Marmalade found his new home

I gave my daughter her new quilt today and was very pleased that she really, really liked it.  I finished this quilt in February but was waiting to give it to her.  We had a critter and creature night at the Guild and I wanted to show it then so I delayed giving it away.

This is Marmalade

Home from our Shop Hop

The Quilt Therapy Shop Hop was a great success.  We all bought lots of fabric and notions and enjoyed good companionship and food.  I kept forgetting to take pictures but I got a few.

Baby fabric

Joyce wants to make a new purse

New Placemats

Baby Fabric

I love fat quarters.

They are so useful when doing applique

or just small items.

Dinner in the restaurant on the top

floor of the Radisson Hotel.

A wonderful time was had by all.  Maybe we will make it an annual event.

Shop Hopping in Duluth

I'm leaving today for a few days of shop hopping in Duluth, MN.  The Quilt Therapy Group is going to buy some fabric to make Pierina's daughter some baby blankets, bibs and burp clothes.  She is expecting her first grandchild and we all want to make a little something for the new little one.


Of course, there will be other shopping as well but it is a good time to pick up some quilting notions and fabric at a good price 'over the river'.  Hopefully I will take a few pictures.  We are searched out 6 quilt shops in the area so it should be a good time.

Casserole Carrier and More Blocks

I picked up some fabric and a pattern for a casserole carrier when we were in Newfoundland last year and I finally got it finished.  It is a small carrier and will be useful when I have to take something to a pot luck dinner or a friends house.

Casserole Carrier

It is completely reversible.

There is a 9 patch in the center

and then triangles around it.

I attached the handle so that I could use

it with the red or beige on the outside.

New Blocks

Hexagon Irish Block.

I fussy cut some of the hexagon blocks

so that I got just a large shamrock.

My middle block is suppose to be a fairy block

but I found these cute butterflies instead.

Morning Glory Designs Block 10

Morning Glory Designs Block 11



Pillow Shams and Maple Leaves

I have finished the pillow shams to match the Shades of Autumn quilt.  I tried to use the same fabric that I put in the quilt but the shops that I had to shop in didn't have anymore.  It was Fossil Fern.  So I used fabric of the same colours that were in the quilt.  My friendly quilt shop in Beaver Bay, Minnesota came through for me and matched up the colours.

The camera doesn't do the quilt justice.

It is much brighter than the picture shows.

Another finish.  I hate UFOs.

More Blocks Finished

I completed more blocks for my BOM's for May.  

Blogger Block of the Month

In Colour Order May Block

Letter J and Jelly Roll Block

Craftsy May Block 9

Modern Log Cabin

Craftsy May Block 10

Wonky 5-sided Log Cabin

I still have the Irish Quilt Blocks to finish, I guess they will be next on the list.

Placemats for the Guild

I was able to finish 5 placemats in the last few days while I was getting caught up on my BOM's.  In April there was a placemat bee where we were making placemats for Meals on Wheels and Empty Bowls Caring Hearts.

Three White Snowman

Two Green with Candy Canes.

This pattern is called Fine Dining by Pieced Tree Patterns.

Getting Caught up on my Block of the Months

I don't like having UFO's so when I got back from Washington I had to get going on all my BOM's for May.  Since I am doing 8 there was a lot of catching up to do.  I hadn't finished April Craftsy blocks since there were a lot of Hexagons to make.  That one is finished and I still have May to do.

Block 1 April Craftsy

Block 2 April Craftsy

Apple Avenue May Block

Morning Glory Designs

Rose of Sharon

Lyn Brown's Alphabet Quilt

Letter I and Ingenious Incredible Iron

Country Junk'tion May Block

I still have a few more to go.  I need to get up to date before June 1st so I guess I will be working overtime for a while.

Today was Air and Space Day in Washington

Today we decided to go to the Air & Space Museum that was out in Virginia. The main purpose was to see the space ship Discovery. We were not disappointed. We took the Metro and 2 buses to get there. There were tours going every half hour around the museum and lucky us ours started in the space section where Discovery was housed. 

It is really massive and a real treat to see in person. The Canada arm was beside it. The only place to eat lunch was there so today we had McDonald's. It was an all day trip. I took photos and will post when I get home tomorrow. If you ever visit Washington this should not be missed. 

Thursday on Washington

We started out today for the White House and arrived on time to see a helicopter land to pick up the President. From there we walked to the Martin Luther King Memorial. A giant statue of a giant man. 

Martin Luther King

It was just a short walk to the FDR memorial. This is a very well spread out memorial with a lot of famous quotes from him along the walls. It is all out In the open air. 

Lynda lined up to collect the dole.

FDR

 We then took a cab back to The Old Post Office Building and took the elevator up to the tower to look out over the city. We had lunch here with a million school children. Then it was on to the Catholic University of America. We were heading for the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception . This a massive church with 2 levels of altars and chapels as well as the main church. We took the metro back to the hotel for a rest and a beer before dinner. Tomorrow I hope to see the space shuttle. Peggy

A Warm Day 2 in Washington

It was a warm day today here. They had called for rain all day but we were lucky that it held off until around 6 pm. We started off today taking the metro to Maryland to G Street Fabrics. I just to buy fabric!! I bought some fat quarters and thread. They had King Tut thread and sulky do I bought 5 spools. 

 We took the Metro back to the city and then on to the Capital building. Before that we had to have lunch so we went to the Dubliner, a really nice Irish pub. After a delicious corned beef sandwich we headed to the Capital Building. 

After wandering around there we decided to take a cab back to the hotel to relax before dinner. Now it decided to rain. So we walked a few blocks to the Capital Brewery for dinner. A wonderful day for day 2.

Day 1 in Washington

We were up early today to see the sights. We walked down Pennsylvania Ave to the White House. We couldn't get close as we didn't have a reservation. We could take pictures outside the gate. From there we walked to the war memorials. 

 First stop the WW II memorial where they had a VE day celebration on the weekend. There were wreaths there to honor the fallen. Then we walked along the reflection pool to the Lincoln Memorial. That statue is really huge. From there we walked to the Vietnam Memorial Wall. It is a long wall with all the names of the fallen . They are not in alpha order but in order of when they died. You could hear a pin drop here. We went the Smithsonian but didn't find the Jeffersonian. Then it was on to the National air and space museum. I took lots of pictures and will try to post from my IPod but I don't usually have much luck. 

World War II Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Mercury Spaceship

I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Lynda and I leave for Washington DC tomorrow morning.  I have 2 planes to catch and have to sit in the Toronto Airport for close to 5 hours because the Airline changed their flight times.  We booked this trip awhile ago and I was to leave at 11am so that I didn't have to get up before dawn like I often do, but then flight times were changed so I leave at 9:30 and sit in Toronto and wait for the next flight.


I will have my Kobo and my Ipod Touch so I hope to do some blogging along the way and hopefully in the evenings.  I'll be back Saturday so maybe I can post some interesting pictures then.

Getting Ready for Washington DC

I have been busy sewing new things this week to take to Washington.  Lynda and I are leaving on Monday and I needed a couple of new purses and other things.  The first thing I made is what we call our "Day Bag".  Nothing of value goes in here when we travel.  Our daily essentials go in here like our umbrella, Kleenex, water bottle and anything else we might need for the day, since we only go back to the hotel at the end of the day.

This is another Dandy Bag.

I really like this bag pattern, it is 

easy to make and just

the right size.

A made a Rolynester to match.

I use it to put my sunglasses in

when we enter a building and 

then put my reading glasses in

it when we go outside.

Two small wallets from

Lazy Girl Designs.

One for me and one for Lynda.

We both bought Kobo's to take with us so I made covers for them.  I looked at the commercial ones and thought that they were over priced so we went with the quilted version.

I designed this myself and 

made them like a book cover.  

The Kobo is tucked inside.  

I made a buttonhole and then put a 

button on to make sure it stayed closed.

I don't like using Velcro, so I chose

the button instead.

I also made a small purse.

This is a Sew Sweet Satchel.

We wear these purses under our coats or blouses

so that our money and passports

are secure.  I gave Lynda

my other blue one so I needed

a new one.

I think I am all set. now all I have to do is start packing.  That will be my job for the week-end.