I read a lot of quilting/sewing blogs and am always so inspired by the many things other people are making.  I used to be a one-thing-at-a-time sewist, but I've become rather a kid-in-a-candy-store person.  I'm working on quite a number of projects for a few months now.

I did finish and hang my Christmas Stars quilt and am really rather proud of it.  I got the idea for this quilt from Maggie at  http://www.makingalather.com .  It really grabbed me and I just had to make it. From start to finish, it took me two weeks.

For Christmas, I made a number of the Sew Together Bags by sew demented patterns,  one for a swap at my appliqué groups Christmas party, and one each for my two daughters, my daughter-in-law and my oldest granddaughter.  I managed to finish two of them on time, one in February, and the other two are still unfinished.   This is the one for my daughter-in-law.  Her favourite colour is orange, can you tell ?

Now, I have three different quilts I'm working on, besides trying to finish the other two Sew Together bags.  I really need to get them finished because they are for my daughter and granddaughter and they are going on a trip to Japan in April.

I couldn't resist Barbara Brackman's 'Stars In Her Crown' quilt along at http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com   It started in January and she releases one block every Saturday until this month.  The 9th and final block is released today.  I guess next week we will get the finishing or border instructions.  I have never done one of these before and it's been a lot of fun.  I'm not thrilled with my colour choices.  I tried to go with red and yellow but it's turning out to be more red and beige.  I will be happy with it when it's done, I'm sure, and will replace the Christmas Stars one that's still hanging on my livingroom wall.

The other quilt-along I'm doing is 'Hen Party' by Sindy Rodenmayer  at www.fatcatpatterns.com  It's a fun quilt and I am using scraps for it.  For a long time, I didn't have any scraps, but now, after a couple of years of quilting (mostly bags and placemats and just a couple of quilts), I do !  This quilt-along is not finished until October.  Sindy is releasing one pattern a month until then.  They are free for the month they are released, but after that you have to buy them.  I didn't start until February, so I had to buy the January pattern for a whopping price of $3.00 !  Such a bargain !  I have the first two blocks fused and the first one machine appliquéd.  I used invisible thread by Aurifil so that I wouldn't have to keep changing thread colours.  The third pattern was released yesterday. Aren't they cute ?!

And lastly, I'm working on a wedding gift quilt.  It has to be done by June.  Their home colour scheme is grey and aqua, so the quilt is mostly grey with just touches of aqua.  The pattern is a freebie from Kathy Schwartz at  http://tamarackshack.blogspot.com .  I've been collecting grey fat quarters since last fall.  It's really simple to make the blocks and I'm almost done that part.  I've been putting them up on my design wall so that I can figure out if I have enough (my math skills for quilting are not that great).  I'm really pleased with it.

 Hopefully, today I will find some time to cut a few more blocks.  The centre diamond is supposed to be more to one side, so will add blocks on the left for the remainder of what I have.

Coffee is finished, so I'm off to be domestic for a short while... then sewing !

- Holly

Here I Am, Late As Usual

Warning ... long post !  Well, so much for posting more often !  While I haven't been posting, I have been working away at quite a number of things.

For Christmas, I made a lot of those 10-minute table runners ... both for me, and for my daughters and daughter-in-law ... at least 3 each :)  I also made a patchwork table runner for the kitchen island and a matching table topper for the kitchen table, as well as a matching cover for my Kitchen Aid mixer (it reverses for everyday use the rest of the year).  Did another patchwork table runner for the kitchen island for Easter.

I also made a baby quilt, using a panel.  It originally had a blue border but I cut that off and put on my own pink one since it is for a baby girl.

I finally finished the Row By Row I started last August and it is now hanging on the wall at my daughter's cottage.  I am pleased with how it turned out.  

I wasn't going to do a Row By Row this year since there are so many other things I want to make, but I liked some of the patterns so much I couldn't help myself !  I decided to quilt it a little differently this year.  Instead of cross-hatch quilting each panel after the appliqué was finished, I decided to appliqué and quilt at the same time.  It will still be a quilt-as-you-go, but just a little different.  I've got one panel done and one ready to appliqué/quilt, but everything got put aside for other priorities.

I made a number of things to enter into a local fair and I am pleased to say I got 4 firsts (summer pi's, tote bag, pillowcase, and bear softie) and 1 second (runner).

I was sewing a dress for me early this spring when my sewing machine went bonkers.  It didn't seem to me, or my husband, that the cost of repairs was going to be worth it.  I've had this machine for over 20 years.  It's a Kenmore made by Janome.  So, long story short ... I got a new one ... Janome 2030 QDC (?)  I really like it.  It's only shortcoming is that the throat is too small.  I love love love the stop/start button, the speed throttle, and the needle threader.  And it's nice and light so I can carry it myself.  One of these days when he has time, my husband is going to see if he can figure out what's wrong with my old one.  Would be nice if he got it working properly, as the throat on it is bigger, so I could set it up just for quilting.  Oh ... and I finally got back to sewing that dress (good think I didn't just pitch it in the trash!).  Only need to put in the zipper and sleeves now ... and then hem it.  I will try not to be disappointed when it doesn't make me look 5 foot 8 and 100 pounds :)

I did start on a quilt for our bed.  I 'fussy cut' the centres (pink and yellow roses) for the Sawtooth Star block.  I have most of the blocks made now, only about 10 more to go, but it's another thing that's been put on the back burner so I could do a few other things.  I'm beginning to understand how people can end up with a bunch of UFO's !

And last but not least, I made two quilted bags.  One was a knitting bag tote for a dear friend who was moving out of the area.  I used the Friendship Star block and had everyone at church sign it before putting it all together.  Another dear friend machine embroidered the piece used for the front or back pocket.

The other was for another dear friend and was one of my entries in the Fair.

Now that I'm caught up, hopefully it won't take so long to post AGAIN :)

Time to get busy.
-Holly

Well, so much for writing on this blog more often!  Bad me!  But I HAVE been busy sewing, along with all the other day to day stuff there is to do.

I finally finished my Christmas Cardinal duvet cover.  It's not supposed to be a duvet cover, but I don't have time to quilt it right now.  So I sewed it to a sheet and made a duvet cover out of it for this Christmas.  Next year, hopefully, I will take it off the sheet and actually quilt it.  I think I'm going to have to rent the long-arm machine at my local quilt store to get it quilted, as it's quite large, approximately 93 inches by 108 inches.  It all started when I fell in love with the fabric in the very middle and just had to buy some.  Then, as my SisterIL and I were driving around collecting Row By Row patterns, I kept finding more and more Christmas cardinal fabric ... and the panels.  Thus the idea of a Christmas quilt for our bed grew and grew.  I still have some pieces of the fabric left and need to make a pair of matching pillow covers, but not right now as there are so many things left to do before Christmas.

This is it on the livingroom floor before I added the sheet on the back.

And here it is on our bed.

Once that was done, I just had to get busy on one more project.  This is an individual Row By Row panel that I really wanted to get done for the second floor bathroom.  I changed it a little bit.  The pattern came from The Quilting Bee in Fonthill, Ontario.  Of course, their pattern had bees on it, but I changed them to ladybugs, as we have quite a problem with them swarming into the house in the fall. I also added the mirror.  It actually came from one of my purses and has velcro on the back, so I sewed a matching piece of velcro on the panel after the quilting was done.  This is the first time I've stipple quilted anything other than a practice square.  There are mistakes (I won't point them out) but nevertheless I am pleased with it.  Our second floor bathroom has two rooms, one with the tub and toilet, and one with two sinks, cupboards and a vanity.  This panel is now hanging in the tub room and I love it!

Now that is done, I will hopefully get back to the Row By Row quilt I was working on before.  It's supposed to be a Christmas present, but I don't know if they'll get a completed quilt or the pieces of it!  I'm doing it quilt-as-you-go.  In the meantime, I'm getting out all our Christmas decorations (at least 33 Rubbermaid tubs of them, not including the trees).  More about that later.

I'm also getting ready for our annual Tree-Trimming Party which will be this weekend.  We've been doing it for about 20 years and it just kept getting bigger and bigger.  We've had up to 60 people here (thank goodness for our big old house!).  I used to do all the cooking, but last year, due to health problems and age, I changed it to pot-luck.  It's nice not to have to worry about having too much or too little food.  I still do some cooking, especially my dinner buns and sweet and sour meatballs, but if we get a snowstorm and people can't come, they are easy to freeze.  My DH makes his clam chowder which seems to be the reason some people even come!  I decorate the rest of the house, lots of little do-dads and every room has a tree of some kind, but our guests decorate the main livingroom tree(with our own decorations).  My SonIL and his barbershop quartet come and serenade us with some Christmas songs and that's a big hit too.  Adults, teenagers, and kids ... it's crowded, it's noisy but it's  so much fun.

Bye for now ... time to get busy :D

Wow ... it has been four years since I added to this blog.  Hopefully I still know how to do it !  This will be a really long post, just to catch up.

Sewing and cooking have become the focus of my interests and travelling has been put on the back burner for the time-being.  I have turned into a really big fan of Pinterest and have had a lot of fun trying so many new recipes.

While I still love gardening, we have had such hot and humid weather the past few summers, that I haven't been able to do much in that direction.  I'm hoping that next spring will be a real spring so that I can get a lot done before the heat sets in.  Gardeners ARE eternal optimists, you know :)

I HAVE, however, been sewing a lot.  Mostly clothes for me and my grandchildren, with a little bit of children's clothing for charity.  The odd bit of 'crafty' sewing has been thrown in along the way, and now seems to be my main focus.

Two years ago I bought the material to make a king-size quilt/duvet cover for our bed.  The original idea required a ton of fussy-cutting and was rather intimidating, so I didn't start.  About two months ago I found a pattern on sale and it seems a little easier (and adaptable), so I think I will use that instead.  At about the same time, there was a tutorial on Pinterest for making the basic block for Drunkard's Path using freezer paper, and I thought I could use it for the quilt pattern.  Of course, I had to try it, so I did two sample blocks which turned out really well (picture me grinning like a Cheshire cat and muttering "it works, it really works!")... and then I couldn't waste those blocks, so I made myself a small tote bag.  I really like it, and it's had a lot of use.

Then, my SIL and I were in a local quilt shop and saw a Row By Row quilt, got very enthused, and I bought the kit and she got the free pattern.  Well, that really started the ball rolling.  Back (at my) home, we were both on the computer looking for more and figuring out how we could get more free patterns ... "Who do we know who lives near ...?"  Turns out that collecting the patterns was like eating peanuts ... you just want more and more.  I think by this weekend we have about 75% of the Ontario patterns and a few from other provinces and states.  I can't imagine that we will make all of them, and hopefully next June when the new ones come out we will stick to ones we can actually make ... but our plans were grand even if we don't make them all :)    So far I have made 4 panels towards the actual quilt, plus two others just in case I need them (they were easy ones and I needed the break).

I sewed quite a few of the 10-minute table runners from a video tutorial on YouTube.  I've done Easter ones for me, my DDs, my DDIL, and a dear friend, Autumn ones for us all, plus a whole whack of Christmas ones.  I bought all the fabric for last Christmas and didn't get them done (because I was desperately trying to get sets of 8 placemats done for my DDs and my DDIL), so it was nice to use up all that material.  After having done all that, I can tell you it still takes me longer than 10 minutes to make one :)

I also used up some of the Christmas material making a few other things.  I made a reversible cover for my Kitchen Aid mixer ... everyday side with green ivy material and the reverse side with Christmas gingerbread material.  I also tried making a Dresden Plate block and turned it into a table topper for the kitchen.  It's not perfect, but it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself !

So now I am back to working on another Row By Row panel and whatever else strikes my fancy for something quick and easy in between.

AND ... I've done something really dangerous ... I started reading sewing blogs.  Somehow or other I ended up reading a blog from a lovely lady in Norway (May Britt at http://abyquilt.blogspot.ca) which led to another, then another, then another, which led to more lovely ladies from Australia (one of whom is Chookyblue at http://chookyblue.blogspot.com.au).  I love the work that they do.  They incorporate a lot of appliqué and embroidery in their quilts/wallhangings.  Of course, that set me on another tangent, and now I have some of that hand-work on the go for quiet times.  A couple of new books with patterns had to be purchased as well.  They are not easy to find here in my part of the world, so I have also digitally subscribed to Australian Homespun magazine.  So many wonderful patterns :)  But I thank all those wonderful blog ladies.  They are such a source of inspiration.

That's it for today.  Take care.  Hope your day is wonder-full :)
NannyBee

Floating Islands of Uros

I'm going to skip a day and go straight to our tour of the floating islands in Lake Titicaca.  It was an absolutely wonderful day, I think the best one of the whole trip.


So many photos, I once again put a video on YouTube.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r91cQ_I6yO4


The island we visited lives on what they can hunt (fowl, usually) and fish - and what they make from the tourists.  There ARE islands who don't allow tourists.  The man gives a demonstration of calling for game birds.


The ladies with the 'tassels' on their braids - the colourful ones mean she is single and looking for a husband - the black ones mean she is married - and a child gets a crochet hat.


There are photos of how they build one of these islands.  They are about 3 metres thick, and are attached with strong ropes to the bottom.  The lady with the saw shows us what happens when people fight between themselves - just cut off your part of the island and go somewhere else.


The round hut is a kitchen.  Stoves/fires are set on large flat rocks.  


Our ride in the reed boat was nice and calm and peaceful ... rowed by two men - who would pull out their cell phones when we were still somewhere!

Machu Picchu

I have far too many photos to be able to put Machu Picchu on this blog.  So I have made a slideshow and put it on YouTube.


You can find it here (hopefully):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyaftLrWmh8


There are 64 photos on the slideshow ... far less than the over 200 in my iPhoto album!


If you can't click on the above address, just copy and paste it into your browser's address bar.

Various Things, Returning to Cusco

There are lots of little interesting things to see on a bus trip, that don't belong in any one category.  The bus itself was like any Greyhound bus.  The roads, on the other hand are not.  Our worst roads are not as bad as most of the roads we've been on here, even the paved ones.  So no matter how nice the bus is, you're still getting bounced around a lot.  You wouldn't want to be prone to motion sickness!


The tour we were on for Ollyantaytambo had 18 people on it, but all of the other ones were a maximum of 10, and once just 4.  We've had one so-so guide, one pretty good guide (excellent knowledge but walked way too fast and we kept losing him), and two extremely good guides.  They really knew their stuff and you could tell they weren't just reciting facts and figures, but talking from in depth knowledge of their subject and the area.


Did you know that Peru gained its independence long before Canada did?  I think our guide yesterday said it was about 1820, but I'm not exactly sure.


Now for some photos:

Bromeliads growing on the hillsides were very common in this area.

Mosses growing on the roof tiles.  We saw various plants and cacti growing on rooftops.  It's a very dusty area and when the dust piles up deep enough, things can grow in it.  We saw the same things happening in China.

Couldn't resist!!!  Actually, it's an election sign.  This was the candidates first name, the rest is hidden by the vegetation.  During an election, instead of putting up paper, cardboard, or wooden signs, they just paint them on the side of buildings and walls.  In a lot of places, just about every flat surface is covered.  The election was over a couple of months ago, so obviously they don't go back and cover them over.

Soccer/football game.   The women on these teams come from neighbouring villages to compete.  Don't you just love their uniforms?  Our driver was kind enough to stop and let us take some photos.

The goalie.  These are Quichua people.  In actual fact, there are no Incas.  The Inca was the ruler and the people were Quichua (or Kichwa or Kechua).  It was the Spanish who started calling all of the people Inca.  The play-by-play of this game, over a loudspeaker, was in Quichua, not Spanish.  It is only in the last decade or two, as schools have been built in local villages, and the children are being taught Spanish, that these people are starting to use anything other than Quichua.

Wouldn't you know it would be almost dark when I finally found an agave actually blooming! 

Just because.