Scraps and snippets

See this pile of scraps?


Tomorrow I want to show you what I do with my scraps and snippets.

Have a happy quilting day!

Birthday pleasures

A few weeks ago, I celebrated my birthday. I thought I would share a few of my gifts.

A friend of mine made this plastic bag holder for me. I was really needing one to handle the bags that were multiplying in the cupboard. Only a quilter would make a plastic bag holder out of toile. I love it!















A new friend, who lives way up in Wisconsin, sent this to me.





She made this from a beautiful saucer and candlestick. I have seen a few of these around, and think they are such a clever way of using a piece of beautiful china that has lost it's mate. Great for candy or a candle, or whatever your hearts desire.











My youngest son ordered this online and had it sent to me. Isn't it just the prettiest little picture? I love Sandy Lynam Clough's artwork, and this one has the Bible verse from Proverbs 31:28.
Great job for a teen, huh?

My oldest son took me out to dinner and then handed me an envelope with a lovely card. Inside the card was this -


The gift that keeps on giving. Need I say more?

In the Garden

Isn't there something just so sweet and tender about a rose in your garden?

I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses,


And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.


And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own,


And the joy we share as we tarry there,


None other has ever known.
"In the Garden" C. Austin Miles

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As we meet and touch, each day,
The many travellers on our way,
Let every such brief contact be
A glorious, helpful ministry;
The contact of the soil and seed,
Each giving to the other's need,
Each helping on the other's best,
And blessing, each, as well as blest.
~ S. Coolidge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm A Fan

Wow! What a pleasant surprise from Two Succulent Sisters. They gave me a PINK Fan Award. It is my very first award and I am so pleased it came from them. I just never expected to see the Happy Cottage Quilter on the list of friends they selected. I read many of the other blogs they selected and I feel a little unworthy of being in their company. I have so enjoyed writing about my little corner of the world, and having someone actually read what I write makes it even more special. Thanks Linda. Thanks bloggers! This fan belongs to you! Because without you, there wouldn't be a blog.

Love the pink fan :-)

Sweet Cottage charm

My dear daughter and I have enjoyed browsing through antique and thrift stores in our area. We have found a few real treasures along the way. My dear daughter has a real eye for decorating so I thought I would give you a little peek at some of her personal decorating tastes.

Cozy chair found on craigslist. Don't you love the antique skis?? You do know we live in Florida, right??

She bought this antique sewing machine when she lived in the windy city. I am not sure if it still works, but it makes a great decoration :-)


My dear sweet husband made these curtain rods for me several years ago. I just love them. We have them in several rooms. It's a super way to elevate your decorating statement.




Very sweet simple pictures are above her headboard.




I love how she has stacked these old suitcases at the foot of her bed. Very lovely linens are stored inside.

And here is a beautiful quilt in the making. Don't you just love the fabrics? It is the same Bunny Hill pattern as my Cottage Quilt. It is going to be a real beauty.
Just wanted to welcome you into our little cottage on this Monday morning. Hope your day is sew delightful!

What's a girl to do?

Okay, when you are on a shopping binge, and you come across something that can be reworked into a project, what's a girl to do?? I found this lovely 100% cotton skirt, which was 2 sizes too small, but might be something that could be made into a tote or an Amy B lookalike bag.

The real deal on this skirt is that it was only $1. Now for $1 my seam ripper works really well. Would it be worth cutting up and trying a pattern that may later warrant LQS fabric? Today I found a piece of linen in the fabric remnant bin at Joann's. 34" is pretty close to a yard, original price $7.99 a yard, marked down to $1.89.

Skirt on the left, linen on the right. Hummm..... seems to me it is an exact match in color. So maybe I can figure a purse pattern. How about the Buttercup bag by "Made by Rae"? Or the Hobo bag from jcaroline creative. What fun options.

My dear daughter also has spruced up her room with her treasure finds. Guess the winter folks have all flown the southern coop, because most of the shops are offering generous discounts. She found these botanical prints for a song.


And you remember those cute little creamers the restaurants would serve with your coffee?

Who said they were just for cream??

Enjoy your weekend!

Great tags!

Last week I won a prize from "I Have A Notion". Kelly had a sweet giveaway on her blog.

So when I got the mail, there was a package



and here is my prize!!



Aren't they sweet? Bright and cheery, and easy to spot. And so well made. The fabric has bows and hearts, two of my favorite things :-)

Thanks Kelly! I am going to enjoy using these tags on my essentials. And you KNOW what that is, right?? Sewing machine bags, fabric totes, etc, etc.

I think everyone should stop by Kelly's blog and pay her a visit. She always has some fun things going on. She also has an online store with lots of notions for you to browse through. So go take a peek. I think she is going to have a tutorial on making these great tags very soon.

Happy quilting!

More treasures......

More treasures....................




Doesn't this vintage cross stitch table linen look
perfect with my spring dishes? It was the find of the day for $1.


















When you least expect it, there is a treasure lurking underneath.


What a prize.


It will look so cozy on the back of my rocking chair.


Have a wonder filled day!

A day for the earth

I love the pretty things that grow in my little piece of earth. So I thought I would share a few of the colorful delights that are gracing our yard right now.






And if you look very closely, there is a little vegetable growing to be strong and one day will be red and delicious.


Thanks for joining me in a little tour of our cottage backyard.

A Happy Stroll

On Saturday, my dear daughter and I went to a little town north of us. We decided that we would do a little antique hunting.

I planned the trip on this particular day because the one and only quilt store in town was having a sale!! Yea!
What fun it was to plunder through this little quilt shop. It was wall to wall quilters. I was in need of a thimble, and of course wanted to check out any new fabric that might have needed a new home. As the line stretched through the shop to have fabric cut, I decided that a few little fat quarters would do just as well.

We headed to the antique shops for an afternoon of browsing. I have found some real treasures at bargain prices in the past. But on this day, my daughter came away with this precious little tea cup and saucer. Isn't it sweet? A genuine Wedgewood cup and saucer!

I found this little demitasse cup and saucer at the same shop.As we strolled through the little town, we came upon a little shop with this charming resprite.

Makes you just want to sit and watch the world go by.


At least until the quilt shop has another sale :-)


Happy Quilting!

Selvage conservation

Let me first say that I have had a wonderful time visiting so many fellow quilters/bloggers on the first Bloggers Quilt Festival! It has been so much fun seeing everyones quilts and creations. And thank you all for the very sweet comments either here or sent to my email. I love hearing from each one of you. I hope there will be another one next year. If we can't show our quilts in a National Quilt show, this is definitely the next best thing.

Karen over at the Selvage Blog asked how we store/save our selvages. I was saving them in a zippy bag, but found a nice little clear plastic container to serve that purpose now.


My selvage collection is not very large at the moment, but it is growing. If I really needed more selvages, I could certainly cut some from my stash.

But right now I am too attached to the fabrics as they are in their pristine state :-)

Bloggers Quilt Festival

I am taking the plunge and joining in on the virtual quilt show! What a very fun idea from the likes of Amy at Park City Girl.

As I have said over and over, I am not a garment sewer. Two years ago, I met my BFF at the Chicago Quilt Festival. We had a wonderful time together. We looked at all of the fabulous quilts and of course all of the vendors. At one booth, my BFF saw this jacket. She immediately wanted to make one, and she said that I needed to make one too! Whoa-ho girl, I don't do garments! She finally convinced me and we purchased the pattern. As my BFF lives in cold country, and I live in the south, we have to use our time wisely when we do get together. BFF was coming to my end of the world and she said we were going to make these jackets! Whewww........ now I was in trouble. The first objective was to find a 100% sweatshirt. Ha, ha, well let me tell you that it is VERY difficult to find any kind of sweatshirts in Florida in the month of May! After much searching, we did finally come across sweatshirts that were 80% cotton. As I drove around, she had seamripper in hand and tore out the cuffs and the neck trim.

We used the fabulous Kansas Troubles, and Thimbleberries line of fabrics. I love the rich color combinations. My BFF worked diligently on her jacket and I followed along. It was a very fun project and we both came out with great looking jackets.

That year I decided to enter the jacket in the Florida State Fair. I have never entered anything in the State Fair before, but I felt that the jacket was something a little different and maybe was worthy to show. To my amazement, the jacket took a second place red ribbon! What a wonderful surprise.
Here are some close up shots of the back and quilting. I also added a nice closure at the top.

















Thank you Amy for letting us be a part of the first ever Bloggers Quilt Festival. I am looking forward to viewing the beautiful quilts online.