GETTING SETTLED

While I've been unpacking clothing, supplies, kitchen, groceries etc.  We bought 4 whole chickens, so I cut them into pieces, and made my chicken stock with the bones, skin and leftover pieces.  The parts are packed, listed on my freezer inventory and placed into the freezer in the shed.  The stock is chilling in the refrigerator, and I picked all the meat from the bones.  
My sweet DH has been working much harder cleaning outside!
He has washed all the summer pollen, dust and grime from the outside of my sunroom, as well as the carport and the screenroom on the front of the house.  He even washed the screens, and took the carpet out to wash away the summer soil.

This morning, he worked very hard, taking all the buildings for the garden railroad, and putting them in place.  He then washed all the walls in the sunroom and vacuumed the floor.  I helped clean all the windows, and washed down my cutting table, sewing table, etc.  Then he scrubbed the floor, so everything is nice a clean for me to set up my sewing room!!!!! 

The wicker chairs are awaiting visitors, and my cutting table needs to be unfolded.  

I'm cooking chicken wings in mushroom sauce for dinner.  The wings are browned, onions and green pepper sauted, and the sauce poured over to simmer for a while.  This is a favourite meal that my Mother always made, and I make it whenever I buy whole chickens - I refuse to pay the high price for wings, when I can buy the whole chicken for less $/pound!  Frugal in the little things, so I can have more money for quilting!

This will be served with rice, salad and either steamed carrots or butternut squash.  Yum!
 
I received some sad news today.  A member of my quilting guild has passed away.  Susan was my first contact with quilting when we moved back to Kingston.  She ran a Project Linus day, and I enjoyed meeting other quilters and helping to complete the many tops that arrived that day.  She also gave me the information about the Limeston Quilt Guild, and I became a member.  She was a wonderful quilter, and will be missed by all. 

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

Nothing to show today - I don't even have a sewing room yet!
DH has been busy cleaning the outside of the sunroom, then he has to clean up the garden and install all the buildings etc., for the garden railway.   Then the cleaning begins on the inside before I can get my sewing room up and running!

After leaving Mary Jo's, we headed to Charleston SC.  We drove down the Ashley River road, and checked out a couple of plantations, but it was too late to really enjoy a tour.  We found our way to "California Dreaming" for dinner.  It is located in an old armory, and has great water views and fantastic food.

After 2 days on the road, we enjoyed a quiet, relaxed meal, while watching the water and boats on the river.

 DH remembered to take a picture of my salad after I had eaten almost half!

Our morning cruise to Ft. Sumter took us past some gorgeous homes along the harbor wall.

The fort is imposing, with the remaining 25 foot walls.  It must have been a sight to see when the walls were twice as high!

We enjoyed the talk by the park ranger - we knew its history during the Civil War, but learned a lot about its constructions, and many interesting details.  The item that was in the shortest supply during the siege, was sewing needles!  They only had 6, and needed to sew the bags holding the gun powder for the cannon charges.  Can you imagine how dull those needles were at the end of the siege!

This picture was taken while standing in the remains of the officers' quarters, looking across the fort.

The effort to restore the fort has been a huge undertaking.  The museum display was well done, and we enjoyed our morning.

We headed out of town and stayed in Brunswick GA.  From there it is about a 4 hour trip to our southern home.  We were greeted by our neighbours upon our arrival, and just as DH was  unloading the final Rubbermaid tote from the car, a florist truck pulled up with a beautiful arrangement, sent by SDIL2, with a note saying "Happy Mothers-in Law Day"!

I called her right away to thank her for such a lovely surprise!  Now off to unpack more stuff!
Head over to the Patchwork Times to see what others are creating this week. 

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Used this week  0 yards

Used year to date  197 yards

Added this week 16.25 yards

Added year to date  141.125 yards

Net used 2012  55.875 yards

 

 We had an uneventful trip south - just some areas of construction with the highway down to one lane.
There was fog and misty rain through NY and PA, but cleared when we arrived in Virginia

We stayed in Salem the first night, and were greeted by the sunrise over the blue ridge.  

 

The sun brought out the colour of the fall leaves as we wove our way along I-81, then turned south on I-77

 

 

Our first stop of the day was at Mary Jo's in Gastonia.  For those who haven't visited here it is located along I-85 at exit 21!

The new entrance has had a facelift since our last visit.

 

 

 

The store has been slightly re-arranged and all new daylight bulbs installed in the light fixtures!    The selection was awesome, and I managed to find just the right fabrics for the backing on two of my projects, as well as some solid black so I can play with some bleach resist this winter.  My SDIL2 loves dragonflies, and some more fabric plus a coordinate also jumped into my arms - have to plan a project for her birthday!  Those fabrics accounted for my 16.25 yards added to my stash, but hopefully, just a temporary blip!

 

 

For more stash reports, head over to Patchwork Times. 

PACKING, PACKING, PACKING

Sunday was laundry day - two weeks worth!  Then I began putting items on my cutting table that I knew I wanted to pack.  After a while, I remembered that I had a list in my notebook of sewing items that I usually pack, so that made the job much easier.

With lots of running up and down the stairs, looking for items in other areas, I decided that I had enough for one day.

Today I packed 4 Rubbermaid totes with sewing stuff, a few kitchen tools I can't live without,  some computer accessories, as well as printer cables (we take our ink jet back and forth each year.)  I managed to pack all the quilt kits into the bins as well.  I backed up our firefox profiles, so that we can use the newest one when we get our FL desktop up and running.  I packed my quilt book tote with an assortment of books and files for my self and my quilt group.

Tomorrow, we'll pack clothing, and get the van loaded.  Then I can clean the bathrooms, scrub out the almost empty refrigerator, and leave a note for our house-sitter reminding him about items that he can take home to use.   DH has 2 guitars in cases, an amplifier and his golf clubs - I take more items, but his are bulkier.  He just asked if I had any pictures of the van loaded from last year - it will make it easier to fit everything in!

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

No changes this week!  Still at 72.125 yards used for the year.

Head over to Judy's blog to check others progress this week.
 
Busy doing laundry and packing all my quilting stuff to be used over the next 5 1/2 months while we spend the winter in warmer climates!
It is fun packing all the fabric kits that I've made up, packing tools that have no duplicates (I have some rulers etc. left in our southern home),  boxes of threads, pre-cut scrap strips, leaders and enders bins, etc.  The list is endless!
Add to that the few kitchen tools that I bring along each year - necessary to my happy cooking experience, but too expensive to duplicate!  
We always knew that we'd be selling our southern home in the future, and we plan on selling it almost as is - just removing some personal momentos, quilts etc.  Eventually either our health or cost of health insurance will force us to spend winters in the land of snow and ice!  At least we won't have to do much shovelling, except for our front step!   

LAST SEWING FOR A WHILE!

I finished the second part of my quilt guild's BOM.  I decided to make both versions, and I wanted to sew the next part before I begin serious packing for our trip south for the winter.

Here's option 1 with the square in a square border attached.  I had fun playing with some striped fabric.....

Here's option 2  with its square in the square border.  The centre block was paper pieced on this one, and the border blocks could be done that way too.  I chose the traditional method instead.






I just spent some time using EQ7 to help design the quilt for our Godson.  I am using a pattern, but instead of making 16 blocks, I'll be making 35.  My design is basic, but gives me the finished size of the quilt so I can calculate how much fabric to buy for the back, and also gives me the finished size of the two borders.  These will be pieced on the quilt, using leftovers from the blocks, but I know what size they have to be, so I don't make pieces that are too short or two long.

I've been looking over my list of projects that I hope to finish this winter, and it is much longer than I thought.  I keep a notebook with lists of projects that remain in our winter home, as well as batting, partial bolts of fabric, and rulers etc.  That way I don't have to transport my entire sewing room, although DH accuses me of that, every year as he packs the van!

DH and I are off to Kitchener tomorrow, to have a visit with DS2 and DDIL2.  We'll be delivering their Christmas gifts, and getting some extra hugs to last the winter.  On the way home, we'll stop in Toronto to do the same with DS1 and DDIL1.  Then three days of serious packing, laundry, cleaning, and checking our lists at least 3 or 4 times.  DH gets pretty fanatic about his lists, but when we are packing for the winter, they sure come in handy!

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

As we were busy with preparations for our trip and getting ready to close down the house, little quilting was done this week.

 This is a "clean up" project.  The stripes were leftover after using this fabric as a border.  I had pinned the pieces to my design wall, and instead of finding another place to store them, I decided to make this easy runner.  It is made by cutting 60 degree angles on the ends of 2 longer strips, then cutting four 60 degree triangles for the ends.  I still had some of the coordinating brown fabric, so I made the binding, and found a splotchy green fabric for the backing.  I pin basted it, using some leftover batting, and it is in the pile to take south.

 I also decided it was time to do something with my huge pile of 2-patch leaders and enders.  If you don't know about leaders and enders, read about it here at Bonnie's Quiltville.


I made a stack of 4-patches, then sewed them into pairs, then sets of 4.  The stack on the left has 24 sixteen-patch blocks.  I spent a bit of time to design a quilt using EQ7, and I'm packing fabric to make the quilt.  Here's my design...  My quilt will end up something like this, but probably not as organized in the colour department.  I design in EQ so I have fabric amounts, so I can find large enough pieces from my stash before I head out to shop!

Head over to Judy's blog to see all the creativity this week!

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Used this week  3.75 yards

Used year to date  197 yards

Added this week  0 yards

Added year to date  124.875 yards

Net used 2012  72.125 yards

I used 2 apron panels, (1 yd each), this week, one that included an oven mitt.  These are being donated to my BFF's church sale in November.

Last spring my BFF and I made a Christmas jumper for her youngest granddaughter, and this week we made one for the next oldest.  I had a beautiful border print for the skirt, and we fussy cut the front bodice and the pockets, using the overall print for the bodice back.  According to the pattern, the skirt took 1 1/4 yards and the bodice 1/2 yard.

Head over to Judy's blog to see how others are doing this week!

TRYING TO GET IT ALL DONE

I enjoyed my morning with the Community Quilts group from my guild on Tuesday.  I handed  in my finished baby quilt, then we all designed quilt kits, using some of the 1500 blocks that were donated.  Our hostess, Ann, has tons of fabric that was donated, so we had fun laying out the blocks, then looking for fabric for borders and binding.  I played until they stopped for lunch (which smelled terrific), then headed home.  

DH and I went out to do a long list of errands, including the final few stops to pick up the final Christmas gifts on our list.  DH took his guitar into the shop for a tune-up, and before we knew it, it was time for dinner!

Wednesday, I spent the morning with my BFF.  We made a Christmas themed jumper for one of her granddaughters, then cut batting and backings for the last 3 sets of placemats.

Thursday, I rummaged through the hangers that store my panels, and made up two aprons and a matching oven mitt.  Then I looked through my drawers of completed small items, and made a stack of things to give to my BFF for her church's November sale and lunch.  I also found some older panels for Christmas wall hangings, so I set them out to take south for completion.

Today DH and I are celebrating our 44th anniversary!

 Sunday we are driving the Coe Hill to spend the day with DSIL Marilyn and DBIL Bob - our final visit before our trip south.

QUILTATHON FINAL REPORT

1.  Completed the top of my version of "Sing a Happy Song"

2.  Completed a baby quilt - kit provided by the community quilts group at my guild.

3.  Finished assembling the 6th section of the "Christmas Wish" quilt - pattern from Red Brolly

4. Added sequins and beads to some of the earlier sections of "Christmas Wish"

 5.  Completed 90% of our Christmas Shopping!!!  (We deliver all our parcels before we head south in just over two weeks!)

See what others completed during October Quiltathon at Judy's blog.

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

I managed to get section 6 of "Christmas Wish" from Red Brolly assembled yesterday!

 I still have to to the blanket stitch around the stars, and I may add a bead or two......

Check out everyone's weekly progress at Judy's blog.

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

Used this week  0 yards

Used year to date  196.25 yards

Added this week 2 yards

Added year to date  124.875 yards

Net used 2012  68.375 yards

I was good on the trip home from Rochester NY and only picked up 2 yards of fabric - my favourite orange print and two half yards of black and white.

I'm planning on a black and white quilt for our Godson's birthday, with lots of bright coloured accents.  I've been picking up non-flowery prints, as well as those that are more black than white.  I want to have a good selection when I begin the quilt.

Head over to Judy's blog to see how others are doing stash-wise!

 

OCTOBER QUILTATHON DAY 3

Thanks to Judy for sponsoring this quiltathon - check out all the participants here.

I managed to finish the baby quilt, including the binding by lunch today.  I also found some embellishments for my Christmas Wish project!

Sorry for the washed out picture, but the sun was coming in the patio door while it was taken.

Here is a close-up of the quilting.  I used a variegated thread from Superior King Tut line called Baby Tut.  This is a better shot of the colours in this quilt.  The blocks were donated by my guild members, almost 1500 in bright colours to be made into more quilts!

I'm spending the rest of the day planning projects to take south for the winter.  I also have some new fabric to launder.  Speaking of laundry,  I have almost 3 weeks worth on the go - since I only do laundry on the weekend because of high electricity costs, and since we have had company or been away for the past two weekends - I have huge loads of washing and drying to deal with.  Today is just clothing, and tomorrow I'll catch up with the sheets and towels.  

Ontario has "time of use" billing, with 3 different prices for different hours of the day.  Green is the lowest cost, and all weekends and holidays are green, as well as evenings and overnight.  Since I have no where to set up a clothes line outside, and our basement of our small townhouse is finished (mostly my sewing room), there is no where to hang clothing to dry, so I am forced to use the dryer - a big electricity user!

OCTOBER QUILTATHON DAY 2

This is the second day of links a Judy's blog.  I spent the morning cutting all the borders for my "Sing a Happy Song" quilt, and sewing them all the the centre.  I also have the binding prepared and ready to sew.  Now I have to find fabric for the backing!

This afternoon I plan to pin-baste the baby quilt I'm making from a kit from my guild's community quilt program.

DH is out playing golf today with his favourite foursome - probably the last time for the season.  We're going out for dinner tonight with some friends, so I have the afternoon ahead to get back to my sewing room!

3PM  DH is back from golf, so we stopped for a tea break.  The baby quilt is basted, and all the stabilizing quilting, done with monofilament (invisible) thread is completed, and thread is selected for more quilting.   Now - back to work - still a couple more hours until we head out for dinner!

SEWING ALL AFTERNOON

Judy is sponsoring a Quiltathon, so thought I'd join in!
 
I brought a kit home last night from the community quilts group, so thought I'd get working on that first.  The blocks were all donated from my guild's summer BOM - over 1500 blocks in a variety of colours were donated.  Ann and Brunhild design quilts using the blocks and various donated fabric and pack up quilt kits.  Mine was complete with backing and batting.  Lots of quilters love to piece, but not always complete the quilt.  We have volunteers to machine quilt, sew on the binding and sew on the labels.  I like to finish except for the label.  I managed to get the top completed, and the backing pressed, ready for basting.

I also spent some time sewing on my "Sing a Happy Song" quilt.  I have the centre of the quilt pieced, and the 3 border fabrics prepared and waiting to be added.  Not bad for an afternoon of sewing!

SONNENBERG MANSION AND GARDEN

Throughout the mansion there were manikins with period dresses.  It certainly helped take us back to the days when the summer home was built.

They also had photographs taken in the early 1900's, showing how the house was decorated.

This is the minstrel gallery that overlooks the great hall.  I can picture a small band playing while people are dancing below....

I loved the cutwork and embroidery on this summer outfit.  It had a parasol to protect the wearer from the sun!

These dresses remind me of the Great Gatsby!

 

A BUSY DAY

I began by entering all my receipts into Quicken, taking time to categorize all the spending over the past weekend.  I love being able to track our spending, and check to see how much money we have at a glance.  I guess there is a book keeper hiding inside me.

I've spent the rest of the day sewing!  I've been working on my "Sing a Happy Song" blocks, and I'm liking the way they are turning out!  Of course, I switched up the colours, so mine doesn't look at all like Judy's beauty..... 

There are six blocks with this colour green in step 2 - they will be the inside blocks in the final layout.

 There are fourteen blocks with this colour green in step 2 - these will be the perimiter blocks.  
I'm am serious about using stash, and didn't have quite enough in either piece to complete the quilt top, so I decided to be creative!

I have all the half square triangle blocks completed for the pieced corner units, and I have all the background triangles cut, (mine in bright lemon yellow), ready to stitch together tomorrow.  After these are stitched onto the step 2 blocks, I'll be adding the sashing strips and cornerstones.  
My plan is to make the final wide border from the print fabric used in the centre four patches.  

Now I had better figure out what we're having for dinner.  Eating out for the past few days has spoiled me already.  I'll have to rummage through the refrigerator to see what veggies will accompany the fish I remembered to remove from the freezer a while ago!

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

I decided to try Judy's pattern "Sing a Happy Song".  Instead of the four-patch made from 4 different fabrics, I decided to use a print that has resided in my stash much too long.  I can't remember when I bought it, but there is lots, so I think I got the remainder on the bolt.  I pulled off 4 "repeats", stacked them up, then cut the 2 1/2 inch squares called for in the pattern.  I played with each stack of squares to find a pattern that I liked (4 choices for each), then decided to use this bright, happy yellow as my background fabric.  I managed to get this done before we ran away for the weekend!

Check out what others are working on this week at Judy's blog.