BREAKING NEWS!

 Are you sitting down? Last weekend I turned on my sewing machine and actually worked on a quilt. That's right ... You heard it here first! LOL

Back in the Fibre Junction days, I hosted historical clubs. It was a gathering about The History of Women via the Needle and Thread and used Pam Buda's Prairie Women Sewing Circle (PWSC) club packets for the projects. 

There was a project in PWSC 2 Gathering 5 that I loved and had actually started cutting on August 25, 2012. The only piecing that was done were the flying geese and they still needed trimming. I love that quilt/pattern and had been meaning to finish it.

It's quite a challenge to pick up a project where you left off after so many years and more so if it has a gazillion pieces. I started by organizing the pieces. I needed to figure out what I had and perhaps what was needed to construct the block.

Once I figured it all out ... I started piecing and of course .... I was missing one block! lol Thank goodness for my stash!

After hours and hours of piecing, I finally I had a finish .... Voila!

Hum ... The photograph really doesn't do it justice. It's a pretty pink and brown quilt. The pattern is called Next Door Neighbor and measures 27 1/2 x 34 1/2.

I even have a Make-do in that quilt. I do love to make-do ... it gets me thinking outside of the box ... why run to the store or cut a large piece of fabric just for a few pieces. I enjoy using my scraps and I had just enough of a scrap piece for this block. Besides, it just adds to the story of the quilt .... I love stories don't you?

Now .... if I can only get Penelope turned on .....

Thanks for stopping by. Catch you all later! Cheers!

Sew we Gathered!

 We had our Sew we gather meet on Sunday! What fun!

What food! I made a batch of Southwestern Egg-rolls by Valerie Bertinelli. OMG, they were a hit! The egg rolls below are uncooked and once they were cooked, everyone wanted to try them ... totally forgot to take a picture. The homemade salsa was amazing too!

You can find the recipe Southwestern Egg-Rolls with Salsa Dipping Sauce here.

The Shoppe Troll likes to use us as guinea pigs and tries new cheesecake recipes on us. This time she made a Cinnamon bun cheese cake. 

Took one for the team and lived to tell about it! lol OMG, it was delish!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we are working with Kim Diehl's new book Simple Whatnots II

Our first project was Hickory Dickory ... Here is my version:

I love how it turned out ... I'm a scrappy kind of gal!

We've already picked out next project ... Double Dutch Star. Our next meet is in September! Plenty of time to work on it!

Thank for stopping by. Catch you all later!

We're back in action ....

 Now that most of my friends feel a certain level of comfort being together in a closed area, we have resumed our ...

I think it's safe to say that most of us have had our life on hold during the pandemic. I certainly have ... I feel I've done more sitting on the couch during that time than I have in my whole life! lol

To get motivated and accountable ... OK, to get us out of a creative slum, we decided that we would work on projects from Kim Diehl's newest book Simple Whatnots II.

Our first project is Hickory Dickory. The quilt measures 18.5" x 22.5" ... I've been busy cutting/trimming away ... 

Such small pieces ... but oh so worth it. I love small quilts, don't you?

In the meantime, I decided that I wanted to enjoy my back porch more this summer. The issue was the sun, my porch is fully exposed and it faces west. Not against the sun ... Love the sun, but shade is such a beautiful thing.

I'm enjoying my new parasol. I can sit out in the middle of the day without getting fried. Such a beautiful thing! lol

AND ... my quilting groove is back on .... stay tune ... I'm back in business!

Catch you all later! Cheers!

Thinking of spring ...!

I am still plugging away at my UFO list.

When I first began quilting (1997) I only had one project going at a time. A few months later, I decided that it was so much more fun to start new projects. You know, to spice things up a bit. So, I created this rule that I could not have more than five (5) projects going at the same time. I had to finish one project before I could start a new one.

Approximately six (6) months later I increased it to ten (10). I remember one year working on my quilting UFOs and bringing the list down to zero just so I could start new projects. I had so many quilts I wanted to make. At that time I didn't keep a list, I just had them all in baskets, scattered around in my quilting studio.

I don't know what happened but along the way I threw out the rule. Since early 2007, I now keep a record of my projects, the date it was started and completed.

... hold on I am counting ...

I have approximately 50 quilting UFOs! Insert shock face here!

OMG, I better get stitching, quilting .... whatever it takes!

Since I've been working mainly on wool work, I decided that I needed to finish a hand applique quilt. I picked up the project Idaho Lily, started November 1, 2014. This project is from Kim Diehl's club Simple Whatnots!

There were three of these blocks that needed to be appliqued.

No more foolin' around! I got busy so that I could piece the top. In no time, well in a bit of time, I brought it from this.

To this!

It has since been machine quilted and the binding done! In other words, another one bites the dust.

Thank you so much for stopping by my little corner in cyber space! I'm off working on some more quilting UFOs.

Catch you all later! Cheers!

Label it .... you own it...!

I hope you have all had a wonderful Labour Day Weekend. Myself, I ended up going in to Fibre Junction and working on the website, imputing Lecien Cosmo floss.  What a job!

Today, owning a small business requires lots of skills that I am positive our foremothers did not have to acquire. Anyway, by 3:30 p.m. I was crossed eyed and had to call it a day! Yea, I popped opened a bottle of wine and had a glass! Cheers!

I'm still on this "finish UFO" mode and completed Vintage Holiday - a Jo Morton quilt.

Not only did I finish the quilt but ..... I actually took Ancient Bernie out!

And ... Seriously, aren't you proud of me? lol

All of a sudden .... "SQUIRREL" .... and off I went into another direction, creating labels for completed quilts!  So far I have six (6) labels stitched out and sewn on .... Sigh! Not that it's a bad thing but ....

Focus Carole ... focus .... just focus ... back to completing UFOs!

Forever is not for us mere mortals ....!

As I mentioned in a prior post, lots of changes are taking place in my life. I've been working on a new me ... it's a work in progress! As part of this new me, I've been taking better care of myself, which includes ... physical exercise.

Yesterday afternoon was humid and hot (we did have a bit of rain). Focusing on my goal, I managed to find the motivation to go for my power walk/jog. OMG, it was brutal! There were some sort of flies/large gnats all over the place. I had never seen a swarm of pesky dipteran like those in my area! They were all over the place, making it difficult to dodge them. I definitely jogged with my mouth closed! Not sure they were the edible kind! But .... I did it! Hoory for me! Hopefully, tonight these pesky little flies will no longer be around.

On another note, not wanting to sound morbid, but lately, I have become more aware of my mortality. I'm not getting any younger and have this need to clean out or finish off quilting projects.

I remember a story that a past guild president shared with us regarding her deceased mother's quilting projects. She had inherited the task of finishing her mother's UFOs. This task weighed heavily on her. Sadly, no one knew if her mother's UFOs were quilts she was passionate about or just something she couldn't bare to throw out! Here she was, pressured to spent valuable time finishing quilt projects that were her mothers. This is not something I would want my little Pumpkin or my friends to undertake.

Last Saturday, I took an inventory of all my UFOs (I do keep a yearly Word document of my quilting projects started) and decided that I needed to either complete the projects on the list or get rid of them. I wouldn't want to leave a mess for someone else to clean.

So, I'm cleaning and working on the quilts I want to finish and getting rid of the ones I no longer want ...  And, some quilts will just have to become smaller projects!

I will admit, it is difficult to get rid of a project when the blocks are all done, it's just a matter of sewing them together and putting the border on! Here is my first project.

Well, I best be getting busy! Enjoy your day everyone! Cheers!

Bittersweet moment..!

Pumpkin's high school graduation as come and gone.  Last night was full of excitement, as the young graduates move on to a new life adventure! I am an extremely proud mama! Such a bittersweet moment.

This weekend will be full of celebrations, with family coming from near and far!  

On the quilting front, I continue to work on some Kim Diehl, Collection 2 projects.  I just love that line of fabric.  Here is another finish.  I call this one Hex away!

This little quilt measures 12" x 14".  It's small alright!  The pattern is called Honeycomb and kits are available from Fibre Junction here.

Thank you for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace.  I hope you have been enjoying life!  Cheers!

Stop the world, I want to get off!

Can it be?

In just a couple of weeks, my baby will be graduating from high school.  It's just not possible! Next thing you know, she'll be off to college!  Please, someone slow time a bit! Sigh!

On the quilting front, I have been busy getting some small projects done.  I've been working on Kim Diehl's Simple What Not Club - Collection 2.  I call this one Project Blue Book!

If you ask me, I've been watching way too may UFO documentaries!  And I do not mean quilting UFO's but more like extraterrestrial UFO!  I really don't know why I do that to myself, sometimes it scares the bejeebers out of me! lol

To continue with the theme, I used a remnant of a backing I had left over from a quilt I made for my nephew, Alex, a long time ago.  I just love that fabric.  He's lucky I used it on the back of his quilt!  I really wanted to keep it for myself.  You understand, right? lol  Well, I think it's appropriate for this quilt, don't you? lol

It reminds of  "the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxies"!  Great book if you like extraterrestrial Brittish humour ! lol

That's it for me now.  I'm off to prepare for an alien invasion.  You just never know if those conspiracy theorist are speaking the truth.  LOL  Cheers!

I can dream ..... can't I?

Saw this gem!  Don't you think it would make a wonderful quilt shoppe?

It always bothers me to see such beautiful buildings, many full of history, abandoned and in disrepair.  Oh well, I can dream!

On the quilting front I have been busy starting and finishing quilt tops.  When I say finishing, I just mean in a "flimsy" state.

This little quilt is called Heritage Star by Kim Diehl.  Love love love that fabric line! I'll have to schedule a date with Penelope soon .... the quilt tops are piling up!

On a humourous note ..... I had a friend visit me for lunch today and as soon as she left, an order of gorgeous batiks came in.  So I texted her using the voice feature of the Iphone ......

I laughed so hard I was crying!  Feels wonderful!  Still laughing! Gotta love voice recognition .... it's the best one yet!

Enjoy your day!  Cheers!

St Patrick Sweets ...!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Are you wearing green today?

This is what our Prairie Women Sewing Circle Journey 2, Gathering 1 will be enjoying with their coffee/tea!

Yummy! I look forward to our various club gathering!  We talk about the history of women via the needle and thread.  I love hearing the stories that the members share about their ancestors.  Some bring beautiful family quilts to share.  Ah .... bliss!

An Irish Blessing for you!

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been

The foresight to know where you're going

and the insight to know when you're going too far.

Wishing you the luck of the Irish!  Cheers!

Lot's happening ... !

I am finding it more and more difficult to not be tempted by new projects.  You only live once or YOLO, as my DD likes to say.  So, this is a new project ... YOLO! ... that I'll be staring January 2014.

It's a new BOM being offered by Fibre Junction.  It's called Austin Bluebird and is designed by Minick and Simpson.

I saw this at Market Schoolhouse this fall.  The colours are absolutely gorgeous.   The fabrics will be coming in this month and I cannot wait!  If you would like to join me, you can reserve your place here.

Last Tuesday, the day and evening Simple What's Not Club members joined me for a pincushion exchange a la Yankee Swap style.  What fun we had.  I love seeing the creativity!

I really have the bestest customers/club members.  What a hoot we had.  Each one brought a dish to share. The food was amazing.  Sorry, no picture of the spread, it's all gone! ;)

Thank for stopping by!

What the heck ...!

We go from freezing arctic Brrrrrr - "baby it's cold outside" weather to, hey "it's a heat wave".  One extreme to another within hours!  Okay, a relief from the bitter cold is nice, but does it have to be to that extreme????

I want to share an event that took place at Fibre Junction, back in early December.  It was our last meeting of Jo's Little women' club 12. Both the day and night group met in the evening.  It was a "potluck" dinner, gosh was it delicious!  And those willing, brought a hand made pin cushion gift wrapped for our "Yankee Pincushion Swap".

What a blast it was!

There are many ways of doing a Yankee Swap, but these were our rule:

There will be 3 rounds.  Each participant picks a number out of a hat.  We proceed in numerical order.  Everyone gets to open a package on the first round.  When your number comes up, you chose a wrapped package from the pile, opened it, and if you want to swap, you can do so with other members who have opened a gift.  Round 2, everyone has a change to swap - numerical order.  On round 3, only number 1 gets to swap.

Wanna see the pincushions?

Here is the last one.  I just couldn't get a picture of the whole thing.

I truly enjoyed everyone's creativity.  Each one is so unique.  I just love them all!  What a great group of women!

This is the pincushion that came home with me!

Cute as a button and it fits nicely in my English Paper Piecing basket.

What a great group of women!  Thank you!

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of cyber space.  Cheers!

Houston 2013 Fall Market Day 2 .... part 1!

On day two (2) it was Schoolhouse and Sample Spree!  What a day filled with activities.  I learned so much that day!

Schoolhouse started with a huge session by Andover and the unveiling of their Downton Abbey fabric line.

They had, as a guest speaker, the costume designer from the show.  She talked about the research that is involved in designing the various period costumes.  It was quite interesting.

I did attend a couple of schoolhouses with Andover, one of which was Jo Morton.  A little Andover/Jo Morton Candy!

A gorgeous quilts from her new fabric line - Amelia.  Her free pattern can be found here.

A basket quilt!

Jo talked about her Little Women' Club.  Here are a couple of quilts from her new Club 13.

Another sneak peak at another quilt!  At this point, I'm not even sure if it's part of her club!  It is gorgeous!

I do like Jo Morton's quilt style.

Another of my favourite.  I just love those colours!

It was great to see all the new patterns coming out.  Of course, this is just a sneak peak!

Thanks for stopping by!  Catch you later!

Still here.... just quiet....!

It's been a rough few weeks, but I things are starting to settle a bit.

Life as been a series of unfortunate events ...

As for the renovations, they are coming along nicely.  The floor has been sanded...

The new windows are in and polyurethane has been applied.

I do love how that floor is turning out!  I'm really anxious for my sewing studio to be completed.  I miss my own space!

On the quilting front, I would like to share a quilt from one of my Prairie Women Sewing Circle, a Club program I host at Fibre Junction.

This is from Journey 3 and is called Windy Hill Farm (designed by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts).

I don't particularly like this quilt.  It is certainly not in my "usual" colours, but it was one of those projects where I "pushed the envelop" the "comfort zone" so to speak.

Except for the sashing, it is made entirely with scraps and left overs from other projects.  The pinwheels are the triangles left from the construction of flying geese.  The 9 patch, I used whatever was in the scrap bin.

This quilt, to me, epitomizes the "make do" concept.  I used what I had, without particular attention to colour  or pattern preference.  In other words, I made it work!

Although it is not a favourite quilt of mine, what I do cherish is the understanding I gained from working with what I had and nothing more.  This is what our fore-mothers did before fabric became accessible in abundance.  They could not afford to stress over colour choices and/or fabrics patterns, nor were they able to run to the nearest quilt shop to buy more fabric.  They made it work!

I am truly grateful for the lessons I learn and for the abundance of fabric choice and quilts shops! lol

Thanks for stopping by!

Brrrrrrrr........!

Well, I guess we've hit a cold snap.  I think -28C or -18F can be considered friggen cold!  Gosh, I can hear the wind howling!  I don't mind the cold, it's the wind!

Myself, I'm presently nice and toasty at the moment.  I have a roaring fire going.  I must admit, all those years of renovations does pay off in comfort!

Tonight is a perfect time to get some hand work done.  This is what I've been working on.

This is a small English Paper Piecing quilt for the Prairie Women Sewing Circle - Journey 3.  I've changed the layout to something totally different.

It's addictive!  I can see other EPP projects in my future! ;o)

Thanks for stopping by!  Keep warm everyone!

Antique Quilts ..... what a treat....!

Being an owner of a quilt Shoppe that specialized in 19 century reproduction has it's fringe benefits!  I would like to share with you two beautiful antique quilts that I had the privilege of admiring, for the first time, last Summer.

A few post ago, I shared with you an historical club that I organize called Prairie Women Sewing Circle Club.   I am fortunate to have a participant who not only collects antique quilts, but is presently working towards becoming an appraiser. Her name is Barbara Stadnicki, and she has allowed me to share with you a couple of beautiful quilts she brought to our last meet for other club members to experience.

Those of you who love antique quilts, you are in for a treat!

The first quilt I want to share with you is a doll quilt. Doll quilts are a rare find. As you can imagine, they are loved to pieces by the child who was privileged to have one.

This little gem is a unique piece and is quite valuable. Barbara had it appraised when she acquired it.

It's increase in value, aside from being a doll quilt, is due to having the bed post cut outs.

I am told that this is very rare for a doll quilt.

The bed post cut out provides a clue that this doll quilts most probably comes from the New England area.

According to Barbara, judging from the fabrics, it dates anywhere between 1825 to 1850.

A block from the quilt!

If you look closely at the bottom right square, you will see that two pieces of fabrics were sewn together to make a bigger block.

I purposely left the picture size large so that you could admire its construction.

Here you have the side of the quilt.

Notice the same technique of adding/sewing an extra piece of fabric in order to create the proper size block. That is one small piece of fabric.

They truly did not waste fabric. I'm sure our fore-mothers would be outraged at what we throw out as "useless scraps!" lol

They were also not afraid to work with directional prints! And.... they matched the pattern to the sewn piece! Wow!

The back of the quilt!

A pieced back, three panels plus a side strip.

The quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted. Most probably made by a 9-10 year old girl. Unfortunately, it does not have a label.

Words cannot accurately explain the feelings I experience when I am admiring this quilt.

To touch a time in history!

If the maker only knew what joy her creation would bring to another quilter centuries later!

Thank you for allowing me to sharing this beautiful creation with you.  Stay tune for the second quilt.

Cheers!