Anything Goes Postcard Swap

I made a fabric postcard today for a 1 on 1 postcard swap exchange for my Postcard Pizazz Group. It was great fun! I thought hearts immediately, and since Valentine's Day is right around the corner, it seemed appropriate.

I really like making postcards and receiving them in the mail, and I have tons of them. When I look at my cards, I am reminded that my very first postcard from the group was from my friend Kath, and it was so lovely. Like potato chips, it is hard to stop once you have started to do it.

If anyone wants to exchange a fabric postcard with me, just email me and we can do an "Anything Goes" or a particular theme swap. Here is a good link if you never made a fabric postcard: http://debrichardson.blogspot.com/2005/09/how-to-make-fabric-postcard-debr-style.html

The Spreader of Love Award

Today, my friend Dzintra gave me The Spreader of Love Award...You are supposed to pass it on to 5 people...I may break the rules a bit and send it to one more...LOL....I love spreading love around. Thanks so much! It is a rainy and cold day here, and that award was just what the doctor ordered. When I showed Joe, we were reminded of Valentine's Day and how close it is. We talked about buying each other gifts and that is something nice to look forward to. I love anything to do with hearts, so that will be fun. Speaking of hearts, I entered a Heart Swap with some friends in my Friendship Group which evolved from my Sylvia Bridal Sampler Group. I have a bunch of hearts to make for that, but I get a lovely wall hanging from all the hearts that I will receive, which will remind me of love every time I look at it.

Oops, I went a bit off of topic, so back to what I need to do...I am giving the Spreader of Love Award to the following:
1. Kath at http://www.railwaycottage.blogspot.com/

2. Phyllis at http://spinknitandlife.blogspot.com/

3.Maggi at http://todreamtostitch.blogspot.com/

4.Carline at http://ladyofmanycloth.blogspot.com/

5.Anne Marie at http://americanquilterinireland.blogspot.com/

6.Pat at Poshandtrendy.blogspot.com

Visit those blogs when you can, as they are great!

Four Siggies and Machine Embroidered Table Topper

Four siggies came in the mail from quilters in the International Siggy Group. Sylvia from Holland sent me a musical siggy, as she plays music and loves it. Riek from the Netherlands sent me a hand embroidered flower siggy. Renee from the Netherlands made a wonderful mouse siggy...how cute! Finally Susanne from Switzerland gave me a leaf siggy . Thanks so much to all!

Today, I finished a table topper for a small table that I keep next to my large sewing table. I used a Jenny Haskin design and machine embroidered the center. Then I used my Pfaff 4.0 and made rows of a Greek Key stitch using the colours that I used in the center design, and although it was hard to catch on camera, it looks like a ribbon was sewn on it. It really brightened up that corner of the room.

Well, tonight, we watch two and a half hours of Dancing on Ice, so that will be nice.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

January Star

I decided to highlight some of the wonderful friends whom I have met , and I am starting with a dear friend named Kath, who lives in England. She is as beautiful inside, as well as outside.Kath is my January Star, and each month , I will highlight another person in my blog.

She has graciously filled out a questionnaire that I gave her, and enjoy her wonderful answers.

Kath's Interview:

· A Bit About Me:
·I live with my family and my 2 rescue dogs in the Chiltern hills, South of England. I have a job which I love, working with vulnerable adults, some with learning disabilities, some are elderly. I do voluntary work for the rescue where we adopted our dogs. I am passionate about recycling and never throw anything away, if it can possibly be re-used. I come from a big family, with 3 of my 4 grandparents being Welsh. I love hippy clothes and my favourite colours are jewel colours.
·

What Inspires Me:
. People. Their bravery, wisdom, kindness and optimism.

· What I Love to Do the Most Creatively:
· Sewing, drawing, painting, furniture restoration, knitting, beading- any crafts really

· My Favorite Fabric and Designer: · Windrush by William Morris

· UFO I Intend to Finish First:

· My house! It is an old farm cottage, which was in need of a lot of TLC when we bought it. We made some structural stages and have completely rewired, replumbed and replastered the whole house, including new joists and floorboards downstairs. We lived here while the work was being done and slept on the kitchen floor while we removed the chimney breast in our bedroom. We still need to fit a new kitchen.

· What’s on the Design Wall Now:

· A fabric collage called “about me”, still very much in the planning stages. It was a challenge I threw to a friend, who said “I will, if you will”

· Who Would I Love to Meet:

· Micki and Joe Butler

· If I Had One Wish:

· This was a tough question, as I never wish for anything, I’m pretty contented really and I believe it is up to us, to make our desires happen.

· I guess, because of my job, I wish people would value and respect the elderly more.

· Plans for the Future:

· Short-term plan is to help my son get to China, where he wants to continue his Martial arts training.

· Long term plan- to retire to Somerset and be a Grandma!

Giveaway News

I decided to have a giveaway., and I would love to have you enter to win. It is easy as pie.

How To Enter To Win:

All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post, and be sure to include your name and email, so I can contact you if you are the winner.

The Prize:


The first prize will be the Jelly Roll Quilts book, and a handmade machine embroidered, lace bookmark.













Then, I am giving away to the second and third prize winners, a lace handmade machine embroidered bookmark to each person. I will draw 3 names randomly and the winners will be drawn on February 12, 2009, so you can only win if you enter. It's that easy

Enjoy my blog and the giveaway!

Hugs to all,

Micki

Proximidade Award....A Lovely Surprise

Yesterday, I was surprised to be given the Proximidade Award by Dzintra at http://dzintrastitcheries.blogspot.com/. This is a lovely award, as it means that this blog invests in and believes that blogging makes us close. I really do believe in that wholeheartedly. Proximidade translated to English means vicinity or neighborhood. I am so lucky to have formed friendships with bloggers like Dzintra from all over the world. I am happy to pass this award to others whom I have met.

1. Kath at http://www.railwaycottage.blogspot.com/

2.Phyllis at http://spinknitandlife.blogspot.com/

3.Anna at http://quiltmomsjourney.blogspot.com/

4.Katherine at http://quiltergoingbananas.blogspot.com/

5.Carline at http://ladyofmanycloth.blogspot.com/

6.Maggi at http://todreamtostitch.blogspot.com/

7. Pat at Posh and Trendy Blog at http://poshandtrendy.blogspot.com/

8.Anne Marie at http://americanquilterinireland.blogspot.com/

There are so many others that I could name.

Friendships cannot be bought, and I am fortunate to have made some wonderful ones through the many blogs that I have visited.

Much love and thanks again Dzintra!

A Violent Storm and Inspiration For "Sunset Sails"

We had a terrible storm here in Ireland. The winds were gale force, and there was heavy and persistent rain and very icy conditions. We were watching tv, and I was knitting my cabled bag, when we heard a crash. It was our new garden shed, and it had fallen on its side. I couldn't believe it! We had our dryer in there also, for goodness sakes. The conditions made it impossible for Joe to do anything at the time, and so he said very calmly , "It isn't going anywhere." The next day, Joe took everything out of it, and got it up all by himself. I don't know how he did that , but I am beginning to think that I am married to the Incredible Hulk. It got a bit damaged, but
luckily it was only a decorative item. He then put two really heavy cement slabs into the shed....again I don't know how he got them into the shed as they were quite heavy... but wonders never ceased. Joe said that he did it by " brute force and ignorance".Well, all is well that ends well. I found out that my husband has incredible physical strength when it is called for, although I have seen his inner strength many a time. We are back to our cold, freezing winter weather, but hopefully, the high winds will not occur again. That is what happens, I guess, when you live by the sea way up north in the Northwest Passage of Donegal County.

Well, I got inspired to make a pic of the sea here. It is what the two of us love the best, and our walks on the beach together are priceless; however, the sea can, as you can see, get really angry here. So I took my Babylock EMB12, lots of wonderful colourful wool, and machine felted a landscape of the sea. This AM, I finished it, and Joe dubbed it "Sunset Sails".

It was an eventful weekend here in Dunfanaghy, but at least I got inspired.

Pfaff 4.0 Expression Arrives

My new Pfaff 4.0 Expression arrived today by courier from Waterford, and I dubbed it Nelly. It is an incredible machine. Everything is done automatically, even the presser foot. Boy, do I have to get used to all of this technology. I keep on going to where the lever was for the presser foot, and trying to lift and lower something that is not there anymore. Now, there is just a button to push. It has a massive 10 inch bed space, and 222 stitches, including quilt stitches and needle art stitches. There are dual lights, and that makes it so much easier to see when you are sewing. I will be reading the manual tonight. I was just thrilled that I could thread the machine, wind the bobbin and figure out all the basics, so that I was sewing two siggy blocks with it. It is incredible, and it will be such fun learning all the features. It came with an extension table and a huge Pfaff Travel Case that has a handle and wheels. You can see all the features at http://www.pfaffmachines.co.uk/Pfaff/pfaff-quilt-expression-4.0.htm
Tomorrow, I continue to learn, and I will sew my Christmas House Block quilt. It is definitely the best sewing machine that I ever had!

Siggy From England

Thanks so much to Paule in England who sent me a gorgeous...I mean drop dead beautiful... siggy block from England. It is just so unique and lovely! I was most happy when Paule told me that she got into the International Siggy Group as a result of reading about it on my blog. That was super nice!

Please take a look at the block close up, so you can see how great it is! Thanks again, Paule!

Five Things

I was tagged by http://poshandtrendy.blogspot.com/ , so here it goes with my Five Things.


Five Things in My Bag:
1. pink cell phone
2.keys to house
3. eye glasses
4. pen
5. little notebook

Favorite Things:
1. Joe
2. My dogs
3.our new home
4.quilting
5.machine embroidery

Five Things I Always Wanted to Do:
1. Visit England
2.Visit Scotland
3. Climb Muckish Mountain
4. Get married again in Gretna Green
5.Go to Disney World in Paris


Five Things I'm Currently Working On:
1. Doing machine embroidery for my geisha quilt
2. Finishing my Christmas House Block Quilt...I know I am late.LOL
3. Planning for my star quilt
4.Knitting a cabled bag
5. Getting our new home organized...still a couple of things to do


Five People That I am Tagging:
1. Erica at Five Reasons: http://5-reasons.blogspot.com
2.Kath at Railway Cottage: www.railwaycottage.blogspot.com
3. Phyllis at Spin, Knit, and Life: http://spinknitandlife.blogspot.com
4.Belinda at Brown Dirt Cottage: http://browndirtcottage.blogspot.com
5. Dzintra at Dzintra Stitcheries: http://dzintrastitcheries.blogspot.com

First Geisha Block Completed

I began my geisha quilt, and I completed the machine stitching of the first geisha block from the Blackwork Collection. The background fabric is Michael Miller's Creamsicle Fairy Frost . For the stabilizers, I ironed Madeira's Stable to the back of the block and put Madeira Soft Cotton in the hoop. I loved the simplicity of the design and how well it stitched out. I will purchase oriental fabric for the sashing, borders and backing from Shibori Dragon which you can see at

http://www.shiboridragon.com/. It will take 30 blocks to make a double sized quilt. I will make 25 geisha blocks, then use oriental flower designs for four corner blocks, and for the middle of the quilt machine stitch a pagoda.

I am going to have a lot of fun making this quilt!

Foggy the Seal Released Today at Killahoey Beach

Foggy the Seal was rescued a few months ago by the Irish Seal Sanctuary. Check out their site at http://www.irishsealsanctuary.ie/ Foggy had a badly injured eye, and now it is all healed up. Well, today was the big day that Foggy would be returned to the sea. At exactly 2:30 PM, at Killahoey Beach, which is the beach near our home, Foggy walked into the sea...looking a bit annoyed at the whole prospect, as we were having a major storm in Dunfanaghy, with high winds and rain. A group of brave people who had weathered the storm watched him walk into the ocean and swim away. He hesitated right before he went in and looked back at the people who had cared for him, and with a loud bark, he swam into the sea. Joe was taking pics of everything. The winds were fierce, and I just managed to hold onto my hat, but Joe's hat blew into the ocean. He, however, took some fine pics considering we were experiencing really bad weather. Hope you enjoy the pics, and all I can say, is that walking home wasn't easy at all, as the wind was in our faces. Even though we were soaked to our skin, I still enjoyed seeing Foggy return to his original home, and I just hope that he finds a friend soon, so he won't be lonely.

Teacup Wallhanging and Surprise Gift

I finally finished my teacup wallhanging. All the teacups were paper pieced, and I bought a lovely magenta red batik fabric for the sashing that matches our kitchen curtain. I then used a black wool fabric for the border and then again used a different red cotton for the binding. It is now hanging in our kitchen, and it has really brightened our kitchen.

Then at around 1 PM, the mailman came, I had a surprise from my friend Dzintra in Australia. She sent me a lovely housewarming card, and a folk doll pin that I decided to put on a large pin cushion that I had, as I always have the cushion near me when I sew. I can look at it whenever I sew and smile. Thanks so much! The doll had that extra plus personality on her face, and it was definitely a very unique pin.It was indeed a wonderful surprise gift!

You've Made My Day, Paule and Heidi

Paule wrote me and told me that because of reading my blog, she joined the International Siggy Group. I can't tell you how happy that has made me, and Paule, you've made my day. I know Paule will love the group, as I have met some wonderful people through the many siggy blocks that I received and the letters that accompanied the blocks. As Paule told me in an email, and I wholeheartedly agree, that it is so much more personal to receive a letter that tells something about the person who made the siggy, and that is why I keep all the letters that I have received.

To give you an example of how wonderful these blocks and letters are, I received, as you can see another siggy today from Heide in Germany. She sent me a Happy New Year Siggy.I hope that Heide does not mind my sharing, but it was so endearing, and this is what she wrote:

Enclosed you will find my siggy and I hope you will swap with me. My siggy is a welcome to the year 2009. I hope we all will have peace all over the world. It is a shame that people do not realize that! Our swapping will be a contribution to them. I like swapping. All day I look to the post box in expectation. I believe all swappers think so.

My name is Heide and I was born in Berlin. Since 40 years, I live in Bremen.

I look forward to your siggy.

Have a good swapping time!

Yours,

Heide

I do look forward to getting my siggies, and you can well understand why. It was a very heartwarming letter! Heidi, thanks for making my day too!

Well, Paule, that's what you have to look forward to ....lots of wonderful letters, beautiful siggies, and then a lovely quilt that you can make from all the siggies that you collected! Each time you look at the quilt, you will remember all the quilters and their letters.

Thanks again Paule and Heide for making my day very special indeed!

PS: As somone emailed me and asked, if you want to join the International Siggy Group, write to
Annelies Van den Bergh at annelies_van_den_bergh@planet.nl