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!

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!!

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!!!

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!!

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!!!

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!

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!

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!!

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!!

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