UFOs, Staycations and Good Reads

 This week, as I pondered life on the unemployment line, I sorted through fabric to donate to youth camp next week and sewed up a few blocks for the We Bee Canadian quilting bee.

These will eventually be Bento Blocks.  The recipient asked us to stop at this stage so she can mix them with the other blocks she will receive.  Looking forward to seeing the end result.  The quilt is being made for a young girl.

Through my sorting I came across some UFOs.  There isn't a lot of shame.  We all have them...some have been sitting around longer than others. Yesterday I found my daughter's baby blanket (yet to be finished) so I grabbed it and took it to dance to sew.

All these lovely pieces were given to me by my dear friend Sue when Charlotte was born.  Somehow when we moved years ago they were packed away and not discovered until now.  I had fretted that they had been tossed with the majority of our possessions when the pipes burst in our house.  I was so excited to find these this week!

I finished up two more at dance and it has become my handwork project for when I sit waiting.  Now just so you know....said daughter is now 10!!  but that is okay....today I found her sister's baby blanket.  It is almost quilted.  Her sister will be 13 in December.

When I haven't been looking for projects to work on, we have continued with our staycation.  There are lots of huge holes in the city with new construction happening all around us.  Lots of free entertainment for parents with little ones that LOVE big trucks and machinery!

New library in progress

Beach trips have been frequent (except when they closed for high bacteria counts recently...then we had to search elsewhere for entertainment)

Either a tad tired or a tad dehydrated....this was probably the warmest day that we have had so far this summer and we did a lot of walking!  Enjoying a mommy daughter date at The Works (yay...they have gluten free!)

The best server!!!  (We met up with Ian yesterday and took him to The Works for lunch and had the same server and he knew exactly who we were and even remembered Charlotte's order from before.  When the food was delivered to the table yesterday he popped over to make sure we had everything and immediately picked up Charlotte's food and told her it wasn't a gluten free bun .... I'm not even sure that we remembered to ask for a gluten free bun when we ordered but he took it and fixed it right up for her)

After lunch yesterday, our server chatted with us about our day and showed us some pics he had taken the day before down at the waterfront.  This solar powered boat was one of the highlights that he recommended the girls go check out.  Pretty amazing!

I love Halifax!

Woozles has become a regular stomping ground....
Dance has become a regular activity again at Rhythm in Motion ....
I have been on a kijijii selling spree and preparing to paint the living room...

New beaches have been discovered...An afternoon at Rissers Beach after contemplating some different options for our family and future goals/plans.

Summer Book Club
 What we have been reading since the 4th of July (we have seemed to have started our own little family book club! lol)...Once one of us finishes something it gets passed on to the next family member.

• Geek Girl by Holly Smale
• The Cahill Chronicles:  Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
• Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
• Drawing Out the Dragons:  A Meditation on Art, Destiny, and the Power of Choice by James Owen
• Witchlanders by Lena Coakley...Cora's having a hard time getting in to this one but the reviews are good so she is giving it a chance
• The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (Charlotte is part way through this one after convincing her sister to finally let her read it...I have to admit...I've never read it)
• Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson (Charlotte just started this one last night and is making speedy progress and loving the story)
• Graceling (my current read) by Kristin Cashore
• The Power of Starting Something Stupid by Richie Norton (this is pretty appropriate for us right now...as we are probably considering a lot of options that those who like to share their opinions with us would consider "stupid".  Our Stupid Idea list is growing!)

We would love to know what you are reading, what projects you are working on or what your favourite hidden gems are in Nova Scotia to visit.

UFO #1 Lone Star Update

Phew!  I actually found sewing time last night and today.  It is really a miracle some days, weeks, month, years... 

Last night Early this morning before heading to bed, this is what the Lone Star was looking like.

This afternoon, after wandering around the house feeling absolutely discombobulated (I love that word!)for most of the day, I finally found my way to my sewing room.  Giving up all hope on doing any housework, I started sewing again.  My goal was to have the rest of  the star pieced and the small inside border on before my girls got home.  I finished the last of the borders just as my oldest came downstairs proclaiming hunger.  If all goes well their dad will take them to rehearsal tonight so that I can add the pieced border.  I am really loving this and so glad that I didn't add the appliqued flower baskets in the corner squares.  I took a poll of the family and none of them cared for them either.

Hoping to post the next stage later tonight!

UFO Invasion

How does is happen?  Where do they come from?  You sit down at your machine or with project in hand...inspired, motivated....knowing that THIS TIME the project will be finished from start to finish with no interruptions!  This is how it is supposed to happen, isn't it?  But then...10 yrs later, you pull out a quilt top...actually not just a top but a quilt already prepped and ready to quilt!  How does it happen?  It's right up there with the mystery of the missing sock!!

Somewhere during the past 10 years, life happened and this little project ended up in the bottom of the bin, just waiting to see the light of day again.  I started this wall hanging for a workshop that I taught while pregnant with my second daughter. Sure, I could teach the class...no problem....I have almost 4 days weeks before I am due.  Little did I know at the time, my 9 lb daughter would be showing up five days after teaching this class.  At least my tummy served as a good felt board to display the various stages of the block on while I walked from table to table to see how everyone was doing.  

Ragged Hearts Quilt

Designer ~ Unknown but I am looking for the name Update:  Thanks to Cheryl over at Grandma Cocos Designs...she was able to track down the designer name for me.  It was designed for Homespun Quilts by Anna Laura Reidt (HQ105).

I modified the original pattern to add the inner striped border...without it, I just found there wasn't enough "Zing!" for me.  I machine quilted it with a stipple...I curse myself for trusting the spray on adhesive to hold the sandwich together all these years.  After it was all quilted and bound I realized there was a slight massive pleat down the back of my quilt and the backing had completely shifted...plus, it was my first time quilting with my new machine and the stitch tension was not cooperating with me.  Lesson learned...it all makes a beautiful area to place a label over!  Not letting the perfectionist in me win out this time...the one telling me to rip out all the quilting and start again!  It is done and it is happy.  If you put your ear up the screen you can hear it cheering because it is so happy to be saved from the UFO bin!!

Back to UFO #1...the Lone Star

I'm so happy with how this is finally coming together.  This week I hope to get the triangles set in and then decide if it will become a bed quilt of a large hanging for my stairwell.  What to do?

Just a little peek behind the scenes.  Nothing says love like well pressed seams!  I love my iron and my wooden pressing block!  I love ironing (disclaimer: quilts and fabric only).  Creating a pressing cloth was optional...take my word for it...if you ever make this star then MAKE THE PRESSING CLOTH.  It was wonderful to pin all my seams to and press.  All my star points came out perfectly and the same size.  It was well worth the time to have my husband draft out the cloth.

The Newest UFO Project

I swear...this will not become an UFO! (I don't know...grammatically should there be an "n" on "an" before UFO?)  Shortly after starting my UFO bin purge, my daughter came down with a horrible cold.  She is 9 (yes, my preemie 9 lb girl that was my flannel board for the Ragged Heart Quilt); she is extremely cuddly when she is sick AND she loves quilts.  I was on a roll but really it is soooo hard to sew at a sewing machine AND cuddle at the same time so I needed a new plan.  Not too long ago, I won the blog draw for a Grandmother's Flower Garden kit from Sew Sisters.  Shortly after, I received a couple more kits with my newsletter...was this a mistake?...or did they just know that I was feeling a little blue and receiving those little wrapped bundles in the mail was like getting a hug from a long lost friend.  These were so easy to put together.  Each little kit comes with enough fabric (pre-cut squares) to make one flower plus hexagon templates.  The templates are durable and can easily be used for multiple flowers.  To baste, I used a technique that I found on Youtube.  Rather than being redundant and posting instruction here, Katie over at Katie's Quilting Corner gave me permission to link to her tutorial.  Click on her blog name and it will should take you directly to the English Paper Piecing video on her blog.  Sew Sisters also recommend this handy little tool to bypass the basting.  It's called a Bohin Temporary Glue Stick Pen.  I believe they have also done a tutorial for paper piecing as well...I'll pop over to their blog to see if I can find it...they explain the use of the pen.  Sadly, I haven't had the chance to try it out...I pledged to stick within our family budget to help set a good example so my sacrifice...fabric and quilting tools.  I wonder if Santa is on a budget?!