Durham Trillium Quilt Show - Part one

The Durham Trillium Quilt Guild held their show on October 28th and 29th. Judy and I met in the parking lot and surprisingly spent two hours viewing the quilts, checking out what the vendors had (I was looking for charm squares and Judy was looking for a gift for a guild Christmas gift) and looking through the guild members booth (something we don't normally do.) I found a package of Miss Scarlett charm squares and some yellow scraps and Judy found a Christmas wreath kit along with several patterns at the members booth. I didn't need anything but the charm squares are going to be put to use in a Christmas wall quilt.
The venue was not great for lighting and a tight squeeze for taking good photos of the bigger quilts. My apologies for some of the photos which don't show all of the quilt and for some of the blurry ones. Since the blurb photos for all of the quilts turned out blurry, (blame operator error and perhaps, a wrong setting) I will not be adding those photos. If you want more information, email me and I shall try to find out the name of the pattern if it is given or whatever information was on the blurb tag.

This was a guild mystery quilt so you will be seeing more quilts with this same pattern but in different colours.

As you can see, the lights above the quilt hindered some of my photo taking. I tried moving to a better position but it didn't always work.

This was a  pattern from Piecemakers quilt calendar in 2002. You can click on the photo a couple of times to see a bigger version. You can also google it and see lots of the same. I'm a tree person so this was a joy to view.

Here's two more versions of the guild mystery quilt. (above and below)

I liked this two colour quilt. The taupe is not something you see often.

That's it for today, I'll post more tomorrow.

Autumn

Well, the cooler temperatures have finally arrived and it is looking more like fall.

Garden centres have stocked up on mums and other fall garden plants.

I don't do much outdoor decorating but I do admire the things out there that I could use if I wanted to. I'm more of an indoor person. Always have been.

I do like the two colours of mums in one container. 

Some trees change quicker than others and it makes for an interesting photo.

Lovely trees and great colours. Soon, they will be bare branches. I'm glad I went out to photograph the colours before it got too cold, rainy and windy. 

The main street close to where I live has been decked out with wonderful planters.

All summer long we've had the joy of watching these plants and flowers grow and multiply.

Even the markets look like they've gotten into the fall colour scheme.

This is my only concession to outdoor decorating. 

In an effort to use up some yarn, I decided to make a hat for Teemu. Hopefully, this will be finished soon. The girls will get a blue one and a pink one. I asked them what their favourite colour was and that's what they told me. Mackenzie likes blue and Severn likes pink. I don't know if I'll use this same pattern (it's knit one, purl one) or if I will be looking at other patterns. I was hoping to get a sweater or two done also. The patterns have been printed out. I just need the time.

I have been busy sewing costumes. The girls will be going out on Hallowe'en dressed as aliens from the Simpsons (Kang and Kodos Johnson.) I have never watched the Simpsons but my son, the twins' father, is a fan. I just have to make a hood for them so that my son can then put one eye in the back. I thought it would be better for the girls if they could leave with the impression of Kang and Kodos while being able to walk comfortably trick or treating.

I have also been trying to keep up with the monthly installments of the Meadow Mystery. This is the clue/task for October. All cut and trimmed.

Little knits

Once again, I have been doing a bit of knitting instead of quilting. Just a couple of quick little knitted things.

A little vest out of chunky yarn. I had started a sweater for one of my grandsons in B.C. but it became a UFO and when it was unearthed a couple of weeks ago, I no longer remembered what pattern I was using so I undid it. It was only about 6 inches long so it didn't take long. I asked my middle daughter, Maili, if she wanted me to use it to make a vest for Teemu and she said sure.

Mother and son - wearing his vest.

Later the same day. I'm glad I made the vest a bit longer than the pattern indicated but it could have been a bit longer still.

While I was going through my yarn - about the same time I unearthed the yarn for the vest, I came across this one and decided I could probably get a nice hat out of it. It's a child size and is now headed to B.C. for one of my grandsons. Depending on which one it fits, I'll make the next one (same yarn (Bernat Premium) different colour) either bigger of smaller.

I have a couple of little people garments to sew next. I may knit something too since I have so much yarn.

Today

Happy Thanksgiving Day

We celebrated on Saturday with family.

Stay safe.

The party's over

The little girls turn two on Wednesday and the party was yesterday. Balloons and chocolate cupcakes, other little ones to play with, friends and lots of relatives (some via facetime) helped celebrate. I did manage to make a couple of loaves of pulla and some broccoli salad and I even managed to make them aprons.

The fabric was from Len's Mill store in Barrie was only $6.00 a yard.

They sell fabric by the yard or by the metre and I picked up half a metre.

The pattern was a freebie from HERE and only called for a fat quarter. The pattern is actually for a reversible apron and so one would need two fat quarters. I didn't want to make it reversible but the fat quarter was perfect. There was no waste whatsoever. Since I bought a half metre, my fat quarters were cut out of it with some leftover on the sides which I used for the neck strap. The quarter circle that was cut out for the arms was used for a pocket - that was doubled.

It's hard to see but there is a pocket in the middle of the apron (click on the photo to make it bigger.) Little ones don't use pockets much so it's mainly for decorative purposes. I hoped to trim the differently but I didn't have enough lime green bias to cover both arm sections. I left the excess fabric for the neck part so that I can adjust it if their heads grow and the strap becomes too tight. The apron itself with fit a little one for several years. I made the ties with some polyester broadcloth that I had.