Fall Cross Stitch and Other News

It's been a couple of weeks since I have blogged.  There has been a lot going on and this will become apparent as you read today's post.  First, I have made a bit of progress on my fall cross stitch project.  The cardinal is done and more leaves and branches have been added. I love the colours in this picture although I am not sure a tree exists that has such a variety of leaves on one branch! 

I finished off one of the donation quilt tops I was working on.  I need to buy a backing fabric as I have nothing in my stash that is suitable.  I went to my local (small) quilt store yesterday only to find out they have moved  and do not reopen until later this coming week so this project is on hold.  I don't have enough of the dark blue background fabric to add borders so this is the size it will be. 

I made more blocks for the second donation quilt and have about 40 more blocks to make.  I have already filled in some of the holes in this picture. I will likely need to buy a backing for this one too. 

We spent several days over the last couple of weeks helping our daughter move to a bigger apartment.  Finn has been quite confused by all the packing and unpacking but he will settle in nicely once everything is unpacked and put away.  I brought home my daughter's quilts for some repairs so she has a quilt on her bed that I made for her a long time ago with leftover fabric from flannel pyjamas that I made for her when she was younger.  It is not quite big enough for her bed but will do until I get the other ones repaired.  Finn always approves of any blanket or quilt.  

While out on my morning walk, I met a new friend. 

Every year since my Dad died, my husband and I go to the local ice cream place and get some black cherry ice cream on my Dad's birthday.  It's a fun way to remember him. 

This past week, my 96 year old mother in law passed away peacefully.  As you can see, she also loved ice cream and our excursions with her always included a stop at an ice cream shop.    I made her many quilted gifts over the years and she always had my wall hangings, table runners and quilts out on display in her home and in her room at the nursing home.  I loved her dearly and will miss her every day.  I was blessed with a wonderful mother in law.

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers as well as Frederique. 

Leaves and a Finish!

This week, I added more leaves to my Fall cross stitch project.  This is not a very big project and it is fun to work on at this time of year.  This whimsical pattern is from Satsuma Street.

I finished the Bricks and Stepping Stones baby quilt this week. I sewed the binding down by hand in the car on our way to see a play in Blyth.  This quilt will be gifted shortly.  The baby was born in July.  Many of the I Spy prints were picked specifically for this particular baby boy. 

I'm moving right along on the hand quilting of my round robin quilt.  I'm using orange thread to quilt the cool colours and green thread to quilt the warm colours on this quilt.  I'm enjoying every stitch!

I have lots of projects on my list of things to do next week.  We will see how much gets done.  I'm happy just working away in my sewing room, listening to an audio book or chatting with a friend as I sew. 

Finn is a happy boy!  

At the park where I walk with friends each morning, everything is just ducky. 

You can tell the end of summer is nigh when the berries on the bushes are in full colour.   According to my Seek app, this is a Guelder-rose or Viburnum. 

This one is an Autumn Olive.  This colour palette would make a great quilt...

 I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers as well as Frederique.   Blogger has been acting weird the last little while.  Did some of you have trouble commenting last week?  

Back From Vacation

 We just got home from two weeks in Calgary, Alberta where we were visiting family.  We had lots of fun and went to lots of interesting places. This post has lots of pictures of our trip as well as the sewing I have done in the last three weeks.  I will start with some progress on my hand quilting of the round robin quilt.  I'm just figuring it out as I go along and will go back to quilt the blue border as well as the outer green border when I feel inspired. 

I started a new fall cross stitch project on our trip.  The pattern is Autumn Bird by Satsuma Street. I like to do a bit of this colour and then a bit of that colour as I stitch.  

I went to one quilt store in Canmore and purchased these four fat quarters, all with a Canadian theme.  I really like the touques on the birds!

While out for a walk along the river, we discovered some interesting art made with marbles.  You could only see the picture they made when the sun was shining from behind. 

I also caught a picture of an Osprey landing on its nest on top of a public art installation on St. Patrick Island. 

We went for a short hike at Big Hill Springs Provincial Park near Cochrane. 

Who doesn't love a happy barn?

A real sunflower and an art installation in a reading garden. 

I'm always on the lookout for Quilty inspiration...

Fishing, anyone???

This is the best bathroom art I have ever seen! It was at the SAM centre (Calgary Stampede Museum).   Yes, those are toilets in the background...

We also spent a day at the Calgary Zoo where my favourite animals were the penguins. 

These little birds weave their nests with grasses. 

We took a trip to the badlands where we saw lots of Hoodoos. 

I took last year's fall cross stitch project in to be framed before we went away and it should be ready soon.  Here is the frame I picked out. 

Also, before we went away, I finished met Rainbow Scrap Challenge 9 patch quilt. It's all ready for show and tell at our September Guild meeting. 

What would a blogpost be without a picture of Finn the granddog???  He just got his hair cut this week.  (I saw this mat outside a store in Calgary...)

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers, Frederique, and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge folks as well. 

Machine Quilting, Piecing and Hand Quilting, of Course!

It's been a busy week in the sewing department!  On Monday, I pin basted my nine patch quilt.  I quilted it with my walking foot yesterday and I have binding picked out to cut and sew on today.  This quilt will be done and ready for show and tell at our September guild meeting!  I used a 28wt light grey thread for the quilting. 

I pieced the medium blue block for my "circle" quilt and now all the blocks are made.  I went searching through my stash for an appropriate sashing fabric as I did not want the blocks to be butted up against each other in the finished quilt.  I found this black and white striped fabric and will use this for both the sashing and the binding. I am going to cut the sashing at 1.5" so only an inch will show once everything is sewn together. 

I added yellow and green beads to my counted cross stitch project.  Three more colours to go!

I am working on hand quilting this pieced border, just figuring out what to quilt as I go along.  I am quilting the final border as well.  I still haven't figured out what to do in the wider blue border.  It will come to me eventually!

On our walk one day this week, we saw Mama deer and two fawns in the woods beside the path.  

There were some interesting spider webs as well. 

Finn helped my daughter will her crochet this week.  He finds balls of wool make very comfy pillows.

There were some very nice sunbeams this week too. 

I will link up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers at Kathy's blog, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge folks at Angela's blog and Frederique, as usual.  Have a good week!