Years ago, my parents gave my husband and I, a very special gift.  They had a good friend who just happened to be an accomplished seamstress and quilt maker.  They gave each of their five children the privilege of working with this dear, skilled lady, and designing a quilt for our homes.
It was such a privilege to work with her, and her insights and expertise were most impressive.

Today I am sharing the quilt that I designed and she so expertly sewed and quilted.  Our bedroom at the time of this event, was painted forest green, with white ceiling and white woodwork.  Since I have I always liked red hearts, together her and I created a lattice type look for the quilt, with flowers, hearts and vines, lightly scattered throughout the lattice work.  I made many visits to her pretty, little basement room, where her impressive quilting business took place.  I was most impressed with the detail, the stitching, and the creativity this lady exhibited, throughout every visit.

 Here the quilt is on our guest room bed.  It is on top of a down comforter, but it's beauty is evident to all who stay here. 

 You can click on any picture to enlarge it and see the expert hand stitching with each stitch.  Even after all these years, the hearts and flowers still bring a smile to my face when I walk in the room.

 Today, this wonderful lady continues to attend our church, but due to physical difficulties, she no longer has the privilege of quilting.  I wish it was possible for me to share with you, all of the masterpieces she has created in her quilting years, and all the awards that she earned from it all.  Today, I honor this humble, talented woman, and the beauty that she added to our home those many years ago and to this day.

 More hearts from our small powder room, in this Valentine's week.

 Speaking of hearts and love...I found this picture the other day, and I thought it worth sharing with you.  Our two daughters were quite young, when our youngest couldn't help but let her sister know how loved she was:)  A rare moment, in that love did not always exist like this between them, but nevertheless, it remains a treasure to me today. 

Wishing you moments this week, when it is confirmed to you, that you are loved and treasured!
Thank you for stopping by today!  I appreciate each of you!

This week, set aside for sharing love and sentiments with special people in our lives, we felt most honored to receive these few heart rendering pictures yesterday, from our daughter's iphone.

After all, since" imitation is the greatest form of flattery"...why wouldn't their paw paw feel good when he received them?

We are still smiling this morning...

 

...especially when one produces his very own mustache:)

"We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly."
~author unknown

Wishing you someone who loves you enough to want to imitate you today!

 A touch of "heart" on this rainy, cool, overcast Friday.  Afterall, hearts and flowers can always brighten a day.

Bits and pieces of pink, red, and tender moments from the picture files of my computer.  Thanks to "picmonkey.com", these simple mosaics are so much fun to make and share.
You might enjoy checking out the site too.

If you find extra time you may want to see the gorgeous mosaics that are shared on the blog...
...    www.cowparsley.blogspot.com
I think she creates exceptional mosaics involving everyday beauty of life.

As for this Friday morning, I wish you moments to share kindness and beauty with the world around you today.
 I close with a good quote I read recently;

"You can make more friends in a month by being interested in them then in ten years, by trying to get them interested in you."    ~Charles I. Allen

 Miscellaneous blog post ahead...

 My daughter sent an email to me, from her Pinterest visits.  She knew I had a box of used and broken crayons, and she also knew I had a red heart mold like the one pictured in the visit.
I copied the info down and put it aside.

 When I had time, to took all the broken, colored crayons, broke them even more and filled the little heart cavities.  If I did it again, I would have filled the hearts fuller with the crayons.

Next, I put the tray in my 230 degrees, preheated oven, for 20 minutes(Pinterest said 15 minutes, but I found that to be not enough time to get firm).  When firm, I removed pan from the oven, and let it cool.  When cooled, I just popped each heart out of the pan.  What fun! 

 Who would have thought that old, broken crayons could produce these cute, colorful hearts? 

Each little heart has it's own colors, uniqueness, and design, just like we as humans do, with our hearts and personalities:)

Thanks to Kyra Smay/Fun for Kiddos, for sharing this great idea on Pinterest.

 I put the teddy bear with the little heart, by the plate of colored hearts, on my kitchen counter.  I know our grandchildren will like this vignette.  You might want to try this project.

 My sister-in-law told me about Activia Light Yogurt, with only 60 calories per container, no sugar, and fat free.  It is now my new breakfast favorite.  A container(or two if you are really hungry), a bit of light Cool Whip, a few blueberries, a few slices of banana, and a sprinkling of chopped walnuts, and coconut(and whatever more you choose to add).

 Delicious, healthy, filling breakfast!

 If you have someone you love, and want to share that sentiment with them, you might want to try this.  I cut the hearts out with my heart cutter, placed the bread in a buttered pan, added the eggs to the middle of the heart, seasoned the eggs with salt, pepper, and a bit of shredded cheese.  I placed a pan over it and cooked it until the eggs were cooked.  Then as always, I decorated the white plate:)  He was impressed with the thought and the taste.

To brighten up a space under my one cabinet, I took an old, glass dish, added a few old bottles, and a few of the faux flowers from my cupboard.  I added a bit of water in each bottles, so as to deceive you into thinking these were real flowers.  Did it work?

That is it for today.  I hope it all adds a bit of inspiration to your day, as you all do to mine, so many times.
Thank you for that!

 

In the early hours of this morning, I was reflecting on life and the speed with which it passes.

This process happens for me, especially when I face the chore of cleaning my cupboards, which often involves going through "way too many" old pictures.  

I come from a family of picture takers.  We took pictures of people and events...always.

I guess that is a good thing in some ways, since my memory sometimes eludes me.

I found this one from the winter of 1991.

Can it be this scene was 22 years ago?  Can it be I now have grandchildren the age of my two youngest daughters pictured here?   I know we all say it all too often, and we have heard our mothers and grandmothers repeat it frequently, but time just passes so quickly.

I look back and I see clearly the faithfulness of God in my life.  I look forward and know without a doubt, His faithfulness will continue to lead me, one step at a time.  It reminds me of an old hymn, I can still hear my grandma singing (with all her heart!), while standing in front of the ironing board.

"Great is Thy faithfulness.
 Great is Thy faithfulness.
 Morning by morning, new mercies I see.
 All I have needed Thy hand has provided.
 Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me."      ~Thomas O. Chisholm

It gives my heart peace today, knowing that no matter how fast life seems to be passing by, God's faithfulness is always there to greet me each day.

Wishing you time to enjoy some special moments in this, a brand new day!

 We gathered in the kitchen yesterday, in the late afternoon.  Let me tell you before you go on, that I did not fall into the category of a traditional, old fashion grandma.  No, I took my containers of ready-to-bake cookies out of the refrigerator.  Peanut butter, chocolate chip, and sugar cookies.  I opened each one and cut off small pieces, placed them on each child's cutting sheet, and showed them how to roll them into tiny balls, then how to slightly flatten them, and to "lightly" sprinkle a bit of cinnamon/sugar mixture on them.  The "lightly" part apparently did not sink in:)  But, they did take the process quite seriously.

 

Three of them working together peacefully(at least for a few minutes), in the kitchen.

And, yes, that is a wash off tatoo on the little guy's chest.  He was most proud of it, and I am sure he will be proud that it was a bit visible on this picture. 

 May I please explain, that my Pampered Chef, stone cookies pans are clean, but they are seasoned.  At least that is what the lady said, years ago when I bought them.  I use them so often, as you can tell.

For all of you experienced chefs and bakers out there in blogland, I do hope this post does not make you cringe, or feel sorry for my grandchildren.  Honestly, they do realize from their mother(and sometimes from me) that some women do more than pull tubes of Pillsbury cookie dough out of the refrigerator, when it is time to bake cookies.

 We cut the cookies while they were warm, with different sizes and shapes of hearts, then let them cool and get firm.

 As you can see, we had a variety.  They kept asking to taste the cookies, and I tried to hold off on their tasting until we completed our project.  Then I told them about, how when I was a little girl(hundreds of years ago:), my mother would have chocolate chip cookies and milk waiting for us after school, every once in a while.  That remains a special memory for me.

 Since it is soon Valentine's Day, I made their milk and cookies experience, a bit special.

I stuck a straw through each of the tiny heart cookies and stuck them in the fancy glasses.  I am sure I was more impressed with the look of it, than they were.  For them, it was finally time for tasting the cookies and milk.

 

Today, just a little something fun for you.

Cookies and milk make everything better in life:)

We placed the rest of the cookies on separate plates and will freeze them until February 14th.

Wishing you some sweet moments on your Friday!

Recently, I visited a new blog and read an interesting post about Sharpie pens.

Alli, at ...  http://www.onepearlbutton.com/2010/11/tutorial-faux-guilded-votive-cup  (click on tutorials at the top of her blog)

created some pretty votives using glass cups, paper lace doilies, and  Sharpie pens.

My curiosity got the best of me, because her finished products looked so good and she made it seem simple.

 On my next visit to the local Dollar Tree, I purchased this plain white coffee mug.
I already had some small, paper, heart doilies from last year, and I also had a collection of extra fine point, Sharpie pens.

 That is it.  Just these few items. 

 I lightly glued the edges of the lace doily to the mug, using a glue stick.  Then I took my pen and filled in all the holes I chose to.  I must admit it was not quite as simple as it looked, but it was simple enough that I could do it.  I understand from Alli, that you need to let the marker dry when it is completed, but after that the ink will not come off with washing.

 

 I added some polka dot filler that I had purchased a few months ago, from The World Market.

And a few tea bags and mini chocolate chip cookies.

Not sure why I tackled this project, but I think it was just to see if it would work for me.
If you have a moment, go and see the beautiful job Alli did on her project. 

Thank you so much for stopping by to see my amateur project.