DESIGN WALL MONDAY

In the spring I saw a double wedding ring template set demo'd on a TV show - it seemed to be the simplest I had seen, so I ordered one.  It is from ez-Quilting and is found here or here.

I had some gradated solid fabric left over from a previous project, and so thought I'd give it a try.  The templates worked wonderfully for cutting the pieces, and the whole project went together easily!  Since I had chosen the red and green gradations, I decided to go with a Christmas theme.  The ends of the arcs are made with a gold fabric with holly and berries, and the squares are dark red with Christmas light bulbs and green with more holly and sparkles.  I used a narrow red stripe that has been in my stash more years than I want to remember to make the bias binding.  I have all the basic quilting done, but still have to quilt in the centres and the melons!  My friend saw it last night and hinted that it would make a great Christmas gift!

Today we left early and drove to Whitby to start our passport renewal process.  They finally have 10 year passports as of 1 July.  We only had to wait about 15 minutes, but by the time we were done, the waiting room was filling up!  

After taking care of  business we drove up to my brother's "shop".  He has been a custom car/ custom motorcycle enthusiast his whole life.  He found a shop building at an old mill in a small town north of Pickering ON.  He has the use of the building in exchange for odd jobs for the owner.  He was a welder by trade, so did all the iron work on a huge gazebo on the property.  The owner lives in a small part of the mill, and there are currently a quilt shop, tea room and small restaurant on the ground floor (all closed on Monday!)  There are still more changes occurring all the time.  The owner has some small burros - two were from a rescue group, and one arrived expecting.  My brother helped to deliver the baby, who is now larger than his mother!  He and his better half feed them carrots and apples for treats!  His friends are always dropping by, getting help with small projects.  He built the motorcycle himself, with parts donated from all his riding buddies and it is beautiful. Of course, I forgot to take the camera!!!!!!

Check out all the creativity at Judy's blog, Patchwork Times.