Little Bits of This & That

Designer of the Month...March

It's March! Which means it's time to meet Victoria Findlay Wolfe. She is the March designer for Aurifil's 2012 Designer of the Month program.

She has designed a super cute pattern called "Spring if We're Lucky".

Hop on over to the Aurifil blog to read all about her!

Have you been stitching with us each month? If you are, and we sure hope you are, be sure to post your finished pictures on the Flickr page so that you will be entered to win some of the wonderful prizes that Aurifil has in store for you.

If you are looking for the thread used each month contact Rosebud's Cottage. She is carrying the thread collections....just give her a call and she will pop them in the mail to you.

Aurifil's 2012 Designer Kick Off Day!

A few months ago I got am email from Pat Sloan, yes THE Pat Sloan! She asked me to join her in the Aurfil 2012 Designer Blog Hop. Of course I said yes! So here is the deal.....each month a different designer will have their embroidery pattern posted on the Aurifil Blog for you to download. There is also a finishing pattern that will be posted (I think sometime this summer) that you can use to sash and finish your blocks into a super cute wall hanging. We are doing embroidery patterns this year using the wonderful 12 wt thread that Aurifil offers. Wait until you try it...you will love it!

Here is the line up~

January ....Roseann from Rosebud's Cottage

February ... Sherri Falls (That's me!) ... This and That

March ... Victoria Findlay Wolfe ... Bumble Beans Inc

April ... Gail Pan ... Gail Pan Designs

May ... Anna ... Thimbleanna

June ... Pam Viera-McGinnis ... PamKittyMorning

July ... Sarah Fielke ... TheLastPiece

August ... Bari J ... BariJ

September ... Amy Ellis ... Amy's Creative Side

October ... Amanda ... Mrs McPorkChop

November ... Emily Cier ... Carolina Patchworks

December ... Liz Hawkins & Beth Hawkins ... Lizzie B girls

So are you excited and ready to get stitchin? Hop on over to Aurfil's blog to get started and be sure to check out Roseann's blog today too. She will be posting some stitching tips I know you won't want to miss.

And yes, there will be prizes too! When you finish your monthly stitching, load it up on the Aurifil Flickr page ... some lucky winners will get some awesome thread!!

I hope you will join me and the 11 other designers for a fun filled year of stitching!

 

 

 

Party Hop Winner

Thank you so much for all the kind and sweet comments you all left for me! I hope you had a really fun time hopping from blog to blog collecting Christmas cheer.

The winner of my prize is~

Elizabeth McDonald and she said~ What a lovely giveaway! Thank you for the snowman pillow pattern, which I am going to download right away.

Elizabeth, please email me your snail mail address and I will pop your prize in the mail to you!

Be sure to join me on January 2nd for the first Mystery Monday in 2012. So mark your caledar and tell your friends to join us too....it's going to be fun!

Join the Party!

Join me in the Blog Hop Party! There are over 250 blogs that are hopping and having great prizes for you to win. To start, leave me a comment to be entered in my give-away (On this post!) I will be drawing the winner on December 17th.

Here are the prizes I have for you~

2 books....Northern Cardinal and Dragonfly Summer!

1 Layer Cake by Sandy Garvais of Moda fabrics!

And 6 fun patterns!

Be sure to stop back and see if you are the big winner! Then hop on over to the Quilt Gallery Blog to see the list of blogs that are joining in the fun! (The list of blogs will be available after 12:00 am on December 10th.)

To add to your holiday cheer, I have a gift just for you~

It's a frosty pillow of winter cheer!

 

Please Note~ This pattern will only be available until Dec 17th....then it will be removed. So be sure to print a copy or download and save to your computer before then.

If you are new to my blog, please check out the Mystery Mondays. Every monday, I post a small bit of a mystery for you to sew up. We have been having alot of fun with it and it's something people look forward to each week.

To make it easy and not miss one part of the Mystery, feel free to sign up here on my blog with your e-mail and all the blog posts will be sent right to you. We will be starting a new Mystery on January 2nd....hope you will join me!

Merry Christmas to you!

P.S. If you are working on Monday Mystery #2....I have changed the date for when you must submit your photo to be entered in the prize drawing. Please send me a picture of your finished runner by December 29th. Alot of people have said that they are crazy busy with spreading holiday cheer and don't have much time to relax and sew but they have time between Christmas and New Years. So send in your photo by December 29th and be sure to mark your calendar for January 2nd. We will be starting a new mystery that day!

 

 

 

It's time for a blog hop!

Monique from Open Gate Quilts has organized a fun blog hop for you this week! I hope you checked out her cute project yesterday...if you didn't, be sure to stop by her blog and check it out...and don't forget to leave a comment to be entered in her drawing!

Here is the line up for the blog hop~

July 4th - Open Gate - Monique, http://opengatequilts.blogspot.com/
July 5th - Stashmaster -  Lisa - http://stashmaster.typepad.com/
               This & That - Sherri, http://thisandthatpatterns.typepad.com/
July 6th - Sweetwater - Lisa, http://www.sweetwater.typepad.com/
July 7th - Quilter's Window - Denise, http://www.quilterswindow.com/blog/
               A Quilting Life - Sherri, http://www.aquiltinglife.com/
July 8th - Cupcakes 'n Daisies - Thelma - http://www.cupcakesndaisies.blogspot.com/

And it's July 5th, so it's my day to share with you!

The project I have for you is an easy and fun table topper called Firecracker. Yes, I know that the 4th was yesterday but I really this table topper and you can make it for next year or you can make it out of Halloween or Christmas fabric and it would be super cute out of one of those too.

   

Click here to download your copy of the Firecracker pattern.

Now for a big-time family favorite recipe for summer time grilling~

~BBQ RIBS~

What you need~

2 racks of pork ribs. (Cut in half, so you have 4 smaller racks.)

1 onion cut into big chunks.

2 tablespoons butter.

5-7 beers.

28 ozs of Sweet Baby's Ray's BBQ sauce.

(You can use your favorite kind instead if you want)

2-3 tbsp. Franks Hot sauce.

Let's begin~

In large pot, put beer, butter and onion. Add rib racks. Bring to simmer and simmer ribs for 45 minutes to and hour.  (Beer should cover the ribs and you may need to skim off the foam...that's what I do....don't like the brown foam that come to the top...you will see what I mean.)

Mix BBQ sauce and hot sauce together in bowl. Remove ribs from beer pot and baste with BBQ/hot sauce.

Heat grill to med-high. (Depending on the grill.) Place ribs on grill, brown both sides as desired, basting often with sauce.

The ribs are done cooking when you take them out of the beer pot...you are grilling them to give the grill flavor and to caramelize the BBQ sauce. Be careful not to over grill, as you will dry them out!

(We brown each side for approx 5 mins...it really has alot to do with the look or how brown you want your ribs. We like them medium brown. We baste each side a few times....I like them full of sauce!)

Hope you enjoyed the 4th...we spend the day boating, grilling and hanging out with family...ending the day with fireworks.  Great way to celebrate America!

Now be sure to leave me a comment on your favorite holiday tradition or anything you feel like saying and you will be entered in the drawing for my new book "Cardinal Christmas" and some fat 1/4's of the Cardinal Christmas fabric...I will even throw in the panel fabric... they are so pretty! So please leave a comment here and I will let you know on friday who the lucky winner is!

Until friday~Sherri

 

 

 

 

An Extra Special Day....

Not only are we going to announce the winner for our Mistletoe Make & Bake...it's my daughters 17th birthday!

But so you don't have to wait any longer, here they are.....

Winner #1 is~

Janet S (QUILTNUT331@msn.com)

Winner #2 is~

Sharon W (swork@armstrong.k12.ia.us)

Please e-mail me your addresses and I will pop your big prizes in the mail!

Thank you to everyone who joined us in the hop.We really appreciate all your nice comments and all the time you spent hopping with us!

Today is a pretty big day at our house. My oldest daughter has turned 17! I miss having her little but I am enjoying the wonderful adult she is becoming.

 
Back when she was little, people would tell me it goes by fast...enjoy her while she is little. I have treasured every moment but it sure did go by fast. I would love one more day with her little. She was such a cutie....still is! (I know I'm bias!)

 
To celebrate her birthday, I have gift for you! I made this cute little pincushion for some friends at retreat. So I thought I would share the pattern with you so you can enjoy it too. Quick, easy and perfect for gifts! I love this pincushion!

 
Click here to download your copy of the pattern~Charming Lil Pincushions.

 Thanks again for joining the Blog Hop and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 
Please stop back often....Until next time~Sherri

 

 

And the winner is.....

Ugh! This post should have been up on Tuesday but I forgot to set the blog timer...Sorry!

 
And now for the winner of my 8 new patterns and a kit for the Buttons and Blossoms kit.

And the winner is~ Suzanne Nelson.

Suzanne said....Cute project. This is a really fun idea, thank you! Great to see some new web sites! Love your patterns.

If you are the Suzanne who posted that comment, please e-mail me your address and I will pop your prizes in the mail rigth away!

Be sure to keep commenting on the blogs so that your name will be enter for the GRAND prize. Trust me, you don't want to miss the chance to win it! 

See you tomorrow~Sherri

Another sweet day for Making & Baking....

We are already on day #4 of our hop.....I sure hope you are enjoying this week as much as we are!

Today we going to share with you our favorite books to have on hand during the holidays. Now I must confess that I have a serious love/obsession for books. I love to read just about anything, so it is very hard to narrow the list down. But one of the books my family and I love to read during the holidays is "The Legend of the Candy Cane". It's a wonderful story for any age that tells of the real meaning of Christmas using the simple candy cane.

 

Another book I must use during the holidays is "The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook".

 
I think Martha is one creative lady and her cookbook has the best recipes in it. Since it seems like I can only be creative in one area of my life at a time....I use her cookbook faithfully so that I have a great line up of food to cook without all the stress of having to think anything up!

Now for another sweet addition to your cookie collection~

 
Today we have "Snicker Surprise" cookies!

I found this recipe on the back of the bag for bite size snickers a few years ago. We have been making them ever since. Another must-make for my family!

 
Click here to download your copy of the Snicker Surprise Cookies.

Please stop by tomorrow for another favorite recipe!

Don't forget to leave a comment on each blog so that you will be entered in the drawing for our grand prize.

I have to tell you that the grand prize is just that..... GRAND! We have patterns, books, templates, fabric, notions and more. I sure wish I could win!

If you didn't leave a comment on monday...please be sure to hop back over to "Little Bits of This & That" and leave a comment today so you don't miss out on your chance to win the grand prize.

Now go and enjoy the holiday projects that have been created just for you at Moda Lissa and Quilts 4 Julie.

 

 

 

More Making & Baking.....

Welcome to our third day of Mistletoe Make & Bake!

Today we will be giving you some creative suggestions on how to break the ice with people at a holiday party.

Now I am not much of a party person but I when I meet people, I like to break the ice by asking them about their family. Most people have kids and LOVE to talk about them. I know I love, love, love to talk about mine! There are many other topics that are easy to bring up and start a conversation about....pets (I love my bulldogs too!) or travel. I know I want to travel more and enjoy hear about where people have gone and learn from their expericences.

And now I do have another yummy recipe just for you! 

Today is the day for "Nut Goodie Bars".

I got this recipe from my neighbor Kathy and my family loves it. It has now become a must~make holiday tradition. They are super yummy good! Hope you like them as much as we do!

Click here to download a copy of the  Nut Goodie Bar.

Hope you enjoy today's cookies and please stop back tomorrow for another family favorite recipe.

Don't forget to leave a comment on each blog so that you will be entered in the drawing for our grand prize! If you didn't leave a comment on monday...please be sure to hop back over to "Little Bits of This & That" and leave a comment today so you don't miss out on your chance to win the grand prize and my prizes too.

Now be sure to check out the holiday projects that have been whipped up for you at Perkin's Dry Goods , Patrick Lose and Kelly Ann's Quilting. 

See you tomorrow~Sherri

Day Two of Mistletoe Make & Bake.....

The holidays are a major source of stress for many people and for good reason too! But we have some sanity savers for you today so that you may enjoy the holidays to the fullest. To save my sanity during the holidays, I start to make plans in November and then I try very hard to stick to them.  

I also make sure that I don't over book our family with activities so that we still have some quiet time to hang out together. Nothing better than to make some hot chocolate and pop in an old holiday movie. I think my all time favorite holiday movie is "Holiday Inn" and yes, it has to be in black and white with some butter popcorn on the side. Those are the best memories for me. It doesn't hurt if you can find the time to get a massage or a pretty pedicure either!

Now for your little bit of baking bliss.....

 

Today we have "Decadent Coconut Macaroon" cookies~yummy!

Oh, my goodness I love these cookies! I had one for the first time last year with a friend and now they are a "must have" in our house for the holidays. Hope you like them as much as we do....yes, we LOVE cookies around here!

Click here to download your copy of Coconut macaroon cookies.

 Hope you enjoy today's cookies and please stop back tomorrow for another favorite recipe.

Don't forget to leave a comment on each blog so that you will be entered in the drawing for our grand prize! If you didn't leave a comment yesterday...please be sure to hop back over to "Little Bits of This & That" and leave a comment today so you don't miss out on your chance to win the grand prize and my prizes too.

Now be sure to check out the holiday projects at Open Gate, and Heidi Kaisand. They have whipped up something special for you!

See you tomorrow~Sherri

P.S. I want to thank you all for all the nice comments you left yesterday. I really appreciate it! I even had one of you say that you have already finished the project~yay! I would love to see pictures of your finished project...just send me a jpeg and I will post it for everyone to see~Thanks a bunch!