Alpaca Wool Pressing Mat

When Gail of QuiltingGail emailed me to ask if I would be interested in testing and reviewing a Canadian-made wool pressing mat, my hand flew up so fast I smacked myself in the jaw. I'd been hearing about wool mats for well over a year, and the hype intrigued me: did they really 'up' the pressing game? Well, if you follow me on Instagram @mmmquilts (one of these days I'll figure out how to get the Insta logo back on my sidebar), then you know I am very much in love with my Prairie Spirit Alpacas mat and use it every time I'm pressing, whether it's pressing fabric prior to cutting, setting seams, or pressing binding. It's a dynamite mat.

One of the first things that impressed me besides the fact that these mats are 100% Canadian, was that this was how it arrived when I took it out of the envelope. No wasteful plastic wrap, just this pretty reusable ribbon and a small paper card. Plastic-free products are totally do-able!

Drift

Well here I am with my first quilt finish since ... egad June 16?! I've made several makeup bags another placemat (purple) and pj shorts, but no quilts. This flimsy has actually been finished since July 13! Ah well, Brady here for three glorious weeks, coupled with lots more glorious weeks of pristine summer weather has meant I haven't had the urge to quilt it. Oh how I love this quilt!

It's got Sandra written all over it: my colours, and an ocean theme.

The Light Within Pattern Release

It gives me great pleasure to release another pattern, one that was published in Make Modern issue #42. (affiliate link) Like my first publication in MM, this one uses just one block. Rotating it and colouring a few of the blocks slightly differently results in the illusion of four on-point blocks and a centre glowing star, which led to the quilt's name, The Light Within.

Taken by the Windsor/Detroit waterfront, Ambassador Bridge in the background

This is a beginner pattern, consisting of squares, rectangles and HSTs. I love the diagonal movement across the quilt, and how the stars kind of twinkle in and out as you realize there are nine of them!

I'm Back...

albeit with a little reluctance. I'm my own boss, so why don't I take the rest of the summer off blogging and (mostly off) Instagram? Answer: the longer I do, the harder it is to get back into the habit. And habit it is. So what have I been up to over the month of July and first week of August? Here's a summary with more details inside.

First and foremost were three glorious weeks with Brady here.

Here he's cutting out a pair of sleep shorts. While he was here, not a lot of sewing got done but a lot of getting out and about did. I read 6.5 books, which I'll mention later, as there have been several excellent ones. I've sewed a bit over the month, not all quilts. I've lazed around in the pool, and done a bit of gardening. I've got one pattern ready to release and another nearly there with a third at the 'ready to figure out yardage and start typing' stage.

Gratitude #65

Hello and welcome to my June gratitude post. I'll be linking up with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color where you can get the links to others who post. In these unstable alarming times, it is good for my mental health to remember to note things for which I am grateful.

1. I am eternally grateful for our back yard. Having a calm, green, quiet and private or mostly private place in which to have morning coffee, afternoon tea, or to float in my pool chair reading or sky-gazing is important for my overall well-being. We spent five summers on the other side of Kingsville, where we had a beautiful back garden and lake view, not really a yard there, but neighbours with whom we literally shared a patio (it was a duplex) and well, it just got too close and claustrophobic for us. Prior to that we'd lived on 3.5 acres so it was a bit too much of a drastic change!

Mug cosy on to keep the tea warm and bugs out. Current book: One Two Three a recommendation from Bernie at Needle & Foot, (just excellent, highly recommend!). This is my 20th book for the year.

This month I also read Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, which I loved, lived and dreamed in the entire almost 900 pages. Ahhh. However, I had thought this was the last one in the epic series! Hope we don't have to wait seven long years for the next one. Another great read this past month, one of the Canada Reads nominations, was Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. And the fourth one for the month was The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel, one of Barack Obama's Top 20 for 2021. It was different, and once I kind of sorted out the various points of view, pretty gripping, about a Ponzi scheme that collapses.

DrEAMi! #64

Welcome to the June DrEAMi party where we celebrate those 'squirrels' that divert our attention from what we are supposed to be sewing...

This is Ms Bonita from a site I recently learned about from my friend @we10mom Pat in Maryland: @thedailyjames In these beyond-troubling times, these posts have helped to lift my spirits. Check out the turkey vulture posts as well as the squirrel ones, a beautiful hummingbird taking a bath video, gorgeous nature shots...

Pop Star Quilt Along - Prize Winners!

This is the second best part for me: giving out the prizes.

The first best part? Seeing the parade, and what a parade it was! Eighteen (counting my throw, newly made for the QAL) quilts linked up. I happen to know of two more that are cut out, and one more that is a flimsy that did not get a separate link in the parade, though Susan, the maker, showed it in with her completely finished quilt.

There were quilters from six countries who quilted along: Canada, US, England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand! I am just thrilled!