Another day in the life of a quilter

While the wind blows the snow around outside I am nice and cosy inside doing what most quilters do , sew ;-) Now for a confession, I was not going to take part in ANY new BOM's this year , I told myself that I have too many projects to finish so just turn your head whenever you see those appealing projects showcased . I have failed miserably , first off I joined Terry in the SAL for Good night Irene ,how could I resist this fun SAL  . As I was sewing my four patch for my mystery quilt ,I was also sewing blocks for this quilt as a leader and ender project and this is what it looks like now .

As you can see I need to start making some X blocks now ;-0 So progress is being made and I should be happy that things are going as they should but no , I had to start something else , yes I know , groan ,groan but I have been mulling this over in my mind all month and here it is the last day of January and I did it ,I started the Aurifil BOM , couldn't seem to stop myself and this morning made that block .

A spool block , I simply couldn't pass it up ,now only time will tell if I keep going on this BOM but it was fun making this block .I used some cute little reproduction fabrics that I had on hand and I know for certain I don't have enough to make a whole quilt but maybe a runner would  be fun . 

Now we all know that quilters have to make sacrifices , I mean it takes a lot of time to create beautiful quilts , they don't just happen but someone has to do it but  I don't mind these kind of sacrifices at all . Yesterday I really went all out and sacrificed my precious time to go shopping for fabric , can you imagine , well I really had to force myself but like I said the things we quilters have to do . My time was actually well spent I found the perfect fabric for my borders for the mystery quilt I showed earlier and the best part is these fabrics are far from new , they both are older lines , one says 2005 , the other 2006 , the price however did not reflect those dates in anyway but again one must sacrifice for the love of quilting . I am presently cutting those fabrics to get my borders sewn on so expect some update on that in the near future but for now it is back to the cutting table for me . Thanks so much for stopping by today , it is always a pleasure to see you and if you comment all the better:-)

 hugs Sheila 

WIP Wednesday

Good morning , if you live anywhere on the east coast you are likely experiencing snow , yep ,another storm coming through ,I think I should be keeping track , this year is a record for snow storms and rain storms too . Anyway back to my reason to post this morning , this is Wip wednesday and I have not gotten a lot of sewing done lately but I do have something to show .

 

This is what my mystery quilt looks like now , see those four patch on the very bottom , that is what I have been sewing lately and I have completed the border and it is sewn on , sorry I couldn't get a photo of the whole thing , no where to lay it out that is large enough and I wasn't brave enough to go out in the snow  ;-) I am super pleased with how this is working out , the borders fit to a T , no fudging , whew . Now the next round is to add a narrow border , no problem there but then the final borders were to be a braid border , well I have made the decision that I will not make the braid as much as I love that look I don't have the desire to do all that cutting and piecing , I want to get this finished and quilted so I will add just fabric borders and hopefully that will look just fine . I am slow as a snail these days so it does feel good to have some progress . Thanks to Darlene  for providing this quilt pattern for us , I have thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt and I will show the final quilt once I get those borders sewn on .

 I also want to share a postcard I completed , I had printed off this adorable stitchery that was designed by the very talented Michelle of Rag-tag Stitchin and was a free pattern on her blog last year .

Easter Blessings , I stitched it then used my trusty crayons to give it some extra dimension and this card will be sent to my Mom when Easter rolls around , she doesn't have  a computer so I am safe showing this . Thanks so much Michelle , this was a perfect size for my postcard and I enjoyed stitching it . Mom really enjoys receiving my postcards and has requested me to make one so she can send it to her long time friend from England for Easter so I will have to get busy and do that so she will have plenty of time to get it mailed off . Here is another Easter postcard I recently made but this one has been spoken for .

A little bunny with a basket of  colorful eggs , a little tricky stitching around those tiny pieces ;-)

Well that is it for me for today , thanks so much for stopping by and I hope your day is extra special doing something you love . I am linking up today to the Needle and Thread Network , won't you stop by and see what others have been up to this week .

 hugs Sheila 

Grow Your Blog 2014

                                                              


Hi there , if you are new to my blog , welcome , it is always nice to have visitors and I really appreciate  my faithful followers . My name is Sheila and I live in rural Nova Scotia which I love and I often share photos of my surroundings as well as my quilting .  I am so happy you could stop by today for the Grow Your Blog 2014 that is hosted by Vicki of 2 bags full  , this is my first time taking part in this event and I know it will be a lot of fun discovering new blogs and making new friends far and wide .
 I have been quilting since around 2000 but sewing since I was knee high to a grasshopper , I watched and learned from my mom and my grandmother . I started out making clothing for my dolls but then  in highschool ,I made my own clothes and did so for many years UNTIL the quilting bug hit and since then I have been mostly doing patchwork and very rarely some clothing for my granddaughters .
A few years ago I got bit by another bug , the fabric postcard bug and it is really quite incurable , I am addicted , so much so I have hosted a few postcard exchanges in the past little while and with plans to do another real soon . Why postcards you may ask , well it is simple really , they are small , can be very creative and fun to make and when I send them out they are very well recieved . It is also a great way to use those small scraps we all collect and they can be embellished as much or as little as you want , fun fun !
 I decided to just do a collage of some of the projects I have done in the past little while ...

This will give you a sampling of the many types of sewing I enjoy , postcards, quilts, aprons, pincushions , needlecases and bags . My hands are usually busy with something and I didn't include any embroidery here but that is also something I love to do . I know there is a very long list of blogs to visit so I won't keep you but I sure hope you will return and visit often .
How about a small giveaway , I will make two postcards and leave the back blank so you can send them to whoever you wish , your choice of theme , how would that be ?
 Thanks again for stopping by today and enjoy the rest of the hop . It has been so very nice to meet you .
 hugs Sheila

1 Christmas item a month

                                                       
 I have decided to join Narelle again this year in the I Chrismas item a month challenge ,it is a great way to get a few things made in advance , gifts or even just a few ornaments like I have to show you this month .

Not the best picture but a little skate ornament in felt .

another felt ornament hanging on my Norfolk pine that is getting a little old .

and finally this very old ufo that is a design by Gail Pan in 2012 . I actually made a couple of these but never did finish this one so a couple of days ago I decided the time had come . 

 Thanks to Narelle for hosting this event , she actually set up a new blog to showcase our finishes each month , you can check it out here .

 I am off now to sew a few more four patch into a border for that mystery quilt , hopefully I will soon be able to show you a completed top but don't hold your breath  ;-)

 Enjoy your day and thanks as always for stopping by .

 hugs Sheila 

The day after the storm

Yesterday we were treated to a nor' easter , a blizzard which left us with 30+ cm. of snow and lots of high winds , a great day to stay inside and sew to my hearts content . I am going to share some snow photos but they are not from yesterday but from the weekend when another snowfall that left us with the most beautiful scenes possible in winter . We lost power for five hours in that storm, probably from the weight of  all that snow on the power lines .

 This country road had yet to be plowed which made me wish I was in a horse drawn sleigh instead of a vechicle ,it was just gorgeous !

Some roadside cattails , rather interesting I thought  :-)

This is much higher up than it looks , the road has no guard rail which freaks me out and down below you can see a waterfall that is really flowing heavily , we had a spell of warm weather and lots of rain just before this snowfall so there is lots of open water , too bad you can't hear that water , it was deafening .

So are you wondering what I was working on yesterday during that storm day , well I am back at my mystery quilt I started last year with Darlene  . This mystery has long ago been solved but I got sidetracked and never finished the last two rounds so it is time to get this finished . This round involves some four patch blocks , easy enough ,but a lot of cutting and sewing but since it is something you can just sew and sew and sew it goes quickly . Here is my little piles .

This pile is waiting to be sewn for the next step and this one is complete .

Now to sew these together again ..... 

 While I am sewing these I am also grabbing the odd blocks to add to my Good night Irene blocks so it is a win win situation . 

 I must show you some mail I received this week , yes more lovely mail of the squishy nature . This package arrived from Cath of Bits and Bobs as a giveaway from her blog .

In the package was the most adorable pattern by Lynette Anderson called the Toy Trolley and some tags and a pretty fat quarter , thanks so much Cath , I really appreciate it !!

 Time to get back to the sewing machine , hope your day is going well and you get to also do something creative .

 hugs Sheila 

An unexpected gift

Our regular guild meeting was on Wednesday evening of this week and I was pleasantly surprised when a friend approached me with a gift for me . The gift was rolled in a tube covered with pretty vintage looking tissue paper , I really was not sure what would be inside but Anne told me to go ahead and open it so I did just that .

Would you like to see inside this pretty tissue ? I know you would so I won't keep you guessing .

This an antique stitch sampler , this photo does not do it justice at all , it is a dull day today and my attempts at getting a better picture failed so I went with this one . It is so beautifully done , several stitches and even the top edge is done in part by a blanket stitch . I would love to know the history of this piece and who the stitcher was , THANK YOU so much Anne , it is a real treasure to me and I will frame it and hang it here in my sewing room .  I was so touched that you thought of me when you spotted this in an antique store .

I have decided for my first time to join in a little event called Growing your Blog which is hosted by Vicki of 2 bags full  . I read about this event on a favorite blog Stitch Lines and thought I would give this a try .
                                                         
This event is meant to give us all a chance to explore other blogs and find those that interest us and follow them and hopefully others will visit and follow our blogs as well which will result in growing our blogs , it should be a fun event and there may be prizes given by some bloggers . You can get all the details on Vicki's blog and when blogger cooperates with me I will place the icon on my blog with a link to Vicki's blog .As you can see this event is scheduled for January 25th which is just around the corner so get ready for some fun and possibly new blogging friends .
I am off now to attach some narrow borders  to my mystery quilt , I think it is about time I tackle this one again . Thanks for stopping by and have a great day .
 hugs Sheila

It all started when .......

It all started when I was visiting one of my friends and  favorite blogs , Karen  of Kaholly  , Karen posted her blocks for the sew along with Terry of Terry's Treasures called Good Night Irene . I loved her blocks , I was smitten immediately and just had to take part even though my plan was to complete some UFO's that are lingering in my sewing space . Maybe I needed a change ,or maybe I was just looking for a way to use these scraps in my cookie jar I have in my sewing room . Yes a cookie jar with no cookies , I don't bake as often as I did when the boys were all home and eating constantly so the idea came one day when visiting yet another favorite blogger Sharon of Vrooman Quilts and thought she had a great idea using jars to sort her scraps .

The jar was almost filled with a variety of scraps and some were the 2.5" size I needed for this project so I decided right there and then to give this a go . I started sewing and sewing and sewing some more ,until I had sewn most all the squares in this jar or at least those that were big enough  . Here are my blocks for this month's sew along , mine are super scrappy but I love them !!

I have lots more blocks sewn into pairs but they are all novelty prints which would make a great I spy quilt ,so for now they are on my small design wall and I will concentrate on this one . To see other versions of this fun sew along hop on over to Terry's and she has a linky list on her sidebar .  I am linking up to day to the Needle and ThreadNetwork as well . Thanks for stopping by and have a great day .

 hugs Sheila

FNSIWF Report

OOPS , I promised I wouldn't talk about postcards in my next post but that is what I was working on both Thursday evening and last evening , sorry . Last night was more a tidy up but here is what I have completed during my Friday Night with Friends hosted by the lovely Cheryll .

  

Another Valentine postcard 

And another 

An Easter postcard , thanks for the suggestion Annette :-)

And the back of a postcard  which was a request from Eglea . Eglea , the back is actually fabric not paper , I have added three layers , the front, a heavy interfacing like Peltex or similar and then the back after which I satin stitch around to hold them all together . I am fortunate to have some really neat postcard stamps but before I owned those I would simply print Postcard at the top and write the message on the left and the address on the right . If you have any other questions feel free to ask , I will do my best to answer .

 I am more than ready to move on to other things now so this will be the last of the postcards for the moment . Thanks to Cheryll for hosting us and now I am off to see what others did on their evening of sewing with friends . Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a wonderful day .

 hugs Sheila 

Back into the swing of things

I can get carried away once I start and I have now completed several postcards , want to see them ?

I used a stencil I have which I think just came from the dollar store , anyway I then I  colored each one and stitched around the stencil shape . Another section of the same stencil produced this one ....

A birthday cake and the candle is another part which I set on top and again used my crayons and stitched around , kind of fun to do :-)

Using the same balloon stencil I cut it from fabric and appliqued it on this great fabric that looks like ribbons floating around , perfect for a party I think :-)

A little hard to see this but the bunny is in a basket that we hope is filled with lots of eggs with a few that spilled out  and I made a little banner that says Happy Easter 

 And finally a Valentine postcard , I did a couple more but didn't take any photos yet and I don't want to bore you with postcards so I promise my next post will not be about postcards .

 The sun is shining just beautifully today , still kind of cool but much better than it was and rain is in the forecast for the weekend which should take care of all the ice around here . I am off now to see what new project I can start on , I think I have had enough of postcards for now . 

 Take care and thanks for stopping  by .

 hugs Sheila 

A slow start

Well hello there , it has been a while , so far 2014 has found me relaxing rather than being productive but I guess a gal has to do that now and then too  ;-) As my title says it has been a slow start, not much motivation to sew at all so yesterday I pushed myself into my sewing space and started a small project , figured I would't get overwhelmed by something small and I am sure you won't be surprised at what I chose to do .

 That's right a postcard , I have been asked to make a few postcards for a gal so figured that was the best way to get some creativity flowing . She wants a variety of cards, Birthday, Valentines and Easter , that should get things fired up wouldn't you say . 

I  REALLY  want to get back at my mystery quilt I started with Darlene last year , I only have two rounds to go so if I can just get started I will be good to go . I love the quilt and want to finish it so perhaps this week I can dig out some fabrics and get that rotary cutter going .

How has 2014 started off for you ? If you live anywhere in the Maritimes you have been bombarded with bad weather , wow what a winter this has been so far , snow , snow , more snow and then rain and lots of rain and cold bitter winds that just howl through these walls , brrrrrr ... It could be worse of course as other areas of Canada like the Prairies  have had what I would refer to as inhuman weather , I can't imagine what it feels like to be outside in -50 and then poor Ontario had that dreadful ice storm that had many residents without power for all of Christmas and some even for New Years as well . New Brunswick had similar issues so I can be very thankful that we did not loose power for any length of time and I have been nice and cosy inside sitting and enjoying the company of our son Rob  , his wife Diane and their children, Christopher , Alyssa and Caitlin , what a lovely visit we had and I am so very thankful they risked their life to drive through some horrible conditions to come spend time with us . Thanks so very much , you can't imagine what it has meant to us . We also had a visit from our youngest son  Chad and his family which made the holidays that much more festive in the best way possible . 

 I have been very slack at visiting blogs lately but I am trying to rectify that situation and will make an attempt to catch up or at least start over as I have missed you all . 

 Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope it won't be quite as long before I post again , have a wonderful day .

 hugs Sheila