Dare To Dresden Hop and Giveaway!

Welcome to Day 4 of the Dare To Dresden Hop!

For this hop I decided to make 

a MUCH needed new ironing board cover.

I made three 6" Dresdens 

and embroidered "wash" "press" "repeat"

in the centers :)

I used my old stained nasty  gently used cover

as the pattern.

Taking that sucker apart took way longer

than making the new one :)

Making Dresdens is totally FTS, (fun to sew)

but attaching them by hand is not my favorite thing.

I do love the final result,

so I guess it's worth it in the end. 

I'm one of the strange few that actually enjoys ironing

so this new cover just makes me happy :)

Now....on to the giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive

3 fat quarters of  Cotton Blossoms by Bonnie & Camille

and the Ruffle Potholder pattern by Sweetwater!

Anybody want this?

For your chance to win just leave me a comment

and tell me what crafty goodness you would work on

if time and money were no object.

You don't have to be a follower to enter,

but if you are....

leave a SEPERATE comment letting me know

for a second chance to win.

You have until Sunday Feb 3rd to enter.

Winner will be announced Monday Feb 4th.

Easy peasy :)

Don't forget to check out all the other

crafty bloggers showing their lovely Dresdens today!

A Peach in Stitches

Nancy W @ “that Other Blog”

L3 Designs

Bungalow Bay Quilts

Quilted Delights

Quilt Crossing

Lixie Makes it

A Quilting Sheep

Charlotte's Creations

Quilt-n-Queen
Domesticity and Other Ponderous Things

A Quilt and a Prayer

Amanda Murphy Design

Little Mushroom Cap
Kathy's Quilts

Sandra Kaye Design

So.....Whatcha doin?

I feel like I haven't had much time to blog lately.

But I'm not complaining.

Just the opposite.

I am thankful to have been busy :)

Today I had some time to play a bit.

I made this apron and listed it.

I do love me some cherries!

And here are 3 of the 6 new project bags in the shop.

I just realized when I posted these pics

that they are all fruit themed....

hmmm  I must have been feelin' fruity!

And last but not least

I'm working on a new project that involves

Christmas fabrics.

Yes.....in January :)

I'll show you more in a day or two.

So.....What have YOU been doin?

Welcome and A Giveaway!

Today I'm taking part in the Grow Your Blog Hop :)

If you are new here

I'd love to welcome you!

We are supposed to tell a bit about ourselves,

so here goes.....

That's me in the middle of the photo above.

My handsome hubby of almost 33 years,

our children and our 6 grands 

are the jelly in my donuts....

They certainly make my life sweet!

I started this blog in January of 2009.

To be honest, I started the blog

just so that I could take part in an apron swap :)

I also thought it would be a fun record

for my grandchildren someday

to know what their Nana did with her time.

I know that I would have loved to get a glimpse

of my Oma's daily life.

I certainly NEVER thought that anyone

other than family would care what I wrote about.

This blog has changed my life in ways 

I could never have imagined.

I have made the most wonderful friends

and I continue to meet more!

I have re-kindled my love for sewing

and even opened an Etsy shop.

I try to share what I've learned growing up 

with a professional seamstress for a Mom.

I was literally covered in thread

from the time I could walk!

I had my first full sized Singer when I was 8.

(and I still own it!)

My Oma taught me to embroider when I was 10.

And I started Cross Stitch about 3 years ago

and I've been hooked ever since.

I tried to knit once,

but it was a dark experience that I don't like to talk about......

So look around,

check out a tutorial or two

and don't hesitate to say "Hello"!

Your comments are the highlight of my day!

OK...enough about me..

on to the Give-away!

Anyone interested in a pair of mug rugs?

Some bright and happy toasters

to start your day?

A lovely spot to park your coffee or tea

and plenty of room for some cookies 

or perhaps a piece of chocolate (or both?)

Alrighty then,

all you need to do is leave a comment.

You don't have to be a follower 

but if you are please leave a separate comment

telling me that you are for a second chance to win.

You have until Feb 1st to enter!

Click on the "Grow Your Blog" button on the right sidebar

to see a list of all the blogs offering 

fun giveaways today too!

Good luck everyone!!!

A Quick Tip.....

Since I've been busy making project bags

that means I've also been cutting out 

lots of wool felt hearts.

I use them for the zipper pulls.

I like to add a bit of fun to them.

So this is a quick little tip I learned

from the awesome website WeeFolkArt.com

Talk about a plethora of wool felt info

and cool free patterns!!!

Anyhoo......I learned that when 

you need to cut small items out of felt

you don't' want to use pins.

It distorts the felt and with some tiny pieces

it would be impossible to do anyways.

You just tape your pattern down with packing tape!

It's seriously genius!

The tape holds the pattern piece down

and when you are done cutting,

your felt just falls away because the pattern 

shielded it from the sticky tape.

AND the more you use your patterns

the sturdier they become 

from all the layers of tape.

Cool right?

So here is a peek at yesterday's sewing :)

Annie is holding a spool of thread.

How cute is that?

And the Winner Is.......

And the winner is:

Susan who wrote:

"Thanks for a wonderful post and a really cute give-away. I would use this beside my chair in the family room where I do my hand sewing. Thanks for sharing your creativity!"

Congratulations Susan! 

Hop on over to my Etsy shop 

and let me know which mug organizer 

you would like to have. 

And for those of you who didn't win this time....

come back here on Saturday the 19th

for another fun give-away!!!

Happy Wednesday!

Sorry I haven't posted much in the last few days,

but I've been filling orders for sheep bags and organizers.

I feel so blessed that there are people willing

to pay good money for items I make.

I am thankful.

God is good :)

Yesterday I made this fun organizer

 to match the project bag I sold last week.

The lovely woman who purchased the bag 

wanted a matching organizer.

I just really love the colors together :)

OH.......

And don't forget to check back here tomorrow

to find out who the winner is of  the

 "In Your Words" giveaway!

You still have until midnight tonight to enter.

If you don't win,

don't worry!

 I'm hosting 2 more giveaways this month!

One on the 19th

and another one on the 29th

so check back to see what's up for grabs!

A New Tradition :)

Every year for Christmas 

for as long as I can remember

someone buys a jigsaw puzzle for my Mom.

We all check with each other 

to make sure that someone has it covered.

It has to be difficult and at least 5000 pcs.

It's a given,

we all know it.

It's a tradition.

She always lets us know 

when she has it completed.

This year at Christmas I was thinking to myself,

that my favorite Christmas gifts

since I was a child 

were the ones that I could "make".

I'd start on Christmas day

and get right to work :)

And I thought that I would start my own tradition.

I was going to start a cross stitch project

on Dec 25th each year.

Imagine my delight when I rec'd THREE

new charts this year!

I hadn't mentioned my plans to anyone!!!

So this is the one I chose to start my new tradition.

It's called "Magic Garden Samler" by Shakespeare's Peddler.

I finished it last night

so it took me 18 evenings of stitching.

Actually a bit less because there were a few nights

that I didn't get to stitch.

I changed out the colors a bit.

I just couldn't stitch a pale purple watermelon,

or a pink snail or purple carrot.

I'm going to make this into a pillow for my living room sofa.

Do you have any crafty Christmas traditions?