Saving Electricity

My Dad came over to our house for supper tonight...Perch, roasted beats and carrots, broccoli and ice cream and fresh berries for dessert!  Yummy! After supper, I got out my next Slow Sunday Stitching project and did some hand quilting in the gazebo while we sat and chatted.  My father asked why I was hand quilting--"Isn't it faster to do that on you sewing machine?" he asked.  I told him I had decided to hand quilt this one.  "Oh," he said, "you are saving money by saving electricity!"  I guess that is one way of looking at it!

I did the basting this morning just after breakfast.

I am getting brave with this project and using contrasting thread instead of matching thread for my quilting.  I had some problems in some spots where I ran into seams from the pieced back of this quilt.  It was a bit thick to push the needle through but I persevered and I think it looks ok.

The colours are a bit off in this picture but you can see my stitches a bit better here. I have not quilted anything in the middle square. Do you have any ideas for the centre quilting? 

I will keep working away at this project for the next few weeks. If I can do a few stitches every day, it might get done before the guild quilt show in the fall.

We had our nieces here for the weekend and we took them on a field trip to Rondeau Provincial Park yesterday. We went on a couple of short hikes. Of course, I stopped to take pictures of the wildflowers and gave them a botany lesson on the names of the plants (at least the ones I knew!). 

 

Queen Anne's Lace

 

 

 

 

 

Butterfly Weed

 

Bee Balm

 

Goldenrod

 

 

Purple Loosestrife--not so desirable--it will take over and should be removed, but it is pretty.

 

Swamp Mallow

 

I did not know the name of this one.

 

or this one...Can anyone out there help me out?

 

 

We also did a few forest ecology lessons too.  They were surprised I knew about this stuff. (I have a biology degree.)

 

This squirrel was quite adept at getting to this "squirrel proofed" birdfeeder...

 

There were lots of these yellow warblers flitting about too.

 

Our nieces have gone home now and have been telling their parents about all of our adventures. It is lots of fun to have them visit. We have them come for the weekend a couple of times a year, usually once in the summer and once in December. We are trying for the best Aunt and Uncle awards!  (We are their only aunt and uncle so we are bound to win the prizes!)

 

By the way, my new header picture was taken in Iceland--it is gray wooly moss that grows in the lava fields.