Quilt show in Valpo soon!

 

The local quilt guild, String- a- long is having their show on the 27th/28th. I plan on attending Saturday. They have a great vendors market and flea market as well as beautiful quilts displayed.

I've got sunshine!!!!!!

What a beautiful day. I sat on the back deck for 45 minutes just soaking up the sun. With just a sweatshirt on I was leaning against the warm brick house breathing in the scent of the thawing earth and feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. With my eyes closed my mind wandered as the melting snow gently splattered from the roof onto the deck beside me.
 It was a wonderful treat as I sat dreaming up plans for the new back garden, planning a small CQ item for a contest...yes, I said contest. I don't do them anymore but this one was too inviting although the due date is April 1st!!!!
I ran some  early morning errands and  rushed home to enjoy the rest of the day .I didn't accomplish much however I did get the cabinets under my work table in the studio organized and a seam stitched on the CQ. I will stitch all day tomorrow, so no guilt over that.

I have been wanting to share some gifts/cards from sweet friends and I seem to forget until after the computer is turned off so here goes.........

This is a tag gift pouch from my sweet friend Sharon.

The second pic is the front of tag/card.

She tucked some pretty little charms inside. Thank you Sharon!!!! Love them and the pretty card!!!

These pretty  silk ribbon embroidered dragonflies were stitched by another sweet friend, Catherine.

Very pretty colors, Thank you!!! 

I actually attended a NANI meeting on Tuesday evening and my secret sis made this pretty tea towel for me. A Red work design stitched in my favorite dusty purple thread.

This is my first and will inspire me to stitch some for myself which I have been meaning to do. Wouldn't it be sweet to have the whole collection? Something to work on!

Whoever you are, thank you, I love it!!!!

Every time I want to ship off a surprise, I have to rummage through a drawer of torn labels, jotted names and notes, and old envelopes for an address. Just laziness on my part. Sooooo.....I decided to get my address's in one place and I bought a Rolodex.

I have gathered all the jotted down names and torn labels I could find and placed them safely in one spot. Which made me think of an idea....If you are reading this post and want your name added to the Rolodex for a future surprise drawing from the ole Rolodex, email your address to me at angell100@comcast.net  and I will make a note on your card that you are an online friend.....you never know when I am in the mood to send out a giftie or two! For those who know me already, if you don't think I have your address, please email it to me. I want them all at my fingertips, and don't worry, I would never give out your address to anyone. International viewers welcome!!!!

Lastly I want to share some beautiful papers I found at Michael's. 

 I don't know what I will do with them but they are so pretty. They are lightly glittered. Any suggestions?
Alright, I must work on the little contest piece so I am outta here. Have a great evening!

P.S.
The cricut is resting peacefully....I got a paper cut last night so I decided to set it aside until it heals....LOL.
Only kidding, I bought more paper today and markers....it draws too, and cuts fabric!!!! Oh the ideas I have swimming in my little brain. However I must pace myself or all Jilly will have when she returns is a smoking glob of plastic with wires hanging out!

I'm in LOVE

OMG! Jilly is leaving for California for a couple of weeks and she dropped off her Cricut machine this morning for me to play with. I had mentioned that I may want to buy one and now I was getting to try it first.I love this little thing........

What was life like a couple of hours ago? I have no idea....this is A-Mazing! These are on sale at Joann fabrics this week for $249.99. Hmmmmm I may see what is up in eBay first.....

 

Naturally she has a million cartridges to play with.

These are so adorable....birds...children holding birds...fairies....hands...tags...oh geez!

Sorry Jilly...I lost it while cleaning.......the dog ate it.....we had a burglar sometime between this morning and now and they only took the Cricut machine.
Seriously, this is the most fun I have had since?????? I have to get one now. It won;t be the pretty pink model but I have to have one. I'm off to eBay.......................
I just nabbed one for $168!!!!! How cool is that?  Now I can make tags galore....and cards..oh my! Watch out blogland friends...I'll have to make up holidays just to send cards :-)
Will this mean the end of crazy quilting for me????? Yikes!

Ivory Ann sure can pack a box!

What a fun surprise I just received in my mail box. A surprise box from my dear friend Ivory Ann. When I opened the box and saw many layers I knew I must grab the camera. First I found two beautiful cards, one wishing me a happy 50th YEAR! What a sweet idea! She is right, I must celebrate my entire year of being 50! It is something to be celebrated!!!!

Oh my! Where do I begin?

Out came a little tissue packet with a vintage collar with tatted edging..so beautiful! A porcelain brooch and beautiful pale aqua beads for play.

What's this? A velvet jewelry bag filled with delightful tokens. Charms, beautiful dragonfly pendant and a sweet pair of silver earrings with hearts and anchor....

I know Ivory Ann had my dad in mind and my beach walks along Lake Michigan when she tucked these in the box. I will wear these during my mermaid tear jaunts with mom and to all my outings to MI. I love them!
Next I unwrapped this adorable garden wind chime with dragonflies. Oh Spring hurry up and arrive!!!

 

What do we have here? A Capodimonte porcelain piece to hang in my tea room. How beautiful! 

 

How pretty it is upon the vintage embroidered doily.

 

I'm not done just yet......

Some after wine mints and a purple wrapped chocolate bar must have fallen in the box. Yum! These will go on my bath tray for later enjoyment. 

Look at this treasure trove! I am way too spoiled and certainly not deserving of such gifts and attention. I won't be able to stand myself! Thank you Ivory Ann. I am truly touched by your thoughtfulness .

I haven't even shared last weeks treats from some very sweet friends as time got away from me.

Lelia made some adorable tatted butterflies and tucked them in a beautiful card. I took a picture of them but can't locate them at the moment????

So, here is a coupon for those who frequent Hobby Lobby. Have a great evening!

Where did the CQ lesson go????

If you were surprised to see the CQ lessons have disappeared from this blog, no worries. I just made a blog dedicated to the CQ wall hanging so updates would not be lost here on my daily blog. You may find it here however pay no attention to the presentation just yet. It is brand new and needs work. I added the new additions and will be adding a heat transfer tutorial next. Please follow if you like.