Keep Smiling

Keep Smiling

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Mail Box Surprise!

What do you post about when everything
that you are making is a gift
and you don't want to spoil the surprise?
~~~~~***~~~~~
Well, I got this huge order of fabric
in the mail. Let me share that with you.
Lots of pretty stuff to keep me busy this winter.

This stack is all flannel . . .
I want to make some truly warm quilts :)

 I also stacked two pieces together
out in the barn,
to create this storage space.

Then I painted the back of them
with chalkboard paint.

 Well that was all that I had to post . . .
until the mail-lady came with 
a surprise package from Nancy at
A Joyful Cottage

I had the pleasure of meeting Nancy 
about three years ago . . .
She is a charming and delightful 
Christian lady with a heart of gold.

She makes these marvelous fabric collages
and I am honored that she chose to gift
me with this one.


Nancy, it is perfect!


Thank you so much:)


~~~~~***~~~~~
  That's it for today.
Thanks for stopping by.

I hope that you have time 
to leave a comment.
I love reading them.

~~~~~***~~~~~
Keep Smiling!

Your blogging sister,
Connie :)
 

55 comments:

  1. What a sweet gift from Nancy! Blog friends are the greatest. I like how you stacked the two pieces. They look great together and give you such a nice surface on the back.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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    1. I know! Nancy is a peach and I love my wall hanging. It fits my kitchen perfectly :)

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  2. I love flannel and all those fabrics look so nice. I have always loved Nancy's blog and she is a nice lady. Great to get gifts in the mail.

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    1. Nancy is one of the best . . . she has a heart of gold and her blog is so inspiring. I'm working with some of that flannel today . . . it's so soft and cuddly :)

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  3. Your new fabric looks lovely and cosy, I love flannel. What a pretty gift xx

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    1. I am truly blessed . . . you meet the nicest people through blogging:)

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  4. That was a sweet gift. I always treasure the handmade things that people make for me. To know that they gave up their time to make something with me in mind is such an honour.
    Oh, and I love the idea of a warm snuggly patchwork quilt.

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    1. Handmade gifts are by far the best of all . . . people put their hearts into their creations and I feel blessed that Nancy thought of me:) I started working with some of that flannel today, but it's another gift so I can't blog about it. :) I'm going to have a storehouse of after gift giving posts to share one day, LOL

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  5. Wonderful! Nancy from A Joyful Cottage is so talented. Love her things she makes. You had a great creative idea putting those two pieces together for storage! The material is so pretty! I am sure your quilt or quilts will turn out lovely as always! I love buying new material. Where did you order that? Just wish I had more time to play. Need a maid!!!! Have a lovely day! Nancy

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    1. Nancy you just need to decide that housework can wait sometimes . . . after all girls do need to have fun :) I ordered that fabric from Hancock's of Paducah, you can find them on-line and they have quality fabric at great prices.

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  6. Hi Connie :) Lovely fabrics! I have to look for some to buy online. There are no fabric stores in this area and I miss sewing! And the gifts are so nice...beautiful post! :)

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    1. Hello Rain, you should look at Hancock's of Paducah. They have a great on-line store and if you order $70 or more shipping is free. At least that is true for the states, they might have a different deal for their Canadian customers, but check them out. I am very happy with their service and products.

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    2. Thanks for the reference Connie! Even if that place doesn't offer free shipping, you've inspired me to search for a Canadian online fabric store! :)

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  7. Connie, I loved the fabrics. Your chalkboard idea is wonderful. :):) I like Nancy too....wish I could meet her. She made you a precious gift. Blessings, xoxo, Susie

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    1. Hi Susie, you would love Nancy, she is a sweetheart. I have only met a couple of my blogging sisters in person and it has been a lovely experience both times. I'm out in my barn right now, just stopped from sewing to take a little blogging break:) Hope you are having a sweet day!

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  8. The colours of your new fabrics are delightful. Flannel is so cozy, isn't it!! It's definitely getting to the chilly season out here, maybe out your way too!

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    1. Flannel fabric just makes you want to cozy up with a good book or video. I am planning on making a couple warm and cozy quilts from these. Our weather today is cold and very windy . . . winter will be here before we know it:)

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  9. Your little creative spot in the world makes me smile!

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    1. Thank you . . . it does that for me too . . . every time I enter :)

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  10. Such fabulous mail you received today - enjoy!

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  11. Oh what pretty material. Love all the red. I can just imagine all the beautiful things you will turn it into.

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    1. I love red and want to make a couple quilts this winter using it as the main color :)

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  12. What a nice surprise and gift. I like that.

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    1. I don't deserve to be so blessed, but I truly will be grateful and enjoy my treasures:)

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  13. The fabric collage is just beautiful. Our friends know just what we love. And I LOVE your flannel fabric. It's so nice to work with. Enjoy your creative week! Hugs!

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    1. Nancy's collage is just perfect, she is such a sweet soul. As for the fabric, I have already cut some of it and started a quilt . . . the gardening is over for the year and now I have lots of time to be out in the barn just sewing my heart out :)

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  14. I'm honestly amazed at your barn! Our barn is cobwebs and smelly dogs :) Yours looks lovely! The gift is very sweet, and a fine verse too. Your furniture looks great! I'm thinking it would be a good idea to sew some aprons for Christmas, for gifts. Thanks for that idea!

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    1. I love making aprons and they do make great gifts. I think their popularity has increase in the last few years. I know that I enjoy putting an apron on when I get ready to cook, there's a homey feel to it . . . like, "okay let's get cooking!" LOL.

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  15. Lots of winter sewing ahead. Have fun with the chalk paint. Your barn and special place get better and better.

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    1. It's the time of year when I can truly enjoy having my barn . . . gardening is done and I have much more time for sewing now :)

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  16. There's nothing like a stack of new fabric to inspire new projects!

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  17. Beautiful fabrics and a such a lovely gift from a fellow blogger, a real delight. Love the two pieces of furniture stacked they look amazing, such a wonderful creative space.

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    1. I much admit that I love my barn . . . it is a dream come true and a wonderful place to spread out my projects and enjoy this creative space :)

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  18. I also love receiving packages in the mail. It's like a little surprise you get to unwrap. Your gift looks great on your wall. I love red and black together. Such a good combination.
    xx Beca

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    1. Sounds like we have both been blessed by sweet friends this week . . . just having friends that would take time to think of us during their busy days is a blessing in it's self. I feel honored to have sweet people like Nancy in my life.

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  19. Nancy's gift is wonderful.

    And, I love that your stacked the two pieces together - clever of you.

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    1. I'm just always trying to find more way to create storage and whimsy in the barn . . . after all it is my fun place to play and create :) Nancy's collage is perfect:)

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  20. Hi Connie, love that you mixed and matched your storage space. Looks great and plenty of storage. What a pretty thoughtful gift you received. Just getting done with the cleanup of Irma we were hit dead on... many homes here are down but the good lord spared us, We just had minor damage thank god! Where do you order your fabric from? Love flannel prints ,they will make for some fine quilting. Enjoy your Fall season Lisa@ Sweet Tea N' Salty Air

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    1. I'm very happy to hear that your home was spared any major damage. I have a brother in Florida, last week when I talk to him they had contractors doing repairs to their home. How scary was that! As for my fabric I ordered this from Hancock's of Paducah. You can find them on-line and if you order $70 (which isn't hard to do) the shipping is free. Also they have very good sales on quality fabric brands.

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  21. Happy Fall week! It's windy here too and cloudy today. I suspect that in the near future we may see some of those white things floating down from the sky! How fun to get fabric in the mail! I just LOVE going to a sweet little quilt shop. There is one here about 30 miles away, and it has everything I just love. I don't dare go there very often as I spend too much and then the fabric just sits in my stash. But sure is fun to look at! You USE yours and make wonderful things! At the moment, I'm into making some paper Christmas projects, but sewing is on my mind also. I only have a little space to sew, so is hard to spread out and that's why, I guess, that I only make little things. I bet those flannel quilts will be awesome.. love the colors, and I remember years ago when I was so thrilled that "they" came out with printed flannels and printed corduroy. I still have some old pieces of printed corduroys that I was going to make some vests out of. Enjoy your week sewing.. it's so fun to see what you are up to! Oh, and I DID get outside the other day and cut down all of the dead stuff and it all looks so much better. Phew.. did it before the rains start. Hugs.. Marilyn

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    1. We had rain and wind and today we have leaves down in the yard. Fall is certain here to stay. The garden is clean so that means more time out in the barn. I believe that I have spend more time out there in the last two weeks than I did all summer. I can't believe how busy the garden and yard keep me. Next year Steve will be retired, so I'll have much more summer help :) I've started one quilt with the flannel, but it is a Christmas present, so can't show it for a long time, LOL. I also have two other projects finished that I can't show, LOL. Oh, well they make great posts for later :) Have a sweet week my friend.

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  22. Connie, I'm taking a break from working on my latest rug and thought I'd stop by to see what you've been up to. I love the fabrics you chose, and the fact that they're flannel. You'll have so much fun working your quilting magic with those fabulous colors and patterns. So smart of you to stack those two storage pieces and have chalkboards to boot! It is such a pleasure to see the photo of the spot in your kitchen where you hung the collage. It does my heart good to see that it really does fit in well, as I expected it would. I'm humbled by your kind words and can only say once more that I am the one who's blessed by our friendship. More than you'll ever know. Hugs and love sweet friend! ~ Nancy

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    1. Nancy you are the best! I only wished we lived closer; I think we could have fun exploring the secondhand shops in your area and just meeting for lunch or coffee. I've said it many times . . . your collage is perfect. It is like you visited my kitchen and made it custom it fit. I don't know how you did that, but thank you so much. I love it!

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  23. Love all the wonderful colours in the fabric.
    Enjoy your Art Barn

    All the best Jan

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  24. Hi Connie! Oh, your gift is lovely! VERY cute!
    You'll make a wonderfully warm quilt with that nice flannel.

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    1. What can I say . . . I'm blessed . . . great friends, and plenty of fabric to keep me busy all winter long without outing out and driving on icy roads :)

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  25. Oh now I can't wait until you can share what you will make with all that great fabric!!
    Such a sweet gift you have there, love all the ruffles!

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    1. Nancy does lovely work . . . I am blessed not only by this charming gift, but even more by her friendship:)

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  26. Don't we all love surprises? And you received such a nice one. Yes, to everything there is a season. Literally, this is my favorite season of the year. Looking forward to seeing the lovely warm and cozy quilts you will be making with all that colorful fabric.

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    1. To everything there is a season . . . oh yes indeed :) There are many seasons in our lives. Times to grow:)

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  27. Looks like you are going to be very busy this winter with all that lovely fabric! I love the surprise you got in the mail. What a beautiful gift.

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    1. Hi Melanie, just wait until my next post . . . you will not believe the surprise I got starting with an email six weeks ago. I'm still a bit in shock, but in a very good way :)

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