Weekend Getaway and Gifts

I love this rusty garden decoration. If it wasn't so hot I could be sewing but then again I wasn't home for the last 5 days either. It's so hot here today, I just turn into mush and all I can do is sit and snooze, I don't know why the heat makes me sleepy, (no we don't have AC) I had to drag myself of the couch to get this post done...I bet you're a little happy I did...at least I'd like to think so. Hubby and I took a driving trip down the Oregon Coast on the weekend. It truly is a beautiful drive along the ocean with many little towns to stop and explore. We didn't get very far down, we'd need an extra week to see it all.
Oregon has many areas of covered bridges, we tried to find several of these but found the maps were not very good. Here are a couple we came across. The red one was built in 1890 and the while one I think was about 1920's or 30's.

I only went to a couple of quilts shops, believe me there were dozens I would have liked to stop at...that will have to be for another trip with my quilting peeps (that's such a cute name, I borrowed it from Yellowfarmhouse...teehee). Here is a couple of bundles I just had to take home. If you like reproduction fabrics then this shop is for you and me too, it's a jammed packed little house full of nothing but reproduction fabrics . There wasn't any fabric in this shop that I didn't like. The top bundle is Jo Morton plaids and the bigger one is Sturbridge Village Calicos. Sorry I'm such a bad blogger, no pictures of the store to share, I was so excited to see all the fabrics I forgot about pictures. The owner tells me she is working on a shopping friendly web site...oh my gosh I can't wait....I hope she gets that going real soon.
I've been a little slow in showing a some wonderful gits I received. I''ve been doing a block swap with a few other bloggers. We are just about finished with the swap and Darlene (what a sweet dear) sent each one of us this adorable "Stitching Angel", she is so cute and whimsical with rusty wire curls for hair. Thank you Darlene, she is a wonderful remembrance of our swap together.
Isn't this a cute little sheep, it's a wool pincushion or it will be when I get the stitching done. Karen sent this to me all ready to be finished. Thank you Karen when it's not so hot I'll be getting this sweet thing done.

I hope you've had a great weekend. I can't believe how fast July has whizzed by...holy cow we are well into Aug already. Keep cool.

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!

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!

Quilting or NOT

Jeez....3 tests in 3 weeks....how do these instructors expect me to cram that much information in my little brain and not have some information start falling out...LOL I know the light at the end of the tunnel will show up soon.

My sewing room has been missing me and feeling ignored. I still have to finish my little sewing case and Polka Dot Girls, the next block is almost done. I've started a miniature tumbler quilt and my square in a square blocks are wondering when I'll start playing with them again.....soon...soon I'll be back to sewing.

I found this book at an antique sale last weekend, it was published in 1929. In case you needed instructions on how to serve your family this is a good book...LOL Imagine a time when women spent all day planning meals and learning to set the table just right, the water glass is placed 1" above the fork....who cares. Can you imagine ovens didn't always have temperature indicators, this book talks about testing the oven temperature using the paper method, seems risky to me. Who knows I might find a really good recipe in here.
This jug was also something I bought. Most of this "style of jugs" were used to hold Whiskey but this one has written Botanical Works on the front and no mention of Whiskey. I was curious to find out what this jug held, my first thought is maybe liquid fertilizer for plants. My FIL tells me they didn't have liquid fertilizer in 1938. I found the company that made the jug and it was operational until the mid 70's under the name of Govencroft. Maybe a trip to Glasgow would be helpful....LOL
Jenny is enjoying a bit of sunshine at the back door. It's so cute how she brings her back legs up over her head just like doing pilates.

Ironing Board

This has always been my favorite picture of my ironing board. Jenny wants to be the center of attention which means she'll do anything to get in my way. We sometimes have to fight over space. And we won't even talk about when she thinks my thread and my HST's are toys. Libby has challenged us to show our ironing boards, the cover is pretty new, my old cover had rips and holes in the area I use the most. I picked this cover because #1 it was cheap and #2 because it didn't have a bright loud print that would drive me crazy. This was as neutral has I could find without being muslin.

Seven Random Things....

I've been tagged by Jeanne and Kim to tell 7 random things about myself. Are you ready, this is going to be really boring....LOL

THE RULES:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

1. I love drinking tea and when I'm making tea my cup has to pre-warmed with boiling water (not tap water)...yep really hot tea.
2. I eat Cheerios for breakfast...now that's really boring.
3. I love buying antiques.
4. I have 2 grown daughters ages 23 and 26.
5. I'm an Administrative Assistant in the High Technology sector....way to much stress.
   
6. This year I've decided to take a different direction and go back to school. I'll be learning about working in a dental office....this will take the next 5 months.
   
7. I love red licorice.

I'm not going to tag anyone, feel free to jump right in and play if you like.

Have a great week!