THE START OF CHRISTMAS

It's true.  Christmas will be here before we know it.  The weather here is gorgeous and it's hard to imagine that it will soon be -20 !

The other day I started this little Cardinal wall hanging. Not for any particular reason other than I thought it was cute

I'm thinking that I may send it away to one of my swap partners : )

When all the pieces are fused, I may try some thread sketching like I learned making this quilt
for the blog hop.

Speaking of blog hops, I have some winners to announce ! Thanks to everyone who took the time to stop by and leave a comment

The winners of the Good Neighbours charm pack is #195  Bee
and the winner of the pin cushion and some charms is  #29  Esther Dunn

The winners of the Sweet Tweets e-book is #35 Brenda
and the hard copy goes to ......... #74 Claire

Congratulations ladies ! I will forward your info to the powers that be  : )

SWEET TWEETS : A GIVE-AWAY

*******Giveaway is now closed

Chirp chirp!  Today it's my stop on the Sweet Tweets blog hop talking about Erin's darling book Sweet Tweets Simple Stitches, Whimsical Birds.  There are so many cute projects in the book all enhanced by 'sketching' with thread : something I have never done. Each of the projects is small and very do-able. Erin's little birds have long captured my heart, so it was pretty exciting to be able to stitch a little sample for her blog hop : )

Flipping through the book the one that really caught my eye was the 'three little birds' quilt because of the hexagons-no surprise there.  Love me some hexies : )

I got to work immediately because I had quite a few to prepare

I hand appliqued them down to the linen and then set about sketching the tree with thread.  I was pretty nervous about it, but once I got going, it was lots of fun.

Then came the birds.  Those little things are tiny !

In the end, I think it turned out pretty cute. I haven't got to the quilting yet (sorry Erin!)

Would you like to try your hand at one of the projects?  You can leave a comment on this post for a chance to win an e-copy, and Katja's Quilt Shop where I work, has offered a hard copy to one of you.
Two chances : )

Visit the other blogs who are participating for a chance to win,  and to see more projects from the book

   Sweet Tweets Blog Hop

Tuesday, Sept.8 - Erin (intro post) Why Not Sew?  

Wednesday, Sept.9 - Heidi Fabric Mutt

Thursday, Sept.10 - Debbie A Quilter's Table

Friday, Sept.11 - No Post

Saturday, Sept.12 - Jacque Brown Dog Prims

Monday, Sept.14 - Amy nanaCompany

Tuesday, Sept.15 - Svetlana s.o.t.a.k handmade

Wednesday, Sept.16 - Renee Sewn With Grace

Thursday, Sept.17 - Martingale Stitch This! The Martingale Blog

Friday, Sept.18 - Heather Vintage Grey Handmade

Saturday, Sept.19 - Clara and Jennie Clover & Violet

Monday, Sept.21 - Amanda Jean Crazy Mom Quilts

Tuesday, Sept.22 - Cindy Live a Colorful Life

Wednesday, Sept.23 - Carla Grace and Favour (you are here )

Thursday, Sept.24 - Mary Molly Flanders

Friday, Sept.25 - No Post

Saturday, Sept.26 - Erin, Big Giveaway Post!!! Why Not Sew?

BASKET BLISS

Happy Sunday morning!  I don't usually post on a Sunday, but I got these baskets sewn together yesterday and wanted to show you : )
These came to me last May from two groups that I'm in. The mid century Modern group, and the great Canadian scrap busting group.  I asked for bright funky baskets and that's what I got !

I layed them out on my floor and trimmed them to all the same size. I had to add a strip to a few of them, but that just adds to the fun !

there's even a basket from selvedges

Not quite sure if I will do a border or not, but I do have some signature blocks that I want to include
I'm happy these are together and not still getting buried in my sewing room : )

Enjoy your day

Carla

WORK IN PROGRESS WEDNESDAY : SEPTEMBER EDITION

Later this month I'm going to be involved in a blog hop for the book Sweet Tweets by Erin of
Why Not Sew. Her little quilts are just so cute!  Stay tuned for that......

I started a project from her book and of course it has hexies : )

......and I have finally started the baby quilt for my next wee grand babe due in October

this is a pattern by Anne Sullivan of play-crafts called Contour Feather

so far, so good

I'm not sure how many feathers I will make, or how to even set them, but I'm pretty happy with this first one.

Enjoy the rest of your week,

linking up with freshly pieced
sew fresh quilts

JUST KEEP SEWING......

This morning I was up before the chickens, so I sewed a couple of bee blocks.  I got a bit behind last month, but I think I am nearly caught up--------with blocks anyway!

Mary asked for a basket block like the ones I got.  She loves 'kitchy' things so I dove into a scrap basket and found this cute strawberry print.

Then there are the do.good stitches blocks where I usually end up learning something new--like patience : /

we were asked to assemble these half rectangle triangles randomly.  These were fun

and these giant leaf blocks were a quick sew

someone needs to cut the grass.......

and when I just can't think about sewing, I knit.  The next grand baby is due the end of October, so I think he/she might need a little pumpkin hat

I have hung onto these little overalls for about 20 years.  It will be nice if someone can finally wear them again : )

Happy stitching!  Enjoy your week end

A GOOD NEIGHBORS PINCUSHION--AND A GIVE AWAY

***********Give away is now closed
I'm sure you are all familiar with Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts fame?  Hers was one of the first blogs I started following when I first discovered there was such a thing : )  So much inspiration !
She co-authored one of my favourite quilting books ever, Sunday Morning Quilts.  Well now, she has designed a line of fabric called 'Good Neighbours'  for Connecting Threads

When I was asked to participate in this blog hop I was thrilled, but then experienced a moment of panic!  I had never made a pincushion.  I thought about it for a bit and then decided to fall back on my area of comfort, and make some hexies.  There were so many little prints in the line that would lend themselves to the hexagons, that I had a hard time choosing.

aren't the prints cute???

I made three little flowers and chose the green print for my 'grassy' background

It's filled with fibrefill and finished about 4 1/2" square

Connecting threads has offered to send one of you a Charm Pack of  Good Neighbours , and I decided to offer up the pincushion as a second give-away. I may even sweeten the pot with some charms of my own : )

Leave me a comment on this post telling me where you are from : )   ******If you comment from google+ I can't reply to you so leave me your e-mail in the comments.

Thanks so much for reading today.  Here is the list of all the other participants for even more chances to win!

Date	Blogger Name	Blog URL
9/1/2015	Amanda Jean	http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/ (kick off blog post)
9/2/2015	Anna	http://www.noodle-head.com/
9/3/2015	Mary	http://maryonlakepulaski.blogspot.com/
9/4/2015	Svetlana	http://sotakhandmade.blogspot.com/
9/5/2015	Debbie	http://www.eschhousequilts.com/
9/6/2015	Holly	http://www.bijoulovelydesigns.com/
9/7/2015	Carla	http://carla-graceandfavour.blogspot.com/
9/8/2015	Faith	www.FreshLemonsQuilts.com
9/9/2015	Vanessa	http://www.vanessachristenson.com/
9/10/2015	Anna	http://www.thimbleanna.com/
9/11/2015	Krista	http://poppyprintcreates.blogspot.com/
9/12/2015	Erin	http://whynotsew.blogspot.com/
9/13/2015	Lee	http://www.maychappell.com/
9/14/2015	Alex	http://teaginnydesigns.blogspot.com/
9/15/2015	Cheryl	http://naptimequilter.blogspot.com/
9/16/2015	Penny	http://sewtakeahike.typepad.com/
9/17/2015	Amy	http://duringquiettime.com/
9/18/2015	Debbie	http://aquilterstable.blogspot.com/
9/19/2015	Anne	http://www.springleafstudios.com/
9/20/2015	Melissa Corry	http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/
9/21/2015	Amber	http://www.oneshabbychick.typepad.com/
9/22/2015	Nettie	http://aquiltisnice.blogspot.com/
9/23/2015	Adrianne	http://www.littlebluebell.com/
9/24/2015	Cindy	http://www.liveacolorfullife.net/
9/25/2015	Amy	http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/
9/26/2015	Chase	http://quarterinchmark.blogspot.com/
9/27/2015	Rene	http://www.renecreates.com/
9/28/2015	Erin	http://www.houseonhillroad.com/
9/29/2015	Nicole	http://modernhandcraft.com/
9/30/2015	Teri	http://blog.connectingthreads.com/ (wrap-up blog post)