I'm A Winner!

When Shelly Pagliai notified me that she had drawn my name for her new book "A Simple Life", I was thrilled. For the last few years Shelly has written a blog about daily entries in her mother's diary written in the 1950's. I had followed it and really got a kick out of it, being a child of the '50's myself, I could relate to many of the things her mother, Hazel Ilene wrote about. The book has some really nice quilt patterns in it, along with some of the diary entries and lots of family pictures.

Shelly also has a web site that I think you would enjoy looking at. It's called Prairie Moon Quilts, there are lots of good things there and I know you will love checking it out. Be sure and check out Hazel Ilene's Diary, recipes, free patterns and even shopping at her Etsy shop!! I'll talk to you later, I am going to push back in the recliner and read more of my new quilt book from Shelly.  Sew until next time, have a Stitches kind of day!!

Another New Book to Show & Share

I have another new book to show.  I won this book through the Quilting Gallery in December so I'm a little tardy in telling about it.  I got an email from Victoria Findlay Wolfe telling me I had won a copy of her book and to send my mailing address to her so she could send me a copy.  Once again I was very surprised about winning but very, very pleased too. The book arrived and I have devoured it (figuratively speaking) and have enjoyed dreaming about quilts I could make to bust my fabric stash..hopefully 2013 will be the year to do that. It is so neat to win a book like this and I appreciated it a lot and plan to share it will my quilting buddies. Thanks again to Victoria and Quilting Gallery, now I better go check out my stash....sew until next time, have a Stitches kind of day...............

A Really Good Read!!

When I go to see my daughter in Nebraska, I usually go to the library and pick up an audio book to listen to. This time I chose "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" by Beth Hoffman. First of all, it's Beth's first novel and I like to discover new authors and their first written novel. It was a very good book and I didn't want it to come to an end!! It was so descriptive and I love that in a book. You can read a summary of it here: Beth Hoffman.  If your library has it, I highly recommend you read it. It was sad, funny and just plain a "good read". Let me know if you have read it and if you enjoyed it as much as I did. Sew until next time, have a Stitches kind of day.

Hey, the Postman Cometh Early Today!!!

When I saw the postman come to my house early today, I knew I was getting something special.  I don't usually get my mail until 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon and it was only 9:30 a.m. and he was coming down my drive!!! I got two packages, one small one and one bigger one..well, the smaller one was the piece of vintage jewelry that I won!! I commented on Nancy Moser's blog several weeks ago and she notified me last week that I was one of three winners!! How cool is that? The picture above is the piece, it can be worn as a brooch or a necklace.  The green stones look like emeralds and the rhinestones look like diamonds but they  really aren't, I wouldn't know what to do with real ones anyway so I love it just the way it is. It is a very pretty piece of vintage jewelry and I will enjoy wearing it...thanks so much, Nancy!!

Now about that bigger package,,,wellllll, I have to admit that I ordered more books, shhhhhhhh!!!!  (whispering) I ordered nine!! Geez, that's hard for me to admit but I can justify every one of them. (I think)

First, is the book of Gwen Marston's on Four Block Applique Quilts. In searching through this book on Amazon, I found a 4 block Eagle that I really thought I would like to make. Only to learn, the quilt is shown in the Gallery of Quilts only and there is no pattern. Oh well, not all is lost, as there are several quilts in the book that are very interesting but I was disappointed about not getting the Eagle pattern.  Next, the book on silhouettes, doesn't that look like something you would like to do?  That's my sentiments exactly, I have a photo that I have been wanting to use for this technique for several years and it can't hurt to have a book to give you a few good pointers, right? I'm glad that I bought it too. Now, how about this one on Beaded Crazy Quilting?   If you know me at all, you know that I love beads and beading so I'm always looking for some good beading techniques and beautiful things to do with them.  How could I go wrong on a book like this??? No way, so I bought it too!!

This next book by Darlene Zimmerman just really caught my eye..she has a quilt for each month of the year and I truly like about 12 of them. Just a lovely book to pick up and drool over the quilts..Everyone needs a few books like that, don't they?

One Line at a Time, well, I fantasize a lot about being a great machine quilter so I thought I should have another book telling me how to become a good machine quilter.  I have at least a half dozen more on the subject, I study and I read but I don't do much machine quilting yet..but I know when I get up the nerve to dive in,  I should have all the how-to's and know how's that I will need. ;-) I wish myself, Good Luck!    Now we come to the Portraits from Nature.  I just really thought it looked like fun and want to try making something from this book someday.  I have a couple of old window frames and think these whimsical flowers would look good in them. Maybe one of these days, it will happen.

Machine Embroidered Flowers, just because I like Donna Dewberry and I have an embroidery unit that I rarely use..I am hoping this will get me in the mood..No other excuses for me!

Here we are again talking about Embellishments and beads are included too! It's just fun to look at all the ways a person can decorate or embellish a simple item and make it into something someone would love to have...I'm just a dreamer, if you haven't guessed it by now...dream on, Stitches!!

Here we are at #9...it's called  " Love of Quilts, A Treasury of Classic Quilting Stories".  A little book filled with inspiring quilting stories, taken from vintage magazines, many from the 1800"s. It will be a nice book to pick up and read a quick story or two..It could be a good resource for a Quilt Guild program, I'm always on the look-out for good programs too.  Whew, that brings me to the end of my "exciting" day with my new piece of vintage jewelry and my new books..time to hit the sack and cruise through a couple of the books.  Gee, I hope you had a "Stitches" kind of day...Sew until next time, take care...Stitches

It's Good to Be Back!!

     Greetings to all of you and Happy May Day!! Yes, it has been over 2 weeks since I have written on my blog, whew, I can't believe it!  I really have been busy but I know the rest of you have been busy also. My oldest DD had back surgery on the 19th of April and that same day but in the evening, I had a trunk show at my guild..It was a long day for me to say the least. I am happy to report that DD is getting along okay but I think she is trying to do to much to soon, guess that might just be the mom in me! I think our cold, rainy weather the last couple of weeks didn't do a lot for energy levels, I really needed some sunshine and have finally gotten it the last few days. Thanks be to God!

     First, I want to show you my progress on the Barbara Brackman Civil War quilt. Here are 3 blocks that I made on April 15th. All on one day!! Whew, it must have been raining again!  Here is mine called North Star.

This is Texas Tears.

    

And this is Kansas Troubles. The picture looks rather faded but it is a light lavender background, not grey.  I also have my Seven Sisters done and will post it soon too. I hate to admit that I have 2 plastic bins (big ones) full of civil war reproduction fabric now, I think scrappy civil war quilts are on my agenda in the future. But you have to buy when you see something you like or it will be gone, never to come back, right??  That's my theory and I'm stickin' to it!

I had looked at these books for several weeks and finally decided to take the "bull by the horns", (that would actually be ME) and ordered them. I have really enjoyed looking at all the projects in them and can see several quilts that I want to make. I want to make some doll quilts for a doll stroller that belonged to my mom and her sister. And then I have my doll cradle that could use some fixing up and TLC and that would include a quilt or two. I also joined the group on Yahoo and have enjoyed reading on it.  But, and this is a big BUT, now I really would like to have this book.

The price is $28.00 and I just don't know if it is worth it, books are getting really expensive, don't ya think? Does anyone have this book?? Do you really, really like it?? I wish you would let me know what you think about the book and the projects. I hate to order a book and not know what is inside for projects. I hope to hear from some of you about this book.

Lastly, I want to show you a couple of pictures of my Lenten Rose. This is about the 3rd or 4th year for it and it has really made a spectacle of itself. There are easily over a hundred blossoms on it right now. Mine happens to be a dark purple color and they don't show up real good against the dark green foliage. It started blooming back in March and still is getting buds on it! Way to go, Lennie Rose!!  I think on that note, I'm going to call it quits for this time...Sew have a great "Stitches"  kind of day...see ya soon!!

Check out My New Books!

Here are my new hardback books that I won on The Raspberry Rabbits blog. They are wonderful books with lots of  "eye-candy" in them. So many beautiful pictures, colors and ideas, enough to last for a long, long time. I just want to say a bit THANK YOU to Michelle for drawing my name and sending me the books. She is a delightful gal and has a delightful blog to visit..please drop by her blog http://theraspberryrabbits.blogspot.com/ and see what she is has been up to. She has the cutest rabbits and they are always getting in trouble and she has great ideas too!  And I know she would appreciate if you would leave a comment, we all love to read our comments. Sew, I hope you will have a "Stitches" kind of day..until next time.

I am the Winner for the March Give-A-Way on the Raspberry Rabbit Blog!!

I cannot believe it!!! But Michelle May informed me that I had won her March Give-a-Way and I won these two beautiful books!! I'm am so excited about these books, everyone who knows me, knows how much I like books too!! They will be a very nice additon to my library and I can't wait to receive them..and rest assured, I will be sharing them with anyone wishing to drool......Please check out Michelle's blog, The Raspberry Rabbits, (http://theraspberryrabbits.blogspot.com)/ it's really a neat blog and she has a free BOM that she is doing for us too! It's cute hand-embroidered heart designs that will make a lovely quilt when we are done with them. And she has rabbits, sometimes they are nice and sometimes they are naughty, naughty!! But cute! Wow, March has been a good month for me.

I won the Quilting Gallery contest for "My Dad, the Sailor" fabric portrait, a couple of weeks ago and just received that book in the mail yesterday. It looks like it's going to be a good read too!!   Where is all this Good Luck coming from???  It's sure is nice, and I would never look a gift-horse in the mouth....have you ever heard that old saying??? On that note, I'm getting out of here because I'm having a very good "Stitches" kind of day and I'm going to make the most of it,,bye for now..

When you need a really good book.....

I just finished reading "Sarah's Key" and I thought it was a great book. I learned about the 1942 Paris Vel' d"Hiv" roundup of thousands of Jews by the French police and how heart wrenching it had to be for the Jewish families to live and die in those times. I had not read any books by Tatiana de Rochnay and I'm always looking for a new author to read, she did not disappoint me at all. This book is emotional, haunting and unforgettable. I finished it several days ago and cannot quite thinking about it. I highly recommend it to anyone. It would make a great book club choice.  Now I'm reading another book of hers "A Secret Kept" and it's been a good one too. I'll let you know more about it when I finish.  I just had to throw my 2 cents worth in about these books so you would know..I hope you have a "Stitches" kind of day..