I beat the Holiday! I wonder about me?

I've had this post ready for about two weeks, now why have I not posted it?  Let's see, too busy? Maybe a little, but not really.  Out of town?  I wish.  Computer was down?  A big no, thank God.

I forgot?  Man I hate to admit that.  So I'm not going to.  But at least I got it here before Easter.

That a plus, right?  This is the first time I have decorated for a holiday other than Christmas (tree only) since let's see, 2011.  Don't know exactly why, my heart just not has been in it.  But enough is enough.  So here is a small start.

I found the pattern for the carrots at http://aconfettilife.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-fabric-carrots-are-here.html

and the little pussy willows at http://quilttaffy.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-little-easter-diy.html

I forgot , yet again, to hang the Easter tags that that were downloadable with the directions for the painted mason jars.  And they were the cutest part.  These were found a

                                        http://www.iheartnaptime.net/spring-mason-jars/

I figure if I start now maybe I can get ready for the 4th of July.  But then you may want to check back in August.

Everyone have a safe and blessed Easter.

                                                                                 

Quilt Qwazy Queens Blog Hop

The story of my journey to becoming somewhat of a quilter is not too exciting or profound.  It has  went at a moderately slow pace mostly because of the learning curve of several things.   I seem to have started  liking fabric late in life and social media was a total unknown to me.  In fact I have a long way to go it seems,  I've been battling rafflecopter for over a week, we will see who wins by the end of this post.  I have found from the communities of online quilters most of my inspiration and quilting help.  But this little badge and quote I borrowed from the author http://quiltshopgal.com/   seems to qualify me as "QQQ" and maybe some of you too .







Please be sure you visit all of today's participants for inspiring stories, pictures and great giveaways
March 24
Marjorie's Busy Corner
Just Because Quilts
Moose Stash
Batts In The Attic
All Things Sewn
http://www.kwiltkrazy.com/

 please remember to visit Marian our blog hop creator at http://www.seamstobesew.com/ after today's visits for the great givaway she has personally provided each day of this hop and leave her a nice comment too.  I want to thank her for all her time and effort to make this enjoyable for all involved.  She worked hard to secure the great giveaways from her wonderful sponsors as well, listed at the end of the post.

On to my journey of quilting.

I  have been sewing and or quilting about two years and not an accomplished quilter yet.  What inspired me to start sewing in the beginning while working as a nail tech, was that a close customer/friend had just lost her husband, they were raising two small grandchildren and I wanted  to so something for the children.   At that time I had not sewn since high school (let's say quite few years ago and leave it there).   I had seen some memories bears on pinterest and thought that would be great gift for the toddlers.  It was my first try at renewing my sewing skills, one girl bear shown and one boy, the same bear but without the sweater.  Made from their Grandpa's cambrey shirts.

That's when the sewing bug bit me and

 after that I started making stuffed animals for babies and friends and small home decorating items.

Meet Maggie, my sewing partner and  this is our first holiday banner.

   

Then I ran across our first blog hop.  http://www.sewwequilt.com/

This table runner entry was where I started getting interested in quilting, now Maggie couldn't care less what,why or how we are sewing.  As long as we sew every day.  Between you and me, I think she like to hear the machine in the background while she's napping.

I also enjoy embroidery and working with wool 

I'm gathering things to make some wool quilting blocks as we speak.

The grey cat is made of a vintage wool jacket and vintage silk ties.

I use repurposed wool when possible.  Some of the black cat is vintage as well.

TaDa!

My first quilt.

Now I realize it is a simple ragged out quilt, but it was my first baby step attempt at making an whole  quilt, but I was pleased and knew I was hooked on learning and experiencing all kinds of quilting..

All of my quilts are small, being throws or crib size and fairly simple at this point.  I work with a small Janome and I FMQ with it too.  Making large quilts at this time impossible.

I'm waiting to win that Milly at APQS before I try to make full size quilts. 8-)

http://www.apqs.com/longarm-giveaway/

My quilts have all been gifts or fundraisers and that is fine with me for now and will continue to to do so.  I enjoy and am blessed to be able to help others this way. 

 I'm trying to learn how to use ETSY now.  I'm slow but sure.  My positive swing on that is "I'm enjoying the journey".  I just had to go back to work after closing my business and retiring last year. The selling of the building has not happened yet and that is my financial part of retirement.

So eventually I hope to retire again from public work after I become an accomplished quilter  (I think that's where the Queen part comes in)   and not just a Qwazy Quilter.

This is where I'm at in my quilting at the moment.

  

I have always enjoyed thinking out of the box when the need arises,  I was asked to make a quilt out of this shower curtain from Carol a close friend of mine.  It was a memory of her friend that had passed and they shared the love of Christmas.  They always decorated every room for the season.  And this was left to her specifically.  That's all the story I know.  But I gave it a shot.  I kept visualizing it sliding off her lap.

Carol was very pleased the way it turned out,  I was so relieved.  I think a leprechaun changed the placement of the squares.  I could have sworn they were staggered much better than that until the picture was proof of other wise.

The coloring was off on these two picture, I guess it was the lighting at her house.

And my most recent quilting experience is just beginning,  I was ready to expand my skill a little and joined a BOM... In Our Garden at  http://sewincrediblycrazy.blogspot.com/  Every month's patterns is from a different designer.
 I like the little frog, but want to add a tongue getting ready to catch the fly. 

You have been very patient with this lengthy post.  

I have been given two great giveaways for you.  Good luck.  The first has been provided by

Don't you like the blocks on the cover, I love all houses.

I would like to have this myself, and will probably order it.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And the second lovely giveaway is provided by:

Three, 1/2 yard bundles from Island Batik of their Fire Island Collection

Two Bundles With Six Cuts

and One Bundle With Seven Cuts

Now that a lot of fabric.
Gee, I would like this one too
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


Make sure I have your email address to notify winners.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

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As a gift to everyone,
the htpp://www.fatquartershop.com
is offering a 10% discount during the hop.
This is not good for gift certificates however.

Use this code at checkout to receive discount.
seamstobe316
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


  remember to visit Marian at http://www.seamstobesew.com/


I'm hoping you have enjoyed Marians blog hop, there sure has been some beautiful work shown.

Have a safe and Blessed day
Hugs,

New blog hop coming in 4 days

I'm so looking forward to visiting all the sites and stories of these quilters journeys of how they
have become to place they are now with their passion of fabric and quilting.  This should be a very interesting and varied experience.  And of course some great giveaways along the way too.  Hope to see you there.

 

March 18
Life In The Scrapatch
Sew Incredibly Crazy
In The Boon Docks
Quilting Affection
Words In Stitches

March 21
QuiltShop Gal
TeaTime Creations
Ravelly
Meadowbrook
Bumbleberry Cottage

March 22
Feather Your Nest
Grandmama’s Stories
Pamela Quilts
Vroomans Quilts
My Quilty Musings

March 23
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Ridge Top Quilts
Quilt Art
Patchwork Breeze
Kwilt Krazy

March 24
Marjorie’s Busy Corner
Just Because Quilts
Moose Stash
Batts In The Attic
All Things Sewn

March 25
Just Let Me Quilt
Sew Many Yarns
Quilting Queen Online
Jane’s Quiltin

BOM In Our Garden Blog Hop

This is such a cute pattern by Amy at http://sewincrediblycrazy.blogspot.com/  There will be two different blocks each month, One applique and one pieced. This is my rendition of this month's
Blocks.  I'm hoping to be able to continue all twelve months. I will post each new design,  they are
all going to be by a different quilter.

The wind would not cooperate with me today, so they look a little misshapen

blowing in the breeze.  Which one do you prefer?  I'm also considering putting the frog's tongue 

catching the fly.  What do you think?

Be sure to go visit the other links. 

I'm just nuts about Blog Hop

Hello and welcome
Marian has done a great job of creating and directing these Hops.  There are more in the works for this year, visit with her and keep up with what's coming up that you might want to be a part of.
Thank you Marian for making these fun hops possible.
http://www.seamstobesew.com/
Since I have a couple things I'm really nuts about , and  I can't seem to choose one over the other I'll share both.  I'm going to try and keep this short and sweet.



This vintage sweetie who was rescued at a yard sale, is the culprit that started my love of stitching cats.

Houses and cats are my nutty obsession.
This colorful cutie is made of vintage wool and 100% silk from men's vintage ties.

Meet Casper, She was a feral kitten a one point we only knew she was there because when the other cat was inside the catfood was still eaten and we started watching to see what was eating. Hence the name Casper.  Like her perch?  Maybe we should have named her patience. Actually the birds pay her no attention and she has never caught one. But after this picture we moved the feeder.

And this little Kitty reminded me of Casper.  She is also made of vintage wool, the applique is felted wool and all is hand stitched.

 

I also enjoy making little homes from my scraps.
I'm starting to make some  seasonal too. I just fit them in among the others
according to the particular holiday.

It seems I have stashed them somewhere at Christmas, and after two
days of searching I give up. I have about 6 more and will eventually find them.
On the good side I have a clean storage closet.

I just found two more, I would say right in my face but in with a stack of fabric.

I want to thank the  http://www.fatquartershop.com/  for a $25.00 gift certificate. And the http://www.anypattern.com for a different flower pattern daily.

Click on the links
above to visit them.







Just follow the instructions of the Rafflecopter for your chance to win


a Rafflecopter giveaway



Be sure and visit all of today's bloggers

February 9, 2016

Quilting Queen
Elizabeth Coughlin
Bumbleberry Cottage
All Things Sewn You are here

February 10, 2016

MeadowBrook
Sew Many Yarns
From This To That
Seams To Be Sew

I tried to keep it short, hope you enjoyed yourself.
Be safe and come back any time won't you.
Blessings

Resolutions Don't Work, But Just Maybe......

I have never done the "word" thing but this year in place of resolutions, my word is kindness.. The resolutions never worked for me anyway, and that is what they were "FOR ME".
When I put some thought to it the word kindness is what I do for someone else.

I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago and forgot to do so.  Which leads me to believe
that kindness won't stay in the for thought of my mind without reminders..  I want it to become the most natural thing for me.  I want to cut back on the gee I wish I had thought to..... moments.  So I'm thinking of ways to become more aware of what is going on around me.

I have too many post-its now, I would never notice another one sooooo....I see more crafting in my future.  And you thought I was kidding.

                                                                       

 

     This really spoke to me,  I'm going to do something with this first.  It will be quick and easy.

Then I will sew next, it will come to me.  I find that while I'm sewing or embroidering that I'm think about why and what I'm working on, which implant it more deeply in my mind and broadens the perspective.  

.


Blessings to you and yours,

A Very Special Appeal

I'm reposting http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-very-special-appeal.html

Hi, all!

This evening, I have a very special appeal to share with you, something near and dear to my heart.  I hope you'll take a few minutes to read this post, and join me in becoming part of this story!

This quilt may look familiar to many of you...

...as may this beautiful face and smile!

For those of you who are more recent-comers to this blog, the little girl is Savannah, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma in 2006 at the age of six.  As part of our quilt ministry, we made a quilt for Savannah in January of 2011.  Unfortunately, Savannah went home to God in March of 2011, and is dancing with the angels now.  

Savannah's story (posted here, here, here, and here) has been the most-viewed story on my blog, with well over 6000 views.  Being part of her story has taught me more about the love of God than any other single event in my life, and continues to amaze me.  

So now to the heart of today's post.  This morning when I got on Facebook, I saw this beautiful face smiling at me, and the following post and appeal from Savannah's mom:

Please read.  I need your help!

In one month, on February 23, 2016, my sweet daughter, Savannah would have turned 16 years old.  While I may not be able to bake her a cake, throw her a party or take her to get her driver's license, I CAN do something special in her memory to celebrate the amazing person she was during her eleven years on this earth.  During her battle against childhood cancer, we were blessed with a tremendous amount of love, support, kindness and generosity from family, friends and strangers.  She may not be a patient at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital anymore, but there are many, many children who are now or will be in the future.  These children will have to endure chemo, radiation, CT scans, PET scans, MRI's, blood and platelet transfusions, bone marrow biopsies, surgeries, clinic visits, hospital stays and much much more was they sacrifice their innocence and childhood.  NO child should have to experience any of this, but they do...7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Speaking from our personal experience, I will tell you it takes seemingly small things to bring these children smiles, joy and happiness.  One of these "small things" that Savannah loved and appreciated was socks.  Yes, socks!  Socks that were fuzzy, warm, colorful, fun, silly and could be worn during her time at Vandy and at home.

I'd like to donate as many pairs of new socks as possible to the boys and girls at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital on February 23, 2016, Savannah's Sweet 16 birthday.  Please help me in this very special mission to show some kindness to these courageous children and celebrate my little girl's day of birth.

You can either drop them off in a special purple bin on our front porch (if you're local) or mail them to me at:  

     Savannah's Sweet 16 Sock Drive

     C/O Robin Landes

     1809 Brisbane Lane

     Mt. Juliet, TN   37122

Please share and spread the word and help me show Savannah she will always be remembered!

**COLLECTION WILL RUN THROUGH FEBRUARY 22, 2016!

I hope you will join me in helping fulfill Robin's wish and making Savannah's Sweet 16 birthday a day of joy and remembrance, as we bring a little bit of joy and happiness to a child with cancer.  It's such a small thing - and you too can be a part of the story!  

You can even participate without even moving from your computer - there are some great choices on Amazon, many with Prime free two day shipping - that you can have sent directly to Robin in plenty of time!  Just search "colorful children's socks" and you'll see some fabulous choices!  They are looking for any size from baby to teenager, colorful and cheerful that will brighten up a child's day.  

Let's flood Robin with socks to celebrate Savannah's Sweet 16, and bring joy and happiness to lots of sweet children!

 Hugs  

 Sarah

This is such an easy small thing you can do to help put a smile on a child's face. And that helps ease the parents heart at that moment.  

                                                     Blessings to you and your's,