So… what have I been doing?

Saying I have been busy doesn’t really tell you anything about what I’ve been up to, does it?  Okay – I’ll give you some details…

First, I have to say that I have been very busy at work.  I keep thinking that my work life will slow down as I get closer to retirement, but that isn’t the case.  But I am not going to talk about work….

Our weather early in the fall was a continuation of our summer weather.  Rainy, grey, but not too cold.  In September we had a visit from a friend and spent a weekend with her at my sister’s cabin.  Despite the rain we went boating…

Another weekend we did a big outdoor clean-up for my friend Linda… Lots of truck loads went to the dump….

I harvested and ate lots of yummy vegies from my garden.  I also did some canning… here we have peach jam and high bush cranberry jelly….and maple syrup.  I got three gallons of it and put it into quart jars.

The weather improved through the month.  We had some lovely warm and sunny days…. this is mid September…

Did I do ANY sewing?  I made these hexies for my September swap partner in the Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap.

Any other sewing moments were spent working on my own hexagon quilt.  Here is proof that I actually do work on it sometimes although this photo is recent.…

Hmm…. It doesn’t sound that busy ….  I’ll be back to tell you about October.

See you soon,

Janet

Photo Challenge Calm … and the Excitement of Sewing!

The word for the 52 week photo challenge this week is calm….  My friend was very upset yesterday after a phone call from her mother and we were talking about how to calm yourself instead of reacting when our emotions get triggered.  We ended up doing a grounding exercise – feeling the solidity of our connection to the ground and the chair that we were sitting on, letting go of tension from parts of our bodies and picturing ourselves in a place that we find calm and peaceful.  So I got to think about where is calm for me.  Although many places would qualify at different times, this is one of my favourites… my yard…The grass is patchy, there are lots of weeds (or one could call them wild flowers) and the landscaping is sort of non-existent, but it is lovely and open and sunny, and as you know I see wild animals there.  

And now that we have been calm, and I have linked up to Alsha's Space, let’s have a little excitement!!

I won another giveaway about a month ago; this one was from Deonn of Quiltscapes.  The package arrived on Thursday – a nice little selection of happy fat quarters and some scraps from Deonn’s projects with this fabric.  Thanks Deonn!  I was immediately inspired…

On the weekend I was going to a little party where we would be celebrating three friend’s birthdays.  So I had to whip up some gifts.  Three pouches…

Three backs…

Three interiors…

I used this tutorial from Amy's Creative Side although just for the pouch construction, not for the paper pieced panels.  I took the inspiration for my panels from Deonn’s scraps. 

And if you click on the link to Deonn’s blog above you will find that she is having another giveaway!!

Janet

Friday Night with Friends report and some other sewing

It has been grey, rainy and cold here.  Despite that the spring keeps progressing.  After the crocuses the next up flowers are the Lupine and the Jacob’s Ladder … Funny how purple reigns in the spring.

***EDIT***

My daughter pointed out that this isn’t a Lupine below.  It is a Harebell.  Another purple spring flower.  I have added the Lupine photo below it.

There are a couple of other beauties out in the sunny spots. These lovely Cut-leaf Fleabane are pink when still a bud but turn white as they open…

These ones, Stickseed or Blue Bur, will turn into burrs which stick to your socks, shoelaces, pants, jacket and anything else they can grab onto…

For Friday Night with Friends hosted by Cheryl at Gone Stitchin' I sewed up this flower for the Canadians Quilt Bee.  Carly said that she is making a quilt of Mackintosh Roses…

 

And then… I did some other sewing this weekend!  I made this postcard for the Canadian Quilt Talk Canada Day postcard exchange.  The theme is the maple leaf of course…

And I finished up this doggie pad that I started about two months ago at the retreat.  What held me up?  Well after I cut the rounded corners I realized I would have to use a bias binding.  And I had forgotten that it is really easy to make bias binding, so I procrastinated.  This pad is just to cover the flimsy seat cover that hubby bought so the dog’s claws don’t rip it.

Last evening the sun came out.  We went out for a picnic supper with our friends and a paddle in the creek.  One canoe and four people means that the “girls” got to sit in their camp chairs in the middle of the canoe while the “boys” paddled.  It felt like I was the Queen of Sheba being shepherded down the Nile.  I’m sure it looked hilarious.  And the dogs… well they ran and swam.

No dogs were harmed in the making of these photos.

Janet

A busy week and some sewing :)

It was another busy week – sometimes the days seem to be so full that I don’t accomplish any of the things on my list.  Hubby is still away at work so I spent another night out there on Wednesday.  These gorgeous Fairy Lady Slippers were blooming in the yard.

And the ice was still trying to leave…  Funny because it is all gone here, but I guess this lake is at a little higher elevation…

It was my sister’s friend Linda’s birthday and the whole family came out for the party…  We had some FUN…. (which is the word this week for the 52 week photo challenge, so I will be linking up with Shaz at Alsha's Space).  And here are granddaughter, DD # 3 and a couple of the dogs having some FUN.  

 

I did actually get some sewing done this weekend… Remember I said I had to help DD # 3 make curtains.  Well we got them done!

There are two sets like this.  She got this wonderful bird fabric at the awesome store she found in Vancouver… which by the way is called Spool of Thread and is located at 649 15th Avenue.  There is a website too at spoolofthread.com.  I haven’t checked it out yet.

The curtains are backed with a pretty blue/green fabric to help keep the light out… This is how effective they will be…  Not too bad…

And granddaughter had to sew too, so she made a little bag from the children’s scrap bag of fabrics, with handles of the blue/green curtain fabric…

She is such a poser… 

That’s all for this week, but I’m pleased with my sewing accomplishment!  I hope you had a great week too.

Janet

Some sewing progress this week

Another week has gone rushing by.  It has been rainy the last few days and not as warm as it has been for the last couple of months.  Never-the-less I have been gardening.  I have most of my greenhouse planted and put the potatoes in the garden plot today.  We keep worms in a tub in our kitchen to create worm poop compost.  I put a handful of them in my outside compost bin today so I can see what they do over the summer.  They cannot overwinter in the outside compost as it is too cold, but there are still a zillion or so of them in the tub.

My sister and her two friends from New Brunswick were here to visit the last couple of nights.  We went for a lovely walk on Saturday evening.  As you can see there is still ice on the lake… 

I’m also linking this post up with Shaz at Alsha's Space for the 52 week photo challenge.  The word of this week was “view”.  I think this one will do.  

On Friday a couple of friends and I had a silk scarf dyeing session.  I did six scarves (five silk and one chiffon).   I really went wild with the colours.  Oh I do love colour.  Here they all are, hanging out on the clothesline.

And I actually got some sewing done this week.  Two hexie flowers to send to my swap partner for May in the Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap.  She asked for bright prints and green centres.  I hope I didn’t get carried away with the “bright prints”.

And I received three sets of second round hexies from my swap partners for February.   They were slow arriving but were wonderful once they arrived.  Here they are added on to the respective flowers I chose for them.

That is all for this week, but I have to say that I am pleased with my production for the week!  Did you get to sew?

Janet

Sewing!

Yup, I did some sewing this weekend.  Ten blocks for my colours quilt.  All the greens, yellows and light blue blocks are done.

Sorry the picture isn’t great.  I have eighteen blocks left to do, in orange, red, purple and dark blue.  I ran out of muslin.  Yes I am sewing these onto muslin.  I ordered backing fabric for this quilt and know exactly what I want to do for the back and the binding, but I’m not sure what to do for batting.  I don’t want the quilt to be too heavy.  I read on someone’s blog that they had made their quilt on muslin and it was heavy.  I have a roll of really thin batting which I use for wall hangings; I may use it in this quilt.

Last weekend I took a daytrip to Juneau, Alaska.  I went with my friend Kim on the Fjordland Express.  It was a fantastic trip.  The owner/operator, Glen, relays lots of information about geography, history, ecology, the animals and birds, and his own experiences.  Did you know that the Lynn Canal, where Skagway, Haines and Juneau, Alaska are situated, is the deepest fjord in North America?

I have lived in the Yukon for 35 years and sad to say my excursions into Alaska have so far been paltry.  This was my first trip to Juneau.  It was a grey and rainy day but the sea was calm.  We spent lots of time seeking out sea mammals and birds.  We saw Harbour Seals…

Stellar Sea Lions….

Hump Back Whales….

Porpoises… no picture, they are much too fast….

Hundreds of bald eagles…

We saw eleven bears, ten on the road trip to Skagway and one on the road into Juneau from our docking point.

There were three of these brown coloured cubs with a black bear mama.

We also saw a moose and porcupine, as well as numerous other birds but no pictures…

As well as the boat trip and a couple of hours in Juneau, we had a side trip to the Mendenhall Glacier just outside Juneau.

I didn’t realize it was such a wild hair day for me.  

If you ever take a trip to Alaska I would really recommend this tour.  You can turn it into a several day adventure if you want to stay overnight in Juneau and check out the gazillion touristy stores.  There is a quilt shop there too. 

Janet

This week, May 7th to 13th, I….

I didn’t get to participate in the Christmas Quilt A-long yesterday.  It was hosted by Sharon at Vrooman's Quilts this month and I hear that she had a great breakfast recipe and a tutorial for some cute ornaments, as well as the next instalment for the Christmas mystery quilt.

And what was I doing instead you ask?  DH and I attended DD # 1’s graduation.  She is now a licenced practical nurse.  Or she will be after she writes her licencing exam this week. 

All ready to go in her white robes; excited and happy.

And the accolades are delivered.

Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, National Chief of Canada’s Assembly of First Nations, was the keynote speaker.  He gave a very inspiring talk and his presence at the little college graduation is a huge honour.

Hats off to all the graduates!

On the drive home, we spotted a bear and DH pulled up beside it so I could get a picture…

Now this is closer to any bear than I would normally want to be.  Look at those claws.  He was chomping on that little patch of grass by his paw, and continued on eating for a moment, then abled up the hill.

Not much sewing this week.  I have a project on the go that I can’t show, but I made good progress on it.  And the tongues of the mukluks are ready…

I’m back to class on Wednesday to find out what the next step is.

Janet