The view from my October window

By on 10-23-2010 in Original photos

maple and oak leaves

The maple and oak leaves have been glorious this year. The crystal clear blue of the sky in the mornings makes you want to wake early and be glad you are alive. Unfortunately this morning we woke up to our first bit of snow.

Asters….the last wild flower of the season

By on 10-10-2010 in art quilts, Original Pattern, Original photos

asters

When the wild purple asters appear you know summer is over and autumn has begun. My favourites are the deep purples. Beautiful against the greens and turning autumn leaves they seem to bloom forever. I think these asters would look great embroidered on a pillowcase edge.

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Here is a pattern for the aster. I created the pattern by working from a photo in Photoshop, printed out and then traced around the petals and center of the flower. It would look great embroidered by either machine or by hand along the border of a table cloth. A quilted table runner or place mat could have one giant flower.

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Alice, Tommy and the Dinosaurs

By on 9-25-2010 in Paper Dolls, Places to See

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Alice and Tommy visited the Museum of nature in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They had so much fun learning about these ancient animals and were amazed how huge some of them were. You can visit the museum by clicking on this link Museum of Nature. When they went to bed that night they snuggled up in their pajamas and dreamed of dinosaurs. On the first day of school they told everybody about their wonderful visit. If you would like to colour the cute little dinosaur, you can find it here: preschoollearningonline

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July is Day Lily Month

By on 7-23-2010 in art quilts, Fabric Postcards, Original Pattern, Original photos

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Day Lilies are my favourite wild flower. They grow everywhere, lending their bright orange colour to even the dullest days. I don’t have to water or feed or weed them. These two photos are from the plants growing beside the driveway. They make my heart sing every time I look out the window during the month of July.

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I couldn’t leave this astounding image alone. Here is a pattern for the day lily. This flower would look great on a postcard. I created it in the Quilt Assistant software which can be found by clicking the link: www.cosman.nl/software_en in my “sites I love” column on the right side. I use Quilt Assistant software often, setting up a library of images that I can use when I feel the creative urge. It works well, is easy to use and best of all it is free.

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Fabric Postcards, the greatest addiction ever

By on 3-18-2010 in Fabric Postcards, Original Quilts

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I was first introduced to fabric postcards through Valerie Hearder’s Landscape Yahoo group. http://www.valeriehearder.com
These little mini quilts are so much fun to do and the possibilities are endless. Four were done for swaps and the other four were for family.

My first was the little church. I thought of our Gatineau Hills and the churches which are nestled among the trees in the Ottawa Autumn scenery. I felt there was more detail than needed in this card for such a small canvas. I learned to streamline as I went along. The second card is entitled “Flying Home in the Morning Mist”, a picture of the highway through Thunder Bay. It is the result of a monochrome challenge. I chose brown. The third is one of the bike paths approaching the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. I called it “Cycling Through an Ottawa Dawn”. The deer was the next for a Christmas swap. It is called “Christmas Morn’ at Silver Lake”. The deer are from photos of a pretty doe that visited our garden through the fall and early winter. The singing snowmen I named “Snowdust Singers” and sent to family at Christmas. Two valentines were made for my grandgirls. The latest I made for a spring swap and I chose Ontario Trilliums growing in a forest glade. This one is “Ontario Trilliums in Bloom, a Sure Sign of Spring.