Sunflowers to admire

I love sunflowers , they are such happy flowers , don't you agree, how can you not smile when you see one . Well I was smiling broadly when I opened my mailbox and inside was this delightful postcard from Peggy .

Isn't it adorable , a perfect choice Peggy I love it , thanks so much for swapping with me. Maybe you would like to see what I sent to Peggy , well we think alike .

Also a sunflower but a little different and it has arrived safely to Peggy and she was pleased. How has everyone enjoyed the swap,hopefully everyone has made and sent their cards by now and if I can figure out how to do it we could have a linky party early August once I know everyone has received their cards.
 Here are two sunflowers that are blooming in my garden at the moment , compliments of the birds.

and this beauty

I love this one , the color is gorgeous almost doesn't look real.
 On the subject of flowers , remember the wild rose I flower pounded , well it is now a postcard but you may not think it looks much like a rose anymore but it still looks like a flower at least.

I was going to color in the spaces but decided to leave it original in color. I hand stitched the center and did some french knots , kind of fun to do .

I had a request for two aprons from the lady who I made the Nova Scotia Tartan aprons for and this request was for bright cheery aprons so I hope these fit that description for her . 

She also wanted matching mug rugs so here they are.

I hope to deliver them to her today sometime. Not much sewing going on the past few days , none really as I have an inner ear problem which hopefully won't stick around too long , Thanks for stopping by and have a great day .

 hugs Sheila

How was your weekend ?

 How was your weekend? I had a pretty good weekend , the weather was great for the most part and it was a perfect time to go for a picnic to one of our favorite spots at a provincial park beside Locheal  Lake . You know it is kind of sad that not many people take advantage of these wonderful parks to enjoy a meal outdoors and sit and relax and enjoy the surroundings . I love it and picnics are my favorite way to spend a summer day.

This is just below our picnic table , the water was a little wavy as there was a gentle breeze for which I was thankful as it keeps the mosquitoes away ;-)

Just up the road on Lochaber Lake I spotted these lilypads in bloom, aren't they gorgeous .

A little closer inspection , this was as close as I could get without actually wading in the water . Aren't the shape of the leaves pretty .

This is also Lochaber Lake , a beautiful area with lots of boaters , canoers etc.

Bill's cousin has a cottage on the lake and this is his cookhouse , wouldn't you love to own this , I would be cooking out here all summer . Very inviting for sure :-)

 Also on the weekend Bill and I went on a little adventure through the woods to the river and along the way I spotted this lovely patch of ferns , have I told you I love ferns , well I do :-) Our little adventure eventually brough us here to the river , it was worth the trek to see this .

and from the other angle

It was a lovely walk , a little rough in sections but I brought along a walking stick . Oh and at one point a deer cleared the path right in front of me , it must have been a buck as it gave quite a snort .

I am not sure what these little blooms are but they were very tiny and rather cute.

Then there is this trout pond , it is on the property that we took the walk through , I also love ponds especially when they are surrounded by cattails .

Since I last posted I have done a little sewing and made not one but two bags , would you like to see them ?

Using some of the same fabrics as the last bag and just sewing until I had enough to make the right size for a bag this is the result. I really love this one and I picked up that vintage tiny runner at the thrift store when looking for hankies , perfect for this bag ! Here is a closer look .

When you get me started on bags I don't know when to stop and going through my stash I came across this fabric that I knew I would just have to do something with now. I had borrowed a pattern from the guild library and it is called Coast to Coast Handbag by Vanilla House .

I had the handles on hand and they were the right shade for this fabric . I used a batik for the lining in the same shade of blue in the fabric , I love it.

I know this is getting a little picture heavy but I also want to share two postcards I made yesterday . I signed up for an exchange that requires you to use lime green and purple , I couldn't resist . My first attempt was this flower but I felt the purple looked more like blue .

but this one fit the theme well I thought, what do you think?

Fun to make but then I think I am hooked on postcards , what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by today and hope your day is a great one.

hugs Sheila

Some mail and some sewing for WIP Wednesday

It  is another delightful summer day here on the East Coast , the sun has been shining for most of the day and the breeze is just beautiful to keep the temperatures at a nice level. I was pleasantly surprised to find a package from Karen of KaHolly  in my mailbox today  . Inside were these beautiful handmade cards by Karen , I love them and they are pretty enough to frame. Thanks so much Karen :-)

I made another postcard , this one is for a swap that must include the use of a vintage hankie, I had this one on hand but it really was not in the best condition but one corner was better than the rest so this is what I came up with .

The corners were an open design that looks like a butterfly . I went in search of hankies but no luck so I guess this one will have to do . I am a little concerned about this going through the machine so may pop it into an envelope just to be safe.
 On Monday I had a hankering to make a tote , inspired by several bags on pinterest I set out cutting and sewing fabrics together to create this bag.

I added the vintage coaster that has the most delicate crochet , it was fun to create . I brought it along yesterday to quilting at the church and a visitor popped in to see how we were getting along with her quilt and the lady with her asked if she could buy the tote so I agreed . Here she is proudly displaying her new bag.

In the background you can see one of the quilts we are currently working on .

I am linking up today to the Needle and ThreadNetwork for WIP Wednesday , why don't you take a look to see what others have been up to this week.  

 Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a great day .

 hugs Sheila

Why I love Cape Breton

Hot summer weather was in abundance this weekend ,beautiful blue skies and very warm temperatures so how did I spent these hot days of summer ? Bill and I headed for Baddeck which is located on the incredibly beautiful Brasdor Lakes in Cape Breton . Baddeck is a quaint little town which is bustling with tourists this time of year and understandbly so , it is so pretty and is also the starting point for many for the Cabot Trail which is a scenic drive through the Highlands of Cape Breton winding over several mountains along the coast , incredible. We did not do the trail on this trip though , we had the good fortune to be babysitting our two granddaughters Nila and Elise while their parents took part in a cross country bike challenge of 65km. yes that is 65 km. which makes me tired just thinking about it. There were 100 participants in this challenge some opting to finish after 45 km. the rest going on to do the complete ride .

Chad and Shauna as they prepare for the challenge.

Here is the group as they assemble for a little talk from the organizers before they pedal down the road. Most of this challenge is off road taking them over Kelly's mountain through the woods . The starting point is St.Anne's college which you see in the background.

Here they are after finishing , Shauna is receiving her little recognition as Nila wants to hug her mother , she was so relieved to see her parents come across that line. Chad is looking on  as they stayed beside one another the entire ride . I am so proud of them for completing such a grueling challenge , they had some very difficult terrain to deal with ,lots of rocky conditions , mud and water as well as the heat and bugs to deal with .
 Would you like to see some scenery of the surrounding area , sure you do .

This is just down the road from where they started , isn't that sky incredible .

 This is on the opposite side of the road , love the rocks here .' 

I find this photo to be so peaceful and serene .

Around Baddeck there are many sailboats , a popular past time for the locals as well as the tourists and it is not uncommon to have celebrities sail into Baddeck with their yachts . 

They also offer tours on this lovely vessel and having taken this tour I would highly recommend it , the scenery is lovely and the guides very knowledgeable . We stayed at a B&B just across from this scene , so nice to wake up to :-)

On our way home yesterday we noticed a lot of cars parked along the Canso Causeway and there were lots of cameras out so we had to investigate and wow , what luck there were whales heading back out , it is probably impossible to see them here but there were several whales or that is what I think they were , they weren't close enough to identify but I am pretty certain that is what we saw . I had a wonderful time with the girls , playing mini golf, swimming and they were biking through the camp ground where they stayed and I walked along so I slept real well ;-)

On the sewing front, obviously not much happening there but I did manage to get these made .

I saw this idea on pinterest here  and thought it would be a great idea to have a little bag for my mini kobo so I measured it and started cutting and , well I didn't allow enough room for the depth of the kobo so had to start over , however the first one is a perfect fit for my camera and will pop into my purse nicely . I think they are rather cute in their simplicity . 

It is another hot day so I am hoping to get a little sewing in , best place to be is inside when it is this hot . Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

 hugs Sheila

Weekend adventures

Nova Scotia enjoyed some wonderful hot summer days over the weekend so Bill and I took advantage and headed to the Eastern Shore to catch some of the Atlantic Ocean breezes and here are just a few photos I took along the way .

By the time we reached the Eastern shore it was lunch time so we asked permission to use this area for a picnic ,what a perfect spot.

Here is Bill setting up our make shift table, there was actually a picnic table just outside of this shelter but we felt it would be more pleasant to sit here out of the suns rays . It was just beautiful , you could hear the water lapping under us and the smell of the salt water sure helps the appetite . I had made some salads and we had a sandwich and fresh fruit , a delightful lunch .

No you might find this rather wierd but I actually like visiting old graveyards with these incredible old stones.This one Nancy O' Leary came from Ireland and lived to be 81 . Then there was this one ...

It had several names  the first was Jane Roach , do you not wonder what type of life she had and the hardships she had to endure in this rugged terrain on the Eastern Shore ? I tend to paint a picture in my mind of the person which again is probably strange .

This little church was next to the graveyard and the doors were wide open so I just had to peak inside , isn't it just beautiful , not one soul around so not sure why the doors were open . It was an Anglican church and I think it was inWilson's Cove but not sure .

The lupins have started to fade in this area but on this shore they are in full bloom , this field was especially pretty with a wide variety of color.

I thought this was a neat shot, can't take credit for it though, Bill took this picture of the old fishing boat next to the fragrant wild roses that were blooming everywhere in great abundance. 

A close up of one of the roses , this one has several petals but I brought home a single petal rose and this is what I have done with it so far .

 I took each petal off and laid it carefully onto my pretreated cloth and taped it down then stamped it , now it doesn't look much like a rose anymore does it, but wish me luck in bringing this back to life with a little stitching , probably not today as I have other sewing that must be done but soon :-)

This barn is closer to home but was in our weekend travels so I thought I would share it as well, Isn't it lovely , it is quite a way off the road so I had to zoom some ,Love it!!!

 I hope your weekend was as much fun as mine , I love traveling to the ocean and breathing in that wonderful fresh sea air and admiring our lovely coast line. I will tell you that my weekend did not start out great , I wasn't going to post this but feel that my message may save someone else from the same incident . I was about to cook supper on the BQ on Friday evening , the tank had just been replaced , and when I went to turn on the burner it blew up in my face, yes my hair was burned and my face,neck and chest were scorched , I have no visual burns on my face but it feels like I had a very bad sunburn and my chest is really quite sore ,which is strange as I did have a tee shirt on which had a higher neckline . At any rate I am most fortunate, it could have been so much worse , it was very scary and I will be much more cautious using a BQ ,so please be careful , it happens so quickly and with so much force you really can't believe it . 

Thanks for stoppong by today and have a great day.

 hugs Sheila

When things don't go quite as planned do it anyway

I am so excited about the postcard exchange we have going that I decided it would be a good idea to get my cards made and sent off . So..... yesterday I had the grand idea to go outside and pick some flowers and flower pound them for my cards and then it happened. Yep , things kind of went the wrong way , they didn't pound like the vision in my head infact one is still on my desk waiting for decision to toss or continue . I was not pleased at all with the one I am about to show you but I wanted to play around and felt this was the perfect place to experiment and so I did and you know it isn't half bad .
                                    
This does not represent the flower it started out as at all but it sort of works , I took the little petals I guess you would call them from a perennial aster I believe , not all that good at identifying flowers and I had to lay them out on the fabric and try to get them to hold still , well that wasn't happening and it was so...... hot out there that I just covered it and hoped for the best and this is what I got . I did some thread work on those petals and pretended the underside looked like that and then those leaves ,well they didn't pound all that perfect either but there was enough green there to make them look like leaves so I sketched in a stem and voila I created a flower ,almost looks like a thistle if you have a great imagination. I have the most fun when it really doesn't matter if it works , sometimes they turn out to be the best . I won't be sending this one out but thought I would share my little experience . I did get my cards ready though and had such fun with them , and no they are not flower pounded , I had enough heat for that day .  Hope my partners like them , they will be in the mail shortly and land in your mailbox in the near future . I really want to thank everyone who signed up for this swap and I am so looking forward to seeing what each of you create .
 I should also report my sewing for FNWF's hosted by none other than the talented Cheryll 
                                                         
This is what I was sewing last evening , my postcards , want to see them ?

 Oh look at that someone turned them around on me , guess you will just have to wait until my partners receive them. Thanks so much for stopping by this very hot day and have a great day.

 Hugs Sheila