In preparation for tomorrow...

The seeds are roasted and the pumpkins are carved...Just about ready for tomorrow :o)

Just call me Mrs. Flimsy!

Well the crumbs consumed me and I just couldn't finish the week without making a few more blocks. I added them to some string blocks I had made earlier this summer and added a few borders to make a finished top measuring 40" square. It will be another one for Project Linus. This now means I have 10 tops waiting to be quilted...I think that is a record for me.

Run Run as fast as you can...

You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!

Well I've managed to get 25 of them caught up in this quilt top for Project Linus. Don't they look like they are dancing! These guys have been on my to-do list since July. Now I just have to get them basted (or tacked for you Brits :o) and quilted. This week is half term so I'm hoping to get some good chunks of time to sew in between entertaining my 2 daughters...best laid plans and all that!

Turning lemons into lemonade..

...or scraps into blocks. Yesterday turned out to be rather productive in the sewing department. I managed to get the last of my Project Linus gingerbread blocks finished..including their faces! I have decided I really really don't like embroidery of any kind, but was really grateful that Leanne Beasley emailed me a few months ago and told me about the backstitch. It was far easier than stem stitch or chain stitch and worked really well for their mouths.

I also got to start on some Crumb Chaos blocks (as made popular Patti! Thanks Patti!) They are great fun to sew...and I can see why they have been so popular with so many people! As you can see I've stuck to just blues and I'm going to add these to some other scrappy blocks that I made early this year. I'm hoping to get a few more rounds done on them today and post more pictures as I make progress.

As I was stitching away, a lovely package arrived in the post from Kate. I was the lucky winner of her star book giveaway. I've already had a flip through and it's a lovely book with great variations for each star.

Lastly, I wanted to share this picture taken in my garden this morning. (Click on it to see all the detail) I've been in the UK for 6 years and every autumn I'm mesmerized by the spider webs that appear when you get fog or mist in the morning. Just fantastic!

TTFN and have a good weekend!

Four things..and 100 posts!

I had such great plans for my 100th post, but this week hasn't exactly panned out the way I had hoped. You know that when you send your little ones off to school that they might learn a thing or two...perhaps some Math, English, and some manners...like how to be kind and share. It's this last skill that I need to fine tune..we share our toys, the remote to the TV.... but we DON'T share the germs we get from school! We don't give them to Mommy and make her have a poorly tummy!! Yes folks, unfortunately my daughter (age 4) decided to share something with me that she caught at school and as a result I have lost a few days. I'm just about keeping my head above water, but had my day turned upside down when I had to collect DD2 from school at lunch time as she made a "dramatic exit" I won't give you any details...I'm sure you can all figure it out on your own :o)

On to nicer things...Karol-Ann tagged me for this meme..so sit back you may get even more information than you wanted!

4 jobs I have had:
*I've worked at Dunkin Donuts
*I worked in a pet store..my department was the rodent dept. so I know a thing or two about hamsters!
*I sold computers before the time of Pentiums and even told customers that computers would never get faster than they were in 1993!
*Currently, I work as a Playgroup Assistant and a lunch time supervisor for a nursery (technically that's 2, but I'm counting it as one)

4 films I could watch over and over:
*Singing in the Rain
*How to make an American Quilt
*Anne of Green Gables Series
*Pride and Prejudice (the original with Colin Firth...grrr :o)

4 TV shows I watch:
*Lost
*Heroes
*Ugly Betty (drives the DH nuts!)
*Top Gear (the comedy between Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson is fantastic..and I could care less about the cars!!)

4 places I have lived:
*Montreal, Quebec, Canada
*Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
*London, England
*Rugby, Warwickshire, England

4 favorite foods:
*dark chocolate (Lindor is my favourite)
*wine (ok it's not a food per say...but I do like a nice glass of red wine)
*avocado..no salad is complete without it
*hearts of palm...yummy! Either you know about it or you don't, but it's in the canned section of the grocery store near the hearts of artichoke (it's a bit like artichoke) and is great in salad.
(Not bad..2/4 are healthy foods :o)

4 favorite colors:
*Blue
*Purple
*Red
*Gold

4 places I'd love to be right now:
*In the middle of a big quilting shop with a £500 voucher!
*In front of my sewing machine, with the dinner cooked and 5 hours of free time!
*On holiday with my DH (without kids...sorry DD1 and DD2)
*At a spa..I'm guessing that would be fun..though I've never tried it!

4 names I love but could/would not use for my children:
*Arthur (after my Dad..) didn't get to use it as I have girls!
*Isabel (mine and my sister's middle name.. as do many others in the family. It was my grandmother's name and she was very well liked. Didn't use it as it's been used a lot!)
*Jane (I like my name..but could never have a Jane Jr!)
*Edward (one of my father's middle names)

4 people I'd love to tag with this Meme: (don't think you've been tagged)
Linda
Kate
Fiona
Sarah Jayne

As for my 100th post, I will do a give-away, but it might be delayed a bit..or I might wait and do a grand one for my bloganniversary in November.

TTFN,

Quilting Progess and Your Tips

Just thought I'd share my progress with my Autumn quilt. (sorry the picture is a little dark) It's in the frame and I'm quilting using perle cotton size 8 and the "big" stitch...though it's not always easy to remember to stitch big when you are used to trying to stitch small :o) Many of you some left some great tips in the comments on my previous post on how to mark such a colourful quilt and I thought I'd share them with you as many people don't go back and read the comments. Vicki, Shelina and Anne all suggested using freezer paper or press and seal to make the sunflowers to quilt around..which I have and it's working great! Sarah Jayne reminding me about watercolour pencils for marking on all the different fabrics...which again is working great. And Lynda (Granny K) told me about marking as I go..which so far is working really well too! Patti suggested using a solid coloured backing and marking and quilting from the back...which is a rather clever idea, but as my backing is busy too, it wasn't something I could use on this quilt.
Now all I need is time to actually quilt!

Thanks again to all of you for your advice!

Basting a Quilt instead of a Canadian Turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends! As you all know we don't do Thanksgiving on this side of the Atlantic...but seeing as I'm a Canadian, I had to baste something!!!...so I basted my Autumn quilt. You might remember it from here and here. I decided to baste it using Sharon Schamber's method using two lengths of wood. You can see her 2 part video here..scroll down and it's the 23rd and 24th videos from the top. Sally mentioned it a while back on her blog and I had bookmarked it for future reference. I have to say I'm really impressed and will definitely use this method again...it sure was easier than crawling around on the floor!