It's time....

Registration is CLOSED on this day Ocotber 9th......

The way it goes down is this..

if you accept this invitation, submit your name in a comment on this post by October 9th. On October 10th I will have hubby draw the names to match everyone with a partner, SECRET partner that is.... I will email you the name of your partner and in your response to my e-mail I will need your snail mail address so your partner can mail you your Secret Santa gift!!! Then the fun begins, as you decide which "Christmas" quilt project you want to make for your partner. ( Table topper, bag, quilt, wall hanging and the list goes on) How exciting is that??? :)))))

Once you have decided which project you are going to make, you may blog about it and leave me a comment on this post but make sure you do not reveal the name of your Secret Santa swap partner...(Ahhhh so many secrets at Christmas time:)

(I hate a post with no eye candy so this fits this post)

This was the gift I made for Kris last year who was my Secret Swap partner...

I have not decided which project I will be making ( I want to wait and see who my partner will be and try to match her likes) but I will definitely be using

"Fruitcake " by Basic Grey.....

now the ground rules...******All Secret Santa Projects must be in the mail by December 1st.******
if for some reason you are unable to fulfill your commitment to the swap by Dec 1st please let me know.. .. It is so important that everyone receive their gifts in a timely fashion so they can enjoy it before the Christmas Season is all over and we do not want anyone to be left without a Secret Santa partner.



Have fun everyone..



"Tis the Season"!!!!


****Important message***** I am still missing some e-mail addresses and one in particular who does not have a blog; meaning I have no way of contacting you! Please forward them to me in an e-mail... Merci!

NOTICE... October 9th/10 The registration for the Secret Santa is now CLOSED...

Update on September projects

which are coming along very well... here is"Synchronized Spinning" well on its way to being half finished..in the "Folk Art " by Buggy Barn.

Most of my time was taken working on this beauty. My "Pumpkin House" ( a Timbleberries by Lynette Jensen)
I really like this piece and it fits perfectly on this wall... I love the fall :)

with its vibrant colors which are starting to come out and Miss Émilie is attracted to the bright colors...

Look for Monday's post...

CGQC Goals for September/October

My long term goal is to work on only one big project.. (i.e. a large size quilt) and a small one (i.e. table topper, wall hanging, schnibbles) at a time. That way, hopefully, they won't get put in the UFO basket... ...

So having said that my goals for September/October will be as follows...

I will continue to work on this project (notice I am not committing to finishing it) Synchronized Spinning ..

For my small project I will make this wall quilt by Timbleberries called Pumpkin House.. (This was on my to-do list last year ). What inspired me to make it this year, is that I have joined the Moda Layer Cake club at the Fat Quarter Shop and this month it was the Awesome by Sandy Gervais ( I love mail)

I will also commit to do some hand quilting on this

my "Two Bits" Schnibbles

I have some travels scheduled so I will bring with me my travel project.. The "Orange Peel" which came with me all the way to San Antonio Texas and will be travelling to Gatineau Quebec at the end of September.

In October I will be travelling again but this time it is a road trip with my sister Simone to Amherst Nova Scotia for the Fibre Festival. The "Orange Peel" will not be coming on this trip as I will be attending a workshop given by designer Karen Neary on this

her Meadow Song Quilt...

In October also, I will assist Kelly with the which also means I will be planning my project for my secret partner.

This is my favourite time of the year and I seem to be more organized and can better commit myself to I have booked regular appointments for massage therapy and at my "Ésthéticienne" , Darlene for facials and pedicures even though I will soon have to put these on

and these will be put in the back of the shoe closet!Since Hurricane Earl our weather is much cooler therefore Hubby is in the process of closing the pool for the winter so I am committed to these and going out every morning for a brisk one hour walk ....

Of course activities with family and friends are always priorities ...and a big part of my "Serenity" and self care.

It was a binding day!

My first "Maritme Beauty" designed Karen Neary from Nova Scotia but not my last.. loved making it and want to get more experience with paper piecing.

and I finished my quilt.."Gatherings" designed by Jan Patek
with fabric "Blessings" by (Brannock and Patek)!

I am so excited because I am going forward into the fall with no UFOs in my basket..... only some new projects which will be in my post for my September/October goals later.

Maritime Beauty...

and what a beauty this pattern is.....by designer.. Karen Neary from Nova Scotia. I had this project on my to-do list since October last year. I bought it at the workshop I had attended by Karen and looked at it, I can almost bet, every month, wanting to get to it. You know when you have a bit of anxiety when faced with a new procedure in a quilt project? Well I admit that was the reason I kept putting it off. Then one day, I was visiting Karen's site and I saw the Maritime Beauty made by Linda . I left her a comment and she e-mailed me back saying how much fun she had making it. So with that inspiration the fear left me and here is my first Maritime Beauty I made it into a runner for a specific table.
and I used the last of my Birchwood lane fabric! ( I really don't know what I was thinking when I purchased all that fabric. There just didn't seem to be an end to it)

I love my table runner and I am looking at ways to quilt it. I will post it again when I have it all done! The pattern is so easy to follow and fun to make. Every time I have made a paper piecing project I have really enjoyed it yet I go through that element of anxiety before attempting it.

Speaking of quilting...the CGQC theme for the next two months is

I have very limited experience with this topic as I have my faithful friend, Agnes, who looks after all the hand quilting on my big projects. I am so grateful to her for all the wonderful work she does on my quilts and it is inspiring me to do some hand quilting. I have made this a goal ..."to learn how to hand quilt properly". ..more experienced quilters tell me ... 9 stitches to the inch?..

I am reading books...
and enjoying all the designs one can make on a quilt..wow!

I especially like to visit the Amish Quilt site and look at the stitching close up.. wow!

I am also venturing into machine quilting although I am not into long arm quilting, just standard machine quilting.. I enjoy doing the stippling but again the element of fear has stopped me from going further into the free motion quilting. That is why I signed up for the

So that is where I am at with the quilting and my hope is that I will one day do all the quilting on my projects........

Yesterday being a holiday .. I picked up a new project
I choose the "Buggy Barn".... "Folk Art" Fabric...

and cut all my pieces...

then as the evening wore off I relaxed with a good "new"book


and what a book it is.. and another Canadian designer ....Cheryl Wall....

My goal is to make each and everyone of the quilts in this book. I was inspired to do this by our friend CG Darlene who made all the projects in the Schnibbles Times Two and since she challenged herself to do that I have been waiting for a book that would let me set that exact same goal. I found it!!!

When I told hubby about my goal he said, "So that would be, what, a two year project?" My answer, "no deadline just one project at a time"!