Y’All are the greatest!

I’ve landed safely back on earth after floating amongst the clouds for the past week since receiving my ‘comfort quilts’ from Allie and her world-wide posse.  *wink*

They’ve certainly come in handy over the past couple of evenings when the thermometer dipped to almost freezing overnight here in paradise.  My heartfelt thanks again to everyone for thinking about me during these stressful times.

The gal who delivers our mail has been busy lately.  Allow me to share with you some of the many gifts that have found their way here from across the world…literally!

I received some wonderful goodies from Linda who lives in France.

Can you spot the little thimble on the shelf in my studio pictured below?   I’ve tried to highlight it for you.

It is a wooden thimble with a carved replica of the chateau in the town where Linda resides.  How cool is that?

Doesn’t it look right at home with the rest of my sewing memorabilia?

Also included in the package was a sachet that Linda made filled with French lavender which I hung from the door handle to the storage area under the dormer, also in my studio.

Every time I enter, the heavenly aroma of lavender fills the air.

Thank you again, Linda for your wonderful gifts.

You all seem to know me so well.

Stephanie sent me a teeny-tiny pieced log cabin key chain, a Civil War charm pack with 21/2” squares, a hexagon template from Miller’s, a well-known quilt shop in Ohio Amish country and a pattern with three hens representing Rhoda, Ruby and Roxanne…our Rhode Island Red hens…of course!

Perhaps I’ll make a mini quilt using this pattern and allow the ladies to share it in their coop over the winter.  *wink*

Stephanie’s message says it all.  Thanks again, my friend.

My friend Edie (no blog) and I connected quite a while ago and she too knows me very well.  I was so excited when I received this package from her because I just knew it too had to be something wonderful.

I certainly was NOT disappointed!

Don’t you just love this hand made pincushion made from from the softest wool imaginable?  And the pumpkin design?  It doesn’t get much better than this!

You’ve made my heart sing again, Edie.  ♥ ♥ ♥

When this surprise arrived, I was completely taken aback.  Ady from Israel (no blog) knows that I ♥ needle cases. 

The needle case was made using Indonesian batiks which are simply gorgeous. Now I just have to figure out what to make from the fabric samples that Ady included…and it has to be something special, that’s for sure!

Thanks again, Ady!

A short while ago, Kathie was giving away a copy of the “Sew Scrappy” magazine.   I had searched for a copy on our local newsstands but I couldn’t find one anywhere.  How fortunate was I to be chosen as the L-U-C-K-Y winner?

I already congratulated Kathie for making the cover…yep, that’s her scrappy hourglass quilt happily staring back at us…and I’ve decided that my next quilting endeavor is also going to be a scrappy hourglass quilt.

Thanks for the ‘inspiration’, Kathie. (Kathie’s blog is called, “Inspired by Antique Quilts.”)

Slowly but surely I am making progress on my ‘hit-and-miss’ hooked rug.  I’ve only been working on it at our Tuesday hook-ins and haven’t worked on it at all at home.  

So many projects and so little time! 

I’ve always been an early riser but take a guess at what I was doing at 6:00 this morning? 

Doesn’t everyone make chicken soup at that time? 

By 7:37 a.m. (see the clock on the stove?), lunch was ready.

Can you guess what Mr. Painted Quilt had for breakfast?

You guessed it!    (If he reads this he is going to kill me.)

But I put my foot down when it came to Stephanie’s Sour Cream Apple Squares.  I told him that he had to wait at least until lunch time before diving into these.

And just to tease you a little, isn’t this Victorian Christmas toile fabric awesome?  This is the back of my next FFF (First Friday Freebie) which will be released next Friday, the 4th of November.

Now that lunch and dessert are made, you know what I’ll be working on this afternoon.  Next Friday will be here before we know it.

Have a wonderful day!