Sunday, December 26, 2010

Winner!

Sorry for announcing this late....the winner of 1 set of cookbooks is Tiny from Tiny's Hobbyhoekje!!

Congrats Tiny!!!

Hope everyone has had  very wonderful Christmas!!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Give Away!!! Give Away!!!

Hello all my blogging friends!!

I am very excited to share with you this wonderful giveaway!! Michele over at the Quilting Gallery is sponsoring this giveaway! Thank you so much Michele!!!

So here is what you can win...not one, but two lucky winners will be drawn for this!!!  Up for grabs are the amazing Quilters Cookbooks!!! Two lucky winners will win both editions of these wonderful cookbooks.  Wow, Volume 1 has 119 recipes, and Volume 2 has 135 recipes, that is a total of 254 tasty recipes to try.  Both of the cookbooks are downloadable PDF files so delivery is quick :)

Also, in these wonderful cookbooks are beautiful quilts and stories behind them!!

So lets get on to the details about how to enter!!

Drawing for the prizes will be made Thursday December 23rd in the evening.  For entries to be valid I will need an email address or a way to contact you. You can be entered in 4 times for the draw.  Please leave a comment for each entry

1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite Christmas food item (Mine has to be Grandma's Christmas Pudding...yummy)

2.  Hop over to the Quilting Gallery, take a look around, and tell me what you like ( I personally like to see all the quilts for the weekly challenges...such talent and inspiration!)

3. Leave a comment letting me know if you already follow my blog or are a new follower.

4. Blog about this wonderful giveaway on your blog, come back, let me know and leave me a link :)

Hope everyone has fun, and thank you for stopping by!!

Also, a big Thank You to Michele at the Quilting Gallery for sponsoring this give away :)

Night all :)

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Its almost Christmas time!! And go to the Quilting Gallery for these!!

Wow, 6 more sleeps and Santa comes!!!

I have not been posting as of late as I have been super busy sewing and getting things ready for Christmas!! The wee ones are getting really really excited for Christmas. They have sent in letters to Santa, and have received one back, and waiting for the other one. They also received an email video letter from Santa...this was amazing and their wee faces were magical. You can look here if you are interested in a video letter.

So, as I was saying I have been busy sewing, this is what I have managed to get done so far....7 candle mats, my youngest daughters first quilt (just need the binding), my husbands wall hanging (the one that I have been working on for over a year....just need some embellishments and binding), a bag, some nighties, PJ pants, hair clip holders, hair clips, and some sock monkey's....phew I  think that is it...going to get these finished up and then enjoy the holidays with the family!

I would like to do some holiday baking and make some keepsake ornaments with the kids that they can give to grandparents and great grandparents.  I still have to take pictures of all of these so I can post, but the pictures I would like to do all at once!

Now here is some exciting news!! Michele over at the Quilting Gallery  has the Quilters Cookbooks ready. There are 2 editions you can purchase:
the 2009 edition:

 "The theme for the first edition (2009) is "Quick and easy recipes, so we can get back to quilting!".
It contains 119 recipes, 76 photos of gorgeous quilts and the real life stories behind them. View the List of Recipes [PDF] and one of the recipes from the Cookbook, my Nana's Chocolate Balls [PDF]." 

and the 2010 edition:

The theme for the second edition (2010) is "Holiday Traditions".
It contains 135 recipes, most with heart-warming family stories, 72 photos of gorgeous quilts and the real life stories behind them. View the List of Recipes [PDF] and one of the recipes from the Cookbook, my family's famous Cheese Ball [PDF].

The cookbooks are downloadable PDF files, so no waiting for the mail person to deliver the book!!!

And while you are ordering your book form Michele at the Quilting Gallery, go and take a look at the Party Michele is having celebrating the 3rd anniversary of the Quilting Gallery! There are amazing prizes...all of them are amazing!! Congrats Michele on 3 years!!!!




Thursday, December 2, 2010

quick little update!

Well after a wee break and a chance to refocus, I figured out how I was going to fix things to the candle mats would work. I did try "stretching" the fabric to make it fit and then starching it rather well. It did work, however, I still knew that it was not the best I could have done. So I added another strip. Cut it 1", so once it was sewn in with the 1/4 seams, it would fill that 1/2" I was out.

Well this worked perfectly!!! I managed to get all 7 mats completed (tops anyway) and this weekend I will quilt them. I am still deciding if I am going to bind them or just pillowcase turn them.  I do really like the looks of binding, but I also have a quilt for my daughter to make, and finish my husbands wall hanging (which will have a good deal of hand stitching), and a few bags to make. And yes I need all of this for Christmas.

On the bright side all the projects are easy....now if my 3 sweet wee ones would be oh so nice to let me get things done, things would go much faster!!  But I can not pass up all those sweet cuddles and smiles and hugs!!

I will get the camera out tomorrow I hope to get some pictures taken!!

Night all!

Monday, November 29, 2010

oh no...1/2 inch opps!!!!

This year I chose to make some more of those wonderful candle mats for some family members.  They were perfect, quick, easy, elegant, useful...just what I was really looking for. So I picked up all the supplies I needed to make a few of them. Then I began the assembly line of steps to make them. I am almost at the end, and WHAM...the borders are all 1/2 inch off....on all of them!!!

I am so frustrated with myself...guess that is what happens when you mainly work late at night with only a wee bit of sleep and days full of 3 active children....sigh.

I am not sure if it was my cutting that was off, or my seams but I do know that sadly this project is taking me much longer than anticipated....sigh....that darn 1/2 inch :(

The Christmas Tree!

Last week we set up the Christmas Tree and then it was a couple of days later that we decorated the Christmas Tree. The tree is decorated with all hand colored ornaments that the kids made. I just love it! They also decorated the tree from top to bottom (with some help from me). And over all I must say they did a fantastic job!! I did have to move a few ornaments around but overall not to many at all!

The kids were full of smiles and they really did have a really great time. I had to go out and get a star for the top of the tree though. In previous years, we have used an Angel. BUT this year the kids have been watching Dora's Christmas Carol, and in it Swiper swipes the Christmas star from the tree. So the kids informed me that we needed a Christmas star! So, I ensured that they got their wish!!

We have 3 children, and so we put the Star on 3 times...lol. We had the wee on "help" as it is her first Christmas...and that is what we had planned all along, that she would do that star as the other 2 were decorating the tree. Well, there were tears from the other 2, so we decided to let everyone help!

The wee miss adding an ornament. First Christmas for her!!

K getting an ornament ready to hang on the tree

Little mister hanging an ornament higher in the tree with help

K showing one of the ornaments. We wrote on the back of all the ornaments, who colored it and the date :)

K hanging an ornament higher up in the tree

Wee little miss helping put the star on the tree with daddy's help

K putting the star on the Tree with daddy's help

Little mister putting the star on the tree with daddy's help

The finished Tree, and the 3 wee ones!! Oh how I love this pic!
Ahhhh was great memories that have already been created this year!! Looking forward to making many more!!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

I am back!!

For the last little while I have seemed to have lost my motivation. Things were taking me much longer to do, I was tired.  It just seemed like the to do list was growing and growing, yet nothing was getting done. Well, that is over :) I have been on a roll lately....and it feels GREAT!!!!!!!!!!

I have managed to rearrange the living room, which also resulted in a good thorough cleaning, I have set up the Christmas Tree (will be decorating it Thursday evening with the kids), getting some baking done AND have gotten some prep work done for sewing projects....WOOOOooooHOoooooo!!!!!!!  I have more prep work that needs to be done for some more projects but I managed to get fabric cut or 7 items to be made....and what a relief that is!  Hopefully this weekend I will be able to go to my moms (without all the kids) and get full day of sewing in....ohhhh how wonderful that would be :)

The other day I received a wonderful package in the mail,  it was the candle mat from my secret partner.  Oh is it  ever FABULOUS!! The colors, the quilting, just everything about it!!! And also in the package was a pillow pincushion...absolutely AMAZING!  I had the package opened for maybe 2 minutes and my daughter grabbed the candle mat and tried to claim it as a blanket for herself, and my son took the pillow. They LOVE them too :) Sadly, I have not taken pictures of these gorgeous items yet, but I will tomorrow and post a picture for you all to see :)

Well I am off to rest a wee bit before bed, but just wanted to say 32 more sleeps till Christmas....Yippee!!!!!! I am so so excited!!!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

In the mail!

I while back I signed up to participate in a candle mat swap, hosted by Michele at the Quilting Gallery and Sandi Andersen. Well, Monday it went into the mail. This little beauty is going across the sea to the Netherlands. I sure hope my partner likes it!!

front view of the Candle Mat

Closer view of the border

border and corners

This was the fabric that I used for the back of the mat!
I found this mat to go together very quickly and the finished size is 15"x15".  I showed it to my family, and there were a few subtle requests made of how that would look amazing in their homes :) Think there will be a few more of these made!!







Sunday, November 7, 2010

ahhhh that time of year :(

Well, I believe the flu bug has decided to take residence on our home :( My youngest has had a fever and been sick, and the twins have been off and rather irritable as well.  Needless to say I really did not get anything done today. However, I did get lots and lots of cuddles from all 3 little ones (and those are the best).

My son found his sock monkey on his chair at the table for breakfast this morning. I was lying in bed (hubby got up with the kids) and all I heard was..."MY SOCK MONKEY!!!!!!!!! Mommy finished my sock monkey!!" The sound of pure excitement and happiness was truly wonderful! I am so happy that my children really enjoy homemade items!! Oh how I love them to bits!

Well, here is to hoping that this mommy is able to get some sleep tonight and all 3 little ones wake up feeling much much better!!!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Well I started something....

Yesterday I posted a picture of a sock monkey that my daughter and I made. I think it turned out rather well for a very first trial run. Well, she was over the moon happy with this monkey. It has gone everywhere with her since it was completed!

Well, my son  wanted one so we went and picked out a pair of socks that he liked and then the continual question began..."can we make my monkey mom" which with him became "mom can you make my monkey?" We agreed that we would work on it today. Well he remembered and wanted to start on his monkey before he even had his breakfast.  We finally came to an agreement and started working on his monkey. Sadly, we did not finish it before we had to go out. We got home late so the kids went right to bed, but I however, pulled out the thread and needle and finished up this little monkey. He is now sitting on the chair waiting for my son to see him in the morning! I am so excited to see his reaction!! Oh how I love the young age of surprise and happiness :)

Now that 2 of the kids have a monkey, I do think that a 3rd one will need to be made in the very near future...and I have the perfect socks already waiting to come to life :)

Tomorrow, I am debating packing up my sewing machines, fabric and all pertinent gear/supplies and fabric and heading to my moms. I am thinking of having a full day of uninterrupted sewing! Oh how fun will that be...and it is such a treat to get so much accomplished in such a short amount of time!! Guess I will have to wait and see what the morning brings!

Christine!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Some more pics...and a new project!

So as promised here are some more pictures!

Here are the kids during Halloween!


My little Ninja....Hi-Yaa!!

My little ladybug...her first Halloween

My little Tinkerbell blowing a kiss :)

Little Ladybug standing

So every year for Christmas I try to make a bunch of Christmas gifts for the family. I like to make them, to me it keeps the true meaning going, and I truly enjoy it! Up to this point every Christmas, the items I have made have been well received so it brings me such enjoyment seeing the reactions of people enjoying home made items!

One item I had thought of making, my daughter and I did a trial run today...we made a sock monkey!! Kaylee helped every step of the way and had a great time doing it! However, the sample has already been claimed. Kaylee has already adopted it (this little monkey was adopted before we were even 1/2 done...lol)

For a first attempt, the monkey turned out rather well. I learned some tricks, and have come up with better ways to finish it off.  My son has already picked out socks for his monkey...which is now on the to do list for tomorrow :)

Here is the first one!!

To begin with we just had large sequins for the eyes, and then we glued little googly eyes on top.  I think I am going to try embroidery eyes next time and see how that turns out :)




Well, now time to go and make a candle mat. I have about a week to get it done before I need to send it off to my partner :)  And then, I think a few more of them will be made for some Christmas gifts!!

Have a good night all!!

Bloggers Quilt Festival


Amy over at Amy's Creative Side is hosting a Bloggers Quilt Festival!

I thought I would enter this quilt.
First Quilt I ever made
I made this quilt about 2 years ago and it was my very first quilt. I made it for my daughter.  My daughter has this on her bed and uses it every night. Once she outgrows the toddler size bed, she will need a bigger quilt as this is a perfect size for her bed right now!

Thank you Amy for hosting this event!


Amy's Creative Side - Blogger's Quilt Festival

Thursday, November 4, 2010

November already!! 51 more sleeps!!!

Anyone who knows me knows that my FAVORITE time of year is Christmas! The pretty lights up all over, the Christmas trees, the decorations, family gatherings, it is all wonderful!! And there is ONLY 51 more sleeps till Christmas morning! I am looking so forward to seeing my twins faces, they are now 3 and are already excited to see Santa, they are making wish lists, we have started Christmas crafting....ohhhh the fun and excitement!!

With that being said, I have a, ummmm, few....well maybe lots of things to get done before then!! My goal is to have all sewing done by the end of November. This will leave December wide open for family fun, baking and enjoying the holidays!!

So, I did not post hardly at all in October :( Things were so busy. We celebrated the twins 3rd birthday, made some cakes, worked, and...sewing sewing sewing sewing!! And then Halloween with the kids!

So here are some pictures of what I have been doing :)

The cakes:

My Daughters 3rd birthday cake...Tinkerbell in the flower garden

My Sons 3rd birthday cake. A Disney Cars theme, he loved it!

Happy face cake

Justin Beiber themed cake for a young girls party

Strawberry Shortcake cake

Close up of the house and strawberries. These were 100% handcrafted and edible
I have so many more pictures to post, but  I will save some for tomorrow!!

I am back on my goal of blogging everyday again!! I have missed being in touch with everyone!!

Hope you all have a GREAT day and talk with you tomorrow!!


Sunday, October 17, 2010

67 days....and WINNERS!

Hello and welcome to all my current and new followers!! Glad to have you all share my journey with me.

There has been so much going on these past couple of weeks, which I will share a brief summary off tonight, but will post pictures of everything hopefully tomorrow! I have missed blogging!!

So this is what I have been up to: Planned my twins 3rd birthday party (28 people came over), baked and decorated 2 cakes, one being Tinkerbell and the other a Disney Cars cake. Then I had an intense week of sewing. Managed to get several projects completed and hope that I will be able to share them soon, but right now its still a secret :) So that has been my last 2 weeks, and this week looks busy but not as bad...phew!

Did you know that there is only 67 days left until Christmas time!!! WOW when you think about it, that is not a lot of time to get all that Christmas crafting, sewing and baking done. Then add in the family time, parties and decorating for the festive season....eeeeks....I better sit down, make a detailed list with timelines for each project and stick too it!!

What projects are you working on for this holiday season? Have you started, or are you done? And what are you working on?? I would love to hear!!

Now on to the good stuff, the winners!! I put all entries in to a container and had my husband pick out 2 slips of paper...
Bucket with all the entries
Slip #1 choosen...Mary Grace McNamara from Hooked on Needles




Winner of prize number 1 :)


Slip #2 choosen....quiltingnana from Creative Urges 
Winner of prize number 2 :)
Congrats to the winners....will be sending an email out to you :)
Well thats it for tonight, off to tend to a wee sick one :( Hope you all have a wonderful day!!

Friday, October 1, 2010

FALL INTO FALL BLOGGERS GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!

WOOHOO the day has finally come for the kick off of Fall into Fall Bloggers Giveaway. Debi from Quilting with Debi has put this all together for us, and there is well over 100 people participating in the giveaways! That is a lot of prizes that can be won!!

I am excited to say that this is also my very first giveaway so I hope that you like the goodies I have collected.  I have decided that there will be 2 prizes offered.

Prize number one will consist of:
5 FQ's from my local quilt shop. 
2 Patterns
Bright Baskets by Patchwork Schoolhouse. Finished size is 36" x 47"
Saturday Morning by Whirlgig Designs. Finished size 75 1/2" x 75 1/2"
The Second prize available is:
The Sugar Pine Company
Mini Kimono Kit
Finished size 8.5" x 9"
Designed by Castelleja Cotton


Fabrics included in the Mini Kimono Kits (this picture does no justice to the fabrics)


You have 2 chances to enter but you must leave a separate comment for each question below. I wanted to make entering quick and easy :)  Make sure to leave your email address if your blog email is not activated! 

1.  What is your favorite thing about the Fall Season?  Leave one comment for your answer.

2.  Are you a follower?  You don't have to be but I would be happy to have you become a follower.  Leave me a separate comment if you are a follower, a new follower, or just an occasional reader - I thank you all!

All comments are to be posted to this blog entry. The contest begins October 1 and ends at midnight October 15 mtn time. Winners will be posted October 16th, 2010.

I am so excited to meet all of you and hear from all of you and meet several new friends!!

Smiles,
Christine

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Tomorrow...the fun begins!!

Make sure you all check back tomorrow. The Fall into Fall giveaway begins and I will be participating with this. So come on back to enter in, and also check all the other blogs that are participating in this fun!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

where is the time going??

Well it is almost the end of September! Just when I think things are going to slow down...nope...not in my world ;)

My babies are going to be 3 in the beginning of October!! 3 already!!!! So I have been trying to plan and prepare their party in the midst of everything else right now...I have just under 2 weeks until the party!! Have decided on the cakes for each of them....seeing they share a birthday we still want them to be individuals and have fun. I can not wait to make these 2 cakes...one will be Tinkerbell, and the other will be Disney Cars!

So, I have been on a mission to scrub the house down from top to bottom this week, de-clutter and reorganize things. I am doing all of that during the day and then sewing, drafting, planning in the evenings!!

Now that sewing to do list is also growing. I sat down and wrote out my list. (I work better when I can visually see my list and then get to cross off tasks from my list). Well, that list alone is rather long, so I really need to sit and use all my sewing minutes wisely and see if I can sneak a few extra minutes in as well!!

So speaking of finding extra minutes, time to get off the computer and get some stuff done!!!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Nieces 1st Birthday.

Never got a chance yesterday to blog as I was up to my elbows in icing sugar. My youngest niece just turned 1 and I had to make her a special cake. So onto the pictures!!

Front view of the cake

Top view of the cake

These Angels I had crafted using fondant so they are 100% edible

Tree trunk is made from fondant, and leaves are fondant attached to wires
The cake was a huge success. I also made a "smash" cake for Teryn to eat/mash/smash....well she had fun with that, but overall not too much of a mess to clean up :)

Now off to get some ironing done (about 12 meters worth of fabric) and making a "to do" list this week for sewing projects. I have many things to complete this week, sneak peaks will follow!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Another day of baking...

Today is my youngest nieces first birthday. So I have been baking and prepping today and hanging out with the kids.  I was hoping to get lots done on the cake tonight but I am so darn tired after working until 10 and still fighting this terrible case of bronchitis.

So after thinking of the pros and cons, the only answer is to go to sleep and start early in the morning to get things done. With a fresh outlook and hopefully a good nights sleep, I should be able to get things done  in a few hours or so....fingers are crossed.

I will post pictures of the cake on Sundays post.

Hope everyone  has a fantastic weekend :D

Thursday, September 23, 2010

great finds!!

Today I just did a wee bit of cleaning and then a day out running errands with the kids. When I got in the van, I saw a sign for a yard sale...first word on the sign was FABRIC and other goodies. Well, that just peaked my curiosity, so before we went to do anything, off to go and check out what there was at the sale.   Woohooo I am telling you there was A LOT of fabric. The sale is going for the next 2 days too!! Well, I have been in search for some special fabric for a very special quilt. You know that fabric that jumps off the shelf and says "THIS IS IT". Well I found that fabric....7 yards of fabric was about $25.00 which I am super excited with. This special quilt is for my sister for her wedding. Her wedding colors are light blue and silver and the fabric I located was for the silver...WoOoT WoOooT.  I will take pictures of this fabulous find tomorrow in the daylight so you can see the true beauty, it glimmers :D  I also found a few other goodies, quilting ruler, quilting pens/pencils and some other fabric!

Never did actually sew but I certainly did get things accomplished so that is good for me.

Oh yes, I also wanted to share with all of you that Millie over at Millie's Quilting is having a GO!tastic give away!  So if you are interested in winning one of those wonderful GO! Cutters, GO and visit Millie!

Well off to rest for a wee bit!!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

#50...already at blog post #50...WOW

Hello all my blogging buddies!!

Thank you for reading my blog and thank you for following me :) Today is post #50!! This post came rather quickly once I really started blogging on a regular basis! Can not wait for #100!!!

Today I managed to get a fair amount of sewing done! I have almost finished part 3 of the Ladybug in Polka Dotville Quilt -Along. I was hoping to get it finished tonight but the youngest daughter has other plans in store for me late this evening...and it is not sewing ;)

I was going to wait to post a picture of the progress that I have made, but figured I will share what I have done today. When I started I only had a portion of part 1 completed, so made fairly good progress today!

Not the best picture but it gives a bit of an idea of how it is coming along. 
I am thinking that this would look amazing in solid colors too!! May do that one next as this quilt goes together really quickly!

Tomorrow, I plan on getting the 2 sides pieced and put onto the quilt top :)

I also joined a swap today. Its a Candle Mat Swap hosted by Michele at the Quilting Gallery.  You can join the fun as registrations are open until October 5!  Go and take a look and sign up, who knows I may be your secret partner in this swap :)
Candle Mat Swap

Well time to go and see if I can get the littlest miss back to bed!!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Give aways!

I wanted to share some giveaways that I have come across with the blogs that follow :)

Quilt Times has a giveaway ending on September 25th.  Its so worth checking out, I know I would be so so excited to have my name picked for this one :)

Julie at Jaybird Quilts is having a sponsored giveaway (Green Fairy Quilts), and oh my oh my, those goodies are wonderful!! If my name were picked here too well I would be a very happy girl too :)

And remember Oct 1, there is going to be lots of giveaways listed as Fall in to Fall Quilter Bloggers Giveaway begins. For any bloggers out there, there is still time to join in on the fun. Just hop on over and sign up :)

Now off to get some sewing done!!! WOoooHOooo

Monday, September 20, 2010

Give away in the near future!

Debi, over at Quilting with Debi is hosting a Fall in Fall bloggers giveaway! What is this?? Several bloggers are joining in on this and listing giveaways October 1st, and draws will take place October 15th and winners will be announced then.

I am excited to say that I am going to participate in this. This will be my very first give away, how fun is this!! So I have been going around collecting goodies, looking through my stash. Still have to decide how many prizes there will be.  Make sure you check back October 1st for all the fun!

If you want to see who else is signing up to participate, or want to join in the fun yourself, click on the scarecrow on the right side of my page and it will take you right to where you need to go :)

Hope you all have a fun filled Monday!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Quiet weekend....

A few days ago I began feeling under the weather. I figured that it was due to being so tired.  Well, Friday I began to feel even worse, Saturday woke up feeling a bit worse and sore ribs from coughing. This morning I woke up feeling terrible. Worst I have felt in a long time. My ribs are terribly sore from coughing...picking up me wee little one sends sharp pains :( Luckily I have been able to rest most of the day. Had one on one time with each of the girls, why little mister had fun with daddy.

No sitting and sewing, but I have managed to pin together blocks to sew together when I am back to feeling better!!

Off to make a "to do" list for this week to keep me on track, focused and to get stuff done!!!

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

how lovely these Roses are. They just make me smile!

Christine :)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Cakes!

As you all know I was super busy this week baking cakes and decorating them. Well I can now post pictures of the cakes!!

So all of these........

16 cakes leveled and ready to be put together
Turned into these...........

The wedding cake
The Birthday cake. Around the base of all tiers are gumballs!
The wedding cake, the bride sent me a picture and I am not sure where she found it. The birthday cake was seen here, and was sent to me requesting that it be close to that one. Both parties were happy with their cakes :)

Now back to sewing for a few more days until I get ready to make my nieces 1st Birthday cake for next weekend :)

Friday, September 17, 2010

wanted to post yesterday but lots going on!!

These were for me :)


These were delivered to me yesterday for my birthday and they were from my husband and my children!! Pictures are nice but they are so much more beautiful in person and I get to stare at them everyday :) My birthday was full of surprises. The flowers, my mom just showed up for a visit. My hubby's mom came over and we ordered Chinese food for dinner (and I must say I was quite the little piggy but it was soooo good!). I got happy birthday said to me several times throughout the day from the twins :) I went to the LQS and bought 2 new books (will post pics tomorrow) and some FQ's for a giveaway that will be coming up very soon :D

It was a busy day yesterday working on both of the cakes that I had to have completed. I did all the baking on Wednesday and here is what my table looked like once the cakes were cooled and leveled and ready to be iced and stacked.
16 cakes leveled and ready to be stacked and iced
Pictures of the cakes will be posted tomorrow so there will be no surprises ruined. But I will tell you, I think that they turned out really well. The birthday cake was picked up and was loved!! And the Bride to be, seemed to be happy, but she was also very stressed when I arrived to set up the cake.

Now on to some sewing fun :)  Before the baking marathon began, I did manage to get some sewing done for the quilt along hosted by Wendy over at Ivory Springs and Rjr Fabrics. I am hoping to get all caught up in the next few days as Wendy has posted part 3 today, and I am still on part 1!!! That being said, here is what I have gotten done so far :)
a few of the blocks placed together to see what it looks like. I do have all 30 ready to be sewn together
I am pleased with the way that these are looking so far, and getting very excited to see the rest of them and the next 2 steps together!

Well, I am now going to finish my glass of wine, look at my new books while relaxing on the couch with my feet up....ahhhhh what a great feeling. The question is, how long will my eyes be open for :)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Busy Busy Busy...

Today is a no sewing day, but had been crazy busy!! I have been baking since 8am this morning and I am happy to say all cakes are done....16 pans of cakes...phew!!! I only need 16 of those, but there was extra batter so I bake that up!!

I am going to rest for a bit, then work from 530-10. Then back home and will be working into the wee hours of the morning to get things done with out the help of my wee little ones!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful productive day :D

Monday, September 13, 2010

does this count?

So I am trying to commit to sewing for 15 mins every day. Well, this week, that just is not an option.  With making 2 cakes this week, my sewing area becomes my cake area. And to be honest I really do not want to get cake, shortening, icing, or coloring on any of the fabrics I am working with right now.  BUT last night I ended up getting in 2 1/2 hours of sewing...yay for me :) I may get some time in tomorrow, but Wednesday and Thursday, there is no way!

Well kids were up at 7, I worked from 530-10 and I better get off of the computer so I can g and get some cleaning and other things done that still need doing. Hopefully I can get it all done and not be up until 2am ;)

At least next week is looking so much better so relaxation...WOoooHOoooo!!!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

when you are rested, it is amazing what you can do!!

Hello all my blogging buddies!!

Yesterday I hardly did anything as I was feeling so run down and not feeling  all that great! Well after sleeping a good portion of the day and then a good nights sleep, I feel so so so much better :)

I was up early and decided to make the kids pancakes for breakfast, then went to the close grocery store to pick up an couple items for a trial run of a cake. It was a white chocolate cake, and it turned out pretty good, just next time I will add more chocolate than the recipe suggests.  I have 2 cakes I will be making this week, 1 wedding cake and one topsy turvy type birthday cake. So I need the white chocolate for the birthday cake.

I also managed to clean out the back of the van (was getting full of Christmas shopping....yup I said those words!) Go to the store again and pick up all the ingredients and supplies for both cakes (and had one on one time with my oldest daughter for this, and she was so excited), mowed the lawn, played with the kids, cooked supper with the help from my husband and a few loads of laundry..phew I am tired just writing all of that!!

I also have been trying to color set some fabric I picked up for nighties for my girls and nieces and a few other people. I have the blue and yellow done, and working on the pink....oh that pink (this one has been the worst of them all).

The kids are finally all asleep so now I am going to break out the sewing machine and get some stuff done...wooohoo!

Hope that you all have had a great Sunday!!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

what a day!

My youngest daughter was up a good portion of last night :( I really dislike teething!!

Needless to say I was super tired this morning. I was lucky that my husband got up with the kids and let me sleep in. At 11am I got up and was still super tired, and felt absolutely rotten. I ended up actually falling back to sleep until 3pm!!

I made it to work from 530-10 and got home with a terrible headache...boo. Sadly there will be no sewing for me today, however was was dreaming that I did get a new wonderful sewing machine ;)

I am hoping to feel much better tomorrow and get many things caught up and finished!! But for now I am off to bed to yet again get more sleep!! Night all!
Today I got some stuff done, I fussy cut some Santas for a Santa block swap. They have to be in the mail Wednesday. Now I am just going to add fabrics around the Santas and square them up!!

I will post pictures tomorrow of my Santas!

My exciting news,for me anyways, is we finally got our dishwasher fixed!! Been broken for over a year and a half! We ran it through once and no leaks...woohoo!!this is going

to be such a treat for me :)

Friday, September 10, 2010

making progress....

well day 2 and still on track :)

I did not get as much done as I had hoped but still managed to get some things accomplished. It was a busy day, the kids had a check up, then we did some errands, visited my husband at work, and then attended first Quilt Guild meeting of the year!

It sounds like this year is going to be an amazing year...guest speakers, a monthly block lottery, a Christmas challenge, classes to be offered, and a quilting retreat if you want!! WOooHOooo what a great year it will be!

So I am participating in this months block lottery, Christmas challenge and waiting to hear about a couple of the classes.

Tomorrow I have nothing on the calendar so hopefully I will  get several things caught up!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Yay Day 1 has been wonderful

So, I must say this has been a pretty fantastic day!

I went and found a few more pieces of fabric for the quilt along with Ivory Springs. As soon as I saw the quilt, I knew I wanted to use black and whites with pop of red! So here is what I am working with right now:
black and whites, and the red for the ladybugs
I managed to get the 30 4 1/2" squares cut out, and the 60 2 1/2" squares cut out. Tomorrow will be marking the 2 1/2" squares and maybe some sewing. 

Most of the fabrics are just black and white, except for one, which I am thinking will make an amazing border. Here is a close up of that one, it has a bit of red in it. Sorry the picture is not that great though:
I like that the centers of the flowers are red :)
and well this was just fitting for this project as well, I could not resist!
these ladybugs were just too cute to pass up!

So, tomorrow my goal will be to mark the 2 1/2" squares, or at least some of them! It will be a busy day tomorrow with errands in the morning, and first Quilt Guild Meeting in the evening!! I am looking forward to tomorrow evening and seeing all of my fellow quilting friends that I have not seen since June!!

Talk to you all tomorrow for Day 2!!