June FMQ

I am late I know but I wanted to post my FMQ for the month of June , thanks to Sew Cal Gal for hosting this each month and providing us with such amazing teachers. This month it was Cindy Needham , she gave a great tutorial which was very helpful and although my stitching is far from perfect I think I got what this lesson was trying to teach us , control , I enjoyed the process and am ok with my results but realize that they could be so ..... much better with practice.

Here is a close up of the top section where I tried to fill in the small areas , challenging for sure but kind of fun too. I know I am brave to even show you these very imperfect stitches but this is all about learning right ;-)

 It is a hot summer day today , the warmest so far this season , I won't complain as we have been waiting a long time for this to happen . Thanks for stopping by and hope you are enjoying your weekend.
hugs Sheila

WIP Wednesday

Its that time of the week again , I have a few things in progress some of which I can not share just yet but I did make this little sundress for my granddaughter today ,I had some fabric left from a dress I made for another granddaughter so figured I might as well make another , this is a slightly different pattern and I sure hope it fits as I have not seen Sophia in over a year and a half and of course she has grown a lot since then .

Simple little dress with ties at the shoulders , I do love this print :-)
 Have you noticed the new icons on my sidebar , well I am taking part in the Red ,White and Blue Blog Hop July1-8th and you can click on the icon and see the schedule of those participating , my day is July 3rd so I have been busy making lots of blocks to share with you , here is just a little sneak peak .Be sure to check the list of participants and did I mention that there might be giveaways ;-)

 I don't think this reveals too much other than it is red , white and blue ;-) I am also now signed up for a Think Christmas blog hop which takes place July30  to August 3rd. and the icon is on my sidebar for that one as well.I have made a start on those blocks too but won't show you just yet .
 I am linking up today to the Needle and Thread Network ,be sure to stop by and see what others have been up to this week. Thanks for the visit .
 hugs Sheila

One Christmas Item a Month

It is that time of the month again , June sure seemed to disappear . I actually had to scramble today to finish off these two little items for my Christmas box , Both stitcheries that I have shown earlier in the month are now finished projects .

The large pincushion on the left was a Friday Freebie pattern from Kaaren of the The  Painted Quilt  , a fun little project and I finished it off with some rickrack along the edge . The little tag was also a free pattern but I do not have the link for that handy , sorry . Then the other little pincushion I may have shown before but I don't think I have , anyway this was a block from a mini quilt that I had made and I found the colors blended too much so rather than throw it out I made this very tiny pincushion :-)
 Thanks to Narelle of Pins and Whiskers for hosting this monthly event , it does keep a person thinking about Christmas . Thanks for the visit and guess what , the sun is shining :-)
 hugs Sheila

Sunday Musings

Rain, Rain go away , come again another day . Do you think if I sing this loud enough Mother Nature will hear me ? Actually at the moment it has stopped if only temporarily and the ground probably does need this moisture but I would still love to see and feel that sun .
 I'm late posting this but the mailman arrived on Friday with squishes for me , yes not one but two squishes in the same day . The first one was from Annette , I had won a giveaway on her blog In Stitches and Seams . 

This little tool is very useful to create accurate cutting , the one shown you place on your ruler on the backside and it gives an edge to guide along your fabric where you want to cut , there is also one that you place on the bed of your sewing machine to guide your fabrics for perfect 1/4" seams . Annette was also sweet enough to include this fat quarter of fabric , I have plans for something for my grandson  with this , Thanks so much Annette .Talking about Annette, be sure to head over to her blog and take note of the Vote for me button at the top , she has advanced to the next level in the McCall's design contest ,you really must see the quilt she has designed for this level it is amazing and you can vote  once a day ,everyday until July8th so be sure to vote for your favorite quilts in both the amatuer and professional level , here is the link to their site .http://www.mccallsquilting.com/contests/Quilt_Design_Star_2012.html There are some wonderful quilts in both levels , well worth the visit .
 The next package I had to have Bill go pick up at the postoffice  as it was a little too large to fit in our mailbox , oh so what could be inside you ask . Well to my delight there was a package of wool for the Hannah and Harrington BOM , I won this by completing a T in the Bingo game with Tonya of Hillybilly Handiworks . I had so much fun with the Bingo and was delighted to learn I had won .

 You can't really see all the wonderful colors in this package , I am so happy with these and maybe now I will get back to working on the Bom , I have been a little slack with that lately ;-) Thanks so much Tonya , I really appreciate this great win. Thanks also to Sharon , Marcia,Snoodles and Tonya for hosting this fun event , it was a blast .
 Now if you are wondering if I have been at the sewing machine at all , well I have done a small amount . Our quilt guild is in its Tenth year and each year we have a quilt to sell tickets on and this year in honor of our Tenth anniversary we are making 10" blocks that will be made into a quilt for ticket sales . Brown paper bags were given out to those who wished to participate at our meeting this month and there are small amounts of three fabrics which all must be in the block . This was not as easy as I first thought it would be , a 10" block was easy enough but having enough of the fabrics given was the challenge but I searched for the perfect block    that I knew I would have enough of the background fabric for , that was my challenge the other colors were not a problem . So.... here is the block I came up with and I must say I do love this fabric combination.

 It turned out a perfect 10.5" block , whew , that was a relief . So since I was in the block making mode I knew that deep under a pile on my desk was a block waiting to be sewn together ,yes I have been procastinating  on this one , the pieces are small and there are a few of them too. Sometimes I have to really push myself to do things that I have left for a while , so much easier if I do them when I first start . Anyway , I did motivate myself to get it made and here it is .

 This block is for the Autumn BOM that you can find here  and the little pumpkin icon on my side bar will guide you to Rana's blog as well . I am really pleased with this block of which I need to make one more , yikes , oh well it wasn't that bad once I got started but tell me , could you cut this in half now , that is what I have to do to complete this BOM , it will not be easy to slice through this perfectly good block , wish me luck . In all seriousness I have enjoyed this BOM and am quite pleased with it so far , now to get it finished .
 I am off now to start thinking about Christmas , yeah , crazy huh , I signed up for the "Think Christmas"  Blog hop with Lesley of the Cuddle Quilter Fame and Madamme Samm  so better start getting out those Christmas , red , greens and whites and think of some blocks to make , can you help ?
Enjoy your Sunday and thanks for stopping by .
 hugs Sheila

Thursday Happenings

The sun has found us again today , a perfect day to hang out laundry :-) This week just seemed to fly by so I missed WIP Wednesday so I will report on Thursday instead.
 An update on the Red White and Blue Blog Hop , I now have three blocks completed ,I am pleased and to see those blocks and many more wonderful creative blocks be sure to come back and visit on July 1 -16 , you can check the schedule by clicking on the icon on my sidebar .Sorry I can't share any photos of my blocks just now just know they are red , white and blue ;-)
  I had the strong urge to make postcards again so this time decided on landscapes as I have not done those in a while and I really enjoy that challenge of finding what I believe is the perfect piece for the image I have in my mind so these are the two I made .

  And number two ;

A scene somewhere in the mind of moi ;-) no particular destination just a play of fabrics .
I thought I would also share this photo with you , I was visiting with my parents again on the weekend , trying to get their apartment set up and the house cleaned out and in doing so came across this painting I did in 1982 , they don't have room for it so I decided I would like to have it back rather than see it tossed .

 I took oil painting classes for a couple of years and this was during that time , I rather like the bright colors and it is now hanging in my dining room , come winter this sunny scene may cheer me up :-0
 Thanks for stopping by and hope your day is filled with sunshine .
 Hugs Sheila

June 2012 ITV Performance: All the Queen's Horses- A Diamond Jubilee Spe...

As I have mentioned before our son Robert is a member of the RCMP Musical Ride and this year they performed for the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee and this video is of that performance , great video of them doing their routine to the music of the Canadian Tenors , just awesome. It took a while but I was able to spot Rob due to his beautiful smile.

 No sewing yet today but hope to change that shortly . Enjoy your day and thanks for the visit and I hope you enjoy the video , it really is well worth the watch .
 hugs Sheila

FNSI Report

I signed up for FNSI at the last minute , I knew I would be stitching and like the extra motivation this gives to think how many others world wide are also stitching.Thanks to Heidi for hosting this fun event.
 I can't show you my progress on this but I am taking part in the  Red White and Blue Blog Hop in July , the button is on my side bar .I figured since I will be posting my blocks on July 3rd I better get myself into gear and actually make a block or two . Well I have two made so far and plan on making at least one more .

 I have to say this is the first time I have made quilt blocks in this color combination but love them . It just reminds me of summer and a nautical look .I am happy with my blocks so far but you will have to come back in July to actually see the blocks ;-)
 Then I wanted to sit and watch some TV for a while before bed so I worked on this little stitchery by the talented Bronwyn Hayes of  Red Brolly , it is the front of a needlecase and is a free pattern on her blog right now . Click on the link to find the pattern .

 This is super small , you use just one strand of floss for this and there is a lot more work in this than I thought but I do love it . I have a cover for my sewing machine that I made a while back that also has this little quote on it . " May all your weeds be Wildflowers " ,don't you love that quote , some of the prettiest flowers are weeds .
The sun has finally found us so I plan on being outside as much as possible today to soak up some of those vitamin D rays. Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.
 hugs Sheila

What's happening around here

A dull and dreary day here on the east coast , threatening rain but I am threatening it not to start ;-) We did have rain overnight and things are growing leaps and bounds so a little sunshine would feel real good about now.
Not a lot of sewing going on but I did manage to get my stitching done on the June block by Shabby Fabrics BOM , I am always excited to see what the next block will look like and so far have not been disappointed , just love them.

I still need to add the kite tails and do the embroidery for the tail but otherwise it is done.
 I am taking part in a postcard exchange in a yahoo group I am a member of and the theme this time is mini quilt beach blanket so here are my three postcards to mail off .

I rarely make two the same , I like variety in my life ;-) so these are my interpretation of that theme and I am pleased and hope the gals who receive them are as well.
 I hope this afternoon to make at least one of the Red , White and Blue blocks for the July 1st blog hop
 Nothing like leaving it until the last minute .
Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day .
 hugs Sheila

WIP Wednesday

Wednesday is half over and I am just getting around to posting , you see I was off to lunch today with a few friends and oh it was delicious but I was so hungry by the time the meal came I think anything would taste good :-)
 I don't have a lot of progress this week but I will show you the little I have done. I sat out on my deck on Monday and did the handwork on my Home Sweet Home Penny Rug that is a free BOM by Melody of the House on the side of the Hill

Here is the full penny rug as it looks now ,I'll show you what I just finished up.

I did the applique and added the leaves in different shades , yellow, gold, red and even some brown. I am really pleased with how this is all coming together .
 I also did a little embroidery this week , I enjoy doing red work and love the newest Friday Freebie from Kaaren of the Painted Quilt so traced it off and now have it finished and I am trying to decide if I want it framed or made into a pincushion as she suggests.

Last evening I did this little tag , kind of cute and I have plans on making a few more of these , sorry I can't think of where I got this pattern .

Have any of you tried the new frixion pens to transfer patterns ? Well I bought one a little while ago and decided to give it a try to trace off these little stitcheries , I love the fine line it produces and the fact it doesn't disappear , well at least as long as you don't decide to iron it .Yep , I had this santa all traced off and then thought about the fact I had not put any interfacing on the back so promptly got the interfacing cut and ironed it on , turned the piece over and nothing there , I knew that fact about these pens but completely forgot .So what did I do you say , well I learned another fact about these pens and that is if you put it in the cold the markings reappear so into the freezer it went and sure enough when I took it out there was all my markings , maybe a little duller but still very useable and I was thankful as there were two stitcheries that I had traced and the second one is much more detailed and I didn't want to have to redo it.

This is the pen I am speaking about and I would highly recommend them and no I am in no way affiliated with them but if they want to send me a whole truck load I would accept them ;-)
 I am linking today with the Needle and Thread Network , be sure to pay them a visit , lots of wonderful work to see . Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a wonderful day .
 hugs Sheila

A delightful Day :-)

As you may know yesterday was the Thistle Quilt Guild Quilt show , our Tenth anniversary  so we tried to go all out for this show and I think it was awesome. My day was made extra special by meeting up with two blogger friends .  Linda of Scrapmaster  and Lesley of Cuddle Quilter   both travelled for quite a distance in opposite directions in pouring rain  to attend our quilt show , I couldn't have been more pleased . I had met Lesley on an earlier occasion but this was my first time meeting Linda and it was indeed a pleasure .

 Here we are Lesley, Linda and Me , and just look at those great smiles , we must have been having fun . Our backdrop for this photo was my Louisa quilt . Thank you both for taking the time to come and I sure enjoyed our visit .
 So do you want to see a few photos of the show ? I have to admit I did not take a lot of pictures , I was too busy enjoying the company and the quilts.

                                                This wall was a mixture of small quilts .

These postcards were the result of an exchange with a quilt group in Saskatoon Saskatchewan , we had a lot of fun with this exchange and would love to do another .

 The outside walls were adorned with lots of incredible quilts , these are a few of my favorites , don't you just love this string quilt made by my talented friend Diane and next to that on the right is a Flower Garden sampler , so pretty .

 How about this beauty , this is a paper pieced quilt and I think Eileen told me it was her first PP project , can you imagine tackling this for a first project ,not me.

Isn't this the cutest quilt , this was made by Anne for her granddaughter , I just love this one :-) Anne has a blog but she has not posted in a while ,don't you think she should share some more of her talents :-)

 If you love applique you will love this one , it is a beauty and a ton of work . Next to that is another lovely Flower Garden Sampler .

                                    This stunning quilt was made by Connie , just gorgeous .

This sweet little group were made by my friends Julia and Joan and I think Linda also made at least one , these came about after Joan and Julia took an Alaskan Cruise , aren't they cute .

Henrietta Whiskers , by Joan , such a fun quilt and so colorful. My Henrietta is still in the quilting stage :-(

This section was our favorite quilts , they did not have to have been made this year and I think this was a great idea as some of these I had never seen before , wonderful display . Above that on the stage you will see some busy shoppers , we had three vendors where we could built up our stash or buy those special rulers or notions we all love so much , Thanks to Lucy's , Timeless Stitches and Fiddle Stitches for taking part in our show this year.
 Finally I will share this lovely quilt that we sold tickets on , it is called Tennesse Waltz and was made by a guild member Mary M. , she did a beautiful job and I sure hope I am the winning ticket :-)

Since this is getting a bit picture heavy I will close for now , thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy this small sampling of our show ,maybe next year you will join us , we would love to  have you . Thank you to Linda and Lesley  for coming , I sure enjoyed your company and hope to see you both again real soon and oh if you have not visited either Linda or Lesley you are missing out on some incredible talent so head on over now for a visit and tell them I said hi .. Enjoy your day .

hugs Sheila 

Just in Time :-)

Tomorrow is the Thistle Quilt Guild Quilt show , this is our Tenth anniversary so we hope to make the show extra special ,actually we always put on a lovely show :-) This year we have added a category ,our favorite quilt , one large quilt and one small quilt , runner , topper etc. , that was a hard choice and a lot of my work is long gone to my family.I did choose though and am happy with my choices .
 Now on to the news , I finished this little mini quilt just in time ,thus the title of this post . I had followed along with Temecula Quilt Company and made the sweet little basket blocks each week , I thoroughly enjoyed making these small blocks , they were not difficult at all which surprised me .

 All set for the show tomorrow , how do you like my little cradle ? I rescued this from the yard sale my Mom was having , it was the cradle we played with as children and I just could not see that sold to some stranger so I took it home and I love it , a real treasure with lots and lots of memories attached. You will see the tag attached for the quilt show , probably should have taken the picture before I attached that .
 Here is a little closer look at the quilt , I hand quilted this one although I may do a little more once the show is over , felt it would pass for now;-)

 I'll tell you a little secret about me , I hate using a hoop for hand quilting , have the hardest time deciding how to hold the hoop and quilt at the same time but love to quilt on a frame ,  so had to baste real good and just hold it in my hands and that works ok but it is best if things are stretched a bit . My Dad made me a little frame years ago that might have worked on this if I had thought of it , oh well next time . I love this little quilt and had so much fun making it .
 I am smiling today , the sun has finally found us , I thought it had totally given up on us . Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day .
hugs Sheila

WIP Wednesday

If you love rain and drizzle you would be in heaven here today , it is dreadful , oh I guess that shows that I am not a fan of such weather :-)So what have I got in progress you ask , well too much to show but I will start with this little mini quilt , this was a block of the day free pattern from Joanne of Threadhead and I have had the top finished for a while , I followed along everyday and I must say Joanne your instructions were fantastic and even though these blocks are super small they were easy to do and I am quite pleased with my little quilt , wish I had chosen different fabrics but too late to change that now .

If you look closely but not too close you will see that I actually machine quilted this with feathers in the borders and leaves throughout the center . This is my second attempt at feathers and although these are far from perfect it did get easier as I went along ,guess my brain finally got the rhythm even if not quite the way it should be. Thanks Joanne for a fun little project and I really want to do this one again , perhaps in Christmas fabrics .
This morning I worked on my BOM wool project which is a free BOM from Melody of the House on the Side of the Hill , I am a little behind on this one but the June addition has not been announced yet so I just may get this done on time.

 What do you think of my plaid tree , you see this is a fall scene and I thought perhaps this would work and I could pretend this is the foliage turning color , I can dream can't I ;-0 There are leaves to sew on yet and the trunk as you can see is still in progress and the little quilts on the line are not yet stitched down but all in all I love it . Thanks to Melody for her creativeness , love this BOM !
 So what else am I up to , well it just so happens that the Thistle Quilt Guild that I am a member of is having their quilt show this weekend so today I am taking a little time to label things and get my sheets ready to log in on Friday . If you happen to be in the area the show is being held at the Westville Civic Building from 10-4pm  Saturday and this is our Tenth Anniversary so we hope to make it extra special with a tea served as well , why not come and join us for a wonderful show and a bite to eat , you are sure to enjoy your day.
Here is my pile so far ;

 Do you enjoy embroidery ? If so Kaaren of the Painted Quilt has the cutest pattern on now for her Friday Freebies so I took the time last night to trace that off and got a few stitches done using my new Aurifil Thread , oh now that is heaven , this thread is wonderful , no separating threads just put it on the needle and stitch away and it feels like silk , simply wonderful . Thanks Kaaren for yet another wonderful pattern , oh to have such talent  .

 So what do you have to show for this week ? Thanks for stopping by and if you have any extra sunshine and oh Heat that would be so welcome .Oh I almost forgot I am linking up today to the Needle and Thread Network , and Lee of Freshly Pieced be sure to stop by and see what others have been up to this week.
 hugs Sheila

Look what the mailman brought :-)

The day is dull , the sky is grey and there is a threat of rain , the air is very damp so I wasn't planning on venturing out UNTIL I seen the flag up on our mailbox at the end of the driveway . You see I am expecting some mail , postcards, and this package that arrived today ,oh how excited I was and couldn't get back to the house fast enough to tear open the package , and tear I did . This is what was inside .

 These are the crazy blocks from a RR I took part in with some friends ,aren't they gorgeous . Oh what's that, you want to see them closer than that , ok I took individual photos of each block because I just knew you would want to see some of the detail and the sweet little charms they attached . I will start with my original block , funny for the life of me I could not remember that block if  my life had depended on it , and I even had a theme , who knew :-) My theme was "Tea Time in my Garden " isn't that so sweet , ahh .

  It was that focus fabric in the center that I loved and just had to use so I suppose that was the reason for the   theme.

 This block was made by Janet in BC (no blog ) , can you see those sweet little charms , oh I love those and all that creative stitching , thanks Janet :-) Janet has sure mastered embroidery and bead work , each block I received in this RR came from Janet , I was her person to pass on to if that makes any sense  and I got to see her work and it is amazing .

 Another non blogger Martha , also from BC , she added some adorable buttons, some charms one of a ladybug , how did she know I love them , plus one of another flying insect , some lovely bead work and lots of wonderful embroidery , love this one too !!

 This special one is made by my friend Jeanette who I have been friends with for many years now and we have taken part in many RR's together , a sweetheart of a person . Jeanette added some sweet buttons that she bought just for my block , see the teapot and cup and then on the left are some cupcake buttons , how cute are they . Jeanette is a master at embroidery so lots of embellishments with some addition of lace and rickrack to set it off , I love it Jeanette .Thanks :-)

 This pretty block is by my long time email buddy Lynda from BC , we also have been swap partners in RR's together , which always included Jeanette as well , my walls have many lovely wall hangings as a result of their fine work. Lynda's block includes some more sweet charms , where do they find these ? Lynda also did some ribbon embroidery , gorgeous bead work and lots of embroidery and the fabrics are so cute , one little mouse serving tea , a folk lady in the garden tending her flowers . Just beautiful Lynda , thanks , I love it!

And last but certainly not least is a block by my very good friend Dianne , Dianne and I are more like sisters than friends and she knows just what I like so this block is perfect , look at all the work she did , Dianne is the queen of embellishments , the flowers in the center she did some embroidery on the petals and I think perhaps also did some shading to enhance them even more , she added lots of embroidery of sweet little purple flowers , a pink heart , some bead work and a piece of what appears to be antique crocheted lace and of course some buttons ,she knows how much I love buttons. Thanks so much Dianne I love it !!
 Each and every one of these blocks is extra special to me and now I have the task of deciding just what to do with them , Dianne had thought she would make a bed runner with her blocks and I was going to copy her plan until I seen my blocks today , I don't think a tea party would make a good bed runner so I suspect this will either become a table topper or a small wall hanging for my dining room , either way I will always cherish it and think of each and every one of you when I look at it so thank you all again from the bottom of my heart , it sure made this dull day bright and sunny for me :-)
 Hope you enjoyed my little crazy patch show and tell as much as I did in sharing it , thanks for stopping by.
 hugs Sheila

Can it be ?

Thanks for all the cheering , it worked , I have the crazy quilt quilted , maybe it needs more but for now I am calling it done and I love it , looks like summer to me .

 A while back I showed you a section of the embroidery for this next project , this is at least two years old but I am thinking more like three so I am dancing the happy dance today as I finished off the runner . I will show you the entire runner first then each end so you can read the stitching .

I even hand quilted this one , it was easy going so I figured it would look better than by machine.  Ok here is the first end.

And the other end.

I love it and it will have a special place on my treadle sewing machine , I think that is the perfect spot for it ,should have taken a picture of it there , oh well too late now :-)
 I am off now to get some groceries , hope you are enjoying a lovely day .Thanks for stopping by .
 hugs Sheila