MAKING MEMORIES ONE STITCH AT A TIME

I know I said I was taking a break, and I am....but I had to share this with all of you.


The door bell rang a few minutes ago, and my husband answered. He came up to my sewing room and brought me a very special little box.
A Valentine surprise from my good friend Belinda from http://browndirtcottage.blogspot.com/ and Belinda I could not have been more surprised than if someone had set off a firecracker in the room!

Ya all want to see what's in the box? ......want to open it with me?....Ok..here goes..

I've decided to take a break for awhile. I've a thousand and one things to do, and can't seem to have time for them all. So I've had to prioritize and this seems to be about 6 in my top ten of things I've got to put on hold.

If you could see my house...on second thought, no, I wouldn't want you to see it in this shape right now. There are curtains to make and walls to paint, cupboards to clean and spice racks to polish up...the bottles get so ughh... etc..etc...... I guess what I'm talking about is just good old Spring cleaning!

Then there is my sewing room...that's whole different kettle of fish. I've accumulated so much fabric in the last 18 months, yardage and fat quarters, bags and bags of bits and pieces of 'scraps'...none of it is sorted in any way that I could say is useful to me right now, it's like a beast and it just keeps growing and growing and it's now escaped from the closet into bags around the room, eeek....the next thing I know it will be in the dining room or the kitchen, can't let that happen!
It all has to be sorted into like colors and then ironed and the ones that are big enough must be cut into squares or bricks or fat quaters or SOMETHING...that I can use, and what I can't use I MUST throw out! This will be the hardest part...I'm such a pack rat!!!

This last week with the giveaway...well I could have given a lot more had I known exactly what I had, what I wanted to keep, and what I could share. That alone has given me the insentive to get cracking and stop all my fooling around, you know...the "I've got to do something about this" and never getting around to it. As it is I don't seem to have any idea what I have and what I need. I'm sure that there is at least 9 or 10 quilts in the scraps alone, but I will never get around to doing anything with them unless I sort them out. Right now it's a mess.

I could show you pictures but I won't because I know that most of you know exactly what I'm talking about....so the time has come to put a little order into this insanity.

On the home front there is a lot going on and it keeps me hopping. Again, a lot of you know what that's like, so as I said, it's time to put my ducks in a row and start making lists and try to achieve something at the end of each day. Say a prayer and wish me luck.

I must say it's been fun, and I've met a lot of lovely people. I will keep the site open for the future and I know I will be lurking around all my favorite blogs when I get the chance, and I will write in your comments, but I just won't be posting.

So long....for a little while

~~Fran...:c)

Well, I certainly had a lot of fun with this contest and now it is 6 p.m. EST and my part of this giveaway is over.
There were 64 people who entered my giveaway and I have placed 64 pieces of numbered paper in a small cardboard box and tonight my dear friend who is totally impartial will pick a number out of the box and the winner will be announced tomorrow. If you have left me an address where I can notify you personally I will do so. If not please check back on my blog to see if you're the lucky winner.
I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I have and I'm looking forward to doing this again.

Thanks for visiting my blog and participating. The winner's gift box will be mailed on Monday February 9Th. and depending on how far it has to travel will determine how soon it will arrive.
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~~Fran...:c)

I will draw names from people who leave me comments and tell me what they may want to do with this pretty fabric. I will draw names tomorrow (Feb 5th) at 6 pm to give everyone a chance to get in on this. I'm kind of late myself but so what... I can do it on my time...right? RIGHT! Never know, if this works out I may do this on a monthly basis and try and share my stash with others.

Please bear with me, I am trying very hard to get this logo into my sidebar. I'm not great at stuff like this but Katy at Ginger Monkey has given me some instructions . Now whether I can follow these or not will be the test. The old saying the proof is in the pudding applies to me very well.

Here goes...I've cut the java script she sent me and now I will paste it here. If this works, when all is said and done I will have succeeded and the logo will be in my side bar.



Jus

Keeping my fingers crossed.....


Heh....it WORKED....whoo-hoo...... it's on the post and I'm going to see now if I can move it from the post to the side bar. Check my next post to see what this is all about....


~~Fran...:c)

Are you up for a challenge?

Go check out this lovely Valentine Day contest at http://www.golanigo.blogspot.com/.
She has an amazing little contest going on and you could win all the goodies in this picture and more!!
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As much as I've tried I can't seem to make up my mind about what to make for Valentines day this year. Every year I try to make something new....I could maybe try to make something red for the kitchen....hmmmm...that's a thought!
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Since my daughter and her husband usually go out for dinner on Valentines we have the grandaughters over for a candlelight dinner of our own in the dining room. I lay the table with a white cloth and use large red doilies for place mats, Papa's flowers to Nana are the centerpiece and I always use the best china and light red candles. We drink the "champagne" of ginger ales and we have a fabulous decadent cheesecake for dessert. It's become a tradition for the last 5 years. Just 'cause your little doesn't mean you can't be treated to a fancy night out. (At the same time I feel it makes them appreciate the finer things in life). Heck to tell the truth...I do it for me...when else can I use the best china and have a candlelight dinner with 2 beautiful girls and one handsome old man...*lol* (hope he doesn't read this blog). Every year I try and make a craft with the girls for Valentines and this year I'm stumped... If you can give me some ideas I'd be forever grateful.
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I'm plugging along on my Bonnie Hunter Quilt called 'Virginia Bound'. The only way I could get it all in the picture was to turn the camera sideways...so you see my fabric shelf in the back sitting on it's side...*lol* I am trying a new technique of sewing in strips and machine quilting as I go. The theory is when I've done these 2 strips, I will make 2 more and attach them to this one, thus only having 2 strips at a time to quilt instead of a whole big quilt. I'll keep you posted as I go along...hope it works, because I have a few quilts in my arsenal (closet) that need quilting and I get discouraged just looking at the great mass of fabric in each one. Heck if this works I'll even pick out a few rows of the other quilts and try to do them this way also.

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~~Fran...:c)

I know..I know...I know...Christmas is over and it's the new year and we should be thinking of other things, BUT...my friend Ann Perry sent me this picture and I fell in love with it. I just HAD to share....I asked her if I could post it on my blog and it turns out that another old friend, Irene Puzinas made these and she very generously shared the pattern with me. You can get it at http://home.att.net/~sewandsew/christmas.html The instructions are clear and precise and you can download the pdf file to your computer. The lady who wrote these instructions is named Dee Barber. So go take a look and if you like them you can write a quick note to Dee to thank her for simplifying these instructions.
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She cut 4 out of 1 yard of fabric, and just look at how beautiful these are. Apparently, Irene tells me that the secret is all in the folding. I can just see these decorating the table for Christmas dinner. For my own table they would have to be red/white or red/green to match my Christmas dishes. I guess I could use a combination of green/gold or red/gold as the plates are rimmed in gold...Hmmm...to the fabric cupboard...
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I was lucky enough to receive a $50. gift certificate for Wal-Mart from my oldest son this Christmas, and when he visited on NewYears day he said "you and I are going to go shopping mom, and I want to see just what I got you for Christmas". He knows me so well....I would have put this in my purse and piddled it away on household stuff and not have got anything for myself, and he said.."I'm not getting you toilet paper or laundry detergent for Christmas. End of story!"
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Anyway to get back to what I was saying...I was lucky enough to hit all the sales on Christmas fabric at 75% off and I loaded up. Now when I saw these napkins I thought ...wow, I can make these for the girls for next year and since they are so easy to make I will spoil myself and make a dozen for me also. Now I can get a head start. I never want to leave Christmas sewing to the last minute ever again.
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~~Fran...:c)

And the stockings were hung....on the banister?... with care. (Oh well Santa always finds them no matter where)

Being the smallest member of the family does not mean that you don't get to hang your stocking with the rest of the family...There were visions of 'catnip' dancing in his head, and a surprise Santa if you would..."I've been a really good kitty this year".

Now it wouldn't have been Christmas if 'Duke' had not received his Christmas wish.... a sock full of homemade catnip toys and a 'surprise' quilt of his own! If you take a close up look you will see by the look in his eyes that the cat nip has been put to good use...a VERY mellow kitty, that is after his mad dash around the house and rolling all over his toys...*lol....lol...lol*