Friday, September 30, 2016

Fall's Here and so are the Black Cats...

It is official...Fall is here!  My favourite time of the year!  Of course I got out my Heart to Hand "Autumn Quilt" and got 'er up and hanging!  Love this quilt!

 And the Primitive Gathering's quilt "Midnight Harvest" is on the table...but my bowls were sadly lacking in anything Autumn....so I tossed in a small wee Autumn wreathe, some pine cones and pumpkins...and whipped up a pillow...
 I got the cat shape from a Whimsical Christmas book (the cat was wearing a Santa's hat)...but really do you need pattern?  Just draw a cat...
 ...add some wonky buttons, whiskers and nose/mouth and in one evening you have got your bowl filler pillow!

 Seriously sweet...
 I added the stitching only because I had the thread handy and loved the way the pillow was evolving...


 One down... more to go!

Do you think I took enough pictures?  This cat is such a diva!

 It's going to be wonderful to have bowl filler pillows for each and every season... ready and waiting!
But who am I kidding...we are never 'finished'!  Designers keep designing and we keep making...it's the circle of (a quilter's) life!   Besides we have to keep the economy going...right?!  :o))

Have a FUN Friday and Happy Stitching!~P




Thursday, September 29, 2016

The Loot...

As promised, here's the Quilting loot that I bought while in Ottawa!  I know I love it when bloggers show and tell their loot, so I hope you do too!

I have two modern baby quilts to make for the new year...my stash of Homespuns and Civil War fabrics just aren't going to cut it!  :o))  I was thrilled when I saw these fabrics at Fabrications...check them out....
I needed lots of low volume background fabrics and found several...









 This was my favourite....and I'm now wishing that I had bought more!
I don't know if I will use all of these prints in the baby quilts but at least I now have some fun options!

And at the 'Running Stitch' in Kanata I found these two books...
Kathy Schmitz's new book "Stitches From the Garden" which I have been lusting over!!  SEW BEAUTIFUL!!

Want a peek inside?....Love this Autumn runner...wouldn't this border stitchery look wonderful stitched around the border of a Fall Quilt?!
 I like the way she has colour coded the lines..

...but I wonder how that will be for tracing and reversing the pattern?  I'll let you know...
                                                
 This is just a small sampling of the book!  It's full of beautiful stitchery patterns!



And Jen Kingwell's "Bring Me Flowers" quilt book!  I love her quilts as they have a distinct vintage flavour to them...or am I slowing getting swayed to the 'modern side' of things...NAH!...I'm just messing with you...and ME!  YIKES!:o}}

And here's a picture of the full quilt...gorgeous!



Love this quilt...It would definitely be a challenge to make...and it may take a few years...BUT each block would be a labour of love as each is different from the other...Yup, I REALLY  like this quilt! I think I just talked myself into making this one!!

So that's it for the Loot...that was all that I could fit into my suitcase! That's the bummer part about flying! Next week we are off to Calgary to visit our eldest daughter and help her and her husband celebrate Thanksgiving...YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS...more quilt shops... and we are taking the car!!! Yeehaw! 

It's Woolie Day today...but alas...our 'Five Bags Full' gang will be down to only only THREE BAGS this time.  It's was a difficult month to get everyone together...we finally settled on one of the last days in September with only three bags in attendance!  We decided that Three Bags Full was better than none!  We have such fun with the name of our group!  I am such a BAG...and proud of it!!

Have a thrilling Thursday and happy Stitching!~P



Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Highlights from Ottawa...


I arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening, after spending eleven hours 'on the road'...and left Monday morning... to do more of the same...but add on a FOUR HOUR wait in Vancouver!  But it was all good because my daughter and I packed in so much fun during those three days that I needed that extra travel time home just to process it all!

Here are some of the highlights...no I'm not on the boat tour (maybe next time?)...I'm riding my rental bike down the bike lane that followed the beautiful Rideau Canal...to a small lake and park. 

Here I am starting us off on our adventure.  Well, it was an adventure for me...my daughter rides a bike everywhere around Ottawa!  They have wonderful bike paths all over this scenic city.  Friday, after spending the morning in Parliament, we had lunch downtown, then went shopping in the little shops at the heart of the city.  Then we road our bikes to an area of town where we had dinner and went to the movies (Bridgette Jones' Baby...don't laugh, I really enjoyed it!!), then took an Uber (taxi) home!
As you can see, there were no leaves turning colour...but it was a warm beautiful day. Ottawa hasn't had any cold weather YET...so there were no signs of Fall.

Highlights on Saturday~two outdoor markets, a Church Fair, TWO quilt shops, an Etsy Craft Fair in Kanata, a trip to Ikea, shopping in another part of town that was AWESOME...(I can't remember the name of the area but it reminded me of Robson St. in Vancouver!)  We vegged on the couch, ate pizza and watched 'chic flicks' in the evening..
.
Here are some pictures of our day...Markets' highlights-




Loved this booth...those are carrots...yellow and white stacked so artfully!


Off to a Quilt Shop in Kanata....it's called 'The Running Stitch'...it was a quick trip but I managed to spend a bit...in the book department!

Here are a couple of pictures of the quilts in the window...



And some shots of inside the shop...






The other Quilt Shop that we visited wasn't really a 'quilt shop', more like a Fabric Store...It's called 'Fabrications' and I really didn't have high hopes for this shop.  In fact, I told my daughter that we should skip this one but she insisted.  I am SO glad that I raised a persistent daughter...haha... because I LOVED this shop!  
The shop had a huge classroom...they teach sewing skills...making clothes, jeans, etc..and yes, quilts!
To the left is the classroom and to the right is the shop...there is Curtis, the nicest sales person!
This was the wall of fabric...doesn't look like much but it was just what I was looking for...Japanese fun prints and unusual modern prints...perfect fabric for baby quilts!
Yes, I quickly put Curtis to work cutting Fat Quarters!  (I will share my loot tomorrow)!  AND YES I will definitely be going back to this shop on my next visit!  If you like fun prints and linens then this is the shop for YOU!

Hayley and I spent the morning in Parliament watching Question Period!  Alas our PM, Justin Trudeau wasn't there...we found out later that he was in BC entertain Kate and William!  What? He should be entertain US!  :o))  A tour of the Parliament Building should be on every tourist's list of things TO DO while in Ottawa!  It's a magnificent building!

An Etsy Craft Fair...everything that you can order from Etsy Craft sites under one roof!  WOW!
Very 'Qute'!

It was packed so I was surprised when I saw this picture!  I didn't take any close-up picture as there were signs saying not to...but you get the idea!  Lots to see and lots to buy...and lots of IDEAS to 'file away'.... (I need a Pinterest site in my brain so that I can retrieve those ideas at a later date!)
Sunday we took a REALLY long bike ride...until my legs turned to rubber...we even carried our bikes over the canal's locks!  I bought a basket of strawberries at the market to eat for a picnic on our ride only to discover that I had been leaving a trail of berries behind me!  The five remaining berries were DELICIOUS and I'm sure the birds were thanking me for their berry-lishous lunch !  Then it was off to the GLEBE (an area in town where there are the cutest shops and restaurants)... we put on over 20,000 steps...this is after our bike ride around the lake and looping back to the city!
 
Back at Hayley's apartment, as we vegged on her couch, I commented that the ONLY thing that we didn't do on this visit, was eat a 'Beavertail'...Me and my big mouth!! It was up off the couch and back to the city center (yes, we walked) because we HAD to  complete our visit with a Beavertail... even it meant ruining our dinner!

For those of you who have never eaten a Beavertail here's what they look like...they are like a huge flat doughnut with different toppings and they are served warm and gooey!  Mine was the traditional Maple and Chocolate...OMG GOOD... while Hayley had the Nuttela topping...which is just plain WRONG...but she said it was delicious!  Dinner was light...very light!

To say that we had a FANTASTIC visit was an understatement...but the dogs' were barking (code for my feet were killing me!).  I knew it was their way of saying that it was time to go home! 

Sewing?  Nope...nada...nothing!  Not one stitch...didn't even get it out of the suitcase! :o))

BUT... I hoped you enjoyed my visit to Ottawa...:o)

Have a wonderful Wednesday and Happy Stitching!