Summer time.

Time goes by so fast and I just can't seem to keep this blog up to date, must try harder!! Have had a very busy, summer I designed and made this quilt "Geese In The Gardern"

This is my first large quilt, I have designed many wall hangings. it was a lot of fun designing the eleven blocks and doing the layout. I used Peppered Cottons, by Pepper Cory. The sales rep saw the quilt at our local shop and has asked for me to supply patterns for them to distribute to the stores that carry their fabrics...wow I was sunned!  The pattern is available for sale. Contact me at forbesrj@shaw.ca if you are interested or purchase using the paypal buttons. 

FOR USA ORDERS CLICK  BELOW           





FOR CANADIAN ORDERS CLICK BELOW

I will be teaching this pattern at our local quilt shop in the Fall.

After delivering the quilt and patterns we headed off for holidays.  First off to  Meziaden Lk for some Salmon fishing, such a gorgeous piece of heaven. Friends from Fort Nelson met us there and we went on to StewartBC/Hyder Alaska...what a great little town we had so much fun. The guys put the boat in at the Portland Canal and with help from one of the locals, set two crab traps....well wow were they surprised. 16 crabs in total, and were they good!

 Kaylan and I enjoyed burgers, halibut burgers, fresh halibut!

I celebrated my 70th birthday in Hyder, AK. 

We also viewed the grizzlies eating salmon in the creek, the viewing platform is operated by the state and it is fabulous. Here's one big guy  sauntering along and a close up!

And then it was up to see the Salmon Glacier, you actually cross back into BC on the road , the glacier is in BC and it is mind boggling...so huge...unbelievable!

Hyder  and Stewart are very small friendly towns, and it is so easy to spend a lot of time there :) We will be going back.  We finished off our holiday by going into Babine Lk salmon fishing for a few more days :) Had such a wonderful time with Rob, Brenda, Kaylen and Mike .

But now it is on to harvesting the garden and getting back to some sewing. Hope you enjoyed the review of our summer :)  I hope you have all had a fabulous summer.

Summer time and the livin' is ____________

I can not believe it has been so long since I have wrote in my blog! How can time go by so fast.  We finally got summer, it was slow coming but have enjoyed some gorgeous weather.
 I HAVE NO IDEA WHY SOME WORDS ARE SHOWING AS A LINK, DON'T CLICK ON THEM.

I have never sewn outside...well on a very hot day...my cousin and I sewing under the awning of the motor home. It was such a fun weekend, she only lives 50 miles away so a short trip :)

 I was working on a new design. While cleaning up my fabric I ran across these taupes, they so reminded me of my Mom and her love for picking berries. Huckleberries, saskatoons, blueberries, strawberries...you get the picture. I am call it "Gramma's Berry Patch" My border fabric was too light so I took it off and tea-dyed it...perfect solution. Still have to quilt it and write up the pattern , I am happy with the design. What do you think.

 Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter mystery) finally found it's place in the motorhome.

Bev was working on her Celtic Solstice quilt.

Spring

Finally having some decent weather and the snow is just about gone. I've neglected my blog badly. Will try and catch you up on what I've been up to.
Finished Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice, I call mine "May The Wind Always be At Your Back" an ode to my Irish Roots.

I have had quite a few finishes over the winter, and it makes me happy to have them off the UFO pile. 

 This one is called Mountain Flowers, lot's of applique which I enjoy.

"Snowy Days" a Crabapple Hill design, enjoyed embroidering the blocks. 

A simple rag quilt with large flannel blocks. 

'Heart" string block quilt. 

I am still working on the applique wool blocks, have one more to do. Here are four more of them. I love wool applique!

 I hope that you have all had a wonderful Easter weekend with family and friends. Ours was just wonderful.

Celtic Solstice and more

On January 1st we got the last step for our Celtic Solstice Mystery by Bonnie Hunter. As I was putting my blocks together I decided to make it 8x8 blocks...so spent some time making extra units, so as to have it Queen size and fit my bed! Here is the progress so far, I have five rows done and now have to sew more blocks together. I LOVE her mysteries, this is the third one for me and I am always so amazed to think wow I made this quilt! I am loving Celtic Solstice with the bright beautiful spring colors. As today it is -42 with the windchill, and folks it is the kind of day to spend in the studio playing with lots of color :)

I love how the blocks are forming the circles...a bit of magic.  I've been watching Bonnie's page on FaceBook and there are some gorgeous Celtic Solstice quilts and different color combination.

I like to stitch in the evening. Here is another one in progress. I am doing a wool felt quilt, the background is almost like pillow ticking ( I believe that is what it is called) I purchased the kit at Buggy Barn in Washington last Fall when my sister and I visited.   I hope you all have a lovely Sunday and are doing something pleasurable...I always say sewing is my sanity .

Happy New Year and Celitc Solstice

Happy New Year to you all may your year be filled with lot's of color and wonder!
I spent yesterday making mug rugs for two gals who did not receive any ... in a swap that I hosted :) Ahh the wonders of being a swap host !

Today I put the tree and decorations away. That is always a bit sad for me, it is so pretty and festive. We will continue to turn on our outdoor lights to light up and add some color to  our world of white. This is out the front door...lots of snow.

 I was sure we were going to have more little units to make! Here are the blocks sort of laid out and I've started sewing the star one together. Hopefully will get some time in the next few days to get it all together. Again it was another wonderful mystery from Bonnie.

Happy sewing :)

Celtic Solstice Step 5 and Love Entwined Step 7

I had a wintery snowy day to spend sewing and accomplished quite a lot.  Maggie my helper was a real big help!

I did manage to finish all of Step #5 and loved working with the bright colors...I need more blues!

And here is step 1 - 5. Does anyone know how many steps we have ??

I am also just about finished Step #7 of Love Entwined. Just have to stitch the top left corner and it is done. More applique than I've ever done on a 32" square :)
I hope you have all had a happy Sunday. So much of Eastern Canada is without power and storms heading that way, I pray that you are all safe.

Celtic Solstice Step#4 and Mountain Flowers

I am managing to keep up with Celtic Solstice and am really enjoying the bright colors. We have had more snow then we usually have for the whole winter, so it is pretty white out there. Very cold temps...for weeks -30 to -21 and a lot colder with the windchill. A little Chinook blew in just in time for Christmas +4 and rain yesterday making for very slippery roads and sidewalks. I do hope anyone traveling for Christmas has a safe trip.  Here is step #4...lots of little four patches. I used Missouri Quiltings method and they went together very fast.

 And here are all the steps together, one to four. This will be a bright happy quilt.

 This pattern, Mountain Flowers , is from a 2004 quilt magazine. Found it again one day last winter so it has been a long work in progress. Today I put the last floral border on...just needs a teal border and it is ready for the PMQ pile (Please Quilt Me )

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and all good things for 2014!

Celtic Solstice Step#3 and other quilty things

I am finished step #3 and I must say I am loving working with all these bright sunny colors. It has been overcast and snowing here for a week...we have a lot of snow! The sun did peek through today while I was making the pinwheels.

 Here are the first there steps all together. I am loving the colors and believe this will be a very happy Irish quilt :)

 Got scraps? Make a string quilt. This is the second one I've done and love the layout...added to my PQM(please quilt me) pile.

 A table runner/wall hanging I just finished. Love the blues.

 Here are the two mystery quilts of Bonnie's that I finished and I love them both.Easy Street and Orca Bay.

The Christmas Tree is up, and I have hung my wall hanging from last year...now time to take a break and do some Christmas baking. I did make Lefse on Tuesday...it is all gone. I do hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

Celtic Solstice Step #2

I have finished step #2...must say those little chevrons were certainly time consuming, but what better to do on a snowy cold day :) My background is showing white, but it is cream with dandelion design.

 Here is step 1 and 2 together, I am loving these bright refreshing colors.

I spent a lot of time checking out others progress on Link up Monday, however I have to confess with over 200 blogs linked I didn't make it to them all. What a wonderful show and tell we will have at the end of this mystery :)  Thanks for stopping by, and have a happy day.

Celtic Solstice has started ! Color choices and Step #1.

I am thrilled to be doing my third Bonnie Hunter mystery. Love the color suggestions for Celtic Solstice, as I do have an Irish background. So for this mystery I am going with Bonnie's suggested colors.
Here are my fabrics; I may be adding more as we go along.

 And here is step #1...had a busy Saturday so made up for my lost day and sewed yesterday. . We had quite a blizzard happening so a great day for staying in snuggled up to my fabric and sewing machine.

Thank you Bonnie for providing us with another Mystery, and I look forward to looking at everyone's progress.