July 2016

Where has the month gone? 

I did not get much of anything finished in the manner of quilting this month. 

And I had such good intentions. 

I stitched

             a bit of Morrell
                      

    and a bit of 1857

However,

On July 3rd I got a phone call from our daughter in New Brunswick saying they decided to go on an "adventure." That meant only one thing. They were loading the van with babies and diaper bags and overnight bags and getting a cat sitter so they could do the 16 hour drive to the Farm here in Ontario. It took them 21 hours, but what do you do with a 2 year old at midnight who gets to the top of the slide in McDonald's play place and won't come down? They spent a couple of days at the Farm and a couple of days at his parent's then he drove home . . . Alone. She had the flight details for my planned trip to visit her on her birthday so, called Air Canada, bought herself and Jonathan a ticket, arranged to have Baby David on my ticket and so we all flew off to New Brunswick together. It was great. So, instead of doing all the stitching I had planned, I snuggled little boys, wiped noses, change many dirty diapers and had wonderful time and the little girls even came to visit. 

pedicures

um . . . how do you drive this thing?

3 year old Devan teaching 2 year old Jonathan how to drive

eating Popsicles

4 year old Elly helping with laundry

Grampa's little helpers

putting on David's shoes 

need a bit of help

Will Gramma's giant shoe horn work?

feeding chickens

watering flowers

kicking the ball

feeding babies

baby on grass

and Baby David started on solids

picking raspberries

picking more raspberries

And now July is in the archives and my heart is really full. 

Blessings, 

Gramma Chris

OMG July Quilting Goals

As the saying goes . . . Go big or go home . . .
I had a big project on the go for the past 2 months that I could not blog about, so could not commit to completing anything else that was of any size. For my July monthly goal, I want to start and complete the center block for the Morrell Album Quilt . I have so neglected this one. I had good intentions of making one block a week. That lasted for one week. Maybe two.  This center block measures 20 inches square and is not for the faint of heart. That has never stopped me from trying. So, try I will.

Morrell Center Block

The first thing I did was change my mind about the colours. There will be lots of detail on this one with applique and surrounded by a daunting red and cream dog tooth border. There are several ways I could approach this block. I am going to give hand piecing a try. At least for that pinwheel.

Also, I want to complete the GORF quilt by connecting all the quilted blocks together. It will be the first time using this method, do wish me luck.

Blessings,
Chris

Slow Stitching Quickly

Its Canada Day here in our beautiful country. We finally have some rain. I am home for 3 whole days with no responsibilities and of course, this means quilting time!! The July 1857 blocks were posted an hour ago and I have all three prepped and ready to go! Yea me. And since I have at least 10 blocks with the corner leaves stitched on, these should not take too long.

I have been sick with a dreadful head cold throat thing this past week. I hope it is gone soon and I have my voice back, since the little girls are tired of me whispering at them. Four year old Elly is coming over for the week and she will be going to Vacation Bible School for the first time. I start leading a small group for the summer once again. This time we will be working our way through a booklet our pastor wrote called "Hearing God". So, for the next nine Tuesday nights, we will be on a journey to learn to quiet ourselves, and listen for the still, quiet voice of God and journal. This is not always easy for someone who operates out of a slightly ADHD mindset. Learning to still my thoughts and lean into God is a challenge for me, but I am the group leader, so I have to do all the homework first. Its going to be good. No. Its going to be amazing.
I bought tickets for our ministry trip to India in October. At the VBS they will be collecting school supplies for us to take along for one of the children's homes.

 I got two of the blocks done. Just need to do some embroidery.  More perfect circles.


Blessings,
Chris