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.

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!