Snowman Surprise for Christmas

Last night I went down to check my mail and found a lovely surprise.  The snowmen swap blocks had arrived to my great delight!  I sent away 13 to swap with 12 lovely ladies with the Whimsical Mary Lou Yahoo group I belong to; one of the ladies didn't participate, we hope all is well with her and the lucky 13th one goes to Mary Lou for inspiring us all.  So I've 11 blocks to put into a quilt along with the extras I made if I choose.

 I quickly put them up on my design wall for a picture.  Then I also took some individual pictures.  This first red toque guy was made by Edie Fail, love the butterfly on his bottom.

 This bright eyed guy was made by Katie Fields she did a lovely zigzag stitch around him.

 Mari Linfesty made this polka dot and tree block.

 Deb Green made different sized drunkard path blocks and sewed them together for this guy's head.  Too cute!

 Her friend Claire Maitland made this chubby snowman, she put some batting behind him a la trapunto style.

 This Mississippi snowman "melted" is the work of Regina Muli, along with a snowball top to his toque.

 Sandra Kensey made this cute log cabin guy.

 Carol Cowan did a lovely job machine buttonhole stitching this snowman and his tree.  The snowflakes are all sparkly!

 Star snowman was machine buttonhole stitched by Mary Frances Wesson, love his scarf!

 Snowball snowman was pieced by oops lost the label, either Yvette Boehke.

 I decided to claim this toque snowman/woman.  Little did I realize there would be a full moon on Christmas so I may have to applique one for her to look at!

 I also got a notice of a package that had been sent by FedEx so off to their sorting facility to find the back issues of Simple Vintage were waiting.  I've had trouble finding this locally and decided to gift myself for them for Christmas.  I may have some duplicates but have someone in mind to receive them.  I know I don't have this one.

 Looking forward to some great inspirations.

 Love all the different projects available.

 Prepping for Spring.

 Summer,

 Autumn,

 Winter,

And the most recent Simply Modern!

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you have some delightful surprises under the tree for each and everyone of you and yours!

Winter Soltice

Arrived last night, Welcome Winter....the days are getting longer!



Love this guy.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Snow Fun to Meet You...Bundle Up!

November 29, 2015 my fellow Canadian blogger Paulette of Sweet P Quilting and Creations shared a link to this free pattern.

 As I was already working on two other snow related quilts I decided to print it off and make one also.  But I wanted to change it up a bit.  First I made my snowflake and mittens blocks a bit bigger.  I also changed the shape of the snowflakes a bit, angling the cuts for a bit of interest.

 I also felt it needed a few more words and no sashing.  So I used the exiting letters to make Winter's here and add it to the bottom.

 Then I decided to make it into a lap quilt rather than just a wall hanging so I designed this winsome guys.  Their mouths were stitched without any guides, I just stitched their quirky smiles.

 Next I decided on the final borders.  At first I was going to add some more snowflakes and perhaps a few trees.  In the end I decided less was more.

 Sew I sew it up as a top today.  But something was bugging me...my Winter's here wasn't as visible as I would like...

 So I unpicked the medium aqua thread and decided to use a very pale aqua/white thread instead.

 Liking the look of the finished W; I reverse stitched the n, e, and s.

 It stands out a bit more but I didn't want to change the wool letters.

I have a part of a wool batt and now need to find a backing to suit this seasonal lap quilt. Here is the link from All People Quilt if you want to make the pattern or play around with it as I did.

Snowy finishes!

Monday night I finally got the bindings on my two mini quilts.  The first one was designed by Stacy West from Buttermilk Basin.  I'm calling it Snowman Basket, in the Primitive Quilts and Projects winter edition they call it Scrap Happy.  I decided to make a snowflake flag rather than one depicting any particular country. 

 I quilted random sized snowflake on the background and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

 I also finished Winter's Tail designed by Punkin Patch Craft Designs but omitted the cat shape.  I added some extra swirling smoke and quilted some snowflakes into it's background also.

 A bit closer look at the quilting.  I'm also delighted with this little quilt.

 I've also been working on yet another snow themed piece, I have about three more blocks to buttonhole stitch before starting to sew the blocks together and then stitch another wool applique bit to the bottom.  I'm changing up the design a bit so I have to finish these guys before I can do the bottom applique.  I have a hard time following the designs to the letter...

We've got some snow on the local mountains and have had rain and windstorms down in the city.  Today is grey, perfect to do more stitching after finishing a few more errands for the day.  Enjoy!

Friday Musings...

On Monday I read Lori Holt's Monday Musings on her blog Humble Quilts.  I jokingly commented I needed to get my copy of this block out and trace it.  Well I did and it is already sandwiched and partially quilted. 

 I pulled out my Primitive Quilts and Projects Winter Edition to trace it off.

 I also traced off and stitched and sandwiched this little beauty.

 Not being a cat person I made it into a mini quilt.

Thanks Lori for your inspiration!

Sugar Plum Bear wants to say...

It is December! Can you believe it?


Time to build snowman quilts...


Enjoy Christmas lights.


Wonder if you will be seeing snowflakes falling.


Choosing whimsical snowmen for your tree.


Remembering past Christmas cross stitching.


Angels, Santas, and Snowmen gifts made for family.


Sugar Plum Bear was the first of the four season bears I made.


December 24th will soon be upon us...enjoy the season everyone!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mary Lou Weidman Snowman Blocks Done!

Late last night I finished sewing the last of my carrot noses onto my snowmen for an upcoming swap. Ironically I managed to have eight face right and eight face left, eight with toques and eight with top hats.  Twelve will be swapped, I'll send one for Mary Lou and keep the remaining three.

 I love how the newspaper fabrics went together.

 I used the same shape for all the top hats and same for the toque.  The noses I rough cut and then as I stitched them on they took different shapes.

 Most of the snowmen were pretty straight in their stance.

 A couple lived a bit closer to the balance edge.

 This guy looks ready to boogie on down.

 I think this guy is trying to stand up straight, but having to close one eye...it is Friday night after all!

 The cool guy just hanging out.

 A little star gazing and wishing for snow.

 Glad that the end of the week is here.

 Looking towards the stars.

 Contemplating what will happen this weekend.

 Friendly snowman.

 Hmm...I wonder?

 Grooving to the music.

 Yes Sir!

 These will be the ones I send away, I'm going to add a snowflake button to each block.  Now to wait and see what comes back to me?