picture yet, I wanted to keep making those little star blocks. I added a few more blocks to make the quilt bigger. As you might have noticed I love Carrie Nelson’s patterns “Miss Rosies Quilt Co”. In previous quilts I’ve used the technique shown in her patterns for making the flying geese blocks but they can have a tendency to come out a bit wonky. This winter a friend of mine taught me a new way to make them and they turn out perfectly each time. I’ve told a few people about the technique and promised a tutorial so I’m working on that and will hopefully post it later today.

Blogroll, Christmas, Family, Life, Quilting, Uncategorized

Gypsy Rose

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I made this quilt as a Christmas gift for Megan, she is Erik’s youngest daughter. I love making quilts for the girls. It thrills me that they all love their quilts.

My goal is that each of the girls will have a queen size quilt to add to their collections. I have a couple planned for this year. I made Megans quilt using Miss Rosies Quilt co pattern Summer Wind and The Gypsy Rose collection by Joanna Figueroa. Katie really likes the pattern so I’ll make her one, I’ve already bought her fabric and hopefully I’ll get a chance to start hers soon. This next picture is of Megan with her lap quilt that I gave her 2 Christmases ago to go with her bedroom that she’d recently decorated. She is changing rooms soon and her Gypsy Rose quilt will look very at home with her new decor.

I have been quilting for Tara from almost the beginning of my machine quilting business. She has been such an encourager and has also provided me with awesome quilts to work on. This batik quilt was a joy to quilt, I used a rainbows thread that really pulled the together into the border. It was quilted with a pantograph called wildflowers.

These kitties belong to my daughter Emily, they are all living with me while Emily attends University. They couldn’t resist this box and at one point the smaller kitten had opened the lid just enough to slide into the box and keep the lid on…..never a dull moment!

Blogroll, Christmas, Family, Life

Time is Flying!

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I remember thinking that I would never be a grown up. I also remember expecting my first daughter thinking that she’d never get here…well she’s here and has been for almost 24 years and not only that but before I know it she’ll be a mother and I’ll be the Grandma! And guess what? Its A BOY! 2010 will be a very exciting year for sure.

On the quilting front I’ve been very busy with customer quilts as well as allowing myself some piecing time. I was able to reach all my goals for Christmas quilts. I still need to take some pictures of the gypsy rose quilt that is now living on its new owners bed 🙂 so I’ll have to add those soon.

My Emily really loved her Faith, Hope and Love quilt

and Shilo Loved her I Believe in Santa Quilt

My Madeline Schnibble is ready for quilting

I am planning to make myself a queen sized quilt with the Rouenneries collection. I’ve decided on the pattern now I just have to wait for the rest of the fabric to arrive and to make the time. Sarah (the soon to be mom) has also requested a baby quilt made with this line.

I’ve been having computer troubles lately but hopefully thats resolved and I’ll be able to share more about my life and times this year.