Happy Thanksgiving!

This is our Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, so time for the pumpkins to shine. Usually the leaves on the trees have a spectacular showing this time of year, but it's been so dry of late that many have already fallen. Regardless, the weekend weather is beautiful and I hope that all of those who are celebrating are enjoying your fill of turkey and pumpkin pie.

Planning to start sewing the rows for my Turkey Trot together today - lots of pumpkins, leaves, turkeys and fall colours in this one. Because our Quilts for Survivors shipment went north sooner than I had expected, it missed getting included in this year's bundle, but I'll get it together and it can be the start of next year's. One more thing to be thankful for....M

Just Pinch Me!

Finally! Miss P (a.k.a. Posh Penelope) has emerged from the laundry room, freshly pressed and ready for her debut.

She's just about as lovely as can be, almost shimmering in the sunlight with all of those different prints at play, and so much fun to look at.

This one was a long, long time in the making but I'm thrilled with the final product and will now turn my head to how she might be quilted.

I think that I have the backing selected but after quickly tossing her on our bed to see how she fits I'm starting to wonder if there's going to be a need for a border. I don't like a skimpy quilt. This one fits, but just, and I like them to land at the bottom of the mattress. 

It will have to be just the right fabric because I do love the clean graphic lines of the quilt and don't want to interfere with that.

Obviously more time to think about that but today I'll just revel in the finish, and smile at those tiny 1/2" squares at the centre of each blossom.

The corner triangles are equally interesting.

This one will definitely be a favourite....M

Rollin' Out My Pumpkins

I've teased about sharing my Miss P flimsy with you, but she's still sitting in the laundry room waiting for a good press, in large part because of these boxes. We've been busy pulling together this year's Quilts for Survivors shipment. Last Sunday they were displayed in the church along with a garland of some of the blocks that we'd made and this week everything came down and was boxed for Jean and her husband to drive them north to Timmins. Big job! Simultaneously, I was organizing a special 100th anniversary dinner at our church so things have been just a tad off the rails.

Needless to say, my house could use a little attention. It's wonderful to have all of those quilts and flimsies (41) and the 34 quilt blocks packaged up and out of the house but it's already October and there's nary a sign of a mum or a pumpkin on my front porch. 

So, I pulled out my rustic Cinderella Pumpkin placemats for a quick seasonal fix. These were finished up in November/December last year so this autumn will be their inaugural run. Still really love them.

In part because each pumpkin is made from a different fabric thanks to a very generous Roberta who let me raid her beautiful stash. It's hard to pick a favourite, but that's part of the fun.

You will recall that they were originally supposed to be all in one runner but I changed that to placemats and added that little picot 'shelf' for each pumpkin to sit upon. It's made from the same brown that I backed them in and is a nice touch; they needed a little something extra. 

And you know that I just love those little pumpkins quilted throughout - such a terrific panto. Roberta used a variegated thread and it adds to much depth.

This will be a great way to start getting me into the mood for Thanksgiving - next weekend, yikes!....M

Hello Minnie My Old Friend

This time of year there's always a lot on my plate, to the point that I seem to start losing time in one-week chunks, and this year is no exception, which is why I love to have some hand quilting to help calm things down a bit. Minnie to the rescue!

She has been in the hoop for some time now but I don't honestly know that I've picked up a needle all year, until recently. It's so good to be back.

Reacquainting myself with all of the different diamond hexies in this quilt and their colour combinations is so much fun. It's becomes a bit of a game to see how many I can quilt in one sitting. She is by no means close to being finished so that means many more hours of enjoyment for me.

Another project that has been keeping me busy is Miss P. Spoiler alert: she's all together now. Miracle of miracles! I will give it a good press and have something to show you pretty soon, hopefully in the my next post....M