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Meet some of my puppets…

Posted By margaret on February 6, 2010

I thought I’d introduce you to a few of my puppets. I really enjoy writing puppet scripts, which of course, means I must make puppets to go along with them. This is “Deplorabull” and his friend, “Imaheffer”. They were the first two puppets I made, and were in my first script. The scripts are humorous, uplifting and based on Scripture.

Deplorabull was about to be put out to “pasture” because it was his last rodeo and he was depressed. His friend Imaheffer was there to cheer him on and between the two of them, and a few other friends, they explained that with God you are “Unstoppable”. It happened to be the theme for that year’s LTC.

They also appear in other scripts with additional farm animals to make learning about values, parables, and Scripture fun, funny, and entertaining.

Next, is “Sycamore” he is obviously a tree, but a tree with good roots. The flowers are, “Lifeless”, “Wilted”, and “Droopy” and they represent the parable of seeds being scattered on rocky, poor soil. In this script they are “nourished” in a fun and exciting way to show children the value of reading the Bible.


In the play “Seeds”, the three scarecrows and the crow are in a “deep” conversation and the crow calls them a bunch of dummies on wooden crosses, but the “dummies” get the last laugh!

I use the scripts to help children learn how to behave in church, lessons from the Bible, what goes on in the morning services, the importance of regular attendance and how God is important in their lives. Children (and parents) are very receptive to the characters and scripts; they hardly know they are being taught!

Another freebie!

Posted By margaret on February 1, 2010

I’ve offered the rotary cutter as a separate graphic freebie, but this time I have put it with the cutting mat, ruler, and a piece of fabric. The mat, fabric, ruler, and rotary cutter are all together as one graphic. This graphic is free at my pattern website:  www.patterns2quilt.com.

Where is the smile?

Posted By margaret on January 23, 2010

Have you seen the commercial with the smiley faces in unexpected places? They probably set them up, but I thought it would be fun to go around to see if I could find faces without set ups. I happened to be sitting at the sewing machine when the idea hit me and I didn’t have to look too far for the first face to appear. It was just to my right in the thread catcher.

Of course, this set me in motion to see if I could find more…and I did. They were everywhere, and yet I had passed them by so many times. What an opportunity to have a smiley face just to brighten your day.

You might have to look a little longer at your walls or outside, but enjoy the fun of discovery!

When you find one…it puts a smile on YOUR face!

We could all enjoy smiles, even from inanimate objects!

Those smiley faces might even bring back fond memories.

Inside these cups are a couple of my Mother’s favorite pot holders. She’s gone now, but I can look at the pot holders and remember the times I saw her using them and the great food she prepared. Ahhh…the memories of Mother.

I love this old tractor. It is a Ford 9N tractor that is well over forty years old. She has been though some tough times and one of her headlights needs replacing, but she still has a smile on her face. If you need a little comfort, just look around…there is someone or something ready to put a smile on your face, and in your heart.

New lecture & workshop announced!

Posted By margaret on January 14, 2010

Those of you reading this probably already have a blog, but many of our fellow quilters are a bit timid when it comes to setting up a blog. It is in response to this need that I’ve developed a new lecture and workshop to reach those quilters wanting a little help in joining the blogging community.

This is a pic of the website page, “lectures“. When you visit the page, just click on the buttons on the images to watch the movies I’ve made to let you know a little bit about what to expect from the lecture.

Lectures are just the tip of the iceberg, and the true learning comes from the workshops. This pic is from the page “workshops“.

My thoughts from so many years of teaching college students:

Lectures provide teachers an opportunity to share.

Teachers provide students an opportunity to grow.

Students provide teachers an
opportunity to teach.

If you provide the
opportunity,
I’ll share.

Free Lovebird Cottage stitching block

Posted By margaret on January 8, 2010

This free stitching block called, Lovebird Cottage might look sweet stitched into a block of your Valentine’s Day quilt. It should be an easy block design to follow. It is a continuous line pattern with no overlapping lines;  if you look at it closely I think you’ll find it to be a simple block to complete.

The size is 7″ x 6.2″.

If you would like the free pattern it is located on my patterns website: www.patterns2quilt.com.

I also added the free (full length of 120″) pattern for “Sprinkles”. www.patterns2quilt.com

New contest announced.

Posted By margaret on January 7, 2010

Ruby Magazine, a new ezine for women, is having a contest during the month of January and into February. It sounds like lots of fun and a chance to not only win cool prizes, but subscribe to the magazine.

This is some information about the contest from the editor Karen Gass:

“For the month of Jan until Feb 5. Every 3rd subscriber will receive a prize AND on top of that, every 7th subscriber will get a refund on their subscription!!!! And On top of all that – on Feb 6, we’ll hold a Grand Prize drawing from everyone who subscribed during this period. They will win a Super Duper Craft Supplies Box!!!! It will have buttons, lace, FQ’s, nice yarn, and goodies galore!

If you’ve been wanting to subscribe to Ruby – now is the time!!!”

The ezine is chocked full of information about the home, recipes, devotions, patterns, gardening and so much more. Looks like a chance to win and win again.

Free, easy tape & print baby pantograph

Posted By margaret on January 3, 2010

This is another of the free print and tape pantographs that I offer from time to time. The size on the page is 9″ x 4″ and all you need to do is to print the page and match the ends of the lines, tape them together and you’re ready to stitch.

This one is in response to a request for a simple baby stitching design that even a beginner could work up with no problems.

sweetbabybackground
The free pattern is located on my pattern website: www.patterns2quilt.com.

Fat quarters in the snow…

Posted By margaret on December 29, 2009

We can go for years without snow in Texas (the panhandle gets some, but not central Texas), yet today we are having our third snow event in a month. It is just so unbelievable that I had to take pics and hubby worked his movie magic.  He has a knack for the music he pics and adjusts; this music is just beautiful.

We had near blizzard conditions on Christmas eve and the first white Christmas in this area since 1927! Walking around the farm on Christmas afternoon it was much like looking at fabric. There were so many patterns in the snow it was difficult to pick the one I liked best. The snow drifts left such smooth curves, and the wind had been over 50 mph so patterns were throughout the white carpet.

It was so interesting to see all the tracts the animals left behind. You could see if the deer had been walking or loping, coyotes and jackrabbits had been looking for food, and the ever present bunny feet. I hammered a hole in the icy water trough for the donkeys because they wouldn’t wade through the snow to the pond.

In addition to the beauty of the snow there was the added bonus of not being able to go anywhere!  The days just turned into a relaxing quilt retreat.