Show and Tell Friday - My Ulmer Quilter

Today is Show and Tell Friday at Kelli's House. Today I would like to show you one of my most prized possessions.

This is a hand quilting frame that my husband bought me for our anniversary early in our marriage while on our annual anniversary trip to the mountains. Every year we try to visit a little quilting shop located way out in the country in Tennessee, called Holloways Country Home. This store is in an old home and is stocked full of every kind of quilting supply or fabric you can think of. The store even has a "husband's room" where husbands can lounge on a couch, watching tv and drinking coffee while their wives shop. (aka - spending money with the owner!) LOL

While shopping there on one of our trips, my hubby spotted these quilting frames, and insisted that I have one of my own. Thanks Sweetie!



Unlike my grandmother's old timey quilting rails, this one is small enough to use in the living room and folds flat for storage like this:



Here it is set up ready for a quilt. If only I had one ready to put in there!



This is what it looks like with a quilt in it.



I'm ready to hand quilt another quilt and intend to leave the quilting frame set up in this spot. The fall and winter will be here before you know it and now is the time to get those quilts ready for quilting, especially during the cooler months.

Show and Tell Friday - Signs of Love

I was looking around for something to share with you for SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY at Kelli's House, when I noticed these three items in my bedroom with the word "Love" on them.

This is actually a music box which plays "Love Makes the World Go Round", but the words on the front are the scripture verses read at my wedding. My hubby gave me this. :o)



This is a small cross stitch I did years ago. The crucifix was given to me by my son. It was made in the Holy Land.



I recently bought this at a yard sale. I couldn't resist! I plan to hang it over our bed.



Yes, Love is patient and kind, Love bears all things..... and Jesus loves you!

Happy Friday!

Decorating on a Budget

Today is Show and Tell Friday at kelli's House and also Frugal Friday at the Life As Mom Blog and this post fits both!

I took a few pictures of some touches my daughter added to her home which she was able to do without spending a lot of money.

I absolutely love these framed piano music pages. She took these pages from her own piano music books that she used during her childhood piano lessons. If you look closely you can see the notes the piano teacher made on the sheets.

Not only do I like the way these turned out, they also have a sentimental value. Since she has a piano bench full of childhood piano music books, I want to frame some for my own home. Wouldn't that be cute paired with a picture of her as a girl?

At Christmas time I could use a sheet from a Christmas Music Book!





Stenciling is a very frugal way to add special touches to your home. My daughter stenciled these designs over doorways.





You can also try your hand at painting free hand designs on the walls. Just find a picture you like or something already in your home and copy it.

My daughter has these glasses with the chickens on them stored on top of her cabinets.

From this:




To this:



Be sure to check out Kelli's House and Life As Mom for more posts today.

My thanks goes to my daughter, Lori, for the use of these pictures from her home. :o)

Plants With Stories

For Show and Tell Friday this week I would like to show you some plants in my yard that have a story.

This is a rose bush that my hubby gave to me back in the early days of our relationship. Of course the name of the rose bush is DON JUAN! It is covered in blooms and in fact, my hubby counted them and there are 38 rose buds on this bush.



In 1986 I lost my 2 year old son, Josh, to a heart defect and he was buried in an old family cemetery near my home. The cemetery was in dire need of some work and I guess it was my way of taking care of Josh to work in the cemetery. There were old fashioned plants all over the place and some of them were being mowed down every year by the lawnmower, since they had spread out into the open areas of the graveyard.

I've read before that plants that survive in cemeteries with little or no care are the hardiest ones to transplant. So back in the eighties, before mowing the graveyard in the spring I moved several plants to my yard as follows:

This plant with the tiny purple flowers and spikey leaves is a Spider wort. The little flowers open in the morning and close in the afternoon.




This Crape Myrtle tree was just a little twig when I first transplanted it. It is now a beautiful tree.



These are some old fashioned daffodils. They are only just now blooming and have small flowers. Maybe they are paperwhites? Anyway all my other daffodils bloomed a couple of months ago.



Be sure to visit Kelli's House for more Show and Tell posts!

Piggly Wiggly Dishes

Today is Show and Tell Friday at Kelli's House.

My mother collected two sets of dishes for me from Piggly Wiggly.

The first one was in 1975 or 1976. The way it worked was that each time a person spent a certain amount of money on groceries you could buy a piece of the china at an inexpensive price. So each week my mother would bring home 2 or 3 pieces of the china for my hope chest. It ended up being a large set!




Then again in the year 2000, Piggly Wiggly offered more dishes. This time the name of the dishes was "The Cades Cove Collection". My husband and I visited Cades Cove in Tennessee while on our honeymoon so we just had to have a set.

So this time my mother AND my husband worked on accumulating this set. The dishes have apples and cherries on them. We really enjoy these dishes and use them on a daily basis. We ended up with a large set of the Cades Cove dishes which includes several serving pieces.




I hardly ever shop at Piggly Wiggly any more, but the store is popular with many folks in our area.

Has anyone else collected dishes from Piggly Wiggly or some other store?

Show and Tell Friday - Pictures

Welcome to Show and Tell Friday at Kelli's House this week.

Here are a few spring pictures in my home. Two are pretty old and two are recent purchases.

These two were bought in the 80s at a Home Interior Party. Do you remember those parties? :o) Do they still have those today?

A swing surrounded by irises:



I've always loved rural mailboxes:



This one is very feminine. I originally bought it for my sewing room, but I think I will use it as a feminine touch in my closet!



I love the daisies, the potting table in the background and the chair. If you look closely you can see the sun streaming in the window.



You can see many other show and tell items at Kelli's House.

Show and Tell Friday - Spring In My Yard

Its early Spring in the garden and all the plants seem "pregnant" with promise. The azalea blooms are about to open. The Irises are sending forth their green, pointy spikes. The clematises have started running on the ground. The daylillies have come out from their winter sleep.

For Show and Tell Friday at Kelli's House this week, I am showing bits and pieces of my yard and home that are harbingers of Spring and Summer.

Seeds bought at Dollar General:



Sunflowers in a decorative watering can bought at Dollar General:



The last camelia flower on the ground underneath the bush rooted from my grandmother's camelia bush by my mother.



A window box with a few pansies peeking out. Soon I will fill this with other Summer blooming plants.



Our pewter Wolfpack Crossing sign. (Hey at this point in the 2009/2010 football season, we are undefeated!) :o)



An old fashioned Nandina Bush, also from my grandmother's yard. It is heavy with the red berries.



A pot of pansies and another plant that made it through the winter there and is now blooming.



My little "welcome" rock.



A Spring flag. We reuse it every year and its beginning to fray.



A Garden Fairy reading her book.



Another pot with a few pansies. There are perrenials in this pot that will come up and bloom in the Summer. I like to tuck in a few other plants or sow a couple of seeds.



A Spring flag, rain guage and garden statue.



For more "Show and Tell Friday" posts, go to Kelli's House!

Show and Tell Friday - I hate the deer, but Love my Son!

This is my fireplace and mantel. As I stated in the title, I hate the deer, but love my son! Some day he will get married and leave home, taking this prized possession with him to make his own home a manly haven. But, for now, I don't have the heart to take it down. If all else fails, maybe he can put it in his bedroom....

The mantel was made from a cypress log taken from the property we live on in 1984. This picture would make you think I live in a hunting lodge in the mountains, but I promise you that I don't!



I changed the section of the mantel I posted about yesterday. On the left is a small collection of Willow Tree Figurines. There is an "Angel of the Garden", Two "Angels of Love", and the "Anniversary Angels". All were Christmas gifts over the past 2 or 3 years.



As you can tell, I love sunflowers. The picture is a Monet print. The small sunflower arrangement above is made up of silk sunflowers placed in a decorative watering can I found at Dollar General in the "Summer/Garden" isle this week.

I know that if I removed some of the family photos I could make the mantel look more professionally decorated, but I can't part with them. Who needs a perfect display anyway? Not me! I just placed items that I love in an arrangement that is pleasing to me and makes me happy.

Please go to Kelli's House for more Show and Tell Friday Fun!

Show and Tell Friday - Needle Point

Its Show and Tell Friday already again at Kelli's House. Happy Friday to you!

This week I am showing some cross stitch and embroidery items in my home.

My husband inherited this beautiful piece from his mother. I think it was a gift to his mother from a friend of hers. It's hanging in our living room with pictures of our children on each side.



This is a Spring pocketbook I made a couple of years ago. The "J" is cross stitched. I'm thinking about using this bag today. Our temperatures today and this weekend are going to be in the 70s. Can you say "Spring"?!!!



I cross stitched this a few years ago.



We found these two at a yard sale.




My North Carolina readers will understand this one! My sweet Sister in Law made this for her brother, my hubby. GO PACK!




I cross stitched this one right after Josh died.



Its very interesting to see things other ladies have in their homes, so check out Kelli's House for more Show and Tell Friday Post.

Show and Tell Friday - More Chickens

Last week On "Show and Tell" at Kelli's House, I showed some of the chickens that are residing in my kitchen. You can see those HERE.

All week I kept seeing other chickens in there and decided to go ahead and show the rest of them this week.

This is my favorite picture. My husband brought this one home as a surprise from a place out in the country that was having a big sale. I just love the Americana look combined with chickens.



This is my newest chicken! A birthday gift from a good blogger friend. This chicken's tail is made up of measuring cups. Remember the one last week that had measuring spoons for tail feathers? Well, now I am fully equipped with chicken tools. I love the fact that its both functional and decorative.



This pillow is one of my attempts at learning to do applique. This chicken is made from various scraps in my stash. His feet turned out really big, so I tried to fold up the bottom of the pillow so you couldn't see! LOL



This tray was a gift from my husband. It matches some other items in the kitchen that he also gave me.



This chicken sits on top of the china cabinet beside the tray above. We found it at a thrift store in the mountains while on our annual anniversary trip one year.



This is a light switch plate my sweet son-in-law saw and thought of me. He mailed it to me. Isn't it beautiful?



A random plate found at Family Dollar:



This is a vintage trivet found at a thrift store.



Another gift from my husband. Two of these are trivets and the one in the middle is a decorative plate. They match the tray up above.



Well, that about covers my chicken collection. There are several dish towels and pot holders left, but I imagine you have seen all you can stand!

Happy Friday!