Decorating and stitching

I have been wanting to post now for a while, to tell you about my great time at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, but having been away last week on hols, I forgot to bring my camera home, so I am not going to be able to show pics of the quilt show, but I have been doing a little bit of decorating, so I am going to show you a few pics of that.

Firstly though, I had such an exciting time at the quilt festival. A friend and I headed off on the plane at 8.40am and 40mins later we were in Birmingham!! After identifying the monorail and a 2min ride we were at the NEC where the quilt show was-how handy was that?

We were soooo excited to have two days out to ourselves and wow, the quilt show did not disappoint!! Stall after stall of beautiful stuff-bliss, to say the least. Unfortunately I cannot show you my goodies til I get my camera back (I could get them all out and take more pics, but I'm too lazy) but I had a very exciting event......I got to meet another blogging buddy in real life!!

I must say, I aint in the habit of meeting people I have met on-line, but I have been liaising with the lovely Wendy from the 'Quiet Room' blog for sometime now and felt I knew her already- I just needed a face to complete the friendship:))

We spent a lovely hour over lunch and laughed at the common purchases and out of all the 100's of stalls, we both had the same favourite-how cool (or odd) is that?
Anyway, it was great to meet and Wendy surprised me with the most lovely gift;
check out these little pillows-her hand stitching is soooo neat-I just love them, thanks again Wendy:)



This is where the little wool pillow is placed


Moving on; over the summer we got some painting done to the living area, hall, stairs and landing (the paintwork was so grubby, it was a disgrace). Since we have alot of dark wood in the house, we went with lighter walls and while this was taking place, I commissioned my hubby's friend to make me some items-quilt racks and blanket crane shelves.


This one, I did aged white over black and walnut wax to finish.

Back to my trusty good olde deep red colour:) again, aged with walnut wax-difficult to see


Just a closer view to see I have started to decorate for autumn-even though,over the last two days we have been blessed with the most sunshine we have had all summer!lol!






This next pic was another summer project-I aged this ladder and then hand stitched the wool applique towels, whilst relaxing at the caravan.


Yep, it's more pumpkins!lol!


........and more pumpkins??


OK, I think that's sufficient from me for tonight; hope you have enjoyed your visit and please call again soon. My youngest babe starts nursery tomorrow and the older cherubs go back to school-back to routine again and to be honest, maybe that is what I am in need of-routine! Just maybe, the dishes will get washed before bedtime and the laundry will be kept up to date.....I know hubs, who do I think I'm kidding-not a chance, when there is stitching to be done:))

Blessings, Shazy x

Christmas quilt-a-long update

Yes, I knew before I even started the quilt-a-long on Saturday, hosted by Sue of Quilt Times, that I wouldn't get much time to participate, but I still wanted to join in the fun:) So here we are, a number of days later and I want to show you that I am still on board (just a little slow!lol!)

These first three blocks took an age-I think I spent more time with my stitch ripper in hand than stitching, but I eventually got into the swing of getting my points fairly ok (don't look too close) by ironing the seams in a particular direction, so that they 'fitted' nicely into each other-how slow am I????



Sorry, I was on a roll and couldn't get stopped for photo's until the front was finished! There are three rows of the red blocks-the rest is over the banister:)



Now......for the fun/relaxing bit-yep, I am going to be traditional and hand quilt this one


Finally, I thought I could show the progress on Santa. It's a little wrinkled, from being in my sewing bag, but you get the picture



A closer glimpse of my newly learned skill....feather stitch????



There are a few other little projects I was going to show, but as usual, this posting takes forever. It is now 18.05 and I will let you into a secret; the b'fast dishes are still in the sink and there is no dinner on, so I better hop it!!

Have a great week,
Blessings, Shazy x

Christmas?

I know, I know....I said I wouldn't be back until September, but I could not miss out on some Christmas fun!! After all, it is my most favourite time to decorate:)

Sue over at Quilt Times is having a Christmas quilt-a-long, just to get us all ready, so go on over and join in the fun and see what everyone else is doing today.

I am very excited about this, because up until now, most of my quilts have been applique and very little pieced work. So a little while back, I admired a lovely quilt over here, made by the lovely Julie and before 24hrs were out, she had e-mailed me the pattern, which was her very own pattern!! How helpful was that?

Anyway, here goes.....I ordered some antiqued muslin and as I'm sure you can imagine, I have an endless supply of reds and I got to cutting!!



If you are looking a break and want to get in the spirit of Christmas and want to see the finished quilt, go to Julie's blog-Tattered Threads and Willing Hands (which I have linked for you above). Scroll down to her section for 'home tours' and click on her 'holiday home tour' just check out those amazing quilts-talent or what? Did you see the one that I am trying to make?



This is one of Cheri Payne's patterns (love them) that I have been working on using wool applique-such a delight to work with. I even taught myself feather stitch, from on-line. Oops, I don't think I have a photo of that yet!






Ok, that's all for now, not sure when I will get back today as EVERYONE is at home ........need I say anymore?

Why not join in the fun too,
Blessings, Shazy x

Just a quick plug!

Hello all,

Hope your summer is going well. Today is the first hot day we have had for ages, so I plan to take Leah to dig in the sand, but first I am on to post about an amazing giveaway,

Stacy, owner of Buttermilk Basin has $50 free patterns....psst (don't head over, as I want to win) How very generous! Click on the Buttermilk Basin pic on my sidebar and tell her I sent you:))

Enjoy your hols and back soon:)

Blessings, Shazy x

Picture heavy prim goodness!

I ended my last post saying I would be back soon to show some more of our visit to Wisconsin-so true to my word, here I am! I thought, if I am to wait until I get my goodies displayed, you could be waiting a while and I know a certain buddy is going on hols soon, so this is to put her in the notion for all the prim goodies that are out there-as if she is not excited enough-right Christine?

The shop below,'A Simpler Time' is in Ripon-I first saw it on someone's blog and made a note of the address, as a definite place to visit. Wow, but I was not disappointed. Room after room of amazing eye candy, do you want to see?




















Well, what do you think? A good find?
Now, on to some purchases!
This next pic, caused a little hassle at the security of the airport-I had it beautifully packed in hubs hand luggage, with the glass out and filled with goodies for safe transportation, but we had to unpack it all at security (which took ages) as I think they must have thought it was a rocket or something!! Anyway, I got it home safely and hubs got it all wired up for here and I am soooo pleased with my new lamp:))





I didn't get the wire basket in Wisconsin, but I thought it displayed my new bobbins and treenware nicely. I just love the little mats I got-can't wait to display them properly.













Just a closer look at the coverlet I got from 'A Simpler Time' I am still waiting (impatiently) on hubs friend making my quilt rack:(



I usually only buy things I can't make myself, but I couldn't refuse this folk art pear makedo-so beautifully stitched and finished off with a little wool strawberry on a rusty pin and just look at the little base.

Ok, that is most of my goodies-(I need to keep some for displays to show you another time, or I will have nothing to blog about!lol) but before I finish, here are a few photo's of my wool stash. I know, it is probably small, compared to many of yours out there, but believe me, it pleases me:))




The bottom left, is wool felt and the top left, are a few of my wool kits, yet to made up. Here is a closer look at this scrummy bundle.



This next pic, shows my flannels and homespuns.



And here is a pic of some of my cotton stash



Thanks for staying with me if you have reached this far. I know it has been long but that leads me to my next piece of news.
Because of the school hols etc I have decided to take a break from blogging for July and August-please do not remove me from your blogroll; I do intend to be back in September, with hopefully some sewing done!

I hope to get the odd fix, by reading your blogs when I can, but until next time, I hope everyone has a great summer and enjoys special family time together.

Blessings, Shazy x

Primitive Gatherings and more!

Yeah! I had my prayers answered and got to Wisconsin and some really amazing shops!

What an awesome state Wisconsin is-quilters heaven would be an underestimate and as for the prim shops to visit.....they simply have it all and I was totally jealous of the huge choice and range of goodies available. My only problem (apart from running out of money, ha!) was the weight restrictions for the plane.....hubs was getting worried and bought a set of fish scales from Walmart, to weigh my bags, before going to the airport-it's always good to have a sensible head about!lol!

We travelled over last Monday and I got to my favourite on-line quilt shop on Tuesday, oh, I was so like a child, I think hubs thought I had lost the plot altogether-my eyes just could not take in the amount of yumminess; wools, fabrics, threads and kits GALORE! Where does a girl start, when faced with that??

Firstly, hubs was gently encouraged to go for a wee drive and not to rush back (he hired a nice car for himself), so he was easily persuaded!lol!

The girls in the shop are just as I imagined-very helpful, friendly and talented. Some of them design patterns too and the samples around the walls were just stunning.
Lisa (the owner) unfortunately, I didn't get to meet, as they were at a quilt show, but she ought to be proud of her girls-we had great fun, as my baskets got higher and higher!!

Anyway, it's the pics I'm sure you want to see, so here are a few-they don't do it justice, as I would have needed to take the samples individually, but you will get a taste.









These two pics, show some of the yummy wools-they also had big baths full of wool bundles-I would so loved to have one of every colour......






This was part of their red, white and blue area (not a great pic) but they had penny mats and the most beaut needle punch samples-see the basket on the wall, with the needle punch on it?



This was part of their Christmas area-just look at all the kits, sitting about-I know I am not doing it justice, but EVERY free space was covered, with samples or wool kits packaged or rows of patterns.



This bed, was up the front of the shop and on it you can see the Americana runner-just one of their summer kits. All the kits and samples to do with their summer book are all on display here.

The next two pics are on they way down the stairs, where all the Autumn Gatherings, samples and kits are. Then downstairs (I didn't get a pic) has all the wool rug hooking stuff and sale fabrics/patterns and an area for classes.











One bag of scrummy goodness! (Want the secret? I went back the next day, for bag number 2...hush!)

Ok, are you bored yet? You might just have needed to have been there, but for those not bored yet, I will show you one more amazing shop in Spring Green, called The Country Sampler Quilt Shop. Wow, but this shop had class.

The displays were amazing and they had such a range of beautiful muted colours of flannels, checks and plaids and yes, yummy wools. They also had loads of punch needle patterns, like Country Stitches and lots of prim cross stitch samplers. I didn't like to take too many pics as I wasn't supposed to-I asked after paying for my stuff and I think, she couldn't really refuse!lol!




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What do you think? Stunning? That wasn't even half the displays. Look at how they wrap purchases so beautifully-I don't want to unpack them yet, as they look so good in the bags!lol!





Thought I better show you the main reason for our trip, just in case you thought it was all for me! ha! No, hubs was going to the Renewable Energy Fair at Custer and VERY kindly took me along, since he knows, I would have died if he hadn't!!! Thank you hubs, from the bottom of my heart-you were sooooo patient and tolerant and thank you for turning a blind eye to all the bags.....

That's all for now,thanks for stopping by and I will be back with some prim pics and some goodies soon,

Blessings, Shazy x