Afternoon Edition --- Free Kindle Book!

I've been typing away at writing all the front matter for the next book.  This is the part that makes me feel like I'm writing a term paper --- dedication, about the author, foreword, descriptive matter, resources ---it's all gotta be done!  And since I'm on my own til 4pm, I've been working steadily at it in a hotel room with no distractions.
It's actually working quite well, until I take an email break, follow a few links, and a few other "if you like this, you might like this ---" and I found this!

Heir to the Everlasting by Janice Daugharty is free today from the Amazon Kindle store, and has received an average user rating of 4 out of 5 stars based on 20 customer reviews.  

Category: Family Saga

Book Description:

The Pulitzer-nominated author of EARL IN THE YELLOW SHIRT turns her acclaimed talents to an epic story of three generations of Southern women at Big Eddy, the home place they love.

HEIR TO THE EVERLASTING begins at the turn of the last century with the beautiful, determined Pinkie Alexander, strong-willed matron of the Alexander clan.

Come Hell or the high water of the south Georgia river which gave Big Eddy its name, Pinkie will ensure the survival of her family on their beloved land–a place where the family cemetery guards the spirit of the past, and where secrets, as well as the dearly departed, are buried. 

Follow the lives, loves, mysteries, deadly feuds and steely courage of the Alexander women through a full century of joys and sorrows. HEIR TO THE EVERLASTING showcases the culture, language and daily travails of their time and place with vivid storytelling skills and Janice Daugharty’s love for “the working words.”

Sound good? I love family saga stories...


But for now, this is going to have to wait, there is more writing to be done! 

DON'T WORRY!!

Hi guys --  Today is my one "free" day, or mostly "free" day this week in Plano! We got here on Friday, I taught Sat, Sun and Mon --- and tonight is a guild meeting and I'm on my own til 4pm! 

I have a confession to make...I hung the quilt on the lattice wall UPSIDE DOWN in the BIG FINISH POST when I photographed it.....but it is the same as the other diagrams really, when you turn it the other way around? So I don't understand what the fuss is about because it will still turn out right.

I went as far as going back to the blog and turning my EQ graphics UPSIDE DOWN so they match the quilt..because it was all I could do from here.

But it's the same, upside down or not...It's not WRONG, you know what I mean? I Just hung it bottom side up. :c/

I've had questions as to what I backed the quilt with ---

As for the backing, I wimped out on this one.  I had a piece of cream/blue toille that had grapes and grape leaves on it, and I used that as my backing.  I had that fabric forever and it was enough to use as the back, and so I did.  This quilt has a boring back...but I'll photo it for ya when I get back to NC ---

Be sure to check out yesterday's Mystery Monday Link-Up post! At last check there are 70 bloggers showing their progress and I expect more to come in over the next few days until we close out the linky on Thursday night at midnight ---

Crumbs Workshop in Plano!

 We had a great crumbs workshop in Plano ---It was the first of the three workshops we held over New Years Eve Weekend ----we made a GLORIOUS mess, and lots of creativity took flight during our day!

I tried to get some good pictures of us….when I went to look at these, we all have stripes across us due to the light coming in through the window blinds!  How FUNNY!!  But we had a wonderful space to sew in, lined with shelves and shelves of gorgeous batik fabrics ---the walls were rainbows of inspiration….just yummy!

Stripes or no stripes of light across us….there was no stopping the laughter and the busy happy sound of the machines humming!

The thing that cracked me up the most ---- Everyone brought LOADS of scraps to sew with…but you and I ALL know that it is more fun to sew with someone else’s scraps than your own….and even better than that, it is more fun to sew with scraps you BOUGHT instead of what you BROUGHT!!

I should have gotten pictures of these bins, but imagine if you will, bins as big as foot lockers FULL of batik hunks and chunks and scraps --- and I am using the term SCRAP lightly --- it was told to me that “Anything smaller than a Fat Quarter” is a Scrap at Fabric Fanatics!!

And then the ULTIMATE “Throwing down of the gauntlet” to me ---fill a brown paper lunch sack with as much “scrap fabric” as you can…..for $6.00 a bag.

HOLY.  MOLY!!  I filled 3 bags…..and when I say filled, I mean FILLED!  We have ways to pack it in…..so when I get back home to North Carolina…I’m going to take these scraps out of their bags and show you just what I fit in here.

And yes, I know --- didn’t I just SAY don’t let me bring home more fabric?  Well I needed this.  Because I’m coming back NEXT New Years!  We are doing 3 days of workshops again over New Years and I want to make my sample quilt in batiks…so…..it’s not just stashing, it already has a purpose, and therfore it is legal, right?  RIGHT???!  I just hope my suitcase doesn’t go beyond the 50lb limit! LOL!

Class was great ---check the photo album below to see how busy we got!

		Crumbs Workshop, Plano TX 12-31-11 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

New Years dinner was enjoyed at Babe’s Chicken Dinner House in Garland ----and here I am in front of the “Attack Chicken Assault Vehicle….”  Too funny!

9 of us gathered for a family New Years Eve dinner ---and I’m already looking forward to a repeat Next New Years Eve!

New Years Housekeeping Stuff!

So here we are, in 2012 already.  I know I keep saying this, but I can’t believe it!

Today I’m teaching a String Spider Web class over at Fabric Fanatics in Plano, Tx --- and if you love batiks, let me tell you, it is ALL batiks, ALL the time, and that is all they have!!  It’s a candy store for batik fanatics, and I’ve seen some gorgeous quilts coming together this trip!

I’ll have pictures to show probably tomorrow…..we’ve been going going going and doing family stuff with Dave’s brother and his family every night.  Dave headed home last evening, and I went out to dinner with the shop crew…so there hasn’t been a spare moment to edit down pics.  I’ve gone to bed happily exhausted every night!

There are some things I need your input on. I’m hoping you will leave a comment so I can put some things together.

FIRST!  I was contacted by a few of you who want to do a link-up with our leader/ender cheddar bow tie challenges so we can see how everyone’s are coming along.  Are you up for that?  Would we have enough participation to make it interesting for everyone to see?  I’ll give you time to write a post about your progress, or you can even link it to an older blog post.  I’d just like to do a big cheddar bow tie blow out link –up ----so if YOU can post on those, leave me a YAY in the comments.  I’d like to give ONE MORE Mystery Monday Link Up next monday for those doing Orca Bay to show their progress….and then we can do it the week after that.  Deal?

SECOND --- Remember a couple of weeks ago I did a Yard Sale Saturday post?  That was fun! My blocks were snatched up quickly, and YES I do have more stuff to list. I’ve been contacted by a few of you who would like to participate as well.  Just that the holidays were not the right time to do it ((No duh!!))

How this works is ----you write a post about something quilty that you want to sell….and you link back to me on the linky…and it will be like a neighborhood yard sale!

There will be some ground rules…These items need to be QUILT RELATED. Patterns, Books, Fabric, Notions, Partial UFOs…whatever you want. This is for gently used –white elephant type items, not new-sell-at-retail-stuff or new crafts you have made to sell.. Understood? Think YARD SALE. When your item has sold, mark it sold on your blog page so people know.

You must link your post back to my YARD SALE SATURDAY POST, not just my  whole blog --- The url to use will be provided to you.

You write the post on your blog, you come back here and link it up. It is up to you to decide how you are going to interact with your buyers. I’m going to use paypal, and the selling price does not include the shipping. The shipping price will be figured depending on where the person lives, and the shipping price will be added to the purchase price.

Does this sound like something you’d like to do to clean some stuff out?  There is no limit to the number of things you want to list on your blog….you do your own listings and take care of the details, we just all link together in the linky as a “one stop shopping” spot for people to peruse our wares – yes??
 
If this is something you are interested in, I’m thinking we pick something like the 1st Saturday of the month, and do it once a month.  What do you think?
 
Please leave me your comments below and feel free to email me with any further questions, etc ---  I think it could be FUN!
 
If there are enough YAYS to it, we can do our first Yard Sale Saturday THIS Saturday --- how does that sound?  Choose one thing to list, choose 10 or 20 – give it a shot.  If it doesn’t go it doesn’t go, but I think this could have some real possibilities if we work at it!
 
And with that….is there anything else you think you’d like to see on here?  I’m open to suggestions. Any tutorials or explanations or –just something you’ve wondered about?  I could use your ideas to keep this an interesting place for quilters to gather!

Mystery Monday Link-Up! Part 7 & 8!

I know there are some rabid quilters among us! Some may already have their binding on by the time this post comes around so they are ready to link-up with full regalia!

And some…well, I came across a picture last week that just rang so true to me, I have to post it here!
“No matter how slow you go, you’re still lapping everyone who’s still waiting to start!”

So don’t feel bad about your progress if you are not as far along as everyone else.  Some have more time to sew than others.  Just do what you can, and KEEP SEWING!  Even if it is not a mystery to you anymore because it’s been revealed.  Just SEW! Create! LIVE!

Forest Jane has done a great job on our "Completed" logos this year!  Feel free to save these graphics and place them on your own blogs.  Please link them back to my blog.  When I get home from Dallas, I'll be able to upload them to my server so that I can place the "steal the button" code in the side bar --- but I only ftp from one computer to keep things easy for me, so that will have to wait a few more days.

You are also welcome to keep our Lil Orca badge....he's awful cute too!  I think I"m going to miss seeing his cute face adorning blogland!

  

And here's the quilt again if you missed yesterday's post.

Let’s link up! If you’ve linked before, you don’t need the directions below, but because we have new people joining us every week, I still want to be sure they know what to do:


If you are a blogger, please link your post showing your Orca Bay Mystery progress on Part 7   or Part 8 ((Or any other part, no matter where you are in the mystery)) below!

Remember that we need the url of the specific POST, not just the address for your whole blog.

To get the correct address in the linky-–right click on the title/subject line of the post you wrote about your quilt progress. Chose “copy link address” and paste this url in the form when you link.

You can also CLICK the title line of the post you want to link...and copy the url from the address bar at the top of your browser that way.

For instance, my blog address is  quiltville.blogspot.com but that isn't enough. I can't link to the WHOLE blog, I need the address of the post. The address of THIS post is:

  quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/01/mystery-monday-link-up-part-7-8.html  See the difference?

**NOTE**  You do NOT need to include the http:// when you insert your address into the linky!

If you link to just your whole blog, I’ll have to remove your link and have you try again because I can’t fix it FOR you.


We'll leave this open until MIDNIGHT eastern time Friday night to give you time to write your posts! I LOVED seeing what links came in last week! If you missed those, you can find them linked in the Orca Bay Mystery tab at the top of the blog ---just look at the bottom of that page below the step links for the Mystery Monday Link-Up Links!

Happy Monday!

New Years Day Evening Addition: Free Kindle Book!

I love books that are linked with crafting, quilting, knitting, crochet --- it doesn’t matter! If I can see myself involved in the story because of things so elemental to my life ((We all understand the NEED to create beauty, and how it feeds our souls, right?!?!  RIGHT?!?)) then the story is that much more fun to read!
 
I’m writing this quick, we are just back from dinner at the Spaghetti Factory—yummo! I haven’t been there in ages, and we sure had a good time.  I am crawling into jammies, putting my feet up and spending the evening working on hexies ---
 
DH is happily on his way home, and since he gave up the first class seat on the way TO Dallas, I upgraded him to economy plus on his way home so he’s got plenty of leg room to stretch out ((Bigger plane too, which makes a huge difference when compared to the small express jet commuter planes!))
 

Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, the first in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series by Lois Winston, is free in the Kindle store as a promotion for the newly released (today) second title in the series, Death by Killer Mop Doll.

Book Description:

When Anastasia Pollack's gambling-addicted husband permanently cashes in his chips in Vegas, her life craps out. She's left with two teenage sons, a mountain of debt, and her nasty, cane-wielding Communist mother-in-law. Not to mention a loan shark demanding fifty thousand dollars.

Anastasia's job as crafts editor at American Woman magazine makes life even stickier when she discovers the dead body of über-ambitious fashion editor Marlys Vandenburg hot-glued to Anastasia's office chair. Marlys collected enemies and ex-lovers like Jimmy Choos.

When evidence surfaces of an illicit affair between Marlys and Anastasia's husband, Anastasia becomes the prime suspect. Can she sew up the case and keep herself out of jail before the real killer puts a permanent end to her investigation?

Double check it’s still free before clicking…..

Tomorrow, come back for Mystery Monday Link-Up!  It’s going to be exciting to see how everyone’s quilts are coming together --- and I’m unveiling our new logo that Forest Jane has designed for us!

It’s a good start to 2012 ----isn’t it? :c)

New Year’s Eve Edition–Free Kindle Book!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I’m a gal of few words right now --- I had an awesome day teaching at Fabric Fanatics, and we do it again tomorrow.  We enjoyed a terrific family dinner, all 9 of us, at Babe’s in Garland….and just returned to our hotel.

It’s only just past 9pm but I bet it won’t be much more than another hour before I am sound asleep, New Year’s Eve or not…. so I’m posting this, and crawling into jammies and into bed ---so much for staying up to ring in the new year --- I’ll do it from dreamland!

Dead Angler by Victoria Houston is free today from the Amazon Kindle store, and has received an average user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 16 customer reviews. 


You can also get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Category: Mystery

Book Description:

Retired dentist Paul Osborne hasn’t fly fished since his wife died. He hasn’t had a woman tell him what to do since then either.
 
But in the company of Lewellyn Ferris, he’s relearning both. And when he and his lady instructor find a well-dressed body floating in the moonlight, Paul adds deputy to his list of experiences…Whether the death is accidental — or accidentally on purpose — Lewellyn is determined to rell in the truth.
 
She enlists Pail and his walleye-expert buddy, Ray, to help her get to the bottom of the murky mystery. Whoever thought small-town retirement could be this dangerous?

Double check before clicking that it’s still free!

And one last thing --

On the last night of 2011, and into the first day of 2012 – I want to wish you the following --

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art or love or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”-- Neil Gaiman

Much love from Texas--