The postman arrived and Happy New Year!!

I was a lucky winner in the bloghop that took place recently , actually won three things , the stocking that I previously showed and another stocking which I have yet to receive and then this cute little snowman wallhanging ,oh and I won some buttons which have not arrived as of yet either , it has been a lucky month for me ;-0

 Isn't he just the cutest , Lee of Lalas Lovelys created this cute snowman and I am delighted he will be spending the winter here with me. That is the great thing about snowmen they can stay around after Christmas .Thanks so much Lee , I really love him.
 You will notice a new icon on the left  , well I have made a committment to shop in my own fabric closet for this year , if you want to read all about it just click on the icon and it will take you to Jeanett's blog where she will explain how this works. Basically you use the fabric you own but can buy for backings and borders that kind of thing .Since I have just a little fabric ;-0 I am going to give this a shot , wish me luck , I know I will be tempted on more than one occasion but  it is worth trying . Some of that fabric will be used for the little houses , the icon showing that sweet little scrappy house , not sure how I will make out with that either but I do love scrappy and I do love houses so again it is worth a shot. No harm in trying right .
 I'd like to also take this opportunity to thank all my followers , I really appreciate each and everyone of you and especially love your comments and encouragement . I hope you all have a very Happy New Year and that 2012 the year of the dragon will be your best ever .
 Thanks as always for stopping by .
 hugs Sheila

A few gifts from blogging friends

Its hard to believe that Christmas is over for another year , we seem to prepare for such a long time and then it is over just like that. We had a wonderful Christmas this year , our grandson Christopher and his girlfriend Chelsey joined us for Christmas supper with turkey and all the trimmings, they had enjoyed a similar meal at Chelsey's home earlier in the day but still managed to eat a full meal and dessert too :-) It was really special to have them and by the way Christopher loved his quilt , his words were " Gammie you remembered ,oh I just love it" You see he had requested that I make him a quilt way back in the spring so I didn't want to disappoint. I should have had the camera ready but alas I was too busy enjoying the moment.
 Our son Chad and his family arrived on Boxing day which was really special too as Nila and Elise make the Christmas spirit come alive with their enthusiasm. They loved the Row by Row quilt and Elise ran right over and gave it a hug , no camera again , can't believe I was so stupid .
 Now I would like to share a few gifts I received from some wonderful blogging friends , I have to say that blogging has introduced me to some of the best friends ever . Jeanette is a blogging friend but has been a really special friend for a very long time , we have swapped many times ,taking part in quite a few RR's and infact are both part of one right now. It was with her encouragement that I started to blog .Jeanette does the most amazing embroidery of anyone I have ever come across , seriously she is flawless , her stitches are perfect you would swear they were done by machine .Oh to have that talent.

 This sewing case has my initials on the front  with the lovely bird , she knows how much I love birds , then inside are lots of pockets , a pincushion that you can take off as it has a snap .I know you want to see it so here it is .

See all the work she has put into this , simply amazing! This was for my birthday and she also sent a lovely pastel runner and pincushion for Christmas , she is extra generous.

 This will look wonderful in my bedroom. Thanks so much Jeanette , you are such a sweetheart.
 Then I got this great book and some delightful charm squares from Cyndi , love the book and as Cyndi knows I love the reproductions and will have lots of fun using them ,Cyndi is a such a sweet friend. Thanks Cyndi. Poor Cyndi has had more than her fair share of challenges this year so say a little prayer for her that 2012 will be a better year.

  Annette and I have become very  good friends this year , she is a relatively new blogger and has a great blog so check her out. She has been a great help to me on more than one occasion when I was trying to figure out what to do for my stay at home RR. . She has a few patterns of her own and she was very generous to send me not only this wonderful apron but the pattern as well , now I can make some in lots of different sizes. Thanks so much Annette , I love the apron , the colors are so bright and cheery and will be so pretty in my kitchen . Thanks also for being there when I needed some help and for your friendship.

Then last but certainly not least I received this beautiful table topper from Betsy of Quilting Fiesta , such a surprise .It is gorgeous and just look at the embroidery and her quilting , wow I hope to learn that next year . Thanks so much Betsy I love it and I also appreciate your friendship , it has been such fun getting to know you and your wonderful work.

Then I also won a stocking here at Gingerbread and Snowflakes  and it arrived just before Christmas and I was wowed by the contents of the package .

The stocking is just so pretty and lots of details you may not see here with beading and stitching.These sweet ornaments were inside and I absolutely love the horse , gorgeous and so me , I love horses ! See the unique coca cola ornament ,made from a popcan , now that is recycling at its best . then the little straw star , the little dutch shoes , chocolate sprinkles , a rubber stamp with a cupcake on it , a little kit to make another ornament and a yo-yo maker .

See how pretty it looks on our little fireplace !
 Such fun and really appreciated , if you have a moment check out her blog , it is really very interesting and if you like cookies she had a cookie recipe swap and there are lots of really great looking cookies you might want to try or save the recipe for next year.
 So I think I kept you long enough , thanks so much for visiting, it is always a pleasure to have you stop by and my hope is you find something interesting to read.
hugs Sheila

Merry Christmas

I wasn't planning on posting today but last night we had a beautiful snowfall so we took a drive around town to see the Christmas lights , I want to share just a few of the lovely displays and you will see why I love snow for Christmas .

 I look forward each year to seeing this amazing display , I'll show you another view .

and just one more of this house 

Then there is this one ,

                                                                    and this one

It was snowing here so some snow got on the lense.

So there you have it a little Christmas display with fresh fallen snow just waiting for Santa to land on the roof . I hope you have all been good little girls this year so Santa can bring you all kinds of lovely gifts . From my house to yours I wish you the Blessings and good tidings for a very Merry Christmas .

 Hugs Sheila 

 

WIP Wednesday

I know I am late but I am linking up to the Needle and Thread Network for WIP wednesdays. I really do not have a lot to report , been busy with Christmas preparations and finishing up Christophers quilt , so is it finished you ask , well not quite , on the last side to sew that binding down . But I did make this apron for my Mom , the last time I was home for a visit she was wearing a very threadbare apron that was similar in style to this one and she said I sure wish I could find another apron like this one, I think I should give this to you so you can make a pattern and make me one. She did not give up the apron but this is actually a vintage pattern that belonged to my Aunt Mammie and I think is close enough to make her happy and if not then I will just have to nab that apron from her ;-) .I made this one another time a while back and kind of forgot just how much work there is in this , all that binding to sew on , I think she will like it as it has two large pockets is plenty big and is the softest most beautiful fabric , it may not look beautiful but it really is lovely quality. I have had this fabric for a long time and my plan was always to make an apron and I think this pattern is perfect for it as the fabric also has a vintage look , not sure if it is a reproduction print but I suspect it is. You may not be able to see it but the fabric has small red flowers , maybe if you click the picture to enlarge it you can see it better .
I think I will take a little blogging break so you may not see me post for a while as I have things to do for the big day and then I want to spend as much time with family as possible ,so let me take this time to thank each of you for your visits and comments over this past year , I really appreciate each and every one of you and wish to send you many blessings for a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
hugs Sheila

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We had a lovely snowfall yesterday , soft gentle flakes that looked like a snowglobe , it was beautiful .

We received at least 10 cm. of the white stuff and I am thrilled as I love a white Christmas , sure hope it stays around , we are suppose to have rain tomorrow so fingers crossed it doesn't happen. It is suppose to get colder in the afternoon tomorrow , dropping to -8 C. so nothing will melt with those temps. 

I finally have the house decorated , took me several days to finish up , just one of those years. Here is what it looks like in the evening when the lights are on , it isn't easy to take a picture of  the room with the lights on ,I am sure it is camera operator ,not the camera ;-0

I have some special ornaments I'd like to share , first off is this angel that our son Chad brought back from Switzerland for me , he knows I love angels .

And a clown for his Dad as he was a Shriner clown for years .

This photo is a little fuzzy , camera operator again :-) , notice the really sweet paper ornament next to the clown ,my friend Susanne from Denmark sent that last year along with a couple of others , just love those ornaments.

Here is the other side of the room with the nativity set , I have to say I love the house at Christmas , it is very warm and cozy and makes me feel good.

 I recently received these sweet little angels from my friend Susanne and thought they would look special beside this vintage Swedish ornament with candles and angels .Thank you Susanne. She also sent me a really cool new notion which I will share later on . The mail lady just arrived and I have three packages to open so will share that later as well. Thanks for stopping by for a visit and hope your Christmas preparations are coming along well , enjoy your day. 

Hugs Sheila

A few presents to show you

I want to share a few little presents I recently received. We had our quilt guild meeting and Christmas party on Wed. and we always do a gift exchange , no names just random as to the gift you receive, if you bring one you receive one, I was really pleased with my gift , I guess you could call this one a quilters break time .

Sorry for the picture quality , can't seem to get the proper angle , so there is this lovely tea cup with cardinals on it , I love cardinals although we don't have them here and the cup has its own fine strainer for loose tea ,then there is the tea  from David's Tea , I have not tried this particular variety before ,it is called "an exotic journey" a green tea with mint and other spices , sounds wonderful doesn't it .I have had other teas from Davids and really enjoyed them . There is also some napkins with a Christmas design and Lindor Chocolates , I love chocolate and tea together , seriously , have you ever tried it , if not you don't know what you are missing.
 My friend Linda also gave me a gift that night which I love , I have seen these around for a few years now and always admired them so was really pleased to receive this , Thanks so much Linda you are the best.

 It looks fantastic when the lights are turned on , I must place a special doily under it .
I also have added to my technology toys , sounds like I have a ton of them doesn't it but that is far from the truth , I do have an ipod and now I have an Ipad 2 Touch , what a fun little item this is ,I have been having so much fun playing around with this and learning a few things about it, even found out there are quilting apps .

I have been using it this week to enter all the great giveaways in the bloghops, so convenient to sit in my favorite chair and surf the net , lots of fun !

 Today I am also celebrating my birthday , I won't tell you which one, lets just say I am older than dirt  ;-0 To celebrate I am decorating my tree , I finally got it up and now I am in the process of putting on a  few decorations then I think we are heading out for lunch so I'll talk to you all later and thanks so much for stopping by .

 hugs Sheila who is now one year older :-) 

WIP Wednesday

Christmas is just around the corner now , this month has gone by quickly but I am happy to report that my two biggest projects have had progress , one being complete , the Row by Row Christmas quilt , you can read about  that in yesterdays post and today I finished the quilting on Christophers quilt so just need to make the binding and that will be finished as well. I don't think that will take too long so I feel confident I can get this completed by  Christmas . It is not much of a picture but you can see I just quilted it in a grid stitching in the ditch or through the blocks . I am linking with the Needle and Thread Network for WIP   today , check out the link you will be pleasantly surprised at all the talent .

I baked a cake this morning and some chocolate oatmeal cookies , the cake is for our guild meeting tonight and the cookies are for dear hubby as they are his favorites. We had unexpected company for lunch and I was glad I had some soup made and the fresh cookies for dessert :-) Other than that not much got done today and I am off now to a meeting before our guild meeting tonight so I best scramble but thanks for stopping by and hope you are having a super day. hugs Sheila

Tuesdays Treasures and a Finish

It is Tuesday December 13 , only 12 more days before the big day and this little elf has been very busy . First off I want to share my treasure for today , I may have shared this last year but it is so precious to me that I will share it again.

We bought this nativity scene around 1986 or 87 from a local artisan and I look forward to placing it out each  year , it is extremely well done and I love the simplicity of it , all one color , I have seen this done in various colors but I prefer it like this. I'm going to tell you a secret but promise not to tell, the velvet that is under the nativity is not even hemmed , and yes I have been using it just as many years as I have had the nativity , pretty sad huh , I simply fold under the edges and kind of scrunch it up like straw and it works ;-) If you have a treasure you would like to share why not join Melody our sweet hostess for this weekly event ,or pop on over and see who else is taking part I am sure there are lots of lovely treasures you would enjoy seeing and you might find another great blog friend too.
  I think I'll share two treasures this week  ,I think I have had these Wise Men about the same length of time , perhaps a little longer , they are carved from stone of some kind and I want to say coal but for the life of me I really can not remember except that the man who carved them was from Port Hood which is in Cape Breton .

They are again simple in design but I really love them , they have been moved around a lot and do have a  little wear but are treasures all the same. So be sure to stop over at The House on the Side of the Hill  to see more wonderful treasures .
 Now for the second part of my post , a finish , this has been a very long time coming so it feels extra special .

My Row by Row Christmas quilt is complete !!! I am doing the happy happy dance after sewing on all those buttons, lesson learned , don't use buttons , I had started out in the beginning just appliqueing on those circles but some are so small it was a real challenge so I thought buttons would be easier and perhaps they would have been if I had done them as I went along. The reason I did not do that was I had a quilt machine quilted once and it had buttons sewn on and she removed them all as she said they interfered with her work and if I ever made a quilt that required buttons again to wait until after the quilting is completed . The challenge is trying to get that needle back up through the quilt into the button when you have no way to see where you are going. I did manage to do some by machine but the real tiny ones I did by hand and it took forever , well not forever but a LONG time.  This quilt is much larger than I ever expected it to be , this is on a queen size bed and it does come down over the sides a little ,I think it is around 85" square.Here is a side view.

I raided my button jars and therefore all the buttons are not the same although most match well. You may be wondering what my progress is on Christopher's quilt , well I am almost there , I have just around the borders to quilt now , I really surprised myself with how easy I found this to machine quilt, I just stitched in the ditch or through the blocks as I am not comfortable FMQ anything this large , that is my goal for next year is to learn a little more about FM , you may notice my new icon on the left I have signed up for this challenge and hope to become a great student in 2012 :-)

Here is the quilt in the process, my handy dandy quilt gloves are ready for me to get back to work .
I'm off to quilting at the church today and last night I learned one of our group had an accident ,Carol fell and did some major damage to her face, breaking her nose , a tooth and her forehead is all smashed up, so say a little prayer for her , she is pretty uncomfortable right now with two black eyes and lots of bruising.
Thanks for stopping by and for hanging in there through this long post. Hugs Sheila

FNSI Report and a finish

I decided to take part in the FNSI  , this is only my second time taking part but I knew I would be sewing so thought what the heck I might as well join the very large group of dedicated participants . I worked on the Row by Row quilt , I took a couple of days off because of my shoulders so it was still waiting to have the binding sewn down , I had started and had one side done , well I am now on the home stretch with just half of one side left to do , yeah , I see a light at the end of this tunnel .

You can see the corner of a gingerbread man well once I get past him it will be complete . Then I must sew on some buttons ,may consider doing those on the machine to save time and energy .
 I also finished this table topper which I am really pleased with and will definitely make more of these with different appliques.

We had a wild storm here on Thursday , high winds up to at least 90 km. and lots of heavy rain as well , it did get colder as the day went on and I was busy in the kitchen and looked out and saw what I thought was ice broken up on the deck but with further inspection it was our patio table , it had exploded into a million pieces , nothing larger than a quarter , what a mess ,it was old so I guess the wind took it by surprise as that has sat there for a long time and the wind generally just goes under and over it without any problem . Surprisingly we did not loose power , I kept expecting that to happen so stayed away from the computer for most of the day .
 I'm off now to get a few groceries and possibly a few gifts although it is not the best time to shop , busy , busy .
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day . hugs Sheila

WIP Wednesday

I'm linking up today to Monica on the Needle and Thread Network ,  if you have never visited this site maybe you should go have a visit as there are lots of wonderful blogs linking up to show their progress for this week . Go on you know you want to  :-)
 So what has been my progress , well I have the top finished for Christophers quilt , it is nothing spectacular but I am pretty sure he will love it as it really suits him . I have been trying to decide if I am able to quilt this on my own and I think I will try to tackle it just stitching in the ditch kind of quilting , it should be manageable , famous last words right .

 The border is just made up of the fabrics I had left over and the binding will be the left overs of the leftovers . While I was deciding whether I could tackle this I tackled the Row by Row Christmas quilt , remember that one , well I finished the machine quilting and then made the binding and sewed the binding on and now I am doing  this .

When watching TV, I have been sewing down that binding and when that is complete I will still need to sew on a lot of buttons for the eyes on some of these characters but I should be able to have this ready for Christmas if I work hard .

I almost forgot I also made some pillowcases for the grandchildren , I had picked up this really cute border print sometime in the summer and thought it would look cute as the band on a pillow case , it is Look and Learn by Moda and reminds me of the Readers we had in school . 

 I haven't gotten back to my little table topper but that is on my finish list as well which unfortunately is growing instead of getting shorter , oh well I can only do what I can do and no more . I hope your holiday preparations are going along well , take time to remember the reason for the season and thanks for stopping by I always appreciate your visits and your comments . hugs Sheila 

Tuesdays Treasures

Good Morning , its time for Tuesdays Treasures with Melody at the House on the Side of the Hill , each Tuesday Melody invites us to share something that we treasure , it can be anything you wish so why not check out what others are sharing this week or even better why not join us :-)
 This week I am sharing something that I have shown you before but it truly is a special treasure and especially this time of year .

I know I have this in my header at this time and I also know that many of you know the story behind this little wall hanging but I have lots of new followers which I am very thankful for so I'd like to share the history behind this project and why it is a treasure to me.  Eight years ago my beautiful granddaughter drew this Santa with chalk on a piece of construction paper at school , I thought the drawing was incredible for an eight year old and I wanted to somehow keep this so what better way than with fabric so I traced off each and every line she had drawn and the beard is made up of several pieces of fabric to show her flowing lines in the beard , the eyes are exactly as she had drawn them and don't you love the shape of his mouth . She also had the snowflakes along the side and this is the size of the paper she used so I didn't alter it in any way . I should have added here that last year for Christmas I made this same wall hanging and gave it to Alyssa as a gift so we now both can hang her incredible work . I think Alyssa is a very gifted young lady and although she doesn't do much in the way of drawing today she is still gifted in music and maybe someday will come back to drawing . Recently she had a birthday so Happy Birthday Alyssa !

Her sister Caitlin also had a birthday recently , Happy Birthday Caitlin , sure wish we could have been there for both birthdays , hope you had some cake for me  :-) Love you both:-)

This is Caitlin with our granddaughter Elise , isn't this picture precious . I have five beautiful granddaughters who are all treasures to me and I have two handsome grandsons who of course are treasures as well . Family is so important and I miss them . I have to say that being a grandmother is the most precious gift anyone can receive , they bring so much joy and love into your life , they are true treasures . Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful day . 

 hugs Sheila 

My Progress so far

This is what Christophers quilt looks like so far , I need to add borders and have made a decision on that so hopefully will get that done this weekend. I am not so sure I am capable of machine quilting this myself , it is quite large , will decide once it is all together I guess.

This is not  a great picture , the colors are way off on the reds and even the blues but you get the idea at least . I am off today to a Christmas Tea with two dear friends , should be a fun afternoon . Enjoy your day I know I will and thanks so much for stopping by.
 hugs Sheila

It's a start and a finish

Oh happy day , Isaac's quilt is finished , all bound with label attached , a very good feeling .

Here it is all folded on top of Sophia's quilt  ready to be mailed off. Now sometimes it takes very little to amuse me but I have to say I thought this was rather neat the way the two dinosaurs lined up almost perfectly to form a two headed dinosaur .

The guy at the front seems to be looking back to see what is behind him , see I told you it takes very little to amuse me :-)
So that is my finish and this is my start , I spent the morning ironing and hand cutting these fabrics for Christophers quilt , it is nearly impossible to get a good cut with the rotary cutter when doing plaids or checks so I did these by hand where possible , they are still not perfect but won't look overly wonky . I think this will be perfect for him , very masculine . I am going to start sewing in a short while , I am expecting my hubby's aunt any minute , she wants me to hem a pair of pants for her so of course I will do that for her . Not my favorite kind of sewing anymore but when she asks I generally try to help her out , she is a sweet lady, she is 87 this year I believe and just amazing , sure hope I am as mobile at that age.

So there you have it , my day is set out before me , so I best get started :-0 Thanks for the visit and hope you get to do something creative today too.
hugs Sheila
 ps. check out the great giveaway here at I like to Quilt Blog   ,Bente has a wonderful giveaway , well worth checking out .