WIP Wednesday

Its that time of the week again , I have a few things in progress some of which I can not share just yet but I did make this little sundress for my granddaughter today ,I had some fabric left from a dress I made for another granddaughter so figured I might as well make another , this is a slightly different pattern and I sure hope it fits as I have not seen Sophia in over a year and a half and of course she has grown a lot since then .

Simple little dress with ties at the shoulders , I do love this print :-)
 Have you noticed the new icons on my sidebar , well I am taking part in the Red ,White and Blue Blog Hop July1-8th and you can click on the icon and see the schedule of those participating , my day is July 3rd so I have been busy making lots of blocks to share with you , here is just a little sneak peak .Be sure to check the list of participants and did I mention that there might be giveaways ;-)

 I don't think this reveals too much other than it is red , white and blue ;-) I am also now signed up for a Think Christmas blog hop which takes place July30  to August 3rd. and the icon is on my sidebar for that one as well.I have made a start on those blocks too but won't show you just yet .
 I am linking up today to the Needle and Thread Network ,be sure to stop by and see what others have been up to this week. Thanks for the visit .
 hugs Sheila

One Christmas Item a Month

It is that time of the month again , June sure seemed to disappear . I actually had to scramble today to finish off these two little items for my Christmas box , Both stitcheries that I have shown earlier in the month are now finished projects .

The large pincushion on the left was a Friday Freebie pattern from Kaaren of the The  Painted Quilt  , a fun little project and I finished it off with some rickrack along the edge . The little tag was also a free pattern but I do not have the link for that handy , sorry . Then the other little pincushion I may have shown before but I don't think I have , anyway this was a block from a mini quilt that I had made and I found the colors blended too much so rather than throw it out I made this very tiny pincushion :-)
 Thanks to Narelle of Pins and Whiskers for hosting this monthly event , it does keep a person thinking about Christmas . Thanks for the visit and guess what , the sun is shining :-)
 hugs Sheila

Sunday Musings

Rain, Rain go away , come again another day . Do you think if I sing this loud enough Mother Nature will hear me ? Actually at the moment it has stopped if only temporarily and the ground probably does need this moisture but I would still love to see and feel that sun .
 I'm late posting this but the mailman arrived on Friday with squishes for me , yes not one but two squishes in the same day . The first one was from Annette , I had won a giveaway on her blog In Stitches and Seams . 

This little tool is very useful to create accurate cutting , the one shown you place on your ruler on the backside and it gives an edge to guide along your fabric where you want to cut , there is also one that you place on the bed of your sewing machine to guide your fabrics for perfect 1/4" seams . Annette was also sweet enough to include this fat quarter of fabric , I have plans for something for my grandson  with this , Thanks so much Annette .Talking about Annette, be sure to head over to her blog and take note of the Vote for me button at the top , she has advanced to the next level in the McCall's design contest ,you really must see the quilt she has designed for this level it is amazing and you can vote  once a day ,everyday until July8th so be sure to vote for your favorite quilts in both the amatuer and professional level , here is the link to their site .http://www.mccallsquilting.com/contests/Quilt_Design_Star_2012.html There are some wonderful quilts in both levels , well worth the visit .
 The next package I had to have Bill go pick up at the postoffice  as it was a little too large to fit in our mailbox , oh so what could be inside you ask . Well to my delight there was a package of wool for the Hannah and Harrington BOM , I won this by completing a T in the Bingo game with Tonya of Hillybilly Handiworks . I had so much fun with the Bingo and was delighted to learn I had won .

 You can't really see all the wonderful colors in this package , I am so happy with these and maybe now I will get back to working on the Bom , I have been a little slack with that lately ;-) Thanks so much Tonya , I really appreciate this great win. Thanks also to Sharon , Marcia,Snoodles and Tonya for hosting this fun event , it was a blast .
 Now if you are wondering if I have been at the sewing machine at all , well I have done a small amount . Our quilt guild is in its Tenth year and each year we have a quilt to sell tickets on and this year in honor of our Tenth anniversary we are making 10" blocks that will be made into a quilt for ticket sales . Brown paper bags were given out to those who wished to participate at our meeting this month and there are small amounts of three fabrics which all must be in the block . This was not as easy as I first thought it would be , a 10" block was easy enough but having enough of the fabrics given was the challenge but I searched for the perfect block    that I knew I would have enough of the background fabric for , that was my challenge the other colors were not a problem . So.... here is the block I came up with and I must say I do love this fabric combination.

 It turned out a perfect 10.5" block , whew , that was a relief . So since I was in the block making mode I knew that deep under a pile on my desk was a block waiting to be sewn together ,yes I have been procastinating  on this one , the pieces are small and there are a few of them too. Sometimes I have to really push myself to do things that I have left for a while , so much easier if I do them when I first start . Anyway , I did motivate myself to get it made and here it is .

 This block is for the Autumn BOM that you can find here  and the little pumpkin icon on my side bar will guide you to Rana's blog as well . I am really pleased with this block of which I need to make one more , yikes , oh well it wasn't that bad once I got started but tell me , could you cut this in half now , that is what I have to do to complete this BOM , it will not be easy to slice through this perfectly good block , wish me luck . In all seriousness I have enjoyed this BOM and am quite pleased with it so far , now to get it finished .
 I am off now to start thinking about Christmas , yeah , crazy huh , I signed up for the "Think Christmas"  Blog hop with Lesley of the Cuddle Quilter Fame and Madamme Samm  so better start getting out those Christmas , red , greens and whites and think of some blocks to make , can you help ?
Enjoy your Sunday and thanks for stopping by .
 hugs Sheila

Thursday Happenings

The sun has found us again today , a perfect day to hang out laundry :-) This week just seemed to fly by so I missed WIP Wednesday so I will report on Thursday instead.
 An update on the Red White and Blue Blog Hop , I now have three blocks completed ,I am pleased and to see those blocks and many more wonderful creative blocks be sure to come back and visit on July 1 -16 , you can check the schedule by clicking on the icon on my sidebar .Sorry I can't share any photos of my blocks just now just know they are red , white and blue ;-)
  I had the strong urge to make postcards again so this time decided on landscapes as I have not done those in a while and I really enjoy that challenge of finding what I believe is the perfect piece for the image I have in my mind so these are the two I made .

  And number two ;

A scene somewhere in the mind of moi ;-) no particular destination just a play of fabrics .
I thought I would also share this photo with you , I was visiting with my parents again on the weekend , trying to get their apartment set up and the house cleaned out and in doing so came across this painting I did in 1982 , they don't have room for it so I decided I would like to have it back rather than see it tossed .

 I took oil painting classes for a couple of years and this was during that time , I rather like the bright colors and it is now hanging in my dining room , come winter this sunny scene may cheer me up :-0
 Thanks for stopping by and hope your day is filled with sunshine .
 Hugs Sheila

June 2012 ITV Performance: All the Queen's Horses- A Diamond Jubilee Spe...

As I have mentioned before our son Robert is a member of the RCMP Musical Ride and this year they performed for the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee and this video is of that performance , great video of them doing their routine to the music of the Canadian Tenors , just awesome. It took a while but I was able to spot Rob due to his beautiful smile.

 No sewing yet today but hope to change that shortly . Enjoy your day and thanks for the visit and I hope you enjoy the video , it really is well worth the watch .
 hugs Sheila

FNSI Report

I signed up for FNSI at the last minute , I knew I would be stitching and like the extra motivation this gives to think how many others world wide are also stitching.Thanks to Heidi for hosting this fun event.
 I can't show you my progress on this but I am taking part in the  Red White and Blue Blog Hop in July , the button is on my side bar .I figured since I will be posting my blocks on July 3rd I better get myself into gear and actually make a block or two . Well I have two made so far and plan on making at least one more .

 I have to say this is the first time I have made quilt blocks in this color combination but love them . It just reminds me of summer and a nautical look .I am happy with my blocks so far but you will have to come back in July to actually see the blocks ;-)
 Then I wanted to sit and watch some TV for a while before bed so I worked on this little stitchery by the talented Bronwyn Hayes of  Red Brolly , it is the front of a needlecase and is a free pattern on her blog right now . Click on the link to find the pattern .

 This is super small , you use just one strand of floss for this and there is a lot more work in this than I thought but I do love it . I have a cover for my sewing machine that I made a while back that also has this little quote on it . " May all your weeds be Wildflowers " ,don't you love that quote , some of the prettiest flowers are weeds .
The sun has finally found us so I plan on being outside as much as possible today to soak up some of those vitamin D rays. Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.
 hugs Sheila

What's happening around here

A dull and dreary day here on the east coast , threatening rain but I am threatening it not to start ;-) We did have rain overnight and things are growing leaps and bounds so a little sunshine would feel real good about now.
Not a lot of sewing going on but I did manage to get my stitching done on the June block by Shabby Fabrics BOM , I am always excited to see what the next block will look like and so far have not been disappointed , just love them.

I still need to add the kite tails and do the embroidery for the tail but otherwise it is done.
 I am taking part in a postcard exchange in a yahoo group I am a member of and the theme this time is mini quilt beach blanket so here are my three postcards to mail off .

I rarely make two the same , I like variety in my life ;-) so these are my interpretation of that theme and I am pleased and hope the gals who receive them are as well.
 I hope this afternoon to make at least one of the Red , White and Blue blocks for the July 1st blog hop
 Nothing like leaving it until the last minute .
Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day .
 hugs Sheila