Rug Hooking, Placemats and A Blast from the Past

I'm happy to report that my rug hooking is completely done!  Right now, it is pinned to my design wall but I will be hanging it on the wall in my sewing room soon.  Such a nice reminder of our trip to Newfoundland in 2023. 

I was cleaning out a box in my fabric storage area and found the bag I made in Grade 7 Home Ec class.  In those days, the girls went to Home Ec and the boys went to Shop Class. All the girls made this bag...the outside is denim which the teacher had made off grain before giving it to the students.  We all had to learn how to check that the fabric was straight and then fix it before cutting out our bags.  I was very surprised that I still had this. 

I worked on the placemats for Meals on Wheels again this week.  The two in the first picture have Christmas fabric on the backs. 

I need to hand sew the binding on these four and will do that tomorrow for Slow Sunday Stitching with Kathy. 

Two placemats are completely done.  

My daughter has been working on two of her crochet blankets this week as well as some granny squares for her book blanket.  There will be an August update on the book blanket next weekend. 

Finn received a parcel in the mail this week.  It was very obvious that it was for him. 

He is now sporting a new collar and looks quite spiffy!

My husband and I went to the Lambton Heritage Museum one afternoon this past week to see a display of quilts by members of the Lambton Quilt Guild. The show takes place every couple of years. The quilts will be at the museum until tomorrow. 

Christine and I went out for lunch and then to the Waterford Museum to see their special exhibit of Red and White quilts.  The museum building used to be a pickle factory. 

All the quilts were hand quilted and many were hand pieced as well. 

Lunch was at the Marshview Patio, overlooking Longpoint Bay in Lake Erie.  My husband and I have been there to eat a few times over the last few years--they have the best fish tacos I have ever had, so that's what we both decided to order that day.  They were wonderful!!!  That is fresh mango salsa on those tacos...

 I will link up with Kathy and Frederique. 

Placemats, HST's and the Hooking is Done!

I went to the guild sewing day this week and worked on my pitcher plant rug hooking project the whole time.  I managed to finish all of the hooking!  The first picture below was after I steamed it and the second picture was taken before steaming.  It really makes a difference, making it look much smoother afterwards!

I have started the wool edging but forget how to turn the corner and will have to consult with one of my hooking friends on how to do this.  The wool for the edging is a dark purple, even though it looks black in this picture. 

My daughter started a new crochet project this week.  Finn is guarding her wool.  He's very helpful. 

I made and pressed all of the HST's I need for the next blocks for the Thread House Modern Sampler project.  They are on the design wall and may get some rearranging before I sew them together. They will be sewn in the groupings as shown. 

Our guild is making placemats again this year for the local Meals on Wheels recipients.  I have decided to make 12 placemats for this cause.  This week, I put ten tops together and cut out the backings.  The tops are all Christmas or winter themed and the backs are fabrics that will work well for the rest of the year.  I quilted 6 placemats today and the other four will get done this week. I still have to figure out what I'm doing for the last two. Goodness knows there is no shortage of fabric to choose from!  I will do the binding when all the placemats are quilted. 

I made two snowman placemats. 

And four like this.  The little squares were printed on the fabric--it just looks like I sewed them all together.  

There are two of each of these placemats waiting to be quilted.  I am using up scraps of batting too.

In the garden, the gentian is in bloom.  

The bees and wasps are having a party on our Clethra bush these days.  This is a Great Black Wasp.  I had not seen this one before.  The wings are an iridescent blue colour.

My husband and I went for a walk in Port Stanley one evening this past week and a tall ship was coming into the harbour.  This is the St. Lawrence II from Kingston.  The sky was full of dark clouds but it did not rain. 

Here's a picture of Finn in his favourite morning nap spot.  He likes to be touching my daughter when he naps.  

 I will link up with Kathy, Frederique and So Scrappy. 

On a Roll

 I have been in the mood to finish some quilts and so I have another finished quilt to show this week.  My yellow and green potato chip quilt is done. I'm calling it "Sunny Day". The striped binding was in my stash.  This quilt will be donated to my MIL's nursing home to be raffled off as a fundraiser. (Another quilt is quilted and will be bound shortly--it is a gift so no pictures yet)

I spent quite a bit of time rug hooking this week and made great progress on my project.  Lots of blue still  and a little bit more on the last row of the outer border to go.

My daughter's collection of granny squares for her book blanket.  She makes one granny square for each book she has read this year.  Each of the colours and position of the colours gives information about the book she has read--ie genre, rating, how she read it, etc. 

While watering my parsley plant, I discovered that I am sharing my parsley with a swallowtail butterfly caterpillar. 

I saw this flower on a hike this week. 

I love the lemony yellow colour of the thread leaf coreopsis flowers in my garden. 

The milkweed pods are plentiful at the trail where I walk each day. 

Mom and Dad Osprey and their growing baby were putting on a show this week. 

Thanks for visiting!  Finn says hello. 

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique, as usual. 

Walking Foot Quilting

I finished off the quilting and binding of the hollow 9 patch baby quilt earlier this week and got to work on quilting my yellow and green potato chip quilt.  I am using 28 wt green thread on top and white 50 wt thread in the bobbin. This is a bigger quilt so it is taking longer to quilt...more material to manage as I quilt. I will work on this again soon--I'm hoping to have it done to show on next week's blog post.  This is a donation quilt. 

And here is the big TaDa!  The hollow nine patch rainbow quilt is done.  It is 36" by 48".   I bought the backing on sale a while ago and only have 1/2 a yard left.  

My black eyed Susans are putting on a show in the garden in the backyard these days. 

Our Kangaroo paws plant is in flower!  Such an interesting plant!

I finished the red border and started on the Burgundy border on my Pitcher Plant rug hooking project.   This definitely qualifies as slow stitching!!  I also spent a couple of hours on knitting my scarf---another very slow stitching project.  I am itching to start another cross stitch picture but I am resisting until these two projects are done. 

My daughter read 14 books in July and here are her granny squares for each book.  The second picture shows all of the books she read.  The little squares will be put together in the order that she read the books.  She has a spreadsheet that keeps track of the books and granny squares...

My husband and I decided to take advantage of a beautiful, not too hot, day yesterday and we went hiking at Rondeau Provincial Park. There are some interesting plants there and we also saw several varieties of butterflies.  Only one butterfly stayed still long enough for a picture. 

Spice Bush Berries

Red Admiral Butterfly

Finn is peeking out from under my daughter's desk to say hello!

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers tomorrow.  This post will also be linked up with Frederique and Angela today.