Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Some Favorite Things

 Good morning!
What a beautiful morning it is...before the heat of the day hits I am wandering in my garden. Wanna come?
As I look carefully at the spring perennials, I am taking note
of the colours God has put together.
As a quilter, I'm always looking for inspiration, colour-wise.

Pink and Green, like the bleeding hearts.




Blue and yellow in the forget-me-nots

Lime Green


Cornflower blue...ahhh, love blue.

Chipmunks...but they don't belong in a quilt. (Squirrels do, eh Henrietta!)
Are these chipmunks or mice? Don't know. Whatever, a cute pic. They
are playing in the garden...

More inspiration from my surroundings this morning. I'm going to lace up my running shoes and go for a walk down by the water. Refresh the soul, you know.

I'll take my camera along and see what is of interest...beyond my backyard.

And when the heat sets in this afternoon, I'll be down under enjoying the different colours in my quilt studio.
 I am working on the dresden plate right now. Just about
to post the plates to the background. I'll show you when I've got one block done.

Have a joyful day. It's all we have, you know. That's what my morning devotions said. Don't worry about tomorrow, today has enough worries of its own. We only have today. Live it out well, my friend. It's all we have.



 

 







Sunday, May 29, 2011

Sunday Best

Have a restful day. Do something that regenerates your spirit!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Best Laid Plans

Well, I never made it down to the quilt studio. DD needed some help with the twins, so of course DH and I enjoyed a day of play with them. So sweet...watching them play in the back yard, exploring Papa's car, Nana's car, going for a walk in the wagon, walking the dog, etc., etc. I'd give up a day of quilting for spending time with our grandkiddies anytime! Just wish the other 6 lived closer so that we could do the same with them. They are always in our hearts!

Today, it is off to the quilt store with a dear friend. I don't know what I enjoy more...the pleasure of the company and the visit as we travel, or fondling the fabric. I think it is obvious. The company of a dear friend, of course!

Batiks are on sale! We will play for a few hours and make our purchases. I wonder if we will have to visit the people at the border on our way through?

I cross several times a month and I swear they are getting to know who I am. I've had some great chats with the US border guards. One woman was very curious about where I was going to buy fabric. She said her mother comes across to Canada to attend a $10 dollar quilt class once a month. She was going to pass on to her mother my suggestion of my favorite quilt store in Buffalo. Then there was the border guard who was shocked to hear us say we were quilters and we were going to buy fabric. "Don't you have fabric stores in Canada?"  We replied that we did, but prices in his great country were 1/2 what we pay up here and it only made sense to visit his great country and make our purchases there. We left him shaking his head.

Well, must dash! Have a happy day!


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

What Time Is It?!

It is time I spent a day ~ a whole day ~ down in the quilt studio to make some decent headway on some half completed projects. I get so easily sidetracked by all the other things that need to be done...gardening (it's that time of year!), housework, cooking, bbsitting the grandkiddies (hardly mind!), etc., etc.

So today I will do it. I will take the day to quilt. Sounds like a plan...but we'll see.

I'm currently working on a dresden plate quilt - I was inspired by Edyta Sitar's beautiful wall hanging using dresdens. Mine is going to finish quite a bit bigger - maybe lap size - as my dresdens are larger than hers.


And then there is the pile waiting to be quilted...I think there are at least 10 quilt tops just staring at me from the bottom shelf. They wait there patiently while I create new quilt tops. I must knuckle down and do some actual machine quilting. Would be nice to sit and sew on some bindings which is my all time favorite part of the quilting experience - but I need a completed quilt to bind! Must get busy.

Enjoy your day. Remember to count your blessings!


Sunday, May 22, 2011

Long Weekend!

The garden is alive and growing! Spring brings lovely shades of green in the garden.




Blue forget-me-nots...my favorite in the Spring.


And bleeding hearts...beautiful.


Today, if it doesn't rain, I'll plant my flowers. If it does rain, I'll plan my next quilt. Or...finish one that is halfway done. I have a few of those. I like to work on many projects at once and the only downfall with this method is that sometimes, I lose interest and the quilt sits unfinished. Definately not good.

Enjoy your long weekend! Happy Birthday Queen Victoria...


Monday, May 16, 2011

Loving, Lattes, and Labels

Hey there! This morning my world is back to a quiet normal. For the last 10 days we've enjoyed having our middle daughter visit with her youngest wee babe (they hail from the Canadian west). I get so attached to the babies when they visit, and then all of a sudden they are gone out of our world. It is a sadness we've learned to deal with...without the tears that would flow in the early days of quick visits with grandkiddies! As an added bonus, my dear hubs flew in our son from the west for the weekend. He was a joy to have in our home and because he was here, all three of our grown children were able to enjoy a very few minutes together on Saturday before the leaving began Saturday night.

Saying bye-for-now is always hard on all of us. We are a close family...always have been. Even with the distance between us, we remain close and I thank God for that. It is always a delight when the kids come home for a visit but it happens very rarely. After all they have developed their own lives out west - good lives - and we enjoy going to their homes and entering into their worlds too. But leaving is always a mixed bag. Emotions creep up that you know are there all the time, but well governed. When saying goodbye, I am always surprised at how difficult it is for me to keep those emotions in check. Ah motherhood...never ends, does it?

We are always thankful we've had time together, but very sad to be parting once again. Skype helps, but we olders find it hard to use technology to keep these relationships at the level we want them to be at. I think it is easier for the youngers to do this...they do well talking through machines. Me - not so great. I want the real thing. All right...diversion needed here. Move on Deborah!

 
While enjoying my latte this morning, I decided to surf a few blogs...you know...find something new out there and I'd like to direct you to a blog that I found. You might enjoy it too. This blog is a great read, with lots of inspiration and many tutorials that you might find interesting and useful. In particular, one of her posts talks about how to get your own custom labels printed for your quilts/projects at Spoonflower .


Lisa & Jer's Quilt
Cheese & Crackers
 I'm gonna try it. I always label my quilts. Oh, but I did discover yesterday, while snuggling in a quilt I had made my daughter and her hubs to celebrate their nuptuals (I wonder if anyone made a quilt for Catherine and Wills???) that it was labelless. How did that happen? Gotta make one and get it attached.

I believe that every quilt deserves a label so that in 100 years whoever is looking at the quilt will have the historical details. After all, it is usually a future family member who will treasure something made by great granny so and so and to have the details and circumstances under which the quilt was made is a tangible link to the past.

Enjoy your Monday. Mine will be spent quilting...and running the video of memories from the past week and a half through my mind. Talk soon,

Friday, May 13, 2011

Seriously???

Sew, blogger is down and we cannot post. In the meantime, playing with grandbuglet # 7 and watching Mrs. Doubtfire!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

New Nametag!

Look what I got in my inbox tonight! A little gift from Madame Samm. Such a surprise too! I think my favorite colour has always been blue, and this morning I was out in my garden looking at all my forget-me-nots blooming their little hearts out! How did you know Samm? Many thanks.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day


When I was a little girl my mother would take us to visit her mother, who was very Scottish. The main event during the visit was for me, a visit to Nana's sewing room. She was a talented seamstress and I loved looking at her things. The other event that took place was a wee cup of tea (I had my own wee cup) and the tea was accompanied by Nana's scones and lemon cream. It was a real treat!

Ahhh...memories of being in the company of the family women. A special remembrance on Mother's Day.

So, happy mother's day to my two daughters and my daughter-in-law, my sister, and my four sisters-in-law...and my two nieces. Last, but not least of course, Happy Mothers Day to my very special and dear Mom.

Have a happy celebration!

Monday, May 2, 2011

The Royal Wedding

Gives me an idea...the wedding's colour pallet of golds, reds, yellows, blues, greys,  and creamy white would make a beautiful quilt...one to celebrate the marriage of William and Catherine. I'm inspired!


What inspires you?