Back in the saddle!

Ah - so nice to be back in the saddle (well on the internet).   I may have mentioned it yesterday but when something goes wrong - who are you gonna call????  We checked my internet settings and they were the same as the other laptops in the house so nothing to change there. Well - I was beside myself all day. Would I have to bite the bullet and move to the new computer?  would I have to finally install Windows 8.1 to my current laptop?  Oh yes - all kinds of things went through my mind.

However after posting my dilemma on Facebook last night, and this appears to be a common problem - Margaret mentioned that they had to increase the number of devices that they could have connected to the internet. We shut a couple of devices off and GUESS WHAT???   Yep - I was connected no problem.

So now I have to call Roger's to see if they can help me change the number of devices that can access the modem/router at one time. Such an easy fix yet so annoying.


Now I will show you the pictures that I was going to show you on Saturday morning or was that Sunday????

I borrowed this book from the library and while it is an easy read - modern type quilts - I wonder how many of these type of books we are going to have published. This lady designed a line of fabric - made up some very basic quilts - published a book to promote her fabric.   Seriously????  Well I did look at it - didn't see anything new, but if you are a new quilter - it would have some merit.

Simplify by Camille Roskelley

I started a new beginner quilter class last week and here are a couple of blocks that the ladies finished in class.

Beginner quilt block made with the new Tim Holtz fabric - YUMMY!!!!!

Another quilt - this one from blue batiks

Yes - I have been quilting for a LONG time, but for these new quilters - Camille's book would be perfect.
AS they work through their projects - I will share the photos with you.

I keep talking about embroidery club - well this is my new project. I am doing some small Christmas ornaments. I seem to manage one ornament per session - there are eight in total traced on my fabric.   They should be a snap to piece together when I am done the embroidery. Then I will tackle a big project.

Embroidery!!!!

Next up - we had a fabulous class at Sew Sisters for the Saturday Sampler Club. Everyone was very excited to start their new projects, but a couple of people brought in some finished ones including the label on the quilt we made in 2014.

Here is Marilyn with her COMPLETED NORTHERN LIGHTS quilts (pattern by Marti Michelle).  This is STUNNING!!!!!

The back of the quilt - she used all her leftovers to make the back. It is brilliant!!!!!!

Raili also finished her Northern Lights quilt.  Yes - completely done and guess what - she quilted it HERSELF.  

 Raili recently purchased a Tiara quilting  machine and got to work with Angela Walter's new book Shape by Shape and away she went.

Tiara quilting machine

I am not sure what Raili machine looks like - but it is similar to this one.

Shape by Shape by Angela Walters

This is one of the BEST books on quilting ideas that I have ever seen.  There are so many - you could practice for days and never run out.  If you don't have this book - I would recommend that you buy it.  I love it!!!!!

There is only one small problem - Raili's daughter thinks that Raili should quilt quilts for her. I say Karen can do it herself!!!!


Genny also brought show n tell. Now if you remember, Genny had already shown her FINISHED Northern Lights quilt at our reveal in December.  So she brought something else to show us. This time this quilt is for HER.

This is the BACK of the quilt. She did an amazing job with the quilting!!!!

And this is the front. I love the 3-D effect

 You know how you sometimes can't see the forest for the trees????   Well I was sitting at the kitchen table the other night and I looked up and look what I saw.....................

Another beige face plate that was in the corner and I totally over looked it. 

 Must run out to Rona to get a new one and use up the .34 cents on  my Rona gift card!!!


And how are we doing with the kitchen clean up????   Have a look at what we are donating.............

Yes - there are boxes and bags of stuff that we are donating.  Haven't touched this stuff in YEARS so there is no sense in keeping it.  It has been very freeing. 

 But we are not done........................

This is still sitting in the family room but the pile is much smaller than when we started

OK - so it doesn't look a whole lot less, but it is. 

And I still have this to go through as well

 I found a HUGE stash of plastic spoons and that is ALL we have in our cutlery drawer for the moment as I use them up!!!!!

Huge stash of plastic spoons

Now we do use regular cutlery as well and I have "spare" plastic stuff in the cupboard - we just had an excess of spoons. Not even sure where they all came from, but we might as well use them up.


And a lot has happened since these pictures were taken and I hope to get more up tomorrow. Now that I am back in business.


Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!

Northern Lights reveal!

Ah yes - the reveal!  The last session of any of these on-going classes is the most exciting! Why? Well we get to see the final quilt top (and in some cases a COMPLETED quilt).  Everyone has worked so hard - got all the fabrics together, cut, sewed, pressed and well let's get at it.................

Mary - she is going to add TWO more borders to her quilt. Great colour combination!

 Shoot - I have to find Jane's picture. She wasn't at the reveal - off cruisin!  However she did bring in her top last month so she is off the hook!

AHA - found it - can't have Jane without Mary close by!!!   They are good friends and notice the colouring is very similar - yet it is different.    Great job Jane - can't wait to see it with the borders on!!!!

Oh yes - notice as we go through the pictures - everyone placed their blocks in different positions!!!!

Mary  (yes there were THREE of them in the class) - love it in neutrals

Love that little flat flange border!  Just a hint of colour - perfect

And look at the awesome back. All the leftovers!!!!!   I believe she is almost done (or done) the quilting.  AWESOME job.  I love when people just bite the bullet and get started.  It just means that the next one will be easier - the designs will be smoother and you will be more confident!!!!   Way to go Mary!!!!!

Karen's wild top.  Yes - it is an eclectic colouring, but you know - it WORKS and it is SO Karen.  I really like the colours!!!

Beth made her quilt smaller and added a sashing between the blocks.  Completely changes the look of the quilt!!!!

Raili - check out that border she added!!!!   Love it and I love the statement that center block makes in her quilt!!!

Marlene - a subdued look to her quilt. But.............

She did a LOT of fussy cutting with hers and it looks awesome. I love that striped fabric!!!

Genny - a real keener - her quilt was quilted (by herself on her long arm)

And it was even BOUND!!!!!

Some of the quilting - I LOVE IT!!!!!!    Great job Genny - 

This is Mary's quilt - she also had hers quilted (by herself on the long arm). Just needs a binding!!!!!

The back of the quilt! Love the quilting. Again - no fear - just load the quilt and GO!!!!!   I love that!!!!

Speaking of just going with the quilting - Marlene brought in another quilt for show n tell and she even did FREE MOTION stitch in the ditch. I am so PROUD of her for doing that.  She will never look back now!!!!

Susan - love this colourway. And YES - you can do green/red together and it doesn't look like Christmas!!!!

OH - another little flange, but it pops the colour in the quilt. A very useful little border!!!!

Helen Anne really changed things up - she used the templates to make the SMALL blocks, but then made way more blocks to get a BIG quilt. She is NOT putting borders on hers. Awesome - I do like the look of the small blocks in a bigger quilt!!!!

Flo - do you remember Flo from last month. She didn't know what to do with the borders?   Well - shall we look at what we suggested for her???

YES - it appears that this is what we choose!!!!!  Oh yes - that group was good with choosing borders and colours. Again Flo used sashing in her quilt and it looks fabulous - a very different look!

Karen with another wild combination. It would appear that the TWO Karens in the class LOVE wild and funky colour combinations. I love those bright "blue" star points!!!!!

And this is my small quilt. I made TWO - but didn't pull out the big one for the picture session. 

Here are some pictures from people who were not able to attend on the last day. These pictures were taken at the October meeting.

These blocks are from Nancy's quilt 

Marilyn's quilt - I thought I had a picture with the borders on - but not sure where that is

Extra blocks that will make up the backing of Marilyn's quilt

This belongs to Judith 

Oh yes - here is the picture of the borders we chose at the October meeting.  I didn't have enough of that blue - but I found a similar blue. 

Oh yes - this is my colourway for my big quilt. 

It is pretty neat to see all these quilts finished. Go back and have another look. What stands out in one - disappears in another. It mostly has to do with the VALUE of the fabrics they used, although in some instances the colour takes over. But it is mostly about VALUE.  Seriously - go back and study the pictures.


Oh yes - this is Northern Lights by Marti Michell - we used her templates sets - Set A and C for the small blocks and Set B and D for the larger blocks.

We had "other" show n tell and this belongs to Mary B.

Raindrops (pattern by Judy Neimeyer) - this quilt is stunning!!!   Mary's FIRST paper piecing!!!!!  Which goes to show that once you figure out the paper piecing technique - the complexity of the quilt has no bearing.  I have seen many people start paper piecing with something complex.  Looks complex, but when you break it down - it is very doable.  

On that note  - I am out of here.

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!

Juggling....................

As I walked the dogs this morning I thought that I had better get out my T-shirt - this one.............

Since I seem to be trying to convince myself that I CAN do it all in my lifetime.  Let`s face it - from when I was a kid I have had these grandiose visions. I LOVE to read and as a child (a sickly child), I had a lot of downtime. Now I was probably eight?????  when I remember saying to myself that I would read EVERY book in the world. You see what I mean!  Crazy ideas - probably because at age eight I had NO IDEA of the big world - I lived on a farm and had a very sheltered view of things.

Then I saw this on Pinterest this morning and THIS is what I should be saying to myself!!!!!!







Oh well - it doesn`t really matter because even if I wasn't doing what everyone else is doing  - I would still fill my days with stuff. That is just my nature and I just can`t sit with nothing to do and I have energy to burn so better find a constructive outlet for it!  One day - I will slow down - one day..............


Anyway - had TWO awesome classes yesterday. I never know what to expect when I walk into the Saturday Sampler class.  Yesterday was no exception. There was no show n tell on the wall since they all (OK most) had finished tops.   BUT they were all bundled up - coats, hats, scarves!!!  OK - I admit, it was a tad cool in the classroom. We did get the heater going, but it didn't warm up too much.  Just know for next time to dress a tad warmer! Or we do exercises to get the blood circulating.


We decided to leave the show n tell for next month and give those slackers a chance to catch up. But we did see a few things and we chatted about quilting ideas for the quilt. So we may see some finished quilts next month. But we will see a LOT of completed quilt tops!

Marilyn brought this in to show us what she does with her  quilt leftovers. She made half square triangles from the leftover bits and then sewed them together to make this "free" quilt. I have THOUSANDS of those little triangles - might be time to just sew some of them together to make a quilt like this.  What a GREAT way to use up scraps and most people would throw this stuff away!!!!!    Awesome job Marilyn!

Flo wanted some advice on what to use for  the borders for her quilt. Since the group was so helpful for me last month - we did the same thing. Flo positioned her fabrics  - the group gave their thumbs up or thumbs down and I think the concenssice was this version.  Small dark border, a bit bigger light border and then a larger border of the same dark as the smaller one.  We were all convinced - I am not sure that Flo was which is why this picture is here. For documentation purposes. What kind of a border will be on her quilt?????   Have to wait until December 13 to find out. 

These are the leftovers from Karen's quilt. She joined the strips together and somehow cut them up.  A technique that she learned from a recent speaker to their guild. A fellow by the name of Al Cote.   Hmmmm - his stuff looks pretty interesting.   I want to hear him speak!!!!!

And so the Saturday Sampler group left with MANY ideas of quilting buzzing in their heads and let's see what they get done this month. If they are not quilting their quilt - it will be an easy month! No rushing.  Oh shoot - I am going to get them to make their backing and binding.

In the afternoon class which was free motion quilting we had a blast. The group was very enthusiastic and we had loads of fun as they worked their way through a variety of free motion exercises.

I LOVE show n tell - I love to see what others are doing (just say - that is gorgeous, but DO NOT say - OH - I want to make that!!!).

Anyway Yvonne was in my machine quilting basic class last month and look what she brought this month. The cutest little storage box for her machine bits. OH - I so want this!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Micheal's in the jewelry department and if you have their 50% coupon this week - it will cost you less than $4.

Side one of the plastic case

Side two of the plastic case

It unfolds and each side is covered with a lid so nothing spills out.  Is that not the most brilliant little case you have ever seen?????   I am stopping on my way to work today to get one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

Then I spotted this on Yvonne's table.  Oh I am going to cave - I so want to make this cute little bag.  NO - I want to go to the store where she made this little bag.   Help me - I'm caving............

Cute little tote bag

And look at the fabulous zipper pull.   

She made it at Quilt a Bag in Markham.  That is so far from my house, but the more and more I hear about them - - I MUST get there.  I just have to find a few spare minutes in one day to get there.  And I WILL!!!!! You must be patient with their web site. It loads in Japanese, but give it a moment and it loads in English.

 Back home to try and get some work done for ME!!!!!!!!!!   Well technically not for me, but for some classes I am teaching.  I HAVE to get this Amish with a Twist Series II done.  I have made good progress, but time to get the rest of it done.

This is what I have completed so far. The rest of it is cut out and those remaining blocks are in various states of completion. It won't take long to get it done and I am going to make this a FOCUS.  

This quilt is half done!!!!!!   I am almost finished piecing the blocks which will now go on hold while I finish Amish with a Twist Series II. 

In case you do not know what the pattern looks like - here it is...............

Amish with a Twist Series II by Nancy Rink

This is one of the classes that I will be teaching at the Saturday Sampler at Sew Sisters in Toronto. The class takes place on the third Saturday of each month (Amish with a Twist starts January 17).  We have a one hour class to see show n tell and walk through the homework for the next month.  It is loads of fun and I learn as much from the rest of the class as they learn from me. Maybe more!!!!!!!

If you are interested in signing up - call Sew Sisters and get your name on the list. They will be making up kits of Kona solids which is why I need to get the sample done so we can be OK with my fabric choices!!!!!


Thank goodness for that Quilter's P foot for piecing.  I am sewing all my projects on the nearest sewing machine that has clear space.  I use that P foot on my little H|Class 100 Q when I am at retreats and sewing days. And I use the P foot on my sewing machine at home but I also use it on the test machines.  Since it is the foot that dictates the stitch width - I can sew the same project on any of them and get the same seam allowance.  I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   And NO - I don't have just one foot - there is a FOOT for all machines.  It is a standard foot that comes with the newer sewing machines.

Ooops - not a lot of room to sew on my machine

So back over to the test machine!!!!!!   

In case you don't have enough to do!  Don't blame me!!!!!!!!!!!   BUT we will be running this quilt as a class at The Hobby Horse. The date is January 31 from 10 - 4.

4th of July

This quilt is GORGEOUS. My top is done and just needs to be quilted, but it is going to the Hobby Horse today to hang as a sample.  Come and check it out and sign up for the class.  We will be learning paper piecing and curved piecing.  It is a stunning quilt. I will try to get a picture of it today.




And let's recap what is happening in the backyard!  I put that baffle up on the little ledge and I noticed when I got home that it was back down and the suet cage was on the ground meaning the squirrels had attacked it.  Hmmm - let's try this and see if it works.................

I jammed a hinge from old back door on the little ledge. Hopefully that will prevent that baffle from falling off. If that doesn't work - I have to go to plan B.  Mary told me that Vaseline works well to keep the squirrels from climbing the poles.  Hmmm - I have to see how I can work that it. I love it!!!!!!!!!!!

Hard to see in this picture but after I chased the darn squirrels away - there were tons of birds at the feeder. Of course most of them flew away when I went to take a picture!!!!

And this is the view out of my front windows.  There is a tree that NEEDS to be trimmed however the birds nest in it and I hate to trim it back.  Do you see the bird just under the white horizontal cross thing.  It was peeping in the house looking at us!!!!!!!!!!!   I think there are a LOT of them nesting in that tree. 

On that note - I have some prep work to finish for my class this afternoon.


Have an awesome day!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!