A happy discovery. I was packing up all the pieces from my red and white quilt so everything would be together for when my needed fabric arrived. The quilt was still laid out on my bed where I had been checking to make sure everything was correct and I decided I might as well measure it before storing. I am glad I did because I found it was only 2 inches short on the width. I am going to add a narrow (1.5") strip of white all around which will give the additional width plus holding the seams together while I quilt. I will then do the binding in red. I think I have enough of that on hand and, if not, I still have the shipment coming.
Yesterday, I was working on a dog coat. A customer called to see if I would make a couple for her Ellie, a French bulldog. Small projects like these are a nice break. They should be done by Wed or Thur. and then I can get on to something else on my list.
If you are finding that having more time doesn't mean you are getting more things done, you may find that having a UFO or Bucket List might help. If you send me an email, I will send you a copy of the one I use,
Stay well and healthy,
Blessings,
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Friday, March 27, 2020
Tomatoes from My Garden.
The weather was quite nice again today-it rained yesterday, so I took the dog for an extra long walk. I had to stop a number of times but I blamed the dog as she wanted to reacquaint herself with all the smells that had accumulated since last outing.
These lovely little tomatoes came from our garden. Our indoor garden in front of a south facing window. I think I mentioned bringing a plant indoors in the fall and keeping it watered and fertilized. We were quite pleased to see first some flowers and then little green tomatoes that gradually ripened into these delicacies. There are more one their way. We won't get much in the way of a crop but it has been a fun experiment.
Here is my red and white quilt. I need to add one more row before it is done but, as it isn't wide enough, I will extend each row by one block. I can't decide what colour to use for the binding-red? white? something else? What would you do? I have had to order some more of the red so I can make the additional blocks. Fortunately, the company still had it in stock.
I have almost completed my second pair of knitted socks so my Christmas gifts are starting to add up.
Blessings,
I have almost completed my second pair of knitted socks so my Christmas gifts are starting to add up.
Blessings,
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
A Rant.
A bit of a rant today. I decided after 3 weeks isolation, I was safe to do a quick grocery run. I wore a neck scarf that I could pull over my face if necessary. Before the store, I stopped at the post office and everything went well there until I left. As I came out the door, someone was coming up the steps, so I stepped back. A second man followed him fairly close behand and then a woman who waited on the sidewalk. The second man went through the door and then stopped to hold it for the woman. The polite thing to do, of course, and it is something take for granted here. The woman took the courteous route and trotted up the steps to get the door. She glanced a me, shrugged and smiled. What do you do?
Grocery store wasn't bad but there were to many people for my comfort. I grabbed just a couple of things and went to check out. There was a line on the floor for customers to maintain a safe distance. The person ahead of me stopped there and I stayed well behind him. He moved up when it was his turn and I went to the line. Customer behind me stayed back. So far so good. As I was checking out my groceries a group of men stopped near the counter to chat and stayed there. They were too close to both the cashier and I.
It may seem like a small thing but these little things multiply. A friend who works at the store told me that last week a customer mentioned he had just got back from Arizona and was getting a few things before he went home. When questioned as to why he wasn't self quarantining, he said that he was alright.
Too many people are treating this pandemic as if it were happening on another world. They are lengthening the time it will take for it to clear up and putting others at risk. Panic buying and stocking piling for resale are bad enough. Failure to just do a few basic things to help yourself and others is beyond selfish.
Enough of that. If you have small children at home, I am posting videos of me reading or telling a story. They are short but I hope your little ones will enjoy them. Just click on the Auntie A's Story Time link on the right hand side.
Blessings
Grocery store wasn't bad but there were to many people for my comfort. I grabbed just a couple of things and went to check out. There was a line on the floor for customers to maintain a safe distance. The person ahead of me stopped there and I stayed well behind him. He moved up when it was his turn and I went to the line. Customer behind me stayed back. So far so good. As I was checking out my groceries a group of men stopped near the counter to chat and stayed there. They were too close to both the cashier and I.
It may seem like a small thing but these little things multiply. A friend who works at the store told me that last week a customer mentioned he had just got back from Arizona and was getting a few things before he went home. When questioned as to why he wasn't self quarantining, he said that he was alright.
Too many people are treating this pandemic as if it were happening on another world. They are lengthening the time it will take for it to clear up and putting others at risk. Panic buying and stocking piling for resale are bad enough. Failure to just do a few basic things to help yourself and others is beyond selfish.
Enough of that. If you have small children at home, I am posting videos of me reading or telling a story. They are short but I hope your little ones will enjoy them. Just click on the Auntie A's Story Time link on the right hand side.
Blessings
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Hanging In
How is everyone hanging in? Being at home isn't a problem for me as I prefer being here to anywhere else. We thought we might go for a drive on Sunday but, when the time came, I decided to leave it. I am not getting as much done as I should but as it is my own time, it isn't a problem.
I almost have my quilt top finished-I've said that before, I know. I am at the stage where I am undoing sections that were put in the wrong way around and fixing other areas that don't fit properly. I hope to have it all done tomorrow or Thurs and will share then. I hope you will have some thoughts for me as to what or if I should add a border.
I have been working on making masks for our local grocery store clerks and another place needs some as well. They don't take that long to make so I am hoping to have a dozen or so finished soon.
It has been warm enough here for us to sit on the deck for a bit. I get too fidgeting to stay very long but it is nice to feel the sun. I am going to have to remember to take my knitting out so I have something to do. I have started on my second pair of socks. I am using a thicker wool so they go together quickly.
Blessings,
I almost have my quilt top finished-I've said that before, I know. I am at the stage where I am undoing sections that were put in the wrong way around and fixing other areas that don't fit properly. I hope to have it all done tomorrow or Thurs and will share then. I hope you will have some thoughts for me as to what or if I should add a border.
I have been working on making masks for our local grocery store clerks and another place needs some as well. They don't take that long to make so I am hoping to have a dozen or so finished soon.
It has been warm enough here for us to sit on the deck for a bit. I get too fidgeting to stay very long but it is nice to feel the sun. I am going to have to remember to take my knitting out so I have something to do. I have started on my second pair of socks. I am using a thicker wool so they go together quickly.
Blessings,
Friday, March 20, 2020
Gathering Sap
We are back to winter today at the Backwoods Quilter homestead. It rained this morning and then turned into a fairly steady snowfall. Hubby and I wanted to gather the sap from the trees we tapped so we went out when there was a small break in the weather and got everything into a 45 gallon drum. When that is full, the boiling starts. I didn't think we would have much yet but most of the pails were 3/4 to 90% full. A good start. We didn't tap as many trees this year as it is getting harder to drag ourselves and equipment through the snow.
After a mug of hot chocolate, it was back to the quilt room. I have one more row to finish and then I can sew those together for the top. I am not sure how I want to quilt this yet but I am also stuck on whether to add a final border. I can't come up with a colour/fabric that will look right. This is one of those cases where it is best to let it all sit for a bit. Of course this is where I would seek the advice of the quilt group but as that isn't possible, I will just do my best.
I finished knitting my first pair of Christmas socks so I can add them to the gift container.
Blessings,
After a mug of hot chocolate, it was back to the quilt room. I have one more row to finish and then I can sew those together for the top. I am not sure how I want to quilt this yet but I am also stuck on whether to add a final border. I can't come up with a colour/fabric that will look right. This is one of those cases where it is best to let it all sit for a bit. Of course this is where I would seek the advice of the quilt group but as that isn't possible, I will just do my best.
I finished knitting my first pair of Christmas socks so I can add them to the gift container.
Blessings,
 |
| Heidi is looking for Spring. |
Thursday, March 19, 2020
What Are You Doing?
Now that we have all this extra time on our hands, are you learning another quilting technique or a different craft, skill? We often moan (or at least I do) about never having enough time to do all the things we want and, unexpectedly, now we do. One of my friends went on a massive purge of her basement. Another painted her living room. Me? I am playing more on line card games. I am also getting more UFO's finished and spending more time on my writing. Talking to friends on the phone has also increased and I find I have a sudden urge to start baking.
Blueprint.com has a free course for long armers that includes learning how to do binding while the quilt is on the frame. Defiantly going to look into that.
My main focus is learning more techniques on my machine. I really want to get comfortable with ruler work. I have watched a few videos but still haven't got the hang of it. I expect that by the time I am able to again start complaining about not having enough time I will be an expert.
What about you? What are you doing with your time?
Blessings,
Blueprint.com has a free course for long armers that includes learning how to do binding while the quilt is on the frame. Defiantly going to look into that.
My main focus is learning more techniques on my machine. I really want to get comfortable with ruler work. I have watched a few videos but still haven't got the hang of it. I expect that by the time I am able to again start complaining about not having enough time I will be an expert.
What about you? What are you doing with your time?
Blessings,
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
25 Uses for Coffee Filters.
I thought I would be sewing the rows of my red and white quilt together today. I only had two more to do and the sections were all ready however, the 30 flying geese that I made are the wrong size. Not sure how that happened but it did. I am going to leave them and just make more. May use the others as part of a border.
You may have seen the following on line, but, if not, here are some excellent uses for coffee filters. Don't know who comes up with these things but am glad they do. Check out #15. I am going to try them for paper piecing.
Coffee filters ....
Who knew! And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing even the large ones.
1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the mic...rowave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.
You may have seen the following on line, but, if not, here are some excellent uses for coffee filters. Don't know who comes up with these things but am glad they do. Check out #15. I am going to try them for paper piecing.
Coffee filters ....
Who knew! And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing even the large ones.
1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the mic...rowave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.
2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome... Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.
3. Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.
4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.
9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.
11.. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.
12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters..
13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. It soaks out all the grease.
14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."
15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.
16. Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.
17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.
18. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.
19. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.
20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies.. Saves on having extra bowls to wash.
21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.
22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
23. Use them to sprout seeds.. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.
24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book..
25. Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.
Blessings,
3. Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.
4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.
9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.
11.. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.
12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters..
13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. It soaks out all the grease.
14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."
15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.
16. Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.
17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.
18. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.
19. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.
20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies.. Saves on having extra bowls to wash.
21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.
22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
23. Use them to sprout seeds.. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.
24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book..
25. Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.
Blessings,
Monday, March 16, 2020
No C Word.
If you haven't read the comments at the bottom of the last post, take the time to do so. They help put our current situation in prospective while understanding all that is going on.
I have made a personal pledge not to mention the C word today just to give us a break. I would normally be at the Burk's Falls Village Quilter's group today but the meeting was cancelled. You will guess why-too many people with compromised health. Most are quilting at home.
Since I got my machine serviced, I have finished 3 quilts. Today, I am piecing the red and white one that is for a customer. I am supposed to help my husband later on with the maple syrup.
It is a cold but sunny day and perfect for being either outside or indoors. I went for my usual walk with wee Heidi yesterday but had to take the car to the end of driveway because of all the mud. I may as well not have bothered as I had to plunk her into the sink after we got back. Even her little booties wouldn't have helped as the mud was on belly hair as well. Will probably need to trim that. It is going to get a lot worse before it improves but, at least, the snow is going down.
It has been warm enough to sit on the deck as long as you wear a jacket. I plan on spending a lot of time out there this year quilting and knitting.
Blessings,
I have made a personal pledge not to mention the C word today just to give us a break. I would normally be at the Burk's Falls Village Quilter's group today but the meeting was cancelled. You will guess why-too many people with compromised health. Most are quilting at home.
Since I got my machine serviced, I have finished 3 quilts. Today, I am piecing the red and white one that is for a customer. I am supposed to help my husband later on with the maple syrup.
It is a cold but sunny day and perfect for being either outside or indoors. I went for my usual walk with wee Heidi yesterday but had to take the car to the end of driveway because of all the mud. I may as well not have bothered as I had to plunk her into the sink after we got back. Even her little booties wouldn't have helped as the mud was on belly hair as well. Will probably need to trim that. It is going to get a lot worse before it improves but, at least, the snow is going down.
It has been warm enough to sit on the deck as long as you wear a jacket. I plan on spending a lot of time out there this year quilting and knitting.
Blessings,
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Ready to Self Isolate
Are you sick of hearing about the pandemic yet? I am. I know people are ill. I know that we have to be diligent but I do think there may be a tiny bit of over reaction. Stores shelves that are out of toilet paper (still can't figure out that one) and hand sanitizers becoming as expensive and rare as diamonds. All this and I don't think we have reached the peak.
On the positive side, if you are brave enough, it is a good time to travel. All the usually packed tourists sites are empty as are most of the airplanes. A friend was on one and there were only 15 other passenger. Imagine having all that room to stretch your legs. There is definitely going to be a financial impact which will affect the poorest people the most-as usual.
In the meantime, I have just finished quilting my second project and have the third ready to load. I am ready to self isolate at a moments notice.
It is a gorgeous day here and I am looking forward to a nice long walk with the dog. I may see if the snow has melted in the bush enough to stroll through it.
Blessings,
On the positive side, if you are brave enough, it is a good time to travel. All the usually packed tourists sites are empty as are most of the airplanes. A friend was on one and there were only 15 other passenger. Imagine having all that room to stretch your legs. There is definitely going to be a financial impact which will affect the poorest people the most-as usual.
In the meantime, I have just finished quilting my second project and have the third ready to load. I am ready to self isolate at a moments notice.
It is a gorgeous day here and I am looking forward to a nice long walk with the dog. I may see if the snow has melted in the bush enough to stroll through it.
Blessings,
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Encouragement
Have you ever had one of those days when you want to sell all your quilting supplies and take up something easier-like spot welding? I think we all have them after repiecing a block and still have the corners wrong. Or perhaps our machine has eaten that expensive piece of fabric and it was the last bit. Maybe you have just got discouraged because your work isn't as perfect as you think it should be. Don't give up. If none of those situations apply to you but you would still like to be inspired, click on the link below. The quilter has Downs Syndrome and she makes beautiful quilted products.
https://www.facebook.com/imperfectcreationsbyfaithchristina/posts/1968678219829842
Now get out their and create your own beauty. The world needs it.
Blessings,
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Gracie is Working Despite My Brain Burp.
My Gracie is working. I had her in for a tune up yesterday as I had mucked up the timing and wasn't able to get it set right. She also was in need of a good cleaning. Thanks to the patience and skill of mechanic, Lloyd, from All About Sewing in Barrie, Ont, she is now humming along as well as she did when a child. I can highly recommend this company if your baby needs some attention. He also sells Grace machines as well as others plus fabric and notions.
It was a exhausting day as it included a 5 hour round trip plus some shopping. We got home in time to have supper and then just lay around until it was time for bed. Heidi was glad to see us although she had been spoiled by her sitter, Diana.
The temperature has reached 5 o C with bright sunshine today. Heidi and I went for a nice long, and muddy, walk and, when we got back, I started putting Gracie back on her tracks. I had had a bit of a problem earlier on when I couldn't find one of the encoder wheels. I had left one on but removed the other and put it in a safe place. Of course, you know what happens when you do that, don't you? The safe place becomes the invisible place and you have to search through totally illogical areas to try and find the item. I asked hubby to help in the search because a fresh pair of eyes often spots the unseen. We looked through everything again and then again. Just as I was thinking I might have to do a thorough cleaning (horrors!) hubby said "is this it"? and pointed to the encoder still securely attached to the base. I was trying to come up with an excuse but decided to just own up to having a brain burp.
The rest of the set up went well and now I am ready to start quilting all the tops I have accumulated over the past weeks.
Blessings,
It was a exhausting day as it included a 5 hour round trip plus some shopping. We got home in time to have supper and then just lay around until it was time for bed. Heidi was glad to see us although she had been spoiled by her sitter, Diana.
The temperature has reached 5 o C with bright sunshine today. Heidi and I went for a nice long, and muddy, walk and, when we got back, I started putting Gracie back on her tracks. I had had a bit of a problem earlier on when I couldn't find one of the encoder wheels. I had left one on but removed the other and put it in a safe place. Of course, you know what happens when you do that, don't you? The safe place becomes the invisible place and you have to search through totally illogical areas to try and find the item. I asked hubby to help in the search because a fresh pair of eyes often spots the unseen. We looked through everything again and then again. Just as I was thinking I might have to do a thorough cleaning (horrors!) hubby said "is this it"? and pointed to the encoder still securely attached to the base. I was trying to come up with an excuse but decided to just own up to having a brain burp.
The rest of the set up went well and now I am ready to start quilting all the tops I have accumulated over the past weeks.
Blessings,
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Jump Forward.
It is plus two here and the snow is melting. If this keeps up, we will soon be back to the mud season. Our back yard gets quite bad and, in some places, we have to lay down boards. There is still enough snow on the road edges that I can walk Heidi without having to put her in the sink when we return. She appreciates that!
There has been a lot of discussion amongst those who belong to Yahoo groups and I have decided to move mine to another host. It has all the same formats as the old Yahoo so I should be able to manage it without problem. If you are interested in becoming part of a quilt group that doesn't always talk about quilting, who are helpful and friendly, you can send a request to join. The address is: hearts2hands@groups.io. You will be able to share your photos as well as take part in some fun activities.
Tomorrow by this time, I hope to have my Gracie home and ready to be used. It will be nice if the weather is as good as it was today for travelling.
I will probably be too tired to post tomorrow but will be sure to let you know what happened next week.
Enjoy the weekend and don't forget to put your clocks forward Saturday night.
Blessings,
There has been a lot of discussion amongst those who belong to Yahoo groups and I have decided to move mine to another host. It has all the same formats as the old Yahoo so I should be able to manage it without problem. If you are interested in becoming part of a quilt group that doesn't always talk about quilting, who are helpful and friendly, you can send a request to join. The address is: hearts2hands@groups.io. You will be able to share your photos as well as take part in some fun activities.
Tomorrow by this time, I hope to have my Gracie home and ready to be used. It will be nice if the weather is as good as it was today for travelling.
I will probably be too tired to post tomorrow but will be sure to let you know what happened next week.
Enjoy the weekend and don't forget to put your clocks forward Saturday night.
Blessings,
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Recommendation
We are getting warmer weather this week and the blue jays and chickadees are taking full advantage of the feeders. Hubby is hoping to start tapping for maple syrup next week. He wasn't going to do any this year but I encouraged (nagged) him into it with a promise to help. With his knee being so painful, it will be hard on him to collect the sap from the buckets. I can do that. In fact, I can do a lot of the work as long as I don't have to sit there and stir. I find it beyond boring but hubby, fortunately, enjoys it.
I have a book recommendation for you. I know you will find it helpful whether you have a domestic machine or long arm, are a newbie or experienced quilter. It is called Organic Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book by Amanda Murphy. It is published by Stash Books.
As the title indicates, it is information on free motion quilting but it is much more than that. Each pattern is shown, in separate photos, from the first step, adding more stitches and the finished pattern. The same design is shown in a triangle, square, sashing and border.
I only do free motion and have been wanting to sew some different designs and with this book, I am confident I can.
Blessings,
I have a book recommendation for you. I know you will find it helpful whether you have a domestic machine or long arm, are a newbie or experienced quilter. It is called Organic Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book by Amanda Murphy. It is published by Stash Books.
As the title indicates, it is information on free motion quilting but it is much more than that. Each pattern is shown, in separate photos, from the first step, adding more stitches and the finished pattern. The same design is shown in a triangle, square, sashing and border.
I only do free motion and have been wanting to sew some different designs and with this book, I am confident I can.
Blessings,
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