Pincushions

It seems The Peekaboos (pin cushions of Hilary Simpson) were a hit by you, the readers, as well as Gale, my granddaughter. She received the gray cat in the purple ceramic dish. Click on the link above to see the one I mean. Gale said it was 'Sooooo cute!'

Here are a few links to other 'cute' pin cushions:

• French Hens 
• 100 + Pincushion Patterns
• A New Pincushion 
• EPP Diamond Pincushion 
• Pincushions on Pinterest HERE,    
• Pincushion Fillings     
• Tilly the Turtle           

  

Cats!

I was just watching this cat chase its tail and be a real clown! We had a cat for 18 years so I know the antics they get into. This one is no exception.

My newest cat shimmer reminds me of Holtzmann above (I think it's the ears). Yes, Holtzmann. Gale named the kitten after her favorite lady Ghost Buster - go figure.

• Cat Quilts on Pinterest HERE,  HERE,
• Cat Mini Quilt 
• Happy Cats  
• Paper Pieced Cats 
• Fat Cats 

Enjoy!         

Spring Walk

I landed in Halifax yesterday afternoon to dense fog and very heavy rain. Today, however, the temperature hit 19C with clouds and sunshine, so that definitely meant a long walk. Spring has finally come to this part of the country.

The forsythias were in full bloom. Don't you just love the delicate colour of this early blooming tree!

 

Gale took this one. The stream flows by on the back of their house. 

• Images of Quilted Landscapes - lots of eye candy
• Tutorial on making a Landscape Quilt
• Quilt Landscape on Pinterest HERE, 
• Landscape Quilt on You Tube Part 1,  Part 2,  Part 3  Worth a look

Enjoy!

Workshop at Espanola

As you may already know, I've been invited to teach at the Espanola Fibre Arts Festival in October. My Felted Fibre Art Pendants were of particular interest. Some of the details for this workshop, can be found HERE.  Registration starts May 1st.

I've driven through Northern Ontario many years ago so I'm looking forward to spending time in Espanola.

Sunrise / Sunset

My brother took this photo a couple days ago. It's somewhere between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. He said it was a smooth crossing on the ferry and NO ice to be seen.

Eye Candy with the sun as a focus:

• Sunset Frolic wall hanging
• Sunset 
• Sunrise and Sunset in the City 
• Sunrise - Sunset on Pinterest HERE 
• Sunset on the Mountain Pillow 

Enjoy!            

Sewing Projects for Mother's Day

I've found a few links with some projects to consider for Mother's Day. However, these projects aren't limited to just one occasion and you might want to make some of these for yourself!

• To keep mom organized (or yourself), there's a free organizer basket HERE.
• I found this Pill Bottle Survivor Kit interesting and relatively easy to make.
• 10 Mother's Day Gifts to Sew 
• Mother's Day Sewing Gifts HERE & HERE   
• More Gift Ideas HERE 

From Joan's garden in Tennessee!

 

East Coast Living Magazine

My daughter, Jill, was very excited today. East Coast Living Magazine had been into KEW, Dartmouth, and took photos of her paintings and promoted them on their face book page and on Twitter. Their comment is below. (I copied it from Face Book so the links don't work)

To see more of JIll's work, please go to the link above. And don't forget to tell others to check out her art.






Enjoying this evocative painting by artist Jill Thirza Cooper titled "Escape Under Blue" at KEW in Dartmouth, N.S. A number of Jill's works are displayed there now. In May, KEW will be moving to new digs at St Joseph's Square in North End Halifax.

Underwater Fantasy - Work in Progress

Finally, all the Shimmer Ornaments that were stitched are packaged! Now I can concentrate on other things. I started an Underwater Fantasy before I fractured my arm in February. Today, I picked it up again.

Most of what you see has been stitched free-motion with the sewing machine. I just started to couch the cording to the right. You can see some of the decorative yarns that I've gathered for this series of 5 x 7 pieces. Some of them remind me of seaweed and other underwater plants.

The Peekaboos!

Some Good Market was back in town today. Hillary Simpson, Because I Felt Like It, had posted her newest product: The Peekaboos, on Face Book! She is making these in collaboration with Pottery With A Purpose.

Her cute pincushions caught my eye on Face Book and I just had to see them. Did I get one? Yes! Two of them. One for me and one for Gale. Gale has a gray kitten and her favorite colours are pink and purple so you know which one is for her. Me, the bright red pot caught my attention.

, felti

Here's a few of the items Hillary had today:

Temari Ornaments

I don't know what's up with blogger but yesterday, Wednesday's post didn't show so I re-posted it to Thursday! Now I notice that there is no Thursday post when I did the post yesterday. I give up! Go figure . .

In any case, I've missed a day in April!

Verna has been busy with creating more Temari Ornaments. Did I mention that Lorraine, at Colour Compliments, has commissioned her to make a few more Temari? Verna uses Lorraine's hand dyed threads.

I believe I've shown this one before but whose counting. I wasn't sure when I took the photo this afternoon.
Enjoy!

View From The Rooms

I thought this had been posted yesterday! I just discovered it was still a draft - what a bummer! Oh, well, better late than never.

So: Yesterday I made a delivery to The Rooms Gift Shop. While there, I took several photos from the 3rd floor. Have a look at the ice just outside the harbour! Apparently there are over 600 icebergs along the coast of Newfoundland. No wonder it's so cold these days. Brrrrrrrrr . . .

A few years ago, I created the textile piece below, and it is called 'View From The Rooms'. It was taken from a different angle than those above.

View From The Rooms

Travelling This Summer?

The weather around here certainly doesn't seem like spring. It was freezing today. However (wishful thinking), it can't stay cold for ever. Soon, school will be out and families will be thinking of road trips. Well, I found this FREE pattern / tutorial for a car organizer. I'm sure you can custom this one to suit your situation.

I also found an easy Zipper Phone Pouch Tutorial. Another great travel companion.

Travel Sewing Projects on Pinterest HERE, 
10 Travel Sewing Projects 
Free Travel Bag Patterns    
Travel Sewing Case Tutorial   
Small Travel Bag perfect to take along a small project to work on

Enjoy!

Maple Leaf

Maple Leaf Shimmers were stitched out this morning. This design is an older one but I haven't stitched it out in red in quite awhile. Since this is Canada's 150th Birthday, I thought it fitting to do it again.

Sticking with my Canadian theme, check out the Canadian Quilters' Association Pinterest page. Lots of interesting boards to explore. Don't forget the Instagram page and Blog.

• The Canadian Flag on Pinterest (quilts, wall hangings, pillows . . .) 
• Quilting in Canada  
• Upper Canada Quiltworks  
• Canadian Mystery Quilt   
• List of On-Line Canadian Fabric, Pattern & Notion Shops  
• Victorian Quilt Designs  

This list is just the tip if the iceberg.

There are lots of interesting Canadian sites to visit. I did a very quick search.

Enjoy!
             

Making Memories!

I hope you had a great Sunday and spent it with family and friends. Lots of CHOCOLATE?

My goal with this blog is not to present personal 'stuff'. However, I'm going to ignore that for once. The important thing in life is making memories and I had a memorable moment tonight. And yes, I'm bragging just a little!

We skyped with our 6 year old granddaughter who is in kindergarten or Primary as they say in Nova Scotia. Usually, it's me reading stories to her. My Easter surprise: Gale read me the complete original version of Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. I was flabbergasted to say the least. What was cute, after each page, she turned the book so I could see the picture. Making memories are so important don't you think?

To end the Easter Day, here's one of Verna's Easter Egg Temari Ornaments. Beautiful, as usual, Verna.



One link:
How to Sharpen Scissors  Has anyone tried this? I have a scissors sharpener by Fiskars (below) and never gave a thought to the methods mentioned in the blog.

Happy Easter

Egg dyeing with Gale in Chicago a few years ago!! 

I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow and you receive CHOCOLATE!!!


Enjoy!

Puzzles & More

Do you like puzzles? Jig Saw, that is. I've loved them since I was a kid. However, I haven't done one in several years. Just too many other things taking up my time. I did spy this one by Gunnel Hag  (click start a new game).

For those of you who aren't familiar with this fibre artist, go HERE and HERE. She is the artist who introduced me to the fabric dyeing method of the Colour Vie Pigment System. All the skies and water, that are in my landscapes, were dyed using this system. It is a fabulous environmentally friendly fabric dyeing method.

I used this method for the sky and water, in the piece below. The hills in the distance were printed onto silk from my computer and then appliqued to the background. The foreground is pieced and appliqued in place. This one was on exhibit at the Waterloo & Area Quilt Festival quite a few years ago.

In All It's Glory

For a few puzzles check HERE!

Enjoy!

Spring Ideas!

Happy Thursday! I hope you are ready for the holiday weekend. The focus here these days, is house renos. And I'm trying to get my orders finished. This year, The Rooms Gift Store, has added Shimmer Ornaments to the Fibre Art Pendants, that they already carry. The embroidery machine has been working overtime these days.

• I realize that this is the Easter Weekend and these sewing projects are a bit late, BUT - there's next year, right?  18 Easy Spring Sewing Projects    
• All Free Sewing presents these Spring Projects   
• Creative Ideas for Sewing & Quilting from A Great Notion, Spring 2017
• Spring Sewing Projects from All People Quilt   
• Sew Gal has lots of Scrap Sewing Projects for the Home

Enjoy!!

Happy Colours!!!

Working

I have been working on getting my workshop materials ready for next Monday's deadline. The workshop in Espanola, Ontario, isn't until next October, but all the promotional materials have to be done well in advance. I will keep you posted on the festival.

Shimmers are on the embroidery machine. New orders came in today! Busy times . . .
Here are a few links to check:

• Your Whims Wednesday #302  (My Girlish Whims)
• Embroidery Tutorials (I love the french knots)
• Needle & Thread Network 
• Mini Crochet Easter Eggs Basket (borrowed from a friend's blog)
• Free Bunny Applique 
• Mini Tote Bag (Free PDF)         

 Enjoy!

Here's a applique quilted piece that was made in the late 90's. The light background is Sashiko. The thistles are dimensional.

Linking up with The Needle & Thread Network!

Tuesday Links & More

It was another beautiful day here in St. John's. The thermometer out back reached 20C. I couldn't believe my eyes! I was out for a good portion of the day so not much got done in the studio.

So, I'm linking you up with some Tuesday Links and a few other things!

• Freemotion by the River  
• Totally Terrific Tuesday Link Party # 128
• Fabric Tuesday and Bountiful Blog Tour   
• Quilt Show Badge Holder   
• A Toast to Coasters  

     More flowers from Joan's garden in Tennessee!
  

Enjoy!

Projects for Mother's Day Gifts

Another sunny, spring day and the snow is disappearing quickly. Mother's Day is in May and I've found a few projects that might fit the bill.

• Free Bag Patterns at My Go-Go Life
• 9 Sewing Tutorials from Sew Can She  
• No Slip Dish Towel 
• Jewelry Travel Bag 
• Fabric Basket with Drawstring Top 
• Arm Chair Pin Cushion & Sewing Pocket Tutorial     

     

Flowers from my sister's garden in Tennessee!

   Enjoy!!

Needle Felting

This afternoon, with the sun shining in my studio window, I did a bit of needle felting. I totally ignored my felting machine as I wanted to see how long it would take to do a piece 4" x 6" using a single needle. The felting machine is much faster. However, on another note, the surface texture was more pronounced than from the machine. The machine tends to flatten the piece out. Flattening out isn't an issue, as that can be fixed with the addition of more fibres and gently felting into them.

I started out with two pieces of dark gray felt and added wool roving, bits of cut up felt and yarns.

 Usually, using a sparkly thread, l will free motion stitch over a piece that will be used for wearable art. I didn't do that for the first two pendants below. Instead, I hand stitched into the felt.

You can see the back stitch in the oval. I used lime green purle cotton #5

beading completes the pieces (colours are a bit off in this shot)

Meadow Mystery Quilts

I was looking at some of today's mail and came across Meadow Mist Designs. For the last 10 months, they were promoting a mystery quilt contest. To their surprise, 266 quilts and quilt tops were entered! WOW!

You will need a cup of something while you view all the entries. 25 winners were randomly chosen. 

I'm not affiliated with this site but thought you might like to have a look at the quilts.  Check them out HERE.

Coffee Time / Tea Time

Coffee Time, according to my brother, Don!! Tea for me and could be hot chocolate for someone else. But whatever you prefer, it would make a nice addition to any kitchen. In fact, with the scrappy quilt look of the glass, it would even make a great quilted wall hanging.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that stained glass patterns would make interesting quilt patterns.
I hope you have a productive day.
Enjoy!

Crazy Quilting

Today was a 'crazy' day! Enough said.

Have a look at this cushion cover. It's been in the upstairs office for years on the old wooden rocker my parents bought when I was born.

Judy, do you recognize this one? You made for me many moons ago and it still looks as good as the day I received it. Beautiful! To the crazy quilters, who do exclusively hand embroidery on their blocks, this one is machine stitched.  Have a look at Today's Crazy Quilting with your Embroidery Machine HERE and HERE.

A few links to Crazy Quilting:

• Crazy Quilting - Wikipedia 
• History of Crazy Quilting 
• Crazy Quilt from Quilters Cache
• Pinterest HERE, HERE & HERE 
• Piecing a Crazy Quilt Block 
• Needle 'n Thread 

Enjoy!!     

Stitching Links

My blogger friend over at Magpie's Mumblings, just posted a link to Needlework Tips and Techniques. Thanks Mary Anne! I just had to share it with my readers too. Quite a number of my friends are stitchers so, in case they haven't come across this site,click on the link above. This site is hosted by Carol Leather. This is one to add to your collection of ones to check - a good one for beginner's.

• Ten Top Embroidery Blogs according to Cheryl Fall at The Spruce (I'm glad to see that Mary Corbet's Needle 'N Thread is # 1)
• Sharon B's Pin Tangle is another favorite Sharon B on Pinterest HERE 
• Heart Embroidery Sampler for Beginners
• Embroidery on Pinterest HERE 
• Hand Embroidery Network 
• Hand Embroidery on Pinterest HERE 

Enjoy!!

Hand Embroidery

        

Spring Snow!

I wasn't going to mention anything about the weather here in Newfoundland BUT . . .  records have been broken for this time of the year! My brother, Don, sent these today of his place in central NL.

We didn't get this much snow here in St. John's!

This was yesterday!

Today - jeep (photo from a different location)

Today I signed my contract to teach at the Espanola Fibre Arts Festival in October. I've been asked to teach two classes of needle felting, specifically the Fibre Art Pendants. I will be posting more about the festival in a later post. Also check out the festival on Pinterest HERE. 

Enjoy!!