Chatbug Karen

Have you ever been involved in a Shop Hop? A Shop Hop is a great way to visit new fabric shops. The ones participating in a shop hop will often have a kit for a quilt block that will include the block pattern created by that individual shop as well as three fabrics. You begin by purchasing a passport that is stamped at each shop. Manufacturers often donate fabric to each participating shop. Some shops may have finishing kits available for you to purchase. Your passport is your entry for great prizes. Some shops have been known to give away sewing machines as their grand prize! Shop Hops are a great way to get motivated to make a quilt, see new fabrics and find new quilt shops.

It is so good to have my Mom back home. She had to make a quick trip to Washington and was gone for almost a month. She is my sewing buddy and I don’t accomplish very much when she is gone, although, I did make this bag for a friend. It was my friend’s birthday and since she had bought fabric for me to make her a purse, I thought I really should get it done.

The second picture is of the inside of the bag. This is the first time I made a cell phone holder and also the first time I put in magnetic closures.

Mom came over yesterday and we finally got to sit down and talk about what she had done on her trip. She also told me that her poor bushes need some tlc and I tried to find the paperwork for the company we used last year when we had bag worms. I found a ton of receipts for doctor visits and the one from the plumber for our new Delta faucets but do you think I could find the one for the tree guy? My filing system always seems good until I try to find something. I finally just looked in the phone book for the number. It is hard to find a number when you don’t know the name of the business.

Mom is tired and has a cold but I know she is glad to be back home. Her dog is also glad she is home.

Just taking a moment from putting new light bulbs in the indoor lighting in my office. (I thought these halogen bulbs were supposed to last longer).

This weeks theme for Heads or Tails is the word talk. When I think of Talk, I think of talk shows. Here is a list of talk shows I thought of. Can you think of any more?

Jerry Springer
Oprah
Montel
Dr. Phil
Regis and Kelly
The View

Be sure to see what others thought up for the word Talk over at Heads or Tails.

Lynn and I spent the whole day Saturday running around the state. He was interested in looking at the Triumph motorcycle, the Bonneville T100. We found the dealership and drooled over the motorcycle for a while. After that we went to the fairgrounds and I dropped Lynn off so he could check out the gun show. I headed for the mall. I was looking for ideas for a birthday gift and came across some cute bridesmaid gifts if anyone is interested.

It didn’t seem as if I had left Lynn at the gun show for very long and he called to say he was ready for me to pick him up. Sheesh. I needed a few more hours at the mall. I hadn’t even hit the fabric store yet.

I love having company! My husband’s aunt and her two daughters came to visit last week. Their visit spurred hubby and me into a cleaning frenzy. I knew that they would be spending the night at our home so that meant some deep cleaning. I cleaned my sewing room and organized things so you could walk without dodging piles of fabric. It feels good to have things put away. I even dusted my book shelves and office furniture here in my office. You can see the top of my desk! Now, if it would all stay clean and organized, that would be great.

Oh, how nice. Connie, from Brain Foggles surprised me with this nice award. Thanks Connie.

Now, I am supposed to pass this on to some of my favorite bloggers. I can’t do it! There are too many!

We ate at one of our favorite restaurants on our way home from picking up my mom at the airport tonight. I was shocked to see that they had a Christmas tree sitting in their lobby. For goodness sakes! It is not even the end of August. Would it be possible to enjoy one of my favorite holidays before thinking about Christmas?

I love fall weather. The leaves turn to beautiful colors of gold and rust as they prepare for winter. Kids get excited to start school and begin planning for Halloween. I love Halloween. We live in the country and don’t get any trick or treators coming to our door so we try to visit friends who live in town on October 31st. Halloween costumes have gotten interesting and fun over the years.

Everyone has the chance for big savings at halloweenadventure.com. By using the Coupon Code: PPP05BLOG2008 you can save 5% on your purchases until OCTOBER 10th, 2008. You should check out the latest costumes and see what is big this year in the costume industry by going to visit the industry’s news at http://Blog.HalloweenAdvenure.com. Learn how and why certain costumes have become classics. I found out that the latest Harry Potter movie release date is being pushed back by reading the news at Blog.HalloweenAdvenure.com.

You might have guessed that Harry Potter Costumes will be very popular again this year. They are very cool but my favorite Halloween costumes are the old standbys. I love to see kids dressed up in hobo and princess costumes. Halloween Adventure has the cutest Lil Red Riding Hood costume for little girls. It is adorable. If I were going to a party this year, I would dress up as Fiona from the movie Shrek but only if I could get hubby to dress up as Shrek!

Oh wow! We are getting a Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant near our town. I haven’t been to a Dunkin’ Donuts in such a long time. I don’t even know what my favorite donut is from their fabulous selection of donuts. I have gotten used to eating Krispie Creams donuts when the craving hits. I don’t live close enough to a Krispie Cream store to watch for that flashing light that means they are fresh. That would be crazy. I would eat more than I need if I had a chance to get them while they were hot. They melt in your mouth when they are fresh out of the oven. I must be hungry. I cannot believe I am thinking about donuts at this late hour.

Charter Communications is offering a great prize during their Back to School deal on high speed service. Charter is trying to find ways to get their name out to prospective customers and they have thought up a doozy! For a limited time, when you sign up for any Charter Communications service online, you will be automatically entered to win a terrific prize. They will be giving away 30 HP Compaq Presario C770US Laptops! Charter Laptop-a-Day Giveaway is going to make 30 people very happy. The winner will be announced on September 1.

You have been thinking about switching your service so now is the time. If you sign up online during this promotion you not only have a chance to win a fantastic laptop, but everyone who signs up, automatically receives a free gas card. Everyone needs one of those!

Check out all that Charter offers:

Charter High-Speed® Internet at $19.99/mo for 6 months
Charter Digital Home™ and High-Speed Internet at $69.98/mo for 6 months
Charter Digital Home™, High-Speed Internet, and Charter Telephone® at $99.97/mo. for 12 months

Those sound like fantastic prices. You can get the details on the laptop and the contest rules by going to connect.charter.com/ for Sweepstakes Rules.

Are you ever afraid to go into a store? There is an antique store in our town that I have yet to visit. The store front window is beautiful. When the store is open during the day, they have some of their things sitting outside on the sidewalk. It is a ploy. It is to get me to look over while I am driving down the road. I might see something that I become interested in enough to park my car and wander over. Of course, then I would be close enough to the front door that I would just saunter on in. That is their hope. They lure you in to look at their wares. My friends have told me how good the prices are and how much great stuff they have. I plug my ears. I don’t want to want any more stuff. I know myself well enough to know that if I go in, I will part with some money.