Secret Sewing and Some Slow Stitching

I worked on the last Christmas gifts that I am making today--one is done and the other is very close to completion.  Pictures to follow in a few days... The secret sewing season will soon be over for another year. 

I made some progress on my winter counted cross stitch project this week.  The Christmas tree is done and the next part of this quadrant is started.  I did quite a bit of the framing on this quadrant too. There's a reason why they call this slow stitching...  it gets done slowly, one stitch at a time.  I enjoy listening to an audiobook while I stitch---this week's book was "Sipsworth" by Simon Van Booy.  Highly recommended as a good book to listen to. 

Finn and our daughter arrived today for the holidays.  Finn slept in the car for most of the way here so tonight, he wanted to play!  The toy in the picture was a gift from my husband's mother last Christmas. 

My daughter finished off the Christmas lights border on her crochet along Christmas blanket this week.  She brought all of her yarn and parts that she has completed home with her to work on here.  There are still details to add to the gingerbread house and the wires to add to the lights in the white border.  There are a lot of ends to weave in for this border. 

Well, that's it for me this week.  I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Happy Holidays one and all. 

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique. 

A Finish and Cross Stitch Progress

TaDa!  This quilt top was made at a Vice President's day quilting day at Oxford Quilter's Guild at least 3 years ago.  The idea behind VP day is to work on a simple pattern chosen by the VP that can be finished in one day. I found the top in my UFO drawer and took it to one of my retreats in November where I pieced the back, pin basted it and did 3/4 of the quilting.  This week, I finished the quilting and added an orange solid for the binding.  This will go in the baby quilt pile.  I like to have some gifts made ahead of time. 

You can see the quilting better in this picture.  I used 28wt  orange thread for the quilting.  The backing looks gray in this picture but it is actually a black on white print called cross stitch. 

I finally finished the mushrooms and trees on my winter cross stitch and have a good start on the Christmas tree  in this quadrant.  Progress is faster when you sit down to do some stitching each day...

Finn laid in the supervisors chair while my daughter worked this week.  I like how the heart on the blanket is right above his head!

Since taking this picture, my daughter has started the third side of the Christmas light border.  You can't tell from this picture, but the Christmas lights puff out a bit from the white background. She will be bringing this home at Christmas to work on it. 

I often attend the weekly sewing day at the guild and in December, they like to make a small project together.  They had admired one of the Wide Open Zipper Pouches that I made one day and asked me to show them how to make them for this year's December project. The free pattern is from Noodlehead. 

My quilting lines lined up almost perfectly...by accident, not by design.  It does look neat though!

Our Christmas tree is up and most of the gifts are wrapped.  I have one more gift to sew this week.  The big day is fast approaching!  I will link up with Kathy and Frederique. 

Christmas Events and Preparations!

This has been a busy week with lots of special Christmas events to attend and decorating being done at home. I added a few more stitches to my winter cross stitch picture, but not as many as I had hoped.  I don't have a deadline for this project so that's ok. 

Last night, the hiking club we belong to hosted a Spirit walk at a local conservation area.  My husband and I were tour leaders and lead groups of visitors along a candle lit path to see a magician, a children's choir, the Grinch, a singer, a hot chocolate and snack station and, of course, the jolly man in the red suit.  We had some snow this week so that added to the atmosphere! We were dressed warmly and enjoyed the evening.  

The sunset was spectacular last nigh--it looked like the sky was on fire!

We went for a walk one evening this past week to see the neighbourhood Christmas lights in the snow.  One of the houses had laser lights on a tree in their yard--I did a self portrait!

The snow is so pretty on the trees in our backyard. 

Our daughter is working on the next border of her crocheted Christmas blanket.  Finn approves!  He says its quite cozy...

I hung up my snowflake quilt in the front hall.  We have snow inside and out!

One of our favourite events at Christmas is the annual carol service at the Old St. Thomas Church.  It features church shaped cookies and apple cider, lots of singing accompanied by the Salvation Army band and a message from a local minister.  The church has box pews and the organizing committee always decorates it beautifully.  

After the church service, we went to Backus-Page house where dinner featured recipes from the 1850's served by appropriately costumed volunteers in the candle-lit dining room. Christine and her husband came with us.

The Elgin County Train Museum has a display of 300 Christmas trees decorated by local businesses and organizations.  It was spectacular! 

There was also a lego village featuring a train carrying gifts and Christmas trees, and of course, Santa.  

This week, I really must get back into my sewing room!  I still have Christmas sewing to finish!

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers as well as Frederique.  Have a wonderful week!

Another Secret Project Reveal and Retreat Report

There was no blog post last weekend as Christine and I were at a crafter's retreat at Camp Kintail.  There were other people sewing, knitting, crocheting, paper crafting, card making, painting, rug hooking, etc.  Lots of interesting projects to walk around to look at when I had been sitting for too long! I worked on several projects, one of which was a gift and will not be revealed until after Christmas.  I quilted two baby quilts--one of which you can see in the picture below.  It is not quite done yet and I hope to finish it off this week. 

Christine also worked on a baby quilt among other projects.  We both had a very productive weekend!

Christine made us friendship bracelets which we both wore all weekend. 

Here is part of the back of the baby quilt--I used some flannel chunks in my stash to create this backing. 

I added solid green binding this week and the hand stitching has been completed.  

The camp has a silent/live auction and fundraising dinner every December and I made this zippered pouch for the silent auction. 

We got together with my cousin and her husband today for lunch.  I gave her the quilt that I made for her over the last little while. She told me her favourite colours are brown and teal. Again, I used the potato chip block as the basis for this quilt.  All of the brown fabrics and most of the teals were from my stash.  I had to buy a few FQ's to add some variety to the teals.  The backing was also purchased. I quilted this with the walking foot on my DSM. I'm happy to report she loved her quilt!

My cousin with her quilt:

My friend, Pat, has been making quilts for her grandchildren using leftovers from pyjamas that she made them over the years.  This one is for a grandson who just started college in the fall.  He is very athletic and likes to participate in lots of different sports.  The red and white four patch/binding fabrics and the blue border and backing fabric were purchased. I helped her pick out the pattern (Bonnie Hunter's Bricks and Stepping Stones) and showed her a quick way to make the four patches.  The quilt was quilted by a local long armer. The backing is all flannel and is pieced to use up all the flannel chunks. 

My daughter has been working on her Christmas crochet along blanket parts and is just about done all four peppermint corner blocks.  The peppermint stick part of the border is done too.  She's hoping to move on to the next part this week. 

With all my sewing, I have not had much time for cross stitching in the last couple of weeks. I'm hoping to so some more this coming week. 

Finn likes to relax while touching our daughter.  We call him the velcro dog...

Such a cute little face!

I took this picture on the hike on a foggy day from two weeks ago. This is a gingko tree.  

I will link up with Kathy and Frederique.