Liebster Award

Did you notice anything new? On the blog?  Look - over there to the right.  I was nominated for a Liebster Award by Ellen of Ellen Gets Crafty.  I was totally flabbergasted* when I got an e-mail from her letting me know that she nominated me. 

*(flabbergasted is the new word of the month discovered by one of my 16 year old students.  He had heard it and liked it, but didn't know what it meant and he asked me if I had heard of it before.  My thought was - what kind of world do you live in where you have never heard the word flabbergasted before?  And then I answered my thought - do you ever do that? - anyway, I answered my thought with - he lives in a world where words like *&^% and @#^^& are common; words you (meaning I) didn't even hear until you (once again, I) were his age or older.  So flabbergasted - use it today)

I was gobsmacked (another wonderful word) and completely honored to be nominated for this award. 

This award is given to bloggers who inspire you and have less than 200 followers. The Liebster Award takes its name from the German word meaning Beloved, Dearest or Favorite.

As part of the tradition it is passed forward to 5 bloggers that have motivated and inspired .

To accept the award, you must:

1. Link back to the person who gave it to you and thank them.

2. Post the award on your blog.

3. Give the award to 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers that you appreciate and value.

4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know that they have been offered this award.

So, now in no particular order I present my 5 bloggers who motivate and inspire me. 

I nominate Glen at Quilts and Dogs.   I first came across her and her blog through the 15 minutes play blog.  I loved reading her postings there and the comments she left.  She really made me want to read more about her because it seemed like her life was full of fun and that she had a great sense of humor.  And, having four dogs, I love the title of her blog, because it so my life, Quilts and Dogs! 

For my next nomination,  I nominate, Miki Willa at Miki's Fabric Creations.  Miki is another one that I came across on 15 minutes play.   I loved her creativity on that blog and again, like Glen, I had to read more and see more of what she was doing.  She seems to be a great encourager and supporter of the quilting arts.

Both Miki and Glen belong to a blog called Modern 8 Create, along with 6 other women.  They push and challenge and inspire each other to create and play.  It is so much fun to see how creative these women can be.  So, I do not know who exactly to nominate for this blog, I think the moderator is Victoria Wolfe so I am going to send her the notice, but here is my third nomination of small blogs that inspire me.

My fourth nomination goes to BeeBee at  BeeBees Quilts and More.  BeeBee came to me through my Stocking Swap and I have really enjoyed trading e-mails with her and seeing her life through her blog.  She seems to have a gusto for life and an energy that seems boundless.

My fifth and final blog nomination is also a collaborative blog, Basket Full of Scraps.  Sajuta Shah of  The Root Connection , is probably the person who moderates this blog.  When my computer crashed last fall, I lost all my contacts.  It was horrible.  I am just now getting my favorites, quilt and food blog lists back together.  These, Basket Full of Scraps and Root Connection, are ones that I couldn't remember the names, but have been searching for ever since and have finally re-discovered them.  I love the tag line of Basket Full of Scraps:  "working on impulse".  This is so inspiring to me because this is how I quilt a lot of the time, on impulse.  I can see one little bit of a quilt from this blog and it will trigger an entirely different quilt for me.  I love it. 

Thank you ladies for your inspiration.  For motivating me and allowing me to be a small part of your life through your blogs.  thank you and please keep posting and sharing what you create and what inspires you. 

March Stocking Swap

I can't believe it is already March 14th!  Where has this month gone?  I had all kinds of plans for this month and for spring break, but wouldn't you know it, Sunday and Monday I spent most of the day in bed, sick to my stomach.  I caught that dreaded stomach bug that had been going around the school in the last couple of weeks.  I thought I had dodged that one.  I am still not completely feeling back to my old self, a little nauseous and head achy, but I must continue on.  I finally marked one thing off my spring break work list today.  I spent most of my morning on my hands and knees, scrubbing and cleaning my front tile area.  Which meant that my dogs had to be kenneled all morning to keep them out of the chemicals and my way.  They were not the happiest of pets, but I gave them a pig bone (pig's ear rolled into a cylinder) and they were quite content for most of the morning.  Once the front entry had dried, I needed to steam it clean to get the last of the chemicals off the floor.  This is because my OCD dog, Taegan, will clean the floor again, with his tongue, and I don't want him getting sick from the bleach.  The tongue cleaning is one of the reasons it is so dirty.  Everything sticks to that saliva - okay, trust me it really needed to be cleaned. 

Okay, next subject - - - Have you started on your pillow cases for this month?  No?  Neither have I.  Like I already said, I can't believe we are almost halfway through this month and halfway through spring break and I don't have one set of pillow cases for the swap.  I may have to put them off until April if I keep going at this snail's pace of a speed.  I did make three baby blankets last week - only because I needed them for some baby showers and I hadn't gotten around to making them and - yea, I made them the night before the shower at 8 am.  I am having a hard time getting motivated.  I think it's because I have so much going on right now, that I can't work on anything else, but I can't seem to get what I need to get done, done either.  Does that even make any sense?  Let me read it back.  Okay, makes sense to me.  I hope it does to you, also.  Tomorrow, we are having an extra quilt-in (yea!!) and my mother is in Texas and coming to stay with me and go to the quilt-in.  (yea!!)  However, her bed is covered in stuff so I will need to clear that off before tomorrow night.  Also, her shower has tubs that need to be washed, so they will have to be washed before tomorrow night.  And, I am presenting at the Andrew's quilt group, so I need to gather my quilts and stuff so I will have them in the car with me in the morning when I go to the quilt-in.  whew.  that is just a smidgen of what I need to do before 10 in the morning.  I also need to clean out my car, get gas, fill my car with all my quilt-in stuff, my show stuff and hey, that's it.  Okay, I see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Now to finish pulling my quilts for Andrews - no wait, off to feed the dogs.  Okay, one more delay in my list.  I hope everyone else is having a better spring break....