Great Weather

The weather has been just wonderful. Sure hope this lasts for awhile. Looked out my sewing room window the other morning to see my neighbors dog resting on the dock. Is he not the most majestic looking lad. It was around 6a.m. I had to take the picture through the glass. Figured he would move if I went outside. He sure looked like he was enjoying the morning mist coming off the pond.

Starting back to some sewing. Nice to get into a routine if at all possible. Really looking forward to returning to Tuesdays Sewing Group. Can't wait to see everyones jackets.

Bunny is creating again. She just finished another gorgeous quilt top. Love the shading Bunny. Hop on over to her Blog and check it out. (The Creative Hare)

Enjoy this wonderful weather.

Loved So Much

My MIL passed away Wednesday morning after a courageous battle. It was her time but that does not make it any easier on the ones left behind. She was the proud GG to 6 Great Grandchildren ranging in age from 11 to 3yrs. One of them asked if they could copy there hand print on to the coffin. (yes the coffin was closed)So there they were all lined up waiting to have there little hand prints traced onto the coffin with permanent marker. Each wrote there own name in the center. The youngest was quick to remind us she was to young to do that..lol. What a sweet time that was. Lots of tears and memories shared during the private family service. It will take us time to deal with our loss but that is ok..at least we know she is at peace.

It Is A Sad Time

I will be back but at this time my Mother In Law needs me. At 94 she is not doing well with her battle with Cancer and Kidney disease. We have moved her in with us and with the help of the family we are looking after her here. There are no words to say how much we all appreciate the help we are getting from Home Care, Nursing and all the other wonderful services out there. What a blessing.

Keep well...Judi B.

Green Grass!

The time has flown,somehow we are in August. The ads are in the papers and on T.V. featuring back to school specials. My mind is still back in June..lol.


The lads are not fading away. They have a huge pasture beyond the fenceline you see in the background. Every year this area close to the barn is burnt to a crisp in mid July never mind August. Look at it..looks like we live in Ireland. Last year we had to feed them some hay to keep them going it was so dry. Wow!!

I just have to do some hand sewing on the baby panel and that is done. Last week I got started on cutting the pattern pc's apart for the Vogue jacket a group of us are making this fall. Can't wait to get that going. Next week I want to start cutting fabric so I am ahead of the game. Sept. is going to come very fast ..lol..since I lost most of July...lol.

The B-Line frame is going to have to wait for awhile to be set up. To many things going on around here. Lets face it..that is a fall/winter project. Just have to be patient. At least I have it..and it is not going anywhere. There will be time later on.

The traffic has been heavy in our tourist area. Lots of people up enjoying the weather. Today has been great so I think a lot of people stayed up to the last minute. Can't blame them. Lovely day today.

Enjoy..

Now the fun begins!

Here is my B-Line..let the fun begin. I have kids for the weekend so it is not the time to try to put this sweetheart together. The table I was planning on using I think is to wide for where I want to work but I will set it up and give it a try. Oh it is so hard to WAIT..lol.

Just found out a co-worker of hubby's is a new Grampa so time to make up a blanket. Thank heavens I still have some baby panels that are really cute to play with. I think I need more hours in the day.

Looks like rain again today..to be followed with more rain tomorrow..enough already. If anyone has the time check out Sawdust and Cowpies Blog..now that is rain..poor Missouri is really getting hammered. The pictures on his site are just incredible.

Have a good day everyone. Keep dry!!

Yippee..B-Line Quilt Frame

Last week I saw an ad for a B-Line Quilt Frame for sale. Boy was I lucky it was summer and a lot of quilters are out enjoying the warm weather..lol. One phone call and I new it was for me. The good news is that the frame is close to where I live so I am heading off with a friend Wed. to pick it up. There is not enough room for it in my sewing room so it will have to go at one end of the livingroom when I am using it. My sanity I am sure is going to be tested trying to learn this way of quilting. My Mega Quilter will fit the frame so I am ready to go. Hey it is a long winter so I am sure I will have the time..lol

Horse pictures coming tomorrow. My Granddaughters were here for the week and had a great time riding. Between the kittens at the barn and the horses it was not much of a job looking after them..lol.

Hay Season..and Rain!!

This is a picture of last year!! This year forget it.
We are very fortunate to have enough hay for another winter because this year..the rains will not give us a break. Other years we have had the hay in before the kids get out of school at the end of June. This year..all over our area farmers are trying for a 3 day pattern of NO RAIN. That is not happening!! Cattle are not as fussy..but horses..well that is different. I am afraid we are going to see lots of mold this year in the hay bales. It is going to be a long winter no matter what happens for a lot of horse owners. Not all can be as fortunate as we are to have enough hay on hand or have only a few horses to worry about. (It is ok..I worry about mine like we had at least 20..lol)

Here is the link to the wallhanging I am working on right now. It will look great hanging in my sewing room. http://www.toadusew.com/patterns/maplesugar/index.htm
Lots of cutting..and if they don't include a colour chart..just write or call there 800 line and they will send it out or email it to you. My kit did not have it included..( a manufacture error)and when called they were just amazing. They could not have been more helpful. Just love the instructions..fantastic fabric to work with.

Back to my room. Enjoy the day!

Love of Horses & Drapes

This is one of my favourite pictures. My granddaughter loves Bill..and as you can see the feeling is mutual. There is a reason for the saying "Gentle Giants". Max ( Bill's team mate) is not as into the show of affection..so he is not taking part in this photo shoot..lol. Next week we have our daughter and the 2 girls coming to stay for a few days. The first place the girls will want to go is to the barn to see all there friends.

In the title I mentioned drapes. They are my least favourite part of sewing. In fact I HATE DRAPES. Boy does my daughter owe me!!! We pinned them...I brought them home..cut off the excess of all 4 panels..shortened them...BUT.. thank heavens I only basted them before trying them on the rod again. Yup..they were still to long so had to take them down and cut another 1.5 off them. Between the rod not being level..and of course who knows about the floor, well enough said. Big thing is they are DONE..FINISHED..and being delivered tomorrow. Now back to quilting.

Have a great weekend everyone. Looks like it is going be to wet one.

Mini Horses

Just had to post a picture of my little friends that live across the road from our home. Are they not the cutest. It is all I can do not to buy one. Really don't you think that would make more sense than the Highland Cattle..lol. Next visit I will try and get some pictures of the foals..oh my are they ever sweet.

This is my Fav...just love this ones colors..and that face..awwww!!!

Now for the 9 patch brown quilt. Not a quilt I am in love with. I thought it would be ok for hubby's truck..manish and all that but when I got sewing it..good grief..pink!! Can you believe it.!!! Sure enough the lights where I bought the fabric did not show it as pinky beige..no just beige. I put a choc. brown border on it which did help..but not enough..lol Well not a happy camper but it is ready to be quilted. No matter who I asked..saw that darn pink so it will just have to go into the stash of quilts. Fuzzy likes it..silly cat just follows me around. He is a real character.

Well off to do some gardening..have a great day.

Those Horns!!

Ok..so they came..they were interesting..UNTIL...they decided that the horns should rub on the fences..the poles..the trees..ya!!! right. We did have electric on that field..but during the winter it came down..and ya!! know it was just not worth it for a few weeks to put it all back up. SO they are back home where they are not my worry. Cool looking from now on from a distance. Will stick to my Clydes..lol

At this point ..these are enough to keep my attention...lol. Just love the shading, gorgeous.

Met up with some sewing buddies at Fabricland this morning. Great sale on so I wanted to stock up on some Warm & Natural batting. 50% off store wide, great time to stock up.

There is a group of us making a Koos Jacket (pattern from Vogue) this fall so several of us managed to find what we needed. Really looking forward to that class. Bunny http://creativehare.blogspot.com/is coming up from Burlington to teach us the class in Sept. Nothing like planning ahead..lol

End of by cattle business..and back to Stitches & Horse Hooves..lol

You Can Borrow Cows

Will try this again..grrr. Had my last post all ready to go and managed to wipe it out. Not my day so trying again.

Check out the horns..oh my. These are Scottish Highland Cattle. Cool lookin dude isn't he. There are 3 of them in the field. The cows are easier to see there long hair with them being a lighter color. What a mop of hair over there eyes. Makes you wonder how they can see where they are going. We needed the front pasture eaten down so we asked a neighbor if we could borrow these 3..lol. The horses and even the cats..are totally fascinated. Bill keeps starring ..and all but asks..what the heck..lady is THAT??? Hubby is threatening to put up a sign..DIAMOND JUDE'S CATTLE RANCH>>>lol..lol. Not to worry these visitors are not staying long. Boy do they attract flies..ugh!!!

Heading off to do some shopping..then back to some quilting. Have a great day!

Kittens & Quilts

Not sure how we got to June..but here we are!!

I finally finished the Scrappy Quilt, what a long project that was. Looks amazing and will post a picture later.

Now on to a quilt for Rod's truck. He got a new mattress in his truck so the old quilt is not big enough. Good enough reason for me. Heading off for another week on the road, hopefully with a new quilt soon. We have learned to love orange..lol..lol

I am not sure about the colour yet. May not be manish enough..lol. In any case we can always use it somewhere else. The pattern is called Split Nine Patch. Would love to play with some other fabric colours.

Kittens are a riot. Every trip to the barn takes forever..gotta play with the cuties. Still have 2 kittens that need forever homes. They can stay with us..but I would love them to go to "homes". This little one is Tippy. White tips on her back feet. She is the only fluffy one in the litter.

Off to get some work done. Have a great day!!

Weekend of Rain!

Well I guess the rain will clean things up..but there is so much yard work to do. Rod spent a busy time on everything outdoors until the dreaded down pour started. The dump run was a wet experience..lol..but finally happened. The garage and basement have a lot more room in it. Only 2 items went back into the basement. Pretty good considering all the "stuff" that came out of it last weekend. Thanks to all our friends. Your help made it all happen. The job is completed for another season.


There was a mad scramble into my sewing studio on Sat. when the words Horse SHOW on Sunday were said..oh my!! Only had the job of putting the name of Brooke's horse Savannah on a saddle pad and lead shank for 2 months..yikes. What was I thinkin..lol. Not a big job..and it is done. Will I EVER learn!!

The kittens are 6 weeks old today..and just a tad cute...lol. I was so tempted to bring a pair home for the day ..but I was good. Another 2 weeks and some will be heading off to there forever homes. Tomorrow I am going to let them out of the tack room to play in the barn. With all the doors closed they will be fine playing in the alley way...Now that will be cute to watch. Now you know what I will be doing tomorrow.

Heavy traffic with it being a long weekend here in Ontario. Not a weekend to go far. Have a great weekend everyone. Keep safe!!

Pets & Cleaning

First of all thanks to Allyjo for her post. We have had issues with the basement..so like you mentioned..no insurance. No point!!
Hey it is about your Mufasa kitten..check out my Marmalade..I think they are related..lol. And..oh my I read some of your postings..7 Min. frosting. That has been my fav for years. Your the first person I have heard mention it in so many years. Way to go Allyjo!! I hope you can keep busy with the family away..big change isn't it.


Kally & Fuzzy in play mode..but always willing to have a picture taken. What a pair. Fuzzy is convinced he is a dog.





Back to the yard sale. It was a great success. I was just to busy to take pictures. People started at 7a.m. and kept coming til around 7p.m. Was in bed and asleep ..lol..by 8p.m. Got rid of a pile of "stuff" now to do the dump run this weekend. Fans are in the basement along with a dehumidifier and finally I can see an end to this story. All in all people..we ALL have way to much "stuff". Oh except for quilters..LOL..lol..lol.

Time to head back to my cleaning..and maybe even some sewing this afternoon.

Cleaning the basement after a spring flood

Ok..so it helps that our street is having a yard sale. When the snow was melting and everything was a total mess outside..of course the basement had a flood as well. Now it is a "basement" but it still creates a lot of clean up work when this happens. The wonderful people that decide who gets there ditch along the Hwy. cleaned out (which is right in front of our house) keep telling me we are not on there "list". The last time they did this cleaning..we had a dry basement for several springs. I keep saying to them..but your compromising my foundation...falls on deaf ears. Drives me crazy...especially as I am the one to clean it all up..and deal with the molds that I am paranoid about. In any case..Sat is the yard sale. We have like so many families accumulated so many duplicates of furniture..ect...or called Junk!!! It will take more than one sale to deal with this but it is a start..then we can make a dump run...that I love. Tomorrow morning I am going to get some fans..and see if that helps the situation down there. Don't even care if I make any money..just want it outta there.
Now I have had my rant I will head to the shower. Tomorrow is another day. Sewing..what is that..lol. I did find some cool fabric in some bins down there..lol..Nite everyone!!!

Creative Sewing Festival..oh my!!

Bunny and I had a great time. So much to see..so little time. We both fell in love with the B-Line machine quilting frame and are saving our pennies. Just where we are going to put these large toys is another issue. Oh well..we know when it comes to our toys we WILL find room. When I had my ladies wear store we of course had a steamer. Boy have I missed that hand dandy way of doing shirts. Picked up one of those at the show. Already using it..great for Rod's uniform shirts. Saves me a lot of time on busy weekends when the last thing you feel like doing is ironing.

Managed to restrain myself in the kit department. Only got one bed kit..lol. It is called the Split 9 Patch. The colours don't look the brightest in the picture. Going to cut this out today. Should go together quickly.

We were on our last tour of the exhibits..when what does Bunny spot..this!!!

You got it..I HAD to buy it. This one will be a challenge but I can hardly wait to get started. I am going to slow down and really take my time with this one. They had it at the show all framed up and hanging on the wall. Oh my was it gorgeous!!!

We checked out all the new machines as we wandered around. Still have a hankering for a Sapphire 870 Quilt. What a great machine. I love my Mega Quilter..but it would be great to have all those stitches AND the extra room in the throat plate. Just think of all the fancy quilting that can be done instead of just doing in the ditch...hummmm!!!

More tomorrow..life is starting to return to a normal pace what ever that is..lol

Starting off with Kitten update

Been more than a little busy around here so I am behind on my kitten pictures. They have changed even more since these pictures. Will have to try and get some more today. There adoptive new homes are all ready and waiting for these little ones.

We think !! 3 boys & 3 Girls..

So how cute are these little ones. I have to take another picture. This was taken the day they were born. (Thanks to Bunny at Creative Hare for framing the picture..how cool is that..she did the other ones as well. Gotta learn how to do that..)There little eyes are just starting to open. The big one in the middle I call Bruiser..lol he is all boy..going to be a dandy lad. Keeping him..as well as one female which I will decide on later.

Spring brings all sorts of jobs that need to be done rather than sewing. The ice on the lake is trying to break up..a few more days of sun will help that. Hoping the ice just sinks rather than causing shore damage. Our Clyde's nice clean white legs are muddy....they look like a pair of orphans..lol.

Dog walking time..see ya!

Spring is here..yippee!!

Water everywhere and the snow is slowly going. What a muddy mess we are going to have shortly at the barn. Miss Purr had her kittens yesterday..looks like 3 boys and 3 girls. Cute as all kittens are. Black/brown tabbies and 2 dark gray. Most already have potential home so no worries there.

Sewing..what is that. Between family and the barn there has not been much time to play. Maybe today I can slip in there and get a few hours of quilting done. Working on the lap quilt..gotta get that darn thing done.

Enjoy the warm weather!!!

Happy Easter & Happy Birthday

Hubby's Birthday is this weekend and so is Easter. Not sure that that combo has ever happened before in his life. Will have to check into that. Heading off to our daughter's today for a visit and of course lots of food..and the all important cake.

Yesterday we made up a Birthday cake and had a great celebration with our friends. What a mess..lol..along with lots of laughs. When you get past 50 there seems to be even more need for the laughs..!!!

For anyone out there that enjoys cards..namely CRIB. Well there is this board called Crib Wars!!! Unless you are prepared to spend every weekend playing don't buy it. Hubby got it for his 60th Birthday..well!!! Every weekend he and his buddies have a great time at the table laughing over the messes they get themselves into. (I am no fan of card games..geesh when you could be quilting..what are they thinkin..lol) In any case you can get this game at Home Hardware, has to be a special order. If you want the sku # let me know. They sure "seem" to enjoy themselves.

Happy Easter!!

Sleigh Ride & Snow

Well I have decided that the only good thing about snow is being able to go on a sleigh ride which we did the weekend before. Then there was this weekend..Oh my!!

This last storm on Sat. dropped around 30-40cm of snow. Now add some wind and it has been a mess to clean up. Sunday around noon I finally got the car out and had to park just off the Hwy. and walk to the barn. The snow was over my boots for most of the walk in even with some tracks still there after our neighbor was good enough to feed the lads in the morning for me. (Needless to say they have "the right" equipment for this..not like me in a little Focus.)

A week ago a group got together at our neighbors for a Ride & Sleigh Ride. The weather could not have been better. Wanted to post a few pictures of a wonderful day. We stopped at the cabin for a break and a warm cup of cider before heading back to the barn for a Pot Luck Supper. Wow what a feast that was. Oh my!!

Yes I have been sewing..not anything to show..but I am getting there..lol

No New Fabric

Today is Member's Day at Fabricland and I am SO proud of myself..lol. So tempting but I am staying home. Still lots of fabric in my stash, can't even say I need thread or spray..so I'm being good. The quilt I am working on may need a backing but again I will wait and see..then only buy what I need. If I go out I know I will be tempted into buying fabric that has no relation to the quilt I am trying to finish..lol. I hear a lot of gals saying they are not "out" there like they used to be and I think the economy has a lot to do with it never mind our winter weather. The Creative Sewing Festival in Toronto is coming up in April..and that will be another hurdle to cross. That may just trip me up..lol

For the horse lovers..here are some pictures of Briana out with one of the Percherons. Have to acknowledge I did not take these pictures. Who ever did got some great shots.

Well back to my quilt..have a great day everyone!!

Stash Quilt

Ok so I have done it again!!! In a hurry and did not bother to look at the pattern I am kinda following for this quilt. Same colour on each block NOT the way I was playing around..geesh. Which I sure did not like..ugh!! What Was I Thinking..lol. Anyway no sewing done so no big deal. It is all coming together nicely so next to finish the triangles..and get this top ready to quilt. I have not had to buy one piece of fabric so far for this ...love using stash!!

Another cold spell and some more snow coming. In the last week we have had freezing rain and then snow so you know how slippery it is under that snow..oh boy!!! The lads have had to spend a few days inside..but are back out now enjoy there rolls in the nice white stuff.

Kittens coming..Miss Purr is expecting yahoo!!! Her last litter were so sweet. She is a fantastic Mom and they all had her wonderful personality so it will be no problem finding them homes. Not hard to tell her condition never mind her growing size..she is so sucky..lounging in the Tack Room in her bed on the window ledge..lol. What a girl!!!

Have a great day everyone.....

Sample Blocks

These are not sewn together..just testing out what the blocks are going to look like. Very Bright..lol. I tried using the beige around but it was to blah!! With sewing them all to each other with no other border you can imagine..yuck. So will continue with this..and see what happens. Love the colors. Will be very bright..lol

Finally some sunshine..but a windy very cold day out there. Good to stay inside and sew.

Thank you to all my wonderful friends that have called and sent email and snail mail cards for my 60th Birthday. Wow..how did the last 10 years go so quickly. Now to take advantage of some Senior Discounts..lol.

Miss Purr

This sweet little gal is a fantastic mouser..and an awesome Mom to her kitten/cat Mackie. (The rest of the litter went to amazing loving homes. We had to fight to keep Mackie from being adopted..but hey people it is about the mice) Needless to say Miss Purr is a barn cat. Now many barn cats do not live in a heated tack room. They keep us in stitches..what a pair. Mackie loves to do chores with me following me everywhere..while Miss Purr likes to wander in search of mice. Both race around in complete freedom enjoying life..what a deal..eh!!
So cute on the cold mornings when I open the Tack Room door..out they race..ready to take on the world ...cold feet, cold feet..and twisting in the air..back to there heated room...and there beds in a nice warm window. Its ok Jude..we will see ya at lunch when it is warmer..shut the door on your way out will ya!!!

This is Miss Purr in my car..oh we do so love those heated seats..lol. Please do not flexs those claws on the leather seats. Geesh I knew we should have gone for cloth.

Still working on the quilt..Mom's satin top..well it is waiting for me. I know just do it..!!! Another one of those Bunny comments ringing in the back of my mind!!! She is right. Maybe should send the darn thing to her. LOL>>lol.

Keep warm everyone in Ontario..cold and now more snow on the way. Even the boys are in the barn for most of the day. Will let them out for a few hours but even horses do not need this stuff for to long. ( well at least mine don't )