Second step of Mystery Complete

Good morning on this dreary day , I think the sun has given up on us ,it just doesn't seem to want to appear . All this wet weather has been very productive for sewing though so I am not really complaining too  loudy although I am ready for sunshine :-)
 I have been working away on a few things , first off I finished step two of Kaaren's mystery quilt , a lot of sewing involved but I love the result . Want to see ?

I should have moved the lamp , and sorry for the poor picture , with this dark day it is hard to get a decent picture inside .

I finished this little wool piece too , added a fabric backing and binding and added some stitching to help bring it to life , not in the orginal pattern but I do like it this way . Fun project .
 I have been following along with Buttermilk Basins BOM and here they are so far .

Kind of ran out of room on my design wall so extending over the edge some and you get peak at another vintage machine I have had for years , it does not sew but makes a great ornament .

Yesterday at our little quilting session at the church we did our block exchange for July , the first of many to come involving snowball blocks . This month the colour was to be either blue or mauve and next month is green .

 Here are my ten blocks taking up residence next to my mystery quilt . I plan on adding an alternate block but not sure which one to use , any suggestions ?  It was a great day at quilting and we removed the grandmothers flower garden from the frames and I can tell you there was some celebrating , that was a lot of hard work but it sure is gorgeous . Wait I did take a picture a few weeks back that I can share .

Isn't it beautiful , this is a vintage quilt found in an attic and being quilted after many years of just sitting , pretty special and we hope the lady who took the time to hand stitch all those very tiny hexies is smiling down from heaven right now at her completed quilt .

 Well I have kept you long enough , have yourself a great day and thanks for taking the time to stop by , it is always nice to have you visit .I just realized this is Wednesday and I should link up with the Needle and Threadnetwork , why not check it out for yourself .
 Hugs Sheila

A surprise in the mail and some new additions to my sewing space

Another wet and windy day here on the East Coast , summer is eluding us to say the least . One day last week I received a lovely surprise in the mail from Eglea , a beautiful postcard , so very sweet of you Eglea , I sure love it .

These little boats are a common sight in Brazil and are fishing vessels , don't you just love her sky and the reflection of the boats in the water , such a talented lady . Thanks again Eglea :-)

 I have been doing a little wool work , this first one is a pattern I have had for a long time just never got around to making it . It still is not finished but I am planning on trying something a little different , I am going to put a fabric backing on it and bind it like a quilt , we shall see how that goes. Thanks to my friend Shirley for the wool background fabric it is perfect !

Another little wool project is my BOM for July from Buttermilk Basin , I love these little blocks ,so quick and easy and so adorable . 

I do need to stitch around my star , I removed the first one I had done , just wasn't happy with it so this one shows up better . Thanks Stacy for this cute pattern .

Now for an introduction to my new additions , I have had the desire to own an operating vintage sewing machine for a while and last week I added not one but two to my collection . You see I have several vintage machines , most not working with the exception of my dear sweet Featherweight which sews like a dream . However freemotion is not possible on that machine as the feeddogs do not lower so that was my reason for adding a new to me machine . I had done my research and have always been intrigued by the 15/91 made by Singer , it has a direct drive gear and no belt so this gives it lots of power and starts sewing immediately , no turning the handwheel like some older models . Singer made this model as well as a 201 which are very much sought after . Well I was quite surprised when I came across a 15/91 in a local new to you shop in a lovely cabinet which I also wanted as they are very heavy machines and taking them out and setting them up was definetly not something I wanted to do . So do you want to see my new baby , I am calling her Elizabeth , Liz for short after my grandmother who I watched many times treadling along on her machine , she was my earliest inspiration other than  my Mom who did lots of sewing making our clothing etc.  I don't normally name my sewing machines but this one deserves a name , sure would love to know the name of the previous owner , and I thank her for taking such wonderful care of her .

I have now expanded my sewing space to my dining room ,hey you have to make these things work and there simply was no more room in my actual sewing room so here she sits in all her glory . I absolutely love her and she sews like nothing I have ever owned before .

 Now I know my friends will shake their heads at this but you can blame it on my DH , he insisted we come home with both machines and by doing so we got a much better deal . I was having such a hard time deciding which machine to buy as this one was so darn cute and so simplistic in style , no fancy paint job and I wasn't even sure she sewed but again her body was in incredible condition so I figured she was just tired of sitting and not being used and I was right . She does a perfect stitch now that she has been oiled and adjusted .

This machine is a Singer 227m , the m stands for a town in Italy where this machine was manufactured . It also just does a straight stitch and has the ability to drop the feeddogs by a small dial on the bed of the machine , Now a couple of days after I got this machine I noticed Bonnie Hunter sewing on the identical machine only she had turned hers into a treadle ,kind of neat but I doubt I will be doing that . This machine came in a much smaller cabinet and she fits perfectly infront of my design wall . What shall I call her , maybe I should call her Billy after DH since he is the one who insisted she come home with me , he is too good to me;-) 

Now do you see what is behind the machine , my mystery quilt designed by Kaaren of the Painted Quilt , I have my piano keys made but not yet attacched to the houses . I also made the four nine patch blocks and have my outer border cut so progress was made . You see rainy weather is good for something :-0 Thanks Kaaren for such a fun project and I am really delving into those scraps which is what I want to do , feels so good when you can make a quilt without visiting the quilt shop . Now don't get me wrong I love shopping for fabric but oh my I have enough here for several quilts so best to use it up then fill it up again . 

 Thanks for stopping by today and if it is sunny where you are do you think you could spare a few rays for us , we are turning mouldy .

 Hugs Sheila 

The village that Sheila built

Hi from the rainy Nova Scotia , no complaints though as we really need this rain . As I mentioned last week I have decided to take part in Kaaren's mystery quilt and I have a good start on the center block consisting of 16 houses .

 My horizontal sashings still need to be sew on but this gives you a pretty good idea of what my little village will look like . I went with very scrappy , a large mix of colours and I quite like it . The object of the game for me is to use what I currently have , which is way more than I will ever use if I am real honest with myself . If you would like to join in on the fun and it is fun , head on over to visit Kaaren and you will find a link to a pdf file of this pattern . Simple construction but really sweet don't you think . Thanks Kaaren for providing us with yet another of your great designs .

I hadn't shown you some little treasures I picked up recently , you know I love vintage including vintage linens so when I spotted these I just couldnt pass them up and they were very reasonably priced too .

Little linen towels , love the embroidery :-)

doily with embroidery 

Just love the blue one  and the white nakins in back are Irish Linen and will be perfect for doing some stitching on . I think I paid three dollars for the whole lot . Oh there is one more to share.

This is such a soft yellow I couldn't leave this behind either  . I think it would be pretty with some stitching done on it too .

Confession time , my local friends will surely be shaking their heads at me this time but I have a very strong desire to buy a vintage "working" straight stitch sewing machine preferably in a cabinet . I have my wonderful FW which I love but I would like a larger model for piecing . I have lots of sewing machines , only three counting the FW I actually use , the other machines are simply ornaments and I thought about getting one of them operational but I think I could purchase one already working for less money . I did find two I am considering but haven't quite decided if I love them enough or which one to choose . I have been thinking about this for a long time actually but the past week or so the bug is really bugging me lol  . If anyone local knows about a Vintage Singer straight stitch machine that is available and in working condition  please let me know , thanks . 

Time to head back to my little village , it needs to get those sidewalks installed . Thanks for stopping by today , hope you have a wonderful day .

 hugs Sheila 

Weekend adventures

Saturday morning we had an early start to Cape Breton Island my favorite place to be on the planet . Our granddaughters took part in Kids of Steel , a triathlon for kids in the town of Port Hood . I was simply blown away at the event , there were over 50 children of various ages taking part and they divided them by ages and the amount of swimming, biking and running was according to their age . We arrived just as the youngest were entering the water , it made me shiver as the air was chilly that early in the am and there is a breeze too . This youngest group did not have to swim , they ran through the shallow water then ran up the steep hill to retrieve their bikes , helmets and proper foot wear before tackling the bike event , then off the bikes and onto the running . Elise was in this youngest group and Nila was in the older group and was required to do much longer stretches of each part of the event .  They both enjoyed taking part and as Nila stressed it was not a race just a challenge and they both met that challenge head on and completed the triathlon , yeah to them !!

Here are the children waiting to be told to start their swimming The beach at Port Hood is amazing . 

Nila on the right with her best friend Hayley crossing the finish line .

Nila and Elise with their medals for taking part , they each were given the tee shirts to wear as well .  They were a little tired and ate a huge breakfast at a near by cafe .

A photo of the wharf and across the water is Port Hood Island , I would love to go visit there someday .

The town of Mabou had a parade as well as other events on Saturday so of course who doesn't love  parade  . Nila was on one of the floats .

What parade would be complete without horses , love to see the horses . The brown horses you can just barely see were used for rides for the children later on and Elise sure loved that , she had several rides , a girl of my own heart ;-)

I zoomed as much as my small camera would allow to capture this magnificent eagle perched high on a tree . Bill tried to get closer but it started to make some warning calls and finally decided he best leave his perch .

A new project I have started , this is a kit I bought many years ago but never got around to making , there are more borders to add plus some applique . The pattern is by Thimbleberries and is called Garden Vine .That last border I added just barely shows up against the floor .

A pear pincushion I just finished , this was a free pattern from Kaaren at the Painted Quilt . Here is the link to her pdf     Thanks so much Kaaren , it was sure fun to stitch , I used an old scarf for the body of the pear , worked wonderfully :-) Oh and while you are stopping by to visit Kaaren take note of the mystery quilt she is just starting . I will be joining in , will you , oh come on I need some buddies to sew along with .

My blogging may be sporadic as I am trying to enjoy the summer while it lasts therefore my visits to other blogs may not be as often as I would like either . Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a terrific day .

 Hugs Sheila 

A lovely package in the mail and some sewing ...

Good morning all , it has been a while but we had to go buy a new computer so I wasn't able to post , haven't figured out how to do it on the Ipad . I wasn't overly concerned with not being on the computer , we finally have some summer weather and I would much prefer to spend my time enjoying the weather , it is such a short season for us .
A few days ago I received this lovely package in the mail , I had won a giveaway on Stitch Lines and Linda made me a custom fit bag for my Ipad , how great is that .

This is how it looks all zippered up and now to show you the Ipad inside all well protected . There is a large pocket on the outside as well .

Thanks so much Linda , I just love the fabrics you chose and the Ipad now has a safe home when not in use and will be perfect for when I travel .

 I have been making bags as well , I came across a great buy on some decorator fabrics and went to work making totes .

                                      This was the first one , I just love that striped fabric .

                                                    A fun one for the beach :-)

                                      This one is quite large , lots of room when traveling .

The pocket was a cotton napkin and thought it was perfect to create a nautical bag .

The final one  this looks better in person . It is a very dull day here and we are expecting rain , too bad we couldn't send it to Saskatchewan , they sure need some heavy rain to put out the many fires that are raging in so many northern communities . Our son Roger lives in Saskatchewan and he said it is pretty bad some days  . We need rain too but not as badly as they do , my thoughts are with all those affected .

This is the view across the field next to us this morning , they were smart and gathered the hay from the upper field yesterday , a few bales left to pick up but most of it was taken away before the rain comes . The field closest to us has been planted so isn't ready to be harvested just yet .
 Thanks for stopping by today , I am linking up with the Needle and ThreadNetwork today and be sure to check to see what others have done this week .
 Hugs Sheila