August Star

Joe and I are off to Letterkenny tomorrow to see the latest Harry Potter movie, and we will be there all day, so I am posting my August Star tonight.

I am so pleased to present Nedra as my August Star. Nedra has a lovely blog called Cactus Needle, and she lives with her family in Utah. She is a very talented quilter and a really sweet lady. I am so happy that I have met her through our blogs, and it is wonderful getting to know her .

Here is Nedra's interview:

Interview for August

· A Bit About Me:
I was raised in California, but currently live in Southern Utah, near beautiful Zion National Park. I have been married for 30 years and am the mother to 5 children and 2 (almost 3) grandchildren. My family means everything to me, and when I am not with them, I keep busy in my church, love to travel, read, and most important quilt! I work part time for a wonderful company called Superior Threads, and enjoy being involved in all the new and exciting products they bring into the market.
· What Insprires Me:
I am most inspired by other quilters. I am a very social quilter and love to observe the ideas and concepts that come out of people’s imaginations. When I see other’s quilts I almost always think to myself “I want to make that too!” Or, I feel inspiration to take my own projects in a new direction. If there was only time and means to do it all.
· What I Love to Do the Most Creatively:
Being a social quilter, I love to get together with friends to work on projects. In fact, in building our home, my husband designed my sewing room with more square footage than the Master bedroom. (We must have our priorities!) I love having enough room to have friends over to sew, and if we add in good food, I’m in heaven.
My favorite memories are of Get-Aways with my girlfriends where we have taken a week and gone to a cabin or resort to sew. Of course, we solve the problems of the world as we quilt.
· My Favorite Fabric and Designer:
My favorites seem to change from year to year. Right now I am drawn to anything made with Kaffe Fassett’s line of fabric or patterns. But I also love the fun colors from designers like Amy Butler or Joel Dewberry.
I am drawn more to traditional quilts rather than art quilts, but appreciate them all.
· UFO I Intend to Finish First:
I started a “Satchels” quilt many months ago, and other projects had deadlines, so this one waits patiently on my design wall. It is an appliqué quilt with various baskets made with Kaffe fabric. I just need to get the appliqué done on the borders and it will be finished, hopefully soon!
· What’s on the Design Wall Now:
See above
· Who Would I Love to Meet:
I would love to meet Pam Holland. I have been a fan of hers ever since I saw and read her book “The 1776 Quilt”. Not only do I admire her amazing work, but I also respect her approach to life. She is the mother of 11 children, 3 biological, and 8 adopted from all over the world. She has experienced her share of heartache, and has used quilting as a form of experiencing the beauty in this world. Right now she is working on “Bayeaux Tapestry” that is 238 feet long done in appliqué, drapplique and quilting. Pam thinks big! I understand she will be teaching for Superior Threads at their School of Threadology next spring and I look forward to the opportunity to meet her then.
· Plans for the Future:
Right now my husband and I are working with Superior Threads to introduce their new product Texture Magic to the public. This is an exciting product and I see tremendous potential in so many areas, whether it’s quilting, children’s clothing, or home décor.
And I plan to continue on with my personal blog “Cactus-Needle” where I have had the wonderful experience of rubbing shoulders with so many of you from all over the world.

Nedra's work is outstanding ! Here are a few of the lovely quilts that she made. Enjoy them all, as they are all eye candy.

First of all, in the first pic here, Nedra is standing by the quilt which won a 2nd prize ribbon at her local quilt show. It is called " 4th of July", a pattern by Judy Neimeyer. Nedra told me that Judy did hers in bright blues, purples, and orange, and she did hers in Earth colours like the desert where she lives. She renamed hers "4th of July in St. George."

Here is another look at the quilt.

The second pic below is a quilt that Nedra made called "Bridget Millar." Nedra explained that she made it to match the scenery of Southern Utah. The fabric on the border shows Indian Petroglyphs, and she said that in her area, they have authentic 2000 year old Indian Petroglyphs just 5 miles from her home in St. George, Utah.

The next quilt is a hexagon quilt that Nedra called "Gilded Snowballs Quilt", and she used Kaffe Fassett fabrics for it.

Another quilt pictured below is "Every Day Dishes" by Piece O' Cake designs where Nedra paper pieced the whole quilt using polka dot fabrics.

The last quilt is one with wool applique and is called "Pinwheels and Posies" by Liberty Homestead. Nedra said that she hand dyes all her wool.

Nedra, thank you so much for the interview and for sharing some of your works of art. I know that everyone will enjoy it as much as I did, and you are truly a star!

Primitive Quilts and Dolls and PIF Gifts I made

I have been researching primitive quilts and dolls, after seeing a primitive quilt at my local quilt shop. I am totally enthralled by them. I found a wonderful site that has lovely patterns to order, plus books, fabric, etc. It is called Meme's Quilts I will be buying the book A Gathering of Angels. which have some lovely patterns in them, which you can see here.

Also some of their patterns such as Weiner Dog Wonderland, Saltbox Farm Quilt, Raggedy Hugs, and a few more. Please take a look at some of these patterns...they are treasures! Here are pics of two of the patterns that I will be ordering:

Also, I found a wonderful blog called Sew Primitives Quilter, and she dedicates all of her blog to primitive quilts and items. I have to add that Mary from Quilt Hollow just told me that her friend Cathy has a wonderful blog called Shakerwood Primitives, and I did visit, and it is just lovely. Drop by if you can if you are interested in prims.

I will have to look into the types of fabric that I will have to buy for the primitive projects. I am hoping that my local quilt shop will carry some, but if not, there is always Meme's site, or I may investigate some other options. As I love the country decor and find it perfect for a cottage like ours, I think that all of these projects will be perfect.

I wanted to also show you the pincushions that I made for Nat and Lizzie for their PIF gifts. I also sent them a handmade notebook and wallet, but you know me with pincushions...I really enjoyed making these. I already know that they got them, so this post won't spoil the surprise that I wanted to give them. I was thrilled that they both liked them.

Get ready tomorrow for my August Star to be posted...She is a really sweet, talented lady.

Lace Doily Finally Completed

It has taken me a long while, but I finally finished my large lace embroidered doily. There are 8 sections including the centre section, and once I embroidered all of them, I had to machine stitch them together. I alternated a deep pink section with a deep burgundy section. It is now sitting prominently on a table in our living room. I got quite a reaction from Joe when he said, "Take a bow." He said that it was so nice that I was making so many things for our cottage and really making it beautiful and so homey. Well, that made my day for sure.

Hope everyone is having a lovely day! Joe and I are going to see the latest Harry Potter movie on Saturday, so I am thrilled about that. We will be in Letterkenny all day, which will be so much fun!

A Surprise Giveaway Package in the Mail and Some News

Today, I received a surprise giveaway package in the mail from Joanne . I won her giveaway, and the package finally arrived. I was thrilled! I received a cute red bucket, two patriotic pens, a tea towel with red stars on it, and finally a lovely civil war fat quarter bundle. As I came from America originally, this was so special for me. I intend to make a wall hanging from the Stars and Stripes Sampler book that was made by Liz Porter and Marianne Fons. Please check out the site here, as the book is an amazing price of only 5 dollars.

Thanks so much Joanne for having such a wonderful giveaway, and I was totally thrilled to be the winner.

I also won a check book cover from Nanci , and that was so nice too to win a prize like that . You can see her blog here and the prize that I won.

Today, I also signed up for a crocheting course that will begin in September at the Resource Center in Donegal Town. It will be every Wednesday from 11-1PM. They will start off with a crochet group, but then will also provide knitting. I am excited, as I also love Donegal town. The main street is situated around a diamond in the centre of the town. It is a very colourful town, and there is a quilt shop there, besides tons of shops that I can visit. I will be attending this group from now on, so i will have a lovely Wednesday planned each week.

Our Bedroom With the SBS Quilt, a New Needlecase, and A New Giveway

I finally put my Sylvia Bridal Sampler on our bed yesterday and had Joe take a pic. I was excited as it fit our new bed. Our last bed was much smaller, and this one was perfect for the quilt, so I was thrilled that it was no longer in a box stored away. That quilt has 140 blocks and took me four months to do, but I really feel that I learned the most from that quilt. Each block taught me a diferent technique, and it was definitely the quilt that I enjoyed doing the most. I am sure that you have a quilt that you did that holds your fondest memories. This is mine. I got a kick seeing it on our bed and Joe taking a pic of it with the oriental pillows that I made and the geisha quilt on the wall. If you ever want to do a sampler quilt, this one is so much fun to do. I used batiks and mostly Michael Miller fairy frost fabrics, but I have seen the quilt in numerous kinds of fabrics, each one giving it such a different look.Here is the link showing the quilt and all of the blocks. There was a book that was published recently about the quilt called Sylvia's Bridal Sampler,The Elm Creek Quilts by Jennifer Chiaverini. I found out about this quilt when I was reading Jennifer's series of books beginning with The Quilter's Apprentice. Once I read this book, I had to continue reading the series. It is all about the lives of quilters, and it is very addictive. The Sylvia Bridal Sampler was mentioned in one of her books.

Anyways, I thought you might like to see the pic!

There is also a wonderful giveway for cat lovers. You can find it here at Simply This and That.

Finally, I made a needlecase and it was so much fun to do! It is so easy to make and makes such a lovely gift for someone.

Sheepdog Trials and Judging in Dunfanaghy

Joe and I really had a lovely time at the Sheepdog Trials and Judging . We walked about two miles to get to the fields where the trials and judging were being held. Both of us got in for 5 euro. First, we saw the judging of the sheep, and after the judge weaned out sheep after sheep, three winners were chosen from each group that was judged. The sheep were so cute!

We then headed out to the other field and that was where the sheepdog trials were being held.

It was so exciting to see the handlers and the incredible sheepdogs work together . They had to get the sheep through three gates and finally had to get them into a small fenced in stall, and it wasn't easy, but each handler was successful in doing it. They were timed, and that was what made it hard, and of course the sheep didn't usually want to cooperate. The dogs were so intelligent, and it was amazing to see them respond to the handler's whistles, each of which was a specific command.

It started raining, so we went into the tent where they were selling sandwiches, coffee, etc. and there was much chit chat among friends. I talked to my friend Isabel, who is a member of the Sheephaven Guild, and then Joe and I sat at the table, and waited for the rain to stop. Then we walked two miles again and arrived at our wee cottage.

What a lovely time we had! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday too!

The Table Runner for the Stanley and a Surprise Gift

I finally finished the table runner for the Stanley Stove. Here in Ireland, many of the cottages and bungalows have Stanleys in the sitting room. You can put turf or coal into the Stanley, and it will heat the whole house. There is also a hot plate on top and you can cook on it, but the table runner is covering that. Also, on the bottom of the Stanley is an oven,where you can actually bake cakes, etc. I don't use the Stanley, as I have an oven in the kitchen, and we use the storage heater to heat the house, as it is set to a timer, and it doesn't go on till the evening when the rates are much lower. It is therefore more economical than the Stanley. I do like having the Stanley in the living room, and on Christmas day, I may light it, as it will make the living room very cozy. I decided to decorate the Stanley a bit, thus the runner. I am pleased with how it turned out, and boy does it make a difference. Patches, my teddy bear, is quite pleased that I decorated the Stanely as yuu can see by his big smile. By the way, Patches is wearing the Donegal Sports Logo baseball cap....funny, huh?

Also today, I received a surprise gift from my friend Kath. She sent me the audio cds for the book The Time Traveller, which is a neat book about time travel and tells of a lovely romance It was written by Audrey Niffenegger. Thanks so much Kath. i will be listening to the audios while I sew.

Hope everyone had a great day! I have had a lovely long walk with Joe, and we are now relaxing in our cottage. Everyone have a great weekend!

PS: Colleen asked me about the pattern that I used for the table runner. It came from Patchwork and Quilting Magazine(UK version), December, 2008 issue. The pattern was in Christmas fabrics, but I wanted it to match our decor, so I changed the fabrics. Full sized foundation piecing patterns and templates were provided, and the pattern was mostly paper pieced, which I love doing. There was no name to the pattern, except that they called it Country Christmas. You could make either a runner, like I did, or also make matching placemats. I just fell in love with it!

Great New Giveaways and Texture Magic

Julie has a wonderful giveaway for a giant pincushion, and you know how much I love pincushions. She is giving you a choice of either Hushabye or Simple Abundance fabric for the pincushion, so take a look here, and there will be two winners. Also there is a wonderful tutorial at Moda for the pincushion. Kim is also having a wonderful giveaway and is giving away a charmed gift bag filled with a surprise.Finally, Bev is having a lovely giveaway, and as I love stitching, this was a great one for me.

You can see it here.

I just ordered Texture Magic from Barnyarns...I have been reading about it on a lot of blogs, and even blogged about it myself, and finally found it at my favorite online retailer called Barnyarns in the UK where I get all of my embroidery supplies. I can't wait to try it out. I love creating textures with my Babylock EMB12 Embellisher, so this looks like it's easy and lots of fun.

Friendship Awards

I received the Friendship Award from Dawn who has a lovely blog called Golden Angel Works,which you can see here. It was so kind of her to say that I had a big heart. I could not have received a nicer compliment. I am so pleased to have met her through my giveaway, and I truly hope to become good friends with her. Also, Cindy Mae emailed me and told me she had given me the award too. I also met Cindy Mae through my giveaway, and I was so touched by her kindess too. Please visit Cindy Mae's blog here, which is called Cindy Mae's Stitching Korner.

I am supposed to now give this award to 8 people, and since I won two of the same award in one day, I will give it to 16 people.

1.Dzintra- She is a good friend who stays in touch with me on a daily basis. I have become an aunt to her lovely JoJo, and that has been very special.

2.Maggie- a good friend who has not had luck this week with the dining fairies, and so I am sending her luck through the award.

3.Laurie-who loves "to rescue the old and the forgotten and make them useful again"...That's what she says, and boy is that true. Also, her smile is just beautiful!

4.Nat- a very talented quilter and stitcher who has a great enthusiasm for making friends through her blog, and I am lucky to be one of hers.

5.Marie- a very sweet, kind lady who is a joy to know and gifted with mucho talent.

6.Anna-a teacher, like myself, who has a heart of gold and a gift for working with children.

7.Sue-a very creative person who is so kind of spirit..

8.Kath- my Elfin Princess, who works magic with her fingers and makes wondrous works of art, whom I am lucky enough to call my friend

9.Serena- is a lovely lady who is a mother to a beautiful girl and will give birth to a boy in October.She lives in the Appalachian Mountains creating beautiful things from the depths of her soul.

10.Chris- She is a Kiwi who is very cheeky as she calls me in fun, and who shoots straight from the hip, which is what I love about her.

11.Colleen- Someone who loves people and her spirit shows in her work.

12.Jocelyn- is a lovely lady who has shared her life with us in her cottage by the lake, and the peace that she has gained from staying there shines in her work and in her relationships with people.

13. Lizzie- a very super talented woman and such a sweet lady.

14. Cattinka- we share many things in common and have become good friends.

15.Ann- I have gotten to know her so well, and I enjoy her wonderful spirit and most of all our friendship.

16. Carol-wh0 is very interested in geneology, and she is gifted as a quilter. She gets excited about everything that is Celtic.

My dad always said to add one or two more for good luck, so hopefully giving me that good luck is Janicewho has become my diet partner and friend.

A special friendship award to Kylie, who just recently through my giveaway has become a friend. We have written some lengthy emails to each other, and I discovered that she and her fiance love Ireland so much and hope to live here part time one day. She is a very funny, sweet, lady, who is so talented in knitting and crocheting. Stop by and see her blog, as she just started it and would love to have some new blog friends.

I can't keep on adding and adding to the list, but I could go on forever and a day, as I have met so many wonderful people through my blog. Forgive me for not mentioning you all, but this post would go on endlessly.

Thanks again for the double awards! They made my day.

And the Winner is..........

I had so much fun putting together the Irish Giveaway, and even more fun meeting all the wonderful people who entered and seeing my old friends' names there. This morning, I was so excited to finally have the drawing. Yesterday, I made up the Master List with all the people's names who entered. I couldn't believe how many people entered and how many entries each one had. Well, I decided to use a random generator to do the drawing, and I know you all are dying to hear the results. So without further ado, the winner of my Irish Giveaway is Simone de Klerk. Congratulations Simone, and I will send your package to you today.
Simone's blog is at http://simonedeklerk.blogspot.com/ if you want to check it out and leave her a note of congratulations. I am so excited for you Simone!

I do want to thank everyone who entered, and next year, I will have another giveaway with more goodies.

Thanks again to everyone for entering! It meant so much to me!

The Winner of My Irish Giveaway Announced Tomorrow, A Lovely Surprise , and Another Giveaway

Don't forget to sign up for the giveway, as today is the last day to do so. I will be drawing the winner tomorrow. Good luck to everyone, and thank you so much for entering! I have received so many entries, and it has been wonderful meeting new people as a result. That has been the best part of it all! It's so exciting! I can't wait to see who the winner is!

PS: I just got two incredibly beautiful pot holders from Mal who was in the Quilters For all Potholder Swap with me. She lives in Cornwall, England.They match our kitchen perfectly, as they are bright yellow like our kitchen. Thanks so much! I love them Mal!

Also, there is a lovely giveaway at Becky's blog which you can see here. I just met Becky through my giveaway, and I just discovered her lovely blog.

A Lovely Surprise Giveway

Renae is having a surprise giveaway. I love surprises, so if you also love them, take a look at this.

Hike To Tramore

Joe and I hiked all the way to Tramore Beach today, and that is an 8 mile walk to and fro. We had to climb many dunes to get to the

beach.

As you can see by the pic, the dunes are steep, and they really work your

muscles.As we were climbing, we had spectacular views of New Lake and Muckish Mountain. It was really breathtaking!

We finally got to Tramore Beach after climbing many dunes, and we were happy to sit on the beach and just look at the sea and Tory Island in the distance.

After a brief rest on the beach,we headed back home and climbed down the dunes. We saw our village in the distance,and boy were we happy , as we were both aching from the miles and miles that we walked.

To get out of the dune area, we have to climb down one style and climb up another one.

Well we are home now, and as Dorothy always said in the Wizard of Oz, "There is no place like home."

No sewing today, as I am too achy to do that.

Hope everyone's weekend has been lovely so far, and have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Mid Week News about Projects and the Stitcher Angel Swap

I can't believe that it is Wednesday, and the week is almost over. If you remember, I got some oriental fat quarters from Ann for a PIF package.I decided to make a table topper for a Stanley that we have in our living room. We could use the Stanely for heating the house and for baking, as there is a bottom oven , but it has only become a decorative, focal feature in the living room, as we are using a storage heater that we have....much more economical, as it is on a timer. Well, I am making a runner for the Stanley, and I have completed the first section of it. It will have three sections, and then I will have to put the borders on, but it should be lovely.

I am also on a Sonoma Diet, which is a Mediterranean type diet, and really a very healthy lifestyle, and I am thrilled with how quickly the pounds are dropping.Luckily, I don't have a lot to lose, but this diet has just worked out perfectly. I bought the Sonoma Diet book and the Sonoma Diet Cookbook and love them both. You can see both books here. I am also exercising on the Wii fit board and love it. The program that came with it is really good, but I also got the

EA Sports Active, and it really gives you an incredible workout. Joe watched me exercise today, and I really did burn a lot of calories. You get a personal trainer, and a great workout program that is fun and diversified. It means you can do it in the convenience of your home, and not have to travel to a gym.

Finally, a friend named Marina, told me about the Stitchers Angel Swap and encouraged me to join. You are assigned a Stitcher Angel partner, and for seven weeks, you are given free patterns from top designers. Over the seven weeks, you then surprise your partner with three gifts. You can either decide to use the patterns to make the gifts or not. I think this will be lots of fun. Take a look at the swap, and if you want to join, go to Hugs 'n Kisses to fill out the registration form.

Pay it Forward Gift

I was blown away by Ann's PIF gifts to me. As you can see from the pic, I got loads of things.

I got wonderful candy made in Australia, the most gorgeous wallhanging with Bless Our Home stitched beautifully on it. Joe hung it up immediately in our living room. I also received oriental fat quarters, a great pattern that has several things that I can make like a pillow, a needlecase, etc, and embroidery thread. Ann's card was so sweet, and she wrote me such an endearing note.Thanks so much for a lovely package!

The first three people who answer this post will get a PIF too from me. Then, you can post the pic of your PIF from me on your blog, and then send a PIF to three people who are the first people to respond to your post. Normally, you would give something homemade or you can buy something..really whatever you want to give.

No Sewing Today, But Take a Look at Our Town

No sewing today! Joe and I took a lovely, long walk today, and then I decided that I would give you a look at our town. Here are some pics of different sections of our main street. We have lots of visitors here, and it has been quite lively over the weekend.

First of all, here is our largest hotel called Arnolds Hotel, which is on the corner of our main street, and is a very bright yellow. It has a really neat bar attached to the hotel called The Whiskey Bar, where Joe and I sit in the snug. Then right across the street is the Carraig Rua Hotel, a much smaller hotel, but more reasonable.

We have a wee post office, as you can see.

We also have our own quilt shop called Pauline's Quilt Shop and here it is with tons of fabric and all kinds of notions. You can see the website for our quilt shop at: http://www.irishcountryquilting.com/

Of course, we have several pubs. My favorite ones are Molly's Bar, which is a bright red, and has great music sessions and a very cozy atmosphere, Patsy's Bar, which has a night club attached, and McColgan's Bar, which is always bustling with people.Really, they all have music sessions all the time.

We just got a new Chinese takeaway, and boy do they have great food.

Then, we also have a health food store called The Green Man. He sells all homemade breads, and all kinds of organic and lovely delicacies.

Our largest craft shop on the main street is called McAuliffes, which has tons of Irish crafts and items to buy. We also have two smaller craft shops in Muck and Muffins and the Workshop.

Right across the street from Arnold's Hotel is a wee park and you can see the sea and the hills.

Also, behind Arnold's Hotel is a stable, and you can hire horses to ride on the beach. This is definitely horse country too, as you will see horses everywhere.

We have other shops, but I have given you a bit of the highlights of the main street in Dunfanaghy.

Here is Dunfanaghy as seen from Horn Head. Hope you enjoyed the tour of our town.