Happy Birthday to our Tulip Winner Barbara!

Barbara let me know that she was thrilled to win the tulip quilt on her Birthday! How cool is that? So, Happy Birthday Barbara!

I am working on a couple of new cross stitch designs to release very soon. I hated to miss the Nashville Show this week but I knew with moving I would not be ready in time.

It's so quiet around here today. We were doggie sitting our son's Boston Terrier for the last four days while they went skiing and now she's gone home. I was just getting used to having a shadow, literally with every step! Maybe now I can get some work done!

Tulip Winner!

Well, sorry for the delay in posting. I had a winner this morning but I had to decide whether I wanted to post it or get to church on time. Church won! The winner of the finished Tulip quilt is Barbara from England. Congratulations Barbara, I'll ship it to you this week.

I had a great week unpacking. I found so many interesting things that have been packed
up for years. I have boxes of old dolls and critters from the craze years ago. Some are my designs and most were acquired from friends. I decided to line a shelf in my office with them.
I know, I could just get rid of them but they just look so cute. Sometimes I wish dolls would make a come back but I know the country look passed a long time ago. I still hold some of them close to my heart. I started craft fairs in 1990 with hand made baskets and dolls. It was such a fun time for craft fairs.


I still have Attic Babies- remember them? I have a few more up in the kids toy room but I now have four in my office. I got all of mine autographed one year when Marty Maschino was here at a local outdoor weekend fair called the Festival of the Little Hills in old St. Charles. My cousin Beth and I used to do that show in August. It was a hot time, let me tell you, but a great street fair. I think it still runs every year in August. I don't think I've been back to it since I moved away from St. Louis.


I finally got around to taking a picture of my old Brownie Fiesta camera. I got it one year before a vacation. When I was 14 yrs old, I was in love with Peter Duel of the TV show Alias Smith and Jones. That summer we went to CA on vacation and went to Universal Studios. I actually saw him in person. I got a good picture of him on his horse and I still have the picture in my scrapbook. I was so in love, then he killed himself and the series ended. My dream was gone!

For this weeks drawing, I thought in honor of Spring coming, I would do something very Springy.
For Cross Stitchers, 3 winners, for Garden Hoppin' cross stitch chart #13.
Email me at PGPeddler@aol.com with "CS Hoppin" in the title by midnight Saturday. Be sure to put your name and address in the email. Those without are not considered.

For Quilters, also 3 winners this week, email me at PGPeddler@aol.com with "Quilt Hoppin" in the title by midnight Saturday.
Be sure to put your name and address in the email. Those without are not considered.

I'm back to normal ( as normal as I can get) after the fall last week but I do still have a dent across my nose! The wound on my leg got infected but a trip to Urgent Care last Tuesday took care of it! Thanks for all of the sweet emails I got from everyone. I really appreciate them all.

I Lost It Again!

Not only did I loose a whole month of January but I lost last week also. Where does the time go? Seems like it was just Christmas and my life is a blur these days. Believe it or not, I'm STILL not done unpacking. I know, the word Pack Rat comes to mind again. Honestly, I work at this everyday! Maybe I'm getting slow in my old age. Here's a picture of some of the mess I have been going through. It looks better now but I'm not done yet.

Friday evening I was carrying a box of tiny little screws and nails, and it was a actually a pretty good size box. Of course, I could not see where I was going because I was looking at the contents. I tripped over a shelf board that was conveniently left leaning against a table along the floor. Unfortunately, I was the one who left it there so I couldn't even blame anyone. Not only did I trip and land head first into the floor, but I dumped the entire box everywhere and beat myself up at the same time. I didn' t break anything but I have a lot of rug burns and a beautiful long scrape down my shin. I also have a dent across my swollen nose from the reading glasses I had on at the time. Hopefully in time it will go away.

I did get to rest the remainder of the weekend! It was much needed. I got a lot of attention from my grandkids all weekend also! My wonderful son came and picked up all of screws and nails for me.

I am back to moving around today so I wanted to offer a new drawing this week. I know I'm a little late this week but better late than never. I guess I have Spring Fever!
For the week, open to everyone, I'm offering a finished and quilted spring wall quilt from my pattern Tulip Thyme. It is made with Nancy Halvorsen fabrics.

Email me by Saturday at midnight at PGPeddler@aol.com.
Put the word "Tulip" in the title.
Include your name and mailing address. I will choose a lucky winner on Sunday.

Finding Stuff But Loosing Others

Eileen reminded me this morning, by email, that husbands have just as much stash as we do, only their stash stays in the garage. I did think about that for a while and decided that maybe my stash could be rethought somehow into "looking" like something that we really needed. You know, the way men do that so well! We have lots of things that "look" like they are needed, even if they are only used once a year. Now, while this seems to me like unnecessary "stuff", somehow in his mind it all must be needed at some point. I guess in the scope of things, my little stash seems insignificant at this point. I do think I'll go easy on the trash can!

I spent the last two days unloading boxes with my daughter's help. I really do have a lot of stuff and I'll be the first one to admit it now. I had three big boxes of keepsakes from my pre-wedding life. Yep, that's right. Three boxes of them. All of the kid vacation, high school memories, first prom stuff. I even have my first Villager purse, remember them?

I also have my Brownie camera still in the original box and a roll of film in there. I have my two girl scout sashes, both with badges covering them. One was the
Junior, one was the Cadette.

I have my first piggy bank, pictured. You can even see where I tore the top to get the coins put. I also have the first Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls that I made as a teenager when I left my barbie clothes design/ sew phase. Do you see my problem? How can I throw out those memories? They are too precious.

I saved most of it yesterday but I did toss a few things and my daughter took a lot- I guess she has the gene also. I'm a emotional hoarder. My mom keeps giving me things of hers that remind me of my childhood and there's just no letting go. My sister's don't have the same attachment to any of it. Why is that, do you suppose?

Next weekend, we're going through the boxes of saved things post-wedding. I know I have clipping of babies first haircuts, lots of albums and baby clothes, including Sarah's first bikini she wore when she was 18 months. It should get interesting.

Thanks for hanging out with me through the transition. I wouldn't have guessed that moving a household and warehouse would be this time consuming. Especially when I have help with the warehouse! It's coming right along though. We've been shipping orders this week and only had a few delays of items that we couldn't find! I know they're here- just where are they hiding?

We'll start the drawing again next weekend. I need a little time to find some special things. I'm feeling like the first one for February will be for a finished item. I also plan to release a couple new Cross Stitch charts soon. They're almost ready. Stay tuned.

Is It Friday Yet?

Ok, somewhere in this mess is my calendar and I know it's here, I just can't find it. My month has seemed like a blur. I know it's January, I just don't know what part of January it is. I'm swimming in boxes and "stuff". I know I'm a pack rat, partially because my husband keeps telling me so but mostly because I moved a whole lot of stuff that should have been tossed out years ago.

I have fabric. Lots and lots of fabric. I am a fabri-holic. Ok, I said it. I'm exposed.
I have a lot of art supplies. You just never know when you might break out in a painting mood or something. You know what I mean?

I have oil paints, water colors, tons of acrylics, pastels, and I still have chalk. I have stacks of watercolor papers, canvases, piles of specialty papers and then there's my brush collection. It took me years to acquire those beautiful brushes. It's extensive. I'm a life long artist and collector of art supplies. How could I possibly let go of my supplies? I might use them when I retire, right?

I found lots and lots of papers, colored papers, crafty papers and lots of crayons. I think this looks like a great grandkid collection to keep around. I also found numerous sets of paper dolls. Grace is going to have so much fun!

I have my cross stitch collection. I have my collection of charts for when I retire. I have kits, fabrics and every color of every kind of floss and pearl cotton. It's a beautiful collection. I look forward to the day when I can sit and stitch all day just for fun!

I have yarns, beads and buttons. Too many to sort through but well enough to entertain me when I retire. I have to admit that I do not add to my collections much anymore. They seem to maintain themselves.

My husband made me promise to go through everything and get rid of one box full each week. I have hundreds of boxes here and I think that's something I can probably do. It will be sad though.

Now I have to make sure he doesn't see all of the excess collectibles that I have been
hoarding for the last 30 years. I don't think he knows about those boxes yet!

Thanks to everyone who emailed last week. If you didn't get a return email, email me again and let me know. I still have all of those original emails and I might have missed one. I have been a little busy lately.

I told my husband yesterday that I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. He told me to watch out, it might be a train coming.

Moving, Moving and More Moving!

Does it ever end? I don't know. We're about 2/3 moved so far. The weather has been good for the most part.

We still have no internet connection at the Prairie Grove Peddler so orders are still delayed. Bear with us if you have placed an order recently. Fortunately, I have a connection at home to use for now.

I sent an email to everyone who entered the Blog drawing last week so check your email. There's a surprise for you all. I personally think it was a good week to enter! I hope all of you respond this week. Next week we'll start a whole new drawing with possibly another quilt or finished project. You'll have to check back later and see what it is.

A Cold Weekend With A Snowman Quilt Winner!

We have a winner! It's Kathy from Louisiana. Congratulations Kathy! I'll be sending you a snowman quilt tomorrow.

Sorry for the delay today with the announcement. There's internet troubles again, probably from the frigid temps. The worst is over for us fortunately. The move is going slow. I had hoped to have it all done this week but it may take a bit longer. Orders are going out slowly so bear with us.

This week is special with the move and all. SOOO, I am going to offer something special to you. Email me before January 16 at midnight with "MOVE" in the subject line and I'll send you something special next week. Let me know if you are a quilter or cross stitcher. Thanks and have a nice evening!

Moving is So Much Work!

It has been a crazy week getting things done for the big move. The phones were supposed to be transferred today but, of course, they are not working properly and it's Friday so it will be Monday now before they work I suppose. So- NO INTERNET this weekend. What did we do before we had internet? I honestly don't know!

Orders will be delayed for a while so your patience is appreciated! I'll still do the drawing for the Winter Garden quilt on Sunday as planned.

Between painting, packing, and inventory, I look so forward to being done. We had horrible weather these last two weeks and set some records there also which has further added to our delay! Hopefully, the move will continue this week.

Happy New Year's

Well, better late than never! It is crazy around here with all the moving going on. The move is going slower than anticipated but we hope to be back in business at full speed by January 18.

We do have winners today for last week's BLOG drawing.
For Cross Stitch, the winners are Lori from OH and Mary from NY.
For Quilt, the winners are Rita from TX and Lina from CA.
Congratulations ladies, I'll send the snowmen out tomorrow!

This week, I'll have one drawing with ONE winner for a finished and quilted Snowman Wall hanging. It's from my quilt pattern called My Winter Garden.
I'll draw the winner next Sunday morning.

To enter: Email me at PGPeddler@aol.com before midnight Saturday 1/09.
Put WINTER GARDEN in the title.
Put your name & mailing address in the body of the email.

I'm working on new cross stitch charts and will release a couple in another week or two. New Quilt patterns are underway for Spring. There's lots of good things going on even with all of the snow on the ground!