Christmas!

I have tried and tried to post over the weekend, so this time I'm not going to type much-I have wasted sooo much time typing posts and they won't publish!!!!

I have been in the Christmas Spirit all summer! In fact, I could do Christmas anytime and the other night while stitching, I was sure I heard sleigh bells!!

Look who was in the field by our house????



I think he smelt Christmas and was looking for Santa....

Talking of Christmas, this is why I really wanted to post. Wendy (the quiet room) and I did a fun Christmas in July swap and just look at the lovely goodies she so kindly sent me. Wendy is one talented stitcher and I absolutely love everything she made. Thanks once again Wendy!








And just to finish-I couldn't resist starting this little mini mat wool kit.





Now to see if this publishes,
Have a great week,

Shazy

Catching up!

It is hard to believe I have been away from posting for sooo long, but blogger and I haven't been the bestest of buddies recently!!

Firstly, I had difficulty uploading pics-I would get a number uploaded and the next thing, they were gone and now this last number of attempts, I press 'publish' and nothing happens. Hopefully this time......

I have an awful lot of catching up to do, but I think I will show a little of our hols and see if this works; if so, I will be back soon.

Monday, we returned from a great trip to USA!!! What a great time we had and those who live there, feel honoured to have so much beauty, choice and availability, not forgetting the cheaper costs!

We started in beautiful New England, which was amazing, although on hindsight, doing there would have been better at the end of the trip. So many beautiful prim shops and the kids were itching to move on to Niagara Falls! But believe me, the shops I did get too, I made my visit worthwhile!

We stopped off in a lovely little town called Sturbridge and I found some lovely prim shops. First off was 'Handmaiden' which also had a quilting shop beside it....
A few pics of inside and I will show some purchases later.









Next was a visit to 'The Quilted Crow'. I have loved this shop online and Sue and her girls made us feel so very welcome; even taking lemonade and cookies out to poor hubby and kids in the car.






Some yummy wools!



I took the next pic for the runner they are making in a class-the snowmen. I have this earmarked in the Primitive Quilts magazine-a pattern by 'primitive pieces by Lynda'-it was adorable.





Now for a few purchases.
I loved the colour of this runner and the dish, I thought would look great with snowballs at Christmas.



I am loving these fabrics and found some lovely wovens when away too.





Of course a few Christmas wool kits had to make their way into my bag and I couldn't resist this little picture.





I better not try any more in case this doesn't work again, but, do you know how to recognise a stitching addict?? She takes stitching on hols!

Yes, I took some x-stitch. I knew we had a few long flights and car journeys, though the car was quite a challenge-monster lorries whizzing by on either side and us already travelling on the 'wrong side of the road'-my nerves were shot!
BUT I did some driving too, in fact, I was so good at driving on the left had side of the road, that hubby told me I was a natural! I KNEW I was born into the wrong country-I was meant to be in USA all along!!!!



Have a great day,
Shazy

Testing!

I have spent what feels forever this last while writing posts, only to press 'publish' and nothing happens!!!

This is just a test , on the off chance it will work.

Shazy

Woolly Wednesday a day late......!!

We are having the most beautiful weather here today and really it is hard to believe after the cool spell we have had; so I left the house and all it's untidiness and headed out for the day with my sister. That's part of the reason why this post is a little late, but we have to catch the sun here when we get it, for you never know when it will return.

Firstly thanks to your interest in my last post-enough to leave a comment, which were all appreciated. A special thanks goes out to Patty who kindly pointed out the upside down star point and the funny thing is, I hadn't even noticed such a visible mistake, so thanks Patty.
O yes, thanks too to Tammy who suggested sheep in the grass as I wasn't quite taken with the prim cat/dog in the original.

Two more blocks completed.








Ok, this is as far as I have got-all the blocks sewn together-click to get a clearer pic



The problem is-I thought I was so near finished but just look at those borders......nearly as much work as I have already done, never mind the huge bit that I find challenging.....quilting!!!



A friend told me, the only way to make a quilt is one stage at a time, so my next stage is the borders and I'm trying not to think of the quilting (another years work??)

Have a great week,

Shazy x

Wool work Wednesday.....

......and Thursday and Friday and any other day that I can possibly get wool work fitted in!

By now you know I have quite the obsession with saltbox houses. It was only after I looked at my previous post, I realised that all the finished pieces, had houses on them, so to show just how predictable I am........we have more houses!

I just couldn't resist starting this one, after getting Jan Pateks new book I showed in a previous post and considering I have been on the lookout for something large to go on my stair wall, well, I just had to start it!

Here are the first two blocks. My daughter is holding them up, just to let you see the size of each block. I think they are 40x40 inches-finished quilt size will be 104x104 inches, so yes, I know, I am well and truly mad:)

Oh yes, I forgot to say, I used wool for the applique instead of cotton, but didn't I say I was predictable???






Here is a pic from the back of the book of the finished quilt



Whoops, I am seeing a little mistake-does anyone spy it?

In Jans quilt, she has birds on the top of each chimney and prim dogs/cats?? in the grass-I'm not too sure I want to include these; do you think it looks bare without?

I thought I would share how I do my wool applique. I was going to say tips, but maybe there are better ideas out there, but for now, this is what works for me, but I sure would love to hear what methods others use.

I use good old freezer paper for my templates and iron it to the wool. Then I use fabric spray adhesive (sprayed lightly on the wool) and that secures it for stitching. For small pieces of wool, such as flower stems etc that tend to fray easier or for wool that hasn't felted properly, I go around the edges with fray check, prior to stitching. This stuff works a treat.

Before this method, I used the fusible bondaweb stuff, but, more often than not, I singed my wool in an attempt to get it to stick or had to use the stronger fusible, which made the applique hard and I like mine to feel natural.

Stitching wise, I used to do blanket stitch quite a bit, but more recently I have been doing the primitive whip stitch. I suppose depends on what the piece dictates.

Well, that's what happens here-I would so love to hear of other methods out there,

Hope you get time to do what you enjoy best, this week,

Blessings,

Shazy x

A few finishes!

Haha! Did you think I had more blocks to show? Not this time; I was in my UFO 'pile' last week and had a few projects so near finished, that I spent an hour doing just that!

I know it isn't very primish to frame them with glass, but believe me, the thought of trying to remove dust from wool applique, for the next lot of years, didn't appeal, so after realising a few weeks ago about a neighbour who has a framing place, I took the plunge and got them framed properly.

What is it with cameras? Why can they not capture what I am seeing with my eye? Or maybe it's a case of 'a bad workman blames his tools'.......anyway, these frames are just beautiful, but I can't show how beautiful on these pics:(

This first one is an adaptation of 'Threads that bind'. I changed out the verse and did the 'Welcome' in wool.I thought the verse from Romans 10v13 suited this piece perfectly; 'Be given to hospitality' and my kids are hoping it will remind me to do a bit of entertaining, but just for the record cherubs....no visitors until you get those bedrooms sorted AND your laundry put away!
The frame is a grained/distressed cream colour, but that is difficult to see.



This is a Buttermilk Basin pattern and the frame is a distressed antique black.
Oh and the slanted roof in the first house is part of the pattern! NOT! In my defence, I think I am correct in saying, this was the first piece of wool applique I ever did, so when I look at it, the roof will remind me of that! Ha!



And finally, a Primitive Gathering pattern. There are two pics here, but I'm still not getting good pics, but you are going to have to trust me, they are much nicer in real life.





Thanks again for stopping by, I was so excited when I picked these up that I had to jump on here to share them with like-minded people. It's not everyone around here, that appreciates my hobby..... I really can't understand that, can you? Anyway, I'm so glad that some people do and I really appreciate the friend I have made through blogland.

Until next time, have a great week,

Blessings,

Shazy x

WARNING! More blocks......

One reason why I have been absent recently, is due to the fact that I really feel I have little to blog about. Any stitching time I have, has been dedicated to these blocks, but I suppose what can I expect when I took on not one, but two wool applique block quilts! I apologise in advance, but this is more blocks.......

I just wanted to share where I am with the'Heart to Hand' Christmas quilt








And all together, although the snowman isn't in his right position, but just to give you an idea,



I have been seeing all over blogland the new primitive quilting magazine and I am sooo jealous! I am anxiously watching for the postman in the hope he will bring mine soon, so being in the book/mag mood, I succumbed to buy this new book by Jan Patek and I LOVE it! So many beautiful projects........



Well, there seems to be a queue for this laptop and I'm feeling under pressure, so I hope your weekend is a good one:)

Blessings,

Shazy x