End of November?!!

 Oh my, where did the time go this month!

It's hard to get into the Christmas spirit with no snow but I'm loving it & not shovelling it!!

It is raining again today but they are calling for flurries later into the day either way the house stays cozy with the firebox burning in the great room. And all three pets love the warmth of burning wood!

I was surprised with an early Christmas gift this year from Donald, our eldest son!

It was an original painting of Santa with a snowman by Suzanne Leblanc of Moncton NB, she now resides in Calgary AB & does her painting in a more abstract medium that she has been taught when living in Houston Texas. 

I love this surprise!! And it evoked memories of Bill taking me outside to build a snowman after being bedridden for so long with the bulging discs in my spin. When I could move better he took me outside & we built a snowman together. xXx

It was an afternoon that I will always cherish.

Bill even took his hat off for the snowman to have one on for this picture. 

Bill took this Robicaud painting down & realized that the new Santa & snowman might fit... with just 1/8" shaved off on the inside it did fit perfectly!!

 And there it is, in the same place as the shore painting, just hung vertically instead of horizontally! :)

And the Santa in the painting is perfect for the memory of  Bill & me & all the boys with their Christmas past memories. A Christmas surprise for sure & one to enjoy for years to come! xXx

35 Christmas placemats are ready for distribution with the Christmas hampers that will be going out to our community.

The Lori Holt sew-along is now done & here is the Prarie Meadow quilt top as I was sewing the rows together with the saying & corner blocks.

And here it is all done!

I enjoyed doing this applique quilt in her styling of applique & will apply it to other projects in the future. It is now in to get longarm quilted in a floral design & will have a floral backing too.

Our niece/goddaughter has a horse that looks just like this one so I could not resist making her another quilt for cuddling with this winter. She lives in California & I added the Road to California blocks in the cornerstones. It was fun enlarging them to be 18" finished & I am happy to say that those math questions of patterning paid off! Margaret if you are reading this shhh it's a surprise!

Jasmine is so loved & such a beautiful horse!

This little chickadee magnet on the china cupboard door was my colouring model for a bird block in the Harvest Gathering quilt that I am still working on. Blocks #19 & #20 were released this morning!

Here is my finished block for the quilt, I love our New Brunswick provincial bird! They are so plentiful at the feeders now that it is late fall & soon to be the beginning of winter.

Block # 17 - #18

This is the finished quilt and we are nearing the end, just a couple me then it can all be set in place!

I joined  Primitive Folk Art Quilts & Needle Art & this was the sew-along! It's Kathy Schmitz's pattern called Frosty & Friends & it caught my eye last year. Now, with Praire Meadow finished I could not resist this little 16" x 20" piece that when finished is stapled to a canvas!

Rexton is extra fond of this warm cozy wool on flannel & before I could get a pic of it, she was all over it. Rexton the Manx also took a snowman off the board to play with when I was sleeping & I never did find it! Snowman #31 was made & I quickly sewed all of them down with a machine buttonhole stitch!

Now the hand embroidery, beads, & other embellishments can be sewn on, it makes for a nice evening sewing project.

We were putting out the Christmas 'soft furnishings' & Bill was having fun with the Christmas gnomes that I made many years ago before gnomes were so popular.

There are small, medium, & large ones that I made from a knitting book I brought back with me from England in 2004. They are sitting on a wool piece that I made in 2008 from an All Through The Night pattern by Bonnie Sullivan that was brought back from the Yukon & gifted to me by my girlfriend Liz. (RIP) Christmas is all about memories, fond beautiful memories.

I hope the Christmas spirit is starting to warm you up as the temperatures start to go down.

It is a time of giving of oneself & that itself makes my heart sing as I sew my gifts for giving to family & friends. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year! 

Hugs,

Cynthia xXx