When things don't go quite as planned do it anyway

I am so excited about the postcard exchange we have going that I decided it would be a good idea to get my cards made and sent off . So..... yesterday I had the grand idea to go outside and pick some flowers and flower pound them for my cards and then it happened. Yep , things kind of went the wrong way , they didn't pound like the vision in my head infact one is still on my desk waiting for decision to toss or continue . I was not pleased at all with the one I am about to show you but I wanted to play around and felt this was the perfect place to experiment and so I did and you know it isn't half bad .
                                    
This does not represent the flower it started out as at all but it sort of works , I took the little petals I guess you would call them from a perennial aster I believe , not all that good at identifying flowers and I had to lay them out on the fabric and try to get them to hold still , well that wasn't happening and it was so...... hot out there that I just covered it and hoped for the best and this is what I got . I did some thread work on those petals and pretended the underside looked like that and then those leaves ,well they didn't pound all that perfect either but there was enough green there to make them look like leaves so I sketched in a stem and voila I created a flower ,almost looks like a thistle if you have a great imagination. I have the most fun when it really doesn't matter if it works , sometimes they turn out to be the best . I won't be sending this one out but thought I would share my little experience . I did get my cards ready though and had such fun with them , and no they are not flower pounded , I had enough heat for that day .  Hope my partners like them , they will be in the mail shortly and land in your mailbox in the near future . I really want to thank everyone who signed up for this swap and I am so looking forward to seeing what each of you create .
 I should also report my sewing for FNWF's hosted by none other than the talented Cheryll 
                                                         
This is what I was sewing last evening , my postcards , want to see them ?

 Oh look at that someone turned them around on me , guess you will just have to wait until my partners receive them. Thanks so much for stopping by this very hot day and have a great day.

 Hugs Sheila

How small is small ?

Have any of you noticed the challenge that has been set out on Temecula Quilt Co., the challenge is Summer Sewing and making one basket block each day for the month of July . I had printed off the pattern straight away since I love baskets but did not have time to start , however when I seen Darlene's adorable basket today on her blog that was the push I needed . I got busy and started cutting and then sewing and voila , my first basket .

Now how small is small ? This is small by my standards, it is only 2.5" , this is set on a 7" sqaure I have cut for some pinwheel blocks I am making  so now you can compare sizes , small isn't it but it was indeed fun to make . I would say this would really be a great lesson in accuracy , not easy to hold these tiny pieces and sew straight .
 Do you like adventures , I love them and last evening Bill and I set off on a little adventure up the side of a mountain , the road left lots to be desired as we climbed slowly and carefully over the rough terrain . The long climb was worth it , just look at the view below.

This was actually not the highest point in our trip but the best for photos as vegetation would prevent seeing much at the top . It was wonderful , a clear evening and lots of wildflowers around . This really intrigued me , I had to investigate closer when I seen these tiny pink blossoms close to the ground and when I walked over I was quite surprised that they were indeed wild roses.

I have never seen them grow so low ,notice what is beside them , coal . Then there were plenty of these brillant yellow flowers , I remember picking these for my Mom at the racetrack when I was a kid , just love that yellow!

I don't know the name of them but they were plentiful and very showy  .
This wild shrub which I think is mountain laurel but I really am not sure  was along the roadway and a lovely shade of pink .

We didn't venture too far into the woods are there are bears up there and as much as it would have been neat to see one I am ok with not seeing one too ;-)
 Has everyone who signed up for the postcard swap gotten a name and address other than Sunny and Jan ? Jan your email came back to me so please email me with your address , thanks !Please let me know if I missed you , thanks.
 Have a great day and thanks for stopping by , it sure is a hot one here today .
 hugs Sheila

Postcard Swap Details

Good morning , another gray day here but no rain so far .  Thanks to everyone who showed interest in joining the postcard exchange , it should be lots of fun .  Here is my list so far , Joanna, Fiona, Karen, Maria, Janet, Sharon , Raewyn, Pauline, Annette , Judy and myself . This the last call for anyone who wishes to join  , please let me know today  and I would ask each of you to please email me your snail mail address so I can give it to your partner along with your email address please . It would be great if we could get at least one more to make it an even dozen . The postcards are to be mailed no later than August 3rd. which gives you a full month to make and send it on its merry way . I almost forgot , before you send your postcard be sure to take a photo and then when you receive your pretty card please take a photo and post on your blog and if you would be so kind as to also send one to me so i can also post ,thanks . it would also be nice to let your partner know when you receive the postcard by email .Thanks so much for taking part in my little swap, I know you will have fun. Here are two cards I made yesterday , simple little flower themes .

and number two

Have yourself a great day and thanks so much for stopping by.
hugs Sheila

July Plans

It is so frustrating , when I try to download photos onto my blog by choosing files it simply will not allow me to do so ,it will not respond  so you will have to forgive me for the way these will be set up until I can figure out what is going wrong I am loading them from Picasa using the blog this button  . Can someone give me a free software I can download ?
 First off this little mug rug was made using some of the scraps left over from the aprons , I hope to deliver them today and I will give her this as well .


So my UFO plans for this month include the following three , first off the hexies that I have made quite some time ago andI had  even made one block which  will be my plan for these flowers .

This is my plan to make basket blocks and include three hexies into each basket , I do think I will add some leaves and stems in the next one . One thing that will change is the background I have used this one up so will need to pick up something similar , oh dear that means shopping , what a girl has to do ;-)
 

Next up are these nine patch plus snowball blocks that I exchanged with my friends that I sew with on Wednesdays .I have rearranged these some since taking this photo and will likely arrange again before stitching ,not sure if I will add sashings , what do you think ? I may change the shape of this too , it was just easier to place it on the design wall this way  .

I also want to stitch together these crazy patch blocks from way back when I was doing Crazy Quilting Fridays with Betsy of  quiltingfiesta.blogspot.com  . I had made quite a few light blocks which I did finish into a quilt and still had these dark blocks which I think I will need just a few more to make this work but I enjoy making them so no problem there and it will be so nice to get this finished at least into a top .

 So I am linking up with Carrie for Nothing but UFO's .

Thanks for stopping by on this trying to be sunny July morning , have a wonderful day doing something creative and fun  .
 hugs Sheila

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day !!
Thanks for stopping by and for all my Canadian followers enjoy your special Holiday celebrating this great country we live in . 
hugs Sheila



Ok , my regular way of downloading photos is simply not working so lets see if this works . These are my finishes for June
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