Arrivial and finishes

Well it seams that it was a long wait for this little guy to show up in the mail...... but long weekends to tend to cause some delays......... but some things are just worth the wait

don't you think sew too....
Thanks Selina  for such a cute fall themed post card, we were part of Sheila Fall Post Card Swap. She even found a little envelope to tuck it into to keep it safe from the weather. It will be up with my fall decorations.
Sheila is going to do a Christmas themed post card swap. Sew if you are sew inclined pop on over and sign up.

As for some finishes this week. We finished up Painted Prairie the group project that we were working on for Culture Days. It finished up at 50 x 100 inches. It was interesting learning that we could quilt on painted fabrics and that many talents can create a beautiful work of art. It will be displayed at the performance that the Arts Council is hosting this week and then it will hang in the seniors lodge that is attached to the hospital here in town.
My other finish kind of surprised me....... On Monday evening I pin basted one of my scrappy quilts and then Wednesday I started to quilt it and Friday morning I finished the binding sew now the only thing left is a label. I thought it would take a week to quilt but it seams that I was in the groove to quilt. It helps when your machine is happy too.

The next project on the sewing machine will be to work on my Wicked project and post. My turn will be October 29 but the hop starts this week .... stay tuned to the line up and see what wickedness is going on out there in Blog land.

 Sew now that takes us to Saturday night ... watching the ball game and knitting a little
have a nice evening
in stitches
Annette

Opps!! I forgot to post the post cards I made..... they went to Selina, Joanna and I made an extra one for Sheila as she was sew nice to do the swap for us.....
I am having trouble uploading the picture.... I will try again a little later

my little pumpkin patch

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving
 and if you are not having a holiday weekend ... have a wonderful weekend too.

We are visiting our daughter's for Thanksgiving this year.
The turkey is in the oven and the pies are all baked ...... time to enjoy each others company with chatting  and laughter.

such nice fall colors on this tree
thank you sew much Joanna
for swapping with me

I want to share one of the fall post cards that  I have received sew far in the Fall swap the Sheila had organized. I think my little scarecrow is quite happy holding it.

enjoy your weekend
in stitches
Annette

under construction...........

Well at the moment I have a few projects that are Under Construction .... or W.I.P.'s
I have started my Wicked item for my post on the 29 th of October. I have also found another idea to do as  a little extra that ties into the theme and uses up a few of those scraps that we tend to have in an ever growing supply. I have had this one on a back burner for a while ....... do you recognize the block? Let's see how many I can get done before I post for Wicked.


1/4 of the block
 



the first one finished


But the main project at the moment is" Painted Prairie ".... the painted quilt that 3 of us are working on to get the free motion quilting done. It was painted by 5 different artists, from the Watrous and Manitou Beach area. It is a whopper of a wall hanging. 50 x 100 inches.
We are over half done the quilting as of tonight. We have 4 of the skies to quilt and then  the borders and binding. I am thinking we could get it to the binding point be the end of the week if all goes well.

I have been working with a couple of great ladies, both have had excellent input on how we should do the quilting and are jumping in to do some of it as well. I know that we could not have gotten this far with out working as a team....... Thanks sew much Elaine and Marla.
I am linking up with Monika and The Needle and Thread Network . Stop over to see what else is on the worktables this week.
In stitches
         Annette

Cute new link and a give away too

 

And now with the help of some great sponsors'(5 different ones.)

 Sew We Quilt is having a give away

 of $$$ in gift certificates / vouchers
5 of them each worth $50.

 for our main staple.... fabric   :0).

check it out and enter too.

Spread the word

we have until October 30th (draw date)

 

in stitches

Annette

Culture Days here in Watrous & Manitou Beach

Culture Days was held this past weekend across Canada. Here in Watrous and Manitou Beach we had some fun combining the works of artists and quilters.
This past spring I was asked if I could help come up with an idea and some quilters that might be interested in working on a project for Culture Days and another gal was asked to find a few artists that would do the same.
The first thing that came to mind was a quilt I saw in my Quilting Arts Magazine. It featured a slice quilt. A slice quilt is where you take an image and enlarge it and then divide it. Then you give each participant a section to work on. In the magazine the quilt was done with mostly applique. Our twist on this was to have the artists paint their section in their own style and colors. Then we quilter's will put it back together and then do some machine quilting to enhance the painting.

the artists' panels
 

getting ready to pin baste and quilt

                                         samples of the painted fabric and barn boards

To include some community participation we prepared by painting some fabric in colors to resemble barn boards, on barn boards. ( doing it this way the paint pulled up the characteristics' of the boards )
Anyone who showed up to participate was asked to leave behind a few finger prints, hand prints as well as some leaf prints.

We have a fair bit  of quilting a head of  us but sew far we think it is looking great.

I would like to say thank you to all who worked on this project with us, it could not have been done with out you. This was a big project to tackle and a first for me.
At the gallery on third there is a artist trading card show going on. I have made a couple trading cards, one to add to the collection and one for one of the artists  who liked what I made.
The cards are about 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

As I just finished the last trading card today I will link up with The Needle and Thread Network, be sure to stop by and check out what else is being created out there.
Thanks for stopping by to see what I have been up to.
in stitches
Annette

EQ7 Summer Draw Along Wrap up

Well this was a fun way to learn different parts of the EQ7 software. We all made at least 4 different blocks and those who had extra time may have also sewn up the extra lessons that came mid month. I am sure we all built upon skills that we already had and developed a few new ones along the way.
Here is what I created with my blocks...... as you can see from the pictures, they are only ready to be quilted and not finished. But with this being the deadline for them I thought you might still like to see where they are at.
This runner with the 3 blocks will be finished with  either a green or floral print binding. I am leaning towards the green .... what do you think???

The runner is a little longer than my fabric sew.... I added a pieced section using fabrics from the blocks.

This next table topper is made with the 4 flower applique block. I thought it might make a rather nice topper, as I was not sure how to work it in with the other blocks.

I do hope to get them done in the next few days and will post the finished works again.
I will try to link up with EQ7's blog sew that you can see what the others have done with their blocks as well.EQ7's blog
in stitches
Annette

and the winner is.....

Just a short note to say that Deborah from Indonesia was the winner from my blog in the Pin It blog hop. And I have put it in the mail, I hope it dose not take too long in getting to her , half way around the world from me.  Thank you to everyone that stopped by and left a comment. It is always nice to read what you think about the projects shared.
It is just great how these hops put us in touch with sew many others with the same affliction  love to create with fabrics.

little bags ready to fill

Last week I stopped in at Haus of Stitches for their open house and demo day. It was a full house all day long I am told. Lots of info shared and lots of fabric bought.
We could even drop off any little bags for the Elna collection. These bags will be filled with toiletries ( soaps, lotions etc.)  and then given local charities .
Well that's it for now
take care out there and enjoy some of this sun shine  ( if it is still shining for you)
in stitches
Annette