Monday, April 27, 2015

A finish and a half :-)

 Good morning , did you think I fell off the edge of the earth , lol , I just have been very busy lately and no time for blogging but I have missed you all . I am really working hard to finish up a few things for our quilt show coming up the end of May. Did I finish anything you say ? Well I guess my post title has  given you a clue . I had my BOM that I had made for our quilt guild machine quilted by Lynda Campbell of Fiddle Stitches in Mabou and I had gotten that back a couple of weeks ago but it sat there waiting for me to get the time to bind it but that has now happened and here is my quilt all quilted , binded and even has a label , miracles do happen ;-)

 I am quite happy with how it has turned out , not my colors but somehow it has grown on me . Lynda did a great job of the quilting .So this is ticked off my list of quilts I need to finish before May 30th . I am on my last row of my sampler quilt I am hand quilting , we have made good progress at the church on the spool quilt and I am slowly but surely managing to machine quilt the Charming Stars quilt .I am not sure if I will finish all of these but I will give it my best shot without putting too much pressure on myself . 
 Hey guess what I have a half a finish too , what in the world is a half a finish you say , well if you remember quite sometime ago I started knitting a sock , well I finished one sock so that makes for half a finish , I figure it won't be a finish until I have two socks . By the way I had to restart the sock from the beginning with the help of my friend Carol and her guidance and assistance to do that heel , couldn't have done it without her , Want to see it ?
Believe it or not this fits perfectly , looking at this picture it looks like I am a member of the BIG FOOT family lol , just the angle of the picture I am sure , I am quite a tiny person . I love it even with all its imperfections I am so happy to have achieved this milestone , it only took me about 40 years lol!! I have now started sock #2 and have a few inches on the cuff done but that will likely take a back burner or at least get less done for a while until May is over and the show is finished up . 

On Saturday I attended a workshop at our guild and our instructor was Karen Henry a renowned quilt artist here in Nova Scotia , it was so much fun to do a class with her . There were 21 members who took part and each of us purchased a kit from Karen from a choice of three of her patterns , I chose the MacDonald House , a beach scene which I loved at first sight . Karens method of landscape is different than mine and in some ways I prefer how I do things but perhaps that is due to familarity not so much that mine is better . I learned lots and most importantly I had lots of fun .  My scene is far from finished and I am almost hestitating to show you how it presently looks but myself I like to see a work in progress so here goes . I would like to say the fabrics were chosen for me not my choices .
Do you know what is really neat , there were several others who chose this pattern and kit but no two are alike , each person did something a little different especially with the grasses and also the colours of the sky and water were all different . I would say about 3/4 of the group did this picture and some of the others did what is known as the Purple House , Ellen who shared my table did that scene and I was sort of glad I had not chosen that one , lots more detail to take care of but it will be beautiful when finished . I had bought one of Karen's kits a year ago at a quilt show where she was a vendor and I never had the courage to tackle it , now I think I can take a stab at it and I will get at that sometime soon . 


 I had some lovely mail arrive last week , a package from the UK from Pauline  , what a wonderful surprise , it sure did brighten my day . It was so thoughtful of you Pauline .
In the package were these  two magazines from England , Stitch the magazine on top has a great article on Monika of My Sweet Prairie , I was so pleased to see that , These magazines are not available in this area that I know of so I really appreciated Pauline sending them on to me . They both have some great projects and interesting reading . Do you see the sweet card she sent as well , it is a picture of a wool felted project she created , just amazing , Pauline is so talented !! Thanks again Pauline :-)

As you all know by now I love the country side and love old farms , well yesterday Bill and I were out for a little country drive and I spotted this old barn with some sheep , strange looking sheep and little baby lambs running around so on our way home I encourgage Bill to stop so I could get a picture , unfortunately some of the babies had gone into the barn , there were brown and white lambs as well as black and white . I would love to know the breed , so cool with their extra long hair and two colours , wouldn't it make for interesting wool , hmm I can see some very nice socks lol .
Did you notice something in this picture , the snow is gone , yep , gone except in wooded areas , it doesn't get the sunlight so takes longer to disappear . Now to tell you that it is snowing right now and the ground is covered with the white stuff but I am sure this will melt quickly , if only it would warm up . Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings , I guess I am making up for lost time . 
 Enjoy your day and hope to be back to you real soon .
 Hugs Sheila 

17 comments:

  1. Fantastic finish and a half! I'd like to learn to knit, but I already have too many hobbies, Since you do so many lovely landscapes, I was surprised to read that you took a class. Glad you learned some new techniques. I bought a landscape kit several years ago, and it's still in a box somewhere. Perhaps I'll send it to you to make up for me?? NO more SNOW!!!

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  2. You have been busy Sheila. Love your new quilt especially the bright colors. It is amazing how much can be achieved when we have a deadline. Looking forward to your show.

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  3. You have been busy Sheila. Love your new quilt especially the bright colors. It is amazing how much can be achieved when we have a deadline. Looking forward to your show.

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  4. Congratulations on you finishes and partial finishes. I need a landscape class as I failed miserably on my attempt on my own. Very interesting sheep for sure - Not sure if they are Shetlands or Romeldale,both breeds come in bi and tri color with varying heavy coats.

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  5. I think you finished this quilt very quickly. I would take the same time it took you to the sock ... :)))
    The sock knitting is an achievement! It will be the hottest of all.
    Beautiful gift you received from Pauline!
    This workshop was very interesting.
    I'm enjoying that link you sent me via Facebook. I am doing some experiments. We shall see, we shall see ...
    A big hug!
    Happy stitching! (See, I'm learning!)
    Egléa

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  6. Intersting post Sheila, good to see what you have been up to...congratulations on the beautiful finish - and the half finish!! Clever you with the sock knitting! It sounds like your workshop was interesting, and fun to spend the day with other quilters, too. I hope it warms up for you soon :-)

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  7. Sheila, your quilt is fabulous! I love thoes colours and the quilting Lynda did is perfect for it. Congrats on that beautiful house scene, and the sock is terrific! You are ultra-talented!

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  8. Your quilt looks beautiful. Interesting workshop. Those sheep do look interesting. Hugs, xx

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  9. Your quilt is gorgeous - well done! Love your sock too, it looks warm and cosy......I haven't tried knitting socks yet, although I quite happily make sweaters with cables and complicated patterns without turning a hair. Looking forward to seeing the progress of your landscape quilt - I know what you mean about kits not always being fabrics you would buy for yourself, but sometimes it's good to take a teeny step out of your comfort zone. Cute little lambs, I bet they are glad the snow is gone!

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  10. love the finished quilt.... well done.... and how lovely to have half a pair of home made socks.... your winter seems to have lasted a long long time....
    Hugz

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  11. Hi Sheila well done on your beautiful quilt and love that sock,I am too scared to try and make a sock they look hard to make ,lol.you are having a long winter we hardly got any summer,strange weather xx

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  12. Congrats on your lovely quilt finish!! And a label, too, wow, I'm impressed :-) And a big congrats on the sock finish, the first one is always the hardest, but now the second one should be no problem. That's neat about the sheep, I always love seeing them, especially when there are lambs to watch.

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  13. great finish and a half Sheila ... you will have cozy toes soon ;0). This work shop sounds like it was alot of fun and seeing the different looks from the same kits would be interesting too.
    in stitches

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  14. So lovely to hear from you Sheila and my, yes, you have been busy! The quilt looks gorgeous and I love the colours even if you don't! Well done with the sock - it looks very snuggly and it's pair should be ready to warm your toes next winter, right? What a thoughtful gift from Pauline. I have Stitch on subscription and it's a lifeline to stitchy things in the UK. It is so lovely to see the lambs in spring - not many sheep around us here in France but there were lots of little black lambs in a filed near to where we were staying in UK over Easter. Oh and I think the landscape picture is going to be great too. Have a great week. xx

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  15. Great post, Sheila! You've been super busy and have accomplished quite a lot. Love your sock! I finally started one, but am ready to turn the heel, so I've tucked it in my luggage so I can wait until I'm settled and can 'concentrate'. It doesn't sound easy. I am so looking forward to your show! I'm on my way! Reached Maine last night. I'll be home in less than two weeks! xo

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  16. I love your little beach scene...it's so pretty! :0)

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  17. Amazing that all that snow is just gone! I love the colours in your quilt. How great to take a course in landscape quilting. I bet you will add some of what you learned to make your technique even better.

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