April at a Glance

Tick -tock, the minutes, hours, days and weeks fly by so quickly. This month of April held much promise for blogging, but I failed to capitalize on the potential, and now we are embarking on the month of May. The peepers are singing in great numbers near the house, and the sounds of birdsong are everywhere in the yard. I am watching the squirrels as they engage in play through the trees surrounding our place. This morning the sun is trying to establish a presence, burning off the clouds covering our sky space.Income taxes for this past year are completed and sent on the wings of Canada Post to be reviewed by a CRA employee who probably has dealt with hundreds, if not thousands of returns as Canadians pay their share to keep governments running.
And then there is my hooking. This piece is taking forever to finish. I think that because I am compelling myself to use the strips already cut to complete this small piece, and my desire to start my summer piece, which I hope will be an inch mat, are contributing to the feeling of "taking forever".
The paper bag challenge from the covered Bridge Quiltery is completed and delivered to the shop. It really caused me to push my brain. Greys with gold are not my first choice in quilting colours. Eventually I decided to use those fabric pieces with some stash colours to make a quilted clothespin basket. As I didn't finish until the eleventh hour, I made a quick trip to Riverview with the finished item.I used grid quilting, machine applique, and primitive embroidery as the piece took shape. I'll post a pic after the challenge judging is over and I get my clothespin bag back.

Today I am getting my bearings reset. Omer is away enjoying his first game of golf for the season on his home course. This morning I saw a new picture of my youngest granddaughter, Penny, on Facebook.
  Isn't she a sweet looking girl!
This afternoon, I plan to do a bit of sewing. The blocks from my Bonnie Hunter mystery are sitting waiting to become a top. I wonder how many rows will be made today?
This is my first row

 

I want to think about the borders for this top. Maybe some aqua is in order.

I have reached a new stage with my cot quilt. since the appliqued borders are finished and added, I thought the time has come for some quilting. Here is a pic of its present status

 We had a great time at Thimbleberries in April. We missed a couple of our members, but hopefully in May we can all make it.

What pics did I get this past month?

 Micheline is working on card trick blocks for her project. she had other places to be so we had her company for a short time only.

 Donna's working on a Nancy Halverson project, a Christmas quilt. "I Believe" is going to be  a  beauty

 

Can you imagine stitching all this lettering. Patience needed for sure!

 Joan is working on a bed runner, in fact she has a major portion of it done. The workmanshi is sew fine.

 This is my today project. I was making a couple of hot dog styled pillow cases, one children's print, and one for my mum.

 Check out Jackie's spiffy quilting. She has finished a large number of blocks for her 2 quilts. This too is a QAYG project.

 Bonnie is ready to add the binding on this elegant table runner. Martha is lending her expertise .

 Just a pic here so we get a better look at Bonnie's work.

Getting the binding right, makes an impression on the esthetic appeal for all of us. Bonnie is on the right track.

 Peggy is working on the wiggly worm cot quilt. It is definitely a cute one.

Wow but I have zipped through the month. One more pic to add before closing the post for today.I started this quilt, my first one, back in 2004, with Marilyn and some other women at the Southampton Baptist church. It is hand pieced and hand quilted. I've finally put all of the blocks together in rows, and brought the rows together. This is a QAYG technique also, but different from what I am doing in the Thimbleberries group. There are thirty twelve and one half inch blocks in this sampler. I am and will be forever grateful to Marilyn for her leadership, friendship, and abundant patience as our little group worked away at the project . It still needs a binding, and a small amount of finish quilting in some of the sashes. Maybe I'll have another break before getting that last bit done.
 I wonder if I am back on track for a bit now? I never know just where the wind will blow my life.
With good friends and a loving family, I'm always one of the "lucky ones"