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!