Hawthorne Threads Newsletter and Giveaway!

Last week, I signed up for Hawthorne Threads newsletter.  Yesterday, it was emailed out.  I love it when people go out of their comfort zone and try something new.  Especially when they're married and still in love after all of what Life slings our way!

To celebrate another married couple's "love birdness"...they're having a giveaway!

First place winner will receive a Firenze Bag Kit. This kit includes a pattern with instructions, fabrics, muslin, cording, color coordinated thread and zipper - all necessary materials except interfacing!

Wow!

Second and Third Place winners will receive a Fat Quarter set of Girly Girl in Sweet by Patricia bravo.

I just love the orange and pink together!

Sew, hurry on over to

http://www.hawthornethreads.com/giveaway

for a chance to win!

Okay...breakfast is eaten and the caffeine is starting to make its way south to be absorbed and redistributed throughout this tired, old, sore body!  LOL

Today, I don't feel so behind in everything.  We spent the weekend at basketball games and raking our front yard and getting the cars ready for winter.

All the boys pitched in (Javi up after 5 days of the flu) and hubby sweets' dad brought his leaf blower over to help.  We live in an older neighborhood with tons of trees!  Which I like for picturesque-ness and cooling properties in the summer.  But, man o' man...in the fall, I hate trees!  LOL

I'm working on Ansje's mini...more winter themed paper piecing! 

and a little project that finally proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt...that I am insane!

I am attempting to recreate in fabric, this cross stitch panel.  I have this thing for bunnies.  I'm almost halfway through the bunny on the left.  Using scraps from my scraps.  LOL  With the squares only ending up measuring 1"x1".  Sort of a postage stamp quilt, only of bunnies, a basket of flowers, hollyhocks, a garden gate and birds (more animals I have a thing for...sheesh!).

I understand if you want to stop following my madness now! 

But, I'm having a blast!

Happy, snuggly, Indian Summer day to you!

Sharing the Sunrise

I got a phone call this morning from hubby sweets.  He was on his way to work and I was getting ready for co-op.

He wanted to call and share the sunrise with me.  Now, this picture is not my sunrise.  LOL  My sunrise was shared with the roofline of my neighbor's house, but the colors are very much the same, and since I was nowhere near decent enough to walk down and get the camera...I thought I'd share what my heart saw sharing this moment with my best friend.

Very rarely does reality match what our hearts and heads see.  This morning, I wasn't watching the sun rise over the neighbor's black roof with all the wires we have to have for electricity...my heart soared above and took me to the place I live with hubby.  A beautiful and magical mixing of his colors (blues) and mine (everything else) where the horizon meets a landscape shrouded in mystery and promise.

Sappy, I know.  Not always a reality....especially when I've taken NyQuil and am grouchy or he's trying to tickle my feet at 2a.m. because he can't sleep...

but for the most part, this is what my heart and head see when I think about my life with him.  All the years we've shared.  All the joy and sorrow that we've shared.

Our future together is out there, joined just like the horizon and the land.  Misted with unknowns, but never alone or afraid.

Blessed am I.

Friday Finish!

Holey granola bars and Dunkin Donuts...It's Friday again!  Wow!  This week went fast!  I think I'm caught up enough to work on some sewing today.  Please?

My Friday Finish is "Snow Cat" for my STUD swap bud-Scootin' Annie.  Forget when I started it...LOL

But, here it is finished.   Well, almost.  I do need to wash it.  I'm not sure how...but some caramel dipping sauce got on the kitty's tummy.  Probably from my knuckle.  LOL  That's what you get for trying to put on the binding while having a fall, appley treat!

Miss Kitty (see her collar is pink!) is 9x10 3/4".  The picture doesn't show it well, but the border is chock full of browns, greens and turquoise in the shape of what I'm deciding to call snowflakes.  This is a December swap, but under the "Anything Goes" category.

I'm so diggin' the binding!  It has the exact same colors in a stripey stripe...but not from the same designer!  How cool is that?

I got out my DMC floss and stitched eyes, mouth, whiskers and tail...the nose was so much fun to draw on and then stitch into being!  Too cute of a pattern I found online Googling paper-foundation-piecing-patterns-FREE.

I used my hex paper templates to fussy cut three, white snowflakes.  I will put the date on the smaller one and a "To" and "From" on the larger ones (in the circle part of the snowflakes).

Your typical me swirling stippling.

I really hope she likes it...'cause if she don't, I may ask for this one back!  LOL

Today is the day I'm making copies for another paper pieced mini quilt.  I've met a super sweet gal over on flickr named Ansje.  We started emailing each other over our quilts and projects and decided to do a non-organized swap on our own for November.  We found we had done a lot of the same projects and liked a lot of the same patterns and colors.

You can see her work and world here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30991293@N04/

Pop on over to amylouwho's blog by clicking on the Sew and Tell Friday button.  I'm headed there right now to look at how motivated we all were this week and what beautiful things we accomplished!

Have a happy day!

We Ate the Cow...Mopping Up...My Baby Loves Me...Falling Off the Wagon!

Hello out there in blogland!  It's good to be back!  LOL  I've spent the last three days recuperating from the basketball jamboree!  So much fun and I'm so proud of the boys for how they played!

We had enough sloppy joe's left over to take to the coach's house and feed our starving families!

All the ???dogs were gone and the brownies and cookies were sold!

We learned a lot and have some different ideas for next home game.

Hubby pumpkin was manning the camera and took some way cool action shots:

Middlest.

We always get comments on how tenacious he is and how fast at getting in and stealing the ball away from the opponents.  That he is fearless and strong.

We just explain he's also keeper for the soccer team.

*smile*

Bean, who is in the fourth grade, played junior high ball and was one of the smallest players out there.

He is eager, fast and ready to play!

After three days of wearing hip waders through the house...ahem...hubby muffin decided Mommy needed some encouragement and affirmation and came home with these

One for each boy still breathing at the end of the day.  LOL

Onto quilting business.

These are why I jumped fell off the wagon to not buy any more fabric this year.  Not even sure what they will be yet, but at least they're folded neatly and snuggled down next to the other babies in the stash stacks.

My STUD (Swap Til You Drop) bud sent me a beautiful paper pieced mini for October.

I think she did a fantastic job and the button in the middle has its own little "pieced" theme going!  Thank you Cyndi!

You can head on over to the Flickr group to see the other swap partners and maybe join us in the fun?

http://www.flickr.com/groups/877639@N22/

 November partners were just chosen.  And Scootin' Annie is my bud this month.

I have already started her mini.  She likes browns, greens and turquoise mixed together.

Purrfect.  Don't you think?

Sew-Fantastic is having a giftaway.

http://sew-fantastic.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-dot-com-site-launch-hawthorn.html

They're gifting away a 6, 1/2 yd bundle of fabric.  I'm so excited, I can't stand it this is such a great giftaway!

Not only the 1/2yd bundle, but a fat quarter set too.

You have to go here

http://www.hawthornethreads.com/giveaway?is_registered=TRUE

to view and register for that. 

Updated to add another giftaway going on to celebrate 100 posts for jaybird quilts.

1. a quilt kit for easy 1..2..3 of spring fever [quilt #2}

2. a charm pack from spring fever

3. a pinwheel & rubber ducky from me & my sister's booth decorations!

http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/2009/11/100th-post-giveaway-wip-wednesday.html

So scurry, scurry little fabric fiends!

Thanks all for the congrats on the win.  I'm watching my mailbox for two super sweet packages that should be coming soon.  One from Jenn (we did a swap on the side last month) and the 1/2 yd cuts.

Hope you all have a groovy day with lots of laughter and sewing!

I...won...???

Okay...I did get up a tad early to check what time banks were open to go get change for the concessions box (duh moment there!) and just happened to check some of the giftaways...

I won the 10 1/2 yard cuts from True Up!  Gracious...that's 5 yards of fabric!  wow...wow...wow! 

http://www.trueup.net/?p=6712

Oh my goodness!  What deliciousness!  These are going to be pictures of my happy place today when things get dicey at the tournament!

If you haven't gone to True Up, you really need to.  She's been showing pictures from the Fall Quilt Market and I've been there vicariously experiencing it with her!

Thank you Kim! 

Happy, happy weekend to you all!

Today's Episode: Cooking a Cow!

It's......Friday.  A day I'm normall happy to see and now, today, that it's here...not so much!  LOL

To Do List:

Register oldest for SAT again (1790 first time out, hoping to break 1800!)

Register oldest for college of choice

Mail packages, bills, and cards

Bake cookies

Bake brownies

Bake more cookies

Bake more brownies

Prep apple cider for fall party

Finish Space Rocks paper with Middlest

Buy Gatorade in huge quantities for basketball jamboree

Make flyer for the Koch girls (more about them later)

Cook a cow

One of my Friday Finishes (click the button on the side to see what we've all been up to) was just to make it to today!

Here we have three plastic serving trays upside down with their lids on filled with spice cookies, huge brownies, and chocolate chip muffins for the jamboree tomorrow morning.  Two swap packages going out and an encouragement card to a college freshman from our church at school in Florida.

The library books Middlest used for his paper on space rocks.

He rocks because he knuckled under yesterday, didn't go out for lunch with Mom and Dad and spent almost the whole day doing his paper, most of it without my help!

This is a tremendous step forward for him!

I had found a cirriculum on writing essays and research papers that was very basic with ethics and grammar thrown in.  We've been working on it faithfully since school started.

I think he's getting it and I couldn't be more happier or prouder!

Remember I told you my mom was an enabler?  Here's why

In a small town 5 & $.10 that still operates, they were having a sale on fabric and Mom scored for me.  A yard each of some of the prettiest mauve and pink and calicos!  My head is turning trying out new ideas to incorporate them into.  Thanks Mom!  Keep up the good work!  LOL

I also managed to get copies made of some more paper foundation piecing patterns that were free on the internet.  I started the Snow Kitty yesterday.  I either need more hours in the day...or less of anything else but sewing in them!

Seriously here!

On Cooking a Cow

Last night, Gerri (she who shall be a bud forever!) and I went out and bagged our limit on hamburger and hotdogs at our local wilderness market.  We had set up game cams (in the form of sales flyers) all over two counties to try and find the perfect cow and ??? dog, turkey, ham, pork, bits and pieces they put in hot dogs...which as I write this sounds really gross and now I probably won't eat any tomorrow...

After verifying our poundage (the hamburger's, not ours), we loaded up the cow, the ???, chips, candy, nacho cheese chips and cheese, ketchup, mustard and sundry purchases in her van and drove back to the Salvation Army gym to divvy up the goods.

I'm cooking the cow today.  Hopefully, it will come out tasty, yummy, somewhat nutritionally sound sloppy joe's.

Tomorrow's games begin at 10:00 with us there much earlier to set up.

This is the day to mom-brag on Middlest, because he made co-captain of the junior high team.

Sniff.

I love him!

Kt and her crew may come thissa way today.  I hope so.  We'll take a recess day and finish up the paper for Middlest to turn in this afternoon.  For those of you who are confused...ahem...Middlest is enrolled in one class at our local junior high.  We're the first family to "break into" the traditional set up there by having a homeschool kid taking a class at a public school.  We're hoping it works out so well, that they will allow other homeschool students to do this again next year.  We petitioned in and so far, so good!

I'm tired.

Hope you and yours have an awesome weekend filled with wonder and lots of love!

This is where I wish I could just elegantly and poshly roll into and sleep the day away.  Ahhhh!

ps here is an awesome giveaway chance at Fresh Poppy Design

http://freshpoppydesign.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-time-to-giveaway.html

a crocheted flower hair clip and a sweet, zipper pouch.  Both of which I would faithfully and thankfully use!

Go visit today and sign up for a chance (but it's really not a chance at all...'cause I'm going to win!)

to win!

400 Word Report Due When?

I love kids!  Really I do.  It's the weird little things in your world they do that drive me batty!  Take the recent Sharpie and vacuum incidents (only two among many, ask my mom or KT).  LOL  Where you just have to swallow whatever was just dying to come out of your mouth from the utter depths of your parenting gland (inherited from your parents and activated when you hear your mother's words come out of your mouth the first time), put your big girl panties on and just deal with whatever's happened or been said by your kids.

So, last night I wore the yellow pair!  LOL  I'm baking brownies, cookies and muffins...making sloppy joe's, nachos, and hot dogs, buying supplies and helping plan concessions for a 4 team basketball tournament S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y morning.  A college child psychology major is coming to our house to use our Middlest as a guinea pig for his classes today, laundry just won't stop no matter how many times I ask it to. 

My to do list is as long as...well...it's long.

So, soccer dude supreme springs "I think there's a 400 page report due tomorrow.  At least, that's what everybody's telling me.  I didn't know anything about it."

I think somebody's bubblegum stuck to my chin when I went to pick it up off the pavement.

"400 pages?"

(here's where the trick about exaggeration he learned from someone cute, cuddly and the other parent comes in)

"Well, maybe only 400 words."

This is supposed to make it all better?????

The car slams into drive and I take him back to school because he says he has no papers or information on what, where, who, when and why.  I make him go back to his science teacher and ask for this.  Meanwhile, a recovering from a heart attack mom starts to look through his folder and notices material related...then the actual assignment sheet.

Sheesh.

He's know about this for a week.  A week people!  So, out comes my mother's voice from my mouth about the usual being a kid gone wrong stuff...laziness, lack of responsibility, procratination...you know the drill.

Back to the library.

A stack of books later.

No Xbox.

Period.

'Til the paper is done.

No.

Yes.  I'm for real.

No.

I'm really not kidding.

No.

No matter how much you've worked on it (ahem....very little).

No.  Not until it's done.

Period.

More later because I like to sit in on the child psychology kid's questions for his class...and the answers my children give them.  I really laugh so hard at some of them.  Like "Do you think a free press is good or bad for a dictatorship?"  "Where do you think marbles come from?"  "Is spaghetti a vegetable or fruit? and how do you feel about it not being either one?" me...spaghetti's not a fruit? 

Bean has also has these question and answer sessions because the student needs kids of all ages.

"What does the free market system contribute to an economy?"

Bean "I don't know what that is." (secretly thinking about his Legos)

"Why do melons have different colors?"

Bean "They do?" (secretly thinking about Gameboy games)

"What does this blob of ink look like to you?"

Bean "A dragon eating a teenager who told his mom he had a 400 word report due tomorrow?"

(shaking my head 'cause it only gets better from here, right?)