a calm day

We are clear today and I can see the whole bay. I had the Moore clan here Mon. for our Christmas, my sister and youngest bother and families. The weather held out for them and they were both shocked at the amount of snow we have. Our first turkey dinner with all the trimmings. My sister-in-law has demanded a homemade gift next year from my sister and I. She really wanted my pointsetta wallhanging,not!!
 All my cards sent out, shopping done,gifts made and  all sent west and south. Oh, my gosh, what am I going to do. Making Christmas stollen today, then what. Time to work on my UFO's
 Howard and I are heading to my sister's Christmas eve till Boxing Day. Then off to Ottawa as Howard had a nephew die Sat. unexpected. Always a hard time to lose a loved one but I think especially hard this time of year.  Think often of my Mom, Dad and brother at this time of year.
 Wishing everyone the merriest of Christmas.
May hope inspire you,
May joy fill your heart,
And may peace be yours
As we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Warmest wishes

Look what old man winter brought us

This is the scene we woke up to this morning and it is still coming. It sure is beautiful. I love the way the snow hangs on to the trees and the bushes.It looks like powdered sugar sprinkled everywhere. Highway 26 is closed and my Garden Club Christmas pot luck ,along with many other events,is cancelled. I have my Christmas cards finished ,shopping done and wrapped and our daughter's gifts on their way to Calgary, so that leaves a wonderful day of mucking , rearranging, sorting etc. in my hurricane-looking sewing room. I am getting a new sewing table that houses my sewing machine and serger ,so have my work cut out for me to welcome that.Time to light a warm fire ,a cup of hot chocolate and begin. One always is please with the new ,clean organized look. How easily things get so disorganized, out of place and messy!! It will be so sweet for 2011.

Guild Christmas party a success

We  had a great afternoon at our guild Christmas party and the pot luck was amazing as always. I introduced them to coupon capers and it was huge success. I decorated 30 bags and we needed 10 more. I was a little  embarressed as I was having the names drawn, my name was picked 4 times and two more that I whispered to the previous winner to draw again. Boy ,sometimes you are hot and others times not. Brings back good memories of the times on MAnitoulin. They showed interest in having it again next year ,so that is a good thing. I showed two wallhandings and a table runner at our show and tell. I am on a roll, finally. Helps when you are feeling well, and I haven't felt this good in 9months. So looking forward to a healthy 2011 and dear knows what I will accomplish. I am finally using,well know how to use my new machine , so will be putting many miles on it. Hooray!!

quick trip to the island

Went with my husband for a quick trip to MAnitoulin on Thurs. Saw a few friends and wish I had more time, next time. Found a great B&B in Little Current that is very heplful and understanding about my severe sensitivities, yahoo. Howard will be staying there now and not coming home smelly.  I didn't realize it was since Jan that I hadn't been there .Had a wonderful short visit with our old neighbours, sure miss Ivan and Jean. Had quite the drive to Sudbury ,so stayed till Sat .with friend Kathie as the drive south was even to be worse. We had fun looking at quilt stuff and visiting. Our drive was beautiful as the sun was shing the whole way and the snow made everything shine and sparkle.
 Busy working on a few Christmas projects that have to get sent out west real soon. Going to surprise my daughter and have her parcel there before Christmas. Well done Diane.
 Our house is shaking today as the tank range is having their  bombing exercises . You get a very little feel of what the countries experience in war. My heart feels for them.
 Well, off to the sewing room.

It is getting to that time of year that winter is soon upon us. I was making potatoe leek soup and my husband was out chopping wood for our wood stove. He loves to still use the axe. We were down on our property a few weeks back cutting up trees and loading them up for cutting. With the snow on the ground and the warm soup and a fire burning ,these surely are signs of the winter season.
 I have been busy writing up the two newsletters for the December issues. I found this wonderful little verse for them as we are all thinkingof Christmas the is not far off.
There's more, much more, to Christmas than candlelight and cheer; it’s the spirit of sweet friendship that brightens all year. It's thoughtfulness and kindness, it’s hope reborn again, for peace, for understanding, And for goodwill to all!"
 I have been reacting again big time ,so have been a hermit in my own home for the last few weeks.  One thing you do accomplish is  much inside and out. I love the cold weather,it is so fresh and clean feeling. I could walk all day in it breathing in the cool air and having  the cool breeze blowing on my face.It is so invigorating. Can you tell I love winter!!!
  We are having coupon capers this year for our Christmas  guild party,idea taken from Manitoulin. Hope it goes over as well as it did there. So ,I am busy making a few things, have the tickets all ready and still have to decorate the bags.
  Husband off to the hockey game and my time to have a relaxing bath with a cup of hot chocolate. Catch you later.

Things on the go!

One of the wallhangings I am working  on, I bought this fabric on the shop hop and love it. The fabric takes me back to my childhood.

This is the other wallhanging I am doing ,called fractured block and I have two more cut our. We had a great time on the shop hop Strafford,Shakespeare, Kitchener and St.Jacobs. So many new fabrics and ideas. Had a trunk show with Kay Hannah and showed us many ideas for scrappy quilts. Many were using her way of stack-n-wack squares, triangles rectangles etc. and what wonderful results  she gets. Looking forward to her workshop in the spring.

This is what we woke up to this morning and still have it tonight. It makes things look so clean and bright. I have my ski pass ,so I am ready and waiting.

My Christmas quilt is finished. This was a disappearing nine patch . It was our project as the Durham Quilt retrerat in 2008. I t had flannel on the back and was hand quilted  by the Amish. Now on to my next partially finsihed quilt.

where did October go

Our guild have just set up a quilt show in Thornbury in their library that will run the month. We have lots and lots of articles for the boutique. Our open house is Sat. with nibblies  and hoping for a sucessful month of viewing and buying. A fun raiser for the library and guild.  This is one of three fairy wall hangings I am doing.

This is a Helen Fujuki worshop wall hanging that I am working on from July.Lots of pieces to applique and thread painting.

home again ,home again

Great weekend in Pt Huron with the 3 D's at the Sage House B&B environmentally safe for me and we love it there. Joan breakfasts are amazing. We hit every store. Great bargins and lots of Christmas shopping done. I held back and only bought 2 yards of fabric for a backing for an oriential wall hanging.Now that is progress!!! Weather was amazing,traffic on the bridge was backed up the entire bridge going and coming, back extra chat time . Howard off to the island so have plenty of time to sew,working on two wall hanging , much over due. You know how some thing just get put on the back burner.

GAthering of the guilds, Owen Sound

What a wonderful day  at the Gathering of the Guild. So great to be with women with the same interests.There were great presentations, workshops and vendors. The evening meal and guest speaker was the high light. Renske Helmuth was so inspiring ,she has my quilting juices flowing  with rapids.What a talented women and so interesting. Looking forward to the one next year.

Thanksgiving, a time for family,being thankful and thoughtful,and thinking how fortuneately we are.

An awesome weekend with the sun shining ,the beautiful colours and a wonderful Thanksgiving  dinner with family and friends. Our son and  daughter and families gathered here for a most delicious and thankful meal. Howard and Kevin cut a tree down for winter burning. The children ran and played the full day. Howard is off moose hunting and Kevin and family headed home. It is my birthday ,so a quiet one for me  and going to head to  my sewing room with the windows open and the sun shining in. Later heading out for a relaxing walk and take in the last of the fall colours. What a wonderful country we live in and so much to  e truly thankful.

What a great trunk show

The trunk show last night was awesome. He was a wonderful speaker and totally creative and interesting quilter. He gave one so many ideas with his quilts.
 Lead a lazy day, had a basal cell off my back a week ago and it is infected, causing some discomfort so gardening and quilting are on hold.Did work on our guild's newsletter,thank goodness for the computer. It was a beautiful sunny day and more to come and THanksgiving is looking good.

What a beautiful fall day!!

 The sun is shining and as warm as can be. My laundry is soaking up the fresh air and sunshine. Oh, how the bedding smells sweet, one of my favourite pleasures. The bay is becoming more visible each day as the leaves fall from the trees.
 Here is the picture of my challenge, Beyond the Wall. We were to use three fabrics which were not a favourful print. I pondered  months on what to do and had this imagine in my mind for months. Once I got started everything just fell into place. I really enjoyed creating this, now we will see what  others think. 

 Off to Markdale to their guild tonight to see Dwayne Wanner , a contemporary quilt artist from Burlington.He displays them using an unique rack system. His website is http://www.dfwannerquilts.com/. Should be a most interesting evening.

pictures of finds at craft show, getting the hang of posting pictures

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Organic flannel PJ's, bought these last year. Stained glass hummingbird<><>

Organic PJ's, tee shirts & small wooden pill box with sisters on it



sunny & blue sky

  These are my blocks for the black on white and white on black quilt.  I have to get busy and get a quilting. It looks like a stretch of beautiful days ,some gardening time again. Today is our Runaway Quilters pot luck. We are a small group that get together  once a month for a pot luck and once to runaway to where ever.  A friend for Manitoulin and her husband are coming today for a stay and she will join us quilters and the men will be sent to the basement. Their dinner will be superb tho.

So look forward to this evening of friendship ,laughter and good food.

What a day at the craft fair!!!

Wow, did I get a lot of Christmas shopping done,there were 176 venders, arena and curking club filled with so much talent. Meaford is overflowing with people from all over Ontario,many coming to get apples from this micro-climate town. The colours in our back yard are amazing as was the sunset.
It is my son's birthday, hope he has a great one.
I am working on a quilt that is made up of the star pattern that has black with white fabric and the background white with black. My centers alternate with lime green and tourquoise. Is this plain as mud?I 'll post a block.

A beautiful fall day for our scarecrow invasion

The sun is shining and the fall colours are brilliant. Meaford's14th Scarecrow Invasion starts today with the Breakfast TV show from Toronto broadcasting it. We have over 250 scarecrows hung on lamp posts ,bill boards and placed throughout the town. I have baked my apple pie for the Scotia Bank contest. Three winners will be auctioned off and the rest to the market to be sold by the piece as a fund raiser. Mmmm smells good!!!
  Speaking of smelling good,my environmental tip, is the sweet smell of clothes out on the line or in the dryer with dryer balls. Do you know fabric softners,sheets, have 60 chemicals in them (chloroform,camphor,ethyl acetate to name a few)  and unscented is worse based on the chemicals added to eliminate the scent. Why expose ourselves, children, grandchildren, air we breathe, lakes and streams with unnecessary chemicals when there are much safer alternatives.
  I hope my readers don't mind me versing this as I have struggled for years with MCS and want to reach out to the world and make this a healthier, safe place for us to thirve in.

Here goes!!!

This has been on my to do list for sometime and I have finally taken the big step and am starting to blog. I have followed many bloggers and enjoyed their writings and activites. I hope to blog  about  multiple chemical sensitivities which I have struggled  with since 1996, quilting which I started in 1999, gardening ,seriously, in 1998,  and what ever else seems right at the time. Today I am finally finished  with a quilt challenge  titled ,"Beyond the Wall",for our guild that is putting on a quilt show in conjunction with  the Thornbury library .Our president's challenge this year is to finish something an unfinished object. My answer was which one!! This may be the incentive to get many of my U.F.O's completed.Well, I guess this is a good start .