HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

May 2012 hold all the best for you and your's.

HI...That's all!

A Different Christmas Poem

Lest we forget at this time of year...................

A Different Christmas Poem
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

                                                                                 

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So slumbered I, perhaps I started to dream.

                                                                                    

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

                                                                          

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Trooper, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

                                                                           


"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died in Europe on a day in December,"
Then he sighed,
"That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.


Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red and the white ... A Canadian flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
 

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE,
Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can?
Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
Canadian service men and women for our being able to celebrate
these festivities.

Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe.
Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed
themselves for us.

Occupy Your Sewingroom

Thank you Barb!!

I've managed to get quite abit of time in my sewingroom (aka, my table in the diningroom) during

Occupy Your Sewingroom

I finished my wallhanging that I had entered in

 SewCalGal's

Christmas Quilt Show.

I didn't win but I did get one vote,

funny what can put a smile on your face!

I also put together 16 of these Wonky blocks for a memory quilt from my

father-in-laws shirts.

This is going to be a gift for my hubby at Christmas.

(I can't get a picture yet since hubs is home with a terrible cold)

Then there was this little "postcard"

I finished this little table runner just when I needed to dress up a small table.

This angel was alot of fun to pull together from a piece of upholstery fabric an old wooden bead and yarn.

too cute

Can there ever be too many Santas?

I think not!!

Do you see Bullet's rottweiler Santa?

 Finally my crazy chicken  well rooster really but who's counting?

I have to do something about the eye yet, it's a little too freaky like this!!

So that's about it,

not too bad for 1 weeks worth of intense sewing, piecing, pressing!

I know there's some finishing to do but on the whole I don't think I would have got anywhere near this much accomplished on my own

so...

once again Thank You, Barb!!

Are You OCCUPYING YOUR SEWINGROOM?

So far I've...

all but finished this table runner, just the hand stitching of the binding!

stopped crying and have 13 blocks finished on my Wonky Stars Memory quilt.

pressed down my version of

Attic Window Quilt Shop's

"rooster".

Just need to applique, quilt & hang!

Also I have the binding sewn on my Winter Wonders Quilt/Wallhanging.

I love this time in my sewing zone!

Tomorrow will bring a few more goodies finito, I hope!!

Playtime For Mom!!

We are off and running!! WooHoo!!!

This little "quiltie" is for a swap going on at
Sandra Kaye"s
I have a couple more but I don't want to spoil the surprise!
and the link for Santa was on

Attic Quilts

just follow the links to the pattern.

No doubt you've seen this button on quite a few blogs including mine,

the whole idea is too try this week to squeeze in as much or as little sewing

as you like.

Arm yourself with your favourite beverage and snacks,grab those projects you want to start

or

those projects beckoning to you to finish and sew, sew, sew!

The added bonus to not only the start or finish of your project is

PRIZES!!!

Now who doesn't like that?

It's a win/win opportunity for one and all!

So come on, click the button in my sidebar and join in.

One final item in this post. I entered a quilt in SewCalGal Christmas Quilt Show

and would really appreciate your vote on my

WINTER WONDERS QUILT  #55.

A huge Thank You to all the fabulous folks that have taken a virtual walk

through the show and left your warm comments.
One final item in this post.
I received this surprise in my mailbox on Thursday
from The Intrepid Thread.



I Cut and I Cried

I finally did it!

Awhile back I posted pics of shirts from my Father-in-law,

he passed away in May of this year.

It took me until this week to make the first cut,

yes it was met with tears but I managed to gather up my courage

and push on.

I know he would have gotten a good chuckle knowing that his shirts

were becoming a Wonky Star Quilt. The name would bring a smile to his face.

I'm going to add this quilt's completion to my list for

CAT PATCHES

On another note

I had a

 GIVEAWAY

and nobody showed up!

Yep!! Nobody!!

Talk about deflated, I've no idea what went wrong.

So here's what I'm going to do,

the first comment left on this post will win!

Could it be any easier?

Raccoon Creek Quilt Challenge for November

Here's my block for November.

I just couldn't help but enter the Christmas zone!

I'm apparently developing a thing for snow families!

See my previous post, and take a walk through the

Christmas Quilt Show

and see some absolutely stunning works.

Hope you all have a superb day!

Today is the last day to enter my giveaway !

Winter Wonders Quilt

I've added my creation to the Christmas Quilt Show  hosted by

SewCalGal

I still have the quilting to do but I didn't want to miss the chance to show it off!

The Christmas Tree has pom poms and sequins adorning the boughs

Our family, including our faithful rottweiler, forever immortalised in "snow"!

Check out the fuzzy snowflake applique ~

I have no idea what the snow fabric is

but

it works!

Ahh the stars, the snow on the roof and how about all the pinwheels?!

Can you see the ornaments peeking out on the right?

This quilt was partly from a book I won a couple of years ago

and partly flying by the seat of my pants! I can't wait to quilt and  bind it.

H*E*L*L*O????

Only  3 days left to enter!!!

Click Here

Leah and Free Motion Quilting

Leah is a gal with more than a boat load of information regarding the

Free Motion Quilting Project

You'll be introduced to hundreds of free motion designs

and a bevy of helpful hints and tools through videos and articles.

This blog is definitely worth your while.

Speaking of things worth while...

There's 6 days left to enter the

"My Memories Software Giveaway"

CLICK HERE

and let's just say

"your chance of winning is PRETTY DARN GOOD!"



Hey! Is Anybody There?

I'm feeling abit left out :(

You see,

 I have this little giveaway happening

 to create all sorts of photos,calanders even videos etc

here

and nobody has come over to play!



FMQ CHALLENGE and a GIVEAWAY

Click this button in my sidebar and take the FREE MOTION CHALLENGE.

What a great opportunity to hone those FMQing skills or learn a new way to quilt!

There's also a chance to win a monthly prize.

WOOHOOO!

Don't miss it...
check out my giveaway here
My Memories Giveaway

My Memories Giveaway

Hi everyone!

I've been having a blast with

"My Memories Suite"

This is James, my grandson, isn't he cute!

&

 This is just one of the numerous backgrounds available for the holidays.

If you want to experience the ultimate in digital scrapbook software

you will definitely want to flex your finger and give the cute blinkie button in my sidebar

a click!

This software is fantastic, with so many options to customize and personalize

all of those pics you have just sitting there in a folder!

You know the ones I mean? After awhile they can get a little well...

blah.

Not by content but by the way those treasured pics are presented.

Wouldn't you like to really dazzle your family and friends?

Now the fun part, the GIVEAWAY part that is!
You know you want this scrapbook software

 It's going to be pretty east peasy !

Go to

 My Memories

 and drool over the digital paper pack or layouts.

Pick out a favourite or two then come back here and tell me.

That's it!
Told ya it was goin' to be easy peasy!!
If you're not the lucky winner,
no problem because you can also purchase this software
and save in the process!
How you may ask?
All you need to do is enter my
PROMO CODE:
STMMMS31294
and My Memories is your's too.

Let's make the closing day November 30
and I'll announce the winner December 1.
 .

It's just...

                                                                   *  sew.
                                                                             *  darn.
                                                                                      *  cute

A few weeks ago I was one of the lucky winners in a giveaway by

Silly Mama Quilts

and won this adorable pincushion kit!



By the skin of my teeth

WHEW!!

I'm finished and just in time!!

My entry for the

Thanksgiving Dinner Challenge
by
Sew Sweetness.

Remember

Lest We Forget

Cut Out

Are you participating in the

Thankgiving Dinner Challenge  ?

Who couldn't use a new pair of oven mitts or a pot holder?

Time for a new PURSE-OOT

I saw this and thought...hmmm

I could really use a new bag,

the one I'm using now is pretty sad and has zero pizzaz

Now I just have to decide on A or B

hmmm

maybe one of each?

WOOF! I Mean BOO!!

Her eyes may make you think she's possessed but...

our baby is a super suck.

(the smile gives her away)

YUCK!!

It's so slimy and gross!

He likes it!

The artist

"D" is in his element!

Halloween Mayhem!

Meet our 4 kiddos

(from left to right)

CJ, D, K and lil D

Happy Halloween

HAVE FUN

AND

PLEASE, BE SAFE

Prehistoric

I picked these fabrics for my oldest, who is a dinosaur fanatic!

If it deals with dinos, my boy is there with bells on!

His choice is an all flannel quilt,

now I just need to figure out a design.

Hmmm....

Ooo Ooo Witchy Woman

I saw this idea here 

 Attic Window Quilt Shop

and said to myself,

"Self, your kiddos will get a kick out of this gal".

Sew I made one!

I'm particularly proud of my spider.

The bad boy is fashioned from a satin scrap for the body and

zipper scraps from my box totes.

That fabulous ribbon was from my not -so -local FS

for a steal...50 cents a spool!

BooYah!