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marlaruthnelson@gmail.com

Saturday 26 December 2015

I hope everyone had a very nice Christmas. We had a great Christmas. It went by really fast as usual. I had my Christmas dinner for nineteen on Christmas eve. My best friend from Ontario was home and was able to join us. Her mother and sister and family joined us also. So many laughs. It was a great night. I always
look forward to her gift of a snowbabies. This year was  called Heavenly Chorus. So very pretty.


I am getting quiet a collection. She thinks they should end. I suppose she is right. But I do enjoy them.  Here is my collection.




So hard to get a good picture. 

Boxing day and the pot of turkey soup is on. My husband has the flue so has been in bed most of the day so I headed back to the sewing room. We are also babysitting our sons black lab, Jake. We went out for a nice walk and also went for a nice walk with a friend. The weather has been so nice this Christmas. Looks like it might change tomorrow. Not sure what we are getting but it is that time of year. 

I was not sure what to work on so decided before Christmas to dig into my boxes of scrapes and an old telephone book. 



Also these pieces that are left over from other projects and also 6 meters of black. I wonder what it will be. 
This is a great project to work on without really having to think. I have a few blocks done and it is going to be very pretty. 

Looking forward to 2016 and all the new challenges out there. 


Wednesday 16 December 2015

Merry Christmas evryone.

I have a whole week left before Christmas and probably this is the first time since I have been married that I have all my gifts done, wrapped and sitting here wondering what I should do. A whole week that I can do anything I want.  I wonder what I should work on.

Here is the last gift I had to make. A runner from Connecting Threads for my mother. She should like this.



So pretty.

We now have snow on the ground so it is starting to look a lot like Christmas. My friend Marjorie was up for a visit and had a hard time getting out of my driveway. It is that time of the year.

My granddughter  Sara will be coming Monday night and will stay until Christmas day. We will have so much fun baking
Christmas cookies, pies, cheesecake and our Christmas dinner for Christmas Eve. I am hoping that my other granddaughter Lauren will be able to join us in the preparation.  They helped me last year and it sure made Christmas.

Hope everyone has a great Christmas.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas  from my home to yours.

Saturday 12 December 2015


So very pleased to have these finished. I love the Shepard Bush patterns. They make such a nice size Christmas sock. These are for my son's family who lost their home over a year ago. I hope they like them. 

I just have one more Christmas gift to finish and I just have to machine quilt it. Then I need to do some wrapping.  It's hard to believe that in two weeks Christmas will be over  with.

I also made eight dozen peanut butter balls today and made a batch of almond bark. A good start on my Christmas cooking.  

Our Christmas concert at our church was tonight. It went very well. The kids love saying their pieces and exchanging gifts.

Sunday 6 December 2015

Christmas Post Card

I received a beautiful Christmas post card from a very talented lady in Australia.  Thank you Maria. I learned so much from yours. The one I sent you was my first card. I will do better next year.

Here is my card from Maria.


It looks so pretty in my tree. I won't post the one I sent incase Maria hasn't received hers yet. 
Is everyone almost ready for Christmas. Almost done here. Just a few things to finish up. Tomorrow a group of us ladies will be meeting for a day of sewing. I have two projects to take with me. I hope to finished them and there will be three more gifts done. I always seem to sew right up to Christmas. But that is the fun of it. 

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Maple Sugar Quilt



Another finish. This could be one of my favorites.  The colors are so pretty in this little lap quilt. It is a quilt kit from Connecting Threads called Maple Sugar.

Now that the Christmas movies have started and the Christmas music is playing
it's  time to start getting my gifts ready. This is one for my mother n law. This is one of her favorite blocks the bear paw. It should look nice on the back of her couch.

We had another sewing day at a local church yesterday and had a great time. Lots of ideas and lots of laughts. There was ten of us there. Working on a Christmas wall hanging called TheTwisted Christmas tree. Will have some pictures when I get it finished.

Today was such a beautiful day. Just like summer. Maybe I slept ed through winter and summer is here again. No such luck. We will take all the nice days we get. I really enjoyed my walk today. I also have my grand son for the night. His older sister made the high school basketball team and they won their first game. I knew I should have went. Next time.

Thursday 29 October 2015

The Lil' Twister



This is the project I was working on this afternoon. The larger one is a wall hanging but I think I will use it as a table topper for a center piece. Someone gave me a beautiful bowl and red candle last year for christmas that will look really nice with it.
 The smaller one is the left over material of the larger one which will be a nice mug rug. After you cut out the squares on the big one there is smaller squares that just needs a little trimming. I sewed it on a smaller scale than the 1/4" seam. My needle is at 2.5 for the 1/4" and I put the needle at 3 to give me a better fit for the smaller one.
This is the ruler that I used called the Lil' Twister tool. It is 3 1/2" and the smaller tool is 1 1/2.


As you can see the line on it is at an angle and that is what gives it the twist.


A fun project to do on a rainy afternoon. I recommend  this project. Now I have a pattern to make a Christmas tree. Can't wait. Just need to visit the material shop tomorrow on my way to PEI.
I love this pattern for a cross stitch wedding sampler. I did three of these this summer.  The first wedding was for August which was a beautiful wedding and these two are for October. One for a really good friends son and one for a very special person this weekend. We are off to Prince Edward Island this weekend for a Halloween wedding. We even bought costumes.  I was telling a friend that I haven't worn a Halloween costume since I was in grade eight or nine. That is a long time ago. Looking forward to this wedding. 


I also finished another Hockey Quilt and gave it to my son's Hockey fund  raiser. So some lucky person will be receiving this.


I love making this quilt. It goes together so well. 
We have gone a week with no internet so just got it back yesterday.  So there is lots of posts to catch up on. It is a wet rainy day so a good day to catch up. We were suppose to go to the Island today but now can't get away until tomorrow. When there is a change of plans I find it hard to get started on things. It would be a good day to head to the sewing room. It will pass the time this afternoon. 
Hope everyone has a great weekend. We sure will visiting a lot of good friends. 

Thursday 15 October 2015

Our Thanksgiving weekend.....

Where does the time fly. I can't believe it has been the first of September since I have posted anything. Whoever thought a person could get bored when retiring. The days just slip by. We closed our trailer the end of September and now have been busy cleaning all the garages that we haven't had time to do over the last few years.  We almost have them done. Now to do some outside work before it gets to cold. 
We also were lucky enough to go on a four day trip to Cape Breton to the Celtic Colours with our  oldest son Ryan his wife Jodi and our two grand children Sara and James.  What a nice weekend. So much great music and was able to enjoy some of the museums, the Glaze Bay miners museum, the Alex Graham Bell museum, the Fiddlers museum and so much more. There are so many musical shows on for over a week. We were lucky enough to go to three. They were so good. Even Sara and James found a place to play. They also did some work shops which they enjoyed.m




These are our two fiddlers.


Getting ready to go down in the mine. My husband wasn't crazy about going down but was glad that he did. The kids loved it. We spent three hours here. 


The kids also enjoyed the Alex Graham Bell museum  also. 


It is also known about these red chairs that are all over  Canada in the parks for people to visit. Always sitting at a beautiful spot overlooking a beautiful view. 
So now this week is almost over again. So just might make it to the sewing room tomorrow.  We shall see.
So everyone in Canada I hope you all had a great thanksgiving. I didn't get the turkey dinner but I did have a great weekend and I am very thankful for that. 




Sunday 6 September 2015

A Beautiful Long Weekend here in New Brunswick.

We came home to spend a beautiful long weekend with family and such good friends. My best friend from school was home from Ontario for the weekend. It's nice to keep a friendship going for so long.  She comes home every year on this weekend to spend time with her family at their family home in Cape Enrage. My husband and I spent so much time there while we were dating.  Such memories. My son married her niece so they had their trailer there. A huge crowd there this year. It is always nice to see you Norma.

 Also we had two of our grandchildren over  for a night. Such fun. Sara wanted to spend some time in the sewing room to work on a project. We also got to see one of their performance at the Molly Kool kitchen party. Norma was able to make it also. They have so much fun playing guitar,  fiddle and tap dancing at this little show. 

Also we came home to go to a bridal shower for a very special girl. I started baby sitting her when she was six months old until she was old enough to keep herself. I made her this Christmas quilt. 


This is a kit from Connecting Threads. Another beautiful  kit. I put a nice soft blue flannel on the back.

This is Katelyn and Justin. They had a beautiful shower.  Her big day is October 31st.  She loves Halloween. 


Her grandmother made her a black and white quilt called Grandmother's Garden. 


Her mother found this cute Halloween  skeleton bride and groom that sang I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher. To cute.




Also did something that I have always wanted to do this weekend, kayaking. I wanted my husband to do this when we went to Hawaii. Next time. Such fun. 


My daughter n law  taking my  picture.


The bride and groom ended up in the water trying to get out of their kayak. Thanks for inviting me Katelin and Justin. Had a great time. 




So hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weekend. We have three more weeks of camping before we close the trailer up. Where did the summer go to. 


Tuesday 1 September 2015

Summer Sampler Mini Quilt

Here is my Summer Sampler Mini Quilt that I joined in with Sherri at A Quilters life. The blocks are 6 1/2" . So cute. They went together nicely. I am not sure I would want to make a queen size quilt but does make a nice wall hanging.


It is really windy here today.  The most amazing thunder storm last night. It was almost like a light show. Very pretty.


I ended up making three extra blocks as they were not quite perfect and after I got them all made I couldn't leave them behind. So I added them which made the sampler a little longer. 

There is a Summer Sampler Mini Quilt Parade over at A QUILTERS LIFE. so head over there and take a peek. Mine didn't make it into the parade as I didn't get it posted in time. The Internet here at the camp ground is terrible and only works when it feels like it. Today is the first for a few days. As you can see I haven't posted much this summer. Not much patience with slow or no internet. We have one more month of camping. Really enjoying it this summer. 

Today my goal is to machine quilt this and make a batch of marmalade jam. 

Wednesday 8 July 2015

We are finally starting to have a beautiful summer. Enjoying my days and finding some time for the sewing room. 
Here is my second Folded Centerpiece. I really like the shape of this one. This was the  one that caught my eye. A little more challenging than the first one that I did. A very good way to use some scrap material. 


I have the next two sets of blocks done for the Summer Patchwork Sampler quilt with Sheri from A Quilting Life. The first two are the Star Puzzle Block and the next two are Ohio Star Block. They are 6 1/2" blocks. Even though they are small they work up quickly. 

I have been having lots of time following everyone's blogs this summer and amazed at what beautiful projects everyone is doing. I am at our trailer most of the summer and the Internet is terrible. So therefore find it hard to post much until I go home. I am taking my three younger grandchildren Saturday for five days to the trailer so should be a busy time. They are looking forward to going to PEI for a few days of swimming and the beach. So until next time. 



Tuesday 9 June 2015



I decided to do the Summer Patchwork Sampler quilt with Sherri at A QUILTING Life. These are the first two blocks, the saw tooth star blocks.
I did a  mystery quilt a couple of years ago and it was fun to wonder what it will turn out like.
Looking forward to seeing the next block.

Friday 15 May 2015

I had a  great day with my granddaughter Sara. We cooked did some crafts sewed this cute little bag.


She found this pattern on the Crafty site. It is a bag to put on her bicycle handle bars. She also found the little fox pattern and it fit so well on the bag flap. She did a great job on the applique in.



It turned out really well. We also added the strap so she will be able to carry it around also. Her grandmother from Prince Edward Island took her shopping at the Fabric Cupboard to buy some fabric. 



She also made these coasters with mode pog, napkins and tiles. So cute.



We also made cup cakes and chocolate chip cookies. She also beat me at cards. She is learning to play rummy and doing a very good job. 
Tonight her brother and cousin are here for the night also.
We had a busy and fun day.  

Sunday 26 April 2015

Folded Center Piece.


I was going to take a class Tuesday to make this Folded centerpiece but there wasn't enough people that signed up for it. So I bought the pattern and made it myself. I saved myself $40.00. More to buy fabric with. I really enjoyed making this. Would do again. A good project for using up lol those small pieces left over from other projects. You only need a piece 2 by 3 inches for each fold.

I have lots on the go and hoping to get together with Marjorie and Connie to work on a barbello project this week. Need to get my stuff ready for that. Also working on a few placemats. I should have them done tomorrow.

Wednesday 15 April 2015

Paper Piecing Class


My finished piece from the paper piecing class that I did at the Fabric Cupboard. I am glad I took this class. Paper piecing is so much fun once you know how to do it right. I used Batiks on this one.




This makes 2 5/8 " blocks. Very tiny. This kit will make three of these little toppers. 


This ruler and cardboard are an asset for paper piecing. There is a lip on this ruler that lines up with the cardboard that will cut to 1/8 ". Made the job so easy. This topper can work into a day project from start to finish. 


I also picked up this pattern. It will make 10 place mats and two toppers. This is my next project. 


A great class. I signed up for this class that will take place in a couple of weeks. These are beautiful. Looking forward to this one.