Colourful Plants

I guess by now you realize I'm not at home these days but travelling across this wonderful country of ours. My house and garden are in good hands so I don't have to worry about that. I do miss my own plants but I'm compensating for that by visiting other gardens and nurseries. I liked the various colours in the plants below. Check out the sites listed at the bottom.

Here's a few photos from a flower shop along the way:

• Elaine Quehl
• Garden Maze Quilt Block
• Imperial Garden Quilt
• Rise and Shine (idea)
• Sunflower Craft Pillow
• Poppies & Posies (ideas)

Enjoy!

Cat

I've been a cat lover for years. When my daughter started kindergarten we got a shelter kitten named Blossom (on her certificate). She was quickly renamed Mittens because of her 4 white paws. To me, she was always affectionately called Puss!! Puss lived for 17 years.

I was visiting relatives in Ottawa and they have a beautiful white Persian called Tissue (Scotties tissue commercial). These photos are for my stitching friend in NL who has cats. She'll know who I mean.

To celebrate cats, here are a few links to check:

• Cat Bean Bag
• Cat Pillow
• Fat Cats Wall Hanging
• Cats & Kittens Crafts
• Appliqué Cat Quilt / Hanging
• Terry Cats (cute ones)
• Catsville!
• Free Cat Quilt Patterns

I have more but they will have to wait for another time.

Enjoy!

Trees

Trees are often used in  my art work. Here are a few posts to reference: Back Garden, Ginkgo Tree, Work In Progress, and Gower Street, St. John's. As I often write, my camera is with me constantly. If I spy something of interest, I 'shoot' it. A tree or flower might just be the one to fit into a piece of art. You can crop, sketch, resize, or scan anything in your photos. I prefer to use my own photos as I know there will be no issues using them. Check out these trees from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec:

Have a look:

• Trees by Marjan Kluepfel and Nancy Cook
• Google search of quilt artists trees (there's a lot to see - click on the images to go to the various web sites and blogs). 

Enjoy!

Turtles and Frogs

I took several photos of some turtles and frogs a few days ago at the pond beside by brother-in-law's house in Nova Scotia.

Here are a few sites to check out! Maybe you will find a suitable gift to make for some little one on your list or maybe these will inspire you to create something unique. Enjoy!

• Over by the Pond frog quilt
• Frog Fun 
• Frog Stuffed Toy
• Frog Pillow
• Stuffed Fabric Turtle
• Swimming Turtle
• Turtle Appliqué 
• Patchy the Turtle
• Paper Pieced Turtle
• Knitted Turtle
• Felted Turtle

View from the Hill

The weather in Nova Scotia has been great since I've been here. I haven't been able to post to my blog as often but I have been taking lots of wonderful photos. Some of them are definitely worth consideration for future textile work. The view from my brother-in-law's back garden is spectacular. You can look way up the valley in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia. Off to the side of the driveway is a small pond with tall grass, cattails, tall trees, lots of noisy frogs, turtles and gold fish. It's the perfect spot to sit with a sketch book. (I used my camera instead). Enjoy!

Quilt Show

I was looking at the sites listed on WIP Wednesday - a site for Canadian bloggers and came across True Blue Canadian. Dolores was kind enough to post lots of photos of the Quesnel Quilt Show held in British Columbia. I think you will enjoy the show. Go HERE, HERE and HERE. Thanks for sharing, Dolores.

From Ewe to You

I was out walking this morning in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, and found a great little yarn shop called From Ewe to You. The owner is Rachel Hooper. Her shop has beautiful yarns. Of course I was drawn to the glittery stuff. She also has fun projects and patterns, needles and knitting accessories, books, gifts (some made by local artists), as well as some felting supplies. Here's some photos of the shop. The second photo shows a knitted shawl that has been blocked to the correct size. Enjoy!

Summer Anyone!!

Summer is my favorite time of year. Usually the weather is warmer and you can go outside without heavy outdoor clothes - most of the time! It's always nice to spend time on the patio with a snack and a drink. To help keep the bugs off your food, make one of these neat bowl covers from Sew Mama Sew. You can get some decorative metal corner tabs to keep the cover from blowing off from the $ Shop or make your own from glass beads and findings. Add an outdoor padded roll-up cushion to your patio collection. If you like picnics, surprise your family with these napkin flatware rolls and picnic place mat tote or these place mats.

Thinking ahead - why not make these items for Christmas gifts!
I'm travelling for the next two months across the country so my blog posts may not be every day.
Enjoy!

Drinks, Anyone?

Today's post is devoted to drinks of all kinds: tea, coffee, hot chocolate, lemonade . . . Of course, I'm writing about textile related 'stuff'! Below is my first attempt at needle felting. A few years ago, I entered it into a show about drinks, and the piece was purchased.

Now I'm going to post some links related to drinks. Some links have free patterns while others are just eye candy. Anyway, enjoy this one!

• Paper-Piecing Fun from Patchwork Pottery (check out the gallery)
• Tea Cosy, another HERE,
• Time for Tea mug rug tutorial (links to more mug rugs)
• It's Time For Tea stitching pattern
• Tea Card
• Cafe Latte quilting project
• Tea and Coffee Cups
• Beverages (EQ6)
• Cuppa Joe
• Sweet Temptations (ideas)
• Hot Cocoa machine embroidery

Tutorials

Today I've listed a few sites that have lots of tutorials for quilters and sewers.
Enjoy!

• Best Sewing Tutorials
• Patchwork Posse
• Make it and Love it
• Magic Bean
• Everything Your Mama Made and More 
• MMM Crafts Tutorials
• Sew La Tea Tutorials
• Fibre Texture Media Tutorials
• Terri Stegmiller

In The Pink!

 Here are some photos from my garden.

Check out a few sites with Pink projects!

Project Monochrome: PINK!
Pink Stitches Tutorials
Pink Zinnia flower border
Pink and Black String Quilt to view
Pink Penguin
Quilt Pink Blocks
Pink Baby Quilt

Enjoy!

My Sewing Machine Cover!

Here's a sewing machine cover that I custom designed for one of my machines. This machine has its own plexi glass table that was made especially for it. It is much larger than the commercial ones. I also had a extra thread holder that clipped onto the top of the machine. As a result, an ordinary cover wouldn't fit. Below you can see the various sides of the cover. The unique part of this cover is that it wraps around the machine with the back opened. I also slit two of the sides to fit over the table. (Two different machines were used to photograph the cover). The fabric is plain muslin that is sandwiched and free motioned all over.

The grey cod fish are original pieces that were stitched on my embroidery machine while the orange fish were traced onto fabric and then stitched out using free motion stitching. I put pockets on both ends and in front. However, I find that I don't use them. It's much easier to hang my small scissors to the back of the machine in easy reach (hook just to the right & behind machine). In the beginning I put stuff in the pockets and never remember that and kept looking around for the stuff on the table so I figured 'what the heck' and kept them empty. I have also learned not to move things around in my room as I can never find them afterwards!

You can see my stained glass window in the background. Go HERE to see a full view.

Sewing Machine Covers

Here's a sewing machine cover that one of my quilting friends made for her machine. It was one of the items shown at the Cabot Quilt Guild Show & Tell in May.

In one of the sites I discovered, the machine cover is called a Sewing Machine Cozy. Have a look at the ones HERE as there are some neat ideas shown.

More inspiration and patterns to follow:

• Sewing Machine Cover PDF
• Sew Sweet Machine Cover
• Cover from Sew News
• Tutorial
• Quilt/Applique Idea

Enjoy!

Quilts

Here are some more quilts courtesy of the Cabot Quilters!

4th July Projects

I'm posting a little early so that any American friends out there can get a few 4th of July projects on the go.

Check HERE and HERE for two past posts on my blog. Lots of stuff there to check out.

Also, take a peek at these. You never know what might bring on an idea.
Hot Pad
Cross Stitch Patterns
Quilting stuff, and HERE
Table Runner, another HERE
Walling Hanging & Pillows to see
Table Mat 
Free Patriotic Quilting Patterns, more HERE
Enjoy!

EEQ Show & Tell - Part 2

Here are some more quilted pieces from the Eastern Edge Quilters Show & Tell: