Little Quilts, Stitchery Update, and A Winner!

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.  

~Chili Davis

This weekend is going to be full of activity.  Tonight we will be going out to dinner with DH's age closest sister and her hubby.  We haven't seen them for quite awhile and it will be nice to catch up on what's been happening lately in their lives.  Saturday I am attending a workshop on stipple basics being taught by Cindy Seitz-Krug.  That should be loads of fun!  Saturday night will be another dinner out as we are celebrating three May birthdays - my mother's, mine, and my sweet DH.  Hopefully Sunday will bring that much needed day of rest.  Do you have big plans for the weekend?
By the way, my friend Linda from Buzzing and Bumbling is having a giveaway for a copy of My Memory Suite program, so you might want to hop over there and check it out.

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LITTLE FACT OF THE DAY

Birthday Cake

With my birthday just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to find out the basis of some our birthday rituals.

* It is believed by many scholars that birthdays began in the pagan culture of Europe because of the fear that evil spirits are more attracted to a person on their birthday. Friends and family would visit with well-wishes to ward off the evil spirits.

* Birthdays were usually only celebrated by nobility (which may be why we like to put a Birthday Crown on the birthday person) until the Germans began the practice of celebrating children’s birthdays called “kinderfeste” and bake a special sweet cake.

* Another theory about the origin of birthday cake is that it came from the ancient Greeks. They would bake a round cake lit with candles to offer to Artemis, the Moon Goddess.  The candles helped to send prayers up to the gods, thus came about the custom of making a wish before blowing out your birthday candles. In Germany the candle on a birthday cake was symbolic for the light of life.

* Happy Birthday Song- It began as the “Good Morning to You” song with the now familiar “Happy Birthday to You” tune, and was written by Mildred Hill and Dr. Patty Hill as a kindergarten school song. Patty Hill is credited with changing the lyrics to “Happy Birthday” after the song gained popularity (and yes, it is still copyrighted).

* $27.2 Million is the most money spent on a birthday party. This extravagant party was for the Sultan of Brunei’s 50th Birthday in 1996.

* 15 Million is the average number of people celebrating a birthday today (and every day) around the world.

* More people celebrate their birthdays in August than in any other month (about 9% of all people). The two other months that rate high for birthdays are July and September.  However, in my family the month of May is full of birthdays.

* The world's largest birthday cake was created in 1989 for the 100th Birthday of the city of Fort Payne, Alabama. The cake weighed 128,238 pounds, 8 oz. and used 16,209 pounds of icing.

* A recent survey suggests that more people are born on October 5 in the United States than any other day. October 5 holds a not-so-surprising significance, as conception would have fallen on New Year's Eve.

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WHO WON?

First off, I would like to thank all of those who entered the Just Believe Giveaway sponsored giveaway!  Could you believe all the different Christmas fabrics that Fat Quarter Shop has to offer?  There weren't any "no response blogger" entries this time - woohoo!  My only minor complaint was with those that didn't take the time to answer the question for the giveaway.  But that's just me, so on with the winner.  The winner was chosen with the help of random.org and is......

Gene Black

Gene said "The One Frosty Christmas line is my favorite..There is a nice variety in the collection."

Congratulations, Gene!  I have sent you an email so that I can forward your snail mail info onto the FQS.

Thank you, Fat Quarter Shop for once again sponsoring such a wonderful giveaway!!

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STITCHERY UPDATE

I finished up the scroll piece I was working on last week and sent it off in Monday's mail.

I just love the greens in this piece.

Design:  Scroll exclusively for World of Charity Stitching Yahoo Group

Designer:  Kell Smurthwaite

Fabric:  14 count Aida

Stitched:  2 strands over over 1

Floss:  DMC Color Variations 4050

I was also able to get a few stitches put into my bigger project.....

If you remember, the last photo I shared, I was just at the top of the circle and not very far into all the cacti.  I'm almost all the way around the circle and hope to start the next phase over the weekend.

Design:  Desert Mandala

Designer:  Martina Weber / Chatelaine Designs

Fabric:  Antique White Belfast (linen - for those of you who do not stitch)

Stitched:  2 strands of DMC floss over 2 threads

1 strand of Treasure Braid over 2 threads

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LOVING HANDS QUILTS

Last night I attended my quilt guild meeting and turned in my two latest Loving Hands Quilts.

Here's the front of one of the little quilts.  I just did a simple stitch-in-the-ditch around each border but I did some free motion work to outline the cute little boy in the middle.....

I was very happy with the way this turned out.

And here's the little girl quilt.  Obviously I should have ironed this before photo time as it had been folded for a couple of weeks.

It's a little harder to see the free motion work on this backing but that was because of the strong sunshine.  

These were quick little quilts to make.  Back in April, Anna of Urban Stitches, offered panels to anyone who would like one.  Her only requirement was "All I ask that you do is make a super cute SOMETHING out of it, preferably a quilt" and then send her a picture of it.  So that is what I did.  And, even better, I can make 5 more of each color and they all have a different little boy or girl in the panel piece.  Thank you, Anna, for your generosity.  These little quilts will make some family just a bit happier as they spend their time in the NICU.

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TODAY'S GOAL

Today I will continue working on the little paper pieced quilt top I started this week.

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FINAL THOUGHT