The Sky is Done, on to the Flowers.

Yahoo!  The sky stitching is done on my cross stitch project.  Now, I will be working on the flowers at the bottom of the picture. There are lots of colour changes in this section so it will take a while. 

I quilted my colour challenge quilt this week and will be putting the binding on this weekend.  Then, I get to do the hand stitching--I like this part of the project.   I used 30 wt white thread on the top and light blue 50 wt thread in the bobbin to match the backing fabric.  I will have a picture of the completed quilt in next week's post. 

My hand quilting is coming along too...the red block is done and the blue one is well on its way.  The metal piece in the middle of the block is my magnetic needle minder.

My butterfly weed is about to burst into bloom.  This is one of my favourite flowers in the garden with its bright orange flower clusters. 

The purple flowers are Veronica and the pink ones behind it are Pincushion Flowers. 

The swallowtail butterfly caterpillars and I are sharing the parsley plant again this year. They sure grow fast. 

I saw these mushrooms on a neighbour's lawn on my walk one morning this week. 

I bought this plant for my garden last year and it started to flower this week.  So pretty.  The underside of the yellow flowers is red.  I'm not sure what it is called...

My husband and I tried goat milk ice cream this week.  Delicious!

Two years ago, Christine and I attended a barn quilt painting class and this week, we finally hung up my barn quilt on the wall beside our patio.  I can see it from the kitchen...it makes me smile!  My husband found anchors that make it easy to take it down and put it away for the winter and then re-install in the spring. 

Finn, just after eating his breakfast one morning, and before cleaning his beard.  He's going for a haircut this coming week. 

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique this weekend. 
 

Barn Quilt Class

Today, Christine and I attended a Barn Quilt Block class in Palmyra, Ontario at the Crazy 8 Barn.  I have wanted to make a Barn Quilt for our backyard for ages.  There were two blocks available to choose from and we each chose a different one.  The class started at 9am and we left for home around 5pm so it was an all day project.  

There were lots of paint colours to choose from and we all did some mixing as well to get just the right colours for our blocks. 

Here I am, hard at work, taping off the next section to be painted. I made myself this apron before I got married, over 35 years ago.  It worked well to keep the paint off my clothes. 

This picture was taken earlier in the process. 

Here is Christine painting her barn quilt. 

And here is Christine's finished Barn Quilt block. So pretty!  Sunflowers were the theme of the day!

Here are a few of the barn quilts in the gardens at the Crazy 8 Barn. 

I've never taken a class in such an interesting building!  

Finn and my daughter have been here this week.  My daughter has started to make herself a crocheted blanket.  The second picture shows Finn modelling the first row or two.  He says it is not doing much to keep him warm yet. 

Edited:  Oops!  My daughter informs me that I took a picture of the back of her crochet!  The first picture below is the front, and the second picture is the back. 

I have started yet another secret project in my sewing room so nothing to show there...  I finished off the tree on my cross stitch picture this week. On to the next motif this week!

Finn enjoyed some time in the backyard this week while our daughter was working from our basement. 

Our teacher gave each of us a quilt block mug at the end of the class.  My block is the Carpenter's Star. 

 I will link up with Frederique and Kathy.  Have a great week!

Canada Pillows and Cross Stitch

I made the Canada Flag pillow in my header photo for one of my nieces for Christmas.  She is off to university in the fall and this pillow will be used to decorate her dorm room.  My daughter and I both decided that we need Canada flag pillows to to help celebrate Canada's 150th birthday this year. When Christine and I got together to sew this week, I worked on the pillows. This one is for my daughter.  I tried to pick fabrics that would mean something to her...she wears glasses and lives in a place where there is lots of snow in the winter, tulips in the spring and many places to ride a bike.

Here is a close up of some of the fabrics.

This one will be my pillow.

Again, the fabrics have some personal meaning for me.  Do you see the fishing bobbers?  I used to go fishing with my dad and my brother when I was little.  I remember catching lots of sunfish and then letting them swim away.

While looking for something in my sewing room, I found this old Cross Stitch UFO.  I decided to work on it this summer for one of my slow stitching projects.  I will need to enlarge the pattern so that I can see it better....

There are 4 snowmen in the finished picture so I am half way there.

On my way to work this week, I stopped to take another picture of a barn quilt. I love seeing these on the drive.

My garden is bursting with new growth with the warm weather we have been having. My husband and I spent the day in the backyard yesterday, doing spring chores.  We will be working on it again on Monday.

The lilacs are beautiful and smell like spring.

 I will be linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Take a look at what everyone is up to today.  There is always lots of fun inspiration to be had!

Santa has arrived!

The next block in Lorna's Holly Jolly quilt along is none other than the man in the red suit...Santa!   I cut out all the pieces on the weekend. 

Not quite as many pieces as the last block...

Tonight, my husband was out so I headed down to the sewing room after supper.  Soon, some eyes were staring up at me...

Then, a mouth...

A jolly beard...

And a nice red hat. 

Eight blocks done...only 7 more to go. 

I also made my Elgin Piecemakers comfort quilt block on the weekend.  The colours for april are navy, green and white and the block must include at least one pinwheel.  

First I made this block...

I decided to change it a bit...My block has two liberated pinwheels! 

It was a beautiful sunny day today.  I stopped to take a picture on my way.  

There are actually several barn quilts along the way...I will try to get some other photos another day.