Where it's at ... Progress!

Bathroom is coming together ... the floor is in and the walls are painted!

It's the finishing touches that take forever! DH is working overtime to get our bathroom life back to normal!

In between working on the bathroom, he has been putting the finishing touch on a buffet/sideboard I requested for our dinning room.

Don't mind the dust!

I just love how it turned out! I'm super excited to now have a place for my various penny rugs etc.

The design is from the magazine "Fine  Woodworking" issue June 2015 No. 247.  I had him change the plan to make it a tad bigger. It's made out of white oak!

 Below is the cover image from the magazine.

I cannot wait to fill it with linen and what not. However, not until the bathroom renovations are done. Cleaning is not my favourite pass time. I know, you're shocked!

Catch you later!

Weather you like it or not ....!

I don't know where you live, but it sure has been a crazy winter weather wise in my part of the way northeast NY.  Yesterday evening we had a combination of snow, sleet pushed around by winds.  The humidity and wind made it much cooler than it actually was.

Brrr! It was a great time to sit with a quilt on my lap and hand stitch the binding while enjoying a warm cuppa, ok glass of hot tea!

Finished machine quilting the above quilt on Monday. I do enjoy hand sewing the binding on. Although it is time consuming, I find it so relaxing!

I am still attempting to remain focused ..... Let me tell you, it ain't easy for me. I am so all over the place. So many projects needing completion and so many needing to be started .... Squirrel! lol Finished Frivol 2.

Faithful by Minick & Simpson. It uses their recent fabric line Polka Dots & Paisley. I just love how it turned out!

On a side note, my new smaller quilt rack is up on the wall.  The new smaller size is perfect for these quilts, don't you think?

Compared to how they looked on the larger rack!

Much better don't you think? Now I need to look for quilts for the larger rack! It will be a pleasure! 

Thank you so much for stopping by. Catch you later! Cheers!

Quilt racks and what not ...!

Last June Wendy from Snippets of a Quilter posted on her Instagram account the cutest little wall quilt rack I had ever seen. Don't you just love the way she decorates?

Naturally, I had to ask her if she could send me a picture of the front of the quit rack so that I could have DH replicate it. Being the sweetheart that she is, she actually took pictures of the quilt rack empty and send along measurements! Wow! It made his job so much easier.

Here is DH's version of the rack using Wendy's measurements.

I have an order in for a smaller version of the quilt rack to accommodate  the smallest quilts, which is approximately 15" wide.  I didn't want to rummage for larger quilts and just had to have it decorated for the picture!  Once my smaller rack is made, I will look for larger size quilts for this one. I'm sure I have lots in a closet somewhere! ;)

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Chookyblue SSCS Swap ....!

It's been a busy holiday season for me. With Pumpkin's final exams taking place the last possible week of school, it made for a rushing of family visits here and there and every where! I hope you had a wonderful family celebration!

Every year, I participate in Donna's, chookyblue's, Secret Santa Swap!

I've been a part of it from year one. I wouldn't miss it for the world!

My secret Santa this year was Janice, from Australia.  The parcel arrived, so nicely wrapped.

I was allowed to unwrap one package before December 25, the ornament.

Don't they look pretty on the tree?

On the eve of December 24, I opened my main gift! I figured it was Christmas day in Australia .... I wasn't breaking any rules! Lol

This is what Janice sent me.

It's beautiful! The colours are vibrant! The picture does not do it justice!

DH suggested we use it on the dinning room table for our family holiday dinner .... NO WAY! He's not getting gravy on that gorgeous table runner!

Stephen is "suppose" to be working on a credenza for the dinning room. So I quickly took the opportunity to remind him that had he finished the project, that's where the table runner would go! I think I need to crack my whip!

Thank you again Janice for the lovely gifts! Cheers!

She's off .... !

My little Pumpkin has left for college.  It has been an adjustment for both of us... and .... It's all good!

Before she left, we spent a lot of mother daughter time together.  One Sunday, we decided to visit this huge mall in Albany that has a "Build a Bear" workshop.  Have you ever been?  What a great idea.  As you build your bear, you come to a point where you must add a heart.  Well, Pumpkin and I traded hearts.  My bear has her heart and hers mine.   Isn't she the cutest?  Her name is Pumpkin!

As you can imagine, there hasn't been much quilting going on, but I did get a bit of sewing.  Yea, you read right, sewing NOT quilting.  I really do not like to sew but Pumpkin, the other one, needed a laundry bag.  So, I designed this little bag.

I'll admit, it wasn't that bad.  I even used the button whole feature on my Bernina.  Check it out!

The fabric line is Scrumptious by Bonnie & Camille.  I love that line!

I've been after DH for a while now to build me a quilt cabinet.  I was tired of having my quilts stacked here and there and every where.  After discussing some specifications, this is what he built for me.

Doors open!  Very roomy!

Notice that it is not filled, yet!  That's on my "to do" list today!  I best be getting off this computer and working on that!

Enjoy your day!  Cheers!

Just in time for fall.....!

I've been a busy bee!  Not so much on the quilting front, but certainly on the moving front.  I did manage to finish this cute wool table mat.

The pattern is called Apple Cobbler by Primitive Gatherings.

My sewing room/studio is finally ready.  I've been slowly moving in.  Here is a sneak peak.  Please do not mind the mess, it is quite a challenge to organize everything.

As you can see, Penelope is up but not running.  She still needs to be leveled/balanced.

Here is my small stash closet - the leaning tower of fabrics!

It's obvious that the built in cabinet is much too small.  Either that or I must get busy making more quilts!  lol  Naw, designer error! ;o)  I need a bigger stash closet! lol

Thank you for your visit!  Cheers!

What a week .... !

Last week was quite the challenge!  Not only did we loose our beloved Maggie, but DH had a surgery scheduled to dislodge scar tissue.  If you recall, he chiseled his left index finger last spring.

Well, you know how things don't always turn out as expected?

Once they began, they became aware that one of the tendon was only partially attached.  The scheduled surgery did not go as planned.

We do not have a happy camper!

The surgeon is being cautious and does not want any tension on the tendon.  I thought the gadget was kind of neat! Who would have thought that a hook and eye notion would be used outside the sewing world?  As you can imagine, it is quite uncomfortable.

On the quilting front, in between shoveling and everything else, I managed to get month 9 and 10 done on the Civil War Melodies BOM

Month 11 and 12 are what I would consider the finishing blocks.  I am anxious to piece the quilt top and get it machine quilted.  It is sweet!

Thank you for stopping by!  Hope you are all having a wonderful week!  Cheers!

All Cooped up!

Like most of you in the north country, we have been getting ready for the cold weather.  Stephen has been busy preparing our wood supply.  When I opened the door this morning, this is what greeted me!

I just think it's so cute!  It reminds me of the Grinch! I'm not sure I want to stick that log in the wood stove!  Do you think I can sell it on e-bay under the "strange phenomenon" section? lol

Speaking of getting ready for the winter, Stephen has been busy working on this little project!

Back in May, we added some Red Heads to the "girls" club!

From top left, Mabel, Isabel, bottom left Luna and Dingleberry - She's giving you the side glance!

Here's Mabel and Isabelle (corner left).  Such a curious bunch of girls!

Now that there are nine (9) members in the "girl's Club", they needed a bigger coop.  I've always wanted a stationary chicken coop (we presently have a mobile one that Stephen moves around the yard). They will spend the cold months in their new home and the summer, in their mobile home!  

I'll get Stephen to make flower boxes to put under the windows and of course I'll need a star for the top of the door! It's going to be so purty!

On the quilting front, I've been busy working on a wool project as well as a few other things.  I can get so distracted at time! lol

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

Children Can't Fly...?!

Gotta love window companies and their sense of humour!  Here at the Prevost-Meier household, we are presently doing a bit of renovating.  There were a couple of windows that we wanted to replace.  So Stephen has been busy taking care of these. New windows makes such a difference, especially in a house that is more then 180 years old!

Stephen is always looking for ways to "recycle" wood, continuously on the look out for a recent tree that fell etc.  Last year was the year for fallen trees in our neighbourhood!  Stephen's right there, with the owner's permission of course, collecting pieces.  You can actually say he has a reputation as the neighbourhood "wood collector"!  Now they just call him, offering first dibs on what's available! lol

Since last year, he has been busy making these wonderful Windsor chairs for our dinning room.

We have two of these armed Windsor chairs.

We have four of these beauties! They are all really comfortable, which is wonderful as we can just sit around the dinning room table for hours chatting away and our derrieres are not complaining! ;o)  He did have them tested before he continued with the carving! ;o)

Now for the story!  Anything above the seat is Red Oak, which came from across the street. A huge branch fell during a windy storm and provided the wood for us.  As for the seat, it is Box Elder and that comes from a tree that fell at his work place.  Anything below the seat is Sugar Maple, a hard wood, which was purchased.

I love that my home is filled with furniture that has a story.  Stories are important, as they are the foundation of who we are, passed down from generations to generations.  They are our anchor!  I don't know about you, but I find that in today's "disposable" world, stories seem to have lost their importance.  I like that many of our furniture can be passed down to future generations.  They are the "antiques" of the future! ;o)

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Enjoy the moment!  Cheers!

Talk about a good laugh....!

Donna from Chookyblue made a wonderful suggestion about placing a page translator on our blog. What a great idea! .

Of course, I have to try this gadget out!

So, I asked that my blog be translated into French and started reading.

Coming onto the post "Driving me to the Brinks," it could not translate the word "brinks"  (for the translator: Edge - like the guitar player in the band U2 ;o)

I continued to read and came upon the line, "there are quilters and than there are sewers."

So here is what the translator wrote in French, "there are quilters and than there are sewage systems"

I couldn't stop laughing!

The word "sewer" is "egout", which is correct except that I did not mean sewer in the sense of waste system but in the sense of a person who sews!

Hum... Although it is funnier as "sewer", I did reword that! lol

On a quilting note, guess what I'm working on?

I have just started a new BOM that Fibre Junction is offering.

I have completed 12 blocks so far! For a close up look, click on the block.

Let's have a little fun!

Since I haven't done a give away in a long time, if you can guess what the name of this new BOM that Fibre Junction is offering, your name will go in a draw for a notion holder.

 If you are not familiar with a notion holder, they are beautifully made by my DH, Stephen.  You may check one out here.

And ...... if you can guess which block I have not completed and your name is picked, I'll include an extra surprise!

The "give away" will close on October 1, 2011!

Thanks for stopping by and having a little fun/laugh with me!  Cheers!

Things that make you go haaaaaaaw...!

There are items in my life that represents a certain state of mind.

Take my latte for instance! This to me is relaxation!

Of course it must be served in my special cup, otherwise it's just caffeine! lol

Seriously, I make myself one of these, and it's an instant relaxing state of mind!

That cup is meaningful, some would even think of it as sacred, as it brings on a certain state of mind, a state of being. It is not any different when it comes to quilting.

I also have special tools that assist me in "being" in a quilting state of mind. One of which is my thimble.

Sadly, I lost my special thimble more then 2 (two) years ago. I checked everywhere. I cleaned my car, took everything apart. Nothing!

I have been waiting, patiently and not so patiently, for this special thimble to show up. When it was time to discard our other car, that too was taken apart and I do mean apart, nothing. The thimble never showed up! :o(

Having waited more then I could bare, continuing my search high and low, I broke down and bought myself another thimble!

I loved my last thimble so much that I purchased the exact one!

You cannot imagine how happy I was when I found it!

I bought it from Silver Thimble Gifts! They have a very nice selection of thimbles! However, I was too attached to my old one to consider another model.

So now.....

I sit with my special notion holder, housing the tools that make hand applique so relaxing for me and work away.

Quilting is a way for me to get away for the daily stresses. When I do hand work, I'm in my own little happy place! My tools are just a means for setting me in the right frame of mind.

Do you have personal tools that you like to use for certain quilting work? I'd love to read about it. Leave me a comment and I will have a draw. The prize? A unique notion holder made by my husband Stephen.

Perhaps, the loss of my thimble was the reason for my not doing much hand applique, something I dearly love. I have certainly been busy with needle and thread since the arrival of my new thimble! Stay tune for show and tell! ;o)

Thank you so much for stopping by! Oh, by the way, I have picked the winner for the mass production half square triangle fun post. Jane from quiltsmiles! I know where to find you! ;o) You will receive a notion holder! But hey, you can still leave me a comment and if I pick your name, I'll think of something else! ;o) Drawing will close on April 16, 2011! Cheers!

Hey.... it's me again.....!

Notice the time lapse between post? Yea, I think I've gotta this time management thingy figured out.

The lack of posts is really not because I've had nothing to write about. I have been busy quilting away. Things are getting done on the quilting front, it's the pictures and the sitting down to write that isn't.

So today is a new day!

We finally had some snow! I love snow!

It's nice to know that the snowy weather decided to come northeast as opposed to every where else!

Notice the barn? It does look nice in the snow!

Speaking of barn..... I think I did mention in a previous post that my DH thought that having a stash was such a great idea, that he build a barn to hold his.

Well......

Will you look at that? Proof! lol

Now, that's only on the main floor. There are lots of wood stash on the second floor of the barn. ;o)

Hum..... he's got me beat!

There's no way my fabric would stack up as high as this! I'll have to work on that! lol

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

A balancing act....!

This year, as a whole, my life has been a balancing act. I cannot say that I've stayed centred most of the time, but I managed to make it this far with still some hair left on my head! lol

As you know, school is finished for me. Convocation takes place early June. It will be nice to put a closure to that chapter in my life. Now, I begin a new Chapter, another dream come true for me.

Welcome to the chapter entitled Fibre Junction - A Quilt Shoppe

Stephen has been hard at work, building our furniture for the shoppe.  Pictures do not do justice to the beauty of these fixtures!

Our opening day is tomorrow, May 1! It will be a "soft opening" as we await the deliveries of future lines of fabric, filling our empty shelves.

Tonight, I left the shoppe full of excitement, thinking about tomorrow. As I stood back and looked at my dream, I became overwhelmed with tears of joy. I am truly thankful!

This blog will now also include my quilting adventures as owner of Fibre Junction.

I want to thank you for being a part of my book of life, accompanying me on a new chapter. I have met some truly wonderful people. You have been an inspiration to me. Thank you for your support.

Stephen in the spot light...!

Well, my life is certainly not exciting at all these days. As a matter of fact, I feels more like an anti-social bordering hermit personality type! lol It will end soon enough!

Since I don't have much to blog about that's related to my quilting adventures, I thought I would share with you the latest addition to my sewing room.

Tah dah....! Meet my new cutting table!

This is the front of the table or would that be the sides... hum?!?

As you can see, lots of drawers. However, these are special. They're called "pushmi-pullyu" drawers. I didn't know what they were until DH explained the concept to me!

Basically it's one big drawer that's accessible from either sides. The original idea come from Doctor Doolittle's antelope (a llama in the movie starring Eddie Murphy). Enough trivia! lol

The table is made out of Sugar Maple. It's sort of neat as Stephen artistically worked into the design the places where the tree had been tapped.

If you look closely, you'll see holes where they tapped the tree for maple sugar water.

The top of the table is wide enough to accommodate my 36 + inch cutting mat vertical or horizontal. That was one of my pre-requisites. It drove me nuts that my mat didn't fit vertically on my craft table. lol

I've already started to fill those drawers. I'm so glad to have a place for my Fat Quarters.

As you've all probably heard me say a thousand times, the down side to having a wood shop next to a sewing room is the dust. Yep, dust, dust and more dust. So now my FQ have a place where dust will be minimal.

So now I shall leave you to test out this new cutting table. I get to enjoy a bit of quilting before my nose is back in the books again.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Something to blog about....!

At last, it is completed. Voici a new, well it's the only one I have so far, autumn accent piece...

Photo taken on my bedroom window seat! Have I mentioned how I love my new bedroom? ;o) Oh... I'm digressing.

Isn't he just the cutest? This is a pattern called Stitch-n-Stuff Cat by Threads That Bind. I bought this pattern about 3 (three) years ago and never got around to making it, that is until last Sunday. I must have contemplated making it at some point, as I had already felted the wool!

For the writings, I used Bug Glow thread. I also outlined the moon and the stars. When you turn off the light it glows! Heeeheeee!

I stuffed it with recyclables, pieces of Warm & Natural batting, dd old socks... you name it! lol The bottom has crushed walnut shells, the same stuff Darlene uses for her pincushions. The pattern called for sand, but I didn't have any! Stephen removed the sandbox when he built the barn! :o(

It took forever to stuff the body. I don't know which took more time, the applique and embroidery or the stuffing! lol

The neatest part about this cat are his button eyes. They're antique!

I love buttons! Back in, oh 1998, I won this jar of old buttons at a silent auction. I was ecstatic! The lady who placed the item told me that it did contain some very old buttons!

I've been waiting for the purfect project to use them. lol As you can see, I'm not much of a button user! lol That's okay, they look great on my shelves.

Oh... I also collect marbles. They're also in antique jars like this one and in old milk bottles. I don't use my marbles either! lol But, hey..... they look great on my selves. lol

Ya know, it's a great feeling to finish something! Speaking of finishing.....

Our new front entry way is completed and just in time, it's been cold in the North!

I'm enjoying the natural lighting and am wondering if I should make curtains for the side windows. Something to think about!

I'm off to continue cleaning my sewing room. I'll be heading off to a quilting retreat next weekend and plan on finishing lots of UFOs! Cleaning does wonders to one's creative energy! ;o)

Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a great day everyone!

Summer has finally arrived....!

I do hope you have all been enjoying the summer. Here, it's been a wet summer for us this year. Only since last week have we been having some sunny days. I did go sailing on Saturday. It was such a perfect windy day!

On the quilting front, I finished Pine Grove. It was quite the experience to complete this project on the longarm. I'm glad it's done!

At last, I have a quilt off that long UFO 2007 list. That's the list I had compiled for Stashbuster. Of course, I never reached my goal before the year was up, Queen I became! Oh well.... c'est la vie.

I'm still enjoying some play dates with Penelope! I've been working on some charity quilts that I obtained from the guild. I just finished one that had machine embroidered squares. Hum.... it's not as easy as I would have thought!

With the bedroom renovations mostly completed, Stephen managed to finish the sewing desk he designed for Bernina 180. I do like the way it turned out! It's sweet to have a nice sewing space! Hum.... more drawers to fill! ;o)

Thanks for stopping by! Keep well everyone!

I say Hello and you say goodbye.....!

Just as my friend Connie is saying goodbye to her longarm, I'll be welcoming mine into my home. The shipping date has been confirmed, Tuesday July 15, as originally stipulated. I'm sure you can imagine, I have been hustling and bustling to get the house ready. In other words, I have been cleaning my butt off! My home is slowly starting to look presentable.

The room is coming together nicely. Here is the finished window seat.

Gosh, what a difference the renovations make. Before, I just wanted to get out of bed and out of the room. Now I can just sit for hours, reading, relaxed or just being there. I find it so welcoming.

I'm glad that it is finally done. There's nothing worse than sleeping in a room you cannot stand being in! lol

Stephen is presently building the bedroom and closet doors. They will all be painted white.

He finds that the room is noisy without the carpet. Of course he's not looking to put down more carpet! lol His priority is finishing the entrance door! lol

I think it might be the mini hallway that intensifies the noise. Of course, I'm not bothered by the noise at all. I'm just enjoying being in a beautiful relaxing room with functional windows. For some strange reason, all the windows were painted shut. Between brown floors and painted shut windows, you've got to wonder, what where these people thinking? lol

Saturday was spent cleaning the house, washing windows, curtains, fixtures and floors. It so needed it! Boring, but certain rewarding when you're finished and find yourself in a sparkling room. ;o)

The last bit of renovations we wanted to do, if you want to call it that, is paint the kitchen. I have decided on a Pottery Barn colour Wedgwood grey by Benjamin Moore. It goes well against the black granite counters and stainless steel.

Here you have a sample of what the colour looks like. It really is pretty and I certainly do not think the photo does it justice.

The ceiling has been painted, and all the trims are done, it's a matter of getting the walls done. I'll be doing that this week. I'm in the "gotta get the house done" mode.

The last room for me to tackle is the one that will have the longarm. Major spring cleaning needs to be done. Sigh! Then, the house will be totally clean!

I did do a bit of quilting. I decided to do a small version of Cheese and Crackers. It was great way for me to get rid of my scraps. I barely had enough. As least the background fabric is all used up! lol

I'm a bit behind on blog reading. Just so much to do! Today is filled with more cleaning, windows, but it's raining. What a blessing! ;o)

Have a great day everyone and thank you for stopping by!