Starry progress and a finish

A year ago Darlene from A Needle Pulling Thread quilt shop gave a challenge to make a 6"star block each week for the year.  I decided I would join in , sounded like fun and it really was , I loved making these tiny stars .

Here are my 52 stars plus I made the larger stars for the center to make this a little larger , still not that big so a border is probably in the future but not right now,  I have to ponder on that for a little . These stars were all made from a FQ bundle I won a few years back and are called Lined Dried , they have an old fashion quality to them and remind of the dresses my grandmother wore or her aprons as well . Darlene has another challenge this year but I think i will pass , just too many other things on my plate .
Now for my little finish , you must all remember that I also have a love of all things wool, well last fall I started this sewing roll but didn't complete it until this week . I only had a small amount left to do so not sure why I put it off .

The black wool was once a scarf that I felted , so yummy and soft , almost felt guilty cutting,  almost lol . Here is the inside ....

It has a place for everything so will be extra handy to take along for handwork.  This is a pattern by Lynne Hagmeirer of Kansas Trouble fame. I found the pattern in a book by Lynne called Seeds of Time.

I am on the run tonight so thanks for stopping by and hope the world is treating you well .
Hugs Sheila

My first finish for 2017

Here we are well into the New Year and I am only now getting around to posting . Life can be busy at times . I trust you all had a lovely Christmas and a Happy New year,  we enjoyed a wonderful visit from our son and family which makes any holiday that much more special .
 I have been busy sewing , some I can't share as it is secret and some I simply haven't taken photos of but I can share this finish with you . In 2015 Kaaren Johnston of the Painted Quilt challenged us to QAL with her in a mystery quilt . The first set of blocks was all I needed to see , they were house blocks and I love house blocks so I decided to take on this challenge and I am so glad I did . My plan was to only use what I had on hand and I did manage to do that quite nicely,  you see I own a lot of scraps and I figured this was a great way to use some of those up . Well I can't honestly say it made much of a dent but every little bit helps and I have a nice quilt as a result.

I finished sewing on the binding on Sunday during a snow storm . I prepared it on Saturday incase we lost power I would have some handwork to do . Well we didn't loose power thankfully but I enjoyed being wrapped up in this quilt as I stitched away . Lynda Campbell in Mabou machine quilted this for me in the fall but I never got around to sewing the binding on until now . Thanks Kaaren for a great pattern , I really enjoyed making it .
 I have so many projects on the go right now,  I am not sure if I am coming or going.  Our guild is doing a BOM which I have been coordinating so I have to stay on top of the blocks each month.  Well this week I decided I would finish off all 20 blocks so I can concentrate on getting them hand quilted . You see I am doing a quilt as you go method I have never tried before . I hate using a hoop so am basting then quilting each one . We shall see how this all turns out.  Here is a block I just prepped , pinned and basted for extra security 😉

This is Martha Washington Star from Quilters Cache,  a lovely block.  Sorry the photo is not the best , it is dark here right now.
I am also finishing off a challenge I undertook with Darlene of Needle Pulling Thread quilt shop in Digby , this was a star a week for 52 weeks . I loved making these little 6"blocks , I usually hate repeating things but for some reason this was never a problem with the Stars.  So now that I have 52 stars the biggest challenge came with how to make the best use of them . I have a plan and I started working on that plan today but won't be showing you until I get a little further along .
 I will let you go for now and I thank you for taking the time to stop by , I promise it won't be as long before I post again . Let's make 2017 the best most creative year ever!
Hugs Sheila

A couple of postcards and a swap

I am so behind at the moment and I have several things to share but limited time to do so , so.... for now I will share the postcards I sent off to my partners in the swap I hosted . The first was sent off to Eglea in  Brazil,  a simple Christmas tree with gifts and thankfully Eglea took a picture as I forgot to take photos of the cards I sent , oops .

The next one was sent off to Annie of Freezeframe  and again I must thank Annie for this picture .

 A Christmas dove for this one . Thanks ladies for swapping with me . Did everyone in the swap recieve their postcards now?  Thanks to those who participated. 

 Now I would like to tell you about a little swap I did with a friend on FB.  Christina and I became acquainted through my son Robert , he also follows her fb page where she shares a daily photo . Christina is an awesome photographer and one of her favorite subjects is horses which I love . It seems she had been admiring my little landscape postcards I posted now and then on fb and one day she asked if I sold them and if so would I sell one to her as she wished to frame it . Since I don't really sell them it came to me that perhaps we could do a swap , a postcard for a photo of a horse , to my surprise she immediately agreed . I was so excited and we discussed and exchanged addresses and I set about deciding on what to make . I went through my fabrics and as often happens they just spoke to me and I came up with this simple little scene . I can't believe it but again I forgot to take a photo of what I sent to her so this was taken by Christina 

This is actually larger than postcard size , probably 6x8 . It is made with all hand dyed fabrics and simple straight line quilting.   Now the best part of this story is yet to come , it seems that Christina had taken a picture of our son when he was a member of the Musical Ride years ago . I knew Rob had met her but wasn't sure whether she had any pictures of him so was thrilled  when this photo arrived in the mail . 

 Such an awesome picture of an awesome son ! She did send along another photo of a horse but this is the one that really made my heart swell with pride.  An exchange well worth having for sure ! 

 I will not likely get back here before Christmas so before I go I want to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas,  may it be filled with joy and all the best the season may bring.  

 Hugs Sheila 

Some mail and a finish

Good morning , it is a cloudy and cold day here today but no precipitation so that's a good thing . I have received some lovely mail this week , the first one arrived from Lin , a very creative and rather elegant Christmas postcard.

Thanks so much Lin , it was a lovely surprise .

 On Tuesday morning I received not one but two postcards , my partners in the swap . I will share Annie's card first . 

Joy indeed to recieve such a lovely card . I love the idea of the fabric border , really sets it off , thanks so much Annie ,  I love it .

 The next postcard is from my dear friend Eglea in Brazil and the neat thing is both our cards arrived on the same day . 

A beautifully wrapped Christmas present and Eglea told me to look inside the present and I thought what could possibly be inside , well here it is , just incredible . 

This teeny , tiny origami Christmas dove of Peace or as it is spoken in Portuguese , Paz .  A wonderful symbol for Christmas especially in these troubled times . Thanks so much Eglea ,  I love the card as well as the little dove . 

Now you may think that I had a really great day receiving two postcards on the same day and yes I did but it did not stop there , I also received a package from my friend Karen whose is off to warmer places for the winter months , lucky lady . Karen sent me an early birthday gift , this gorgeous landscape fabric as she knows I love creating landscapes 😊

This picture doesn't do it justice , it will really  enhance a landscape and I can't wait to give it a try . Isn't the card cute too , suits me just perfect .  Thanks Karen ,  you are a wonderful friend . 

 I finished up the quilting on Isaac's quilt a while ago but just never got around to posting it . I will say the quilting took me much longer than the construction of the top , that border took forever but I do like the look . 

As you can see I went with very simple quilting , thank goodness I did or it would never get finished . Since I hurt my back last December my ability to sit for long times at the machine are very limited so I have to choose the best possible way to get things done . 

 I think i have kept you long enough this morning ,  hope you have a fabulous day , remember it is up to you , you can choose the kind of day you wish to have .  Thanks as always for stopping by I really appreciate your visits .

 hugs Sheila 

What I am working on today

I bet I am the only one who hadn't heard of Minecraft , well until I asked my son what quilt I could make for my  grandson and he suggested Minecraft I hadn't heard of it nor had I seen any that I remembered.  I looked on Pinterest and came across a few photos so went to work cutting and sewing blocks . Pretty simple construction which is really good when you don't have a lot of time . This has to be finished and off to Saskatoon  for Christmas , oh but I work well under pressure lol .

 Not much of a picture but I will share more once I get it quilted . The quilting like the quilt will be very simple just a simple x through the blocks .  Oh I know it isn't all that exciting but I know Isaac won't care and it will be very washable which is important .  I am now all caught up on the Splendid Sampler blocks ,  finished the latest one yesterday , whew , that felt good , didn't want to get behind as I tend to leave things once I get behind and after all this work is didn't want that to happen .  I will show you the latest ones I have done .

So as you see I had fallen behind . 

 Okay , break is over , time to tackle that quilt again , oops before I go I want to mention to those taking part in the postcard exchange to get those cards made and in the mail before December 1st , thanks so much . One of mine arrived yesterday,  yeah . 

 Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day , it is a wet cold one here but no snow yet 😉

Hugs Sheila