2020 Almost Done

Two Santas - Machine paper pieced, beading and hand quilted. Pattern by Regina Grewe

Rudolph Waiting… Foundation paper pieced, machine quilted, beading. Pattern by Regina Grewe

Two of my finishes for this Christmas. I had seen a photo online of a Christmas stocking that had the “Two Santas” on the stockings, I didn’t need to make any stockings so I added the tree and made it all a little bit bigger and volia, a wallhanging! That led me to look up more patterns by Regina Grewe and I just loved the reindeer! It is only about 11” square. I surprosed myself by how much I enjoyed doing the foundation paper piecing.

Hello Friend - pattern by Berene Campbell, foundation paper pieced, machine quilted. A Christmas gift for my daughter, the border dark blue is cotton velveteen. I loved making this!

The Avenue - Pattern by Louise Pappas, machine pieced, hand applique, machine pieced by Heather Stewart. I loved making this quilt and I am thrilled with Heather’s quilting. I am now working on another of Louise’s patterns called Champagne Christmas. I am just waiting on Canada Post to deliver the thread I need to quilt it.

Flocks by Night- Pattern by Wendy Williams, hand embroidered, hand applique, machine pieced and machine quilted by Heather Stewart. Another favourite I really enjoyed making.

As I say every year, I am going to try and do better to write and post more often…promise.

Treasures From Another Time

And here the house is in colour, the tree was cut down and has regrown! Everytime we have a high wind storm we worry it is going to come down on the house.

Almost every room has been renovated, insulted and painted. Peter is painting the 3rd bedroom as I type. As we have done with all the rooms we have documented the process and the treasures we have found. This room is no different.

A piece of newspaper

Where the old trap door for the “back” stairs once was. They were taken out in the 1970’s

The old lineoleum made to look like carpet! Under that was newspaper and on top was carpet. We will paint the floor.

Peter carefully cleaned out between the floorboards, vacumming many years worth of dust and dirt as he went along. He showed me these treasures, two long needles and a button. I could tell the button had writing on it so I searched on Google by typing in the words “Ne Plus Ultra” + button. In a second came the answer, the quote means “of finest quality”! These buttons were known to be “underwear” buttons from 1820-1880. He found many pins and needles but we will just keep these!

Once upon a time...

“The Avenue” finished during covid, machine pieced, hand appliqued, machine quilted by Heather Stewart. The pattern is by Louise Pappas, Australia. I loved making this quilt!

Where did it go! February 2019 was such a long time ago. So much has happened…or not happened! Life has changed. I now have two new knees! The first one was done in November 2018 and the second one was done in January 2020! I survived, I am without pain which is a blessing. I have a wonderful surgeon and great help at home thanks to Peter and my family.

Beautiful old wallpaper, I just love the surprises we find, the joys of an old house!

Now where to start? Way back in March 2019 we went to Sugarloaf, Maine for a week with Kate, Nick and the boys. What a great trip down memory lane for me. I had not been back to Sugarloaf in 50(!!) years! It certainly has changed a lot. While I couldn’t ski, I enjoyed hearing all about the adventures everyone had each day. We had rented a beautiful log house in the woods, big enough for all of us to be very comfortable.

We had a wonderul family of Cardinals join us this spring. They made their nest in our holly bush right outside the diningroom window so we could watch their every move. Sadly only one baby survived.

I have been quilting quite a bit and especially through the last 6 months, I finished 5 projects that were on the go from quilts to wallhangings and I started a few new projects. We adjusted to a new norm of life here in our little town feeling grateful for having everything (almost) in walking distance. We were grateful when we could have our family “bubble” and see Kate, Nick and the boys more often. Plans for Andrew, Christy and the kids to come home (they moved from Calgary when it was -40 in January 2019 to the Cayman Islands where it was +40!!) were cancelled as was a trip for us to go there. Hopefully some day travel will be easier and safe but for now we rely on FaceTime and What’s App!

Another finish, “Pies and Tarts” on a windy day! The circles are sewn using the English Paper Piecing method. It is hand pieced (EPP), hand applique and machine pieced. it was machine quilted by Heather Stewart. It is a Sue Daley pattern though I sewed it together differently from her original pattern.

I am enjoying participating with some other quilters using Zoom online regularly. It is great to see and talk to them. Our local Guild will have their second Zoom meeting next week, our first was our AGM in June. while not perfect it is great to have this option to look forward to.

Work continues on our old house! Like so many people we are renovating again, this time the third bedroom has been gutted, the old wood chip insulation(not!) is gone, new insulation done and now Peter is working on the new drywall. A bit of hurry up and wait for the “mud” to dry but in between there is always golf!

I am going to commit myself to being back here every week or so. I am sure I can find something to write about or pictures to share. See you soon!