Happy New Year and Siggy Blocks

Happy New Year to everyone! It is amazing that we are almost approaching 2009....we are only hours away.The year has flown, and since Joe and I retired, time seems to fly even quicker. 2008 ended with a bang when we moved into our new home, and we feel very lucky indeed!

Today, on New Year's Eve, I received two siggy blocks from members of the International Siggy Group. One came from Sara in Bellingham, WA, and she put a cute cat on the centre, because she loves cats. She told me that she has been to Ireland and lived here for a year. It is a small world indeed, and I hope that she returns to Ireland one day so we can meet. The second siggy came from Sabina who lives in Germany, and her centre was very unique too, and the blue fabric that she picked was gorgeous. Thanks to both of you!

Well, we are staying home tonight and will watch the New Year come in on tv. Joe and I wish you and yours a healthy and happy New year, and we are looking forward to all the good things that 2009 brings to us, and hopefully to you all.

Stichin Fingers Christmas Swap and Latest Projects

Dakotah from my Stichin Fingers Group sent me this postcard for a Christmas swap . It is lovely! I love crazy quilt designs. I have not posted my postcard to her, as I want her to be surprised. Thanks so much Dakotah! It will be a lovely addition to my huge postcard collection.

As to my latest projects, I began my Christmas House Block Quilt, and because of the move, it will be completed after Christmas. I found out that I needed some more natural fairy frost to complete the sashing, so I ordered it from the Fat Quarter Shop. I was trying to figure out how I ran out of the fabric, and then remembered that I used some of the fabric for stockings that I made....that could have done it.LOL The Fat Quarter Shop is shipping it out today, so I will have to wait to complete it. What a bummer!

Also, I purchased some lovely oriental design sets from the Advanced Embroidery site at

http://www.advanced-embroidery-designs.com/ They are Sets 1-4 from the Blackwork Sets, and I will making a geisha quilt from them for our spanking new double sized bed. Today, I will do a test design. I will use a pale pink fairy frost to stitch the designs on. I have included pics of the designs, but the pic of the quilt is of a smaller wall hanging, so I am using both sets, in addition to 6 extra oriental flower designs to make the double sized quilt. It should be lovely!

Other than all that, Joe and I are having a wonderful holiday, and we both hope that you all are having the best holiday too.

Happy Holidays and Latest Events

Happy Holidays to everyone! Joe and I spent our first Christmas in Heather Cottage. I thank everyone for their congratulations, and we really enjoyed our first Christmas in our new home. We took a long walk early in the AM on Christmas Day. I then put the stuffed turkey in the oven, cut the potatoes for the mashed potatoes, and I also got the sprouts and peas in the pot to boil. I am happy to say that the meal turned out wonderfully. All of us, including the two dogs enjoyed the meal. We then watched two Christmas specials: "Strictly Come Dancing" and "Dancing on Ice." I received a Wii for Christmas. I may not have told you, but I am a kid at heart, and I have enjoyed playing Animal Crossing immensely. I am also getting a new Pfaff Expression 4.0 in January, so I am very excited about that. We are planning on painting the outside and inside of the cottage, so when we finish all of that, Joe will take pics. I am planting pink and purple heather, flowers, and putting two window boxes of various local flowers on our two front windows. We plan on getting a bench for the front of the house, a picnic bench for the backyard, and we are getting an estimate for a new fence and gate for our backyard....lots to do, but that is the fun of it all. I do promise lots of pics when it is all done.

I received two lovely blocks from Kari, who is a member of the International Friendship Quilters which you can see at http://www.friendshipquilters.com/ They were to represent her favourite things, and as you can see, Kari loves flowers and teacups.

I also started my Christmas House Block lap quilt today, and I got two rows done. Tomorrow, I will finish the other two rows, and then sew the rows together and try to get the top completed.....If I can manage all of that, Joe will take a pic. It will be a bit late for Christmas, but it is turning out oh so cute!

I wish everyone a blessed holiday season and a Happy New Year! The best gift for both Joe and me was being together in our new home with our two dogs Rufus and Charlie. It will be a holiday that we will never forget!

Just Moved Into Heather Cottage

It has taken Joe and me two weeks, but we finally moved into our new home. We have been so busy transporting our clothes and other items to our new cottage, and finally yesterday the mover came with all of our big furniture items and we are here in our new home. We love it! It is a very cozy cottage located near Dunfanaghy town and the ocean, but also close to the hill walks that we love. Joe had the electricity, phone and internet connected by the time we moved in, so that was wonderful. I am almost all unpacked except for my sewing items. We had a carpenter put shelves in our storage room that I am using for all of my sewing, embroidery, and felting supplies. First, we have to make a trip to Letterkenny to buy a garden shed, buy some storage units for my supply room, a new washing machine, and some other things that we need. We already got our new bed delivered, and we really have accomplished so much! Joe calls us "The A Team", and considering what we have accomplished in the last two weeks, we really are quite the team.

Tomorrow, in Letterkenny, we need to buy two surge protectors and 10 metre leads, so we can connect my sewing and embroidery machines. I can't wait for that. I haven't been involved with any of my hobbies, and I have sorely missed them all. I received some wonderful blocks from a swap that I am in with the International Friendship Quilters Group...you can check them out at
www.friendshipquilters.com ....they are a wonderful group of quilters, and there are tons of activities to be involved in. Actually, tonight is a pre-Christmas party, and we are all meeting in the chat room. I will post pics of the blocks as soon as I settle in completely.

Just wanted to keep you up on the move and tell you that we have finally reached our new home, which is called Heather Cottage. I will post again soon!

My First Knitted Item

Here is a pic of my knitted ribbed scarf. it is special as it is the first thing that I ever knitted. I taught myself to knit about three weeks ago. Tonight, I finished the scarf and put on the fringe using a crochet hook. I was so proud of it! I am really enjoying knitting, and I find it so relaxing to knit in my lounge chair while I watch tv.

I taught myself with the Stitch N' Bitch book and the countless videos that are availabe on You Tube, and also at Knitting Help which is at http://www.knittinghelp.com/ . I loved the yarn , and I thoroughly enjoyed making the scarf.

Next, I am beginning a cable bag . I found a beautiful pattern in the magazine "Knitting Today", and I picked out the prettiest Aran yarn in a wonderful shade of purple. I had to learn the various cable stitches that are required for this pattern, and bought myself some cable needles, watched the videos, and practiced and practiced till I got it. Now, I am ready to begin.
I am also ordering a dvd on making socks and will be doing that too...I can't decide if I want to use dpn needles or circular needles...Will have to do more research on it. Any comments on that by knitters would be greatly appreciated.

Well, we are having a bitter winter here in Dunfanaghy, so this scarf is going to keep me so warm and cozy!

Christmas Craft Fair

Today was The Christmas Craft Fair in Dunfanaghy, and it was situated in the Ozanam Centre, which is our community centre. We had tons of tables as you can see which exhibited the local talent in our town. There were paintings, food items, jewelry...name it, it was there. Our guild had a table too where we all made quilts, stockings, lacework, and various items that we had on sale. A local lady played the harp beautifully, and it was all great craic. Joe took some pics for you to see, and at our guild table, Margaret and Eileen proudly held up one of the quilts that was on sale.Oh, yes, Joe bought me a lovely Celtic necklace, which I am now wearing, and I have included the pic of it. It was a great day!

Joe's Christmas Stocking

I finished Joe's Christmas stocking. He wanted Frosty the Snowman, so I picked Mr. and Mrs. Frosty to represent Joe and me. It definitely suits us to a tee. I machine embroidered the design, and used mostly Michael Miller Fairy Frost, which I adore, and some Christmas fabric. He was so pleased with it, and it will be hanging over the Stanley Range in our new home.It will be a very special Christmas for both of us and our two boys Rufus and Charlie.

New Siggy Blocks, a Stocking Project, and Updates on Our Move

Joe and I have been very busy with our move. Our goal is to get into our new home by the Tuesday before Christmas, so you can well imagine how busy we are. Our phone is turned on, and we have a new phone number, and today the electricity was turned on. A plumber came to make a connection for our washing machine, and we have a tileman coming on the Friday before Christmas week. In addition, we scheduled a carpenter to build shelves and units in a storage area that we have that I will use for my sewing supplies.I have been packing,and packing and packing, so we are up to our ears in boxes. We found out that our huge leather sofa won't fit through the cottage door, so we are selling it. Someone called that they wanted to see it tomorrow. We are taking our leather lounge chair, getting another one, and placing a table between the both of them with a lovely lamp, and that will be how we comfortably relax in our living room as the Stanley Range keeps us snug and warm. We are both excited, as our home is a dote of a house, and we can't wait to get there.

In the midst of all of that, I will be sewing Joe's Christmas stocking this week, and I will post a pic when it is done. That project will start tomorrow. I will be machine embroidering the front first with a Frosty the Snowman design, and then I will be able to sew it together. I am using mostly Michael Miller fairy frost and Christmas fabric.

I received two siggies today from quilters in the International Siggy Swap. One was from Teresa in Oregon, and she chose some firemen themed fabric and a centre block stamped with a fireman, as her husband was a retired fireman , and both her sons followed in their dad's footsteps and became firemen. It was lovely! Also, Rose Marie from Toronto, Canada sent me fabric showing the theme of the great outdoors. She explained that she chose that fabric as her dad was teaching her about animal tracks, as they had their first snow. Thanks so much to both of them. I made them some siggies and mailed them out today.

It is hard to believe how time is flying, and Christmas is almost here. The best thing about it all is that Joe and I and our two dogs will be celebrating the holidays in our new home.

I've Been Tagged!

I have been tagged by Dzintra, who has a wonderful blog named Queen of the Armchair at http://dzintrastitcheries.blogspot.com/ Anyways, this is how tagging works: You post a link to the blog that challenged you and add these rules to your post:

1. Share 7 things about yourself.

2.Challenge 7 other blogs at the end of your post through naming their blog and posting a link to them.

3. Let them know they have been challenged by leaving a comment in their blog.

So here it goes, I have chosen this time to name 7 favorite things that I love:

1. I love the sea. I especially love walking on the beach with Joe.

2. I love Joe with all of my heart, as he is my soulmate.

3. I love my dogs, and the wonderful hearts that they have, even though they were abused a long time ago.

4. I love to roller skate, but since my knee injury, I haven't done it. I have been roller skating since I was a kid, and I am darn good at it.

5. Next to dogs, I love horses the most! They are elegant, intelligent and so friendly. Joe, often times , has carrots in his pockets, so we can feed the horses.

6. I love Dunfanghy: the hills, the ocean, the spiritual beauty of the place. It is home for me and Joe.

7. I love meeting all the wonderful friends through our blogs. Through this tag, I was introduced to Aussie Martha, and her blog is at http://melsroseplace.blogspot.com/

Well that is it for me and what I love the most.

I am now tagging the following people:

1. Aussie Martha at Melrose Place http://melsroseplace.blogspot.com/

2.Kath at Railway Cottage: http://www.railwaycottage.blogspot.com/

3.Cathy at Quazy Mama: http://quazymama.blogspot.com/

4.Katherine at Quilter Going Bananas: http://quiltergoingbananas.blogspot.com/

5.Carol at Love to Quilt: http://camah3.blogspot.com/

6.Anna at Quilt Mom's Journey: http://quiltmomsjourney.blogspot.com/

7.Phyllis at Spin Knit and Life: http://spinknitandlife.blogspot.com/

You are going to love these blogs if you vist them, so just take a nice cup of coffee or tea and get comfy in your favourite chair, and have a read.

Doily Finally Finished and Denny's Winter Window

I finally finished the machine embroidered lace doily. It took me over a week to do. It has 8 side panels and an octagonal centerpiece. I had to machine sew all the pieces, and that was a bit tricky, but it turned out lovely. I have it in our living room, and it looks very beautiful with the Lladro porcelain figurine that we have on top.

Then Denny from Indiana, who is in my ArtsntheMail group sent me a "Winter Window" fabric postcard that was for a swap for the letter "w." It really looks like you are looking through a window at a winter, snowy scene. It really was one of the nicest fabric postcards that I ever got.

Thanks so much Denny!

XMAS Stocking Gift

I made the cutest XMAS stocking today for a friend, and I can't identify her, but I thought I would post it. I used all Michael Miller Fairy Frost and some really lovely XMAS fabric. I machine embroidered the stocking with a Loralie design, and it is being mailed tomorrow to a secret destination. Anyway, here it is!

Last Push Quilt-a-thon and Move to New Home

Nicki from Az is having a Last Push Quilt-a-thon on December 13th at http://pumpkincountry.blogspot.com/ . If you are completing all those last minute Christmas projects, like I am , then join Niki and all of us to show off our completed projects.

I am slowly but surely completing all of my Christmas gifts for friends and holiday projects for my family. Today, I finished a stocking for my friend , and then I headed to the quilting bee to cut out all the strips that I needed for the sashing, borders, and binding for our XMAS House Block lap quilt...Then I have to make Joe his stocking, so I am super busy.

In the midst of all of that, Joe , the two doggies, and I are moving to a new home...our final home for the rest of our lives. We have been looking for a quiet, lovely place, and we found it in Dunfanaghy...also near the sea, and we move into our new home in four weeks time. So you know with all of that, I will be super busy. This is going to be a holiday season that we will never forget. Wish me luck!...I will need it with all that I have to do! LOL We are calling our home "Heather Cottage", so we will have to buy a plaque with that name to hang up above our door. Of course, I will be planting pink and purple heather around the house, and I was thrilled that we now have a fenced in yard in the back, and the doggies will love that too...That also means lots of plans for gardening and buying a picnic bench for lovely dinners outdoors. It's all very exciting!

Maureen's Fabric Postcard and the Knitting Saga Continues

I received a lovely fabric postcard from Maureen, who is in my Arts'n the Mail Group. It was for the "w" swap , and she made "w" represent "weaving", as you can see by the pic. I loved the colours that she used and the embellishments. Thanks so much!

As to my knitting, I am having a blast with it!! I am doing a wonderful long scarf using a beautiful wool and nylon yarn that I got, and it is going along so well. I am doing the ribbed stitch throughout the scarf...Knit 2 and Purl 2...The book Stitch 'N Bitch really is a great reference book, but I got a wonderful dvd in the mail that I have been using called "The Beginner's Guide to Knitting" by Nici McNally. It is awesome! Since I picked up the knit and purl stitch so well, and I have the speed and gauge right, I am moving on to the dreaded sock.LOL It was recommended by a friend that I get the dvds made by Nenah Galati whom you should check out at http://www.knittingkorner.com/ I am going to get the Sock 1 Kit which includes the dvd, yarn and turbo needles. I hear that it is a great dvd. Well, I am eager to learn how to make socks and hope that it is not too bad with the circular needles and Nenah's dvd.

This month, I am ordering Denise's Interchangeable Needle set at The Knitting Parlour in the UK which you can see at http://www.theknittingparlour.co.uk/ . I am getting it in pink and it gives you needles in sizes 3.75-10mm, which makes either circular or straight needles. Also, I have some crochet hooks to get, the Clover Knitting Kit, and some yarn.

I am known as the sock lady , as I am always wearing very unique socks...funny ones, like the ones I am wearing now, which have pink pigs on them, so I can't wait to knit my own socks! What can I say? Knitting is very addictive!

Blogging Friends Forever Award

I woke up this morning to a wonderful email from Anna in BC, who gave me the Blogging Friends Forever Award. Anna. I want to thank you right back for a wonderful friendship that we have developed through our letters to each other. You can visit Anna's blog and share her wonderful journey at http://quiltmomsjourney.blogspot.com/ . I really needed that, as it has been a bit of a difficult week, and it was very welcoming to see a friend think of me with such kindness. I also went to Pam's Pages at http://pamcave.blogspot.com/, and I found out that she gave me that award too, and even though I thanked her on her blog, I wanted to tell her again how grateful I was that she included me on her list. I didn't know at the time that I was supposed to paste it on my blog, but finally figured it out with Anna's email. I guess that I am a newbie to all of this stuff. Thanks again Pam!

I began my blogging journey not too long ago, and used to just lurk and read other people's blogs. I found out from Anna's post that Kim at http://kimsbigquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/ seemed to have coined the expression "AFWAB", which means " a friend without a blog." I never knew I was an AFWAB.LOL I will have to visit Kim's blog today.

When someone like Anna sends so much love out, I can only do one thing and send it back to some of my blogging friends. I have met so many wonderful and talented people through my blog, who have shared my life with me by reading my posts and responding so kindly to them.

I am giving the Blogging Friends Forever Award to the following people:

1. Kath at http://www.railwaycottage.blogspot.com/ . What can I say about my friend Kath? I have dubbed her the Elfin princess, and she is eclectic like myself, as she does tons of creative things like art, doll making, fabric postcards, etc. She is lovely both outside and inside. I like to picture her doing her crafts with her dogs lying beside her, the music in the background, and a big smile on her face.

2.Dzintra at http://dzintrastitcheries.blogspot.com/ is a marvelous stitcher who enjoys walking on the beach with her husband. She is definitely a romantic at heart. She lives in Australia, and she is recuperating after surgery...thus the name Queen of the Armchair. She is a real trooper and has a heart of gold!

3.Katherine at http://quiltergoingbananas.blogspot.com/ is a great quilter who is "going bananas" trying to finish all of her UFO's....Aren't we all? She is a lovely, warm lady, and you definitely need to visit her blog and get to know her.

4..Maggi at http://todreamtostitch.blogspot.com/ is a textile artist, whom I am so glad to have gotten to know. She is always experimenting with her craft, and I love a person who has the courage to do that!

5.Carol at http://camah3.blogspot.com/ loves quilting, but very humorously says that her purpose in life is to buy more and more fabric. Don't we all love doing that? I thank her for her constant encouragement!

6. Phyllis at http://spinknitandlife.blogspot.com/ has been an avid follower of my blog, and I thank her immensely for that! She spins and knits beautifully! Someone who read my post yesterday about my starting to knit suggested that I also spin. Well, I doubt if I ever will do that...God knows I do so much now...but even if I ever did, which I won't...LOL...I could never do it as splendidly as Phyllis does. Her yarn is wonderful!


7. Nicola at http://clasheen.wordpress.com/ is a "rural feltmaker", as she calls herself, who lives in Ireland also. She is passionate about feltmaking, and is always creating breathtaking jewelry, wearable art, and many other things that would inspire anybody. After going into machine felting, I luckily found her through Feltmakers of Ireland, and I throughly enjoy keeping up with her artistic pursuits.

8. Pam at http://pamcave.blogspot.com/ : well even though you already have an award, and gave one to me...I am sending you back one with much love and thanks. You are such a lovely person and talented quilter, so if you want some craic or fun as they say here in Ireland, visit Pam's blog.

9. Freda at http://fredashive.blogspot.com/ : I had to include Freda, as she was gracious enough to lead the Christmas House Block Exchange, and yes, Freda, I just got the blocks in the mail. I really thank you for taking this swap on and giving all of us such wonderful blocks. I will be making a lap quilt starting this week from all of the blocks, and it will be a wonderful memory for me. I will post it on my blog and tell you when it is there so you can see it. Thanks so much!

10. Anna: I am sending you back the award with love.

I could go on and on...I have met so many inspiring people through the blogging world.
Thank you all for sharing our obvious love for our crafts and most of all for the friendships that we have formed.

Knitting At Last

I have crocheted for years and years, but I always wanted to learn to knit. My friend Attracta lent me her Stitch'N Bitch book, and I dived into it enthusiastically. I worked on it the first three days for 7-8 hours straight. I learned how to cast on the stitches quickly enough, the knit stitch wasn't too bad...even got the speed down, but the purl took me some time, but now after less than a week, I have gotten it. I think that the purl was hard for me, as I have dyslexia, and you have to do it backwards, but I finally mastered it. I then learned how to increase and decrease stitches, bind off the piece, and do yarn over...I am looking at the book all the time and learning things.

I knew I had to jump into making a project, so I have started a scarf. I found some lovely wool yarn that had the colours black, grey and white. I am using 6mm straight wooden needles, as the pattern indicated, and I am knitting away. It is very relaxing sitting in my lounge chair and knitting by the fire while I watch tv. I will post the scarf when I finish. I want to try socks afterwards, but I hear that the heels are a killer. Well, Joe and I both want socks, so I will give it a go. Any help with the socks or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

Oh, UTube had tons of videos, and I have to admit that without those, I never would have learned knitting so quickly. I am determined to work my way up to a sweater soon, and being the persistent person that I am...I am sure that I will....MmMmMm....I think angora and pink is definitely a possibility.

Yeah, The XMAS House Blocks Arrived and Lace Doily Almost Finished

I was thrilled when the postman finally delivered the Christmas house blocks to me. I got 12 of them, and today at the quilting bee, I made four more. Joe took a pic of the 12 blocks as they arrived, so here they are. It is going to make such an adorable lap quilt.

I also got a wonderful gift from Dakota who sent me her first fabric postcard. She is in my Stichin Fingers Group, and the theme was XMAS...Wow, what a wonderful first attempt! You would never guess that it was her first fabric postcard. I loved all the hand embroidery and beadwork. She also gave me some embroidery thread .

Lastly, I got supplies from Barnyarns....embroidery thread and a bobbin storage case. I was just running out of the two blues that I am using to make a lovely lace doily, so thank God, it came just in the nick of time. I have posted a pic...I have to make two more sides of the doily and then sew the pieces together. I used two layers of Madeira Avalon Plus in the hoop, and I decided on making the lace in two shades of my favourite shades of blue.

I am crossing my fingers that my fabric comes from the Fat Quarter Shop tomorrow, so I can begin my lap quilt...I am really dying to start it!

More Arrivals

I received three siggies in the mail: Helen Clark, who is from Michigan, made me a lovely hand embroidered centre block, Anna Marie Rossi from Italy who made the cutest dog in her centre block, and Gracia Moro from Italy also, who stamped an angel in her centre block. Thank you all so much!

I also got a lovely Christmas block from Susan ,who is in my Sylvia Bridal Sampler Friendship group, which will be part of the double sized quilt that I will be making from all of them. Thank you too!

I was excited, because I got Carol Doak's latest book on making vests, and her dvd that went along with it, and the foundation paper. I will be ordering some lovely fabric to make my first vest. I love the idea of watching the dvd and making the vest along with Carol. She is always so through and funny. You can see everything at http://www.caroldoak.com/

A Friend and Being a Glutton for Punishment

I have been in contact with Christina Henri, who is in charge of that Irish Convict Program, and she is coming to Ireland in September before her big visit in 2010. I look forward to meeting her, as I have a great deal of respect for what she did with the Irish convicts. Hopefully, we will meet in Dublin, which is a wonderful city.

I am so busy with getting ready for XMAS! I am trying to make our home cozy and cheery for the holidays. I found Denver Fabrics on line which you can see at http://www.denverfabrics.com/ . I am ordering some medium weight velvet fabric for two more pillows that I want to make for the living room sofa. I will post the pics of the fabric when I decide on the colours. I want to do machine embroidery again, so being that it is velvet, I will have to use the solvy on top and the tearway in the hoop, and be ever so careful pulling the tearaway and solvy off afterwards, as I can't wet the velvet, so the stitching turns out well. I must be a glutton for punshment, if I am choosing silk and velvet to work with, as both of them are difficult fabrics to sew and embroider with, as my friend Mary in Australia warned me.LOL I am choosing the medium weight, as I have two dogs...need I say more? It should turn out lovely though...if I survive the process.

I am still waiting for the Christmas House blocks to arrive...they should come on Monday or Tuesday as Nanette sent them out a week ago...The additional fabric that I ordered will arrive next week too, so I can work on the quilt. It will be so cute!

I also ordered fabric for the two other stockings I have to make....well that is enough to do before the holidays. Sewing has been cathartic for me during the last few days...I can tell you that it has been making the time go so quickly.

I will post pics as the work progresses. I hope everyone is having fun preparing for the holidays.

My New Silk Dupioni Pillow

It took me two days to create my silk dupioni pillow. I did the machine embroidery on the front fabric first. I had to use vilene on the top and back of the fabric and then hooped the vilene only and carefully pinned the vilene and silk to the hoop. After stitching the design, I had to rinse out the Vilene and of course wait for it to dry. I used Vilene on both sides, as the silk fabric is very delicate. Then I made the rest of the pillow using red and blue silk dupioni. I put it on a lovely rocking chair that we bought here in Ireland. I am really happy with the results!

Siggies Arrived

I received many siggies in the mail from wonderful members of the International Siggy Swap. Thanks to the following:

Janet Davies from England, Claudia Coordes from Germany, Feys Monique from Belgium, Gerda Leenders from The Netherlands, Marjan Bijvoet from The Netherlands, Kristine Zerfuss from Germany, Carina Nordberg from Finland, Ferdinande Authuys from Belgium, Anita Claes and Vera Vaet from Belgium, and Shenny Valks-Kalkuins from Curacao.

Each block came with a lovely letter, and it is always so nice to read the letters as I sit in my lounge chair by the fire. It is so interesting and wonderful to meet all these lovely people through their correspondence. You can see all the work that went into each and every block. Thank you again so much!

I now have 65 blocks. I want to collect 165 blocks to make a large quilt for our bed.

The XMAS Decorations Have Begun

I have been a busy bee today. As you can see I have Santa and a cute doggy up for the first XMAS decorations besides the stockings that I made. I used felt and embellishments like ribbon, and of course machine embroidered the doggy and his stocking. Annie in our local shop said that she wouldn't start putting up her decorations till the beginning of December, but I am starting early, and boy am I having fun.

As soon as the fabric arrives, I will begin the stockings for Joe and the boys.
Happy Early XMAS to all!

Obama Wins!

I stayed up till the wee hours to see the election details on CNN...I finally saw Obama's victory speech, and it was very inspiring! You can see it at :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqoFwZUp5vc I am sure that many people saw it already more than once, but I wanted to put it in my blog.

It really gave me the hope that America was on the road to recovery, and his words "We can do it!" made me so proud to be an American. I didn't get that much sleep here in Dunfanaghy, because of the time difference between America and Ireland,but I thought it important to watch CNN, as my country was making history. I am sure that many people all over the world were watching it with great anticipation.

I really feel that this is a new era of change, and it is always nice to have the person that you voted for win the election, but we now have to come together as a country and all support our new president, so we can get our country moving forward. It was incredible watching Americans waiting in lines for hours and hours to vote, and our ideals of democracy shone through. I am lucky to be able to vote both in the American and Irish elections. I do in a sense have the best of both worlds. However, I do have to admit that I would have enjoyed going through the process in my hometown of Philadelphia, and I would have been proud to be directly part of such an important event, but my vote from Ireland was at least my way of being part of an historical American election where America elected their first African American President.

Micki's Christmas Stocking

Let me start off by saying that I did not make the conventional Christmas stocking colour.LOL I wanted a pink one on the one side, and made the usual colours on the back...thus two stockings in one. I have always wanted a pink stocking with Santa on it, and I went with Frosty the Snowman on the back. As you can see, the designs are all machine embroidered. There is also a machine embroidered poinsettia flower. I used Michael Miller Fairy Frost for the fabric...love that fabric!!!....and a white cotton fabric for the lining. The cuff is a pretty Christmas fabric that I found at the quilt shop.

My next two stockings will be for Joe and the two doggies. Joe wants a light blue on one side, a medium blue on the back, and Frosty the Snowman for the front and the back. I found a really cute Mr. and Mrs. Frosty for the front, and will use something adorable for the back. The boys are getting some dogs in Santa hats for their designs....They haven't told me the colours that they want....they better make their minds up soon , or I will be picking them.

Well, my stocking is hanging, as you can see, on our fireplace, with two more soon to come...a wee bit of Christmas spirit is always nice. Joe and I will be making a visit soon to the big Christmas Shoppe in Letterkenny to buy a tree and some decorations. Now, that will be fun!

Surprises in the Mail

Where to begin...I got two postcards in the mail, two siggy blocks, and two wonderful gifts from friends. The postman had a sour look on his face...poor dear!

Anyways, let's begin with the two postcards. Both came from members of the Artsnthemail Group that I belong to. The theme of the swap was "W is for ...." Pamela from the UK sent me a wonderful white lace and flower card with button embellishments...all pure white and beautiful! Then I received a white and blue windmill from Liz in Boise, ID. It reminded me of the windmill that Joe and I saw in Greece on the island of Santorini. Thanks to both! I then made a postcard for one of them, which was a white flower that I machine felted with roving and yarn. I am in the process of making the other one and will mail them out today.Then I received two lovely siggy blocks...One was from Janet in England, and it was a gorgeous block with yellow flowers. It brought a bit of spring to me, and I was very thankful for that. Then, Feys from Belgium sent me the cutest bear block, as she explained that she loves to make bears. The bear had such a joyful smile on its face.

I also received a consolation gift from Jan for a giveaway contest that she had on her blog. It was a great colorful notebook that she designed herself.

Last, but not least, I received a surprise package from Pam Brock. Nicola Brown organized the swap, and we were supposed to make something handmade, give the person a wonderful recipe, and buy them something that we thought they might like.

I am including the recipe here, as I thought you might like it. Pam swears by it, and I can't wait to try it for the holidays. Here it goes:

Ingredients:

one half cup butter or margarine, melted

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

4 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

one quarter teaspoon salt

one and one third cups pecan halves or one and a quarter cups coarsely chopped pecans

pastry for 9-inch pie

Directions:

Combine first 3 ingredients, cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar melts and dissolves. Cool slightly. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt to mixture, mix well.

Pour filling into unbaked pastry shell and top with pecan halves. Bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes or until set.

Serve warm or cold.

Does that sound yummy or what?

Thanks to all!!!!!!!!!!

Autumn Scarf Finished

I cut out the final leaves for the other side of the scarf and have finished the scarf...I added some veins to the leaves using the yarn. I love the way it turned out...It is a very dramatic look with the black wool as the background. Well, now I will have to make myself a dark wool, three quarters length jacket to finish off the look and a cute hat to match. LOL

Autumn Leaf Scarf in Progress

Today, I began my Autumn Leaf Scarf. I first had to create the wool fabric, so I took wisps of wool roving and placed it horizontally and vertically onto Vilene, which is a water soluble stabilizer, and used several fall colours, such as yellow, orange, green, red, and brown. I then machine felted the wool roving onto the vilene . When I was throughly done felting the roving, I rinsed out the vilene and allowed the newly created wool fabric to dry. I have pictured the wool fabric that I produced. Then I cut leaves out of the fabric and punched them onto the wool scarf that I sewed today. The scarf is made of a lightweight wool and the edges finished with an overcast stitch. I then added some vines using yarn that I had that matched the colours that I had used, and completed one side of the scarf.

Tomorrow, I will do the other side with a similar arrangement. I will add veins to all of the leaves with a beautiful metallic green yarn that I have and complete the scarf with the embellishments that I want to use. I will post the final pic when I am done.

Sheba Bag Finished

Joe has dubbed my new cat bag "Sheba", after he saw the finished project. Sheba, of course, deserved only the best batiks, and purples seemed perfect for her. I put an outer pocket on the back and included an inside pocket. I love it, as it is very unique, and I don't think anyone will have a bag like this. Joe was amazed at how many colours that I had of the wool roving, but for the cat, I used silver, black, greys,white,red, and green roving. Cathy asked me where I get my roving and other fibres for the machine felting. I order from Twist Fibre Craft Studio in the UK...their website is http://www.twistfibrecraft.co.uk/

Sheba is indeed a tabby who is sophisticated looking, very much the lady and quite sassy.

Machine Felted Cat In Progress

I machine felted a cat with my Babylock EMB12 and used wool roving for the entire cat. I also embellished it a wee bit with yarn and used acryllic paints to add some highlights to the eyes. it is going to be the front panel of a bag. I will have to machine quilt the cat tomorrow, and then proceed to finish the bag. The fabric for the bag, as you can see, is a wonderful purple batik. What a fun bag it will be!

When I complete the project I will post the pic. It is amazing what you can do with machine felting and bit of imagination.

Lovers at Sunset Finished

I worked on completing the wall hanging all morning. I used embroidery threads to do the fancy machine stitching, and I decided to use the orange fabric as my first border to coordinate with the sunset and the black fabric for the binding to match with the darkness of the silhoette and the beach area. Both Joe and I love the ocean and the sunsets, so we are both enjoying looking at the wall hanging in our living room. Lovers at Sunset captured the romance that Joe and I feel for each other, so it is very special to both of us.

Lovers at Sunset in Progress

Someone in my Needle Felting Group asked me what the word "dote" means...It is a term of endearment that is a very loving term here in Ireland..meaning "darling". That is what Joe calls me, "his dote." It got me thinking of making a scene of the two of us, so I headed to the sewing room and went to work on my Babylock EMB12. I used mostly wonderful colours of wool roving, and a wee bit of yarn. I made the two of us as a silhouette looking at the sunset, the sea, and the hills...everything that Joe loves to see. Joe called it "Lovers at Sunset", so that is the name for my felted scene.

I am not done yet...I have to do some finishing touches, machine quilt it a bit, add the border and backing...we shall see if I can get it done before the weekend. I thought you might like to see it in progress.