crafty endeavours

WARNING:

photo heavy post ahead!

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This month I have been focusing on getting things done!

Since having #3 I've been sneeking in sewing time when I can...

and not blogging at all because all my spare time has been spent sewing or cuddling a newborn :)

first up: Bee Blocks

Made these 3 blocks using Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley for Beth.

She is on for the last month of our Teathered Threads 2 swap.


can I just say that nothing is better to work with than the quality that comes with designer fabrics--and I don't even like Hope Valley!

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Next up:
Blocks for Ruth that were due in August....oops!
also for Tethered Threads 2.
We got to use fabulous fabrics designed by Laurie Wisbrun for Scarlet Fig fabrics
Heaven!

Ruth had us use a new method of piecing that had you leave the first piece half unsewn and then sewing it at the end...

very cool.

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This is a table runner I made for my secret sister at church.

it was our revealing night where we find out who our secret sister was for the year and I had won these fabrics at guild and decided to make something fall-like for her.

I used a tutorial by Anina at the Twiddle Tails blog for the Strippy Runner.

Easy Peasy!

I wasn't able to give it to her in person and she made a point of thanking me at church the next Sunday and giving me a thank you card--so I guess she liked it :)

I didn't like these fabrics at all but then went shopping for the binding and made the back from my stash and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it!

Now I want one!

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lastly,

I made a doll quilt for an auction fundraiser at my daughter's school.

I made it to be 14"x 17" and after quilting and washing it measures 13" x 16"

Using a http://www.etsy.com/shop/scarletfigtutorial by Amanda Jean from Crazy Mom Quilts
for this cute pillow and case!

The fabric was from my SIL (thanks Kit Kat!)

and was slated for another project, however I decided the little house was just too cute to have sitting in my stash so I chopped and diced and made it nice :)

I still have a bunch of houses so this is not the last time you will see them.

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off to sew some more!

Dear John...

(my mom and dad in the early years. My mother is still this beautiful.)

Your memory is never far from me.

Our new little man is so smiley and squishy and huggable and loveable.

Your heart would melt if you could see him.

I often think about the day you came to the hospital upon the arrival of our sweet princess (our first baby, your first grandbaby) into our lives.

I remember how you saw her and your eyes welled up with tears.

I loved that you wore your emotions on your sleeve (and yet it's something I don't always like about myself).

You loved her with out knowing her or feeling her kick for 9 months.

You loved her even though you weren't here everyday to see my ever-enlargening belly.

You loved her before she even knew she would love you.

because she was mine and you were her grandfather, you loved her.

Unconditionally.

Love is amazing.

Love is something I want very badly for my kids to know.

the kind of love you had for me and my brother and mom.

and the love that you shared with pumpkin.

She loves you still.

Your memory is engraved on her little 5 (and 3 quarters) heart.

We love you.

and miss you.

but mostly, we appreciate you and the love that you shared.

thank you for teaching me about love.

love,

your most beloved daughter

Gifted and received.

When you have a baby,

you get gifts.

It feels good to get gifts.

It also feels good to give gifts.

but not just any gift...

a hand made one...

gifted:

for the pincushion pass swap I sent some m&m's,

some Amy Butler fabric scraps,

and a one of a kind pincushion--

trust me--I couldn't duplicate it if I tried :)

Received:

This awesome

(HUGE)

pincushion in my fave colour combo

and some beautiful glass head pins

I'm loving swaps!!

So Fun!

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gifted:

one yummy lap quilt

for:
my mother-in-law,
whom I actually "like" and love dearly
(it's not true what they say about mother in laws you know...)

Fabric:
Cotton Blossoms by Bonnie and Camille for Moda

Purchased a layer cake wayyyyy back


this is the back that my hubby helped me with :)
thanks Honey!
This the front.
(before washing and drying)
this is it all crinkly and soft after being washed and dried.

Size:
54" x 63" prior to washing

approximately 50" x 59" after a trip through the dryer.

Received:
yup...she definately liked it!

A nice warm fuzzy feeling knowing that I've given something useful,
personal, loveable and sentimental.

and I made it.
All. by. myself.

from me.
to her.

no wonder quilters are the most generous people.
they've figured out that it pays more to give than to receive.

Although if you want to send me a gift I won't turn it down!

a big thank you!

Look at this quilt!

Isn't it fabulous?!

I just adore the modern meadow line of fabric

--how did they know?

Thank you soooo much, Tethered Threads 2 Block Swap ladies!
Thank you all so very much!!
I was shocked!
And it is sooo beautiful!
Honestly,
I'm not sure if it was the hormones or the surprise,
or just the deep heartfelt thankfulness,

but I started to cry when I took it out of the envelope.

Quilters truly are the most generous people.

They've made me feel so blessed to be a part of such a great group of quilters.

I've learned so much more about quilting by being part of a swap.

These ladies are talented.

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Little Peanut is doing well and growing so fast!

He's gained a pound in less than 2 weeks

and aside from being on a sleep strike last night,

he's an extremely contented baby.

You'll see more from me soon but for now I've got to go give a cuddle to my kiddos.

I have been very busy...

holding,

cuddling,

squeezing,

kissing,

cherishing,

and thanking the Lord for this little bundle of cuteness.

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Our new little guy showed up on July 23rd, 2010 at 12:20 am.

He weighed 7lbs 9oz and has big feet :)

2 hours of labour

(yes, you read that right)

and one push and we had our newest little man in our arms.

Our kids just love him!

What a blessing.

A lot of prayers, (my own and from others),

went into the making of a beautiful birthing experience.

There is nothing better than seeing the richness of the blessings the Lord doles out.

Nothing.

I feel great and am enjoying some downtime with the family.

but I'll be back soon with more details.

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And thank you to those of you that have encouraged me the last few months.

It means alot.

Good news and some crafty goodness

First the GOOD NEWS!!!

I'm 3 centimetres dilated!!!

Yay!

this baby is on it's way soon!

Now, an udate into the crafty goodness around here as this will probably be my last post until after baby #3 joins our family....

I finished my quilt!

and it's at the quilters and I should have it back by the end of the week!

Here is the top:
and here is the backing:

i chose to have it professionally quilted because my hubby wanted it to have a soft cuddly scrunchy look and I can only do straight quilting.

Can't wait to bind it and throw it in the wash!

Pumpkin is attending her first ever real birthday party!

I saw this post on Bridget's blog, Everyday Chaos, in the morning and by the afternoon I had a gift!

Yeah!

It's getting sunny around here and the kids were due for Big Kid sunglasses.

I had seen this idea on Disney's blog (which sadly she is no longer writing)

and bought me some potholders.

Jazzed them up and instant sunglass cases!

and best of all--

No scratched lenses!!

Lastly I bought a pair of jeans for Pumpkin hoping they would fit.

no such luck. too short!

So they instantly

(or should I say after I decided what to do with them)

became some super ruffly and fun capris!
they were so easy and she gets lots of compliments!

So there you have it!

hopefully the next time we talk these 2 will have a new sibling!!

Wish me luck!

as the days creep by

I am greeted by stares lately.

Gaping mouths.

Hoots and hollers across parking lots of

"You're still HERE?!"

Or,

"You haven't had that baby yet???!"
No I haven't.

I guess this is the life of an overdue mama.

I'm only 3 days overdue.
Not so bad.
Who am I to say that this babe is actually overdue?

It says in the Bible that only the Lord knows the hour of our birth.
I'm trusting His plan for this baby.
It's hard though.

I find myself anxious in these last days.
Wondering when, how, and what to do when it all happens.

I LOVE being pregant.
honestly.
I could do this for another couple of months.

so we'll see.
I would like to know whether we're having a boy or a girl however...
I'm sure this child will arrive before it's 13th birthday...
and with a small head, if you don't mind.
Please and thankyou.

Mostly we are just so excited to meet this new little person
of whom we have struggled over names for the last 9 months.

Lord, help me to be patient.
Accept your timing.
Help me to have peace.

Welcome BABY!
We're waiting on you :)

progress...

ready to be pieced....

I'm loving how quickly these HST blocks come together...

this is one Cotton Blossoms layer cake and 6 extra squares of fabric...

(my layer cake was missing 4 squares)

We'll see how I like it once it's all pieced :)

swaps

My June blocks for the Tethered Threads 2 Block Swap have been done for a bit but I've not shared them....

Fabulous fabric!!
I wasn't so sure about my wonkiness...
"wonk" I've noticed, does not come easily to me...

but I think Kathy likes them, so I'm safe :)

I have also joined another swap called the GREAT WHITE NORTH BEE

I'm excited as this is a group of ladies that are all Canadian (like myself) but love designer fabrics and the look of a more modern quilt design.

These are my June blocks for Kristy, our bee mama....

Wonky again!

It was fun and using so many different fabrics and bright prints was a thrill!

her quilt is going to be delicious!

I joined the swap late so the July block will not be coming to me as she doesn't have enough fabric for me to do a block for her.

that's okay--i'm going to be busy with a baby anyway.

My month isn't until February so I have time to decide what I would like.

I'm so enjoying the swap process.
It has opened up opportunity for me to really stretch and learn.

I'm excited for more fabric to show up on my doorstep so i can play with it!

Dad always loved a good blonde joke...

My father loved a good joke.

Especially blonde jokes!

They were his favourite.

He, at one point, started collecting them.

I wish he were here so I could share this one with him.

He would have loved it!

So....I'll share it with all of you instead :)

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There is a night flight that has just taken off.
As the stewardesses begin to deliver meal trays an attractive blonde walks up from economy to first class and sits down.

Stewardess: May I see your first class ticket please?

Blonde: I don't have one. I'm blonde, I'm beautiful and I'm flying first class to Houston.

Dumbfounded the stewardess goes to the front cabin to speak with the pilots.
After sharing her story the co-pilot says he'll approach her.

Co-pilot: Ma'am I understand you do not have a first class ticket for this flight...?

Blonde: I'm blonde, I'm beautiful and I'm flying first class to Houston.

Speachless, the co-pilot makes his way back to the cabin and exclaims in exasperation
"She's blonde, she's beautiful and she's flying first class to Houston!"

The head pilot asks the co-pilot to take over and says he'll deal with it.
The, now nosy, stewardesses follow him wide-eyed waiting for a scene.
But the pilot only leans down, and gently whispers something in the blonde's ear.

She immediately stood and retired to her original seat in economy. No questions asked.

The pilot returned to the cabin, stewardesses, bewildered, wagging their tongues behind him...

Stewardess: what did you say to her to make her go back to her seat??

Pilot: Oh. I just told her first class wasn't flying to Houston!

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I love a good blonde joke!!

Bob the Builder Birthday Party!

Can we Party?!

YES WE CAN!!

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Well, as you can tell, I'm still hanging in there.

My water did not break during the birthday party,

thankfully.

And we made it through!

First off,

the cake.

Now I know you saw my part the other day,

but check out BOB!!!

My friend, Laurie,

truly outdid herself!!

He is clearly well put together and totally made the cake special!

and was a total hit with our own Bob the Builder!

My portion of the cake was a bit of fussin', but worth it!

I used a great tutorial found on FamilyFun.com.

They have SUPER cake ideas!

and often show videos of how to do it.

I just looked at a picture of SCOOP and tried to adapt this tutorial to recreate him.

The toughest part was trying to frost a twinkie!

Definately freeze them first!!

All the kids and parents met us at the free splash pad in town.

It was very warm and the kids loved the water.

I brought colouring sheets and crayons in a dump truck.

and mod podged rocks with our favourite characters to hold down the napkins/plates and papers so they wouldn't fly away.

Lastly, before everyone left, we had a pinata!

here it is after the party still in one piece.

Why?

because it wasn't a pinata you hit--

it had a trap door!!!!

the kids pulled on the caution tape strips one by one.

they fall right out unless you pull the one that opens the door

and WHAM!

Candy for all!!!

the kids and the moms loved it!

I got the idea on familyfun.com as well.

HERE.

but did a few things differently.

the thing that made it the easiest was that I had bought adhesive caution tape at the dollar store.

Saved my butt that tape did!!

and made decorating the park a breeze because I didn't need to "tape" my caution tape.

It just stuck to whatever I put it on!!

All in all a great day!

And now onto having this baby.....

Here's the SCOOP!

SCOOP the Backhoe that is...

More to come....

that is, if my water doesn't break while throwing a birthday party for my 3 year old!

fingers crossed :)

I may be inspired...

but man,

am I tired!

I see a quilt though...

this one is going to have to wait until after baby is born but

I've got big plans!

teacher appreciation

Pumpkin has officially finished Senior Kindergarten.

How did this happen?

Where did the time go?

Is it possible that she will be in Grade 1 next year??

Wow!

I just realized that....I'm getting old!

Pumpkin's year was a great one.

She grew in stature, goodness, kindness, mind, body and spirit.

She's made friends that have made a difference in her life and shaped her into a forgiving and caring friend.

She's made mistakes and learned from them.

She's become bigger than life.

I wanted to thank her teacher's in a personal way as they have touched Pumpkin in a personal way on her road to becoming who she is.

They have families they love and enjoy family time with. Just as we do in our home.

So what better thing for them to share with their families than

a Super Sundae in a Jar Party!

Layer a large jar (I used a pickle one)

With all sorts of YUMMY sundae toppings...

Our list included peanuts, M&M's, chocolate caramel balls (Rolo's), mini coloured marshmallows, gummie bears and worms, butterscotch chips, sprinkles, toffee bits (Skor bits), mini oreos/cookies, etc....

I made my favourite homemade hot fudge sauce and gourmet peanut butter sauce.

Used scrapbooking papers and some clipart to decorate the jars...don't forget the Mod Podge!

And...VOILA!

All they have to do is dump the toppings in a bowl and add a spoon for easy sprinkling,

warm up some sundae sauces,

add some ice cream, whipped cream and a cherry and they're set!

I think these gifts were a hit!

Goodbye Senior Kindergarten--

HELLO SUMMER!!!