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. 

The Guild Quilt Show

The biannual Oxford Quilters Guild Show in Embro, Ontario happened over the past couple of days. As you know, I spent much of my sewing time over the past couple of weeks sewing sleeves onto my quilts for the show. On Wednesday morning, I dropped off my quilts and Christine's quilts so that they could be hung for the show. I entered 11 quilts and my barn quilt into the show and took pictures of each of them at the show.  

This is one of the quilts I made for the new Hospice which will be opening this summer.  It's a potato chip quilt. 

My modern sampler was my only bed sized quilt that I entered into the show.  It was a bit too long for the quilt rack so the bottom of it was pinned up. 

This big quilt was made by Megan using a pattern from "Quilts of Iceland".  My Shadowbox quilt is on the chair beside it. 

Here is my Overlapping Tiles quilt. It has all bias edges which is why the bottom is a bit wavy. 

I can't remember who made the house quilt but Christine made the pink and gold quilt.  My Crumby Stars quilt is on the chair. 

This is a better picture of Christine with her Pink Pineapple quilt. 

Christine called her hollow nine patch quilt "Jelly Beans."

Here is my scrappy nine patch.  You can see that both Christine and I like to make scrappy quilts!

Yet another scrappy quilt--this one is an I Spy Potato chip quilt. 

This is a Poppyprint pattern--I forgot to get a picture of the label and can't remember who made it.  You can probably tell why I liked it!

Several years ago, three friends and I ran our own round robin one summer.  This is Christine's quilt.  I made the triangle border.   (More scraps!)

Lynn made this fabulous teal/turquoise quilt during the pandemic. 

My Arizona Adventures quilt...

It was fun to see two barn quilts at the show--this one is mine and Christine made the second one, but I did not get a good picture of hers. 

My Whistlestop quilt was displayed with another quilters "cats in teacups."

This is Christine's recently finished Christmas quilt. 

"Put a Ring on It"-- machine pieced and hand quilted by me.

I really like making I Spy quilts... this one was  made with Half Rectangle Triangles.

I suggested that we offer a Scavenger Hunt for younger visitors to the quilt show. After the quilts were hung, I went back and made a list of things that could be found in the quilts.  I typed it up and the chair of the quilt show committee and I made prizes for participating in the hunt.  I made several rope bowls and Gwen made some pouches and crayon rolls. I was at the show on Friday and there were several children that completed the challenge.  It was fun to watch them looking at all the quilts to find everything.  (Feel free to borrow this idea for your guild's quilt show!)

Finn and I did some reading on the front porch this week.  I started a new book. 

Our gardens are bursting with spring blooms. 

When in Newfoundland in 2023, I purchased a rug hooking kit. This flower, a pitcher plant, is a carnivorous plant and is the provincial flower of Newfoundland.  Here is a picture of the plant in full bloom--this is not the pattern that I am stitching.  I have started hooking the border as you can see below.  This will be my slow stitching project for the next while. 

Christine, Katharine, and Carol and I are doing another round robin starting this month.  Here is my centre block and the fabrics I am including for people to add borders. I will not see it again until the big reveal at the end of the summer. 

 I will link up with Kathy and Frederique as usual. 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all who celebrate this holiday!  We had brunch with my husband's family yesterday so the rest of the weekend will be quiet. My niece helped me to make a bunny charcuterie board for the brunch yesterday and I managed to get a picture before people started to nibble.  I will have to make more of these for other family gatherings. 

I only have one more quilt that needs a hanging sleeve for the quilt show. I hope to get to that this weekend. I am one of those people that likes to have things done ahead of time...I don't like the stress of trying to finish something at the last minute. A couple of quilts for the show are not in this pile, but you get the idea. The barn quilt I painted last summer is also going in the show. 

My Arizona Adventures quilt is done and ready for the quilt show.  It will hang in my front hall after the quilt show.  There is another quilt in the to be finished pile that will be hand quilted next. 

Our daughter sent me a picture of her March squares for her book blanket this week as well as a picture of the books she read.  There are not as many books being read at the moment as she is very busy at work these days. Each granny square represents one book read. 

I have this cross stitch picture on display right now for Spring.  I made this for my mother well over 25 years ago.  It was hard to get a picture without any reflections in the glass.  

I have several types of daffodils in bloom right now in my garden.  They are my favourite spring flowers. 

I don't remember planting bloodroot in my garden but they are welcome volunteers.  Such pretty little flowers!  They don't bloom for long but are such a bright spot in the garden.  

Finn was starting to look a bit shaggy and had a haircut this past week. The groomer gave him a new bandana which he proudly wore at the family brunch yesterday. 

This was before the haircut...

While Finn was at the doggy spa, my husband and I went for a hike with the hiking club.  It was cold and everyone was bundled up to stay warm.  The temperatures here continue to fluctuate--it is 20 today...

Here is a picture of my cousin's new grand-daughter with her quilt. Her big brother has been telling her what he sees in all the fabrics.  He has a flannel quilt that I made for him when he was born. 

My sewing plans for this week include finishing that last hanging sleeve and working on more of my spinning drunkard's path blocks. I have a few other volunteer commitments this week too.  Never a dull moment around here!  Have a great week!  I will link up with Kathy and Frederique.