Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Cute as a button :-)

First off I want to say I have turned the corner and I am able to sew and even cut now so life is good :-)  I am way behind on my BOM's but today I thought I would do the August block for Aurifil since the end of the month is so close . This month is a cute little button block
You know I love doing Bom's , it gives me a chance to try out different blocks and challenge myself to go out side the box at times . This block is really cute but I would never make a whole quilt using this block , pretty fiddly but the results are fun and it will look great with the other blocks for this quilt. The other really postitive thing about participating in these events is using up fabrics that may have been around too long .
 I have been working on my Goodnight Irene quilt and have all the rows sewn together now and am presently working on the border blocks , have them made just need to sew them together , yeah , the light at the end of this tunnel is getting closer.  Some members of our guild are making quilts for the veterans unit and this quilt will eventually be for that purpose . I will show you a photo once I get it pieced together .
 My Crazy patch block is also making progress although slower than I would like , I do still have some issues with doing embroidery but it is getting easier . Yesterday I hand quilted at the church  with the other ladies and it was wonderful ,I found my stitching was back to normal and my speed is improving . It is a true blessing to have these things back in my life after these long four months .
 Think I will head on back to the machine so thanks for taking the time to stop by , hope you have a fabulous day .
 hugs Sheila

Thursday, August 21, 2014

A Finish and some mail

Oh Happy day , I have  a finish to share :-)  I should have titled this post " Is it still spring ?" as this project is  a spring runner that was designed by Pat Sloan and was a free pattern on her blog .

 This was a fun little project and I really should do more quilting but that is a bit uncomfortable right now so I am calling this a finish since I won't need it for a long time ....
I also worked on my Good Night Irene blocks yesterday , sewed some blocks together and now have four rows sewn , yeah I think that mojo is back , just need to take it slow .
 I recently won some giveaways , the first one to arrive was these gorgeous fat quarters from Sew Sisters called Winter Wonderland by Bunny Hill /Moda and I won this great prize from Cathy at Blueberry Patch  ,Thanks so much Cathy , they are so sweet .
Then I won this really cute book by SuznQuilts 
What a fun pattern to make for a baby or toddler , thanks so much Susan .
 It is so great to be back in the game and winning these great prizes gives me inspiration to sit and sew . 
Thanks so much for stopping by today , hope you have a lovely creative day .
 hugs Sheila

Monday, August 18, 2014

One foot in the stirrup

Yes I have one foot in the stirrup now so I need to swing that other leg up over and get back in the saddle lol ! I am not referring to horse riding although that would be fun too, I am referring to sewing , you would think after this long time of no sewing I would be biting at the bit to get back at it but my mojo is somewhere else these days ,however yesterday I had a talk with myself and plunked myself in front of that sewing machine and did a little sewing . You see I had this commitment that I needed to fill and I really hate promising something then not following through so I finally made a prayer flag for my partner . The theme was Joy and this is what I came up with .

 To me seeing a butterfly is joyful so that was my inspiration for this prayer flag , a couple of antique coasters on an antique linen napkin along with a butterfly and a crocheted flower and voila a prayer flag that I hope my partner will like. Not exactly much sewing involved but a start in the right direction . Oh I should update you on my crazy patch block.....
Sadly I am behind in this class , I had my family visiting for a week and no sewing of any kind took place then , they are far more important to me . Since then I had tried to catch up but I am having a little problem dealing with the hoop and my wrist . I didn't have too much trouble until I started adding the combination stitches and it is a challenge but I will give it my best shot and see how much I can get done , hope I don't run out of time . 
 I was blessed to have a visit from our son Rob and his family last week , it is always a joy to spend time with them . I wish they lived closer but that is the way it is so I have to be thankful for the time we do get to spend with them . While in the province they visited Peggy's Cove and here is a photo of the family enjoying an early morning visit on the rocks.
Rob, Diane, Caitlin, Christopher and Alyssa . 
Thanks Rob for driving that long distance to spend time with us , we sure appreciate it and loved seeing you all . Love you :-)
 Thanks for stopping by today , maybe by the next visit I will be in the saddle ;-)
 hugs Sheila

Sunday, August 10, 2014

A Quilt show and some mountain biking

Yesterday Bill and I headed for the Canso Causeway so I could visit the quilt show at St. Davids Church in Port Hastings , I can tell you it was well worth the drive , very impressive display of quilts and other quilted items . Lesley the Cuddle Quilter  is a member of this quilt guild and was one of many of the talented contributers to this display .I was so pleased to see that Lesley was present and gave me a personal guided tour of the quilts explaining who had made the various quilts, thanks so much Lesley , it was so nice to see you and spend time with you. Here are some of the beautiful quilts I seen ...

 This is one of Lesley's pretty quilts .
This is Lesley's Country Charmer quilt and I will tell you that pictures do not do this incredible quilt justice, it is just gorgeous , I was so happy to see this one up close .
Next is her Msytery quilt which was a BOM from Darlene Quilts, just beautiful!!
This beauty is made by another talented blogger Karen of Kaholly  , don't you just love it :-)

This lovely Underground Railroad quilt was made by Lesley's friend Barb , our guild did this one a few years back and is a favorite of mine.
I believe this one was also by Barb, a varition of the log cabin .
I can't recall who made this but this quilt is all hand appliqued as well as hand quilted and had won international awards and I can see why , it is so well done and the quilting just blew me away.

This sailboat smaller quilt was also by Barb , I am thinking a tourist will snap this one up :-)
Interstingly this one is hand appliqued wool on a wool blanket , I loved it .

This quilt is being hand quilted by the members to sell raffle tickets on as a fundraiser for the guild and some members made blocks to contribute to the top including Lelsey . I think this is full of scrappy goodness .
This is my attempt to show you how the quilts are displayed on the church pews , so colorful , I think a quilt show in a church is beautiful . To see more photos of this display be sure to pop on over to visit with Lesley right here  .
After the quilt show we headed on up to the Keppoch where our son Chad and family were enjoying some afternoon fun biking .
Getting ready to hit the trails and one of their neighbors is looking on.

Here is Chad and Elise as they cruise around the man made moguls , I think you would call these . Elise sure enjoyed this with her Dad and kept saying one more time Dad while Chad was saying this is tough to navigate with this bike .
This one is Nila cruising around having lots of fun and managing those hills with no problems . They are such a sport minded family , both girls took part in a triatalon in the morning , a first for Elise but Nila has taken part before . They had a great time.
Thnaks for stopping by today and hope I did not bore you with all these photos.
 hugs Sheila