Friday, December 31, 2010

Here it is the last day of the year and I haven't done my Christmas Post! That is pretty much how this year has been for me, hectic, busy and with me always a little bit behind.
So let me fill you in on my Christmas fun and then I'll do another post for New Years.

Christmas Eve dinner was at my house with all my siblings and both my parents. Things did not get off to a good start. About 12 my sink and garbortor stopped working. Clogged big time. Spewed water and carrot bits everywhere, including on me! This also means no dishwasher. I have to finish getting things prepped for Christmas Eve dinner, which is the big dinner with my parents, and siblings. My first Christmas in the new house. Yes it will be a great story someday but now it's making me panic!!!

This of course means I pour myself a nice rum with some egg nog. And go fondle fabric.
The go back and chop some stuff that didn't need washing. Then my mom  came to my rescue and we figured out how to fix things. So off we go continuing to cook. Little Bit went toboggaing with my sister and my brother's girlfriend's children. She had a blast of course.
Dinner turned out wonderfully, my older sister and I finished off a bottle and a half of vodka and good times were had by all. I was in fact incredibly pleased that my warning about any disrespect to me or mine would result in me asking the offender to leave was headed and everyone was pleasant and the evening was great fun.
We did a Christmas exchange which resulted in my living room being destroyed even before Santa came to visit but that was alright.
Little Bit lost another tooth so the lucky duck got a visit from Santa and the tooth fairy all in one night!

The evil sink after it spewed all over me!!
The tree before they attacked.

Daddy and Little Bit. Always sweet.
I do believe he thinks this is his.
The camera shy one! Gotcha!
The munchkins. Little Bit dressed herself. Can you tell?
This particular dog think this particular sister is crack. Apparently she doesn't mind as much as she says.
The sister who doesn't even particularly like kids moderating a game of memory.
The Execs. Yes, he even wears the stupid ear piece to Christmas Eve dinner.
Now just so you know, my mom rarely goes in for the garnish thing so this got her a good amount of teasing, until we ate it and it was awesome. White Chocolate turrin with raspberry sauce, that has no eggs, milk, gluten, corn, mold. Tasted like heaven.
Little Bit slept in until almost 9, which was a great present for Shane and I. And she was incredibly happy with her loot, though she was really funny when she got something she'd written Santa for, she said "it's just was I ordered!". We had to explain you ask for things from Santa, not order, he's not a mail catalog.

From now on no pictures as I had misplaced the camera.

 We did a brunch at my mom's, and she opened her present, which was Antique Etoiles. She loved it! She kept running her hands over the quilted wheat sheaf's I had done.
From there it was off to a cousin's place for a family dinner with my mom's side of the family. Again a lot of fun and drinking were had by most.

Then it was a drive to Peterborough so we could do Boxing Day with my dad's side of the family. All I can say is it's something you have to experience to understand. It is an immense amount of fun. Tons of people, about 90 or so for dinner. We're spread out everywhere. Yes, a lot of drinking. Watching Team Canada play in the World Juniors. It's so awesome because in so many ways its the same every year but it's always so special for me. I can't tell you how good I feel after being there. So much family, and so much love.
 I was blown away by all my family's love for my quilted wraps, and my quilting in general. So many of my aunts telling me how proud they are of me. It was very moving.

Next day it was time to come home and now I feel like a truck hit me. But I did get the apartment cleaned out and cleaned. Keys are turned in. It is no longer mine and I couldn't be happier!

So now to focus on the future and all the amazing things I have planned! But that is another post.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Quilt Along Block!

 I have a block as part of Konda's Layer Cake Quilt Along! It's up right now over on her blog, Moose on the Porch!
This is a great quilt along, similar to the one I participate in back in the spring that used a jelly roll.
  All the blocks are beginner friendly do if you're looking for a fun sampler quilt head on over!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Talkin Tuesday!

 The Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber has a post about Talkin Tuesday!! How cool is that?!

I'll be back hopefully tomorrow to give you all a run down of the CRAZINESS that has been the last few days for me and mine but I wanted to make sure I wished you all a belated Merry Christmas and I hope it was beautiful and full of love for you and yours!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The beauty of winter

   As a Canadian I'm used to snow, cold and winter. It's obviously part of our lives for 3-5 months of the year. We complain about it, love it, hate it, play in it. I'm not a fan of being cold so I don't always appreciate our winters until I see things like this.







 And of course the most gorgeous site for me is Little Bit's bright smile as she enjoys her very own backyard.

Monday, December 20, 2010

My new House!!

My camera cord, and point and shoot camera, are still MIA but I've borrowed by mom's so I can show you a little of what's going on here! Ready for more pictures of things than you care about? LOL
Funny thing about the roof...we moved in Tuesday, had new roof put on Thursday and Sunday had the start of a 4 day snow storm that dumped about 4 ft. Very glad about the new roof.
This is the back of the house where we have a gorgeous sunroom! And DH gets two sheds.

 My living room with a bay window!

 One of two gas fireplaces!!
 The start of the sewing room...I told you there was a lot of fabric....

 yes that is another tote, or two, under the table...
 Little Bit enjoying her new backyard!

OK so Blogger only wants me to show you a couple pictures right now but more will be coming!

I won!

I can't believe it but I won this gorgeous FQ bundle over at Rachel of ps.i.quilt's blog!! yippee!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I'm still here!

 The camera cord is still MIA, along with my point and shoot camera. This is becoming some what concerning but I'm sure it will turn up.

Things are super crazy but then it's Christmas time so huge shock I know. I'm working on several projects that I can't share too much but thought you may like to see this pic. Last one taken at the old apartment and obviously before the 4 feet of snow we got last week! This is about 360", or one layer cake, of "braid", 3/4 of what is needed for a Bake Shop pattern I have in the works!
 I've been plugging away at patterns, unpacking, and getting Little Bit settled into her new school, which she loves!  I've been trying to read blogs when I can but I miss everyone!
I hope you are all doing well!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Uh oh

 This is pretty humiliating but I thought I'd let everyone know. There were some errors in the Antique Etoiles pattern over on Moda Bake Shop. Like some huge ones. And some missing ones. Apparently an edit didn't take and I didn't know. Thank you to Judy in MI for letting me know. I've made the changes on the blog and the printable will be updated early in the week.
I'm so sorry if this has caused any problems for anyone. Hopefully no one bought fabric yet because they won't have enough if they did. And the setting triangle instructions were missing all together. Pictures were there but no instructions.
I think I caught everything that was wrong/missing but make sure you do a read through before starting, which is a good idea on any pattern, to make sure things look right.
Again I am super sorry about this.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Candle Mat Swap

 I received my candle mat from the swap I participated in and it's gorgeous! I've had to steal the photo from my partner Sylvia's blog because my camera cord is MIA since the move. This came all the way from Germany along with some beautiful fruit tea!

Aren't the buttons adorable?! And the colours are so me. As soon as the Christmas decorations get put away this is going on my coffee table in the front living room.
 I left a comment on her blog, and free translated it into German so I'm hoping it worked properly and I didn't tell her pigs fly or something! I learned French and Spanish in high school and university but never got the hang of German.

I will be back blogging more as soon as I find the camera cord so I can show you guys the new house!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Talkin Tuesday!

Tonight's chat is just a few minutes away from starting! I hope some more of you can join in on the fun and prizes! If you need a refresher or are new to my blog or the twitter chat check out this blog post here.
Hope to talk to you tonight!!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Speak of the Devil

So after my last post I got an e-mail from Sinta, and then Sherri, about them using the Prairie Point Christmas Tree pattern for this month's Le Petit pattern! How cool is that?
 Sherri's blog has some measurements to make a miniature version, which you may, though probably not, remember was in fact the inspiration for the larger version that I did for Moda Bake Shop.

Anyways I'm still in constant danger of being buried by boxes so had better go work on unpacking some more.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

It always makes me smile

To see one of my patterns made up by someone else!
Sinta made my Prairie Point Christmas Tree with her sewing group. And it looks gorgeous!

Karen and her sisters and mom also made their own versions!



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 If you've made one of my patterns I'd love to see!

Monday, November 29, 2010

I've had it

I have way to much fabric. I've been working on packing up my stash and I have no choice but to admit I have to much. Like way to much. Boxes and boxes and boxes.

Once I've moved this week I'm going to be having both a destash sale and a giveaway. The destash sale will be stupid low prices, basically earning enough for the shipping for the giveaways.

The giveaway? I don't know what yet but it will be a lot of fabric.

Stay tuned!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Another BakeShop project!

I know I haven't been around much lately, we move in 2 days!!!
But I did manage to get another project up on Moda Bake Shop!
I absolutely love this one. I'd appreciate it if you would check it out and leave a comment on the site so they know you like it too! :)

Friday, November 26, 2010

Black Friday

 We don't have Black Friday here in Canada but thanks to online shopping we can get some awesome deals! I've hit several online fabric shops to score some sweet deals!

What about you? Have you done any shopping this weekend? Any Canadians brave the border and go to the States for some shopping? Let's chat!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Talkin' Tuesdays and some more brillance

So has everyone heard, thought of joining, or joined in to our twitter chat (#talknt) Tuesday night?



 If not you have got to this Tuesday evening, tomorrow, for some awesome fun! Fat Quarter Shop is sponsoring and they are giving away some awesome prizes, bigger then we've ever had! Trust me you do not want to miss out, prizes you normally have to look for on blogs as giveaways. Like jelly rolls, charm packs, and gift certificates.
All you have to do is sign into twitter and add me, @caraquilts, and I can help you figure it out! We'll chat quilting, fabric and more!
For those not as familiar with twitter think of it as a big coffee break room. Lots of people, you can go in or out, post a note or have a whole party! And on twitter you can control who's there! No annoying smelly guy! lol
Oh and we have a facebook fan page!

For those saying, I know Cara, I'm already there. It's on the calender (Tuesday Nov 23rd, at 9 EST/6PST).
I have funny news!

I'm such a dork, and so super excited about our move (next week!!!!) that I may have had fabrics sent to the new address. Oops. So now I get to tell the Moda goddesses how dumb I was and hope that I can still get them. Smart huh? Oh and what fabrics you ask? Just these beauties! (no sorry these ones aren't up tomorrow night lol)
My first for sale pattern for Moda will be with Central Park by the amazing, gorgeous, uber-talented Kate Spain!! And you all are going to LOVE this pattern. It's easy, it looks complicated, and you get TWO quilts out of it!!
Assuming I still get the fabrics lol.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Nov 23rd's Talkin Tuesday! Super Exciting News!!

 I'm so thrilled to be able to announce that FAT QUARTER SHOP is going to be sponsoring our chat! Make sure you come and join us for so AWESOME prizes! Remember it starts at 9 EST, 8 CST, 7MST, or 6 PST depending on your time zone!! I don't want to spoil the surprise but you all know how awesome FQS is as a shop, well their prizes are beyond generous! Trust me you don't want to miss this one!

Our chats are just like being in a room with all your friends! We chat and have a blast talking about quilting, fabric, UFOs, and anything else that comes up!
 Twitter is not hard so if you haven't signed up do so! Just add #talknt to a tweet for it to show up in the chat. To see everyone else's messages just click on the #talknt to go to a page where all the #talknt messages will show up. If this still doesn't make sense let me know so I can help you out! I don't want anyone to miss out on the fun!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Goodies in the Mail!

 Awhile back I won a giveaway from the wonderfully talented Rene Creates! Actually it was two giveaways, one for this beautiful mini quilt, fabric and a pattern. This mini quilt means a lot to me as my mom lost her best friend to breast cancer when I was in high school and it was very devastating to her family, friends, and everyone who knew her.

And the second was for these totally rockin' Tula Pink running shoes!

Rene had bought the wrong size which is very sad for her but turned out so wonderfully for me! I've been drooling over these shoes but couldn't convince myself I deserved them, even though I desperately needed new shoes, so I've been jealous of all those who got them. And lo and behold I end up winning them because I'm one of only 3 who wore a big ol' size 9! Can you say awesome? I know they are because Shane hates them lol.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Candle Mat Swap

I sent of my secret candle mat to my assigned person and I'm so glad I got it done and sent before things get too crazy here with packing.




I had fun quilting this one. I did a lot more on it then I have tried previously and I think it turned out well.