Sunday 28 May 2017

Playing with greens

The weather was so nice (finally) that I wanted to spent the entire day outside (yesterday). My back gave me permission so I did. I played with green shrubs that needed to be moved to the backyard and planted some flowers. I had a wonderful time. After awhile, I started to sport a nice sunburn so inside I went to play with more greens in my sewing room.


Hole in the Barn Door looks pretty in green. Managed to make a few little 9 Patch blocks too.


Seven green hourglass for my second RSC2017 project.


More greens to come as I haven't done the framed 9 Patch yet.

I am late linking up with Angela at Soscrappy due to camera issues. Haven't bought a battery for it yet. It is now Sunday morning and I am still trying to upload pictures!!
But I am right on time to meet with Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 

Until next time ...   my back is still agreeable this morning so you'll find me outside again today. Yay!

;^)



Wednesday 17 May 2017

Whatever Wednesday

I did some sewing.


And it is quilted.


But it is not a quilt.



It's a book cover!


I covered my task master journal with some Bee Hive Rules fabric.


I have found the pattern and tutorial here, at Stitch by Stitch.

On the inside, I used a fabric with a bee and some flowers, of course.

My only regret is that I didn't sew in a ribbon to use as a bookmark. It shall be done on my second effort. :^D  I shall also add a quarter inch more to the measurement as this one is pretty tight fitted. My measurements were too accurate and didn't take into account the thickness of the batting, I guess.

The quilting is very simple, gentle wavy lines, like a bee line.


Joining Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
Joining Cynthia at Quilting is more Fun than Housework

Until next time ...


;^)

Friday 12 May 2017

Buckwheat

I did some more green Buckwheat blocks for my RSC 2017.

Well, three greens and one aqua. :^D


Then I sew a few together as I couldn't wait to see how well they play together.




I like what I see so far. The constant fabric (yellow with cherries, ugly one, and wanna-be plaid) are the trellis and the rainbow is passing through it. Does that make sense to you? Anyway, it will be easier to see it after adding more blocks.

What I don't like is the pinwheels. What happened to them? The points are a mess! I definitively need to remedy that before I can continue.


Joining Sarah for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?
Joining Angela for RSC 2017
Joining Cynthia for Oh Scraps!

The more the merrier, so come and join us.

Until next time ...

;^)





Sunday 7 May 2017

In need of some slow stitches

Long week at work, crazy weather, fun at the craft show and now I am in need of some slowdown time. What better activity than slow stitching to help me catch my breath.

I am still not back to work full time and even with shorter days, I still get so tired. Maybe one day I will be stronger, or maybe never, but for the moment, my body is telling me it needs a good long rest. I will listen to it and behave today. Just for today, hehehe!

I added a few stitches on my Ohio Star Shadow quilt last Sunday. It is hard to photograph black thread on dark fabric and white thread on light fabric. Here are pictures my best effort in photography.

Little bit more done ... a whole lot more to do!


Photo from under the frame. (click to zoom). Hope you can see the quilted feathers I have design for this quilt. 

This is my humble homemade template made from an old acetate sheet. It isn't in the right position. Each triangles need two feathers, one left & one right, as in the previous picture. Each quadrant has 4 triangles, like a big hourglass block. Unfortunately I have found a flaw in my design.

Hope you can see in this picture that the quilting doesn't reach the grey/brown HST and the black square. Now that's the bottom of the quilt so it isn't too bad, in the sense that the binding will hold it down. In the higher rows, those two unquilted pieces will become four pieces forming a square of 5.5 inches. Now that's a problem. It is way too big to stay unquilted but too small for me to do a feathered wreath. I'll have to think of another design.

In the news, you might have heard that Ottawa/Gatineau and all along the Ottawa River, houses are flooded and the army was called to help the regions. It is very sad. It hasn't happened in so many years, people all around me don't remember ever seeing it this bad.

This is where I grew up. The little village is surrounded by farm lands. Except in the spring time when it becomes almost an island.
Can't show the size of this lake.

The only ones not complaining are the Canada Geese.

This creek is as wide as a street usually, now it's almost 8 meters (1/2 mile) wide.


What you see here is a field, from one concession to the next. It is now under 2 feet of water. You can see the houses are completely surrounded.

Here's a close up of those houses.

Closer ...


This is the same house. It's a very big house.


Bringing in more sand bags by boat. It is on the same street as the big house just closer to the regional road.


It's a good thing the houses are build higher than street level but still, I don't want to imagine their basements.

Remember this picture from last Fall?
Completely to the left, you see some green in the water. From that point, bring your eyes down to the little pine tree standing next to the white archway. See how far the river is from that pine.

Check again. You can see the pine is clearly outlined because of the river behind it.

If I bring you closer you will notice that it has its roots in the water now. The maples in the background are almost covered too. They grow on a little strip of an islet in the middle of the river. The rain is still coming down.

It will be on my mind today as I slowly add more stitches to the quilt and sending prayers to all those who have to endure.
Do not worry for me as I am safe. I live about 8 km (4 miles) away from the Ottawa River and a good 7.7m to 9m (25-30 feet) above it too. I'm okay but many friends aren't. So sad.



On a happier note, I had fun at the craft sale yesterday. Unfortunately, the battery in the camera died as soon as I turned it on. I was sure I had charged it. I was so disappointed. I wanted to share this with you all. So I plugged it in last night. This morning, I started taking pictures of the quilting and before I was done, the battery was out again. WHAAAAT??? I believe I need a new battery. So all I can share with you is what I bought. Sorry. :(

Little fancy cards. This lady makes beautiful work.

Aren't they gorgeous? There was so many to choose from.

And they are small too! I so love them. Maybe I'll keep them for me, hehehe!

Joining Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching. Come and visit.


Until next time ....

;^)








Saturday 6 May 2017

On the greens ...

No, I am not a golfer. To me, on the greens means, sitting in my backyard. Unfortunately today it's raining so there'll be no sitting outside, but I can always find green in my sewing room! :^D

Green like this ...

One little Buckwheat ...

Two little Buckwheat ...

Three and four future Buckwheat.

I have lots of sewing to do and I also have to be at the craft show, or is it a craft fair? What's the difference? Anywho! I have to be there. I'll share photos of it tomorrow.

Meanwhile, you might like a quilt show right at your finger tips. It's happening right now at Angela's Soscrappy place. I'm sure you will find plenty of green in the linky party. I'll be there!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at Angela's

On Sunday, I'll be with Cynthia for Oh Scraps! Another great place to find inspiration and plenty of Ohs and Ahs.


Until next time ...

;^)