There are only four books pictured because the fifth one was released today, it will be included in this giveaway when shipped. This giveaway is in Honor of my mother Sharon Unger, who passed away from a long battle of illness on July 17, 2010, at the age of 52. The giveaway ends on Mother's Day. This is my first annual giveaway in her honor. She was a wonderful mother who has such am amazing relationship with our heavenly father. She was an avid supporter of my idea to open up Sunshine of Autumn Quilts out of my home. So enter this giveaway today in Memory of her.
There isn't much that I like more than a wonderful book series "Cobbled Court" by Marie Bostwick is high on my list of books to recommend.
I love to read every evening before I go to bed and this series is one that I fully stand by. In today's world with so many obstacles for woman like Breast Cancer, Domestic Violence, Divorce after so many years of marriage, owning your own business etc. It is refreshing to have an author combine real life situations many of us go through, or have friends that go through, with an old fashioned tradition like quilting (and a love story or two thrown in the midst along with some wonderful friendship of a group of women). It reminds me some of my youth with our women's missionary league and the relationship of the women I knew and came to love. Of course, you all know I love quilting, it is something I do nearly every day as a small business, to try and support our family. So come read a little about the books and enter to win a great set, then maybe pass them along to someone else as a Pay it Forward. Happy Reading..Good Luck.
It's a long way from Fort Worth, Texas, to New Bern, Connecticut, yet it
only takes a day in the charming Yankee town to make Evelyn Dixon
realise she's found her new home. The abrupt end of her marriage was
Evelyn's wake-up call to get busy chasing her dream of opening a quilt
shop. Finding a store front is easy enough; starting a new life isn't.
Little does Evelyn imagine it will bring a trio like Abigail Burgess,
her niece Liza, and Margot Matthews through her door.Troubled and angry
after her mother's death, Liza threatens to embarrass her Aunt Abigail
all over town unless she joins her for quilting classes. A victim of
downsizing at the peak of her career, Margot hopes an event hosted by
the quilt shop could be a great chance to network - and keep from dying
of boredom...As they stitch their unique creations, Evelyn, Abigail,
Liza, and Margot form a sisterhood they never sought - but one that
they'll be grateful for when the unexpected provides a poignant reminder
of the single thread that binds us all...
At twenty-seven, having fled an abusive marriage with little more than
her kids and the clothes on her back, Ivy Peterman figures she has
nowhere to go but up. Quaint, historic New Bern, Connecticut, seems as
good a place as any to start fresh. With a part-time job at the Cobbled
Court Quilt Shop and budding friendships, Ivy feels hopeful for the
first time in ages. But when a popular quilting TV show is taped at the
quilt shop, Ivy's unwitting appearance in an on-air promo alerts her
ex-husband to her whereabouts. Suddenly, Ivy is facing the fight of her
life - one that forces her to face her deepest fears as a woman and a
mother. This time, however, she's got a sisterhood behind her:
companions as complex, strong, and lasting as the quilts they stitch...
While New Bern, Connecticut, lies under a blanket of snow, Cobbled Court
Quilts remains a cozy haven for its owner, Evelyn Dixon, and her
friends. Evelyn relishes winter's slower pace -- besides, internet sales
are hopping, thanks to her son Garrett's efforts. In addition to
helping out at the shop, Garrett has also been patiently waiting for his
girlfriend, Liza, to finish art school in New York City. But as much as
Evelyn loves Liza, she wonders if it's a good idea for her son to be so
serious so soon with a young woman who s just getting ready to spread
her wings.
The economic downturn has hit New Bern, Connecticut, and Tessa
Woodruff's herbal apothecary shop, For the Love of Lavender, is
suffering. So is her once-happy thirty-four-year marriage to Lee. They'd
given up everything to come back to New Bern from Boston and start
their business, but now they're wondering if they made the right
decision. To relieve the strain, Tessa signs up for a quilting class at
the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop, and to her surprise, rediscovers the power
of sisterhood - along with the childhood friend she thought she'd lost
forever...Madelyn Beecher left New Bern twenty years ago and never
looked back. But when her husband is convicted of running a Ponzi scheme
and she's left with nothing but her late grandmother's cottage, she is
forced to return to the town she fled. Unfortunately, the cottage is in
terrible shape. Madelyn's only hope is to transform it into an inn. But
to succeed, she'll need the help of her fellow quilters, including the
one friend she never thought she'd see again - or forgive. Now Madelyn
and Tessa will have to relive old memories, forge new ones, and realize
it's possible to start over, one stitch at a time - as long as you're
surrounded by friends...
Her newest book just released TODAY!!!
Margot Matthews loves her job at the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop and the
life and friendships she's made in New Bern, Connecticut; she just never
thought she'd still be single on her fortieth birthday. And Margot's
friend, Abigail, is trying to match-make even though Margot has all but
given up on romance. When Philippa, a new female pastor arrives in town,
truth be told not everyone is happy about it. Yet despite a rocky
start, Philippa begins to settle in - finding ways to ease the
townspeople's burdens, joining the quilting circle, and forging a fast
friendship with Margot. When tragedy threatens to tear Margot's family
apart, Philippa's friendship - and the help of the quilting sisterhood -
will prove a saving grace. And while she untangles her feelings for
another new arrival in town, Margot realizes that it is the surprising
detours woven into life's fabric that provide its richest hues...
All excerpts are from Amazon.com
I am very excited to be able to Giveaway this set of Marie Bostwick's novels.
Jakob was inducted into the National Honor Society Friday Night. I was very proud of him.
Zekaryah came and volunteered with me on Saturday morning at our Depot Day to set up vendors and then went to the Fun Run right after, he then came back to the Depot Day to volunteer more hours, getting in a total of 4 hours and then he got to relax at a friends birthday party that evening.
He did so well. He took first place in his grade level. I missed our daughter all weekend, she was with a friend for her birthday. We dropped her off late Friday night and got her back Sunday afternoon. She had a great time. I was proud of her sticking to her promise to come home and write her 2 page paper due for English. We got it done and it looked great! It was a wonderful weekend.
I love sunflowers, I keep trying to grow them. I plant seeds every year. NOTHING! This year I was impressed to see this lone sunflower. I hope to maybe harvest seeds from it and use it to plant more. Of course I need to look up how to do that exactly.
Today my goal was to have this queen size quilt top finished. I was able to achieve that, which is wonderful because I think that means that when my oldest son gets home tonight he can help me pull some tables outside to get it pinned and then possibly he can help me get it quilted. I have a field trip with him tomorrow and then volunteer at the jr high library on Thursday morning so I am really trying to use my time wisely. I have one more quilt order to finish, I am still waiting on that fabric to arrive, so having this one done would be spectacular. One of these days I hope to rearrange our bedroom so that I can pin these larger quilts in my bedroom and not have to wait on someone to come home to help me move tables etc. I do admit I don't make many queen size quilts at all.
Today is my parent's wedding anniversary. It is a day like today when I really wished I did not live hundreds of miles from my dad. I wish I could take him to lunch and make him smile since I know his heart has to hurt a little as does mine. My mom has been gone almost two years now, some days are still not very easy.
My mom loved my dad like no other. They sure had so many obstacles in their marriage. I am so thankful to have had such a wonderful example of how to FIGHT for your marriage and how much work it is. Its the little things like my dad kissing my mom every morning before he left for work and every evening when he got home that I will always remember and hold onto.
I wish I had a better picture of this moment. It was the last time we spent time with my parents as a family, the kids would see them one more time for Christmas a couple years later..
This is our last full family photo...look at these very little kids, who are now nearly all in their teens. Amazing how quickly time goes by.
I am so thankful for all three trips they made to Texas, at the birth of each one of my children.
I am thankful for this trip that I took with them as an adult, while I lived with them for six months in 2006.
I am thankful for the gatherings in their home, even if I was miles away, that brought my mom such joy.
This is the middle of the quilt that I buried with my mom. One of her favorite verses. While we remember her today, and celebrate the love that her and my dad had/have for one another, we have a little sadness but we will always rejoice for she is in heaven with our Lord and family that has left before us.
Have you ever felt this tired??? I know I seem drained lately. My daughter and I were working on her projects Saturday night. I had to walk out to feed the inside chickens for a minute while she thought on the next step. I came back in to find this..her asleep on the exercise equipment. It is right next to our desk in the den and the kids often sit right here to dictate what they would like typed. I will say that she was probably very comfortable as this provides an excellent stretch of the back in this position. It seems like we are overly busy lately. Between projects, quilts, extra curricular events, a few of these little naps would do anyone some good.
Our new friends. My younger two are adventurers in our very overgrown yard. They found these two guys and made them a new home in a container. My husband came up with a better plan and added them to our animal area with the rabbits, chickens and quail. I think that is a much better plan personally. I love the idea of them staying in nature to live and not being total captives. I will report that they located one more turtle Sunday so now there are three.
Did I ever tell you how much I LOVE my husband! He is just AMAZING!!! While Kenzei and I volunteered this weekend at SOS (the clothing location) he stayed home and put roofs on a couple of our cages, we only had three up, he put up more, which he will still need to roof. He also cut these cool doors on the front. The sides of the cages lift and that is how I was getting in and out to collect eggs and feed them, it was super heavy. I was always worried it would slide back and break my back. No more worrying, he came up with a solution I love!
I am so thankful for the Lord's provision for these cages, the business next door to my husband's work, scraps these. Often my husband and his co workers take them and scrap them for cash which pays for gas or food. Some of them my husband is allowed to keep and we have been turning them into cages. I think in return once we start getting some chicken eggs that is how he will pay the guys back for missing out on the cash they could have made if they all scraped them.
Even standing in the very edge of the little animal area we have I had a hard time getting a great picture to show you the vastness of his project. It does show that some of the roofing needs to be finished. I was so impressed with how much he got done. I am also so thankful since the chicks we hatched over Easter weekend will need to be relocated outside soon.
We had to move the rabbits to a cage on the ground for now, so that we could put 10 older chicks in a cage last week. We haven't gotten them into their new cage. He brought one home that is more rectangular and he is going to put it on a stand and put a divider in the middle. Since these two are siblings we do not want any of their babies, not a good idea at all. Pilsner does not know what to think of these little guys. He usually chases the wild ones in our yard so he just is not understanding why they are in a cage, much less why he can't play with them. It was a great weekend!
Having two children in the same grade can sometimes prove expensive and time consuming, esp in months like this one where a teacher assigns various projects to choose from as long as you have 100 points worth. Our middle son always requires more help as he has trouble in school. Above is a snake he made, I helped him transfer it to foam board, hot glue all the characters of his rain forest and make up 30 playing cards about a Rain forest ecosystem and cards about his snake. We played the game "Eaten Alive" last night to make sure it would work and it was interesting..He also made a brochure on oil spills and the effects that has on an ocean ecosystem (with my help), he also made a quiz on a pond ecosystem, a collage on a desert ecosystem and then a 3 Fact and 1 Fib powerpoint slide..I am happy to say it is all over~!
This is our daughters game it is called jumper. She used frog pieces to move through the lily pads, using 20 cards and dice to play her game. Her ecosystem on this one is a pond- hence the blue foam board. She also made a collage- which was based on an ocean, a 3 fact 1 fib power point presentation on the Arctic- which was really neat!, She made a quiz on a desert and instead of a brochure she chose to write up a two page news statement on rain forests and their importance as an ecosystem. She also has had to read a novel, which she is done with and now she is working to write a 2 page typed paper on that, which is very complicated for 7th grade since they have a rubric they are graded on, for this same book she will need to create a game- much like this one. It will have to deal with the themes characters etc of the book, so I have purchased $20 in wolves for her game, I am praying they arrive soon. She also had to type up her first ever RESUME so that she can be looked at for National Junior Honor Society. Lastly she volunteered four and a half hours with me on Saturday helping to sort, tag and hang clothing donations. I am so thankful she is a little more independent but it is still a lot of work.
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