Friday, January 24, 2014

Grow Your Blog!!!

2 Bags Full

Hello and welcome to my blog, Sew Much and More! My name is Gina, I'm very happy to have you as a visitor! I'm excited to participate in the Grow Your Blog meet and greet blog party! I'd like to send a thank you to Vicki at 2 Bags Full, for putting the blog hop together and WOW at the participants! Also a thank you to Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage for creating the beautiful party badge!

When you visit my blog you will see post about sewing, from potholders to, pillows, purses and totes.


Recently, my Mom and sisters got together for a sewing retreat! It was sew much fun! We're going to try to make it an annual event. You can read about it here and here. To make it happen, there was traveling from the Atlanta area, to Louisiana, to Texas, to Arkansas. We managed to get in a quilt shopping day, high school football game, and a goat auction - yes a goat auction! Despite the extra activity we still got a lot of sewing done and of course we laughed a lot too!

I'd like to introduce you to my family. In the photo below from left to right is my Atlanta sister, my Louisiana Mom, in the middle is my Texas sister, me in red - the Arkansas sister/daughter and my Louisiana sister to the far right. We have a Louisiana brother too, he didn't make it to the retreat.


When you visit my blog, you will see post about quilting, and prayer quilts. I feel led by God to use my sewing talents to sew to serve. Though I don't think I'm that talented I do try my best and God must think I'm good enough! I am the lead of the prayer quilt ministry at my church. This turtle quilt was made for a little boy with a heart condition. I love how it turned out!


This snowball quilt was a bitter-sweet prayer quilt made for my Dad. He passed in 2012. Everyone in my family had a hand in making it. My Dad had so many interest, we decided to use novelty fabric that represented his interest. He loved western movies, so we used western / cowboy fabric. He liked to boat on the rivers of Louisiana, and he rode a Harley, so there is boating and motor cycle fabric in his quilt. You will also find Louisiana related fabric, LSU, coffee and dancing fabric. The quilt lives with my Mom, when I go home, I love snuggling under this quilt!


You will see an occasional blog hop. I try to enter when I can.


You might also see post about family, gardening, church and maybe a recipe (that's the '...and More' part of my blog name)! Gardening post from building my keyhole garden ........


to the fruits (or veggies) of my labor!


My husband and I, and our 2 sons are involved in our church, therefore you may see a post about church activities. The teens host an annual Valentine Banquet (with a lot of adults helping behind the scenes). Last year the theme was a sock-hop (there was no dancing in the church building... just sayin'). It's dinner and entertainment put on by the teens. The banquet room was decorated like a diner and you could come dressed in sock-up attire. I made a poodle skirt but I customized the 'poodle' to look like our Basset/Lab named Marley. Below is a photo of me at the sock-hop.


And here is a photo of Marley. How did I do?

Marley

My Atlanta sister DeAnna, blogs over at Georgia-Girl Quilter, you will most definitely see references to her blog. She is also participating in the Grow Your Blog meet and greet blog party, so be sure to visit her too!  

The sewing, quilting and craft inspiration is fantastic from the talented community that sew, quilt and craft! I enjoy all the ideas, there's so much I want to make and not enough time in the day or week!! I'm very excited to visit your blog and get to know you better! 

Yes! There is a giveaway!


On February 15, 2014, I'll select a winner of these 4 fat quarters! The rules are: 1. Leave a nice comment. 2. Please make sure I can reach you by email. 3. Anyone can enter, I will ship internationally. Easy!

Thank you so much for visiting! We all have a lot of blogs to visit and I hope you will decide to be a follower! I'm off to visit and follow blogs! It's time to grow some blogs! To see a list of participants, visit Vicki at 2 Bags Full.

Blessings,
Gina

56 comments:

  1. Thanks for the giveaway chance. Love your blog!

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  2. I found you through your sister!!! Now I am following you via Bloglovin'!! You have chosen some lovely fabric for your giveaway!!! Thanks for the chance!

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  3. Great blog! I love to sew and quilt, so the giveaway with those nice looking fabrics is perfect!

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  4. A very nice blog. I found you via your sister. I am a follower of her blog. Now I will be your follower, too. Thanks for a chance to win some great fabric. I guess I'm sort of a neighbor. I live in OK.

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  5. simply beautiful fabrics, thanks for the chance!!!!

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  6. Hey Gina! I am so happy to visit with you today! I just love your sweet blog. I am one of Vicki's helpers with "Grow you blog". Great Job! I am following along with you.. come on over and visit with me! Blessings My Friend!

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  7. Hi Gina, Stopping by from Grow your Blog, lovely to meet you:) Vicky

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  8. Lovely quilts and a very nice blog.
    Thank you for the chance:)

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  9. Hi Gina! you have a really fun blog that is a joy to read and look through! great to be a new follower! thank you for the opportunity to win the giveaway!
    http://kippyssomature.blogspot.com/2014/01/grow-your-blog-welcome.html
    email: kippyssomature(at)gmail.com please come follow :)

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  10. I am a follower and love all of your projects, even the vegetable ones!

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  11. Hello! Find you with the Grow your blog party! Will be a follower now.
    It's nice to meet you on the blogland!

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  12. I love visiting sewing blogs as it fills me with inspiration (I am only a beginner sewer) and you are certainly very talented:)))

    blessings from Australia

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  13. You do nice work. Love the turtle quilt and the poodle skirt.

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  14. Hello! Your work is beautiful! Found you on the Grow Your Blog blog hop..I am there too! Nice to meet you!
    Cheri quiltingnanny(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  15. I absolutely LOVED visiting your blog! I was happy to see another person from Arkansas. :) I found your blog via the Grow Your Blog Party, and I am so happy that I did. You are very talented. I especially like the cute turtle quilt and the "Marley" skirt. I look forward to following your posts!

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  16. Love all the work you are doing in the quilt ministry...the turtle quilt is my favorite, I have a daughter who loves turtles...

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  17. Hello,

    Nice to meet you.:)
    I would like to participate in your giveaway.
    petitearmoire2@gmail.com

    Greetings.

    Bernadett

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  18. I enjoyed visiting your blog and will be a follower by Bloglovin. The sewing retreat looked like a great time together! I am sure the prayer quilts are a blessing for those who get them, and that it is a blessing for you to make them ! Greetings from Marit Johanne in Norway

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  19. Hi Gina -- what a lovely Grow your Blog post. You have a wonderful family of quilters and are truly blessed with that. I love all the things you stand for and your writing is so precise - not to mention your fantastic projects, quilting and gardening and all !! I'm a new follower - thanks so much for sharing with everyone. Karen

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  20. Love your turtle quilt - thanks for sharing & thanks for the chance to win.

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  21. You are a busy gal! Thanks for the great blog tour.

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  22. I was just over at your sister's blog & decided to pop by. That turtle quilt is wicked cool. Please stop by my redwork/ embroidery blog... listed at aprilsongstress on the Grow Your Blog site.

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  23. We have some things in common - sew for my church group, I'm working on a rag quilt, and like to garden - although I grow mostly flowers. I'd love to win the fqs. Thanks for the chance, Gina.

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  24. I love your turtle quilt, its such fun!
    I also admire your gardening raised bed.....thats a brilliant idea.
    Ive just moved and have a back garden to sort out this summer and wonder if I can make a smaller version of this myself.
    I will certainly give it a try!
    Ive enough cardboard boxes left over from the move to make use of too lol
    A lovely place to come visit >> GYB is proving such good fun again this year: )

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  25. Hi Gina, I'm taking part in the GYB hop but have also 'popped' over from DeAnna's blog. Oh my what a time you had at your retreat, it must have been lovely sewing together, I think it's fantastic. I did have to smile when I saw DAnna and Mum had driven a 12 hr journey so you could all be together, It doesn't take that long to drive from the bottom of the UK to the top LOL. That would entail having several stops over night on the way.
    I've become a follower and look forward to reading your updates and of course all about this years retreat.:)

    Peg x

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  26. I've had such fun visiting your blog today!!! Love your quilts!

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  27. Hi Gina
    Good to meet you - I'm visiting from England!

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  28. Nice to meet you Gina! Your turtle quilt made me smile the minute I saw it! How kind of you to make it for that little boy. Thanks for sharing your blog!

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  29. Hi Gina! I've enjoyed visiting your blog and I will make sure I visit your Atlanta sister. I live in Georgia, too.

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  30. What a lovely idea to have a sewing retreat with your Mum and sisters. I can just see the lot of you chatting and sewing and shopping and having a lovely time.

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  31. Enjoyed stopping by your blog. I'm now following. It was great that you and your family could get together for a little retreat. Always nice for a family get together.
    Mary

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  32. I love going on sewing retreats!

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  33. Greetings from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Cute turtle quilt!

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  34. So nice to meet you. You have a very nice blog. It's been fun to meet so many new friends through the GYB hop.

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  35. Hi Gina. I enjoyed reading your blog. We have a Valentines Banquet at our church also and our children serve the grown-ups on that day. We also play games and have a great time. Thank you for the giveaway.

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  36. Hey Gina, I too love making pillows but mine probably aren't nearly as lovely as yours. Your work is gorgeous. Your veggies look scrumptious, I wish I had a garden. It has been lovely getting to know you.

    Hugs
    Caroline

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  37. Looks like you have a lot on your blog that I find interesting. Great quilts. Looking forward to reading your posts.

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  38. Holy moly, those eggplants are HUGE! Visiting via Vicki's GYBP and enjoyed your blog...beautiful quilts and the get together sounds like such fun.

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  39. You have a lovely blog,and the turtle quilt is really cute! Thank you for having a give away.

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  40. What a treat to meet you and your lovely family. This hop is a great way to meet new people. I really enjoyed reading your blog. You do some lovely work. Happy hopping!

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  41. hello, nice to meet you! That turtle quilt is so original, fantastic!

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  42. It seems you are very creative family. Your keyhole garden looks very interesting too.

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  43. You, I will definently be keeping up with. I admire the fact that you are about others. People in general don't seem to realize the more we give away of ourselves the more we are able to give. I know you get this. You are a Jabez warrior. Your work will be recieved with gratitude, I have no doubt.

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  44. I love your blog and am signing up now. love to win the fat quarters, Jackie

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  45. Great blog party post! Nice to meet you and your family! Very cool that you all get together to do what you love! Enjoy the party! Aloha

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  46. Your creative ideas are sew inspiring. I enjoy reading your blog very much! And love the keyhole garden; fruits of your labor are so much more delicious then store bought!

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  47. Hi Gina, it is wonderful to meet your here in blogland. What a creative and refreshing blog. I am looking forward to following your blog. Many blessings to you and your family, Toni from Easy Street Ramblings (peddlerjo.blogspot.com)

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  48. What a fun Blog you have...signed up to Follow thru Bloglovin! :)

    Love that you Family has so many Heart Moments together!! My two daughter's a& I are learning to quilt ...one is close by & the other is in NC....so we have been having fun surprising one another!! lol

    Ohio Hugs!! :)

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  49. It's so nice to meet you Gina. I love your projects. I checked DeAnna's blog too!

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  50. I like all things creative n thrifty and I found you from the GYB party.
    I don’t have a lot of blog time in for I just started blogging when I joined the blog party it was my New Year resolution. 600 entries and I am really wanting to get to know my new blogging world so I am Reading my 498 blog and more to go. Whew a lot of good read and great giveaways too. I know the importance of having blogging followers so I dropped everything and doing the web work. My site http://overboardcreations.blogspot.com/ and contact info is http://ovr_brd@yahoo.com/ I believe inspiration comes from all facets of life even knowing the great people out there with wisdom and knowledge the do's and don'ts and even the wonders of life from a personal point of view. And loving the crafting networks. following you on the goggle connect and bloglovin .

    Thanks for the opportunity to join your giveaway.

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  52. Welcome to the party! These are some gorgeous quilts you have there. Thank you for sharing and joining us masses (the sheep that like to spend way too long on the internet).

    Enjoy the party!

    Lija
    http://stitchingincrossesandmore.blogspot.co.uk/

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  53. Greetings from the Pacific Northwest! What a great idea to have a family sewing retreat!

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