One Flower Wednesday........so far so good......

"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other."  -Walter Elliot
     
Whew..............what a fun day this has been!  Between hopping all over the giveaways for the Leap Year Blog Hop and trying to get to Mom and Dad's house for a long needed visit to checking my email for the visitors I had on my own giveaway...........I will say that so far I think I am getting the most out of this extra day in 2012!

So here is the next installment on my Wizard of Oz hexie series:  How about the first friend Dorothy met when she blew out of Kansas??

Here is Mr. Scarecrow!

Oh Dorothy!  You're not in Kansas anymore!  

Unfortunately.....some of our real life inhabitants of Kansas and the mid-west have suffered from the recent tornadoes.  Please join me in prayer for their good-will and swift recovery......

Ok then I am off to enjoy some more time with Mom and Dad.......

TaTaForNow!

Leap Day Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  Thank you so much for making it such a success!



"It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to desist from harming them." -Dalai Lama    

Elizabeth over at Such a Sew and Sew   has come up with a great Blog Hop she is calling "Leap Day Blog Hop Giveaway" The Blog Hop will last for only one day.  Elizabeth has posted a   “linky" on her blog so that everyone who wishes can hop over there and enter as many giveaways as they would like.  The linky is open from noon on Feb 28th and will close at 10:00 AM MST on March 1 (this will allow all time zones to participate)

 

So after much hemming and hawing I am making it under the wire here to post my own little Leap Day Giveaway.

I recently acquired a Go!Baby die cutter and a couple of dies..........so I am going to offer some cute Red Birds and Yellow Birds from the Go!Birds dies for you to create some wonderful applique piece with:

..........and I have also cut 3 beautiful butterflies for you:

Add to that a red FQ with White Dots from Brother Sister Designs and a sweet Mary Englebreit Cheater panel.

All you need to do is be a follower and tell me so in ONE (1) comment..... and then hop on back to Such a Sew and Sew   and sign up for more goodies!

Great Great Giveaways!!

"Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits." 
                                                        -Hannah More
       



I have nothing ready for my blog today so I am going to fill this day with some great giveaways for you and here they are!


Hilachas is giving away 5 pretty Fat Quarters to get you ready for spring plus a nifty take-along Sewing Kit ...just check it out: - ends March2

(and if you would like to make the handy sewing kit yourself, Hilachas has a tutorial for you!)

Hawthorne Threads is giving away a Stars and Stripes fat quarter bundle for their  weekly giveaway.........-ends February 29
     

SewCalGal is having a giveaway.  You could win a copy of Sonoma Rose by Jennifer Chiaverini.  - ends March 2.

And another giveaway at Needles and Pins , who says:

Well, I have truly enjoyed blogging... so I am

 celebrating my 100th post 

with a giveaway !!!


Three followers may win...

Would you like

 a quilting magazine,

some cool fabric,

or

a sweet set of crocheted dish cloths?

-ends March4
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

 

Annies Ruby Slippers is having a Mystery Monday giveaway and you could win 5 fat quarters! 

-ends March 3

 and, of course, don't forget my first blogiversary giveaway at:
Ida's Honest to Goodness Real Blogiversary Giveaway.........you could win a fat quarter bundle of Tweet from the Fat Quarter Shop!

 -ends March 1

 

That's all I found today..................TTFN!

 

Grandma's Sewing Machine and the Gift of Friendship

"As I grow to understand life less and less, I learn to love it more and more."                -Jules Renard   
My Mother-in-law, Ruth, and I were always such good friends........so close.............that was until that ugly creature, Mr. Alzeimers, stole her from me................and even knowing that it wasn't her fault that she now despised me, it was hard not to take it personally at times.............

My sweet Mother-in-law became that again in the last year of her life....."Sweet".  No longer was the mean Ruth to be found but she began to fade fast no longer able to walk, hardly able to eat.......we buried her last March.

Last week I began to think about the sewing machine she had given me together with the silver jewelry she said was mine when she was gone.   The jewelry was easy to use but for some reason I was angry at the sewing machine and I cast it out into a garage sale (it didn't sell) and then banished it into the garage.

As I said, last week I began to think about the old Singer and how nice it would look up here in my sewing room............I dusted it off and got Wayne and Josh to bring it in.  YES IT IS HEAVY!

I thought I had emptied the drawers out already but I found some little treasures inside:

Lots of thread, a seam guide, tons of pins, and a pin cushion.  The old Singer originally belonged to her Mother, Blasta Macik, (Czechoslovokia) and I even found a spool that came from there!

Check out the original oil can and the pin cushion (it is stuffed with sawdust!)

Here it is in it's new home.

I also got this gorgeous antique sewing basket from Ruth and had been using it for awhile

  She always kept it atop the sewing machine when it was hers and now it is back in it's old spot:

 And all is well with the world......................





On another note...............I just received this lovely embroidered hoop from Talia in a Craft Swap.  I has an open box with hearts flowing out of it......."The Gift of Friendship"..........Thank you again, Talia..........I Love, love, love it!

And lastly..........if you haven't signed up for

 "Ida's Honest to Goodness REAL Blogiversary Giveaway",

please do so now.........The Fat Quarter Shop has generously agreed to send a Fat Quarter Bundle of Tweet by Timeless Treasures to some lucky follower!  Just click on the link above and it will take you to the page where you can enter the giveaway.

Guess that is it for this time........ so...............TTFN!

Ida's Honest to Goodness REAL Blogiversary Giveaway!!

This giveaway is now Closed but thanks for dropping in.........please come again!




"The world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming it."   -Helen Keller

    

It's here!  February 23rd..............One year ago today I started my blog.  In that year I have met new friends, learned new sewing techniques, started and finished projects, and just plain had a great time with you guys!

So I have been telling you that even though I had the "Official Month before my Blogiversary Giveaway" that I would have a real blogiversary giveaway too, so here it is!

The Fat Quarter Shop has offered to sponsor my giveaway with this fabulous prize from their fabulous shop..........are you ready????

How about a Fat Quarter Bundle of Tweet by Timeless Treasures?? Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!  I wish I could enter this giveaway too!
But since I can't I will give you the lowdown on how to enter.....you have four chances to win:

1.   Yes, you have to be a follower of this blog....leave a comment and let me know you're a follower.

2.  Post a link to this Giveaway in your blog and leave me the link in a comment.

3.   Go check out the Fat Quarter Shop, sign up for their newsletter, come back and let me know with a comment that you did.

4.  While you are at the Fat Quarter Shop look around and tell me what your favorite line is.........I am planning to make some house blocks and I think the Summer Lodge line would be perfect!  It has wood panel fabric and trees, etc.......well YOU tell me what you like and leave me a comment.

That's it...........I will ask Mr. Random to pick the winner a week from today (March 1st) and announce the winner on Friday............

Good Luck everybody!  
Yes....EVERYBODY....FQS ships internationally!

     

Thank you Fat Quarter Shop!

        

One Flower Wednesday

"Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been."  - Mark Twain




I just joined One Flower Wednesday.........well you all know why...........YES, MY SISTER MADE ME DO IT...........haha.................as I mentioned to someone earlier today, if it wasn't for her I may not have ever accomplished ANYTHING!    
        
I really haven't even decided if I really even want to make hexies but I will post one today...............I have always loved The Wizard of Oz so here is my first try:

 And the second thing I wanted to mention is that my sis over at Hilachas has posted a fabulous tutorial........A little take-along sewing kit made with ziploc bags!  I think it could be used for more than sewing though.........go check it out........click on the Hilachas link above and it will take you directly to the tutorial............as soon as I catch up with my Swoon and other quilting stuff I am going to make one myself!


So here it is, my day off, and it is already nearly 2:00 in the afternoon and all I have managed to do in my sewing room is take some fabric up there that I bought at the fabric shop yesterday after work.


I know this is short but I'm going to run upstairs and cut out my latest obsession:  The Swoon............................


I'll check in later on you guys................................TTFN!




 

Of Birthdays, Blogiversaries, and Swooning............

"Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith."  -Henry Ward Beecher

OK this week I was obsessing on a wall hanging to give my Sis for her birthday..........I'm like that.........going along my merry way when out of nowhere a project jumps out at me and I can't think of anything else until I finish it...........This is one of the reasons that, until recently, I have been unable to have any UFO's...........I just can't stop until it's finished!

And the other thing with me is that it is hard for me to really plan a project ahead of time because it goes through so many adaptations and changes that by the time I'm done, quite often, the final project is very different from the original project born in my head..........

Alright now that you have the disclaimer so I will go on with the story.......

I found some adorable Alice in Wonderland Motif fabric awhile back intending to do something for my Sis for her birthday......Alice (or maybe more appropriately).... Lewis Carroll is one of her heroes.......Originally I think I was just going to make some Alice hexies for her but I ran across a Red Queen Project which is a take-off on one of the illustrations from the original Alice in Wonderland book.
Here is a photo of the project I found.......a beautiful pattern which you can find at Robin's Quilt Nest

The Original Illustration from A-I-W Book

In case you haven't figured it out........I'm not good at waiting once I've decided on a project so instead of ordering the pattern I thought I could probably adapt it somehow so I printed the illustration, got out my handy dandy tools and began...........

         I wanted to "dress" the queen up in some "finery" so I decided to construct her, more or less, in the way we do a crazy quilt block using "Queenly" fabrics and shiny ribbons. 
I had an Royal flush cheater panel that I decided to incorporate into the mix and while on a stash building hunt to Hobby Lobby found a bag full of ribbon and notions at the bottom of the remnant pile for $2.50.............it had this strip of white roses adornment which, I guess is used for Prom dresses and such..........

I was pretty sure I could paint the white roses red with some nail polish.  As many Alice fans would recall.....the white roses were planted by mistake so in order not to upset the Red queen and lose their heads, the cards were painting the roses red........

Below is my version of "painting the roses red", which I can do since many people say I'm a card....(padum pum!..........OK...guess I should stick to quilting and forget the stand-up routine)

ok so anyway........here is how the final project turned out.........

I did FMQ on the center panel and here was born another triumph from a mistake:  I had been doing some zig-zag before changing out the presser foot to the FMQ foot and had forgotten to change back to the regular straight stitch before doing the FMQ..........consequently the FMQ has a sort of choppy...crazy look to it which I liked for this project!           

I also tried to quilt some "rabbit holes" on the side sashing and didn't do a great job but got a lot of good practice........in the end I was really pleased with how it turned out in spite of all the mistakes but more importantly.......

 my Sis loved it!

Oh!  Almost forgot the "Swooning" part of this blog..........I have decided to get in on the Swoon Craze...........how can you not love a block that is so huge?  Sounds like a win-win situation to me..........create one block and have a mini quilt done all at the same time!  So until further notice I guess the Swoon will be my next obsession.............

and also the blogiversary part.........February 23 is my First Blogiversary so stay tuned for "Ida's Honest to Goodness REAL First Blogiversary Giveaway" coming soon!

Tonight is a work night for me so guess I'd better go get ready...............hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!..................TTFN!

Traveling Stash is going to Florida!

"In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently."                  -Tony Robbins


Ok I waited awhile before asking Mr. Random to take a spin and let me know who gets the Traveling Stash next because I wanted to make sure everyone had an opportunity to get in on the chance to win.   But it has been several hours since the last person commented so all I can say now is:

Hey Robin from RsIsland Crafts..........YOU ARE THE WINNER!!!  If you will send me your address I will get this treasure chest off to you tomorrow!

And.........hmmmmmmmmm, I think I may have found maybe one or two more things to sweeten the stash..........I was looking through my crazy quilt stash and I came across a pretty Cranston State Birds Print, a Marcus Brothers winter deer & cabin print, and a parrot print. (I was into birds at the time....what can I say??) so I cut a fat quarter out of each of those to send along and then Sun Bonnet Sue said she had never been to Florida and could she go too........so here is a photo of the last minute travelers:

I want to thank everybody who commented and also want to invite you all to check back here in the next few days for my

 "Honest to Goodness REAL First Blogiversary Giveaway"

TTFN!

A New Toy and Itinerary of the Traveling Stash

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals."   -Zig Ziglar

I just got a new toy!  I was gifted a Go!Baby cutter a couple of weeks ago and was having a time deciding which dies to get.  I finally decided to not get in a hurry so I ordered only one die..... the Go!Birds, which arrived yesterday!

And look at all the little birdies that appeared soon afterward!

I am going to do a couple of projects, I think, with the birdies.....I have gathered a bunch of blues to use so I think I might incorporate Accuquilt's free pattern Night Song into this quilt, using this Accuquilt pattern for the center block, using only blue shades........

and then I found another sweet pattern to make a wall hanging...........now that I have the Go!Birds die I have to get good use of it!
The next thing that I seemed to have gotten obsessed with was learning the tracks of the Famous "Traveling Stash" I received last week.  It seems that the idea was born with Nan at Pot's & Pins........here is the info, as I got it from Marianne's blog at SewRuffhaven:

Nan started the stash on January 3, 2011.

she filled a box full of fun quilty love and had a giveaway on her blog.
The rules were simple enough. ....
Take what you want...fill it back up...
host a giveaway...mail it to the winner.

The first person to receive the stash was Ariane

Ariane sent it to...

Debbie mailed it to

Shannon  sent it to

Kelly

Kelly split the box it two and 

Box 1 went to Anne
  I'm not sure where Box 1 is

Any way Box2 went to Julia

the trail continued:

Julia  --> Debra -->  Lisa --> Natasha -->  Susan --> Monica --> Sandi

Sandie sent it to

Sunny  and then Sunny sent it to Marianne.

Whew!.....Let me catch my breath!

Ok, now here is the info I searched out and found:

Marianne sent it to Jen at The Quilty Home,

Jen set it to Mama Sparks World,

who sent it to Linda at Stray Stitches.........

Linda sent it to Barb at Cat Patches.........

Barb sent it to Miki at Miki's Fabric Creations

Miki sent it to Sharon at Vrooman's Quilts

who sent it to Barb

and Barb sent it to me!

Somewhere along the way, one of the lovely ladies above split the box once again and I received #3........so Nan's "Pay it Forward" idea has really taken off and tripled in size already! 

I spent nearly two days tracking down the trail of the Stash and I wonder why I can't seem to get any quilting done????

But, nonetheless, now that I have finally satisfied my obsession with the Traveling Stash's history, let me remind you that I will be sending it off Next Wednesday to the lucky winner picked on Tuesday, Feb 14th, so if you haven't left a comment yet, please click on the link below and do so!
TTFN!


Click here to enter your comment to win the Traveling Stash!!!

A Year of Rugs and Better Late than Never to the Teddy Bear's Picnic

"All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love."         -Leo Tolstoy


Here we go..........Friday again and this is the day my work week STARTS......so we will not be hearing any of that TGIF stuff from me.......(grin)


I took my little Koala Bear and her baby to Melody's Teddy Bear's Picnic at The House on the Hill yesterday, ummmmmmmm   early this morning........which was wayyyyyyyy late since Aussie time where the picnic is held is already nearly a day ahead of us and I actually didn't make it there til after midnight yesterday USA time.  I tried to say I was being "fashionably late" and I'm not sure that's going to fly.......... But since my little Koala bear has lost track of Aussie time since moving to the USA, I hope Melody will forgive her this time........Here is little Koala......an old toy of my Son, Patrick.......she has her baby with her:

Anyway......Melody has the Teddy Bear's Picnic every SECOND Thursday of the month and always has some great freebies and giveaways......be sure to check it out sometime!


Ok.......next, here is my St. Patrick's Day Mug Rug that I finished for my Year of Mugs  Swap........ a Paper Pieced Shamrock.... done!  I used some of the green fabric I got from the Traveling Stash I was lucky enough to win last week.

I actually was able to go nearly all the way around my project without stopping my FMQ this time!  There is no particular pattern to my FMQ..just random meandering but I am improving a little.........


And speaking about the Traveling Stash.........you still have a chance to sign up for a chance to have me mail it to YOU next! Look at the treasures I got to choose from:

I would love to send it to YOU next!  Just click on the link above (or below) and it will take you to the page where you can leave me a comment to enter your name for a chance to dig your hands into the treasure next!  Mr. Random will be picking a winner next Tuesday (Valentine's Day!) and I will mail it out to the lucky winner on Wednesday, Feb. 15th.  Rules for entering are posted on the Traveling Stash page.


So I guess now I'd better go do some more sewing!  TTFN!

Traveling Stash is HERE!!!!!!!

This giveaway is Closed and a winner has been notified.  Thanks to all who entered.  Please check back for next giveaway!


"If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself."         -Charles M. Shultz    

So look what arrived at my door yesterday!  Thank you, Barbara from Cat Patches, who scooted it over to me like it had wings!  And just look at the stash....

fabric, thread, patterns, books......truly a treasure!

                                 

 I loved several things and so I TOOK THEM!

.............and replaced them with this!

Some of the fabric pieces I liked were large so I only cut off a piece of them and saved the rest for YOU, the next lucky blogger who will be picked by Mr. Random on TUESDAY, Feb 7th (oops....sorry, that is Tuesday, February 14th), so I can send it on to you on Wednesday, the 15th. (I stayed up VERY late last night and I was a little bleary-eyed when I posted this.....)

So would you like to have a visit from the Traveling Stash? 
 Here are the rules:  
     
        1. You must be an active blogger.

2. When you receive it, write a blog post on its contents, what you removed, and what you are putting in.

3. Replace per diem - if you took 4 yards of fabric, replace it with 4 yards. of quilt quality fabric.

4. Due to postage and customs - open to the United States only.

If you are ok with that, then leave me a comment...just one (1) telling me you would like to dig your hands into this fabulous treasure chest! 

Ready? Set! Go!!! 

............................TTFN!

Somebody pleeeeez help me!!

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"         

                            -John Wooden                                                                                                                         

I have now made 6 heart blocks for the Block Lotto and I can't seem to stop!  I have other things I need to do like catch up with my JustTakes2 blocks, but nooooooooooo........I keep making hearts!!!  Well anyway..........my poor sewing room has suffered........just look at this............

Hurricane Ida has arrived and there is "Sunset" strewn all over!  I was so disgusted with my mess that I "sort of" picked things up so I could continue with my "heart mission".........

...........and so I made three more heart blocks to add to the three I had made already.......I had mentioned yesterday that we can make any kind of heart block we wish as long as we use only sunset colors consisting of orange and pink hues and cream and gray hues......I made a couple more paper pieced blocks and a Wonky:

Oh!  I got some fabulous news today!!! I signed up with Barbara at Cat Patches for the "Traveling Stash" that had just arrived there from Sharon at Vroomans Quilts.  Barbara just notified me today that I am the winner!  I will be getting the Traveling Stash next week and seeing what wonderful treasures it has!  I will take what I want and replace it with something comparable and then send it on to the next lucky winner.......one of YOU!  So don't forget to check in and see when it is ready to go out again!  (Unfortunately, the Traveling Stash is open only to United States addresses due to postage and customs requirements)

Ok, back to my obsession with these heart blocks..........I have just been cleaning up again and PUTTING AWAY ALL THE SUNSET FABRICS.........tomorrow I get back to the JustTakes2 blocks.....and I mean it! 

Oh....one more thing..........my daughter-in-law (Love that Girl!) sent me these adorable photos of my Grandsons "loving" their tied fleece blankets that Nana made for them and I have to share them with you:

I'm going to finish cleaning up in here and go to bed.......tomorrow is a work day (graveyard) so I'd better say Ta Ta For Now...........