minatures workshop

Last Saturday I was sitting in the emergency department waiting to have a broken wrist dealt with and do you know what was running through my head ?  I was concerned about the workshop I had signed up for with Linda Hubbard for the next Saturday , I was so mad at myself for falling and ruining this chance to take part in her workshop . Then as the days went by I decided that first I would attend the dessert party and trunk show on Friday night and see how that went and as more time passed I thought why not go , I can't sew obviously , but I can watch the demos and listen to the instructions by Linda so that is exactly what I did . Now it wasn't easy don't get me wrong , my wrist is very sore and it is a real chore just to get dressed , hey getting washed up is a challenge ;-) and finding something that will go over the cast without too much torture is another challenge but I didn't think showing up in my pjs would cut it . The  class began at precisely 9am so that meant an early rise so I could get ready on time and I walked in just as the class had begun . I can honestly say it was worth my effort , Linda is an excellent teacher , a talented quilter and amazing at making miniatures . I did not stay until the end , I left at lunch time but I did come away feeling I can make a miniature quilt by following her instructions in being most of all precise with those seam allowances . Here is Linda giving a demo .

Linda is teaching us about the use of Thangles to help with accuracy .

Some of her wonderful work .

i think this one was a favorite but the next one was pretty awesome

Have you ever seen such a small log cabin or how about that twister quilt ? Linda had a wonderful trunk show in which she shared her many talents of full size bed quilts , totes and even some raggedy Anne dolls . i know our guild members enjoyed the evening . Linda not only had some lovely work to share but she is also a great speaker so if you are looking for a talented guest or teacher she is worth searching for . Why not take some time and check out her blog , not only will you see beautiful stitching but she is a wonderful photographer as well as an avid reader , so you  can often get a book review here is the link. Thank you Linda for a very interesting workshop. 

Before attending this class I actually thought I had made a mini quilt , a few in fact, but by comparison to those on display by Linda mine would not be mini more like small . Remember this one .


                                           
I made this quilt last year in a SAL with Pam Buda , a patchwork pockets project and if you are interested she has just started another SAL , the first block was given yesterday .
 Well folks this is more typing than i have ever done with my left hand so I better quit before i regret it .
Thanks for the visit .
 hugs Sheila

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone , I hope it was a special day for each of you . This post will be brief as I am typing with my left hand , why because I fell yesterday and broke my wrist so no  sewing for me for a while (sad face ) I have to be thankful that I only broke my wrist and not my hip . So I just wanted to let you all know if you don't hear from me this is the reason . I am so disappointed  but life throws you curves now and then and we just have to deal with it .
 Hugs Sheila

WIP Wednesday

My the weeks go by fast , here it is Wednesday again and time to link up with WIP Wednesday with the Needle and Thread Network  . In my last post I said I was heading to the machine to make some more progress on the Good Night Irene quilt , well I didn't quite make it ,no I went over to my cutting table with every intention of squaring up my little stack of x blocks when I noticed a pattern I had recently printed off and well I just had to start , you know how that happens right  ;-) The pattern is a free spring pattern from Pat Sloan and was so cute I couldn't resist so I started making the background and cutting out the applique pieces and here  is as far as I  have gotten.

Now you have to admit those cute little chicks are hard to resist , and I had all the fabrics so why not ? If you want to make this pattern just go here  .
 I have other things in the works that I can't share just now but I'll keep you posted . This a short post as I have a few pressing jobs to take care of . Thanks for stopping by and be sure to hop on over to the Needle and Thread Network to see what others have been up to this week .
 hugs Sheila

Tisket a Tasket ,Posies in my Basket , A challenge completed :-)

In January 2013 my friend Lynda presented myself and other quilter friends with a challenge which she called Tisket a Tasket , Posies in my Basket and here it is a full year plus several months later and  I am just now getting to work on this challenge . Lynda was generous with her fabrics and her rules were very easy and not restrictive . We were to use some of each of the fabrics she included , here they are ...

 I should have taken this photo before I used them ,I thought I had but you know what thought did  ;-)  So as you can see we had four fabrics to work with and could add as many as we wished . The project could be any shape or size we wished as long as it included at least one basket and one bird , did I succeed , yes I did , it was so simple really and why I procastinated is beyond me .

Here is my little mini that fits so well in my table stand and I think it looks just wonderful.  The only fabrics I included were the background as well as the backing and the blue for the birds . The pattern I used for this project was a free pattern on Bunny Hill Designs , it was part of a larger quilt I believe and I had printed it off sometime ago with the intentions of making it in wool . I still want to make it in wool as well as I think it would be a perfect pattern for that purpose , maybe I can change out the posie for a poinsetta and the bluebirds for cardinals and I will have the  perfect Christmas topper . Thanks Lynda for the fabrics and the challenge , I do love a challenge . If you visit Lynda's blog you will see what she has made from these same fabrics .

 Now it is back to the machine to work on Irene , time to finish off those x blocks that have been sitting there . Enjoy your day and thanks so much for taking the time to stop by , I truly appreciate it .

 hugs Sheila

Tools of the Trade and a finish

As a hand quilter I have certain tools I like to use , one of those tools I mentioned in a previous post but I guess I left you without an explanation so I will try to do that now . This little gadget is what I am talking about ...

 Can you figure out how this works , it is really quite a simple but effective tool , here is how it works.

In this photo you can see that I have taken a few stitches and then I have placed the needle in the hole at the bottom of the tool and at the top you will see a little button with a spring below it , well I am compressing that button which in turn places pressure on the needle preventing it from coming back out of the tool , then it is simply a matter of pulling on the tool to bring the rest of the needle through the quilt . This saves much time but more importantly frustration  ;-)
 The other very valuable tool I love to have on hand when hand quilting or doing any type of hand work is this little caddy .

This is so handy dandy , a place for my thimble , a dowel for my thread and a little pincushion which I normally keep three needles threaded and when they are empty it is time for a break . This caddy was a gift a few years back from my friend Lynda and has had many hours of use and is something I love to use :-) You should stop by and say hello to Lynda , she is fairly new to blogging and has recently shown some of her beautiful work , I know she would love to see you . 

 Now for my finish , I have completed my garden flag , a pattern by my talented friend Annette  who generously sent me her pattern to test for her . It is a great pattern and I can see me making this again sometime .

Thanks Annette for the opportunity to give this pattern a try .I also made my Aurifil block for April , this one was quick and easy .

And here are the first four together 

I am loving this so far , oops I see I have my block upside down , oh well :-)

 That is it for me today , I do hope you are enjoying some creative time today , thanks for stopping by .

 hugs Sheila

WIP Wednesday

Good morning , it has been a while since I have linked up with WIP Wednesday at the Needle Thread Network so I thought I would share with the rest of the Canadian Bloggers today .
 First up I have been working on this little wool project now and then , I should have this finished but life just happens sometimes .

This little project will eventually be a pincushion and is a free pattern from the wonderful designer Kaaren of the Painted Quilt  . I am looking at this photo and have decided I will remove the brown threads I have used for the rabbit , I must have something that would work better . Lots of embellishments left to do , that orange is a carrot incase you are wondering and I will put a carrot top on there soon ;-)
 I also started a new project , my friend and very talented designer Annette  sent me a pattern to test for her so I went out and bought some very bright and cheerful summer colors and went to work .

These are colors I don't often use so it is fun to work with them , makes me happy :-)  I have the vine and leaves machine appliqued and the purple flower as well as the outside of the purple butterfly , still need to do those little dots I added .Annette's pattern is called Spring a Flutter .  Thanks so much Annette for giving me the chance to try out your pattern , it is wonderful !!
 Oh before I go I got a message from Arlene yesterday and my postcard arrived in Hawaii so I can now share what I sent to her in our Thistle Quilt Guild exchange .

The theme for our exchange was to represent where we live and Nova Scotia is well known for its fishing villages and as a child dories like this were very common , I remember once going out with some friends on  a lake with one just like this , it is a wonder we didn't drown , neither of us had a clue how to row that boat :-)  Thanks so much Arlene for swapping with me , it sure has been fun and maybe we can do it again sometime .
 Thanks for stopping by today and hope you have a great day and be sure to stop by the Needle and Thread Network to see what others are up to this week.
 hugs Sheila

Spring has sprung!!

The sun is shining and the temperatures are going to rise today , yeah !! I even seen several Robins yesterday , a sure sign that spring is finally here . I don't have much to report in the sewing category some hand quilting which I will share in a moment but before I get to that I want to share some wonderful mail I received late last week but just have not had a chance to share . Some members of our quilt guild recently exchanged postcards with a guild in Hawaii and my postcards arrived .

 My partner Arlene (no blog) made this wonderful Diamond Head postcard, if you have ever been lucky enough to visit Hawaii then you will know exactly where Diamond Head is ,I just love the fabrics she chose for this card , just perfect to depict Hawaii . Now the second one is a whale which Arlene tells me arrive in the waters around the islands in March each year .

Isn't it just wonderful , again those colors are gorgeous!!

Here they are side by side and it looks like a continuation of the scene . Thanks so much Arlene , I can't wait to see the other postcards that arrive , I know I was extra lucky receiving two as Arlene couldn't decide which one to send , I love them both :-) It has been a pleasure swapping with you !

 Now would you like to see my progress on my quilt ? As I told you earlier I am slow but I have made a couple of good size turns so progress is being made .

I moved my frame out of the window , it was actually too bright plus I had to cover up the quilt to keep it from fading .  A little closer look ...

See that little yellow gadget , well I have Linda to thank for that wonderful tool , not sure I could do this without it , I love it !! Thanks again Linda 

I hope to get to the machine today , it has been far too long :-) Enjoy your day and hope the sun is shining where ever you are .

 Hugs Sheila 

Spring , just where are you ?

I know you must be tired of me complaining about our weather but geez this is getting just a little beyond normal . Yesterday we had another huge storm , it came in a variety of ways , first freezing rain then changed over to snow which did not stop until about 20 minutes ago and wow the wind , it was blowing that snow sideways from the north . Nothing moving around here yesterday .Here is a photo I JUST took of my deck , which was completely bare earlier this week .

 Now that does not seem normal to me for April 2nd. what is Mother Nature thinking , she must have taken a vacation as she sure is not paying attention to our calendar ;-)

 There is always a positive to bad weather if you look close enough , it was a perfect day to stitch so what is a girl to do but get busy with her brown bag challenge . I had started on the weekend and finished it off yesterday , want to see ?

There you have it , that is about as much as I can show you since this is a secret and even if I was to show the binding it just might give the person who this is meant for a clue and I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise ;-) You can see from this photo that there are flowers and leaves so use your imagination until May when I can give the big reveal . Other than this project I have just been hand quilting now and then ,making some slow progress on my sampler so maybe today I can make a little more , each stitch counts right :-) 

 Thanks for stoppin by I am off now to do a few stitches ,enjoy your day doing something you love !

 hugs Sheila