I'm a Wimp

Fall has arrived in Cape Breton a few days early

and with a vengeance.
But that's just my opinion.
I'm a wimp.

Most of the birds are gone now,

even my favorite migrants,

the Whimbrels, 

large shorebirds that breed in the Arctic

and pass through on their return to South America, Africa,

south Asia, or Australia for the winter.

Check out those sexy blue legs!

Or is she just cold, like me?

And there are still some American Goldfinches

feeding their young.

Mother Nature is pretty smart. 

Goldfinches breed late in the season

 to coincide with 

when Thistle goes to seed.

Now that the weather has so abruptly turned cold,

I'm able to afford more time to forge my relationship 

with my new Janome.

Goodnight Irene is a complete finish now

(are you sick of looking at it?)

minus the half constructed label,

as is my little sailboat quilt.

The extra sailboat block made a cute label.

Now that my great niece is two, she needs a bigger quilt.

But it's a surprise until it's finished!!

Before I go, I'd like to congratulate fellow Nova Scotia quilt blogger,

Linda, over at SCRAPMASTER,

on having her first pattern published in a magazine.

Well done, Linda!!

If you have a minute, stop by, check it out, and join me

in patting her on the back!

Hope you are having a funderful weekend.

xo,

karen

PS. A Quilting Reader's Garden is having a give away

to celebrate a very important milestone.

This is a new-to-me blog

that looks like one I need to follow!

Cool, Crisp, and Calm

Today dawned cool, crisp, and calm.

This was the view from my window.

It didn't surprise me at all when I turned around

and saw this morning moon.

I love early mornings the very best.

Sights like this give me hope

and inspiration to start my day.

While I was sewing yesterday,

I glanced up to look out the sliding glass door,

and discovered I had a little visitor.

This juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk 

took advantage of this puddle

and had a long and lengthy bath.

These are the types of distractions

I love best!!

It's been a busy end of summer.

But I have managed to do a little sewing.

My Crafty Daughter requested seasonal wallhangings

some time ago and I manage to put one or two together

each year.

Meet April.

This pattern called, "Use batiks!!" to me,

and I love how it came out.

I know you all recognize it as one of

Kim Schaefer's Calendar Quilts.

I've made a few now and they are lots of fun.

I raw edge appliqued this one through all layers,

so it was self quilted!  Upon completion, all I had to do

was apply the binding.  I felt pretty safe using this technique

with batiks, they are so tightly woven.

Cute, quick story.  

One of my quilty friends here on the island 

(who laughs a lot)

has a son who lives in Tennessee and plays bass guitar,

most recently for Thompson Square.

 After growing weary of being on the road, he quit playing with the Thompson's and was freelancing for a little while.  My friend stopped by for a visit the other day and told me that some girl, who will be the opening act for Garth Brook's new tour, asked him to be her bass player.  He was pretty excited because he was going to get to tour on Garth's private jet instead of on a bus.  Come to find out, 'some girl' is Tricia Yearwood, (Garth's wife).  My friend obviously isn't up on her country western stars.  (When Thompson Square played in San Antonio a couple of years ago, he got us tickets to the concert.)

Well, it's time to truly start my day!

After being greeted by such a beautiful morning,

I can't wait!!

Happy day to you.

~karen