Not one , not two , not three but four !!!

It might be raining on the outside but I am certainly smiling on the inside today , my mailbox was filled with gorgeous postcards today  , my collection just grew by four . This first one arrived from Brazil from Eglea and she sent it by registered mail so I had to sign for it .

 Isn't this beautiful all threadpainted flowers , they remind me of Lupins a favorite flower of mine , just gorgeous !!. Now Elgea did not send just one she sent me two lovely postcards , both unique .

Isn't this a fun little spring postcard , bright and cheerful and just down right  happy !! Thank you so much Eglea , it has been a pleasure swapping with you . These were the first postcards that Eglea has made , amazing huh!

 The next postcard also travelled a very long way , this one is from San Juan and is a first postcard for Cusy ,(no blog) 

Isn't this just adorable , a sweet little bird that just looks like spring in every way , so cute and colorful and a fantastic job , I love it .Thanks so much Cusy for swapping with me , I hope we can do it again sometime :-)  

Lastly  but certainly not least is this spring flower from Judy .

This pretty purple flower with the heart shaped leaves flew all the way from Idaho to brighten my day . Thanks so much Judy for this gorgeous postcard with hand appliqued flower and leaves , I love it !! 

Thanks to each of you for these bright cheerful spring postcards , what fun to receive so many in one day , how could I not be smiling :-):-) 

I hope everyone who has taken part in the swap have now received their postcards and thanks to each of you for taking part ,maybe we will do it again real soon . 

 Thanks for stopping by today and hope your day is extra special just like mine.

 hugs Sheila

Let's Book it project for March

                                                       
It is close to the end of March and I am happy , why because that means we might just get some spring weather .We just came through two days of dreadful weather , a severe spring storm that would match any or even out do most we had this winter . We got dumped on big time but the wind was the real factor , do you know how hard it is to sleep with 100+ hr. winds howling outside your window :-) My son who lives in Cape Breton experienced winds that exceeded 150 km. hr. , I can't even imagine that . Anyway onto better things like a finish for March .
 I am joining in with Sharon for the Let's Book It event and what a wonderful idea this is . For this month I chose a pattern from this  Primitive Quilts magazine which was a spring of 2013 issue.

 I adore these magazines , so many projects I would love to make but this time around I chose this little spring hanging for my table stand which I have shown in previous posts in various stages .

Here is the pattern in the magazine ,

Here is my completed topper , I just love it , a cute little spring quilt to brighten an area of my home . I will be linking up with Sharon today for this months event. Thanks Sharon for inspiring me to get those books and magazines out and actually use them ;-)

 Thanks for stopping by today and I hope your day is extra special.

hugs Sheila

What I have been up to and some mail

Good morning from the east coast where spring still has not arrived . That date on the calendar which says spring has officially arrived is just that,  a date , Mother Nature has a mind all her own and she is not playing very nice these days .However with that said it has given me time to sit and stitch on this quilt .

This is the sampler quilt that was missing for a few years and I am trying to push myself to get this quilted , I had started back at this before Christmas then disassembled it for Christmas and have just now reset it up so progress is slow , I am not a speedy quilter . The funny thing is I love to hand quilt with the girls on Tuesday at the church but to sit at home and hand quilt , I feel like I am wasting time , I should be at the machine ;-)
 I recieved a lovely postcard from Lin last week but am just getting around to posting about it .

Lin sent me these lovely creative tulips which she tells me are hand stamped then stitched around by hand , just so pretty . In the corner it says " tiptoe through the tulips " and oh how I wish I could ;-) Thanks so much Lin .
 I am off now to sit in that window and stitch somemore , maybe I can make a turn , that always inspires me to keep going .  Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.
 hugs Sheila

The Aurifil Has Landed plus some progress

Good morning , I am so pleased to tell you my Aurifil thread has arrived , wow , I am totally amazed .

 Arriving all the way from Italy inside two envelopes was this plastic container of thread , want to see inside ?

Just ask me was I happy when I lifted the lid and seen all these gorgeous colors of thread , oh  I was like a kid in a candy store , happy , happy , happy !! Thanks so much to Pat Sloan and the Aurifil company for this wonderful gift that I will thank them each and every time I stitch with them . If you are making the Aurifil BOM be sure to post a picture of your completed block to the Aurifil Flicker site and you could be a lucky winner too :-)

I have some progress on my little Primitive Quilts project to share ..

I just finished up the stitching , yeah I know I am pitifully slow but I do get there eventually . So now to get a backing on and get this quilted and ready to hang  , spring is just around the corner ,infact on our calendar tomorrow is officially the first day of spring for us . Oh I must tell you I added quite a few more flowers to my spring wall hanging and I like it so much better , think now I will do some quilting in the upper section , it really seems to need something ;-)

How is everyone coming along with their spring postcards , both of my cards have reached their destination so I thought you might be interested in seeing what I sent along . Both of my postcards had a long way to travel and the first one I am showing went all the way to Brazil to Eglea  . Elgea has already posted a picture of my postcard on her blog and I liked her picture so much I am borrowing it to share with you .

It was so neat to see it resting in the limb of a tree in Brazil . I chose to make a Robin as for me it is one of the first signs of spring . 

Next I sent off a postcard to Iraelia of San Juan and I got an email from her yesterday saying it has also arrived . Iraelia has no blog as of yet .

This basket of spring flowers winged its way to San Juan and I hope brightened Iraelia's day . Thanks so much ladies for swapping with me . 

 Thanks so much for stopping by today and hope your day is filled with all the things you love . 

 hugs Sheila 

A winner , a finish and the Aurifil block

Good afernoon from Soggy Nova Scotia , it is raining and windy but oh I can be sooooooo thankful it is not snow ;-) I have a winner for my giveaway during the Think Ruffles blog hop , I used the random number generator and for the life of me I don't know how to copy and paste that so you will just have to trust me when I tell you it was Sharon  , I have contacted Sharon and she has responded so I will mail off a postcard to her early next week  and thanks to everyone who commented , it is great to have so many visitors .
  I have a finish to share , well technically I am planning on adding a few more flowers but for now I will call it a finish .

 I am quite pleased with it so far but really want to add some smaller flowers in the lower area so plan on making those over the weekend . I used a batik print for the border and I had to do some math to figure out if I would have enough as this was not quite a fat quarter , anyway after some calculations I decided I would or should have enough and I had approximately 1/2" left over , whew that was close. 

I also did this months Aurifil block , a simple one but a really nice one . I am happy to say I also won the Aurifil thread for last months blocks , it has not arrived just yet but when it does I will be sure to share , so exciting as I love that thread. 

That's it for me today , I am off now to make those flowers and a postcard ;-)  Take care and thanks so much for stopping by.

 hugs Sheila 

Ruffles who has some ruffles ?

Who has some ruffles , why I do as part of the "Think  Ruffles" blog hop hosted by Madame Samm and Amy ,thanks so much ladies for yet another fun hop .
 I am not really into ruffles , maybe when I was younger I wore ruffles , I am sure my Mom would make us dresses with ruffles and aprons with ruffles . For today I decided some tea towels would be a great place to display some ruffles so I chose two spring colored towels , you see I am thinking of spring and hoping that the more I think the closer it will be ;-) Do you think that will work ?

This was my first one , a stack of pretty spring teacups with some matching ruffles on the bottom of the tea towel . 

here they are together 

This second one is a little pale and the tea pot doesn't show up real well here , this is a large double ruffle and at the bottom it says " Bee my little honey ... two for tea just you and me Ted T Bear and honey bee ... summer teas and honey bees " .

As a little giveaway I will send a spring themed postcard (scroll back a few posts and you can see some samples of my postcards )to one of my followers so be sure to leave me a comment telling me what you love most about spring and thanks so much for stopping by to see my little ruffles . Thanks again to Madame Samm and Amy for being such wonderful hosts . 

hugs Sheila 

 Here is a list of the other ruffle participants for today , be sure to hop on over and visit each of them , it will make their day :-)

March 12th  

Quilted Delights

Patchwork Breeze

Sheila's quilt world (you are here )

vicky myers creations

Words & Stitches

Sew Many Yarns

Sew and Sow Farm

It's On!!

I was late getting to quilting today but we still had time to get my quilt on the frames . Now this quilt is somewhat of an experiment for us ,you see I am using a real Alpaca quilt batt and oh it is so..... soft and just feels glorious .

 Here is Gerrie trying to spread it out evenly , not an easy task, we had to put it on in two separate parts just because of the way it is made into a batt . Needless to say we were all covered with alpaca wool . My hubby who knows what a cold soul I am bought this quilt batt to use for a quilt for us and in particular for me to keep me warm so I am really looking forward to quilting this quilt . 

Here it is all neatly spread out and stretched on the frames ready for us to start quilting next week . It should be interesting for sure :-)

A few days ago we drove down to the shore and lo and behold there were a few deer gracing beside a cottage so I snapped a few photos , they were not the least bit put out that I was taking their pictures .

You can see the ice in the Northumberland Strait in the background and the deer managed to find a bare patch with some grass to munch on . 

 Tomorrow is my day to show off my ruffles so be sure to stop by for a visit . Thanks for the visit and have a great evening .

 hugs Sheila 

What is on my design wall today

Good afternoon from a cloudy but lovely spring like day here in Nova Scotia . It is a tad colder than yesterday but you can just see Spring in the air and a lot of our snow disappeared yesterday so things are looking up :-)
 Yesterday I took part in a workshop at our guild which was taught by Kate , it was a fun and informative class . The point of this class was to make a  start on a spring wall hanging using various techniques to create flowers of different shapes and sizes . Here is what my piece looks like so far .
                                   
The flowers are not sewn on , I just pinned them so you can get an idea of what we made and there will be more flowers added . We learned to make a ruched rose which is the dark blue at the top , two different shapes of folded petal flowers ,one is a folded hexagonal shape the other is folded and has five petals but the method is the same . Then there is the simple gathered flower , the pink one in the lower left and the tiny yellow one that looks more like a bee at the bottom is also a gathered style but slightly different , so cute . The grass was cut free hand and I layered it as I didn't cut mine quite high enough . The flowers may not stay where they are placed right now I just added them so you could see what we learned ,it was great fun and Kate is a great instructor . Thanks Kate for a fun day and I actually think I can make these on my own now :-)
 Remember on Friday I told you I was going to try making a postcard ,well I made it and since I have decided I will not be sending this one along I will share it with you now . I love doing landscapes , don't do it as often as maybe I would like ( need to stop starting new projects then maybe I would have time )  but when I get one going I am happy as a clam .

This is Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia , at least my version of it in cloth , it is not really that easy to do in this size(4x6")  but fun all the same .  The trick is to find the fabric that works best for what I am trying to create ,that is not always easy either but I think in this case I did find the right fabrics for the sky , water and the rocks . Peggy's Cove is a famous tourist attraction in Nova Scotia and known for this lighthouse which at one time was also the post office . 

 Well that is it for me today , hope you have a great day and enjoy whatever makes you happy.

 hugs Sheila 

Progress with Irene

The sun is shining the the temperatures have risen, yeah , spring just may come after all .  So what have I been up to , well not a lot actually but I do have some progress with my Good night Irene quilt to share .

So as you can see I have five rows complete  and I have two other rows just waiting for me to complete the X blocks and they are all set to sew , this is one fun quilt to make . I am sewing along with Terry of Terry's Treasures along with many other enthusiastic quilters .
 I have also mailed off my postcards to my two partners in my little swap , sorry i can't share those until they arrive to their destination which is not close by so may take a while but I promise I will share once they do arrive . How is everyone coming along with their postcards , hope you are enjoying making your spring postcards and don't forget to share your cards once you receive it or yours have been received .
 Our guild the Thistle Quilt Guild is also swapping postcards with a guild and this year we have two guilds to exchange with , the first is Hawaii and then in April a group in New Zealand will swap with some of our members . For that swap we have decided to make the cards with something to represent where we live , well I made one postcard and really like it but in my decision making I came across two other images that I REALLY must try out so today I started on one ,I can't share that either but eventually you will get to see them all :-)
   I took part last night in Cheryll's FNWF's , it is always fun to stitch along with others but I didn't have a lot of time last evening but did get a few stitches in on this project which is from the Spring  2013 issue of Primitive Quilts and hopefully I will get this finished this month for Sharons' Book it event . I have all of the applique finished and I am now working on the embroidery .

 Tomorrow I am taking part in a workshop to make a rather cute spring wall hanging , looking forward to that and need to get my things all packed up to be sure I don't forget anything . So enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by .
 Hugs Sheila

Some mail and a finish for March

Good morning from a snowy East coast , I think winter is still very much with us , it snowed all day yesterday and looks like it may snow again today .  I received some wonderful squishy mail on Friday ,what a great way to brighten up my day ,I had won two giveaways , the first was during the Grow your Blog event and I won this wonderful dotty package from Brittany of Pickles Quilting  .

Aren't these fun little fabrics , I told Brittany I may make something fun for my granddaughters with these dots , I think they would love them . Thanks so much Brittany , I love polka dots !
 I also won a lovely gift package from my friend Annette in her blog anniversary giveaway and as  always Annette was very generous , just look what was inside the package.

There is a handy little holder which was filled with silk ribbon in luscious colors , I was so pleased as I can't find these here anywhere and have wanted to try ribbon embroidery . The pop up holder will be perfect to take my rotary cutter to class or even store it here when not in use . Then there is a wonderful pattern by Art to Heart and in my style , I love it . Some sweet fabric was also included and an insert for my accessory tote she gifted me at Christmas , extra pockets with zippers , so handy . and last but not least a little stamp or coin container with the Saskatchewan Rough Riders symbol . Our son Roger lives in Sask. and happens to love the Rough Riders so of course I have had to become a fan :-) Thanks so much Annette , I really appreciate each and everything in this package . By the way Annette is a very talented quilter and shares some lovely work on her blog so be sure to stop by and say hello .

I don't know about you but I get very easily distracted , I was working away on my X blocks on  Thursday and came across this fabric that I had done a little experiment with . I also came across some extra four patch blocks left from my mystery quilt and I decided to sew them together and make something , my first thought was a mugrug but I felt it wasn't quite large enough so when I found the experiment piece I thought I would sew them together and see what I would get . First I will tell you about the experiment piece , I happen to love hosta plants , those large leaves just fascinate me so I picked a few leaves and took a smaller one turned it over so the veins were more prominent and then placed a piece of unbleached cotton on top and took my trusty crayons and started to color and here is the result.

I had done this months ago and never did anything with it and almost threw it out several times , but it fit this perfectly in length , it was an odd piece of fabric , not square and I could just barely get it cut to the length I needed as well as the width . I stitched each vein and did some more coloring with some colored pencils and voila a mugrug ! So the point is never throw anything out , it will get used and may just be useful . 

 Thanks for stopping by , enjoy your day and hope the sun is shining down on you .

 hugs Sheila