FNSI Report and a finish

I decided to take part in the FNSI  , this is only my second time taking part but I knew I would be sewing so thought what the heck I might as well join the very large group of dedicated participants . I worked on the Row by Row quilt , I took a couple of days off because of my shoulders so it was still waiting to have the binding sewn down , I had started and had one side done , well I am now on the home stretch with just half of one side left to do , yeah , I see a light at the end of this tunnel .

You can see the corner of a gingerbread man well once I get past him it will be complete . Then I must sew on some buttons ,may consider doing those on the machine to save time and energy .
 I also finished this table topper which I am really pleased with and will definitely make more of these with different appliques.

We had a wild storm here on Thursday , high winds up to at least 90 km. and lots of heavy rain as well , it did get colder as the day went on and I was busy in the kitchen and looked out and saw what I thought was ice broken up on the deck but with further inspection it was our patio table , it had exploded into a million pieces , nothing larger than a quarter , what a mess ,it was old so I guess the wind took it by surprise as that has sat there for a long time and the wind generally just goes under and over it without any problem . Surprisingly we did not loose power , I kept expecting that to happen so stayed away from the computer for most of the day .
 I'm off now to get a few groceries and possibly a few gifts although it is not the best time to shop , busy , busy .
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day . hugs Sheila

WIP Wednesday

I'm linking up today to Monica on the Needle and Thread Network ,  if you have never visited this site maybe you should go have a visit as there are lots of wonderful blogs linking up to show their progress for this week . Go on you know you want to  :-)
 So what has been my progress , well I have the top finished for Christophers quilt , it is nothing spectacular but I am pretty sure he will love it as it really suits him . I have been trying to decide if I am able to quilt this on my own and I think I will try to tackle it just stitching in the ditch kind of quilting , it should be manageable , famous last words right .

 The border is just made up of the fabrics I had left over and the binding will be the left overs of the leftovers . While I was deciding whether I could tackle this I tackled the Row by Row Christmas quilt , remember that one , well I finished the machine quilting and then made the binding and sewed the binding on and now I am doing  this .

When watching TV, I have been sewing down that binding and when that is complete I will still need to sew on a lot of buttons for the eyes on some of these characters but I should be able to have this ready for Christmas if I work hard .

I almost forgot I also made some pillowcases for the grandchildren , I had picked up this really cute border print sometime in the summer and thought it would look cute as the band on a pillow case , it is Look and Learn by Moda and reminds me of the Readers we had in school . 

 I haven't gotten back to my little table topper but that is on my finish list as well which unfortunately is growing instead of getting shorter , oh well I can only do what I can do and no more . I hope your holiday preparations are going along well , take time to remember the reason for the season and thanks for stopping by I always appreciate your visits and your comments . hugs Sheila 

Tuesdays Treasures

Good Morning , its time for Tuesdays Treasures with Melody at the House on the Side of the Hill , each Tuesday Melody invites us to share something that we treasure , it can be anything you wish so why not check out what others are sharing this week or even better why not join us :-)
 This week I am sharing something that I have shown you before but it truly is a special treasure and especially this time of year .

I know I have this in my header at this time and I also know that many of you know the story behind this little wall hanging but I have lots of new followers which I am very thankful for so I'd like to share the history behind this project and why it is a treasure to me.  Eight years ago my beautiful granddaughter drew this Santa with chalk on a piece of construction paper at school , I thought the drawing was incredible for an eight year old and I wanted to somehow keep this so what better way than with fabric so I traced off each and every line she had drawn and the beard is made up of several pieces of fabric to show her flowing lines in the beard , the eyes are exactly as she had drawn them and don't you love the shape of his mouth . She also had the snowflakes along the side and this is the size of the paper she used so I didn't alter it in any way . I should have added here that last year for Christmas I made this same wall hanging and gave it to Alyssa as a gift so we now both can hang her incredible work . I think Alyssa is a very gifted young lady and although she doesn't do much in the way of drawing today she is still gifted in music and maybe someday will come back to drawing . Recently she had a birthday so Happy Birthday Alyssa !

Her sister Caitlin also had a birthday recently , Happy Birthday Caitlin , sure wish we could have been there for both birthdays , hope you had some cake for me  :-) Love you both:-)

This is Caitlin with our granddaughter Elise , isn't this picture precious . I have five beautiful granddaughters who are all treasures to me and I have two handsome grandsons who of course are treasures as well . Family is so important and I miss them . I have to say that being a grandmother is the most precious gift anyone can receive , they bring so much joy and love into your life , they are true treasures . Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful day . 

 hugs Sheila 

My Progress so far

This is what Christophers quilt looks like so far , I need to add borders and have made a decision on that so hopefully will get that done this weekend. I am not so sure I am capable of machine quilting this myself , it is quite large , will decide once it is all together I guess.

This is not  a great picture , the colors are way off on the reds and even the blues but you get the idea at least . I am off today to a Christmas Tea with two dear friends , should be a fun afternoon . Enjoy your day I know I will and thanks so much for stopping by.
 hugs Sheila

It's a start and a finish

Oh happy day , Isaac's quilt is finished , all bound with label attached , a very good feeling .

Here it is all folded on top of Sophia's quilt  ready to be mailed off. Now sometimes it takes very little to amuse me but I have to say I thought this was rather neat the way the two dinosaurs lined up almost perfectly to form a two headed dinosaur .

The guy at the front seems to be looking back to see what is behind him , see I told you it takes very little to amuse me :-)
So that is my finish and this is my start , I spent the morning ironing and hand cutting these fabrics for Christophers quilt , it is nearly impossible to get a good cut with the rotary cutter when doing plaids or checks so I did these by hand where possible , they are still not perfect but won't look overly wonky . I think this will be perfect for him , very masculine . I am going to start sewing in a short while , I am expecting my hubby's aunt any minute , she wants me to hem a pair of pants for her so of course I will do that for her . Not my favorite kind of sewing anymore but when she asks I generally try to help her out , she is a sweet lady, she is 87 this year I believe and just amazing , sure hope I am as mobile at that age.

So there you have it , my day is set out before me , so I best get started :-0 Thanks for the visit and hope you get to do something creative today too.
hugs Sheila
 ps. check out the great giveaway here at I like to Quilt Blog   ,Bente has a wonderful giveaway , well worth checking out .