GIVEAWAY!

Chronicle Books, the publishers of Whip Up Mini Quilts by Kathreen Ricketson, has been kind enough to offer a free copy of this lovely new book to one of my blog readers! Just leave a comment in the comment section and make sure that I have a way of contacting you should you win.

Only one comment per person, please. Contest is open till Sunday, May 9th midnight. I will announce the winner on Monday. Good Luck!

For more info on this great book, or to see my mini quilt contribution, please see my post below.

Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Quilts, BABY! Giveaway! I loved reading all of your comments on what your most prized childhood possession was. Lots brought back memories, such as "Chatty Cathy", (which for you who were born after the 60's was a rather tall doll that came with tiny records which you stuck into her side, making her talk. My sister had one, and we'd play with her for hours!) Some were funny, such as "my thumb"... I love the simplicity in that one! And many others were just very, very sweet.

Cheryl of Naptime Quilter was the randomly picked lucky winner. Congratulations Cheryl! I with be contacting you today for your address and passing on your shipping info to Lark Books who were the sponsors of this giveaway.

Alfred's School Photo

ALFRED - (Old English for "Wise Counsel"):


Articulate and responsible.
Worries about injustice.
Enjoys solving puzzles.
Wants to be a social worker.



Alfred is currently available in my Silly BooDillyshop along with some of his other stitched School Photos classmates

If you haven't already, be sure to enter my Giveaway for a free copy of Quilts, BABY! The Giveaway is open until 11pm Sunday night and I will be announcing the winner Monday the 25th. Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Note: Giveaway is now closed!

Henry and Matilda

Here are the next two pieces in my School Photo series...

HENRY - (Old German for "Ruler of the Estate"):


Serious and quiet.
Dislikes piano lessons.
Wants to be an architect.
Loves his dog with all his heart.



MATILDA - (Old German for "Mighty Battlemaid"):



Enjoys eating blueberries.
Daydreams while listening to Billie Holiday.
Wants to be a microbiologist.
Often can't sleep due to concerns over why honey bees are mysteriously dying.


Each School Photo piece is stitched on the machine, free-motion style using Premium Sulky 30 wt. cotton black thread. I make them up as I go along. I like the surprise of watching them develop... their faces and their personalities emerge and make me smile... I'll be showing more school photos and sharing more of the process in my next post.

Hey! If you haven't already, don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY and win a free copy of Quilts, BABY! from Lark Books!

GIVEAWAY and New Work!

Hi Everyone! My goodness, those two weeks went by quick! I'd love to say that I feel all pulled together now, but I see clearly that it would take more then a mere two week blog break to do that. I now think it would take a full time maid, cook, accountant, masseuse and pool boy to do that. (And the funny thing is I don't even have a pool!) But I am feeling a wee bit more on track and I'm am happy to be back! I am kicking things off with a look at some new work and a GIVEAWAY! (And who doesn't love a giveaway!) We'll start things off with the new work:


This is Petula. She is part of a series of 10 small stitched, painted and stuffed works based on those little school photos we have all had.

Here's a little bit about her...


PETULA - (Latin for "Searcher"):

Gentle and soft spoken.
Reads Aristotle and Plato.
Wants to study art and philosophy.
Worries about ant hills flooding in the rain.


Petula is available in my shop, along with a few others that I've listed. There's more to come and I'll be listing the rest soon, and sharing all from this series over the next several posts, but right now I am anxious to let you all know about the GIVEAWAY!!!!


The kind folks over at Lark Books have offered one of my blog readers a free copy of their new Quilts, BABY! book! Yippee!!

As I have said before this is a fabulous book to have for anyone who likes to sew. Even if I weren't in it, (but I am so happy that I am!) I'd still want a copy because it is filled with such talented artists, many of whom you will recognize, and the projects are all wonderfully creative and would be great whether you have a baby in your life or not! All you have to do is leave a comment, and just for fun you can tell me what your most cherished childhood possession was. (Mine was a stuffed pink and white bunny, which I still have and still cherish!) The giveaway will be open all week. One comment per person please! (And make sure I have a way of contacting you!) I will be randomly picking a winner Sunday night and posting who the lucky duck is next Monday morning. Good Luck!

Note: Giveaway is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered!

2009 Collage Calendar Giveaway!

Happy October 1st Everyone!
Great to be back after my mini blog break! Hope you all have been well, and your money is tucked safe and sound under your mattresses! But we won't get into politics right now, as I would much rather focus on happier things, such as sharing with you the new 2009 Collage calendar from Amber Lotus Publishing, which I am thrilled to be a part of, and to offer one lucky winner a free copy in my GIVEAWAY! Yay!


Above is the cover for COLLAGE: Artplay for your Creative Spirit. The cover artwork was done by Karyn Gartel, and the inside is graced by an amazing line up of artistic talent! I am so tickled and honored to be included, as I greatly admire all of the artists in this calendar!

So how did I happen to wind up here? Well, last year I was contacted by Lunaea Weatherstone who was the force behind gathering all of the artists for this project and who also wrote words of inspiration to go along with each months artwork, helping to inspire and spark the viewers own creativity. She asked me if I would be interested in being one of the collage artists featured in this 2009 calendar, (um....YES!) My job in this was made easy as pumpkin pie, as Lunaea already knew what piece of mine she would like to use, having seen it earlier in Somerset Studio. So off my piece flew for the second time to California, for another photo shoot. (I think I have said this before, but I will say it again, my artwork leads a much more exciting life then I do!)


This is my piece above, (I am the month of March, which is great since that's my birth month!) It's titled "Best Wishes for Planet Earth". I made it the day after I watched Al Gore's "An Inconvient Truth", (which I hope you all have seen!) I needed a place to channel some of my emotions, and this was the result.


I made the frame from foam core, tissue paper, and paint. Vintage ephemera, lace, buttons, plus seed pods and sticks collected from my garden were used to compose the piece, and communicate my feelings of fear, and love and hope for our dear and fragile earth.

Below are little snippets taken from each of the 12 art pieces featured in the calender, beginning with January's. The artists, (and links to them) are credited below each piece:


DJ Pettitt


Sarah Fishburn


Victoria Gertenbach, (Yours truly!)


Teesha Moore


Jenny Doh


Beth Moran


Karyn Gartel


Paula Dion


Angela Cartwright


Tiffini Elektra X


Christi Hydeck


Elise Peeples

I am delighted that this is an Amber Lotus publication. Amber Lotus is a very environmentally conscious company. They are a member of the Green Press Initiative, and in addition to printing calendars on 100% recycled paper with soy-based ink, they also were responsible for having 33,000 trees planted in 2007!

If you would like a chance to win a brand new copy of this beautiful calendar, just leave a comment below and just for fun tell me what your favorite year(s) have been... I liked 1967 because I was 4 years old, and 4 is a pretty fun age in my opinion. I also liked 1986, as I graduated from art school and got married that year. 1989, and 1994 because that is when my daughters were born, and 2005, (October 1st to be exact) because that is when I FINALLY got to see my beloved Rolling Stones in concert, something I had been trying to do since the age of 12!

By the way, only one comment per person please, and make sure that I have a way to contact you should you win! Should you not be the winner, but know a good thing when you see it, and simply must have a copy, fear not for I am currently also offering a few copies of the calendar for sale in both my BooDilly's shop and in my Silly BooDilly shop. I only have a few, so if you are interested grab one now! (Of course you can also order one here from Amber Lotus!)

I will be randomly picking a winner next Tuesday evening and posting the winner on Wednesday October 8th. Good luck everyone!

Happy Mothers Day! And The Winner Is...

First off, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Mothers Day! Here's a little quilt I did to honor you all! And if you are not a mother, then I would just like to wish you a very happy day!


And now for the winner of my very first giveaway! Congratulations, Kelly! I will be sending you your little flower quilt prize, I hope you like it! I really appreciate everyone who entered, as you made this very fun! I look forward to having another giveaway soon!

Everyday Pleasures #3

I hope everyone has had a great week and I want to thank all of you who have entered my giveaway! If you haven't yet done so there is still time, just leave a comment here. The giveaway ends tomorrow, Saturday night, at midnight. I will be randomly selecting and announcing the winner on Sunday!

And now it is time for this weeks "Everyday Pleasures". Have a great weekend!


The delicate, white sweet woodruff flowers that grow in our garden beds.


The yellow field flowers that sweep across the farmland behind our home.


The various shades of lavender found in the thick blossoms of our much beloved lilac bush.

102 Whoop-Dee-Do! It's a Giveaway and an Award, too!

Welcome to post #102! Whoop-Dee-Do!
In honor of this momentous occasion I am having my first giveaway! (Yes, I know it has become tradition to do so on your 100th post, but I wanted to wait until I reached 102 just because it rhymed with Whoop-Dee-Do. It's the really small insignificant things such as this that keep me amused.)


I am giving away this "Little Pink Posie" Mini Embroidered Art Quilt, which is a part of a new flower series that I am currently working on! Like all of my other art quilts, I have backed it with a fabric covered piece of stiff, heavyweight interfacing to give it great durability, and super flat hanging ability! It is also titled and signed on the back and has a flat cord loop for instant hanging gratification! If you would like a chance to win this, simply leave a comment and make sure I have a way of getting in touch with you. I will be randomly selecting a winner next Sunday!

In other news, I was recently given the Excellent blog award from the amazingly talented Karen of Contemporary Embroidery. Thanks Karen! Karen's work is original, innovative and totally fascinating in my opinion, so please check her out!


I believe I am now suppose to pass this award on to several more people, and this is where I always break out into a cold sweat! By now some of you may have gathered from a few previous posts, that when faced with having to pick and choose, especially in these cases, I tend to chicken out. To many good choices. (This is why my husband does the grocery shopping, for I can spend a full 45 minutes just in the tooth paste aisle, unable to choose with such a vast selection. Yes, I am weird. But there is one blog that I am so in love with, it surpassed my fears!
I am passing this award onto Elsa Mora of Elsita. I am simply a gah-gah for her work! Head over heels! My keyboard gets all wet from my drool when I look at her delightfully creative art. My heart goes a pitter-patter. I think I may need some counseling! Anyway, if you are unfamiliar with her magic, you must go check her out, you will fall in love, too!