My Memories Give Away Winner!

The winner of the My Memories Give Away is Sue B!  Sue, I'm emailing you, congratulations!  Sue has a new grandson and I know she'll get good use out of it, lol!

How I arrived at the winner - I copied and pasted all the names to a word document, and numbered them, in the order they were left on the comments.  Some folks didn't want in on the give-away, and one was having her own!  So I skipped those names, and added a few from the previous post - a few left comments there instead of on the official post, but I think I wasn't really clear on telling you to do that, so I added them.  Then I went to mr. random number and let him do his thing.  I want to thank you all for playing along, I wish you could all be winners. 

If you still would like to get the software, you can click on the link on my sidebar and use my code STMMMS68739 [copy and paste] to get $10 off the software and $10 to use in the store.

I'll be back tomorrow night with our Christmas Club give-away, see you then!

October Strut Your Stuff!

I simply MUST apologize for so many posts today and yesterday...and now one more...but I completely forgot to do our linky party for October!  Well, this is the post you'll link to.  You won't see my finished gift until Monday, when I do the give-away.  It won't be finished until then, but I will make the deadline!

So how did you do?  Did Halloween distract you?  We no longer celebrate it, our neighborhood has no small children and neither do I.  The only thing we celebrate  is the half-price candy the day after.  We stock UP.  There's a reason our dental cleanings are usually scheduled for early November.

All righty then, do your post and link up, I'll do the give-away very late on Monday night, in order to give you as much time as possible - and again, I apologize for letting it go this late!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

If you're here visiting from Amy's, welcome!  And thank you to Amy for doing the BQF's, I've loved every one and am so glad she does it!

I wasn't going to enter a quilt this time, I've not been creating much lately and didn't have one I wanted to show, but then I remembered this one....



Island Dance.  I'd made this quilt years ago, when I first discovered the joy of painted quilts.  I'd never done applique and this was how I translated my designs to fabric.  My sweet friend Shirley had showed me how to do this.  I wasn't totally happy with it, but she loved it so much, I gave it to her, and she still loves it.

It's on my list to be re-made, but all in fabric, no paint.  I want to do a collage type quilt with this design.  I think the paint looks flat, no life to it, and I want to try to really make it pop.  But it's still one of my favorites, maybe because my friend treasures it....I think too, because I drew it myself, and while I'm certainly no Picasso, I like the fact that I tried.  It reminds me to keep on trying.

I hope everyone is enjoying the festival, I know I sure am!

Give-Away Ends Tomorrow Night!

I've been having a bit of a play today with the My Memories software.  Such fun!  Remember to comment on THIS post to get a chance to win a copy!


Sheltering Tree is a free download on my sidebar.
I love that you can use your own photo for the background papers, and pick a color to match your picture for the text and mat.


 Baby Girl designs are also free on my sidebar - really need a better name.
And you can change the opacity of the background so it's not as bright, but still coordinates perfectly.



I also really love the quick pages, you just open one up and drop your photo in, one click to move it to the background and it looks so lovely.



The quick pages also come with embellishments if you want to dress it up further.  The picture of Greta will be printed and framed for Shirley for Christmas.  I also want to document all my quilts I've made - some, I'll have to go back and take better pics, lol.

This is the number one rated software for digital scrapbooking, and I can see why.  They have so many free pages and embellishments, too.  I'm loving it. 

I'm almost done with my stitcheries, got to the last bit and realized I didn't like the colors I'd picked.  I'll do them again in plain redwork at some point.  I'm putting them together for the finish tomorrow, it looks like I'll make my own deadline!  I'll see you tomorrow night for the give-away of the software!

Success

We went and got Sam's brace adjusted today, hooray.  He's fine now - he can sit without it crunching into his ribs.  Not comfortable, but no longer painful.  It was very chilly today.  I walked outside with just my hoodie [well, and pants and a shirt] and found myself wishing for my winter coat.

Sunny, and raining, squall lines moving through.  It was pretty.  Most of the trees that have turned have lost their leaves, but a few are hanging on.



Right next to the doctor's, we spotted this beauty.




It says Silver Streak - not a clue what it is, but I like it.  The sun was shining through our sunroof, but we were about to get wet!



I heard on the news that there were lots of rainbows about today, along with rain and SLEET.  Sleet is a four-letter word around here.

I've been having a dreadful week sleeping.  I lay awake until 8am, even with taking a sleeping pill, and don't wake until noon.  Not the best way to get things done.  At least, when I can't sleep, I can stitch quietly....



But I'd much rather do it in daylight, easier on the eyes.  I'm anxious to get this project done and written up, as I've already drawn another.  And my deadline for this project is Monday, the last day of the month, so I can get it in under my deadline for our Christmas Club.  Think I'll make it?

I'm afraid I've only been lurking on your blogs, not commenting.  I feel awful about that, as it's my favorite part of blogging.  I'm trying to stay off the computer late at night, as I think it contributes to my insomnia.  And during the day I'm designing, stitching, and playing taxi driver.  Hopefully I'll do better this weekend, and be back to being a pest regular commenter on your blogs.

Have a wonderful Friday!

What A Week, Already

It started Monday, with an appointment to take Sam for his brace.  For those who don't know, Sam has scoliosis, a 40-degree curve in his spine.  This is what he has to wear....front,


and back.




It hurts.  He's wearing it for an hour and a half at a time to try to get used to it.  He's having a great deal of trouble sitting down without it digging into the tops of his legs, and the back comes down so far it hits the chair seat, and pushes the brace up, into his ribs....I have to call tomorrow to go back in for more adjustments.  Right now, he's standing at the counter, using his laptop. 

Somehow tomorrow, I have to find time to pick up mum, take her to the bank, two different stores to get her meds, grocery shopping, post office, AND call the doctor and take Sam to get his brace adjusted.  Seems like I left something out there...wouldn't surprise me.  Monday we were at the orthotic place for 3 hours, while they adjusted the brace.  I hope it won't take that long again.

A bright spot in my week came from the lovely Cathy of Big Lake Quilter.  She's been having give-aways, and contacted me to let me know I'd won.  What a doll...it came today.



 Great pattern, a batik charm pack, a storage basket perfect for patterns, and a darling little needlecase - thank you so much Cathy!!  You are a sweetheart and you really cheered me up!

Another bright spot tonight was going to see Shirley.  We haven't seen her in a few weeks, she went to Florida to visit her daughter, and last week none of us was feeling well.  Greta [her dog] was overjoyed to see us.  Well, so was Shirley....



I do have some tutorials for you today.  Most of you probably know Penny, from Sew Take A Hike.  She's been a busy girl, and has 3 tutorials for you!  First up, a darling paper-pieced pop bottle curtain tutorial....

Then, a crocheted and stitched pot holder!




And finally, the cutest bottle cap trivet!

If you don't know her blog, you're missing out!  Thank you dear Penny, for letting me use your pics, and for being so incredibly creative!

Lastly, here's a great resource of free sewing patterns - Freeneedle.  Organized by category, there are almost 2800 links to free patterns.  Great place, but bring your cuppa!  And maybe lunch.

How is your Christmas gift coming?  I'm working hard on mine, when I'm home.  I hope I'm home enough to get it done.  I'll be doing our linky post in a few days.

Also, don't forget about my give-away, you still have time to enter - I'll be picking the winner the evening of October 30!  I haven't had much time to play with pics lately, but I'm dying to.  It's so much fun.

I hope the week is going better for all of you, and I hope it gets better for us too.  If you think of it, I'm sure Sam would appreciate prayer as he gets used to his "torture device", as he calls it.  I know I would, and I thank you!

It's Arrived!!

Yay, Kaaren got her quilts, go see....



I was holding my breath after I sent them off, praying that this wouldn't be the one time the post office messed up for me.  I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to this effort, you are all just amazing and together we were able to bless Kaaren's socks off.  Good job, all of you!!!  What a blessing to be a part of this bloggy community.

I've put a whole bunch of pics of the blocks on my flickr.  They're all in a set called Kaaren's Quilt.  If you'd like to see your block, it should be there, I used every single one.  I did have some where the writing bled, I fixed it with textile medium and used those on the tote bag.  There are a LOT of pics, fair warning.

My friend Cathy-No-Blog finished a darling baby quilt, and handed it to me to get pics.  I want to keep it, it's so cute.  I need to take better pics, sigh.  Why is it always so gloomy when I want to get pictures!



More pics on flickr too.  Been a busy day, uploading.  I think the designs she used are from Sew Weird, machine embroidery.

And I finished Val's give-away gift.  I can't remember now which month she won, but she had told me to concentrate on Kaaren's quilts and get hers finished when the quilts were done, bless her.  She's waited and waited, and Val, this will be shipped Monday.



The back, with hanging sleeve.



And the sweetest little flower...



The design is by Jenny of Elefantz,  from Issue 2 of her Elefantz Home Magazine.  LOVE IT.

And now?  No, I'm not slacking....I'm working on a new set of designs for you.  They will be my Christmas gift for this month...I hope.  And the design will be free when I'm finished making them.



It's a lot of fun, designing again!

Don't forget about my give-away, leave a comment on this post if you want to enter - you have until October 30th!  I'll be back soon with some more tutorials I've found.  I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend - it's chilly here, but the sun is out, hooray!

How About A Give-Away?

Since finishing the quilts, I've been cleaning and not much else....except playing with a new toy.  And I'm going to share it with you, because I am just plain hooked now.



It's a digital scrapbooking software called MyMemories.  Have you ever done scrapbooking?  I never have, for a few reasons.  One, it's expensive.  Two, you end up with a LOT of stuff that isn't fabric.  Three, who has time for all that when there's sewing to be done?



But DIGITAL scrapbooking - ah, this company got my attention!  No mess, no storing of boxes and boxes of embellishments.   They offered to sponsor a give-away here on my blog, and so I started exploring it.  I have to tell you, one blogger had a give-away of this, and I told her not to put my name in it, I thought I would never use it....ha.  HAHA.  Boy was I wrong.

What I love about it....it's easy and fast.  It makes me look good.  There are tons of quick pages, and you can add layers manually OR you can have it do a whole folder of pics in seconds.  My kind of tool!  You can make books [which I'm planning to do for each of my boys], calendars, you name it.  And of course, there are freebies to download!



There are so many choices of background papers and embellishments.  Something I really love, you can create your OWN background papers from your own pics, which I've done on this one!  I used a picture I took a week or so ago, changed the opacity so it wasn't so bright, and just added to it.



As you can see, I've started a scrapbook for Sam.  What a cutie he was [IS].  I'm also planning on using it to create cover photos for my quilt patterns!

MyMemories  has a blog, they're on facebook [where they have weekly freebies!], and youtube.  If you'd like a really good overview of what this software can do, definitely check out the youtube videos, especially the first one, which I'm embedding here.  That's how I found out about the feature that lets you do a whole album in one click, amazing.



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So, would you like to win a copy of this software?  Here's what you have to do......go to MyMemories home page,  and pick your favorite design pack.  Then leave a comment and let me know what it is.  I'll pick a winner on October 30.  You'll be able to download it just in time for all those great Halloween pictures you're going to take!

                         ****************************************************
If you don't want to wait to see if you win, you can click the link on the top of my sidebar, and use my code for $10 off the software PLUS a coupon for  $10!  And the software isn't expensive, either!  My code is

STMMMS68739

and I suggest you copy and paste it, no mistakes that way.

I'm starting to look at pictures in a whole new way - I thought getting a new camera would change the way I looked at things, but this is a whole new way to play!  Especially when I take pics of things I make, I can't wait to get started on those.  I'm also going to play with the calendar layouts, I think those would make a great Christmas gift, don't you?  I want to make a lovely page of my friend Shirley's dog, and frame it for her for Christmas.  I think she'll really like it....can you tell I'm hooked, lol!  I wish you all good luck in the give-away!

 

 

Extended Deadline

John'aLee from The Scrappy Appleyard has extended the deadline for star blocks until November 30th, 2011.  If you can, please help her reach her goal and send a block or two [or more]...and also if you can, please add a dollar or two [or more] to help defray the costs.  It's a Herculean effort and a worthy one.  Thank you!

Comments are closed for this post.

Shipped.

About 10 days.  I'm not uploading the pics til she receives it....and I'm warning you now, they turned out really dark.  It's been rainy and gloomy all week, and with more rain for the whole next week, I didn't want to wait for a sunny day.

What I'm working on now....



And then?  THE BIG CLEAN.  Oh don't I have fun.  Sigh.

Indian Summer

The weather man says today will be the last day of Indian Summer....changes are coming!  Which means staying inside in the sewing room.  Not a bad thing, really, as Christmas is looming up on the horizon.  How is your gift-making coming?  Would you like some more tutorials?

Fee from Designs By Fee has the most darling little needlebook tutorial -

so sweet!

Melody from The House On The Side Of The Hill has a very sweet owl scissors keep and needle book!

Shell from The Raspberry Rabbits has a beautiful Friendship Stars Tutorial, done up in a lovely table runner!

Linda from Buzzing and Bumbling has a great tutorial for an insulated lunch or gift bag, very clever!

Elisa from Bits From The Scrap Basket has a great tutorial for making the perfect 1/4" border, I need to try this, very striking!

Jocelyn from Happy Cottage Quilter has a darling fall leaf garland tutorial!

And for the crocheters, Yarn Muse has an excellent tutorial for a Crocodile Stitch Scarf,  I so want to try this one!

Karen from Flamingo K's Blogabout could use your prayers, her newest grandbaby Miranda is in NICU - bless her, she seems like quite the fighter.

And now for my news - the quilts are DONE, labeled and ready.  Today I'm finishing up the last project with the remaining blocks, then I just need to find a box!  Stay tuned!

O Canada

I'd like to wish all my Canadian friends a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Bitter Sweet

Today, we held a memorial service for my cousin at the cemetery.  It was a glorious day.





He died several years ago, but there were problems getting his ashes.  His mother died giving birth to him, and now he's with her.



 This is such  a beautiful place.  My grandparents are buried here, along with my great-grandparents.



I had not been back here since my grandmother died in 1986.  That was the hardest and darkest day of my life.  But today, I felt only peace in this beautiful place.


 

I know she's not there.  She's with her beloved Jesus, and someday I'll see her again, and be able to worship Him with her.



Afterward, we went to dinner at the Green Lantern [worth an out of state road trip], then onto my cousin's home.  He's big into salt water fish tanks....he has several.





They even grow their own coral.  This is the fish tank he's getting set up in the living room, John is standing next to it to give you some idea of the size.



Isn't that just dedication?  The pics come out kind of blue, they have led lights or something in the tanks.  But gosh are they stunning in person.

I hope you had a good day too.  I have to go stitch a quilt label....see you soon!