Photo Blogging Challenge - Nature

Nature is the challenge for September at the Photo Blogging Challenge.

I chose 5 photos taken in recent days.  This rose was found on a bush which must be one of the final ones as we move into autumn.

It is a bright spot in the park as nature turns to more quiet colors.


Love the bright deep pink color of the layered blossom.  A domestic variety planted planted in a park.









Of course, another fall activity in nature is the gathering of the birds who are preparing for their migratory journeys.

This pond in the park had many Canada Geese as they rally to migrate south.

They are eating and gaining energy for the long flight to winter grounds in California and Northern Mexico.

There were a few ducks but mostly geese in this pond.

This was taken on one of the last days that we have seen wonderful sunlight late in the day. 

The leaves turn color as nature adjusts to the less light and cooler temperatures.   The color was there all along and as chlorophyll disappears the color is revealed.

Most leaves here in the west turn yellow with not much red or orange. 

I believe this is "River Birch" tree leaves.

The leaf was backlit by the late afternoon sun.

As the growing season runs down the plants are making seeds to ensure their continued propagation  next year.

This is a Canada Thistle seed head ready to release thousands of seeds in hopes of making more plants in the spring. 

It is considered a weed in our area.

As fall returns the sun sets earlier each week. 

I caught this grass seed head against the setting sun.   I am amazed at how fast to comes.

Sharing with P.J. at A Lil Hoo Haa who hosts the Photo Blogging Challenge.

Sewing Project - Quilt 5 - True Blue & Floral

I completed another quilt today.  When I go to quilting on Mondays and cut squares then I want to get the rest finished.  I can't really keep up this pace.  We will have a 3 week break coming up.

Final Size: 40" Wide x 49" Tall.

Fabric:
Cotton fabric which I bought at the Grandma Africa sale last year.  The True Blue solid worked really well with the cool floral.   I had 1/2 yard of each.  I had to piece 4 squares to get the 10 of each I needed. The back and sashing areTaupe 100% cotton.

Squares:
I cut 10" squares for this one to make it a bit bigger.

Quilting: I sewed the front of each column adding the taupe sashing in the right places.   More about that a little later.  I then placed it on the batting and backer and quilted each square on the diagonal corner to corner.  Once quilted, I cut the other layers to the size of the front.

I almost got all the sashing right but forgot one on column three and only discovered it then I was starting to put the columns together so I had to do some ripping out.  I added the sash between the squares where it belong but now my batting and back were short.  I had to add a strip to both.
I also put one column on backwards and had to rip it out and put it right. There were some distractions going on so my concentration was broken. 

Binding:  I cut binding 2.5 inches wide and 190 inches long from the taupe solid. This time I sewed it to the back and pull it forward and top stiched on the front.  Not sure I would do that again.  Check out the tutorial here.

Column Assembly: I used the Quilt As You Go method to assemble the 4 columns together.  You can check the tutorial here.

My take away from this quilt: 

• Love the colors!
• Quilting in columns takes less time and make the quilt softer
• I used a straight stitch for the tacking down of the sashing instead of the zigzag which was OK
• The quilting pattern did leave long areas with no quilting so maybe not the best.
• Quilting and sashing when things have to be in a particular order is challenging.  I did mix up the columns.  It looks good but not as I had planned.
• Binding should be sewed to the front and brought to the back.

Upcycled Card - HB - Vellum and Glitter

A friend had a card she wanted to upcycle into a new card.

I had to trim the card and the vellum overlay. 

I chose a warm green card in half sheet size to coordinate with the green lettering on the front.

Since the card was glittery double sided tape did nothing to keep the vellum aligned that that they had been separated.  I used tiny gold brads in all four corners to hold everything in place.

I added the sentiment on the inside printed in color.

It is a wonderful sentiment and it is great when we have such friends.

Welcome to my Kitchen

We had a great time at Welcome to my Kitchen today. 

We had a few away sick so the crowd was a bit smaller than usual. 

As you can see the food was terrific.  A wife saver breakfast dish, fruit, and biscuits.  We had a dedicated husband who delivered the snacks his wife had prepared for us.  Thanks so much!  I am bringing my own travel mug now that I am drinking caffeine free tea. 

There were birthdays to remember. 

Devotions focused on rainbows which reminds us that God is always good. A storm is followed by a beautiful display of color which is a sign of God's covenant with us.

Good prayer time and I had to leave the gang in fellowship as I had to be home by 11:30 am.

Sewing Project - Quilt 4 - Fish Strips

I have finished another quilt.  I wanted to try a QAYG strip quilt which has less stitching as there is no top stitching in this one.

This one is larger coming in at 41 inches wide and 67 inches tall.

I used a piece of fish fabric cotton as the pattern in this quilt.  I added solids in yellow, brown and black fabric. I cut 4", 3.5" and 2.5" strips.

The back is a really soft fabric but I don't know the fiber content. It seemed a shame to cut it into squares so it was a strip quilt.

I added a layer of cotton polyester white fabric as the "batting" in this quilt. I started by pinning the batting to the wrong side of the back.

I started in the center and continued to add strips then iron them over and continued the process till I got to the one edge.  I then switched and went in the other direction from the center.  It is just a series of 14 very long seams. Once the strips were in place I then squared the quilt with my rulers.  I stitched all the way around about 1/8 in from the edge.

The bulk of the quilt was a challenge for the small throat of my sewing machine.  I rolled the quilt to get it through the throat and the length created a large pile behind the machine.

This will make a nice quilt for a boy.

My niece gave me this great piece of fabric from a stash she had been given.  Thanks so much.

This quilt took less time than my regular quilts made with 9.5 inch squares.  I chose grey thread so it would blend with the back.  I added a 2.5 inch binding in black fabric sewed with black thread.
You can check binding tips here.

Recent Photos

I have started attending a quilting group on Monday nights.  I said I would never to this but with Card Club a no go and a stash of fabric leftover from aprons I need something to keep busy.  I have made 3 quilts and my very old rotary cutter is toast.  The blade no longer rotates because the pin is compromised and will soon fall apart.  I bought a new one which I will give a spin tonight.

I am starting on a new quilt tonight. The piece of fabric I have for the back is so nice seems a shame to cut into pieces I will make a strip QAYG one to see if that would be faster. 

I am waiting to hear from the rep for the charity to which I want to donate these quilts.  Maybe email is passe as far as a method of communication so I may have to resort to the telephone.  I sure hope I will have a place to donate them soon.
















I finished Moonfleet by John Meade Faulkner this week.  It was first written in the late 1800's and the English is not modern. The images in the book are very old style as well.  When I researched this book a while ago I discovered it was set in Dorset England so I decided to give it a go.  The story is good. A orphan lives with his aunt, befriends an older man from the community who is involved in shady business which gets them both in trouble. The love of money and wealth gets them deeper.  The are exiled and then imprisoned.  Fate does see it fit to returned them to their precious English coast.  The young man reunites with his lady love.

I am working on my 2020 Photo Calendars.  I am working on high key images.  It is a technique where through lighting most of the shadows are eliminated and the background is blown out so only the essentials are captured. 

This is a set of bottles my sister found for me.  I love them.  I have placed a dark dried weed with them and made that the focus.

I think it works pretty well.  What do you think?  Leave me a message.

This photo says that fall is here even though the date has not declared it official yet.

We are having some days of Indian Summer here in Alberta.  Enjoying them to the fullest.

Sharing this with

Angie at Letting Go the Bay Leaf who hosted Mosaic Monday #45 
and
Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #207

Sewing - Coin Purse

I had a squeeze coin purse which has worked well but the other day the squeezer broke!  I thought it would be easy to replace but after visiting a few retailers no such luck to find a similar coin purse.

Well, I guess I will have to make my own. 

I measured the pocket in my purse that the coins live.  I proceeded to draw out a pattern. 

The coin purse will open like a box with the coins sitting on the bottom.  I placed a piece of stiffener in the bottom where the weight of the coins will rest. 

I chose two 6x6 pieces of fabric, cut the fabric according to the pattern, turned it inside out and ironed it. I stitched up the corners by hand.  I added 2 snaps - one on each corner of the top flap.

One of the advantages I can easily see what change I have easily with it is open.

Sewing Project - Quilt 3 - Yellow Turquoise & Navy

I have made another small quilt to whittle down my fabric stash. The fabric in this quilt is all 100% cotton.  The golden yellow print  was paired with turquoise sold.  I used navy as an accent on the yellow squares, the sashing and the back squares.

Squares - The squares were cut at 9.5 inches.  The quilt features 4 squares wide and 5 squares tall which translates into 40 W x 48 T inches. Total squares = 20.

Yellow - 10
Turquoise - 10
Flannelette squares used between the 2 layers - 20
Navy - 20

I used the same Quilt as You Go method as before.  I decided that I needed each square to have quilting to the edges.

I cut navy squares measuring 4" and folded over the edges over a card board 3 inch square.  Once pressed, I removed the card board and placed the navy square on the yellow square on the diagonal in various positions along that line.  I sewed down the diagonal, around the edge of the square and carried on to the opposite corner.  I then returned with another line of stitching about 1/8 inch apart and along the other side of the navy square and ended back where I started.

I placed a similar double line of navy stitching across the diagonal on the turquoise squares.

Sashing Method - I used Teresa Down Under's - Quilt-as-you-go with narrow sashing tutorial. I highly recommend this method.  It works so well.  I did  not hand stitch and instead used a decorative stitch to tack down the sash on the front of the quilt.

Binding - I used a 2.5 inch wide binding in navy cotton in the length of 180 inches.  I used this video to add the binding to my quilt.  How to Bind a Quilt: Foolproof Tips for Great Results | Quilting Tutorial

The back squares and sashing were done in the navy.  The thread I used was polyester.  I used 2 spools and filled the bobbin 4 times.

I started cutting square on Monday Night and finished by supper time on Wednesday. 

AAC Gallery - A2 Photo Cards

I needed to do something different at the gallery as my sales are very low.

I decided to change the size of cards to A2 to at least be efficient in materials.

I brought 10 cards to the gallery this morning when I volunteered in the hanging of the huge open art competition entries numbering at nearly 150.  We had lots of volunteers and in 2 hours it was done!  Amazing cooperation and can do attitude.

Donations to a Fundraiser

I prepared a couple of photos to donate as prizes at a fundraiser being held this weekend.

The 8x10 inch frame is metal in a gun metal gray color.  It has very angled edges.

I chose a black mat 8x10 mat with an 5x8 inch opening. It is archival but in a size I would not likely use for the gallery.

The photo is a black and white photo 8x8 inches of chess pieces I took a couple of years ago for Flickr Macro Mondays. It fit perfectly in this frame.

I placed the pawn and shortest piece in the front then aligned the knight in the middle ground and the queen in the background.  I was just making an appealing presentation of the shapes of the pieces.  I have since learned a bit of how chess is played from my grand nephew.

This frame is a warm white color.  It is plastic in an 8x10 inch with a very narrow profile.  It was very easy to assemble the sandwich to insert in the frame.  Very well designed.

I paired it with a shot of The Wilson`s Snipe I took at the wetlands when I first got my zoom.

An oval mat is not likely something I would use for the gallery and it is archival as well.

The photo is an 8x8 inch which I printed a while back.  The color of the frame works really well with the colors in the feather of the bird.









I put together a gift pack of 10 A7 5x7 photo cards as well as a prize at this fundraiser.  I have decided to go back to making A2 cards as those are more efficient in materials and time.

I hope the folks that receive these will enjoy them in their world whatever that may be.

Exchange Cards - September

I made a couple of cards with smaller pieces of designer paper for my exchange cards for September.

I cut the piece of polka dot designer paper from Micheals just on the diagonal as it was too small to rip.  I glue the triangles into both top left and bottom right corners of a olive green card base.

I dug out some of my dies and cut a Tim Holtz Vintage Alarm Clock from navy card stock.  It was adhered to the card front with Quick Dry Adhesive.



This card I used a striped designer paper and laid them sideways.   I ripped a small section out of it and then taped the pieces to the card front. 

I added the silver metallic Vintage Alarm Clock die cut to the right hand side over the open section of grey card base.

These are off to my Card Exchange partners.

Recent Photos

A large maple leaf with beautiful color in yellow and reds.

I have to say that I think it is too soon to see leaves on the ground.

We had a very wet summer with lots of cloud and overcast weather so it did not feel hot enough.













I finished another Maeve Binchy book this week.  The first part of the book was quite slow but then it picked and ended really well. I love her books and Ireland as the background. Several young people were the main characters during 3 periods of their lives.

I received this Cup Cozy from a friend who was away on vacation in August.

I love the color and the purpose.  I was hoping that the button was functional but then was reminded that it was meant for take out cups of tea or coffee.

I have placed it on my Bodin double walled glass.












I spent a day with my sister in Camrose. We did the 8 venues of the Art Walk.  The quilt in the top left corner was amazing.Loved the pottery mugs at the Art Gallery were really nice.
We brought a picnic lunch and ate at Mirror Lake.
We saw a lot of great art, visited several thrift shops, book store, and a couple museums.  She prefers to have experiences rather than physical gifts so this was her Christmas gift from me.

I bought this 90+ year old Westclox Big Ben De Luxe 2 Alarm clock at one of the thrift stores.

It was released in 1928 at a retail cost of $3.75. It has a beautiful crackle finish in an Old Rose color and gold.  

It does not work and rattles when picked up. It looks really good and will work really well as a photography prop. 

I photographed it in front of my reclaimed wood photography background.

The background is wood I saved from the landfill. I managed to get all the nails and screws out of the pieces.  I scrubbed all the dust and dirt off the pieces without losing the patina.  I have about 12 pieces that I can set up as I want - nice flexible system.

Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week was - Pasta.  Check out my photo stream to see what image I submitted.

Joining Mosaic Monday #43 hosted by Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.

Thorough My Lens #206 hosted by Mersad.