Baby Quilt Finished

I see it's been over a week since I have updated this blog, my apologies. There is nothing worse than clicking on someone's blog to see that there has been no news, no update and no photos.  I will try and get back into my blogging routine soon.

I am delighted to say the jet lag has gone although it did linger for rather longer than usual this time for some reason.  I am blaming it on the Dreamliner - I had been told that it was supposed to help alleviate some of the symptoms of the jet lag but it certainly did not help me this time.  I am slowly beginning to get back into my routine at home and hopefully I will get back to the sewing machine very soon on a more regular basis.  First though I need to do a bit of tidying and some reorganisation of my sewing area. I am not very good at keeping things tidy when in the midst of projects.  I try and keep each project in separate baskets but in fact it would help greatly if I actually finished some of these projects in the baskets, especially the ones which have been around for a while. My scrap bucket is full and overflowing so I need to separate that out into the appropriate baskets too.  Can I have some more quilting time please?

Four of us had a trip to the Scottish Quilt Championships, at Ingliston this weekend.  We had a lovely day out and enjoyed the company, we decided it was a little disappointing this year.  It was not as busy as I have seen it in the past and we discovered that a number of the usual trade stands were missing as there was a clash of dates and some retailers were attending another show down south.  We still managed to spend a good few hours wanderering around and admiring the fantastic display quilts.  I only bought a few pieces of fabric and some needles and probably did not spend as much as usual. Not a bad thing really.

Purchases made at the quilt show

I have finished the little baby quilt I started in Canada and I am really quite pleased with it, and yes the pink does make it pop!  It will be delivered later this weekend and  I hope Emily enjoys rolling around on it.  It's been a lovely day again today and nice to be able to get a photograph in the garden although it is a bit breezy for photos.  The acers are beautiful and beginning to change to their autumn colours as you can probably see peeking out under the quilt.

Candystripes and Pinwheels
 

 

I hope you enjoy what's left of the holiday weekend.

Home Again

Well it's 4am and I am sitting drinking coffee and reading blogs wide awake and have been for the last hour!  Our holiday is over for another wee while and I am delighted to say we had a great time, it's sad to say goodbye to the mountains, it was such a stunning day yesterday I must admit it did bring a tear to my eye as we travelled along highway 1A for the last time this summer on our way to the Airport.  The sky was bright blue not a cloud to be seen and the mountains and rivers so crisp and clear.

Yesterday was a long day. We wondered why the British Airways check in desk was all decorated with balloons and flowers when we arrived at the airport to check in our bags.  We soon discovered we were flying home on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner on it's first flight out of Calgary.  Well I for one was not terribly impressed however we must move with technology and I guess we don't have a choice of plane we fly in. I think I would rather have had more legroom and better food than all the gadgetry of games, films, tv shows etc on our little screens which in my opinion were too close to see clearly anyway. Ok so that's my rant over.  After the 8 hour flight and a change at Heathrow Techie was waiting to meet us and taxi us home,  it was so good to see him again.

I am hoping we have some good weather here for the next few days at least so I can get back in to the routine before having to look out my winter woollies and put away my summer clothes for another year.

My coffee is finished so I'm now going to head back to bed in the hope that I can have a few more hours shut eye and fit back into our new time zone again.

Quilting will resume as soon as I can get my unpacking done and my head sorted out.

The Sunshine Returns

Some of the ladies in our quilting class are embarking on a huge appliqué project.  I for one have not made great advances in appliqué over the years I have been quilting - in fact I think I have made one little table runner way back when using the fusible method.  Our project is a Christmas  block of the month and we plan to have it finished by December 2015.  The ladies made a start last week back home and to show willing I had a little practice and was reasonably pleased with the results.

This week has not been what we were hoping for during our holiday break.  I understand it is often the case around this time of year a few flakes fall,  but this year seems to have been the heaviest snowfall for some time.  I believe the snow in Alberta even made the news back home.  However we are fortunate that we had winter clothes to keep us cosy.  

Yesterday morning was very misty and the mountains were just shadows lurking behind the mist first thing.  As the morning progressed the mist burned off and we had a beautiful blue sky day.  I am sure I have shown you this view before but I never tire of it. A day for a drive!

We had a stunning afternoon travelling down the Kananaskis Highway.  Crisp clear sunlight catching the snow topped mountains, clear blue green lakes and very few cars on the road.  I have taken so many photos over the years in different seasons I'm afraid the camera stayed in it's case and I just soaked up the photo stream in my head - memories of a wonderful afternoon.  The trees and undergrowth colours are just beginning to change towards Highwood Pass the highest part of highway 40.  Our favourite spot at Mist Creek is no longer.

The floods of last year have washed away the banks of the creek where the little picnic tables stood, the once idyllic spot is strewn with trees and boulders where the creek has changed it's path - that's nature for you.  I think in time the area will be renewed and the banks will once again play host to the picnic tables and families enjoying an afternoon picnic.  Lots of work has already been done and continues, along the highway to replace the road which was washed away in a number of places during the floods of 2013. 

I have managed a bit of sewing in the evenings and I am really pleased to report I have only one more 'hardware' block to piece, thank goodness!   Then I can sew all the blocks together to make a reasonable sized quilt, it will not be the size stated in the pattern which asks for 30 blocks. I'm stopping at 16!  I am so fed up with this project, I seem to have been doing it for years.  Of course I'm going to have to look at these fabrics again as I've lots left over haven't I.  

Have a wonderful week whatever you are doing.

Snow in Summer

That little fellow last week knew exactly what he was doing.  Getting his fill and lining his larder before this arrived....



No this is not an old photo

......he had been watching the weather forecast!  Although we had been warned about some snow this week I really did not expect this. Just look at my little bench at the top of the garden there is almost 4 inches of snow on it, and where little Sammy was sitting on the BBQ.   Hubby even thought about building a snowman. Ah well we are in the mountains and it's a full moon what can we expect.

A day for the household chores today especially as I have been ignoring them in the good weather. The laundry is done and we have made a big pot of soup for dinner. I've done a bit of knitting, read some of my book, caught up with emails and hand stitched some of my little pentagonal soft ball.

I will be digging out my 'Hardware blocks' later this evening and making a few more to add to the bundle.  I have decided the little baby quilt and the exploding block will go no further while I'm here and they will return to Scotland with me to layer up and finish.

Pink Makes it Pop

We have had a very enjoyable week here.  Some lovely days out and couple of days sitting in the garden in the sun reading and watching this little fellow.  He and his partner have been busy scampering around gathering seeds and cones I think they know the weather forecast for next week!

....... and we had a superb meal out to celebrate M's birthday.  This weekend we are taxiing friends back to the airport.

The baby quilt top is coming along and I am really pleased with it. I can't decide whether or not to layer it up and quilt it here or leave it as it is and quilt it on my machine at home.  Decisions, decisions.

I was looking for something small to hand stitch and discovered somewhere on my journeys through the blogging universe a tutorial for a little pentagon paper pieced ball.  So I thought I'd give it a try.  Here is the link to the pentagonal soft ball 

Hope you all have a great week. 

Pastels for a Girl

Techie asked me to make a baby quilt as a gift for a friend's little daughter who arrived last week. What an excuse to visit the fabric shop.  When I went to look for the border fabric for the exploding block I bought this little bundle of pastels.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do, I wanted something fairly modern but with some traditional blocks.  K as usual came up with some inspiration. She uses Pinterest a lot for ideas but I have not quite got the hang of it yet.

This is what I have come up with so far.  Having decided on the pattern I realised I needed a little piece of fabric to make it pop so when we were out for lunch yesterday downtown I paid the quilt shop another visit and picked up this. Very girly!

Full steam ahead now - it's wet again this morning and there is a sprinkling of snow on the mountains so I will probably manage some more sewing time this afternoon.