Giveaway Photo Update and My Grandmother's Flower Garden

Here are the 2 pictures I promised of the paper pieced pin cushion for the giveaway. I used different fabrics for the front and back. Not sure why my computer switched the way I can download pictures from my camera, but I finally figured it out. If you are new to this blog, go to this post and sign up for the giveaway for both the pin cushion and the heart table runner/wall hanging. I'll be picking the winner on Saturday.

Since we're talking about Grandmother's Flower Garden and paper piecing, thought I would show you the quilt I have been paper piecing for years...and I mean years. It's one of those quilts!!! I keep little baggies of flowers everywhere: in each car, in every purse, by the bed and near the couch. If I can steal a moment somewhere, I take a few stitches.

I started this quilt in, I think 2000. I told my husband it would be a gift to him for our 50th wedding anniversary. This summer we will be celebrating 22 wonderful years of marriage. Get the picture here...no pressure to sew this one. I have 28 more years to finish!!! lol I'll probably still be blogging, so I'll post a picture when it's done!! Hope you can stick around with me.

Grandmother's Flower Garden is meaningful to me, because that's how I started blogging. I met 2 friends, Jodi and Vanessa, by helping them out with their paper piecing flower gardens. They welcomed me into the world of blogging and the rest is history. Thanks ladies!!

Well, I'm off to bed. I have to catch a train to Boston at 6:15 am to go to a conference. Don't make me go...it's so cold and it just snowed here in New England all day, then changed to freezing rain. Yuck!!

Have a great night,

~Karen~

Enjoy the pictures!

My First Giveaway

Hi everyone and welcome to my very first giveaway!!!

I had mentioned in a previous post, a little Moda-vation , that I would have the giveaway start Sunday. Well, it's Sunday night at 10:30...had a little issue with downloading the last picture from my camera to the computer (better late than never). Instead of three pictures, we have two...you will have to trust me on the cuteness of the second part of the giveaway!!! I will update as soon as I figure things out...Onto the giveaway:

I wanted to thank everyone who has welcomed me into the world of blogging. My gift to one lucky winner is this quilt kit, which includes the finished quilt top pictured below, batting, backing and binding. As I mentioned in a previous post, I love to make quilt tops, so I thought I would share one with you. The winner can quilt it as she pleases, whether by hand or machine.

The quilt top is made with fabric from 3 Sisters Sanctuary by Moda and it measures 25x49. The colors and heart design are just in time for Valentine's Day. The second picture shows the true color of the fabrics.

The second part of the giveaway (not pictured...arrgh) is a matching pincushion that I hand stitched using the English paper piecing method. It is stitched with hexagons in the shape of a grandmother's flower garden...cute, cute.

Just leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner Saturday, January 31st!!!!

Thanks again and Good Luck!

~Karen~

Mom

It's not her birthday, it's not Mother's Day and it's not the anniversary of her passing...it's just a day like every day...a day that I miss her. She was everything. She sewed to perfection, she cooked everything, she raised 5 children while moving 18 times in 18 years, traveling around the world with my dad in the army. She was the best Granny and Nana. Her house was a home to everyone. She taught us that we are all the same no matter our race or religion. She loved tulips, iris and the color purple. She loved going to yard sales and thrift stores. She loved teakwood and anything made in Germany or Denmark...her favorite places on earth. My mom lived with us the last three years of her life...she was taken too soon, but is no longer in pain and suffering from the effects of Parkinson's disease. I want to share with you something my sister wrote and read at my mother's funeral. For some reason, writing this out helps me just a little.

Irises and Tulips

I won't tell you now of the sweet memories of our mother...

of irises and tulips...and dad's sweet scented roses.

I won't speak of teakwood and crystal...laughter and giggles...

of knitting needles, Hummels...Denmark...and the color purple.

of her quick-witted humor...her ladylike style...organized lists...

a hot cup of tea...and the word "Honey".

Her intense need to be loved...and to love in return.

I won't speak of baking...and good food...and the detailed perfection

of our beloved family home...

where heartfelt conversation 'round the kitchen table...and all our intimate

stories of joy and pain...were only validated upon her hearing them.

I won't speak of her exquisite prism of love and pride the enveloped

each child...each in-law...each grandchild...

each one reveling in the fact that they were indeed...

the most important being on this good earth.

I won't speak of soft...pale...gentle hands...

hands that we have held a thousand times...or secretly observed.

Hands that epitomized hard work...tender care and worry...

perfect sewing...the very essence of her love...

as a wife...a mother...a sister... a friend.

I won't speak of a keen intellect...the sound of her voice...

her familiar quick footstep...each one unbearably silenced these last few years.

Rather...what I will speak of now...

is the love of one man...

a love so strong and enduring, that it broke through the fog

and ravages of this insidious disease.

a love that daily surfaced up to greet his eager heart...

these last few months...

in tiny and imperceptible ways...

a nod of the head in response to his whispers... a softening of the eyes

when he spoke...a lifting up of her lips when he asked for

the many kissed that they shared.

What I will tell you now, is the enduring love of one man

for his good wife...

a man whose hidden tears and love's lament...

were distilled down into the very purest form...

a man who saw only his sweet Roberta as she was once before.

What I will speak of now...was at the amazing and holy hour of our mother's death...

we were witness to quiet strength...and dignity...elegance...and peace.

Boxes and a little "Moda"vation

Just wanted to share a little boxing tip. Not boxing, the fighting, but boxing the organizing. I moved all of my craft and sewing supplies down to the basement. It is unfinished, but we painted the walls white to brighten it up. All the extra room to spread out is worth the lack of natural light. Well, sometimes...but there is alot of room. To store everything over the years, I have purchased the cardboard boxes from office supply stores that you assemble yourself. Some are blue, some are flowered and some have the store name on them. My boxing tip to make your storage or craft room look not so crazy busy, is to assemble the boxes inside out. You just have to unglue the seam on the side, fold it inside out and re-hot glue it. Seems like alot of work, but I just do it as I buy a couple of boxes at a time. Only takes a second to do and it's worth the look for this insane organizer. If I had a ton of money, you know all those boxes would be cute fabric boxes from Pottery Barn or Ikea!!

Because all boxes are brown cardboard color on the inside, it makes it look a little more uniform when you have so much crap everywhere. Don't tell my husband I called it crap, because if he knew I called it crap, he would say "if it's crap why are we keeping it". Am I right ladies??? They just don't understand that we "might" need it someday. Actually, my husband totally gets me and all my stuff..poor thing. He even knows what Moda and 3 Sisters means. He's a saint...especially when I'm in a fabric store.

And now for a little "MODA"vation. The fabrics pictured below are Sanctuary by 3 Sisters. Boy do I love 3 Sisters. These beauties have been in my stash waiting for the perfect project. Well, that project is my first GIVE-AWAY!!! So come back on Sunday for the details...well come back everyday for a visit...but definitely Sunday!!

See you soon and have a great day!!

~Karen~

Little corners around the house...

Thought I would show you a few corners of our home:

Our masters bathroom. I love toile, but this is the only room I have it in. It's nothing fancy: no great tile work in the tub, or steam showers, or expensive sinks, just a simple bathroom. One thing I did do was not add a closet...instead I used 2 different parts of a hutch: the bottom of one hutch and the top of another and painted it black. The little tiny drawers in the middle are actually cd holders I bought at Staples office supply. They fit perfectly in that space. I labeled (of course I labeled, I label everything) each drawer: q-tips, nail polish, deodorant, medicine, hair clips etc. There is another black corner cabinet that holds towels and such. The little folding screen is for the cat's litter box. I know... an unmentionable, but I'm keeping it real as they say on other blogs. I don't know about you, but it's easier to keep it in there because it always gets scooped and it's not in the main part of the house. Ok, enough about that. The little opening is the door for her to go through, and I made it out of toile, what could be better.

As I'm looking at this picture, wow, once you take down all the Christmas decorations, I need to put back some color in there.

This little bucket of tulips is in a little corner of our bathroom next to the sink, but on the floor. I change out the flowers for each season. I know...silk...but they serve a very important purpose and have to be fake. In that bucket is my hair dryer that is always plugged in. I hide the dryer and the cord so it's always ready when I need it, but not out in the open for all to see. I just lift out the flowers, dry my hair and when I'm done plunk the flowers back on top!

That little night stand in our bedroom was my grandfathers. It was actually in his workshop. He was a cabinet maker and he kept his tools in there!! The patina is just great...all the scratches and dings.

This is a jar of sea glass that sits on the night stand beside the bed. We live on the east coast about 10 minutes from the beach. This jar is a collection of bits and pieces from different spots over many, many years. The kids still love finding it!

This is a corner in a master bedroom...looks like a good place to read, but I don't use it much. My husband reads the newspaper on Sunday while watching football. Maybe I should start doing my hand sewing there. The light is good there and my eye sight is getting worse. I'm up +2.25 on the glasses you buy in the store. Yikes. I'm too young for that, well not really, but still. (that was off topic) back to the room.

The second picture below is a close up of the ottoman uncovered. The chair and the ottoman are from a 1990's couch set. The couches are long gone, but I loved the shape of the chair, so my sister made me a slip cover. That's one thing I'll never attempt...slipcovers. I love my sister for doing that.

Hope you enjoyed the peek.

Have a great day,

~Karen~

Tee or Tea...

I'm sure people have seen these before, but thought I would share my favorite things that are always next to my sewing machine. These tees keep the bobbin with it's matching spool of thread and keeps my sewing table looking cheery all year long. They are so easy to make: just take your favorite silk flower off the stem and hot glue it to a golf tee (I use the longer tees to help with taller spools of thread).

Thought I would also share another tea with you. I LOVE tea and drink it pretty much all day long. I received this tea as a hostess gift over the holidays. It is from Tea Forte and is spectacular!!! The little pyramid with the "f" on it is the package it comes in and the one on the far right is the silken tea bag. These are just too cute for words. I haven't used the last three that I have, because I just keep them on the counter as a little decoration where I make my tea. I've even saved the wrapping as a template to make the pyramid gift boxes in different sizes. I'll use them for small gifts, candy, fudge or truffles . Wouldn't they be cute made with all the great paper that's out there now? Oh well, add that to my "to do" list.

Hope you enjoyed the tea or was it tee...either way have a great night.
~Karen~

"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree"...

Ok, I know what you are doing right now: you are humming or singing that Christmas song and you are thinking I have lost my mind talking about a Christmas tree in January. I am back to talk about organizing again. In November, my husband and I decided that our 15 year old, 10 foot Christmas tree had seen better days. We invested in a new 12 foot slender tree and we love it. However, I hated to part with our old tree. It had 12 rows with each row having 6 branches, plus the topper. I found several uses for all the branches: tucked them in baskets, made swags out of them, used them on the mantel, in hutches and on the chandelier. You name it, I found a place for them. The only thing I had left was the metal tree trunk and the 32" base. Well, I found the perfect renew, reuse and recycle...it is my gift wrap center!!!

• I unwound all the greenery off the shorter branches (lengths varied 12"-18" inches) to bare wire (see first picture)
• I only used 2 parts of the trunk secured in the base (total height, just under 6')
• then I place only 3 branches in each row, instead of 6, skipping every other hole.
• I use the shorter wires for all my ribbons
• one row has tape and scissors
• the bottom rows have all my gift bags
• I was thinking about using the longer branches that I have and slip a roll of wrapping paper on there.

I have recently moved my sewing room into our basement. I have so much more room, but no natural light. It was worth the move, because now I have all my crafting/sewing/wrapping needs in one place. The area is large enough to handle the gift tree.

Maybe if you have an older tree or find one in a second hand shop, you may look at it differently. The pictures aren't that great, but remember it's in the basement.

I'm off to go sew, but the song "O Christmas Tree" is stuck in my head!!

~Karen~