Thursday, October 01, 2026

A Restful and Productive Holiday and I Quilted This!

Hi and welcome 😊 I had a restful but also productive holiday alone in the bush. It was just what I needed to recharge. Here's what I worked on.

New Stitching Projects

While at the cottage, I went to a nearby park on the river. It was so beautiful. The sun was shining, the river sparkling with sunlight and the reflection of the forest from the other side. I found the perfect place to sit, photograph and sketch. I just wanted to capture the gleaming sun, colourful reflections and the wave patterns around the rocks.

This is my first piece. The rocks are made from coiled fabric to make them 3D. In the picture below it's set on a blank canvas. I covered the canvas with two coats of watercolour ground and then painted it with watercolours.

First piece stitched but not finished

Here's a closeup of the wave patterns around the rocks. I used organza to show the reflection of the sun on the water.

Closeup of the patterns of the waves around the rocks

This is the watercolour painted canvas. I'll be attaching the piece to it so the top, bottom and sides will show.

Painted canvas with watercolour

Sketch of the rocks and the wave patterns

Here are three photos that I based the sketch on.

Water, waves, plants and sunlight

Water, waves and sunlight

Water, waves, plants and sunlight - 2

I'm working on a second version of the sketch - this time using the stitching to show the reflection more than the fabric. I hope to be sharing that with you soon.

Advancing projects

The first project I finished was my grandmother's (Mémère's) placemat. I only had a little bit to stitch so it was perfect to finish it and then use it during the week.

Mémère's placemat - all stitched up!

I also finished my watercolour stitching project. I added a bit of fabric to it, wove a bit and then added collage from a paper napkin. I call it Summer Tea Time. I'll be framing it and giving it to my younger brother since he likes it 😀

Summer Tea Time

Here is the morning view from the cottage. There are lots of trees and the temperature was cool, so I would move my chair to follow the sun.

Morning view at the cottage

I took over the table (and most of the living room) for my art 😀

What I learned

I was alone for most of the week and I was totally fine with that.
I did have my phone, so I could take breaks to listen to music or audiobooks and talk to JJ.
I went a little crazy making art the first day but slowly got into a routine.
I would get up late (my usual routine), have coffee outside and then start stitching. After lunch I would drive out to take pictures or go for a short walk. I would then come back, have supper and keep stitching until it was time to rest and listen to an audiobook.
I took many pictures and have lots of ideas for more small pieces.
I'm very thankful to my brother and nephew for letting me have the cottage - it was exactly what I needed. I really hope to do it again next year.
To use watercolour paint on canvas, the canvas needs a couple of coats of watercolour ground. That was one of the first thing I did when I got to the cottage. I now have three canvases ready to add watercolour so that I can mount my pieces on them.
Saturday I'll be posting the linking party for A Quilter's Cove QAL. Make sure to come by to see September's purple houses!

I Quilted This!

Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party that celebrates quilting on a domestic machine or custom quilting on a long-arm. Feel free to link up and share any recent project, even if you're not quilting it!

Here are the posts that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting last week. Thanks for linking up 😊 and consider grabbing the button.

Thanks so much for keeping the party going without me while I was gone!

Gretchen of Gretchen's Little Corner is busy quilting baby quilts and here is her second one quilted and bound! What a lovey quilt, simple but beautiful!

Gretchen's second baby quilt

Gail of Quilting Gail rescued a placemat that she had started years ago. The placemat has appliqués from Missouri Star Christmas templates. Gail backed it with a cute bee fabric so that it can be used year round. It'll be part of her guild's Meals on Wheels donations at Christmas.

Gail's Christmas placemat

The back of Gail's Christmas placemat

Gwyned Trefethen quilted two of her Cats in the Attic blocks from the Rainbow Challenge. She's doing some very intricate FMQ and embroidery. It's really stunning.

Gwyned's orange cat

Gwyned's pink cat

Vicki of Vicki's Crafts and Quilting made two lovely snowmen runners. They are so cute!

Vicki's round snowmen topper

Vicki's snowmen runner

Kat from Scrapbox Quilts finished quilting last year's small purple quilt. She quilted it with straight lines diagonally crosshatched. What a cute finish!