Christmas Quilt Show

Sew Gal Cal is hosting the Christmas Quilt Show again this year. Just the thing to get us in the Christmas mood.

This is one of my favorite Christmas quilts - "A Little Bit More About Bears...It's Christmas!"

I made this quilt about 8 years ago when I was teaching an applique class. The class was making "A Little Bit More...About Bears" and I thought it might be a good incentive if I made another quilt along side of them. I didn't want to make the same quilt again so I made a few changes and changed it into a Christmas quilt.

If you have a Christmas quilt you'd like to show, click on the link at the top of this post. If you don't have a quilt to show, click on the link anyway, and have a browse at all the wonderful quilts. Maybe it will inspire you to make a Christmas quilt of your own!

Bye for now.

"Sweet Nostalgia" - The Finish

I had hoped to have the top quilted before the "reveal", but I'm sorry I couldn't manage it. I will post a photo when it is quilted.

I have used Prairie Points to finish the edges of my quilt, and normally, they are not added until the top has been quilted, but I wanted you to see the effect. The Prairie Point edging is optional, and some of you may prefer to just add a binding.

Here are the links to download the Finishing Instructions for the "Sweet Nostalgia" B.O.M. from either Scribd or 4Shared. I will leave the instruction available for download until November 15th, when the last of the blocks is removed.

Please remember, each block is available as a free download for 3 months, after which it will be available to purchase. If you have missed any of the blocks and wish to purchase them, just send me an email. The link to my email is on the left hand side of the screen, or in my profile.

I hope you have enjoyed stitching these blocks along with me, and for those of you who haven't had a chance to get started on them yet, I hope you will share your photos with us later. Don't forget to check out the photos in the "Sweet Nostalgia" Flickr group.

And for those of you still looking for the Cosmo embroidery threads I just learned that Super Buzzy is now carrying the full line.

Stay tuned for my next B.O.M.

Bye for now.

Bye for now.

"Sweet Nostalgia" - Hide and Seek

It's so hard to believe a year has gone by and I'm posting the last block of my "Sweet Nostalgia" B.O.M. I hope you have enjoyed stitching these blocks as much as I did.
Thank you to Marina, Jennifer, and Hazel who have shared photos of their blocks in the "Sweet Nostalgia" Flickr group, and to Karine and Carrie who have emailed me their photos so I could share them with you. I hope more of you will share your photos over the next few months.
I'd also like to thank everyone who has taken the time to leave me a comment.
Also, I'd like to thank Nireko of the Lecien Corp. who so generously provided the wonderful Cosmo threads for this project. If you haven't tried them yet, I really hope you will have the opportunity to try them in the future. They are wonderful to work with, and have a lovely silken sheen.

A photo of the quilt and the finishing instructions for the quilt will be posted in the next few weeks.

Here are the links to download the pattern. Scribd or 4Shared

Please remember, each block is available as a free download for 3 months, after which it will be available for purchase.

On the home front, Daisy is doing fairly well, only one more week before she gets the stitches out and we can remove that horrible cone from her head. She is banging into everything with it, and I have the bruises on my legs to prove it! lol
The hardest thing is keeping her from running or trying to jump on the couch to cuddle with us.

Bye for now.

"Sweet Nostalgia" - Let's Play Ball

Here are the links to download this month's "Sweet Nostalgia" block - Scribd or 4Shared.

Happy Stitching.

Bloggers 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 quilt called "All About Bears" and it was my first design.
At the time, my daughter had quite a collection of teddybears that were taking over her bedroom. I made a deal with her that if she put away some of more well worn teddies I would make her a quilt. At the time, I didn't realize the fun I would have with it.
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. Be forewarned though, it's addictive!
I hope all my fellow Canadian bloggers have a wonderful Victoria Day weekend and all my U.S. friends enjoy their Memorial Day next weekend.
Bye for now.

"Sweet Nostalgia" - Happy Easter

Here are the links to download or print this month's pattern from Scribd or 4shared.
Enjoy.

Happy Stitching.

EDIT - April 17, 2010: For some reason, people are having trouble downloading the pattern from the Scribd site this month. I haven't been able to resolve this problem, so I suggest if you want to download the pattern to your computer just download it from 4shared. If you want to print it, just right-click on the pattern and select "Print Document". I apologize for the inconvenience.

Just a quick note to show you the two quilts I recently got back from quilter extraordinaire Vikki Favreau of Subtle Creations. Vikki has been doing my long-arm quilting for a number of years and she never fails to please me! These are numbers 5 & 6 in my "A Woodland Christmas" series of designs.


Didn't she do a fantastic job? Hope you have a great weekend. Bye for now.

"Sweet Nostalgia" - March Winds Doth Blow

,

It's time for another "Sweet Nostalgia" block.  Before you download this month's block pattern, March Winds Doth Blow, check out the Flickr album.  Marina, Jennifer and Hazel have posted photos of their February blocks, and they are all wonderful.  I hope you will share your blocks with us too!

Please remember, each block is available as a free download for 3 months, after which it will be available for purchase from me.

Here are the links to download the block pattern from Scribd or 4Shared.  Happy Stitching.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Here's a few pics of some "Sweet Nostalgia" blocks. Karine has shared her pic of January's "Snow Days" block and Karen has shared her September "Summer's Gone" block. Thank you for sharing them with us ladies.

There are more photos in the Sweet Nostalgia" Flickr group album. Jennifer, Marina and Hazel have all posted photos of their blocks. I hope you will check them out, and maybe even think of sharing your blocks with us. If you're not a member of Flickr, it's quite easy to join, they give you step by step directions. I really would like to see your blocks.

February's pattern will be posted tomorrow. See you then.

"Sweet Nostalgia" - Snow Days

It's hard to believe we're into the middle of January already! Time seems to go by too quickly these days. It seems like Christmas was so long ago, yet I'm still putting the decorations away! lol
Now that the holiday season is over, I hope a few more of you will get time to share some of your "Sweet Nostalgia" blocks with us.
Here is a photo of Carrie's November block -Carrie has provided a wonderful tutorial on the coloring technique she has used. Thank you for sharing it with us Carrie.

Jennifer, Marina & Hazel have all posted photos of their blocks in the "Sweet Nostalgia" Flickr group album. I hope you will join us.


This months block, is titled "Snow Days" and can be found on the Scribd or 4Shared links. Happy Stitching.

Please remember, each block is available as a free download for 3 months, after which it will be available for purchase. If you have missed the September or October patterns they can be purchased from me. Just send me an e-mail.

Bye for now.

"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.

"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.

"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.

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.

"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.