FNWF'S

I stitched along with my friends across the ocean last night for FNWF's hosted by Cheryll  , thanks Cheryll , it is always fun to have others to sew along with . So what did I do you ask , well I hand stitched down the binding on a table topper I just finished , I like to save those jobs for the evening while I sit and relax in my comfy chair . As I look at this I may go back and do a little more quilting :-)

This is a pattern from a Fons and Porter magazine a couple of years back , a special Christmas edition . Now from that same comfy chair a few nights before I finished this cute little ornament which is the OOM for November from a FB wool applique group, thanks to Trish for the cute ornaments each month .

I have had great response on the Postcard exchange and need a couple of addresses before I can send out names, I will start the process though as it may take me a while but if you haven't heard from me by Monday please email me and let me know , I don't want to miss anyone . Still time to join in but will cut that off before Monday , thanks .

 Thanks for stopping by today , hope you are doing something fun .

 hugs Sheila

Ok so I don't read rules very well :-(

Over a year ago I read about a shirt challenge that was happening on Tracee of Farm Gate creations and decided I would join in , well at the same time Terry of Terry's Treasures also announced a challenge and it was the Charming Stars challenge and I combined the two challenges and made a quilt . The shirt challenge involved using six shirts and one other fabric , no problem , my DH was more than willing to give up a few shirts and I added some white fabric to the mix and happily  stitched away .Here are my shirts that I used .

All yellows and blues , the first shirt doesn't look that yellow but it is the poor lighting . So now I will share what I had made for this challenge

This is the charming stars quilt I made using just those shirts , I was getting a little nervous when it came time to create a border as I knew there was no adding another fabric if I followed the rules so I started cutting up what was left of the shirts and started randomly sewing them together and I couldn't be happier with how this looks and the best part is my grandson who adores his grandfather is absolutely thrilled to own this quilt made from his shirts . Now here is my dilemma , I didn't read the rules that Tracee set out for us and I shouldn't have shared this quilt until the end of Oct. but I have already done so in an earlier post , however I thought it might be nice to share it again  .  Thanks Tracee  for this great challenge and be sure to hop on over to visit Tracee's blog to see some other wonderful quilts !       

Thanks to everyone who has shown interest in the postcard exchange  , I am really pleased with the fact we have some new people signing up and hope a few more will join us as well.  I have a tutorial on making postcards in a post in 2011 , couldn't believe it was that long ago .  check it out here 

http://sheilasquiltworld.blogspot.ca/2011/08/postcard-tutorial-and-swap-sign-up.html

Thanks for stopping by today , hope you have a very creative day .

 hugs Sheila 

How about a Christmas Exchange ?

 First off I will share my finish ,a pattern by Winter Wonderland called Seasonal Skinnies .

The snowman was fun to create with his strip pieced hat , a little challenging too as I do not have many fabrics in black . Had a little fun with some swirly free motion quilting too :-)
 
SO my big question for today is are you interested in doing a Christmas postcard exchange ? I have had a couple of requests so putting this out there with the hopes of getting some interest so we can get this set up . Of all the themes for postcards I would say Christmas is the simplest as there are so many things you can do , be as creative as you wish and for those who have never made a postcard before but have thought it was something they might like to try here is your big chance , come on you know you want to so just do it !! As before if you are interested please let me know as soon as possible , we will set December 1st as the latest a card can be mailed out but if you are speedy you can mail it anytime so your partner will have it around to admire over the holiday season . I will need your email address, home address and blog address if you have one although that isn't necessary . Once you receive your postcard let your partner know and post it on your blog or send me a photo and I will share it for you if you do not have a blog .  I will assign names as soon as possible but in the mean time you can start creating those cards so you will be all set to mail it out . Thanking you in advance for your interest , making and receiving these little art pieces is such fun and it will make your day when you open your mail box to see one inside so get off the fence and join us !!! Lets see if I can find some samples from last year , hey I know just go to the flicker page and there should be a few there for inspiration .
I nabbed this one from the flicker page , made by Linda of Scrapmaster 

I mailed off my postcard to Eglea today for the November swap so watch your mailbox , it will likely take a couple of weeks . I hope everyone is well on there way to mailing out there postcards or if you received them we would love to see them :-) 

I am off  now to do some Christmas sewing , the days are getting closer .   Take care and enjoy your day , thanks for stopping by it is always a pleasure to see you .
 hugs Sheila

A Finish and some postcards to share

Hello from the sunny but cool east coast , it is actually a gorgeous fall day , the calm before the storm that is to hit the province tonight into tomorrow . First off I will share the Skater , all finished thanks to some suggestions from Karen  who by the way you should go visit as she is having a giveaway right now .  Thanks Karen for your suggestions to finish off the skater , I am so pleased with how she looks .

 As I think I mentioned before this pattern was in a Fons and Porter special edition magazine , not sure if it was last year or not , I simply can't find my magazine , very sad face here as there were other things in there that I had wanted to make . 

Here is a close up of my quilting , some echo quilting around the skater .

 I also finished off the OOM for this month a pattern given on a FB group by Trish 

Oops I see I forgot to add a snowflake for his tassel , must remember to do that . 

 Now for some postcards , one of my partners for this swap was Virginia , no blog who is leaving for Florida soon so I sent off her postcard early and it has already arrived but before I show you what I sent her I will share what she has sent to me , it has just arrived and I love it .

A three dimensional leaf postcard , lovely colors and a great job . I was amazed this came without an envelope and was in perfect shape even though those leaves are protruding over the edges . The little pumpkin pincushion was part of my program for the guild this month , I found the instructions here . 

Thanks Virginia !

I was a little off season with my postcard , I guess part of me wishes it was going to be summer rather than heading into winter so I did a little beach scene .

I forgot to take a photo so had to ask Virginia to take one for me .  

 So how is everyone getting along making their postcards ? I still have one to make and I know it should have been in the mail but life got in the way and I will get it done and off in the mail real quick . Remember the due date is November 15th so you still have a couple of weeks to create and send that postcard , thanks .

 Thanks for stopping by today  hope you are having a great day .

 hugs Sheila 

A little more Ireland and what I am working on ..

I guess you thought I had disappeared but you know that darn virus just kept on keeping on and I didn't feel much like being on the computer at all so I must apologize again for not visiting or commenting , hopefully I am on the mend now . So just a few more pictures of the beautiful country of Ireland .

After visiting the Ross Castle in the above post we had a carriage ride back to the hotel , this was really great fun .

one of our views along the way , love those mountains in the background .

            See the thatched roof on this charming little building , it was cut real fancy .

A large church in the distance , There are lots of stone churches .

The three sisters in front of the mountain view plus there were some gorgeous horses in this field .

We stopped at a museum which depicts life as it was in Ireland many years ago ,however this peat is still used in some parts of the country for fuel . It is similar to coal , not quite as hard as coal but the next step would be coal .The bus driver explained the process of gathering the peat and today their methods are much different than when he was a young boy helping his dad in the peat bogs , it was very hard work . They also use the peat for peat moss which is used in gardens .

Donna warming her toes in front of the peat fire , I regretted going in there , it was so smoky and I was already congested , but it was worth it as I love antiques , after all I am almost one myself lol.

Couldn't resist taking a picture of this poor old machine , it has seen better days for sure .

Each of the homes that were open to us had old hutches for their dishes , I have one very similar to this but mine has doors on top ,

These items were under glass , isn't that little dress just precious ..

A couple of beds with quilts , not sure how old they are but it was neat to see and just look at the cradle and the baby carriage , probably a doll carriage ,

A little further on up the road we stopped for a photo shoot and this character was busy creating a Celtic cross of sorts and he had his donkeys and one of them had a dog on for a ride :-)

                                                         A better view of the artist .

                           Some heather , isn't it pretty . I brought a few sprigs home with me .

This was along the Kerry Ring , a beautiful drive with the combination of mountains and the ocean , reminded me of the Cabot Trail a little , not quite as beautiful in my opinion but then I am a bit bias .

A peat bog , you can see it in a pile and out in the field you can see where they have been cutting it . There was a group of school aged teens obviously on a school outing walking out to view the bogs.

A beach in Waterville , quite nice and it was a warm day which made for a nice stop for photos .

                                         Donna and I arm and arm with Charlie Chaplan .

This is Grafton Street in Dublin , our last full day in Ireland and a really fun time was had by all . The street is closed off to traffic , at least the vehicle traffic  lots of two legged traffic . This the only time we were warned to mind our bags as Paddy our bus driver told us . Great shopping here and lots of street vendors as well as shops . There were some buskers as well , great entertainment .

Believe it or not this statue is real , yes those are real people who stay perfectly still and my Mom swore they were not real until someone threw some coins in their pot and they waved , I thought poor Mom would faint .
So that is my quick overview of Ireland and a wee bit of Scotland , maybe some day I will go back , that would be a very good thing .
Now for what I have been working on , a few things I can't share but I will share some wool work I have been doing .

I just finished this penny rug which is a pattern by Primitive Gatherings , it was a fun one to do , lots of work but so worth it !

September BOM for Buttermilk Basin , got caught up on them this week .

                                                    Octobers BOM for Buttermilk Basin
 And finally I have dug out this UFO to get a little work done .

This little Skater has been on the shelf for far too long so I did the applique this week and have now started on the quilting , I wish I had the skill that others have for FM , I have no clue what to do here . So far I have just stitched in the ditch around the applique but not sure what to add to the background , any suggestions ?? Oh this is from a Fons  and Porter special issue Celebration issue maybe last year ? For the life of me I can't find my magazine anywhere .
 Thanks for hanging around to read this lengthy post and hope you have a fantastic and creative day .
 Hugs Sheila