Happy Holidays from our house to yours.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Friday, December 14, 2012
Winner of What Made You Smile Today
And the winner of the what made you smile today is Karen.
Karen said:
Karen said:
The memories that came to me as I read your post make me smile. I'd love to win the fabric and pattern to make the tree for my daughter's teeny, tiny US Army barracks room so far away from home.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Me Time
Every year I put a lot of time and effort into decorating our home for the holidays.
By the time I get around to doing something for my studio I have run out of steam.
I know I could just hang a wreath on the door and call it good but for some reason I feel a wreath on my studio door is just not creative enough - on a studio door it might even be considered boring.
I always end up doing nothing...I guess that would be NO creativity and REALLY boring.
Doing nothing might not be so bad if I still had the beautiful old original doors.
Nothing says ugly and uninviting as an aluminum door.
This past week while shopping in Minneapolis I spotted a manikin
all decked out in Christmas attire setting in front of a clothing store.
She was so stickn' cute that I decided I must make one for the studio.
If I was up to speed on technology I would have been able to snap a picture
from my cell phone for all of you to see.
I like her. She is my favorite color
and it still works for its original intended purpose...to call for help when I am stranded on the highway.
I had a manikin as I sometime use one for market display.
Instead of using fresh greens for my lady's skirt as the shop in Minneapolis did, I opted to use parts of a vintage white Christmas tree that I purchased a couple of years ago at a vintage shop.
your grandmother used to wear on her coat lapel during the holiday season.
If you have time to spare you can buy this corsage here.
I could not find one in the local antique shops
and I did not want to wait for one to arrive via mail
so I opted to make my own with ribbon, greens, and bulbs.
The shop in Minneapolis used burlap for their bodice. I made my bodice from a vintage piece of velvet. I was trying to have a Project Runway moment by draping the fabric on the manikin. They make it look so easy on PR. Well not so. I struggled. I added rosettes along the seam line of the skirt to cover up the raw edge as no sewing was used on this dress - just pins. Joy - yes I have named her Joy - worried that the rosettes would make her hips look big - I assured her they did not.
Here she is all finished and looking very festive for the holiday season.
In my opinion Joy is not boring.
She makes me smile every morning as she greets me at my studio door.
What has made you smile lately?
Leave a comment telling me what has made you smile lately and you will be eligible to win a Merry Medley Charm Pack™ and the pattern to make this tiny tree using the Charm Pack. It is super easy and there is still plenty of time to get it done to enjoy during the holidays. If you don't get it done this year - well Christmas will come again. You have until midnight December 12th to leave a comment.
Keep smiling.
From my Heart,
Sandy
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Facebook and Winners
Big news - Pieces From My Heart now has a Facebook page! Yep we are finally up to speed with the rest of the world.
"Like" us here to keep up with the weekly happenings at Pieces From My Heart.
And now onto the reason you really stopped by this blog today...winners.
I usually have random.org generate numbers to be my winners.
However, because there were some interesting stories that I wanted to share with you, I decided I would hand pick the winners. Here are the winners - all with an interesting story.
And the winners are:
Fourth place winner is a Karen O. who has ties to Cheetos. She works for the company that makes the cheese coating. Very important job, as without the cheese coating there really would not be a Cheeto.
Karen will win an Everlastings Charm Pack™, a Candy Pack, a bag of caramel corn from The Chocolate Season and a bag of Cheetos.
I can't figure out why I am only the 4th comment!
Although this isn't directly about my hometown,
I do work for the company that makes the cheese coating for Cheetos. :)
September 9, 2012 12:50 AM
Giddy 99 will win an Everlastings Jelly Roll™, a Candy Pack, a bag of Porker Valley Toffee from The Chocolate Season (toffee with bacon), a bag of Cheetos and a pair of chop sticks.
I DO like Cheetos! But I despise the "cheese dust orange fingers" and so I eat Cheetos with chopsticks.
My husband laughs, but I don't have those freaky orange fingers, either. :)
And if I'm EVER near there, I'm going to see that Big Cheeto. That's right up my alley. :)
September 11, 2012 11:21 AM
Deborah will win an Everlastings Layer Cake™, a Candy Pack, a bag of Seasoned Pretzels from The Perky Parrot and a bag of Cheetos.
I love Cheetos, I just munched on a few as I drove 2 1/2 hours this evening from a visit with my parents. I'm also excited that later this month I am making my first visit to Iowa (not sure where we are going) as I am working on one of my bucket list items (visit all 50 states) and Iowa and a few surrounding states are on my "need to visit" list. Your pillow pattern is darling, can't wait to make one.
September 9, 2012 8:54 PM
I choose Julie because Julie grew up in Edgerton Minnesota, just an hour and fifteen minutes from my home town of Jackson. I was only 6 years old at the time but I can remember Edgerton's big deal event. Edgerton is known as "The Little Town That Could" or maybe I should say "the little TEAM that could", as it was the Edgerton basketball team that put Edgerton on the map - literally. In 1960, before schools were divided into classes according to size - 1A, 2A, 3A, all schools competed on the same level no matter their size. So in 1960 when Edgerton Minnesota (pop. 961) beat Austin Minnesota (pop. 27,908) to become the Minnesota State Basketball champs, it was a VERY big deal. In 1960 if you were from Minnesota, you knew about the Edgerton basketball team and you were rooting for them to win… except the 27,908 people from Austin. Go here to read all about it and watch a video about "The Little Team That Could". It is one of those feel good stories.
And Julie has even been to the Grotto - also known as the eighth wonder of the world.
Thanks for the memories Julie!
Julie will win an Everlastings fat quarter pack, a Candy pack, an Emerald's Restaurant (home of the Big Cheeto) gift certificate and a bag of Cheetos. Julie in WA said...
Gasp! I've been to the Grotto...it is amazing! Right now I live in the SEattle WA area, but I, too, was born and raised in Minnesota, in Edgerton to the west of Jackson. I don't know that anyone famous ever really came from Edgerton, but legend has it that our little town was not on the map until the boys won State Basketball back in 1960.
September 9, 2012 6:12 PM
Thanks so much to everyone who followed the blog hop and took the time to leave a comment. I learned so many interesting little tidbits about your various communities.
Winners please email me your addresses so I can send out your prizes.
Remember to "Like" us on Facebook.
Happy Cheeto munching.
From My Heart,
Sandy
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Sew Sweet Moda Blog Hop Day 5
Welcome to Day 5 of the Sew Sweet Moda Blog Hop.
Today you will travel to Iowa, then on to New Jersey and South Carolina to visit Lauren and Jesse Jung, and finish up in California to visit Joanna of Fig Tree.
As you probably have already figured out, this blog hop is about our home town. Bruce and I are both originally from Minnesota. He a city boy from Jackson and me a farm girl, raised on a farm south of Jackson. A job brought Bruce to Algona, Iowa in 1971.
I moved here in 1973 after we were married.
We have lived here all of our married life.
Algona was founded in 1854 by two brothers, Ambrose and Asa Call, who named the city after the native word for "Algonquin waters".
Population: 5,560.
I won't bore you with any more history - if you need to know more - Google it.
We were asked the question does anyone famous live in your town?
Algona's claim to fame does not reside in a person but in a thing.
The world's largest Cheeto resides in Algona Iowa.
Yep that’s right I said Cheeto. Weighing in at 1/6 of and ounce and the size of a small lemon.
How did we come to have the largest Cheeto.
Long story short:
A navy petty officer, Mike Evens, based in Pearl Harbor bought a bag of Cheetos for his 3 year old son.
This Cheeto (or as I see it - a blob that looked more like a chicken McNugget.)-was found in the bag.
He decided to auction the Cheeto on Ebay.
Bryce Wilson our radio station disc jockey at the time headed up a campaign to buy the Cheeto and bring it to Algona. He was able to bid $180.00 with the plan to enshrine the Cheeto and put in on display as a tourist attraction.
However Ebay cancelled the auction as prices reached millions of dollars.
Evans liked what Algona wanted to do with the Cheeto.
He said they could have the Cheeto if we donated the $180.00 along with a $1000.00 donation from Frito-Lay to a food bank. We did so.
The Cheeto arrived by mail on March 10th. 2003.
It was shellacked and placed on a velvet cushion encased in Plexiglas.
David Letterman wanted to do a show featuring the Cheeto but Algona had to turn him down as they had already struck a deal with Jimmy Kimmel.
The Cheeto is on display at Emerald's Restaurant at 1515 N. McCoy Street in Algona. And like many of us know… with age comes shrinkage - I think it is now smaller than a small lemon.
And that is how the Big Cheeto came to Algona.
When you come to see the Cheeto - because I know you are all booking your flights now - be sure to take time to have lunch or dinner at Emerald's Restaurant. It is owned and operated by Chad and Molly Berte and the food is WONDERFUL! Tell them Sandy sent you. (FYI they do not serve anything with Cheeto as an ingredient!)
Now onto what this blog is really all about.
Moda's new pre-cut call Candy. Forty-two little 2 1/2" squares of sweetness.
Each designer was asked to make a project using the candy squares. We then did a show and tell with these projects at the Moda School house at Spring Quilt Market. Well some of us did. The day of school house I woke up with one of my migraine headaches. I have pills, but it usually take me a good 8 hour sleep after taking the pills before I am feeling "normal". So I tried to fight it off with extra strength Tylenol. That did not work so at 12:00 I gave in and took one of my miracle pills. School house was at 4:00. My headache was gone but needless to say I was still "loopy".
As we were all heading up to school house it dawned on me I needed to take some of my new quilts to show along with my candy project. I set my candy project down to pick up some quilts… yep you guessed it… and walked away without my candy project. For me school house was a blur.
You know the warning on the pill bottle...do not operated heavy equipment after taking these pills. They need to add or do a Moda School House!
This is the little pillow that no one has seen until now.
It is made with a my line Everlastings.
You can download the instructions here.
And there is more FREE to be had.
Leave a comment - anything - who is famous in your town, what is famous in your town, do you like Cheetos, do you not like Cheetos, and you could win one of these four Everlasting pre-cuts. Each of the 4 winners will also win a bag of Cheetos along with some other "Algona Goodies". We will announce the winners on Sept. 15.
Make sure you stop by to visit Joanna, Lauren and Jesse today too.
Good luck to all. I'm glad that you stopped by to learn a little bit about Algona.
I hope you will come to visit Algona sometime.
Beside the Cheeto we have:
Two quilt shops - Seams to Me and Heartland Quilt Shop. And many in the surrounding area.
The Chocolate Season. Yummy!
The Perky Parrot. Coffee shop by day martini bar by night.
The Pet Kingdom. Everything your pet could possibly want.
Three antique shops. Home Store Antique, The Vintage Shoppe and the Vintage Shoppe Too.
Phoenix. A gift shop with a lot of repurposed items.
The Market. Another great gift shop.
The Grotto of Redemption. Located in West Bend, IA. - just 20 minutes from here.
Three golf courses. Algona Country Club, River Road and Spring Valley. (I had to have something for the men.)
Tomorrow we will visit Lily Ashbury, French General and Primitive Gatherings.
Happy hopping.
From my heart,
Sandy
Monday, September 3, 2012
Coming Soon!
Coming soon a Moda Blog hop.
During this blog hop you will learn about each designers home town - along with some free patterns.
Here is the line up.
Sept. 5
BARBARA BRACKMAN, ANEELA HOEY and ME & MY SISTER
Sept. 6
BLACKBIRD DESIGNS, BASICGREY and Pat Sloan
Sept. 7
BRANNOCK & PATEK, Eric & Julie Comstock and Thimble Blossoms
Sept. 8
BUNNY HILL, KATE SPAIN and DEB STRAIN
Sept. 9
ME, LAUREN & JESSE Jung and FIG TREE & CO
Sept. 10
PRIMITIVE GATHERINGS, LILY ASHBURY and FRENCH GENERAL
Sept. 11
LUCIE SUMMERS and COTTON WAY
Sept. 12
KANSAS TROUBLES, MALKA DUBRAWSKY and LAUNDRY BASKET QUILTS
Sept. 13
KATHY SCHMITZ, SWEETWATER and V AND CO.
Sept. 14
MINICK & SIMPSON, Jenn Ski and ZEN CHIC
Sept. 15
Prizes will be announced on each blog.
Stop by Moda's blog the Cutting Table throughout the hop.
See you soon!
Sandy
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