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.

Update on the Exploding Block

As promised the next stage of the block.  I decided to use the same fabric on all of the blocks for this round.  I did consider adding another round too but decided in the end to stop, cost may have been a factor as I would have had to buy more fabrics.

This quilt has been a very quick and easy project and even better it has used up more left over fabrics.  I did have to buy some inner border fabric but I managed to pick it up on the sale rack of the local quilt store.  I am please how quickly this has come together.  I hope your have enjoyed giving it a try too.

This has been my sewing project this week, but I have also been knitting - another small Linus Blanket for premature babies. This is a good project to keep in the car. No thought needed and you all know I can't sit and do nothing!

We have been on the look out for the usual wildlife on our travels and have seen a number of ospreys, a couple of bald eagles, lots of dragonflies, fortunately no mosquitos!

Yesterday we saw our first bear of this trip.  A beautiful big black bear of the cinnamon variation.  He was minding his own business walking along the track on the other side of a little lake where we usually watch out for the ospreys on their nest.  I think you will agree he is quite a handsome fellow.

We have had a lovely relaxing week, mixed weather, drives in the sunshine, sitting by lakes and rivers watching for wildlife, reading books, knitting and sewing and even some shopping in the city.......just what holidays are for!

Exploding Block continues .....

I have left my original pale pastel Exploding block behind and swapped it for bright fall colours. If you look closely and have been following my blog you will realise that this Exploding block is being made from left over scraps of my Fall in the City Quilt below.  

So you may have guessed I have flown across the Atlantic Ocean again!  We arrived a few days ago to a typical Scottish type day, dreich, wet and cool it felt like home.  Today however the sun is shining we have blue skies, I can see the mountains and I know I'm on holiday.

The sewing machine came out the other night, and as I always do I look to see what scraps and left over fabrics could be used up from previous projects before going off looking for something new.  Fall in the City leftovers just had to be used up.  So here is a selection of some of the exploding blocks so far.

Quilters have difficulty with 'random' and I am no different from any other.  The pastel exploding block is very definitely random but this time I thought I would keep all the plain squares in the centre.  We will see how it looks as the days go on.

Off out now for a drive and to enjoy this wonderful scenery.  We may have seen it so many times before but I love it just the same.

Oops Sorry

Sorry I forgot the link for the Exploding Block in the previous post I have now fixed it and you will also find it here.