We Have A Winner!

Here's the schedule for the last day of the Holiday Lane Blog Hop - be sure you visit them all because there are some gorgeous pillows there!

J Kafer on the Net

Busy as Can Be

Dachsies With Moxie - that other blog

28 Peppermint Grove

Marjorie's Busy Corner

Kris Loves Fabric

Linda - that other blog

Dora Quilts

Shedding the Wolf 

Quilting, Sewing Granny

Creative Notions

Chickadees Country Cottage Crafts

Madame Samm @ Sew We Quilt

And I'm pleased to announce the winner of the giveaway on my Holiday Lane Day is Catherine from Cate's Linens.  I've e-mailed Catherine to let her know and I'll be mailing her a charm pack of Blitzen as soon as I hear from her.  Be sure and watch for the next Blog Hop announcement coming up - In Your Words.  :)

Holiday Lane - Wish I Lived There!

Who wouldn't want to make the Holiday Lane pillow so generously provided by Jill at Jillily Studio?  So of course I had to sign up for this blog hop.  :)  Just in case you've forgotten here's a picture of Jill's Holiday Lane.

As much as I loved hers I knew I wanted to use fabrics I already had - I'm trying hard to do that (and if my friends tell you different don't you listen!) - so I started pulling boxes out of the stash closet.  Then I saw it....a huge bin of wools.  Maybe two bins.  Maybe two bins and half another.  Can we say addicted?  So I dumped the whole thing, or two, or two and a half.  Whatever.  And reorganized the whole thing, because I'm a bit OCD that way.  And after sorting and fusing and cutting and stitching, this is what I came up with:

I looked at the pattern.  I looked at Jill's pillow.  I looked at my pillow.  I loved that flange.  I really loved that flange.  But since most everything I make is more on the simple side and I was really stretching myself to add buttons to this...yes, I know but I'm  not exactly a sequin and glitter kind of gal...I decided just to bind mine.  A plain old-fashioned binding.

The next task was to stuff it.  I might have gotten a bit too much stuffing in it and even though I sat on it (don't you say a word!) it didn't flatten much.

When you have a fat pillow it's hard to get a picture of the top and bottom at the same time.

My topiarys wanted to lean, and I could hear my mother's voice saying, "Stand up straight girls!"  And my snowman was a bit shy and tried to hide down on the bottom.  But after taking pictures by the fireplace, in the loveseat, in my sewing chair, outside on the glider and the lounge and the cushion box, with and without reflectors I got a few of the details that you might want to see.

 I added the Star because the birth of Jesus is the reason we celebrate this holiday at all!  And I had to have Santa and a couple of reindeer because my grandchildren would ask where they were.  :)  And look at that smoke...doesn't it look real?  It's a bit of cotton out of a medicine bottle glued lightly.  The star was bought in the craft section of my local fabric store and hand stitched on....I added the rays with a metallic gold thread.

I added the bird because, after hearing my mother's voice scolding the topiarys, I just had to add a reminder of her - she loved birds, any kind, but she loved redbirds most of all.  I know you think those bits of thread were overlooked....but I'm pretty sure that redbird needs them for her nest.  :)

 I stitched red glass beads onto the trees for decorations.  Did you know that glass beads roll off your lap if you try to put them there?  And they also roll off the ottoman, the arm of my sewing chair, and the pillow top.  I'm sure you can picture me crawling around on my hands and knees trying to recover them.  :)   The "lights" on the eaves of the houses are also glass beads, a sort of cylindrical shape.  They roll too.

This little door need a bit of color so I added a holly button.  The doorknobs are a satin stitch using a gold thread.

There's that shy snowman!

Here's a little better view of the gold "lights" on the eaves and of the candy cane widow decoration.

And in a variety of settings the final product!

                                          But my favorite place is in my sewing chair...

Thanks so much to Madame Samm for the dream of these blog hops and Jill for the wonderful pattern, but most of all thanks to Pauline who, even while she was sick with the flu, put it all together and managed it for us.

And for those of you who are still reading this looooong post, I have a giveaway for you.  How about a charm pack of Blitzen...that's fitting, isn't it?  :)


Just leave a comment for a chance at the drawing, and if you're a follower leave a second comment telling me so.  Sorry, no international shipping on this one.  I think that would probably cost more than I paid for the charm pack!

And now, or after you comment, go visit the rest of the hoppers!  Here's the schedule:

Tuesday November 27 Cindy's Crafty Creations Woolie Mammoth Lily Patch Quilts Insanity Defense Ginger Snaps Quilts quiltingbydawn Scrapbook-Chickadoodle Mama Spark's World Marla's Crafts Annie Oak Designs Count it *all* Joy Stitching by the Lake A Stitch in Time

We Had A Few Friends....

drop in to share our Thanksgiving dinner!

Holiday Lane!

Monday November 26 Living Life One Day at a Time Polka Dot Classic Sophie Junction I'm Keeping Busy Sunshine Quilting The Treehouse Petit Design Co Nun's Quilt World Ellison Lane Quilts From This to That Mary on Lake Pulaski Luann's Loose Threads Till We Quilt Again 13 Woodhouse Road Tuesday November 27 Cindy's Crafty Creations Woolie Mammoth Lily Patch Quilts Insanity Defense Ginger Snaps Quilts quiltingbydawn Scrapbook-Chickadoodle Mama Spark's World Marla's Crafts Annie Oak Designs Count it *all* Joy Stitching by the Lake A Stitch in Time Wednesday November 28 Quilt n Queen Keep your fork There's pie Quilts My Way Grandma's Stories Quiltscapes Espritpatch Quilt on the Edge Farm Road Ramblings Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm Peach Patch Quilts Cherry's Prairie Primitives Mary Jo - that other blog    Thursday November 29 Words & Stitches Trying to Blog Peanut's Patchwork Moosestash Quilting A Loose Thread stitch, stitch, stitch In Stitches and Seams Hooked on Quilting A Reformed Heath'n Elaine - that other blog As Sweet as Peaches The Learning Curve Quilts and Such Geema's Wonderings Friday November 30 J Kafer on the Net Busy as Can Be Dachsies With Moxie 28 Peppermint Grove Marjorie's Busy Corner Kris Loves Fabric Linda - that other blog Dora Quilts Shedding the Wolf Quilting, Sewing Granny Creative Notions Chickadees Country Cottage Crafts Madame Samm @ Sew We Quilt Let the fun begin....November 21 to November 30!! Happy Stitching

Do You "Seal A Meal"?

I put a lot of stuff in the freezer - I love to buy meat during sale times and stick it in the freezer for later.  I buy butter when it's on sale.... and Cool Whip and vegetables and even flour.


I seal everything in plastic bags that are supposed to be air tight.  Far too often I was going to the freezer to find that something had somehow gotten air in it and had some freezer burn.  Sometimes I'm able to salvage the product and sometimes not.  Then I found some thicker-than-average bags and I'm thrilled to say they work much better!  The regular bags I was buying at the grocery or WalMart are very thin and when frozen got quite sharp edges; they were poking each other and poking holes.

DC Sales Enterprises, Inc. sells 4 sizes of bags, and I have all 4!  I have so much better luck with these than the thinner ones.  I have no affiliation with this company other than I love their product and their service.  I have gotten personal (well sort of personal as they know my name and I'm sure they just cut and paste!) letters thanking me for buying and telling me the story of how they started.  And according to Dehydrate2Store (I also dehydrate tons of stuff and love this site) if you wrap your packages in plastic wrap before putting them in the freezer they are much more unlikely to get holes in them.

Just thought you'd want to know!

Morning On The Lake

I am awed by His glory and by His great gift to us....the beauty of the earth.

Ending a Peaceful Day

I Hate Goodbyes

Today was the last day of the U R Priceless Blog Hop...I hate goodbyes! I was a bit skeptical when Madame Samm said coin purses. I'd certainly never made one and hadn't even considered it. But I'm game to try most anything that's stitching so I signed up. I ended up dropping out before it even started though because of some family and work obligations. I read all the blogs though and fell in love with so many that I couldn't resist making a couple. And I'm going to make more! They'll make great Christmas presents.

The first one I made was expressly for change...coins...and maybe a bill or two for my next journey.



I love all the wonderful shadows in this picture and it was a total accident that it turned out that way - I just forgot to pay attention to the lighting. :)

Then I decided I needed to take a little snack with me so this guy was born.



But wait...I needed one more purse for the trip. This one is so I can tuck away an extra bit of jewelry safely in my purse.



I made it a bit differently from the others since it needed to be a little larger.



Now I know why everyone said they're addictive! Madame Samm's pattern was so easy to follow and they take hardly any time at all. And the possibilities are endless!



Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Coin Purse Blog Hop

What a wonderful hop this is going to be!  Be sure and visit everyone - you won't want to miss one of these cute things!

Day 1 -  Nov. 5th

Quiltin' Jenny
Hill Valley Quilter
Loopy Lou's Adventures Into Handicrafts
Just Let Me Quilt
Lixie Makes It
Beaquilter
Sunshine, Handmade
Buzzing and Bumbling
ANNIEOFBLUEGABLES
Needled Mom
The Slow Quilter
A Quilting Sheep
I Have A Notion
Quilt-n-Queen

Day 2 - Nov.6th

The Crafter's Apprentice
Jane's Fabric and Quilts
Rosemary B
Why-Knot-Kwilt
Random Thoughts..do or "di"
Mary T.
Supermom No Cape
Lily Pad Quilting
.Quiltscapes.
Stitch, Stitch, Stitch
Rose Creations
The Treehouse
Gracie Oliver Arts
Quilting Prolifically
Stekje
Grammie Q's

Day 3 - Nov. 7th

I Love Wool
I Like to Quiltblog
Keep Your Fork There's Pie
Retired to Quilt
Selinaquilts
From This to That
Jenny E.
Domestic Deficit Disorder
Pig tales and quilts
CherrysPrairiePrimitives
Espritpatch
Maria
Count it all Joy!
Creative Notions

Day 4 - Nov. 8th

as sweet as peaches
Deborah B
Birgit H
Fish Creek Studio
A Quilter's Table
Lily Patch Quilts
Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio
Mary F
Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm
The Desert Rat Chronicles
Sally K
Paris at a Certain Age
From Blank Pages
Quilt Taffy
Barb H

Day 5 - Nov. 9th

Polka Dot Classic
Geta's Quilting Studio
Busy Bee Free
Briarside Lane
Quilts and Dogs
Blueberrymoon
Debbie R
suebee's World
Englating
Les passions de Cliodana
Colorpoint Quilter
On the Go Quilting
Personalized Sketchesand Sentiments
Freemotion by the River
grannygoodstuff
Scrapbook-ChickADoodle


Day 6 - Nov. 12

Read, quilt, cook, pray...
The Learning Curve
Bacon Then Eggs
Nati's Little Things
by Mary
Feltfree på Åsly
El Patchwork de la Abuela
Amy's Crafty Shenanigans
Maryjo J
s.o.t.a.k. Handmade
Chloeandme
Janice M
throw a wench in the works
Everyone Deserves a Quilt
A Stitch in Time
Sew Me Something Good

Day 7 - Nov. 13

Julia P
Tina
Dachsies With Moxie
Marci Girl Designs
The Sunflower Patch
Wish upon a star
Mary on Lake Pulaski
Greco Mara
Linda M
Mack and Mabel
Dreaming in Patchwork
Judith Handmade Treasures
Kaydie
Caesarea Scrappers
Patchouli Moon Studio
Sew.Darn.Quilt.
Sew We Quilt

Skinny Dipping With My Sister

I'm not exactly the skinny dipping type.  Except when it's with my sister.  In her hot tub.  In the country.  Surrounded by woods.  In the dark.  Very dark.  Very, very dark.

When you skinny dip in a hot tub in the dark in the woods and you hear deer pawing the leaves looking for acorns you could possibly imagine it's Big Foot.  Except when you're with your sister you know it's okay because she will protect you.  Oh wait, she's the baby sister and I'm the big sister.  It's time to go in  now.  And lock the door.