Nesting Bowls - A Finish

Yay, and it's on Friday, so I am linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Up Friday.  This was on my Q2 list, but didn't get made in time.

This one is the biggest, a 9" bowl, which means 9" high X 9" wide. It's the only shot that sort of shows the quilting I did in the black lower section: 8 rows of 1/4" wide spaced lines with a line of pebbles and another of ribbon candy.  The ribbon candy is a third eaten up in the boxing of the bottom, with the remainder showing at the very bottom and under the bowl.

Of course Bella came sniffing around, "Something new! Something new!" and so I popped her in to see what she'd do....oh yeah, Bella likes...

She loves these nesting bowls; however her definition of "nesting" is rather different as compared to the name of the pattern.  Purring like a jet engine, she got comfy in her new nest, only to be routed out within half a minute.

She hopped in it once more, this time of her own accord, once I'd finished it.

Sorry Bella, but this is not for you...I don't think... jeez louise the cat has several beds and nests around this house!

Here is what I threw in it for the photo op:

That Stephanie Ryan jellyroll is what I won last Fall...need to do something with it!

Here are the two bowls side by side. One is 9" and the other is 4":

I'm pretty happy with the way the seams and stitching line up

And the inside view:

This biggest bowl takes a 27 3/8 X18 3/8" piece for the lining, and sadly, I didn't have enough of the Jinny Beyer fabric I used for the first bowl.  I do intend to make a middle size, maybe 6", so I'll have enough for that one.  This pink is left over from Summer Scents Mosaic, and it worked great.  Maybe I'll make four more, so I'll have two of each lining.  I like symmetry.

Speaking of "I like" I keep forgetting to say that we enjoyed this delicious recipe, Texas Caviar, on Father's Day when Dayna and her boyfriend came out for dinner.  This was our afternoon appetizer.  I didn't have any black-eyed peas but threw in black beans and added some cilantro.  Yum!

You can find the recipe on Lara's Buzzin' Bumble blog.

Bowl Stats:
Pattern:  Fabric Nesting Bowls from A Cuppa and a Catch Up
Size: 9" and 4" are the two I've made so far, the largest and the smallest
Fabric: black, not Kona, a very very good quality, finely woven black actually purchased for stained glass quilts, oops, from my stash and Timeless Treasures "Fabrics of Soho"
Lining: "Vintage Collection" from Fabricland years ago, and "Coral Reef" by Jinny Beyer scraps from my stash
Batting: Warm 'n Natural scraps as well as Pellon 808
Quilted: on my Bernina
Threads:Robison-Anton black rayon, Sulky pink rayon, Sulky metallic on the large bowl in the feature panel

I'm also linking this post up with Sarah's Can I Get A Whoop Whoop, and with Julie's Pet Project Show.  Buttons under the tab up top.  Follow the links here to this week's full of inspiration parties.

Thankful Thursday #11

As always, there is so very much to be thankful for in my corner of the world.  The first is a quilty item I finished up this morning that I just love:

The bowl is not crooked!

This is one of my goals I didn't quite reach from Q2 FAL.  The Blue Ribbon Star quilt and Brady's movie took precedence.  Oh well, I want to make an entire set of these Fabric Nesting Bowls, a pattern I bought from Nova at A Cuppa and a Catch Up.  It's the smallest one, a 4" bowl.  Let's take a peek inside...

Fabric Pull for Mystery Quilt

I've done a couple of mystery quilts in the past, but these were only through my guild.  I've never done an online one.  I know Cheryl's quilt from last year's mystery was a great success, so I thought I'd jump in with this year's.  Besides, she is one of our hive mamas in the New Bloggers Hop.

The other day on my walk with Rocco, I thought I had it figured out as to what colour scheme I wanted, based on a bag I adore that a good friend of mine made me years ago:  yellow and red.  I could add in white...and...hmm, pale green?  grey?  maybe pink?  That was a stumbling block, but I would figure it out.

Ya.

So after mucking around in my stash--SO much fun! That in and of itself is so very very therapeutic for me; I love to pet and fondle fabric--here is one of two choices I have.
Choice #1 (and the one I'm leaning toward)

Love that red and yellow combo idea I had right?  Sigh... These are in order from fabric A, the ivory, to Fabric D, the green.  I have a most ample stash.  However, when it comes to pulling fabric, it seems I never have quite the right amount.  (yellow, case in point) This mystery requires yardage from 1 yard to 2 1/8 yards, so the green here is the only one I had enough of.  It is the one I'd bought with a backing in mind and ended up using it in Summer Scents Mosaic.

Choice #2

The gorgeous, oh-it-would-fabulous-as-a-kaleidoscope-quilt fabric as well as the red, is by Jason Yenter, bought last year from Fat Quarter Stash on sale.  Just thinking about cutting this one up into potentially small pieces is making me feel a hotflash coming on.  I used it in the blue and green colourway as lining and a strap in my yoga mat bag, and love it.

So which one?  I keep chopping and changing, one minute yep, use up the cat fabric and the paisley, as it's hung around for more than 5 years.  Then I think, but ooh a Christmas quilt...

Thoughts most welcome.

Rocco and I walked up to Pelee Island Winery (pronounced pee-lee) on Monday, a 2 km each-way jaunt. 

Maybe I was influenced in my final (well almost final) colour selection by the red roses and the greenery...

the vines with their fresh leaves and baby grapes...

The main vineyards are on the island, about 30 km/ 18 miles from Kingsville out in Lake Erie.

Happy Canada Day! Speaking of all things Pelee, we are heading out to Point Pelee National Park this afternoon, probably my favourite place in Canada, a place I first fell in love with on my honeymoon when my husband brought me down here for a 3-week visit to his place of birth.

Linking up with Let's Bee Social. Lee is taking WIP off this week because of the US birthday on July 4.

Blue Ribbon Stars

She's done! And just in the nick of time for the Q2 FAL with Adrianne at On the Windy Side.  This was #6, a bit of a mystery project, a secret, on my list.  I had in mind a star quilt out of one of Pam & Nicky Lintott's jellyroll books.  But then I designed a quilt for H2H, and then, I thought, what if I make it a bigger block and use this for the blue secret quilt?

There were definitely some quilting pains along the way, but you wouldn't know it to look at these photos.  Here is the flimsy post.

Sunday Stash Share

I know, I know, it's supposed to be computer-free Sunday in my world, but I haven't posted since Tuesday, and I do have a purchase from a Canadian, no less, quilt store, to share, as well as my (somewhat limited) progress on the star quilt.  And it's morning somewhere...maybe Hawaii?!

After hearing good things about Sew Sisters from Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, I signed up for their newsletter.  Well, two months later, I made my first purchase.  They have a special on right now until July 1 or while supplies last, on the charm pack, Oh Canada! from Stonehenge for $5.  Um, that's amazing, even in the US, but for Canada?  Pretty much unheard of.  So, of course, I couldn't just order a charm pack and pay another $5 to ship it; I had to add something, right?  And I do not have a patriotic quilt...yet.  Gasp.

So I went to their sale section, where fabric is $7.99/metre.  That works out to $7.38/yard.  Translate our CA$ to the US$ at the current rate of approximately 25% and you get $5.90 US/yard, decent, especially for Canada.  I was looking for backings, and did a whoop! whoop! when I found the cows fabric, "Farm Chic" by Wyndham Fabrics.  It's been a while (like 3 months) since I paper-pieced another cow, but have no fear, the 3 cows I have so far gaze/graze contentedly at me from my design wall, and yes, I am adding to the herd very soon, following the colour of the month at So Scrappy.  This was a good score, so I bought 4 metres, aiming for a roughly 60" or so quilt for my aunt.

The "Purses Galore" fabric from Michael Miller was another I bought with a bag in mind, be it makeup, or lunch, graball, what-have-you, probably for my daughters.  Girls can never have too many bags, and makeup bags are right at the top of the list in their worlds.  It was also in the sale section; I got the minimum 1 metre.

Shipping was $8.99, which I thought wasn't bad for Canada.  Had it been fabric.com, I'd have got my shipping free, since they ship free for orders over $35.

I have a post coming with more price comparisons, just have to sit down and write it.  I have spent hours and hours on the computer over the past few days, working on my grandson's movie from his trip here last September, and I'm so close to having it ready to burn to DVD...which means it could still be another couple of hours' work.  Disappearing soundtrack credits was the last glitch, and I'm hoping I can fix that somehow in iDVD.  Anyhow, long convoluted and frustrating story (I need to make more iMovies so I remember how to work the damn programme from year to year and update to update, lol; ya I'll get right on that) but the movies I've made for him are, if I do say so myself, freaking fantabulous, and he and Brianne watch them over and over.  Heck, I myself have rewatched them more than a couple of times!

Glitches.
So the Blue Ribbon Star quilt (what do you think of that name?) is progressing slowly because of me being an airhead and not adjusting the tension when I switch from a near-empty bobbin to a brand new full one, or forgetting, or plain just not paying attention to, what direction the feathers are going on the outer borders...

feathers along the top edge, a design I pinned on Pinterest

I am having trouble, well was--I think I have a handle on it now--with the background.  More when I show you the finished quilt, and I'll explain.  I am also having a long-fought battle, which I am losing, with two very bad "bobbles" as I quilt.  I am positive it has to do with where the table sections join, but the machine is like possessed, and grabs, or takes a hard left kind of thing, and (insert very bad word) there goes my petal, or feather or swoop or what-have-you.  It also is not quite level at the left end; the carriage slides towards me and to the left, so that should be an easy fix to level the table, but this bobble is driving me literally to tears.  Any thoughts are most welcome.  I have gone on the HandiQuilter troubleshooting, and googled "bobble in my Avante" (bahaha and that got me some car chassis and track info and YouTube video!!)

Here are two of the six stars' designs:

Angela Walters again--ha! not planned but it's visible on her book cover you can see here

Lots of ruler work, which is good for me.  I know I don't spend enough time with Avril; hope to experiment this coming week with some scheduling ideas I've got.

Thanks to Judi and Judy here: Judi Madsen for her design, which Judy at Quilt Paradigm sent me

I shall persevere!

Linking up to the effervescent Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash, whose post, interestingly, is about rulers among other things, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

New Bloggers Hop Week 2

There is another round of lovely blogs to check out for you this week.  Don't forget the prizes (another round of them too, that are up for grabs this week as well.

My hive,

Erin at Twin Mom Quilts
Anja at Anja Quilts
Carrie at Chopping Block Quilts
Adrian at Quilting Fabulous

If you hop over to one of our four hive mamas, then you will see the other bloggers in this week's hop:
Yvonne at Quilting Jet Girl
Teri at Childlike Fascination
Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs
at my hive mama's, for today (Tuesday) you will find some cool Tips and Tutorials!
Stephanie at Late Night Quilter

Remember there are some great prizes to be had!

In random news in my world, the quilt back is pieced, well, nearly.  We've had an eventful last 12 hours, beginning with quite the storm, so bad that Point Pelee National Park is closed today as they deal with downed trees and still a power outage.  Our power was out from 2:30-8 am, which I would like to say is why I am only finally getting this post up but that is not true...  Our dogs are now terrified of storms as of this winter when a smoke detector in our Florida home suddenly went off and we could not get it to stop, and it's hard-wired in...the dogs went totally to pieces, trembling useless blobs of fur, poor babies. I know how much that sound hurts my ears, so I can't imagine how it must feel to a dog's sensitive ears....and it went off again a few days later...and then a few weeks later, Naala came running into my sewing room, belly low, ears back, shaking like a leaf, and I realized why: my husband was watching a video on YouTube that had some high-pitched "beeps" on it, and she thought the alarm was going to go off again. Poor poor baby.  Of course, with the power out, our alarm here, which is also hard-wired in, was chirping every hour or so, which sent Naala to the edge.

She's spent most of the day pressed into this corner of the living area, a place she never lies

Rocco jumped in bed with us, yep, big 65-pound raging pitbull that he is....NOT...and would NOT get out.  Sigh. So we let him stay, safe between us, Naala pressed against the bed so my husband could reassure her, but she stayed on her bed.  Not a lot of sleep was had by anyone for most of the rest of the night.

I had a much-needed pedicure appointment this morning which we all walked to. It turned out to be a lovely day, and I love the sparkly blue turquoise toenails I now have!  I took Rocco down to the beach when I got home and he had a wonderful romp and swim.

Swimming out for the tennis ball...

...and back

We disturbed a Great Blue Heron and some turkey buzzards feeding on some dead fish...which, sigh, Rocco found, and started to roll in to douse himself with their "delicious" scent.  No wonder Bella thinks he is a revolting canine!  Unfortunately for him, he got doused with the garden hose and then taken into the shower and shampooed and rinsed off.

Last night on my drive to yoga in Amherstburg, where I always see the swans on Creekside Road, (remember the photo of the two embracing?), I saw this big guy

The creek is always bluer on the other side of the road...

I've never seen one this big in Canada, maybe in Florida! Apparently there are lots twice his size here, and he was about 10" across his shell.

He pulled in his head and started to turn around so I quick went behind him so he'd keep going to that bluer creek on the other side of the road.  I'm pretty sure he's a map turtle, from zooming in on his algae(?) covered shell. There was a recent wonderful story about saving one who got run over by a car and had his shell cracked.  Love this guy's fat prehistoric front flippers, and he sure has a long tail!

Now to actually get down to sewing today!

Star Quilt Flimsy and a Winner

Outside shot in the shade

I don't have an official name for this quilt or this pattern, which is my own design.  It is the same pattern as my H2H quilt, just bigger blocks.  I love how this version turned out!  Bella had her fair share of input too.