Double Irish Chain

I'm still recuperating from my 6 hr final exam, so no sewing for me this week, it sure doesn't feel like a week has gone by. Well the good news is that I passed with flying colours and with time to spare. I'm can't tell you how relieved I am to have this behind me. Also, my time has been spent putting my school work into practice, I'm been spending my days training in a real dental office. I never thought it would be so busy working the front desk of a dental office, so many things to keep on top of and knowing the correct procedure to bill the patient. It's good experience to finally put all the hard studying to real life situations. What next you ask? Well my plan is to look for a part time position close to home.

The double irish chain I finished just a few days before the exam. I'm falling behind with so many projects. I haven't even had time to stitch my next Polka Dot Girls block and I have 2 blocks to finish for my Lori Smith BOM. It's going to take me a few weeks to get caught up. Oh ya...I also have a Jo Morton 2 day class in mid July and I think there is some prep work for that too.

Have a great long weekend to all you Canadians. Next weekend the Americans get there long weekend. Enjoy every minute!

Little Jo Club and Birthdays

We met yesterday for our monthly Little Jo club, these ladies did a fantastic job of their appliqué blocks. Our instructions were to finish the 10" center block this month and to do the hour glass blocks for the next meeting. Well as you can see some of us were eager to get the whole top done. With school still going on for me I felt lucky to finish my appliqué. On Monday my teacher gave us homework so I had to rush home and get that done before the next class. This is my last week of school and then I have an all day exam, so if you don't hear from me, I'm not ignoring you just studying to finally get this course behind me, thanks for "hanging in there" while I get through this, I'll be done soon and can get back to visiting all of you again....whew I can't believe I made it this far....LOL.
A close up of my Baby Rose block. I used the starch method and 1/4" bias tape maker for the vines. It's such a cute block, click on the picture and check out the background fabric.
I'm hoping Arnette won't mind if I share a picture of her with the birthday blocks. We surprised her yesterday for her birthday this month (I won't tell you which birthday but I will say it's a big one...LOL). We both belong to the same two stitching groups and I secretly asked them to make a house block which is one she has been wanting to make herself for a long time and of course I picked her favorite color red. She was very surprise and didn't suspect a thing....Happy Birthday Arnette!

Oops almost forgot, check out Jackie's great purse giveaway. She has a fun little game to go with the giveaway and some really cute pictures of Rolo helping with quilting. Good Luck!
EDIT: Oops AGAIN....the giveaway is not for the purse but it's for some long arm quilting...sorry about that Jackie...my brain is mush right now.

Blogger Meets Blogger

Pam and I have been talking about meeting for months and we finally found a good time to meet at a local quilt shop. The shop just opened a month ago and we thought this would be the perfect place. Maureen the shop owner thought it was a big hoot that we picked her shop. Maureen showed us all the new things in from Spring Market and then we went to a coffee shop for Curry Chicken soup....Mmmm it was sooooo good. After lunch we went back for more shopping. I couldn't resist a bag pattern and fabric with owls on it....another bag, I have no will power (Pam why didn't you stop me...LOL) it was just too cute to leave behind. I'll show you the bag when I get it together. I had such a good time chatting with Pam, she is a real sweetie. We are planning a road trip in the future with more shops on the list. Blogging has it's perks!! Thanks Pam for a wonderful day!
Maureen is the shop owner with her well behaved little dog (can't remember the dogs name) he is the nicest dog and sits under the table quietly staying away from under foot. Maureen is giving him a treat in the picture. Creative Edge Quilting is a unique little shop with lots of surprises in every corner. Sorry I should have taken more pictures, well I'll try and remember on my next trip. The fabrics range from pastels to trendy brights with a little bit of reproductions. Very cute shop and only about a 20 minute drive from my house. I'll be visiting Maureen more often since the shop is so close to me.

Grad Week and Sample Bag

My oldest daughter graduated from University last week. She's worked so hard to get her degree in Political Science as well as a degree in History. It is a joyous moment to watch her receive such a big accomplishment. I'm so proud of how she has stuck through all the difficult papers to write, tests and insanely early mornings and through all this she has manged to hold down a job as well. She decided to take the final year off work to focus and get University finally behind her. I wish her the best for all her future journeys yet to come.

This was the quickest bag I've ever made (it's bigger than it looks in the picture) I was looking at this fabric at the Quilted Bear and wondering what could I make. This fabric really isn't my style but maybe my daughter would like funky designs. Looking at the picture, I'm very surprised at how good it turned out....Hmmm maybe I'll have to make one for me. It's a reversible bag so the inside could be completely different to suit your mood. The picture with the dark fabric on the bottom is intended to be the outside and the lighter blue bag is the inside. For now this will be a sample at the shop and later I'll give it to my daughter.

Thanks for dropping by for a visit. I hope the weekend was a good one.

Polka Dot Girls Block 5

Just a quick post to show block 5 of Polka Dot Girls. I enjoy doing each stitchery and I look forward to the next one. I love the funny looking bees. If you are interested in getting the book go here to order. The designer is Red Brolly (Bronwyn Hayes).
Little bird house, so sweet. I hope your not tired of these stitcheries yet because I have 3 more to go....yippee not long before I'm done. Happy Stitching!

Quilt and Tour

First off I've had a request to get those cookies off my blog....yes Sharon they were as yummy as they look and all of them disappeared in about 2 1/2 days. Well here it it my square in a square quilt. I didn't use the blue I had from my stash, I think this one is a really good choice. I'm so happy with how this quilt turned out. The pattern is from BH&G American Patchwork and Quilting April 2008 issue.
In my neigbour the home owners open their doors for one day at the end of May for people like me to to go looking and tromping through their heritage houses. The heritage preservation society organizes this event with about a dozen homes open for touring each year. I tell ya these homes are gorgeous and people go to a lot of work to bring back the original beauty of the houses. Some had been stuccoed over the years, all kinds of weird things done like orange shag rugs and the owners have painstakingly restored them. These homes are 100 years or older and to have the opportunity to see how beautiful they are is incredible. There are volunteers at each house keeping the foot traffic moving through. We take our shoes off and carry them while walking through the houses, this was the first year I've been home to take the tour. I had a great time with my daughter and her girlfriend looking through each home. The tour also includes a quick tea and lunch and then we were out walking again. We started at 10am and didn't get through all the homes until 4pm. By the time I got home all I could think about was.... man do I ever need to clean my house....LOL
I was looking at all the pictures I took and there wasn't a single picture of the outside of any of the houses. All my pictures were of stain glass windows, antique light fixtures, fireplaces and gardens. I took these type of picture to give me ideas for my home. So I will leave you with a picture of my house, as you can see the garden needs some trimming.....a lot...LOL

Yum....Cookies

I was in the mood for baking yesterday. ....hmmm chocolate chip cookies would be good. These are definitely decadent and chewy, I used dark chocolate chips and Skor toffee bits.

My next PDG's stitchery block is completed and the top for my square in a square. I'll be taking a picture of these and posting next time. Enjoy the chewy toffee cookies.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 C. Golden Crisco
1 1/4 C. lightly packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C. All-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 C. choc. Chips
1 C. Shor toffee bits

Cream Crisco and brown sugar in large bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy (2min) Add egg, milk, vanilla beating until just blended. In a separate bowl mix together flour, salt and baking soda. Combine and then add choc. chips and toffee.

Drop dough by spoonfuls on ungreased baking sheet (3" apart)
Bake 375 F 8-10 mins. In my oven I baked them for 7 min.
Cookies will still appear moist when baked. Let cool 2 min, then remove to cooling rack.