Another Bunny

I finished this the other night and am working on the next one now. Only 2 to go yeah! But wait! What's this? The store triple booked and has to be in 3 places with a booth on one day? They need more samples? You guessed it. I was asked to sew but I really haven't been sewing lately. I don't know why... cause it's summer probably and there's too much needs doing outside.

So she gave me 5 patterns that she only has a couple left of and asked me to embroider one block of each so people can see what the blocks look like when they look at the pattern. It's so difficult to visualize sometimes. So that will be okay too if I only have to do one block of each. I wanted to get to an embroidered Halloween candle mat for myself. All the more reason to get these done ASAP.

Our weather here has been gorgeous! It's not supposed to be like this. It's supposed to be raining and icky. So I'm thrown by that too I guess. I still have a few things I need to get trimmed up before Fall sets in so I'm making myself get out there and do some each day.

Never Mind

Thanks to kwiltmakr I now have my Christmas countdown thingie AND a new clock. Now I can concentrating about worrying that there's only 118 days left!! *LOL*

How do you?

I'm usually pretty good at figuring out how to do stuff but this one has me stumped. Molly you and some other's have a countdown to Christmas. Only 118 days!!!

How do I put one on my blog? I know I had a clock on there too and it's gone. I can't remember for the life of me how I did it. So please, please, please let me know how to do it. I wanna have one too.

In other news. Ever suffered from quilt magazine overload? I have a subscription to Homespun Magazine through the LQS. It's cheaper than getting it mailed from Australia. Last month I gave up my copy to a lady who wanted to start a subsciption so mine didn't come in until this week. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) this month's magazine came on the same day. It's the Christmas issue. Oh my goodness.... I just love all the stuff in these magazines. I sat for 2 hours yesteray afternoon with a cup of coffee flipping through these things. I want to make everything... which of course is impossible. I didn't dare look at the Country Threads magazines when I was down there. If I'd done that I'd be sunk!

No real quilting going on here. I've been trimming up the yard getting ready for Fall/Winter. I sure don't want to be out there when it starts to get cold/rainy. In the evenings I've been working on the embroidery for the shop. Only 3 left to go.. yeah! Someone else is doing the sewing together and it will be a shop sample so I'll snap a photo once it's finished. It's soooo cute. I love little bunnies.

A bunch of us finally came up with a winning idea for novels. Since we all read the same type of book (cozy mysteries & quilt novels) we've decided to commandeer a shelf (in the back of the shop) at the quilt shop to keep all our books on, like a library. Once we all finish with the books we can sell them at the second hand book store to save up for batting for our charity quilts.

Book Review too

Now that Lane and Molly have given book reviews I have to do one too. I read Wild Goose Chase by Teri Thayer awhile back. I really liked it, it had a lot of humour in it. Our library doesn't carry her books so I went out and bought the next two. I just finished reading Old Maid's Puzzle. Now if you're 20something or even 30something you might enjoy it. But I'm 50 something and the time she spend writing about her relationship with her boyfriend (too much information!) wasn't really enjoyable at all. It actually took me about 3 weeks to read the thing when I normally can read a book a week - minimum. It did give a true picture of what it's like to run a quilt shop - it's hard work knowing just the right things to stock that will keep you afloat. Even the dead body part of the story wasn't suspenseful enough.

Now I've moved on to Ocean Waves. She's at a quilt conference so at least the beginning of the book is interesting - the technique that the teacher is using to help them design a quilt. She's far away from her boyfriend so hopefully he won't play a large part in this one. I want to just move on to another book but I paid for the darn thing so I'm gonna read it. There are so many good books out there that I really wouldn't recommend wasting money on hers... unless you like Quilter's versions of Harlequin Romance *LOL*

Stitchery I'm Doing

Right now I'm working on the stitchery part of a quilt that's going to be a shop sample. The pattern is by Rabbit Haven and is called My Spring Garden. It's going pretty fast. I'd done three and taken them down but forgot to take pictures of them. But here's the ones I took down today.

Her patterns are all really cute. We've been selling them at the shop since before she had a website. The only problem I have with them is her choice of colours. She likes to use soft light colours and if I was to do it my way I'd use darker ones. For example the wings on the birds are a very pale yellow. In person you can see that they're there but in a photo it's hard to see. I suppose I could have chosen my own colours but when it's a sample I try to stick to what the instructions are for anyone else buying the pattern. Otherwise she has some adoreable ones both stitchery and quilts.

Awesome New Website with Free Stuff

The girl I work for came across this website and gave me the URL cause she likes the layout and asked if I could do that. When I went to look at it I noticed there's a free BOM for a "Welcome Home" tablerunner. You can use applique or embroidery - they even said something about machine embroidery but I don't have one of those machines so didn't look at it. One of the blocks is like a log cabin so it's sewn/quilted. They are at Block 3 but you can still download the first two.

Just thought I'd share

http://www.youcanquiltthis.com/

2009 Quilt Walk and Classic Car Show

Hope this link works. I put up a few pictures I took today:

Quilt Walk and Car Show

http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/kk105/shirleymac2008/Quilt%20Walk%202009/

Our weather has turned nice again so it was a great day to hold this. Five blocks were closed off in the center of the village. That's basically all of our commercial core. There weren't as many quilts as usual cause the fee this year to enter them was $10, which is expensive. In past years it's been $5 for 3 quilts. This year all money was going to our local Hospital and that's why we wanted to raise the fee. Other years it went to smaller pubic services like batting for quilts for Victim's Services.

Kid Cadillac performs every year, mostly 50's rock. There was another guy this year down by the Legion singing more contemporary songs and then there was other music blasting so everywhere you went it felt like a carnival.. which is a good thing. It's neat to have all the streets closed off to cars and be able to just mingle. A LOT of guys enter their cars. I've taken only a few of the ones that I liked. There's a lot of muscle cars too... guys trying to show their stuff. It's funny to hear them peeling off at the end of the show. It's absolutely not anything we normally would hear around here.

Tired now. Hope you enjoy the photos. I LOVED the ones they were showing in our Museum.

Night before the Quilt Walk and Car Show

We went down tonight to get a preview of tomorrow's show. I wanted to take some photos of the cars cruising but dh fell asleep so we missed it. They did come into town later but most were going by so fast I didn't have time to click. A bunch of them get together and do a cruise around the extended care part of our hospital and one of our senior's residences. We also hung quilts in both places cause the older folks can't get out tomorrow and walk... although I saw quite a few walkers tonight, it's a popular show. We had a night market tonight too. We sat at the Boot and Sombrero and had chicken wings as the cars went by and then got brownies at the market for dessert.

I found this funny Maxine style Smile Box, so bear with me. I only have a few photos on so when her screen is blank that's the end of them.. only about 6 I think.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I'll post more tomorrow after the show.

Another Story Posted

I decided to keep publishing stories to my story blog til I run out. Then, heaven forbid, I'll have to start coming up with new ones. After two years I'm a bit rusty.

Today's story is one that was published in Canadian Story magazine. I love looking at a picture and inventing a story around it. Click on "My Writing Blog" in the right hand menu or go to http://shirleymacsshortstories.blogspot.com/

Enjoy.

I Am A Quilter Challenge

At our Quilt Walk this weekend they are having a challenge. We have to make a 9" x12" quilt that tells our quilting story. I wasn't sure if I was going to enter but this is what I've come up with. Darn thing isn't straight but that's part of my story too LOL

Well it does look straighter than that in person. It's hard to take photos of something so small. Anyway. The center represents the fact that quilters can be young or old or somewhere in between. The squares around the edge of the center represents the different tastes in fabric that each quilter can have. The lighthouses represent the instructors and quilting friends who have guided me on my journey.

The buttons are for the fact that quilters come in all different sizes, shapes and colours (and genders - but I don't know how to tell a boy button from a girl button). Buttons and quilters have one purpose. Buttons keep things closed. Quilters quilt.

Here's the back:

Hibiscus

Well, that hot weather killed a lot of stuff but my Hibiscus loved it. It still has blooms to come.




I noticed a bee while I was taking the picture and so I got close and snapped a pic of it. It's amazing! I've never looked at one really closely before. I thought they just got pollen on their little feet but look at this guy!



I'm really tired these days. I'm still not over that full day I worked I guess. I've been into the shop 2 other days for a few hours cause we're getting ready for the Annual Quilt Walk and Classic Car show on Sunday. We have about 100 quilts this year. We hang them in shop windows on our two main streets here. We'll also be having a night market this year too which is neat and lots more vendors bringing stuff to sell.

Very primitive peek

These are the first four blocks for my daughter's double wedding ring quilt. I just wanted to get an idea of what they'd look like. I always find it easier to see if I take a photo and look at it that way. These blocks haven't even been squared up yet.

I haven't been working on it for two reasons. First because it's been to hot here, but really honestly because I'm using tone on tone white for the background which is a very fine fabric. I'm using those interfacing templates for the arcs. That meant that when I sewed them onto the backing fabric they'd go all wrinkly and puckery. I was at the shop last weekend and my friend told me I should be using stabilizer. I've heard of stabilizer but never knew what it was for. Imagine.. quilting for 6 years and I had no idea what it was for *shaking my head*. So today I tried it with the stabilizer and it's so much easier to sew! So this will get me back working on it. I've told myself no more projects (aside from my stitchery I do in the evenings) until this quilt is finished. I have a looonnnng way to go. I still have enough arcs to make about 5 more blocks but then I need to start making more.

I worked in the shop for the whole day yesterday for the first time in about a year. I was so totally exhausted by the end of the day. I definately can't do that any more. I'm fine for a few hours but full days are out of the question. I hate that. I want more energy like all the rest of the kids my age *LOL*

Going in again tomorrow for a couple of hours to learn to use the computer program to type up the forms for the quilts that will be in our quilt walk on the 16th. Once I learn how to do it I can do it from home. I don't get quite so tired at home cause I can take a break and lie down or relax on the deck.

New Story Posted

Jay's great story yesterday reminded me that I haven't posted anything on my short story site for awhile... actually I only had one on there. So I've just posted another one if anyone wants to read it.

The weather here now is glorious! The heat wave with the horrible humidity broke and now it's just nice and warm with a gentle cool breeze from the ocean... ahhhhhhhh. Of course that means it's cool enough now for me to resume my normal household duties. Ugh. So I'm off to water all the dry stuff in the garden and pull some weeds - again.

Have a great weekend everyone.