Another Quilt Started

 We had a beautiful sunny, snowy day today.  My favourite winter day.  I finished up removing the snow from the deck and cleared the path to the driveway.  It was a pleasure being outside.  Hubby had gone to Huntsville to pick up a few much needed supplies and, when he got back, he got the van stuck.  It took a bit of effort but, between the two of us, we got it moving again and parked.  He said the store was very busy and it took longer getting through the check out that it did the shopping.

I hope those that received their pre Christmas gift are enjoying it.  I have a couple more to send but, other than those, their won't be any more.

I have started another customer quilt today.  It is going to be a challenge to quilt as the customer wants straight lines.  They are more difficult to do than anything else-for me anyway.

Stay well,

Blessings,

Two More Quilts Finished

 I hope everyone had a good Christmas.  Ours wasn't quite as we hoped as our stove didn't get hooked up.  We did enjoy a turkey dinner however, , complete with pumpkin pie and a small gift courtesy of our local Legion and their take out meal.  I am really glad that I thought ahead to to reserve a couple for us.

We had a very quiet day reading, watching television and relaxing.  We got to watch our grandchildren open their gifts and that was the best gift we received.  We are so proud of them (as I am sure you are of yours) and are  glad we can be part of their lives even if it is only through the internet.

We have had quite a bit of snow since Christmas so I am wearing off the extra goodies while shovelling snow. It was very heavy today so I only cleared the path and some of the deck.  I can get the rest tomorrow.  I think I mentioned that all of the Province of Ontario is in lockdown.  We are still allowed to have our church open but are restricted to 10 people.  We have divided the congregation and are having 2 services.  We took the 10 a.m. one and it was odd to be home so early.  I am not sure Heidi was happy about that.  She didn't have time to look for tissues or napkins to chew.

I finished these two quilts and marked them off my UFO list.  The top one has been put on the guest bed and the other is for sale.

The large quilt is my pattern.  Here is another photo of the same pattern done in different colours.

Surprise Gift Sent

 I have replied to all the requests for the Christmas surprise and I hope you enjoy your gift.  If it did not arrive or you have not yet requested yours, please let me know at annajb08@gmail.com  (zero eight)

Yesterday was exhausting.  Church in the morning with our Christmas celebration, my son came for a quick visit in the afternoon, dropped gifts off at a friends then home for supper, Facetime with the Grandkids before collapsing on the couch to watch TV.  I certainly slept well.  I am now completely finished the Christmas prep other than wrapping Hubby's gifts and the Christmas day meal.

Ontario is going into province wide restrictions on Boxing Day in an effort to control the spread of the virus.  It won't be difficult for us as we are retired and living in the country but I do feel bad for those who are small business people.  

I pray the world will start resuming some resemblance of normal next year.  Please look after your self: wash your hands, keep your distance and stay home as much as possible.  I would hate anything to happen to any of you,

Blessings,

Christmas Surprise.

 I was just looking for the Christmas gift I would like to send you all and haven't located it yet.  (Hubby just brought me in a nice snack.)  However, I am going to tell you what you need to do to receive it so I can send it out on Christmas eve.

If you would like to have my surprise in your In Box, send me an email to: annajb08@gmail.com.  Please note that that it is 'zero eight'.  You can then access your gift, download and print or keep  on your device. I want to do something special this year to acknowledge your encouraging comments and your faithfulness in reading.

Hubby and I had a nice surprise when a picture of our Christmas decorations was printed along with others from Ontario.  Here is the link:https://www.northbaynipissing.com/whatson-story/10286688-these-21-holiday-light-displays-are-spreading-festive-cheer-in-ontario-scroll-through-them-here/

You have to scroll down a bit to see ours in Burk's Falls.  It is the second one.  All the other lights are worth seeing as well.

I am not sure if I will be posting between now and the 24th so am wishing you a safe shopping and Christmas prep. time.  Please remember to observe all the covid restrictions so we can all be together in 2021.

blessings, 

Hard Boiled Eggs

 Here are two photos showing the quilting I did on my latest  customer quilt.  It is freehand (which is all I do).

I didn't seem to have a lot of energy today so didn't get much done.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.  I did manage to do one really dumb thing.  I put some eggs in a pot to hard boil this morning and put the pot on the wood stove. Sometime around lunch, I kept noticing an odd smell.  It was a while before I remembered the eggs.  Thankfully, there was still lots of water in the pot but those eggs were really cooked.

Blessings,

Batting Woes

 I have taken a couple of photos of the stitching on my customer quilt but haven't loaded them onto the computer yet.  I will do that tomorrow.

In the meantime, I have a question about something that I have never seen addressed.  When you are doing the hand stitching on your binding, how far apart are the stitches?  Do you think 1/4 of an inch is too far?  I was wondering this as I have been doing this queen sized quilt border stitch by stitch.

Another thought:  I used unbleached cotton batting for this project.  I will never, ever use it again.  It is dreadful to work with.  The batting shreds, sticks to everything and pokes through with the stitches.  A friend said she had the same problem.  She also said that she had told me but, of course, I don't remember.  I had bought a good quality batt-Hobbs Tuscany so I would hate to see what a cheaper brand would be like.

It sounds as though we might get a nasty snow storm this weekend.  Hubby got our smaller generator working so if we have an outage, we will still have some lights and a radio.

Blessings,

Quilt Finished

 Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my quilt.  I finished the top today and will start the binding this evening as I watch TV.  I had a bit of a set back when I discovered a couple of folds in the backing.  It is unusual for that to happen when quilting on a frame but, obviously not impossible.  I took most of yesterday to get it unpicked, straightened and reloaded.  Everything went well today and I was finished fairly quickly.  You have requested a photo of the quilting and I will do that.  Thank you for asking.

I also sent off another package for the grandchildren and a quilt that a friend did for another friends, friend.  Clear as mud?! LOL.  I prepare my parcels for shipping at home so they just have to be dropped in the mail box.  Quicker and no standing in line ups.  If you haven't tried ship in a click through Canada Post, I would recommend it.

I am doing self binding (bringing the backing to the front, fold and stitch in place) as is quicker and, I think, gives a retro look.  I also think it wears better.

I am thinking of having giving you all a little downloadable gift for Christmas so don't forget to keep reading.

Blessings,

Top Done

 I am tired.  I had a hard time staying asleep last night.  Every time, I woke up for any reason, I stayed awake for a while.  

I did get my quilt top finished and it is now loaded on the frame ready to quilt.  Here is a sneak peak.  Our weather is still warmish but the snow isn't melting.  We brought the totes inside today that contain all our decorations and I am planning on getting that done this weekend.

Going to bed early tonight,

blessings,

Decorating Started.

 Our  deck certainly looks a lot better in reality than it does in the photo but this is as far as I have got for decorating.  I plan on doing the indoors and finish this structure this weekend.  I have been sewing steadily all week and only have the last border to add to 2 sides of a top, about a foot to finish on the binding of another quilt.  I should be finished those and the quilting of another top before the 23rd.  Barring anything unforeseen.

One of the unforeseen events maybe a health bump.  Our community has remained covid free until yesterday when an employee at Tim Horton's acquired the virus and went to work.  Unfortunately, that is also the day a friend of mine went there, picked up a couple of tea orders and met me.  We did stay apart while visiting so hopefully we are okay.  It is frustrating when you try so hard to observe every regulations while someone else is lax.

We have about a foot of snow now so everything looks nice and wintery.  I didn't get out for a walk today but have been able to enjoy the fresh air most of this week.

Blessings,