New Pen For Marking Quilts

One of the things I love about quilters is that they love to share new ideas with other quilters. As I was checking other quilting blogs yesterday, I came across Gail's blog http://quilt-knit-run-sew.blogspot.com/ . In her blog she mentioned about these inexpensive pens that you can mark fabric, then remove it with an iron. Really? I couldn't wait to go to our local office supply store and sure enough they had them. The pen is made by Pilot and is called Frixion Gel Pens and has an eraser on the end.

So I marked a piece of fabric.

And after lightly touching the fabric with an iron, its gone. Years ago I used to work in a bank, and many times I came home with ink on my blouses. How, I don't know, but I used hairspray to remove it. If I had this pen back then, I think of all the hairspray I would have saved. Thanks Gail.

I will end today with a block of the month I just finished. Its a pattern from Bunny Hill called Autumn House. It was my first real experience with so much applique. I love it now that it is finished, but it was a real learning curve. I love Bunny Hill patterns.

Quilt show tomorrow, so I need to wrap this up and get some sleep. There might be major shopping tomorrow



A New Beginning

I'm back now. I got blogger all figured out. My loving husband has his blog http://oldtoycollection.blogspot.com/ , and I have mine. If you like to know about toys and memories of the 50's and  60's, check it out . He is doing a great job and enjoying it so much. Sometimes he has to stop himself from posting too much in one day. (Can't give them too much all at once). I am so proud of him for learning all about blogs, computers, taking digital pictures, uploading them, editing posts and all this without asking for any help. You've come along way Baby.

The town St. Jacobs in Ontario is having their yearly quilt show this weekend. As well, they have a quilt annex with vendors selling lots of fabric, books and notions. I can't wait. Its difficult to find the reproduction fabric I love, new notions I find on the internet, as well as the latest books and patterns in my area of the world, so I get so excited at the prospect of seeing all of the things the quilt annex will have waiting for me. Honey, bring your wallet please lol. Yes, I'm bringing the camera to take pictures of our day there.

I am currently hand quilting a table topper kit my honey bought for me from Fons and Porter. It is on the cover of the Sept/Oct 2009 issue.

Sorry the picture is a little fuzzy. The picture of the completed topper won't be.

Until next time, keep quilting



I goofed

My husband wanted a blog to write about his toy collection. So I set up a blog for him, but its melding into mine. Thats why it says Pete on my blog. I think I needed to create a new account separate from mine. This is going to take some time to figure out. Karen

I'm Back

Sorry for the long absence. Life happened. I've kept up on all my blog reading, but didn't have any time for my blog. I have lots of projects on the go at the moment, and will have pictures later today. I am also waiting for my new block of the month project... Autumn House by Bunny Hill. I can't wait.

Backyard Makeover Continued

For some reason, blogger wouldn't let me add anymore pictures. So I'm trying again.

Our new back yard.

And he must of done something right, because when we came home today, this is what we found in our garden..

Towns and cities in Canada participate in Communities in bloom. Judges go around and pick a few gardens they like. Then on Friday, there will be judges coming to town. They will be here to judge our town against other towns our size, to determine which is the prettiest town in Canada. I hope our town is picked, since it really is the prettiest town in Canada.

Backyard Makeover

Well its been a long haul for my Hubby, but he completed his "vision" for our backyard. He began his work on May 1 and completed it July 23. Pretty darn good. It is amazing. I'll start with some before pictures, so you can appreciate all the hard work he did.









Now, the big reveal. WOW! My hubby worked hard and he should be very proud of himself.
For some reason I had to post the next pictures in a separate post. Below this entry you will find the reveal.

Busy Spring

Sorry I haven't blogged for awhile. Our spring has finally arrived, and there is so much to do. My honey, (Pete), decided our backyard needed some gardens. So this is the first one he has been working on. Its huge and he will be placing walking stones through the center, so we will be able to do fun things like weeding.

Also we have a fireplace in the yard, which needs to be repainted again because these things rust so easy. So we needed a little patio area for this. We laid out the stones which took some time. We felt we were doing a challenge from the tv show survivor. Then we had to lift all that sod and cover the area with gravel. Now as soon as we have a nice day we have to move the stones over to the patio. Yes, we took a close up photo of the stones, just in case we forget how to put the puzzle back together

We will need something to sit on while we sit by the fire in the evening, so we figured a couple of adirondak chairs would be nice. It is my job to put them together and stain them to protect them from the rain .Right now they are still in the box.

We have purchased lots of perrienals for the garden, but with the risk of frost lately, we will have to wait to plant them.

What's on my design wall?

This quilt top is done. Just waiting for me to decide how to quilt and color of thread.

This one just needs the border finished. The pattern called for one fabric to be used, and I thought I would try for a scrappy border instead so the border wouldn't dominate the center.

And lastly I would like to wish all Mom's a Happy Mothers Day. My daughter and her boyfriend sent me this, and I love it . It will be right on my sewing desk, since that is where I spend so much time.