Excuses, excuses....!

I think I found the perfect excuse to buy myself a new laptop!  I just cannot seem to get the colours and contrast just right on my photographs.  I notice that some are high in contrast compared to others.  I know ... it's that darn monitor!  I think.... or perhaps I need better software.  What do you use to edit your photographs?

In the mean time, that little pile of quilts is slowly going down.  I finished this little quilt!

I call this quilt "Chicken Ladies".  This was a pattern given to me by Wendy of Snippets of a Quilter.  We both love the Australian pattern designer Bronwyn Hayes of Red Brolly. Thank you again Wendy for gifting me with these patterns.

Thank you for stopping by!  Cheers!

It's quite difficult to get anything done when one's sewing space has been invaded with the overflow of everyone else's stuff brought on by renovations!

And of course the cutting table has been converted into a "dropping" station....

Notice one sewing machine is not longer there.... yea packed away ....  And if that wasn't enough ... we have this....

I mean ... really .... I kid you not, when the sewing studio/renovations are done, I'm issuing visitation passes.  You must apply 48 hours in advance.... ;o) lol

So what have I been doing?  Certainly not starting new projects! lol  I did get the binding on the General's Wives done.

I do like how that quilt turned out!  It's one of my favourites.

Well, thanks for stopping by and for allowing me to vent a little!  Cheers!

Renovations.... an update!

Well, the renovations are moving along at a snails space.  That's what it seems like when your personal space has been taken over by intruders. ;o)

We ran into a bit of problems, which is to be expected when your home is more than 200 years old.

This is not from "our" time living in this house, but it still needs to be fixed.  It's difficult to believe that the prior proprietors would not have taken care of this.

This is the south wall ... insulated and ready for the sheet-rock.

West wall ... the new windows need to be installed.

East wall.  That is where the new closed will be.  The ladder is leaning on the chimney.

The room has remained in the present state for a couple of weeks now, mainly due to this...

Yep, a leak in the roof!  So Stephen will be fixing the problem this weekend, if it can stop raining for a couple of hours!  We have had so much rain in the past few weeks.  The river down the street is overflowing it's bank!

That's it for now! Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

Sweet Sixteen ....!

It's hard to believe that my baby turns 16 today!

Happy Birthday Pumpkin!

Picture taken by Betsy Visconti - 2013

We are so proud of you and your accomplishments!

Love you a whole bunch! xox

We interrupt our UFO plan ......

Reading a great book...

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown .... Can't seem to put it down.... It's been a while since I've read a psychology book.  Well worth the read if you're into this kind of stuff!

In the mean time, renovations are on schedule.  Penelope is down and the room is almost empty.  Allow me to share some before pictures.

Notice the carpet and the closets?  Quite the waste of space if you ask me!  Guess what's happening to that wall long, very deep closet?  ;o)

By Thursday evening, it was brought down to this.

And this....

Hum ..... I'm hoping DH will be able to do something with this floor.  I so loved the way the floor in our bedroom turned out.  

Saturday is massive demolition day.  My favourite brother is coming down and off they'll go!

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

Give it one more try ...!

The other day, I was reading a post from Carrie Nelson of La Vie en Rosie, entitled True Confessions, in which she states that she will sew while enjoying a glass of wine.  Hum.... it made me think because the last time I did that .......

Notice the stain on the white hexagon? Ya, not only did I spill and waste a glass of wine, I stained my quilt AND broke my favourite glass!  Not good! By the way, there are other stains, they just blend well with the fabric!

In all fairness, I was attempting to set up a photo shoot and not so much enjoy a glass of vino while sewing.  Okay, so I had a couple of sips..... Nonetheless, tonight, guess what?

I'm giving it another try!  I do love my wine, in a special glass of course.  What can I say, it's the French in me!

Remember that pile of quilts needing to have the binding hand sewn?  Well I finished one of the quilts that I would like to share with you.  Tah dah.....

This little embroidery pattern was sent to me in 2008 by Donna of Chookyblue, all in an attempt to get me hooked on hand embroidery.  She wasn't the only conspirator!

At first, I was going to convert the designs into one quilt, but decided that I wanted individual small quilts, each as a reminder of the wonderful friendships I have made on Blog Land.  There are a couple more tops from conspirators 2008 that are on the list.  Needless to say, they won and I'm hooked on hand embroidery! lol

Ok, so far the glass is still standing, no quilts or sewing machines have been stained ..... but it is now almost empty.  Hum.... time for a refill  lol  Hum.... how much sewing will get done tonight? lol

Cheers!

Keeping with the pace .....!

It's presently raining!  What a pleasant sound!  We've needed some rain.  The lake level is way below what it should be at this time of the year.

In the mean time, I continued to keep my commitment of decreasing my numbers of UFOs.

I've been busy machine quilting, and building up a small pile!

This little stack of quilts is ready for me to hand sew the binding!

In the mean time, Civil War Melodies is hanging at Fibre Junction.

I just love how this quilt turned out.

With all of these projects on their way to being completed, I'm suddenly getting the urge to start something new! lol  So in between getting some older projects completed, I finished hand embroidering this little gem.

The pattern is called Miss Timid Valentine.  I just need to piece this little top, but not until I get those bindings stitched! lol

I best be off to tackle that stack of quilts.  I just cannot wait to show you what I've been working on!

Thanks for stopping by!  Keep well!  Cheers

Happy Mother's day .... !

May your special day be filled with joy!

Spring is here ..... finally...!

What gorgeous weather we have been having.  It's addictive!

Things are hopping along at the Meier household.  For one thing, it's the year to renovate!  Yes, indeed, we are tackling another room in the house, the computer/music/Penelope room.  And guess what?  It will become my very own sewing studio!  

DH was kind enough to make a plan to scale, so that I can work on the layout. 

The only limiting factor is that there are two dormer walls (roof slant) approximately 5 feet tall - left and right of the diagram.  I can work around it! I am so excited to have my own room ......

The renovations are starting the first weekend in June, so Penelope is coming down soon.  :( 

On the penny rug front, I finished the May - Penny Rugs Thru the Year.  By the way, it's not too late for you to join in the fun.  

They are certainly a quick and fun project to work on!

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

I have a pet owl.....!

Today, we had a gorgeous Spring day!

I let the "Girls" out .... they are such a curious bunch ..... here's Dingle-berry enjoying the wood pile... Nothing like a birds eye view....

I'm sure you will not be surprised if I told you that I spent the day outside, enjoying the sun and doing a bit of yard work.  Our front yard was a mess!

We have quite a few mature trees (some over 100 years old) around our property and one large branch on the Basswood tree (Linden tree) went ca-bang .....!  If you ask me, those Basswood trees belong in the forest.  They make such a mess, small branches falling continuously, it's a very porous tree.   Well, as I was picking up it's mess, around the tree trunk, I noticed .....

An owl pellet!  Do you know what that means?  I now have a pet owl!  Move over Harry .... I love owls and I've always wanted an owl!  Now, how cool is that?

Speaking of birds, the other day we had a soft shelled egg from one of the "Girls" ...

I had never seen one of those before.  It's quite weird to the touch.  Both DH and my favourite brother said it felt like a ...... we'll keep this a clean post .... ;o)  By day two it looked like....

It was aging and loosing it's firmness.  Of course, it's true identity began to appear....

It's an Alien ..... It does not look too happy.  Not sure what happened to it.  Must have gone back home .... where ever that is.

On the quilting front, I have machine quilted and bound the Civil War Melody quilt.  It's now hanging at Fibre as a shoppe sample.  Looks sweet too!

I did finish piecing General's wive's quilt and have the top hanging on Penelope, waiting to be machine quilted.

Here's a peek .....

Not sure how I want to machine quilt that top.  I'll have to think about it a bit more.

Well, thanks for stopping by.  I do hope you are enjoying some nice Spring weather, well in this part of the world.  For our friends in Australia, it's Autumn.  It was lovely to be able to go out and catch some sun rays.  Cheers!