Blog Hop Giveaway winners!

Hello Everyone!  The blog hop is done and the winners notified.  What fun this was - thank you all so much for stopping by and leaving comments.  It was so good to discover all your favourite carols, some of my favourites too and a few new ones to listen to as well.



The fat quarters and creativity cards go to Nancy Sue.

  

Debbie won the green batiks and owl fabric.


 

Gwen won the pink strata.


 

Salem Momma won the turquoise strata.





Lisa Cox won the purple strata.

Thanks again to all those who entered the giveaway!

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances

A few Christmas finishes

Hello Everyone!  I've finally managed to finish a few little things and just in time for Christmas...can you believe there are only 9 sewing days left!  Wow!

Speaking of Wow!  Thank you so much for your overwhelming response to my giveaway...I've never done this before...mmmh, I just might have to do this again! ;-)  The last day to leave a comment for the giveaway is tomorrow, I'll close the comments section at 5 pm Mountain time.

Ok...now on to the few little things I've finished up this week...



Finished these up just in time, one for each daughter and one for my little granddaughter too.  Projects like these are great for practicing your quilting - either straight line quilting (like I did on the red and gold stockings) or free motion.




I'm still working on mine with only one half of the stocking finished...




Here's a look at my quilting - I'm just doing a little outline quilting with the darning foot. 

Be sure to check out all the other great projects over at Finish it up Friday!

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances

2011 Scrap-bee blocks overview

Hi Everyone!  Oh my goodness, I am simply overwhelmed with all the responses I've received for my giveaway!!  Everyone is so incredibly kind to stop by and leave a comment...I truly appreciate it.  Thank you and welcome to all those who have signed up to follow!

Here's a look at all the blocks made this past year using 'made' fabric for the quilting bee hosted by Victoria at http://www.15minutesplay.com/ . 



Our first block of the year was big and bold with an awesome slash of red to tie it all together.




For February's block, we were asked to make a block using no more than five large pieces of fabric from our scraps.



March brought a request for scrappy neutral blocks.




April was my month and I asked everyone to make a 6.5 inch red block with a slash of white.

The request for May was truly unique...a green "field" with a "lake" ....

The fabric cut from the scrappy green block then became an "island" on a blue fabric background. 



In June we were asked to make leaves...any kind and any size.




In July we could choose our favourite colour and make a block and then make a same sized block using neutral fabric..




Place one block on top of the other, make two random cuts, switch the two middle pieces of fabric, sew...and voila!  Two blocks.




August brought a request for appliqued hearts.



September brought a new challenge. We were asked to make fabric in a colour of our choice, then we had to cut them into recognizable objects.  That blue object at the bottom is supposed to be a cloud...:-)



October's block was a modern take on a Grandmother's Fan block.





November saw us seeing stars...any size, shape and colour as long as it was on a white or black background.  This was a perfect opportunity to try out a LeMoyne star and work on those y-seams!





This is the last block of the year...a much brighter star using red, yellow and of course some made fabric.

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances

How to stay warm in Calgary - sung to O Fortuna

Hi Everyone!  Here's something a little silly for those of you trying to stay warm this winter.  Sung by the Calgary Philharmonic chorus, silly lyrics set to dramatic music...must have been fun for them all to sing.

What to do with your scraps - December block

Hello Everyone!  Here it is, the last of my scrap-bee blocks made and ready to send off.  In case you're unfamiliar with the whole "made" fabric movement and are wondering what I'm talking about, go check out the great tutorial on how to make fabric from scraps over at Victoria's blog. 

I'd like to welcome Annette to the blog - so nice of you to sign up!



Here is the block Alexis requested for her quilt.

  

She asked that we begin with a 6.5 inch block of made fabric...I used larger pieces of scraps this time but it still works I think.





Here are all the other elements to the star - twelve 2.5 inch hst blocks, 4 corner blocks and two rectangles to go on the sides.  Here's the link to Alexis' instructions if you want to try this out yourself  - December scrap-bee block.




Trimmed the center square and am ready to put it all together.



All done!

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances

Blog hop giveaway

Welcome everyone!  Michele over at the Quilting Gallery is hosting a Blog hop party with give-aways and I decided to join in on the fun!  There are well over 200 bloggers participating in the blog hop, so get ready for some serious hopping folks!  Lots of goodies to be won.

To thank all those who have signed up as followers I'm giving away some of my Stoney Creek strata -  



six pieces of the the pinks,




six pieces of the turquoise,




six pieces of the purples, and



four pieces of the greens, and some of the owl batik as well.

I'm also giving away a deck of creativity cards for quilters and five cheery fat quarters.

I'll select the 5 winners on December 17th, so be sure to sign up if you haven't already and leave a comment.  I will ship internationally, so don't worry about that.  Let me know what your favourite Christmas carol is and what gift you would like to win the most! 

Until then, happy quilting!

Mary-Frances

There's a hole in the middle of my Stoney Creek!

Well hello everyone!  It's that time of the week again when we get to share what we've been working on at the Needle and Thread Network - yoohoo!  Also, a big welcome to Brenda, Sheila and Victoria.  So nice of you to sign up!

Be sure to visit me on Friday of this week as I have a surprise in store for my followers...let's just say someone will have a scrap happy holiday... :-)

Now, on to Stoney Creek...



Aaargh!  When I began putting the four large pieces together, I realized I had sewn on two of my strata incorrectly.  Instead of having only a quarter inch of fabric between the purple end of the triangle and the owl fabric in the center, I have half an inch.  So, looks like I'll be making good use of my seam ripper this weekend...;-)




Here's a few close-ups of my fabric as a few of you have requested.




This is the inner portion of the triangle.



The two top strips of fabric are more turquoise than they appear in the photo, this is the top portion of the outside strata.



The is the bottom portion of the outer strata. My favourite fabric in this section is the spider web fabric under the dotted fabric.

 Enjoy!
Mary-Frances

The Farmer's Wife - new project for 2012

Hello Everyone!  I bought The Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt book a while ago and have been meaning to get started on it.  Thanks to Linda, I've decided to join her Farmer's Wife quilt-a-long in the new year.  It's time to get going on this project!

There are lots of groups already on flickr, so you can  see the different fabric choices people have made and how their quilts are coming together.  

Thankfully Linda will give directions for the each block using rotary cutters and rulers...no templates or hand-piecing.  She's using her batik scraps but I'm not sure what fabric I'll use for mine.  

So, 111 six-inch blocks in 52 weeks...game on!

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances

Peace and gratitude

Hello Everyone!  The city was transformed into a winter wonderland overnight and the snow is still falling...you know those magical type of snowflakes that exist mostly in our memories of youth, soft, puffy, falling oh so slowly and gently to the ground...that is what I woke to this morning.  

This peaceful scene got me thinking of all the things
 I am grateful for.   



Decorations on houses, lights on trees, how fortunate I am to have a roof over my head, food in the pantry and people to share it with.



The peacefulness of solitude, taking time to think, meditate, pray...call it what you will, time to recharge and reconnect with your creative self.

 

The unexpected gift from a quilting friend, the lightness of laughter, the sharing of sorrows, knowing you are not alone.

 Happy Sunday sewing!
Mary-Frances