Polka Dot Girls Block 6 and Rebecca's Basket

We've been busy doing work in the yard this last couple of weekends. One side of the house has been neglected and become a big weed patch. Hubby cleared out all the weeds and broken beer bottles (little surprises....that's what comes with OLD house) to get ready for paving stones and bark mulch. It's a very shady area so maybe ferns and hostas will grow back there....I hope. It's already looking so much better then the dumping ground it used to be.

I squeezed in some sewing and finished the top of the small quilt I started at Jo's class a few weeks back. I wasn't sure about the stripe in the setting triangles. I think it really shows off the scrappy baskets. I'm still working on the star blocks for the larger fall quilt I started in the class as well. It's coming along, soon I'll have something to show.
Oh man... am I ever slowing down on my Polka Dot Girls, here is block 6 all done. I should be almost finished block 7 by now but with so many other distractions, I haven't even started it yet. Even with the slow progress I'm still really enjoy stitching these girls. They always make me smile.

If your looking for this pattern you'll find it here. Search for Red Brolly Polka Dot Girls. I've also provided links in my side bar to the other finished blocks.

Happy Stitching.

Painting is Done!

There you go, what was a drab basement bedroom is now bright and fresh...darn it I should have taken a "before" picture. Being in the basement I needed a colour that was cheerful and won't look dark in the winter, I think this room now sings to me and will be a pleasant room for guests to sleep in. The shelf under the window runs the whole length of the room. The colour is Benjamin Moore paint "Castleton Mist" and the trim is "Cloud White".
The first piece of furniture I bought last week at a Kids store called "Kiss a Frog", such a sweet store with lots of painted furniture similar to this one. Wouldn't it look so nice with a lamp and a couple of books next to the bed....oh that's right I still need to find a bed....minor detail....LOL
I had this window frame and have been waiting for the right place to hang. This new bedroom seems like the prefect choice. I was thinking of putting this old quilt behind the window but now that I see the picture it isn't working for me. Help....I need some advise on this one. What do you think I should do, leave the window empty or possibly make a more suitable quilt???? I was looking through some of my quilting books last night and found a Window Quilts by Ginger Cookie Co, there is a really cute flower one that would fit the frame, you might know the one I mean.
Since I'm taking pictures in the basement, how about that Loo??? Have you seen anything so small??? There's a reason for the redwork quilt being so high, I'm trying to cover a very ugly window. I'm told this room would have originally (96 years ago) been the coal room and that window is how the coal was brought in....sounds like a dirty messy job to me. One day hubby would like to open one side of the wall to join this room with the shower and sink room. That would be a big job so it's way down the priority list.
I'll leave you with a garden picture. The hydrangeas are taking over the side of my house. I can hardly walk down the sidewalk anymore, I've cut these back a couple of times already, they look so beautiful right now I don't want to cut them.

Happy Stitching.

Jo Morton Class

So much has happened I don't know where to start. The most exciting part was 2 classes with Jo Morton in Washington State. We drove down early Sunday and came home late Tuesday. Each class was a different project, the first class was the baskets you can see in the above picture. I don't know about you, when I go to a class I don't seem to accomplish much, it must be all the talking and visiting around the room. I only came home with one basket done, but I have to tell you that since I've been home I've got all the handles appliqued and the basket all cut and ready to sew today. Jo is a fun teacher, she is very open and answered all our questions on patterns, her quilts, publishing books and getting fabric lines out. I think it must have been all the chatting we did....that must be why I came home with one little basket block....Well the days were fun and very informative with helpful tricks for making little quilts, I would take it again if she was in the area.
Here's Jo telling us about the process of designing another basket quilt, the black baskets are the same as the blue baskets above, she's just done a different setting and fabrics.
My one basket that I finished in the all day class, the handle is a little wonky but that's the character that I love. Some girls took one class and some took both classes, you'll see further down the second class project. We were spoiled with a wonderfully large room and a whole table for each person and wow the lunches were excellent, and fresh baked cookies in the afternoon. Lee owner of Two Thimbles was our host and she pampered us with goodie bags, not the food kind but treats for quilters....Jo's FQ's, spray starch, ruler, needle, bobbins and chocolate...did I mention chocolate....LOL. Lee really knew how to take care of us well.
This is Jo's quilt, mine will look similar to this one when done, except mine won't be hand quilted like she did.
This isn't all the stars I got done. The second day we are making a much bigger fall quilt. I love the fall greens, reds, yellows and oranges.
Here are some more of the fabrics I'll be using, sorry the picture is sideways. You get the idea anyway.
There's Jo and some of the girls from the class holding the quilt we are making. Isn't it gorgeous! the black alternate block has little tiny stars, you might be able to see in the picture above. I've got 100 of the star blocks to make. Oh I just love it, the picture doesn't do the quilt justice....It's stunning girls trust me. There is a picture of me with Jo but it's on a another camera, but I don't think I'll get it anytime soon so I went with this one instead.
Jo brought some show and tell for us to drool over. Here is one of her beautiful quilts.
Another one, and boy oh boy is this simply stunning. Those stars are all hand pieced and very tiny, can't remember the size, it's in one of her newer books.
Jo was usually hiding behind the quilt when we took pictures, I was lucky and got one with her head peeking over the top. This quilt is another beauty.
The day after Jo's class was my monthly Little Jo's Women club at Two Thimbles. The girls were very productive in getting the piecing done and quilting AND binding on baby rose block. I didn't get mine done, too much painting going on for me. By the way I've finished the painting the bedroom walls, trim, closet door and ceiling, yes I even did the ceiling, that's hard on the neck. Hubby installed the new light fixture, knobs and heating vent while I was away. I bought the first piece of furniture for the room, is it every sweet, that will be for another post.
I just had to take a couple of pictures of Two Thimbles.
More shop pictures for you to enjoy.
When I got home this sweet kitty was waiting at my door. Karol-Ann and I were exchanging emails and she was looking for BH&G magazine...well to make a long story store, she made this for me and she got the magazine she wanted. I think I'm the lucky one. She even sent along the kitty fabric, how cute is that. I love it! Thanks Karol-Ann.
After the painting was done I had a little time before heading to my classes with Jo. I made this little wallhanging. Of course the stitching was done before, I'm not that fast...LOL The piecing was made up as I went, no pattern I decided on the fabric and piecing as I sewed.

That's all I have for now, if you made it this far, I Thank You for sticking with me and my ramblings. Have a great day!

I finished my dental practicum this week and I'm happy to report all went well. The girls in the office were very patient with me and let me do just about everything. I think they're going to miss me because I was doing all the work....teehee. I'll see them again in 6 months because this office is my regular dentist. I've been visiting them for over 18 years. And BTW, I did have my regular cleaning done while I was working....LOL

I finally got into some sewing today, it sure feels good to get back to cutting and sewing. I don't have much progress to show, so since a few asked about the quilt on my new black quilt rack, I'll show the whole thing today. It's not new and I showed this when I first started blogging but I don't think it was quilted at the time.
Swapping can be so much fun, Karen and I have done a couple of swaps and I really enjoy each one. She has such a wonderful way of packaging, I just love the red gingham tissue paper, I wish I knew where to get some.
All this came in that wonderful wrapped package, I feel so lucky Karen included 2 of her stitched pillows, they are so cute and her stitching is fantastic, I'll keep these on display all year. The braided runner (which you can't see all of) it so prefect, Karen knows my colours well and it looks awesome on my front hallway table. She included a CD from Kathy Schmitz which is full of clipart, labels, redwork pillow and needlepunch, I'd highly recommend this one. The pattern is for 2 doll quilts and it comes with pink and brown fabric to make both. Thank you my dear friend Karen, I'm going to have so much fun playing with everything.
This year I bought a hardy fuschia plant called Santa Claus, this one doesn't like direct sunlight which is prefect for the backyard and our weather. I love the red and white, it's doing really well and full of so many blooms.

Painting for me.

No quilting going on lately for me but instead I'll show a bit of painting I've been doing this week. This shelf needed to be "renewed" again. I painted it black and did some distressing using wax, the wall is really more yellow than the picture shows, I love the black against the yellow walls. I rubbed some wax on the edges before painting and this is how it looks now. I've also been painting the downstairs bedroom to be used for a guest room. My daughter has been sleeping over when she is working the night shift and because the basement is cool and quite for her to sleep in the day. I think she should have a proper room to sleep in and not just the couch. I've got all the walls done and now I'm working on the trim and ceiling needs to be done as well. I'm excited about how it looking and I hope it'll be a real pretty room when it's all finished.
Hubby and I went away for a few days to Pender Island for our Anniversary. Pender is off the coast of B.C. in the Southern Golf Islands and about a 2 hour ferry ride. Here is the view we enjoyed while staying at a swanky resort called Poet's Cove. The deck was really big and we could sit and watch the sunset each night. There not much to do on Pender Island but relax and enjoy a bottle of wine here and there. That's just what we did.....oh boy did we ever relax.
The local wild life on Pender, there were several deer around and they were not afraid of people. We saw many of them along side the road, I was afraid that we might hit one. You know deer aren't the smartest and I thought one might jump out in front of the car.

Next week is more training at the dental office and then I'm really finished for now. I've enjoyed being in the office to really see how things are done. The staff are patient with me and don't mind taking the time to show me how things are done. After Wed I'll have more time for quilting....I can't wait....woohoo I've been itching to get back into my sewing room.