Flag Day

 The Canadian flag is 61 years old today. Here's a different take on the flag. It blankets this wonderful country.

The True North Strong and Free.

Happy Valentine's Day

I have been busy but I did manage to put this little wall hanging on the frame and I am slowly quilting it.

Have a safe and Happy Valentine's Day with those you hold dear.

New Year

  

I hope you all had a very pleasant and relaxing holiday with a few festivities.

May 2026 bring you good health and time to enjoy some needlework.

Baby quilts

Even though there is a new member of the family who is now nine months old, neither of these quilts is for her. I have other plans with a pattern and fabric set aside.

This was a top that had been hanging around for a while now.

It is now finished with a hanging sleeve and label. It will be in a quilt show in November. The pattern is from Swim, Bike, Quilt but I added a row at the top to make it longer and use up a few more charm square.

This is the other baby quilt that I completed. Both are hand quilted and both were made to use up some charm squares. This was a free pattern I found online that showed how you could use up a whole package of charms squares - all 42.

This one will also be in a quilt show in November but it needs a label still.

New wall hanging

I got tired of looking at my little wall hanging of a red bird sitting on a branch covered in snow and wanted something brighter and more in keeping with the summer season.

I think I started this little wall hanging in 2021 but it sat around waiting for me to decide to finish it. I found it just at the right time. It's machine quilted and now hangs in my hall. It was a free pattern I found somewhere on the internet and is 11 inches by 23 inches.

Busy

It seems it's been non-stop for a while now. My eldest daughter and her two boys are now back in B.C. I am planning on finishing up some smaller projects. One is a baby quilt that will be put on the frame. I also have some small cross stitch kits that need finishing.

Now that there is no school, I can make my pulla (Finnish coffee bread with cardamom) with nuts on top. During school time, I have to put sprinkles on top because my grandchildren have a couple of slices put in their lunches. Some children at school have nut allergies. Since there are 4 families that live close by, I have to make 4 loaves. I can't eat it since I have a gluten intolerance. White flour just gives me gas and sometimes, a tummy ache.

Happy Canada Day

We live in a part of the city where we get to watch a Canada Day parade every year. Afterwards, we usually walk up to the park where the parade ends and there are all kinds of activities for the children and tents set up for food and many other things. I used to get some plants in years past from the garden club or browse the books that the library was discarding. It was a fun day ending with fireworks later in the evening. We said they were celebrating my youngest daughter's birthday which is on the following day.

Enjoy the day wherever you live.

Family times

There are two grandchildren who have birthdays this month - back to back. One is turning 3 on Sunday and the other turns 6 on Monday. Parties quite often take place at my house. Yesterday after school, there was a birthday celebration with a dance party in my basement complete with strobe lights and lots of singing along with the music. All 12 grandchildren who live close by were there - even the youngest one who is just 6 months old. At one point, she was the centre of attention and they all gathered around her.

Family. They all get along - ages 6 months to 10 years. The dance party was a huge success. Missing are the two oldest grandsons (aged 12 and 14) who are in the Maritimes with their mom completing their cross country trip. They will be here in a couple of weeks for a few days and then we can have a photo with all the grandchildren.

An oldie - Four Seasons

It occurred to me that I never got around to photographing my older quilts. I love wall hangings and most of my quilts were made for hanging on the wall, not covering beds. Most of the quilts are either still with me or have been given to family members.

I remember sewing this while my children were in school. I had randomly cut and sewn a couple of blocks by the time they came home for lunch and I asked them if the blocks looked like winter.

I made it in 1985. The navy border is a polyester gabardine fabric. I rarely use black and always try to substitute navy when I can. Most of the fabrics are cotton/polyester broadcloth because that's the only way I could use solid fabrics. Cotton solids were few and far apart and very expensive. I have never been a cotton snob and still have a lot of cotton/polyester fabrics that I use in my quilts. The binding is probably only 1.5" and I just sewed all the fabric scraps together and then cut them to the width I needed. I forgot to look at the back but it's probably a poly/cotton fabric. 

This quilt resides with one of my granddaughters and that's where I saw it when I decided I should take a photo. There are big circles quilted on it and I remember using a big round tray that I had but I can't remember if I hand quilted it or machine quilted it. I must go back and check.

I should remember to take my phone or my camera with me when I visit so I could take more photos of my older quilts.

National Flag Day

Happy Flag Day Canada! 

It was 60 years ago today that Canada adopted it's very own flag. 

We are all proud Canadians no matter where we live.

A few hearts for Valentine's Day

Years ago when my own children were small, I made felt heart pins for them to wear to school on Valentine's Day. Then I made a few for my grandchildren a couple of years ago. This year, I made them for all of the grandchildren who live in Toronto.

The colours are really a lot brighter than this photo shows. I think I made 14 altogether which gave me 3 extras. One grandchild has already misplaced hers so she got to choose another one. My youngest granddaughter is only 2 months old so she didn't need one. Two were orange, two were red, two were mauve and two were pinky/purple. I had some darker purple and some paler pink felt that I used too. They all have safety pins on the back so that they could be pinned on. Tomorrow is the school Valentine celebration because Friday is a PA Day. Monday is Family Day so it gives the teachers a four day weekend. I picked up some chocolate hearts today for all the little ones too.

My Current Project

This is just the latest project I'm quilting. I have a few other things like another hat to knit and a cross stitch project.

Here's a corner of the baby quilt I'm trying to finish. I love the way the stitching/quilting shows up. The scallop looking quilting is from a template that my late friend had made.

Day after Christmas

I do hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating with family and/or friends. I had the whole family over (except the four in B.C.) and this year we had one additional little one. Little Axis was born on the 5th so she is my 14th grandchild. It was a busy, noisy day but all the children got along with each other and played with their favourite toy (or book.) 

It's been a very busy time lately but I did manage to finish a few things. In the fall, I went to a workshop hosted by one of the quilt guilds I belong to and we were making paper pieced trees. I didn't finish many trees during the day but once I got home, I was determined to get at least a top done so I continued on making a total of nine trees. I simplified the outer border since it too was supposed to be strip pieced but I thought it might look better if the border were just one piece of fabric. 

I do have more finished projects to show (maybe not all quilt related) but now, I will have to get a bit of cleaning up done.

Have a wonderful Boxing Day and stay safe. I am not planning on going out shopping.

The next-next generation

Since my children would be the next generation, I have titled this post as the 'next-next' generation. I see my grandchildren often and am lucky enough to babysit them. At times I have tried to show them different crafts that they could do. There is always paper, crayons and markers available. I have even started some of them on needlework. My own children used to do plastic canvas needlepoint and I still have some the pieces they have made. My eldest son actually made a model of his high school in plastic canvas years ago. One of my grandchildren, Esme, has taken to needlework at a very young age. This past summer, when I visited them in Nelson, British Columbia, where they were staying at the time, I brought a small plastic canvas kit. It was actually shown as a cross stitch kit. Esme started it while I was there and when assistance was needed (mainly to thread the needle), I helped out. 

It didn't take long for Esme to figure out how to cross stitch. Here's a photo of the finished piece. The family is now in France. 

Before arriving in France, they were in Barcelona and while there, a small kit was purchased. To remember the family's time in Spain, Esme chose this piece and is hard at work. It's almost finished and I am one happy grandmother (or Mummi.)I was on facetime with Esme and her mom this morning and before hanging up, Esme had to finish the rose. Now, all that's left are cross stitching the leaves. Determination. There are so many other things for Esme to learn - needlepoint, knitting, crocheting, embroidery, wool felting and on and on...

Doctor, Doctor!

My eldest son Mark just successfully defended his PhD. We now have a doctor in the family.

I am one proud mom. It was over a decade in the making.

Baby quilts

I just found out that I will be a grandmother for the 14th time. I would like to make something special but at the moment I am in the middle of quilting a Minecraft quilt for another grandchild. My relationship with my sewing machine has not been what it once was when my Kenmore died. It's been hard to get back into the swing of things but I shall try. This may get me motivated to sewing once again.

This is the quilt I am working on at the moment. I have taken two turns so far. Once I get more done, I shall post again.

Quilt show - part three

 Here are the rest of the quilt show photos. Enjoy!

There were small tables that were covered with lovely quilts. I don't know who made them but they were all gorgeous. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take a photo of all of them but here's three.

I hope you enjoyed the show. It was fun to re-visit all the quilts.