Cute, cute, cute!

That is about all that needs to be said about these sweet little Sint motifs! I just cannot believe that a piece of wrapping paper is leading to a fun new project. I worked on the motifs over the weekend at Cranberry Cottage. We finally were able to go up there after missing three weekends in a row due to working on our new floor. You can catch a glimpse of it here and my next few sets of coasters will also be given away on that blog this week.

I am finishing a last motif which is not on the wrapping paper (more about that soon) and I will be starting on the finish. That sounds funny, doesn't it? Starting a finish. I hope to share it with you this week.

Being away this weekend was great for a couple of reasons...

...I could forget the boxes
....We got to go to our favorite restaurant again which was delicious
.....Enjoyed a wood fire and stitching
......I could forget that tomorrow I have to go to the oral surgeon...UUGGHH!


The winners of this round's giveaway are Martine and Corry. Can you both please email me with your address so I can get your coasters in the mail to you this week?

Thanks to all who tried again this week for the giveaway. I am going to make two new sets to give away by the end of the week so try again then. And in the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for me with this infected tooth???

It's all Sonja's fault.....

...that I am sitting here tonight feverishly working on a new project. Yes, Annemarie and Harmien would be proud of my sudden case of startitis.

So what does this farmer's handkerchief shopping bag have to do with this blog entry you ask? Everything! On Monday, it was our lace afternoon which ended up being just Sonja and I. It is not very often that we are actually doing bobbinlace anymore as we stitch mostly. I arrived at Sonja's with a little gift for her and she had a gift for me on the table too. It was this shopper from my favorite TV show 'Boer Zoekt Vrouw' which is adapted from the British show 'Farmer Wants A Wife'.

The wrapping paper ended up being a gift she had not even expected. I loved it the minute I saw it and as normal my brains fired up with an idea right then and there. Look closely at the paper and you will see that it is cross stitched design.

So.....as I do.....I grabbed my needle and thread and some leftover cloth and look what happened. Isn't Sint just a cute little guy? There are four designs on the wrapping paper - Sint, Piet, schimmel (Sint's horse) and a gift. I have 3 more to stitch and then have an idea of what to do with them. But I will save that surprise for another day...

Surprise? That is exactly what I would love to do so here are the next two sets of coasters that you can win. Just leave a comment on this post and I will be drawing names in a couple of days once again. This is set 1...

...and this is set 2. Remember that if you do not have a blog, you must leave me an email address or email me as well as comment in order to be entered. I want to be sure I can contact the winners.

Good luck to you all!

And the winners are.....

I have been behind the sewing machine again. My mother was telling me that I was making the coasters too fancy and formal and she did not like that for herself. So my mother, spoiled as she is (grins), gets a set all her own. I pulled out some fabrics that I thought she would like and got to work again. So now she cannot say I am making them too fancy now can she? They are already in the mail on their way to you mother and maybe they will arrive in time for your annual snowman avalanche. For those who don't read my mother's blog, she throws her huge collection of snowmen down her attic steps each year and yells...AVALANCHE!


I used the random number generator online and the following three ladies are this week's winners...

Set 1 goes to Ginny (Couldn't find you blog Ginny)

Set 2 goes to Anneke

Set 3 goes to Mary at Quilt Hollow

Please go to my profile page and send me an email with your address so I can drop your set of coaster in the mail for each of you. Congratulations on winning and good luck to others for the next drawing which will be very soon.

Stashbusting giveaways!

And boy am I ever trying to do some major stashbusting! Today starts an ongoing giveaway as we approach the holidays. I will be drawing names weekly to win a set of four coasters. With this idea, I thought I could achieve two things. First, my stash of fabric would be reduced drastically but so far it has hardly made a dent. *wink* And last, I could spread a little holiday cheer by playing elf at the same time. So I opened Santa's workshop and did overtime with rotary cutter and sewing machine.

I won't repeat the story of why I need to reduce my stash as you can read it on my other blog here and here. You can enter the giveaway on both of the blogs.

I will show the coasters each week and allow you to choose if you want to enter the drawing for a specific set or all of them. Just leave me a comment on this post along with the sets you would like to win. If you like them all then please tell me to enter you for all three drawings.

I will pick a winner in a couple of days. I gave away a few of these sets last year on my blog. If you won last year, you can still try again for another set this year. You can enter each week if you like, even if you have won. Since you get a set of four, you will have a larger set if you win a second time. I just love the idea of giving this year!

If you do not have a blog then you must leave me your email address in order to enter. If you do not want to leave it on a comment, please go to my profile page where you can email me.


Set 1 is red and black poinsettias fabric combines with green leaves and a gold backing fabric.

Set 2 is burgundy fabric combines with a green floral and dark green backing fabric.

Set 3 is multi colored leafy fabric combined with dark green and a blue pinecone backing fabric.

Good luck to you all!

Primitive ornaments SAL - Sleigh Rides 25 cents

Here we are at the 12th primitive ornament. I had planned on an exact dozen ornaments when I started this and a year has passed so quickly. I am going to design one more for next month to make it a baker's dozen.

As thoughts start to turn to the winter season, I enjoyed creating this sign for our next ornament - Sleigh Rides 25 cents. Can't you just hear the sleigh bells jingling? If you want a little inspiration, put on your speakers and listen along...


To print the chart, simply click to enlarge and either copy to an email or Word.


And finally, a couple of photos of the previous ornaments sent in by Letty.....

And Christine.....

Are you a Prairie Schooler fan?

About five years ago, Jos surprised me with these birds mugs from Emma Bridgewater. I just love them. They are quite expensive though and the prices seemed to be getting higher lately.


I saw this pumpkin sponged stamped mug and feel in love with it immediately. So I bought it and decided the more I loved this more primitive look. So I started looking to see what other designs Emma Bridgewater made using the sponge painted look.

It was then that I came across this adorable spongeware squirrel mug by a company called Brixton Pottery. These small mugs are not as expensive and all so unique. I ordered it and started looking around for more.

In my search, I discovered a shop up north in the village of Havelte. I ordered more mugs which were delivered very well packaged and quickly to my front door. This shop is not all too far from Cranberry Cottage so I decided I wanted to go to the shop and see it. It is wonderful and the owners, Lejo and Christy, are such warm and welcoming shopowners. I have been back a couple of times now and cannot wait to go see it now decorated for Christmas. They have a webshop which you can see here.

As you see, my collection has grown to seven small mugs so far. It is great fun to me to add a mug to the collection every now and then.

By now, you must be wondering about the title of this post? Well, I pulled a couple of my Prairie Schooler charts because one of the fun things about these mugs is how much they resemble them. If you are a Prairie Schooler fan, I am sure you would love them.

Here is where I sit to blog with my little teapot on hand. I am taking a break from my quilt studio. I spent most of this week there sewing something for a giveaway coming next week on my blog. I hope you will stop by then. I am giving away something in large numbers to wish all my friends in blogland a very Merry Christmas. Did I peek your curiosity? I hope so. That is one of the specials things about Christmas...the fun of the anticipation.

In the meantime, on the 15th of the month, my next primitive ornament free chart will be published here on the blog. I hope you will join me for that one too.....

Itchin' to be stitchin'

Due to another complication with my thyroid condition, that is me. Itchin' to be stitchin' and I do mean literally. *grins* So while I keep my mind occupied, yet another UFO is moving along at a fast pace. I now have the top half of my Noah's Ark stitchery quilt put together. I am using my quilt group's theme of charm quilts to put this together. I have a scrapbox of strips of leftovers and am using a different fabric for each 'log' around the stitchery.


Some of you do read both of my blogs but I thought I would update you on my condition on this blog too. More test results are back and we know a little more about my breathing problems but first...

I had to see a neurologist as my endocrinologist wanted me to see him since she thought I have carpal tunnel in both hands. After an hour and half of examinations, he told me that it was not carpal tunnel. I had expected that as I have pain in both my hands and my feet. I also have major itching all over my body. I have generally not been feeling like I have control again which was how I felt back in April before my thyroid stopped working. He told me that I have a rare side effect from Hashimoto's disease. Pain is common but the itching is from the antibodies my body is producing attacking the small nerves around my entire body. I have had my deeper tissue tested with an EMG and the neurologist who did this test said it looked okay so it is definitely my thyroid.

I then saw the endocrinologist again and she told me that I do have Hashimoto's disease and that my thyroid levels are rising once again. She increased my dosage of medicine again. That explains why I have felt like my body was out of control again and also becoming very cold. Poor Jos has had to put up with me turning the heat up. He keeps wrapping me up in blankets so he can turn it back down.

Good news for two things. My neck has reduced by one full centimeter since I had the radioactive therapy. Woohoo!

I also have two asthma medications I take now as I have a chronic airways infection that are really working well. I can even take walks again without coughing and gasping for air. Bad news is we now know the reason for this infection is I have dust mite allergy. Total disaster for a quilter!!! And boy do I own stash. I have no idea how I can fix this problem as I love having the choice to start a project five minutes after I feel inspired since I have the shop in my house to choose from. *wink* I now know I have to continue on my stash diet and work down the amounts of stash a bit.


During the day, I keep myself very busy with my stitching and quilting to get my mind of the itching. I called the hospital and will be able to talk to the specialist again on Monday. I hope she has found something that can help. In the meantime, this is all very good for my UFO stack and this second one I had as a goal to be finished before the end of the year should be done in another two weeks instead. There are four more blocks to stitch. I just love how this is coming out. The little animals in each of the blocks are so adorable.

Are you working on any UFO goals now that we are in the last few months of the year?