Love, Hearts & Cupid, Too!

I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.
~Author Unknown

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all.  Are you munching on your candy hearts?  Reading a sweet card from a loved one?  Planning a big night out on the the town to celebrate the night of love?  Here at our household it's pretty much just another day.  My sweet DH surprised me Friday evening with a beautiful bouquet of tulips!  The card read "Happy 37th Valentine's Day - and here's to 37 more".  How sweet is that?!?  Thank you, honey!!!  We did get a little special something for the grandsons but for the rest of the family it was just a specially selected card from my Hallmark Card program.  Mailed them off last week in hopes that they reach their destination by today.  We gave up going out on this special night years ago as every restaurant in town was always overly crowded.  DH and I will spend the evening together as we usually do - chatting, eating dinner, and watching a few programs off of the DVR.  What are your plans for one of the most profitable retail days of the year?

PHOTO FACT OF THE DAY

Cupid

The history of both Valentine's Day and Cupid go back thousands of years but are not typically associated with each other. So how did Cupid become associated with Valentines Day? Lets take a look at the history of Cupid. Cupid is a ancient Roman god. He is one of the son's of Venus, the goddess of love. He had arrows that he would shoot to make people either fall in love with each other or lust after each other, depending upon if he used his golden or lead arrows. In the legend and the stories about him, he has always been an adult, not a child. He also has been represented with and without wings. His wife is Psyche also a Roman goddess. She was once a human that he fell in love with.
So how did a legendary adult Roman god become to be a small winged baby that we see on Valentines Day cards? It appears that one of the card makers in the early 1900's in the USA started to add cherubs (baby angels) to the cards and soon added the bow and arrows from Cupid. Over time, Cupid was the name that became associated with the baby angels with bows and arrows.  Cupid had changed from an adult Roman god with full love passions for his wife to a baby with wings for the sake of selling Valentines Day cards.

FRIDAY'S MAIL

I don't know if you remember my showing you the four heart blocks I made for the Quilted Table swap?

I mailed those four blocks to Sharon, our wonderful hostess, and she swapped them out for four hearts made by other members.

Didn't these ladies do a wonderful job?  I think I will probably be making a table runner with these lovelies.

LOVE BIRD BLOCKS

Friday I appliqued the two Love Bird blocks from the Garden Party BOM.

I'm still learning a lot about my machine and which stitch to use for the blanket stitch.  I started out using the one actually labeled 'blanket stitch' and then noticed one label 'Applique Stitch'.  Looked the same to me.  Gave the applique stitch and try and like it even better.  Looks like a regular blanket stitch but it doubles the stitches giving a little more body to the stitches that actually edge the fabric.  Hopefully it's not too noticeable that I changed things up part way through.  I'm also learning what size stitch to use for the different sizes of applique.  What rule of thumb do you use for deciding how big to make your stitches and how close together?  I'm still having a little trouble with points because a stitch doesn't always end up exactly where I would like it to.  I guess that will come with time.  I welcome any suggestions and critisisms!

I WAS A WINNER

Last week I won a giveaway over at One More Quilt and the fabric has already arrived!

Isn't this some fun fabric?  I'm not sure what I will be doing with it but I love the sayings on the license plates.  They certainly fit the day, don't they.  Thank you, Frances!

MUG RUG SWAP

I know I said I was through joining swaps but I just couldn't resist this one.  My friend, Leona of Leona's Quilting Adventure, is hosting a mug rug swap.  Deadline to sign up is February 28th.  You will be given a partner and must have your mug rug in the mail by April 15th.  Definitely sounds doable and like loads of like fun!

TODAY'S GOAL

Today I am going to work on my wool table runner.

GIVEAWAYS

Are you still hoping to win a Accuquilt GO! Cutter?  A Few Scraps is having the giveaway you are looking for.  If you already have the cutter than you can select to win dies of your choice.  Entries welcome through today, the 14th.

Samelia's Mum is having a Fresh Cottons giveaway.  Anorina is giving away a charm pack in that wonderful line of fabric.  This giveaway is open until Tuesday, February 15, until 7:00 PM AEDST.

I'm Just A Guy Who Quilts is having a sponsored giveaway.  Ryan is giving away a copy of Tidbits from Triangles, by Kari Ramsay, and a fat quarter bundle of Tidbits to go along with the book.  Ryan will pick a winner on Friday, February 18th.

Deena Rutter is having a giveaway.  Deena is giving away a fat quarter bundle of her new line of fabric, Penny Lane.  This giveaway ends Friday, February 18, at 10 PM MST.

Stash Resolution is having a Delilah giveaway.  You could win a 6 fat quarter bundle of Tanya Whelan's Delilah.  The deadline to enter is Wednesday, February 16, at midnight EST.

Hawthorne Threads is having their weekly giveaway.  Just for registering you have a chance to win Riley Blake's entire Feeling Groovy collection in Fat Quarters!  They will announce the winner in their weekly newsletter.

Simplify is having a giveaway.   Camille is giving away a Bliss fat quarter bundle.  The winner will be announced on Febrary 16th.

Jonquils & Ladybugs is helping Veramoos Creations celebrate her 100th sale in her etsy shop.  To celebrate she is giving away a darling little bag which she has filled with designer scraps.  This giveaway ends on Tuesday, February 15th, at midnight.

And don't forget about my giveaway - THINK SPRING GIVEAWAY!  You can enter the giveaway for 5 yards of fabric HERE.

FINAL THOUGHT

Valentine's Day was looked upon differently by our two daughters as they were growing up - especially in high school.  DD#1 loved it.  It meant a date with the current boyfriend, receiving flowers and chocolate covered cherries.  DD#2 hated it.  It meant another day pointing out that there was no one special in her life.  DD#1 ended up married and divorced twice before finding her forever love.  DD#2 waited longer but found her soul mate and has been happily married for almost 5 years.  They blamed their love downfalls on my DH and me.  How do you figure?  We have now been married almost 36 years.  Well, I was told that we set too high of an example.  DD#1 figured it was impossible to find someone you wanted to spend your entire life with.  DD#2 was afraid to commit because the fear of failure was just too much to bare.  How can you apologize for being happily married to one person?  We don't.  They learned, grew and discovered that true love is possible.  It's a wonderful thing!

Love is a game that two can play and both win.

~Eva Gabor

Think Spring Giveaway!

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.

 ~Victor Hugo

I'm very much a music kind of gal.  I would rather listen to music than TV.  Don't give that rap stuff or hard rock - well, unless it's Jimi Hendrix and then he's probably not considered heavy rock for today.  I can get lost listening to sound tracks from movies.  Movies like Cider House Rules (Rachel Portman), The Horse Whisperer (Thomas Newman), and Star Wars (John Williams).  Or give me classicals like Dvorak, Beethoven, or Brahms.  I love the piano, especially George Winston or a good trumpet piece by Winton Marsalis.  Don't care for jazz, never understood it.  I grew up on opera and can name a lot of the arias when I hear them, but I would rather not listen to it.  Music can be electrifying or totally calming.  It can be hypnotic or invigorating.  Give me music any day!!! 

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PHOTO FACT OF THE DAY

Toothbrush

We use a toothbrush several times a day.  Brush those pearly whites or lose them.  Have you ever wondered how the tooth brush came about?  Hard to believe, but most Americans didn't brush their teeth until soldiers brought the Army's enforced habit back home from World War II.  The early history and evolution of the toothbrush has its origin in the "chewingsticks" used by the Babylonians as early as 3500 BC.  As the years passed, toothpicks matured into the chew stick which was about the size of a modern pencil. One end was chewed into and became softened and brush-like while the opposite end was pointed and used as a pick to clean food and debris from between the teeth.  The first true bristled toothbrush also originated in China at around 1600 AD.  By the early 1800s the bristled brushes were in general use in Europe and Japan. In 1857, H. N. Wadsworth was credited as the first American to receive a toothbrush patent as America entered the growing toothbrush market.  Thank goodness we no longer have to just chew on sticks.

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CANDLE MAT

Yesterday I finished the candle mat I started earlier in the week.

Bright and cheery!  I usually don't like to bind a quilt in a light color or print but I think the bold flower print works for this one.

Here is a close-up of the decorative stitch I used in bright pink thread.  This candle mat will be going out to one of my PIF participants next week.  I hope she will like it!

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GARDEN PARTY

Is anybody else joining in on the Garden Party BOM?  Sheryl of Quilting Tizzy is the creator of the darling quilt.  It contains both applique and regular quilt blocks. I love birds and this is so cute.

This is what the completed quilt will look like.  Sheryl is releasing one new block a month for the next 15 months.  Yesterday I prepared the first block for stitching...

You had to make two of these little Garden Party Love Bird's one facing each direction.  I used Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 for the first time and had some problems with it.  Well, not so much problems as confusion.  I ended up using almost 2 1/2 sheets of the stuff when it should have only taken 1 1/2 sheets.  I kept drawing on the wrong side - my brain just couldn't get it straight.  But once I figured it out, it was easy to work with and fused the fabric nicely.  I am only going to work with scraps from my stash for this project.

Come join the fun!  The next block will be released February 19th.

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THINK SPRING GIVEAWAY

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!

Have you been thinking about spring?  The flowers, the bright green of grass and leaves?  Don't you think that we should celebrate the coming season with a giveaway?  I do!!  After looking through my stash, I decided to share some fabric that definitely says SPRING!

This fabric line is called Cute As A Button by Ro Gregg for Northcott Studio.  The far left piece is a 2 yard cut of fabric.  The other 6 pieces are 1/2 yard cuts each.  That is a total of 5 yards of fabric.  If you like geraniums then you will love this fabric.  Now doesn't that look like spring to you?

How can you win this fabric?  Well let me tell you....

1.  Leave me a comment telling me what kind of music you like best.  I already told you my favorites at the beginning of this post.  List a special song or piece of music too, if you like.

2.  Blog about this giveaway and come back and leave a comment telling me you did - make sure to include a link back to your post in the comment.  I will check.

Make sure that you do the above in two separate comments.  If you include them in one comment it will only count as one entry.  You do not have to be a follower but I would certainly appreciate it if you were to become one - and thank you to all of you who already follow my blog!!!!  If you have a no-reply blog or do not have a blog, make sure to leave me some way to contact you.  If I can't contact you, you will not win!  This giveaway is open to everyone - yes, everyone - no matter where you live! 

This giveaway will end on Monday, February 21st at 11:59 PM PST.  I will announce the winner on Tuesday, February 22nd. 

Now go tell your friends and good luck!!!!

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SIL UPDATE

My SIL was released from the hospital today!  He's on the mend and headed home.  He still has a drain in his abdomen that DD gets to learn to take care of.  But at least he's finally out.  Thank you for all of your prayers and positive thoughts you sent for him and my family!  They were much appreciated and seemed to have done the job :)

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TODAY'S GOAL

I am going to work on the applique part of the Love Bird blocks.  Maybe I will do some work on the wool table runner in the afternoon.

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GIVEAWAYS

The Q and the U is having a Valentine giveaway.  You could win 3 Heather Ross Mendocino FQs and a half yard of Heather Ross West Hill.  Riel's giveaway ends Sunday, February 13, at 7:00 PM AST.

Sew Lux Fabric & Gifts is having a giveaway.  Chrissy is giving away a Brooklyn Bag pattern as well as a Fandango charm pack and 1 yard of the Fandango print of your choice from her shop.  This giveaway end Monday, February 14, at 11:59 PM EST.

Cut To Pieces is having a giveaway just because she feels like it.  Angela will be giving away something from Sweetwater.  This giveaway will end Sunday night.

Happy Quilting is having a 400th follower celebration with a giveaway.  Not fabric this time but darling handmade cards.  You could be one of 4 winners.  Melissa will close this giveaway the evening of February 17th and announce the winner on the 18th.

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FINAL THOUGHT

The computer is a wonder, a miracle.  Do you ever wonder how we got by without it?  Life was simpler before the computer.  There were no instant answers to everything unless you went to the library or asked mom.  Social networking didn't exist.  Not so long ago, the computer was something you saw in sci-fi movies or when watching The Jetsons.  Now we can't live without it.  I know that I spend way too much time connected to the web.  I have to give myself time limits or I might just spend all day in front of the screen.  The computer makes it way to easy to spend money.  You no longer need to go to a brick and mortar store.  I like this technical miracle as long I don't try to understand it.  Make it simple.  Make it fun.  And thank goodness for it or I wouldn't have made so many wonderful friends!
There are three kinds of death in this world. There's heart death, there's brain death, and there's being off the network.
~Guy Almes

May your Friday be fantastic and your weekend joyful!!