Barn Doors and Virtual BOM

When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.
~Susan Heller

Getting ready for a trip, no matter how small, is time consuming and a little nerve wracking.  So much to remember!  Don't forget to cancel the paper... have the mail put on hold....let Mom know you will be out of town.  And then you have to remember to take everything!  Clothes for enough days (always a spare pair of underwear)...dog food and treats...hand stitching supplies....reading material....food for how many meals?  Not to mention the stuff around the house.  Make sure all of the windows are closed and locked...make sure the coffee pot is off...do you want the kitchen light left on?  UGH!  As you read this I'm probably on my way home, getting ready to go home, or am already home.  Surprise!  You didn't even know I was out of town - lol!  Took a short trip up to Santa Cruz to the family vacation house up there.

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PHOTO FACT OF THE DAY

Big Bird

Besides Sunday being the first day of spring, did you know it was also Big Bird's birthday?  Big Bird is an 8-foot, 2-inch yellow bird who lives on Sesame Street. Since Sesame Street premiered in 1969, Big Bird has entertained millions of pre-school children and their parents with his wide-eyed wondering at the world. Big Bird is also a bird who makes friends easily. The world-famous bird has been a central character on Sesame Street for the program's run, premiering in the first episode. The big yellow bird can roller skate, ice skate, dance, sing, write poetry, draw, and even ride a unicycle — pretty talented for a character described in the TV show's writer's guide as a 6-year-old. But despite this wide array of talents, he's prone to frequent misunderstandings, like thinking that the alphabet is one long word. Big Bird lives in a large nest behind 123 Sesame Street and next to Oscar's trash can, and he has a teddy bear named Radar.

Did you know....

*Big Bird's feathers are white turkey feathers, dyed yellow. There are approximately 4,000 feathers on the puppet. (According to the Count, he has over 5,961 feathers--he counted them himself.

*Jim Henson had originally planned on having the performer inside Big Bird perform the character by wearing the suit backwards, so that Big Bird can bend his knees backwards like a real bird

*Big Bird made a special guest appearance on an episode of Deal or No Deal, to help contestant Lamar Wilson overcome his childhood fear of the bird.

*Big Bird received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994.
*Big Bird was featured on a US postage stamp in 1999 and on postage stamps in Fiji, Kiribati, the Cayman Islands, and Samoa in 2000.

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BARN DOOR

Last week I finished blocks for both of my swap partners in the Barn Door Swap.

These two blocks were made for Shauna for the 7.5" part of the swap.  Shauna requested scrappy.

These two blocks were made for Tiffany for the 12.5" part of the swap.  Tiffany requested mostly black.  I know the top one fits that request, I just hope she thinks the bottom one does also.
Both sets of blocks will go out in the mail this week!

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VIRTUAL BOM

For those of you who don't seem to have enough to do (is there anybody out there that feels that way?) and are looking for an easy stash buster project, Quilters Quarters is offering a free Virtual BOM.  The first block has been released..

 This is a simple block and will work perfectly in....

Doesn't this look like fun?  The patterns will be available weekly and you can download them for later use.  If you want to receive the new blocks in your email,  you can sign up for the enewsletter.

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TODAY'S GOAL

To make it home safe and sound and then do the wash that was created over the weekend.

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GIVEAWAYS

Samelia's Mum is having a Share The Love giveaway.  There are two different, but equally great, prizes to win that include fabric and a cute button(s).  This giveaway ends Friday, March 25.

St. Louis Folk Victorian is having a Destashing giveaway.  You could win some lovely fabrics that Kristy no longer wants.  This giveaway ends Friday, March 25, at 10 pm CST.

Quilter In The Gap is having her first giveaway.  She is giving away a huge amount of triangles in 8 different colorways.  This giveaway ends March 27th.

The Plaid Scottie is having a Blogiversary giveaway.  She is giving away two sets of fat quarters and a 'ginormous' scrap box of scraps.  This giveaway ends at midnight on Thursday, March 24.

Hawthorne Threads is having their weekly giveaway.  This week you could win Riley Blake's entire Feeling Groovy Collection in Fat Quarters.  The winner will be selected on Thursday, March 24.


It's the final hours to enter both of my giveaways.
If you would still like to win one of these patterns....

From B. Bumble and Company then you need to enter the giveaway HERE







If you would like to enter to win......

and send this book on it's way then enter A NOVEL GIVEAWAY.

Both of these giveaways end tonight at midnight!!!  The winner will be announced tomorrow, Tuesday, March 22.  REMEMBER - IF YOU ARE A NO-REPLY BLOGGER AND DON'T INCLUDE AN EMAIL IN YOUR COMMENT YOU CAN NOT BE THE WINNER!!!!!  I have to have some way to contact you.  There are already a few of you that have been eliminated because of no-reply :(

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FINAL THOUGHT

I love spring with all its fresh green foliage and beautiful flowers.  The birds are twittering and the sky is bright blue.  However, I hate the allergies that it causes.  We have a huge pine tree in our side yard that is dropping its yellow pollen all over the place.  This is the one of the few things that I am truly allergic to.  My eyes get scratchy and my throat sounds almost hoarse.  Then why does it take me a few days to realize that, no, I'm not getting sick, its just spring?  I knew it was coming.  I could see the yellow pollen pods forming on the tree for many days.  But until my DH pointed out the yellow on the sidewalk, on the ramp and in the gutter I had totally forgotten about what that pine tree was doing.  Oh well, a little tissue, a few eye drops and some allergy medicine will get me through.  Beautiful tree!  Just hate the pollen - achoo!  Sorry....bless me!

Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.
~Virgil A. Kraft

May your Monday be merry!