Once again, the Oxford Quilt Guild is making placemats for Meals on Wheels recipients for distribution at Christmas.  They are due at our December meeting but I decided to get going on mine right away and get them done!  I dug into my fabric stash to see what I had--so many possibilities!  We are to make one side Wintery and the other side to be used for the rest of the year. So far, I have put together and quilted six placemats--the binding will go on this week.  I found a few orphan blocks that I can use to make some more placemats before the deadline. &nbs ..read more

I played bobbin chicken this week while sewing the binding on one of my quilts, and I won.  Only a few inches of thread left on the bobbin when I finished sewing!  This quilt is completely done now as I now have the binding hand sewn to the back of the quilt.  The fox square is done (oops--just noticed the eyes are not stitched yet!)  and I have started the rectangular section above. I did lots of stitching of the light blue border this week too.  I called my daughter tonight to ask for some pictures of her crochet progress and she sent me this picture o ..read more

I have had a very productive week in the sewing department.  Unfortunately, I can't show you two of the projects because they are gifts and must be kept secret for a while yet.  Suffice to say that I have used up some older stash fabrics this week as well as a few newer fat quarters purchased specifically for the quilt. In time, I will show both projects here.  I have managed to add some stitches to my winter cross stitch every day this week. The fox section is well on its way to being done.  Those stitches that look like I forgot to do the second part of the X are suppose ..read more

Today, Christine and I attended a Barn Quilt Block class in Palmyra, Ontario at the Crazy 8 Barn.  I have wanted to make a Barn Quilt for our backyard for ages.  There were two blocks available to choose from and we each chose a different one.  The class started at 9am and we left for home around 5pm so it was an all day project.   There were lots of paint colours to choose from and we all did some mixing as well to get just the right colours for our blocks.  Here I am, hard at work, taping off the next section to be painted. I made myself this apron before I ..read more

Our family, including our daughter and Finn, spent this past week at a cottage near Algonquin Park. We had a relaxing week which included lots of reading on the dock, crafting, watching the olympics, a puzzle and going for walks. On the way to pick up Finn and our daughter, I spent several hours untangling a skein of wool that I bought last year in Newfoundland for the scarf I have been knitting.  I'm not sure how it got so tangled up, but it is now a ball of wool, ready to add to the scarf.  I added lots of rows of knitting to the scarf in the car and at the cottage.   ..read more

This seemingly messy pile of fabric is actually the makings of a baby quilt!  I took this picture when I had all the parts cut out and piled by my sewing machine, ready to sew. In the pile, are 12 of the 6.5" square crumb blocks in different colours for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge from last year.  I have four sets of these blocks and decided to use each set in a different setting to make four baby quilts.  The one I made previously was made up of star blocks.  This time I am making churn dash blocks.  I had just enough of the black and white check fabric to make 12 ..read more

Ta Da!  My Put a Ring On It is done!  I took this class during QuiltCon Together in February 2021 with Latifah Saffir, using her clammy rulers.  I had the top done reasonable quickly but could not decide how I wanted to quilt it.  This quilt kept telling me to hand quilt it, which I ignored until this Spring.  By then, it was screaming to be hand quilted so I got to work.  I used 28 wt Aurifil thread in green for the big stitch quilting.  I'm really happy with this project! I will be hanging it on the wall in my front entrance.   I started machine ..read more

 For some reason, I was really in the mood to sew this week.  It was too hot or rainy outside so I spent my time in my sewing room, playing with fabric.  I finished hand quilting my Put a Ring On It wall hanging, trimmed it and added the binding by machine.  I will work on hand stitching the binding tomorrow. I can't believe how much I enjoyed hand quilting this project...maybe I will have to do some more hand quilting again soon.  I also finished the cross stitching on my Lupins project and I have started the outlining.  I like how the outlining defines the bl ..read more

This was a busy week, packed with fun activities and a short getaway with my husband to Niagara on the Lake. On Canada Day, we hosted a BBQ and played Bocce in our backyard before going to see the fireworks in the evening. Dessert featured ice cream, strawberries and butter tarts (a delicious Canadian invention). I spent some time on my secret project and managed to finish all of the units for the quilt top.  They are on my design wall and I hope to sew them together this coming week. Sorry, no pictures for now. I did some hand quilting on my "Put a Ring on it" quilt. I am almost 3/4 fini ..read more

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.  Here parents sent me this picture along with their thank you note ..read more