Remembrance Day and other treats

Got back from the local cenotaph.  BRRRR.  It started to rain about 15 minutes into things.  Not nice at all.  I found myself standing there, thinking at least I get to be warm in a half hour and not out in a trench full of mud like the fellas of WWI.  The ceremony was pretty good, except I think they forget God Save the Queen until the very end.  You know I always feel slow off the mark saluting when that song starts playing.  Whether its done on piano or by the marching band, the start of it is just so not recognizable to me.  Even when I tell myself that these events, "remember God save the Queen will be playing, salute."
Anyways I came home, made homemade tomato soup, vacuumed a few spaces in the house where the installer of our new tankless water system got a little carried away with drywall dust.  Now I get to play in my workroom.  I have been busy the past week.  I find I have been coming home and spending an hour after work sewing and finishing up some of my UFO's.  Getting along on some of those though I still have two from my days in Chetwynd that need to be worked on. 
I've been wanting to use up some sample fabrics I got on sale in Abbotsford so I made two lap quilts using a rectangle shape block.  Its pretty bright - yellow, pink, and purple.  I think I know just the little girl to give it to!  I can't wait to see what Arlene, the long arm quilter extraordinaire will do with it. 

 

test sample of the hexagon blocks using strips

Then I finished up the disappearing 9 patch blocks using the Basic Grey-Fruitcake charm squares, I started the weekend before.  I sure like how these blocks go together.  I want to try it with a few other fabrics and see how it works. Sorry no photo.
The other thing I started was a Twirling Topper, in the Sizzling Sixties book by Heather Mulder Peterson.  I found a lovely purse, shoe, bag fabric by Makower and matched it with fat quarters in my stash.  Since I like how these are going together I will am going to try another one of the patterns in the book using the Basic Grey Origins fabric I picked up.  You know this will be the second time I used this line as I used the paper version to make Sarah's wedding album. 

finished twirling topper

I wish I could get my hands on some the BG fabrics in yardage locally as they make some wonderful additions to quilt tops.  Perhaps when I visit the parents in the new year, I will luck out and find some to add to my stash.  For now I will use up what I have, trying to de-clutter the stash a little bit so I have a bit more room .  Used up 5 meters so far this week. I hope by Christmas to have used up 20 meters total, but we will see.  That's an awful lot of sewing.