Threadbias Pincushion Swap

This Fall I participated in a pincushion swap at Threadbias.  I love all kinds of pincushions so I thought that this would be a perfect swap for me.  We were given some instruction about using certain colors which were orange, aqua and green, I believe.  We could use one or all of the colors and make any type of pincushion.

This is the wonderful pincushion my swap partner Cherie made for me.

So much detail.

The pictures below are of the pincushion I sent to Cherie. We both love our pincushions and had fun with this swap.

I always enjoy participating in swaps but don't do much of that lately.

Happy Sewing and Swapping!

Sherry

Christmas Tea Cup

I usually love decorating for Christmas.  I like taking my tubs of decorations out of the attic and opening them to find all of the things I haven't seen since last year.  Many of my decorations have memories attached which is even better.  This year I have been slow to get started on my decorating adventure.  A few of the tubs have been opened and closed and put back in the attic, I think I was a little intimidated by the project.  So now I'll take a moment to enjoy a cup of tea in my special Christmas teacup.  

What should I brew, an herbal tea, English breakfast tea, or my go to tea, good old Red Rose?  I think it should be a tea with a spicy Christmas scent to help me get in the mood to decorate..

The tea is beginning to help, I feel like opening a few more tubs but when I look at the clock and see that it is late and I have a long day ahead at work tomorrow.  I close the lids to the tubs and get ready for bed.  I will have to try the same routine again tomorrow and add some chocolate and Christmas music, I am sure to get it done then.

Enjoy a cup of tea today!

Linking to Teacup Tuesday at Artful Affirmations and

Antiques and Teacups

Thanksgiving Day 2012

Oh Give Thanks Unto The Lord.

Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day

We bow our hearts to You and pray.

We give You thanks for all You’ve done

Especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son.

For beauty in nature, Your glory we see

For joy and health, friends and family,

For daily provision, Your mercy and care

These are the blessings You graciously share.

So today we offer this response of praise

With a promise to follow You all of our days.

-Mary Fairchild

 

We are thankful for the opportunity to be with our family here in South Carolina.  We are in Bluffton with our son Nathan, his wife Kacy and our granddaughters Adria, Hannah and Harper.  Harper is almost one month old and we saw her for the first time on Monday, she is a beautiful little girl.  We are blessed to spend this time with this part of our family and we will be thinking of our family in Wisconsin and Washington State. I am thankful for airplane travel and the ability to travel across country in just a few hours.

Happy Thanksgiving!  

Fall Decorating Complete

I love to decorate for fall but this year I was slow to get to it.  One day a couple of weeks ago I decided that I should complete the project.   First I decided to make the burlap table runner I have been planning to make for two years.  It was fun to go upstairs, take out the burlap and complete a project in short time, it was a simple project so I don't know why I waited so long.

My pumpkins were made from a tutorial on My Desert Cottage a couple of years ago.

My pumpkins have been mistaken for balls by our grandsons and have survived a bit of tossing around.

I added a ruffle on each end and lined the runner with muslin.

I pray that God blesses your home with love and laughter.

A Very Special Gift

I have five sisters who are all great at choosing gifts for each other.  I guess we know each others likes pretty well.  The items below were in a gift box to me from my sister Becky.  She brought it to me a while back but I am a bit  behind on my blogging so I have not shared this yet.

Look at all of the fun items, I love the vintage apron patterns and the cookie cutters, perfect for a grandma who loves sugar cookies.

This sweet apron was hand made by Becky, I love it!

This sign hangs in my sewing room, it is so true.

When I opened this book I felt sure that this is one that we had around when we were kids.  I will enjoy sharing it with my grandchildren.

Sweet pictures.

Another close up of my new and favorite apron.

I love the different fabrics used on the ties.

 

I am thankful for the thoughtful people in my life.

Sewing This and That

My sewing machine and I have not spent much time together these past few weeks.  Pat and I were able to take a wonderful trip to Wisconsin to see Julie and Brad and the kids.  I did use Julie's machine to finish the back tab curtains for their bedroom.  I wish I had a picture to share, they look great and I love the fabric Julie chose.  I do have a picture of our adorable grandchildren to share with you.  We went to the pumpkin patch so they could each pick out a pumpkin and we spent Saturday morning carving them.

 

As you can see, it is never easy to get four children to look at the camera at the same time.

 

I have done a little stitching since returning home so I will share that with you.

 

This is my Fire and Rain mini quilt top for Konda's Mini Quilt Along  at Moose on the Porch Quilts.

I plan to machine quilt this and make it into a pillow.

 

 

Block 13 for "Blogger's Block of the Month"

Now I have to get busy and complete the quilt top.

 

 

This is my mini quilt for the Friendship Embroidery Mini Swap.  My quilt has been sent off to Germany.    I am looking forward to receiving my mini from my swap partner.

 

 

I have many pictures loaded on my blog ready for posting, just have to find the time and energy for a bit of writing.   Wow, it is almost the weekend again!  I hope you have a good one.

Beginner's Quilt Along Quilt Top Complete

I have been sharing for a few months the blocks from the Beginner's Quilt Along.  Now it is time to show you the completed quilt top. My fabrics are Lily & Will by Bunny Hill designs.  I had purchased them with no project in mind and decided to use them for this quilt along.  I learned so much by doing these blocks and I can see now as I look at my quilt top that I could have done better when cutting  center squares but I am very happy with the finished project.  Now to get it quilted, by someone other than me.

 

I called my quilt top Patterns in Pastel

 

Thank you to Pat Sloan and Michele at The Quilting Gallery for this wonderful quilt along.

It is time to vote for your favorites at The Quilting Gallery.  Be sure to take a moment and see the beautiful quilts here and choose your favorites.

The Great Wheel In Seattle

My husband and I had a Monday off together last week.  I was thinking about all of the things that needed to be done around the house and yard, trying to decide what to do first.  Pat had another plan that was much better, we were going to take a drive.  We headed south on I-5 and headed to downtown Seattle.  We have a new attraction on the Seattle waterfront, it is called

the "Great Wheel."

 

 

We arrived at about 10:45 and learned that they were delaying the start of the ride for regular maintenance.  We stood in line and visited with a lady from Tennessee who had come to Seattle to see the sights and also planned to visit the San Juan Islands and Whidbey Island.  Her friend did not like heights so she was on her own for the ride.

 

It was a beautiful day so the wait was an easy and enjoyable one.

The sky was a little hazy which might have been caused by the smoke coming our way from east of the mountains where they have experienced devastating fires.

 

We bought our tickets and were on the first ride of the day on the Great Wheel.

You know that moment in time when you think to yourself, what am I doing here and how do I get out of here?  Well since I was the one with the camera I was able to get a picture of Patrick when that thought crossed his mind.  I had the same thought but you will not see what my face looked like at that second.

 

Here we are much more relaxed and enjoying the scenery.  We tried to get our heads even so that one of us didn't look like we had a huge head.  I will say that Pat is holding the camera so he is a little closer.

After our ride on the Great Wheel we walked a few blocks and took an elevator to the Pike Place Market.  Seattle is a city with many hills so we had the option of several flights of switch back stairs or the elevator.  Going down is much easier so we chose the stairs when we headed back to our car.

 

This market is a very busy place and seems to go on forever.

 

I took a picture when no one was in front of this flower stand, that was only for a very brief time.

 

These are the flowers I brought home with me as a reminder of a very enjoyable and relaxing day.