Happy Anniversary Girlfriends! MUSICA
Today is the day we’re going to begin our June celebration for two wonderful events ~ It was June 11, 2009 that we started connecting with our wonderful Friends on Facebook. Two years 
later, on June 9, 2011, the Blog went live (still quiver when I think about it) and our connection to our Girlfriends began! That’s pretty good! But it makes me wonder, why June? I didn’t plan it that way, in fact I was kind of surprised to see how close the dates were. Maybe we were inspired because it’s such a pretty month. I’ll tell you one thing, it smells like heaven here on the island. The Beauty Bush and the Mock Orange are in bloom (to name just two), I picked my first four strawberries today and look at the foxgloves!
Magic.♥ One more reason to celebrate.
Three years ago, when I first started blogging I had NO idea how it would go ~ “going live” was so scary! I wondered how people would find me, and if they would even come. I knew how I wished it would go and tried my best to make it something 
everyone would like, hoping everyone liked dishtowels, dishes, and old movies as much as me! Any of you with a blog knows exactly what I’m talking about. Saying to yourself as you are writing a post or putting something up on Facebook, “I hope they like this!” then letting the chips fall where they may! Scary! And first time you’re “liked!” Or, then, to be “shared!” How wonderful it is to get your first comment! How amazing to have your first give-away! And that excitement and amazement really hasn’t gone away. Traveling to England together put the frosting on the cake. I loved it so much, we’ll definitely do it again (yes we will!). I just wish there were more hours in the day for blogging. Such a creative way to connect with kindred spirits. So how do we celebrate? Easy: By saying “Thank You” to everyone who helps to make this dream come true. Which would be YOU, thank you very much.♥
As many of you know, it has been my dream for years, way before there was any such thing as a blog or even the Internet, that the people who’ve written me such wonderful personal 
letters (since 1987 when my first book came out and I started getting mail), could meet each other. The letters were so nice, so full of love, I always thought it would cheer people up to know that despite what we see and hear on the news, the world is filled with wonderful home-loving, creative, family-adoring people, in all countries, all parts of the world, and even in countries where we might think our “enemies” live.
Even there, the cities and towns are filled with regular tea-drinking, flower-growing, music-loving, tender-hearted, 
soup-making, peace-loving kinds of people just like you and me. You just don’t hear that much from them because the other kind are so obnoxious and loud. But there are many more of our kind of person in this world than of the obnoxious ones. Truly. No matter how different we may look from each other on the outside. And we need to band together in our appreciation for beauty and a gentle way of life. It must be scary to live in a land where the maniacs have the keys to the castle. You would probably feel trapped and worried about your children all the time. Let’s pray for them, and then give them this 
place, and each other, to meet and celebrate the little things that make life sweet ~ and especially, all the ways we are so very much alike. They like apples, we like apples. They like gorgeous blue tablecloths ~ we like gorgeous blue tablecloths. They like picnics and the sounds of nature and going barefoot, and we do too! They like starry nights and big moons and us too! It’s an amazingly wonderful beautiful world.
Imagine all the people, living life in peace ~ You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one . . .
So, to celebrate all of this and all of us, we are having not One, not even Two, but Three Give-aways in this blog post, and this contest is open to everyone everywhere on the planet! If someone in a faraway land is chosen in this drawing, we will mail their package to wherever they would like it to go. Because it is true, we are the world. What the Internet has brought has surpassed my wildest dreams . . . I thought it would be good, but I didn’t know it would be this good! So here we go, let’s start off with some inspiration! Mas Musica? Frank? Oui!♥
You should probably get a cup of tea or something cold to drink . . . this could be a long one! The inspiration for this giveaway came from a request in a Girlfriend’s comment a couple of months back ~ she asked, “Could we see more of your quilt collection.” Oh boy, yes, you can! Here we go!
From the very first quilt I got, which happens to be the one my Great Grandma made for my Grandma who then gave it to me, it’s always been the colors. I love the old-fashioned fabrics, the soft pastels and simple patterns and I love that they used lots of white. These are the colors that inspired my watercolors.
A little worn, a little faded, and never signed. Just so lovely and artistic, and humble and oh, if they could talk. You know they were made by creative women, and often in groups. Could we please listen in on one of those conversations, oh dearest back-in-time genie?
All those tiny little hand-made stitches. I have so much appreciation for this art.
It’s easy to relate to the hearts that made them.
I made a few quilts when I was young, never as beautiful as this one, but then I learned to paint, so I painted quilts instead, and I learned to go to antique stores and there I found old quilts . . . which I’ve collected for years . . . now I drape them over sofas . . .
It’s not a huge collection, and I don’t have all the scientific information on them, I just like to drape them on bedroom chairs . . .
at the ends of the beds . . . so I can look at them and be charmed and feel happy.
I like them in the kitchen in the winter, folded over the back of a chair, even though it really doesn’t make any sense, I just like to look at them . . .
At one time I had a “Heart of the Home” store on the Central Coast of California where I sold a few vintage quilts whenever I could find them (or part with them). These were in a pile in a corner of the store, they weren’t for sale, only for inspiration, so my shopper Girlfriends could see how pretty a stack of quilts can be and begin the search to get a stack for themselves.
From the beginning, my watercolors were influenced by the beauty and the colors of these quilts. I painted what I loved. I don’t make stitches so much anymore, I paint them.
You can kind of see quilt-influence in the things I’ve made in the past . . . everything feels a little like a 1930’s quilt.
The other big influence on my watercolors was the dish variation of the quilt. To me quilts and dishes have everything in common: home, practicality, love, beauty, history, delicacy and most of all, that color again. They also reach out when I walk by at a flea market, take my hand and say right out loud, I’m going home with you. And I say, thank you, I could not agree more.
I love painting my own rendition of pattern ~
Almost as much as I love finding and collecting old dishes…
You see? Dishes ↑ and Quilt fabric ↓ ~ See the resemblance? Kissing cousins.
Especially when it’s me choosing the colors.
This is fabric from my long extinct “Tea Party” Collection of fabric.
And lots more than quilts was made from those designs. These were made at the wonderful embroidery studio at Crabapple Hill. They sell the great old-fashioned embroidery patterns you see here and in the photo before this one and lots more.♥
Even this Tea Tin is a “sub-unit” (made that up, like it) from the design of quilt fabric.
And because of the fact that all of this fabric is now gone from the market place, and there’s no more available anywhere . . . except right here in my hot little hands, the First Give-away turns out to be everything you see here . . . except of course Jack. He is not included. He is a sub-unit of me.
I hope everyone likes yellow, because the words “everything is included” means this bolt of several yards of “Honeybee Yellow” fabric.
In addition, I found a yard (or maybe a little more) of each of these three fabrics, from my “Sweet Baby” collection, the dot, the check and the lambs with the hearts. In they go!
And yes, “everything” includes a complete set of the “Tea Party” Collection in “Little Fat Quarters.”
Little Fat quarters and the bolt of bees (and the little lambs), and also a gift card from me to the winner of the drawing with love.
You can see better some of the fabrics in the pile of Fat Quarters. I hope someone out there can put them to good use! OK, so that is Giveaway # 1! This officially puts us on . . .
. . .’cause here comes the rest of the Give-aways!
Next? OK, this is Give-away number #2. Again, the cat is not included (but try taking a picture without him in it!). What these are are the unbound proofs for our brand new 2015 Wall and Mini Calendars ~ you can’t hang them, but they’re just too nice to throw away. The color is beautiful, they’re on heavy paper so I thought possibly, someone would like these, maybe to do some scrapbooking with?
Here is Jack with the Mini Calendar, you can see, the pages aren’t hooked together . . . every time I try to take a picture, he jumps into the middle of it, he makes me laugh. Kissing occurs.
But here’s more of the inside of the Mini Calendar — lots of bookmark-making or card-making possibilities here too! Knowing you, there are a 1000 possibilities!
And here’s some of the art from the Wall Calendar. Both calendars have been approved and the finished products should be arriving at the Studio any day now. So this is Give-Away #2, both of these brand new calendars, and both signed.
(Oh, don’t worry, in case you were, the big Blotter Calendar is still on schedule for shipping in late August.)
And Now, Number Three Give-away to celebrate our FOSB Girls and our Blog Girlfriends, this 53″ x 74″ quilt made with my “Martha’s Vineyard” Collection of fabrics, also quite extinct and no longer available (except for today, here).
The pattern is called “Hearts and Flowers” ~ I designed it and it was made and presented to me by the fabric manufacturer.
And I signed it with the year it was made . . . this little quilt is behind door #3 of our Drawing. I hope one of these doors suits your fancy!
And FYI, we still do have a few bits and pieces of some of the fabric collections, still have a few patterns for aprons, pillowcases, and appliqued dishtowels, many of which are free (especially our really cute gored apron). Just go HERE.
Girl Kitty thinks it’s all just lovely. She likes quilts too.
One more rather exciting thing! My AUTUMN book went to the printer yesterday! I’m so very proud to announce that the Tenth 
Anniversary Edition of AUTUMN from the Heart of the Home will be in stores by October first! Autumn will be published in the USA by Spring Street Publishing, and just so you know, this new edition is exactly like the first edition in every way except this one comes complete with a ribbon bookmark and will have a different publisher. (We weren’t completely in charge of the ribbon the last time, this time we are, so voila, we get one!)
All my most favorite recipes and most inspiring ideas for Autumn fun, both indoors and out, are there. Pumpkin Cheesecake! Corn Pudding!
Including crafts and sewing, because Autumn is the most creative time of the year, all that good Back-to-School energy never goes away! First whiff of September and I want to make something! And Yes, we are having a Pre-sale for the book, beginning TODAY. 
We have ordered an early shipment of books to be sent to the studio just for our Girlfriends. We always seem to run out of everything (no matter how carefully we plan), it seems to be our M.O. but if you have ordered a book in our web store, you are guaranteed to get it the minute they come in, before we begin shipping to the bookstores and Amazon. Although the publication date is October first, we will start shipping your books by the middle of August and maybe even sooner if we get lucky! Perfect timing, because by then, we are going to be yearning for those fall breezes. (But not yet.)
And one more thing, if you are the kind of person who likes to do their Christmas Shopping early, here is a combination that will give you something to give away and something to keep, a win-win. To celebrate our Anniversaries, we’ve bundled the two books for a very special, limited-offer, thank-you-for-being-here price.♥
You all know how to enter the drawing ~ it’s easy, just leave a short comment below and in a few days we’ll draw names. (For those to whom the blog is mailed, you should click here www.162.240.10.175/~susanbs3/susanbranch/, scroll to the bottom of the post, look for the tiny letters that say, “comment” ~ click there and leave your comment. I don’t know why, but the senders of the email blogs do not include a way to leave a comment.)
I will warn Vanna to exercise a bit more this week, clear her head, get that arm pumped ~ she has a big job choosing three winners! The first name chosen will win prize number one (fabric bundles) the second name chosen will get the calendars, and the third will have the signed quilt. And I’ll email the winners and let them know the minute I know.
I’m going back to the garden. I’m reading Gladys Taber in preparation for next week! Very exciting! Makes for a very nice life, reading this book, and smelling the flowers. Hope the same for you. Love you, Girlfriends. Happy Anniversary! XOXO
Bless You, Susan; Richly. Truly, You Bless Me. Many Thanks, “GM” ❤
Hi Susan! Love your anniversary celebration! I decorate with quilts also AND I ordered 3 Gladys Taber books which I am in the process of reading. The first is about her life before Stillmeadow Road, the 2nd is The Stillmeadow Road, and the 3rd is called Still Cove Journal. My best friend just retired so I ordered her 3 different Gladys Taber books so we could exchange them! Thank you so much for introducing me to her! <3
Wow! What beautiful things to look at… Spending time here on your blog is therapeutic – all the creativity, ideas, and inspiration!
I am so excited for this giveaway. I fell in love with all things Susan Branch the weekend of my birthday when my husband took me on a trip to San Simeon. We stopped at Arroyo because he knows how much I adore antique shops. I stumbled upon the grand opening of the Heart of the Home store and was in love. This was for my 25th birthday and I am now 35. I recently got the tea tin for my birthday and my little 4 year old daughter adores having tea parties with me. I would love to make her a quilt.
I hope I win something I would be in heaven!! xoxoxo
Susan, Thank you for sharing your beautiful views of the world, complete with gorgeous photos, through your blogs with us. May every day bring you creative inspiration and immeasurable joy! Sending blessings and peace…Elaine
Love your quilts, your collections, your blog… and your kitty,
You are an inspiration…look forward to all your postings…
You are an inspiration….really enjoy all your postings..hi to kitty’s xxoo
The best blog ever! Like a talk with an old friend. Thank you and thank you for the generous giveaways.
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful treasures with all of us, your special friends. Sure hope I am a winner. Just love you, Susan Branch!
Happy Anniversary!! Love your fabrics, your artwork is beautiful. Love reading your blog. I garden also and grow coneflowers which butterflies love.
Happy Gardening!
Happiest Of Anniversaries!! So excited to see the desk blotter for 2015 and the Autumn book! Can hardly wait to get them!! Thank you for continuing to
inspire us all! You are such a JOY! XOXOXO
I’m one of those people who rarely win anything so if I can’t win one of those beautiful giveaways, maybe I can win one of the cute kitties. 🙂 You are the best, Susan Branch!! Happy Anniversary!
Be still my heart! I discovered quilting and you thru Willard just about the same time,,5-6 years ago,,I even purchase some of your fabric at the quilt show at Ontario,Ca,,I used it for the backing to a grandmothers flower garden quilt!
Would love to win your fat quarters or quilts,,regardless,,thank you so much for being such a good friend to all of us,,Judy
Love your beautiful give aways and as always your beautiful gardens, quilts, and kitties are so inspirational. I have a new granddaughter (never dreamed I’d have one ! ) and look forward to sharing tea parties, dolls and sewing with Elizabeth. Hope we win one of your wonderful gifts.
Happy anniversary! Love your posts and pics!
Everything so beautiful! And your blog is wonderful!
I so enjoy your art… in all forms! Thank you!
What lovely and generous gifts you’re giving away! Thank you, girlfriend!
Hi Susan,
Just want to let you know how much I enjoy reading your blog and the photos.
I envy your location !! Having started out my life in Ontario, I love the sugar maples in the fall.
Also enjoy your art and the accompanying verses.
I’ve always loved vintage china, and now realize that I’m not the only one. Thank you for all the time you put into your blog.
Dianne
No, you are not alone! 🙂
Happy anniversary on your wonderful blog! I check daily to see what’s new in your lovely world. Each posting is a gift I open up and enjoy with a cup of tea. Thank you for sharing your life, stories, and beautiful photos!
Many congratulations on your anniversary!!! To many, many more!!!! And please consider this as my entry to your FABULOUS contest!!! Thanks for such generous offerings!!!
Hello Susan,
I’ve been absent for a couple of weeks because my youngest daughter asked me to be with her during the ‘at home’ birth of her baby. I arrived on May 21st and we did lots of preparatory things to await his arrival. The weather in California hadn’t become ‘roasting hot’ quite yet at this point, so we did gardening, purchased plants, mulch, flowers, herbs and got those all in the garden. A new birdbath, a couple of ‘baby things’ and a refrigerator stocked with delicious things to make while we were all waiting.
On May 26th, we had gone to a sale and also picked up some chocolates from See’s candies. We ate delicious, nutritious salads for dinner and then came home. My daughter’s back was hurting a bit, so her husband gave her a little squeeze to help and then she went upstairs to use the bathroom. Not a few minutes later, we both hear….’Sweetie, my water broke~’ And, indeed it had. Now, you met Amanda and saw her in her early stages of labor in SLO, but now she was ‘ready’ and uncomfortably tummy heavy…… we called the midwives but labor didn’t progress very much. Over the next two days, I put all those groceries to good use, making the three of us really good food while she had periods of labor but then it would slow down again. To make a long and WONDERFUL story short, Blake arrived at 8 lbs, 20 inches, at 5:10 AM on May 29th….see, I told you it was a long story………….
He’s beautiful………….and I was right at my daughter’s side as she gave birth to my first grandson!!! My granddaughters haven’t met him yet, but they are going to be silly, fun cousins. I’m elated and would LOVE to win any of these………but my real win this month has been the gift of wonderful family who are loving, kind, and giving and now I have a new grandson, too!! Cadie, my middle daughter, got 5 chickens…I was just there today and Henrietta got up on my lap and let me pet her and sing to her. Although this year has had many challenges so far, these are blessings that far outweigh them. Happy Anniversary…………..and stay with us. You’re a friend like no other!!! xoxo Joann
FABULOUS Joann! How wonderful. Thank you for making us a little part of such a happy event in your life! Blake — perfect. Love to all!
Happy, Happy Anniversary Susan! I have been reading (almost all) the 2,611 comments that you have received on what I call your beautiful blog. The beautiful colors, patterns, painting, dishes, quilts, fabrics, quotes and books. But the best gift was your tribute to the beautiful people everywhere, who strive to create home for themselves and their loved ones. Whether they are arranging a bouquet of garden grown posies in an cut glass vase, or arranging “just so” a flowering weed of some sort in a tin can, they are sharing love, beauty, faith and “humanness” . It is true that “no man is an island”. Thank you for gently and beautifully reminding all of us….about all of us.
Elaine
All is right with the world when you publish a new blog post. I enjoyed the lovely quilts. I don’t know if there is anything more “homey” than an antique quilt. Also, Black and white kitties rule. I love Mr. Jack, but Girl’s profile shot is simply lovely.
Love quilts, love dishes, and love your artwork and books Susan! They all bring me such comfort and joy. I’ve been told many times that I am an “old soul”….guess it’s true!
Hi Susan – I would love to have Vanna pick my name for one of your fabulous drawings. I loved your store when it was in Arroyo Grande. I too love quilts, but don’t have the patience to make them – I want “instant gratification” in my craft projects. I do have a few special quilts – one that I’ve been told my great grandmother made, one that my mother made me for my 40th birthday and one my best friend since second grade made me for my 50th birthday. I enjoy following your adventures through your blog. Hugs!
Happy Anniversary Susan!
I, too, remember when I first met you…it was love at first sight. It was in the craft stores in the form of the most beautiful stickers I had ever seen. Who is this Susan Branch? I don’t know, but I know I love her. The stickers made such an impression on me that I never ever forgot the name Susan Branch. (I can’t even bring myself to use most of them). Somehow I just knew that I was “home.” I don’t even remember how I came across your website….but I found it somehow. When I got to the bottom of the post, I saw the word “comments.” What would happen if I clicked on this? And, oh my goodness, a whole new world opened up before me…and all be accident really. (Well, probably not really by accident…I don’t think there are any coincidences.) And now, I can’t believe what has happened to my world. It opened up like a beautiful flower in the spring. I find myself running for the camera and looking for the “moments” to take pictures of, and like your elves, they seem to show up. I can’t believe the beauty and the possibility I see in the world around me now. Not to mention a whole new world of kindred spirits. God is sooo good. My son-in-law said to me the other day, “how do you find these things?” I thought to myself afterwards, “I have kind of a secret, and her name is Susan Branch…she’s given me a whole new world to “chase” and a new set of eyes to see it with.” Thank you Susan, I never want it to end.
Tears Rhonda, that was beautiful. xo
Rhonda, you put in words how Susan’s blog makes me feel too. Thank you, Susanb
P.S. I know you don’t need one more post to read right now, but I forgot to tell you that this was one of the best posts ever. Nothing tickles my threads more than fabric, quilts, Susan Branch stickers, and beautiful dishes. I’m in heaven! My family is very creative, beautiful seamstresses, and my mom an avid quilter…so I feel right at home here in this post. I had a big Dr. appointment today and it was all good…biopsies and ct scan clear. Hallelujah! I was told to go enjoy my summer and now you’ve just reminded me how I’m going to do that.
Walking on air Rhonda, so happy to hear that!
Susan, all the beautiful treasures you are sharing are wonderful.
Thank you for being so thoughtful.
hi susan!!!…had to be a banner day for the kitty-cats what with all of that fabric and quilts!!…they are the absolute snuggliest (word?) kitties ever!! Everything is gorgeous susan….I love that red and white quilt draped over your white chair…I spied your Christmas stockings…so adorable!!! We had only one quilt left…my husbands grandmother had made it circa 1940’s…and it was nearing the end of its’ life span…Granny to the rescue (that’s me!). With my limited sewing experience and lots of help from the internet and my very (overly) helpful husband, I managed to salvage 3 baby doll blankets from what was left of “grandma’s quilt”. Now, our granddaughters’ American Girl dolls and Vito the dynamite Dalmatian are warm and cozy…and the quilt lives on…:-)
I love this blog and all you bring to us through it and all of your work…precious and priceless..I have all of your books but I absolutely love to give them as gifts..I am thrilled that Autumn is near…it is my favorite…well, I think that whichever one I have in my hand at the time is really my favorite!! Happy Anniversary!!!… a life being well-lived… love, cindy
What beautiful quilts and dishes. I love to see how you display your treasures. You are so creative and talented!
Happy Anniversary!!!
May you have many more blessed and wonderful years to come.
Thank you!!!
Oh how I love all your beautiful work! It all just makes me happy!!! Would love to have the honor of any of the gifts!
Congrats on the anniversaries! I totally agree with you about June being the best month. Last year on June 14th, which is also my birthday, I had my las chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer so, this year I’m celebrating my 50th birthday and my 1st re-birthday.
Thank you for the generous giveaway!
Happy Birthday!! Good for YOU! xoxo
Happy Anniversary! I’ve been following your blog for almost two years- I always love it when there is a new post. Before I found your blog I used to get your paper Willard’s. I am inspired by the way you live your life. The things that are precious to you are precious to me as well. Thank you for the giveaway. All three prizes are wonderful!
I love coming to your blog; it’s so peaceful and fun. You create a safe little world for us girlfriends. I’m so disappointed not to be going to Gladys Taber’s reunion. But I wish you a fun and inspirational trip!
I love coming to your blog; it’s so peaceful and fun. You create a nice little world for your girlfriends. Have a wonderful time at the reunion!
Dear Susan-Thank you for sharing so much beauty and happiness..every one of your posts is a treat!
As always, your posts are amazing! We are so lucky that you went out on a limb and decided to start your blog. We are blessed by each and every post. How exciting for you to share these wonderful things with your fans!
Dear Susan,
Happy Anniversary and Happy June! I am in love with your fabrics and have some in my stash I bought at a quilt show some years back. It has sailboats on it and I plan to make a baby blanket with it. I love the yellow fabric with the lambs, too cute.
Thanks for your inspiration to start sewing again.
Love to the kitties from me and Cosmo my cat,
Susan
“Band together in our appreciation of beauty and a gentle way of life,” is going to be written in my favorite quote book.
Congratulations Susan, it all comes from your heart and we know it and feel it.
Audrey in Canada.
Thank you Susan for thinking of us with such lovely gifts. I hope I win one! Your photos add joy to my day.
Flowers and dishes and quilts oh my…….Susan you have a wonderful talent of capturing everything I love to spend my life enjoying. So Happy Anniversary and wish you many more. Thank you for taking all of us on your trips. Just loved NYC. I felt like I could hear all the noise and energy of the city. Also, enjoyed the ride on the Merritt we travel this road to visit our niece and her family in Milford. It certainly is a beautiful highway to travel. Much thanks to you for enriching our lives and sparking our creative side. So keep on blogging because we are always waiting to enjoy.
Thank you for filling me up with beauty and comfort! I have been tending to the needs of my 92 year old mother-in-law after she fell and suffered a fracture. This blog post came at the right time for me to take a break and find respite in your cozy surroundings. The vintage fabrics and the ones you designed are so compatible, just like best friends. Thank you for sharing your heart, Susan!
Dearest Susan…You have done it AGAIN, dear girl…
I don’t know how you do it…but if I ever figure it out,
it will need to be bottled and given away!! I am hoping
that some of it will just rub off on me as I read your
posts (as I am pretty new here still, I have MUCH catching
up to do!)…
Thanks for being such a bright spot in the lives of all of
us…And you are definitely correct when you say that
we need to band together! There are more of all of us that
have (as you put it so very well) “an appreciation for beauty and a
gentle way of life”…so we are banding together right here! 🙂
And, yes, you are a dreamer…and you are NOT the ONLY one!!
Thanks again…SO MUCH!!
And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!
xoxoxo
I love those fabrics! Your blog is so inspiring to me and I enjoy every post. happy Anniversary!
New to your blog but not to your heart!! NO PLACE LIKE HOME is a sign hanging in our dining room!! You are such a giver! Your generous spirit reminds me of the message of Marcus Pfister’s lovely picture book, RAINBOW FISH!!! What beautiful give aways of such heartfelt creations YOU made to celebrate your anniversary!!! Please add my name into the hat for a chance to win for MY girlfriend of 37 years. We met at college and still keep in touch the old-fashioned way: note cards, stamped, and sent via USPS pick up in our old -fashioned mailbox at the street!! Your first Heart of the Home book was given to me by my kindred spirit (that’s how WE refer to each other) in 1994 as a Valentine to my family!! She quilts and I’ve four pieces has hand stitched for us she has lovingly created over the years. Most certainly, a blanket she would craft from Give Away #! Me, the non-quilter, would cherish Give Away #3 and make bookmarks of Give Away #2!!! Thank you, thank you, Susan!!! Fingers crossed, pick me, Vanna!! Again, congrats on reaching out , far and wide , and discovering the MANY girlfriends and loyal following you have in cyberspace!!! You inspire me so!!!
Beautiful quilts and beautiful fabric.
Hi Susan, Happy Anniversary! Thank you for your beautiful blogs and books. I am inspired every time I read your blog. I just started a watercolor class and would love to know what palette you use and what inspires you? Looking forward to your Autumn book. After reading your book A fine Romance, it is on my bucket list of places to visit in the next two years.
Thank you for your inspiration ! Wendy
Hi Susan!
as usual, i love reading every post you have in this blog. and i’m almost jump in joy when you mentioned those pretty give-away for us (and a lil’ dissapointed when you mentioned that jack not included. 😀 ) . Thank you for sharing everything with us (your ideas, your story, your cute little babies (girl and jack)).
Sorry about Jack 🙂 Need to clone him!
It brings such a lift to my day to visit your site, Susan! Thank you for sharing with all of us. If Jack has any pull in the matter, could you tell him I’d really enjoy that delightful and cozy quilt? It would be perfect for keeping warm in the summertime-California coastal fog. May you have a beautiful and blessed summer!
Well let’s see if Vanna picks me, but either way I feel so special after each time I read your blog,uplifting to know so many wonderful Girlfriends are out there! I also wanted to share, first time baking Orange Lavander Polenta Cake … It was fantastic! delicious afternoon tea, it did not matter that outside the temperature was close to be a 100, inside nothing but delight in our hearts you were our guest! XOXOXO
So happy to hear that Patricia!
Wow, this time has flown by. Thanks for making all of our lives brighter. You need to watch ‘human cat perch’ on You Tube! Seriously, that cat looks just like Jack and the nightly ritual is hysterical! Trust me!
Happy anniversary Susan and thank you for sharing all that you do. We share many of the same interests so your blog enhances my life in so many ways. Enjoying reading Gladys Taber books right now so thank you for introducing me to her! I see your artwork daily in your calendars—big one in my hobby room, small in kitchen and purse size to help me remember our busy “retirement” activities! I have ALL your books and display and use them seasonally—so many good & creative ideas and I enjoy them year after year 🙂 .
Good morning, Sue! The birds are singing their morning song. Have a wonderful day!
Good Morning Jean! You too!
Hi Susan, what lovely post! I love your quilts and I’m very excited about the calendar and books coming out. I will defenetly get my order in for the Autumn book and the calendars.
Thank you for your wonderful generosity!
Lucy in California
Susan, Love your postings, they provide me with endless inspiration. The picture of Jack and Girl Kitty behind the screen door is so sweet! We just came home from my nephews wedding at Martha’s Vineyard. I can see where you get your inspiration from! Thank you for the thoughtful giveaways.
I’m sure it was beautiful, we’ve had lovely weather this last week, and today, rain!
Such inspiration! Now I have a new reason to love antique shops! I must start my own quilt collection. Your’s are simply beautiful! Thank you Susan!!!
Is it greedy to just say….”Oh me….me! Please pick me!” 😉
No, I think it’s normal!
I was so excited to see this post. I love the quilts, my mother quilts and it is so lovely. I have some that she has done and one that my great grandmother did so many, many years ago. I tried to look for the free patterns that you mentioned, but I could not find them. Maybe I was not looking in the right place. I love all that you blog about and ALWAYS wait anxiously for the next one. Take care.
Here is the apron pattern, for one . . . Thank you!
Your photographs and words make me smile every time I read your blog. The quilts are so beautiful in today’s blog. I love your fabrics!
I have only one quilt, which I had forgotten about, but I pulled it out yesterday and now it is freshly laundered and ready to go! How fun it would be to make my own. Thank you for the inspiration!
Hi Susan,
I am so glad you made the decision to share everything you do! I love the wonderful connection and the chance to see all your adventures and shared interests. Yes …let us all imagine the wonderful people in the world and always wish them well.
Your tea towels and quilts are beautiful and so cozy. Maybe your fabric will come back?
Perhaps someday! I’d love that.
WOW…what an awesome giveaway. I too love quilts and have a couple made by my grandmother. I have been learning to quilt & am constantly encouraged by two loving mentors. One of the quilts I made I gave to my mother who cherished it but did not really use it. I now have it back because she passed away last month. That little quilt has a history that I now cherish.
I’m so sorry Kathleen. Love the history xoxo
Happy Anniversary! It’s always fun to receive your posts, but this one is chock-full of so much excitement…I wish all of us fans could get together for a celebration. The giveaways make my mouth water!
I keep thinking we should meet, and the place always comes up in my mind — I call it “the Somewhere in Time Hotel” on Mackinac Island. Not sure they would want us though, but it has always seemed so perfect to me.
Susan,
Your posts always hit home with me and this one is no different. In 1988 I had just landed a job with a very large company in a research organization. The Internet was used for research and academic purposes then and I was responsible for connecting the company at my location. It was an exciting time and I could see its potential for sharing ideas and bringing people together. In the past few years it has made me very sad to see it used for harm and violence. I like to cling to the positive and look for hope and your post expressed my feelings exactly. There ARE more good people in this world and we have to be louder and use our resources to improve how we live. Thank you Susan for bringing us together through the amazing technology we have available today.
🙂 Sharan
I don’t think I even got a computer until around 2004! You knew in 1988 … I was still using my IBM Selectric!
What a fabulous post today! I have been working extra hours at work lately and your beautiful pictures pulled me out of my funk. I hope to win something in this drawing and have some of that beauty in my home!
A wonderful giveaway! I admire the craftsmanship of the pillowcases. I have similar ones my great grandmother made.
Hi Susan!
Your post was just lovely, I just couldn’t get over the beautiful colors. Whether it be quilts, flowers, gardens, books, paintings, just gorgeous colors to drink in. I have your first edition Autumn book and it is one of my favorites. I have always been partial to fall as I love the smells, the food, the colors. I once was told that my colors to wear are the Autumn colors maybe that’s why I love them so much. I made a quilt many years ago and I keep it draped over a wicker rocker in my bedroom, so cozy!
Your foxgloves are just gorgeous! I planted some this year and hoping to see flowers, but right now the old fashioned roses are stealing the show!
I see Jack was giving you the rasberries! I think he was not giving up that comfortable little bed of material! He is so cute! Thanks for the giveaways, hopefully one will come my way! ~ East Longmeadow, MA
Happy Blog Anniversary!!!!! This truly is a gathering place of friends — the best place to find other bloggers who are kindred spirits! Love all your quilts! I have memories of several that a great grandmother made that graced my bed when I was young. They were lost in one of my parents’ many moves. I saw a picture of one of them yesterday with me as a baby perched on top. Maybe someday I’ll make one myself……
Hi Susan! Happy Anniversary. Wow, time sure does fly when you’re having fun! What wonderful give-aways!! I love the yellow fabrics. Hi to Joe. Thank you and Happy June. Have fun next week!
Love the Autumn book. Ordering 3. So glad you’re reprinting it. One will go to my “Fall baby” daughter. Thank you, Susan. You make my day when your blog comes out. God bless and happy pre-summer. 🙂
Happy Anniversary Susan! Thank you for the overflowing-in-wonderfulness blog postings for these past three years. Love everything you create – from the smallest sticker to the most incredible give-away! And, may I say another thank you for creating the desk blotter for 2015!
Happy Anniversary Susan!
I am not on FB but do LOVE your blog! I too dearly love old vintage towels, quilts and dishes. I quilt as a hobby and absolutely adore your fabric. It would be my dream to win any of the giveaways! Thank you for your sweetness and generosity. Please Vanna, pick me!!!
I just love reading your posts. The pictures are always beautiful, they put me in a nice calm mood. Yes I do agree with you all the colors are what draws me in also. I do find the quilts I’m drawn to are the same ones in your pics.
The cats are adorable like seeing the mischief they get into. Can’t wait to see the new book.
Happy Anniversary! I just recently discovered your blog and have so much fun reading it! Can’t wait until your Autumn book comes out in October!
Happy anniversary to you Susan! I love your work and have since many, many years ago when I was visiting my sister back in the US and bought my first cookbook by you. We sat with cups of tea and I read the WHOLE thing out loud.
I love quilting and made a quilt with your fabrics which hangs on a chair in my mother’s living room. She loves it. I am glad I can share my love through my stitches.
Aaaahhhh…sweet Jack modeling I see. He is so handsome. I just buried my 3 1/2 month old kitten and seeing Jack here makes me want a new one once my tears dry a little. 🙂
Hugs from Holland,
Heidi
Oh Heidi, that is so sad. Yes, don’t give up. xoxo
You bring so much joy to so many Susan Branch. I am so lucky to have you on my home page so every morning I can see fun, beautiful, interesting and adventurous things from my little cabin here in Clyde Park, Montana
Thank you for sharing your life us.
Happy Anniversary! and thank you for all you share of your travels, life, and art. I love all your posts and your books. Thank you too for the give~away!
Dear Susan,
Hearts and Flowers to you, from MN. <3
SO excited for your Autumn book.
So many lovely things!! I love seeing some of my favorite things around the house too like you love to see your quilts hanging over chairs in the kitchen. I like to see my books when I open my bedroom closet door. I have them right there on the shelf over my clothes so I can see them whenever I enter my closet. You are surrounded by beautiful things. Thanks for sharing them with us. And thanks so much for the giveaway opportunity.
Oh my dearest Sue!
This celebration post is beyond SusanBranchspectacular!!!! I loved it. There were two things that popped out and spoke directly to my heart. First was your comment “You know they were made by creative women, and often in groups. Could we please listen in on one of these conversations, oh dearest back-in-time genie?” Oh I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve held a quilt made in years gone by and thought that very thought. What was going on in the lives of the women that came together to make this quilt? Where they pregnant, were their sons or husbands away a war? Was their an illness going on in their family? Were they missing someone they loved deeply? Every quilt has a story! One cannot help but to dream about what that story might be. Just laying under a quilt and gently falling off to sleep as you allow your mind to start to imagine what the conversations or purpose behind the quilt must have been is a heavenly experience.
The second statement is “It’s the little things in life that mean the most.” How true this statement is. In the big world your blog may seem like a little thing to you. But to all of us out here in cyberland it has become for us our shared kitchen table where all the “girlfriends” come to share inspiration, hope, funny stories, memories, love of life itself, to make wonderful friendships with others we might never had the chance to meet, and to share the little things that mean so much to our kindred spirits that bring us such joy.
Happy Anniversary my friend on your success! And never forget….”If you can dream it you can make it so.” With that said…congratulations on working so hard on sharing your dream with us, so that we could help you push that dream over the threshold into the reality it has become!
F.O.S.B 4~Ever! ~ Doreen ~
I’m speechless!!
My first time on your blog. Luv all of the pictures and the colors of your fabric.
What a joyous post! Congratulations on the anniversary of two special events in your life! Love your art and your collections!
Happy Anniversary! What a lovely celebration you’ve created, and thank you for sharing it with us, Susan. But if I could have a private word with Vanna….pick me! Okay, maybe not, but I know there will be some very happy Girlfriends who win your anniversary giveaways! Thank you!
Dear Susan:
Your blogs always bring peace to my days. So look forward to each one. Beautiful pictures and watercolors. Loving Jack and Girl.
With lots of love, Freya
Happy Anniversary Susan! Oh, such a bitter, sweet day it is. A few weeks ago I mentioned by Son and daughter-in-law leaving for England for four years. (Military) I ordered your book, A Fine Romance for Grace’s birthday. She loved it so much that she e-mailed you, and you emailed her back. Thank you, Thank you for making Grace feel a little more at ease with such a big adventure in their lives. Today, their adventure starts, and as good-byes are expressed and travel begins for my family, I read your blog about quilts!!! I to, quilt a little and am so excited about your generous give away. I was given a quilt one time, and the lady that made it said, the blocks are connected for the many roads we travel in our life. there are many ups and downs, but stitched together we have our faith, family, and love. Thank you, Susan
All my best to your son and daughter-in-law! And especially to you, keeping those home fires burning. xoxo
You have made my life happy and I love the color yellow!
Wonderful posting today – congratulations on your ‘social media’ anniversaries!! Your quilt collection is beautiful – how many do you have? The colors of the quilts and the fabric are just amazing! I happen to feel the same way you do about dishes and china – my collection keeps growing! Antique china seems to ‘speak to me’ as well.
Martha from CT
Susan, I’m so behind on your blog! Checked in this morning and see that I have some catching up to do. As always, your personal way of talking with us makes me feel like we really are connected. I bought a chenille bedspread at an estate sale a while back, it’s something you just don’t see much any more. I thought of your love of vintage textiles and quilts. All the colors! Thanks for posting the photos of your garden and home, it must be lovely place to live.
Chenille is so cozy! I just love those bedspreads.
Me too. I have three and one is almost worn out. I use them all the time, even in summer (I have a lighter weight one). They wash like a charm and stay thick, and soft. I have a picture of my beautiful cat sound asleep on a pile of quilts and chenille bedspreads – kind of like the princess and the pea, lol.
Love everything Susan Branch. Keep up the good work!!
Congratulations on your exciting milestones Susan! I so enjoy reading your blog and looking at the gorgeous photos and artwork you create. I am astounded by the generosity of your giveaway. I was practically drooling just looking at all those priceless treasures. Thank you for all of the goodness you spread through blogging and creating and of course for the opportunity to be chosen for the most tempting of prize packages. My fingers are crossed!
Thank you for the gorgeous post! I am inspired to take my quilt out of the
cedar chest and USE it. See you at Stillmeadow and Happy Anniversary on
the happiest blog ever.
Good morning Susan. You are the most amazing person I know. I can just feel that you bring as much joy, love and inspiration to all the other women who enoy your blog, books and artwork as you do to me. It is truly a blessing to have a friend such as you at my fingertips all of the time. All I have to do is pick up one of your books, turn on my computer or look at the calendar on my desk (which I do every morning) and you are there. Thank you for introducing me to Gladys Taber. I have been searching through old book stores for some of her work and was delighted to find “The Stillmeadow Cookbook” and a little book about the cat called Amber. Another women had beat to some of the other “Gladys Taber” books which she had learned about by reading your blog. It is so amazing how we are all connected. I truly connected with you and your work when I received your very first book as a gift. And what a gift it has been all of these years. Consider this my request to receive one of your give-aways. Marian
XOXO!
What an amazing giveaway sweet lady! You always give so much by sharing yourself and your talents on your blog and with all of the beautiful things you make! Thank you so much! I’m wishing everyone good luck with the drawing. I hope it goes to someone who really needs a lift….like ME! hahaha! Enjoy your day! Hugs from Diane in Florida
Happy Anniversary, Susan!!! Time flies, doesn’t it? Your post is wonderful. We all need more reminders of how we are much more alike than different. It is so easy to fall into the ‘us versus them’ mindset when we are bombarded daily with negative images and reporting. Thank you for providing a place of gentleness, peace and love. A respite indeed. 🙂 And your images of quilts and dishes speak directly to my little heart!!
Oh Susan, what wonderful things you are giving away! I’d be over the moon to have any of them. I loved seeing your quilts today, along with the beautiful photos of the flowers blooming now. This may be my favorite time of year! (but I’ll say that again in the autumn!)
Thank you for this beautiful, restful, positive place that is your blog! Love and hugs!
What is it?! I just can’t get enough of what you have to say and what you have to show us! It’s all so beautiful and it always strikes the same chord….there’s no place like home! Thank you, Susan! I love it all!
Kind of a Johnny-one-note!
oh my! where to start…after reading this post i am itching to paint, and quilt! my fingers have had “the itch” to paint for the last few weeks already, and i haven’t had the time. plus i have been working to finish a sweater i am knitting before i start anything new (this is a new concept for me). and the quilt! just beautiful! thanks for sharing! i have my fingers crossed!
Happy Anniversary! I love it all! I love your web site, I love you, I love your fans, I looooooove the quilts and the kitty cats, your flowers, your beautiful art, your dishes, your tea towels, the colors you use, your ideas, your books, your fabrics (wish I could still buy some at the store), your stories, all of it. I even love (loved) little lambs when I was young. We’d go on family vacations to Utah every summer to see my dad’s family and on the way there would be little lambs in the fields. I used to say that when I was grown I’d have little lambs and a collie dog and horses and other things on my farm. Of course, things didn’t turn out quite that way, but I do have my kitty cats and still love those little lambs! You’re a gal after my own heart! Thank you for sharing with us. And have a great day! Anita