"Sweet Nostalgia" - Checking The List...Naughty Or Nice?

It's that time again, time for the December block of the "Sweet Nostalgia" B.O.M.
This past month has gone by so quickly!
Before I post the links to the pattern I want to show you Karine's November block.
Didn't she do a fantastic job! The squirrels look almost real. Thank you for sharing it with us Karine.
Marina and Jennifer have also shared their November blocks with us in the "Sweet Nostalgia" Flickr group album here. They are wonderful.
Perhaps after the rush of Christmas a few more of you might be able to show us some of your blocks. I would really love to see them.
And now, what you are all waiting for, this month's block titled Checking The List...Naughty Or Nice?
The link to download or print the file is here and for those of you having trouble with Scribd the 4Shared link is here. Enjoy.
Remember, each block is available as a free download for 3 months, after which it will be available for purchase. The September block is no longer available for free, however if you have missed it you can purchase it from me. Just email me.

I hope you all have a very happy Christmas. Happy Stitching.

Yesterday, the mailman arrived with a wonderful surprise for me. Carrie P. sent me this wonderful parcel.Carrie is coloring her "Sweet Nostalgia" blocks and posted a wonderful tutorial on her blog. I mentioned I'd like to try that technique on my next project and she has sent me the crayons I'll need, along with some yummy caramel chocolates, a cute hand made christmas ornament and a lovely fat quarter of Chanteclaire Christmas fabric. Thank you Carrie, what a tremendous surprise!
I've been busy this week, trying to get the house in shape for Christmas, and preparing the pattern for December's "Sweet Nostalgia" block, which will be coming next week. While I was pulling out the Christmas decorations I thought you might like to see a few of my Santa figurines and ornaments.



My husband brought the first one back from Scotland for me this year, and my DD gave me the the other one for Christmas last year.
My DD brought these cute Santa ornaments back from Scotland for me too!

I think they are a wonderful addition to my collection. Well, I'd better get back to work, still lots to do before I can get the baking started.

Bye for now. See you next week.

Happy Thanksgiving

Just a quick note to wish my American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have a wonderful day with your family and friends.

It's been one of those weeks where I've felt like I haven't stopped but for some reason I've accomplished very little! lol With Christmas just around the corner I really need to do better! I think I need to start making lists!

Carrie P. of http://apassionforapplique.blogspot.com/ has prepared a wonderful coloring on fabric tutorial using the "Sweet Nostalgia" October block, which you can find here http://apassionforapplique.blogspot.com/2009/11/coloring-on-fabric-tutorial.html. While you're checking it out, have a look at all of her wonderful applique quilts. Thank you Carrie. She has decided to make her blocks a little smaller and to color them using Crayola crayons. Here is a photo of her September block

Doesn't it look wonderful. I think I might try that technique on my next stitchery project.

Bye for now. I'm off to start making my "must get done before Christmas" list.

Edited November 21/09 - Carrie P. just posted this photo of the October block on her blog. Doesn't it look fabulous? Thank you Carrie for sharing it with us.

"Sweet Nostalgia" - November Block

It's that time again. I find it incredible how fast time goes by. There are only 40 days left till Christmas, and I still have so much left to finish! Oh well, maybe they will be ready for next Christmas. lol
For those of you that sent your prayers and good wishes for my Mother, thank you. She is home from the hospital now and working on getting some of her strength back. We are just taking it a day at a time.

Before I add the links to the new block I want to show you the October block done by Karine of http://turtlepatch62.canalblog.com/. Didn't she do a fabulous job? Thank you for sharing it with us Karine. Also, as I mentioned in my previous post, Jennifer of http://stitchanything.blogspot.com/ has very kindly set up a Flickr group for the "Sweet Nostalgia" B.O.M. So, if any of you have completed any of your blocks and would like to share them with the rest of us, please join the group and upload your photos. The link to the Flickr group is here http://www.flickr.com/groups/1229506@N24/. I really would love to see them.

And now, what you've been waiting for, here is the new block for November, titled - "Making Friends". The link to download or print the file is here.
For those of you having trouble with Scibd, I've made it available on 4Shared here.

Happy Stitching! Chat with you later.

Happy Halloween

This is just a quick note to wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween. I'm afraid I've been very quiet of late, with not much to talk about. We had to rush my Mother to hospital a week ago, and things have been very stressful around here. Needless to say I haven't got much stitching done! It's a good thing I'd planned on being 2 or 3 months ahead of everybody else. Mom is still in hospital, and they're planning on doing some more tests, but I really hope I can bring her home next week.

Hazel B of http://hazel-sewcrazy.blogspot.com/ sent me a photo of her completed October block on October 16th! I couldn't believe how quickly she got it done, and it looks wonderful.



Jennifer of http://stitchanything.blogspot.com/ has started a Flickr group for "Sweet Nostalgia" so anyone who is interested can post photos of their blocks . I think this is a wonderful idea and will be posting my photos as soon as things settle down here. You can find the link to the group here http://www.flickr.com/groups/1229506@N24/ I would love to see your blocks.



Bye for now.

"Sweet Nostalgia" - October - The Witching Hour

It's that time again, time for the next block in my "Sweet Nostalgia" B.O.M. series. I hope you will have fun with this one. Don't forget, I would love to see photos of your completed blocks.

The link to download or print the file is here. For those of you having trouble with Scribd, I've made the file available on 4Shared here.

Hopefully, after Quilt Market this past weekend, more shops will have discovered the wonderful Cosmo embroidery threads and it won't be so difficult for you to find.

Happy Stitching.

Fall Quilt Festival

Amy of Park City Girl blog is again hosting an on-line quilt festival. Each participant is to post a photo of one of their favorite quilts with a little story about it.

One of my favorite quilts is this one I made about 5 or 6 years ago. I have always loved the look of the 1930's repro prints but I wanted to do something a little different with them. I'd never made anything with a 60 degree diamond template before so I decided to give it a try. I think it turned out pretty well. Of course I had to add some applique to the borders. lol

Why don't you visit Amy's blog and check out all the wonderful quilts being showcased, and even write about one of your own. Just click on the Quilt Festival button on the right-hand side of my blog.
I hope all my fellow Canadian bloggers have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, and all my U.S. friends enjoy their Columbus Day.

Bye for now.

The Winners Are...

I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to enter my "Sweet Nostalgia" giveaway. Your wonderful comments were very much appreciated. There were so many comments that I haven't had the time to visit you all, but I am going to try. I put all the entries in a large pot( there were a lot of them!) and I asked Mom to pick out the winners.
The grand prize winner is Comment # 115 Betweens.

The runners up are #106 - Carrie P., # 88 - Gran and # 46 - Jenny of Elefantz

Congratulations to the winners. Please email me your snail mail addresses so I can get the parcels off to you.

I'd again like to thank Nireko of the Lecien Corp. for providing these wonderful threads for the giveaway.

Bye for now.

I had a slight mishap a week ago, and have been a little under the weather since. I was walking Daisy (DD's Chocolate Lab) when something must have spooked her and she took off! I landed flat on the sidewalk and ended up with a fractured sternum, a loose tooth, bruised and cut face and hands. But I didn't lose Daisy! What a mess! lol You can just imagine my husband's and daughter's reaction when they arrived home from Scotland the next day.

Needless to say I haven't been getting too much done of my stitching or quilting.
But I do have some photos to show you. HazelB of http://hazel-sewcrazy.blogspot.com/and Jennifer of http://stitchanything.blogspot.com/ sent me photos of their completed September blocks.

Don't they look great!

There is one day left before the cutoff for the giveaway so if you haven't entered yet just leave a comment on the September 4th post.

Bye for now.

"Sweet Nostalgia" - September Block.

I think I've kept you waiting long enough, so without any more teasers, here is the first of the "Sweet Nostalgia" blocks. This is the September block titled - "Summer's Gone".

This project will have 12 blocks in total, with one block being released around the 15th of each month until August 15, 2010. If you choose to use the blocks as I have planned, the quilt will measure approx. 53" x 67". The finishing instructions will be provided in August 2010, with the final block. Each block will be available for download for 3 months, i.e. when the December block is released the September block will be removed. I hope you will get as much enjoyment from stitching these blocks as I have.

The Cosmo embroidery threads for this project were generously provided by Nireko, of the Lecien Corporation, http://www.lecien.co.jp/en/hobby/cosmo25/index.html and I encourage you to try them if at all possible.

I have not included instructions for the embroidery stitches, as there are many on-line references available. Two excellent reference sites are Sharon b's Dictionary of Stitches, here http://inaminuteago.com/stitchindex.html and Rissa's Pieces Stitch Dictionary, here http://www.prettyimpressivestuff.com/stitches/index.htm.

Without further ado, the pattern for this month can be found here.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. I would love to hear from you and see your progress with the blocks.

The response to my "Sweet Nostalgia" giveaway has been wonderful, so much so that I'm thinking a few more prizes may be in order. Stay tuned. If you haven't entered yet, there's still time, just leave a comment on the previous post.

Bye for now.

For those of you having difficulty downloading the file from Scribd you can download the pattern here

Edited September 21/09 - I've added 3 more prizes to the giveaway for the runners-up, so if you haven't entered yet, there's still time. Just leave a comment on the previous post.

"Sweet Nostalgia" Giveaway

I'm really excited about launching my new free B.O.M. "Sweet Nostalgia", so much so, that I think I just might launch it early! So stay tuned.
To celebrate I'm having another giveaway and I hope you will join in on the fun. This time, there are 10 colors of the wonderful Cosmo Marble thread, so generously provided by Nireko of the Lecien Corp., 4 Fat Quarters of the repro 30's fabrics, a Clover embroidery hoop, John James Embroidery Needles, and a marking pen.


To be in the draw for these gifts, I'd like you to do two things. First, leave a comment on this post - that will give you one entry in the draw. Second, put the Sweet Nostalgia BOM button on your blog and tell your blog readers about it! You can find the button on the right hand side of my blog. That will give you an extra 2 entries!

I will draw the winner on September 30, 2009. Hope to hear from you. Bye for now.

Edited September 21/09 - The response to my new B.O.M. and Giveaway has been absolutely tremendous and so, to improve your odds of winning I have decided to add 3 more prizes for the runners-up. The wonderful Nireko of The Lecien Corporation has generously donated the packages of 10 colours each of their lucsious Cosmo embroidery thread which have been added to the 6 fat quarters of these 30's reproduction fabrics from my stash.
I've tried to respond to each comment that has been left but for those of you who do not have an e-mail address provided, please know I appreciate you dropping by and joining in on the fun. Good luck with the draw.

Thank you to everyone who participated in my giveaway. I asked DH to choose a number between 1 & 31 (the number of people who left a comment) and he chose #25. Ivory Spring is the winner!


There will be another opportunity to win some of these wonderful Cosmo Marble Threads and a few other goodies, as I will be holding another giveaway to celebrate the start of my new B.O.M. "Sweet Nostalgia". More details will come in a few days so please check back later.

In the meantime, here is a sneak peak at October's block.

Chat with you later.

We've been having some pretty severe weather here this past week, but fortunately the tornados that went through southern Ontario missed us.

I've been busy trying to get the files for the September block of "Sweet Nostalgia" ready to go, but not being too proficient on the computer it's been a bit frustrating. I think I've got the .pdf file ready, now I just have to figure out how to get it on or linked to my blog for you to download.

Between battles with the computer, I redid the border around the center block of my Vintage Tiles quilt. I was so anxious to get it finished, I didn't listen to the little voice inside my head that told me it was too heavy, and it nagged at me until I changed it.

It was a bit of work but I think it was worth it. What do you think? Better?

There's still a week left to enter my giveaway of those lucious Cosmo Marble Threads, so if you're interested leave a comment on the previous post.

Bye for now.

"Sweet Nostalgia" Sneak Peak & Giveaway

It's hard to believe we're into August already! We've had a very wet summer so far, not that I'm complaining, more time to stay indoors and stitch. lol The Cosmo embroidery threads, so generously provided for this project by Nireko of The Lecien Corporation http://www.lecien.co.jp/en/hobby/index.html , have been a dream to work with.
The color range is fantastic and the threads look and feel so silky. Even stitching on a 200 thread count cotton, there has been no fraying and breaking of threads!

"Sweet Nostalgia" is a free stitchery BOM that will begin here on September 15, 2009, with a new block being posted on the 15th of each month, give or take a few days, until August 15, 2010, at which time the finishing instructions will also be provided. More details will be available in September.
Here is a sneak peak of September's block.

Are you intrigued? I hope you will join me on this adventure.

Now it's time for the giveaway. If you would like to play all you need to do is leave a comment on this post by 12:00 p.m. on August 30, 2009, after which time my assistant(DH) will draw the name of the lucky winner. Here's what the lucky winner will receive.

The Cosmo Marble threads are a luscious variegated thread that is wonderful to work with. Each card contains 15 meters of 6 stranded cotton embroidery floss. I would again like to thank Nireko of The Lecien Corp. for so generously providing the threads.

I just recently discovered the Clover embroidery hoop, and I love it! The outer hoop has a screw cover so the threads don't get tangled on the screw.

Hope to hear from you. Bye for now.

My BIL is leaving for home today, and life will start to get back to "normal" again. Whatever "normal" may be.
I'm afraid I didn't get much done while he was here, but I am making some progress on the "Sweet Nostalgia" blocks. I have finished designing all 12 of the blocks (unless I change my mind again,lol) and have embroidered 2 of them. I will be able to show you a sneak peak soon.

One thing I did accomplish was to replace the inner border on my "Roses In Dresden" quilt.
Remember, I had sent the quilt up to Vikki to be quilted a while ago, but due to some unforseen events she was delayed in quilting it, fortunately! I had never been happy with the red inner border I had used, and the more I thought about it, the more I disliked it. So, back it came, and some serious "unsewing" was done.

Here are photos of the before and after.

What do you think?

Another week has just flown by, and I've finally finished 3 of my U.F.O.'s. Finished, in that they are ready to go up to Vikki for quilting! Now I can concentrate on "Sweet Nostalgia"
I've also been working away on the September block and will be able to show you a sneak peak soon.

Here are photos of the projects I just completed.

These are the 5th and 6th of the Woodland Christmas Series. The first one is called "Reindeer Games" and the other one is titled "Have You Been Naughty Or Nice?".

I have no idea why I made the next one, except that I had the navy surround made for another project and changed my mind and had to use it up. I think it's pretty cute, though I'm not a big fan of blue.


I have company coming next week from Scotland so I might not be able to post for a while, but I'll be back as soon as I can, with a sneak peak of Sweet Nostalgia and a giveaway of some of Lecien's lucious Cosmo Marble embroidery threads. Bye for now.

It's been a while since I posted and I'm sorry I don't have anything new to show you. My work on "Sweet Nostalgia" stalled while I was waiting for some more threads to arrive. It is really hard choosing colors from your PC monitor!
In the meantime we've celebrated two family birthdays and I've been trying to finish up a few UFOs. Hopefully I'll have some photos next post.
Kaaren at http://thepaintedquilt.blogspot.com/ is having a wonderful 4th of July giveaway. She is incredibly talented which you'll discover when you see what she is giving away. Why don't you pop over and pay her a visit.?
Chat with you later.

"Sweet Nostalgia"

I've been wanting to offer a B.O.M. on my blog for a while but couldn't decide on a project. I thought applique might be too limiting, as it's not everybody's favorite technique, so I've decided to design a quilt with 12 months of embroidered blocks. I've always been drawn to vintage illustrations and thanks to my Mom and Aunt have a collection of old cards and postcards which I'm using for my inspiration. I'm calling the design "Sweet Nostalgia" and am planning to have it start sometime in September, probably around the 15th.

I'd like to thank Nireko and the Lecien Corporation http://www.lecien.co.jp/en/hobby/cosmo25/index.html for so generously providing these luscious Cosmo embroidery threads for the project. They arrived today and I've got the first block ready to start stitching! I think I've got my mojo back! lol

Stay tuned for a sneak peak of the block, and a giveaway of some of Lecien's wonderful Cosmo Marble threads.

It's been a trying couple of weeks since I last posted, and I haven't anything new in the quilting area to share with you. I've had a few false starts but just haven't been able to get motivated. I hate it when I get "stuck" like this. I've even gone back to try and finish a few UFO's, but I just can't achieve lift off. lol

On a brighter note I just won a copy of this magazine from Carrie of http://apassionforapplique.blogspot.com/.

Carrie has a wonderful blog with lots and lots of eye candy. Thank you Carrie. Maybe this will give me the boost I need. I can only hope! lol

DD and her husband are off to Jamaica on Monday and I will be dogsitting their lovely Chocolate Lab, Daisy. This is a picture of her at Christmas.

Isn't she lovely.

Bye for now. Hopefully I'll have more to share next time.

I received my "Vintage Tiles - Elegance In Neutrals" quilt back from the quilter on Friday and have been trying to get a good photo to show you since then. The first shots were taken right after I unpacked the quilt and all the fold lines were showing. The second shots were taken the next day but the sun was too bright and the colours were washed out. The third set bit the dust because the sun was too bright behind the quilt and you could see my husband's and son's shadows behind the quilt! I think I've finally got it! I took the quilt outside at 6:30 a.m. this morning, when it was still a bit overcast and I think it worked. Finally!

Didn't Vikki do a fantastic job of the quilting?

I used to think there was something wrong with the cameras I was using because I could never get good photos, but I'm on my third, quite expensive camera and I'm coming to the realization that the problem isn't the camera. lol

Chat with you later.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all my blogger friends. I'm fortunate that I still have my Mom with me. She hasn't been very well for the past few years, and had to move in with us, much to her dismay,(she has always been very independent!) but I am grateful for this special time we have with her. DD is especially close to her "Nana" and they share a fondness for their "dopey-soapys", particularly "The Young and Restless". lol

It's finally finished! Only 2 weeks behind schedule, but the Vintage Tiles quilt top is finally complete! I was hoping to get a better photo and it was quite windy, but I had to make the most of having my son and his friend being available to hold it for me.

I've already started planning my next project. I'm going to try something a bit different, for me anyway, a quilt with stitchery instead of applique. I've got the first seven blocks drawn, and have planned the layout on graph paper. I hope to have something to show you soon.

Chat with you later.

During the recent Bloggers Quilt Festival I was browsing some wonderful, new to me blogs, and read about Lecien fabrics and their embroidery floss, COSMO. I hadn't heard of either before and went on Lecien's web site at http://www.lecien.co.jp/en/hobby/30s/index.html to investigate. Their fabrics just blew me away, particuarly their Mrs. March's Collection of the 30s fabrics. It would be perfect for a new design I am working on. I tried to email them but it wouldn't go through for some reason, so if anyone knows of a shop that carries this line of fabrics and threads would you please let me know. As far as I know they aren't in Canada yet.

I've almost finished the borders for the Vintage Tiles quilt, so I hope to be able to show it to you within the next week.
I also got a pleasant surprise on the weekend, I won a $50.00 Gift Certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop http://www.fatquartershop.com/. It was a draw for the Bloggers Quilt Festival and my number got picked! They have so much lovely fabric it's hard to choose.
If you didn't get a chance to sign up for Amy's Bloggers Quilt Festival this time, she will be organizing another one in the Fall, so watch for it. http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com/

Bye for now. Chat with you later.

Quilt Show Photos

As promised here are a few photos of quilts displayed at the Quilt Show last weekend.


Please excuse the quality, but I have a new camera that I'm trying to get used to.