Gifts!

Thought I better pop on and wish everyone a happy new year, before its over too!!
Christmas just seemed to go over in a blink and I haven't even caught my breath yet!

Our Christmas turned out enjoyable, but low key-hubs was sick the whole time and is only starting to pick up today, after twisting the Dr's arm to get an antibiotic and that was after the second appointment too!

We did have a lovely family time and the children really enjoyed themselves, which is the important part and tomorrow we hope to have my sister and family so we are looking forward to that and hopefully hubs will get to enjoy some entertaining.

Anyway, just wanted to share a few pics of some lovely gifts I received relating to my love for stitching:)

First up, I got the shock of my life on Christmas eve, when postie delivered a box for ME!!
My great buddie, Wendy (The Quiet Room) sent such beautiful things that I sure wasn't expecting. They were wrapped beautifully, but impatience couldn't wait for the camera!lol!



Hope you can get a decent view-the most beautiful birdie and tartlet pinkeep-just look at the stitching detail and a lovely woolly sheep for my wool collection display and check out these adorable prim socks-I have them out on display on the next photo and the rest I am keeping until my Christmas stuff goes away. Thank you sooo much again Wendy-love them all and love the fabrics:)



The following are of my crafting pressies from my great family-so much yumminess and so me, even tho I helped them along a bit!lol!

I have been wanting a blanket crane and peg board with a candle holder for a while now, so hubs conscripted his buddy again and I even got a plate rack too (no photo yet) just need to get them painted, but that is what's making me nervous-what colours????I'm very much a barn red person but how much red can a gal have?









When I assisted hubs with the ordering of this book (wink, wink) Lynda very generously popped in a couple of extra patterns-how kind was that??....I was so touched!




These are the patterns for the new Autumn quilt by 'heart to hand'-just love it ( below is the finished quilt)






I already had the patterns for their Christmas quilt, but had been looking for the fabrics to use for the background, so that was another pressie-some delish Japanese wovens and plaids etc. I'm not sure when I think I will get these made, but I thought I might do a block of each, every month........??? Below is how the quilt should look.



That's all on the stitching front, between watching movies with my oldest daughter and some housework in between and tending to the sick, I am suffering from stitching withdrawal, but maybe next year:))

Blessings to all for the incoming year, health, peace and happiness!

Shazy x

Just in time...

It's really a winter wonderland here. In all my years, I have never known us to have such cold temperatures and for the snow to stay so long. I love the brightness that the snow brings (I don't like dull wet days) and I don't mind the snow staying for Christmas day, but after that I think I will allow it to disappear!

This is going to be a looong holiday, as the children have been off from last week with school closure. I thought I was up to date with my baking for Christmas but with them being off, my tins are nearly empty again:(

I wanted to quickly show a few finishes just in time for Christmas:)

I have been beavering away any spare moments, to get this table runner finished for my living room table.



This is just to show the wools closer. I used 3 different textured reds and 3 different textured greens.






I found it hard to get a good pic of the sitting room table display, but it is very simple- 5 gingerbread fellas in amongst some greenery.





And just some random shots of Christmas decor!







The children are very excited today-in keeping with tradition, the next door grandparents have a party for us all. We have a great time playing games, opening presents and lots of eats-just what memories are made off. Esther has made an after-eight cheese cake and I have made 2 batches of fudge-peanut butter fudge and dark choc fudge, so we intend to indulge:))

Trust everyone has a great Christmas as we celebrate the coming of our Lord and Saviour as a babe into this world. May we all experience the peace that He wants to bring to our lives.

Blessings, Shazy x

Where have I been?

It seems to me it's becoming quite the habit-not being able to find the time to blog!
Believe me, that is not my desire, but just the pace of life- but I am glad to be fit and well enough to be busy:)

Why is it , that every Christmas there always seems to be something to hang over me (like a headache) which keeps me from enjoying my favourite time of the year to the max? I sooo love stitching all the yummy patterns, but I need to be at peace with myself in order to do so! However this year, a job has been advertised and it is keeping me from sewing-you see, every time I think of stitching, I feel guilty that I should be preparing for an interview.....why is nothing straight forward?

Anyway, it's Monday and for my sanity, I am going to both blog AND stitch!! After entertaining yesterday ALL day, I'm entitled to some 'me' time, but so far it's not going so good! Poor 'son' is off school with his asthma again-we have just returned from the Dr's with yet another antibiotic and 'babe' is all put out and causing a rumpus that her tv has been taken over so early in the day..... but I'm going to post this today!

I'm afraid that I don't have as many finishes as I would like to have:( but maybe next year.....
This is an all wool snowman pillow that I got as a kit from Primitive Gatherings



I think this penny tree mat is a 'Lakeview Primitives' pattern



I am so enjoying punch needle at the minute-simply because it is something you can just pick up and set down as and when. I have seen alot of old sheet music ideas about blogland recently, so decided to use that as the background-unfortunately the camera is not doing it any favours!



Finally, on Saturday evening (after spending all day preparing for guests) I stole an hour in my sewing room and cut out this little wool mitten-the free pattern from the blog hop by Stacy (Buttermilk Basin). My intention is to have it blanket stitched before this night is out:)



I will leave you with a few bits of Christmas decor and hopefully will be back with some more soon.....













Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful time of the year and getting time to do all they want to get done. Looks like I will be housebound for this week, so I think I am going to be FORCED into Internet shopping, just hope postie doesn't delay:) Have I time do you think???

Take care,
Shazy x

Santa Claus is comin to town......

Today has been one of those winter days, with the wind howling and the rain beating off the windows-love those days every now and again, when I don't have to go out! It suited me brilliantly today, since hubs does all the morning school runs on a Wednesday.....oh, I LOVE Wednesday morns-I am free from 8am til 11.15:)) So, I battened down the hatches and first off, got the cooker on and very soon the smell of apple/raspberry and cinnamon crumble was wafting through the house!

That of course set me off again thinking 'Christmas'-not that I need any encouragement!lol! I have had a few UFO's hanging about-not needing much really to finish them, but this week, my target has been to get them finished and I apologise now if you aren't a Santa fan, because that is what they all are,

First up, is an olde Santa with his wool coat and beard. When I showed him to hubs, the comment I received was 'thought Santa had a red coat'......some people just don't get it, do they???


Oops-this wall really is a darkish red in real life:)



Against a plain wall, to show his colours better:)

This next little pillow-again all wool, is a needl'n love pattern, from one of their books-can't remember which one, but if you really want to know, I can go look!





Lastly, a little needle punch. This is a 'Country Stitches' pattern and I so enjoyed doing it. I chose to trim it with red wool and temporarily stick it to this basket for the holidays-it needs a little more flattening out, but I was rushing to get this post done, but you get the picture.....




This is the one time of the year when I tend to burn the midnight oil-there are so many Christmas things I want to make and only a small window of opportunity to get them done, so I must confess to 'handy' dinners, 'rushed' housework and bleary eyes, but I don't think I feel guilty-least I am using up some of my stash and supplies-that can't be a bad thing can it? Just not sure how I can explain away, ordering 'Country Stitches' new Christmas pattern...........oh yes, I was afraid of them going out of stock....!lol!

Ok, I'm off to make one of those 'handy' meals, so that it only needs heating up later-I feel a late night coming on:))

Blessings, Shazy x

Blog hop and some finishes!

I can't believe it's Friday already!! I feel as if I have just spent all week clearing up after last weekend-housework:( and here we are again.....

Have you been following the great blog hop on at the minute? organised by the very clever Stacy from Buttermilk Basin Designs-she has lined up a host of great designers that I love, to provide us with some wonderful patterns and recipes for the holidays-well this really appeals to me as I LOVE anything to do with Christmas:)

Thanks to Stacy for the wizard idea and to all the designers for their generosity-such fun!!

First up was Brenda (Country Stitches)with a lovely needle punch Santa and of course I had to give it a go-(please bear in mind, that mine is nowhere near as good as Brenda's and my photography doesn't help, but I'm joining in the fun and going to share my attempt:





A closer view-Oops he seems to have lost the greenery from his hat in this one!lol!
I increased the size for the standing one-the next photo is the original size, which I will use for an ornie.....yes, I made two...they sure were fun:)



When on the subject of stars, here are a few fun pillow finishes from Stacy's patterns (BMB)-love her designs and yes she is designing for the hop too!Yipee!





Every so often my sister and I get together to have a baking/cooking day to fill up our freezers, so I thought I would share a few pics of what we made on Wednesday.
It is great to get time together to chat, have fun and come home with produce at the end of the day-you sure can't beat that:)

I'm sure you can guess our theme.....of course it's Christmas!lol!



Lovely cinnamon shortbread (freezes great)



The traditional mince-pie (we do a mini version)
Sorry, you can't catch the smell in the kitchen...yumm!



This is just to show we mean business! Yes, we did make apple tarts, but we didn't make much impact on this lot did we? Next Tuesday is, tray bake day-anyone else coming?Ha!

Thanks for stopping by, I love visitors and hope you all have a great weekend,

Blessings, Shazy x

I'm thinking Christmas:))

Half term holidays have got off to a fairly good start-weather wise, it is a lovely dry, bright crisp day and today was supposed to get most of the appointments out of the road. Today was eye and dental appointments-I was priding myself on how organised I was, only to arrive at the dentist with all three cherubs to find I was too organised-we were a week too early!! Just need to check that the asthma clinic is definitely tomorrow.

The positive outcome of this was, they were all up early and have had a good long day, so much so that the planned movie evening has turned into an afternoon session!lol! Does that mean, bedtime will come early??

Last week I was trying to get organised for the children at home this week and after the freezer got filled, I felt the need for some applique prepping (thinking of all the waiting room sits!lol!), so here are a few pics,



My favourite colours:)Sorry-should have moved those eggs



Lots of pennies.....



Can't seem to get the colours of this quilt right, but you get the drift. It is an adaptation of Cheri's Christmas Sampler-wool applique on a woollies flannel background and I hope to have many cozy evenings by the fire stitching this baby. There is a quite a bit of detail still to be added.

Thinking Christmas-I'm very excited about this new mag, solely for primitive quilting and has 10 great designers submitting patterns etc......Prim Gatherings, Liberty Star, Needl' Love, Primitive Pieces by Lynda and more. Well,I helped hubby on with his Christmas shopping and ordered a subscription-aren't I very thoughtful??

If you are interested, check it out at www.primitive quilts and projects.com



Well, the movie is almost over and the dinner has to be ready, so thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out Christine's great giveaway-she is getting us all in the mood for Christmas decorating:)Just click on the Santa pic on my sidebar.

Blessings, Shazy x

Blogging award!

Yep, I have been able to snatch a few minutes to jump on here (hubs is away for the groceries, babe is in bed and homework's are being done-no computer needed for a change!!)

I want to say a big thank-you to Christine for nominating me for the versatility blog award-I have been trying to respond but you all know how it is:) I will be honest and say, I have dragged my feet a little 'cause I didn't know what to do (not having been here before) but thanks to my good friend Tanya I am going to copy her and if I get in trouble , so will she!! What are friends for????

On my sidebar you will find lots of fantastic blogs that fit the award, so go and enjoy an evenings pleasurable reading, but before you go, I am going to join in with the fun and try and tell you 7 lesser known things about me, so here goes:

1. My next passion to stitching etc is baking

2. I played the church organ for years

3. I am left handed

4. I run a mile at the sight,sound .......of vomit and I am a nurse! Sorry, just had to include that one as it is as real today, as when I was a child:)

5. My dream is to own a log cabin some day

6. I am a hoarder:(

7. You all know my love for muted colours, plain prim quilts, folk art etc? Well, here is another love I have........



Yes, it is still folk art, but contemporary does not usually come into my vocabulary, yet I love Sue's work-heavy embellishment and all:) Are you surprised?
I was analysing myself today and think maybe I am loving her work( I have several of her patterns) because it is wool and lots of texture or maybe subconsciously I'm thinking more as heirlooms for my children-they get a bit tired of my prim palette!Ha!

Well, I better not analyse myself any further and thanks again Christine-hopefully I will be back soon with more pics; will it be my usual or will I be brave and wear my other 'hat'???

Have a great weekend,
Blessings Shazy x

Fall goodies!

I have been trying to get a post done for some time now, but I just don't know where time goes......either that or, I can't get near the computer!!

Anyway, I wanted to share with you some lovely fall goodies I received from a recent swap I was involved in with the lovely Wendy from 'The Quiet Room'-This swap was so much fun to take part in and I got such beautiful goodies to add to my Autumn decor:)



To get a better view, here is how I have displayed them,



I sooo love the crow makedo and just look at the lovely stitching on the wool pumpkin mat.





The smaller pumpkins, I grouped together with some Spanish moss and the rusty pumpkin is hanging below, on the table drawer knob.

Thanks again Wendy-I am so delighted:))

Thought I would just share with you some other fall pieces I have been working on-some for our home and others were for gifts,













Sorry about the quality of this pic, but with the flash, it kept coming out too bright-it is needle punch pumpkins put onto black prairie cloth-I'm quite pleased how it came out.



This little quilt is from Primitive Gatherings, called 'Pumpkin Party' and is probably the first quilt I have in fall colours-please don't be inspecting it too closely:)Again, it is showing brighter, than it really is.



We are having some delightful weather here at the minute-bright sunshine, yet crispy air in the mornings-very pleasurable with the beautiful fall colours on the trees. I just love this time of year, although I am itching to start some Christmas projects...

Thanks again for visiting and hopefully I will be back sooner:)

Blessings, Shazy x