Some news to share

I sincerely hope you had a very Merry Christmas with lots of special time with family and friends ,I know for many this time of year is a real struggle and to them I hope you were able to find  peace and joy .
Christmas day for me was extra special,I spent it with my Mom, Dad , my sisters Jacqueline and Donna and their families.We don't get to spend a lot of time together so this was the best gift I could have possibly received . My Mom went to a lot of work cooking for the crowd and I tried to help by cooking a turkey and a couple of pies and a sultana cake , there was plenty of food and lots of laughter and my Dad is the worlds best story teller so all in all it was absolutely wonderful. We were very lucky with the weather as well , the drive is long and the fact we drive over mountains and past the lake often means we can encounter nasty weather but it was clear sailing not one flake to be seen , it was a very green Christmas . Our drive home was a little different , we did have some snow to deal with on the roads from our son's home and then another 60 or so km. past there . We stopped in to visit them on Boxing Day and I wish we could have stayed a little longer but our dog was being boarded at the Vet and the pick up times were for a very short time that day and we were also expecting company .
 The title of this post is some news to share , well let me tell you I have some extra special news to share with you , I was a winner in a recent giveaway , not just any giveaway but a wonderful giveaway that I will be sharing , you see I won not one but two quilts from Clothworks ,you can't imagine my surprise and elation when I received the email telling me I had won . Now their is a catch , one I am more than willing to fulfill,I must pass these two quilts on to a charity of my choice , I just received the quilts and have not had an opportunity to take care of this task in fact one of the planned recipients I am having some problems locating .I will not be revealing the names of the charities with you today I would rather share that once I  deliver these gorgeous quilts .I was hoping they would arrive in time for Christmas but I am sure they will still be very pleased to receive them  .
 I also received some other wonderful mail from quilting friends . First off Jeanette and I have been friends for about 10 years now , long before blogging was even a word I knew about , we have taken part in many RR exchanges over the years and she feels more like a sister than a friend now.

Jeanette lives in Australia and sent me this gorgeous calendar of the wildflowers that are found in her country , oh it is lovely ,I love flowers  . She also included some pretty note cards in a quilty pattern and a needlecase which will come in handy , a gal can never have too many :-) Thanks so much Jeanette

 Narelle sent along this lovely Aussie Christmas fabric ,I participated in her One Christmas Item a month and was the lucky winner of this fabric for that participation ,love this card too :-) Thanks Narelle.

My friend Annette in Saskatchewan was sweet enough to send along this beautiful handmade scarf and the prettiest snowflake brooch to keep it in place and make it even more beautiful and some warm woolen mittens/gloves , isn't that combination just the best thing since sliced bread . As Annette said they are perfect for me when I am outside taking photos in winter , thanks ever so much Annette !

 Linda sent this grabbit Hedgehog along to me in the mail as well  ,I had asked her about this little tool when she posted about it being a favorite and a day or so later it came in the mail, what a great friend . I can't wait to try this out on those difficult spots in the quilts when we are hand quilting on Tuesdays ,it might just save my fingers a little .Thanks again Linda .
 Well I have lots more to tell you but I think I have kept you long enough ,thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day.
 hugs Sheila

Some of my favorites

Today I would like to share a few of my favorite Christmas ornaments in no particular order , they are all special to me for various reasons.

This clown was sent by our youngest son Chad to  Bill when he was working in Switzerland , at that time Bill was a Shriner Clown so this was extra special .

That same year Chad sent this angel to me , isn't she beautiful.

Another year Chad sent this one of a jolly Santa , he is pretty cute for sure . As you might notice I also have quite a few pewter ornaments , there was a really nice pewter manufacturer in the province a few years back but sadly they have gone out of business .

This Santa was one I bought in the early 1980's at a school craft fair at the elementary school our boys were attending , it is made from a burnt out lightbulb , now that is great recycling I think .I love his eyes.

This little angel I handcrafted probably 15+ years ago, I forget to be honest , anyway I have two left and they are starting to fade but they still hang on our tree each year. I also have made many crocheted snowflakes which are filling in the gaps here and there.

 This gorgeous Jim Shore ornament was a gift last year from my friend Linda , I love it !!

A little hard to get a good photo of this one ,the light is not the best but this was an ornament our son Robert sent to us and as you may have noticed it is the Musical Ride for the RCMP , he was at the time a member of that team but has since moved on to another section of the RCMP. Very special indeed !

Since we are on the theme of horses , this little cutie I won last year from Gingerbread Snowflakes, lovely wool ornament.

This special little Santa holder was a gift from my friend Jeanette ,I will have to get a few treats to fill it up;-)Can you see the little gold star next to this ornament , well one year when the boys were very young and money was a little scarce I needed a few more decorations for the tree so  I cut out several of these stars and did some french knots in the center and stitched around by hand and voila I had some ornaments to fill our tree . I also made gingerbread men and hung them with red ribbons so I had a colorful tree at least :-)

Lastly I know several people have commented on my kitchen hutch in the past so I want to show you how it looks for Christmas , the little Bon Bon was also a gift from Jeanette ,she does the most amazing embroidery , you would think it was machine done . Well I hope I have not taken up too much of your time and I would like to   express my sincere gratitude for each and every follower .. Thank you for being a part of my blogging experience and Merry Christmas and best wishes from the bottom of my heart.
 hugs Sheila

Want to come along?

How would you like to come along with me for a little Christmas tour of my home  . I have really enjoyed seeing so many bloggers share their homes as they have readied them for the holidays so I hope you will enjoy my little show as well.

This is what you will see as you enter our home , this quilt is a Debbie Mumm BOM from a few years back , my little Christmas mouse has been around since the boys were very young and although she has a tail that has been slightly chewed she is otherwise in great shape .

 To the left as you enter is the little Santa wall hanging that you see in my header , as I have told you before this was a drawing by my granddaughter Alyssa when she was 8 and I traced it off and made this hanging .

 To the right as you enter I have a very old school desk that I treasure and like to add a few decorations to as well. The Father Christmas is one I made a very long time ago  and his beard is getting a little tattered but I am fine with that.

As you swing around the corner slightly you will see my old  sewing machine decked out with a tree runner I made many years ago . The Angel is a gift from Nila and Elise last year as they told their Mom we have to buy that for Gammie because she loves angels ,and I do love this one. Above the angel is one of the first Christmas wall hangings I have ever made , it was a free BOM on the internet and I believe it was designed by Debbie Kratovil  , it took me a few years to get it completed and I do love this one. I just looked and this was completed in 2008 , however I know it was much earlier that I started this .

Right next to the sewing machine and desk is our friendly old fellow Santa , he is even carrying a package just for you . Santa  was a gift from Bill many years ago and one I love.

Now we will head on down to the living room ,my little fireplace all decorated with some greenery and candles and a stocking I won last year from  Gingerbread Snowflakes                     
Sitting next to the fireplace is a little bunny I made years ago wearing a Christmas outfit in my  favorite little rocking chair .

To the left of the fireplace I have my nativity set arranged on my golden colored velvet , this was made by a neighbor of ours in the 80's  and has been lovingly cared for and carefully packed away each year.

I wanted to share a photo of this German carving , not sure what the proper name is but it should have candles in the holders and when lite the heat from the flames will turn the little figures .This was a gift in 1983 from the Topcu family , at that time we had their daughter Nona as an exchange student and they very generously sent this along to our family and it has been enjoyed each year since.Under the carving is a lovely table topper made for me by my friend Betsy of Quilting Fiesta , beautiful embroidery adorns the lovely curvy shape. Directly under this is a sweet little lighted gift which my friend Linda gifted me last year . I placed the cradle beside the tree just incase we have some little visitors ;-)

On the table behind our sofa I have a few things on display , most importantly to me are the two little wagons with the horses which were carved by my wonderful Dad , each year I add a Santa and some little packages to the wagons. Here are some closer shots .

                                                                    The second one

 The little Santa in this wagon was given to me by my grandchildren , Christopher , Alyssa and Caitlin many years ago . I have some special ornaments I also want to share but I will save that until tomorrow , hope you are enjoying a wonderful day . Rob and Diane, Alyssa and Caitlin  I posted this for you too as I know you aren't able to be here this year but I want you all to know you are always a part of our Christmas , love you.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed seeing my home.
hugs Sheila

On a cold December Day

On a cold December day many moons ago , late in the evening of December 16th my mother gave birth to a bouncing baby girl, that little girl was me ,I am celebrating my birthday today on this cold but sunny day .My friend Linda gave me this gorgeous bag this week , I want to share the bag first as it was a gift unto itself.

Isn't this gorgeous , a hand made bag using homemade paper ,I absolutely love this and such a soft pretty mauve color , now that you have seen how pretty the bag is just wait until you see what is inside .

Did your jaw drop like mine did when I opened this , just look at those redwork printed baskets , there are several for me to embroider and make into a quilt , so pretty , she knew I loved baskets and also redwork . She added in the sweet little Christmas buttons and oh my goodness the softest , prettiest wools and two patterns to make use of this goodness , I am so thankful Linda for your generous gifts ,I love them!!
 On Wednesday we had our Christmas party with my sewing group and of course there was a gift exchange and just look at what my friend Diane gave me ,I am truly spoiled.

A Christmas mug filled with fat quarters , a pattern for a lady slipper, a flower that I love and more cute buttons and some wonder clips , I have wanted those for a while so thanks ever so much Diane , I love it all.
 Now I also won a giveaway a little while back from Cath and it arrived this week so I am considering this as both a Christmas gift and a birthday gift ;-)

Just look , a lovely Homespun Patchwork magazine , we have great difficulty finding these magazines here and usually they are not current when we do . She also added in these cute fabrics with coordinating embroidery threads and a scissor keeper she tells me a friend makes and it is gorgeous. Oh I can't forget the hand cream she included , I sure will make use of this tube as this time of year my hands become chapped so easily with our really cold temperatures . Thanks so much Cath of Bits and Bobs, it was a lovely surprise in the mail this week.
 As for sewing this week I am finishing up a few gifts and also made a few postcards but have not taken photos so that will come later. Before I head off to decorate my tree , yeah I am REALLY slow this year so my tree is finally going to see the light of day , anyway I love to take pictures as you probably noticed and Bill gave me a new camera for my birthday and oh he also gave me a Kobo e-reader , something I have been wanting for a while. I had to try out the camera of course and this sunset the other evening was a perfect choice although it was really much prettier in person , the camera automatically adds a flash when it is that dark.

Have yourself a wonderful day and thanks for the visit.
hugs Sheila

WIP and some mail

I know it is only Tuesday but I am reporting my week in progress a day early as tomorrow is going to be a very busy day , hey this time of year is busy everyday :-)Before I get to my progress I want to share some mail I have recently received .
I have a birthday coming up real soon and my friend Annette of In Stitches and Seams  was so sweet to send me this hand crafted bracelet ,take a close look at what is engraved on this cute little bracelet.

Pretty special don't you think , thanks so much Annette I really love it !!
I also took part in a postcard exchange in November and maybe you will remember my boot , well I received two of the three postcards that I am expecting so I want to share them with you now.

This one traveled from Boise Idaho , isn't it cute , I just love all that glitter,I hear Cinderella is looking for this shoe  . The second one is really quite unique and at first I wasn't sure which way the shoes were suppose to be but once I read the note on the back it all made perfect sense.

Judy lives in Saskatchewan and she says " Dear Sheila, Is this where elves get there shoes ?" I suspect it is Judy , so cute.
 Okay do you really want to know what progress I have made , it has been a busy week and I will show you a couple of finishes first.

First off this little apron for my granddaughter who loves to help her mother bake and prepare meals and when we were visiting she was wearing a much too small for her apron I had made years ago for her older brother so time to fix that problem .

 Now I couldn't very well make one for Sophia without also making one for Isaac so this is my apron for him , he is not the splashy kind of guy so I left it very plain but nice and sturdy too as this is a light weight denim .

This one is a work in progress that I can't share just now .I do have other things in the works but no photos to show at the moment , lets just say my sewing room is a mess right now ;-) When I am creating I tend to mess things up but it will eventually get straightened out, those little elves that left their shoes are sure to clean up for me don't you think ;-)
 Now this has nothing to do with my sewing progress nor gifts received but I wanted to share the visitor I had early yesterday morning . I had taken our labradoodle Luke out the front door and then came back in to start preparing breakfast and there in my kitchen window was this beautiful creature looking back at me. I was really glad Luke had gone out the other door and not disturbed my visitor .

If you look very closely on the right hand side down in the grass area you will see the top of another set of ears .Isn't he a handsome fellow , I say he as he was standing there stomping on the ground with his feet watching me and moving closer to me then I could see him snort so Bill felt it was likely a young buck warning the others of my presence . Now if I was a hunter this would have been an easy target but I could never aim a gun at something this beautiful .

My pleasure is in just watching them and it is not like they are rare in these parts as there were five in our yard eating apples from under our trees the other evening but seeing them is always special for me ,I love those big brown eyes  and that majestic chest , oh and I can't forget that flag that goes up when they run from something they fear or startles them .
I am linking up today to the Needle and Thread Network , be sure to check it out and see what everyone has been working on this week and thanks so much for stopping by .
 Hugs Sheila

FNSI with Cheryll

 

I decided to join Cheryll and friends in the FNWF this week , I was pretty sure I would be sewing so signed up and if the truth were told I also sewed on Thursday night preparing for Friday night so I sewed with the Aussie's too ;-) Here is what I have been working on , Parson Brown, a sweet wall hanging that I have made a few of and decided to make one more for good measure as they say .

Snowman Brown still needs the binding sewn down and I was going to do that when I sat down to watch a movie last night but decided to do this instead.

Yes I started a new project , not just any project , one I fell in love with the moment I seen it on Ellie's Quilt Place ,  it is the most delightful stitchery wall hanging called Winter in Blogland ,if you are interested in checking it out go here ,you will see the icons on her sidebar , the patterns are shared with other designers so you will have to follow her guide to find those but it is well worth it .
We are off to a Christmas party this evening a lovely evening of dining out , can't complain about that now can I :-)
Thanks To Cheryll for hosting the Friday Night with Friends , I really enjoyed my sewing time and thanks to you for taking the time to stop by .
 Hugs Sheila

Experience the Creative Island

I want to share this video of the crafts people of Cape Breton , Nova Scotia , I grew up on this beautiful island and was so surprised to learn that the vocalist in this video is my niece Yvette , she was also instrumental in creating this video and wrote the song . I may be bias but I think it is tremendous and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did . Yvette is in the video in a few places , one being on the beach looking for beach glass , she is handed a piece of glass, just realized she is in the photo at the beginning on the left wearing glasses and a pink tee shirt. I hope you enjoy it and I hope this works as I am not very technical , ok not at all is more like it .
Enjoy your day.
 hugs Sheila

WIP Wednesday

Oh  dear it is Wednesday already and December too , yikes ! I have been keeping busy however , trying to get a few gifts made and now to get a few in the mail would be really great .
 First off I want to share this finish , it only took me ten years , I deserve a medal I think  ;-) In all seriousness it is great to see this finished and although the picture I am about to show is really rather poor it does look great on my little sofa.

 I found enough of the red that was used in the center to finish off the top and used a slightly different fabric for the back , I am pleased and now I have a new pillow for Christmas .
 Now I want you to meet Ollie, a friend of mine gave me this pattern and I just had to make him , I do love snowmen and this one was too cute to resist.

 He is quite tiny being only six inches in width and 19 inches in length , oops I forgot to give his scarf a fringe I will do that before I ship it off to its new owner .
 This next project has been on my to do list since last year and it didn't take long at all once I got started , I used some flannel I had from another project a few years back and when this is on display it will contain some greenery and look a little more festive than it does at the moment , another quick project , you have to love those.

 And my final little finish for the moment is another candle mat , yeah I am on a roll here but this pattern is a favorite of mine .

This candle mat was designed by my friend Annette of In Stitches and Seams and it is a lot of fun to make so I decided to see what Christmas fabrics I had  as the others I have made are not that Christmasey .It is a dark and rainy night so again my photos are not the best .
 I am linking up today to the Needle and Thread Network , be sure to check them out , there are so many talented gals , you will surely want to be inspired by their lovely work. Thanks for Stopping by and enjoy your day.
 hugs Sheila

Tuesdays Treasures

Tuesdays are special , I get to quilt with my friends and we enjoy a meal together so I always look forward to this day but my treasure for today are the birds that have been frequenting our feeders lately ,I love birds and it is always so nice to see a few different birds so when this flock of Evening Grosbeaks landed I just had to grab my camera and take a photo , they are so beautiful even if they are a bit of a hog at the feeder .

I also love my new feeder "Feed the Birds" made by our friends Sharon and  John , it looks great and the birds love it :-)So my treasure today are my feathered friends ,I am sure we will see quite a few now that the weather is getting colder but you will note there is no white stuff on the ground yet .I am linking up with the delightful Melody at The House on the Side of the Hill .
 I do have some sewing to share but I haven't had a moment to take photos but I will share this other project that I have been busy with , tomorrow our Wednesday sewing group is having a cookie exchange so here are my packages all set to go ,what is inside is a secret  :-)

 I wasn't quite sure how to package them and then came up with this simplistic country style of the brown paper bag which I stamped then used a hole punch and tied a ribbon through with a tag I printed from the internet . Fun to do. To get your own cute tags go here to the Noble Wife blog
 Thanks for stopping by and hope your day is going well.
 hugs Sheila