Stars And Eggs - Green!

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light,

May good luck pursue you each morning and night.

~Irish Blessing

It's St. Patrick's Day!  Do you have on your green?  Do green eyes count?  If so, then I am covered.  If not, then get your pinches ready because I'm not wearing green - at least not where it shows!  Neither my DH nor I are Irish.  Our only bit of celebration is usually my making corned beef and cabbage - gag me with a spoon.  I dutifully make this each year as my DH likes LOVES it.  How can you like boiled meat?  The cabbage is passable and I do like the carrots and the new potatoes.  And who can stand that smell?  DH says it is the perfume of the Irish.  (Again - gag me).  This year will be a little different.  My sweet DH is taking me out to dinner (happy dance).  He can order his corned beef and cabbage and I can have whatever my little heart desires.  And, best of all, we can come to a house that doesn't reek of boiled meat!

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PHOTO FACT OF THE DAY

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Five miles north west of the small city of Cork is the village of Blarney. Near the village, standing almost 90 feet in height is the castle of Blarney with its world-famous Blarney Stone. More than 300,000 people come to kiss the Blarney Stone each year, in the hopes of gaining more eloquent speech.  While the Blarney Castle that visitors see today was constructed in 1446, the history of the place goes back two centuries before that time. The story begins with a magical stone, its origins shrouded in mystery. One legend says it was the rock that Moses struck with his staff to produce water for the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt. Another legend relates that it had once been Jacob’s Pillow and that the prophet Jeremiah had brought it to Ireland. According to this telling it became the Lia Fail, or ‘Fatal Stone’ and was used as an oracular throne of the Irish kings. 

It is known, however, when and how the word Blarney entered the English language and the dictionary. During the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Dermot McCarthy, the ruler of the castle, was required to surrender his fortress to the Queen as proof of his loyalty. He said he would be delighted to do so, but something always happened at the last moment to prevent his surrender. His excuses became so frequent and indeed so plausible that the official who had been demanding the castle in the name of the Queen became a joke at the Court. Once, when the eloquent excuses of McCarthy were repeated to the Queen, she said "Odds bodikins, more Blarney talk!" The term Blarney has thus come to mean 'the ability to influence and coax with fair words and soft speech without giving offense'.

 

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JUST ONE STAR

Moda staff and designers would like to invite you to join their newest challenge:  Just One Star can comfort a soldier.  The challenge is to piece, quilt and bind 100 quilts in 100 days using the Flag of Valor pattern by Minick and Simpson.  As the saying goes "many hands make light work".  They need 1800 star blocks to reach their goal.  You can be involved too!  You simply need to make a quilt block(s) to support moda and Semper Fi's efforts. 

Please take a few minutes to piece Just One Star block (click here for pattern) using a medium red or blue and a cream background.  Sign each block with your name and state.  Moda will coordinate the donation of the 100 quilts thru the Semper Fi Fund.  The deadline for blocks is May 1, 2011 so that moda can meet their quilt deadline by Flag Day, June 14, 2011.

Yesterday I made two of the stars.....

and my brown pigma pen arrived in the mail so I could sign the blocks with my name and state.  They are on the road to moda today!

Won't you help this very worthy cause?  Support our troops!  Let's help moda make more than 100 quilts!

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SPRING IS COMING

Today the gold finches arrived at my thistle feeder.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera nearby when there were over 15 of these precious little birds on the feeder.  They are such flighty birds that it is hard to catch them in a good shot.  This is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner.

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WOOL CANDLE MAT

Yesterday I prepped and cut the wool for the Chicks Candle mat that I want made before April.  It is a darling pattern by Bareroots.

Doesn't this remind you of a rotten broken egg with little chick embryos floating in it?  Gross - I know.  Don't ask me why my mind went there.  It just did.  I will be stitching the little chicks in the proper places over the weekend so next time you see them, they should look a whole lot better.

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ANOTHER START

Yesterday I also started working on my second Baltimore Album block.

Not much to see yet.  I found making inside curves much easier to make smooth than the outside curves.  The next four pieces have both inside and outside curves.

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TODAY'S GOAL

A while back I signed up for a hot pad swap.  I plan to start working on it today - at least get the pieces cut out.

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GIVEAWAYS

Such a Sew and Sew is having a giveaway.  Elizabeth is helping her friend, Wanda, get organized by is giving away 10 1/2 yards of Civil War Reproduction fabrics and a copy of the book, The Civil War Diary Quilt.  This giveaway ends on Friday, March 18, at 11:30 pm MST.

Amy's Creative Side is having a giveaway.  She is giving away a collection of 6 Indygo Junction Patterns.  This giveaway ends Monday, March 21st.

Bee In My Bonnet is having a fabric giveaway.  Lori is giving away 2 sets of 1930's repro fat quarters - 22 fat quarters in each set.  This giveaway ends Saturday, March 19.

Stitched In Color is having a batting giveaway!  Rachel is giving away a package of Warm & Natural batting, 90" X 96" (full size).  She will draw a random winner on Saturday, March 19.

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FINAL THOUGHT

There are so many charities and wonderful organizations out there, how do you know which one(s) to get involved with.  I say to pick by what feels closest to your heart.  I crochet afghans for Project Linus, an organization whose mission is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer "blanketeers".  I am also involved with the Golden West Chapter of the ALS Association.  This is a much more personal reason as I have the disease.  I give monthly to our local homeless shelter that provides meals to those who live on the street no matter what caused them to end up there.  There are other charities that I participate in yearly either by donations or attending walks.  With so many it is often hard to decide where to spend my time and money.  Do you get involved?  What charities and/or organizations to you participate in?

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
~Mark Twain

'Tis St. Patrick's Day! May the luck of the Irish be with ya!