Swap Mama

I'm very excited that I'll be swap mama for two different swaps on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StashBuilders/ which is a quilting group that I have been a member of for a few years. The swaps will be a worm swap which is just fabric strips that are 2.5 inches wide by the width of the fabric. These come in so handy for so many things. The other one is an ugly quilt swap and this one will be fun. I will start the swap by choosing fabric squares that are ugly, I'll sew them together and then mail to the next person to add their ugly squares. When everyone that is signed up has added their squares then there will be a drawing to see who wins the quilt top. There will be photos along the way and the interesting thing is that the quilt will end up being very beautiful and interesting. The last one I was in on another site went to Australia twice and to the UK several times. My friend Donna Kay from Australia won that quilt and it was like I had won I was so excited for her.

Okay - just wanted to share!! Have a good nite. Don't forget the giveaway I'm doing.

Give Away

I want to do a give away as I just won a bag on Amy's Blog (I'll show you when I get it) and I want someone to feel the excitement of winning!! Now what am I going to give away??? Oh - this is open to USA and International so don't worry about that. I'm going to give away 3 Batik FQ's and a bookmark that I crocheted. All you have to do is leave a comment and you can also add me to your Blog. Good Luck!!

Can't Sleep

I woke up after 4am!! I know that it's because I have waaay too many things to get done before the Craft Show. I'll work on them this morning and all day tomorrow.

I found that you can find your Quilty Name on the following link

http://www.thequiltingpost.com/QuiltyNames.htm

Mine is Fabric Fondler and I admit that I fondle fabric. In fact just sorting and what I call playing with my fabric can make me very calm. I sometimes give my fabric scraps to my granddaughters and they will cut and work for two hours with that. I sit at the sewing machine and sew things they want like doll pillows, doll sleeping bags, doll quilts, etc. It's lots of fun for us and I hope they Will carry the memories of our doing that with them and maybe become people who will sew.

It's very early in the morning and I'm on my way to Walmart to buy 10 pounds of rice and maybe a new electric blanket. I can't find my cord and it is cool in the evenings.

I'll post one photo today of one side of a small I Spy that kids can carry with them. I also think that I Spy quilts are great for telling stories. I have made each of my granddaughters an I Spy quilt that is big.

Okay I'm getting dressed for Walmart so that I don't go back to bed and I beat the crowds!!

Quilts

I have to get back to work on some of the quilt tops that I've been working on. This is the photo of a baby quilt I'm working on and the block is a close up of the bugs. Of course this is a Happy Block quilt as this is all I seem to have time to make.

Thrift Store Finds

At lunch today I went to a thrift store a few blocks away. I bought the wooden box with the rabbit for ----- .99 and the pot handle holder for .29! I also got a pair of pj bottoms new with the tag for $2.00! It was a good day. I'll post photos of two of my finds. I forgot to take a photo of the pj bottoms and they have to go to the laundry. My granddaughter will love the wooden box and she can keep treasures in it. I just need to clean it up and the pot handle holder I had never seen (I don't know why) but I thought I'd use this one as a pattern.

Today was beautiful but it got chilly toward the end of the day. I like it when it's cooler but I don't look forward to winter. I'm still picking tomatoes off the vines in the garden!

Tomorrow I'm excited about as I'm meeting a young woman from Brazil (now married to an American) for lunch. She may be able to go with us to Brazil next year and she speaks the language!! This will be excellent since I'm leading this trip but I don't speak the language.

When I have time I want to load the photos from China on flicker so that I can share the great trip we had last year. I know some people think they can only travel in the USA and I love our country but there are so many beautiful, wonderful and exciting things to see all over the world. I think you have to experience a trip to understand that you come away with memories of people that you will always remember for their kindness, the foods, the scenery, the culture ----

Okay, I'll get off the soap box as I need to get ready for church. I've been going on Thursday nights. I need one day that I don't leave the house (if possible) and that has been Sunday.

CBS News about Ricky Timms

Bulls Eye Quilt

http://crossedstitches.blogspot.com/2008/09/bulls-eye-quilts-slideshow.html#links
This is a slide show/tutorial for a bulls-eye quilt. On one of the Yahoo Groups I belong to they are maybe going to do a swap of these. Thought someone might be interested in this.

Word Play

The following is copied from another Blog http://beachtreasure.blogspot.com/2006/04/wordplay.html so that we can play this word game. My "A" is after the guidelines. Come on and play along!!

Wordplay Guidelines
This project was inspired by a now lost and unknown blogger's entry one day entitled "W is for..." I thought about all the W's in my life and decided right then and there to make my own personal dictionary of words, starting with "A is for...." and moving through each letter, about one a week.To play, make your own "A is for...." post on your blog. It can be as short or as long as you'd like. Just think of all the A words that are special unto you and tell us why, succintly or at great length. Photos are always nice if you've got extra time hanging around unused. Then a week or so later, give us your "B is for...." post, and so on, all the way to Z. Check out some of the participants posts and you'll catch on quick. It's not rocket surgery. It's all about play. And it's about words. And it's about YOUR personal relationship with them.To participate, send me an e-mail letting me know you'd like your name added to the list of participants and I'll send you the HTML you'll need to put the Wordplay Icon on your blog. Scroll on down and take a look at it over in the sidebar. See it? Isn't it just too cute!? It will link back to this post. Easy peasy. Creative and technical thank you to Deirdre for helping set this up, as I am a bear-of-very- little-computer-skills.Play at your own pace, although the general idea is to do finish up sometime this year. I'm aiming at about one letter a week, although I might fall behind if I'm out of town a lot, which is in the schedule. You're welcome to create your own routine. It would helpful to make a list of your Wordplay posts in your own sidebar, or simply stick to the "A is for...", "B is for...." titles, so someone can find your Wordplay posts in a blog search bar.For the moment, I'm going to concentrate on creating my blog entries, but hope this project will develop into the making of altered book(s). Eventually I will move the whole kit and caboodle to it's own blog or list so we can be more interactive. But don't wait until then join in on the fun. A is for ASAP!

A is for
Appreciation of each other even tho' none of us are alike.
B is for
Believing in yourself
C is for
Creating with our God given talents
D is for
Designing

Historical Home Tour

Yesterday morning I went on part of the tour and in the afternoon I was a tour guide for one of the houses. Understand that I was in the hallway bedroom and atrium wing. There is a desk in one of the bedrooms from the Paris Exhibition of 1889. Louis XV style bed, views that are wonderful, art pieces everywhere, plants, and you name it. It would take days to really observe all of the items in the home. I really enjoyed giving my little speal and talking to all of the people that came through. I had never done this before but I would again.

One of the other houses on the tour takes you back in time. The couple that were the tour guides played Ward and June Cleaver. This house has never been updated from the 50's and it was so cute. The original red counter tops, tile, cabinets in the kitchen with the little breakfast nook. I would have loved to take photos but I saw one man taking photos and he was told that photos were not allowed.

I did take a photo of the oldest Butternut tree in Indiana with an old car in front. I figured that no one would say anything about that. I also took a photo of the lake from the upstairs patio of another house.

I was so tired last night that I went to bed early and I sure didn't want to talk to anyone! But now today I've been doing laundry, making autograph cats to sell at the craft show and now this. This is my break time. :) In an hour or so I will go and get the girls for a few hours but the oldest has piano at 3:00 on Sunday afternoons. Then I'll come back and work more on the craft show.

I get so worried that nothing will sell since I've never done this before. But I have a variety of items so I think we'll be okay.

Any hints on craft shows would be helpful!!

Have A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!