Happy Christmas Eve Day to all.

Decided to walk down to my favourite breakfast place this morning and was happy to see the clouds starting to break after the wind and rainstorms we've had since last week.

 An hour later things were getting even brighter.

 Love the sky behind the tree and the reflections in the windows of the building adjacent.

 I spotted an eagle over the condos when I glanced in that direction.

 In fact there were two, one is just above the chimney structure.  A friend nicknamed them Hector and Henrietta many years ago.  They often perch on top of the Inn at the Quay.  I havent seen them for awhile.  They have a nest across the river.

 They kept circling around.

 Then one flew over towards the river with a seagull following behind.

 Roses are still trying to bloom this late in the season.

 Rose hips, one of natures Christmas decorations.

 Rhododendrons still blooming or trying to.

 Persistent aren't they?

 Another rose.

 Love these red and green rose hip looking like Christmas balls.

 Making some progress on block one of Fresh Cut.  Still waiting on some threads I need.

 I may have gone a bit overboard on the French knots.

 Love the variegated blue on the different wools and cottons.

 Again some more blue against the leaves and random cross stitches on the black cotton background.

 A start on block two.

 Love the fabrics that my friend Uschi has kitted together. Her website will hopefully be up and running soon at Woolies On The Coast. She is trying to get the right colours of her hand dyed wools to be viewed.

 Drizzle stitches on a folded velvet hexagon.

 The large centre bloom.

 Again a bit overboard on the seed stitches/

 Fly stitch and French Knots.

 I've couched the chenille down with thread and will be doing some bullion knots over the stem.

 One of the gals in the Burnaby Woolies group that meets at The Needle and I Quilt Shop got her Family Tree she designed from the long arm quilter at our last get together.  She designed it for her parents and is truly amazing.

 Check out the back!

 She used a transfer film to add the names to white wool and then stitched them on.

 Here and there she added different stitching motifs.

 Mom and dad.

 and the rest of the family.

 I've also got a start on the Something's Fishy first block.

 Love the shapes of the first two fish Uschi designed.

 Linen and cotton circles.

   I signed up with another Wonky Star Instagram Swap.  This time I asked for black on black backgrounds. Sadly the effects of our recent Canada Post job actions have resulted with only three of the envelops being delivered so far. Love these Canadian turquoise stars.

 A turquoise and yellow star set from another Canadian.

 And a set of yellow and turquoise from Germany.

Have a very Merry Christmas tomorrow wherever you may live.

December, What Happened to November? Dinky-Doo Quilt Shop "Not So Grand Opening."

We've had an incredible stretch of great weather the past few weeks and now have some snow on our local mountains.  Several of our local ski hills have opened for the season and more joining soon.

 The World's Tallest Tin Man looking dapper against the blue skies earlier this week.

 Today I went out to Pitt Meadows for Dinky-Doo Quilt Shop's "Not So Grand Opening!"  The space is huge and they are still working on filling it up.

 I stood in front of their double wide fabrics and took a picture across the space.  It's located in an industrial area near the Pitt Meadow's Airport.  They also have an online quilt shop click here to view.

 Looking to the left where Brandon was busy cutting fabrics.

 Their double wide and fireside backing fabrics I was standing in front of when I took the first two pictures.

 Their Dinky-Doo mascot busy sewing for Christmas.

 Some of their newly arrived fabrics and the Glide sewing thread wall at the back.

 Wall of Aurifil threads and some other goodies in the window.

 Their wall of Moda solid colours.

 More temptation with pre-cuts on top.

 Standing outside looking at some of the parking and fields beyond.  Some Canada Geese flew overhead just as I stepped out.

 Things I couldn't resist when I was checking out the shop.  Great sale and an additional 10% off your total purchase today and tomorrow!

 Looks like a change in the weather tonight.  We may get some freezing rain and or snow overnight.

 What happened to November?

 Some of the toadstools I saw in November.

 Love these rounded ones, they start out rounded and a bit yellow as they emerge from the ground and then the stems lengthen and the top flattens.

 Some of the colourful maples held on to the end of the month.

 Some of the gorgeous blue skies we had.

 Pretty red maple leaves.

 My friend was going to send this sewing basket to the thrift shop and she let me take it home!

 Love the inside smocked effect.

 Made in Czechoslovakia.

 It reminded me of my little hexagon sewing box. Similar woven design.

 Mine has green accents and no smocking inside.

 I'm guessing the original owners name.

 The two on top of each other.

 Mine inside the larger one.

 Gorgeous crescent moon and sunset.

 Sitting under the bare trees and looking up along the trunk and branches.

 I prepped about 80 or more leaves for my Grasshopper quilt and am sewing them on.

 A picture of all the different colours I chose.

 Prepping my first block of Sue Spargo's Fresh Cut.  My friend Uschi Grenier has kitted the fabrics with her hand dyed wools. She is still working on dying her wools and getting her website up. Click here for the link and sign up for her newsletter.

 I decided I wanted to change out the polka dot fabric for a smaller print. I'm working on some of the embellishing stitching.

 I've finished all the French Knots on this flower now.

 I couldn't resist Primitive Gatherings annual Thanksgiving Sale. I don't think I'll get this done for this year but I've traced all the templates. Now to prep the wool that came with the pattern.

 I couldn't resist this one either.  No kit just the pattern.

 This pattern spoke to me also, I don't think I'll add the borders but will decide once I get the blocks done.

 As always you get some free patterns along with a pin cushion kit when you buy during the sale.

Guess I better get stitching.