12 Days of Christmas

My sister has been doing the 12 Days of Christmas on Instagram. Me, I didn't even think of doing that. However, I have been working on a wall hanging by that name. Last year I came across a free pattern for counting down the Twelve Days of Christmas on All People Quilt.

As I was traveling home to St. John's, Newfoundland on December 4th, I needed something to stitch. This free pattern fitted the bill. However, it won't be finished this year. Hopefully soon. Time flies when you are having fun!! So far, all the 12 pear shapes are stitched. The stitching has been done on the tree stand but I'm not satisfied with it. I didn't trace the lines directly on the fabric but on tissue paper. This was pinned on and stitched. When I pulled the paper off, the stitches pulled a bit too. And I knew the difference - DUH!!! So I have decided to do a thin machine satin stitch over the hand stitching.

I love the nontraditional batik I've selected for the border. When it's done, I'll show it to you.

Have a very Happy New Year!

More stuff:

• Into puzzles? I've been known to do one or two. Here's a link for doing them on-line.  
• Ester has a wall hanging for counting down the days.
• Here's a Pinterest link for the 12 Days of Christmas
• Eye Candy 

Enjoy!!  

Gifts

Here's a peek at a few interesting gifts I received this year.

Isn't this a unique gift for an embroiderer! I have seen yarn bowls before but never one for a ball of embroidery floss. This particular thread bowl (my name for it) was gifted by a friend who attended last summer's EAC Conference in PEI. The bowl was made by an artist from that province.

Gale, my granddaughter, decided that I needed a real plant for my studio. She chose this one because she liked the bowl the best. I think she did a great job of selecting the perfect combination!

This ornament is the Signal Hill Star. It was created by Darrel Pike, Saltwater Pewter, NL. Each Christmas season, a large star like this one, is hung on Cabot Tower, St. John's. It's light can be seen from all over the city.

My brother, Don Eady, Sandy Point Stained Glass, made these for our tree.I have quite a few of his gorgeous stained glass pieces.

I was entertained by humming birds on my patio, last summer. My daughter found this delightful beaded humming bird for my tree. She usually gives me an ornament on Christmas. Many of them have been from her past travel destinations.

I treated myself to one of Anne Lucas's needle felted Gnomes when I was in Newfoundland in early December. This is a 'cute' one!!

Did you get a chance to check out the links on the previous post? Well, here's more:

• Interesting felt ornaments HERE (scroll down)
• Stained Glass Ornaments HERE  
• Beaded Christmas Tree Ornaments HERE 
• Yarn Bowls HERE 

 Enjoy!!  

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas wherever you are!

Today's post shows a few photos of getting ready for Christmas. I know, this should have been done a few days earlier but life takes over.

Gale decorated her own tree at my house. She chose all my bird ornaments to put on hers. Then she looked over at mine and saw a few things she liked and said "that would look better on my tree"! Of course, you know where they ended up. BUT, it's all about making memories. We had fun.

This is Gale's tree

Tree with Shimmer Ornaments

We had a green Christmas but snow was on the ground when this was taken

My Christmas Pudding from an old recipe mom used to make

Made back in the late '90's

Cookies for Santa that Gale & I baked. She did the decorating!

Now for a few links to check:

• Ten Textile Artists Pushing the Boundaries
• Exploring Textile Art on Pinterest HERE
• Art Textiles: Made in Britain
• The Textile Blog 
• The Textile and Fiber Art List   

Enjoy!

Sew Together Bag # 2

I can finally show you this Sew Together Bag that I made for my sister last August. Her birthday was yesterday. Needless to say, the bag had some goodies in it too.  Happy Birthday, Joan!

Check these links for tutorials for making this bag HERE, HERE, &  HERE.
Pinterest has lots of the bags HERE
My first Sew Together Bag is HERE 

Enjoy!

Catching Up!!

Where does the time go!!! I can't seem to keep up with posting these days. Last week was a flying visit back to St. John's, NL to visit my Mom who just turned 97 and touch base with friends. I managed to spend a couple of hours at the Eastern Edge Quilt Guild. It was great seeing all the quilters and catching up on news. I did see some of my stitch buddies for our regular Wednesday stitch day afternoon and meet others for tea at Chapters. Smack dab in the middle of my visit, there was a snowstorm which cut into my plans! But, I did do some shopping.

One of my purchases at The Fabric Merchant, was this cute Magnetic Needle Nanny, from Puffin & Company. They had quite a selection to choose from. Sadly, all the cats were gone! However, I do like my elephant. An old friend, who is no longer with us, loved elephants, so this is for you, Nina! You can also see a small part of a stitch project I took with me. It might get finished by next Christmas!

I did do quite a bit of running around while in St. John's. Stay tuned for more from my visit back home.

I can't keep up with links so please visit my blogger friend's site, Magpie's Mumblings, to see what she is doing. She has a way with words and often leaves me in stitches.

Enjoy!

Dalplex Christmas Craft Show

My daughter, Jill, and I spent last weekend at the Dalplex Christmas Craft Show, Halifax. Set-up was Thursday. It's the first craft fair where there were volunteers to actually help unload the vehicles, put the stuff on dollys and deliver them to your booth. The show was competing with Black Friday sales which I hadn't thought about but it didn't seem to have any affect on the number of visitors that day. Overall, the show was a good one and I managed to get a few Christmas gifts too. I try to buy local as much as possible.

My side of the booth

Having a coffee before the fair opens

Getting things ready before the show opens!

Enjoy!!