I made a custom quilt for someone earlier this year, and I wanted to make a matching sham with some of the scraps but hadn’t gotten around to it. You know how that goes. Well, I saw some pictures of Heather Mulder Peterson’s new book Shams With Style 
I even did scalloped edges to match the quilt. Of course, Heather shows you exactly how to do them.
This project got me thinking about how fun it is to get surprises in the mail. Why don’t we send people surprises more often? Even a card is exciting and it only takes a minute to write. We could start a bit of a “pay it forward” kind of thing. You get a surprise from me in the mail and you then have to send someone else a surprise. It can be anything. Postcard, card, something handmade, a bag of tea…skies the limit. Wouldn’t it be fun? It’d be like spreading sunshine. I think I’ll do it. I’m going to send one of my readers a surprise in the mail next week! It could be you!! WOO-HOO!
*I will pick a surprise reader from past comments or from a comment left on this posting. Tell me your favorite thing about this time of year. I’ll pick the winning reader on Friday the 22nd at 5pm. However, you won’t know if you’ve won until next week! Surprise!
The shams look great! I’ve been looking for that book, but haven’t seen it yet.
Hi Moneik! If you click the Shams with Style link within my post you can see it and buy it on Amazon. Thanks for the nice words! -Ingrid
Packages in the mail are always fun…it’s one of the reasons I like to buy my fabric from online quilt shops! 🙂 I would have to say one of my favorite things about fall is pumpkins. Not only can you decorate your house inside and out with pumpkins, but you can cook a gazillion recipes with pumpkin in it…my favorites include pumpkin bars, pumpkin butter, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pancakes, and even pumpkin ice cream. Yum! Plus it makes your house smell nice and homey doesn’t it?
My favorite part about fall is our pumpkin patch, and the time we get to spend outside as a family. As Isabelle is getting older it’s getting easier and more fun to be in the garden together getting dirty and having fun! I love the shams and I can’t wait to make a Birthday bunting for Isabelle’s birthday!
My favorite things about fall is the food! nothing like some warm comfort food to get you through the fall! 🙂
I love the food and the decorations of fall. Everything about fall says “home” and “family” to me. It’s not as hurried as the Holidays get. We get hit and miss beautiful days. I even love those “not so beautiful” days when we just get to stay inside and nest a bit. I love those first batches of soups and stews after fasting from those all summer! I love your sham! That brings me to my other thing I love about fall. It seems like a great time for redecorating or adding some finishing touches to the house!
I actually just sent out a “surprise package” on Monday. A former co-worker had a baby a couple months back and I recently found tons of great boys clothes on sale at Target & sent her a bunch for 6-12 months. Then I got a package of my own that same day. Grandma sent second-hand clothes for Noah & Alexis… she pre-washed them all so they smelled like her. Now I don’t want to wash them! :o)
Just sent a surprise baby quilt to someone a church whom I don’t know, I hope she likes the surprise. Now I am really glad I did it. Also have to tell you Ingrid, I posted a picture of your boxed blessings on my flickr account and almost 300 people have viewed it, which is amazing, but they loved your design. Now working on a small size of sweet swagger.
Love your blog, love your videos! Your little one is a cutie! I love fall with all the colors and pumpkins and apples. But the best part of fall to me is getting back to quilting and knitting. Summer is too busy and I feel guilty when I do any of those projects but once the leaves start turning my guilt flys out the door!