Happy Birthday Daddy! - and Winner Announcement!

My dad would have been 76 today!

My mom and dad's senior portraits. 

My dad's mom, Granny Ella, my mom and dad, me and my 3 siblings, my children, and my oldest sister's 4 children went to the same school. Go Bulldogs!

  

My granddaddy was a barber for many years and this photo is of my dad shaving granddaddy with a straight razor! Uncle Flavel is there for moral support. :)

My dad when he was between 1 and 2 years old and his older sister, Aunt Zula Mae, with granddaddy and grandma.

My dad drove a semi for a living with a company out of Muscle Shoals, AL., Chem Haulers Trucking Company.  He loved his job but hated being away from his family for extended periods of time.  He saw all 48 contingent states before he was killed in his truck on February 19, 1970.  I had just previously turned 9 years old.

My dad was well loved by many friends.  I think I get my personality from him because I make friends easily.  The number of flowers at his graveside spoke of the number of friends that he had made through his life.  My grandmother made 2 quilts from the ribbons that adorned the flowers and she gave those to me and my older sister.  This is my quilt, which I treasure!

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We have a winner for the Daysail Bundle that the Fat Quarter Shop so generously allowed me to give away to celebrate my wedding anniversay on the 15th!  If you have been thinking about ordering this fabric, I will tell you, do it!  I just received a fat quarter bundle of it and it is gorgeous!

 

Who won???  Are you ready?  My husband chose a number from 1 through 157, the number of comments that were left, and he chose 67!  Comment #67 belongs to OhioLori!  I have already sent her an email to claim her winnings... if she does not reply by next weekend, we will draw someone else's name.

Congratulations Lori!

By the way... He actually chose a different number in the beginning.  and guess what... YEP... You were a No-Reply blogger so your winnings had to go to someone else!  If you are a no-reply blogger, please either edit your Blogger/Goggle profile and choose to have the email link show in your profile or leave your email address in your comments on blogs you comment on.  You can't win if we cannot contact you.

Umbrella In The Snow

Madame Samm challenged us to take a photo of our umbrella in the snow.  She had used a red umbrella but I did not have one.  This umbrella is from one of the local newspaper companies here in Raleigh, NC.  The umbrella is designed using the funny paper cartoons.

We should have acted sooner before the wind blew off some of the snow.  Isn't this tree gorgeous!

To see Madame Samm's photo and the inspiration she drew from visit her at

SewWeQuilt

Who Says You Need Bird Seed?

I had some fruitcakes left over from Christmas and hubby put one out a few days ago when we got a sampling of snow and the birds ate it right up.  We got 8 inches of snow last night so we put out another cake.  The birds love it! The birds say this is better than bird seed! ha!

hmmmmm... looks like cake!

yesssssssssss!

thanks mom!

yum yum!

think I shall have a little more....

Enjoy our snow photos...

 

hubby's grandfather built the pack house years ago.. solid as a rock!

the front pond...

the back pond

 

the corn crib and tobacco barn

another shot of the pack house

padded seating. lol

Love cardinals in the snow!

Anyone seen Bigfoot!

I hope you are warm and dry where-ever you are!

Meet and Greet Stitchers From Around The World

If you love to participate in world wide blog hop events, then you will not want to miss this one!  head on over to Sew We Quilt and get signed up!

Our Wedding Anniversary Celebration Giveaway Style! - Plus Winners Announced!

I apologize for the delay in creating today's blog post.  You see, today is our 12th wedding anniversary and we have been celebrating!  We took an early morning trip to Virginia and then came back to our favorite in-town restaurant for an early dinner.  We both had some of the most delicious shrimp anywhere!  We then went grocery shopping as we do have a threat of some winter mix coming in.  Nowhere near as much as our Northern neighbors, bless their hearts, but we still wanted to be prepared in case we were in for a few days.

I am going to get right to some fantastic news!!!

My friend Daniar, at the Fat Quarter Shop has graciously given me permission to give away a fat quarter bundle of their newest fabric collection Daysail  to help us celebrate our anniversary!

This comes at a perfect time for one of you because if you wanted to take part in their Snapshots Sew Along, this is the fabric that the original quilt is made with!  Please read a little further down on this post to see block #2 that I made this evening!  My block #1 post is here.

1. To enter for the chance to win this fabulous fabric bundle, please leave a comment below.  
Please be sure to include your email address if you are a no-reply blogger.

2. For a second chance to win:  If you go over to the Fat Quarter Shop's Fundraiser Page via this link  and make a contribution to the  St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, 
 your name will go in a second time to win!
No set amount, give what you can.
Once you donate, or if you have already donated, leave me a second comment and say 
"I Donated"!

The Fat Quarter Shop and Moda will both match all donations made during the fundraiser up to 10,000.00 each!

I posted in January that the 2015 Snapshots Quilt Along was launched at the Fat Quarter Shop to benefit the  St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital!

3. For a third chance to win: Create a post on your blog and shout out the Snapshots Sew Along with the Fat Quarter Shop, linking over to their website and/or blog.  Leave a link back here to my blog Stitch and Quilt in your post as well so your readers can come and sign up to win as well!  Once your post is created and all links are in your post, leave a 3rd comment that you have posted on your blog!

3 chances to win this fabulous fabric!!! - Good luck to all who enter!

I will announce the winner of this fabric bundle on February 28th!
Be sure and send your friends over to sign up!

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 Let's go ahead and announce previous giveaway winners before you see my block #2 for the 
Fat Quarter Shop Snapshots Sew Along!

The giveaway associated with the We Support You Blog Hop is first.
If you didn't see my post you can visit via the link.

The winners of the 2 Susan G. Komen PaperMate Ink Joy pens are:

Judy - from Switzerland!
and
Marilyn - from Canada!





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And, we had the Grow Your Blog Event!
If you didn't see my post you can visit via the link.

The winners of the heart shaped organizer sets are:

Mosaic Magpie
and
Glass by Lindi

 

and... The winner of the Pinny is:

Janarama of Sew Peace to Peace



Congratulations to all of the winners!
I will be sending you an email and please reply with your mailing info. :)

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In a previous post in January I posted that the  Fat Quarter Shop has launched it's 2015 Snapshots Quilt Along to benefit the  St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital!

 

Each month on the 15th they will post a new block on their BLOG!  Moda has designed a fabric collection called Daysail by Bonnie and Camille that the original quilt is made from.  All that the Fat Quarter Shop asks, is when you download each block from their blog, that you donate 5.00 to St. Jude's. The Fat Quarter Shop and Moda will both match all donations made during the fundraiser up to 10,000.00 each!

Block 2 is on the blog today!

Sew On and Sew On

The Daysail Collection by Bonnie and Camille was not immediately available when the sew along began but we can now let everyone know that is is READY for ordering and shipping!   I wanted to get the first block made pronto so I received the Miss Kate Collection by Bonnie and Camille that has very similar colors.  I will probably have to get the Daysail Collection as well .... both bundles will play so nicely together. :)

This is my block #2 - Sew On and Sew On

Each Snapshot block will tell a different story for each individual quilt maker who takes part in the sew along.  I remember my very first date with a sewing machine.  It was in Home Economics in 7th grade.  We learned how to make the pillowcases that are now called the Hot Dog Roll.  Those were and still are my favorite pillow cases to make!

My mother made a lot of our clothes and I can still visualize in my mind, standing beside her while she sewed.  Her allergies got so bad that she started hiring a family member up the street to sew for her.  Imogene was a sweet lady and was always happy to sew our clothes. After I moved to NC in 2003, Imogene told me on one of my visits back home that of all the people who had left that area, I was the one she missed the most.  That made me feel extra special. :)

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How about you? Would you love to make this block?   Head on over to the Fat Quarter Shop blog and download the pattern, donate 5.00 or more to the St. Jude's Foundation and have some fun with the rest of us!  

Thank you for visiting my blog today and if you are in the mood to play with some new fabric...
 go get you some Daysail!

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Breaking News!!

The Fat Quarter Shop has 2 upcoming books from It’s Sew Emma (their pattern and publishing division) that are available for presale on our shop! They have asked me to help spread the word.

The first book is Winter Wonderland by Sherri Falls of This & That Pattern Company

This book has instructions for 12 cozy Christmas projects including 9 quilts, 2 table runners, and a tree skirt. If you pre-order today, you’ll receive an exclusive Mini Nordic Noel Sampler pattern for free!

Product link: http://www.fatquartershop.com/winter-wonderland-book

Blog post: http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/2014/12/winter-wonderland-book-by-sherri-falls.html

The second book that they have available for pre-order is Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet. This book includes complete instructions for 45 sampler blocks in two sizes (6” and 12”), 10 quilts, 2 table runners, a table topper, and a potholder. If you pre-order, you’ll receive the Canning Season pattern!

Product Link: http://www.fatquartershop.com/farm-girl-vintage-book

Blog Post: http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/2015/01/farm-girl-vintage-by-lori-holt-of-bee.html

I love to support the Fat Quarter Shop!

Blog It Saturday #3 - Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of my friends!

My hubby surprised me with a Vermont Teddy Bear for Valentine's Day!

I would like for you to meet Theodore!

Last night hubby was watching outside for something and when I asked him what he was doing he only made the remark that he thought he had heard a vehicle.  I should have known something was up because he never hears anything and when I say I hear something, he always says "honey, you always hear things".  Well, about 9:30 pm the UPS truck came down the drive and you should have seen hubby move off the couch.  He told me to hide my eyes so I knew he had bought me something!  That was what all the watching at the door was for.  He said he had started to get worried that it would not come.  The driver told him he had mechanical failure during the day so that was why he was so late.  Hubby breathed a sigh of relief. :)

Hubby has only given me one other teddy bear and that was 12 years ago on Valentine's Day, the day before we got married.  I usually get a dozen red roses and a card.  Theodore was perfect this year!

 Theodore with Poohbear

I have also given hubby a couple of teddy bears.  The little white bear's name is Snugglebug... his hands have magnets in them so he can squeeze you to pieces and the little brown bear's name is Piglet.  We have a recliner in one corner of our bedroom and this is where all of the bears hangout together.

They will all be good buddies!

Would you like to share what your honey gave you for Valentine's Day or would you just like to wish everyone a wonderful day. Maybe you have made a quilt or craft project to celebrate or commemorate the day.  If you would like to create a post on your blog to share and then come link up here, I would be happy to have you!  Please leave a link in your post back to my blog so your friends can come and link up too.

Blog Favicons - Do You Have One?

A friend of mine who blogs at Sew Crazy For You was chatting with me earlier... we actually chatted until her phone went dead!  We are both big talkers!  Well, we were discussing many things back and forth and she brought up the topic of favicons.  So we went looking and found where to add one to our blog.

If you chose to add a blog list to your sidebar and chose the option to see the Icon of each blogger, you will see a tiny photo beside of the bloggers name or you may see an orange B for blogger.  To see any of these you have to check-mark the box to show the icon when you initiate the blog list gadget.  You can also go back and edit yours if you didn't choose it to begin with.

If you want a favicon to show by your blog name in any of the blog list that bloggers have added you to, this is how you do that... This is what mine now looks like on Brenda's blog and all other friends who have me on their blog list.

The purple heart is my favicon. :)

By the way, if you don't have a personal Favicon, your default icon is the orange B for blogger on all blogs who choose to show the Icons of the bloggers in their reading lists.


Here are some instructions on how to add your own custom Favicon to place by your blog name.

1.  First, you must choose your photo and resize it to be 300 x 300.  The photo HAS to be square.

I would suggest something that you can easily see... like you can see my heart easily and tell it is a heart.. I have seen dress forms, bumblebees, thread spools, colored squares, colored circles, ... etc.. that you can make out easily what they are. If you choose a photo that has a lot going on it, you won't be able to make out what it is once you reduce it down to 300 x 300 pixels.

2.  Then... Choose Design in the upper right corner of your blog...

3.  Choose Layout from the list on the left on this page ...

4.   Look in the top left of the center screen on this page and click on the word Favicon...

5.  Here you will browse on your computer for the image you resized and want to be your favicon.

6.  When you find the image double click on it and the HTML of that photo will load in the box that the browse button is in.

7.  Then click SAVE.

8.  Go to one of your friends blogs that you know has you on their blog list and you should see your favicon.  It will show up on every blog that has you on their list.

The cool thing is when you click on your blog in your favorites or if someone clicks on your blog in one of those list, your favicon is on the tab that opens for your blog right beside of your blogs name! Too cool!

Look up at the tab you are in for my blog, do you see my purple heart? :)

If you have me on your sidebar blog list, do you see my purple heart? Sure you do. :)

Now go get you a favicon!  Let's all get spiffy together. :)

This is my new favicon for the old blog Pig Tales and Quilts. I might not blog there anymore but it deserved its own little pig. :)

Sunday, the 15th - be Here!

A few things going on this Sunday...

Giveaway winners announced for the Grow Your Blog Party!

Have you read the post and entered to win?

The Fat Quarter Shop's Snapshot's Quilt Along Block 2 debuts!

I will be posting my finished block on the blog.

and.....

It is our 15th wedding anniversary!!

To celebrate, there will be another fabulous giveaway!

So come on back Sunday! You need to be here!

Sunday Morning Crazy Quilting

I have participated in a crazy quilt round robin for the past 6-7 months and my finished blocks have all come home. I am incredibly pleased with the outcome of this robin.  Everyone did a fabulous job on the block they chose to work.  This robin was called a DYB, Do Your Own Block, whereas each member made 6 blocks, all 6 1/2" in size, and as they went around in rotation, you chose one block to work on.  Your responsibility was to do an entire 6 1/2" block yourself.  No-one shared work on any given block like you do when a 12 1/2" block goes around.  We shared photos of our work throughout the robin but nothing compares to the time when you can see them in person.

I want to thank each of these ladies for my beautiful blocks!

Each photo shows that stitchers work on my block, and my work for that same stitcher.

 

I am linking up today with

SewFreshQuilts and Let's Bee Social #59!

and

Kelly and Needle and Thread Thursday

Blog It Saturday #2 - Who Inspired You?

We all have that beautiful person in our lives who was our biggest cheerleader, our mentor, who always pushed us to excel in whatever we chose to do.  I would love it if you would share on your blog who inspired you to do what it is you do and then come and link up so others can come and read about your mentor.  My story is no different than a lot of other people but it is worth sharing.

Who inspired me to be the person and the quilter I am today?  

My grandmother.  Granny Ida

Granny Ida..... Ida Elizabeth Moore Smelser

Granny was born on October 22, 1900.  She may have been a small woman but she had a spit fire spirit to make up for her size!  Grandpa Oscar was killed in an accident when my mother was only 4 so when the oldest child left home, granny moved in with us.  She was too scared to live by herself.  She lived with us for several years, my Aunt Lurlie for several years back and forth between us, and she lived with my Uncle Charlie's family for a few years as well. We 3 families made sure she was cared for and loved.  She was always surrounded by family!  She was a mother of 10 children, (1 died in infancy) and at her death on December 11, 1994 she had over 157 grandchildren, (grands, greats and great greats) collectively.... and she was much loved by all of us!

Since her death the number of grandchildren has rose to well over 230! Now that is a family!

I cannot remember a day that she did not do some kind of needlework, whether it be hand quilting or crocheting, her hands were never idle.  .....except for when someone mentioned playing games!  She loved to play Dominoes, Aggravation, Scrabble and she was never one to turn down a game of Rook!  Every New Year's Eve you would find her at someone's table playing Rook until the stroke of midnight!  She loved to shoot the moon and would always shuffle the deck.....under the table.... We all would accuse of her trying to set the rook and she would get so mad at us.  You could not help but go to giggling. 

I feel so very fortunate that granny lived in the home with us because she is one of the biggest reasons that I am a quilter.  Her wooden frames were either hanging from the ceiling or on stands most every day of the week!  She loved to hand quilt and would sit for hours doing so.  Her stitches were so tiny and even... it just amazed me to watch her.  I could sit and watch her all day long on the treadle machine just working those frail legs to the bone.  She loved it so!  One piece of advice that she gave me that has stuck in my head for many years was this...

If it ain't worth doing right, then it ain't worth doing a"tal!

I try to live by those words and every time I feel like taking a short cut or giving up, I hear granny Ida's voice inside my head!  I would hope she is smiling down when she sees me in my sewing room. 

This is a small sampling of her work...  The Texas Rose, as she called it, was her favorite applique pattern to work and the Churn Dash was her favorite pieced pattern.

 

Granny stitched these kitten blocks for me in the 60's  but I had never put them together in to a quilt.  When my first granddaughter was born, I put them together and made this baby quilt for her.  

When she has her first child, I will give it to her then.

These are a few of her crocheted pieces.  They were made for a friend of hers between 1940 and 1950.  In 2000 this person's granddaughter called me to her home and gave them to me as an unexpected surprise!  She wanted them to come back to our family and she told me that I was to have them.  I literally squalled like a baby!  I will cherish these forever and hope that one day one of my daughters will be as heartfelt sentimental as I am.  If they ever leave our family, I will come back and haunt the person who lets them go!

 

This photo was taken just a short while before her death in 1994.  She passed away with family all around her, just as she had lived her life.  We should all be as lucky as Granny Ida was. I miss her so!

It is your turn... tell us who inspired you to do what you do.  Create a post on your blog leaving a link back here to mine so your friends can come over and take part.  then come over and link up so those coming through my blog, can come to your blog and see your post. I will be anxious to read about your mentor.