Pinwheel Delight

Here's a quick little finish. . .

A delightful pinwheel baby quilt.  Love how it is girly and pink.

If I haven't said it before, I LOVE making baby quilts.  

They are generally  quick and I like that I can try out new blocks to see if I enjoy making them. 

This one is for a gal at work who had a little one.

I trust you are all ready for the Christmas Season and will enjoy being with your family and friends.  Take time to contemplate the awesome gift of God's Son to us.

I'm linking up with Finish up Fridays by AmandaJean at Crazy Mom Quilts.  Take a moment to check out what everyone else is doing.

I'm linking up with Michelle at Michelle's Romantic Tangle.

Shauna

We Three Kings - Claymation Christmas HQ

Give Me a Star

This post will be heavy on photos.

My favorite quilt is finally finished.  

I'm not even sure when I started this one.  The top was finished for a long while before I finally got it quilted.  

I'd say a perfect house warming gift to myself 

and. . . . 

since it's close to Christmas, why not a gift for me! :)

 Love the way all the colours come together.

It's a little nerve wracking when you start to pull all the colours 

 but,

I LOVE the way it all came together

I can't decide what my favourite piece of fabric is.

Here's a close up of the quilting.  Looks great!  

Arlene from Strathmore did another wonderful job for me.

It's a really heavy quilt as I put a burgandy flannel on the back.  

 Should be warm and cozy!

One last shot before I bore you all to death.

I'm linking up with Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Enjoy your weekend!

Shauna

London and Fabric Shopping

It was so much fun to spend time wandering around London 

and enjoying the sights and sounds of the city.  

There is so much to do in London and I only scratched the surface while I was there. 

I tell people that I went to visit the Queen (of course I meant my daughter).

 

While I was there I so wanted to go to Liberty London and see their fabric.  They are every bit as nice as you have heard and just shopping there is an experience.  

 

The building itself is beautiful and the way they display their merchandise is magnificent.  I went one day by myself and wandered around but could not bring myself to buy any fabric.  I just enjoyed looking and drooling.

Then on my last day, Elyse and I went down that way again.  She had never been into Liberty so I talked her into going and guess what, she loved it as much as I did.  We went to look at the fabric again and she told me that I would regret it if I never bought anything from there.  So . . . .

 I bought myself a package of 50 hexagons.  

Here are just some of the beautiful fabrics that are included.  Of course I got to come home with a bag from Liberty London!

I did get to do some fabric shopping on Goldhawk Road which is just minutes from where I was staying.  There were probably a dozen or more little fabric shops.  They had everything from beautiful Sari type materials to sequins and everything in between.  

A couple of the shops specialized in African fabrics which were so beautiful.  

Shopping in those little stores was a very different experience but lots of FUN!

I came home with four different fabrics that I thought were so beautiful.

I hope that I have whet your appetite for fabric shopping in London.

Til next time,

Shauna

Finished and Delivered

It's been a while since I have posted.  

I've been busy globe trotting in London, where my daughter is currently living, and then in Paris and Bologna.  What a wonderful time we had visiting museums, seeing the sights, listening to street performers, bearing our souls and enjoying a cup of coffee on the streets of Paris.  

Can it get any better than that?

 

I had been working on a quilt for her for quite some time and finally got the last few borders on.  I don't know why I always stall out at that point when it comes to quilting.  I guess it's because my favourite part of quilting is piecing it all together - somehow that gives me a charge.  

What is your favourite part of quilting?

Unfortunately I didn't get the quilt done for her before she left for London, but fortunately, I didn't get her quilt done before she left for London so that left it up to me to hand deliver it to her.  Here it is all tucked and ready in the suitcase.

Doesn't it look lovely in her bedroom?

And how beautiful she looks!

I realized that I didn't take a close up of the quilting which I had done by Arlene in Strathmore.  She did a lovely job and I was very pleased with the results.  The backing fabric was soft both in colour and feeling and was from Connecting Threads that I bought online.

There will be more postings from my trip in the future.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Shauna

A Quick Finish

 Made for a friend of mine . . . aren't these the most delicious fall colours?  

I am loving the way they turned out.

mmm . . . they match my new kitchen

This certainly has been a productive weekend. 

Guess I better go and clean my house now!

Shauna

Still Swooning

Finished Block #3 for my Swoon quilt

Hard to decide which one is my favourite.

The weather has been nice this weekend.

 

It was a different story this past week though, 

 we got our first snowfall!!!

Enjoy your weekend!

Shauna

I'm Lovin' It . . .

 . . . Swoon block that is!

Swoon Block #2

Have a good evening!

Shauna

Thankful

As we express our gratitude, 

we must never forget that 

the highest appreciation is not to utter words, 

but to live by them. 

- John F Kennedy

What a wonderful day thanksgiving is! 

It allows us to take a look at the past year and add up all of the many blessings we have. 

What are you thankful for?

Although this year has been hard in many ways,

I have my health,

a wealth of friends,

a wonderful family,

two wonderful grown children,

plenty of food for each day,

a great job,

and a place to lay my head at night.

The greatest and most significant thing that I am grateful for is the love that the Lord has for us.  

It is unconditional, vast and wide.  

Yummy turkey dinner that mom cooked.  Can you tell that I like gravy?

 

Good old standby - pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

No dieting on this day!

I have been admiring the Swoon Block for a long time now.  

Today I decided to tackle putting one together and I am in love.  

Can hardly wait to make another.

Happy thanksgiving all!

Shauna

Sweet

I just love making baby blankets!

They are quick, fast and can be a great way to try a new block out on.

This is one that I am currently putting together.

I think I will finish it off with a pink border and possibly the green polka dot for the binding.

 Again, this was a fun one that went together really fast.  I think in total it has taken me a weekend and a couple of evenings . . . but oh so cute!

I started with two 6 inch squares and sewed them right sides together.

Then you cut them diagonally from corner to corner both ways 

ending up with 4  half square triangles.

Then sew them together in a pin wheel.

Once they are all trimmed up, you will end up with a 7 inch squared pin wheel block.

On a different note, look at the beautiful place where I work.  

It has been so nice outside that I have been able to sit outside and eat my lunch

looking at the beautiful grounds.

I'm enjoying the Fall and getting back into a routine, how about you?

Shauna

Folk Art

 

This summer I stopped off at Country Creations in Strathmore and found a lovely panel of folk art flowers in vases.  There were eight different ones on a panel and I heard them calling my name.  

  I then proceeded to pick out some fat quarters and some backing material that just matched perfectly.  The great thing was, everything was on sale and I feel like I got myself a great bargain.  

I have been itching to do something with them for a very long time.  Friday afternoon after work I headed down to Vulcan to visit a good friend for the long weekend.  

Her place is my prairie retreat!

We had a great visit and had lots of time to sew.  

Healing for the soul!

I was super productive while in Vulcan.  Got a few more blocks made for the Hidden Stars quilt, binding for Elyse's quilt, and four Folk Art placemats.  I'm only going to show to three of them as one I need to rejig and take apart.  

I was very pleased with my results and it felt so good to create original pieces of work.

Each placemat is different except that they all have the same borders fabric (all different sizes) and backing.   

Please ignore my pictures, that was a comedy of errors.  Since the move I have been unable to find the cord to my little Canon which I originally took the pictures on.  Then I tried to take the pictures on my little Fuji but the battery was dead so these are iphone pictures.  Not too shabby.

Getting Settled

Forgot how hard it is to move . . . 

I think that the next time I move, the kids will be sending me to an old folks home 

and they can do all the work.  *huge grin*

Despite all my circumstances right now, I am trying to find the good in everyday. 

Some days you have to look really hard but it's there.

This was a gift from my husband.

My mom and dad gave me some money for my birthday and I was able to purchase a book that I've had my eye on for a very long time.

Anyone recognize this?

I'm slowly getting my house in order.  I'm thankful that I have a craft room in my new place.  It's still messy but I'm getting there.

Notice the saying that I have above my sewing machine?

It will remind me to keep a light heart.  

After all the Bible says that "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." in Proverbs 17:22 

Hopefully I get sewing soon and will have something to post in the near future.  

I'm itching to get going again!

Hope you all have enjoyed your summer and are looking forward to getting back in to routine with Fall fast approaching.

Shauna