Calling ALL Woolies….SALE!!

Hollyhock Hills Online Wool Shop is having a SALE!!

According to fellow bloggers (ie..Sister’s Choice and Cup Cake and Daisies Blog…and others!) wool is going up in price by a couple of dollars a yard!!  Well, not over at Melvina’s of Hollyhock Hills Online Shop…she has put all of her wool on SALE!  Go on over and check it out…remember this is HAND DYED wool!

Lucky for us Melvina  also has off the bolt wool…like this lovely soft, natural wool plaid…SEE this wool…I bought some last winter when I was down South and paid $32 a yard!!  YUP, silly me!!  If only I knew what I know NOW… Melvina carries the very SAME wool…and NOT for $32 a yard either!   Over at Hollyhocks…Melvina has it on sale for only $18 a yard!! (Happy Dance!!)

I LOVE this wool as it is perfect to dye myself…the texture is wonderful and it takes the dyes great!

The proof is in the pudding…see here’s the wool…all dyed and ready to cut!  (Almost too pretty to use!!)

Now if you aren’t dying to dye…then Melvina also carries hand dyed wools in vibrant and muted colours all packaged up in pretty little bundles…wonderful colours and each little bundle is ON SALE!!

There’s nothing like a good SALE! Especially if it’s for something that you want, need and LOVE! 

If you are sitting on the fence…never tried wool but would like to give it a go…then you NEED to hurry over to Sister’s Choice Blog and Cup Cake and Daisies Blog as they are working on some dang cute projects!  And it’s their FIRST Woolie projects!  It warms my heart to see other quilters discover wool! 

Have a Woolie Wednesday and Happy Quilting!~P

Life’s a Picnic…

Yesterday we went to Victoria to say good-bye to Jessica, my step-grand daughter!  She leaves on Friday for her job in Northern Alberta…to a remote town called High Level, Alberta where the temperatures can get as low as –40C in the dead of Winter and the snow can start flying in early October!!  Why would a young girl go off to northern Alberta to spend the Winter?…money of course!  She is a cook in one of the camps there and she is earning $$ to pay off her student loans!  There’s big bucks..in them, there towns!

So we had a picnic by the sea…and it was gorgeous!  Jessica took tons of pictures as many of her new friends in Alberta have never seen the ocean before!

A perfect day…that even the dogs enjoyed!  And a nice memory to take back ‘home’ to Alberta!  It doesn’t get any better than this!

On the quilting front…I’m still stitchin’…:o)   All’s good!

Have a Picture Perfect Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P

Another One Bites the Dust…

Nothing much to report…it was like I was treading in quicksand yesterday…everything was laid out to start quilting Button Town and then, like all good plans, I had all these interruptions…my audio book finished so I had to go on-line to sign out a new one…and of course the ones that I wanted were already signed out…finally managed to find one BUT it took TIME..and then a drop by visitor, my bike ride, phone calls, I had to water the garden (where’s that RAIN?) and then of course there was our afternoon Hike…this time it was Spectacle Lake…pretty but it took TIME! 

So as I write this… Button Town is laying sandwiched and pinned but that’s about it…and today is out…Lunch in Victoria!  However…she COULD still be stuffed into that plastic bin, in bits and pieces…so it’s ALL good…right?!

Last night while watching TV, I did put the last stitches into the wee pumpkin basket… blocks for the ‘Baskets of Life Quilt’…by JAM…another UFO that I found tucked in a bin from a few YEARS ago!!

We have been watching ‘Downton Abbey’ on Netflix…EXCELLENT series…and the perfect show for stitching!

This makes…NINE DONE…five more to go!  YEAH!  WE can do this!!

Hey, if you are a lurker and want to start leaving comments or be able to enter Give Aways…or become a follower on anyone’s blog then Sew Cal Gal has the Post for YOU!!  Check it out!!  She makes it easy for all you lurkers to take the next step in the blogging world!

Have a WILD and WICKED Wednesday and Happy Quilting!~P

UFO Busting!

The UFOs have landed and they have taken over…I have Unfinished Object Bins all over the place and they are sucking my will to live!  You know that overwhelming feeling…SEW I have decided to do a clean sweep!  NO new projects until some ALL of these UFOs fly the coop!

                         

{For those of you NEW to quilting…don’t be alarmed!!  Quilters have tagged a unique meaning onto the term ‘UFO’. No, they're not those saucers flying around in the sky with little green men in them…(if you see THOSE while quilting then you’ve been drinking something that you shouldn’t or perhaps you have been quilting for too long and need to take a break…? )   A UFO in the quilter’s world is usually an Unfinished Object--the remnants of those quilts we start to make…but never seem to finish!}

I’m sure you'll find UFOs tucked away in the bins and baskets of nearly every quilter. And I’m sure that  we're not the only generation of quilters who have accumulated them…after all look at all those antique quilt blocks that Bonnie Hunter is always stumbling across!

Yesterday I pulled out one such UFO bin…It was marked Button Town..Thank goodness I am organized because inside the bin was everything that I needed to complete the project…the fabric, all the appliqué pieces, the pattern pieces, freezer paper and the magazine that the project came out of.  At least I’m not scrambling looking for fabric and pattern…I HATE that!  If that were the case, it would remain a UFO FOREVER!!

Yup…it was in bits and pieces…but at least I HAD all the bits and pieces.  So I put on a new Audio Book…

…and started stitching…

By evening this was my Button Town…I tweaked the pattern a bit but you get the idea…

               .

It’s called Button Town because the windows on the houses were suppose to be buttons but I liked the appliquéd squares better.   There will be red berry Buttons on the green vines…so I can still get away with calling it Button Town. (I threw some buttons on the top vine so that you could get the idea…)  I used a lot of Japanese Daiwabo fabric in this little wall hanging…love this stuff!!  (Thanks Karen…see the grey border…from YOU!!)

 

In another day or two and I will have busted this UFO!  SEW exciting!! 

I bet you have a few UFOs of your own!  Come on ‘fess up..and join me in a little UFO Busting!  Kick a few of those suckers right out of the ball park…It’s a great feeling!

Have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Quilting!~P

Saturday’s Garage Sale…

Sew here it is Monday already and I am still talking about Saturday!!  Even when you’re retired, Saturday is still THE day!  Could it possible have anything to do with the fact that it is also Garage Sale Day? 

During the week, I got TWO emails… one from Salt Spring Shelly and the other from Heartsdesire…informing me about a Quilter’s GS!!  Thank you, ladies…that was very sweet of you!  This is the same Quilter’s GS that I went to last month…and scored big time with the Civil War fabric!  So I was up early and pumped…haha!

Last time I forgot to take my camera…this time I came prepared! The GS was inside so we got to see some of the deceased quilter’s work.  Apparently she did not own a sewing machine but enjoyed doing all of her work by hand…yup, you heard me…this is all hand pieced and hand quilted!! 

Magnificent!

This was behind the front door so it was hard to get a good shot…

All three of these quilts were in the entrance way to her home…LOVED this homespun beauty!

This one is nice too!

This is Sharon…she is the one who alerted me to this sale last month!!  With friends like this who needs a News Paper!  Thanks, again Sharon!

To Sharon’s left is the Fat Quarter shelf…all FQ were $1 each.  In front of her is the bagged fabric.  Fabric is grouped in coordinating bunches and sold for either $5 or $10 depending on how much fabric was in each bag!  This is where I found the CW and Homespuns last time…and yes, there were MORE new bags!  Most of the other quilters gravitated to the other side…the dark side of the table…the batiks!  Fine with me! heehee

This was the yardage corner…all fabric was $4 a metre.

More FQ, Scrap bags, threads and patterns…

This box contained bags of fabric…each bag was $1!

Over by the piano were the books, which sold for $1 and $2!  I spent a lot of time going through these!  I loved her collection of books…we seem to have the same taste in quilts!

So I bought more of the same…some Civil Wars and Homespuns…this little bundle containing 27 FQ from the same Civil War line…for $25!

And of course books!  And as I mentioned, we seem to have the same taste in books…and for only $1 each how could I NOT buy them!! 

I almost squealed when I found THIS Kim Diehl book…it was on my book list to find down south this year!  Yup…it was a buck!  More on this book later….

I was practically dancing around the living room…but NOT…for fear Richard would jack up the price!! You do NOT want to look too happy at a GS!  They were all books that I LOVE!!

All books were a buck or two but patterns were either $4 or $7…go figure!  They were not moving…at all!  BUT I did find this pattern…

       

…with the cutest stitcheries in…SNOWMEN for every month of the year!  SEW dang cute that it found it’s way into my box!

I think these are May and February….

Sew there you have it…and yes there is a THIRD sale in October!!  Would you believe that after TWO GSs they have only touched a third of her stash!!  Be still my heart!!  I think I need to go back to work!…WHAT did I just say??…SLAP ME!! …Thanks, I needed that!

Have a magical Monday and Happy Quilting!~P

The 2012 Cobble Hill Fair..

Such a busy Saturday!!  Let’s start off with the Cobble Hill Fair…this event has been happening for over a hundred years and it hasn’t changed much!  For such a small, wee town it brings out families from far and wide!  I think it’s because it still has that small fair atmosphere that little kids like.  You know, rides that aren’t scary and clowns that look like Aunt Rosie…because… well…it is Aunt Rosie!

This fair always reminds me of the movie, ‘PollyAnna’!  Do you remember that movie?  (It was my daughters’ ALL TIME favourite movie…I bet we watched it 100 times…) Lots of homemade cakes and music from the bandstand…well this fair is along those lines.  If you want a quaint, old fashion fair then this is the place for you!  And judging from the crowds, there were a lot of people who enjoyed it!

And of course they always have a few quilts…GOT to talk about the quilts!!

Loved this quilt!  Isn’t it sweet and the workmanship was gorgeous… lovely hand quilting!  I wanted to get up close and personal with this one… but there was a man sitting at a table with a very hot soldering iron in his hand and he was sitting right in front of it…now I wonder what he was demoing!?  This quilt was a blue ribbon winner and also won Best in Show!!  It was by far my favourite quilt!!

Next to the Autumn Quilt…of course!  :o)  She only got a red but that’s OK…I still love her!  Seriously… I LOVE this quilt…by far my favourite wool quilt EVER…even like her better than Settler’s Pride…well maybe not better but she’s right up there!  I think it’s the pumpkins…

The theme at the CH Fair was John Deer Tractors…so there were lots of tractor quilts, vests and towels!  Wouldn’t a little boy love this quilt!

More entries…

  I liked the subtle colours in this little runner…

Are you getting dizzy yet??   

Nothing like a Fall quilt in the Fall Fair!  Very nice!!

So before I go…I need to show you this quilt…made by my sister Em!  At first I didn’t realize it was hers as they had her name down as Emily! I don’t know her as Emily…only Em…Love the wonky border and the optical illusions…!  I wish they had HUNG this one…so we could get the FULL effect!

AND at pick up time I discovered that the winning quilt…was also HERS!!  So there you go!  (I wonder if she still has the pattern:o)? It is definitely a winner in my books…even before I found out Em quilted it!  Way to go, Sis!

Quilting must be in our genes!  I know our Mom loved to quilt but I wonder about our grandmas…they MUST have been quilters!  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see the quilts that they made over a hundred years ago…I can only imagine!  I think that’s why I really love the old, scrappy, more traditional quilts!

Have a SUNNY Sunday and Happy Quilting!~P

Red Brolly Win!!!

DID you hear the BIG “YAHOOOOOOOOO” coming from the Canadian side of the border…and echoing off the Rockies… “Yahhhoooooooyahooooooooyahhoooo??”  Yup that was ME!  I just WON Red Brolly’s big Give Away!! 

Here’s the prize…love Natalie Bird’s new book ‘Red Home’ and Rouenneries fabric by French General…my ALL TIME favourite fabric!! 

I tell you, a win like this always gets my heart going a little faster!!  One of these days the ol’ticker is going to stop and you know what the Obits is going to say… ‘Quilter dies from Give Away-itis but at least she went HAPPY!’ All the Quilters will nod their heads and say yup..you got to be careful with those give aways…just too much excitement for some to handle…BUT NOT ME!!  heeeehee

Thanks again Red Brolly!  I really appreciate the win… just look at me clicking those heels!!  I should be a leprechaun in my next life!

Have a super Saturday…and Happy Quilting!~P

The Moose Has it!!

Now THAT was a fast week…it CAN’T be FUN Friday already?…BUT IT IS!!  So I fired up Mr. Random Generator and (put in a drum roll here…) he picked MooseCraft as the lucky recipient of ‘When the Cold Wind Blows’!  I wish I could send out a copy of this wonderful book to ALL of you lovely Followers but…until I win the Lottery…Moosecraft is all I can muster!o)  Congratulations, you lucky Moose!

Hey, remember I shared pics of my special Woolie Pin with you on Wednesday…well I just found out that Carolyn makes actual sewing/quilting pins too!!  Yes, MAKES them…don’t ask me HOW…I just know that they are gorgeous!  Have a look…

Here’s the first pin…love the hair…and the chain stitched blocks (I wonder if Carolyn is a quilter?)!

And the second pin…love the dangling thread and scissors!

I can’t decide which one I love more…they are both SEW adorable!  Wouldn’t they make the sweetest gift for your sewing buddy (or YOU?)…and Christmas IS just around the corner! 

And NO I am not on commission…I just know ART when I see it…and  that Carolyn is one talented Artist!  Here’s her email address  carolyn.di@telus.net  …just in case you NEED to chat! haha

Have a Fun Friday and Happy Quilting!~P

A Visit from a UFO!

With the Autumn Quilt FINISHED, I had nothing to do with my HANDS while watching TV last night…I couldn’t relax…I couldn’t concentrate…I felt almost NAKED!!  So I rummaged around in the UFO cupboard and pulled out the bin that held my JAM ‘Basket of Life’ quilt blocks.  It felt SO good to have something small and light to work on after that heavy wool quilt!

So I stitched on the wool stars and then finished off the French knot berries…

And before I knew it another block was done!

Zooming in for a close-up…

Then I did the same thing with this block…

I was so happy that EVERYTHING was in the JAM Basket bin… needles, all the threads and hoop and wool…even a wee pair of scissors…all I had to do was…

STITCH!  Ahhhhhhhh!

I’m loving these baskets…maybe this quilt will get finished this year!!

Have a thrilling Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P

PS…If you haven’t already done so, GO HERE to enter my Followers’ Give Away!! You can’t win, if you don’t enter!