Winners!

Random Generator #1 and Random Generator #2 had great fun this morning, picking from my giant bowl of contestants.

Each comment was printed, cut apart and crimped, then mixed together with the others. Like a big bowl of spaghetti seasoned with kindness.

The following SEVEN winners, please contact me via email: beth@heartstringsamplery.com with your mailing address and your choice of one of my available designs (as seen here), which I will send off in next week's mail.

AnneMarie, : Congratulations on 1,000 posts! I look forward to reading 1,000 more! I always look forward to reading your posts and seeing your pictures. Not to mention your beautiful needlework. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
Joy, who said: Beth, I cannot tell you how much I enjoy your blog. Your photos are always beautiful and inspiring. I look forward to seeing the children and what they are doing. Happy Holidays and congrats!! 
Paula, who said: Beth, I enjoy making your sweet blog a part of my day. It is part of my "me" time. I especially enjoy your photos. I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!
Catherine, who said: Wow! That's a lot of posts! Congratulations!! I finished Sing We Merrily and an waiting on the frame to arrive! Might be starting Humility tonite!! Love your posts, pictures and designs!! 
Debbie, who said: Beth, you have given me so much to think about each day, and your photo's are so spectacular. Because this is your 1000,00 post, I am going to send you two of my Grandfather's photo's. I'll have Colleen go thru them and pick out some farm scenes. The Chicago Hystirical has all of his glass negatives, and a book was written called Chicago Under Glass. I know you will loves these, and I would be honored for you to have them. You Beth are very special. Merry Christmas to All at The Twist Farm.
Diane, who said: Congratulations on your 1,000 posts. I enjoy your blog. Your cakes are amazing that you make for your children - always love when it's their birthdays. Wishing you and your family happy holidays from Pennsylvania.
Juels, who said: Congratulations! I enjoyed the pictures from the post above this one. Thank you!

The following SEVEN winners, please contact me via email: beth@heartstringsamplery.com with your email address and your choice of one of my available designs (as seen here), which I will send to you as a PDF pattern next week.

Belinda, who said: Dear Beth, I am thankful for your blog because it is inspiring, beautiful, and thoughtful. I will be returning to New Zealand to live in about one month's time and will follow you from there. I am loving your patterns. I am currently working on your Victorian pincushion. Merry Christmas to your family. 
Diana, who said: Congratulations on your 1000th post! I enjoy hearing about your family's life. I look forward to many more posts 
Darlene N, who said: congrads! I love your corner of earth!! I read you daily I adore your family and your dogs and your pictures and your cam pictures and your beavers and the tree you planted when you moved there and your chickens and and and!!! You are a joy to read Thank You!! Have a wonderful holiday. Thanks for the chance
Deborah, who said: Congrats on 1000 posts! I look forward to next 1000. Have a wonderful holiday!
Donna G, who said: Thanks for sharing your pictures, thoughts and beautiful patterns. I always enjoy checking in on your blog.
Jessica, who said: Congratulations on 1,000 posts! I think I may have missed the first few hundred, but I've loved the last few hundred, even though I have never posted before. Please, keep up the lovely work!
Mouse, who said: well i think that yahoo has eaten my last comment ... said wow you talk more than me heheheh and just love your photos especially with the droplets and the spiders strand :) hope you have a fab christmas and a merry new year :) love mouse xxx

Congratulations to all of you!

Cloth Bag Winners!

We are very technical here in our household. When there is a contest and winners to be chosen, we are all about doing it in the most modern and current fashion. It goes something like this...

The names from all of the people who left comments on the contest-in-question are printed, then some are jotted by hand if their comment was left on my personal facebook page. Each name, individually folded into its own little piece of paper are put into a basket.

The Random Generators are then called to the room and given their assignment.

Are you ready for the results of the Cloth Bag contest?

Random Generator #1 picked...

Random Generator #2 picked...

then I (the Original Random Generator) reached in and picked...


Woo hoo! Winners, I need your mailing addresses. Send me an email and I'll get your made-by-me shopping bags off later this week!

Speaking of Plastic...

I knew that there was a problem with plastic clogging drains and causing flooding in India. I knew that there is an island in the South Pacific that has shores completely covered up by broken bits of plastic and fish nets.

But I had no idea how big the issue really has become.

Then I watched a documentary on OPB that opened my eyes. And kept me awake that night. Then a few days later, still disturbed by what I had seen, I typed "plastic in the ocean" into the google search box. Click the link... I dare you. Then, if you want a little more in the way of statistics, read this blog post and the comments below.

I have never described myself as an Environmentalist. But I find that the more I know about the condition of the land, sea, air, the more concerned I am about the way we (all mankind) are treating God's Creation.

I have a love for the outdoors... the woods, the ocean, the rivers, meadows, trees, and I have always been curious about the animals that live here (including homo sapiens... I love watching and learning about people).

And I don't like the condition we are leaving the earth in for future generations of trees, animals, people.

I don't have a huge circle of influence politically or in my community, but I do have a voice, and I have a blog, and I have a few people who pop in to see what I have posted. So I am using this platform to try to make a statement to those who will listen.

Thank you for bearing with me as I stumble through trying to explain what has been ruminating in my heart and on my mind recently. I have an easy solution that just might help a teensy tiny bit.

Knowing that the majority of my blog readers are women who sew, and yes... I know about your fabric stashes... I have spent the last few days putting together a tutorial demonstrating how to make a lined, square-bottom, shopping bag out of fabrics from your stash. And I am going to give the tutorial to you for free. Why? Because it feels like it just might be a way that I can help reduce the use of plastic shopping bags.

You may already know how to make such a bag, or you might have a pattern in a stack somewhere. If that is the case, then let this blog post be a reminder to you to use those bags, that pattern.

I know that the download is a little on the large side, but I filled the tutorial with photos and options, making it a 7 page long pdf. Please, please, download it, share it with all of your sewing friends, spread the word. There really should be no excuse anymore for using those plastic bags.

And for those of you that have lasted through this entire monologue, I have a little giveaway for you... leave a comment on this post, and three of you will win (my Random Generators will draw names on Monday morning, August 30) one of these...

Made from a thrifted bedsheet, thank you very much.

I will be adding a permanent link on my sidebar to the cloth bag tutorial. Feel free to take it and post it on your blog and share it with as many people as possible.