Great giveaway – thanks, thanks, thanks!

I love how colorful and inviting your sewing room is! I want to sit down and sew with you

What a great idea to have a jar full of pinnies so that when guests arrive (particularly as holidays are coming up) I could gift them a pin cushion that they get to pick out of the jar themselves. It would be like kids getting to pick a toy out of a box at a store or restaurant or somewhere. I’m going to get started on my jar immediately. Thanks

I hardly ever use pincushions , but I think of them as adorable mini-pillows! My issue of MJF arrived the other day…I will look for your article!

Hi Dori,
My new husband’s family had a tradition of spending Christmas Day together at the parents home with their three sons and all their families. It was always a great event with lots of celebrating and lots of food and gifts, leaving everyone so totally blessed. This was unlike anything I had ever seen.

One of the things my new mother-in-law gave each of her daughters-in-law was a pin cushion. I wasn’t into sewing at the time but was years later. The tiny pin cushion was a beautiful oriental design which I have always treasured and used all these years. I still have it 35 years later. It is/was as unique as my dear mother-in-law, whom I also treasured. What a simple, yet thoughtful gift. Over the years the gifts she gave were always useful things that one needs in everyday life. With that philosophy, I learned to pattern my life toward making life better and useful for myself and toward others.

when I first saw the great photo of pin cushions I thought hooray! now I know of gifts to
make possibly for friends for the holidays. We all have some kind of pins in the home that need to be in safe places, safety, straight, etc. So put them into a attractive cushion.
I love yours!!! I sure hope to win them to put throughout my home for safe keeping of all kinds of needles, pins, etc. What a great sewer you are!!! Winnie

So stinkin cute!! I love these. I am starting my winter quilting project entitled ‘Three French Hens. ‘
I am a beginning quilter and love, love, love fabric, textures and colors!!

They are very cute Dori. My favorite pin cushion is made with sheep’s wool from my brother’s farm. My sister carded it and made an apple pin cushion for each sister and Mom. I also have the one I made in Bible school as a child. It’s green felt with yarn lacing and has a cat’s face on it! I’ve used it for 40+ years.

Thanks for being so generous and talented!

Thanks for the chance.

My favorite pin cushion is one my daughter made while learning about carding wool. The girls clumped some finished wool into little balls put them in the dryer to felt them. When we took hers out & cut it in half inside was a little pink heart. Now I have a treasure to remember her little girl self as she is now a 23 year old college grad working with autistic little ones.

Adorable! All your pinnies are unique and charming. I always love the fabrics you use. I’ve noticed in previous blogs some lovely ones. And now I see reminants of them in your pinnies. I have made a few overtime. A couple of my favorites are a sunflower made from wool which is glued to a holder that can be clamped to something. I have it clamped to a basket handle. The basket, of course, holds sewing materials! The other one is a small hen. It sits beside my sewing machine. I would love to have a couple of yours and of course, will check MJ magazine for the article about you and the quilt camp. That was such a wonderful idea. I’m so glad it went well for all involved.

You have captured my imagination with this “Pinnie-A-Day” project!
I stopped what I was doing and wrote down the first 6 ideas that popped into my brain! … and the possibility of receiving a free subscription is very enticing.
Your brain must stay full-to-overflowing with artistic thoughts!…Your children are so lucky to have a mom that will never be boring, and will probably spur them to be constantly exploring what is around the next corner for them to discover!
Thanks!

The pin cushions are so cute. I find them to be very useful around the house.

I remember my mothers and my grand mothers red tomatoe pin cushions. I use to play with them while they were sewing I would take all the pins out and then push them all back in over and over ( I guess I found joy in little things.)

I love pincushions and your pinnies are just adorable. I have made a couple of pincushions, but they not nearly as cute as yours. I so look forward to your e-mails, and would love to get one of your darling pinnies as well as your magazine. You are an amazing lady and so fun to hear from. You give me so many great ideas. Thanks!!!!!

Having my great grandma’s sewing items like her pin cushion helps me feel more connected to her. She passed when I was four, but left behind a beautiful legacy of handiwork for us to use and celebrate her beautiful skills.

Pin cushions are so handy and useful. Your pin cushions are so pretty and vibrant. I remember making a pin cushion in elementary school. We have some pincushions in our sewing boxes. They are great tools to have when sewing. Happy for you that your quilting camp was a huge success. That picture you have posted tells it all, every one had fun.
Marilyn

The pin cushions are very interesting. I remember my grandmother having one that was red and looked like an apple. I however do not have a pin cushion, I use my window curtain. I can walk into any room and there is a pin handy.

What a fun contest! I, too, consider sewing my special down time.

My mother made most of our clothes growing up. I had a beautiful “Jackie Kennedy style” prom gown she made without a pattern. I can’t think of sewing without honoring her. She quietly and peacefully passed a week ago today at 95 yrs. I’m not sure I can sew right now but will try the pinnies soon. They are so sweet.

Read the article, well actually, I sat back and let myself be right there. Oh what a grand time and everyone did a fabulous quilt. You are a wonder. Love the ‘pinkies’, I have at least 10, most of them are from my great grandma, grandma and Aunt. Making these lovelies is going to be my next project. Thanks for the incentive. God bless

I already have the plan to set up my sewing machine prior to the holidays. I have the idea of sewing small ornaments made out of burlap then stuffed. How easy would it be to include some pin cushions? Yours are so cute!

I love pin cushions (pinnies) – all sizes and shapes, vintage and new. I’d never heard them called pinnies, though. LOL! I’d love to win one of your pinnies to go in my collection.

Thank you so much for this awesome giveaway! I love the idea of pinnies, they are so cute and a fun and great way to use up small scraps. I own a couple of pincushions, but none of them are special, just colorful and fun.

I’ve already purchased the issue. When I saw Quilt camp on the cover I just knew it had to be you and I wanted to read all about it. I love your pinnies…what a challenge, one a day! Lots of fun I’m sure. Thanks for all your inspiration.

We froze green beans on Tuesday and sweet corn on Wednesday. I had my youngest -not so young daughter helping on both days. In fact she did nearly all the work by herself except the husking and then the bagging as I wanted her to learn the process.

Aw shucks!!! Wish I was there!!! 🙂

Fresh corn is so good. I’m going to try the recipe, it looks delicious. You’re so lucky to have your grand-girls close to help. I enjoy your posts!

Thank you for the recipe. I an sympathize with you concerning he raccoons and cows. We have problems with squirrels, they rip up our bulbs and eat them. It is so frustrating to plant the flower bulbs and only to have them chewed up and destroyed. You are so right concerning The Amish. They are such wonderful people. Your granddaughters are beautiful. They are getting so big,quite the young ladies. thank you for sharing this post.
Marilyn

How wonderful to do all this all outside ! Just finished making apricot jam in my hot kitchen but now will treat myself to a nice cool swim in my pool – would love to have that soup for dinner but too tired and hot today !

Thanks for sharing your day with us. I always enjoy reading about your adventures!. Just yesterday my husband and I were discussing the best way to preserve corn for the winter. A local farmer has been selling wonderful corn the past couple of weeks and I hate for it to end. We do not have a vacuum seal system. I guess we’ll have to get one!

We stopped and got fresh corn on the cob on the way to our cabin this weekend. Your recipe for chowder looks like a perfect thing to have tonight. Thanks.

I plant squash & pumpkins with my corn. (Around the perimeter of my garden.)No more coons. They do not like the pickie vines.

We call it “doing corn”!! I need to do corn this summer because my supply from 2 years ago is all gone! I love fresh frozen corn to serve for company meals. Corn of this quality and flavor cannot be purchased! Soooo Good!

We froze green beans on Tuesday and sweet corn on Wednesday. I had my youngest -not so young daughter helping on both days. In fact she did nearly all the work by herself except the husking and then the bagging as I wanted her to learn the process.

Aw shucks!!! Wish I was there!!! 🙂

Fresh corn is so good. I’m going to try the recipe, it looks delicious. You’re so lucky to have your grand-girls close to help. I enjoy your posts!

Thank you for the recipe. I an sympathize with you concerning he raccoons and cows. We have problems with squirrels, they rip up our bulbs and eat them. It is so frustrating to plant the flower bulbs and only to have them chewed up and destroyed. You are so right concerning The Amish. They are such wonderful people. Your granddaughters are beautiful. They are getting so big,quite the young ladies. thank you for sharing this post.
Marilyn

How wonderful to do all this all outside ! Just finished making apricot jam in my hot kitchen but now will treat myself to a nice cool swim in my pool – would love to have that soup for dinner but too tired and hot today !

Thanks for sharing your day with us. I always enjoy reading about your adventures!. Just yesterday my husband and I were discussing the best way to preserve corn for the winter. A local farmer has been selling wonderful corn the past couple of weeks and I hate for it to end. We do not have a vacuum seal system. I guess we’ll have to get one!

We stopped and got fresh corn on the cob on the way to our cabin this weekend. Your recipe for chowder looks like a perfect thing to have tonight. Thanks.

I plant squash & pumpkins with my corn. (Around the perimeter of my garden.)No more coons. They do not like the pickie vines.

We call it “doing corn”!! I need to do corn this summer because my supply from 2 years ago is all gone! I love fresh frozen corn to serve for company meals. Corn of this quality and flavor cannot be purchased! Soooo Good!

Sounds like a delicious idea, but I won’t be making salsa unless I buy some tomatoes as we have had no luck with ours this year.

Do you have high winds I your area?

We have tried a camping stove but getting the temps high enough can take a long time.

I want to use my pressure canners also out of doors.

We do not have central AC and it has been around 105/109 some days at 5:30 pm.

Looks good and with a glass of homemade lemonade it is perfect.

I love homemade fresh salsa. I never make batches big enough to can (because I eat it all) but I’m hoping this year I will have enough tomatoes so I can. I am not a big fan of spicy so I add sugar to make it sweet! On Wednesday I made a small batch of mango salsa and it turned out delicious. Looking forward to when my tomatoes are ready to be made into salsa. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

Love salsa and won’t forget my first time i made it…i turned the mix by hand and couldn’t feel a thing for three days….the heat from the halapenos took away my migraine but my hands couldn’t feel a thing for days. Remind people to wear gloves when you cut and handke the peppers for the salsa, because the halapeno pepper are hot.,,.and you don’t have need to use more than four for the recipe.

Hello Dori, I wanted to tell you how good your salsa recipe is! The only problem is – we ate it all☺ lol. Am going to have to make more soon and double the recipe! Hope your summer is going good! Thanks for the great recipe. Looking forward to your next post☺ Ellen

Sounds like a delicious idea, but I won’t be making salsa unless I buy some tomatoes as we have had no luck with ours this year.

Do you have high winds I your area?

We have tried a camping stove but getting the temps high enough can take a long time.

I want to use my pressure canners also out of doors.

We do not have central AC and it has been around 105/109 some days at 5:30 pm.

Looks good and with a glass of homemade lemonade it is perfect.

I love homemade fresh salsa. I never make batches big enough to can (because I eat it all) but I’m hoping this year I will have enough tomatoes so I can. I am not a big fan of spicy so I add sugar to make it sweet! On Wednesday I made a small batch of mango salsa and it turned out delicious. Looking forward to when my tomatoes are ready to be made into salsa. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

Love salsa and won’t forget my first time i made it…i turned the mix by hand and couldn’t feel a thing for three days….the heat from the halapenos took away my migraine but my hands couldn’t feel a thing for days. Remind people to wear gloves when you cut and handke the peppers for the salsa, because the halapeno pepper are hot.,,.and you don’t have need to use more than four for the recipe.

Hello Dori, I wanted to tell you how good your salsa recipe is! The only problem is – we ate it all☺ lol. Am going to have to make more soon and double the recipe! Hope your summer is going good! Thanks for the great recipe. Looking forward to your next post☺ Ellen

Great life !

my dear Dori:
the first blooms of spring are wonderful!!! the photos brighten my day. And again, I wish I could experience them personally 🙂

You brightened my world with your beautiful flowers! We had a late winter so nothing much blooming here, hopefully later. And WOW the quilting room looks like great fun!! An update will be nice. Thanks for sharing from my fav state. God bless.

I love flower season! Like always I wish I lived closer so I could purchase some of your beautiful flowers. I have had a few of my own flowers come up and decided I would go cut my own bouquet today to brighten up my kitchen table. It’s amazing the wonderful feeling you get from having fresh flowers in your room. I hope your business is successful this flower season. I love how the girls quilts are turning out, very bright and beautiful! I’m excited to see how they look next time.

Oh, I would love to have a flower cart such as yours near to me! I’d buy two every week- one to sit on my kitchen table and another at my work desk.

Hello Dory, I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy all your posts! You inspire and encourage me with all you do. Thank you and have a happy day. Ellen

I just love your porches! I dream of one day having large porches like yours! Our current deck is small, uncovered, and very hot. My little guys love playing on our deck so we use an umbrella to help with the sun and heat. Just the past couple of weeks my husband and I have been talking about remodeling our deck. We would love to make it longer and wider as well as adding a roof covering. No official plans are set in stone, but I’m hoping to get started before the heat of the summer hits! Rocking chairs will also be a must for my deck when it’s finished.

I don’t care what we talked about! Just sitting and relaxing, drinking tea or coffee, becoming aquainted. Eventually conversation would drift to grandchildren I am sure! And hobbies, and collections, and sewing projects, flea markets, recipes, antiques….friends don’t need topics, it just happens!

I have always loved porches but not always had one, so your post was so enjoyable. I imagine our conversation would touch on how we got where we are, the beautiful valley below your porch, the trout stream in front of mine……..and spiders! I had to laugh about that last one because when we finally got our mountain home with porches the first thing I noticed was how prolific the spiders were; spinning and creating their own art every evening. For some reason I have many more on the front wraparound porch than the back porch. Maybe it is something to do with the wind? Anyway, we would have plenty to talk about. Enjoy your porching season!

Dori, I also wanted to mention I love what you are using for a flower pot on the porch. I remember those pots very well, as we used one on the farm growing up, and when I lived on a pig farm and took care of the owners pigs. We didn’t have indoor plumbing at either of these places. On my family’s farm, our outhouse was inside the barn which was up the hill in back of our farmhouse and not something we would use at night, hence the pot. On the pig farm the outhouse was below the house and a ways away and no one wanted to walk to it at night either. Those were some happy days though we didn’t have much we had fun all the time. Memories are precious.

Thank you for sharing your porch. As far as the spiders are concerned, have you tried peppermint? I read in a book concerning home remedies that spiders will stay away from peppermint. Have a great time on your lovely porches.
Marilyn

Dori, you are living my dream with your lovely porch! Thanks for sharing and Thanks for the tour!
~shannon
@browngirl_og

Porches, beautiful porches! I was raised with porches and always have had at least one my grown up life. Your’s are simple wonderful! I cleaned my front porch today, back porch tomorrow. You know, I think we would have some super conversations about everything from A to Z, especially quilts and quilting. Then just quietly enjoy the special Tennessee air. Thanks for sharing. God bless.

Sitting on a porch is just a perfect thing to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon. My farmhouse has a front porch and a back deck. Unfortunately, our house sits close to a road and I don’t like the noise of an occasional vehicle going by, but the back deck is perfect. Our property falls down in the back to a river, so sitting on the deck I feel like I’m in a tree house and listening to the river rush by makes for a perfect afternoon, book in hand, tea on the side table.
As a side note, I love when you share your house through blogs, your love for the property signs through, and that’s a wonderful thing to share.

Love your porches, I like to sit on my porch early in the morning drinking my coffee , by noon it is too hot to sit on front porch. At your place we could just walk around to the other side.
Till next time
Cheryl Turner

Oh, how I would love to share the view from one of those porches! They are absolutely beautiful. As to what we would talk about, I’m sure we could start with that…. the view. Then we could move on to our projects, past, present and future. Such a lovely place.

I love your porches,Dori, they are what I hope to have some day. I have a Verandah on the back of my house and I do ,one to sit out there. I have a table setting out there and some potted plants and our bbq, but one day on my own porch I’d love to have some rocking chairs, a porch swing and a hammock and a day bed as well as my outdoor table setting and bbq. A real relax place to unwind and treasure time.
I’d chat with you about anything and everyone, your favorite plants, life, sewing and whatever else we felt like chatting about, all with home baking, I’d bring some too, and some lovely tea or coffee and later a glass of wine. There’d be no rush to our time together and we’d savor the conversation and time together.
Blessing to you and yours
Denise
Australia

I just love your porches! I dream of one day having large porches like yours! Our current deck is small, uncovered, and very hot. My little guys love playing on our deck so we use an umbrella to help with the sun and heat. Just the past couple of weeks my husband and I have been talking about remodeling our deck. We would love to make it longer and wider as well as adding a roof covering. No official plans are set in stone, but I’m hoping to get started before the heat of the summer hits! Rocking chairs will also be a must for my deck when it’s finished.

I don’t care what we talked about! Just sitting and relaxing, drinking tea or coffee, becoming aquainted. Eventually conversation would drift to grandchildren I am sure! And hobbies, and collections, and sewing projects, flea markets, recipes, antiques….friends don’t need topics, it just happens!

I have always loved porches but not always had one, so your post was so enjoyable. I imagine our conversation would touch on how we got where we are, the beautiful valley below your porch, the trout stream in front of mine……..and spiders! I had to laugh about that last one because when we finally got our mountain home with porches the first thing I noticed was how prolific the spiders were; spinning and creating their own art every evening. For some reason I have many more on the front wraparound porch than the back porch. Maybe it is something to do with the wind? Anyway, we would have plenty to talk about. Enjoy your porching season!

Dori, I also wanted to mention I love what you are using for a flower pot on the porch. I remember those pots very well, as we used one on the farm growing up, and when I lived on a pig farm and took care of the owners pigs. We didn’t have indoor plumbing at either of these places. On my family’s farm, our outhouse was inside the barn which was up the hill in back of our farmhouse and not something we would use at night, hence the pot. On the pig farm the outhouse was below the house and a ways away and no one wanted to walk to it at night either. Those were some happy days though we didn’t have much we had fun all the time. Memories are precious.

Thank you for sharing your porch. As far as the spiders are concerned, have you tried peppermint? I read in a book concerning home remedies that spiders will stay away from peppermint. Have a great time on your lovely porches.
Marilyn

Dori, you are living my dream with your lovely porch! Thanks for sharing and Thanks for the tour!
~shannon
@browngirl_og

Porches, beautiful porches! I was raised with porches and always have had at least one my grown up life. Your’s are simple wonderful! I cleaned my front porch today, back porch tomorrow. You know, I think we would have some super conversations about everything from A to Z, especially quilts and quilting. Then just quietly enjoy the special Tennessee air. Thanks for sharing. God bless.

Sitting on a porch is just a perfect thing to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon. My farmhouse has a front porch and a back deck. Unfortunately, our house sits close to a road and I don’t like the noise of an occasional vehicle going by, but the back deck is perfect. Our property falls down in the back to a river, so sitting on the deck I feel like I’m in a tree house and listening to the river rush by makes for a perfect afternoon, book in hand, tea on the side table.
As a side note, I love when you share your house through blogs, your love for the property signs through, and that’s a wonderful thing to share.

Love your porches, I like to sit on my porch early in the morning drinking my coffee , by noon it is too hot to sit on front porch. At your place we could just walk around to the other side.
Till next time
Cheryl Turner

Oh, how I would love to share the view from one of those porches! They are absolutely beautiful. As to what we would talk about, I’m sure we could start with that…. the view. Then we could move on to our projects, past, present and future. Such a lovely place.

I love your porches,Dori, they are what I hope to have some day. I have a Verandah on the back of my house and I do ,one to sit out there. I have a table setting out there and some potted plants and our bbq, but one day on my own porch I’d love to have some rocking chairs, a porch swing and a hammock and a day bed as well as my outdoor table setting and bbq. A real relax place to unwind and treasure time.
I’d chat with you about anything and everyone, your favorite plants, life, sewing and whatever else we felt like chatting about, all with home baking, I’d bring some too, and some lovely tea or coffee and later a glass of wine. There’d be no rush to our time together and we’d savor the conversation and time together.
Blessing to you and yours
Denise
Australia

The quilt you made using MaryJane’s fabric is beautiful! I love how bright and cheerful the colors are in that fabric collection. Also, that’s some wonderful donations from each and every one of those designers. It’s very generous of them to share such wonderful fabrics. Now I really can’t wait to see how each of the girls lap quilts turn out! Your going to be an awesome teacher! Your coasters are so cute! Love love that red one! Congratulations Ann on your wonderful surprise!

These are gorgeous quilts and coasters, Dori. I can’t wait to see how your girls put them all together. Very exciting you’ve got your project classes off the ground. I’m sure it will be a very rewarding experience for both you and the girls who do your class, in confidence building, knowledge and skills. So glad you’re doing this.
Wishing you a blessed Easter season.

I think you need to do this for adults also!! I would love to come take a basic quilting class, because that is about how much patience I would have would be a lap blanket!

Lucky girls Dori

Edee

So wonderful that you are sharing your considerable skills with these girls. I feel it is so important to impart the skill and joy that quilting brings to our younger generation. Sadly, these skills don’t seem to be taught in schools anymore, so your efforts are even more important. I can’t wait to see all the finished quilts. Who knows you might be teaching a quilt artist of the future. Above all, you have fun too, I know it is a lot of prep work, but I promise you the reward will be in the joy you and your class will share.

Dori, what a wonderful start to summer for you and the girls. I love all the fabrics but my favorite is the Playground by Amy Sinibaldi – partial to blues. I want to make a quilt or more than one actually but I was thinking of cutting up material I have on hand like older clothes no one wears anymore or sheets or cases that are a bit worn in places, or drapes etc. You get the idea! I lucked out at an auction and picked up a lot of polyester batting which I intend to use as the filling. I also want to use some for stuffing in a couple of dolls I hope to make also this summer. So glad you are starting the quilt season off. Looking forward to more exciting things from you and the girls.

So excited to follow along with your sweet class! What a wonderful learning experience for these girls…with beautiful finished lap quilts as the results. Your fabulous idea to contact fabric companies was spot on! Can’t wait to see the next posting!

Dang, I wish you were around when I was a little gir.

Good luck with this class!! I hope they will be a new generation of family quilters! On a recent shopping trip I bought several yds. of a fluer-de-lis fabric that inspired me to promise my sister-in-law some quilts (she is from the New Orleans area). What apprx. dimensions will your classes lap quilts be? I recently googled lap quilts for nursing homes (another project my club is doing) and read of several dimensions!! Do you have any experience or suggestions on them?? Thank You and love reading your blog!!

What beautiful items! Thanks for your sharing and giving heart!

I’m passionate about fiber arts of all sorts. I try and make time for it. I find it very relaxing!

My passion is photography. Although I am not a trained designer, I also love to seasonally decorate our home. It may not meet the standards of a professional, but I sure do enjoy myself (and the family seems to enjoy it too).

Hi Dori, thank you for a post that puts a lot of my thoughts and feelings of being a maker/creartist into words.
I know the fear feeling p, mine comes from worrying I’m going to ruin the thing, whether it’s the material, or a painting or drawing, whatever. It’s hard to take the first step and out the fears aside and just do because. I try to change my thinking toward what I’m about to do, to one of, I’m going to hav some fun now and put the worry thoughts aside. Easier said than done, I know.
Love your materials for your twin quilts, I look forward to seeing them made when the time is right for you.
I’m more of an artist I guess, though I do it for myself, and I doubt and compare myskef a lot. I’ve done one commission for a friend, and she loves it – which is a good confidence boost when I’m feeling down on it. But on Instagram I’ve chosen to follow lots of artists who all paint differently and so I turn a negative into a positive and can begin painting just for the joy of it.
I like sewing, cooking/baking and gardening too and do some knitting from time to time.
I’ve made a patchwork doona cover years ago from different scraps of material I had and clothes I cut up to out in it. I still have it, though it is showing real wear now.

I try almost every day making someone feel loved and valued.