celebrating 1000 posts and a giveaway

I feel as though I just got behind the wheel of a car for the first time. Directions in hand, heading down a twisty country road, my knuckles aren't white anymore from gripping the steering wheel. I'm looking out the window and thinking about turning the radio on. It's pretty in craftland and I'm watching for a sunny cottage on a lake where linens are flapping on the clothesline, pals are rocking on the porch and lunch is just about ready.

~ from my first post November 2006

It's hard to believe that I've had that many things to say and share with you. Remembering that first post I know I felt as though I was stepping into a wilderness. I couldn't have imagined how wonderful, dear and life-changing that moment would be. 

Blogging here has woven my creative life together in the best ways. Certainly, it's given me an outlet to connect professionally, but most of all, it's the community of you that I love. The faithful readers who drop by to say something kind or encouraging, to keep me on the path, or actually let me step off and feel good about that too.

Maybe you are here for the first time or perhaps you are one who found me on that first day. Thank you so much for every visit, every kind word, every Etsy purchase, every class taken, every bit of advice or comfort. I am so grateful. 

To celebrate and to say thank you, I am giving away signed copies of my two beautiful books, Mothers and Daughters at Home and Between Friends along with a bundle of fat quarters from my Walnut Hill Farm collection with Blend Fabrics. All to one lucky person!

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a winner Sunday. If you feel like it, you might tell me if there was a favorite post or what you enjoy here the most. 

Thank you for asking me up onto the porch and letting me visit for awhile. Time for lunch!

love, Charlotte

Comments

[karen on bainbridge island]

Every few days, I click on the bookmark that is my link to finding inspiration. Those who desire to create want to connect with others who feel as we do. To find someone whose creativity you aspire to and who is willing to share what they know, what they learn, what they do, is truly a gift...and I thank you.

[Mindy]

What I like most about reading your blog is...well I'm not sure I can narrow it down to one. I always feel like I walked into your home and sat down to visit. It feels welcoming and sort of like the home of a close family friend. Some blogs even if I like them feel foreign and distant, but yours is warm and inviting. I also love how your posts spark creativity. Your work is beautiful ! Thanks for sharing so much with us!

[Laurie]

I love your blog, Charlotte; after meeting you at Silver Bella, I found your blog and I think it is so "you"! I enjoy your sunny disposition and the way you find beauty in the everyday. I also enjoyed when you blogged about your daughter's wedding! Congratulations on 1000 posts!

[Jamie V]

1000 posts is just wonderful. I believe I have followed you from the beginning. I've always been such a fan. You are truly such an inspiration! I can't pick a favorite post - I love hearing about your family, esp your mom - and I've ordered so many of your 'stictcheries' which I have enjoyed making! It's a joy to visit you! Jamie V in MT
http://rem-nants.blogspot.com
jamievowell@yahoo.com

[queenmum]

Congratulations! I have to say that any post about, or with photos of, your Mother would be my favorite. She just looks so happy, interesting, and full of life! Makes me miss mine even more...
Hope you blog for a loooooong imte more!

[Susan]

Congratulations on your 1000th post! I love to visit your blog and see the beautiful stitching you do. It inspires me to get my stitching out!

[Laura]

I don't remember exactly how I found your blog. But it was at just the time when I needed to find it. My niece had just lost triplets and it was a devasting time for our family. I saw a necklace you had made and was drawn to it. You took that idea and made a memento to put in a memory box. You were so kind and it meant a lot.
What I love about your blog is that you share yourself with us. There is always something new to read or to see and it is all presented beautifully. There is no one thing I can say that I like the most. I love the stories of family, the photos of nature and the all of the wonderful crafts and sewing.
So congratulations on this 1000 post. It is such a joy for us! Thank you!
Laura

[Cyndi]

congratulations on your many successful years of blogging... i love your creativity, your photographs and your appreciation of beauty!

[Julierose]

Your site is just so lovely and comfortingly serene...my favorite things are your embroidery cloths..Julierose

[Michelle]

Congrats! My favorite posts are when you chat about your Mom and girls. And Mary Engelbreit, of course. xo

[Kelley]

Congrats on 1000!! I think my favorite things are your photos. They are always lovely. Oh, and your creative, crafty posts.

Hope you have 1000 more!

[karla nathan]

Here's to the next 1,000!

[Marianne]

Yeah for a thousand posts! Hope to read at least a thousand more... Your site is the creative lift I need in the middle of my busy, often mundane, days. Thank you Charlotte.

[april]

Hi Charlotte,
Congratulations on 1,000!
I love the feeling of found treasure that I get when I visit your blog--having admired your work for so long, it's just an extra joy to share in your creativity and life happenings through your posts--and while it's always encouraging to see that moms of three daughters DO get to "grow up" one day, you always inspire me to make the most of the journey, here and now! :)
Hugs,
~april

[Danielle @ Blessed Serendipity]

Congrats on so many posts. That is quite an accomplishment. I have enjoyed your blog and I admit I don't comment much, but I do love the creative inspiration I find here. I would love to be entered in your giveaway.

[Darcy]

I found your blog after taking your class at French General last year. I have become an avid reader and have loved every post! Congrats on hitting the 1000 post mark....amazing!!

[kim auman]

Sweet Charlotte, how wonderful to get to meet and work with you last year at Mary Engelbreit's! Love that you are Mama Wren...how sweet and loving of your girls.

[Karrie Smith]

I'm a new follower. THanks for the chance to win. I'm really look forward to reading :) So far, I love it here.

[Molly]

I enjoy seeing your needle work, even though I don't do any myself. It reminds me of my grandmother who could do anything with a needle and thread. Congratulations on 1000 posts!

[Christa]

Looking forward to your next 1000 posts:) And I just love your needlework so much, you are so talented

[Danee]

congrats. Does this mean you get to be syndicated now? I always love peeking into your creative world.

[Belen]

I'm a newbie...just started a few months ago.
My favorite post would have to be the one about the birds!
Such a heart wrenching and gripping story...
Liked the mothers day story too.
I have you on my homepage. Go there when I need to be uplifted!
Belen in Ventura

[Linda]

Visiting your blog makes me feel happy, inspired and part of a special community. I haven't a favorite post, they are all full of optimism - the world could never have enough of that. I wish I lived near where you give classes. Thanks for being so generous!

[Lorrie]

Congratulations, Charlotte! I don't know when I began reading your blog, but it's one of my favourites. I love your cozy style. Everything you create is full of meaning and has a story. I love the way you let us into your studio, your home, your family. Best wishes for the next 1000.

[Kristina]

Happy 1000 posts! I love your blog and even more the 3 classes that I have had with you. My favorite post you did was the one you showed a small embroidery book you keep in your stitching basket. I immediately went to amazon and got one. It has gotten me out of a number of stitching predicaments!

[Jeannie]

I can't help but feel that we should be sending YOU anniversary presents. You have brightened my world for so many years and I am truly grateful. Thank you! I think my favorite posts are the ones when you and the girls take you Mom out on the town. Thanks again!

[Kathleen]

I first saw some of your work through ME (magazines and books). I liked the way you could take simple things and create something wonderful and make me believe I could do it too. Your blog continues to do that plus sharing the everyday and special events of life. A perfect combination. Thank you for your first 1000 posts and best wishes always.

[julie]

There is no way I could narrow my choices to favorite post...love every visit Charlotte.

[Vicki K]

The posts that make my heart beat a little faster feature close ups of your handwork...embroidery, hand sewing, cut felt. It seems so personal and it's pleasing to see your deliberately chosen materials and colors and how beautiful your work is.

[Carole Brungar]

A big congrats Charlotte! A lovely blog and I love seeing what you are stitching and I especially love your flower photos! x

[Melissa]

Thank you Charlotte :) I'm amazed that just about every comment I've made you've responded to. You're willingness to connect is a lovely quality. My favorite posts were the ones you shared about your daughter's wedding flower arrangements for the sentiments shared and the incredible photos. But right up there are the posts where you share your journey with your mom. I got a true sense of you as Mother, Daughter, and woman balancing it all from that. Kudos girl, keep it up!

[Susan Daniel]

This is a fabulous blog and I love all of your designs. What talent!

[Del]

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your blog with us!

[Annette]

I am still in the midst of the "kids-need-something-every-other-second-no-time-for-mom" phase of motherhood, but when i visit your blog, those few minutes are like a promise...i can enjoy YOUR needle and thread and projects and know that one day I will have time to actually pick up a needle project myself....Until then, I will visit every day :)

[Catherine Wegner]

My favorite posts are the ones where you show your embroidery. I just love it. Congratulations and thanks for all the inspiration.

[Joyce Snowden]

I've enjoyed your blog for a while now and look forward to 1000 more posts!

[Myra]

Congratulations! I just finished stitching your bird/love sampler in reds and whites. I'll send you a pic when it's put together as a pillow.

[Claire Challoner]

it's great what you have done - I just came across your blog today, it's beautiful and vintage and I love the olde worlde feel - was that intentional? Good luck with it all!

[Wendy]

I love it all....the crafts, the family stories, the pictures, the ideas. The gratitude is mutual, thank you for sharing.

[Terry Schwandt]

Hi Charlotte!
Thanks for a chance to win your lovely books and fabric. I love your first post about the porch. My grandma always sewed on her porch in the summer, I long for the days when I can do that too. Love your samplers - perfect for porch stitching.
Terry in Iowa

[Kathy R]

Congratulations on your milestone!
I've only been blog hopping for about a year but I can't tell you how excited I was when I found your blog. I have been an ME fan forever (longer than I care to admit) and have all of her books and discovered you through her all those many years ago. I felt like I'd found an old friend again!
Here's to many thousand more posts and thank you for bringing sunshine into my day. :-)

[Yvonne Welty]

Wow, 1000 posts! What an accomplishment. Your blog is on my list of "blogs I read daily". You always have something interesting to say and I love it when you write about your mother. My mother just turned 88 and we still have a great time together. Here's hoping you have many thousands of posts left for me to read!

[Karen CA]

Congratulations on your 1000th post .. what an accomplishment! I have enjoyed your blog for a long time now, not sure when I started to follow. I really enjoy seeing all your embroidery work, just beautiful and now you have fabric! Your blog is always a gentle place to land and so peaceful. Love the beauty of it!

[Lolymama]

I found you a couple of months ago through the blog list of another favorite. You quickly found a spot on my daily list. visiting with you is like stepping onto your front porch for a cup of tea. Thank you for sharing your heart. I would love to win as I have been drooling over your fabrics! Congratulations!

[Janell]

1000 posts. WOW-I have missed a lot but have enjoyed the five months of posts that I have read since I found your blog. Lovely thoughts, beautiful pictures of beautiful designs.

[darla]

Congrats! I always enjoy stopping in to see what project you are working on. Beautiful fabric.

[Denise]

Congratulaions Charlotte! Your blog has always been an inspiration to me!

[Anne]

This is the first time I've left a comment even though I drop in on a regular basis. Congratulations on your 100th post. I find your blog very inspiring and am particularly charmed by your samplers.

[Paula]

I just 'found' you a few weeks ago though Amanda's blog (and have you seen what she's done with your fabric?!? Baby book love ~ must make!) but I feel like I've 'known' you for much longer thru ME (the publication, not the workshop!) ~ so very inspirational to me at a time when it was greatly needed. Congratulations to you!

[Lisa]

I enjoy your blog because I can hear your voice through your words and that you share snippets of your life.