Mid October

 It is mid October as I write. I was babysitting a 12 year old who gets himself up early, makes his own breakfast and school lunch and gets himself to the bus on time. He has an after school babysitting gig so gets home at 6 then makes his own supper. He cooks up the whole box of pasta and 2 jars of alfredo sauce just because. He even made a chocolate cake. And what actually was I doing? I was there. I had no responsibilites. I had no access to the internet because I did not have the wifi password. That and I just had the laptop repaired. His parents, my daughter and her husband and their 10 year old were in Barcelona for soccer camp. I was there so he was not home alone for the week. 

So no internet and I did not know how to turn on the smart tv. Turns out I was using the wrong remote. I tried 2 but there was a third I had not seen. The cat hissed at me when we arrive Monday night. He then ignored me, except when he snuck into my room and shut the door. I know I heard footsteps on the stairs before that. Then it was quiet. 

I had papers spread out all around me and a few snack dishes. One night we went out to a restaurant for dinner. On our way home we stopped for a few groceries and met up with his babysitting employer. Got to love living in a small town. We got frozen perogis, bacon and sour cream. He made that for supper Thurs. We came back to the farm Fri night so he could hang out with Grampa who got the bandages off his right hand so now he can heal after the carpal tunnel surgery last week. 

The sun is shining and the leaves are turning colour. I spent time in the SonRoom cutting out the purple bits for Omigosh. Getting my projects gathered up for the Jane Stickle Quilt Retreat next month. We brought in most of the tropical plants from outside and got them cleaned up. There are still the geraniums. I will not be over-wintering them all. Maybe 5 or 6? finally had a proper frost so the trees are colouring up faster.

And yes. We did get all the dishes cleaned up before leaving. It was a 2 hour drive home in the dark. I do not like driving in the dark. At least it was dry so no reflecting lights on the wet roads. This is the time of year when the deer are roaming in the dark. Our road is a major crossing area between the forested escarpment to the east and bush areas behind all the local farms to the west. 

blessings,

Chris

S-Q-U-I-R-R-E-L or not

Thanks to Quilting Gail for announcing this free weekly quilt-a-long. For the final month of the chookshed Challenge the number is number 9 Start a New Quilt. So, even though I have a dozen kits ready to go, this Squirrel has caught my attention.  And why does it appeal to me? Because I do not have to purchase anything and I do not have to rummage through scraps or yardage, even though I do have a lot of both. And why? Because I have 84 Shot Cotton fat quarters that I discovered in one of my many project boxes at the back of the big storage shelf of endless possibilities. I bought these on one of Craftsy's insane sales and never considered them for anything other than they are really pretty. 

https://alisonglass.com/pages/community-quilt-along

So the plan is to study color. I love color. 

But then my logical left brain kicks in with comments like, "Its only a block a week. But then you have several sampler quilts in project boxes that you could spend that time on. You know, just a block a week on each one. So why not finish one of those?"

But I also have a whole box of solids I collected over the years and considered making Postcard From Sweden.  Of course, I have enough fabrics to make both. But PCFS has no background fabric. No Y-seams. No curves. No applique. Just half square triangels. A lot of HST. And the pattern is free. And I can choose the size. 

I doubt anyone else has these kind of conversations with themselves. I started 4 new quilts this year. I have made lots of progress on 3 and one never made it out of the start gate. My right hand feels so incredibly better and I can write and type again. So I am writing and typing. I also have been sewing. There will be about 17 here for Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. My neice is looking after the details. There will be grandchildren and cousins here this weekend. My son is cutting the grass. We went to Quebec this past weekend. The trees are colouring very nicely there.   

But wait! Since I have permission to start a new quilt this month, it is not really a squirrel is it? I am making no commitment right now. Who knows, I might find something else to tempt me next week. But them, my Sweetie had carpal tunnel surgery on his right wrist and is dealing with the after effects and not able to use his dominant hand for a week or 2. 

Blessings,

Chris

Baltimore or Bust

 I went to a quilt show 2 weeks ago. There was the most incredible Little Brown Bird quilt hand appliqued, embroidered and quilted. I got the book a lot of years ago and read it. The same maker had donated a hand appliqued and hand quilted sampler quilt for the draw prize. I did not win that. 

What I did was buy this hand appliqued, hand embroidered and machine quilted wall hanging. It measures 62 inches square. When I first saw it, I drooled and walked on by. Then a second look showed that it was for sale. The cost (cash) was about what I would pay to buy all the fabric and have it machine quilted by my long arm girl. 

The hand work is beyond exquisite.

So fine and delicate. The details.

Those red circles are tiny then get tinier. The custom machine quilting is breathtakingly detailed. 

 This is the stuff in my dreams. One thing on my bucket list over the years had been to exhibit one of  my quilts in a national show. Well, that is never going to happen since you have to actally finish one and enter it. 

Well, this quilter not only finished it, she entered it, had it juried, judged and exhibited at 4 big quilt shows. I did not realize this until I had paid for it and the label showed where it hung back in 2018 in Grand Rapids, Paducah, Virginia Beach and in 2019 Lancaster. 

So I am the proud owner of a quilt that had not only realized one of my dreams, I did not have to do any of  the work.  

There was an ATM at the venue. 

blessings,

Chris

September Just Disappeared

I finally got to cross Alaskan Inland Passage Cruise off my bucket list from 1990. My daughter Melanie in the middle, Devan on the left and Ellyse on the right. They are really tall. The girls knew about the train ride but the puppies was a surprise. They knew about zip lining but the helicopter ride up 5000 ft to Herbert Glacier was a surprise. They found out as we were walking to the shuttle bus to the airport. Otherwise, they may have mutineed. It was amazing. Elly made snow angels and Devan lay face down beside the 30 foot deep crevice lapping icy cold clear glacier water. 

Our ship was rather small as cruise ships go so it could navigate all the small islands and the Dawes Glacier Inlet. The first 2 days at sea were cloudy and rain but then the sky cleared and the sun came out to give us the most amazing setting.

The verse my  Sweetie prayed over us before we left was: 

From the rising of the sun (at Dawes Glacier) to the going down of the same (Herbert Glacier near Juneau) may the name of the Lord be prasied.

Next cruise is booked for end of Jan with almost 19 year old Ava to Nassau. She is a full time working girl and January the bake shop is closed. So perfect. Melanie and 12 year old Jonathan are coming. Poor David gets left behind that trip because he is off to Barcelona next week for soccer camp. That's Barcelona Spain. Our David. His mom and dad are taking him.

Jonathan will be here next weekend then Grampa will stay with him and the cat for a week. Grampa is having carpal tunnel surgery next week so will be healing. Jonathan will take care of him. 

The Chookshed number was 4. Mine was to work on something on the list. So I had to check the list. Last month I worked on something not on the list, which now is on the list, so I have been working on Stonefields (by Susan Smith). I have been machine appliqueing the hexie flowers around the outside borders. It is going well when I actually work on it. The last number on the list is to start a new quilt. Who'd have thought? I might wait a bit before commiting to that.

It is now October. When did that happen? We do not have signs of frost coming anytime soon. 

I have Wensleydale spread out all over tables in the SonRoom. Trying to get all the pieces for 60 blocks organized, ready to take to retreat next month. 

I am going to the Jane Stickle Quilt Retreat in Shipshewana Indiana. I have my Civil War Dear Jane quilt complete, quilted and bound ready for show and tell.

I plan to take some Omigosh to work on. I still have to cut the yellows and the purples. This months colour is neutrals. Not sure what that means for this project. My goal is to have the Shoo Fly blocks all made before the end of this year then figure out the double nine patch colors later. My OMG will be to get those yellow and purple Shoo Fly pieces cut out. 

Also, I finally got a shot of cortisone in my right hand and the pain has calmed down a lot. Still pretty stiff, but I will try some hand applique to see if I can still do that. I have several blocks from Ella in a bag I have dragged all over the world in the past few years trying to get them done.  

I went to a quilt show last week. Bought a quilt. Yup. I did. I will write about it next time. 

blessings,

Chris

Late August Reflections

My Chookshed Challenge was to work on something  not on my list. I spent a good amount of time with Stonefields this month. 

I started machine appliqueing on the hexie flowers. Since the glue I used will never come off, it has been easy to manipulate everything around and through the opening. 

My OMG challenge was to make progress on Tumbling Blocks.  I started connecting the units together to  make horizontal rows. After I got 2 rows made, I sewed those together. I am sewing through the EPP papers. Crazy, I know. They do not fold over easily to run through the opening on the Bernina. I can switch to using the Jazz, which has 12 generous inches, but it is upstairs and there are a gzillion things piled on the glass table beside it.

I am now using a size 90 needle instead the 80. The bigger hole allows me to tear out the papers easily.

 I have been cutting small pieces for Omigosh and more for Wensleydale. 

The nights are cooler these days of late August. I heard a cricket the other day and saw some crows. These are signs of autumn coming soon. We had been having lots of rain. Too bad we cannot share it with other parts of the country that are so dry.

I read a very interesting novel called The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules. A totally ridiculous who-dunnit starring a bunch of geriatric residents of a nursing home in Sweden. 

We are all checked in for our trip to Alaska. The temperature in Skagway next week will be 9 C or 48 F and rain. Low of 5 C or 41 F at night. And that is why we are taking our winter coats. I have not yet started to pack, but I do have a Go-Bag on standby with tavel documents, earbuds, neck pillow, etc. Too bad I broke my MP3 player. It had 6 hours of my fav travel music. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts: Design Wall Monday - August 24, 2026

Not All My Scathingly Brilliant Ideas Are So Brilliant

I may have an earned doctorate, but that does not necessarily make me the sharpest pair of scissors in my sewing kit. Just sayin'.

Stonefields (designed by Susan Smith) has seen some action this week. I had a lot more glue basted hexies  using Sew Line glue sticks. Then I sewed together more hexie flowers. 

Initially, I tried pinning the flowers onto the outer borders. It was easy when I just stabbed a pin to hold them on the big design wall. But had to remove all that to actually secure them. Pinning them on was too hard and they were puckered.

I glue basted 25 flowers onto each of the first 2 outer borders. Now I realise that the Quilters Stitching glue I used will NEVER release. Maybe heat will work?

This time I removed the center paper. That was not too difficult. I switched to using a size 90 needle after using a size 80. This is supposed to enable tearing off the papers. We shall see. I also switched to a different glue. One of the flowers fell off when I put the borders on the wall.

I am carefully positioning and measuring each flower so we stand a chance of having them evenly spaced apart. Eventually, after machine quilting and washing, the whole thing will be sort of scrunched up that it will not be so obvious if they are not even. At least that is what I am telling myself. 

I bought a new wool mat. Saw one at a farm picnic last month that the quilter's husband bought for her and fastened to a big board with bolts to hold it steady forever.  I got the 22x60 size. 

It is too wide for my large pressing board, but it sits on the table beautifully and does not squirm. It has a felt carrying case in case I decide to take it to a quilt retreat somewhere. But retreats often allocate 6 feet or 4 feet of table space, so will have to give that some thought. 

The border fabric stayed perfectly in place and did not wiggle. This was really satisfying after my previous experiences. 

Next, I started to machine applique the first hexie flower down. I was eager to see how that would work. I am using a 60wt poly that sort of disappears with a narrow zig zag stitch. There are 18 sides to each flower, so turning the corner 18 times. For each hexie flower.

There are, so far, 25 flowers on each of the first 2 outer borders. There will be 4 outer borders. You can do the math. There will be more flowers in the corners. Eventually. 

Time to let this project marinate for now. 

Blessings,

Chris

Linking with: 

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alyciaquilts.finish-and-finished-or

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smallquiltsanddollquilts/design-wall-monday

Stonefield's Update

 

Stonefields (by susan Smith) has been sadly neglected for way too long. The last time I had it out to look at was the end of March. I 'd had great intentions and then did nothing for the next few months. 

I tried scattering the hexie flowers on these outer borders after I cut another wider set, but had to figure out the spacing and then fasten them on to do the machine applique. I stabbed them onto the design wall. Then had to fugure how to connect them off the wall. But pinning them was really hard on my hands. 

So, I took everything down and lay them out on a table after I cleared away my papers and icecream bowls. I discovered Kawartha Dockside Cappochino ice cream. And I thought they did not get any better than Salted Caramel Truffle.

This actually is easier to space them. I am using that Quilter's Choice basting glue. It is hard to squeeze and will never let go of the fabric. I only put on a few tiny dots to the turned over seam allowance not onto the papers which I still have to remove. Someday. 

The Chookshed Challenge  number for August is 6 so I get to work on somehting not on my list. I guess that can be Stonefields since it is not on the list and it is on my table. 

blessings,

Chris

linking with: smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday-