A Friend's House Tour-2012-Part 1

The front door

P. Buckley Moss wreath in entryway

I have a friend that decorates for every holiday throughout the year and I thought you might like looking at some of her Christmas Decor...I know the pictures don't do the decor justice but it's so much fun to go to her house and see all that she has done. Here is a little taste of it...I hope you enjoy...

Welcome to the North Pole quilt

Red and White tree

Dining Room w/white plates and decor

The Hutch, walls are red

I love this tree, just doesn't photograph well tho!!

Huge punchbowl full of red balls, cute quilt too.

Family Room

Mercury Glass display

 I do wish someone would tell me how to arrange these pictures like I want too, they are giving me fits!!!

Gramma's Beads Started It !!

I have been making thong or string bookmarks and it all started with Gramma's beads. I had an old container that I have had for 30+ years and had never done anything with them. They were from Gramma's house so a couple of weeks ago, I sorted out the good ones and started making these bookmarks. I have already given each of my daughters one so they aren't pictured here. One was a white opaque and the other a blue one, similar to the one in the above picture.  Then I got to thinking, these BM would make a nice little gift for my Mini group of quilters. The ones I made for the Mini group all had sewing charms on them. We had our exchange last Tuesday and they loved them as much as I loved making them. They don't take much time and you can put as many beads as you want..I have been a great customer of Hobby Lobby, especially when they have their beads on for 50% off.  I plan to have a give away of one of these "treasured bookmarks" in the near future so please check back soon. (I won't get to the give away now until after Christmas, sorry)... .the pictures are some of the ones I have given away already and a few that I still have on hand. I hope you like them as much as I do.  Sew until next time, I hope you will have a Stitches kind of day .....

I'm A Recent Winner-2X's

I am quite tardy in telling about my 2 recent wins....Me, who never thought I ever was very lucky, how can this be??  The first win was the new 100 Blocks magazine from Hyacinth Quilt Designs..The first name she drew had already won on another blog, so I was the 2nd name drawn. I don't mind being in 2nd place at all. There are some really, really nice quilt blocks in the issue, I can't wait to give some of them a try.  Thanks so much for drawing my name..   The second win was from the Stash Books blog.  We had a hard time connecting and I was afraid that I was not going to get the prize, which was the Sweet Celebrations book with Moda Bake Shop Chefs. It is a very nice book with several nice quilts that anyone could make. When the book came, I got another surprise. Included in the package was a Layer Cake of French General La Belle Fleur, that was like the icing on the cake!!  :-)  How sweet it is!!!  It is so much fun to win prizes, isn't it???  Thank you again for drawing my name on these 2 blogs, I really appreciate everything that I won!!!

I Better Get Busy!!

 I have just been dilly-dallying around for the past week and it needs to stop!!  Well, I have decorated,  a friend came over and she "helped" me do some extra decorating, that was so nice to have another person's perspective, baked bread, gone to a mini-sewing group, out to lunch among a few other things..hmmm, maybe I have been a little busy!!...   I went to my youngest daughter's in Nebraska for Thanksgiving. While I was there she gave me my belated birthday present and it was worth the wait for me. I have 4, yes, 4, Pottery Barn Mercury Glass Christmas Trees!!! I just love them and couldn't wait to get home and get them arranged and show them off. I have them on a dark green tablecloth, with holly around them so the pictures don't do them justice but believe me they are gorgeous.

 

While I was in Nebraska, we did some Stitching Cards too. Susan did these 2 below, I think they are really pretty. Have you ever done any of these cards? They are fun to do but it does take some time but nice to give to those very special friends and family members.

 

Jenna, my grandson's fiance, did the two below. It was her first time doing any of these cards and she really got into it!! She did a great job too.  The cards are beautiful...... a very festive Snowman, and Madonna and Child... You can click on any of the pictures and it should enlarge them to get a better look. All in all, we had a good weekend, lots of food, laughs, crafts and family, it doesn't get any better than that. Sew until next time, I hope you have a Stitches kind of day...............

I

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.............

Oh, Yeah !!

Another good one from Bittle's Fun Page,...............

Hmmm, I Wonder??

We Honor Our Veteran's

Another nice postcard from Grandma's album,  postmarked April 7, 1909 but very appropriate for today, I thought.  Sew until next time, have a Stitch's kind of day...............

A Little Quilt Show

Taryn, over at the Repro Quilt Lover Blog, is having a Little Quilt Show so I am linking up with her blog. Check it out if you want to see some really neat little quilts..She was giving away some Cheddar fabric but I know I'm too late for that but that was so nice of her to do that. I hope you enjoy the show, sew until next time, have a Stitches kind of day............

I Laughed, Tee Hee!!

I laughed to myself when I read this..Yah, I agree nothing fell off but a lot of it went South.....and not just for the winter...Have a Stitches kind of day...........

First Time Ever

Do you know what these cute little things are?? I had never even seen one of these that I remember until last week when I spent the day with 2 of my sisters, Judy and Rita. We went to the city and stopped at a very nice quilt shop Heart and Hands Dry Goods Co., and then to the Asia/Mexican grocery store. They had boxes and boxes of Persimmons so we all bought some of them. I only bought 4 and after eating the first one, I wish I had bought 4X more. I have just been peeling and slicing before eating and I love them.  I think they taste kind of like a blend of an apple and a melon..What do you think? Have you ever tried them?  We made a few other stops too but I wanted to tell you that if you are ever in the Sioux City, Iowa area and you like quilt shops, you really don't want to miss Heart and Hands. They have a great variety of gifts among the many, many bolts of fabric, and I want to go back.......hmmm, now I'm off to enjoy my last persimmon, (sad face)  I need to eat slow and relish it!!!. Sew until next time, have a Stitches kind of day.............

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeen!!

 

I need to get geared up for all the little Goblins that I am expecting tonight. Since the weather is pretty nice, I know I will have around 175 come to the door. I just wanted to show you a few of my decorations before the day is over. Below is the little "Fascinator" that 4 of us made a week ago to wear to our quilt guild meeting that night. We were a little crazy but it was a lot of fun and others really liked it. I love my spider web tablecloth that I picked up at Marshall's too.

Griselda

 My village that I got new this year,,,it was a little extravagant for me but sometimes you just gotta do it!! And I did it!!! Not sorry either..

This is a postcard from my Grandmother's post card album, the only one that she had that pertained to Halloween. It was sent to her in 1910 with a 1-cent stamp on it.. Pretty neat, I think...Sew until next time, have a Stitches kind of day and a fun Halloween.....

Some Great Finds?

 Last Thursday, I took my Great Pumpkin quilt to the machine quilter, YEAH!!  I'm so excited to get it back and the binding on it and hung on my wall for Fall. Sadly, the Halloween quilt that I have been working on just didn't get done this year.  :-((   But Nancy, the machine quilter, was getting ready for a garage sale over the weekend. She and about 4 friends decided to clean out some of their hoarded treasured possessions. There were just a few items that I couldn't pass up and since she said she would do a "pre-sale", I came home with  a few goodies..I think the duck bowl and ladle are so cute and I can see a lovely African Violet in the basket too. 

 The rest of the 'stuff' is going to my youngest daughter.  Her last name is Henn so therefore she likes hens, not roosters, but hens!! I thought this cute little napkin holder Barred Rock (I think, let me know if I'm wrong) Hen would be a nice addition to her kitchen.

 She also collects old tins. These are miniature tins and I couldn't resist them either. They have never been opened and at this point, I doubt they ever will be. The coffee says it will make 6 cups and the Buttercup Sweet Scotch Snuff, eeeh, I can't imagine what that would smell like after lots of years. I think she will really like these and will be disappointed if she doesn't...

 I put a coffee mug beside the tins so you can see how small they are...Do you like my goodies? All for only $9.75, I think I did good!!!  Thanks for looking, Sew until next time, have a Stitches kind of day.......