Taking a working holiday.....

Yes, you read that right. There has been so much going on for us this autumn. Jos quit his job and yesterday was his last day. He will be starting a new job in November. We are now taking this coming week off to relax at Cranberry Cottage and it will be a working holiday for me as you can see by my packing. I just cannot be without my handwork. I had spent a good deal of yesterday helping a quilting friend with her swap blocks so ended up trying to pack my hobby bag later in the evening. I just could not decide what to take so I am taking everything. I did leave the kitchen sink. *grins* I have my Centennial Sampler and a new version of Christmas Spice which I have to sew as a sample for the next quilt evening. I have my Ohio sampler and Beatrix Potter Quaker sampler along also. When I get back at the end of the week, I should have some progress photos to share.


I have received a couple of awards that I have seemed to kept hidden away for a while. I think it is time to bring them back out and pass them along to a blogging friend or two...


This award was given to me by Meari. Thank you so much and I would like to pass this one along to Lucy who I think is a kindred spirit who knows that beauty is in the image of an old quilt.


This award was given to me by Linda and she is someone I have discovered through my mother. They have visited each other for some time now and she is such a nice person. Thanks Linda! I am passing this award on to again one blogger and that person is Carolien. This was easy as it was because of Carolien commenting on my blog that I 'met' her. She decided to start her own blog after that and eventually we actually did meet since she lives in the same city as I do. Commenting on blogs can lead to things and I will be meeting another blogger, Annemarie, next weekend. If we hit it off half as much as with Carolien, I have a wonderful new friendship again.


And finally, I received this award from Mary Kathryn just this week. Thank you very much! I am passing this award on to another friend of mine who started blogging. Her name is Saskia and she was my very first member to join my quilt group. She has become like family to me along with the other ladies in our group. Stop in and say hello to her...

Ohio ~ new beginnings...

After so many finishes, it is time to share a new beginning...


I mentioned that I planned to start one of my Ohio samplers after I finished Silent Sampler. I decided this weekend would be a great time to devote to beginning the first of a series of samplers that I intend to make for an Ohio wall in my home. I thought this would be fun to do since I am originally from Ohio. I got the initial idea a couple of years ago when I bought the book "Ohio Is My Dwelling Place" by Sue Studebaker. This book is eye candy for any stitcher but a must have for any Ohioian whether you live there or elsewhere. Ohio never leaves your heart!

Edit - January 8, 2009 - I have deleted all entries pertaining to the MB circe 1810 sampler I was working on after receiving an email from the designer, who I do not know, sharing her opinion about my changing a color in the design. This was done not to offend but because the color was not visible on the linen. I am sorry that I am no longer able to share this with my readers.


Have you ever considered doing a series of samplers dedicated to your own area that you are from?

A yo~yo diet this week

In September, we did a quick and easy new project in my quilt group. Our medallion quilts are done and need to be sandwiched and quilted so we had time this year for two small extra projects. Making folded yo~yos was the first of them. I actually don't understand why they are called folded yo~yos and I think they look more like a folded hexagon.


So this week, I wanted to get these put together as a tablerunner. The cat on your lap as you sew is not necessary but very helpful. *grins* Can you spot Dagi?


And 49 yo~yos later.....


I decided on a diamond shape for my tablerunner. What is fun about making these is not only are they simple but can be used in so many shapes.


The back of the tablerunner is almost as pretty as the front. It was strange to use these very springlike colors now that autumn has arrived. This little quilt will now be stored away and brought out again when the spring bulbs come into flower. Now I can move one more item from the UFO list to the finished list.

Have a creative weekend!

Yeah! I did it again!

I had an unexpected telephone call yesterday as my friend Sonja had a day off work and called to see if we could get together for tea and some stitching. Well, of course, I said yes and she came over for the afternoon. I wanted to get my latest UFO finished and finish it I did!

I had my trusty quilt tester helping out. Dagi not only tests the quilts but supervises my work. Sonja ran upstairs for my camera and took a photo of my helper. I mentioned while she was doing this that normally I would have already thought of a name for the quilt but had not so far. Then we thought since Dagi was sitting on the corner of the quilt and this quilt block is called "Puss in the Corner", well just wait and see...




I machine quilted this one. To me it still feels like I am cheating even though I know the machine does not work without me there guiding the quilt along, but still. I am however enjoying the fact that I can reduce my UFOs. I am back to a project by hand this weekend so that will help me feel better perhaps. *grins*


I found this fabric in my stash cupboard that was large enough to use for the backing. Today I am working on the label so here it is...


I am calling the quilt "My Puss in the Corner: Dagi's Flower Garden". Do you think Mr. Dagi approves?

Have a creative weekend and I hope to share another finish when I return from Cranberry Cottage.

A Beatrix Potter weekend...

I had a weekend filled with Beatrix Potter. We spent the weekend up at Cranberry Cottage as usual. I decided to leave my quilting at home and just take along my stitching. I worked on some more of my Beatrix Potter Quaker sampler. I have almost finished another whole motif from when I took this photo yesterday. I want to have this sampler completed by the end of the year if not way before that time.


While stitching, I watched "Miss Potter" yet again on my laptop. I have seen this DVD so many times now that I start to notice many minute details of the houses and surroundings now as I watch. For example, I was examining the shelves in her upstairs room and all the wonderful items they contained.

The latest Beatrix Potter mystery is out and I want to finally catch up with my reading so I took a Susan Wiggit Albert book along to read. I bought these books each as they came out but have such a backlog of books to be read. I decided to move these to the head of the list.


I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was raining here which to me is the perfect weekend weather for sitting indoors and stitching or quilting!

I have added another of my UFOs to my list as I will be working on it this week ~ my folded yo~yo tablerunner. I also am half finished with another UFO and should have it ready to show you later this week. It is just wonderful to watch my projects list getting a little less each time.

Weekend project idea

We just had an Autumn Days swap on my online stitching group. The rules were to make a handmade object and purchase an autumn themed gift for a secret swap partner. I had Christine in Canada's name. I wanted to make her something very unusual. My own fall decorations gave me a cute idea.


I made her 'plumpkins' which are little fabric pumpkins. Along with that, I sent a vine, toadstools, a little mouse and autumn napkins.


Here they are set up together on her table. She says it is her own private pumpkin patch. I am so glad you liked them Christine as I had alot of fun making them for you!


I made them for her as these remain some of my own favorite autumn decorations. I used this as a project for my quilt group many years ago. They are very quick and easy to make and the perfect weekend project. I made two sets, one for home and one for Cranberry Cottage, since they are so adorable. I thought it would be fun on this autumn Friday to share the link to this project which is still available so you can maybe make some this weekend. It is a Debbie Mumm free project and you can find the link here.

Have a color~filled autumn weekend all!

Another UFO flies away to a finish!

A couple of years ago, I invited a quilting friend to spend a long weekend with me at Cranberry Cottage. We spent our time with our needles making a little miniature quilt. Every once in a while, we needed a distraction and one day that meant driving to a quilt shop I shared with you here. They had just received some new fabrics that I simply fell in love with right there on the spot. I had no idea what I would do with them and only bought a small amount of each as they were rather costly.


I got home from the cottage and immediately that day started working on a quilt top. I knew I wanted to make a quilt that would be all warm and snuggley which I would use regularly. I decided on the Turning Twenty patchwork so it could really show off how pretty the fabrics are. Cutting these up in too small of pieces would have been a shame.


They are a combination of various florals in baby rib cord, silks, pleated silks and beaded rib cord.


I had left this quilt top sit for a couple of years and did not want another winter to come and go without being able to snuggle up under it. I planned on tieing the quilt but on Friday after doing my blog entry, I thought I wanted to try machine quilting this since it will be very used and it quite heavy due to the fabrics. It needs to be durable. A couple of hours later...a finished quilt! Why did I wait all that time to quilt it?


For the backing fabric, I wanted to stay with a warm and soft aspect and decided on a mustard color floral flannel by Moda.


The name "Snuggles" for this quilt seemed the only possibility. If you need me this winter, you will find me snuggled up under this quilt on my chair with a stitching or quilting project. *grins*