Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas,

I thought it might be fun to share a few pictures of my favorite Christmas decorations. We have always decorated most every room in our house for the Holidays. Most important of all are our nativity scenes - the best gift of all Jesus. There is no present greater than everlasting life and the promise of an infinite future.

Our Christmas tree is a collection of ornaments that reflect our life involving family and friends. I have had a Christmas party every year for the past 33 years which include the same ladies. As their daughters have married they have been included in our party. We all share in the cooking, and we all bring an ornament. Then the ornament game begins and we squabble for the ornament of our dreams. It's a fun night and a great tradition. Some of us only see each other once a year but the love we share is always present. So when I sit and look at our Christmas Tree I am reminded of many of my friends, those still here and some who are now with the Lord. Friendship is one of the most important parts of my life. At this age I cherish my friends and know without a doubt that they are my support system and encouragement . I only hope that I am as good a friend to them. So my advice - love your friends deeply and hang on to the gift of friendship.

I would like to thank all of you who supported us this year! You are great customers and great friends. Times are hard but we can and will survive this economy. We have a great country and this will get turned around. Thanks for your support and love.

Merry Christmas and God Bless you all,

Marsha

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord" Luke 2:11

Congrats to Cat!

I know you all think we have probably forgotten our drawing, but have no fear we are here!

Thank you to all of you who entered! It is fun to hear what other people like. My personal favorite Bali Pop is always changing. Every time a new line of Pops come in it changes. This time my favorite pop is Mango Margarita. Last time Green Tea was my favorite.

I would also like to thank our "Wednesday Girls" for drawing our winner. Every Wednesday these lovely ladies comes to visit us and sew in the classroom. We love having them, and have really enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them.

So our lucky winner was Cat! Cat please send us an email with your address and choice of Bali Pop (mocha mint or berry bliss) and we will get it in the mail for you!

Thanks again and Happy Holidays!

Jen

Oh, What do I hear.....

Oh, what do I hear…. Christmas Bells ringing! The store office party is planned and Christmas spirit is happily here at the store. We are so lucky here to have such wonderful employees (they are my family and I am proud of each and every one of them). Just like home!

The store has many hard working elves and they have hidden a new product in one of the photos on the blog. Can you find it?

That’s right it’s the new Hoffman Bali Pops! They are so beautiful, and so exciting we decided to have a giveaway!

Rules:

-tell us your favorite Bali Pop

-Become a follower of our Blog

-Tell your friends about our giveaway

Good luck! We will close the give away Friday, December 3^rd at 3:00; winner will get to choose

from a Mocha Mint or Berry Bliss Bali Pop.

Happy Holidays,

Marsha

The She's Back at it Again!

Ah friendship, the best gift you can give to a person is to be a good friend. I spent the weekend with the best of friends quilting, laughing, crying, putting my foot in my mouth, eating humble pie and being forgiven. The older I get the more my friends mean to me and the more I crave their company. It's such a comfort to know that there are people out there who have your back, love you, forgive you, laugh with you and give you wise advice. I am already counting the days until our next sew weekend. To The She's - I Love You!

Marvin Collins with Renee Waelbrock sharing his newest quilt with The She's. The half square triangles in this quilt were small and point perfect. Good job Marvin!

This quilt was fun to make and a blast to quilt. Fabric line is Pure from Sweetwater and the pattern is from Quilt Soup. Of course we have this quilt available in a kit. The fabric requirements were a little excessive so I was able to make a scrappy back. When I was quilting it a lot of experimenting was done with my computer and a lot learned. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Have a Great Week and God Bless,

Marsha

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." - Herm Albright

Good Morning Everyone! I have been gone from blogging for awhile. I have great intentions on sitting down and blogging and then time gets away from me. If anyone knows where to find more time let me know.

We have had some exciting things happening here at Morning Star Quilts. We just finished up with River Run. It was a lot of fun seeing everybody out there doing the shop hop. We were very lucky to have Vicki Bellino of Bloom Creek with us on our first day. She was here with a trunk show and autographing her new book. Vicki's new book is awesome and has great ideas for lableing your quilts. Thanks again Vicki we sure had fun!

Also we have been getting in new fabrics. We have new batiks, Evening Mist from Moda, A very cute little retro chicken line from Alexander Henry, and our new favorite Bliss by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.

Well I am out of time! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

God Bless,

Marsha

The Mountains!

There is something is something to be said about living in a small town in the mountains. Its not everyday that you can go outside to take out the trash and have this beautiful creature eating right there. It was definately a nice surprise! Have a great day!

These shots were taken about 15 feet away!

Hugs,

Jen

Party on the River

It feels as though I haven't done a blog post in forever. Oh wait, I haven't. We have had an incredibly busy summer. Some great little weekend trips golfing, and going to country music concerts. This is the first summer that Mark hasn't been on call in 30 years so we tried to take advantage of our weekends. Quite a few of them involved work but the store and teaching is also a lot of fun. Mark and I are leaving next Sunday the 15th of August to learn more about the Handi Quilter machines in Salt Lake. He will learn the mechanical aspects and I will learn more about selling and operating. I have been working on the Batik of the Month Quilt at home on my Fusion. The quilt is absolutely gorgeous, I think you will really like it. I heard from Island Batiks about our fabric for the quilt. It is on the boat and due to arrive in the states around the end of August. If you have signed up for the club you will receive an email from us to pick up your kits.

We have a couple big events coming up in Paradise. Next weekend is the Ridge Quilters Quilt Show, August 14 from 10 - 5, and August 15 from 10 - 4. The show is located at the Paradise Intermediate School. We will be open both days. Debbie and I will both have a special for Quilt Show attendees.

Party on the River is right around the corner. The shop hop is Sept. 9 - 11. Come on by for more information. Below are some pictures regarding the hop. The quilt will be given away as one of our prizes. The chair filled with goodies is one of the grand prizes which will include a $100 shopping spree. Every store will have a party theme, ours is a tailgate party. Come join the fun!

Today we received a new line of fabric from Moda, Evening Mist. It is really gorgeous. They are great with Diawabo's. Come by and check out the gorgeous colors.

God Bless,

Marsha

The Last Summer Getaway!

Hello Everyone!

My mom and dad are off on a quick, but fun mini vacation. So I am taking it upon myself to do a blog while she is gone. They left today to go to beautiful Lake Tahoe. While they are there my dad is going to be a Marshall in a big Celebrity Golf Tournament. They will also be going to a Rascal Flatts concert. This will be a much needed and relaxing weekend.

I am excited to say that on Sunday I am leaving town with my family to spend a week in San Luis Obispo. Brian (my husband) has been traveling down there for weeks now to go to school, to become a hazardous materials specialist. This is his final week of class, so the boys and I decided to tag along. The boys are really excited to go to Pismo Beach and probably the Hearst Castle. I am looking forward to visiting with some friends, quilting and going to some quilt stores. If anybody knows of any in that area leave me a comment and I will check them out. I really want to have some time to make it to a few wineries, maybe on our way down? This is our last big trip for the summer. When we get home football starts. That will consume our lives for the next several months. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love watching my boys play football. This is Tyler's last year in Junior Football. Next year he will start high school.

My Boys at Scheels in Reno!

Well thanks for listening to my going ons! Have a fabulous weekend, if you are in our area stay cool. The air is always running at Morning Star Quilts!!!

Jen

AND THE WINNER IS....

Good Morning Everyone!

First I would like to introduce to you three ladies who sew with us once a week at Morning Star Quilts. Much to their surprise they walked in the door this morning and I said "Oh good, I need you chicks to draw a name for me and let me take your picture." What good sports they were. Of course they wanted to win, but none of them entered the drawing.

Drum Roll..........

Here is all of the entries!

Folded and going into the bowl!

Our Drawing Girls Diane, Effie, and Carolyn!

The Big Draw!

And the Winner is?????

Dalylady!

Congratulations. Please let me know how you want to recieve your prize and I will get your prize right out to you!

Thanks for the fun and keep checking for our next big giveaway!

Jen

Samples Galore and Giveaway!

I just got back from vendoring a show in Reno. Whew! what a lot of work. We really had a great time, my daughter (Jen) and our grandsons went with us . The time we spent together was a blast. The show on the other hand seemed pretty slow to me. Lots of people there, but people weren't really shopping. Oh well maybe next time. The good news is we made about 16 new samples for the show and now they are home and all new to you. Here's some pictures of our new products.

Home Sweet Home! Beautiful Batiks, and our new easy & fun Zippers!

Two gorgeous new batik samples and fun new wallets and skirts!

Beautiful rose quilts and a fantastic wildlife quilt!

A new Art Gallery Quilt sample and some fun displays.

More diplays!

Some of our sale kits!

Kits and upcoming classes.

We are finally getting a break from our traveling and get to be home for about three weeks. I am so excited to get to be in the store and my sewing room! I have also started a facebook page for the store. It is still in the making but would love to have you join us on facebook as well.

I would love for you to join "Our Happy Place" blog. It is very easy to become a follower just a click of a button and you can keep up with all of us here at Morning Star Quilts. We are starting to do monthly give aways. We will be giving away a Bar Harbor Jelly Roll and Nautical & Nice Layer Cake.

Here's How to Win~

You may enter up to four times. You must leave a new comment for each entry!

You must become a follower of our blog and leave me a comment that you have done this.

You must post on your blog about our giveaway with a link back to our blog (leave a comment that you have done this.)

The giveaway will start today and will close on Thursday, July 8th at 9:00 pm. Pacific Standard Time. We will post the winner on Friday, July 9th with pictures of the drawing and prize. Have fun and good luck!

Happy Fourth!

Marsha

"There is no wilderness like a life without friends; friendship multiplies blessings and minimizes misfortunes; it is a unique remedy against adversity, and it soothes the soul."

Baltasar Gracian