My sister is in town

Hi there, as the title says - my sister is in town visiting my Dad. His cousin was in town and the two of them went out for lunch which left my sister and I free to do whatever. It just happens to be the weekend of the quilt shop hop (all 2 of them). I picked her up about 9:30 and then proceeded to get stuck in traffic (even though I took some roundabout ways to avoid traffic) for the better part of 30 minutes - yuck! so glad I am now retired and I don't have to fight traffic every day. We decided to start at the shop the furthest away (70 minutes from my house) and work our way back home. The shop is very nice and the people were so friendly - I was admiring one design and the lady I was talking to said "That's my design!" Whew, good thing I didn't say something horrible! So I bought the pattern and even got her to autograph it for me! (I'm not shy. lol) (PS, I was going to buy the pattern anyway because it is so pretty.) After shopping we stopped for lunch at the creperie restaurant which is literally right next door. The lunch was excellent but they were busy and it took 45 minutes to get our meal - everything was made from scratch and it was so tasty. It was now 2 o'clock and we still had an hours drive home - so we took a different route and along the way my sister spots another quilt store.... yup you guessed it - we pulled a u-turn and went shopping. Now this store had lots of beautiful, colourful fabrics ranging in price from $18 to $22 for a meter (39 inches) of fabric. Whew, that tends to be a bit pricy especially after seeing the prices down in Massachusetts in August! After shopping there - I bought some fabric and another pattern, we continued on our way home visiting another fabric store along the way - but nothing there jumped out and said Buy Me - so that was a really quick and cheap stop. lol All in all, we had a lovely day travelling around the Ottawa area and tomorrow (Saturday) we have to go shopping at the other quilt store - thank goodness, it is only 5 minutes from home. Needless to say I didn't get any stitching done today but I can probably get a few stitches done tonight. So my dear friends, take care and hopefully you can find some "Me" time to enjoy yourself even if it is just sitting and relaxing. Hugs to you all, Louise

JBW - Noel

 I'm back again with another finish.  I was a busy little bee last night and quickly stitched up this cute little ornament entitled Noel from JBW designs.  It is just so sweet, now I want to stitch one using my Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid.  The tough decision - which aida fabric and what colour of the petite treasure braid do I use.  Life sure is tough if that is the only decision I have to make. lol  So dear friends, until the next time, hugs from me to you and thank you for taking the time to read my blog.  Louise

Snow Mom is finished

Hi there - guess what ... I finished Snow Mom.  She is so pretty, the main colour used for her coat is called Lavender Louise (Crescent Colours).  Have you been wondering what I have been doing since the last post?   Well... stitching of course - my friend Barb came over on Saturday and we had a lovely turkey breast with stuffing and veggies to celebrate Thanksgiving (Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in October while the United States celebrates Thanksgiving in November).  And of course we did some stitching!  A day without stitching is almost unheard of in my house. lol  Then on Tuesday, I went to Janice's house and stitched some more - I worked on my Mill Hill Believe kit (still part of my 31 day challenge).  I was amazed at how much I managed to get done.  I am still working on getting the things ready for the craft fair and I have learnt (much to my chagrin) that it is not easy putting stitched pieces in frames and having all the lines straight (I am super particular about this)!!  I  must apologize to the wonderful lady who does all my framing for me.  I now know how she feels when I say the line is not quite straight. So I have spent quite a few hours trying to get the cute little pieces in my 4x4 inch boxes. Big sigh....

I have also been reading Edgar's blog about his trip to France - all I can say is Wow.  He really puts a lot of work into his posts - if you have never read his blog - you really should check it out (see the list on the side - Blacksheep's bit of the Web).

Well folks, that's it for now, hugs to all and remember that you are loved. Louise

A few more finishes

Hi everyone, I have been busy making up some more ornaments, getting ready for the Nov craft fair and most importantly enjoying your comments on the giveaway.  I realized as I was making up "Snow Dad" that I had not finished stitching up "Snow Mom".  oops.... so last night, I dug through the box with my 31 challenges (which is almost empty) and there she was ... with 4 rows of her coat done.  Oh dear, time to get going on her.  I managed to stitch another 4 rows last night while watching TV.  At this rate, she might be finished for next years Christmas fair. lol   Today's plans are to work on her and attack the craft room so it can be used as a craft room!!

A big thank you to Debby for her kind comments on her blog about my blog and the giveaway.  Please pass the word on about the giveaway - I am only trying to raise awareness about this rare disease.  Thank you all for taking the time from your busy day to read my blog.  Hugs to you all.  Louise

Blog Anniversary & Giveaway

Hello dear friends, I hope that you are enjoying some "ME" time and able to get some stitching done or to enjoy your hobby.  I am always amazed at how fast time passes now that I am retired.  I keep wondering where all the days have gone.  It is already October and I just realized that I have had my blog for 2 years now and have been completely remiss in having a blog anniversary giveaway.  Oops.
If you are interested in participating in my giveaway, please leave me a comment and be sure to tell your friends about the contest. I will do the draw on November 2 (a month from now) and depending where you live (and how fast the mail systems are) you should have your goodies before Christmas. lol
So what will I give away.... I am not quite sure yet but it will definitely be coming from my stash of goodies, I know that it will include some fabric (Picture This Plus Mystic linen), some charts and of course some floss.  
So enjoy your day and remember that you are loved - a big hug from me to you.  Louise

Father & Daughter/ Father & Son

Hi there, I have a couple of photos to share with you today.  When I was going through all the magazines that I had, I found a couple of delightful designs that I wanted to stitch.  It was a single colour design of a father pushing his son on a tricycle and the other one was a father swinging his daughter up in the air.  I could just imagine the squeals of joy because I remember doing that with my nieces and nephews. The disigner is Carol Emmer and the designs are from the Just Cross Stitch magazine June 2008.





As well, I stitched a couple more stockings and the Lizzie-Kate Love design from her latest Christmas series. 

Remember I told you that I had taken a couple of quilting courses, well, here is my perfect square.  I love purple and when I saw the pink, I had to buy it to go with the purple and there is also a green fabric that has the same pattern design as the pink.  Will let you know what I am going to do with them when I figure it out.

Thats all for now, have a wonderful day and until the next time, big hugs from me to you. Louise

Kincavel Krosses Stained Glass Windows

Here they are, aren't they beautiful?  I had so much fun doing the first one - it is part of my 31 day challenge that I thought I would do a couple more for the craft fair.  This is all aida and floss from my stash. The designer is Kell Smurthwaite, Kincavel Krosses She is a very talented lady.  Thank you for these beautiful designs.
Louise