As promised and July's Schnibbles and a kit

Giveaway for the Lollipop Layer Cake can be found here.

Leah over at Burgundy Buttons has put together kit for Film Strip! You can find it here.

I used the left over jelly roll strips from Film Strip and made a modified version of Joy Luck, measuring about 40x46. This would have worked out much better if I had a) read all directions first and b) had not been both tired and arguing with Little Bit when trying to do the math to enlarge.

  If you're just doing the pattern as is you easily have enough fabric to make the top. And as you can see you do have enough to enlarge it a bit too. Just a note, read the stitching directions for the border, not the cutting directions. Yes there is a difference because the cutting is from charms.

So two quilts, one fabric buy.
Well it's going to be three...yes I will make another top out of the remaining layercake squares and the left over scraps of the black jelly roll, and assuming it works as I've figured it I'll share the pattern here later this week.

Stay tuned!

101 Followers Giveaway! And another Bake Shop tutorial!

Giveaway is now closed.

I've hit 101 followers, 100 and 101 being about the same time, so decided to have a giveaway to celebrate!
 And another of my Bake Shop tutorials went up on the website today, check it out here.

So I decided to combine the two. I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a comment over on Bake Shop about the quilt there. Leave one here telling me you did so here, or anything else. Got it? Bake Shop comment about the quilt, comment here telling me you did so. That's it.

Oh the prize? Of course you want to know about that. Let's see here...how about a layer cake of Lollipop?


Giveaway will end on July 26th, sometime...lol I know better than to try and guess a time I will be able to draw.

 Tomorrow I'll show you what I did with the leftover jelly roll strips from Film Strip. Prefect if you haven't done this month's Year of Schnibbles.

NOTE If you can't see the follow button, try going to the new blog address www.caraquilts.com!

Charming Girls and Guys Club

 Goals for July//August.

  1. Finish Bake Shop projects, I have one that needs to be finished quilted and another that is only about 1/4 of the way done.

  2. Make my dad's Birthday present using these.

  3. Block 8 of Le Jardin when it arrives. And Block 7 if I can find out what happened to it.

  4. July and August's Schnibbles



   As to the topic of Self Care, this is something I've been terrible about like most moms but have been working on. I'm going to try to have some more fun in every aspect of my life. I know I won't change a lot but finding fun in what I do everyday is something I think will make every day better for everyone in my family.

Book Review and Giveaway

Update! The winner of my copy of the book is Nancy! I've sent you an e-mail.

I was contacted a while ago about reviewing a book, which was supposed to have some sewing/quilting. I received Whiter Than Snow, by Sandra Dallas and read it pretty much straight through.

The inside jacket's blurb is  

  On a spring afternoon in 1920, Swandyke-a small town new Colorado's Tenmile Range- is changed forever. Just moments after four o'clock, a large split of snow separates from Jubilee Mountain high about the tiny hamlet and hurtles down the rocky sleep, enveloping everything in its path.
  Meet the residents....
Fate, chance and perhaps divine providence all collide in the everyday lives of these people. And ultimately, no one is without sin, no one's soul is whiter than snow, and no one is without the need for forgiveness.
A quintessential American voice and writer of exquisite historical detail, Sandra Dallas illuminates the resilience of the human spirit in her newest novel. 

  The first half of the book has a chapter with a back story, how-they-got-here kind of thing. The second half deals with a mining town in Colorado and a winter time tragedy and how the town comes together, and briefly touches on each of the characters resolution. The whole book is essentially seeing how the lives of these very different people intersect at one time and place.

Not telling you a lot? I know but I don't want to spoil it if you decide to read the book.

I will tell you it is a meandering book, its a slow story but very well written. Your heart will break, and the book won't leave you with a happy feel. Well, maybe it will but I didn't put it down feeling happy, but I then I get into a well written book, regardless if I want to.

Now one of the problems I have with this story is that the jacket cover does not really give you enough information about the actual story, and if you've lost a child, as I have, this will be a heart wrenching read, and you are not given any warning of that until you start to read. Though having just look it up on Amazon  it does tell you more of the actual story line there.

My second issue, was when I was offered this book much was said about quilting, and the author's ability to give a lot to a character with the way she sewed/quilted. There are maybe half a dozen references to it in the entire novel, none of which are particularly telling or important in anyway. So again I don't feel like I had to read this novel, nor is it going to be of any additional interest to quilters than anyone else. Her other works apparently have more quilting in them but this one really didn't have more than a few mentions, The Persian Pickle Club  has much more.

 Having said that I know there are many out there who would enjoy Whiter Than Snow, but I've had enough real tragedy in my life that I don't feel I got anything from reading the book except a few hours of interest and some more heartache.

One word of praise is for the depiction of a variety of reactions to grief. I thought it to be realistic and individual, which is the way of it in life.

So there's my review, it was a good book, well written and emotional engaging but not of any special interest to quilters, and not for those who feel there is enough in real life to cry about that we don't need it from a story.
I'd like to read more of her work. It was really well written, and I could see how I'd enjoy some of the other books...just not more children dying.
 I had read an excerpt of another book with awesome quilting, which really did add to the characters etc. So I'm going to keep an eye out at the library or if I get to a book store.

I'm giving away my copy so if you'd like it just leave me a comment telling me so and I'll draw, say Monday.

Little Things

There's an awesome giveaway over at Quilt Nook. with the other Cara.

I'm also changing my e-mail address as it's getting very messy with blog comments, etc plus all the normal e-mail. So from now on if you comment you'll be getting a reply from caraquilts at gmail.com, so if you have filters on your inbox you may have to change the settings.

Again there are people with no-reply. Which is fine, but it means I can't tell you how awesome you are for commenting, or answer questions. Check here if you don't know how to change the settings.

Heavy on Charm I just wanted to let you know how excited I am you're making Prairie Christmas! Send a picture when you're done! Or add it to Bake Shop's Flickr page.

I'm currently reading a novel- "Whiter than Snow" by Sandra Dallas- that was sent to me for review. I will be giving away my copy after I have finished so look out for that.

I received my prize for last months Friday Night Sew-In. Thanks Bobbi and Heidi for doing this every month! It really help me get some things done, especially those I-don't-want-to parts of projects.

More Blush! Just what I needed!

I have to confess that all this good luck lately has me a bit spooked. I've had some absolutely atrocious luck for most of my life, the kind where you beg for no luck because you'd be better off. So I think maybe it's making me nervous, sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop kind of thing. Or maybe my life has finally turned around for good. That would be nice. Which means the MRI on Friday will show nothing, or may be something would be better...I don't know. I think I'm rambling....off to play with Little Bit.

Little Bit's Quilt

I finally finished Little Bit's quilt for her twin bed. She'd long out grown her baby quilts, and for a long while liked multiple small quilts/blankets to one larger one. She's finally out grown that and was getting jealous of all the baby quilts I've made recently so I decided it was time for her to have her own.
 We picked out the fabrics online, ok I showed her some and she choose Eden. I used the large version of my Whimsy Square pattern and here it is!

.

 

I tried to catch her face when she saw her quilt...it's not great but you can see she is surprised!

I think I have to make her curtains to go with this. I did make two pillowcases out of the pink that my MIL had bought to go for the backing when she was here, but I ended up using Cuddilicous instead. I should have about 4 yards left, which I would think would make a curtain to go over those ugly vertical blind the apartment came with.
They've never bothered me until I was looking at this picture. So yup new curtains for Little Bit will be in the works.

Schnibble Along Week 3

 I do love this pattern. It went together like a breeze. And I really like using something other than white or black for a background fabric. I had admire Kim's quilts when she uses other colours for backgrounds so thought I'd give it a go and man does it work!
I just took out the teal and greens from the packs and used some teal yardage for the background and voila! Lovely.

Next, the quilting!
I like doing these quilt alongs, I think it keeps me motivated, and really helps with time management, which I'm normally pretty bad at, or was, I am getting better.