Projects....

This is a huge bag I made to carry quilts in.... or to take stuff to retreats.... the pattern was for a wall-hanging and was free from This-n-That Fabrics..





Some table runners for Christmas gifts......

 

 

A reverse applique pattern, which was given to my sister as a birthday gift..

Christmas with Buster................

a cute little applique pattern..........

Some Christmas projects completed....

The summer flew by.... and I have been so busy at the store.... and not keeping up with my blog as much.... these are some of my Christmas Projects that I have completed.

This quilt was made earlier this summer with fabrics from the Wildwood collection by Camelot Cottons.....

Hockey Season is just about

ended... but I have a customer who wanted  a Hockey Christmas Tree Skirt made for Christmas.  I finished the top at my retreat and quilted it up today.  I had fabric left over so I made her a couple of pillow cases.  I quilted a hockey player into each corner... I am quite happy with it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.....

I can't believe that it is 2010...... I remember 10 years ago New Year's Eve was going to be the end of our computers and electronics.... LOL... time changes....

I was so happy to be able to cross off one last UFO on my quilting list - I quilted my Greenbrier Quilt and am happy to say I believe it turned out great. I love the "prim" look of wool applique.

I also quilted up my Christmas 2009 quilt; the one that used the Northcott panel. I didn't really intend to make a Christmas quilt for 2009 - so this will be the official one!

As with most quilters and sewers, I have a busy 2010 planned. Sending best wishes to all my blogging friends for a wonderful 2010.

Thought for the Day
I said to the Man,
At the Gate of the Year:

"What light cans't thou lend,

to those entering here?

I never have traveled,

This pathway before,

Thy help and thy counsel,

I humbly implore.

How can I discover,

What lieth ahead,

That I may walk safely, Wherever I tread"?

Minnie Louise Haskins

Merry Christmas...

"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem;(because he was of the house and lineage of David) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"

Luke 2

Winter Wonderland.....

we are in the middle of a two-day blizzard of sorts..... roads are bad, temperature not too bad... lots of snow... just perfect for Christmas!


We got the cutest flannel in at the store where I work... I couldn't resist making up a small lap quilt... I am going to back it with black flannel..... I have one more day of work... then off for a few days.... hope to get some UFO's finished.


Thought for the Day
I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!"
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

I received a

wonderful swap this past week - 4 fat quarters of Christmas Past by Moda.... they are just so wonderful.... I need to find a super pattern to make something fabulous out of them.... any ideas???

I had a couple of days to myself and am trying to finish up some UFO's (LOL). I taught a beginner class and had this rail fence to add borders to..... so I did. I am thinking of putting a brown Minkee backing on this one..... and quilting it with pumpkins....

I also put together this quick quilt made from the Benartex panel, from my previous post.. I just absolutely love this little quilt - I usually do a Christmas quilt and hadn't this year.... so now I have one. I have a piece of pale blue Minkee that I will use for the backing.... I don't know why I love backing my quilts with Minkee lately - must be cause it is so warm.

Our weather has warmed up - only about -10 celsius in the day... it's almost summer!

I spent today thinking about my dear friend, Shirley, as she said good-bye to her son.

Thought for the Day

Ghost of Christmas Past: Let's face it, Frank. Garden slugs got more out of life than you.

Frank Cross: Yeah? Name one.

Scrooged, The Movie

We are still in a deep freeze........

here in Northern Alberta. I just came back from a few days in Calgary where I had an early Christmas with my family. I also had a lovely lunch with my quilting buddies.... thanks Noell, Bobbie, Rosa and Shirley - I had such a nice time with you all... even tho my coughing was annoying. I have been fighting a cold that has really bothered my Asthma.... I rarely get Asthma troubles, but when I do it sounds awful. Our weather is supposed to warm up in the next few days, which I am thankful for.

I am all ready for Christmas.... this is the last of my Christmas items that I made - it is a tote bag for Magpie the dog's vet - Dr. Sandra.

Thought for the Day

A Palace without affection is a poor hovel, and the meanest hut with love in it is a Palace for the soul.

Robert Ingersoll

Taken from the book The Footprints Book of Daily Inspirations.

Well.....

it is finally December!!! I have had a busy few weeks getting customer quilts ready for Christmas - I am all caught up and have one to do this weekend (if it arrives) and then I am done.

I spent a weekend at our guild retreat a couple of weeks ago - finished off my Christmas Aprons and a few other gifts. The table runner to the right, is a class I taught at our guild last month... and I made a small bowl to go with it.

We got some great "Olympic" flannel at the store that I work at. It has winter sports and the Inukshuk on it - I made a small lap quilt that I will back with Minkee... might send it to my son who now lives in Vancouver - the Winter Olympic host city for 2010.

Now, I really don't need any more fabric - but I saw this great panel with coordinating fabrics... and just had to have it. It is Winterscapes by Benartex. I love the pastel Christmas colors - of course, if I really put up all my UFO's on the sidebar - I would need another blog!

I am anxiously awaiting delivery of my Cottage Swap blocks to my partners - hopefully they should start arriving soon.

Thought for the Day

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.

Peg Bracken.

A great blog.......

I have been busy, busy working on my cottage blocks for the Cottage block swap that I am in.... pleased to say.... I am almost done. YEAH!!
On another note.... I found a great blog that has FREE patterns for many, many items.... It is called Among the Gum Trees. If you need some great ideas for Christmas this is the place to go
My good friend Shirley also has FREE instructions on how to thread paint various Christmas themes... these are great on quilts, postcards.... anything you want an extra "zing". Check her blog out.

Thought for the Day
So remember while December brings the only Christmas Day, in the year let there be Christmas in the things you do and say.
Anonymous

Happy Halloween........

I cannot believe it is the end of October!!!! Since we have snowy weather today, I spent the day quilting..... and I was quilting holly leaves on a customer quilt- since Christmas isn't so far away.

Last week I finished quilting one of my own quilts - this quilt is vintage fabrics that I completed from a set of Dresden Plate blocks that I received from a retirement centre in Penticton, B.C. I just absolutely love the way it turned out. I have another smaller version of this quilt to quilt, also. There were a couple of Dresden Plates left over... that I sent to a special blogging friend.

Thought for the Day

Knowing others is wisdom,knowing yourself is enlightenment.
Lao Tzu

Lovely Sunday.....

I have had a lovely Sunday.... quilting and relaxing. On my recent trip to Pincher Creek, I picked up some additions to my stash - some great reproduction prints and some colorful prints.....

I also spent some time this weekend making Christmas T-Towels..... this will be added to my stash of Christmas giftees--- hopefully I won't have to buy too much...

Thought for the Day

Be joyful in all you do.

Did you know....

that it is only 4 months till Christmas...... LOL. In the spirit of the season, I completed another apron from my stash fabric that I posted about earlier.





I also finished quilting a Halloween quilt that I started a month or so ago - we got some new fabrics at the shop I work at and I wanted to try a variation of the 4 Patch Posie - instead of cutting the blocks square, the blocks are cut on the diagonal and put back together... came out quite nice, BUT, I have sooo many other things I should have gotten to first - LOL... I will have to put this one on my UFO list - as done. I quilted it with little pumpkins....
Thought for the Day
Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.
Thomas Jefferson

Christmas

is over and we had a lovely, quiet time. The weather has been cold and that has given me an opportunity to get some work done. I finished a beginner class on quilting that I will be teaching on Shirley's Learning FA group. This class will take place in February and it is free. I also pieced and quilted a commission quilt for the daughter of a friend who has graduated college, as well as finished up a few of my swap blocks. So, I am all up todate with most projects.

The last two days, when the weather warmed up, I went walking on the lake. Once in a while you can hear "drumming", which is the water moving under the lake, but the lake is frozen so there is no danger... lots of ski-doos and ice fishers around. This picture on the right is looking towards where I live - I live around the bend to the right.

The picture below is looking out towards the lake, the widest part.

The final picture is looking towards my house as I am coming back from my walk. It feels funny to be taking a picture of my home from about 20 feet out on the lake.....

Thought for the Day

Stand here by my side and turn, I pray,

On the lake below thy gentle eyes;

The clouds hang over it, heavy and gray,

And dark and silent the water lies;

And out of that frozen mist the snow

In wavering flakes begins to flow;

Flake after flake,

They sink in the dark and silent lake.

William Cullan Bryant

Happy....

Christmas Eve... and a Merry Christmas to everyone! The cold has finally let up a bit so we should have a chance to go for a bit of a walk today. I am finishing quilting my Ornament Block quilt and just "putzing" around the house today. I wish everyone a blessed, joyous Christmas.....

Head on over to my friend Shirley's Blog, she has a post about Christmas Eve memories... and a beautiful photo of one of her quilts.

One of my fondest Christmas Eve memories is when I was a young child. My sister is 6 years younger than me, and she "believed" in Santa longer than I did (well, I actually still believe in Santa!). One year after we came home from Midnight Mass, I got to put out her Santa gifts, after she went to bed. She was receiving handmade Barbie doll furniture, made from redwood. It was the cutest little set - handmade blankets with the bunk beds, and little hangers in the wardrobe. She was so excited Christmas morning... I could hardly sleep waiting for her to get up!! When we had our family dinner last week, I brought up that Christmas and she said it was one of her best Christmas memories. Her adult daughter still has the doll furniture.

My favorite memories of Christmas with my children are filling Christmas stockings. My kids think that is the best part of Christmas and still can't wait to open their stockings. About a month ago, my son called and in the course of our conversation blurted out, "We still get our Christmas stockings, right"???

Last Christmas Eve day we had a traumatic event in our household. Our little Boston Terrier, Tooie woke up and couldn't breathe. At four o'clock in the morning on Christmas Eve day we were rushing to the vet. Tooie stopped breathing before we left and I performed CPR (DO NOT ask me how I did this, as I believe Angels guided me through the whole thing!). We got to the vet and found out he had a collapsed trachea caused by an elongated soft palette. He spent the day in the doggie ER and came home that evening. He did have to have surgery earlier in the year and seems to be doing better..... We are blessed and thankful to have our little Tooie still in our lives.

Merry Christmas

Thought for the Day

In the end, only kindness matters.

Jewel

This morning......

was absolutely beautiful... although very cold! As I drove to work the temperature was -39 degrees celsuis (which is -38.2 F) and my tires were like big stones - felt like I was driving a Flinstones car!!! As I came over the crest of a small hill, the sun was beginning to rise in the East and there was a blanket of cloud settled in a farmer's field over the snow...... just so incredibly beautiful. I wish I had a picture to show you.... I thanked God for such a spectacular day....

Thought for the Day
"The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the lustre of midday to objects below"
Clement Moore

I'm so thankful......

I received the most wonderful present from my dear "mom" Shirley - it is absolutely spectacular and I am so grateful for her kindness. Shirley does wonderful landscapes, as well as having a Yahoo group that gives free classes in quilting...... Along with this landscape, there was a handmade quilt holder... very innovative and great for storage. I also received some wonderful thread.... and other Christmas goodies..... I am blessed indeed to have Shirley as my second "mom".

While I was in Calgary, I went to shop at my favorite quilt store, Traditional Pastimes.... AND they had a sale on Christmas fabrics.... well, what's a quilter to do.... I bought myself a new Christmas pattern for next year plus some great new fabrics... This will be my 2009 Christmas quilt...... I will have to update my UFO list for 2009 pretty soon.... I have lots of things I haven't put on there.

My new friend, Jennifer, from Bronze Wombat, has a great tutorial on how to make the folded star patchwork trivet....I have always wanted to make one of these and now I can.... it would be great for Valentine's day or even Easter...Great Job, Jennifer.

Thought for the Day

"It is required of every man," the ghost returned, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and, if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death".

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Be Careful....

what you wish for - LOL.... Well, after being stranded for 3 days in Calgary - I am home.... but oh boy, is it ever cold. It was -35 celsius when I woke up this morning... and so much for moaning about not having snow awhile back. This is the view from my sewing room this morning...

There had been a terrible snow storm in Calgary over the past few days... and while I had a great visit with family and friends.... we couldn't do too much because of the weather. Magpie and Tooie loved gramma's fireplace tho.... and didn't stray far from that!

Come on in......

I thought I would show some of my decorations and how I decorate with my Christmas quilts. I put up most of my quilts on the railing in my house... it gives a good view.

Over the years I have seem to have collected a few snowmen! - they are being watched over by two Santa's in the corner!

This is another snowman that I just love - the little quilt underneath is a cathedral windows that I did a few years ago.

This last picture shows Santa and his elves... and behind Santa is a special little Boston Terrier that spent some time with us last year. Her name was Bubbles... and she now lives in Saskatoon with her new adoptive family.

Thought for the Day
The rooms were very still while the pages were softly turned and the winter sunshine crept in to touch the bright heads and serious faces with a Christmas greeting.
Louisa May Alcott