Camp Kintail Retreat Report

This post features my projects from last weekend's Crafters retreat at Camp Kintail, but first I want to show you my finished Fall cross stitch...TaDa!  I started this project at the beginning of September and have added stitches to it steadily until this week, when I added the last few.  As I have said before, I love the transparency where the trees overlap and the bright colours in this picture.  I will have it framed shortly and hang it up for the Fall next year.   I have a couple of embroidery kits that I would like to work on next, but likely won't start them for another week or two while I finish up some Christmas gifts. 

In an effort to use up all of the HST's leftover from the Winter wallhanging, I made another placemat for Meals on Wheels.  The backing fabric has tulips on it so it can be used with that side up when winter is over. 

Christine and I made zippered project bags at the retreat. One side is quilted and the other side has clear vinyl so you can see what is in the bag. 

Christine's bag is a bit bigger than mine.  We both used my black and white striped fabric for the binding. 

Here we are with our placemats for Meals on Wheels. 

I signed up for a year's worth of online classes from the Threadhouse Academy and this Tiny House table runner was made for one of the classes.  Some people made a whole quilt with Tiny Houses but I decided to just make a table runner.  It still needs to be quilted.  The houses and trees are meant to be a bit wonky--it adds personality to the project!  I would like to live in this neighbourhood!

I made these blocks by playing with my drunkard's path rulers and partial seams a few months ago.  They have been sitting in a pile in my sewing room, patiently waiting to be put together.  I managed to get this done at the retreat. 

In yet another effort to use up my bin of 2.5" squares, I made another baby quilt.  As you have probably guessed, the bin is still full of squares...  The gray background fabric was in my stash, leftover from backing another quilt. it is mostly used up now.  I should have something in my stash to use for the backing. 

A few years ago, Christine and I met Mary, a knitter, who is also a regular at the retreats and this year, she brought her friend, Elaine, along too.  The four of us hung out together for the weekend and one of the staff members at the Camp took this picture of us with some of our projects.  

The Oxford Quilters Guild is making several Quilts of Valour for injured veterans.  I took a pile of blocks to the retreat to put one of the tops together.  I also made a few more blocks to donate for the next QoV.

Finn stayed at our house for a week while our daughter was at a conference for work.  He's a smart cookie and knows exactly what our routines are when he's here.  

Finn is a specialist at looking cute. 

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures of the retreat projects.  My previous post from a couple of days ago shows the finished quilt tops from the Round Robin that I organized for three friends and I earlier this year.  

Gift Quilt Reveal, Cross Stitch and Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!  Our daughter and Finn are here for the weekend and we had a turkey dinner with my husband's family today. I put out my pumpkin decorations this week.  I even raked some leaves--it really feels like fall now with cooler temperatures and the trees changing colour. 

I'm adding another tree to the Forest cross stitch picture.  It looks a bit odd now but will look better when it is all filled in. 

Finn came with us to the farmer's market this morning and I managed to get him to pose in front of the pumpkins, but only very briefly!

We can see his eyes now that he has had a haircut. 

I have completed the 12 placemats that I am donating to Meals on Wheels.  Here are the fronts--you can see I made some matching sets which might go to a couple. The second picture shows the backing fabrics. 

Here are the two that I finished this past week. 

These two pictures were taken when my husband and I went for a walk in the park one morning this past week. 

The program committee at the Oxford Quilter's Guild has started a colour challenge.  Everyone has been encouraged to pick a block and then make it in a different prescribed colour each month.  The green block was for September and the orange one for October.  I am keeping this project very simple as I have a lot of other projects that I want to move along to the finish line this fall as well as a new quilt I want to start. 

My daughter has joined another crochet along and made one of the corners this week to check her gauge.  

Back at the beginning of the Summer, I mentioned I was working on a secret project.  I made this potato chip quilt using shirt fabric for my cousin.  He received the quilt in September and sent me a picture of him with the quilt this week.  He really likes it and was very surprised to receive it. He has already used his quilt several times--this makes me happy. 

 

One of the things I really wanted to do on our recent vacation was a trip on the Agawa Canyon train out of Sault Ste Marie.  We bought our tickets months ahead of time and although it was a cloudy day, thoroughly enjoyed our day--lots of fall colour and three waterfalls at the Canyon to see when the train stopped. If you have never taken this trip, I highly recommend it!  We were there the last week of September and the colours were at their peak. 

I will be adding more stitches to my cross stitch project for Slow Sunday Stitching with Kathy.  I will also link up with Frederique. 

More Trees and Placemats

More stitches were added to my Fall Forest cross stitch project this week. I like the transparency effect where the trees overlap. This picture is coming along quickly--luckily, I bought two Autumn themed patterns at the same time so I have something else to work on when this is done. 

My goal is to make 12 placemats for Meals on Wheels and I now have 10 finished.  The last two are quilted and just need to have the binding sewn on.   These two placemats are the same, top and bottom.  I like to make them so they can be used year round by just turning them over to see the opposite season. 

I hope a cat lover receives this placemat!

My butterfly weed seed pods are bursting open and spreading their seeds around.  

It's still quite warm here in Ontario and Finn has been outside enjoying the sunshine. He is getting his hair cut this week--we can't see his eyes at the moment. 

Here are a few more pictures from our recent trip north of Lake Superior and in Manitoba. The first one was taken in Riding Mountain National Park where we saw lots of birch trees on our hikes. 

We stayed at a cabin near the park and had three visitors one morning. 

In Winnipeg, we spent most of a day at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.  Thought provoking displays in an interesting building. 

We toured the provincial legislature building.  There was a statue of the Famous Five on the grounds--These women were suffragettes who fought for women's rights in the 1920's. 

In Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park, we wandered through the gardens, including the sculpture garden where we saw these loggers. 

At Eagle Canyon (north of Lake Superior in Ontario), we hiked up to two suspension bridges, crossing both to see spectacular views of the canyon.  This nuthatch landed on the bridge just ahead of me and stayed long enough for me to take its picture. 

I will add a few more pictures to next week's post too.  

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

Fall Cross Stitch

Hello!  We have been away and now we are back home.  We travelled from where we live in Southern Ontario around Lakes Huron and Superior to Manitoba and back with lots of interesting stops along the way.  I will share a few pictures from our trip later in this post.  I started a new Fall counted cross stitch project on our trip and spent many hours working on it in the car and while relaxing in the evenings at various places where we stayed. There was not much colour on the trees on the way to Manitoba but Fall was in its full glory in spots on the way home.  I love the golds, oranges and reds of this season!

This is a Satsuma Street pattern called "Forest".  The picture below shows how it looked when we left on our trip.  The pattern photo shows it finished as a pillow.  I will probably have it framed to hang on the wall when it is done. 

My other slow stitching project will be the binding on these two placemats for Meals on Wheels.  I still have four more placemats ready to quilt in my sewing room--I am making 12 placemats for this organization to give out to the meal recipients at Christmas. 

Here is a picture of the books that my daughter read during August and the corresponding squares for her crocheted book blanket.  Wow...17 books in August! I like to read too but never get as many finished as she does. 

Finn enjoyed some time at the dog park last week. He mostly spends his time greeting all the people, and ignoring the dogs. 

On our trip, we spent some time in Sudbury where we went to see the Big Nickel!

 We walked along the trail by Ramsey Lake and met this little squirrel who made it known loudly that we should move on!

At Science North, we met a much quieter squirrel in the Lego special exhibit. 

On St. Joseph Island, we saw the sunrise:

And the moonrise...

At Lake Superior Provincial Park, we hiked here to see the petroglyphs down by the water. 

There was a drizzle and fog hike at Pukaskwa National Park.  We had our rain gear on and did not get wet. 

I will post a some more pictures next week. 

I will link up with Frederique and Kathy. 

Take care