Special Delivery from Australia

A beautiful bundle of fun arrived for me in the mail today all the way from Australia! My sweet blogging friend Sue sent me this adorable tote as well as a set of cute buttons and some kitty newspaper fabric! I'll share some photos of the fabric later - it's so windy out that everytime I tried to get a shot the fabric blew away! Thank you so much, Sue! The craftswomanship on the tote is wonderful - look at the button and tassel! A really beautiful finishing touch!

It was extra fun to receive this, too because 1. I've never gotten a gift from Australia and 2. the wrapping was so pretty! (Isn't the twine and tag a wonderful touch!). Now, this gift was Sue's PIF to me and I am proud to say that I am ALMOST done with the last of my PIFs - I've sent about 1/2 and am putting the finishing touches on the other 1/2. I can't remember what I last said my goal was for completion, but let's just pretend I'm on track.

Thanks so much, Sue! This will all be cherished!

August's Pay It Forwards

As many of you remember, in August I held a Pay It Forward giveaway and 10 lucky recipients were "chosen" to receive a gift. Well, for some reason I committed myself to sending those gifts by the end of 2009 (just four months!!) I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking, because the original rules of the contests I'd won said that the sender had a year to send out gifts. As I mentioned at the beginning of the year, I did not reach my December 31 deadline, but I have not forgotten and I am working diligently to complete something very special for each of the winners. Rest assured that the 10 luckiest of lucky people will be receiving something uber-cool soon. Because I like to plan and enjoy time-bound goals, my tentative date of completion is May 1 (still shy of the one year mark, but about five months later than originally promised. Hopefully the awesomeness of the gift will make up for its tardiness!)

Is Today My Birthday?

I must be the luckiest girl in the world. I came home today and, after seeing what had come in the mail, had to ask Michele if somehow my birthday had moved from May to September! I was overwhelmed with goodies from two lovely ladies from the west. First of all, Teresa, of Sewing Trials, paid it forward in a big and wonderful way. She sent bags galore: shopping bags, a corduroy tote, a small bright orange tote (filled with chocolate that is already half gone), and the cutest friendship bag ever (that I saw her making on her blog, but had no idea it would be for me!!). She also sent a fat quarter of a fabric I fell in love with on her blog, two winter scarves, two fabric scarves, and two of the very loveliest cloth wallets I've ever seen. And she made it all herself!! Oh, Teresa, I love it all - thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Now, my "birthday" didn't end there! Oh, no, indeed. Also from the west, Kymberly (whose name is spelled identical to my big sis's), of The Cotton Patch, sent me an absolutely beautiful mini quilt from the Summertime Mini Quilt Swap. The beautiful sun-bleached colors of the whimsical pinwheels made me smile the moment I opened the package! This quilt, I believe, will grace the walls of my new "office" at work (by the way, I got a new job. I'm sure I will mention that again later). Thank you, Kymberly, for such a wonderful gift!!

Wow, all this love from two whom I have never met in person. It just makes me want to spread some love, too. Tomorrow is the first day of fall. Hmm, perhaps I have something planned to show some love. Should I hint around? Should I lead you all on a merry chase? No! I will not equivocate! There will be some excitement on this blog tomorrow, so stay tuned!

And the Winners Are . . .

Everyone! After vetting all the entrants, how could I possibly choose? I mean really! There were ten who entered and if I'd picked eight from those ten, two would be so sad and excluded! I couldn't do that and don't think that would go along with the nature of the giveaway. So, I am really paying it forward and all TEN of you who entered are winners (and subsequently 40 folks after that are winners too, and on and on and on)!! So, this is what I need you to do:

1. Email me at thequiltedhouse@aol.com with your address (unless you are in Rochester (Sara, Paul, Sarah, & Tina) in which case I can hand deliver it (unless you'd like to receive it in the mail - I just love getting mail!!))
2. Keep it going by following through and paying it forward to four people each - and remember to instruct your recipients to pay it forward, too!
3. Look out for something absolutely wonderful from yours truly within the next few months.

I am so pleased that you all won! I can't wait to send each of you something great!!

Paying It Forward

I have won two give aways and - lucky you!! - eight of you will get to benefit from this propitious occurance. They are pay it forward giveaways, which means that in addition to winning, I need to make others winners, too. There are a few rules, some of which I have bent a bit to make it work in your favor.

Here's how it works:

1. You must leave a comment on this post. You can leave as many comments as you would like to raise your odds of winning. I'll take entries until Friday night and will randomly select 8 winners on Saturday morning. (It'd be nice if you told me something about you in your comment: i.e. your favorite color, fruit, veggie, fondest wish, etc.)
2. Before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st you will receive something fabulous crafted by the artisan of The Quilted House - that's me!!
3. You in turn will be required to Pay It Forward - now here's where I'm bending a few rules:
• You can pay it forward any way you like, it doesn't have to be handmade, though that would be nice.
• You have to pay it forward to 4 people.
• You can find those 4 people anyway you like (pick them randomly from your address book, host a contest on your blog, host a contest on Facebook, find four people at work, however works best for you.)
• Your four people must also then Pay It Forward.
4. If you win, you will need to provide me with your mailing address (unless you live in Rochester, in which case, I'll hand deliver it to you.)

OK, that's the deal. Many thanks to Sue at Charlotte's Cottage and Teresa at Sewing Trials for making me a winner so that I can make eight of you winners!! Oh joy! Remember you only have until Friday, so get your comments in while you can!