Chookshed Challenge Sept 2024

This is as far as I got on the Macaron Mystery earlier this month when quilting friends joined me in a week of marathon quilting. Fortunatly, I only made these 4 blocks before realizing that I had sewn together too many of the snowball units. I have some unstitching to do. I wondered why I had certain bits left over. I had not downloaded the final month of assembling instructions so was just winging it. I do that a lot. I worked on bits of several projects. Just did not take pictures. This one is still on the big design wall I had moved into the SonRoom back in May for a retreat. I like it here. It will stay for now. Actually, I have a plan to use it end of October for a Writing Workshop I am organizing. 

I find critters - an entourage - following Devan around as she works on her projects. She likes to be in the same room with me. She had been away to camp twice during the summer and we have not seen so much of her as we have Ellyse who is playing rugby and needs to be here for practices. They only live here half time and it has been sparse with Ava, at 16, now working part time and just got her beginners so is driving.  

Have I mentioned here lately how much I love being in the new SonRoom? This is my writing space. I try to write first thing in the morning. I get to watch the morning sun play as it rises over the barn and trees to the east. This is facing west. In the evenings I get to watch it go down through the spruce trees. This is our first summer using this room. We have not had to use any air conditioning in here. I open windows when I come down and close them when it starts to warm up outside. Mornings have been as fresh as 10C and afternoons as warm as 32 lately. Two ceiling fans move enough air to make it comfortable. I like to write in silence without distraction. I now have Devan trained to do her thing in silence after the initial hug and I love you Gramma. 

I was looking for a particular bin of fabric I bought from Craftsy a hundred years ago and removed all the storage bins out of the tiny closet in the Blue Room. I have not been writing or sewing in here this summer and now you know why. I had to wait for help to put them back in because I ask for help a lot these days to do things. The pain in my hands has not improved. I am waiting for a referral for another opinion. In the meantime, I started seeing a new chiropractor and we are starting to make progress for the back pain. I have been unable to roll over. So much for getting down on the floor on my back to do stretching excersises. Just getting down then back up took me 20 minutes and not a few tears. 

So Devan helped me put back the boxes. This is what I was looking for. Of course, It was right near the bottom. This is fabric I collected to make Judy Neimeyer's Bali Wedding Star. I have the pattern. That was a fun challenge to locate. But I no longer want to make it. I also looked through every box to see what I have. I have a lot of fabric. I have a lot of half made projects neatly orgainzed with everything they need to make them. I also have several new projects I want to start. So I wrote up a list of steps needed to get ready to start them to see if I could fit them in somewhere between turning 90 and 100. Did I mention that I am flying out to Kansas City in October to visit Gail who offered to take me to Missouri Star Quilts? Of course we have to go since it is so close. 

The Chookshed Challenge number for Sept is #7. That is Serendipity on my list. I do not want to put in time pulling out and sorting through all the stuff and getting my head into it. I have done that so many times and keep putting it away. One of these days it will get done. I did buy the pattern to make the border. Sorry, Deana. I had the whole thing out when you were here in May, but put it all away again. I will instead, continue to work on the Macaron Mystery and see how much progress I can make once I fix my oops. After all, it is on the design wall front and center. I love the colours that are in it. 

For the record, I did a few minutes yesterday assembling Lucy units but had to stop. I had even considered using a curved needle. Nope. Not going to happen anytime soon. And, I did some sewing blocks together for the Summer Mystery. Just not finished it. It was too easy and I had too much time. 

In the meantime, I am planning to thoroughly enjoy the now cooler beginning of fall weather and spending some time outside. Actually, I was going to say, I am plotting out activities for the fall. But I do need to spend time outside. 

Until next time, 

Blessings

Chris\

linking with: smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday-

August Chookshed Challenge and To-Do List

The number for August for the Chookshed Challenge was # 3 the EPP and permission to start a new project. But I don't want to do that just yet so will focus on the Summer 2021 QAL Mystery. I started no less than 3 new quilts that summer. I abandoned the Poppy's Garden for now since I did not like how it was looking from the getgo. The Macaron Mystery I have been working on in fits and starts this summer.  

The plan for now is to get the Summer QAL to a flimsy. All the blocks have been neatly piled together all this time. I will add a white border, since I already have the strips cut.

 And I may add a beigey border after that. It will finish a lap size but it will be finished. I hope. 

I have some quilting friends coming over throughout the week for a few days to do a Q@F Marathon. At least that is what I am calling it. 

I wrote up a To-Do at the beginning of the month and each week I keep changing the date since I have not checked off many of the boxes. This is what it looks like today:

1. Weeds - clean the peonie bed. 
2. Blog Post - doing it now. Wrote up a whole other post and it disappeared so I will have to try to remember what I wrote and do it again. It has to do with moving pictures.
3. Geraniums - deadhead - there are about 20 that I over wintered and have in flower pots around the house. I like doing it this way since I can move them around. 
4. Summer QAL - get to a flimsy.
5. Macaron Mystery - got the flying geese units squared up so now to sew them into couplets. 
6. Ella - cut setting triangels - figure out just what size to cut them.
7. Write Your Story Prep - going to start a new small group this fall with an all day workshop so need to get all the prep work done.
8. Get the SonRoom ready for my quilting friends to come and play. 

That's enough for this week. Now to get moving. 

Blessings,

Chris

linking with - smallquiltsanddollquilts.design-wall-monday 

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Summer Daze

Progress on the Macaron Mystery Quilt. The instruction are so thorough and I was careful to check off each step as I measured and cut. So going through each pile of pre cut peices, I had one bunch of squares left over I could not figure out so checked out the picture on the Meadow Mist sight and realized they went into the very center of the main blocks. 

Making flying geese units. I decided to use a variety of solids to match the focus fabric with the flowers and butterflies. 

There are 2 backgounds. Fun trying to keep them in order. 

Lots of HST and QST. 

It appears that I did not download the final assembly instructions. At least I cannot find them. That makes it so much more fun figuring it out for myself.

I may be awhile trimming all those flying geese units. Keeping them together for the past 4 years was sort of simple. But I did come out a few pieces short. They may be laying around somewhere to be found by accident when I am looking for something else. 

I have been looking at some quilter's storage. I do not sort by colour. I have put all the fabrics patterns and whatevers in a box for each project to make sure I had everything I was going to need to complete it. I do not make scrap quilts because I do not exactly have scraps. I have projects and I have collections. Many collections. I have often told myself that when I complete a quilt, then I will have all the scraps left over for scrap quilts. Maybe. But not just yet. 

Life here on the Farm has settled down to quiet days with lots of time to sit back and just be. We are always so busy doing that we forget to lean back and reflect on the goodness of God. 

blessings,

Chris

July 2024 Chookshed Challenge

 The number chosen for the Chookshed Challenge this month is #1 and that is the Macaron Mystery QAL.  I started this exactly 3 years ago to celebrate completing the Cherries Quilt. I found all the pieces. Some by accident when I was looking for a deck of cards yesterday. I did write on the challenge list to complete, quilt and bind this one. Considering my recent track record of stitching about twice each month for awhile, it will be interesting to see how far I get. 

To-Do-Tuesday list for this week:

1. Look through and organize all the pieces for Macaron Mystery.
2. Make a plan to progress. 
3. Progress.
4. Take pictures.
5. Post progress. 
6. Write something. 

That should be enough accountability for this week. The house has been full of family (8 last week, 24 yesterday, 9 today, 12 Thurs, one's flight got moved to Thurs, another 3 arrive on Friday, 5 leave next Mon, another leaves Tues, another returns and a mass exodus on Fri, leaving 3 if I did the math correctly). So, basically, family time at the farm and I am loving it. I do not have to feed them nor do I have to babysit any of them. 

We had a heat wave 2 weeks ago. It is not common for us to have 34C/93F temperatures here for more than a few days in the summer. And that is just what we had for about 3 days. It is fun to discover that the new SonRoom weathered this heat quite well. I turned off the floor heat and with the ceiling fans on medium, the temperature did not get over 75F in here. Had to remember to keep all the windows closed.  

My July OMG goal will be to have a completed top. Not sure which one it will be. I may surprise myself. 

Blessings,

Chris

To-Do Tues June 2024

 The Chookshed Challenge # for June is 10. This is Ella. For now, I have 41 blocks on the big design wall. We moved it into the SonRoon for the quilt retreat we had here a couple of weeks ago. That was a lot of fun. Deana from Dreamworthy Quilts and her husband Jim flew in for a few days. My Sweetie kept him entertained driving tractors and other fun farmer stuff and thus, kept out of the quilt room. Some of the girls who used to come here quilting in years past joined us in person and others virutally. We plan to do it again mid Aug. If anyone is interested in joining us, let me know and we can pick you up at the airport. We have had practice doing that. 

For now, Ella has just 6 applique blocks that need to be completed. I originally was going to make 50 blocks, but 41 will work. This will stay up on the wall until those 6 are finished and the sashing sewn on. Then the conundrum of how will it be quilted runs rampant through my thoughts. No idea at this point. If I intend to machine quilt it myself, then I will have to hone my machine quilting skills. So I have been revisiting Angela Walters blog for inspiration. 

My To-Do Tuesday list this week is:

1. Pack my overnight bag for a weekend retreat I have been organizing for my mentoring women's group. 
2. Go to the retreat and enjoy myself. I will not be teaching this time. 
3. Plant those flowers and berries I bought last month that are still in their pots. Not sure where to put them. 
4. Put in a few hand applique stitches on the Ella blocks. This will be my June OMG. Everything I need is right here within reach. 
5. Continue to have fun and laugh. Laughing feels so good. 

Blessings,

Chris

To-Do Tuesday

It  has been a while since I posted a to-do list here. Not that I have not been doing. Just not posting. In April my Sweetie and I went to a family wedding in England. That was so much fun.

 We visited farm friends in Cornwall and booked our own train ride across country. I took a bit of stitching along but managed only about a dozen hand stitches. Guess we were having too much fun. 

After we got home, 3 cousins from Poland arrived for a 2 week visit. We laughed and ate and ate and laughed some more. Silly girls. They made perogi. Not once but twice. Oh my goodness. And Polish apple pie. I am a convert. 

 Of course, no family visit is complete without cabbage rolls. We saved a few in the freezer for another day. And I even got recipes for all of the above. In English. 

It was their first visit to Canada. We went to Niagara Falls and did the tourist thing. I got coerced into making a couple of rhubarb custard meringue pies. They were delicious. 

So now my to-do list:

1. Keep having fun.
2. Laugh some more. It feels so good.
3. Transform the SonRoom into a quilt retreat room. 
4. Complete my own sewing projects preparations. 
5. How many projects should I work on? It's not like I have to find room in my carry-on bag for 3 weeks. Been there. Done that. 
6. Have some more fun.
7. The sun has been shining and it is up to 30C here this weekend. That feels so good too.
8. Pull some weeds.
9. Plant the new plants I bought.
10. Transplant the irises and peonies that popped up in the new lawn.
11. 

    

That should keep me busy.

Blessings,

Chris

linking with:  To-Do Tuesday 

Chookshed Challenge

 This is Lucy. 

Lucy and I spent some time together in March. 

Lots of time.

Lucy is teaching me about perseverance. 

About sticking to the task. 

I do not like to be told what to do. 

Some days Lucy lay in a heap on the table.

Other days we played and played. 

It is time for Lucy to take a vacation. 

Well, I am taking a vacation.

 Lucy will not be accompanying me.

And why?

Because my Sweetie and I are going to a family wedding in England.

Lucy takes too much room now that she is growing. 

Sarah Morrell wants to play this month. 

Will she join me? 

The challenge # for April is 9. 

That is Sarah Morrell's number. 

But I do not have any hand work prepped. 

Sigh. 

My to-do list for this week includes:

1. Finish emptying out anything that will move out of the living room to get ready to shampoo the carpet tomorrow. 
2. Bag up and donate the gzillion toys that were removed on the weekend. 
3. Load them into the car to drop off this afternoon.
4. Bag up the broken and discarded toys ready for garbage Friday.
5. Deal with the quatrillion ants in the SonRoom. 
6. Visit the location for our women's group retreat for June today and see just how many beds are available. There are 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. I know that. And a heated swimming pool. And a fireplace. And a double curved staircase. 
7. Remember to drop off the toys.
8. Then write up a packing list for my ladies. I already have the meal signup sheets printed. 
9. Order British currency at the bank.
10. Get travel insurance. It is much more now that we are over 70. 
11. Find something to wear to the wedding. We were told we could not wear jeans. You can see the venue here 
12. Work on just 2 Morrell blocks. That should satisfy the requirements for the challenge. Progress it is called. This will be my April OMG goal. 

That should keep me busy for a few days. There is an eclipse coming on Monday and my Sweetie is going to babysit the boys this Friday and is planning to stay over until Monday. That leaves me home for the weekend on my own (insert giggles and extreme brain activity). Whatever mischief  activities could I pursue? My Mentoring Women's group is meeting here for potluck on Sat afternoon and we will be wrapping up a book study we have been doing this winter. 

Blessings,

Chris