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!