What a year!!!

The bad stuff:

2 bad bouts of teething, 4 colds, a febrile convulsion, 2 chest infections, conjunctivitis and a broken ankle

....and that's just the little man.

For us two there has been Curly Boy losing his job for the 2nd time this year, a burglary, my Mum being pretty poorly and been in hospital for a week or 2, 2 bouts of gastroenteritis, flu, chest/sinus infection and 5 colds

But the wonderful news is that....

The little man has now settled beautifully, has had a ton of fun, met some lovely new people and found some little friends, has grown 2 1/2 inches and gained a kilo, had his 2nd birthday and has finally started saying a few words.

Best of all, we have now got to know and love the loveliest little boy ever. He's bright, lively, mischievous, funny, handsome, sweet and affectionate.
We love you little man!

How time flies!

There has been a ton of stuff going on that i couldn't or didn't want to talk about, and that as that was all taking up just about every waking thought then there didn't seem to be anything left to tell. I can and want to share some of it now, and wanted to tell you about our exciting news.

We are finally going to be parents! Yes, us!!! :-)

We were approved to adopt in September last year (after a gruelling 6 months of weekly 2 to 3 hour visits from the Social Worker!) and just before Christmas we were matched with a little boy who is now just 18 months old. The week before last it the match was finally approved by the Matching Panel and last week finally signed of by the Head of Children's services. So it's finally all official now :-)

Tomorrow we finally get to meet him and i just can't tell you how excited we are. Our road to parenthood has been one hell of an emotional roller coaster and we still have to pinch ourselves to remind ourselves that it really IS happening! Although there are plenty of reminders around the house....

Our guest bedroom (which is no longer a guest bedroom!) that Curly Boy has done an amazing job with...











The Dr Suess quilt still hanging over the door waiting to be finished...



And last but most definitely not least, the beautiful things that dear friends have been making...





I think we are going to gibbering wrecks tomorrow - but in a good way of course. Wish us luck!!!

Thanks so much for your help!!

Thank you all so much for your heart warming donations and participation in our first { Modern } Relief fundraiser in support of World Vision’s efforts to end hunger!

We have now collected an amazing $5700.00!!

Tonight at 12:00pm PST (12/1/10) we will officially close this raffle, however you can locate information regarding World Vision efforts and how you can continue to support their mission throughout the entire year through their website at http://www.worldvision.org/.

We will be announcing the winners and Grand Total of the Raffle within the next 2 weeks!

Thanks again!

Modern Relief.

{ Modern } Relief is a simple concept. We are Modern Quilters uniting through the holiday season by bringing the warmth of our quilts and the warmth of your hearts together for others in need. This season, 2010, we will be supporting World Vision. We hope YOU will join us in taking a stand against hunger by participating in our fundraising raffle. Please let me introduce to you World Vision.

World Vision is leading the effort to end hunger.

In the next seven seconds, another hungry child will die.

World Vision is on the front lines of the fight against hunger. Today — and every day — we’ll distribute nearly 600 metric tons of emergency food aid, nourishing the hungry. We’ll give local farmers the seeds, tools, and training they need to grow their own food and feed their own communities. And we will plead the cause of the hungry in halls of power all over the world.

Please join us in creating a world without hunger — a world in which no child dies for want of nutritious food. This site offers in-depth information on hunger, its causes, and how it can be stopped. You can learn more about key hunger-related issues and share what you discover with friends and family. Use this link to begin your journey.

Please meet the members of this season’s event and view their donations that they have generously provided to this fundraiser raffle.

Heather from { House } of A La Mode

Amy from Amy's Creative Side

Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson!

Nettie from a quilt is nice

Aneela from Comfortstitching

Brioni from Flossyblossy

John from Quilt Dad

Kate from One Flew Over

Ashley from Film in the Fridge

Katy from i'm a ginger monkey

Tacha from Hanies

Amanda from Sasikirana Handmade

Jennifer & Jessica from Twin Fibers

Nova from a cuppa and a catch up

Ryan from I'm Just A Guy Who Quilts

Julie from Jaybird QuiltsJacquie from Tallgrass Prairie Studio

Alissa from Handmade by Alissa



The Guidelines:

- To enter this raffle please click on the PayPal button, this will bring you to the { Modern } Relief PayPal account.
- The cost to enter this Raffle is $10.00 per entry.
- Entries are unlimited, so please feel free to give till your heart’s content.
- Winners of the raffle will be chosen by a random generator on December 1st, 2010.
- Each { Modern } Relief Quilter participating in this event will post the entire list of winners for the donated quilts on their blogs during the second week of December and the grand total of our contributions to this cause.
- Additionally, they will also contact their personal winners at that time too.

We THANK you!

Wow - i wasn't expecting to be AWOL as long as it turned out to be.

I have got so much to share so i think I'm just going keep everything short so that the post doesn't get so long that you fall asleep halfway through, and i can get up to date quickly!
This is what has been keeping me occupied.

Fat Quarterly.



The tree skirt was made for the FQ Holiday Issue/All about Christmas Swap. Tree skirts aren't that common in the UK so i jumped at the chance of making one. I am pretty chuffed with it and it now resides with Kendra, and thankfully she loves it.

If you fancy making your own, want some inspiration for cute things to decorate your home for the Holidays, or wanting ideas for Christmas gifts, the Holiday Special Issue has gone on sale today and is available here.

Doll Quilt Swap 9.



The first pic is the doll quilt i sent to Cherri and the second pic is what i received from Upstatelisa. I LOVE it and squealed quite a lot when it arrived, and have spent many an hour stroking it. Thanks Lisa!

Urban Home Goods Swap.



Again, the first pic is what i sent to Isa and the second pic is what i received! My partner Kellie lives in New Zealand and made these wonderful things for me during the earthquakes. Thank you so much Kellie!

Birthday Trip

It was my birthday in early October and we spent 2 days in the most beautiful part of England, Northumberland. We spent Friday at my 1st favourite place in the world (Lindisfarne Castle) and Saturday at my 2nd favourite place in the world (Cragside).



We stayed at an absolutely beautiful B&B and spent the evening with my oldest friend and her husband and their 7 month old Airedale terrier called Connie (the doggy in the picture), eating fish and chips straight out the box in front of the log fire. Doesn't get much better than that!

Another thank you...and a winner!!

Thank you for all the lovely and generous comments. They made my heart sing. You all know how to make a girl feel loved and for that, i love you all back!!!
I really wish i had a pile of fabric for all of you.

Anyhow, the random number generator has picked a winner...



...and that winner is Reinojacheguei!!

Thank you for taking the time to comment and I will e-mail you for your address so i can get the fabrics in the post to you!

Giveaway and Thank You!

Fancy some fabric?

My 1 year blogaversary (how do you spell that???) passed without affair as I’m not one who celebrates anniversaries in a big way.

I started my blog and joined Flickr just over a year ago, and what a year! I’ve had a really rough few years and i think i can say that the last year has probably been the best year i have ever had (Well, except if I’d have won the lottery or something!).

Being part of the online community has been the most amazing experience for me. Quilting (certainly in the UK) is a fairly solitary hobby and I think we now take the Internet for granted, but to inspire and be inspired by quilters all over the world is just the most amazing thing ever. I have met people how i never would have got the opportunity to meet otherwise, joined a ton of online quilting bees, co-founded Fat Quarterly, and the confidence i have gained from the wonderfully sweet and funny comments both here and on Flickr has been immense and made me realise that actually I’m not too bad at this quilting malarkey!

So rather than celebrating an anniversary i would prefer to say Thank You, and what better way to do that than with fabric.
There’s nothing especially fancy in the pile, i just picked a few FQs from my local fabric shop. There’s a bit of Anna Maria Horner, Alexander Henry, a bit of what i think might be Tanya Whelan, some other random fabrics that played nicely with them, and the bottom ones are long quarters of Tilda fabric.

If you fancy this little pile then just leave me a lil note saying whatever you fancy by the end of the 14th August, and I’ll randomly pick a winner on Sunday 15th August.
If you fancy a 2nd entry, sign up to follow my blog or add it to your blog reader then leave me anther comment to tell me.
Those of you who have already left comments previously, you will automatically get an extra entry – as an extra thank you goes to you!!!!