Let's Go Visiting - Week Five

Let's go visit a few friends today!

Adrienne at With A Grateful Heart
Carol at Just Let Me Quilt
Jane at Grandmama's Stories
Carolyn at I Believe Inn
Michelle at The Raspberry Rabbits
Judy at Shade Tree Quilting
Cathy at Cate's Linens
Kristi at Thankful Me
Marge at Roadsage
Lesley at The Cuddle Quilter
Janet at Caribou Crossing Chronicles

Follower Winner And Other Stuff

Congratulations to Susan at Susan's Scrappy Domain who has won my Follower Giveaway!  As soon as I get her mail information I'll be sending her this gift.

On another note I finally got to sit down last night and do a little stitching!  Since I've gone back to work it seems as if time is definitely not on my side - sewing is a few minutes here and a few minutes there.  I'm working on a wool/embroidery piece that I'm almost through with.  It's from Primitive Gatherings, one of my favorite shops ever and someday I'm actually going to go there!

 If you're like me and you love embroidery you need to run over to Sew We Quilt for all the details.  The patterns are wonderful and there's lots of room to create your own unique piece.  Jane from Jane's Fabric and Gifts is the cheerleader for that hop and she'd love to hear from you.

Yesterday I had my husband help me and we moved a little furniture in my bedroom.  He hates that.  I love that.  :)  I have my desk in that room because there's simply no place else to put it in this house but before the move I had it stuck in a corner.  We moved it to the windows so when I'm at my desk typing my blog posts I can look  up and out over the water, so if I seem to drift off into other thoughts it's because of my view!

And I created a bulletin board that I'm totally in love with - so bright and colorful, even though it's mostly covered with stuff that hides the bright and colorful.  I took a piece of foamboard that I bought at Hobby Lobby (with a coupon of course), cut it into fourths, covered each piece with a different red and white fabric and then put them butted up against each other on my wall beside the desk.  Everything at my fingertips, but in a fun way.  :)  I didn't do that yesterday...but I don't think I've shown it to you before.

The clock you see there was my mother's.  It hung in her house since I was a little girl about 10 years old.  When she died there were two things hanging on it....the tassel from my graduation cap (don't ask me why mine when she had four kids but probably she picked it up off the floor one day, hung it there and never moved it!) and the one and only ribbon she ever won for one of her quilts.  She'd have won more because she did beautiful work but she never entered one.  I snuck one away and entered it for her or she wouldn't have that ribbon!  :)

Since I was already in the mood for cleaning and sorting I straightened up both closets too.  Do you do that?  Get started with one little area and it just grows on you?  You clean out this drawer, which leads to cleaning off that shelf, which leads to....  But no more!  Today I have 2 or 3 things I have to do but then I'm headed for the sewing room to work on It's All About Me!

Let's Go Visiting - Week Four

I hope you're ready take another stroll around the neighborhood!  Let's go visit the following neighbors today:

Tanya                      www.friendshipcrossing.blogspot.com 

Nanny                      http://www.nannysgoodlife.blogspot.com

Sheri                      http://desertratchronicles.blogspot.com/

Mary                       http://sewmaybeican.blogspot.ca/ 

Ronda                    http://mountaindelights.blogspot.com

Brenda                   http://www.brtowsleyblogs.blogspot.com/

Ginger Quilter         ttp://frontporchquilts.blogspot.com/

Sewn With Grace    http://sewnwithgrace.blogspot.com  

Michele                   www.quiltsfrommycrayonbox.blogspot.com 

Patti                       http://osagebluffquilter.blogspot.com/

It's All About Me - Closed

We're up to 90 participants in It's All About Me so we're officially closing this blog hop.  If you missed it I'm so sorry but be watching for the latest one being posted over at Sew We Quilt soon!

Follower Alert!!!

A couple of weeks ago I promised a giveaway for my followers when I reached 600 - it snuck up on me but I'm up to 614 now!  So as promised, if you're a follower and you're interested in these two items:

I have the November/December issue of QuiltMania - a lovely magazine.  And a jelly roll of Cherry Christmas by Aneela Hoey for Moda.  At one of the after Christmas sales I bought one for me and one for you!  :)

Here are the rules for this giveaway - please follow them strictly.
1.  Leave ONLY ONE comment telling me how you follow my blog - on the Followers list on the right sidebar, on a reader, through e-mail subscription, etc.

That's it - that's the only rule.  If you haven't been following but you want to then please add your name to the Followers over there on the right and leave a comment telling me you did so.

This is going to be a pretty fast giveaway - I'll choose a number on Friday.  Good luck!

blessings, Marlene

It's All About Me!

If you signed up for the It's All About Me Blog Hop you should have gotten an e-mail from me today.  If you think you signed up and didn't get  my e-mail me please comment on this post and let me know so I can get you on the list.

Let's Go Visiting - Week Three

Let's Go Visiting - Week Three

I hope you're ready take another stroll around the neighborhood!  Let's go visit the following neighbors today:

Jeanne              http://rayandjeanne.blogspot.com

Anita                  http://auntnubbyskitchen.blogspot.com 

Quilt Hollow       http://www.quilthollow.com/

Selina                Selinaquilts.blogspot.com

Teresa               http://teresasquiltjourney.blogspot.com

Patty                 carrotcake55@sbcglobal.net.

Sandra              sandra0@gmail.com (Sandra doesn’t have a blog but would love an e-mail visit)

Needled Mom    http://needledmom.blogspot.com/

Lizzy                       http://lizzy-notimelikethepresent.blogspot.com/

Sowing Stitches    sowingstitches.blogspot.com 

In Your Words - Last Day

Here's today's schedule:

Wednesday, January 16

My Collection of Things  (Jeni K.)

Quiltin' Jenny  (Jenny)

Shade Tree Quilting (Judy C.)

(Rosemary B.) at “that other blog”

Pat Sloan, The Voice of Quilting (Pat. S.)

Dachsies With Moxie  (Agnes B.)

Sew Many Yarns (Lyndsey M.)

Tomorrows Treasures Today  (Denise D.)

The German Mom  (Tina S.)

Christa Quilts (Christa W.)

Sew We Quilt  (Mdm. Samm)

In Your Words - My Turn To Talk

I had so much fun deciding what to do for this blog hop!  In the end I went two different routes.  Or was it three?  Can anyone say "split personality?"  When I was trying to make up my mind what I wanted to make....Christmas Eve was when I started working on it, can you believe it?....the weather folks had predicted snow for Christmas Day for Arkansas.  That never happens.  Never.  But I wanted it to.  Until it did.  Eight inches worth.  No electricity for four days.  And four nights.  But before the snow began I started this "wish" pillow.  When I was wishing for snow.  Before it really did snow.  You got that part, right?

Of course when I wanted to take my pillow out into the snow to take a picture the snow was all gone.  And what I had was eight inches of rain.  Yes, really.  Sigh.  This is wool applique using a hand blanket stitch.  I free motion quilted the front of the pillow using navy thread and trying to follow some of the design of the background but making sure it had lots of motion.

Then I thought, well goodness it's almost Valentine's Day.  Just a month away!  (Have you gotten your SO a card yet?  Me either.)   So I made this small quilt for my 6" Ackenfeld hanger.

This is also wool...wool heart appliqued with a hand blanket stitch onto a wool background.  The stitching is embroidery and the outside also has a hand blanket stitch.

I love to talk and I love to write so putting words into my stitching comes naturally to me.  Here are a couple of word stitcheries that are favorites of mine.

 I keep this pillow on my bed and pretend that I was born on Monday.  Ha!

I made this for Christmas but I love it so much that I just keep it out all year.

But you know none of these really says anything about me, about who I am.  So I'm also going to share with you this little quilt that I have hanging on my office door.  I'm a "wasn't I just retired yesterday?" high school guidance counselor, returning to work after nine years at home.  Returning to retirement in June by the way.  This is me:

Nice really does matter.  Really.

Thanks so much to Linda for coordinating this hop for us - there are a lot of little details that have to work together for this to happen and that takes time.  And thanks to Madame Samm for dreaming up the whole concept and starting us on the right track.  And a double thank you to all our wonderful sponsors - such amazing gifts!

Please be sure you visit everyone on the hop today...you want to miss a one!  blessings, marlene

Tuesday, January 15

BQuiltin Studio  (Beverly K.)

Hill Valley Quilter (Britt-Inger)

Bumbleberry Stitches  (Theresa K.)

Buzzing and Bumbling  (Linda W.)

Outback Crafter (Debra S.)

In Stitches and Seams  (Annette S.)

Englating  (Marica from Sweden)

Stitchin by the Lake  (Marlene B.)  (this is me!)

Selina Quilts  (Selina)

Sheila's Quilt World (Sheila M.)

Words & Stitches (Beth S.)

In Your Words

Here's today's schedule!

Monday, January 14

Gracie Oliver Arts (Jeanie)

Clothes and Crafts (Maria K.)

Cherrys Prairie Primitives (Cherry E.)

Simple Sew (Shirley T.)

Woolie Mammoth (Anna B.)

RocknQuilts (Mary Ann)

Celynn's Sunflower Patch (Celynn)

A Quilting Sheep (Amy)

Sane and Crazy Quilting (Cathy L.)

Quiltsmiles (Jane E.)

Feathered Nest Studio(Jennet)

Yes! It's all about ME, but really it is about YOU!

I can hardly believe our good fortune...to think that Amy Bradley, THE Amy Bradley  has designed a pattern for us!  Madame Samm says this about Amy and about his hop:

"I adore Amy Bradley. ( you can see her latest greatest best here)

I believe she was the very first designer

I came across when I first started quilting.  Upon seeing

her BRAND images....she is all about FUNNY....

I thought "I have got to connect with her..."

She gets me, I get her, we work well together

and wellllll, this is what we came up with....

She did all the work of course, ( I just created the button up there)

 I wanted something we could 

all manipulate into a likeness of us in the future, 

( if you think you don't look anything like HER now....)

Welll just wait...Think of this as a FUTURE YOU....

YOU will get this ladies likeness, with different hairstyles

and pin cushion can be placed, well in a variety of ways...

YOU will see this in AMY's pattern that she designed

with you all in mind for FREE, if you are in our hop...

It is an applique pattern and her instructions are the very best in the industry.

She includes everything, she leaves nothing out....

If ever you wanted to finesse APPLIQUE, this is the hop for you...

You can make her YOU!  floral, stripes, fur, dark glasses, bling on the 

glasses, 3D....wellll I can go and on...but I think you get HER!"

So here's the deal ya'll....

 Blog hop will be from FEBRUARY 21st-28th

And I get to be the cheerleader for this one.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  How did I get so lucky!  And who am I?  (for those of you who don't know me yet)

Marlene from Stitchin by the LAKE

if you want your own LIKENESS, let me know ASAP! 

(mbushretired@gmail.com)

Please put

"It's all about me TOO"

in your subject line...

and the PDF pattern will be sent to as soon as you supply

name, email and blog...  (don't forget to put all three of these in so we don't have to trade e-mails to get everything correct for you.  And if possible use this format:
name
e-mail address
blog name
blog address

If you do not have a blog, we will provide you with one...

15 of you will be able to post on our "That other blog"

for non-bloggers... 

Our rules are always pretty straight forward..

1. Be a cheerleader for all those who participate! 

2. Make your project

3. Take great Photos ( outside when possible are the BEST)

4. Turn off your word verification( if possible just for your day)

5. Be on time, set post for  midnight EST. ( we can help if needed)

6. if you drop out for any reason, YOU will 

be sent a request for payment to Amy for the Pattern... 

Amy has designed 2 fabric lines which will be our giveaways..

More on that later... 

Please put the button for this hop on your blog (Code for button is on your top right!

Big thanks goes out to Amy Bradley for having such a generous heart....

She is soooooo COOL!  

( we can still say that can't we?)

and to Madame Samm for creating another fun project/blog hop for us!

In Your Words - Days Four and Five

Thursday, January 10

Life in the Scrapatch (Pat B.)

Just Sew Sue (Sue B.)

Nati's Little Things (Nati)

Amy's Crafty Shenanigans (Amy)

Pig Tales and Quilts (Thearica)

Scrappy 'n Happy (Jess R.)

Little Mushroom Cap (Amira A.)

Kwilty Pleasures (Kathy)

Moosestash Quilting (Joan K.)

Sowing Stitches (Beulah aka. Carol)

Just Quilt It  (Kathy G.)

Friday, January 11

Jane's Fabrics (Jane R.)

Jane's Quilting (Jane C.)

Nuts 4 Redwork (Heide W.)

Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio (Cherry G.)

Bits and Pieces (Martha R.)

Life in Every Breath (Jennifer B.)

Quilting Lines (Patricia L.)

Travel Thru Greece (Mara)

Meadowbrook  (Kristen K.)

Count It All Joy!  (Denise P.)

Sophie Junction (Sophie W.)

Let's Go Visiting - Week Two

I hope you're ready take another stroll around the neighborhood!  Let's go visit the following neighbors today:

Anna       www.wooliemammoth.blogspot.com

Teresa     http://quiltingstitchingandsewon.blogspot.com

Michelle   http://michelle-mochamoochell.blogspot.com/

Snowlady http://meemawlovestoquilt.blogspot.com/

Paula       http://initiallypms.blogspot.com/

Sunny      http://sunny-quiltingdreams.blogspot.com/ 

Pat          Amityquilter.blogspot.com.

Helen       http://helen-burdette.blogspot.com/

Gail         http://gailatthefarm.blogspot.com/ 

Terry       http://terrytreasures.blogspot.com/

In Your Words - Days Two and Three

Tuesday, January 8

Piece Peace (Patricia G.) 

A Stitch in Time (Patty D.)

krislovesfabric (Kris T.)

Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much? (Pamela A.)

Marjorie's Busy Corner (Marjorie)

Grandmamas Stories (Jane H.)

Mrs. Pickles Garden (Hayley)

Patchouli moon Studio (Daryl P.)

Till We Quilt Again (Helen E.)

The Slow Quilter (Felicia F.)

Quilting With Terry and the Cats (Terry S.)

Wednesday, January 9

Kathy's Quilts (Kathy W.)

Sunshine Quilting (Martina S.)

Sew Incredibly Crazy (Amy)

Quilt Doodle Doodles (Cindy S.)

Doodling in My Mind (Darla R.)

I Like to Quiltblog (Bente)

Michelle's Romantic Tangle (Michelle M.)

Grammie Q's (Charlotte M.)

Dancing Moon (Carla B.)

(Betty V.)  at “that other blog”  http://thatotherblogg.blogspot.com/.

The Fuzzy Hat Quilter (Laura Ann)

Bone Marrow Transplants

Some time ago a very dear friend called and asked me if I would write a post on bone marrow donors.  My friend has Lymphoma and has had for many years.  She's undergone all kinds of treatments, some of which continue today.  She has had a stem cell transplant but hasn't yet had to have a bone marrow transplant from someone else, although that day could come.

I remember from years past that to donate bone marrow involved a painful and time-consuming surgery but that's no longer true.  Bone marrow can be harvested from the donor's blood through a process called peripheral blood stem-cell donation - a machine separates and collects the stem cells before returning the blood to the donor.  It's an outpatient procedure that takes four to six hours on one or two consecutive days.  Four days before the procedure the donor receives daily injections of a synthetic protein called filgrastim.  There is a second method that involves using a syringe to collect marrow cells from the backside of the pelvic bone during an outpatient surgical procedure; donors receive general anesthesia in this one to two hour process.

Another thing I learned about stem-cell transplants is that being tested to see if you could be a donor for someone is as easy as pie!  You simply swab inside your cheek with four q-tips - well you don't do it yourself of course, but that's how it's done.  :)  You know that doesn't hurt...we see it on CSI all the time!

If you would consider being a donor for someone in need of this life saving procedure there are a couple of ways to do it.  Often there will be a bone-marrow drive for a particular person and in that case you simple attend the drive.  There is also a bone-marrow testing Center, DKMS http://www.deletebloodcancer.org/, which will send out testing kits for free, according to the article I read.

Recently there was a series of articles in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette about a young woman with leukemia who needed a donor.  The articles were well written and filled with information.  In particular an article on December 17, 2012 was very informative.  If you don't know much about bone-marrow transplants - read a few articles on the internet about it.  There are lots of folks out there, adults and children, who could be helped if we all registered!

In Your Words - Begins Today!

Monday, January 7

Stitch, Stitch, Stitch, Stitch  (Cyndi H.)

Kwilty Pleasures  (Kathy G.)

Debby Kratovil Quilts (Debby K.))

Sew Darn Quilt  (Carolyn R.)

Mary On Lake Pulaski  (Mary K.)

Traveling Quilter  (Debbie A.)

Just Let Me Quilt (Carol S.)

Vroomans Quilts (Sharon V.)

Cate's Linens (Catherine R.)

Nini and the Sea  (Denise)

Sew Much 2 Luv (Karen)