Got one done ...

My mini quilts are back from the quilters and I'm slowly getting the bindings done! This cute little red and white quilt is done just in time for Valentine's Day. I have it hanging in my family room area so I can enjoy it for awhile!

Thanks for stopping by ....

Open House 2012!!

Such a beautiful day for my Spring/Summer Longaberger Open House. If you didn't have a calendar and you didn't know what month it was you would swear we were enjoying a beautiful spring day and it's still January! It is just so awesome to live in So. California, traffic and all. There was a wonderful group of ladies in to help me launch Longaberger's new catalog/wish list.

As you can see my table is set up with some of our new products, still waiting for a few more to arrive from Ohio! With Valentine's Day only a few weeks away I thought it would be OK to start celebrating a little bit early.

My favorite food ... desserts! Red Velvet Cupcakes with cream cheese icing, my customer Patty's favorites! And the chocolate cookies are soft with a wonderful smooth icing, they were my favorites.

More food! I prepared some of the Longaberger new foods. Up front right is a 5 layer bean dip with the Cheesy Bacon Dip on top, to the left is a brick of  cream cheese and Sweet and Spicy Salsa poured over the top. Far left is our new Spinach Dip served in a bread bowl and we also had a lemon dip served with apple slices. For some "real" food I had turkey subs, potato and macaroni salad.

I want to thank all of my customers who stopped by today. It was so good to see all of you and I'm looking forward to an exciting selling season!

Don't forget my Valentine's Day sales offer ... I'll send out a reminder a few days prior!!

Fabulous Friday!

Today was just such a wonderful day ... these are the kind of days that you want to celebrate being alive. After a week of sadness and mourning I needed this kind of a day. Penny, on the left and Rita on the right and myself meet one day a month to work on our row quilt project. We missed December so we all were eager to get together. Here we are sitting down to lunch, and was is ever good. Rita prepared a cold salmon salad with fresh STRAWBERRIES!! The first for 2012 and they were so sweet. She served warm pumpkin bread with honey butter, oh yum! I don't remember what our pink drink was, but I do remember it was also delicious.

This is what I'm talking about, so beautiful and so good.

Here is our dessert. Raspberry sorbet with chocolate brownie, oh my gosh this was to die for. The sorbet was tart and the chocolate was sweet, soooo gooood.

OK, enough on the food. Let's get that red sewing machine fired up and get some sewing done!!

Yep, this is me and I am actually sewing and enjoying my sorbet at the same time. If you have a bad day, don't fret about it. Gather a few friends together that enjoy the same things you do and have a fun day doing what you love with who you love!

Just a sad day ...

As I continue to mature ( I like that word better then getting old) I have come to realize how much I HATE funerals. I went to one this afternoon. A friend from many, many years ago, her mother passed away and the funeral was for her. As I entered to doors of the chapel I took a deep breath, a very deep breath and said under my breath, everything is fine, stay calm. It began in the usual way but quickly evolved into a walk down memory lane. I knew everyone in the pictures up there on the big screen. Smiling, happy faces taken many years ago, another life time. It wasn't long before I had alligator tears streaming down my face and of course, no tissues. At the conclusion I gave my condolences to the family, promised to have lunch with everyone soon and made my departure. Driving home I was overwhelmed with memories, thoughts of my own mortality and once again said to myself, never again, I an not going to any funeral ever again. However, I know myself, I will go again when another dear friend loses a loved one, or when it's one of my own. Live well my friends, life is short.

Quilt Building

We woke up this morning to a beautiful rain. Heavy and steady for most of the day, we needed it so badly so I'm not going to complain!

Since it was raining I felt is was a perfect day for quilting so this is what I built.

I love it so much it's hanging on my design wall in my sewing room so when I'm ironing my fabric I can look at it until it goes off to the long arm quilter.

This was a quilt kit and I had so many 9-patch pieces left I decided to make a little doll quilt.

Little square pieces ....

Become bigger square pieces ... almost there ...

Now I need to pick a back ground ... what do you think? I will post the finished product soon!!

While I was sewing I took a camera break. Here's a few pictures of my "clean" areas.

If you sew or craft or like to be organized Longaberger Baskets is a perfect vehicle to help out and they look so nice too!!

And my collection of "Little Women" books. One of my favorite classics. The tall one is Meg, she the oldest, Beth is on the far right and Amy, the youngest sits in the middle. Who's missing?? Yep, it's Jo, she always running wild as Aunt March would say! If you haven't read it yet do yourself a favor and do so.



A Cozy Sunday

I woke up early this morning to a cloudy, chilly day. Decided to stay in bed and burrow down for a while longer. Ummm, a couple of hours later I woke up again with the help of Betsy. She decided I had been in bed far to long and needed to get up ... cold or not. And yes, it was still cloudy, and chilly. So after finally crawling out of bed and getting dressed in something cozy and warm I wandered down stairs. Did my morning chores, got my coffee, read my emails and decided to find a good movie to watch.

Here is my choice! Love this movie, especially this Master Piece Theater version. It's three hours long making it perfect for a quiet Sunday. To make it a bit more perfect ....

I made a fire to stay warm. (The logs aren't on their yet!)

Now I have a warm cup of coffee with the top covered in whipping cream (oh yum) a comfy quilt, my puppy dog and Jane, what could be better!! Hope you have an amazing day as well. Check out Mr Rochester ... Jane Eyre's boss, not bad to look at is he?

New Longaberger Products Sneak Peak

I am so excited about our new Longaberger Spring/Summer wish list! I will be slowly posting a few new items to share with all of my blogging buddies! Today I am featuring the new Trellis Low Bowl Basket. This is one of my favorite pieces, it has a Shaker cheese basket look to it that I love. I have purchased it in the Washed Linen stain. I think against the used brick it really pops!

Here it is again a wee bit closer. I have it nestled in with a Longaberger Pewter candle stick. The basket is also available in black, warm and rich brown stain choices.

My  last sneak peak post is the Small Canister Basket with a Pewter lid. I love this set as well! Their are a total of 3 baskets and they also have our Woven Traditions pottery inserts available with a seal able style lid. This basket will also be a perfect place to conceal a square box of facial tissue. LOVE this!!



Ok, stay tuned in for more sneaky peaks to come!

Won't You be my Sweetheart???

Valentine's Day is less then a month away! I feel so blessed to have so many people I feel are my sweethearts in my life. My amazingly patient husband is my # 1 sweetheart followed by my wonderful children and three adorable grandbabies. Not to mention my great friends and of course Betsy Ross my blog master! With the day of celebration quickly approaching I did a small amount of decorating to prepare. After all the Christmas hulla baloo less is definitely more!

This decor seems to be all about trees! I left my funny little German twig tree up for this year and tucked in red valentines and added some red netting, just enough to say "hey, look at me!"

                                           A little bit of a tray make over. I have added the Longaberger Sweetheart basket and a simple black pedestal to add a festive look! 



Quilts, quilts and more quilts!

What a truly fun morning I had. I picked up my quilting buddy Penny Hunter at 8:30 and off we went to the Convention Center to attend the Road to California Quilt  show. I had no idea what I was in for but wow, what a treat! My first purchase was here, at Stars and Scraps Quilt booth.

The room that all of the booths and display quilts is inside of is HUGE .... and it was packed full of women on the prowl for the perfect piece of fabric!

I'm in the middle of the room in an ocean of blue jeans! It is so crowded you can not see the booths in front of you or on either side. I'm a shorty so this made shopping a REAL challenge! But never fear, I was able to find some great fabric and treasures!!

Here we are in an outer viewing corridor, see all those beautiful quilts on the left? Ya, I couldn't see them either but they were the big winners. I did happen to sneak into a few areas and did manage to see some really amazing quilts, way above my skill level to be sure!

Can you believe all the colors and details in this quilt!! Amazing is what I say and this was not even entered in the contest, this is out in the registration area and these were hung high above our heads for decor purposes.

I snapped a photo of some of my fabric goodies, the kit on the far right is for Paula and I to create some 9 patch magic at a quilting retreat in March. I'll post the finished creation down the road.

Hope you enjoyed my trip down the Yellow Brick Road to California!!

Burrr, it's chilly outside!

Winter has finally arrived here in Southern California! I may have

to dig through the closet and find an actual coat.

Here is a pic of my street, notice the trees are BARE! And yes the sun is shining. However, in a California winter when the sun shines it is cold, cold and when it's raining or cloudy it's actually warmer. I know, I know, if you're living in the mid-west you are laughing hysterically, but seriously, this is winter here!! And we love it!

 

See! I told you it's cold! It will get down to the mid 40's by morning and I'll need a coat for sure. With all this cold in the air I realized I needed to get busy and make a new quilt for my doll's, I've been busy all day working on this cute little quilt.

Believe it or not most of it is done, if I weren't going to "Road to California" (a quilters paradise) all day tomorrow I would have it done, but Friday will have to do!!

Meet Emma, she is a beautiful little girl and was completely handmade by an artist in Australia. I just love her little princess Lea hair do! Do you see how cold she looks? Her legs are just lily white from the chill.

And this is Abigail. She is very, very old and very, very naked. That's why she stays under the covers! Her little head is made of metal and her body is fabric with painted arms and feet. She really is in need of a dress, guess I had better get busy on that as well.

Keep warm!

Lest Us Not Forget

In Celebration of Martin Luther King

Today many Americans will have a day off from their jobs. Sadly, many will not even know exactly why. As I have mentioned before I have an attachment to the Civil War era, and a special attachment to the history of the underground railroad and the quilts that assisted in guiding the slaves to freedom in the north. Today, we celebrate the bravery and voice of one man, Martin Luther King. He wanted one thing, freedom to be equal to other Americans. The Civil War was fought for this very reason, FREEDOM. So, I guess it's no surprise that I have a special attachment to the memory of the brave Reverend King.

As I worked on the computer this morning a movie came on that I had seen years ago. In celebration of today they were airing it again. "The Long Walk Home" is the movie staring Sissy Spacek and Woopie Goldberg. If you ever have the chance please watch it, it's a true eye opener to where we were, where we are, and yes where we still need to go as Americans. With tears streaming down my face I am reminded again of how mean spirited people can be when they feel threatened by change or by someone "different."

This past summer another wonderful movie hit the big screen, "The Help", very similar to the Long Walk Home with more humor. It's another wonderful and insightful movie, it should be required viewing in our high schools.

Today, join me in the celebration of change, let's honor a man's faith and his ability to promote change when most of America fought against it.

Let Me Call You Sweetheart!!

Isn't this just a sweet little basket set? Longaberger has created this adorable basket in celebration of Valentines Day 2012. I think it is just precious. The lid sports a very cute wrought iron heart knob as well as an engraved led say "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" To accompany this cute set is a wrought iron footed stand. To view the complete set go to Longaberger.com/anitataylor!

Here are a few more shots. I had hoped to get a better pic of the heart knob, however it came out a wee bit dark.

Here is a shot of several items on sale this month only! The long market basket in warm brown stain, the travel cup in Golden Fields,  the 8" Crimson Hill basket and the Crimson Hill pillow tucked in the back. January is a great time to pick up those items you've been eye balling all season long!

I love this cross stitch towel, I get it out and use it every Valentines season. My dear friend Amy did this for me one year and I truly treasure it. The Utensil Basket on the far right is also one of our sale baskets this month, very functional and very utilitarian ... hehe get that play on words.

No, this is not on sale but isn't it a perfect center piece idea for a Wedding Shower or Valentine celebration? I've taken our small/medium hurricane filled it with candy hearts and a white pillar candle and finishing it with a satin bow. The hurricane is short so it makes chatting with guests at your table comfortable! It is also sitting on a piece of our Oasis pure white pottery.

BNSF employee killed in Amarillo train accident

Some days you wake up and it's just another day. Not much is really going on so you go about the routine of life. Well today was just that kind of a day. Dropped quilts off to be quilted, stopped at the

Dollar Store and came home. Checked my emails, then on the Facebook and wham, a hit in the heart that literally knocked the wind out of my sails. The attached article is about my cousin who resided in Texas where he worked for the railroad for the past 36 years. He was tragically killed yesterday morning while working on a train. Tom was a great guy, always laughing, loved his wife and family. He will be greatly missed.

What I want to convey to all of my readers is this. Remember, life is so short, every moment may be your last. Live life with love in your heart, live it with integrity, forgive those your angry with ... nothing is really worth all the angry feelings we waste on things. You can say I love you, I'm sorry, I forgive you today, will you be able to tomorrow??

BNSF employee killed in Amarillo train accident: Officials are continuing their investigation into a railroad accident that killed a Burlington Northern Santa Fe worker in North Amarillo Monday morning.

What have I been doing??

A long time friend of mine called a few days ago and asked that age old question ... "what have you been doing"? My typical response, "oh not much." Then today I decided to pull out my quilting projects and get them ready to go to the long arm quilter and low and behold it came to me what I've been doing?

I've been QUILTING! I didn't realize I had completed so many and one didn't make it in the picture. So tomorrow I will make a stop and pick up my favorite batting and off to the quilters I will go. Hope to get at least two of them back in time for Valentines Day ... they will look so cute for sweetheart season!!

Oh! I forgot, I also made a little insert for an oval frame I got for Christmas ....



Isn't it cute? I love it, and even though it doesn't look like it in the picture it is actually square. Have a happy 2nd week in the New Year Y'all.

Uncle Sam Collection #3!!

I'm  a Yankee Doodle Dandy ... yep I am!! And being born on the 4th of July was cause to buy me many Uncle Sam's as well as other Americana Collectibles! However, Uncle Sam is still my favorite. Perhaps because it all started with him!

Yes, this is the guy! He was created at Knott's Berry Farm here in California, and purchased in the late 70's. He stood all alone on the fire place mantle for about a year and then .... it all exploded! The following pictures a just a few of the Sam's etc., in my collection.

This big fella heralds from a shop called Fairfield Folk Art which is no longer in business. They hand carved all of their items ... I really miss those folks!

This little cluster have come from friends, my mom and even myself! I actually purchased the rabbit Sam on the left one year at Easter. Check out his snappy shoes!

LOVE this Uncle Sam. He is an antique from somewhere in the midwest. I purchased him from Martha, the owner of Fairfields just before she sold the shop. She used him as a prototype for the many pieces she created. He now lives in my Americana downstairs restroom.

Now before you look at the next picture don't feel the need to adjust your glasses. You do NOT have double vision ... there really is this much Americana in one spot! Oh the stories they could tell if they could speak!!

I told you there was a lot in here! Precious Moments, Beanie Babies, Hummels, WolfCreek, Fairfield, Longaberger, Antiques,

ETC., it's all here. Hope you enjoyed my little journey through my collectibles.

Do you feel better sissy?

Hey, it's me, Betsy Ross blogger, I haven't posted in quite a while the holidays and all have kept me really busy. Baking, shopping, wrapping and parties I'm exhausted! Now I'm nursing my sissy back to health. She's been staying at my house cuz she's got a bad tooth infection. I think if I keep licking her a lot she will get better. I'll keep you updated on my progress. Have a great weekend and walk your dogs!!

Baskets, Baskets, Everywhere Baskets!!

I started my collection of Longaberger Baskets in 1989. My very first purchase was the pie basket shown in this picture, top left. To this day it is still one on my most used and favorite baskets. These hang in between my kitchen and family room. They are easy to reach and the ones I use the most. One of the beauties of a Longaberger Basket is their strength and versatility. They are great work horses, beautiful to decorate with and the perfect piece to help keep my home warm, cozy and organized! If you would like any further information on how to acquire one of these amazing handmade (in the USA) baskets please contact me at Baskets4anita@aol.com!!

The bottom basket shown above was called a "Gourmet Picnic" I call it vintage and it is truly one of my classic treasures. Perched on top are my two Homestead baskets as well as one of my numerous Uncle Sam's.



Seated on my buggy bench are two more vintage, classic favorites. The bottom is from the Americana Collection, a Small Picnic with an attached woven lid. Seated on top is the Heirloom Hostess Basket, wearing one of my doll quilts!! Of note are the two rockers to the right. One belonged to me as a child, that would be the rocking horse. The other is a very old toy rocking chair I picked up in an antique store. The maker was a very old and blind man. It's rough and crude but I treasure it.

Hanging in my bathroom is a Longaberger Collector's Club cabinet filled with some Longaberger as well as my entire collection of small baskets hand woven in Dresden Ohio especially for the Longaberger annual Bee.

To complete today's post is my most emotional collection. Here is 2/3 's of my Horizon of Hope baskets. Over the past 17 years the Longaberger Company has designed and sold enough baskets to allow them to donate over 14 Million dollars to the American Cancer Society to be used in the research and treatment of Breast Cancer. This cause in near and dear to my heart as I have lost my aunt and a mother in law to deaths caused by breast cancer. The Horizon of Hope Campaign runs from July through October, if breast cancer has touched your life I ask you to please purchase one of these amazing little baskets to allow Longaberger to continue to make the amazing monetary donations they have done to date.