Scotland4thesenses

Be still my beating heart I just ran across a fairly new blog about Scotland with fabulous photographs so if you want a taste of some of the places I have lived and/or visited when I was growing up go take a gander. My home town castle and local cemetery are featured !!!!!!

There's a giveaway running till tomorrow for a recipe book. Needless to say I have entered. It would make for great reading on the plane ride home :)

http://scotland4thesenses.blogspot.com

One more day to go before our flight so we have to do the mundane stuff like clean bathrooms, the kitchen and finish packing, once the "wee laddie" gets home from scout camp. Then we hand over our keys to our house/dog sitter and one of the neighbors. I am sooooo looking forward to visiting with my assorted homeland family members and touring amongst all the fabulous scenery and historic sites.

I Am A Stitchers Angel 2009

Every so often I wander over to some of the blogs that used to be on my side bar just to see what's happening in their part of the planet. One of them is Helen at Hugs n' Kisses. She is one of a number of fabulous Aussie designers that just inspire me.

She is in the midst of sign ups for her 2009 "I am a Stitchers Angel" swap project. If you feel inclined, go visit her site to find out about the two different ways you can participate. Both are going to be fun.

http://hugsnkisses.typepad.com/hugsfromhelen/the-stitchers-angel-swap-2009.html

Beginnings and endings

I got the contact info for the person I will be making a mini quilt for "In The Good Ol Summertime" mini quilt swap. I've seen her blog before and I am happy to be making for her. Now I just have to decide if I want to go with one that is already partially made or do a brand new one. I still have not heard back from the recipient of my mini quilt in the "spring Blooms" swap.

Two of the group blogs I am with, Todays Title and Doodle Day are closing down. The group owner has decided to create a new one that will combine all of the different art elements in one place. I'm going to wait till I get back from vacation before deciding whether I want to join in or not. Got some other things in the works.

So I have one more swap commitment for Postcard Pizzazz to get completed (early) before we head of into the wild blue yonder. Got to get my thinking cap on and go play with fabric for a while :) All my other swaps are done and in the mail.

I've been playing around with my blog templates again. I might keep them for a while :)

If we are able to post to a blog while we are in Britain it will be to http://jocarhansenfamily.blogspot.com/

Toodles people. I'll be back here some time in August or maybe sooner :)

LearningFA - postcards for Carma

Woohoo, this one came up right ways so you don't have to do any acrobatics :)

The wonderful, gracious, leader of Learning FA got some devastating family news recently regarding her son. He has advanced cancer.

She has been involved with a home called Carma House, which is a support group for cancer survivors, for about the past year or so. A number of us are sending her fabric postcards to help raise money for them.

If you visit her blog at http://shirl-oneofakindfiberarts.blogspot.com/ you can see some of the fabulous cards that have already arrived and learn more about this worthwhile fundraiser.

One of the other groups I am with LadyofSHE is about to start a project to raise money for a cancer victim. I'll tell you more about that when I get back from vacation. It will be Christmas ornament orientated.

Postcard Pizzazz - Complementary Colors exchange

Well it looks like the photos are loading sideways ..... again ..... so tilt your head to the left to get the proper perspective :)

Trudy S - red/green with frogs
Pam N - red/green diagonal stripes
Claire C - orange/blue quilt blocks
mine - purple/yellow (pastel) flower

I've gotten 3 from Claire so far and she has a definite theme going on. I'm enjoying all the cards I've been receiving. It's been interesting seeing how everyone interpretes the colors.

Totally different subject. Elisabeth is sewing away. She is using some of Juliet's left over prom fabric to make a skirt (New Look 6345). She received the summer dress a friend made for her. It was a bit big so she spent yesterday fixing that.

A fun blog giveaway

One of my super talented blogging friends is having an anniversary give away.

Micki at Irish Muses is an American living with her sweetheart in gorgeous Northern Ireland.

Hop on over and check out her site. It's very informative.

http://thedote.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-irish-giveaway.html or click on the link Irish Muses in my textiles section.

Happy 4th July and a wee bit of southern history

Here we live deep in southern Civil War territory. Over a period of time we have visited a lot of the historic sites.

About 15 minutes south of us is Franklin, Tennessee founded by Abram Maury in 1799 and named after Benjamin Franklin. Historic downtown has a fabulous ambience. For you modernist shoppers out there Cool Springs Galleria is not too far away.

The Battle of Franklin was fought in November 1864 with almost 10,000 casualties of various kinds. The area is part of the Tennessee Civil War Trail.

One of Franklin's most famous sites is Carnton Plantation built in 1826 by Randal McGavock. It has the best preserved private Confederate Cemetery in the nation located on the grounds. The plantation is a favorite field trip destination for local schools and I made sure I went along as a parent chaperone on my kids outings :) My parents loved their visit when we took them.

If you want to learn more about the history of Carnton Plantation visit http://www.carnton.org/history.htm

On a quilting note. For those of you who want to visit Stitchers Garden it moved to a new location in January. 209 S Royal Oaks Blvd. Ste 223, Franklin, TN 37064 ph # 615-790-0603. Their new location is huge (compared to what they had) and can be read about at http://quiltshops.blogspot.com/2009/01/stitchers-garden-franklin-tn.html

The Quilting Squares Quilt Shop is located at 107 Confederate Drive suite 1, Franklin TN 37064. ph # 615-794-4769. http://www.thequiltingsquares.com/

On a personal stitching note my older girls are hogging my sewing machine. Elisabeth whipped out two dresses and is ready to tackle a couple of skirts. Juliet, once her finals are done, is getting ready to do a couple of skirts. No pictures of the dresses because E wants to stay private so all I can say is have a look at See & Sew B5305 view A :)

I have joined the legions :0

I have been getting a bit bored with "the look" of my blogs so today I bit the bullet and played for a while at the cutest blog site.

Since the US gets patriotic at this time of year I'm going with that theme for a while. I like what I picked out but now I think it all overpowers my projects :)

Mmmmm where's that picture of my patriotic quilt banner........

A piece of civil war trivia. Did you know that one of the main battles was fought almost entirely by Scots on both side. In the end a lot of Scots on the losing side fled to Canada and either stayed there or returned when it was safe to do so.