A funny thing happened.........

Yes, that's part of a title to a movie and it fits the little incident that took place as I drove home from Iowa today. I don't have a picture of this so imagine please............

I was just about an hour from home today, heading north on Hwy 169, when out of the corner of my eye...........I noticed a pheasant in some bushes along the side of the road. I watched as the bird tried to "lift off" and I realized that he was not "lifting off" very well and was, in fact, headed straight for my windshield. With a big "THUNK", the bird hit the passenger side window but scooted up over the top of my car. I was sure the windshield might crack but it didn't. I felt bad for the bird and as soon as I could safely turn around, I drove back and looked for him (her). No bird in sight, so I am hoping that the pheasant was just stunned by the impact and is now safely nested somewhere and licking it's wounds. :-)

Interestingly, that's not the only item I've hit on that stretch of Hwy 169. About six years ago, I was just a little further south on 169 and I hit a black rocking chair that had fallen off someone's truck. It was night and until I was almost on top of it, I didn't see it. I swerved and avoided a direct hit but severely damaged the bumper that time. My son and my six year old grandson were with me. My son had just dozed off and was startled by the sound but my grandson loved that adventure because the police checked out the situation. As a six year old, he thought it was all pretty cool.

Sooooooooo, anyway........I'm home again and trying to get caught up. I have many comments to reply to and winners to notify for the additional prizes I offered during Jacquelynne's Book Blog Tour. I'll begin doing that on Tuesday afternoon. I will be catching up on my sleep first. :-)  If you want to know who won the copy of Jacquelynne's book, just check out her blog...... The*Noble*Wife .
Back later today.............
Sandi

What's on the line?

Oh, my! There's another pink quilt on the line!!!!

I have the funny feeling that there is a quiltmaker out there, someone long gone, who may be smiling because I have her quilts to share with you. Among the quilts that my mother and dad bought at farm auctions, there are several that must be by the same maker. Sometimes the same fabrics appear in different quilt patterns. I have no way of knowing what quilts were bought at what auction so their makers remain a mystery. All I know is that I just love each one even if they are worn or a little wonky or not quite my favorite colors.  My favorite color is usually pink and I am happy that some quilt maker long ago also loved that color and that I can enjoy her quilts today! The pattern for the one above would be so easy to reproduce. While the pink looks almost neon in the photo it is not that bright. It was a cloudy day when I took this two weeks ago (knowing I would be gone today) and for some reason it made the quilt look like it was a much brighter pink than it is in person. The pink is what I call 1920's pink and some might call soft bubblegum pink. Whatever shade of pink it is, it's fine with me!

I think by the time you read this, I will be making my way back to Minnesota and if not today, then for sure on Tuesday. My mom has recovered well.  After I get home, get the laundry done and a few other chores, I'll share the photos from our retreat weekend at Bonny's Quilt Haven. We had so much fun and there are fun quilty projects to share. I will leave you with one bit of "eye candy" that I made for my friend, Sue, who joined us at Bonny's for the first time. At least three years ago, I bought a white milk glass candy dish and planned to make a pincushion from it as a gift for Sue. I had some vintage fabric in two of her favorite colors, pink and brown that I knew would be perfect with it. Well, I finally finished that little pincushion and took it to Sue. She liked it a lot. :-)  Just like the pincushion I shared last week, I just made a circle of fabric that was stitched to batting, gathered it up, stuffed it, added a button and glued it into the candy dish. Here it is..........

The nice thing about this candy dish is that the contents of it are "no-calorie"!  However, I was munching M&M's as I made this and as many a quilt knows, quilting and chocolate go "hand in hand". Have a good Monday and a great start to the week!

Sandi

And Jacquelynne's Book Blog Tour stops today at............

my house and my sewing room. Welcome and Happy Friday!!! This is the final day for Jacquelynne's Book Blog Tour for her first book "Fruitful Hands". I am so happy to have been part of the blog event for her book. I "met" Jacquelynne in the summer of 2008 shortly after I began blogging. While we may never have met in person, we have enjoyed becoming blogging friends. I think it's wonderful how the quilty and stitching world connects so many of us in places all around the world! Hopefully, someday, I will meet Jacquelynne in person but until I do, I'm glad to be a fellow blogging buddy and enjoy sharing the joy of our creative ventures.  

I really love the title of her book........"Fruitful Hands".

As quilters, stitchers, knitters, etc., we know that the "fruits of our labors" are the items we create with our hands, and also from our hearts. There is nothing more relaxing for me than stitching, whether by myself or with my mother, my daughter, or with friends. My stress level is at almost zero when I'm stitching. It goes up a bit when I have to rip seams. LOL! Check out Jacquelynne's book and see if there is a project that you can make with your "Fruitful Hands". And there is an opportunity for you to win a copy of the book just by leaving a comment on this post. Read on and I'll tell you the "tiny thing" you have to do to get your name entered in the drawing. The "tiny little thing" could win you a copy of her book but there will be more than one winner because........

Remember the table runner that was "on the line" on my Monday post? Well, I have a kit for it in Jacquelynne's "Sewing Room Social" fabrics. Someone will win a kit for that table runner and the items in the photo above. There's a charm pack of Jacquelynne's "Sewing Room Social" fabrics, and a little notebook where you can keep your quilty plans. Stay in touch with your quilty friends with the pretty little notecards and if you just want to relax with a cup of tea, there's a sweet little book on tea to enjoy with your favorite "cuppa". :-)
They say "good things come in threes" and so here are three of Jacquelynne's patterns that will also go off to three lucky winners. You might even find a fat quarter tucked in the pattern envelope. You never know til you are the winner!

Thanks to Jacquelynne for sharing her fabrics, pattern and fun with me and allowing me to do whatever I want with it. I started working on a large quilt from the bird/flower print in "Sewing Room Social" when I was at retreat last weekend. More on that in a few weeks.

And let's just say.............what if you are not the lucky winner of the book? ..... and you really want a copy, then you can order it here.
And then.......what if you were really wanting some Christmas fabrics from Jacquelynne's "Joy, Peace, Love and Noel" line?  Well, guess what?......I have some of it that Jacquelynne sent me in June. I opened the box from her and here is what I found inside..........

I have a fun Christmas quilt project planned for this fabric and will be sharing it in late August or early September. But before that happens, I'll send one lucky winner, a little sampler of the fabrics. And so now you need to what that "tiny little thing" is that you must do for a chance to win.......and all you have to do ..............
Just tell me what your favorite cookie is! That's all. While stitching lowers my stress level, so do chocolate chip cookies! And for a store-bought cookie, there is nothing that beats "Double Stuff Oreos"! So........leave your name, e-mail or a link to your blog and tell me your favorite cookie! Jacquelynne will announce deadline for the book and the winning name. I'll be drawing names for the fabrics, patterns, etc. and will take comments through noon Saturday for those items. I surely hope I didn't forget anything. I am writing this from a computer in the University of Iowa hospitals where my mother has had surgery and is doing well. My mind has been a bit preoccupied but I know if I forgot anything, someone will remind me of what it is! Leave a comment and tell your friends to stop by, too!!! And for more chances to win.....check out Jacquelynne's blog today....... The*Noble*Wife !!!
Sandi

And now we are heading north to.............

......Ottawa, Canada and Michele Foster's Quilting*Gallery during Jacquelynne's Book Blog Tour.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of her wonderful book then take a trip over to Quilting*Gallery and leave a comment! It's a great book and I have my copy with me while I'm here in Iowa City with my mom. (Things are going well so far......she is in surgery as I write this.) I love looking at the projects and those recipes. Oh, yum! (Just finished a quick meal in the hospital cafeteria and so I am really looking forward to making those her peanut butter cupcakes when I get home). If you want to check out some sample pages from her book and see what you might like, just go here!  Check out her website, too, because there are giveaways going on at Jacquelynne's blog, TheNobleWife. And tomorrow is my day so there will definitely be a giveaway here for "Fruitful Hands" and a little bit more, too!!  Hmmm.....like maybe a little fabric in the giveaway from Jacquelynne's fabric line "Sewing Room Social". Some of you may remember this bag that I made from the button themed fabrics in her line............

I participated in the bag swap at Michele's Quilting*Gallery and the bag I made went off to my swap partner in Norway. I liked it so much that I made another one for me! In fact, I had so much fun with Jacquelynne's fabrics that I made a couple of items to go in the bag......a sewing case wallet and a zippered bag...........

The sewing case/wallet opens up to feature a pocket for needles and for scissors and a flat pincushion.

In early September, I'll be sharing a tutorial for the items above and maybe another item or two made from Jacquelynne's fabrics. Stay tuned! And come back tomorrow for the final day in Jacquelynne's Book Blog Tour!

Hope you all are enjoying the tour and some great sewing time!  I have finished a small penny rug while waiting and am now almost finished with some hand-quilting on a tablerunner. I don't know how people pass the time while waiting for doctors if they don't have some sewing to keep them busy. LOL!
Sandi

Oh, and we are going way across the ocean..........

on Jacquelynne's Book Blog Tour to visit Natalie's blog Cinderberry*Stitches! Check out her blog and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Jacquelynne's new book........

One of the very first blogs I read was Cinderberry Stitches. I loved the embroidery projects that Natalie designs and shared. My mother taught me to embroider and it's a gift I've used all my life. I enjoy sewing but embroidery on cotton projects or stitching on wool and woolfelt penny rug projects really, really soothes my soul and makes me happy. That's why I know that I will do Jacquelynne's wool rug project in her book. I can already see the wool and the colors I'll use in it! Of course, it will have to wait a month or so. This last month has been too hot to handle my wool projects. I figure one more month and the weather wil be crisp and cool and perfect for wooly stitching!

It's not been too hot to work with cotton fabrics, though, and the colors and prints in Jacquelynne's "Sewing Room Social" are just perfect for this summer. I thought I'd share a little project I made as a gift for Jacquelynne. It's a pincushion..........

I wanted to thank her for sending me the fabrics in her line because I had so much fun sharing them in projects at my retreat and with my quilty blogging and local quilting friends. So, over a month ago, I took one of the little candy dishes left from my DayTreat and made this pincushion. I used the Marti Michell ruler that we used for Heidi's quilt class to make one kaleidescope block. Here follows a "sort of" tutorial. I say "sort of" because I have been too busy with family health issues and stuff to take the final photos. But if you want to make a candy dish pincushion just do this.....Well, first you should find a small candy dish/baking dish that will be your base and then gather your fabrics and supplies. :-) Now move on......

Step 1. Make one kaleidescope block and then stitch it to a piece of batting

(I used Quilter's Dream cotton batting).

Step 2. Trim away the excess batting.......

Step 3. Stitch the kaleidescope block with it's batting to a circle of muslin.

Step 4. Using Perle cotton or other strong thread, stitch around rim of the

kaleidescope block as shown in the photo above.

And this is where the photos end but you can finish this just by following these easy steps.........

Step 5. After you have stitched all the way around the block, pull the thread to gather but not too tight yet.

Step 6. Time to stuff the pincushion. Here's how I do it.........I stuff a bit of polyester stuffing in the gathered piece and then I add crushed walnut shells (get them at your local pet store). When I think I have it stuffed just right, I gather the thread tightly and then lay a small circle of batting over the opening to keep the walnut shells from coming out. Then I pull the thread for the final time and knot and secure well. You should have a nice ball now.

Step 6. With a long needle and thread add a button in the center of the top of your ball. :-)

Step 7. Glue the pincushion ball in the candy dish and you have a pincushion!

If you have questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me! I will try to respond as soon as possible but will be in Iowa with my mom this week and will not have immediate computer access. It's summer so I bet you are all at the lake or the pool anyway. :-)
Have a great day!
Sandi

If it's Tuesday........

...... it must be the day to visit Pat Sloan's blog for a chance to win ...............

All this week,  Jacquelynne over at TheNobleWife will be hosting a Book Blog Tour. You can see sample pages here. It's a wonderful book! 
Two projects really caught my eye.......the Pear Make-Do Pincushion and the Heartfelt Home Floor Mat. I am thinking I will give the Pear Make-Do a try. I have been looking in my stash for just the right fabrics that I can use to make the pear. And also, because I have her pattern "A Peck of Pears". I love pears when they are in season and that is right about now! Oh, they are delicious! Yum! And yum, too, for the recipes in Jacquelynne's book. As much as I love pears, I really love chocolate and will definitely be making the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes featured in her book. I know just from reading Pat Sloan's blog that she also loves a cupcake or two, so go check out her blog right now and see if you can win a copy of "Fruitful Hands"!
But before you head over to Pat's blog .........
as I mentioned yesterday, I am in Iowa with my mom, but I packed plenty of projects to keep me busy. I brought along my GO! Baby and the box with the fabrics from Jacquelynne's "Sewing Room Social" line.  I used a lot of the fabric last spring to cut charms for mug rugs for guests at the DayTreat I hosted. I thought I'd like to make some more as gifts and perhaps will want to help make one for Grandma.

And she could also make one for her mom for her desk at work. They are oh, so easy to make!

For a tutorial for making a mug rug, just click Here.

But don't forget to go to Pat's blog to enter for a chance to win "Fruitful Hands"!!!

Good luck and have a great day!!!

Sandi

What's on the line and a blogging book tour begins!

Good Monday Morning!!!

There is a little something different on the line today. Usually, I have a vintage quilt to share but today I have just one little item.................

Hanging on the line today is a little table runner that I made from Jacquelynne's "Sewing Room Social" fabric line. It's not quite finished as I am doing some hand-quilting on the center piece but I hung it on the line so I could share it today. You see, this is a special day. If you follow my blog, you know that Jacquelynne sent me some of the fabrics from the line.  I have shared some charm packs with you, my readers, and with members of my Yahoo group and with local quilting friends, too. It's so much fun to share these sweet fabrics. I just love Jacquelynne's designs!! So what makes today so special.......well.........in addition to fabrics, Jacquelynne has a new book!

She sent me a copy last week and I enjoyed a good long read of it this past weekend at retreat. And today, if you visit her blog, you can read all about her Book Blog Tour and you you might win a copy!  Every day this week, she'll be sharing a little something on how you can win a copy of her book and maybe some fabric or patterns, too!!! If you'd like to check out some sample pages, just go here and if you are interested in ordering the book, and don't want to wait to see if you will win, then just click here (available at Amazon).
Here is the list of bloggers who will be participating in the "Fruitful Hands Book Blog Tour"..........

Monday Aug 1

Wonderful blogs to check out..........

BrendaRiddle http://brendariddle.blogspot.com/

   Jill Finley  http://jillilystudio.blogspot.com/

Tuesday Aug 2 

One of my favorite blogs and everytime I visit it, I am reminded of a good friend

who told me about Pat's blog..........

Pat Sloan  http://www.patsloan.typepad.com/

Wednesday Aug 3

The first blog I discovered and read regularly!.......

Natalie Lymer   http://cinderberrystitches.typepad.com/

Thursday Aug 4 

And Michele! Awesome blog with loads of resource connections for quilters.

I started reading her blog shortly after I started blogging. Love it!

 Michele Foster   http://quiltinggallery.com/blog-posts/

Friday Aug 5

That's right..on Friday, you'll get a chance to win a copy of

Jacquelynne's book here on my blog.

Sandi Andersen   http://alegacyofstitches.blogspot.com/

And when you stop by that day, you might find a little something else to win, too, because I do love sharing! And speaking of sharing..........back in March, I shared a little project with the quilt group that I belong to, Kindred Kwilters (LeSeuer, MN). It's a little quilt called "Friendship Basket" that I designed several years ago. I gave our members a free pattern for my design and then demonstrated how to make it. I used fabrics from Jacquelynne's "Sewing Room Social" line. Here's the quilt "in progress".............

So, now, I have to ask.............do you ever start a project and then set it aside because life gets busy? That was the case with this little quilt. I am taking it along with me to Iowa this week and will see if I can finish it while I am spending some time with my mom. She's going to have some surgery this week, so I will be there with her and then stay awhile until she recovers and can be on her own again.  I have done a lot of projects these last few years while waiting in hospital rooms or at doctor's offices. It helps so much to have some stitching to help pass the time!!! And speaking of time..........I don't want to waste any more of your time. Get on over to Jacquelynne's blog and read all about the fun you can enjoy on her "Fruitful Hands Blog Book Tour"!!!

Enjoy!!

Sandi

P.S.  Since I will be in Iowa with my mom, I won't have regular access to a computer. I will check in when I can get to the library. I'll be back in a week or so to regular blogging and will share all the photos from our retreat this past weekend. It was just awesome and I so enjoyed time with my quilty friends and the much needed relaxation!!!