Winners of the Birthday Giveaway

Sorry for the delay in posting the winners.  Blogger does not like my new computer and athough it allowed me to create a draft, it would not allow me to publish the post.

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas celebration with their family. We had a lovely, if quiet celebration.  The day after Christmas is always a bit of a let down.  Luckily, today is the day to choose the winners of my Birthday Giveaway. 

There are 77 names in the bowl.  57 are followers of the blog with an additional 20 names of  people who left comments.  The first winner is:  

Tonya's name was chosen first.  Tonya is a follower and also left a comment;  "They are not the only ones that read your whining post. LOL. I just don't always comment when I am so busy and behind. My son's birthday is tomorrow. I know how it is. Well, happy birthday. So kind of you to have such a big giveaway! Notice how comments come out of the woodwork when you host a giveaway?"

Sheila's name was chosen second.  Sheila is a follower and also left a comment:  "Happy Birthday! Very generous give away.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year."

 Sharon V's name was chosen third.  Sharon left this comment:  "Happy Birthday KatieQ!!! Hopefully in spring we can arrange a meet up - got wheels now."

PattiLou's name was chosen fourth.  PattiLou is a follower.  I will contact the winners so that they can make their choices.

Funghi for the Fun Guy

If you are someone that doesn't like mushrooms, read no further.  My mother's parents were from Poland and mushrooms were an important part of my grandmothers's recipes.  This recipe is not one of my Babcia's, but it is wonderful.  I found this recipe for Hungarian Mushroom Soup at the For the Love of Cooking blog.   All of the recipes at this site are delicious.  The only changes I made were substituting Smoked Spanish Paprika for the regular paprika listed and Greek yogurt for the sour cream.  I didn't have time to go to the store for the sour cream so we had to make do.  We have made the soup twice and when I make it again, I will definitely plan ahead so I can use sour cream.  The taste was fabulous, but Greek yogurt is thick so it didn't blend as well as I would have liked.
A salad with shavings of Romano or Parmasean, some crusty bread or the Pillsbury crescent roll in the picture, and a glass of wine makes a heavenly dinner.
One more sleep until Christmas.

Happy Birthday to Me and the Present is for You

Since only Sharon V and Debra S read my whining post about my birthday being so close to Christmas (http://saltmarshpath.blogspot.com/2011/12/december-is-for-birthdays.html), you might not be aware that today is the big day.  Even thought it's my birthday, the presents are for you.  I will be offering 4 items.  If you are already a follower, you are automatically entered.  You may have an extra chance to win if you comment on this post.  If you are just dropping by, feel free to leave a comment to be entered into the drawing.  I will draw 4 names next Monday, the day after Christmas and will notify the winners that day.  The winners will be able to choose a prize in the order their name was drawn.

The first item is the 2012 Quilts calendar by Debby Kratovil which includes instructions and patterns for 12 quilts.

The next item is an Antique Fair jelly roll by Blackbird Designs for Moda.  The picture is a little dark, but the prints are beautifully muted country colors.

Next, I am offering 3 beautiful patterns by Jill Finley from Jillily Studio.  I won the patterns at a giveaway on the fabulous Stash  Manicure blog.  I love them, but after doing a thorough inventory of my books and patterns, I already have so many projects that I want to try, that I know that I will never use them.

Last, but not least, are 2 items that I won earlier this year.  One is the pattern Rows and Bows for Fall and Winter by Seams and Dreams that I won in the C-Bees UFO challenge.  The other is the book, Nature's Way, autographed by the Granola Girl herself, Debbie Field.  Tucked inside the book is a sheet of Heat and Bond to help you with the applique.   I was thrilled when I won the blog giveaway.  The patterns in the book are gorgeous, but alas, I know that I will probably never make them.

Maybe these items have been waiting for you to use them.  I hope so.  Leave a comment and you may find yourself with a new project for the New Year.

This giveaway is now closed.

Giveaway Winners

It was amazing to see that there were 220 comments for the giveaway.  Welcome to all of the new followers and congratulations to the three winners.  The winning names were drawn by my favorite Retired Guy.

The Ruby Charm Pack was the most popular.  The winner is:

Anya said, "Ruby would be my first choice, but any of the prizes would work! Thanks for the chance!

Second in popularity was the group of 6 Fig Tree fat quarters.  The winner is:

Kathy said, "I so would love to win anything Fig Tree so count me in and thanks, you gals are great to do this for us.

Last, but not least is the winner of the Happy Camper dessert roll.

is Marjorie of Marjorie's Busy Corner.  Marjorie said, "I pick the dessert roll,please....what a decision to make..lol. I love all of them."

The winners have been notified and their prizes will soon be in the mail.

If you were not a winner, don't fret.  In honor of my birthday, I will be offering another giveaway later today.

Quilting Gallery's 4th Birthday Celebration - Quilter's Blog Hop Party

Welcome Quilter's Blog Hop Party visitors.

 

I can't wait to start visiting all of the bloggers participating in the blog hop.  In honor of my birthday and  the Quilting Gallery's 4th birthday, I will be offering 3 items for my giveaway.  Don't forget to stop by the Quilting Gallery blog to see the links for all of the Blog Hop Party blogs.  I can't wait to start visiting all of the bloggers participating in the blog hop.


With all of the lovely online Thanksgiving fabric sales, I was able to snag a few beauties to share.  I love anything from Fig Tree Quilts so I am offering 6 fat quarters, 3 from the Fresh Cottons line, and 3 from Mill House Inn.

A yummy Happy Campers dessert roll from American Jane.

And a sweet charm pack of Ruby by Bonnie and Camille.

Please tell me in your comment which of the items you would like to have.  The winners will be drawn on December 17th.  I will be happy to ship anywhere in the world.    Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the blog hop.

This Giveaway is closed.  No further comments accepted.

December is for birthdays

I'm sure no matter what time of the year you were born, there is something to complain about when it comes to celebrating your birthday.  For me, it's the fact that my birthday is a few days before Christmas so my relatives always said, "I'm giving you a bigger gift because it's for your birthday and Christmas."  I might have fallen for it if I didn't have 3 cousins who were my age that lived right around the corner from my house.  My cousin Pat is 1 year, 9 months older and my cousin Susan is 21 months younger.  Did they really think I wouldn't notice that we got the same things?  Bah, humbug!

My mom was not much of a baker (or a cook) so she often bought a chocolate cream pie (my father's favorite dessert) or a few cupcakes for my birthday, saying, "It's so close to Christmas that we don't want too many sweets in the house right now."   Phooey!!

When my children were in the lower grades of elementary school, I taught Religious Education classes in my home.  Each year on my birthday, the children in the class (I usually taught a group of between 4 to 6) could invite a friend to my house and we would have a party.  They had to bring a wrapped gift (so I could have the thrill of opening a present) that was suitable to be given to the Toys for Tots toy drive.  My favorite, was the year one of the children brought an African American Cabbage Patch doll. One year, I opened a football, basketball, and a baseball and glove.

This year as part of my birthday celebration, I'm joining the Quilter's Blog Hop Party and offering a few giveaways.  Quilt Gallery is celebrating their 4th birthday and the celebration will be world wide with  226 bloggers participating.

The Blog Hop Party giveaways start on December 10th and will run until December 17th.

You can click the logo on my sidebar to get more info. I'll be posting about my giveaway items later today with a Blog Hop Party post.

My complaints may seem petty when you consider I share my birthday month with the One who gave us the greatest gift of all, but I am human, not divine.