My Country Calendar

When I think of country, I think of homespun, so that is what I went with to finish my Country Calendar quilt.  As a child, I lived in the country, on a large wooded lot, with a creek running along one side, a pond on the other and Mayapples covering the ground. We tapped maple trees and played in the woods for hours.  Nature was our toy box.  Today I'm a city girl who longs for the country again.  For the trip down memory lane, I thank you Ellen.

Green acres is the place to be

Farm living is the life for me

Land spreading out,

so far and wide

Keep Manhattan,

just give me that countryside.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

Tea with the Girls

It's been a long time since I visited the Polka-Dot Girls. So, we had tea together. You may not think so, but there sure is a lot of stitching in one of these blocks. The continuous changing of thread colours may have added some to the slow pace. I think it took me less time to applique a Civil War Bride block. Daffodil Tea and previously stitched, Count Your Blessings, completes the stitchery for Block Two, of the Polka-Dot Girls.

As the year comes to an end, a candle burns bright for the holiday season and the end of the Country Calendar BOM.

Something else I did this past week, was update my journal. Before I started blogging, in July 2008, I kept a hand written journal of my quilting journey. That stopped when I started blogging. Knowing how fast things can be lost on the Internet, I decided to get caught up on my journal. Funny how fast we forget the things we've made and when we made them. It was fun going back through my blog to get the information. My book is now caught up, but not as detailed, as it would have been, if I had continued to make regular entries. This update took me to the end of my current journal book and now a fresh journal awaits me to continue my quilting journey in 2010.

Now, some thought has to go into labels for my quilts, as I have yet to label any of them! I purchased the HP Custom Quilt Label Kit several years ago. A little more elaborate then I think I want my labels to be, but a good guide. Simple labels suit me better.

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

 

 

Simple Pleasures

Nothing like a bowl of homemade soup

and a good book.

~

If you are a fan of Piece O' Cake Designs, you're going to love Applique Outside the Lines. I have four other Piece O' Cake books, plus Aunt Millie's Garden. The Applique Sampler, Contemporary Classics in Plaids & Stripes, Quilts with a Spin and my most favourite, Amish-Inspired. I plan to start my first Piece O' Cake project in 2010, a pattern from Amish-Inspired.

I finished my November Country Calendar block. So cute! This little robin is searching the garden for something to eat. Don't forget to keep your bird feeders topped up for the winter.

POTC Early Autumn

Just five more POTC blocks to go! My sister named this one Early Autumn. When the leaves start to change colour and berries begin to appear. I'm very pleased with this block.

You may have seen, in the first issue of Quilter's Connection magazine a cute stitchery quilt pattern called, Tree Trimming Party, by Dougal Ann Walker of The Freckles Collection. This pattern is now on my To-Do list. I came across more patterns by Dougal Ann Walker, at my local quilt shop and just couldn't leave without It's a Cat's Life and Quiltmakers. Are they not just the cutest?

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

The Pumpkin Patch

"October's the month

When the smallest breeze

Gives us a shower

Of autumn leaves.

Bonfires and pumpkins,

Leaves sailing down -

October is red

And golden and brown."

October Country Calendar

Last week flew right by and I never had the chance to wash and iron all my new fabric. I noticed my Quilters' Compost bucket was overflowing, so I worked on that. I also stitched the October Country Calendar block, prepared and pieced another Dear Jane block and prepared and started appliqueing the September A Tisket, A Tasket Basket. Then, I did a little more shopping! Off to the Creativ Festival, in Toronto and a side trip to Sew Sisters and Cock-A-Doodle Quilts. Would you like to see the goodies I came home with?

Some black and tan fabrics for Over the River and Through the Woods. More fabric is needed, but this is a good start.

Two pieces of Asian fabric, three 1930's and three pieces of Westminster Fabric.

And, last by not least, some more reproduction fabric. The bundle is Jo Morton's new line called, Toast II.

The green fabric show above (in the middle) is what I purchased in Pennsylvania to surround my POTC blocks. What you see placed around the green fabric is my finished blocks. The green fabric appears a little duller then it is, in the photo, but you can see it better on my previous post. It's in the shopping bag and also at the bottom of the pile of fabric. Each block would be outlined by a round of green fabric, and then separated with an accent colour. Any ideas for the accent colour? Or, maybe I should be considering something other then the green to surround my blocks? I have yet to look through my stash for possibilities. In the meantime, I still have eight more blocks to hand piece.

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

Apple Season

"The goldenrod is yellow

The corn is turning brown

The trees in apple orchards

With fruit are bending down."

~ Children's song

Basket of Apples POTC Block 6

Country Calendar September

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

Peony Bloom

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised and pretty pleased with the outcome of Peony Bloom, from the Red Delicious BOM. I was afraid my peonies would look like big red blobs, but once I started adding the stems, it magically transformed them into beautiful flowers. Patience is definitely a prerequisite if you are needle-turning this block. The petals have lots of tiny points and there is no room for error when placing them. Is anyone else, out there, attempting to needle-turn Red Delicious?

I also finished my August Country Calendar block.

And, my Morris Workshop fabric finally arrived. Isn't it beautiful?

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

Reads and Seeds

Last year I started reading Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilt novels. I'm almost finished The Runaway Quilt. The fourth book in the series. I must say, this is my favourite, so far.

Gaillardia Oranges & Lemons

Gaillardia Arizona Sun

Lots of rain over the past couple of weeks and the garden is growing like a weed. Last year I searched for a perennial that would take the place of annuals and bloom all season. After thumbing through seed catalogs, I came up with the perfect plants. Arizona Sun and Oranges & Lemons Gaillardia. They bloom all summer and you can see them a mile away. I sowed the seed directly in the ground last year and just as summer officially arrived this year, the Gaillardia are in full bloom.

Country Calendar June

Country Calendar July

Can you believe it is July already? Only five blocks to go and then I can piece together my Country Calendar quilt. Have you ever visited Ellie's Quiltplace? Designer of the Country Calendar BOM. Ellen designs and sells her own patterns. I enjoy reading Ellen's blog and seeing all her wonderful hand quilted project. Very inspiring.

Freebie stitchery anyone....

Hats of Plenty

Two more Tiny Baskets completed. Ten to go!

Years before I started to quilt, I was purchasing Miniature Quilts magazines. My plan, back then, was to only make miniature quilts. But, when the time came to start quilting, I didn't think it was such a good idea to start with something so small. My first encounter with anything mini, was last year when I started hand piecing Dear Jane blocks. It is said that anything less then 36 inches is considered a miniature. So, I guess I have made a few miniatures already. But when I think of miniatures, I'm thinking much smaller then 36 inches.

So, time to start reading my miniature quilt books and give it a go. I would like to make the mini's by hand. My concern is quilting them. I don't think I could comfortably quilt without a hoop. My 14 inch quilting hoop (which I love) from Quilters Woodwork, may be too large for miniatures. They do sell a 10 inch hoop. Or, I could baste false sides to the miniature quilt and still use my 14 inch hoop. Where there's a will, there's a way!

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

A Little of This and That

My May A Tisket A Tasket basket is all finished. The June basket was posted on Friday and I can't wait to get going on that one. Because my baskets are all different colours, I am having a hard time picturing sashing. I'm not sure if it should be all the same fabric or a mix of fabric and colours and what colour? I just don't know.

In My Garden

Butterfly Peony

Country Calendar is such a sweet BOM. One day I would like to do the applique version. I'm not sure what was going on as I stitched my May block, but stitching a straight line was out of the question.

Started appliqueing my Tiny Baskets. These are the first four of twenty. I'm just going to make this quilt up as I go along.

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

Seeing Red

Look at me go! I just finished Nightshade, block two, of Red Delicious. I'm so very far behind and block six has already been released. To be honest, I have been avoiding it. I think it is more designed for fusible applique or stitchery, then hand applique. But, now that block two is complete, I am feeling a little more comfortable with it.

White Lily - Fritillaria

Dad's Magnolia

Country Calendar - April

Saturday was perfect for working in the garden. A little on the cool side, but glorious! Sunday, I made a cup of tea, put on a sweater and spent four wonderful hours, in the garden, worked on hexagon flowers for Karen's Flower Garden.

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

Stitching Up a Storm

As I was stitching up a storm, Spring arrived in my garden.

Last weeks goal was to catch up on my BOM stitchery projects and I did just that. Bathtime and Bed'n Breakfast, from Veranda Views, are now complete. Also, the March Country Calendar block. I just couldn't help myself. I had to add a couple of shamrocks.

I look forward to Karen's Tool Time Tuesday and after reading last Tuesday's post, I headed straight for the hardware store. I purchased a handful of eye bolts, but sadly was unable to locate the other gadget. But, that's okay. We have four different hardware stores in town, so the search will continue. Upon returning home, I attached some pretty ribbon to my eye bolts and threaded them up. Then, I took one for a test drive. It was perfect! Wouldn't they make a wonderful gift?

Eye Bolt Thread Holders

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

BOM Week

Firstly, I would like to thank Robin, from Crafty Musings, for the Kreativ Blogger Award. Robin is a busy little quilter. Her Jane Stickle blocks are fantastic and the Autumn House BOM, she recently started, is right up my alley! I look forward to seeing each block. Thanks again Robin.

What's that? More free BOM's! Have you seen, Baltimore Bliss, Season of Grace and Geese in the Forest. Sadly, I will have to save these for another day, as my project boxes are full. Or, maybe I could purchase a few more project boxes!

Last week, I did a little more organizing. Once I found out the shelf life of DMC floss, I decided to better organize mine. I'm still working on it, as I have about 250 older skeins. The new floss can wait. Because the skeins unravel and lose shape, I decided to transfer them to bobbins. They will be stored in DMC's floss organizer boxes.

Last week was also BOM week. I finished January's A Tisket, A Tasket block and The Bugs, from Noah's Ark.

Then I completed the February block of Country Calendar.

Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart. ~Author Unknown

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen