My Christmas cards. I started with the iris folded pine tree, then went to www.bhg.com and got some more stlyes.

 They were fun to make, but I am really late sending out my cards this year!
   Chuck and I are going to Estaire for Xmas eve - weather permitting of course - to visit our Elizabeth-AM friends.
 They always have Yulaften - a Swedish Christmas that involves drinking small glasses of really strong liquor really fast while singing a song of good cheer. I hope the weather co-operates!! The dinner is very tasty too.       This winter has started off with a bang - high winds and inches of snow already. So much for the predicted mild winter - LOL!!! Well off to wrap gifts - a good day to stay home. Merry Christmas to all!

Xmas Wreath

This is an Iris folding card we were taught at our Quilt Guild meeting. It is easy and fun, and replaces paper piecing in fabric. That makes it greener.
The snowman is my table runner from last year with paper pieced figure. I won the block of the month, but this particular snow man is the one I did. Isn't he cute?
















Here is the new wreath the "girls" made at Marg's. I a m happy the way it turned out - perfect for a house with a quilter in it. It is made on a cardboard frame with many many prairie points sewn in a circle and then glued to the frame. Then yarn is laid over the frame - it was supposed to be black, but I had white, and it kind of looks like snow now.

Good morning World! I just was directed to Linda's site, and want to tell you about her giveaway.
She makes these terrific beaded Santas, and will draw for one of them Nov 25th to give away!
Her blog is Stitch Lines@ http://linda-hubbard.blogspot.com   Please visit and become a follower.

     We had a terrific Guild meeting last night where we learned a technique to make iris folded cards for Christmas - or any occasion you want. It was fun and informative. I showed my Laurel Birch bag, the pumpkin bling pin cushion, and my wild bright table runner from Sharon's class in October. It was our 15th anniversary as a Guild, so we of course had to have cake!!! The cupcakes were delicious. I just love the Guild - it inspires and warms us up on a cold November night.
        We heard about our Quilt Show next September and I am looking forward to working there. It will be wonderful to be closer to home this year. We have a refurbished arena in our town which will be perfect for the show. Hope we get lots of quilts. I must get busy and finish my "study in browns" for the show. We have a special 9/11 quilt coming too! The first time in Canada! That should be a big draw.
   Well off to my bath, and back to quilting!! Stay well.

I have been working on the brown/beige/rust quilt blocks shown in a previous post. With the urgency of our store ended, it is nice to just slowly finish a UFO. Our president at the Island Quilters' Guild gave us the challenge to complete some or all(!) of our UFO's this year. And I have helped a local fabric artist with her beautiful project - lovely to be a part of it.
    On a sadder note, my DH has lost one of his major lines at his job. This right before Christmas! How heartless is big business! And him working so hard to reestablish this company in the north. Well, we will have to tighten our belts - maybe we will lose some weight - lol - and hunker down again for the winter. Wish he could retire.
        Our new cat Harry is settling in well. But the other two are not amused! I hope when the testosterone finally seeps out of his neutered (last Monday) body, they will get along better. It takes 4-6 weeks. He must have been a pet that someone discarded in our neighbourhood, because he has such nice house manners.
   Well that's all for now. Have a good (rainy) Saturday and keep on sewing!!
       

Unique Treasures closed

Well a sad day yesterday - our little store is closed for the season. We will open next May  - hopefully - if the building is not sold by then. It was a busy day for us, but very few customers came in. We will be looking at advertising more next year and in different venues. We had a good meeting to discuss the pros and cons and plan for next year.
   Now to get on with a quilt I have to quilt for a friend. It has been in my house since April!!!! Glad she is still talking to me!! LOL.
   And I have to start my weight reduction voyage again. Time is getting short to accomplish my goal - fifty (50) lbs. by the time I am 65 (next May). Wish me luck!
  Thanks for watching my blog - as unexciting as it is! But it is still fun to catalog some of life's experiences here. Take care for now. Yours truly, Linda

Another sewing thing completed! Pumpkin Bling from Ebear university. it was a free course to acquaint us with this web site: www.kranbearys.com/Ebearz The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. I used an upholstery fabric that frayed - maybe next time I will use felt for the leaves. But all in all a fun project.
We have had an almost tornado -like day with high winds and some rain.
Harry is becoming part of the family - much to Seymour's chagrin! It's always hard at the start to introduce a new cat - especially not neutered. We have to wait until he is physically ready - in another week or so. That will help I am sure.
Well good night - don't let the bed bugs bite!!

Another project done. This is a Laurel Birch fabric with her fishes pattern in cotton. The flap is done first with Tex Magic and shrunk then cut out. It has two pockets inside, and one on the back. A very functional bag. Even has a padded shoulder strap for those long shopping trips!

The inside:

Harry arrives and Whirling Octagon runner

Say Hello to Harry - our newest member of the family.

He just dropped by when he learned that these people (us) sometimes feed strays!

The other two "boys" are not amused so far, but when he has the little "snip" if you know what I mean, they will accept him better. he is very smart,
 and accepted the ride to our vet so calmly. I think he is only glad to have a  permanent source of food!!




                                                                                And this is the table runner I made Friday at Sharon's class Whirling Octagon.    I know it looks very busy, but I thought the plain whirling bits would balance that out more.

Oh well, live and learn. It still feels Christmassy.                                                   

I

This is a pillow I made for my fitness instructor. Hope she likes it.
And on the right some more place mats with an embroidered center - a little muted, but nice for the fall. It's a cornucopia with pumpkin, apples, and grapes.
Off to work for the second last time. We are closing for the winter after October. It has been a lot of work, but so much fun as well.

Next year (?) I will make things in the winter.

And one more thing - a Christmas garland made from fabric and hand sewed on gold ribbon with red beads between.

Had a lovely day by myself in Espanola yesterday. I wandered around Hart, bought a new camera (I dropped our other digital!), got my hair scalped - yikes!!!! and drove home in the most beautiful place on God's green earth!
I left Cindy's until last, and almost missed what I went there for in the first place. She had the closed sign in the window, but opened up for me at 5 to 4. WHEW!!!
Had to wait 30 minutes at the bridge because of construction -again! I will be so glad when it is all done. But it will be well worth any inconvenience now. They have paved down from 10 Mile Point right to my street so far. I really admire the road builders in this country - so many obstacles to overcome.
The fall colours are just starting and gold, green, red, and brown make for a gorgeous palette - almost makes me want to make another quilt!! Now back to my aprons, garland, quilts. Too many UFO'S for me !!
Seeya, Linda

Now I have a gingerbread cookie garland to make - have to go to Espanola today to pick up needed supplies. Just might slip into Cindy Bee's for a look. Very dangerous!! LOL
Have been very busy with our store, but things are slowing down, partly because Hwy 6 is completely dug up!! We are looking forward to having it finished though - should be lovely for the winter.

Got 8 blocks of my own quilt done yesterday. Nice to work on one of my own projects for a whole day! Here is a peek at how it will look.

I like the alternate beige star formed when the blocks are sewn together.Have a good day - might rain here.

Cleaning the Beast

Here is my DH cleaning the lawn mower.
Glad he puts a very strong stick under it so as not to let it fall on him!
With almost a half acre to cut, he is happy to have a ride on.

I had my first Guild meeting as fund raising person. Whew! A little unnerving, but all went well after all. We had an interesting meeting getting to know other people than the ones we always hang with. Our new president did a good job giving us the challenge to finish some or all of our UFO'S and show them at Guild. What a novel idea - to actually finish something!! LOL. Who would have thought? Well my DH is coming home today from a week on the road. I made his favourite green pea soup with sausage (comfort food from his Mom's recipe), and home made bread, so he will be happy to be home!
Have to think what I want the guild members to make for my "Tinners" project this year. We provide fabric and suggestions, and each month we trade in the box, and make someone else' s block. It can be a challenge at times.
Also need to make 4 more coffee aprons for our local Loco Beans coffee shop. This store of ours certainly keeps me busy!!
Hope you have a good day, L

Here as promised my Cow pillow that took first in the Fair.
It is machine embroidered on a pieced background.I tried to mirror the barn in the pond, but it isn't exactly the right angle. It sold quickly after the fair though.
Well back to my 4 slice toaster cover....... Seeya.

Here is my Bargello hanging in our store. It was a class of three days and very intricate to make.
I call it "Northern Lights".

At Last! 8 coffee themed place mats finished, and already sold! I must do them again for myself -they are so me!
The matching apron has sold twice, so I must get back to work on the two more I bought
last week. The store is going very well so far. We have sold many items and had many visitors in.
It is really an interesting experience,a except for handling money, I am having a blast.

Here we are at the quilting bee in Mindemoya. We had some visitors, explaining to them that this was a charity quilt for a fire victim on the Island.In the time we worked, 10-4, we rolled the quilt twice! It was hot but we soldiered on. What fun when Marion pumped the player piano in old fashioned tunes. Mary Anderson was playing the harp outside too - lovely sound. It was like going back in time. There was even a native drummer and singer for a time, when he wasn't telling stories. I wished I could have gone to the other venues too - they sounded very interesting. There was a dried flower bookmark to make, a cow to milk, and butter to churn! Maybe next year! What a lot of work went into organizing this day. The town ought to be proud. Take care, Linda

What a busy day yesterday! We started out at St. Francis of Assisi church in Mindemoya for their auction and bake sale/BBQ with Rev Baine Peever acting the part of an auctioneer. He held up the items and suggested prices stating that he was probably the only auctioneer we could understand! LOL.

Then after visiting with Nancy at Wool 'N' Things ( and buying enough fabric to make a coffee lover's apron and place mats!) we headed out to Sandfield for the ribbon cutting ceremony to reopen their school house. The 1987 original burned down last year and they have rebuilt it to high specs - it is just beautiful. I dropped my camera this morning and can't get the photo I took of this ceremony off the camera.

After that we rushed home to pick up my dessert for the BBQ we had been invited to on the north shore. That was really fun and terrific food was had by all. My Mocha cheesecake squares went over quite well. And no baking required. What a busy day! I was going to go to church today, but was too tired from all that yesterday - next week!

P.S. Here is the pic!

This is another article for the store - a Lone Star Quilt I made a few years ago and never used. It is a long double and is 100% cotton, machine pieced and hand quilted. I hope it sells!

Unique Treasures

Hi. These are a few articles I made for our new store! Opening Friday, we sell hand made lovelies such as quilts, purses, place mats, sandwich bags, dressed dolls of all kinds, Pin cushions etc.

We are all looking froward to a good summer.

Microwave potato bags, and two pin cushions.

My husband Chuck and I just saw Iolanthe - a play by Gilbert and Sullivan at the Burns Warf Theatre in Manitowaning last Saturday. What a wonderful night!! Such professionalism in a group of local talent. They should be on Broadway!!! We laughed until our sides ached. The sets, costumes, make-up were delightful. And all on a tiny stage. we will most certainly be back next time. Bravo and Brava ladies and gentlemen!!

Yes, I took the old ones apart and made a pattern from them. Then I made these new ones.

New cushions

 

 

 

Here's another one from the show and tell.

 

Vivian's new block

A sixties' fabric look quilt

This is Denise's quilt of a block of the month by Linda Burnett.

Went to a wonderful Show and Tell of quilts yesterday in Sudbury. Long school bus (ouch) ride but good weather (always NB in Canada) with same -minded ladies. No we didn't sing "hey bus driver speed up a little bit" LOL. But talked all the way both directions!

What a room load of talent - puts me to shame!

Here are some of the lovelies.

I have been so busy quilting that I haven't been here for awhile. Chuck had a birthday on Sunday, so we had to eat cake!!;)

The ladies met on Monday to make charity lap quilts for the residents in the local nursing home. It was such fun - here is one of them.

This is a dog bed I made for a friend who left the Island in the fall for the "south". Her cat Rob is the one who actually uses it!

I used to work at a fire hydrant factory - you couldn't park anywhere near the place;)

Here is the latest project - a charity quilt with donated fabric. Its bright and cheerful.

This is a baby quilt I quilted for our Guild charity giveaway.

It is a panel with machine quilting and some hand work to keep me in practise. Sorry I can't turn the pic around.