Label Info…etc.

Happy New Year everyone!   May all your seams be straight and a perfect 1/4”.

At the outset, please allow me to thank you all for your encouragement as well as your thoughts and prayers with respect to my health issues. I am overwhelmed by your support and can’t begin to express how much your words and comments mean to me. Each and every one of you play a huge part in keeping my spirits high.

You already know it but let me remind you one more time…you all rock!!!

Last evening, Mac and Frankie curled up in front of the fire in the kitchen as Mr. Painted Quilt and I watched the Canadians take on the Americans in the World Junior hockey tournament. 

Having lived in both countries for half my life, it’s difficult for me to declare a favorite but if the truth be known, I guess the scales are tipped a little to the side of the red and white.  It was a close game and the final score was Canada 3, USA 2.

There has been a lot of buzz around blogland in the last few days about the free mystery quilt called the 12 Days of Christmas offered by the Temecula Quilt Co.  It started on Christmas Day and a new block is presented on each of the 12 days of Christmas.

I hemmed and hawed but yesterday I joined in and caught up by making the first seven blocks.  Each one finishes at 3 1/2” and works up very quickly.  It only took about an hour to cut out and piece the seven blocks.  I was looking for something small and uncomplicated to sew during the holidays and this has turned out to be the perfect project.

It’s not too late to join in.  Check it out by clicking on the link above and it’ll take you to the Temecula Quilt Co. blog.  The eighth block will be released later today.

On my last post, I wrote about the personalized cotton twill labels that I recently purchased.  Many of you asked if I would share the source. 

Of course I will! 

Just click HERE and you will be magically transported to MommieMadeIt’s Etsy shop.   I am really pleased with the quality, service and price and they sure beat having to make my own labels!

I gave Lisa the head’s up that some of you might be stopping by and she’s ready for you.  *wink*

Looking Ahead

Christmas has come and gone for another year, much to Frankie’s chagrin.  No sooner had he gotten used to all the ‘new’ Christmas-y things that invaded ‘his’ space when it was time to pack them away.  *wink*

Although it wasn’t in the forecast, we had a beautiful white Christmas.  It snowed almost all day on Friday, the 23rd and the entire day on Christmas Eve.  Here is what it looked like out our back door just after daybreak on Christmas morning.

How many times have you said to yourself that you wish it would snow on Christmas Eve and be gone a few days later?  I guess we have to be careful what we wish for, huh?

And here is the same view this morning…only five days later… at around the same time of day.

We’ve had amazingly mild temperatures for the past three or four days with lots of rain and high winds and in the blink of an eye, the snow vanished. 

The grass has remained green because we haven’t had many nights to speak of where the temperature has dipped to below freezing.

Even Mac prefers the outdoors without snow because there are more places for him to sniff and explore.

This morning while Mr. Painted Quilt was at the gym, I decided to put Christmas to bed for 2011.

The antique poinsettia quilt on our bed has been replaced with this Lemoyne Star , pieced by me and quilted by my friend Nancy who is in China for the next two years because of her husband’s job.  Miss you, Nancy!

Nancy did all the free motion quilting in my favorite motif…feathers!  The photos really do not do justice to the quilting.

And it’s ‘Frankie-approved!”

In our other house, I always referred to our guest bedroom as ‘Emily’s room”. 

Do we have a daughter named Emily?

No.

Then why Emily?

It’s a name that I’ve always loved and over the years, it just kind of evolved into a girl-child’s room.  After a few changes and additions, our Nova Scotia home is also ready for Emily…or anyone else for that matter…to pay us a visit.

When I unpacked more boxes a few weeks ago, familiar treasures from Emily’s room in Ontario began to reappear.

With a few nails here and a little folding there, the transformation started to take place.

Of course I had to put my Raggedy & Friends quilt on the bed, along with Miss Ann herself.

And here she is just settling down in her new digs to read a few chapters of her favorite book…

while surrounded by familiar things that were packed away for what seemed like a lifetime.

Home at last!

For those of you who might be new to my blog or are visiting for the first time, the Raggedy & Friends quilt was a free BOM that I designed and released about a year and a half ago.  The PDF files are still available to download on the right sidebar of my blog just by clicking on the individual links.

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥ 

And I really have to show you these neat labels that I ordered and received only a few days ago.  They are made from 100% natural cotton twill and the quality is wonderful.

They come in a roll as shown below and are very reasonably priced.

I started to compose this post around 10 a.m. and am just finishing it now. 

In the interim, our mail was delivered to our roadside box and I decided to run out to check if any of my orders had arrived.  No orders but a card was left indicating that there was a parcel waiting for me to be picked up at the post office.

I whined  asked Mr. PQ if he would drive me to the post office in town and I was thrilled to bits when I found out that the parcel was the one that Mary had posted on December 7th that we both thought had been lost in the mail.  The timing couldn’t have been better.

I am writing these next words with tears rolling down my cheeks…not because of what I am about to say…but because the wording on the plaque that Mary sent says it all.

The source to my cancer has been determined and treatments will commence on the 23 of this month.

Happy Holidays!

May the joy and spirit of Christmas last throughout the year.

From our house to yours, we wish you all…

Christmas Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my Christmas giveaway.  I wish that you all could have won a copy of Joanna’s book because it is definitely one worth adding to your collection.

Mr. Random Number Generator spun the wheel just a few minutes ago…

and  selected #156 who happens to be Lesley Carruthers. 

Congratulations Lesley!  I’ll be emailing you for your snail mail address as soon as I finish up here. 

And here’s what you’ve won…

a copy ofJoanna’s “fresh vintage sewing” book, five luscious fall-themed fat quarters and maybe a surprise or two…after all, it is Christmas!  *wink*

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your thoughts and prayers with respect to my health issues.  The good news is that the latest PET scan has shown that the cancer has not spread but that there is some “increased uptake” in the original area.  After our consultation, they immediately made an appointment for me to return to Halifax on Friday of this week to meet with an oncologist who specializes in this type of cancer in order to determine the next step.

May this Christmas be your best one ever!

Christmas Giveaway!

It’s been a while since my last giveaway so in the spirit of the season, I decided that there’s no better time than now!

Earlier this week I received my latest quilting book order from Martingale Publishing and thought that it would be a good time to take inventory and make a list of all my books.  If the truth be known, I couldn’t remember what I had or didn’t have and in so doing, guess what I found?  A duplicate…and as smarty pants…I mean Mr. Painted Quilt said, “Only one?”   (I’ve been known to do this before with novels).  I guess I really liked the book, huh?

So if you’d like to add this brand new, never-been-used copy of Joanna Figueroa’s book called, “fresh vintage sewing” to your collection, then just leave me a comment telling me so.  It’s full of different projects…like pincushions…which is probably why I bought two of them…as well as quilts and other sew-y things.

Frankie thinks it’s a swell book.  He just wishes that I’d stop interrupting his naps while I go around the house snapping pictures.  *wink*

Oh…and to sweeten the pot, I’m going to include a bunch of fat quarters as well…and I’ll ship internationally! 

You all know the drill.  If you have yourself set as “do not show email address” in your blogger profile, then I won’t be able to contact you.  No email address means no chance of winning.  Just include your email address with your comment if you’d rather not change your settings. 

My friend Mr. Randon Number Generator will spin the wheel sometime on Wednesday morning, the 21st, after which time I’ll announce the winner.

Having said that…

I took the above photo of our house last night around 8 p.m.

Your thoughts and prayers would be appreciated as we travel to Halifax tomorrow for the PET scan results.

Note:  My Christmas giveaway is now closed.  Thanks to all who entered.