Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day! And what a beautiful day it is.

Every year on Canada Day, my community puts a flag on everyones front lawn, so as you drive by, all you see are these little Canadian flags waving in the wind. It looks great and I can't help but smile every time I look outside. I love Canada, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

Weekend Quilting

This weekend I got to some quilting, this one will be a christmas gift. Yes, I've started early, but really, when you have to complete 7 quilts for christmas, time is never on your side. This one will look similar to "A Little Bit Country" but with pinwheels in the center squares. Here's the fabric:

I like to cut as I go, I find it wasteful to cut everything and then sew. I always end up wanting to change something, so if it's already cut out, it doesn't really give me the freedom to modify my original idea.

I am always drawn back to piecing triangles, no idea why.

I also LOVE pinwheels, they are so dainty and sweet. I can't wait to finish it!

Days With My Father

Today i came across this book "Days With My Father" by Phillip Toledano. It's a photo journal where Phillip photographs and narrates his father's last years alive. I clicked through the online version and it just broke my heart. I can't even describe how beautiful it is and i can't wait to get my own copy. I found it on one of my favorite blogs to read, Made By Girl She sure has a way of finding all things beautiful.

Please read it here (you have to click on the pictures to flip pages).

Crochet Saturday

So, today i started crocheting Olive a sweater. There aren't a whole lot of options in the stores, jacket wise, for great danes. She has a few really thick coats but i'm constantly looking for something knit to wear underneath for an extra layer. (For those of you wondering, our winters are very cold and danes have very short hair). I figured i'd try to crochet her a sweater, at least this way the whole thing would be custom fit, because her chest is often way to deep for commercial dog coats.

This is what i have to deal with when crocheting at home. I love my cats, but, sometimes they make it impossible for me to get anything done.

Oh Merlin


This is how far i got this morning, Just the neck and maybe 5 inches down her body. If she was a Chihuahua, i would have been done already.

Chelsie's Quilt

Drumroll please......I have finally finished this quilt, which is a gift to a good friend. I started it long ago, and then gave it some time to breath. I am so glad that i did because in the time that it sat on my sewing desk, I have changed it so much from where it originally started, The pictures definitely do not do it justice, I didn't take pictures of the back but it's just a plain green fleece.

Close up

Closer up

Popples

I've finally finished this quilt. It's all from fabric from my stash, which includes this Popples pattern from my grandmas stash. I started making this a long, long time ago, then i hated it. So, i remembered some advice from an old blog friend. If she is not particularly fond of a quilt she has made, she will hide it away for 6 months and then take it out again. That is precisely what i did with this quilt, i am more fond of it now than i was 6 months ago. Anyways, this is the front

Close up

And the back, a fun rainbow fleece. Trust me, it makes more sense in person. I would love to sell this beauty, i think it would make a super cute girls baby blanket. The only problem is that the Popple fabric is so old, i'm afraid that it won't be very durable (I have learned this the hard way in the past).

Sod Saturday

Today we finally started the large job of fixing up our backyard. We moved all the rock to the sides of the house and garage, tore up the landscape fabric (which was soaked in four years worth of dog urine. disgusting). New soil, new sod, we were a little short but it's still exciting to see a backyard that we can actually use. Now we just need some plants and flowers to distract from how small the yard itself is.

Dad and Olive goofing around.

Olive enjoying her new "bed"