Yippee!!!

I am so darn excited!!!

It has been a long month with no internet at home!! But the month is over and I have my internet back...YIPPEE!!!!!

There is so much I want to share with everyone, some great pictures to post and in the near future a give away as well!!

It has been a long day, and this past weekend I dealt with 3 children with the flu, so needless to say I am absolutely beat!

I will be posting things much more often now, and looking forward to reconnecting with everyone!

WOW it is GREAT to be back!!!

Christine :)

Brief post!

I have so much to share, pictures, good news, product review and giveaway! However all of that will have to wait until the middle of November :( I am in the middle of switching internet providers so it has been a challenge to get everything done that I have wanted too.

I am having blog withdrawals...ack! It will be so nice to get back into the swing of things!

There have been so many major changes I have been dealing with, that getting some things back to normal will be wonderful!

Stay tuned for some more news on a give away coming up!!

Phew....made it through the last 2 weeks!

Whoa, the last 2 weeks have been crazy!!

First of all my twins turned 4!! Wow where did that time go! They are growing up so fast!! The weekend before their birthday was busy with 2 parties...and the second party was held later in the day for a smaller crowd, so I cooked a full meal for everyone! Phew, was I tired, but WOW was dinner tasty!!  Then as a result of such a busy weekend, the birthday girl and boy were over tired.  So there were a few nights of early bed time!!

Then this weekend in Canada was Thanksgiving. Well another 2 days of family, fun and tasty food!  Was a great time!! I am so very thankful for my 3 precious babies. They are all healthy, growing and smart children. They really are my world!

And to end the weekend, I stopped by my mailbox, and found a sweet little slip saying that I have a package at the post office...hopefully I will get there tomorrow and see what is awaiting me :)

in search of...

Hi Everyone!!

With Christmas less than 3 months away, my mind is beginning to really think about what I am going to give to family and friends. I tend to make several of the gifts that we give and I would like to stick to that if possible. I am also hoping to use up a bunch of my wonderful fabric stash to help cut the costs this year.

For the past couple of years, the twins have helped me make gifts and this year I am sure that I will have all 3 wanting to help. Sure does make me smile that all 3 like sewing at such a young age :)

That being said, I am looking for some project ideas. Items that will be quick and simple to make.  I am thinking some mug rugs for adults with a mug to go with it, maybe bags, or quilted notebook covers.  The little girls in the family are easy, but the 9 and 13 y.o. boys...a bit more of a challenge. Just like the ladies I find are easier to create for then men.

Oh what to do, what to make....I am hoping to collect ideas soon and finalize what I am making so I can have everything done by December 1st.  I am hoping to keep December wide open or family fun and holiday activities!!

So, any suggestions would be welcomed!!

Christine

Super Excited!!

I am so darn excited, still rather speechless to be honest!


Alisa from Quiltish by Alisa Jacobs was having a give away, and I thought I would comment to get my name entered. Well, much to my amazement, I was the lucky winner.  Alisa's blog is wonderful!! And Alisa just published her first e-book, Rise & Shine. If you have a few extra moments, you should really hop on over to Quiltish by Alisa Jacobs and enjoy...such inspiration!!!


THANK YOU ALISA!!


What did I enter in for...well an   GO! Baby Fabric Cutter from Accuquilt!! All I can say is OH MY GOSH, I AM SO DARN EXCITED!!!!


I had to choose 3 dies as well. I found that to be harder than anticipated as there are a lot that really caught my eye! But after some process of elimination, I finally decided on the GO! Rose of Sharon by Sharon Pederson, GO! Feathers, and the GO! Strip cutter-2 1/2". 


I have always wanted to get on of the cutters with the Rose of Sharon dies, and the GO! Feathers, but it was that last choice that I was having a hard time deciding on! I liked the GO! Critters (which would be great for using with my children), and the GO! Rag Square 5 1/4", the GO! Square-5", and there were a few more on that list.  I think I can anticipate a few more of these dies finding there way to my house now :)


Now, comes the waiting. I think now I have the motivation to get all the rest of the house cleaning/purging/organizing done. Cuz I certainly know that once that little package arrives, cleaning will be the last thing that I will want to be doing :)


Gosh darn, I am so excited....WOooooHOOOooooo :)

Oh my goodness....I won!!!!!

Things around my house are crazy busy on a daily basis. The 3 young ones require a large portion of my spare time. As a result, things I used to do on a regular basis are not much of an option right now. Two of these would be sewing, and blogging. Both of which I love and miss dearly, but the children come first.

Well the other day, I had some free time (the kids were playing nicely and not getting into mischief. LOL) and I sat down at the computer and read some of the blogs I follow on a regular basis. Well, Jeanette over at Inch Worm Fabrics was blogging about organizing the sewing space and asked what her readers do.  I replied that I as well am in the middle of cleaning/purging and organizing and that all my fabric will be going on a shelf.

Well, Jeanette was also going to do a mystery fabric giveaway...how exciting I thought!! And well, I WON!!! When I was notified, I was so shocked and surprised! I am so excited to see what arrives in the mail!

Inch Worm Fabrics has such an amazing blog!! I look forward to seeing new blog posts. Also, Inch Worm Fabrics has a store and OH MY GOODNESS, love the goodies that are there! Well worth the time to go and take a look!!

Jeanette, I just personally wanted to say thank you so much for having this give away and I am thrilled to have had my name picked! Looking forward to sharing with everyone what will be in the mystery package!!

Christine

Purging, rearranging, and organizing...

Well, the 3 wee ones have been keeping me very busy over the summer. And I must say it has been very enjoyable. Now, with fall just around the corner, I am getting into the swing of purging unused items, I have been rearranging furniture and rooms, doing some deep cleaning and getting the house completely organized.

So far, I have managed to get both the kids rooms almost done...just need to purge a bunch of toys! (Its amazing how many toys have accumulated over the last 4 years with 3 kids!!) I have steam cleaned the carpet and a arm chair, I have managed to set up a better cleaning routine that works so much better for me. And one of the best things is I have been able to stay caught up on the washing, drying, folding and putting away of laundry. And I must say with 3 kids there seems to be A LOT of laundry!!

I am hoping that with in the next few weeks, I will have a lovely little sewing area where I can leave my sewing machine out and projects readily available to work on. I am going to do my best to sew 15-30 minutes a day and see how much I can truly accomplish.  I have some simple little project ideas I would like to make for Christmas. I am also planning on making the girls new Christmas dresses, and something for the little man.

I am setting goals to have all projects done by the end of November so the entire month of December, I can be busy with the kids doing fun family activities!

Oh am I looking forward to the next few months to see how much I can actually get done!!

Hope everyone is doing well :)

Christine

Finally.....

I hope that everyone is doing well!!

It is interesting how life works. I had hopes to blog often and big dreams for this year. However, life does not always make things easy resulting in change of plans...lol. Working full time has definitely had a larger impact than I thought it would. The kids are loving daycare, how ever, the time away from me has been hard on them and they require all of my free time in the evenings and weekends.

Despite all of my new challenges, I am happy to say that one of my sisters got married on the weekend. Her wedding was absolutely amazing, and she was truly a beautiful stunning bride!!

In the limo on the way to the ceremony

I was one of the bridesmaids and both my girls were flowergirls!!

The 3 of us in the limo

The girls were truly amazing the entire day..and my oldest daughter I must say is quite the little party animal...she danced the night away until we left at 1130 pm (to be honest all the kids played until we left :) )

For the bride and groom I did make a custom wedding cake for them. It was a huge success with the couple as well as all of the guests, caterers and management of the hall they rented!

Full view of cake on top of water fountain

Closer view of the top 2 tiers of the wedding cake

Close up of the Calla Lillies I made out of fondant. They were tipped with blue and silver.  Made about 150 of them.

I am so very happy for my sister! The gentleman she married is so wonderful to her, he treats her very well and truly makes her happy!!

Now that the wedding is over, I am hoping that I may get some good quality time with my sewing machine. It has been a very long time and I am really missing it!!!

Hope everyone is doing well!!!

been super busy!!

There has been sew much going on!! And sadly, blogging had to be put to the side :(

Here is a quick bit of a run down. I was commissioned out by a dance studio to create and sew a costume for 1 dance class, and then several tutus for another dance class.

For the costume, I have to say it took me longer than I had anticipated. There was no pattern for what the class wanted, So, I drafted up a pattern and thought "WOW, was that ever easy!! However, the prototype was HUGE!! So back to the drawing board I went. long story short, it took me a few times to get it right. And then, once things were to the right size, I was busy getting everything sewn, and ready for delivery! This costume that was needed was to resemble the jacket of a children's story book character "Madeline".  I must say, when everything was said and done, they turned out well. There are things I would have still liked to improve on. But for drafting a first pattern, I think it was pretty good. Most importantly, the girls and their parents were extremely happy with them :)

Front view of the Jacket.  My little model was about 2 sizes smaller that the class that needs them. So that is why it looks rather big and baggy on her :)

Back view of the jacket

The tutus were all the same, red with some black. I needed to make 12 of those.

12 of these were needed for the one class. All of them identical

Then, among all of that, it was decided that I need to go back to work full time, so I had to find daycare for the 3 young ones, and also a full-time job...both in which I was successful with!  To make it special for the older 2, together we made them a special backpack. My daughters was a Tinkerbell, and my sons was a Disney Cars! Both of them are well loved and I must say I am very happy that it made their day!! For these darling backpacks I used a pattern from the Moda Bake Shop here. I did alter the pattern a bit to suit our needs :)

Both backpacks completed

Close up of front

View of the back

I have also seriously debated in entering into the McCalls Quilt Design Star 2011.  And I think I may have the perfect entry...just a few more things to do to it and then pictures :)

And finally, I am done sketching a secret project that I am very excited about!!!

Oh, these next 2 weeks are going to be very busy, but will be well worth it!!

Just wanted to say......

THANK YOU!!!

I know I have not been the most regular blogger...I must admit I am rather inconsistent to be honest! I do try, however, with 3 wee young children, blogging seems to happen when I have lots to say,something to share or a few spare moments!

With that being said, I just wanted to send out a big thank you to everyone that stops by and says hi, and reads what I am up to!! You all really are the best!

Again,

THANK YOU!!!

THANK YOU!!!

THANK YOU!!!

Hope you all have an amazingly fantastic creative day!!!!!

Starting this weekend....

So, I have had all supplies for a Dear Jane quilt for some time now, well I am FINALLY going to start making it!!!  For some reason this quilt terrifies me and excites me all at the same time! So I figure now is as good as ever to just jump right in and start with a block!

 I will post pictures when they are complete :)

Crafts, quilts and pillows! Lots of Pictures!!oldes

Oh we have been sew busy here. Right now it is really cold outside...-25 and with the windchill -35. Last night it was actually -35 before the windchill....brrrrrrr. With that being said, it has been indoor activity week and trying to get lots done!!

So here is what we have done so far!! The kids did some crafts using up all those itty bitty scraps of fabric I had,  taught my son a bit of sewing knowledge and he made his very first sewing project, and I completed a quilt top. So here are some pictures (there will be a few as I love the pics). I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do!!

Oldest daughter creating her masterpiece

Proudly showing off her work

Close up of her masterpiece

Little mister creating his masterpiece

Proudly showing off his work

Close up of his masterpiece

Little mister pinning the pillow together (was closely supervised and there were no pin pokes!)

Me teaching him how to guide the fabric through

him guiding the fabric through himself

Learning to put the pins away once they are removed

Pulling pillow right side out

Stuffing the pillow

Hand-stitching the opening closed

TA DA!!! One finished Spiderman Pillow and one VERY happy  little boy!

Prep work completed for quilt top

Called this one Hawaiian Sunrise. 

Front on view.
Pattern used was called Windowpanes Designed by Bradie Sparrow

It has been such a great week of creativity!!! And it is so much more enjoyable when my wee ones enjoy creating as well :)

If you are interested in the Windowpane patterns, hop on over to A Quilty Kind of Girl and get one from Bradie!

And just because I thought this was cute, here is my youngest daughter. She was playing peek-a-boo with a bucket! 

Peek-a-boo!!! 

Well, off to get some work done! Hope that you all have a fantastic day!!