Happy New Year

This has been a very busy year with my art / business ventures. Lots of new Shimmer Ornaments, Needle Felted ornaments and Fibre Art Pendants were created, a few UFO's were completed and renos on the house are in progress! The days I managed to stitch with friends were indeed precious. Thanks for your friendship.

Our daughter and family made a big move from Chicago to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia in May.

Cookies for my granddaughter, who arrives with her mom & dad tomorrow morning! What a great way to welcome the New Year!!

2017? Who knows what the new year will bring but it will be another interesting adventure.

Thank you for following my blog posts and to those who leave comments. I may not respond to all of them but they are read and appreciated. Happy New Year! I wish you health, happiness, time with family and friends, and lots of fun in 2017!

New Book

I received several books for Christmas. Embroidered Landscapes, Hand Embroidery, Layering & Surface Stitching by Judy Wilford, is one of them. This hard covered book, with 287 pages, has lots of coloured photos and sketches. I've haven't had time to really get into this book but I can see that it will be a great reference. I'm especially interested in her stitching of various plants, grasses and trees. It's a great book for the beginner and experienced embroiderer interested in creating small landscapes.

Judy Wilford has 30 years of experimentation, refinement, and tutoring under her belt, and her process combines and adapts different genres, textiles, traditional stitches, and embroidery styles. Part 1 covers the materials and equipment, lays out a simple landscape, and demonstrates background layering and surface stitching. The second section contains a range of projects, each developing and extending the various techniques. 

Solidwool Ornament

I received a very interesting Christmas Ornament today, from my nephew living in London, England. He knows me very well. When he saw this beautiful Solidwool (yes, wool not wood) tree bauble at a local market, he knew it had my name on it. The tree bauble is one of two classic Christmas designs and in limited numbers (they are sold out according to the website)

I did a bit of research on how it was made. 

"Solidwool is a unique, composite material. A new way of working with wool.
You could say it's like fibreglass, but with wool as the reinforcement instead of glass.

Left with a small batch of waste Solidwool material, they've created a limited number of Christmas Baubles to put the material to use. These are cut and laser etched by Cut by Beam in Cornwall, painted by hand and finished with a black Twool string made from Dartmoor wool.

Very interesting.
Thanks, David, I love it!!

 

Merry Christmas from St. John's

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. To my family, near and far, I wish we could all be together this Christmas. Make memories!  To my friends, I'm glad I have you in my life. To my readers, thank you for stopping by and for your comments. Have a great day tomorrow!!!

Snowflakes

I recently purchased Tanya Berlin's Hapsburg Lace Snowflake Sampler. See it HERE.
Hoping to start it tomorrow at our Wednesday stitching get together.

More Snowflakes

• Snowflake Pillow    
• Free Snowflake Quilt Patterns
• Snowflakes on Pinterest HERE,    
• Free-motion Snowflake
• Hawaiian Snowflakes
• Crochet Snowflakes on Pinterest  HERE
• Paper Snowflakes

Enjoy!!         

I also linked up with The Needle & Thread Network. Check it out.

Christmas Tree

The tree is up and decorated! My gorgeous tree skirt is in place (Joan made the tree skirt for my birthday two years ago). Now, if only the flooring was down in my back entrance so the washer and dryer could be moved out of the front hallway. It should be completed later this week as it takes two days for floor to settle once it's 'glued' down and another two for grout to cure. I keep telling myself that it will be finished by Christmas!

 Links related to Tree patterns, quilts, projects:

• Pinterest:  HERE, HERE, 
• Tree quilt pattern 
• Not a Christmas tree quilt but cute anytime: Trees Quilt Pattern 
• 12 Cozy Christmas Tree Skirts  More HERE 
• Tree Farm Quilt Pattern  
• Quilted Tree Wall Hanging  

Enjoy!!        

Brrrrrr - It's Cold Outside!

Winter has come early to St. John's, NL. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of snow, wind and cold weather and we are having lots of that this week.

Cold Weather Projects:

• Honey Cowl 
• Cute Christmas Yarn Basket Ornament 
• Knitted Snowman 
• Knit Jacket    
• Knitted Mug Cosy 
• Winding Yar

 Several of the links above came from my friend at Magpie's Mumblings.


Enjoy!!

Studio Christmas Tree with Shimmers

We didn't get much in the way of snow on Tuesday. Everything is white but not much accumulation (thank goodness)! I put a small tree in my studio this year and put some of my Shimmer Ornaments on it.

I decided to search for Shimmer Ornaments and found that Kreinik threads has one. Not like mine but certainly an interesting one. Get pattern HERE.

Then there are Shimmer Cinnamon Ornaments. They look yummy!  Recipe included.

I found my own web site showing a few of over 60 Shimmer Ornaments. That page needs to be updated.

Need a small embroidery project, try out the Shimmering Snowflake Ornaments pattern! PDF project guide HERE

I've linked up with The Needle And Thread Network.  Lots of great Canadian sites to visit.

Enjoy!!

Storm Watch and other Stuff!

There's a storm watch for this area over night and tomorrow. I'm glad I visited the fabric store today as I have a small project to sew up. I won't need it until January 1st but I will get started on it soon.

First, I have to gut out the studio in between been carpenter's helper. We will be very busy for the next week finishing the painting of back porch, powder room and hall as well as putting down new flooring. Any sewing will have to be done at night. I'm also hoping to get the tree up this week. This is the latest we've been putting it up.

Enough of that!!

From 2012

Check these out:

• Modern Christmas Tree Quilt or block. One of these trees could be a mug rug or small wall hanging. 
• Freebies for machine embroidery   
• This Table Runner caught my eye. It isn't difficult but takes a little time to do. It's on my to do list one of these days.
• Crochet Owl Basket   I like this one too.
• Christmas Embroidery  (inspiration & free patterns)

I hope you find something interesting!
Enjoy!!

Christmas Tea & Sale

I had a very successful fair at the Anna Templeton Christmas Tea & Sale. And, I purchased a few gifts from other crafters. It's important to support local businesses and I try to do that as much as possible. A special thank you to all who visited my booth.Now, it's time to relax with a cup of tea and put my feet up!
Enjoy!

Winter Couch Quilt

My sister, Joan, has been quilting again. This time, she made a Winter Couch Quilt for her home. It's made out of dish towels and wool batting. Joan got the towels at Ollie's Discount Store, 2 for $1.99 and purchased all 6 packs. The towels were cut in quarters. She added the grey 'It's the most wonderful time of the year' scrap fabric from Hancocks before they closed. 

I think it's a marvelous quilt. Trust my sister to find great bargains!!!

UFO - Snow Happens - IS FINISHED!!!!

Last night, I finished sewing on the binding of Snow Happens! Needless to say, I'm very glad to have it done.

Here's a few more links (snowman related)

• Snowman on Pinterest   
• Playful Snowman Ornament  
• Quilts - Snowmen 
• Applique Snowman  
• Paper Pieced Snowmen 

Enjoy!!             

Tea & Sale

Today was 'set-up' at the Anna Templeton Center for the Christmas Tea & Sale, starting tomorrow. I forgot to take light bulbs for the lights. Thank goodness it doesn't open until 12pm so I will be able to get that done. I'm on the third floor AND there is an elevator! Hope to see some of my friends there this weekend.

Interested in some more links?

• Christmas Sewing Projects on Pinterest    More HERE
• Gift Tote 
• Handmade Christmas Ornaments 
• Free Christmas Sewing Projects  
• 16 Christmas Sewing Projects  
• Small Sewing Projects for Christmas   
• 100 + Christmas Ornaments    

 Enjoy!!      

Since I'm not working on any new Christmas projects at the moment, have a look at the cross stitch tree I did back in the mid 90's. It was worked on glittery cross stitch fabric and is approximately 11" x 15". It was a lot of work but is a favorite of mine. I bought the tiny charms in the USA on one of my trips.

Quilting 'Snow Happens'

I still don't have the binding finished on Snow Happens but several friends asked me how I quilted the piece. So here goes: the sky has loopy loops and the snow has gentle curves  Machine stippling is outside the inner blue border. I stitched in the ditch around the squares. I thought about stitching snowflakes in the sky but, as my granddaughter often says, 'I'm done' !!!!

Here are a few links to check:

• Snowmen Quilts on Pinterest   More HERE  
• Snowmen Quilts 
• Snuggle Snowmen Quilt  
• Paper Pieced Snowmen      
• Mug Rug 
• Snowmen Stitching Patterns on Pinterest    
•  
•  Enjoy!!

Felted / Beaded Wearable Art Pin

I finished a couple of one-of-a-kind felted / beaded Wearable Art Pins recently. Here's one of three. These will be for sale at the Anna Templeton Christmas Tea & Sale this weekend. I will be on the 3rd floor.

Thank-you, Heather for requesting a fish to be stitched on your felted pin. It motivated me to do a few more like that.

Have a look at these links:

• Painting With Beads
• Felting & Embroidery (eye candy)  
• Wet Felting (tutorial)   
• Felted Snowflake Ornament 
• Felt Christmas Ornaments on Pinterest    More HERE
• 11 Felt Christmas Ornaments 
• 30 DIY Felt Christmas Ornaments    

I've also linked up with Linky Tuesday

Enjoy!!

Update on Snow Happens and More!

I have the quilting done on 'Snow Happens'. A big thank-you to Jo, Linda and Carole for their quilting suggestions. I'm working on the binding. Needless to say, I won't be taking any commissions for this one (HA!).

On another note, my brother sent me a photo of his two 'Shimmer' trees. The trees are decorated with only my ornaments. If you click on the photo you will see them.

Now for more links:

• Winter Square to stitch      
• 100 Ornaments to sew    More HERE
• Christmas Cross-Stitch  
• Sewn Ornaments  
• Cross-Stitch Patterns on Pinterest       
• Christmas Stitching on Pinterest   
• 30 Free  Christmas Ornaments  

Enjoy!!

Snow Happens

Finally, my UFO is pieced together, sandwiched and ready for quilting. Now I'm stumped! How will I quilt it? Any help would be much appreciated.

'Snow Happens' is a Bird & Brain Designs by Robin Kingsley.

four of the fabrics used in the border

A few snow related projects:

• Snowmen quilts on Pinterest    
• Snowmen Stitching Patterns on Pinterest, more HERE   
• Free-Motion Snowman  
• Making Snowmen Smiles 
• Free Snowman Quilt and Patterns   
• Snowman Quilt 
• Snowmen A to Zzzz    
•   
• Enjoy!!!            

Making Progress - Part two

My borders are pieced, ready to be attached to the main part of my project. That's a job for another day.

Now check out a few more links:

• Pentagon Folded Star Quilted Ornament
• Textured Tree With Pleats
• Fabric Origami Ornament
• Mini Felted Mitten Ornaments
• Waldorf Stars (paper but very pretty)   
• Christmas Holiday Projects

Enjoy!!

UFO in Progress & Links

Tonight I decided to finish up a piece that was started two years ago. It needed some borders so here's a look at my progress. After cutting out all the blocks, I discovered that I cut two of the blue strips too narrow! Drats! How did I do that? Now I know why I really didn't get into too much quilting (GRIN)! Guess I need to pay more attention and not let my mind wander. I didn't even have the TV on.

So, I've cut more strips cut but I am leaving the rest of the sewing until tomorrow.

Here's a few links to check:

• Handmade Holidays at Sew Mama Sew
• Embroidered Christmas Ornaments on Pinterest
• Gift Card Holder & Mug Rug
• Tree Table Runner  
• The Early Bird  
• Christmas Tree Cushion Tutorial  

Enjoy!!

December!!! Ornament Exchange - Part 3

I love Christmas! The lights, the tree, the decorations, the baking, the food, the goodwill, family, friends, making gifts . . . Need I say more. I will be posting some great links this month so check back occasionally.

Needless to say, the embroidery members did some fantastic stitching. I did not participate in the exchange as there wasn't enough time to do something handmade. My Shimmer Ornaments are lovely and partly handmade but I like to keep my business ventures separate from my guild activities. Maybe I'll have time between now and next year to finally make one to share!!

Here are the rest of the beautiful ornaments from Tuesday evening: