The Promised Giveaway!

I have been promising a giveaway and finally, here it is.  I hope you find it rather fun.  See this photo...........

There are two neatly folded pieces of Christmas poinsettia fabric called "Gilded Poinsettia" from Daisy Kingdom/Springs fabrics.  The Pink fabric on the left has a Silver background and the Red fabric on the right has a Gold background. Each piece is one and a half yards of fabric. These fabrics are from my friend, Cindy. I inherited her stash after she passed away. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may remember my post about Cindy and her fabrics. If not, you can read my post about Cindy's fabrics here.  Seeing the Silver and Gold backgrounds on these fabrics, makes me think of that Girl Scout rhyme.........

Make new friends, but keep the old.

 One is silver, the other is gold.

 

A circle is round, it has no end.

 That's how long, I will be your friend.

 

 

 

Cindy is gone but she is still my friend and she would think this a fun way to share her stash and mine, too.  So, check out this photo and you can see I have two large flat-rate boxes. I have labeled one Red and one Pink . I put the Red fabric in the Red  box and the Pink fabric in the Pink  box. Makes sense, right? And then........

I started adding more fabrics to each box in all sorts of colors and patterns! I am sorting my stash and some of Cindy's fabrics as I want to share the fabric fun. I will fill each box and there will be two lucky winners. All you have to do is tell me the name of one of your friends.........a Silver or a Gold friend, first name only and tell me which box you want if you are the winner, Red or Pink. Easy, right? Think of this as a "Christmas in July Gift"!  So, starting today, July 31st, leave your name and those choices I just mentioned. Then on Monday, August 12th at 6:00 p.m. CST, I'll have my Random Number Man draw two winning names. Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and special thanks to those who regularly read my blog. I've not been very good at answering your comments but I read them all. Summer has been busy and my mother's health issues continue to be a real concern. Keeping up with my blog makes me smile. Please keep reading and know that I appreciate every comment and e-mail that I receive!
Sandi

What's on the line?

Something very "Minnesota" is on the line today! It's the project that I designed and stitched for Firefly Quilt Shop from the 2013 Quilt Minnesota fabrics. It's a table topper that measures approximately 24-1/2" x 27-1/2". This is the front of the topper .................

........... and this is the back of the topper.............it's reversible!

I really like the fabrics this year. I had one idea in mind when I first got the fabrics from Janice, owner of Firefly, but that idea wasn't working so I came up with this project. This picture below is the view you see when you walk into Firefly (in Mankato, MN). Lots of pretty quilting projects!  My table topper is on the desk..........

Love the pinecone and branch that are displayed on it. You'll be able to purchase kits, with the pattern included, starting this Friday when the annual Quilt Minnesota event begins. To see the entire line of fabrics that will be offered, just go here! And for all the details on shops that will be participating and prizes that will be offered, just go here!

Once again, I'm a little bit behind in blogging and projects I want to share. That's just the way things seem to be going these days. There's all the normal things in life and then there are still concerns for my mother's health. Family comes first so I'm rescheduling some plans I had made.  One of those plans was a "Christmas in July" project I wanted to share but it will be September before I can get to that. I had a little giveaway to share and planned to do that last Friday but now it will be this Wednesday. It'll be a "Christmas in July" giveaway. You'll like it. I just know you will. :-) In the meantime, Happy Monday! Make it a good one!
Sandi

What's on the line?

Bet you thought I forgot to post something "on the line" today but I'm just late, very late! I returned from my visit to Iowa about 8:30 this evening, then got unpacked and finally have time to get to the computer. The little quilts "on the line" today were made by my mother, Mary..........

The quilts in the photo above are made from lots of 3-1/2" squares that I cut and sent to my mom. She'd hand-stitch a few together, then add a backing and make a doll quilt. She gave one each to all the great granddaughters. These are some that I chose to keep.
In the photo below, my mom made these quilts from fabrics that my quilting friends sent her for her 80th birthday. She loved to hand-piece her tops. I am the same way. I really love to hand-stitch and find it to be far more peaceful than being hunched over my sewing machine. Only thing is.........it takes longer to sew things together when you do it by hand!

Time to turn in for the night. Always good to come home and sleep in your own bed!
Sandi

Hot and Thirsty!

That's right! Hot and thirsty and that is exactly what my flowers are these days!  We had a stretch of really hot days, and all the pretty petunias that I have on our front porch have seriously needed lots of water this week.

Now, I have shared lots of pictures on my blog of artificial flowers, bears, bunnies and other stuff that I set out on my porch but finally we have real bushes growing around the porch and real flowers!!   I have really enjoyed the color and the lovely smell of real flowers. And I have even enjoyed watering them but the hose seemed to be too much and so I thought I'd look for a big watering can. And then........I was doing laundry and had used up the last of the detergent in the bottle, when I looked at it and knew just what I'd do. I punched holes with a nail in the top of the lid, rinsed out the bottle very well and then .......... voila!!! ........ I had a watering can!!

My daughter, Collette, thought I should share it with all of you. I'm sure someone has thought of this before, but for me..........the "light bulb moment" only came on a couple weeks ago. LOL!

This hot week has been a busy one and the weekend coming up will be equally busy. It is our 84th annual Linn Family Reunion!  I am heading to Iowa for the weekend and leaving my husband and dear old Kaiser behind to "hold down the fort".  Some years, we all go to the reunion, some years not. Work schedules don't always cooperate for some family members or health issues make travel difficult. But every summer, some family member comes that hasn't been to the reunion in years. I wonder who that will be this year?  I'll soon find out! Looking forward to a fun weekend.

Oh, and I was planning a giveaway for today but never got that together. Next Friday for sure.......there are fabrics to sort and share so I will get to it soon!
Sandi

What's on the line?

There are dinosaurs "on the line" today!!!  This is a fun quilt that I made for my son, Devlin, when he was a little boy..........

 

I bought a set of sheets and used the flat top sheet to make a quilted comforter. I hand-quilted around each of the dinosaurs. The quilt was used on his bed for several years (1980's) until I made a black and red comforter when he was in Junior High. I kept the quilt and the matching sheets. Tucked it all away but then when our grandson, Jacob, came along, I got it out again. I put it on the bed in the room he would sleep in when he'd come for a visit. ............

That was when he was about seven years old. And then this past May, he turned 14 and sleeping with toys and dinosaurs wasn't so cool. Instead, he happily slept on the old couch in the basement family room. I decided it was time to put the dinosaur quilt away again. Took it out to the line and took that photo, then brought it in and washed and dryed it. And now it's tucked away once again........perhaps to await a great-grandchild! You never know!
In the meantime, I decided to take a quilt that was one my folks bought and put it on the bed.........

This is actually two twin quilts that are on the bed........one serves as the main bed cover and then I folded the other twin quilt over the pillow. They are store-bought quilts but are actually really well made. The room is still filled with toys and awaits any young kids that might come for a visit. I have some great-nieces and nephew that would love to play in this room!  It's such a cheerful room that sometimes I like to go in there just because the dolls, bears, and toys give me a smile. There are lots of memory-filled things in the room!

And now, I need to announce the winner of the summery fabrics.........and it is..........
Mary of Mary*on*Lake*Pulaski !!  Congrats, Mary!  I think I'll do another giveaway this weekend so pop back on Friday and see what it might be!
The weatherfolk are telling us that it's going to be hot, hot, hot this week. That's okay as long as storms stay away and there are no power outages. I've got plenty of sewing and other projects to do. Never ever bored! :-)
Have a good Monday!
Sandi

And the quilting fun continues..............

It's only been a couple weeks since our little group met at the Henderson Library to begin the work on our little quilts. We met again this evening and enjoyed a relaxing time of sewing and sharing chit-chat. That's Nichole on the left and Diane who finished sewing their squares together and are ready for the hand-quilting.

Diane's daughter, Sadie, joined us and she is studying her fabric choices and we all agreed they look great.

 

Darlene chose fabrics last time and laughed because she wasn't quite happy with what she had chosen..........and we all know that women get to change their minds! So, tonight she chose those pretty pastels and some button fabric that will make a cute little quilt topper. And thanks to Jacqueline for sending me all that fabric which I still keep making into projects and sharing with friends!

 

 

I cut squares, ironed fabric backings and helped wherever needed. And I enjoyed visiting with Lydia, Nichole's daughter. She is busy sewing some squares together...........

Lydia said she wants to grow up and be a good sewer. I think she is definitely going to do that. I can see it in her concentration! She is also going to be in 4-H and show a calf. She's a busy and fun little girl. :-)
Our next date to meet at the Henderson Library is Thursday, August 15th at 6:30 p.m. Come to learn to sew/quilt or bring your own handwork project and join us just for a time of "sewing and sharing"! And remember those words because that's the official name of the group..........The "Sew and Share Quilters" because we like to sew and we like to share our stitching fun and conversation! We talked about cookies so one of these times their might be treats to share, too. Send me an e-mail if you live nearby and would like to join the group. 
It feels good to be getting back into the rhythm of regular blogging. Now, if I can just keep it up!
Have a good Friday!
Sandi

Classic Cars Cruisin' in Henderson

It's been a while since I shared any classic car pictures so when we went down to the Classic Car cruise last Tuesday, I snapped pics of a few favorites.  This cool coupe was parked in front of the Henderson Post Office..........

In addition to classic cars, there are also lots of motorcycles that line up along the street.....

That's my husband in the red t-shirt. Have no clue what he was talking to the guy about.

Many of Henderson's buildings are on the National Historic Register so it's a cool town any day of the week but on Tuesday's, it's really cool!

We stopped to eat at the Henderson Roadhaus. I had an awesome chicken quesidilla and my husband ordered his standard .......... BLT. :-)

One of my favorite shops on Main Street is this one........Antiques and Uniques!

And then there's Classical Glass............

I once had a '58 Chevy similar to this one. Mine was blue with a white top. Gosh, I wish I still had that one.

 All makes and models line the streets...........

and I mean all makes and models! My husband is checking out the unique features on these two "Rat Rods". They were quite the cars!  Check out the spider web grill on this one.....

Each week there is a featured car that is parked in front of The Knitting Knest. So, do any of you remember those big old cars with their tail fins?

This is the feature that my husband was looking at.........

The spider web grill fascinated me...........

 and it appears that the cars run on whiskey. LOL!

Check out those turn signals...........

and that is some engine!

I kinda liked this little red number. I could see me driving down the road with a stack of quilts on the back. In fact.........

the only thing missing in these photos...............there are no quilts!  Coming soon......I'll share the project I've been working on.
Back soon...........
Sandi

What's on the line?

On the line today is a pretty piece of applique work that was stitched by my mother, Mary.

She loves Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Bill, butterflies and baskets, and then blanket stitching around all the shapes and things. This was a plain tablerunner that she bought and then she found patterns in magazines and added them to the runner. She used to have this hanging in her hallway. Now it's at my house and will hang next to her cupboard. I thank my mother for teaching me to sew and embroider and just like her........I love to blanket stitch around all kinds of shapes and things!
It's been a warm one today mixed with a healthy dose of mosquitos. I have enjoyed all the rain lately but it has produced a bumper crop of those pesky little critters!  Glad to be inside away from the heat and the buzzing of the mosquitos!
I'm working on some projects and cleaning my pattern/craft file. Sometimes I wonder why I have so much fabric and save so many patterns. I don't wonder for very long though and just straighten the fabric on the shelves and re-file the patterns and hope one day I'll use up the fabric and make all those projects. Righhhhhht! LOL!
Good start to the week.........
Have a great day!
Sandi

Sauerkraut Days Parade

Henderson, MN is just a town of about 900 people but when it comes time for the Sauerkraut Days parade, the population grows as local folk and those from surrounding communities line the streets to watch a truly grand, old-fashioned parade. My grandson, Jacob and I staked out a post in front of First State Bank and planted our blankets and chairs for the rest of the family. It was a great spot for getting good pics of the parade entries! The noon whistle blew and the parade began up at 6th Street. All along the route, folks stood as Veterans and current military members marched with the flags..............

This festival that celebrates sauerkraut began back in the 1930's. Here are the Grand Marshall's........local ladies, Delores Hagen and Arlene Busse who are volunteers extraordinaire in Henderson!

and then there is always a Sauerkraut Queen and her Court..........

I loved this old firewagon from long ago in Henderson.........

Here's the LeSueur-Henderson high school marching band...........

and family members watching the parade........

 County Sheriff Aaron was being surrounded by the Shriner's in the cute little Corvettes.

I started humming......."Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner......." when I saw this entry.......

The classic wave.......lovely queens were doing it and the Sheriff laughed when I told him he was doing it well, too, as he directed traffic.

There a few tractors, but even more were in a parade on Saturday afternoon. This celebration of sauerkraut isn't just on Sunday. It starts on Friday with the Classic Car Cruise.

I figure the person in this chicken costume was just a wee bit warm that day.

 Shriners on motorcycles...........

Motorcycles are a common site on Main Street in Henderson as it's a regular route for biker's. And on Tuesday evening's from May to September there are lots of classic cars lining Main Street. This is one busy town!

More queens.........

And my favorite entry is Su Fu Du, a great drum corp from Sioux Falls, South Dakota!

They put on a program in the park and it was foot-stomping great!

It was an awesome parade and a really great weekend as our kids came out for the weekend and we enjoyed time together and lots of good food!

You already know from yesterday's post, that we had those cinnamon rolls for breakfast. And our evening meal was steaks and burgers on the grill with homemade potato salad followed by this...........

 

Rhubarb Cobbler!!

If you'd like the recipe, just go here.  I shared this recipe on my blog long ago and also on Facebook. It is very, very good! I hope to share the cinnamon roll recipe, too. Have sent an e-mail to ask permission to share the recipe. :-)