Fall... is in the Air

Well a few stitches happened here after the long weekend.
I did get the floor pillow put together and had enough leftover to make a mini floor cushion .... for those little bottoms to sit on. I still have to get he bean bag filler for the larger cushion. I used fiberfill stuffing in the smaller one and it worked out well.

I did also get a Christmas stocking made for a friend of our daughter's little fella.

And of course I was getting a few things put together at different stages for the class I will teach Monday night.
It is a lot of fun sharing my love of sewing with others.
I have been working on the tomatoes too .... only a couple more caners worth and I will be done with them for this year. I have tried something a little different.... jalapeno peppers in the tomatoes..... perfect for chili.

I was part of a Fall post card exchange and my partner was Eglea from Brazil ..... this is the lovely card she sent to me ........ I just love the thread painting that she did on it and how it captures the falling leaves.

Thank You Eglea I just love it!!!

here is the one I sent to Eglea

from the idea to finished post card

A big thanks goes out to Sheila for organizing another swap.
Well thanks for stopping by
stay in stitches
Annette

1st night of classes

I have been putting a few things together for my students for our sample class tonight and a few items that I have made to give them ideas of what they could do in some of the later classes.

goodies for class
see the little strawberry pin cushions from last year's hop
I thought I would give one to  the ladies 

 This will be a 4 night class that will start with samples and a couple of projects and then a project of choice.
I am hoping to impart a love of sewing to my students and a willingness to be creative and see where that leads them.

I want to make 2 one out of denim and one out
of the fabric below 

As for a new project for myself I have found this pattern by Indigo Junction.

And now I have everything to get started..... except the time ...lol
in stitches
Annette

doing my homework....

and the class has not even started yet!
Sew this is what teaching the class is all about.  Just a little extra play time at the sewing machine.

I will be teaching a learn to sew class here in town. I hope the ladies enjoy learning about their machine and creating with them as well. I know the class will be more fun after we get the samples out of the way. I feel it is important to have the samples to refer back to when doing other projects on your own.

I have also been part of a swap for Fall Post Cards, mine is in the mail to Brazil. Here is just a peak....

I'll post it after it arrives.

Have a great week and stay in stitches
                                          Annette

World Wide Blog Tour

Thank you Sheila  at Sheila's Quilt World for nominating me in the tour. She is a fabulous gal and friend. She may live a long ways off but we did get to meet a couple of years ago .... lucky for me that she has family here in the prairies. Always stitching up something, from hand quilting to red work and embroidery and of  course post cards. She love those little guys sew much that she has but  many post cards swaps together over the last couple of years.

a couple of the stitchery quilts that I have received for Sheila 

As for my part of  the tour I am to tell you a little about myself and what I like to work on as well as what I am up to at the moment.
Sew here we go.
I am a gal that has loved to sew forever. I remember grabbing mom's scraps and a needle and thread and making some very interesting clothes for my dollies. And that love of fabric has not changed to this day...... my stash can tell you that at a glance.
I do love to try new things and ideas. Last year I help head up a community project with local artists and quilters. A combined effort created a fantastic wall hanging which is hanging in the local seniors  home. This project had us all stepping outside of our personal comfort zones but all I could say in the end was WOW! and those who worked on it want to know when we can do this again.
Here is what we came up with.....

As what is my personal style , I could not pin myself down to just one type. I do a little of everything sew I guess I am still developing my style. I have designed some patterns and quilts as well. I even tried entering a contest through McCall's Quilt in 2012. With all the support of bloggers and friends I did make it to the finals and was in the last 10 participating in the professional category in the challenge. Check out their site to see all the quilts and challenges that we competed in.McCall's Quilt Design Challenge 2012  check out the gallery and you can see all the entries on all of the levels

Here are the first and last quilts of mine from that time.

Jewels of the NIght the one that got me started

Holding on...
the one that made it to the magazine

I do love to take a class from time to time as you can always learn something new from the teachers and the students alike. I also teach a few classes every year. for the classes that I teach I like to design a few projects for the students. I just love the energy that you get in a class room whether you are teaching or taking the class.

Now for the projects that I am working on at this time.

I am always working on a quilt it seams and this past year or sew I have been working with a friend on quilts for Victoria Quilts Canada, these quilts are for cancer patients check out their site to see what they are more about or if you are in need of a quilt to request for a friend or loved one.

I am also working on hospital gowns for our ladies church group .

On the quilting front I am working on a set of block of the month blocks .

6 down 14 to go

as well as getting ready to teach a learn to sew class for next month. I am looking forward to sharing my love of sewing and quilting with my classes. And of course I to love to make and swap post cards.

post cards for one of the swaps I was part of

I am sad to say that I have not found anyone that has the time at the moment to nominate, but I do have a friend that has been nominated and will be posting on the 29 of Sept. Sew I thought I would introduce her to you and ask that you pop on by her site next Monday to see what she is up to and what she is working on at this time, That friend is Marjorie a wonderful hand and machine quilter who also has done a quilt for me that I truly love using.

 She lives on the other side of the country in New Brunswick, and from what I have seen on her blog is one busy lady. Sew stop in and have a visit with her,at Marjorie's Busy Corner

Well that's a bit about me and what I like to do when the  stitch moves me.

Thanks for stopping 

                     in stitches

          Annette

World Wide blog hop Tour

I have been asked to be a part of the Tour. Today is my friend Sheila's turn to show and tell you a little about herself........ sew with out further adieu pop on over and meet my dear friend Sheila  at   Sheila's Quilt World  I will be posting next week on the 22nd. see you then .
Enjoy the tour and check back for more info and links for the tour.
Have a great day
in stitches
Annette

summer ... where did you go??

Chilling at the campsite

Well I am not sure but I think time flies faster and faster no matter what we do to try and slow down.
This summer we spent some of our weekends at the campsite and others where on the go. Some weekends we had company and others just the two of us.

just a fishing

I did get a wee bit of sewing done.... I made 20 infinity scarves for my daughter  and a few alterations for some friends. Otherwise it has been work.

it's a wrap ;0)

The last couple of days I have been cleaning off the garden and have worked up the beets into pickles and relish, I have the first batch of tomatoes done up as well as some salsa. There has also been some baking going on for a wedding coming up next weekend .... g-free of course.

I am getting a couple of classes organized that I will be teaching at the local college, a learn to sew and a recycled denim bag class. Sew there will be some sewing going on here this week samples are needed.

a small corner in my backyard

I am looking forward to sharing my love of stitching with others  and sharing my projects with you too.

tonight's campfire in the backyard

Thanks for stopping in and stay
                        in stitches
                              Annette

not a stitch in sight

Well in the last little while I have been to a car show, visiting family, watching ball games at the lake and of course fishing........ ( I even jumped into the lake for a swim ... that was refreshing ) but I have not stitched a thing ..... I think that may change this week with some BOM to catch up on and another sew along quilt I signed up for off of Craftys .
I have found it hard to get to my machine after a day at work. I thought if I started with the BOM's I would get back into the grove of quilting again.

I see the garden is starting to yield some fresh goodies from lettuce to yellow beans and now zucchini. I will be starting some pickles this week ... fresh dills mmm mmmm good.

Have a great week at what ever you get your hands on and  enjoy the summer days while they last.
in stitches
     Annette

A little fun in the sun and then back to normal

Sorry I have been a little slack at my posts.

catch of the day ...
and supper :-)

 I have had a few days off and we went camping and fishing. The  fishing was great and fresh fish for supper was mmm  mmm good. I had even spied a set of eyes watching as we went back to the campsite.

a moose on the loose

I did a little quilting and got another quilt finished for Victoria's Quilts. They are all washed and ready to be added to the bunch we are quilting up to send off.

not sure what this pattern is called ,
 but I would call it spinning spools

close up of the quilting

It has warmed up and feel s like summer and tonight we are having a bit of a storm the first one since my last post.

with the extra moisture come changing leave
 and fungus on trees

The gardens will sure enjoy the fresh drink, I am hoping no hail with the storm.It has been nice to enjoy a few of the gardens goodies in some nice salads.

I have also started on a few blocks for a BOM from Periwinkle in Saskatoon. I am hoping to have them made by the end of August. It should be a nice quilt in taupe's  & grey's. 29 blocks in all. (pics coming soon)

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you all are enjoying your summer.
Stay in stitches
Annette

soggy weekend

Well here in the prairies it has been just wet .... real wet and not just here in good old Saskatchewan, it has carried over into Manitoba. With too much water flooding  happens, water over the roads and roads washing away.

 We left our campsite a littler early to head for home when we heard some reports of roads being closed.  With hubby being a retired highway guy we checked out the highway with in a few miles of our turn off. First we came across water crossing the grid road and then within a 10 km stretch there were 9 places that the water had or was still crossing the highway. A few hours later the road gave way to the rushing water near Imperial. We will give things a few days to settle and then see if we will be able to get back to the campsite. We do have friends still there enjoying Canada Day.

As far as I know in our area everyone is safe and dealing with the water issues. I hope and pray the communities dealing with this disaster from the heavy rains remain safe as well. There will be a lot of clean up and rebuilding a head of them, I am sure.

On  the bright side we have had a wonderful Canada Day with lots of sunshine to start to dry up a little bit of the moisture.

Happy Canada Day
This is my post card from Beth

In stitches
Annette

in the mail ....

Today I got my quilt back from Marjorie....... she had it for a little while and turned my quilt top into a lovely quilt.

I had asked  Marjorie a while back if she might be interested in quilting it for me as I have had it done for some time and have not gotten to quilting it and i knew I wanted it to be hand quilted. She has said yes and told me what she charges and it was off to her. I am sew happy that we found each other through the land of blog and my now well traveled quilt is home again and resting upon my bed. Thank you Marjorie for your time and talent in every stitch in my quilt.. I now have to make a label with the quilts story and I will also include who put the stitches in. Check out her blog Marjorie's Busy Corner and see what she is up to and a peaks at other quilts that she adds her stitches too.

as or me I have a few little projects on the go

just the label to add

I just finished the binding on this quilt for Victoria's Quilts and have sent off my post cards for the Canada day post card swap. The cards were to include a maple leaf and here is what I came up with ...... a tire swing hanging in the shade of a maple tree....

swinging in an old maple tree

And this was a little idea I had at Christmas time...... little red solo cups and a string of lights

     = a fun little set of light for the campground

Well that's all for now, have a great week

                     in stitches

                               Annette

time in limbo ....over

That is how I feel about the last 6 weeks. I have been on jury selection and while you are on everything else is on hold or in limbo.
It is an interesting process to go through and one we all could get called to do.
 I was almost part of a jury for one of the trails that I had attended selection for, but one of the lawyers declined / challenged me, so I was told by the judge that  I was free to go but to come back for the next trial. ( each lawyer is allowed x-# of challenges during the selection)
Now I can get back to a little sewing and gardening and maybe just maybe some summer :0)
And of course taking a few pictures to share with you on my blog.
Sew I am off to see what I can sew up and do a little laundry at the same time.
stay in stitches
           Annette

winding up the weekend

it was a nice evening Sunday night for a fire...... camp fire that is....

what better way to wind down for the evening and weekend.
I did get a little sewing done. I am in a post card swap for Canada Day.

just a peak    ;0)

 I made a sample that may be for a fall class and did a little laundry.

It was also a nice weekend for a little yard work .... and look the flowers are starting to bloom.

and now to start a new week........ in stitches
Annette

Surprises and making a gelli plate / plates

What a surprise when Elaine called Friday night to say that I had won a prized for one of my blocks that I had in the block challenge for this years Saskatchewan's Stitches Conference.
For the challenge we were given a fat quarter of the challenge fabric and asked to make a 10 1/2 in unfinished block and these blocks will be used in making some charity quilts for the Prairie Women on Snowmobiles.
  Here are the blocks that I have made for this challenge .......

Thank you Haus of Stitches and the Sask. Stitches Conference for the lovely gift. I can see more play time ahead with these goodies.

And now for a little play time...... of a different sort.... I was wanting to try a larger gelli plate and found that they are hard ti find locally sew what's a girl to do.... I started looking on line and found a couple recipes for making a permanent  gelli plate. The ingredients are simple and found almost anywhere.  I tried out a couple of them and this is what I ended up with....

a round gelli plate about 3/4 inch thick

one of my new gelli plates
8 x 11 inches

I did find some useful tips in the info I had read and watched..... using simple tissue paper to clean up the wet surface of the plate before it sets works wonderfully.

before .... with foam and bubbles

After ... nice and clean

Sew now there will be a little more play time coming and creating some one of a kind fabric samples :0)
Thanks for stopping by
In stitches

 Annette