Some fun mail

I have lots to share but not today , my life has been in a little turmoil lately and I will explain in a moment  but for now I have some lovely postcards to share with you .
The last week in July Bill and I took a few days for a road trip with my main intention to visit the quilt show in Saulnierville a 4 plus hour drive from here . I will share some photos from that trip another day . When we arrived home there were three postcards waiting for me , what a lovely surprise.  I was expecting one from Ana as she was my partner in the swap but I also received one from Sunny and also Eglea,  how sweet of them . I am sure you would like to see them so here they are .

This is from Ana who lives in Portugal and depicts a scene she had seen while vacationing recently,  isn't it beautiful . Ana is new to postcard making  but you would  never know it , so we'll done . Thanks so much Ana , I love it ! 

Next up is one from Eglea in Brazil , a special flowering tree native to her country , so beautiful,  it must be incredible to see these trees in bloom and Eglea did a fabulous job of recreating this landscape with the flowering tree in this small postcard size . Thanks so much  Eglea.  

This pretty cone flower was sent from Sunny who is well known for her photography of flowers . I love cone flowers and don't have any growing this year so I really appreciate this one , thanks so much Sunny , I love it . 

 Now today I received yet another postcard,  this one from Marsha who joined the swap a little late so I became her partner . 

This sweet little stitchery I believe is a Gail Pan design , correct me if I am wrong . So cute , I love it , thanks so much  Marsha,  a perfect theme for this gal who loves to stitch . 

I can't share the card I  sent to Marsha as it hasn't arrived yet but I will share the one I sent to Ana .

 I forgot to take a picture before I sent it off to Ana  but  she kindly took this photo for me and I was really touched that she had framed it . I am glad you liked it well enough Ana . 

On Wednesday evening last week I received a call from my mom telling me she had fallen and spent the night on the floor so needless to say I left the next day to be with her and make sure she was okay . She has many bruises and a broken rib or two but overall she is doing okay . She is one tough cookie but she sure was hurting and even sitting was difficult.  I stayed until Sunday and felt she had improved enough to be one her own . I will check on her daily but to be honest I also needed to get home to rest . The drive was extremely stressful and my body is exhausted . So on that note I will close and I promise to come back and share some photos of the amazing quilt show and some of our incredible province . 

 Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day .

 Hugs Sheila 

A finish to share

Hello from sunny Nova Scotia , simply a beautiful summers day here . I finally have a quilt top to share , it has been a long time coming and hours and hours of stitching to get this to this point but I couldn't be happier .

I don't have a large enough space to spread this out properly and on the bed you can't see it all so the floor it is 😊 This quilt is the Craftsy bom for 2016 designed by Lynette Jensen.  I enjoyed making this quilt even if there was a ton of work . 

 I have also added to my vintage sewing machine collection recently,  did I tell you I love vintage machines , well if I didn't i am now lol . This machine is in near pristine condition and the young lady selling it said it was her grandmother's and I couldn't help but think the day will come when she will regret selling this beautiful machine but she is moving out west and can't take everything with her . This Singer 401 does multiple decorative stitches and a perfect straight stitch.  I have tried it out and just the sound makes me smile . So tell me what do you think of it ? 

This machine has a slant needle which makes it easier to see what you are stitching,  nice feature and I learned it was the top of the line machine at that time around 1957 -1958 . Now my dear hubby also brought home another machine but it will never sew anything again , it is simply  decorative as it is rough shape and missing parts . 

Meet Raymond,  the older brother to Ruby I showed you a while back , they will keep each to her company on the old church bench . 

I want to thank everyone who signed up for the postcard exchange , there was a great response and I hope by now most postcards are in the mail or in the making . Please be sure to share your postcards when they arrive and also on the flicker page at the top right side of this blog page . 

 Oh before I go I will share the last three blocks I made for the splendid sampler. 

All caught up until Sunday , what a nice feeling . 

 Enjoy your day and thanks so much for taking the time to stop by .

 Hugs Sheila 

Anyone for a postcard exchange ?

Oh I know it has been a while , quite a while actually since I graced these pages but some times life can be tough and when the weather doesn't cooperate neither does my body , enough said .
 Anyway I have had this on the backburner long enough so is anyone interested in doing a postcard exchange , I think we will leave the theme up to you,  whatever makes you happy will make me happy , just be creative that is all I ask . So when will they be posted you say , hmm , since we are just about to enter into the month of July let's make it the first of august , how does that sound ? Should give you plenty of time to dream up and make a postcard and send it off to your partner . For inspiration go to Pinterest or flicker,  lots and lots to see.  Once you receive your postcard please post a picture for everyone to see and also post it on the flicker page I have set up in my side bar .
 So what have I been doing this past month ,  just trying to keep up with my Splendid Sampler blocks plus some star blocks I am doing along with Darlene of a Needle Pulling Thread quilt shop . I have manged to keep up with both except this latest SS block , don't think i will do that one , I just don't like PP and especially on that small a scale so may try to draft it out for applique or simply  leave it out .

           This was a fun applique block for this SS , I love the applique blocks .
I haven't been doing Pat Sloan mystery quilt this year but when she posted the block for June and it was the Halifax Public Gardens I just couldn't resist . She had apparently visited our tiny province while on a cruise which stopped in Halifax and then she visited the gardens which really are quite beautiful.  I thought it was so special that she designed a block with the gardens in mind.  I wanted to make something for Canada Day which is July 1st and this seemed perfect to me so here is the pillow I made using Pat's block .

And here is the back , I used a new technique to accomplish the hidden zipper .

I am quite pleased with how this turned out , pillows are great , they are quick to make so give you that feeling of satisfaction.
Oh before I go those who would like to take part in the postcard swap please please send me your info even if you have sent it before as it will save me so much time and it should also prevent addresses from being copied wrong.  So what i need is your full name , home address , blog if you have one and also your email address,  all very important.  Thanks in advance for your help . Hope we get lots of participants and I will try to assign partners as soon as possible but in the mean time you can start your postcard and have it ready to pop in the mail .
 Thanks for stopping by and for my Canadian friends I hope you have a wonderful and festive Canada Day !
 Hugs Sheila

Thistle quilt guild show

Good morning and a happy Monday to you all . We are being rained upon at the moment which is not all bad , we need the moisture and it makes for a great day to stay inside and sew .
 The Thistle Quilt Guild show was held on this past Saturday and was a huge success . To those who made the trip up to see our show I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thanks especially to the Blogger Quartet for meeting up with me for lunch then for the show,  Lesley,  Linda and Karen plus we had some special guests join us , Linda's daughter Niki and her friend Beth a friend and fellow quilter , it was wonderful to have you all there.  You know meeting these gals has been one of the best things about blogging,  they are truly the best.

 Now on with the show , I didn't take that many pictures,  sorry about that , it isn't always easy to get a decent picture and some that I did take are blurry.   First off I will share a picture of the quartet .

 Not the best picture of us but all I have . We are standing in front of my Frozen quilt I made for Sophia.  From left to right , Karen,  Linda , Lesley and me . 

 I hope I have this correct , I believe this was made by Mary W. And she designed it from a decorative  pillow she had bought . Isn't it fantastic.  

A nice scrappy quilt , sorry I am not sure who made this one . 

Another scrappy quilt and a heart quilt next to that . 

My Frozen quilt 

A collection of miniatures by Gloria T. , she does amazing PP in miniatures.  

This miniature I believe was done by Norma,  her first attempt at anything this small 

More of Gloria's miniatures!  

Joan's mystery quilt designed by Kaaren . I am still working on mine . Great job Joan and she hand quilted it herself too 😊

I loved this nautical themed quilt .

You can see the beautiful pinwheel quilt , very colourful and happy.  This was the result of an exchange we did with the girls we quilt with on Tuesdays plus a couple of others and I think this one is Becky's . 

Kate did this beautiful embroidery and hand quilted it . She is an amazing hand quilter . 

Because we do a variety of projects this table has a few tea cozies . Isn't this one made by Jane gorgeous . 

A pretty pastel quilt made by Wilma . 

We did a charm square exchange in spring prints and these projects are some of the results of that exchange . My project is in the far left top corner .

This stunning braid quilt was made by Claudet and she also made one in a different color  range for our guild quilt which we sold tickets on . 

 Gloria is not the only one who dabbles in minatures , I think this one was made by Anne M.

Pretty isnt it .

This little landscape is mine . The Blogger Quartet's decided last year this time that we would exchange a pillow using improv curved piecing . The landscape above was my first attempt . I just loved curved piecing ! My hubby didn't think I should make this into a pillow so I proceeded to make another one which I will share another day , this post is getting picture heavy but before I go I want to share the quilt that everyone was in awe of .  Actually to see all the great pillows we exchanged head on over to visit with Linda , she shared our pillows in her most recent post .Head on over here , she will be so happy to see you .

This quilt was made by Norma MacCara for her brother for Christmas . I am trying to figure out a way to be adopted in the family as she makes a quilt each year for a sibling .

Believe it or not this is the back of the quilt , isn't it incredible . I thought I had a photo of the front but don't seem to have it in these files . If I find it on my camera later I will share it .

 I found the photo so I want you to see that both sides are worthy of winning an award.

 Needless to say Norma won the viewers choice award and it was well deserved.  

So I hope you have enjoyed this small sampling of the many beautiful quilts and other projects our guild produced this past year , we have so many talented quilters and I am proud to be a member of this great guild . 

 Thanks for stopping by. 

 Hugs sheila 

Let's Book It and a few finishes

Oh I know it has been a dreadful long time since I have been around here but there have been various reasons for my absence  First off a lovely visit with my son and his family , here is a photo of my beautiful granddaughters with Bill and I .

Thanks to Rob and Diane for being such wonderful hosts and to Alyssa and Caitlin for spending so much time with us , we loved every minute of our stay .

I have managed a couple of finishes lately as our quilt show is this Saturday . First off is this rather old UFO called Garden Vine .

In this photo is had missed a couple of quilting lines but did complete them once I seen my mistake . I also finished my Buttermilk Basin BOM for 2015 .

 

I have also been busy keeping up with the Splendid sampler blocks and here is a photo of some of the  blocks in have completed , I have done a couple more since this photo . 

And now for the reason for the title of my post , the Let's  Book It .  I didn't get a lot done this month.  I finished up the block I had started last month , adding the embroidery and then the applique . 

The heart blocks I had done last month but forgot to share them so will share them now . Thanks Sharon for this fun event . 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I apologize for my  absence from the blog as well as visiting my favorite blogs , life has just been super busy . 

 Hugs Sheila