Southern Style

dolly finish

2012-02-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post with the latest finish... Another of my Dolly Mamas, this is one that my husband bought for me, so of the three he bought (quilting, cross stitching and crafting Mamas) I have two done and the cross stitching one to do. He said he will have the three framed for my sewing/crafting room.

isn't she just to cute. LOL

I go from my 18 ct name welcome house, enchanted alphabet sampler, Celtic lady to my Dolly Mamas because they are stitched on 14 ct which gives my eyes a break from those other projects. I also will take on some CCS pieces for my charity group like the hearts we just finished making as they are quick patterns on 14 ct.

I am just about finished with 4 charity quilts, they are quilted and now I need to bind them and they will be ready for delivery to the seniors. When they are done I will finally be caught up, that is until the next set of CCS squares come in from my group.

I also have the quilts I designed for my grand kids to work on, Mo asked about his the last time he was here so I guess I will have to get busy on those real soon. I have all the items I need for them I just need to get to work.

I did come up with a interesting fact the other day, as I entered a charity quilt into my quilt journal I realized that quilt was number 50. This is so hard to imagine that I made 50 quilts for my charity group, and that number is not counting the ones that I made for family or the quilted wall hangings I made. I know my Mom would be so proud and probably amazed that I made that many. I also have the last quilt she worked on ready to go on the machine, I have put finishing this one for to long and now is the time to finish what would be our second quilt we made together, when done it will go to my son.

the tiny pups

2012-01-30T09:35:00.000-08:00

I am still amazed at the size of Misty's 4 little puppies, they are so very tiny and look so delicate. I know they are not as I watch them behave the way other pups have behaved with climbing over each other and scooting around the bed, and the runt makes sure she gets her fair share at feeding time. Mom is so gentle with her babies and I love the way she will try to hide them from view. She is torn between wanting to be with us and her babies and now and then we will get a 5 second visit from her. Just to give you a idea on the size of the pups, I have taken photos of them with a pen and quarter.

Cream colored boy 3.8 ozs

Dark Sable Girl 3.9 ozs

Sable Girl 3.2 ozs

And the little kid of the litter, she weighs 2.4 ozs

new pups

2012-01-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

These 4 little tiny creatures are the reason I didn't make it to bed last night. The Mom started acting up yesterday and by last night she was in the early stages of labor. Hubs stayed up with me until 3 am and then he went to bed as we still didn't have any pups... she was working on delivering them but not yet. She is the smallest dog we have and I was so afraid of her delivering, but she did fine.. first one at 4 am, next at 5 am, then 7 am and last one at 9:30 am.. and still I didn't sleep. I finally got a nap in the afternoon after getting mom and the babies settled. These are such tiny little kids, they weighed in between 2.4 and 3.7 .ozs

progress

2012-01-25T18:45:00.000-08:00

I have been working on trying to clear out some UFOs from last year... I assemble quilt tops, quilt and finish the quilts. November and December were quite busy for me with the charity work as I finished 12 quilts for a nursing home and 4 for ill children.. There were three left behind, a Monster quilt that another member sewed and sent to me for quilting, the butterfly quilt that we had 36 squares for and a special request for a bird and cross quilt for a lady with MS. Once the hustle and bustle of the holidays was over it was now time to get back to work and finish these quilts, of course I did take time to make a quilt for Hubs birthday but here is a progress report on the others.

Butterfly quilt is waiting for quilting

Cross and bird quilt is waiting for quilting

I also have a Orange County Chopper quilt ready to be quilted for a young man who has cancer, I haven't gotten to take photos of that one yet.

this is the MONSTER Quilt, which was stitched by Nikki and the top was assembled by Dona who sent it to me to quilt.. I just know some lucky child will be thrilled with this colorful quilt.

The same member who sent me the monster quilt just sent another quilt for quilting it was stitched by WOCS members and the top was assembled by Dona...

I would have gotten more done this week in the quilting department, but I am keeping a watchful eye on my littlest Pom as she is getting ready to become a mom any day now.

Getting ready for Valentines Day

2012-01-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

I have been busy these past weeks stitching hearts, making cards and sachets which will all be going to the nursing home. My charity group came up with this wonderful idea to send a little love to our seniors. The members started stitching all kinds of little hearts that would be made in to beautiful cards by myself, and two other of our finishers.. Some of our members not only stitched hearts but they made the cards which was a really big help.. Here are a few of the cards I made with the hearts our members stitched..

These are the strawberry shaped, lavender filled sachets that will be given with the cards. The seniors love the smelly good stuff, and these smell really good.

and last is a update on my New Year's Day Start. I have finished the first house in my Welcome sampler. I don't get much time to work on my stitching as lately I have been busy with other projects. My goal is to finish my Welcome Sampler this year and it might just take the entire year.

bad day with Mortage Investors Corporation appt.

2012-01-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

Hubs is getting ready to retire this year and he thought he might want to remortgage the house to lower payments... Well, we had a company call, ask for him and they said they were VA and wanted to look into reducing payments with a refinance. So he made a appointment today at noon.. He searched for the house documents, and we were ready... WELL, at 10 am there was a knock on the door, it was the guy from this company, not a VA company but Mortgage Investors Corporation. The guy knew he was early but his other appointment cancelled.. OK, now Hubs works night and he was still in bed, so I went to get him up. The man came in and started his presentation.. I really hate those canned presentations from these companies... they have this notebook that folds for display and they have to read word for word what is on the page, give me a break, I can read and I really don't need anyone reading to me.. so I ask if he could get down to the business at hand as I could read. He did and the numbers looked good, real good, the closing costs weren't that bad, BUT I am also sceptical of these type companies and I ask Hubs if he wanted to do the application or if he wanted to wait a week so I could do some research.. Guess what, that ticked off the salesman, and I will call him a salesman's as he was in a big hurry to close the deal. NOT ME, I want to research the company and check BBB as well. The salesman got really huffy, he reminded me of those salesman who try to sell time shares, you listen to the presentation and if you don't sign on the dotted line they turn nasty.. but they do work on commission, so I guess our salesman did to, even though he denied it. He said he was salary, which was another flag... I was told he couldn't come back he was to busy, now they called Tuesday for a Thursday appt... real busy... I was told they couldn't give the low rate unless we signed today, no pressure here at all *right*... The red flags kept flying all over the place, can't come back, can't give the rate unless signed today, Then he said Why did you wait 14 years to refinance... I mean this guy was nasty, rude, and just over the top trying to make his sale, but you won't make a sale with pissing me off. So he had to call his supervisor, even though his card said regional manager... That man wanted to talk to me and he did and I told him I did not appreciate a rude salesman in my house.. I would look into the program and if it was what we needed we would get back to them.. I don't jump into things blindly. I mean I was just about at the point I was ready to kick the guy out. After the salesman left, I checked out Mortgage Investors Corp. online and all I found was bad things about them. I found a site with so many complaints like how they are rude and nasty and don't take no for a answer, they will do a bait and switch, they keep finding new costs that must be paid before the loan goes through, they don't close on time, they sell the loan after they get it. I also went to BBB and they have 400 plus complaints against them... good thing we didn't sign on the dotted line... But I do wonder what some of these elderly people do when they run into a bad company like this... They get the loan and find out it is worse then what they have and there is nothing they can do... where is the honest businessman these days, the guys that will help you and still make money. This company only caters to vets, They want to contact every Veteran. What a way to treat our men and women who fought to protect and then get guys like this to deal with, a enemy at home..
We had a similar incident last year with a contract representative for AT&T trying to get us to switch, the gal promised the world and when the installer came out he said that what she ordered isn't what she showed us on paper, see I was again watching as I kept her paperwork on what she was selling. I called her with the problem and her response was to have it installed and she would take care of things afterward, NO way am I going to agree to something different and wait for it to be fixed. Took to AT&T and was told that if I had did what the gal told me to do I would have been stuck as there was no fixing anything, she couldn't offer and back the deal, that gal and that contractor firm is no longer selling for AT&T.
Bottom line, PLEASE be careful... Don't jump into a deal on a salesman's word, don't let them high pressure you into anything.. Stand your ground... check them out, we have a great information highway and can find out almost any information on a company, the good ones and the bad ones, BE INFORMED and make decisions on what you learn not what they tell you.

Anyway, looks like we will be on the hunt for the best rate on a refinance.....

Happy Birthday DH

2012-01-18T08:19:00.000-08:00

Today is my husbands birthday, but there will be no special events happening today... Poor thing he is currently at the hospital have a scan done on his neck... and tonight he has to work. So no special Birthday Dinner, No Cake with Candles, No gathering of family wishing him well..

But Last night I baked him a Apple Pie, you see he is really not a big cake fan, give him a Lemon Meringue or a Apple Pie and he is Happy.. We will go out this weekend for his birthday dinner, maybe Red Lobster as he has been wanting lobster for some time now and he is supposed to cut out red meat which means NO Steak House. As for his gift, he got the Blade runner for Christmas, and he has all kinds of power tools, so this year I made him a quilt.. Not the one I had planned but I was running out of time and needed to make one fast. The planned one is a applique and embroidered and there wasn't enough time for that one. I was really running out of time on this one to, as I sewed the quilt top last week and Friday I made the quilt sandwich, took it out to the quilting machine with the intention of quilting in Monday and Tuesday putting on the binding... BUT he was off Monday so the minute he left for work yesterday I headed to the machine, did the quilting, trimmed, added the binding and then proceeded to hand sew the binding down. By the time I was done it was 9 PM whew I finished with two hours to spare. Which was good as I also baked his pie and managed to get the laundry done as well. I wrapped the quilt and waited for him to come home, I had things set up in the dinning room and don't you know he never turned that light on, he walked right by things in the dark. I had to tell him to turn on the dinning room light so he could find things. OK, so he got his gift the day before his birthday, but I knew today was going to be a busy day for him and I was only 1/2 hour early. He loved it, and the pie was a big hit too.. I'm tired, and now I wait for our littlest Pom to deliver her pups, she is due the 24 but could go anytime... my luck she will decided to deliver late at night

Of all the quilts I have made, this is the first one that has stayed at the house... I have made many quilts for the nursing home, and other charities, I made quilts for the girls, the grand children and new babies in the family, but none for us. Now there are two quilts for us in the UFO basket waiting to be quilted, so this year I will finish my quilts.

Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

Friday the 13th

A day most are superstitious of..

But not me,

No Ladders did I walk under

No Black Cats walked in front of me

No Broken Mirrors did I see

So I guess it was a good day indeed

Valentine Cards

2012-01-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

My charity (The World of Charity Stitchers) group decided to make Valentines Day Cards for the residents of Century Care Center. We thought the seniors would love to receive a little love note... So our members will be stitching hearts in all colors and they can make the cards or they can send to one of our finishing ladies who will make the card.. This is a very quick project to stitch, I did three hearts as samples in one night.

My counted cross stitch hearts

and tonight I made the card samples and posted on our charity site. We are hoping to get 83 cards which is the number of residents and if we get more that would be great as there are always new residents coming in the home...

Pink Pearl Heart Card

Red Heart Card

Pink Heart Card

Now there isn't a pattern for these hearts, I just made the design as I went.

If you would like to stitch a Valentine Heart or Make a Card for a Senior you can send me a email or reply to this post and I will send you the address to send the hearts or cards.

Also The World of Charity Stitchers blog is having another giveaway. This time you can win designs for Precious Patterns, there are bib patterns, stuffed animal patterns, purse and little shoe patterns, well lets say there are lots of patterns to choose from.

See, these little stuffies are just precious..

to enter click World of Charity Stitching

Mail Call

2012-01-06T18:36:00.000-08:00

This was the grab bag contents

I just love getting packages in the mail and I love winning contests online... I had answered a monthly question on This N That blog and I won a Gift Certificate for $20.00 So I went shopping.. This n That online quilt store was having a going out of business sale, but at the last minute something happened and they were saved and will continue operating their online store... BUT they were still selling at the sale prices to make way for new items... So the $ 20.00 I won went so much further... I got a Pearl Louise April Showers banner kit, The pattern for October Pumpkin Patch, August Sunny Days, and Mays Home Sweet Home Banners.. Now I also have the December Santa Claus Kit, so it looks like I will be working on Pearl Louise banners for some time this summer.. I also ordered one of the $ 6.50 grab bags as I like collecting FQs for my charity quilts.. I did look for Black and White and White and Black fabrics as I have a wall hanging I want to make for a friend in memory of her father...but you don't have a choice on the grab bags... If you are in search of a bargain, you might want to check out This n That web site and see if you can get some deals... oh and yes I went over the $ 20.00 but that is OK as I got a great deal on all the goodies...

Home Sweet Home pattern

Sunny Days Pattern

Pumpkin Patch Pattern

April Showers Kit.

Strange things

2012-01-06T06:51:00.000-08:00

The cold is losing its grip on me, guess the cold medications are working... So this weekend we will be taking down the outdoor decorations... Just didn't have it in me last weekend to tackle that chore...

Now I bet you are wondering why the title strange things... I will explain...
It was New Years Day and I was in the kitchen making our dinner of pork, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes... As I was making our dinner I couldn't help but remember how many times I stood beside my Nanny or my Mother as they prepared this New Year's Day traditional meal. I was remembering the love and laughter in their kitchens as we peeled potatoes and remembered the events of that year and what we looked forward to in the new year... I miss those ladies so much, all the ladies I learned from are now gone... As I was remembering those wonderful times and peeling potatoes I stopped and had to do a double take, was this a message from those wonderful ladies, letting me know that while they were no longer with me their love was....

This is what I found....

Thanks Mom, Nanny, Nan, Grammy, Aunt Kit and Aunt Sis... I love you too...

Congratulations are in order for my niece

who became a mother yesterday to a 7 lb 8 oz baby girl. You saw the frog and dragonfly quilt that I made for her and it was mailed yesterday. I knew I should have waited to send that box, I just had a feeling she was going to have the baby early. Today I will mail out the Baby Name blanket that I made last night... I was in such a hurry to get it in the mail that I packed it and got it ready to mail and then realized that I hadn't take any pictures of it.. Sorry, maybe when she gets it she will send me a photo of the little one with her blanket..

I got a cold

2012-01-02T17:18:00.000-08:00

I knew it, I really knew I shouldn't have kissed hubby for the New Year... He has a cold and NOW so do I... Of course I know it wasn't from the kiss, it was just from living in the same house and sharing all we have... So today, I am the ache one, with a sore throat, coughing and just feel yucky... So I will take Medicine, Take a Hot Bath, Drink lots of Tea, Go through a bag of Hall's cough drops.. and sit and stitch.. I am working on my New Year's Project the Village Alphabet.. coming along quite nicely...

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012

My project pattern for the New Year

I will be stitching the middle one, Welcome To sign with our last name spelled out with the houses

Pork and Saur Kraut to ensure good luck in the coming New Year.

I hope everyone had a safe New Year's Eve. We stayed home and watched movies. Hubby seems to be coming down with a cold, he is ache and sneezing and just not himself, so I will stay away from him as I don't want a cold.

Today I will be making a traditional Pa. Dutch New Year's Eve dinner of Pork and Saur Kraut, other then that not much is planned for today. I will once again start my New Year's Tradition of starting a New Counted Cross Stitch. This year I have chosen to stitch a family name plaque using the Village Alphabet Chart. You just stitch out the letters in your name, each letter is a different house or tree. If your name has double letters each pattern has a second color choice. I think I will stitch this on a hand dyed sky blue background. Last year my first cross stitch of the year was for my charity group, it was a sailboat pattern that went into a quilt for the nursing home. This year I am stitching for my home.

Tomorrow (Monday) we will watch the Rose Parade and I sure hope they don't change their coverage like they did for Macy's Thanksgiving parade. That parade was awful to watch as it was more performances then parade

January 1, 2012

I wrote the above post yesterday and planned on posting it at midnight, but hubs was on the computer playing the new games I bought for him.. We did get to watch a movie last night, missed the ball drop at Times Square. I was busy stitching on Lavender and Laces Enchanted Alphabet hoping to finish, but I didn't get it done in 2011. So at 6 minutes after midnight, I interrupted Hubs game, kissed him and wished him a Happy New Year... That was our BIG night.

I did hear from Jen as she posted on yesterday's blog and all is fine at her house, but then it always is. Jen has the most calm personality, the house could be falling down around her and she would say ever things OK. It is a good thing that she is so calm as she has 6 children, three of them in their teens. She has been thru the sibling fights, the injuries, the medical problems and has come through it all being her calm self.

I also talked to Mel yesterday and she was home alone, her husband took the kids out shopping. I guess he did it so Mel could have some peace and quiet which was so nice of him... She is feeling miserable trying to fight a nasty cold. She went to the doctor and has antibiotics to fight the cold, she also got a injection but she ended up having a bad reaction to that and she said she is still red from it. What a way to start the new year.

Good Bye to 2011

2011-12-31T13:50:00.000-08:00

Another year is almost over and I for one will be so happy to see it go.... We had tragedies and losses this year in the family... But I will say there was also some moment of amazement and lots of surprises as well.

Mel lost her house to a fire in February, she was in the process of a divorce, she had many medical problems, her husband almost died, she was so down, but as the year comes to a end she is in a new home, she is back with her husband and things are starting to look better for her. I was also amazed at the number of my online friends who sent donations of money or cross stitch things to her.. Mel still has another surgery to go through but I know she will be just fine.

Don't hear much from Jenny so I guess things are OK in her house... He daughter Lizzy did meet her goal and she raised over 1,000 dollars for Juvenile diabetes foundation.

Don's divorce was granted and he remarried, to a former classmate... They are in the process of buying a new home and combining households. Don now has two step daughters and a step son... There was sadness for him as his father passed away from lung cancer..

As for me and hubby we did OK last year, no major medical problems, other than my foot surgery and then the broken foot... oh and I did stick my hand in a glass to wash it and it broke sending me to the ER for 9 stitches.. and then re injuring it after the stitches came out.. But all in all 2011 was OK for us...
As for my quilting....I bought a quilting machine and I finished a total of 35 quilts this past year, most went to a nursing home and a few to children's charities. I finished lots of cross stitch projects, both for my charity group and for myself.

Today I hope to get the Christmas decorations taken down and put away, tonight we will stay home and watch movies. Tomorrow a traditional Pa Dutch New Years Day Dinner of Saur Kraut. Funny how the first dinner of the New Year is so different depending on where you live.. Where I am from it is Saur Kraut, in Indy they ate raw cabbage at midnight, where we are now it is Black Eye Peas, and they cook a dime with it, the person who finds the dime has good luck all year. I also think it is funny on the weird ball drops that towns have... NY is the Apple, Atlanta is a Peach, Nashville is a Musical note, Hershey is a Hershey Kiss, in Pensacola it is a Pelican and I read somewhere there is a fish drop, I think Maine...
So leave me a comment on what iconic item is dropped at midnight during your towns count down, and what will you be dinning on tomorrow... Which Parade will you watch and will you be watching the big game Monday, yes they are celebrating New Years on the 2nd this year.... Here we watch the Rose Parade and Hubby will watch the Rose Bowl... I will head to the sewing room to start on a new quilt and for the past few years I have started a new counted cross stitch project on the first.

So here's to 2012 and hoping it will be a great year for everyone. Now I need to get busy and get the house UN decorated and choose my Counted Cross Stitch to start tomorrow Come back tomorrow and see what I chose....

Have a Safe and Happy New Year..

baby quilts are done

2011-12-29T12:37:00.000-08:00

I am going to be a temptress with this post... You see I made a baby quilt for my Niece who is expecting in Jan or any time now, Baby will make the arrival decision... Alysha likes surprises, she didn't want to find out if her baby was a boy or girl, she wanted to be surprised... Now she knew I was making a baby quilt, she got to choose the colors, and the type of design, she chose frogs and dragonflies and her colors were purple and light green. OK I was up for the challenge, I found a delightful design in the Anita Goodesign Spring Curls designs that I thought would be perfect for the quilt. Today I asked Alysha if she wanted to see the quilt, she gave me a undecided answer... she like surprises but yet she would love to see it... so I sent her pictures of the designs, not the entire quilt. She loved the designs and can not wait to get her quilt... BUT this is the reason for this post, it is here for her, if she wants to see the finished quilt or if she wants to wait the choice is hers. I wonder, do you think she can wait to see what I made???
Which brings me to my nephew Adam... Adam will soon be the father of a bouncing baby boy, guess he didn't like surprises... Adam was so happy that he will finally have another young man in the house, both the girls are happy to that they will soon have a brother. The baby's room I was told will be decorated in Ohio State decor... so I followed his lead and I made a Scarlett and grey Ohio State baby quilt for his little man who will make his appearance in February.
I just wonder if my husbands brother is ready for two more grand children to spoil, which I know he will.... Congratulations Grandpa Mike....

So without further ado, here's the baby quilts

For Alysha a green and purple, frog and dragonfly quilt

For Adam, a Scarlett and grey Ohio State baby quilt

The Story of a Special Bell

2011-12-23T15:16:00.000-08:00

5 years ago on the week before Thanksgiving a very special lady underwent tests and was diagnosed with cancer. She had emergency surgery on Thanksgiving night but all the cancer could not be removed. She would have to undergo chemo treatments. While she was getting her chemo she said she needed a project to work on. Her normal projects were large and she no longer had the strength to do them as months of Chemo had taken it toll.. I found the lovely bell pattern online and told her I would love a set for my tree. She worked on them when she could that year, bell after bell was lovingly created, they took her mind off the treatments and the pain. But she didn't get to finish them all, there were a dozen or so almost done. When we went out for her funeral I took the box of bells home. I decided I would finish what this wonderful lady had started. I starched them and added pearls, silk roses, & a hanger. I made a beautiful box for each bell and on the front was a photo of my Mother and her memorial information. Inside I added a satin lining and in the lid was a poem that I found on line.

I miss you all dearly
now don't shed a tear
I spending my Christmas
with Jesus this year.

I enclosed a letter explaining the story of the bells and that this would be my Mother's last gift to them. I had this in mind the whole time as I knew she wouldn't make it till Christmas and she always made special gifts for friends and family. She would have been so happy to know that her Bells were finished and given to the ones she loved in her memory. The Bells were her last gift and the one that will be remembered.
Mother you are still part of my Christmas each year as My Bell has a special place on my tree.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Our home has been a buzz of activity these last few weeks, working hard to get things done for Christmas.

The Charity quilts and bags have left and were delivered to the nursing home.

New stocking for Ma & Pa, yes I broke down and made us stockings.. Normally I would make ones for the kids and grand kids, but this year was our turn.

The house has been decorated with beautiful lights, and snowflakes glisten in patterns on the porch... A snowman stands out front with his little one at his side.. In the back The polar bear and some penguins stand watch as Santa rides his trusty rocking horse... Santa is my favorite and I can keep a eye on him from my kitchen window. Some of the regulars have been retired as they just couldn't stand anymore, old age I guess.

Holiday cards and special boxes have been sent to locations of friends and loved ones near and far.

Candy and Cookies are finished, some are packaged for gifts for friends

Christmas Mugs have been filled and wrapped for those who help in our day to day lives.. Our Mail Carrier, our Trash man, the Lady at the Store, people who work with my husband.

This is a little wall hanging for Mel as she is our Snowman Collector

A beautiful Centerpiece showed up last week at our door from my Son and his family

Its so nice to have such a wonderful Son & Daughter In Law..

My Grandson asked if we were making Gingerbread houses this year and I just didn't get the houses baked, so we picked up some of those house kits at the store. We also picked up some extra goodies and Sunday we decorated. This was my creation... Kyle's was, well lets say his looked like a angry bird.. but it was cute in its own way.

Christmas Magic

With this being the time of Christmas Magic I am thrilled by local news Stories of Secret Santa's who are paying on Lay Aways. I have always tried to adopt a family at Christmas every year, I have bought items for a family, Delivered with them never knowing my name. I have also coordinated local businesses as they adopted families. We also will do random acts of kindness to strangers... We stopped at our local Walgreen's store and there was this charming young lady, she heard our conversation of stopping for a hamburger and she made the comment she was hungry and would love a hamburger.. She reminded us so much of the daughter we lost. Well, we left the store and I said to my husband about stopping for a hamburger for that young lady... he had the same thought and we headed to Burger King, grabbed a sandwich and made a delivery to that young lady.. She was so shocked... I told her she reminded us of our daughter.. I just hope that the people in line who saw our random act of kindness would take it to heart and do something special for someone as well. It doesn't have to be much, a Christmas Card with a tip to hand to the girl at the drive up window or the cashier at the store. We have won stuffed animals at those machines and handed to children in the store.. we do however ask the parent first just to make sure it is OK. Have you ever paid the toll for the driver behind you, I have... Do you leave a special delivery in your mail box for your mail carrier.. Make a delivery of fruits or baked goods to a elderly couple in your neighborhood, most times they don't bake anymore and would love some homemade breads, cakes or cookies. Remember its Christmas Magic to share the love this holiday season... Have a safe and happy holiday season..

Merry Christmas

Christmas Charity Quilts are on their way

2011-12-11T15:25:00.000-08:00

I am done, done with my Charity quilts that is. Mel picked up the ones for the Century Care Center today along with all the wheelchair bags, walker bags, tote bags and other items our World of Charity Stitcher's group made. Mel and I spent the afternoon putting personal care products and other small items in the bags. Tomorrow she will be handing out all these wonderful items to the residents. So I am done for the year with quilting for my group... I still have two baby quilts to finish and I hope to do those next week..
Here are the pictures of the quilts that I quilted... Members of the World of Charity Stitcher's made the squares and sent to Myself, Dona or Carolyn for the top to be assembled, the tops were then sent to me to quilt and finish.. If anyone would like more information on The World of Charity Stitchers group, we are a yahoo group, have a blog and are on Facebook...World of Charity Stitching

In November Peggy delivered 2 quilts to Ronald McDonald House and 2 to a abused women and children's center.

Angel Baby Quilt

CCS by WOCS member sewn by Dona Quilted by me

Mickey & Friends Quilt

CCS by Nikki, Sewn by Dona Quilted by me

Toy Quilt

CCS by WOCS members sewn by Carolyn Quilted by me

Toy Quilt 2

CCS by WOCS member sewn by Carolyn Quilted by me

The next 12 lovely quilts are the ones that headed to the nursing home yesterday

Sweet Treats Quilt

Top by Dona, Quilted by me

Flower Garden Quilt #2

top by Dona, Quilted by me

Garden Quilt #1

Top and Quilting by me

Teapot Quilt

Top and Quilting by me

Long legged birds Quilt 4 seasons

Top by Dona, Quilted by me

Country Quilt

Top by Dona, Quilted by me

Long legged Holiday Birds Quilt

Top and quilting by me

Birds of Prey Quilt

Top and quilting by me

Under the Sea Quilt

Top and quilting by me

Farm Quilt

Top and Quilting by me

Super Sport III

Top and Quilting by me

Embroidered butterflies Quilt

Top and quilting by me

close up of butterfly square

All these wonderful bags and quilts are on their way to Century Care Center

to be given to patients this holiday season.

Now on to the baby quilts for my Niece and Nephew

Her baby is due in Jan and His is due in Feb.

Also today Mel and I made gifts in a jar, mugs and baskets for Christmas gifts... and I was informed that my grandson wanted to know if we were making gingerbread houses this year... I really thought they forgot about the houses, but a tradition can not be ignored so next week I will bake... warm gingerbread scent will fill the air....what a wonderful scent of the season.

Christmas Show

2011-11-28T07:45:00.000-08:00

You can always tell when Christmas is right around the corner... as Darlene at SewCalgal hosts her annual Christmas Quilt Show. If you are a quilter you can enter your Holiday Quilt, If you don't have a quilt ready, you can still enjoy the show and see what all these talented quilter's have entered. I try never to miss entering one of SewCalgal's show, as I am kind of new to quilting and most of the quilts I make are for my Charity Group, they go to nursing homes, ill children and a abuse center. Now while these people love the quilts I make, I am not one of the extremely talented quilter's who enter the Big Quilt Shows, I will never be that talented to have my quilts in one of those shows. So by entering my quilts in SewCalgal's shows, I feel like I am one of those special quilters.

This year I almost missed my entry in the Christmas Show as I have 18 quilts in the process for my charity group.. You see I not only quilt the tops I make, but there is a lady in WA State that makes tops and sends to me to quilt and our Children's quilt maker had a medical problem and she wasn't able to finish the quilts she started so I had her send those quilts to me as well. All these things meant more time being spent on the charity group, less time for other quilts..

Then one day while checking out SewCalgal's site I realized that the Christmas show was fast approaching, and I had to get something made to enter as this is my chance to show my work. I had planned a Christmas quilt but there wasn't enough time to make the planned one, so into the sewing room I went. I opened the dressers and pull some holiday fabrics, grabbed my Accuquilt GO cutter and dies and I did a design as you go type quilted wall hanging. When that one was finished I found a Christmas panel in my Christmas fabrics and quilted it for my Mother In Law as well as another Christmas table runner like I made her last year.

So without further ado here is my entry in this year's SewCalgal's Christmas Show, I hope you like them...

Don't forget to visit all the other quilts that are entered in the show.

http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2011/11/2011-christmas-quilt-show-welcome.html

My Christmas Tree made with Accuquilt Feathers Die and Star Die

hand cut applique banner is embroidered using Brother machine and Brother Alphabet card

background is done with tight meandering quilting on Bailey's 15" quilting machine

My Christmas Panel, free motion quilting using invisible thread

A holiday table runner made for MIL, Quilted using Janome Embroidery Machine Quilt Designs,

Well, that's my Christmas Quilt Entries in this years show, hope you enjoyed visiting my Blog # 19 on the list

Watch this site in the next few weeks for all the charity quilts to be posted.

For those of you wondering, YES my Christmas tree is up, it went up Thanksgiving day. Most of the grand kids were here and they decorated it for me, of course the Moms had to do some rearranging as we had clusters or ornaments in places.

Happy Holidays.

Another Dolly Mama is Done

2011-11-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

Finished yet another Lovely Dolly Mama... of course I just had to stitch the Quilting Dolly Mama.... Now on to Counted Cross Stitch Mama... oh and if you are wondering just where I got the Quilting, Counted Cross Stitch and Crafting Queen Dolly Mama that I am now working on... would you believe MY HUBBY bought them for me... He always comments how ugly my Dolly Mama's are and yet he bought me these on his own...

Make sure to stop back tomorrow to see my entries in this years Christmas Quilt Show... I did manage to take a few moments away from my charity quilt work to get my entries made.... They are not quite what I had planned on entering, but time got away from me and I had to come up with something in a hurry..

Christmas Show is coming

2011-11-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

Darlene over at SewCalGal blogsite is getting into the holiday spirit. She is making her list and checking it twice to make sure things are ready for the Christmas Quilt Show. If you look on the right side of this blog you will see the show's tag, between November 28th and December 2nd, just click on the tag for a magical ride to a wonderland of quilts. If you just want to take a look see, well you have to wait till November 28th for the show to open. So get busy ladies if you have a Quilt ready take your pictures, if you are thinking about entering the show, well then you just need to get the sewing machine humming and get that quilt finished. I can't wait to see what you all enter... See ya at the show.

one more charity quilt

2011-10-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

I finished the Farm quilt top for the nursing home this week, the WOCS members did a excellent job on the cross stitching. This design is not what I had planned on making, but sometimes things just don't go the way you want them to. So I walked away for the night and the next day I made this one, which to me was a plain border, so out came the embroidery machine and I did a Machine applique pumpkin and two embroidered chicks. I have one more top to finish for the nursing home and that's the butterfly quilt top. I sent the cat pillows to the nursing home this week that Dona and Pam from WOCS had stitched, my part was to stuff the pillows, add their bows and send them on their way. The pillows were a really big hit at the center and the group has offered to make more.

Last night I started on the frog and dragonfly quilt for my niece's baby... She is due in January so I have some time to get it done.. Her Brother will also be welcoming a new member to his home, they are expecting a little boy in February. Looks like my husband's brother will have his hands full next year with the new grand children to spoil. Oh yea, spoiling is what a grand parent is supposed to do and I think we all do it so well.

Another Dolly Mama finish

2011-10-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the High Maintenace Dolly Mama.. I did have a excuse as I have been trying to get caught up on the quilts.. I started Quilting Dolly Mama last night...
Today, I am making Apple Butter with a old Amish Recipe... Lot of work, but oh so worth it... gotta go and stir the apple butter..

two more finishes

2011-10-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

Here are yet another two tops finished and the ones that didn't make this blog last week.. I have one more to work on tonight which is the Farm Quilt .. and as soon as the last three butterflies come in I can sew that top... Hope to be able to start the quilting next week... that is after I work up 40 lbs of apples that I got last weekend... Apple Pies, Apple Dumplings, Apple Sauce and Apple Butter are what's planned

Tea Pot Quilt

Long Legged Holiday Bird Quilt

Hand Embroidered Quilt W/Applique

Garden Quilt #1

Super Sports III Quilt

Under the Sea Quilt

Birds of Prey Quilt

Holly Sampler

My mistake

2011-10-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

I made a mistake, I wrote a cute post to catch you all up on why I haven't been here in so long, other then the giveaway that is.. BUT I put it on the Nanbon's Corner Blog, so you can stop there to read and see what I have been up to... I am just to tired to up load everthing tonight..

Follow the link to see the beautiful quilt tops.
http://nanbonscorner.blogspot.com/2011/10/puppies.html

My Memories Review and Giveaway

2011-09-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Snoodle on her win, thank you to all who entered..

one of my family pages

I was asked to do a review on My Memories suite software. Now I am not a typical scrapbook type person, the girls make the scrapbooks and I make sure they have what they need. So I can say that I might not have ever purchased this type of software. I do make cards and I have bought software for making cards but software is so old. I know you can purchase software updates but I didn't use it that much. So when I was offered this review I took on the challenge of learning new software. Now I am so hooked on this program, WHY OH WHY didn't I do this sooner. This is so easy to learn and use and so many neat things to do, I have been playing and playing and playing some more. There are tons of backgrounds, pre-made pages that you just drop in the photos, lots of sayings, and embellishments to use. What do you know, I love Scrapbooking!, All thanks to My Memories Suite and their new software. If all this isn't enough, you can go to their web site and download new pages Free or they have ones that you can purchase for a minimal cost.

My Memories has agreed to giveaway a copy of their incredible software to one of my loyal readers. My Memories Suite version 2 is a digital scrapbooking software. You can make Scrapbook pages, Calendars, Cards, and DVDs. You can now win a copy of this great software, just follow the entry requirements and your entered.

You can also visit My Memories on Facebook as they have incredible giveaways all the time!

If you want to purchase the software right now, use the code STMMMS33329 for a $10 discount plus a $10 coupon for kits and pages downloads! (That's $20 free!!)

You all know my fur babies

Just a few of my charity quilts

Mandatory Entry

1. Visit My Memories and tell me something you learned on their site.

Extra Entries

(You must do the Mandatory Entry for these to count)

2. Visit My Memories Facebook page and tell them I sent you, come back here and leave a comment

3. Visit My Memories on You tube and tell me what you learned from the video

4. Become a follower of Southern Style and leave me a comment

5. Fall is fast approaching, tell me you favorite Fall activity

Giveaway will run from Sept. 8 to Sept.29th Winner will be notified by email

If you want to purchase the software right now, use the code STMMMS33329 for a $10 discount plus a $10 coupon for kits and pages downloads! (That's $20 free!!)

Disclosure:
Southern Style Blog has not received anything from My Memories to sponsor this giveaway other then the software offered for review and the software offered as the prize. The opinions in this post are that of myself.

Baby quilt top DONE

2011-09-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

The Crayon Borders

The finished Crayon Baby Quilt Top

All I need to do now is to quilt the top and then off to Ohio

I will wait till I have some of the Charity Quilts ready to be quilted and do them all at once.

This was a great little kit and I think the new parents will love it.

This wet weekend

2011-09-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

It has been raining all weekend.. Band after Band of rain has been pelting the Gulf Coast Area. I really don't mind the rain as the plants love a good soaking rain. BUT the wind, I really didn't need the wind. I was late getting to the orange tree and propping up a branch that was orange heavy and it broke.. At least the Tangerine Tree is fine... I just love the fruit we get off that tree.

But on to this wet weekend. Not much to do because of all the rain. I did manage to get to Pensacola and deliver three kids quilts to our group owner. We then came home and I worked on my Baby quilt.

I showed you all the parts laying patiently waiting for their turn on the sewing machine. and the two blocks at the top of this blog are some of what I was working on. BUT then tragedy struck, I blew a fuse on my sewing machine, My Janome was dead, no hum, no whirl, just total silence. My heart sank as the last time I took her in for a blown fuse it cost me $70.00. OK so I did have them service her when she was in the shop, but it took two months to get her back.. So I went out to my husband with my long sad face, and upset look and told him what was wrong. Now he use to repair sewing machines, but that was before they were computerized. I said but it is just a fuse, can you please take a look. I mean after all he keeps plane flying with his electronic knowledge, how hard could a little sewing machine be? He gave me a look, OK, but he said he would check it out. In the meantime I went online and found a site with instructions on how to find the fuse for a Janome. I am so glad I live in the computer era, you can find anything online. So I printed out the instructions and delivered it to my husband. He got the covers off, and Janome is tricky as they use different screws which requires different tools. HA!! hubby had them so no problem. He found the bad fuse and the next day we headed to Radio Shack and got the fuse we needed, it was installed and my baby is up and running again and it cost less then $4.00 Plus he has 4 more backup fuses as they were sold in a pack of 5. WOW big difference in the price, take it to a shop and the minute the man looks at it there is a $ 50.00 service charge. Maybe hubby needs to start repairing sewing machines again, might be a good retirement plan for him..

I will be finishing up the quilt today with attaching the borders, but it won't go in the quilting machine until I have some of the charity quilts ready to go. I like quilting a group of quilts at a time, as I need to get into the swing of things with the machine.

2011-09-04T14:33:00.000-07:00

It is raining here and we are supposed to be wet all weekend... SOOOO off to the sewing room I go. I will be working on a baby quilt for my Neice or Nephews new baby.. Both brother and sister will be welcoming new additions to their families next year... so I have baby quilts to make..

This is the all the parts waiting for assembly,

I designed a butterfly quilt for my charity group. The ladies from the World of Charity Stitchers have been busy stitching these beautiful butterflies. The requirements were to stitch on 14ct white, chose a color and use three shades of that color for the butterfly, no black.. When finished they chose and send fabric to match their butterfly and the butterfly.. I just finished sewing on the borders and thought you might like to see what WOCS is up to.. SO PRETTY

1 week old

2011-09-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that it was a week ago that Roxy got me up at three am to deliver her puppies..
The puppie are doing really well, Roxy keeps them well fed, warm and clean, plus she gets to go and see her dad when he comes home.. so she does get a needed break now and then. Rascal wants to visit as do the other dogs, but Roxy just isn't ready to share yet, So they all have to wait.

Not much change in the boys this week, other then about doubling in size. Their eyes and ears are still closed, but they do have good lungs and let their mom know when they are ready to eat.
Can you tell the difference in them yet??? guess I should have used something as a measuring device so you could see the difference.. they were 3 to 5 ozs at birth and now a week later they are 10 to 12 ozs

1 Day old 1 week old

1 week old

Giveaway at World of Charity Stitcher's blog site

2011-08-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

This post is for all my sewing and quilting friends, The World of Charity Stitchers blog is hosting a amazing giveaway for not one but two $ 50.00 gift cards to the Fat Quarter Shop. Wow, 5 ways to enter, 2 great prizes that you could win. I just love the Fat Quarter Shop, there are so many beautiful fabrics to chose from. Lots of Fat Quarters, Jelly Rolls, Honey Buns, Turnovers, Layer cakes, kits, patterns, yardage.. well there is just to much to name. It is so easy to order, and if you have a problem they are so helpful, shipping is fast and the quality of the items is the best. My favorite item at the shop are the grab bags...I never know what will be offered or what fabrics are in the bag, but I know that I will be pleased. I like a surprise, kind of like opening a Birthday or Christmas present...

So head on over to World of Charity Stitchers Blog and get your entry in.

While your there take a look at all the beautiful squares and items the ladies have made so far this year. If you like to stitch or quilt, come join the group, they are a great group of ladies who enjoy bringing smiles to the faces of those in need.

New Momma

2011-08-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Roxy, My husbands girl

My Boy Rascal

They got together 9 weeks ago

what Roxy looked like earlier this week

Now Roxy is a heavy Pom, she likes to eat but during the past 9 weeks she has really gained weight. She was so heavy that she had a hard time getting in the chair with my husband. He would have to pick her up when she wanted to visit him. I really think she gained 30 lbs.. I didn't weigh her but I should have.

This is as you may have guessed already is the reason for the weight gain.

She was due this past Friday, but decided to have them a few days early. She started into labor at 3am and didn't have the first puppy till 5:30, about a hour later we had number two by 8 am she was done and we had 4 puppies. This is Roxy's second litter.. Last year she had two puppies, one that looked like Rascal and one that looked like her.. This time, none of the puppies look like the parents.

Roxy and Rascal's Puppies 1 day old

all boys

I almost forgot to let you all know that I was a winner at the Pets on a Quilt Show sponsored by SewCalgal site. I won viewers choice for my EQ 7 designs.
I won a package of threads from I Have a Notion's Web store.
Thanks Darlene SewCal Gal
, Thanks Kelly IHAN

A New Family

2011-08-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

Congratulations are in order for my Son.. A few posts back I wrote that his divorce became final and he and his girlfriend Chrissy eloped... BUT it seems that when they eloped her divorce wasn't final as she thought it was so they found out their marriage wasn't quite legal... SO on the 20 of August they planned to once again get married now that things were settled with their divorces... BUT their daughters decided they wanted to be part of the marriage, so in five short days Chrissy, found dresses, ordered flowers, a cake and prepared for a wedding. It was a small wedding in the park, family in other states didn't have enough notice to be able to attend, but the service was mainly for the girls... I think there were also a few of their friends present. She did what I did years ago... I moved to Florida, found a dress, and we got married in the gazebo in Riverwalk Park, only ones attending our service was three of my husbands daughters, their children and the two friends who stood up for us.. We had a cake and that was it, hubby had to go to work that night, so we never had a honeymoon... but it worked for us we just celebrated our 14th anniversary. I hope Donnie and Chrissy have many wonderful years together...

Two More finishes

2011-08-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

Moving right along with clearing out the UFO basket, this weekend I put the binding on Mel's Quilt so hers is now ready to go. Jen's was finished last week and it is about time I got them finished. They have been in the UFO basket for a year and a half. I finished the top and put their quilts with MIL and two of mine in the basket, knowing that I would be ordering my Bailey's quilting machine. Now the my Nellie Bell (everyone names their machine) is here, she has been working overtime trying to get me caught up. So far she has quilted 8 quilts for WOCS, 2 for MIL and 1 for each step daughter and 1 each for GS and GD. So I now have 2 of my own quilts to finish.. I will then be all caught up. YEAH

The quilts for Jen and Mel are family oriented quilts... each quilt has a center block with the family name, there are Sunbonnet Sue and Sam blocks to represent each child, there is a wedding block with the couple's wedding date, and on the sides of that block is the blocks that represent Jen and her husband. There are blocks with the parents, grandparents and brothers and sisters of the couple. I just hope it is a quilt that will be passed down in each family. Each girl chose their blocks, and the colors, and fabrics for their quilts... I just designed and made the quilt. I had planned on three quilts, and as I talked to each of the three girls with which blocks they choose, I found that all three had chosen the same block. They had about ten or so blocks to choose from and they all like the pinwheel in the star block.. Mel chose three blocks, Jen chose two.. Border is checker squares block with a star block on the corners...

Mel's Family Quilt

Turquoise, Yellow and White

Jen's Family Quilt

Green, Tan, White

Couples Block

Child's Block

Now to get the quilts to the girls.... As I can't go anywhere right now..

Have a little Pom ready to deliver her puppies sometime this week and I won't leave her alone. She is due Friday, but the poor little thing looks like a watermelon right now.. she just waddles around the house and she is so miserable.

Pets on a Quilt Show 2011

2011-08-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

UPDATE

Voting is now open at SewCalGal's *Pets on a Quilt Show*

SO head on over and get your vote in. http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2011/08/welcome-to-2011-pets-on-quilts-show.html

Don't forget I am number #18 Southern Style and have entries in every catagory, so you can vote for me if you like what you see here...

Categories for voting are

- Dog on quilt/Dog theme

- Cat on quilt/Cat theme

- Other pet on quilt/other pet theme

- Best EQ pet theme quilt design

- Best Art Quilt
********************************************************************************

My Pet on a Quilt Show Entries

You read my post announcing the coming of the Pets on a Quilt Show and the time is here.

Please enjoy your trip into my world of Pets on a Quilt

This is a quilt I had made for my Mother In Law for her Birthday, as I was trying to photograph it for my album my Pomeranian Puppy decided that she needed to be part of the picture..

Most of my photos this year will be featuring the Quilts I make for Charity. I belong to The World of Charity Stitchers, a Yahoo group of cross stitchers who stitch squares and send to me to be made into a quilt that will go to a nursing home. Our group sends quilts and tote bags to Ill Children, Ronald McDonald House, Nursing Homes, and Cancer Patients. We are a small group, but steadly growing in members. Most of the quilts I make go to a nursing home. Here are a few that were delivered in July.. Seems like this go round of quilts was mostly Pets, good thing for me as I can enter the Pets on a Quilt Show.

All the quilts I am showing were designed on my Electric Quilt 7 software and cut out on the Accuquilt GO fabric cutter, sewn on my Janome sewing machine and quilted on my Bailey's quilting machine setup. These great tools along with my rotary cutter ruler make my job so easy..

This is the Cat Quilt above is the Design I made on EQ 7 on the bottom is the finished quilt

We had so many Dog squares sent in I was able to make two quilts, I thought these lovely dog portraits made a wonderful quilt.. Again, my EQ 7 design on the top and the finished quilt on the bottom. As you can see, when I design on EQ 7 I use the program as a guide, the fabric may or may not be the same, but most times the colors are similar.

This is my Silly Cow Quilt, I had surgery on my foot and was bored not being allowed to be up and moving, I found a site that had the silly cows and I was hooked, I stitched 5 of them, I think the members of the group stitched enough for two other quilts, they are at another quilters being made, this quilt was all me.. again EQ 7 on the top and the finished quilt on the bottom

I had enough dog and cat squares left over from the quilts and decided to make a Dog/ Cat Quilt. This was made for a member of our group who has serious medical issues.. She is a foster mom to dogs and cats and we knew this was the quilt for her. Again EQ 7 design on the top and finished quilt on the bottom

The Butterfly quilt is a work in progress, I know some may not think of butterflies as a pet, but as a child I caught catapillars every summer and put them in a jar, I fed them and gave them a lovely home to live in. I watched in amazement as they spun their coccoon, I watched as they emerged and spread their beautiful wings.. I then opened their home and watched as they danced like ballerina's in the wind, going from flower to flower gathering their food. So the EQ 7 design in on the top and the first square is on the bottom.. Each member will stitch this butterfly pattern in the shades of their choice of colors, I will add a matching border. For my butterfly sample square I choose Peach as it is one of my favorite colors.

Yet another Butterfly Quilt, this one was still in process when photographed, it has since been finished and given to a friend for her new baby.. It is what I call my cheater butterfly quilt, as the butterflies are Embroidery machine appliques, first time I tried this type design and I used a faux attic window block to show them off..

I know this isn't a quilt, but the square was stitched by a lady in my group and sent for the cat quilt.. I just couldn't cut up the lovely designed fabric the cat was stitched on, so instead I made it into a pillow and the lady who recieved it just loves it..

I hope you enjoyed my Pets on a Quilt Show entry...This year I have my Dog on a Quilt, Dog Quilts, Cat Quilts, Other Pets quilts, HUMMM is a butterfly or a cow a pet, could be, EQ 7 Designs, Embroidery machine designs, Hand Stitched pets and I am a PR angel,

can you tell I am really into the Pets on a Quilt show...

So if you have a pet quilt or a pet on a quilt and you have a blog, get the camera out, take a picture, write a post and send the link to Darlene at http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2011/08/welcome-to-2011-pets-on-quilts-show.html I can't wait to see what you have to show.. And if you don't have a Pet or a Quilt you can still have some fun by stopping by the show site and visiting all the wonderful blogs.

I almost forgot to mention that this year my Grand daughter Heather wanted to enter her Pets on a Quilt in the show.

Please stop by Nanbon's Corner Blog and let Heather know how she did with her entry.

http://nanbonscorner.blogspot.com/2011/08/pets-on-quilt-show-by-heather.html

Have a great day and remember your not fully dressed without a little cat or dog hair accents.

Box Tops for Education Giveaway

2011-08-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

WE have a winner, Mandi....

Winner has been contacted by email and has 48 hrs to claim the prize. Thank You to all who entered. Watch here for more giveaways...

It seems like just yesterday when the kids came home from school, threw their back-packs on the floor and chanted, “It’s summer!” But as the hustle and bustle of back-to-school quickly approaches, Sam’s Club wants to remind you that it’s never too early to start collecting Box Tops. This year, Sam’s Club and Box Tops for Education can help you prepare for the fall when you shop their back-to-school event.

Earn more cash for your local school at Sam’s Club this August with the 6 Box Tops on a Pack promotion.

When you purchase participating Box Top items, you can collect even more Box Tops on some of your favorite General Mills brands such as Honey Nut Cheerios, Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey Crunchy Granola Bars, Totino’s Pizza Rolls, and more!

Sam’s Club has your favorite back to school items from computers to clothing, and at the best values.

Plan ahead and take advantage of the savings made simple at Sam’s Club. Your wallet - and your local school - will be thanking you! To learn more about the Box Tops for Education Program and how you can help contribute to your school, visit http://www.boxtops4education.com/.

Box Tops for Education Website http://bit.ly/samsclubboxtops

Sam’s Club Website http://bit.ly/samsclubbtfe

Sam’s Club Facebook http://on.fb.me/samsclubfacebook

Sam’s Club Twitter http://bit.ly/samsclubtwitter

Yes my friends it is once again that time, Time to get your children ready for another exciting year of learning, time to shop for all the school supplies they will need to give them the best possible start this year. Time to lend a helping hand to your school by participating in the Box Tops for Education programs. I am a grandmother with many school age grandchildren and I participate in the Box Tops for Education program. I buy specially marked boxes for my schools, and I track my schools progress on the web site. Do you want to help your local school, you can start by visiting any of the above web sites, collecting the boxtops for your school... And I can help. Enter now for a chance to Win a $ 25.00 gift card.

What better way to start the school year then winning a gift card for Sam's Club.

The Prize

One $25 Sam’s Club gift card

Mandatory Entry

Visit the Box Tops for Education web site and tell me something you learned

Box Tops for Education Website http://bit.ly/samsclubboxtops

Extra Entries

Tell me if you have participated in Box Tops for Education in the past, and which school you selected
Become a follower of Southern Style
Like Box Tops for Education in Facebook
Like Sam's Club on Facebook

That's it, 5 chances to enter, 5 chances to win, Drawing will be held on August 26, winner will be notified by email. Please make sure I have a way of contacting you if you are the lucky winner..

"Disclosure: The Sam’s Club gift card, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark."

MILs quilt finished

2011-08-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

a Lone Star for Bernice

I finally finished the Lone Star and it is on its way to my Mother In Law... She should have it tomorrow and I am sitting on pins and needles wondering if she is going to like it.. She loved the small one I sent for her couch so I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will love this one too. Sorry the photo doesn't show the whole quilt, but it was just to big..

This has once again been a weird couple of weeks... seems my sons divorce became final and he and his girlfriend Chrissy Eloped two weeks ago.. So I now have a new daughter and three new grand children... one young GD, one College GD and a GS in the Military.

As for Step daughter Mel... she is continuing on her bad luck streak... she was suppose to have a follow up on her Cyst issue with a doctor from the hospital and he would recommend a surgeon if needed... But this weekend that doctor was arrested, seems the FBI had that clinic under investigation on prescribing to many pain meds.. So she now has to start all over with a new doctor..

I also Finished another Dolly Mama tonight

Pet on a Quilt Show is coming

2011-07-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

I am starting to get so excited, you see SewCalGal's web site will soon be hosting another Pet on a Quilt Show.. This was so much fun last year, there were so many great entries. There were quilts with pet themes and quilts with pets on them... I just loved looking at all the entries, I was amazed at how beautiful some were and some just made me laugh... My all time favorite was a applique dog chewing a quilt up, it was so cute... But if you have a pet themed quilt, or one with your pets on it... then get your camera out, photograph it and get ready to post your entry... see SewCalGal website for all the information..

Cross Stitcher's Dream Giveaway

2011-07-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let all my Cross Stitcher friends know about a great giveaway over at

World of Charity Stitching Blog

You all know that I am so involved in this group because of the wonderful things they do.

To celebrate the first 100 likes on their Facebook page 4 WOCS members

donated some great patterns, kits, books and threads for the giveaway.

I have only shown two of the prize packs here, go to the WOCS Blog to see the other two prizes and to enter.

If you are interested in becoming a member of this group you can find the information at

World of Charity Stitchers Yahoo page.

Cross stitchers, Quilters and Sewers are always welcome... so lend a hand and help make some great items for Seniors, ill children, cancer patients, and many others..

The door is always open, you just need to step inside..

Hurry on over and get your entry in before it to late.

http://worldofcharitystitching.blogspot.com/2011/07/our-first-give-away-come-join-us_25.html

Let them know Nanbon sent you...

More Finishes

2011-07-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

I am really on a roll lately.... I am finally getting some of my UFOs done, plus some new items finished... here are three more projects that I finished this week.

Dolly Mama Beauty Queen for a Day

Kyle's Dragon Quilt

Heather's Auburn University Quilt

Melanie designed the quilts with my EQ 7 software,

kids choose the colors and theme and I made it all work...

I needed to get pictures before the kids came in for the quilts so I got Hubby to lend a hand and his height... BUT he wasn't tall enough... so I had him stand on the porch of his workshop, (which is raised off the ground) and hold the quilts, that worked... the quilts are now on their way to Alabama... Now on to quilt my Mother In Laws Lone Star Quilt and then two Heirloom quilts for the girls... I am getting things done thanks to my Nellie Bell *Bailey's machine*

Don't forget to scroll down and enter the Cheerios contest (low entries so a good chance to win)

Contest to enter

2011-07-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

Miss Peggy over at *Keep Me In Stitches* is having her first ever giveaway to celebrate her first year in Blogland... Looks like some great items up for grabs... so head on over and get you entry in... and while you are there check out all the charity stitching this lady does... makes me tired just thinking of all the work.. And I can not even begin to tell you how beautiful her items are.. She has been stitching for years and she loves ever stitch she places... those who benefit from her work are so lucky...

So keep up the good work Peggy and I hope your first giveaway is a great success...

http://keepmeinstitches-peggy.blogspot.com/

Tell Peggy that Nanbon from Southern Style sent you

Honey Nut Cheerios Giveaway

2011-07-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

And the Winner is Raettig Family Thank you to all for the entries, watch for another giveaway
in a few weeks.

I know it been a long time in between my giveaways and normally you would go to my giveaway blog Nanbon's Corner... But I am changing and now you will find my giveaways on Southern Style... So with out further Ado Here we go!!!

Honey Nut Cheerios Giveaway..

Now that the kids are grown & gone, we are not a really big cereal family anymore, but there are always a few boxes of cereal in the pantry to curb that late night craving or as a quick breakfast... Cheerios has always been a staple in my family... My children and now my grand children have carried Cheerios around in a special container as a favorite snack. My dad would have a bowl of Cheerios every night as his late night snack, as for me Cheerios are whats for breakfast or as a ingredient in my baking. There have been times when I just didn't feel like eating a large dinner and opted for a bowl of Cheerios instead.. Cheerios are a great snack when the grand kids come over and are just starving. they raid the pantry and there goes my Cheerios. I have crushed Cheerios up and used them as a topping for ice cream, added them to my cookie dough, coated them in chocolate with nuts as a quick candy recipe. Cheerios are not just for breakfast..

Did you know Cheerios comes in 11 flavors, Banana Nut and Honey Nut are two of my favorites. So when I was asked to host a giveaway for Honey Nut Cheerios, of course I said yes. I was sent a box of Honey Nut Cheerios, a T Shirt, two cereal bowls, and Bee antennae... Now I know you are just waiting for the information on how to win your own special Cheerios Box...

Mandatory Entry

Why do you think Honey Nut Cheerios® is America´s Favorite Cereal

Extra Entries

Leave a comment on why you want to win this prize box or leave me a recipe that uses Cheerios
Become a Follower of Southern Style Blog or if you are follower let me know in your comment
Become a fan on Cheerios Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/Cheerios
Visit Cheerios web page, sign up for coupons and samples then let me know what other Cheerios you would like to try from their website. http://gmsampling.young-america.com/honeynutcheerios/Default.aspx?esrc=16204

That's it, see how easy it is to enter.... 5 chances to win...
Entries must be in before Midnight July 24 , winners name will be drawn July 25 and notified by email... Winner has 48 hrs to respond or new winner will be drawn.. Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you are the winner.. if you are a no reply commenter please add you email to your comment.

"Disclosure: Honey Nut Cheerios® cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark."

Quilt for MIL

2011-07-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share with you the quilt that I made for my Mother In Law... She keeps the house so cold in the winter and she loves curling up on the couch with a afghan... So I made her this little quilt for her to snuggle up under... I think she will like it as Lavender is her favorite color... And if she doesn't like it she can send it back as I love the way it turned out.

UPDATE: My Mother In Law received her package today, she called and she loved the quilt... my husband had told her if she didn't like it she could send it back...
Her message to her son was " Tell Coleman he isn't getting my quilt, I Love It."

Quilt delivered

2011-07-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

I am showing the quilt I couldn't post with the others yesterday... The Pet Quilt has been delivered and since it was a surprise for a member in our stitching group who happens to read my blog I had to wait to show it. Sharon is a member of WOCS charity group who use to stitch for us, until her illness prevented her from being able to read patterns or stitch. She is still a member of the group and she now makes cards to be delivered with the quilts, she donates supplies and supports the members in her emails.. So today, I LIED to Sharon to get her to meet us at a restaurant in town... I did apologize to her for the lie, but she forgave me...because it was the reason to get her to meet us. She loved her quilt and was just so surprised by the gift.. Now she can be warm and toasty as she watches TV snuggled in her pet quilt... This quilt seemed perfect for Sharon as she is a foster family for dogs in the area...

WOCS Quilts Done

2011-07-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

Last night I spent the evening sewing the binding on the last two of my charity quilts. I have 6 of them posted here, the 7th one will be posted next week as will the lap quilt for my Mother In Law. Now that they are finished I have some family quilts to work on... My new Bailey's sewing machine has helped so much in the quilting process. She might not be one of the big boys but she works her heart out for me...

This is my Bailey's Machine, I call her Nellie Bell.. as you can see she is hard at work for a great charity

Pet Quilt in the works

The Cat Quilt

The Dog Quilt

Antique Car Quilt

Ship Quilt

Silly Cow Quilt

Modern Vehicle Quilt

All these quilts are headed for a nursing home, and I think the residents are going to love them..

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

I know this is late, but I hope you all had a great 4th of July..  Sean and I are so tired as this weekend was a go, go, go type weekend.. Friday he worked day shift which left time to do some errands in the evening.

Saturday Mel and the kids came in and we were off, searching for yard sales.. now most times on a holiday weekend there are tons of sales, but I guess it was just to hot and no one wanted to bother with holding a sale.. Oh we did find a couple, that weren't worth stopping at.

So our focus changed to hitting furniture stores looking for new living room furniture. This is what DH and I decided to do for our anniversary on July 9th.    But I really didn't find anything so we stopped for dinner and then on home.

Sunday we decided to go to one of the local bases looking for furniture and I found a set we both liked, BUT it would have to be ordered and that takes 6 to 8 weeks. Well I am impatience sort as I want it now, not two months from now. But they said to go ahead and put the order in and if I found something else I just needed to tell them that when the other set came in. So the rest of the day was a easy day DH watched his races and I did some crafty type things.

Now it is Monday and we decided to again go to another base and check there.. At the Navy BX they had just the couch we were looking for, and it was on sale as it was the last one.. so we got it, they loaded it in the van and we headed back home.

Jenny and her family came out later that day for a cookout.. and her husband Phil took over the grill... and what a job he did... He makes the BEST chicken on the grill, you could say he might give Bobby Flay a run for the money. So any more cookouts and Phil can be the grill master...

Now as for the rest of the day, Jenny and Phil have 6 children, and the youngest three were taking turns holding our new puppy.. Poor little puppy, I don't think her feet hit the ground for more then a minute.. She was carried every where.. But when they started fighting over who would hold her, I had to take her away.. Poor little kid, she zonked out when they left.. she was so tired. Morris wanted to know if I liked bad puppies, he said his puppy was bad... Now his puppy is the one that Jen got and was told it wouldn't get big. Jen wanted a lap dog, this is the puppy I posted when they first got her, the one that looked like a St. Bernard... Well, she might not be a St. Bernard, but she is fast approaching that size. Morris wanted to trade me his puppy Sally for my Misty... I don't think so... Jen had already threatened to just drop her off here... OH NO not that pony dog, my poor little fur babies would be so scared.

Monday night they had fireworks at the river in town, but we were just to tired to go anywhere... So Nana and Grandpa crashed after everyone left..... It was a fun filled weekend with great company, but we were tired...

Oh and this morning, I had hubby get up and we loaded the old couch in the van to deliver to Mel... I think Sean is glad to be going back to work tonight...

Needlework charts on Sale for Charity

2011-06-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

A Sale for Charity... Proceeds will be donated to The World of Charity Stitchers.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/StitchingforCharity?ref=ss_profile

One of our Members has a Etsy Site featuring needlework charts and patterns. There are many different designers, lots of items to choose from with more added every week. Plus the best part is the price... You can not find these charts at these low prices anywhere else. She is donating the proceeds to The World of Charity Stitchers. The money will be used to purchase materials for the quilts, tote bags, wheel chair bags, and walker bags that the group makes and donates to nursing homes, Ronald McDonald House, a abused women and cchildren's shelter, ill children and cancer patients.

So stop by Stitching for Charity shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/StitchingforCharity?ref=ss_profile get some great deals, plus you will be helping a worthy cause in the process.. It is a Win, Win situation for all.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/StitchingforCharity?ref=ss_profile

Poor Little Boy

2011-06-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

Our little Pomeranian got a little frisky again with our Maltese and the result was this adorable little boy. There was just one little puppy and being that there was just one, he got special treatment around here. He was just the best little boy, and so smart, he was paper trained before he left the Whelping box. Well he was 8 weeks old last weekend and ready to go to his forever home.. This is where his story begins.... We had a girl from AT&T come to the door and offered the new UVerse hookup... Our neighborhood had just gotten the fiber optic lines installed. So being that everything was under ground and the cost was so good I decided to sign up for the service. *I thought it was that low because of the new lines and them trying to get the whole neighborhood installed* The girl that was selling the service was so sweet, and she fell in love with this little boy.. she would pick him up when he was ready to go. In the meantime, the installer for AT&T had come out on our appt. and said we would not be happy as there was a problem.. seems what the girl promised was not what was ordered... he said she was wrong, so I called her and she said go ahead and have him install and she would fix it when she came for the puppy that night. Something wasn't right and I wasn't having anything installed until the he said, she said thing was settled.. So the installer left and we headed to the local AT&T store and talked to the manager, after all he should be able to figure this all out. He did, seems our sales girl was a sub contractor who promised what she couldn't deliver and it would have been to late if we had taken her advice to install and our bill would have been $100 per month over what she told us. Needless to say she never showed up to pick up the puppy, guess the AT&T store manager got ahold of her boss..

So on to number two, I put a ad in the local online site and had a women who wanted the dog for her young son. They came out the next day and fell in love with the little guy.. Later that night I got a call from the lady, seems her husband was not happy at all that she got a puppy and to keep peace she needed to bring him back or have me help her find him a new home. I told her to bring him back, as I didn't want him somewhere where he wasn't wanted, he is way to nice for that. So the poor little boy had to give up his puppy because of his dad, it broke my heart to see how upset the little boy was.. He told me to tell the puppy that he really liked him and it wasn't his fault, and would I please find him a nice home.

So I once again placed the ad for the little boy.. now years ago a similar thing happend with my Maltese Boy, but after coming back to me twice I decided to just keep him and he was the best dog. He passed away last December.. so should I keep this little puppy as he was coming back to me like my Shy Guy did. NO I have my Rascal and I don't need another male dog.. so the ad is in and I get a call from a young lady, she and her two friends came out and little boy once again has a new home.. His new owner is a teacher and her roommate who is a student at the local college. They have the summer off and plan on using the time to train the little boy. Everyone seems Happy and I hope this time the little boy has found his forever home.

Here's Dolly again

2011-06-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

I have finished yet another Dolly Mama, this is the "Put on you big girl panties and deal with it" Mama... she has been added to the collection. Dolly makes my 19 finish in Cross Stitch for this year.
Now that Dolly is done I think I will work on my Enchanted Alphabet, and there is a heart and butterfly I want to stitch out, and of course I might just start another Dolly Mama... So making her first time Blog post is Dolly...

I also have most of the lap quilts finished, three more just went to the frame for quilting. Makes it so nice having a portable AC unit in the garage where the frame is, I can quilt in comfort. I am hoping to have the quilts posted next week, that is if things go as planned.

As for me, my hand healed but left a nasty scar... so I recovered... and THEN it happened again... Must be my year of accidents... this time I was trying to get my husband's stubborn Pomeranian in the house and in her mood she just sat and looked at me. So I decided to get a flashlight and head out in the yard for her.. Opps, better put on shoes before stepping off the porch so I turned to slip into the Crocs I have setting out there and my feet got tangled in a hose.. Yes, I had put a hose on the patio, I had been watering the plants and didn't want to leave it laying in the yard for me to trip over, so I put it on the patio under the porch swing. Well, somehow I managed to get tangled and down I went. At the time I was more flustered than hurt or so I thought.. so I gave up on the dog and headed to our bedroom and bath to clean up. Hubby saw me and asked why I looked so unset, until he saw the blood running down my leg... yes, I got a bad case of road rash.. so I cleaned the wounds and applied Band-aids, three on the left leg and one on left toe, Right toe really hurt, but no wound, just a jam there, it did turn lovely colors. Left arm needed Band-aids, but the right arm was OK as is the head... Left knee swelled right away, so ice for it... took some pain pills and off to sleep.. woke the next morning and was wondering were the truck was that had ran over me. So here I sit, left leg still hurts and so does the right toe, but I will heal again... I just so hope this is the last of my accident prone stage..

I do have yard work that needs done, the hedges need trimmed, but I am afraid to even think of attempting to get the trimmer out.. Might need to hire someone to come and trim for me. Hubby and I cleaned out the gutters last weekend, but I was so afraid his knee would give out while he was on the ladder, so I went up the ladder on the back of the house and I didn't fall, so that was good.. some things do work out well. I just wish my son lived closer as then I wouldn't have to worry how to get these things done, because he would do it for me.

Rain, Rain, don't go away

come out, come out and play....

YEAHHHH We have Thunderstorms suppose to hit our area daily.. We really need the rain.. I would love a week of slow steady rain. Right now you can hear the Thunder, I just hope the rain follows... my plants would love it...

Wish I were there

2011-06-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Today is fun Friday at Accuquilt and here is a link to their latest retreat... how I wish I could have went, they always have so much fun at these retreats. Plus everyone at the retreat received a GO Baby and dies at the retreat... I WANT ONE TOO...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7LbVNXiKTA follow the link to see what all went on....

My Crazy Stacked Pots Planter....

2011-06-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

This is what I stopped at Lowe's for this weekend... the supplies to make my Crazy Stacked Pots Planer.
Items needed
1    large Terracotta Pot
3    smaller Terracotta Pots.... you can use more, I made mine with 4
1   4 ft section of rebar
       potting soil
       Plants..

very easy to set up. lightly hammer rebar into ground where you want your planter to be, set large pot over the rebar through the bottom hole, fill with soil to top, slide smaller pot down the rebar though bottom hole and set it at a angle, fill with dirt, set second pot over the rebar, sitting on the rim of the first pot and fill with dirt, continue with your other pot or pots. You want to make sure that the rebar is hidden in the last pot, use your hammer to put it further in the ground before placing the last pot. when all the pots are in the position that you like just add your plants, water and watch them grow.. People wonder how you got the planters to stack in that crazy pattern... One lady in my neighborhood thought that I glued them... Nope the trick is the rebar... Have fun.   And if you happen to break a pot... lay it on a mound of dirt like it just fell over and broke... fill it with soil and plant inside the planter and down the mound of dirt the pot is laying on... sorry no picture of that display....

My Dolly Mamas

2011-06-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

Here she is my Dolly Mama Shoe Shopper, I have finished yet another of the lovely Dolly Mama's... Hubby still thinks they are Ugly, I think they are just cute... It took me a little longer to finish this little lady due to the hand still in bandages, but she is now in the box with the other ladies waiting for me to finish all the kits and make them into a quilt. Looks like it might take awhile to finish that project, but the stitching is something I can do while watching TV at night.

Yesterday was a enjoyable day, Hubby's daughter from Alabama came in to show us her new car that she picked up on Saturday. Her old car had serious issues, she decided not to fix it but to go for a new one, even though she really didn't want car payments again

. Grandson wanted to head to the local game shop to see if they had some old Game Cube games.. these are getting harder to find since they no longer make that game system.. He has lost all his games in the fire, but still had the box so the hunt is on to find the games.

After the game store we headed to Lowe's hardware store, I wanted to pick up some clay pots to do a stacking flower planter in my yard.. BIG mistake we made was going into the store, if we would have stayed in the garden section we would have been OK... But Mel needed trim for her bathroom door and GS wanted black light switch covers.

So we passed the clearance section and found a small Ice Cream maker, the kind that makes pint size which is perfect for Hubby and me... OK got that, the dept mgr was talking to us and asked if we needed anything else from clearance, like a new medicine cabinet... after some wheeling and dealing I ended up with the cabinet at the price I wanted to pay which was about 1/4 of the clearance price, Mel didn't know you could deal with items, so she learned something new.. We also picked up a new toaster, this one is a Oster.. I had a Black and Decker and it just didn't do a good job.

Then we headed to the Air Conditioners, we were looking to see how much the portables are... Got a good deal on that unit as it was the last one and they will deal on a display model.. This unit for now will be in the garage to cool the area the quilting machine and table are so I can finish some of the quilts. When DH needs to work in his workshop he can move the AC to that building.. so I think this might be a good investment for us, trying to keep cool in the south.

We came home and I had a pot roast in the slow cooker, I made some mashed potato's and creamed corn. It was really good as even GS went back for seconds.

I have made a decision about giving gifts and items we pick up for family members... I am so tired of spending time searching for items that they would love to have. Sending them home or dropping off the items at their house and never hearing if they like the item or if they even got the item.. So from now on, I have decided that they must pick up their item in person, I think that is fair... We love seeing the grand kids and we really do understand that they have a life, and that grand ma and grand pa are probably towards the end of the important people list, being that the new boyfriend or girlfriend is more then likely at the top.. But if they want the item, birthday card or what ever else we might have for them, they must take a few short minutes out of their busy schedule to stop by the house and say HI.. I don't think that is to much to ask... We have grand kids who live less then 30 minutes from us and they can't take the time to stop and visit, it has been a year and a half since they were at our house. We hear one excuse after another on why they didn't stop, but we read of them heading here or there to visit friends or other family and they were so close it would have taken a few minutes to stop and just say Hi. We go to their house and big surprise they are out doing their thing.. Well, NO more just dropping things off, sorry guys, but maybe this will wake you up to realize that we are important to and it doesn't cost to spend a little time with grandparents or parents, I know we are boring in your mind, but realize we won't be here forever and when we are gone you will miss us and wish you would have taken those few minutes to spend with us. So now there will be a box at the house for each family, if I find something I will put it in the box... If after a year it is still here, then I will freecycle it.

I DID IT AGAIN

2011-06-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

It is summer time here in the south, things are just getting to darn hot... As you know, I have been dealing with problems all year long, seems like when one thing gets fixed something else breaks down. Oh and I am referring to ME and my body or My Family.... just one bad thing after another this year. So as a recap on me, I had a heel spur, opted for surgery, found it to be more scar tissue then heel spur, so it was fixed.. Just got out of the surgical shoe and spent a day with DH and SD and somehow I ended up with a stress fracture, so into a boot cast... I get out of the cast and now take it easy, plan on a garage sale and after a busy day of sales, decide to make me something to eat, while waiting for it to heat up, I decided to wash dishes and you know the rest, 9 stitches.... Well those stitches came out Monday, oh did I mention that I whacked the hand the Friday before the stitches came out, well I did and yes it delayed the stitches coming out by a few days... OK your now caught up. So yesterday I decided that with the summer heat, it was now time to wash the back patio, and put up the new portable gazebo, you know the ones that fit into a bag and you just pull the legs outward and it pops up....Well, I tried to get it up by myself and that just didn't work, so I asked DH to help and he came out to lend a hand.. Things were going great, we got the top opened and in place and the only thing left was to bring down the legs... That's when it happened.... YES I did it again, do you know the term sticks out like a sore thumb... Well it is true, if you have a hand, thumb, leg, foot injury, be prepared as it will get in the way every time you try to do something. Somehow my hand slipped and I hit the side of a planter, it hurt but what was worse was that my nice clean patio was now changing to red... Yes I knocked the hand open... so DH took a look and insisted we make a ER run again.. They couldn't stitch it again, so this time it is butterflied and again, don't get it wet, let the strips fall off and the doctor told me to slow down, she kind of sounds like my husband with that statement. She then said that if I had to do anything, I was to take and wrap my hand in a ace bandage, again she sounded like my husband... GEE, this is going to be so much fun, trying to do anything with the hand in a bandage that looks as big as a catcher's mitt...

On another note, I received bad news from my son in PA... He had just gotten back from Indy where he and his sister went to find out about my EX and his Cancer.. Seems the only thing that they can do for him now is Chemo.. My son had also called to let me know that a very dear friend had passed away this week... He was the husband of my best childhood friend and their daughter is like my own. And then today I received a email from a past co-worker asking for prayers for her husband... he is ready to make his journey, he has been ill for over a year and says he wants to go. I guess the reality of how short life is is now taking a toll on my life.. these people have all touched my life in some way or another. Just a few years ago I almost lost the love of my life and was so blessed that he made a recovery and is still in my life... Now my friends and family are losing those men who are so important to them... Karen, Don, Kacey and Diane you are in my thoughts and prayers....

Another CCS Finish

2011-05-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

Not to much to report lately, Kind of taking it easy and letting the hand heal. Had to go to Hospital Sunday and have the Doctor check it and it was healing just fine. So Stitches will come out in 7 days... Hubby continues to help by washing the dishes... I have decided to wait to work in the garage until this is healed as it is like the sore thumb that no matter what you do you bump it and boy does that hurt.

I forgot to show my last finish in CCS so here she is another Dolly Mama, this one is Senior Moment (this is me sometimes) ... I have been trying to work on another one (shoe shopper) just to keep my hand in use so it stays flexible. Besides I really hate just sitting and doing nothing.

I did spend two days entering online contests.. These were mostly sewing supplies, some craft supplies and lots of finished items.. there were tons of them, it was a big event that I almost missed. But I got my entries in and maybe I will win some fabrics for my charity quilts.

I am now off to eBay, I plan on spending my garage sale earnings on some Accuquilt Dies... and yes I will use them when making my charity quilts... they are the main focus of my life right now. It is so nice to make something for someone and they really appreciate it, and the Seniors who get the quilts just love them.

I did it again

2011-05-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

Once again I have neglected my little blog... I have been working in the sewing/craft room, cleaning, organizing and just plain getting rid of things... I have refinished one dresser and found a second dresser at a yard sale really cheap. Now all my fabrics are in those two dressers with the cutting table in between

What did I do with all the things I cleared out of that room you ask... why I had a yard sale... yes I broke down and cleaned the garage, prepared tables, signs and priced hundreds of items... opened for business yesterday and did quite well. I was so sore and tired last night from all the moving of boxes, my arms hurt, my back hurt and my feet hurt... all I wanted to do was get something to eat and take a nice bath and relax.. then I thought I might do some cross stitching... But as usual things just didn't work out that way... I did get some leftovers out of the fridge and put in the Microwave and I thought while I was waiting I would do the dishes that were soaking in the sink... then it happened... POP OW WWW OH NO grab a towel... yes I broke something, but it was in my hand when it broke, it was a glass.... OK remember medical training, grab clean towel and put pressure on it and go sit down... did that and it didn't stop, so the call was made to hubby at work, he came home and to the ER we went... came home two hours later with 9 stitches in my hand and me starting to feel a little goofy from the pain killer they gave me... It knocked my out last night, but hubby said I moaned and groaned all night and even popped him a few times...sorry... this morning up early again and day two of the sale... its now over, hand still hurts, so taking another pain pill and I just know it will again knock me out...
So I am not allowed to do dishes for awhile, doc don't want the hand getting wet.... can't stitch... so I will just sit and watch tv... YOU should see me sitting here typing really cute, lucky there isn't a million mistakes...OH right, hit spell check and they will fix it... So I promise one day the blog will again be attended to, I just don't know when...

OH and can you believe that I of all people haven't entered any blog contests in a long time... I am really slipping here...

I'm Back with Charity Quilts to show..

2011-05-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

I'M BACK

I am sorry, I have neglected this poor little blog... But I have a excuse, no not the foot in a cast... but I have been busy in the sewing room putting together quilt tops, Cross stitching, baby sitting dogs and trying to get over the cold my DH gave me.... Want to see what I have been up to...
Baby sitting Mel's fur babies

This is Willow She gained so much weight while she was here, she was always eating

Bella is the Black dog Mel's pup and Charmin is the White one, she is my girl. They are sisters, Cream Pomeranian father and White Maltese Mother... Bella and Willow have been visiting us, Mel and the kids stayed with her Mom while she was getting things in order after her fire. Bella and Willow went home yesterday... Kind of miss the little critters..

These are two more of my Cross Stitch finishes for this year.

Dolly Mama which when I get more Dolly's done will go into a quilt. I think they are cute, DH says they are ugly... what do you think???

This is the Mother's Day Card I stitched for my Mother In Law, sent it off with a quilted bag

And now for the things that have been taking so much of my time lately, my charity quilts

For the Charity Quilts

Designed them with Electric Quilt 7 software, I don't know if I could make a quilt with out my EQ 7

Cut them out using my GO Fabric Cutter, which was so fast and easy, this is one of the best time savers for me, plus it makes cutting out the quilts less painful.. My back and arms use to hurt when I did the marathon cutting sessions, now I just turn a crank and the pieces are perfect every time.

This is the start of the quilts. All cut out and ready to sew, I found these neat boxes at a dollar store and they work so well for keeping all the quilt components together with the pattern

and here are some of the results,

Antique Car Quilt
this will bring back memories for the seniors

Modern Vehicle Quilt
The racing guys are gonna love this quilt

Cat Quilt
Another of my favorite quilts, I can just see the Senior lady cat lover who will get this one.. she will be so happy

Dog Quilt
I just love this quilt, The World of Charity Stitchers did a fantastic job on the dog squares

Silly Cows Quilt

the black and white fabric is the word moo over and over again.. Its OK but now I wish I would have went with a darker sashing

Ship Quilt

Everyone just loves this one, especially the lighthouse borders.

All the Counted Cross Stitch Squares were stitched by members of The World of Charity Stitchers.

If you want to see more of our charity work you can visit the WOCS Blog or FB page.

World of Charity Stitching

http://www.facebook.com/pages/World-of-Charity-Stitching-Cross-Stitch-Quilting/208593035822435

And this is the newest member of my home, this is Nellie Bell, she will be helping me with all the quilting.

I have 8 Charity quilts in the works and 5 queen and king size quilts for family waiting for her special touch.

Nellie Bell

So I might be a little busy for the next couple of months trying to get caught up, I will try to keep you all updated on how things are going...

Thanks for Stopping by, see your real soon

Fashion and Me

2011-04-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

I had a heel spur that didn't react to treatment, so surgery was scheduled and I got a new fashion look, this lovely shoe.... seems the problem was more scar tissue then heel spur which is why treatment didn't work.

time went by and the shoe came off and sneakers were once again my fashion choice.

This past Saturday was the first day DH and I had in months to just shop, we went to yard sales, a auction, the sewing machine store, Wal Mart, JoAnn's and the grocery store and then it happened... I stepped and felt a pull in the bottom of my foot... OPPS shouldn't move that way I guess... went home put foot up, took Tylenol, and iced the foot.

Sunday I worked a little in the yard, cutting the Lantana pulling weeds and helping DH in his workshop putting things in the attic space. Sunday night foot is swollen and warm so back to Tylenol, and Ice on the foot...

Monday foot hurt so didn't do much , also because it was my birthday. Well I did do two loads of laundry, then I settled into my recliner and stitched a little..Foot is hot & swollen so lots of Ice and more Tylenol

Tuesday had a follow up appt on the foot, was supposed to be the last follow up appt. from the surgery. Told Doc about Sat and the pulling... he checked foot, took X rays and the results are this new fashion accessories for me, isn't it just lovely. All thanks to a new stress fracture..

The Walking Cast .

I am making the Frankenstein look the new in look for the summer....

What do you think, maybe some bling or a little lace or ruffles... hope I am not in this to long.. Now whats next...

Ultimate Blog Party

2011-04-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

Ultimate Blog Party Link

I am so behind on things lately, but better late then never..

I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Party again this year... I have been checking out all the wonderful blogs. If you want to check them out click on the logo and it will take you to the main site.

As for Me and my blogs... Southern Style is my Family, Cross Stitch, Quilting and Charity Blog, Nanbon's Corner is my giveaway site. You are welcome to visit any time..

This is me and hubby, taken many, many, many years ago....well not that many... this was taken at the Strasburg Railroad Depot.. It is a tourist spot near my hometown. Just a little steam engine that will take you to Paradise.. We now live in a little town near Pensacola Fl.

I am retired and a very craft oriented type person... I make cakes and candies and have many hobbies, Cross stitching, stained glass, warm glass, blown beads, ceramics, floral arranging, painting, card making, sewing and quilting. I also belong to a Yahoo group called the World of Charity Stitchers.. these ladies cross stitch squares which are sent to quilters to be made into quilts for nursing homes, ill children, cancer patients, and abused women and children.. I have been a member of this wonderful group of ladies for two years now, I stitch for them and I am one of the quilters... Last Year I stitched, 6 squares and made 14 quilts plus tote bags, bookmarks and eyeglass cases and little bags. So far this year I have stitched 14 squares (been healing from heel spur surgery so lots of stitching time) plus I currently have 9 quilts in the works for them. As you can see I am always on the go.... Thanks for Stopping by...

If you want to visit The World of Charity Stitchers Blog just click on the name and off you go...

Birthday Time again

2011-04-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!
Yes, another year has come and gone and I am another year older... I don't feel older, but when I look in the mirror that youthful girl is gone and my mother has taken her place... wrinkle and all.... hate the wrinkles, maybe some day I will go with that Lifestyle Lift thingy... maybe not... I am just a Nana who could use a face iron... maybe I should invent one, I would be rich if I could...

I thought of making this cake for my birthday, but it was to big

So I thought of making this one, but it was to fancy..

Then I saw this one and I just love berries, but it didn't look Birthday enough

Since I was born on Easter, why not make a Easter Egg Cake. I pulled out the pans and NOPE it didn't get done... I will make the Egg cake for Easter...

As for my Birthday and my cake, sadly there is None.... Hubby had to attend training today before his scheduled work shift so I am home alone, well the dogs are here. But they can't have cake, Hubby isn't supposed to and me I can only eat a small piece so no birthday cake for me..
I did make a TV dinner and there is a brownie in it, so that will be my cake, no candles, they wouldn't all fit.
My grand kids called and sang to me and wished me a Happy Birthday, So my plans for my big day are for me to sit in my recliner, watch Gone with the Wind and Stitch my Jim Shore Cat, that hubby got me..

I almost forgot to mention, the above photos are from the Wilton site... I had asked if I could attach them to my blog... I love the Wilton Site, if you have never been there you need to stop by. There is all kinds of recipes, decorating ideas, Wilton Products and tip and techniques, perfect for any type or style baker. I got the recipes for my grand daughter wedding cake from the site and the marshmellow fondant was the best. Cake recipes were good too. wilton.com is the place to be.

Thanks again Wilton, I have been a loyal customer for many years and will continue for many years to come.

Spring is here

2011-04-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Color, color everywhere..... I love taking a stroll in my neighborhood at this time of year, because all the Spring trees and bushes are showing their colors..... and how beautiful they are... Currently in my yard the Azaleas are in full bloom.... I try to plant at least one new bush every year... hoping that one day my yard will look as stunning as my neighbors... he has Fuchsia azaleas bordering his yard, white and pinks will lead the way up his driveway and if you look at the back of his lot there are pinks and purples everywhere.... Here are some of my blossoming beauties.... Enjoy!!!

Didn't I tell you they were beautiful?? Most of the bushes are taller then I am, so you know they are putting on a show... But sadly the show will be over so soon... You see, every year the Azaleas bloom and look so beautiful, then it rains and the flowers just droop and fall to the ground.... After that first good spring rain, you hear the frogs singing there little hearts out looking to find a mate.... and believe me they can get really loud at night... my fault I guess, I have a small pond in my front and back yard flower beds and the frogs make the ponds their home during mating season... soon after you will see clear lines of eggs in the water, then a little later the water looks like someone dumped a pepper shaker, little black specks everywhere... they will grow and leave and sometimes you might just see a tiny frog after a summer rain... I was ahead of time on my outside chores list, I drained and cleaned the ponds last week. Good thing I did, because yesterday it rained and there is more rain on the way, but tonight I heard the old familiar song of the frog prince as he invites a princess to join him in the pond.... LOVE is grand.. Oh and the toads will make a home in the ponds as well during this time of love..

I also have a announcement to make, if you look at my side bar you will see this logo...

I posted about the Golden Quilter's Awards again this year... I nominated my favorite quilter's and products, I voted and tonight they announced the winners... and some of my nominees won, but then I knew they would because they are great... Darlene works so hard on her blog and I am a loyal follower. She gives so many tips and techniques, will let you know what is new in the quilting world and she host some of the best contests... she will also let her readers know what other bloggers are hosting contests... she has even posted some of mine... Love You Darlene, You do a great job, thank you so much...

so here are the winners of the 2011 Golden Quilter's Awards

The notice from the SewCalGal site:

The envelopes are opened and I'm happy to announce the official winners of the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards.

Best Designer                     Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs

Best Teacher/Instructor       Bonnie Hunter, Quiltville

Best Author                        Eleanor Burns, of Quilt In A Day

Best Quilt Store (Physical) Mary Jo's in Gastonia NC

Best Quilt Store (online)     Fat Quarter Shop

Best Long Arm Quilter       Judi Madsen - Green Fairy Quilts

Most Innovative product (physical item)      AccuQuilt Go! Fabric Cutter

Most Innovated product (software item)     EQ7, by The Electric Quilt Company

Most influential person in the world of quilting to-date, aka "Lifetime Achievement"
                                     And the winner is       Eleanor Burns, Quilt in a Day

Best Quilt Retreat                              Two Wacky Woman (Southern California)

Congratulations to all the winners, you make quilting so much fun....

Spring and Lilacs

2011-03-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

I love spring, I love watching Mother Earth awaken from her Winter nap... The colors of spring are so pretty, there is the yellow of the forsythia, white shows on the Bradford pear trees, the peach trees are flashing their shades of pinks and soon the Azaleas will be in full bloom as I have seen the buds showing their colors of magenta, pink, peach and white... But alas I live in Florida and I am still learning what loves this area... My lovely northern tulips just won't do anything here as no freeze in the winter for them... the daffodils did bloom, but not like the ones I had up north... I miss my tulips, I had thousands of them around my house in the north that would signal springs arrival.. The other plant I miss is my Lilac bushes, I had four of them in my yard and you just needed to open the back door of the house and it would fill with their lovely scent... I always cut a few and had them on the table to bring spring into my home... But here they just don't grow... I tried... I have heard there is a version of the Lilac that would do well here, but I haven't found any yet...

I can't have the scent of my fresh Lilac so I did the next best thing yesterday.... Lilac scent filled my home. No I didn't find a home spray that was Lilac and no one sent me fresh Lilacs... I made Lilac bath products.... There are three of us that just love Lilacs.... My Mother In Law, My Step Daughter and of course Me.. Mel had gotten some Lilac bath products for Christmas, but they were lost in the fire.. so I decided to make some items for both of us.. So last night my kitchen became my lab... I started with Lilac bath salts, Lilac soaps, then some Lilac bath gel and finally some Lilac lotion... when I was done the house smelled like a spring day....plus I now have lovely Lilac bath products to keep springtime a little longer...

Lilac soaps in the mold

Packaged Lilac soaps

Lilac scent and colors

Lilac lotion in the making

Lilac bath gel

and the finish, Lilac bath salts, with Lilac lotion, Lilac bath gel and Lilac Soaps... I am now ready for Spring....Lilac everywhere or at least in my bath...

Friday's Blast from the Past time

2011-03-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Friday's Blast from the Past.
Time to take a trip back in time and see if you remember these wonders

This week's Blast is PHONES I recently had a conversation with a person in my stitching group and she had suggested some Antique items and Rotary Phones was on her list.... Antique, I think not, I remember them, does that mean I am a antique... I thought classic was 25 years, vintage was 50 years and antique was 100 years or older maybe I am wrong, But really I might be vintage, but not quite a antique, at least not yet..

My first memory of a phone in the house was one of these lovely wall phones is stylish black

My best friend had this beautiful desk model in of course the all to classy black

Every teen wanted one of these phones for their pink bedrooms the beautiful Princess Phone

then there was the oh so modern sculptured phones and I had one that looked like a donut

The Cradle phone graced the tables in one of my first homes and Mickey was the next one.

For my old fashioned kitchen, my step father decided that I needed a new wall phone with the Antique look.

But over the years the kids have bought phones for us that they just knew we would love.. The designs were different, but I hated the ringers, can you say MOO or Choo Choo

Now I still have a house phone, maybe that is soon to be a classic or just a thing of the past but I like my cordless phone with no set style.... I have a cell phone and yes I could go on and on about the cell phone as I had one of the first models that was huge, it came with its own bag and it was bigger then my purse... now the have one so small it fits in your ear... We don't use our cell phone that much, when we want to get away we don't want to be bothered with the phone. Our grand kids are so hooked on their phones if they have a day without it, well lets say that is the worst thing that could happen to a teen.... Not to be able to text your friends how awful.... and yes, I know their parents take the phones away as a form of punishment....is that cruel and unjust punishment.... I wonder One more thing about the phones, there are so many websites where you can purchase these phones, I found quite a few at Oldphoneworks.com and there are sites where you can buy just about any kind of phone design you may want, balls, figures, animals, products, you name it I think someone made a phone of it...

Pet Peeve of the Day

Thank You, is on top of the Pet Peeve list today, is it so hard for people to say thank you now days? My Mother raised me to say please and thank you, and I raised my children that way. But I think somewhere along the line things changed. I send things out all the time and if I take the time to purchase or make something and give it or mail it to someone the courtesy thing to do is to say thank you or at the very least acknowledge that you received the item. My ex DIL was famous for forgetting to let someone know a package arrived let alone saying thank you to the giver... My Mom used to get so mad when she had to call the kids and find out if they received a package. Ex DIL was always to busy to pick up the phone... Now the grand kids follow as they get birthday cards with money and yet they never call to say they received the card or to thank us for sending them their birthday money. Wonder if they would notice if on their next birthday nothing came in the mail....
I couldn't do that, I will keep sending and hope one day their manners kick in, maybe if the kids start remembering their manners the adults will too. I have been on Melanie's case for the past few weeks to send thank you cards out to all the people who have sent her craft supplies or money.. She received so many cards, and packages from people she didn't know, who just wanted to lend a helping hand and support her as she recovers from the fire that took her home and everything she owned...
So remember, If you receive something, a thank you takes little effort but means so much... We tend to be nicer to strangers then we are to those we love or are related to...and they are the people that really count.

Giggle of the Day

Now for the fun part of Friday's Fun post

It is a commercial, I know there are so many stupid commercials out there and most times I just change the channel. But I love the commercials with animals... remember the dog at day camp, or the dog with the pacifier in its mouth, they are priceless... and who could forget the Taco Bell dog, he even made it on shirts... My newest favorite is not one, not two but numerous dogs in a commercial for, Are you ready for this??

DOGGIE DENTURES

Here is the link for the commercial
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/pedigree_dentastix_doggie_dentures
OK so there isn't doggie dentures (thankfully), but doggie teeth hygiene is a serious problem and Pedigree Dentastix is a great product and besides what dog doesn't like a treat to chew on and its great for their teeth

At the pedigree site you can upload your dogs photo and give them dentures

http://www.pedigree.com/oralcare/denture-your-dog.aspx

Well that's all for Friday's Fun

Our little Lizzy

2011-03-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

I know you have all been introduced to our grand daughter Lizzy. She is Jenny's 4th child and she is following in her siblings footsteps. Jack is on his way to becoming a Eagle Scout and he has been involved in many community projects, Allison for her Bat Mitzvah choose to make and place mugs filled with supplies that were donated to the Ronald McDonald House... and now comes 9 year old Lizzy and her Bright Idea

Lizzy is concerned about her youngest sister Becca and her having to test her blood sugar daily. Lizzy was so concerned about children and diabetes that she decided to take on a project and help the cause to fight diabetes. I could tell you about Lizzy and her cause and what she is doing but instead I have chosen to put the link to Lizzy's site so you can read her thoughts and see what she is doing to help. I am a proud Grandmother, proud that my grand children are trying to make a difference in this world, proud that my step daughter and her husband are teaching their children to care for others and to take positive actions. Please visit Lizzy's site and leave a comment on her efforts, if you would like to make a donation you can follow the link from that site or leave a comment here and I can send you a address where to send your donation. Grand pa and Nana will be making our donation to her cause.

Cranes4aCure

Golden Quilter's Awards

2011-03-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

SewCalGal will once again be hosting the Golden Quilter Awards 2011 visit her site to nominate your favorite Quilter's, Teacher's and Products

http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2011/03/nominations-accepted-for-2011-golden.html

Here are the Categories:

1) Best Designer

2) Best Teacher/Instructor

3) Best Author
4) Best Quilt Store (Physical)
5) Best Quilt Store (online)
6) Best Long Arm Quilter
7) Most Innovative product (physical item)
8) Most Innovated product (software item)
9) Most influential person in the world of quilting to-date, aka "Lifetime Achievement"
10) Best Quilt Retreat

You have until March 15th to get your nominations in, any entry after March 16th will not be considered.

Voting will start on March 19th

So go and nominate your favorites, then go back on the 19th and cast your votes

Still not moving to well

2011-02-26T08:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry to say that once again I missed another Fun Friday... I wasn't thinking when I left the message last week that I would post this week. How could I forget that I was scheduled for surgery on Friday... Must have been a senior moment.... But I didn't have the surgery Friday, I had it on Tuesday.... Doctor was going to be out of town so it was moved to earlier in the week. I really don't know what is wrong with my mind, but I thought I would have the surgery and be up and around like new... WRONG.... Surgery took longer then expected because there was more damage then thought, seems there was a lot of scar tissue that needed to be removed... Didn't get out of the hospital till after 9pm. Came home and went to sleep, so Tuesday was one of those lost days. Wednesday the block on the leg was starting to wear off, but I was still on crutches, just couldn't put any weight on the foot... Thursday the same thing, take pain pills and sleep, I did talk to the nurse about the pain in the foot and was told how to make it go away and it worked. Bandage was just to tight and foot had swollen.. so Friday it was feeling better and I only took two pain pills all day.. but still doing more resting then anything... Today the foot feels pretty good, and I am able to put some weight on it. I am working on getting off the crutches... But today I will again, Ice the foot and keep it elevated so it doesn't swell. At least DH is home this weekend and he can help me with things.
So since I didn't get Friday's Blast from the Past posted I will put in some blog videos of my home town.. First one is on Lancaster County in the snow and the second is Lancaster in the spring... I pulled these from the Lancaster county Pa website.... Enjoy and I will be back real soon...

PS.. One World, One Heart is now over, I sent out my three door prizes, and I won a couple, Sean had set his blog up for Melanie and he and I both entered drawings in her name and she won a few.. Also there were quite a few who sent Melanie cards of encouragement. Some even sent her supplies to get her started in her crafting again..

Lancaster County in the Winter

Lancaster County in the Spring

See you next week

Something Special

2011-02-18T19:35:00.000-08:00

My Friday Fun Blog has been set aside due to the One World, One Heart Event I was participating in. It will be back in place next Friday so make sure you stop by.

I didn't have time this week to prepare my posts for you, so I thought I would share a email that I received from a friend this week.. I do follow some of these rules to live or should I say love by... my house used to be spotless, and now things are not alway in total order.. But I would rather spend time working on my charity quilts or with the kids and grand kids when they stop in for a visit. I can live with a little dust now & then and if the dishes don't get done right away who is going to care, I have to many other important things to do. So many of my friends, my family and my blog friends are going through some terrible times and I hope they get a chance to read the words of Erma Bombeck

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck
(written after she found out she was dying of cancer).

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been done.

I would have sat on the lawn and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.' There would have been more 'I love you's' More 'I'm sorry's.'

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute, look at it, and really see it . . live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!

Have a great weekend, congratulations to all my recent winners on both my blogs, and think of me next week as I will be having the surgery on my foot...

I almost forgot to update on Jen and her lap dog... We stopped by yesterday and OMG her little puppy is huge, and she still has a lot of growing to do. I wish I would have had my camera handy to show you her progress... Jen said she was in denial when I told her that her little puppy was going to be a BIG dog, guess she will believe me the next time....

Nana Bonnie

One World, One Heart Winner

2011-02-18T17:48:00.000-08:00

Whoo Hooo One World, One Heart Winner is Lisa from Lisa Nelson's Art Blog
Congratulation to Lisa who won the Bracelet and Lavender Sachet... Lisa has been notified and has sent her address, her prize will soon be on its way.

CSN Giveaway Winners

2011-02-15T07:55:00.000-08:00

Winners for CSN Store Gift Cards are

Nanbon's Corner giveaway is Debbi from Diamond Grove
Southern Style giveaway is Linda from Stray Stitches

Congratulations to both winners

Big One World, One Heart Event

2011-01-31T17:10:00.000-08:00

I am so excited as the One World, One Heart Event is under way.... Last year there were over 1,000 blogs that participated in the Event and I hosted two sites and my husband also had a listing.. We also got to win a couple of really neat door prizes, meet some great bloggers and make some new friends.. I think my favorite prize was a 5X7 painting of a girl with a heart, it hangs in my sewing room.. Now that you know I am participating again this year on Southern Style blog and my Nanbon's Corner blog I hope you will visit both blogs and leave a comment. My husband is going to also host a listing not for himself, but for his daughter Melanie. Melanie had a fire at her house last night and she lost everything. She was so wanting to participate in this year's event but she has nothing to offer. So my husband is putting in a listing on his blog for her and I will be supplying her door prize..

So lets get down to business, here's my door prize for Southern Style.. It is a beaded bracelet with heart charms and a lavender sachet. To Enter just leave a comment, tell me where your from, its that easy. I am also hosting a CSN 1 Gift Card giveaway on this blog, just follow the link to enter that contest, and I am hosting a CSN 2 Gift Card giveaway on my Nanbon's Corner blog
Leave a comment with OWOH participate on the CSN gift card posts to enter for $35.00 GC

About my Southern Style Blog... This is my family,home,life, blast from the past blog... Just something to keep friends and family informed on what is happening in our home and lives.. There is cross stitching things, quilting things, funny things and even sad things, but I have fun and I love blogging even though I sometimes get behind in it.
I also am involved with a Yahoo group of cross stitchers that stitch squares that are then sent to the quilters and turned into quilts for nursing homes, Ronald McDonald House, a women and children's abuse shelter, cancer patients and ill children... I have the honour of not only being one of the stitchers, but I am also one of the quilters for the group.. Last year I made 14 quilts, 8 tote bags, eyeglass cases and other small items.. for my group The World of Charity Stitchers WOCS is always looking for new members to stitch or quilts, so stop by their site and check them out, who knows you might just want to join in the fun, it is for a good cause.

Just in case you didn't find the links above here is the entering information...
To Enter the bracelet/sachet giveaway just leave a comment, tell me where you are from, its that easy. I am also hosting a CSN 1 Gift Card giveaway on this blog, just follow the link to enter that contest, and I am hosting a CSN 2 Gift Card giveaway on my Nanbon's Corner blog
Leave a comment with OWOH participate on the CSN gift card posts to enter for $35.00 GC

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit....

One World, One Heart Event site.

CSN Giveaway

2011-01-30T09:38:00.000-08:00

Winner is Linda from Stray Stitches
CSN Stores and Southern Style is hosting a giveaway for a $35.00 Gift Card at any of the 200+ CSN Stores.

With Spring just around the corner now is the time for planning that back yard project for your kids or grand kids and CSN Stores can help. If you are looking for the perfect Wood Swing Set, then look no further, CSN Stores carries 2 pages of Wood Swing Sets and you can find just what you are looking for. I was amazed at the selection of Wood Swing Sets offered. Most have a tower that your little one can pretend to be a pirate, a princess in need of rescue or just use it for a special place for reading that great book of adventures. CSN Stores carries lots of styles and there is one that would look great in your yard, plus most have free shipping. So if you are shopping for a Wood Swing Set for your back yard, your business, your school or your community park, then CSN store is your one stop shopping place. No waiting in long lines, no dealing with the crowds, and no going from store to store looking for the best design and no trying to figure out how to get it home, with the click of a mouse your order is on its way, now that's how I like to shop. CSN Stores carry just about all your shopping needs and I have been chosen to host a fabulous giveaway for a $35.00 Gift Card to any of CSN 200+ Stores.

Mandatory Entry (this must be done for others to count)

1.Visit CSN Stores and tell me what item you would love to win and send me the link

Extra Entries:

2. Be a follower of Southern Style (let me know the name you follow under)

3. Visit My Nanbon's Corner blog and become a follower (let me know the name you follow under)

4. Blog about this contest on your blog and leave me the link

That's it, four ways to enter Contest will close February 14, 2011

Contest Rules

Restrictions: Only Open to United States and Canada
Contest ends 2/14/11 winner announced on this post and notified by email
For each entry leave a separate comment
Make sure there is a way of contacting you if you are the winner, (email address or link), If I cannot contact the winner I will draw another name.
Winner has 48 hours to contact me after notice is sent by email, if winner does not respond in that allotted time a new winner will be drawn.
Winner is drawn using the Random generator

I have not received anything from CSN Stores to sponsor this giveaway other then the gift certificate that is offered as the prize. The opinions of items posted in this blog are my own. Visit Nanbon's Corner for another great CSN Giveaway

Friday's Fun Blast from the Past 1/28

2011-01-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

Blast from the Past

Here we are again, Friday and yet another Blast from the Past.

Smells are the Blast today... Can you close your eyes and remember what your Mom, Dad, or Grand Mother smelled like? Is there that one scent that will take you back in time when you get a whiff of it? I recently had that happen to me.

I opened a bottle of Jergens Hand Lotion and as the air filled with the sweet smell of cherries and almonds, I was whisked back to a time when my Nan was still in my life. My Nan lived with us and she was one of those non stop type ladies. She was always making herself busy with as she called them the household chores. To make sure her hands stayed soft my Nan would pull out her bottle of Jergens hand lotion. rub it into her hands, arms and face and the air filled with the sweet smells of that wonderful lotion. I loved that smell and my Nan would make sure my hands were a soft as hers.

My hands have been so dry lately and nothing seemed to work, We stopped by the drug store and there on the shelf was my old friend Jergens lotion... Now days the lotion sports a plastic bottle with the words original scent on the label instead of the beautiful glass bottle she once wore, but when I opened the lid and took a whiff, there was the wonderful scent I remember so well. My bottle may not be as glamorous as she used to be, but she still has the power to take me back to my childhood and bring back the memory of a special lady, My Nan. My hands are now soft and smooth and maybe one day my grand kids will recall their Nana's special cherry and almond scent from her Jergen's Lotion.

The wonderful vintage Jergens bottles like the ones shown can be found on ebay, I might just have to buy one so my Jergens Lotion will get her glam back.

Pet Peeve of the Week

Rude Cashier's, Now don't get me wrong these men and women have a hard job dealing with the public. I have seen customers being rude to them to. But if I get in their line and I smile and ask how you are doing, then know that I am a nice person. I know they really don't want to be stuck behind a register when it is such a nice day out, or they have a date in a hour or would really rather just be texting their friends. They applied for the job, and were so happy when they were hired, They now have extra money in their pocket to buy that must have new game or outfit, Now they must realize that you have to work to earn that money, friends will wait and if they don't, well it really isn't my fault. Realize that because I choose to shop at their store, I am helping to pay their salary and it would be so nice if they just said Hi or smiled a little. If I and the hundreds of other customers that are served in a week decided not to come and see their unsmiling face, then the store might have to cut back hours, or worse cut staff, They might lose their job, The store might even have to close. So just a little smile might save their job, Most of us customers are nice and we to have things we would rather do than shop and pay high prices or deal with a grumpy cashier. Heck, most of us have done our time behind a cash resister or two.

Giggle of the Week

Exercise Program

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag. Gotcha!!! hehehe

Special Notice.. Watch Nanbon's Corner and Southern Style blogs for a CSN Giveaway, coming real soon... There will be a giveaway on both blogs, so make sure to enter both contests. Also at the end of January the One World, One Heart Blog event will be under way. Last year there was over 1,000 blogs participating..Think of it, new blogs to visit and each will host a doorprize... So check back real soon..

My little Runway Models

2011-01-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite blogs to read belongs to our own Jennifer.... She just tickles me sometimes with her posts. You never know what will interest her from week to week. It could be the death of her beloved refrigerator or a post on the new puppy that will be a small dog (HA, if she only knew) Our Jenny is not the graceful swan, she can and has taken a spill or two and ended up on crutches and she will detail the whole scenario in her blog. I have even offered to buy her a padded suit and at times I call her Grace... Thankfully she hasn't had any of those blogs lately... Jenny is also a Huge Coffee addict, her coffee shop of choice is Starbucks, so if she is having a bad day or week and we are in her area we stop and order her a coffee. Now we can never remember what she drinks, but thankfully the employees at Starbucks know Jenny and Phil, we just tell them to give us Jenny's coffee and they make her Peppermint Mocha latte with non whipped cream or something like that...They know and it makes Jen's day. Jen has even hosted many coffee giveaways on her blog. She has had Community Coffee, speciality coffees, and recently she got to do a Tassimo system giveaway, of course she also got to test and keep one of the machines which was to her delight.
Now I am not a blogger who will post photos of the grand kids all the time. But the other day I went to Jen's blog and there was photos of the most beautiful little runway models and I just had to share with you. Jen and Phil are the parents of 6 beautiful children... Phil is a part time photographer and he recently photographed a bridal show. Lizzy and Becca were part of that show.... so with out further ado, here are the photos I took from Jen's blog just to show off our beautiful flower girls...

Miss Becca and Miss Lizzy

This little guy is another of Jen's little Jewel's Look into those sweet, adorable, innocent eyes, would you believe he is Jen's biggest trouble maker... NO, Not that sweet boy.... but he is..... I just think he is so cute... but he does have a tendency to cause Jen and Phil to sprout a few extra gray hairs now and then...

I almost forgot, I wanted to share Jen's newest addition to her home... Her little Sally. Sally was given to Emily by a friend and Jen was told she would be the lap dog that Jen wanted.. We stopped by the house and I took one look at Little Sally and oh no, Jen, I think they told you a story, Sally is not going to be that tiny little lap dog you want.... She looks more like a Saint Bernard puppy... Remember Beethoven.... What big feet she has and that big head.....

We stopped by Jen's after my doctor's appointment Monday and in just a couple of weeks the little puppy had tripled in size. It took both arms just to pick her up, I just looked at Jen and laughed Jen still thinks Sally is going to be that small lap dog... I don't think so.... She is 9 weeks old and a armful already and she will keep growing until she is 6 months old..

OH and she is a piddler, yep she got me when I picked her up... Becca and Mo laughing like crazy because Sally peed on Nana's hand....

One More Done

2011-01-25T13:49:00.000-08:00

I just finished my sixth square of 2011 for my charity quilt group... This one is from a kit and it is a cute little dog that will go into the dog quilt. I bought the kit on sale at Jo Ann's along with a Dolly Mama kit so I will be starting her tonight. I think my new goal for the month of February will be a Dolly Mama quilt. If anyone has any of the Dolly Mama or Mill Hill patterns that you no longer want or need, I would love to have them...
The WOCS ladies have been stitching and getting lots of squares done, soon as I have all the squares for a quilt I will be choosing fabrics and using my Accuquilt GO to cut out the blocks. Sometimes it is hard to choose just the right color or pattern for a quilt. I try to match or coordinate fabrics to match the colors in all the squares and normally there is 5 to 9 squares per quilts. It is a challenge and I just love a challenge.

Oops, I almost forgot to share my news with you all. I went to the foot doctor yesterday and I have another month of sitting on my derriere and keeping my foot up. Why just another month... well, I am scheduled to have surgery on the 25th of February to fix the foot for good. All the treatments just would not work this time. There were three options and even though the one I chose was the radical one, it is the one that has the best results. I didn't want to do the other two options and have them not work and have to spend more down time. So I am getting the surgery and I am told I will be able to walk on the foot that same day... I can't wait to get this all over with. After all Spring is coming and there is spring cleaning and gardening to do plus I want to have a yard sale, I can not afford to be hobbling along.
Have a great day and I hope you enjoyed my little dog... Nana Bonnie

Friday's Fun 1/21

2011-01-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to Friday's Fun, so here is yet another Blast from the Past for you

Remember this cute little things, I know a lot of you have never seen this handy dandy device, what is it you ask? Every refrigerator came with at least two of these devises. They were really easy to operate. Fill with water, open the door of your Frigidaire, open the freezer door at the top and place this ice cube tray on the shelf inside. When ready to use ice, pull the handle up, take the divider out and you now have perfect cubes. One precaution when using this device, avoid touching with wet hands or your tongue as you will stick to the tray.

Now days we have ice makers in our fridge and if we have to use ice cube trays they are made of plastic. But the concept is not dead, no some ingenious inventor is making a fortune on this type of device.

tell me now, does this look similar, just a little bigger, same principle, but with out the pull handle. Still you get perfect little brownies. I use myPerfect Brownie pan all the time, I liked it so much I bought one for each daughter. This would be great to make brownies or little cakes for a school, church or scout troup bake sale

See, Something Old is Now Something New.

Pet Peeve of the Day

I love watching all the cake decorating shows that are on TV, they inspire me to be just a bit more creative in my cake decorating. Some of the cakes they make are beautiful, others, well lets say they are not that great. BUT really, can you believe the amount these places are selling their creations for? One place charges no less then $5,000 for any cake and that is not a large cake like the size of a wedding cake, but that is for a small cake. There was one show where a entertainer in Las Vegas had a cake made for his brother's birthday and the cost of that cake was $15,000 dollars. ARE THEY CRAZY. I think having a great cake is wonderful for any occasion, but really is a cake worth that much money.. there are so many other things I could think to put that much money to use for. I am trying to find a way to buy a long arm sewing machine so I can make more quilts for my charities, maybe I should start making designer cakes and that will pay for the sewing machine.

Giggle of the Day

Pajamas, now I don't mean PJ's in general. I like PJ's and I wear them to bed, if I don't feel well I will stay in them all day as I laze around the house. But one thing I would never do is be caught outside my house in them. I wouldn't walk to the mailbox in them, I wouldn't go to someones home in them and Never would I be caught in a store in them. I am not making this up, there are people out there who will go anywhere in their PJ's. I stopped by a mini market and had to do a double take of a lady in her PJ's. The other day I spied a lady checking her mailbox in her PJ's and when a lady showed up to pick up a freecycle item I was giving away, you guessed it she was in her PJ's. Plus they now have PJ's that look like jeans... Whats next in the world of high fashion.. But really seeing all these women running around in the PJ's is just way to funny.

Another finish

2011-01-20T16:44:00.000-08:00

My fifth CCS for 2011, stitched for WOCS
I am still not supposed to be on my foot, so I continue to stitch... My group is making a quilt with the long legged birds from Heart in Hand. I signed up for the Christmas Bird and finished him in one day...

I am currently working on a Dog Square for the dog quilt, but it will take a little time to get this one done. Monday I go back to the foot doctor and see if the foot is healing.

Its been like Christmas here this week

2011-01-20T16:33:00.000-08:00

It has been just like Christmas, maybe even better... My mail box has been stuffed to the rim with wonderful things this week. I love getting packages in the mail, any kind of packages, even those little tiny samples that companies send out make me smile. But this week I received items from my online charity group, items I won online, and a surprise from a online friend. So if you want to see what I got, I will show you my goodies.

I won a giveaway for reading glasses from the Reading Glasses shopper they were the first package to arrive this week, I ordered mine in Purple (so I know at a glance they are needlework glasses) and they are 4.0 I know why so strong, well I use them as magnifiers when stitching, very comfortable to wear. I have 4 pair from Reading glasses Shopper that are just for my stitching, plus I had gotten my husband some for when he is checking his coins.

Next two packages were from members of my Charity Group, they sent me their stitched items and quilt blocks that I will be using in future quilts for a nursing home. Plus the lady that sent the log cabin block also made me this special badge. It will proudly hang in my sewing room.

These two ladies did a wonderful job

Next package was a total surprise and I just love surprises. I received this delightful pattern from a online friend. We met at the online Needlework Show, She is a designer and had a booth at the show. I had emailed her to enter her door prize drawing, I didn't win the door prize, but she stopped by my blog and she wrote me, seems we had so many thing in common. We became fast friends sharing jokes, stories, our love for our families and of course our babies, our dogs. We send things back and forth from time to time, I think at times it is more like a contest to see who can surprise the other first. She got me this time but good, She said she saw this pattern and thought of me and my quilt making and had to get the pattern for me. A big Thank You to my friend Miss Claire, watch out, it is my turn now....LOL. I am always on the lookout for things my friends and family would enjoy, things they collect or things they like to spend their spare time working on. I thought I was the only person who did this, but it seems that once again my friend and I are thinking on the same wave length. I also want to share with you a little note my friend sent me. It brought tears to my eyes, guess pay it forward works.

the note:

***Bonnie I Have to tell you, thanks to you, one of the local nursing homes (several of their patients were clients of mine when I was working) will be benefitting from a slight change in plans. I will be crocheting lap blankets for them to give to the patients who don't have anyone to come and visit. Claire***

And now for today's Special Package, I won a online contest , it was for a Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop. So Monday I went Shopping at their web site. WOW so many really wonderful things there and what did I find but grab bags and they were on sale. Now I was trying to make the most of the gift certificate that I received as I knew I would buy fabrics and those fabrics would go into my Charity quilts. They had FQ grab bags with 12 FQs for $15.00 or a 12 lb grab bag for $69.00, I wasn't sure, I hadn't ordered from here before, which was the better value for my purpose. SO I emailed them and to my shock I received a answer right away, I thought surely I wouldn't hear from them till Tuesday as this was a holiday weekend. My question was answered and I made my choice and order three of the FQ grab bags and would you believe they arrived today, now that is super fast service. The bag was bulging at the seams, and when I opened it there were bundles of beautiful fabrics.

my lovely bulging package from Fat Quarter Shop I was so excited as I had no idea what was inside.

see my beautiful packages and yes, that is my Hungry Accuquilt Go Cutter in the background just waiting to eat those lovely Fat Quarters..YUMMMM

Look at all the luscious fabrics just waiting to be made into a quilt. I am so pleased with the Fat Quarter Shop, their customer service is excellent, the product line is fantastic, and their shipping if so fast, I would recommend them as a AAA store. Plus I just love their sales.... Thank You Fat Quarter Shop

Happy Birthday to my husband

2011-01-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband.. Yesterday was my DH birthday, I didn't bake him a cake as he is just not much of a cake fan. Instead I baked one of his favorite pies, A Lemon Meringue. This is not a kit, it is from fresh ingredients and it tasted so good. I did have a little problem with the meringue weeping, for some reason my meringues weep. Never had that kind of problem before when I lived up north, so I am going to say it is because of the area I live in now and not what I am doing wrong. At least the meringue didn't slid off the lemon curd. Guess I need to watch more of the food network channel and I am sure Alton Brown could tell me what my problem is.

One more finish for me

2011-01-16T11:16:00.000-08:00

Here is yet another finish for 2011... my forth charity square

This is Josie's Quilt Square

a free pattern from the Whispered in the Wind web site.

This square will go into WOCS Cat Quilt file and will be made into a quilt for a senior., I am currently working on a CCS heart box that will be sent to my Mother in Law for Valentine's Day, not quite sure what goodie I will put inside. I also picked up a dog at the beach CCS kit yesterday for the WOCS dog quilt, and I have the Hand in Heart Christmas bird to work up. See, I am trying to be good by just sitting and stitching.

Yesterday was a bad girl day, We went into Pensacola to do some shopping at JoAnn's and then to the grocery store, when I got home my foot was letting me know it wasn't happy. So I took my pain meds and went to bed... I really hate taking the pain meds as they leave me in a fog.. I am still foggy today from them, I don't think I want to take them anymore.

Friday's Fun 2

2011-01-14T18:36:00.000-08:00

Blast from the Past

Gym Suits

From Elementary School to High School you had to take gym daily and you had to change into the fashion of the day, the ever not so popular one piece gym suit. Most were in some shades of blue, and no one looked good in one of these sacks, and lets not even talk about having to make a trip to the restroom. These things were impossible to get out of in a hurry. The ones in elementary school had elastic at the legs and from the waist down you were a big poof of fabric. In high school they were more like shorts and they did fit a little better, but they were still the most hated school item that we had to have. Ever year students would shop the local sports store and you could tell by the looks on the faces that no one wanted to purchase one of these suits. I remember for years we begged, we pleaded, we even offered bribes to be able to wear shorts and a shirt to class, but the teachers wouldn't hear of it, after all they didn't have to wear these things.

Products from the past, why are these here, why are they so special.. Because, You would buy soap powder or flakes and when you opened the box there was a gift. Some offered towels, dishes, silverware or glass ware. We had our share and as I remember my Nan collected Carnival Ware from the soaps. You can still find those wonderful items, most are on eBay and they are no longer free.. The other free item from a product was Jelly glasses. We had a whole collection of juice glasses and drinking glasses, I don't remember my family buying glasses, all our glasses were the jelly jar glasses. HUMMMM maybe the jelly companies need a reminder of the jelly glasses, they might sell more jelly.

Thank you to Gisela for sending the email that had these wonderful Blast from the past memories in it. I will use more from her email in the future. If you have a Blast from the Past Memory you would like to see here, just send me a email and I will be happy to consider it for future posts.

Nana Bonnie

Pet Peeve of the Day

I read a article on a blog the other day on infants, toddlers, and young children not being properly seated in vehicles. The safety institute has come a long way to make sure our children and grand children are safe while riding in a car. They give parents the proper tools to keep their children from serious harm. Yet there are those parents who will not take the time to properly buckle up their children. Please take the few minutes it takes and make sure the loves of your life are safe while riding in a vehicle.

My other Pet Peeve is on the same lines, I cringe every time I see a child or even a adult for that matter riding in the bed of a truck. There is nothing to hold on to, no seat, no seat belts, nothing to keep that passenger from flying out of the bed if that vehicle were to get into a accident. You might be only going to the corner store and your might think for that short trip your loved one will be safe. Think again, Most accidents happen close to home. Please make them ride in the cab of the truck and if there isn't enough room, then leave them home, it is safer then putting their life in jeopardy.

Buckle Up, Its the Law

Giggle of the Day

My dogs are the spotlight of today's Giggle of the Day. I own Pomeranians, they are a dog that has a double coat. You would think they would be warm no matter what the temperature. No, not my crew they are always cold or at least that is how they are acting. It has been getting really cold here lately, and I have fleece blankets on the chairs just to keep us warm as we watch TV. Hubby was sweet the other day and he came home with a snuggie for me, at least that is what I thought. Hubby said he bought the pink snuggie for his girl, meaning me.. Well his other girl, his little double coated redheaded girl thought he meant her. Every time I look she is snuggled into the pink snuggie, guess next time he needs to say which girl he means.

Two more finishes

2011-01-11T13:34:00.000-08:00

My 2nd and 3rd finish for 2011

Mariner's Compass Rose

for Century Care Center

Man's Ship Quilt

Sail Boat

for Century Care Center

Man's Ship Quilt

I have been sent to bed rest, well, not exactly, but darn close to it. The last injection in my foot didn't do anything to relieve the pain, so you know I was miserable while shopping in December. This time my doctor said he would make sure he hit the right spot, out came the sonogram machine. Doc looked and looked and said there was a lot of black showing which meant lots of inflammation, the cause of all the pain. Then he said that it seemed there was a tear.. Which meant that for the tear to heal, I need to stay off the foot, more ice, more meds, keep elevated and to walk, use crutches. So I am icing, taking meds, keeping off the foot, and sometimes using the crutches.. They do tend to get in the way, did you ever try to cook dinner with teetering on those metal sticks, it just doesn't work. I now do the flamingo, standing on one foot with the other foot propped on that leg, looking just like a flamingo bird, without the pink color that is. .. As for me to trying to carry anything from one room to another is next to impossible on crutches. Hubby will get things for me, when he is here. But he has to work and here I am, me and the dogs. I have to admit I have been a little bad by not always using the crutches. I tend to walk gingerly around the house, not putting that much weight on the foot. But for the most part I have planted my derriere in my recliner and I am getting some counted cross stitch squares finished for my charity group (The World of Charity Stitchers). I just finished two more squares for the Ship quilt and now I am working on a cat square. There are 9 themes started so far for this year's quilts, they are Ship Quilt, Cat Quilt, Dog Quilt, Heart in Hand Holiday Quilt, Heart in Hand 4 seasons Quilt, Antique Cars Quilt, Modern Day Transportation Quilt, Teddy Bears Quilt and A Child's Animals Quilt.. So there are lots of themes for me to choose from to stitch. So for the next two weeks I will be sitting and stitching. Then hopefully the foot will heal and I will be able to get back to my schedule.. First thing on that schedule is to clean out the sewing room and reorganize. I have 7 charity quilts designed, my Accuquilt GO all ready to cut out my blocks, now I just need to be able to get up on my two feet and get things done.

Friday's Blast from the Past

2011-01-07T17:25:00.000-08:00

Blast from the Past

Remember the movie Blast from the Past with Brandon Fraiser.... I loved that movie because it took me back to my childhood home with the50s, 60s style all over the place. So I got to thinking it might be fun if each week if I took you all on a trip back in time. What will your journey hold each week, what will you discover you ask. It could be a glimpse of items from back then, it could be a memory, it could be a photo of someones family, It could be something you sent me to share with my readers... I am ready, so here we go into our time capsule and back in time...

Picture this, 1950s blonde danish style tiered end tables with Blackmoor lamps.. That was the style that decorated my childhood home. I couldn't find the exact lamps but I found figures that look very similar to those lovely lamps my father just loved.

The style lamps in our house had the figures sitting with their legs crossed and there was a removable ash tray in their lap similar to the red set, ours however were Chartreuse in color like the first figure. There was a pole coming from behind the figure that was the lamp and it had the crowning glory two tiered lamp shade. Yes friends it was a sight to behold. As I got older I think I despised those lamps more and more each day.. We were in the 60s and all my friends had county style in their living rooms, cute bowl and pitcher lamps or some of those big modern vase style lamps. My grandmother lived with us and she didn't like the blackamoor lamps either. One day I told my Nan that we needed to get rid of them and she agreed. Now how to go about getting rid of those ugly lamps without getting into trouble. We decided the lamps fate was to be broken or a least damaged in some way. But again, I didn't want to get into trouble for breaking the lamp and I sure wasn't going to lie to my father. So my poor little Pomeranian Fluffy would be the bad guy. I put him on the arm of the couch near the table and lamp and then I went to the other side of the room and called him. He got excited, jumped over the arm, landing on the table and the lamp slide to the end of the table and oh so slowly started to lean forward, just a little more and it would be over the edge. As it teetered back and forth and my Nan and I waited with our breath held, my Nan slipped and accidentally bumped into the table and the lamp went crashing to the floor. The poor guy on the lamp lost his arm, he head hung strangely to one side and the lamp post behind him was bent in two places. OH MY what ever shall we do, the lamp was broken beyond repair. Well, my Nan and I did a dance and laughed and laughed. Our deed was done and we didn't have to lie, the dog did jump off the couch and he did knock over the lamp and it broke, we just didn't mention we had helped things along. We got to go shopping that weekend for new lamps, but we had to settle for the big vase style and not the cute country lamps we wanted. But anything was better than the funky figure lamps. Of course while searching for picture of the lamps or the figures, I now wish I wouldn't have helped the dog break them, for today I found a site where they now sell for $300. dollars or more. If you like the figures there is a link above the photo for the ebay site where you can bid on the figures and I promise not to bring my dog over when you get them.

Giggle of the Day

We stopped by the local mini market on the way home the other day to pick up tea. I waited in the car while hubby went in. While sitting there a rather handsome young man got out of his car and proceeded to enter the store, I just giggled as he was pulling his pants up. Yes, he was one of those kids that walk around with their red boxer shorts hanging out, his pants down past his butt. I would love to have a camera, take his picture and show him how funny he looks from behind. Can you imagine him trying to run, his pants would fall down to his ankles and trip him for sure.

Pet Peeve of the Day

Well, one of my pet peeves used to be people talking on Cell phones when they were driving. My boss was always on her phone and I just hated riding with her as we had some close calls because of the phone. Today, the young driver's don't talk on their phones, they text and I have seen numerous driver's looking down at their phone rather then look at the road. And they wonder why there are so many accidents because of Cell phone use. Insurance goes up for DUI or DWI drivers, they need to raise the rates on driver's who have been in a accident due to texting. I mean really, they are behind the wheel of a dangerous vehicle, a vehicle that if not operated properly can kill. Please wait to the red light to look at a message or send one... or better yet park the car and do your thing, Stow the phone and save a life, it could be your own.

Hope you all liked my Friday Fun

Nana Bonnie

Giveaway at Gum Tree Designers

2011-01-04T18:24:00.000-08:00

Want to enter to win a fabulous Springtime BOM quilt pattern set,This set has a retail value of over $120

just follow this link to Gum Tree Designers and spread the word about their giveaway on your blog for a chance to enter.

If you don't want to enter, still stop by their site there are lots of wonderful designers and their lovely designs to read about.