Summer Gardens

We have had a few really hot days again but it is cool in the house.  I have been able to go for my walk with the dog after four as the road is in shadows by then and the pavement cooler for Heidi's feet.  Yesterday, the road crews had fixed a bump in the road and I hadn't noticed the tar was still wet.  Fortunately, Heidi only got one small rock stuck to her foot and very little tar.  

Our garden is doing well. This is one of the planters.  I bought another perennial today as they were on sale.  I should have got a few.

 

 I will be really glad when I get my other eye done.  Right now, unless I use a magnifying glass, I can barely see to thread a needle.  I am still quilting though.  Just have to take it a bit slower and rest my eyes periodically.

Blessings,

A Disappointing Day

Yesterday was a weird day. I had an optometrist appointment at noon so hubby and I left the house at 11.15 so we would be there on time.  The weather wasn't very nice as it was raining heavily and windy.  Nevertheless, we made it on schedule.  My optometrist has people wait in their vehicles and they call when they are ready for you to come in.  In the meantime, we are watching people coming and going but no phone call.  I double checked to see if perhaps I had been send a text, which I had.  It was now about a quarter past noon.  I went in and sat, and sat, and sat.  Just after one it was finally my turn.  Hubby, of course, was sitting in the van wondering if I had been kidnapped.  My examination took about five minutes and I was done.  I always find waiting irritating and make sure I have something to do to keep me occupied.  I am still irritated but a little less.

A new store had opened in town and we wanted to check it out.  I had been to the same one in other communities and liked it as the prices were generally cheaper.  This one, however, wasn't and the layout was inconvenient.  I didn't buy anything and hubby just bought a couple of things which he needed despite the fact they were more expensive than other stores.

A disappointing day all in all except that my eye check up results were good.

Today I am working on a customer's quilt top which is a lot more fun.

Blessings,

Quilt Show and Eye Operation

 Sorry for the long break since my last post. I had my cataract surgery in my righteye on Tuesday of this week and leading up to that, I had eye drops that made my vision blurry.  The operation went well and it is amazing how my sight has improved with just the one eye done.  It has taken my eyes a couple of days adjusting to the vision imbalance.  My typing was atrocious.  Every thing is doing much better now.  I took the right side lens out of my glasses as I didn't need it anymore.  I have an appointment with my optometrist on Monday and my other eye gets done near the end of the month.

The quilt show I went to on Friday was good.  It is amazing how that many quilts can all be different.  I friend took some photos which I will share with you.

I was really pleased to see one of the vendors was an on-line quilt store.  Canadian National Fabrics have flat rate shipping charge ($15.00 in Canada) and good fabric with reasonable prices.  There are also some notions but not batting.  If you would like to check out their site, it is: canandiannationalfabrics.com

Hope you are staying safe from the forest fires that burning in many places in Canada,

blessings,

First Quilt Show.

 What a difference a few days make.  We have gone from a cool wet spring to above normal heat and dry conditions.  The area have been declared a no fire area  of course there is always someone who thinks the rules don't apply to them.

I have a customers quilt loaded on my frame.  It took me a while to decide how I wanted to quilt it but have decided to use a ruler for the blocks and free hand leaves around them.  The ruler work takes longer but I rather like the preciseness of it

I am getting ready for my cataract surgery on Tuesday.  A week prior to the operation, I have had to do eye drops every other house (except when I am sleeping}.  I don't see to be able to manage it myself so hubby has taken over the job.  It is really handy having a mate that was in health care as you age.

Tomorrow I am off to a quilt show with some friends.  This will be the first one since the pandemic and I am looking forward to it.  One of the vendors is an on line quilt store so am interested in having a look at the quality of her fabric.  Will take some photos to show.

Blessings,

Ant solution.

It is amazing what you can get done when you keep at something.  I have all the blocks done for the memory quilt and have loaded a customers quilt onto my frame.  I am not sure what pattern I am going to use on it yet so am just leaving it for a day until it tells me what it wants.

Do you have a problem with ants getting into your hummingbird feeder?  I think I have a solution that might help.  I have a number of the glittering pipe stems that are used for crafts and, as the bristles are quite stiff I thought they might be unpleasant for the ants to crawl over.  So far it seems I am correct.  I wrapped one just above the middle of the feeder and the other where the lid joins the glass.  I only see one ant in the liquid and I think it was there before I finished with the pipe cleaners.    I hope this works for you as the ants can really create problems for the little hummers.  If you are going to try this, be sure to use the glittery pipe cleaners.  The fibers on the others are too soft.

Blessings,  

Memory Quilt

 Our yearly bug onslaught has started.  The black flies arrive when the trilliums bloom and then after a week or so, they start biting.  We got some gardening done this morning but we were covered from head to foot and even then we had to make frequent retreats to the house.  I got up earlier than usual this morning so took Heidi for a walk after breakfast.  I thought we would be okay in the morning and we were until we got to the bottom of the driveway.  I guess we will stick to the bush for a while.

I have been working on a customer's memory quilt.  I am making it differently than normal.  First of all, the T shirts are small.  So I just cut each one as big as possible.  Then I cut 10.5 X 12.5 squares from an old sheet.  T shirt fabric was centered onto the sheet and pinned.  I measured the distance from edge of T shirt to outside edge of sheet on all four sides.  I cut strips from a baby blanket that was included by the customers.  The strips were sewn on T shirt block, pressed open and then I stitched around the outer edge of the finished block. 

This method is cheaper than using the special backing paper and doesn't have the stiffness.

Blessings,

Time for Quilting

 Taxes are finally done and sent.  Once everything is in place they don't take long.  This time it was just waiting for CRA to be back on line and writing down my credit and debits (which I, of course, leave to the last minute).  I am glad I don't have to pay in or I would be dealing with a fine by now.

Now I can get back to quilting.  I have a charity quilt to finish, 2 comfort quilt commissions and one quilting job.  I am not counting the tote full of tops that need to be done for our local group.  I am thankful one other lady in the group also has a long arm and is working on group tops as well.

If you have a quilt business, do you find it difficult to do your own projects?  Part of my problem is that I spend too much time reading or playing games on the computer.  I also try and go for a good walk each day.

Our temperature has dropped again and I had to bring in my geraniums.  We haven't planted the veggies yet as we know from experience that we can still get frost. Typically, in Ontario, most of the planting is done on the May 24 weekend.

Blessings,