Wednesday, February 29, 2012

FMQ FEATHERS

After today I am not so sure that FMQ is for me , feathers were a real challenge ,my brain can't seem to wrap itself around these at all . I made three attempts and with very limited improvement . The part I find the most difficult is the echo quilting , I can't seem to get that even at all .I need a lot more practice but this month I simply did not have the time I had hoped to work on this . Here are my three attempts .
 The one on the right was my first attempt , the one in the top right was my second attempt , it was actually worse so then I decided to go bigger , sometimes bigger is better , well not always and not in this case , I am a little disappointed but will not quit until I make a decent feather . Thanks to Sew Cal Gal for making this challenge possible . I'm off to practice some more . Thanks for the visit.
hugs Sheila

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tuesdays Treasures

This week Melody our hostess for Tuesdays Treasures suggested we share our pets and since I adore my dog Luke I will share a few photos . First let me tell you a little about Luke, he is now 6 years old and is a Labradoodle , his mom is a purebred standard poodle and his dad a purebred chocolate lab . We bought Luke in Saskatchewan while visiting our son ,  he was 10 weeks old and  we brought him home on the plane in a carry on dog carrier that he was actually too big for but we didn't want him down in the cold belly of the plane it was in March so still much too cold in our opinion to do that so we talked our way into him coming with us and he didn't give us even a peep .
 This is my all time favorite photo of Luke , the field was completely covered with dandelions , I know they are nasty weeds but they are incredibly beautiful in massive numbers like this.
 Luke is very good with children and this past weekend we were fortunate enough to have our granddaughters Nila and Elise stay with us ,they just adore him and are constantly hugging him which he loves too. This next photo is with Nila , she had just taken him in from outdoors and decided to sit with him for a while.
 Nila wanted this taken for her journal , she kept a lovely daily journal of her time with us . Nila is celebrating a birthday today ,Happy Birthday Nila!!
 As you can see Luke is a little shaggy at the moment but we usually let it grow for warmth in winter as he does love to romp in the snow .
 Although this picture was taken in last January it could easily be today as we are having a storm at the moment ,kind of looks like a snow globe right now , so pretty but it did mean no quilting for me today which is probably not a bad thing as I need to clean up the house after my weekend guests ;-)
 Thanks for stopping by , hope you enjoyed getting to know Luke , I would recommend this breed , they make lovely pets . hugs Sheila

Sunday, February 26, 2012

One Christmas Item for the month

I'm joining Narelle of Pins and Whiskers in making one Christmas item per month , that way I will hopefully have a little start on my Christmas list . This is not the best picture but I had no one to be a model this morning .I have made this style apron several times now and just love this pattern .

You really can't tell from this photo but the edge is scalloped and it is reversible . The pockets are made with both colors and if there is one part of this pattern I really don't care for it is the way these are constructed but they are a nice shape. You may not even be able to see the edge of the yellow part of the pocket but this photo will show you a better look at the fabric with the Christmas geese . Thanks to Narelle for hosting this fun event and why not check here to see what others have made for their Christmas list . I have the privilege of having my granddaughters for the weekend so no sewing happening but we are having lots of fun :-) Thanks for stopping by. hugs Sheila

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

WIP Wednesday

Today I am attending a workshop with our quilt guild , I'm the person who doesn't like Paper piecing and here I am signed up to take this class but the project is so pretty I just couldn't resist and the pieces are fairly big so PP them should not be a problem .
Here is the pattern , it is designed by Karen Neary of Nova Scotia , a very talented designer . These are the fabrics I have chosen for the project ,sure hope they look ok .
 We had templates to cut our fabrics so we would be ready for the class , there is apparently a lot of work to this so hopefully this will save a ton of time .
 I am also doing some of the handwork on the Melody's BOM , I enjoy doing this in the evenings when watching TV . I have Shell's BOM all prepared and ready to stitch too so I have plenty to keep me busy these days.I also have cut more leaves for the SAHRR , just was not happy with my leaves and found some of the fabric I used for the center oak leaves, so  am ready now to get started with that applique .
 Rather poor lighting , you can't tell from this photo but my sheep are plaid , a girls got to have a little fun ;-)
 I am linking up with the Needle and Thread network ,why not check out to see what others are up to this week. Thanks for stopping by , hope you enjoy your day I am sure I will.
 hugs Sheila

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tuesdays Treasures

It's Tuesday again so time to share a treasure ,our hostess for this event is Melody of The house on the side of the Hill  . As I was baking cookies yesterday I thought , hmm , this will be my treasure for this week  Moose Hunters , one of my all time favorite cookies and I think the reason is they remind me of my childhood when sweet Mom made us these cookies , the recipe is not quite the same but basically the same taste . I have to tell you  though , we called Mom's," Russian Rocks"  by the second day as they would get quite hard , not sure why we called them Russian but we did and they were the best dunkers ever .
 You are probably saying , Russian Rocks is a strange name but so is Moose Hunters , well this recipe is from an old cookbook I bought way back in the 70's in Ingonish Cape Breton " From the Highlands and the Sea",  , anyway that is the name they gave these thick molasses cookies and I assume the name is a result of the women in the area making these cookies for their husbands to take along while out hunting Moose , there are plenty of Moose in that area so that kind of makes sense to me but hey I could be all wrong . At any rate I love them and if you have any desire to try them out here is the recipe .

                                                             Moose Hunters
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup melted butter or shortening
1 cup molasses
1/2 cup milk with 2 teaspoons of baking soda added
1 egg
1 teaspoon ginger
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour ( I used more as the dough was quite wet )
Pour melted butter over sugar and add molasses . Then add the milk with baking soda added , then your beaten egg and your sifted dry ingredients . Roll out thick and cut with your favorite cutter and bake at 375 F.  until golden brown and Enjoy!
I hope your Tuesday is filled with Treasures and if you care to see what others are sharing be sure to visit with Melody  and better still share a treasure as well. Thanks for stopping by, there is tea made and cookies to share so sit down and enjoy.
hugs Sheila

Monday, February 20, 2012

White can be so beautiful !

We had a snow storm on Saturday , it was beautiful , not the type of storm that is howling winds and blowing snow just snow , trees laden heavily with thick white snow , simply gorgeous .As I have often said I love to travel the gravel roads and after a storm is one of the best times to do this , here is why .
 Isn't that like a Christmas card . Ok here is another from the same road .
Then there is something about a little brook in winter with the banks covered with snow and you can here that trickle of water , just look at this and tell me can you almost hear that cold water flowing .
I also love old barns and this one is particularly lovely and the scene yesterday was so serene .
 Don't you just love the old faded red doors . It is days like this that makes Winter beautiful , a walk in the snow is so peaceful and breathing in that lovely fresh air is good for the soul.
   I didn't do a lot of sewing on the weekend but I do have a couple of small finishes to share. Halifax is the host for the Canadian National Quilt show this year in May and our guild is participating in making bags for the members who attend. This is my version of the bag , we had a choice of appliqueing either a salmon, haddock or cod so I chose the Salmon .I used a batik fabric for the bag as well as the fish but the lining is just a coordinating fabric .
 I also made this little fabric basket , I love these baskets such fun to make and a great use of scraps.
 These little baskets are so cute and so useful as well, the pattern is a free tutorial on  Pink Penquin ,it is a great tutorial and quick to make.
 It is a lovely sunny winters day so I think I may just head out for a short walk in the fresh air. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
 hugs Sheila

Saturday, February 18, 2012

FNSI Report

Last night I was out for a bit so was a little late starting but I did accomplish a couple of things , first off I finished off the binding on the little mug rug I made from the scraps left over from my crazy patch project , then I sewed down the binding on the mini quilt ,I had a little time left over so cut out the bits and pieces for the Hannah and Harrington BOM and by that time it was time for bed ;-0
 I'll share the mini at another time . Here is Hannah and Harrington , no applique or embroidery has been done yet but I still think it is sweet . Hannah and Harrington is a free BOM from Shell of Raspberry Rabbits and the link is in my sidebar , check it out , it is adorable.
 FNSI 's hostess is Heidi of Handmade by Heidi , be sure to check to see what others have done this Friday night . Thanks Heidi for some great fun!
It is snowing here today , looks more like Christmas ,the trees are laden with lovely fluffy snow and we are expecting at least 15cm. but it is mild so that is a plus. Have yourself a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by .
 hugs Sheila
 ps. be sure to check out the great giveaway here http://www.iliketoquiltblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/giveaway-im-quiltblog.html

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Some days you just need a little pick me up

It is a drab and dreary day here on the east coast , ,if there is anything to be thankful for it is the mild temperatures but the fog , well I can live with out and hey it is Feb. we are not suppose to have this kind of weather .So why the title you may be asking , well this weather is not fun for me , my joints are not one bit happy today so movement is slow , however when Bill arrived home at lunch there was a package for me from Sunny of Quilting Dreams , she asked me a while back if I would be interested in some ribbons and lace for my crazy patch quilting and of course I said I would love to have some but I was not expecting this much , I mean wow !
They are all wonderful , what fun it will be to use these for lots of different things , I can certainly see these in landscape work , postcards and of course the crazy patch blocks so thank you Sunny for thinking of me , it brightened a gloomy day !!!
Remember my committment not to buy any fabric for this year , well I fell off the wagon yesterday :-(  , I didn't mean to buy any , really, I was going there to buy a quilt frame but how could I resist such fabulous prices and I did need some fabrics for a backing for two small quilts so that is my excuse and  I am sticking to it.  I forgot to take a picture of the frame but it is an oval quilt frame on a stand so now I can quilt small quilts by hand if I so desire ,I have wanted one for a long time and at only$10 it was a no brainer .Here is the fabric I did pick up, the prices were ,well, unreal to be honest , she had a basket of scraps that were $.25 for three or $.10 for one , these are decent size pieces of fabric , then her other fabric is $1 a meter , where can you get fabric for that price today ? This poor lady has some problems with her eyes and has to give up sewing and quilting which is the reason for her sale.
 The bottom three were each $2.50 and are well over the 2 mt. amount probably closer to three mts. .Oh I know are you wondering if I bought anything else , well yes, I did have a look at her books too , she had lots of wonderful books for sale at $4 for hardcover and $3 for soft cover and free quilt magazines.
Here are the two hard cover books I bought .
 They look like great books and for that price I just had to buy them even if I just look at them . So I didn't spend a fortune but I sure got a lot for my money , it was fun ,I was  just like a kid in a candy store ;-)Thanks Diane for letting me know about this sale , it sure was fun .
 Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day .
 hugs Sheila

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

WIP Wednesday

Wednesdays seem to roll around so fast these days and here it is the middle of Feb. already , I mean where does the time go ,it seems to whiz by for sure. So what have I been up to , well many things but not making much progress on too much of anything . I guess I will show you my progress on my 10th anniversary challenge for our quilt guild , my ten will be ten spools and this will eventually be a banner for my sewing room .Haven't decided on a border yet just have been too busy the past few days to think about it but here it is so far.
 The spools have been sewn together but the lettering has not been appliqued down nor is it attached yet to the spools but this will give you an idea of my plan at least .
Other than that I am hand quilting the small project I gave the sneak peak of but time has not allowed me to finish that either which is sad as it is only small , hopefully that will be completed real soon.
 I am linking up today to the Needle and Thread Network so why not head on over and check to see what others have been up to this week. I am off now to prepare for our guild meeting tonight .
 Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day .
 hugs Sheila

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Tuesdays Treasures

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy 92nd Birthday to my sweet Dad  !!  My Dad is indeed a treasure and a special part of my life sure wish I could be with him today to celebrate .
 My treasure for today came in the mail yesterday , our granddaughter Elise told us on Sunday we were getting a letter from her and sure enough it came in our mail box . Elise is three , oh she reminded us of that on Sunday too saying " I'm still three Gammie" not sure why she felt we needed to be informed but  that is the way she thinks :-) This drawing to me is amazing , just three and to have such coordination ,just wait till you see this .
 Her printing is pretty good for her age and the swirls remind me of a FM design , note how she has them from very small right up to large then at the bottom is Patches , I mean that is priceless and tells me just how important he is in her life . I will show you a close up so you can see more detail .
Isn't that face priceless , she even put the spots at the top of his eyes and the long tail and the freckles on his face .Patches is doing much better now , still has some discomfort with his foot but is now able to stand on it and does walk on it some , thankfully he is healing . She also drew some hearts on here so I guess this is our Valentine Card and it will be placed on the fridge with pride . Don't you just love kids drawings !
 Our hostess for Tuesdays Treasures is sweet Melody of The House on the Side of the Hill   so be sure to hop on over to visit and see who else has a treasure to share . Thanks for stopping by and have a special Valentine's Day with the one you love .
 hugs Sheila

Sunday, February 12, 2012

What I have been up to !

Our little neck of the woods had a rain storm yesterday , lots and lots of heavy rain fall which eventually turned to snow overnight and everything in sight is now ice . We have a couple of lovely ice rinks in the field , makes me wish I could go skating ;-0
 Now for a little sewing report , first off my friend Annette of In Stitches and Seams  was kind enough to send me a pattern for this sweet candle mat and I finally got around to making it .It was fun to sew and I am pleased with how it has turned out .
Now when you are making this project you use a  template to cut the shapes and therefore  there are some scraps leftover so rather than tossing them or even setting them aside to do later I immediately sewed them together as I cut them and had enough to make this little mugrug ,just need to sew down the binding.
If you will notice  I even practised my FMQ , didn't venture into the feathers that are the feature this month but did the leaves and they turned out not half bad .
 I must tell you that Annette of In Stitches and Seams is having an anniversary giveaway with many wonderful prizes and even some of her patterns so be sure to head on over to visit with her , you will love her work and be sure to sign up to follow her , you don't want to miss out on any future postings .
  Our quilt guild is having a challenge this year , it is our tenth anniversary so we are challenged to make something with ten , it can be ten of anything , ten blocks , well ten of whatever your little old heart desires so after much thought I came up with a plan . I am making a banner for my sewing room , I have made these ten spools and will then add some lettering, haven't quite decided on the title of my room just yet , Sheila's Quilt World or just Sheila's Studio  but for now my spools are ready and waiting for me to sew them together and on to plan B.

 As you know I am taking part in building houses with Terry of Terry's Treasures and this month is orange and I made two blocks , the required number each month but I just was not happy with the real orange block so have made a third block to replace the bright orange block and I like this much better .
I have also decided I will have the same grass area on all the houses to try to tie them all together .
 I know this post is getting a little long but I just want to close off with this sunset from Friday evening , the calm before the storm I guess , it was magnificent .
 Thanks for stopping by , hope you have a wonderful day and be sure to head on over to visit with Annette and sign up for her great giveaway .
hugs Sheila

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Teddy Bear Picnic

I know I am a little late for the picnic but hope there are still some bears and dolls there when we arrive . Today little miss Belle the sweet little  red head is waiting patiently for me to get ready to head out the door. We are joining with Melody of the House on the Side of the Hill and all her little friends today for a wonderful picnic , don't we all enjoy a picnic , hope to see you there .
Thanks for stopping by . hugs Sheila

Monday, February 6, 2012

a sneak peak and some more postcards

I had a few questions on my postcards from the last post wanting to know a few tips to help make the process easier etc. Well , this is what has helped me ,for example, in a postcard such as the selvage card instead of using a background fabric to sew these strips to I used a piece of iron on interfacing and sewed them to the non fusible side . Now your front is ready so lets concentrate on the backing , take your unbleached cotton and iron the timetex or similar product to that , I have tried several different types some stiffer than others and have even just used a couple of layers of interfacing so that part is up to you but personally I like them to have a little stiffness as it gives much better body . Once your back is ready simply iron the backing to the front then do either a satin stitch or a decorative stitch on your machine all the way around the outside edge of the card and you have finished !!! Now to back up a little , if you are using a solid front with some applique applied then you would iron on some lite heat and bond to the back then I just sewed through the paper backing and once the applique was done I removed the paper and ironed on to the backing as above , clear as mud huh :-) Seriously if you have any questions or perhaps suggestions I'd love to hear them. I did a tutorial on how I make postcards , in particular landscape postcards sometime ago which you can check out here http://sheilasquiltworld.blogspot.com/2011/08/postcard-tutorial-and-swap-sign-up.html  The same principles apply to any postcard and I would like to say this is just my way of making cards I am sure there are many others, possibly better ways of doing it .
 Here are two cards I made today .
Both obviously applique and in this case I did it as I mentioned by ironing on the heat and bond on the back of my front then applying the applique and once I sewed around the applique I removed the paper and applied the backing.
 I have also been working on a small project which I will just give a sneak peak as I am not quite finished plus it is a gift. I know I said I was going to work on my SAHRR which I did but then needed a little break , my brain was starting to hurt ;-) So these pretty spring like colors calmed me right down .
 Do you recognize the pattern? It was a lovely break to sew this up and now I must get it quilted . Enjoy your evening and thanks for stopping by .
 hugs Sheila

Saturday, February 4, 2012

postcards

Recently I received a random postcard from a member of a yahoo postcard group I am a member of and the policy is to make one and send one in return so yesterday I got down to business and made a postcard , well I actually made two since I was in the business ;-)
The selvage postcard on the left is the one being sent to the random swapper , a fun way to use some of those colorful selvages . The one on the right just happened , I was tidying up my shelf on my cabinet and came cross the batik , it was a strip left over from another project and I thought it would make pretty hearts , then I spotted the mottled hand dyed fabric a small piece I had for a while and was looking to be used so I cut that and the hearts but something was missing and I remembered having these little doilies so grabbed one and cut  in half and voila , a dainty little postcard ready to mail. I really do enjoy making postcards and each one gets a little easier and I have learned a few tricks to make the process go quicker with better results .
What are you doing today ? I think I may just go work on my SAHRR now ,I have a plan so need to see if it will work . Enjoy your day and thanks for coming by and be sure to come again real soon.
 hugs Sheila

Friday, February 3, 2012

The postman arrived :-)

I love getting the mail when there is a squishy there with my name on it and yesterday there was one and then today there was another . Yesterday these adorable little buttons that I had won  arrived from Incomparable Buttons in South Africa ,thanks so much Tamara , they are just too cute and I will sew one on a crazy patch block later today .
Then when hubby arrived home for lunch he brought in the mail and this sweet little bundle was for me :
I should have taken a picture before I opened it but I was too anxious to see what was inside . I had won this cute little needlecase made by  Val of Val Spiers Sewsand she included this bright sunny yellow organza and some matching ribbon .Thanks so much Val ,I really appreciate it ,just love it!!
 I have no sewing updates today , I have been trying to figure out my applique for the SAHRR , had some leaves cut and realized it wasn't what I wanted so spent most of yesterday afternoon going through my magazines and books trying desperately to find the pattern for the block I used for the center to see how the rest of that quilt was made , did I find it NO! Now I think I must have borrowed that book from the library as I think I have gone through most everything I own and no luck . No problem I still have a plan just was looking for more inspiration and I am about to cut a few more leaves to see if I like these any better .I also have a postcard to make today , should have done it a while ago but kept putting it off so today is the day .
Do you want to see what it looks like out my back door today ? We have had a fair amount of snow the past couple of days so things look amazingly beautiful , love the look of fresh snow  ;-)
 For those of you who are sweltering with the heat , this is for you , I am sure it will cool you off just looking at this ;-)
 Thanks for the visit and be sure to stop by again real soon.
 hugs Sheila

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

WIP Wednesday

It's a snowy day here in Nova Scotia, small little flakes that are gathering quickly , never a good sign .However it is a perfect day to stay inside and stitch ,so I will give you a little update on my progress this week , where to start , I have so many things on the go these days ;-)
Let's start with the houses since I made two this morning in shades of orange .
 Not bad but I did learn something don't use plaids in the roof as you are making half square triangles and they may not match up , infact they do not match up , I may take that apart and change it up for a solid  . If you are interested in taking part in the house building industry be sure to check with Terry of Terry's Treasures  .
Here is my village so far , before you know it I will have a town built ;-)
I am also now caught up with the Autumn BOM with  Rana  , you will see the little pumpkin icon on my sidebar. This month it was to be 8.5" string blocks in our background fabrics which for me are the tans and beiges .
And finally I have started to work on the applique for my SAHRR with Sunny of Quilting Dreams .
Not much to show here as nothing has been ironed on yet and only some have even been cut but I am going to applique oak leaves and some acorns in the space between my log cabin blocks .
 With this RR  I am trying to use up fabrics that are leftover from other projects I have made in the past and so far so good ,not sure how far I can actually get with what I have on hand but will give it my best shot . 
 I am linking up today with Monika at the Needle and Thread Network , be sure to stop by and see what others have been working on this week and thanks so much for stopping by.
 hugs Sheila