Hey, Mr. Postman

A BIG Heartfelt Thank You

to 

Sandra P...... aka...Grandma Rockton 

at

Quilting, Sewing Granny

Look, Look & See

What came special Delivery for ME!!

I am NOT a Photographer like some of you talented Ladies

SEW...

Please forgive the quality of the pictures.

Sandra sent THREE...count them...THREE Quilt tops and ALL the material to finish them!

She asked me in advance if I could use some quilt tops she had ready to go!!??

OF COURSE!!!

You should see how neat and pressed everything was even after surviving the trip!

Colors are so yummy!

Some VERY Lucky children will have a quilt of their very own!

Just this morning, the Local News put out a Plea for more donations for Tornado Victims,

especially in the area of Baby Blankets

&

Baby Items...

Oh did I tell you?? 

Sandra ALSO sent brand spankin' new Baby & Toddler clothes!!  Oh yes she did!!

I told her I planned to Monogram a few of the cute little onesies.

#1 Husband is bringing home specific names of children/babies in need!

CUTE... CUTE... CUTE

Bunny Applique and the colors are so much warmer and yummier!!

This little treasure is made from soft flannel blocks with flannel backing!

She took a baby panel and added borders of her own design...SEW SWEET!

and NOW....KUDOS to another Friend..............

if you'll take a look one more time

See that stack of blankets in the upper right??  

Those are Fleece Tied Baby Blankets

Only Those are from a Good Friend at Church, Janice G. who made EIGHT Blankets for

QUILTS FOR HUGS

I'm Just Over the Top with

Gratitude!!!

Please go to Quilting, Sewing, Granny 

(sorry, Sandra doesn't have a *button* and you know how I am with this linky thing)

Coming Thursday...some Quilt Trivia!  

I can't help myself!  I'm a retired Teacher and I read everything I get my hands on so inevitably I'm going to store a lot of unnecessary Quilt Trivia that needs to be deleted to make room for more useless facts in my head.

Blessings

QUILTS FOR HUGS

QUILTS FOR HUGS

Do you know about the Storms of the Century in Alabama on April 27th, 2011???  

Have you seen  pictures of the Devastation??

APRIL 27, 2011  

One of America's worst Natural Disasters in the form of F3, F4, & F5 level Tornadoes

brought forth death, destruction, and suffering to thousands in 7 states! Families were left with absolutely NOTHING!  The saddest picture (I wish I had it to show you) was of a little boy approx. 7-8 yrs. old with a blank stare on his face looking up a camera holding the Easter Basket he had found while his family was sifting through the rubble that used to be their home.  That one picture has haunted me and compelled me to help in a way that I as a quilter can hopefully effect the life of a child somewhere.

  To do this, I NEED YOUR HELP!!!  I am attempting to collect quilts. knitted blankets, fleece tied blankets to give to individual children impacted by the storm.  I've begun receiving donations from all over and for that I'm grateful! 

HOWEVER, I NEED SO MANY MORE TO MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE.

Why do I think a quilt or blanket can mean anything to a child?  Wouldn't they rather have a toy. you ask??

Let me briefly tell you my story....

When I was 9 yrs. old, my family  moved to a farm with a house heated by a coal oil furnace.  My father mistakenly left some old rags next to the furnace and spontaneous combustion sparked a fire.  My father woke up in the wee hours of the morning to smoke coming out of the floor vents!  My parents scooped up my baby sister and I with blankets, sat us in the family Buick, parked it away from the house and told us to go to sleep and not to look back.  Long story short...Our house burned to the ground for lack of a volunteer fire dept and with the exception of a sewing machine, punch bowl, and box of family photos/baby books we lost everything.  There was no active Red Cross or other organizations to help fire victims in a small rural WV town in 1962.  Families and neighbors helped one another.

I went to school that following Monday with donated clothes and little black purse that I thought was so lovely.  However, cruel as kids can sometimes be, during recess that afternoon one of the "rich girls" was laughing at me with her group of  "mean girls".  *SHE* announced to what seemed the WORLD that I was carrying the black purse *SHE* gave my family because "I didn't really like that purse anyway".  I remember being so embarrassed, hurt, ashamed and wanting to run as far away as I could run.  I took that purse and hid it in my desk and never carried it to school again.

I've never forgotten the feeling of not OWNING something of my own.  Of course, I eventually had an entire wardrobe but for those first few months after the fire I wore donated clothes until my parents could get back on their feet.  A few days after that incident, a family friend brought me the most beautiful quilt with my name on it and the feeling of having something that was MY OWN, NOT a donation, was HUGE!!!!  That quilt kept me company during the nights I couldn't sleep for fear of another house fire.

IT IS MY TIME TO PAY IT FORWARD:

Won't you help me give a child a NEW QUILT, Knitted Blanket, Tied Fleece Blanket of their very own??!!
Please leave me a comment that you wish to donate a quilt or blanket and I will send you my mailing address.
You will put a smile on a lot of children's faces.  There are many still in the hospital with severe injuries that would appreciate a new quilt.

For Pictures of the storms Google Tuscaloosa or Harvest Tornadoes, 4-27-11

Thank YOU

Blessings

After The Storms

...so but this too, we Glory in tribulations, also knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance tested character and tested character, HOPE...and Hope NEVER DISAPPOINTS US; for through the Holy Spirit that has been given us, God's Love has flowed through our hearts.
                                                                                                                     ROMANS 5:3

MY sincere heartfelt thanks for your thoughts, prayers, and voices of concern during our recent devastation here in the Deep South. MY Stae of Alabama suffered devastating losses last Wednesday, April 27th when a series of F3, F4, & F5 Tornadoes ripped through our state and my own community.  Me and my family spent over 2 hours in a storm shelter which was built back in 1974 after the super outbreak of tornadoes killed 7 community neighbors.  This "storm shelter" resembles more of a "storm pit" rather than the newer models of storm protection on the market.  In the south, basements are rare so storm shelters are either built in the ground, under garages, as a safe room in new home construction, or above ground reinforced structures.

I am safe, my family is safe, but we have suffered so much loss of life and property all around us!  To say we are grateful to be alive is an understatement.  During our stay in the storm shelter, we had a battery operated radio and we could hear tornado warnings coming almost every 20 minutes for over 4 hrs.  Tornado forecasting and tracking is a real science down here and thanks to the incredible work of local meteorologists, thousands of lives were saved.  Even so, over 300 have died state wide and approz. 11 have lost their lives in my immediate community.  Ladies, it looks like a war zone...no other way to describe it.

Google or YOUTUBE the following: Tuscaloosa, Birmingham , and Harvest Tornadoes to get a first hand look at what I'm describing.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and in this case, "they" are so right.  From Birmingham north, most of the power was out for several days and in some cases, power is STILL out!!  I was out of power for 6 DAYS!!!!  

6 DAYS is a L..O..N..G time to be without electricity and phone service.  Grocery stores ran out of battereis, and many basic supplies.  People stood in line for hours hoping to grab one of the few generators available.  Size C batteries were GOLD.  Fortunately, I keep a good supply of various batteries on hand so I had enough to play my old fashioned radio!!  Would you believe, few people have a plain old fashioned radio/CD player???  My son kept laughing at me when I told everyone at Christmas that I wanted a PLAIN RADIO, no computer, MP3, Ipod, whatever...just a plain old radio!!

Guess who had THE most popular item during Stormageddon 2011???YEP...GRANDMAMA with her quaint Boom Box CD Player/Radio.  It was our ONLY source of information for 6 days!!  The first 2 days of the storm, the local TV stations had very spotty coverage until they got MAJOR generator power.  Cell towers were down, land lines didn't work and #1 husband had to drive 10 miles to get a signal in order to make a phone call.

Talk about going back in time...we DID!!  However, with the exception of the huge sadness over the loss of life and property, a LOT OF GOOD came out of the storms.  One lady told a radio announcer she had no idea there were so many children living in her neighborhood until the power booted all the kids outside and off their video games, cell phones, and other electronics.  She noted kids were playing outside and the sound of children laughing was good medicine after so much devastation!

What did I do for 6 days without power?  PRAYED a lot!!!!  Everyone of Faith and even some without Faith found a renewed relationship with the Heavenly Father.  When you face death in the eye, it tends to humble you!

My family loves to camp and last summer we renewed our interest by purchasing a pop-up camper complete with Propane stove!!  Can I say a big Whoop Whoop here!  I actually camped out in my own yard/driveway.  #1 H fired up the stove and cooked breakfast every morning.  He had my HOT coffee/Tea ready when I rolled out of bed.  Not only did he cook for the two of us but for his mother and several elderly neighbors. 

I cooked up some awesome chicken fingers one night.  I had to quickly use up the meat in my freezer (lost the contents of TWO FREEZERS and ONE DEEP FREEZER)  so I found some cornflakes and chicken tenders.  I rolled the salt  peppered chicken in crushed corn flakes and fried those babies up!  We weren't concerned with eating healthy, just eating anything available was our focus.  With some corn from the freezer and the last of the salad, we ate like Kings.  After canned spaghettios and bologna sandwiches, I do believe it was the best meal I've ever had.  Funny, how you learn to appreciate the small stuff in times of crisis!!

OH How I enjoyed having my stitching & quilting to keep me company for long hours.  I even stitched by the light of an oil lamp at night!!  It was hard on the eyes but satisfying in some strange way.  Sewing became my companion and I dont mean machine sewing...Hand Sewing gave me many hours of pleasure this past week.

Aren't these some adorable embroidery patterns I found for free on line??!!!

PROJECT QUILTS FOR HUGS

I'm collecting quilts for children who have lost everything and there are hundreds in this situation.  Many injured young children are in our local hospital!  I'll be talking more about this in future posts.  Won't you PLEASE help me???  Do you have some charity quilts ready to go or can you stitch up something quickly???  These quilts will be used to comfort a child or infant that has lost everything.  I'm getting names of children and will make sure they receive these quilts or hand knitted blankets.

If you are interested in helping with this project, make a comment and I will send you my mailing address.

I will be Guest Blogger at Sew We Quilt @Stash Manicure on Monday, May 9th and I will mention my project and then direct interested parties to my blog. 

That's all for now...my appreciation for your sweet comments while I was GONE but not forgotten.  It's amazing to me that I have cultivated a group of friends I've never met but feel so connected to via blogging.  Don't you???  Tell me how You have met a friend from blogging??

Will you donate a quilt??  Will you???  Your donation will be so important in the heart of a child. 

In some small way you can "volunteer" your talents by making & donating a quilt or knitted blanket!

I had a similar story when I was 9 yrs. old but that's tomorrow's story!

Blessings

TORNADO OUTBREAK FORECAST

Here in Alabama we are being told to expect some Super Cell Tornadic activity tonight and into tomorrow, Wednesday, April 27th.  My blogging friend Marlene at StitchinattheLake lives in Arkansas and is without power possibly till Friday!  She could only send a message through Madame Samm via Sew We Quilt @ Stash Manicure!

Given the ominous forecast, I thought it wise to tell everyone I may possibly be in the same "boat" as Marlene at some time during the next 2 days.  We have learned to take Tornado watches and warnings VERY seriously and take prudent precautions.  I'm headed to the store to stock up on batteries, candles, water, and nonperishable food.

On a scale of 1-10, the Weather Cahnel plus local weather men rate our chances of super cell tornadoes as a 9.  This is very rare, in fact the highest I've seen the rating is a 7 and the weather spawned a few F3/F4 tornadoes.

Therefore, #1 Husband will be making an inspection of the "storm Pit" making sure no critters have taken up residence since last spring.  Our shelter was built in 1974 after the severe tornado outbreak of over 300+ tornadoes spreading from Texas up thru Xenia, Ohio.  7 neighbors locally were killed and hundreds of concrete "storm pits" were built in reaction to the tragedy.  

I'm not talking about these more modern pre-fab storm cellars with electricity and benches to sit on.  Oh NO, this shelter of ours is like going down into a large root cellar thus the term "PIT" is very accurate.  I hate it with a passion but when a funnel cloud is headed in your direction, I'm one of the first to climb in after my children of course.  MY own children and grandchildren have much better accomodations for stormy weather which is one less worry for me.  My youngest daughter is on an Eastern Caribbean cruise about now so I know she's OK.

So...for now I will make preparations, listen and watch carefully to all local and national weather forecasts.  #1 Hubby is very good at knowing when is the right time to go to the storm pit so I feel safe with him making the decisions.  He is the kind of guy that makes you feel safe!

Let's hope everyone remains vigilant, safe, and no loss of property or life is the outcome of this current weather situation.  may you stay safe wherever you are and May God Bless.

EASTER BLESSINGS

to 

all my friends and family!

For those of us who profess to be Christians, the Easter Weekend is the HOLIEST of all Holidays in the Christian Calendar.  The sacrifice that Christ made on that Old Rugged Cross is the source of our 

HOPE

I January I chose the word HOPE as my word of the year.  At no other time is this word more significant to me than during Easter.  I love when Easter comes late because most all the spring blooms have bloomed and it truly harbors the sense of NEW LIFE.  

This Easter is a little different for my family in that we will not all be together for various reasons...no Easter Egg Hunt, no Big Family Dinner, no sitting together in the same church, no Easter finery, just the idea that Christ IS ALIVE and sits at the right hand of the Father!  A little child in Scott's pre-school asked the teacher "Who sits on the left Hand?"   Aren't children wonderful???

On Thursday night, I took a nasty little fall in my bathroom and ended up with a fractured left ankle, broken left ring finger, and several nasty little bruises.  I'm Ok and getting around on an air boot & crutches.  My husband had to go out of town as have all my children so I'm fending for myself and doing quite well I might add.  Yeah, it's more difficult but I'm figuring things out.  I have an even more empathetic heart for my two friends who just recently lost their husbands.  I can look forward to #1 hubby coming home and for that I'm grateful!

Last week, I took some Spring pictures in my back yard..nothing exotic..just the simplicity of a dandelion, or branch of a budding dogwood makes me mindful of New Life and the New Life I have in Christ.  I thought I would share these pictures with you and MY TESTIMONY.

My future vegetable garden 2011

You see, I grew up going to church and did all the things good little church girls do.  I got baptized at the age of 10 and based my salvation on that one act.  I began to have doubts about my salvation in my teen years but some well meaning adults reminded me of my baptism and all the good things I had done.  It became an ever mounting thorn in my side until at age 42 I finally surrenedered my life to Christ!  I was a Deacons' wife and youth Sunday School teacher.  Satan kept telling me if I did this thing, it would ruin my husband, my place in the community and I would be disgraced. 

However, I decided to listen to the Holy Spirit's call instead and during a community revival I gave repented of my sins (mostly the sin of Pride), came forward to make a public profession of faith and was baptized the following Sunday night!  Guess what??  All the things I feared never happened but rather 3 girls in my SS class gave their lives to Christ and I was wrapped up in love and support.  That very week, 2 of my best friends made a public profession of Faith because like me they had been relying on an act of baptism as a child for their salvation experience. 

I believe baptism is an act of Obedience which symbolizes my death and resurrection in Christ!  The fact that my first baptism was not done as an act of Obedience and Symbolism of repentance, I felt it imperative that I be publicly baptized again.

This may be different than your belief but I believe we can all agree that salvation is an act of Faith and a gift from God depicting His mercy and Grace.  It was important for me to share my brief testimony during this Easter Holiday. " I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ" is a line in one of my favorite songs, "Not Ashamed",  I want that to be a line on my headstone...She was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ

One of my two apple trees

New growth of variegated monkey grass peeping up out of the winter ground

My Hostas sprang up over night it seems!

May you know the Love of Christ as your Personal Lord & Saviour

MORE STRAWBERRY LOVE

I borrowed this picture and copied the Paula Deen's recipe  I use to make my dessert.  I received several requests for both recipes. I've added another recipe sent to me by my sister.  So... ...ENJOY!!

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Ingredients

• 2 cups crushed pretzels
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar, plus 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 (8-ounce) container whipped topping
• 2 (3-ounce) packages strawberry gelatin dessert mix
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen strawberries
• 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple
• Whipped topping or whipped cream, to garnish
• Note: For all of us Diabetics out there use Splenda, low fat cream cheese, light margarine(65% oil), sugar free Cool Whip, Sugar Free Jello.  I prefer to omit the pineapple 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
For the crust, mix the pretzels, butter, and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Press this mixture into a 9 by 13-inch pan and bake for 7 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar. Fold in the whipped topping, and spread over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until well chilled.
In a small bowl, dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, and allow to cool slightly. Add the strawberries and pineapple, and pour over the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate until serving time.
To serve, cut slices and serve with a dollop of whipped topping.

Strawberry Bread
3 C plain flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 T cinnamon
2 C sugar
1 C canola oil
1 8 oz cream cheese, cut into small pieces - I use low fat
1 C chopped nuts
3 well-beaten eggs
2 10 oz boxes frozen strawberries, thawed - I use 2 1/2 C of chopped fresh strawberries
Combine dry ingredients & nuts. Mix together eggs, oil, and strawberries. Add to dry ingredients. Mix well. Batter is very thick. Mix cream cheese pieces into batter. Pour into 2 9X5" well greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until tester comes out clean. Cool 15-20 min. before removing from pans. Freezes well. Very rich! Kind of like a dessert bread. Enjoy!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Ingredients

• 2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
• Fresh Green Leaf or Bibb Lettuce is a good addition to the spinach
• 4 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• Optional; Almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds add as much or as little as you like ( I prefer the walnuts and/or pecans)
• Dressing:  I've found the Creamy Poppyseed Dressing by Kraft to be wonderful. Easy too!!
• Dressing Option #2: Ken's Steakhouse LITE Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette is a good choice or any good vinaigrette dressing can be used if you prefer.

Directions

1. In a large bowl, toss together the spinach and strawberries.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar, paprika, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Pour over the spinach and strawberries, and toss to coat. 
3. Play around with this salad or Google Strawberry Spinach salad and look at ALL the yummy options for this salad
4. KRAFT Creamy Poppyseed Dressing is a great substitute.  I tasted this dressing at a sports banquet and won me over
5.  Some of the strawberry Dressings I found online puree the strawberries as part of the dressing so I intend to try some of those as well.

IT'S STRAWBERRY TIME

It's SPRING and the STRAWBERRIES are RIPE!!!

I LOVE all things Strawberry and thought I would share some Strawberry love with you!!  

Scott and I were coming back from the grocery store where I had bought a pint of those red "things" they call strawberries in the produce section.  Some poor migrant worker probably picked the berries when they were green and were force ripened somewhere between Arkansas and Alabama....but I digress....it was on our way back from the store when we saw...

THE SIGNS.  Brown Strawberry Farm Signs!

Around here, Brown Strawberry Farms put up Direction Signs when the berries are ripe and ready to pick.  It's a U-Pick Farm but yesterday, Scott and I were too anxious to bite into one of those luscious red fruits so we paid the big bucks and bought a gallon bucket already picked.  

Facebook lights up with the announcement "The Strawberries are ripe!  I saw the SIGNS!" This year is my first at buying on the first day!!  Hey, I've told you it doesn't take much to make me happy!

Spring Strawberry Season 2011 poses a Challenge...how do I make my strawberry desserts now that I'm Diabetic??  yep, the Doctor gave me the good news about a month ago.  I suppose Splenda will be my new best friend.

I found a fabulous Broccoli/Strawberry salad recipe that I wanted to share.  I haven't made it with Splenda but I'll give it a whirl in the next few days.

Strawberry Broccoli Cheese Salad

8Cups Fresh Broccoli Florets

2-3 C. Strawberries hulled and quartered

1/2 cup cubed Monterey Jack Cheese

Toss together

Dressing:

1 cup Mayo (Lite Hellman's is my choice)

2-3 T. sugar or honey or Splenda

1 t. apple cider vinegar

Whisk together and add to Broccoli/Strawberry mixture

I prefer my refrigerated for awhile to blend the flavors!  Yum!!  Great to serve for brunch, luncheon, or perhaps a lucky quilt guild meeting

Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

Layer the following in a trifle bowl (use sugar free items if desired)

Strawberry Jello

Angel Food cake cubed

Vanilla cook and serve pudding

Top with Strawberries

Serve with Cool Whip

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

from

http://creativelydomestic.com

My absolute FAVORITE DESSERT

MORE STRAWBERRY LOVE:

I HAVE to find some of this stuff!!!

Strawberry Torte

Remember Strawberry Shortcake??  My #1 Daughter's favorite doll back in her childhood of the 80's.

Strawberry Shortcake Cup

Love in a Bucket

Simple but Oh so Delicious!

Scott and I will be making several treks over to Brown Farms!  How lucky am I to live 5 minutes from a HUGE Strawberry Farm???......PLUS...they also sell fabulous plants and container gardens to DIE FOR!!!

I just know Heaven has fields and fields of Strawberries all the time!!!

BLESSINGS

GMAMA JANE

Grandmama UNPLUGGED

Grandmama Jane Unplugged

Since Wed. of last week, I have been without my Internet.  Not only have I been without Internet, I was away from my computer due to taking care of my daughter and Grandson James.

Oh my word, God gives us children while we're young for a reason.  Taking care of a daughter who can not lift ANYTHING for 2 weeks PLUS my Grandson with Cerebral Palsy who comes with enough equipment to outfit a third world country!!!  James can not stand independently, so a task as simple as pulling down his pants is very difficult....for the person pulling down his pants!  

My daughter  injured her umbilical hernia from all the heavy lifting and had to have emergency surgery to repair the hernia before it ruptured.  I barely had time to brush my teeth much less, keep up my blogging.

So....................needless to say, I haven't written in my blog nor have I read any of your blogs!  I even lost THREE followers!!  I don't know HOW but my numbers have  dropped by 3 over the past TWO weeks.  Boo Hoo!!! 

I did however enjoy my individual time with James.  He giggled down to his toes when I crawled in bed with him to read a book.  I was the Queen of Show Business when he and I worked up an "ACT" worthy of Las Vegas complete with drums and kazoo.  I would hear, "Grandmommie!!, I want to do our show!".  We entertained his Mommy and I'm sure it was the medicine that made her recuperate so quickly! 

The two of them 

Halloween 2009

 are at Physical Therapy Boot Camp at UAB in Birmingham for the next 3 weeks AND living in a fabulous Ronald McDonald House.  I am praying for Good Samaritans to help #1 Daughter to transport James + equipment back and forth on their daily 3 Block trek to  PT camp.  

This particular camp is especially designed for children who have had the Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR)surgery.  James had SDR last June and has participated in 1 other 3 week camp which proved to be instrumental in his amazing progress.  Last Aug. James took his 1st step in a walker at the end of camp.  This April, James is walking long distances with his walker but needs to build up strength and improve the quality of his walking.  

We are praying for and expecting major goals to be reached at the end of this 3 week boot camp.  I ask all my blogging & quilting friends to place James and my daughter in your prayers for the next 3 weeks.

Spring Break 2011

 Here is my CREW...ALL 5 plus PaPa

Is this not the greatest picture you've ever seen??  Talk about laid back!!

Swinging in the back yard with PaPa!

 

I have some new quilting projects to share with you as well as my trip to our local strawberry farm with Scott!

Come back for a visit soon!

BLESSINGS

GMAMA JANE