Oooo Look what came in the mail!!!!

In blogland there seems to always be someone wonderful having a give-away. Some I enter, and some I don't - and mostly I don't win - but that's ok because it is just as much fun to see who wins whether it is me or not. I like to visit the winner's blogs and often find new friends. Well look who won this one - from Happy Cottage Quilter

Me - that's who - and I received the package this week and had such fun opening it up.

Ben helped me by modeling the new bag that Jocelyn made . . .

He's so good at it I just couldn't pick one . . .

And he was proud of himself too . . . and wanted you all to see his bumbly bee shirt . .

He then filled the bag with Fisher Price Little people and "sold" them to Grammy all afternoon . .

This is the bag close up - it is so well made - and wonderfully quilted - and those little buttons on the handles - just the right touch. This is going to be my handwork bag - as soon as I can get it away from Ben for a little while.

And in the box - more goodies . . . a seam ripper (I always need those) a label, a darling notepad and some tags for marking your quilting tools when you go to a retreat or sew-in - so handy. . .

And lots and lots of fabric - these are big pieces - don't you just love the chickens????

Thank you so much Jocelyn (and mama hen) - everything is just lovely - and it came on a day when I really needed some perking up. Seems we are having a lot of those these days.

A different winner - can you believe it???

Well, I've never seen this happen before - but there is a different winner for the quilt. Judith Waliston of North Carolina contacted me almost immediately after I posted the winning names in the previous post (it was quite late in N. Carolina but she was anxiously awaiting this post).

Judith turned down the prize - she said because of her living conditions changing so much recently (I agreed not to give details - it is an extremely private matter) that she wasn't in a position to be in possession of the quilt. She is such a gracious and generous lady, and this is such an unexpected turn of events - but we agreed, after several emails back and forth, that we would draw another name for the quilt. Judith picked the number for us, how very sweet of her. She is excited to learn who the new winner is.

So here is the name - another Judith - can you believe it ? But this one dropped the TH off her name and goes by Judi. That's right - Judi - ummmm, Judi who? Judi Shipley - of WA - # 1389.

Congrats Judi - I'll be shipping the quilt off as soon as possible - hope you enjoy it - we certainly have. It is Don's favorite quilt of all time - and I think mine too - since it helped us through this hard time.

Judith W. could use all the prayers and good thoughts you can send right now in her situation. It is not dangerous - but very serious and she has been so kind through all this.

Thanks again to all who donated - cash and prizes - we will always remember the joy and friendship you have all brought to us.

If you haven't seen the winners of the other prizes - please read the previous post. Thanks again.

And the winners are!!!!!

Here I am - finally. It's been a long day. Ben was here most of the day - and just went home. His parents were at the Seattle Mariners game - too bad they didn't have a winning game - but they had fun anyway.

So - the quilt - if I don't give the winner of the quilt first you are just going to scroll down and find it - right? I knew you would - I would too - but I already know who it is. I just drew the names - and the winner is . . . .


Judith Waliston - ticket #1365 - no blog - from North Carolina. Hopefully we'll get a photo of her with the quilt. I'd be happy to post it on my blog Judith - I know you are reading this - congratulations! I wish I had a quilt to give to each and every one of you - so many dear friends, new and old, participated in this fundraiser for Don's surgery and you'll never know how much help we received - both in the raffle and in the emails and prayers and good thoughts send our way. The blogger/blogger reading world is a great place with wonderful people.

And now the other prizes - donated by friends and family - and some new friends I'd not met before. The generosity just never stops.

The prizes are listed in the order they were donated - and the winners are

Robin Smith - WA #1395 - table runner - donated by Barb

Ann Duncan Gibbs - IL - # 639 - a Can Koozie to keep your drink cold - donated by Franni - your choice of design and color . . .

Carol Witcher - ID - # 702 - Moda Jelly Roll - donated by Debi

Mary Udman - WA - #337 - A skein of hand spun Alpaca Yarn - donated by Linda

Pat Casadei - DE - #91 - A quilt book - Quilts from the Heart II by Karin Renaud (appropriate name for this raffle) - donated by our lovely daughter-in-law, Jamie.

And from me - three angels - your choice of colors - made from vintage hankies . . .

Sue Biles - WA - #1107
Susan Jacobi Robinson - #939
Cindy Pierce - NY - #782

And the last three prizes - a mini heart, crocheted pin cushion - your choice of colors - also from me.

Pat McNally - VA - #1186
Harriet Ferguson - WA - # 1050
Alice McClelland - CA - # 478

Congrats to all the winners - if you will email me your mailing address the prizes can be on their way. All prizes except the ones I donated will be shipped by the person who donated them - so I'll send your mailing address on to them as soon as I get it so you can get your prize quickly. If you won an angel or a pin cushion please let me know your color choice.

The quilt is packaged and ready to go out as soon as I hear from the winner.

A big thank you from Don and from me and from our whole family - you can never know what this has meant to all of us.

Don is back to work full time tomorrow - he worked almost full time last week and he drove today for the first time since the surgery (well second time, but there was the setback from the ER visit and the pacemaker two weeks ago) and he is ready to go. I'm a bit more cautious - but he is sensible and I know he'll be careful. He sends his love and thanks to each and every person who bought tickets and who donated prizes! Thank you seems so inadequate at a time like this - but it is all we have to offer. Thank you - with all our love and gratitude.

Winners, winners - we have winners!!!

Time to draw for the embroidery patterns - I would have been here sooner but spent a lot of the afternoon driving Don around for work - he'll be driving by Sunday - hoooray!!!!!!

I got out that random number generator - it sure is fun - and here are the winners of the embroidery patterns. Are you ready?



Do you hope it is you?



Of course you do - we all do - we all want YOU to win!!


Ok - two numbers - the first one gets to pick which packet they want -



Kittens - - -



Or Birdies - - -



Both are cute -




Both are fun -



Ok - so you want the winners???



Really - are you sure?



Ok - enough yelling - here are the winners.



First one -

Lila - at Indigo Pears




And second winner -

is Susan - at SusanSews

Congratulations to both winners - I'm stuffing your packets even as you read this. Send me your mailing address and I'll get them off sometime, hopefully early next week. And Lila - you get first pick - so let me know - kitties or birdies.

And don't forget - the drawing for the quilt and many other prizes is on Sunday. There will be lots more winners - and lots more prizes - stay tuned - and thanks to all of you for visiting for this fun give-away.

A date - you want a date for the embroidery pattern give-away?

Oh right - a date. Well, how about tomorrow afternoon - Thursday - around 4 or so? I completely forgot that we need a date. Silly me.

I've had lots of responses - gonna get that random number generator going and pick someone tomorrow for the two sets of embroidery transfers in the last post - plus there are some other fun things I'm going to add in - just because.

And don't forget - Sunday - July 26 is the drawing for the quilt and all the other donated prizes - watch for that sometime near the evening. We will have Ben all day long - his parents are going to the Seattle Mariners baseball game in Seattle - so we'll have a fun and busy day. I should have Ben click the generator button - he is very good at computer stuff. He'll have a good time at it for sure.

See you tomorrow - and then again on Sunday - good luck to all. It's not to late to leave a comment about the embroidery patterns - have fun!!!!

Ooops - Let's have a little give-away - or two

I just got my package from Colonial Patterns - some new embroidery transfers for the bunches of dish towels I got at the liquidators store the other day. I have been looking everywhere for feed sack dish towels to embroider (without breaking the bank, you know how I LOVE a bargain). There is a store in our town called "Deals Only" - in an old car dealer building, they still have the sign in the window. Cute, huh? Well they sell all sorts of things - dented boxes of cereal (and undented), things that have expired (but still well packaged and who cares if a box of cereal expired last month, it is still sealed and tastes fine), boxes of kitchen gadgets that didn't sell, clothes that are out of season, leftover toys from special sales and lots and lots and lots and lots of other stuff.

Whenever I need something, I go first to Deals Only - because it is likely you will find it there - for about 1/10th the price of new (and you KNOW how I love a bargain). Turkey roasters, brand names, for $19.99, dog dishes for 99 cents, cereal for 1.69 for the small box, 1.99 for the large and if you buy 30 boxes it is 1.50 each, regardless of size (so what did you think that space above the cabinets in the laundry room was for??? Storing cereal of course!!), oh the bargains - I could go on and on.

So I'm there last week and looking in the kitchen section for hooks to attach to the laundry room walls for hanging brooms and mops and such (got them for 1.99 a packet of two) and always on the lookout for flour sack towels, I spy some high up on the peg board. Too high for me - so I grab one of the fishing poles ($9.99 if you are interested) and snag down a package. Three dish towels for $2.99 - Oh I'm in heaven now. They have a lot of packages - maybe 35 or so - so I rush home with my treasure, fling them in the washer and dryer to see if they come out ok - and they did - nice and soft and ready for embroidering. Now I can't wait to get back and get more packages - but I don't have to be in town to pick up Don from his half day of work for another hour. In my mind I see all those packages of dish towels flying out of the store as everyone else discovers my secret - that you can get flour sack dish towels without paying a fortune - out they go - bundles of them - faster than the checkout ladies can keep up - bags full, boxes full - ohhhh they are taking all my dishtowels.

Finally time to leave - I rush down to Deals Only - and there is the pegboard wall - covered with bundles of dish towels - those other ladies don't know what they are missing - they have no idea the fun they could have - the hours of embroidery fun - the joy of drying dishes with a day-of-the-week towel - the thrill of finding such a bargain. So I load up the shopping cart - two packages - four packages - 7 packages - oh well - why not 9 packages of dish towels. The clerk is interested in what I'm going to do with all of them - so I happily tell her - and she says she remembers her grammy having dish towels like that - but she didn't know that anyone still made them. Well I do - and I'm going to have fun fun fun.

Oh - the give-away you say. Well, in my package from Colonial Patterns I found I had ordered TWO of the Day-of-the-Week patterns with Kittens ( Ooops). I know they are cute, but I don't need two packets of them - so one will be the give-away. I'll include some other fun stuff in the give-away - to be announced later - or, to be a surprise for the winner. Maybe some floss, maybe some vintage buttons - we'll just have to see what is around here when I package up the prize.

So how do you win? Let me tell you. Leave a comment on this post about a favorite dishtowel memory, or a favorite dish-drying memory - or any favorite memory about embroidering, who taught you - when you started - you know, that fun stuff we all love to talk about and hear about.

Post a link to this give-away on your blog and let me know and I'llenter your name twice -twice as nice.

If you are looking for embroidery patterns, Colonial Patterns is the best price anywhere. I've seen these transfers on ebay for twice the price, and they aren't even vintage - just patterns like you can get today at Colonial Patterns - so if you can't wait to get started on your project - shop a bit and enjoy saving money too (patterns for the dish towels are about 1.50 a package - can't beat that). And they ship fast too, so you don't have to wait long to get started.

Have fun - and let's hear your favorite memories. - Keep reading!

P.S. - ooops double - I just discovered another pattern that I have duplicates of

Day of the week - Birds of a Feather.

So let's draw two names and have two prize packages. I'm sure that is fine with all of you - I'll start hunting up some fun things to include in these packages - I can already see and angel from vintage hankies, and maybe a crocheted heart pincushion? Anything else you'd like?

If you post a comment you will be entered for both drawings - unless you state that you don't want to be in a specific one - since you already have that pattern. :-)

This is fun - I love give-aways, and I see that I am at 190 posts - hmmmm, another give-away for 200? We'll see.

Vintage Thingee Thursday

I've been wanting to participate in this fun group for a long time - today seems to be the day.

Please stop over at Suzanne's blog - coloradolady.blogspot to find more people sharing their vintage treasures. If you have been reading my blog for a while - you know that I love vintage linens, vintage kitchen things, mostly vintage anything - so this is the perfect spot for me.

I have always loved vintage botanical prints, and I've been planning on buying some for a specific wall in our new house - and look what I found - FREE - a huge selection of Vintage Printables.

Everything from botanicals to animals to vintage clothing to medicine to mythology - oh you must go over and see it for yourselves.

Bird's nests were the first thing I copied to be printed . . .

And from the huge selection of trees, I picked this one and several others . . .

And the flowers - I must limit myself - oh heck, why limit - let's pick more and more and have a great time printing and framing these fabulous vintage botanicals.

Have fun - and enjoy your hours and hours spent looking through all the possibilities on this site - I think I'll go back and look for some fairies.

Don's home - things are good

Well, after what seemed like a long stay in the hospital, but was only 4 days - Don is home with his new pacemaker, feeling good and planning to go back to the office today (with the doctor's permission of course).

The pacemaker was implanted on Monday around noon - they monitored it for 24 hours and he was released. He has restrictions on raising his left hand above his shoulder for a month, and no driving for at least 2 weeks - but that is all. He can do anything else he wants, or feels like doing. While in the hospital the pacemaker only paced two times - it is set for "as needed" and only paces when his heart skips a beat, which apparently is not very often. The pacemaker doesn't do anything if his heart is in good rhythm but is there for such a time as it is needed. It is comforting to know that it is there and ready. The cardiologist says that pacemakers last 15 years or more, depending on how often they pace. We are so happy that this is behind us and he can get on with his healing. We have appointments set up with the cardiologist, the lab and his PCP - which will keep us busy for a little while, but from here on out things should slow down a little and get back to normal.

We can't tell you how much we appreciate the kind thoughts, good vibes, prayers and well wishes that we have received from far and near. They have kept us going and given us strength - thanks ever so much to each one.

And now - back to our regularly scheduled life and blogging - let's get on with quilting and painting and blogging and reading and fun!!!!! Let the party begin!

Oh - one last funny thing. When Don showers for the first week he cannot get the dressing wet that is over the pacemaker site, so the cardiologist said to put Glad Press and Seal over the site - press in onto his skin and then shower. Never thought of Press and Seal as a medical supply - but there you have it - technology in the kitchen! :-)

Just a little glitch

I'm at the hospital - we spent from 11 p.m. last night, to 5 a.m. today in the ER - not our favorite place to be - but they are watchful and helpful when you need them.

Don had a severe lightheaded spell just as we were getting ready for bed last night - almost blacked out but got to a chair and sat down. I took his blood sugar - it was ok - blood pressure was low - took it again - it was super high. Heartbeat was 48 - then 90 - then 61 - then much vomiting (poor guy) so we called the surgeon and he agreed we needed to head up to the ER. When you arrive at ER and say "open heart surgery - lightheaded - low and/or racing pulse, feeling clammy" - you certainly get moved to the front of the line. He was in a room with an EKG hooked up in less than 2 minutes - I like efficiency like that.

He saw the ER doctor and the on-call cardiologist (meanest man in the world, wouldn't listen to us, was shuffling his feet trying to get out the door), had blood work, x-rays, EKG and all sorts of tests. They decided to keep him overnight to monitor his heart, so I went home at 5 and slept until 11:30 - well sort of slept - but mostly was waking up a lot and thinking of Don.

He had a different cardiologist this morning and we really liked him. He explained everything and was very thoughtful and helpful - he could give that other guy lessons. They are going to put in a pacemaker tomorrow, as soon as the coumadin wears off. They gave him vitamin K to speed that along. After the surgery for the pacemaker he will stay in the hospital overnight and then go home on Tuesday. He is resigned to this - and at least we won't have to worry about his heartbeat any more.

Don had driven the car for the first time yesterday - with his surgeon's permission. He said it was a little more work than he had thought - and now it will be at least another two weeks before he can drive again, but that's ok - as long as he is being taken care of.

So that's our story for today - I am at the hospital in the solarium, using the hospital computer - I like this feature - I'm also talking on AIM to my best friend - so that is nice too. I am heading back to Don's room - I'll keep you updated as things progress. Thanks for listening.

Don is back to work part time - Let's have the quilt drawing!!!

Don went back to work on Monday - 3 weeks and 3 days after the open heart surgery. We are astounded at the progress he's made. The surgeon gave him his "go back to work" letter on July 2, and said he could go back any time he felt ready - but only part time, and NO lifting, pushing or pulling. There isn't any of that at his work - and for now he is doing only desk work.

He worked 5 hours on Monday - and 5 1/2 hours on Tuesday - then stayed home on Wednesday to rest up. :-) Today and tomorrow he is only going in for 4 hours each day. He is allowed to drive again on Sunday, June 12 - and he is looking forward to that.

When he went to work on Monday he was grinning like a kid in a candy store as he went into the office - he was so excited to be going back to work. He does love his job!!!! And they have been so wonderful to him during this whole time. Some of his co-workers even donated some of their vacation time to him, as he didn't have enough to cover the whole period he was off work. Great people!!!

So - now to the quilt - let's have the drawing early!! There are about 15 people who are sending in donations that I haven't received yet - so we will wait on those to arrive in the mail - and if you still want a chance to win - let me know right away and I'll put your name in and give you mailing instructions for the donations. We have so many entries - and so many donations - you can never begin to know how generous everyone has been.

Also - some of my blog readers have donated prizes to go along with the quilt that I made. Such generosity - and I've added a few items because there are so many who entered the drawing that I want more winners. Here are the prizes.


The quilt - Grandmother's Flower Garden. This is Don's all-time favorite quilt. I hand pieced it - using the English Paper Piecing method, and it was machine quilted (on her home sewing machine) by my friend Julie, in Idaho. She does amazing things with her quilting.

A table runner - made and donated by Barb . . .

A Moda Jelly Roll - donate by Debi . Don't you just want that so bad?

A Bottle Koozie - made and donated by my good friend Franni. She is the one that kept you updated during Don's hospital stay - a true friend. You can pick from a variety of colors and styles if you win this prize.


A skein of alpaca yarn from Linda - she raises her own yarn. :-) Her yarn is from her own alpacas, and she also spins and dyes the yarn herself - plus running the alpaca farm and giving tours and serving on committees and the city council.

A great big thank you to all that donated - you've been so sweet and helpful. For each donation of a prize I put in 25 more chances for the drawings.

And here are some things I am donating . . .


Three different angels - your choice of colors. These are made from vintage hankies and are great for christmas decorations - as reminders of all the angels around us - or for package decorations.


And three heart shaped, crocheted pincushions. These remind me of all the great and generous hearts out there - so many lovely people. Each winner will get to pick their favorite color.

And so - here's what you've been waiting for - the date.

How about July 22 - a Saturday. That is National Needle and Thread Day - a great day for picking winners, since most of the prizes involve needles and threads.

After the drawing I'll post the winners and if I don't have your mailing address I'll be asking you for it. The prizes I donated will be shipped from here - and the other donaters of prizes have agreed to ship from their homes - to save double shipping - again - such generous people.

So get ready - the drawing is coming - I am so excited to see who will win!!! Aren't you??

My First Quilt - My last Quilt - Summer Parade of Quilts

This is going to be fun - our first quilts and our last quilts - - you can find out more by going to Simplify-Parade of Quilts. There will be lots of fun this summer, looking at everyone's quilts.

My first quilt was made for our first child - a little girl - who is now over 40 - and is Ben's mommy.

I bought the embroidery patterns from an ad in the local newspaper - sending off a quarter in an envelope for the pattern, and hoping that no one would steal my quarter on the way. We lived in Alaska and it took a long time for that pattern to come - but it did get there in time for me to embroider and make the quilt before she was born.

Isn't she just the cutest thing??? Still is!

I sewed the first quilt with invisible thread - and I have no idea why, but it is the truth. What I learned was - Don't sew with invisible thread!!!!

And the most recent quilt I made - interestingly enough - was also for Beccy.

This was made for her massage office - and Ben helped me make it - he spent a lot of time moving pieces around and arranging things - as only a 2 1/2 year old can do.


Some close ups of the panels (seed packets) and the quilting.

And Ben, now 4 1/2 - enjoying the quilt after I got the binding stitched down. It took a long time to get this finished (it took a long adventure to Missouri and back before it finally got quilted) - and then Julie in Idaho quilted it for me - and did such a wonderful job.

Some thrift store fun - and some pink stuff

I've not been to a thrift store or a yard sale for ever so long - but here are some great finds from before Don's surgery. Just haven't had time to share them with you. If I've posted about these before - please just skip this post - and if not - then please enjoy.

These pretty pink appliqued hankies are so dainty. I love vintage linens with this kind of filmy, soft applique and embroidery . . .

And a tiny pink pitcher - this is only about 3 inches tall. I put it on the window sill in the kitchen where it catches the morning sun . . .

I noticed lately that we are using the big kitchen salt and peppers on the table for meals and when I found these cute little crystal shakers I knew I just had to have them - and only 29 cents a pair - now that's a bargain . . .

And a jam pot - with lovely tarnished silver lid. I used another vintage silver spoon from my collection - seems to fit perfectly . . .

And the bargain of the day. . . week . . . month - these prefilled bobbins and little spools of thread. There are 32 of each - such a rainbow of colors. They are great for the Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt I am working on - a thread for every fabric. And the bargain you ask? Well - $1.99 for the whole set - now THAT'S what I call a bargain!!

Good News - the Best News!!!

We just got back from the appointment with the surgeon. Don's heart and lungs sound great - he is doing so well that the surgeon gave him a letter that allows him to go back to work whenever he feels like it - but just part time. Don thinks it will be Monday for a few hours and we'll see how it goes after that. He still isn't allowed to drive - that will come one month after surgery - so I will drive him here and there and everywhere for a while longer - I'm just happy to have him here to drive around (and maybe drive a little crazy :-)

We are shocked and amazed at this good news - and very pleased. Tomorrow is just three weeks since surgery and we had no idea he'd improve this much, this fast. He is walking about 35 minutes a day without tiring, doing light housework chores and feeling fantastic.

We stopped by a favorite lake (which is a city park and has not one house on the shores) and sat for a while and enjoyed the news and the beautiful lake - what a wonderful way to celebrate.

Thanks again to all who sent us good thoughts, prayers, cards and emails - each and every one has been so special and meant so much to us.

Several blogger friends have been asking if the raffle for the quilt is still open - it is indeed. The expenses are going to be quite a bit more than what the insurance told us (of course, so what else is new?) so we are still raising funds and you still have a chance to win the quilt, or a chance at the other great prizes donated by friends around the country - what a great group blogggers are.

Hope your day is as happy as ours!!!!!