It's For the Birds Giveaway Winner

I have chosen a winner for my little bird pincushion giveaway.  It was part of my It's For The Birds Blog Hop post.  Random.org picked number 51 and Sandra is the winner.
Sandra said -
Both of your projects are so cute. Take your time with machine quilting and it will be beautiful.

Thank you Sandra, I will try to be patient and enjoy the process.

I received many kind comments and had great fun with this blog hop. 

  

I was up early and have already completed a project this morning, I will be giving the pillow I created as a gift so I will have to share it later.

Have a great Saturday! 

Peonies and Popsicles

I love these deep rose, almost red peonies.  When my grandmother moved from the house she had lived in for about 60 years my sisters and I took a little bit of the peony plant she loved.  It had been growing on the side of her house since before she moved in.  It flowers early so with the weather here the flowers are often beat down by the rain before we get the chance to bring any inside.    Look what I cut this afternoon!

One of my favorite flowers.

I have a fun quilt block to share with you.  Jennifer at Ellison Lane is having a paper piecing Summer Sampler (mini) Sew Along.

 Here is the first block.  It is amazing to me what you can make with a paper piecing pattern.  Visit Ellison Lane and join in.

Crazy weather here lately, sun, rain, thunder and lightning, hail, strong winds, changing every few minutes.  I see the sun today so I am going to get a quick walk in on my lunch break.  It will have to be  a short one because I only have 10 minutes left.  Think of your many blessings wherever you are.

Don't forget the It's For The Birds blog hop!  There is a link on my sidebar too.

It's For the Birds Blog Hop

I signed up right away when I heard about the It's For the Birds Blog Hop.  I have had a project in mind for some time and this was the motivation I needed to get it done.  I had a bird pattern designed by Bari J and I knew how I wanted to use it.   I set the materials aside but just didn't seem to get going on it.  Thank you Mdme Samm and Mary for this blog hop and for the motivation I needed.

I made this quilt top using a "Botany" jelly roll and machine appliqued the bird's using Bari's design.  I enlarged the pattern a couple of times to make it look as though the birds are flying off into the sunset or maybe the sunrise.

I plan to try quilting this quilt myself using some of my decorative stitches on my machine and some of the bright colored Aurifil thread I used to applique the birds.  Machine quilting is new for me so it will probably be a slow process and I did not expect to complete that part of the project before the hop.

The bright colors in this quilt top are not what I usually use but I will be using more fun colors in the future.

In a post I wrote a few days ago I mentioned a book I bought recently called Redwork With A Twist by Pat Sloan and right away I spotted a bird project I just had to make for this hop.  I used scraps of French General fabrics to make this fun pincushion, it is about 7 inch square.

I will choose a winner, using Random.org,  from all of the comments when the hop is over and this little bird pincushion can fly to a new home.

I hope you are enjoying the hop.  Visit all of the blogs on the list below to see what the other birds are out there.  Have fun!

Linking to Pat Sloan's Show and Tell

Thursday, May 9

http://englating.se/wp

http://lauraluvsloons.blogspot.com

http://marjoriesbusycorner.blogspot.ca

http://ruffhaven.blogspot.com

www.pigtalesandquilts.com

http://debbykratovilquilts.blogspot.com

http://why-knot-kwilt.blogspot.com

http://beaquilter.com

http://gwenbru.blogspot.com

http://pccrafty.blogspot.com

http://pumpkinpatchquilter.blogspot.com

http://sherry-blessingsfromournest.blogspot.com

http://zellerwear.blogspot.com

http://crafting365days.blogspot.com.au

http://charlottescreationsanew.blogspot.com

http://Janesquilting.blogspot.com

http://Ipiece2-Mary.blogspot.com   Robin Sheaffer

The Lilacs Are Blooming

 I picked a bouquet of lilacs from my garden and thought I would share them with you. 

 They smell wonderful, I wish there was a way to share that part of the blessing with you

Beautiful lilacs, one of the many blessing of springtime.

My Kind of Shopping

I had a birthday last month and received so many fun and thoughtful gifts from friends and family.  One of my gifts was a gift card from JoAnn Fabrics, thank you Becky.  So off I went to do some fun shopping. 

I knew I needed some new small pins, mine seem to just disappear, vanish, poof they are gone.  The Cottage and Bungalows magazine has an article and featuring Anne Lory from the blog Fiona and Twig and I had been looking for a copy.  I was told that a Rotating Cutting Mat would help with my blocks for the sew-along I am doing with Melanie at Fabric Chicks.  I will share my blocks soon.  I was excited to find the book Redwork with a Twist by Pat Sloan.  I have already completed a project from the book, I'll share it with you Thursday on my "Its for the Birds" blog hop post.

I hope you had a good weekend.  

Whatever the week ahead brings I want to start and end each day with a thankful heart.

Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood

I spent a good part of the day working on the bookmobile.  It was a beautiful sunny day and many people came to visit us and found fun things to check out.  I always enjoy busy bookmobile stops.

When I got home I took a little tour of the yard to see what was blooming.  Here are a few of the pretties I found.

The pretty below was made by me.

This block is the second block completed for my Flower Garden Quilt, ten more to go.  The description of this quilt says, take a moment to stop and smell the roses in our beautiful Flower Garden Quilt.  I am going to try to take that literally and keep checking on our gardens and stop and smell whatever is blooming.

We have a new addition to our back yard.  It is a tree person.  He was a birthday gift from my sister Michele, I think he's great.   I will wait to see if the grandchildren notice him when they come to visit tomorrow.

My sweet husband just brought home some yummy teriyaki chicken from our favorite place in town, gotta go now.

Happy Saturday!

My New Duvet Cover

I have focused on sewing and not done much decorating or thrifting lately so I thought it would be fun to join 

Thrifty Things Friday at the Thrifty Groove this week.

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On a fairly recent stop at Value Village I found something that I consider a great find.  I have been planning to make a few changes in our guest room upstairs.  I wasn't really sure what direction I would go with it but now I know.  I found this duvet cover and king size pillow shams for a total cost of $15.00. 

The bed is full sized so the cover hangs down the side of the bed

I have to purchase a couple of king size pillows for the shams

I am using it as a bed spread without a duvet inside right now.

The tag say Ralph Lauren and the other tag says dry clean only but I just tossed it in the washing machine and it came out fine.

Those who know me know that this type of fabric is perfect for me.  I had considered changing the room to look a little more modern but after finding this set for $15.00 I have other ideas.  I hope to share a transformed room with you soon.

Linking with Thrifty Thing Friday at the Thrifty Groove