Homework.

The "3 Of Us" (Linda, Tracey and I )got together a couple of weekends ago to laugh, chat, eat, drink champagne, and make our monthly Sweetwater Label Crew project. I was a bit slack...I did the first four, but was totally NOT organised to work on my project...so found myself with some homework to catch up on :)

I loved the Pure fabric that the sample was made in over on the Sweetwater blog, so ordered myself a kit.

No matching of fabrics required...

...although I did add the brown flower and button on the "marker" pouch, and used some fabric from my stash for the binding.

Love that I could personalize it with my matching name label!

I usually HATE doing the binding on any project, but may just have discovered my secret to happiness and binding satisfaction...dark coloured, patterned binding! It disguises any imperfections, and makes me soooo much happier with the final product. Expect to see this again LOL!

While I'm here, I must tell you about my boy.

My poor, sick boy. He has been struggling with the flu since returning from school camp earlier in the week, but has endured training each day since in order to compete at the West Australian State Championships this weekend. He won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal in the State competition today, but had to withdraw from the Elite Competition tonight. He has the UTA Championships bright and early in the morning, so we're hoping an early night might see him well enough to compete...he'll be so disappointed if he can't!

Fingers crossed :)

TTFN xxx

Hello Ruby...

...so very pleased to meet you in real life!

More fabric???? you may be thinking. I know, I know...you don't have to say it. BUT my little jelly roll stack is looking ever so pretty LOL.

A little progress has been made on Tis The Season...

Nine blocks down, only three to go!

And with six months to go until Christmas, it may just be finished for this years' celebrations!

Have a great Friday

TTFN xxx

Wednesday words...

Lately, I've been pinning a lot of wise words on pinterest. These are the ones that are really "speaking" to me today....

Something to think about, huh? And these simple words can be applied to so many aspects of my life right now :) Like my healthy eating plan (what healthy eating plan?)....and my new exercise regime (yeah, right)...and this little thought that keeps popping into my head...

Have you seen this project happening around the blogosphere? It seems that almost every quilting blogger that I visit is taking part in a quilt-a-long involving this book (my favourite blocks so far are here and here). The book has sat in my wishlist at the Book Depository

for weeks, until I finally succumbed to temptation today, dusted off my credit card, and took a deep,deep breath...only to find that it's now sold out!

Perhaps the universe is trying to tell me something :)

Have a great day!

TTFN xxx

Six...and yes, we ARE counting :)

The other morning I was sitting at the breakfast table with my gorgeous girls, enthusiastically telling them about the stitching I had completed the night before. Lydia looked a little puzzled, and finally said, " Which quilt is that for again, Mummy?"

I told her the answer, and after pondering on that for a moment, she asked the question that every multi-tasking, bite-off-more-than-you-can-chew, queen-of-the-UFO quilter dreads.

"How many quilts are you actually making at the moment Mummy?"

Hmmmm...awkward. Let's count them, shall we?

There's A Gardeners Journal...

...which I really don't think should count, because the top is finished. It's currently at the quilters, but will require binding and a quilt label on it's return. OK...technically not finished. That's one.

There's my Tis The Season stitch-a-long quilt...


...I am currently cruising along, keeping up with the programmed number of blocks, and about halfway finished. That's two.

There's my Bliss quilt that I haven't really shared much about yet. I'm using a pattern from Camille Roskelley's Simplify book and a jelly roll of her fabric Bliss. It's a pieced quilt, and I'm probably about 1/3 of the way through piecing the blocks.

They are sitting on my desk at the moment.
That's three.

There's this quilt called A Farmers Daughter....

...which I'm using to practice my free motion quilting on. The top itself has been finished for years. I'm actually surprised that the quilting pins that are holding the top, backing and batting together haven't rusted :) I pulled this one out of my UFO pile earlier in the year, but found the quilting process a bit hot in the middle of summer....but now it's winter, so I probably have no excuses.

That's four.

Little Bluebirds...hmmmm.

I was going SO well on this one....and then got to the final border, and ran out of fabric. I'm about 30cm short. Hate that! This morning I have trawled the internet, made phone calls both locally and interstate, and have finally located the fabric I need (thank goodness!) so it will be making it's way across the country to me very soon. Completion may be imminent.

That's five.

And we all know the final one...A Family Gathering. I won't bore you with another photo of that today, but am currently working on my June blocks...I'll show you when they're done :)

That's six.

So...what's your number? Please share...I dare you!

TTFN xxx

P.S. I probably should clarify something. These are my current quilts...quilts that I have done some work on in the last 6 months or so. The real list of actual quilts-in-progress is WAY too scary to share LOL!

Baking with Moda

A little mid-week inspiration arrived in my letterbox today...

...my much anticipated copy of Fresh Fabric Treats from the Moda Bake Shop. This book contains 16 projects, all sewn from one or more of the pre-cuts available from Moda.

In the introduction, Mark Dunn (owner and president of Moda) credits precuts with reviving the quilting industry, and I really couldn't agree more. They make the process of creating a quilt so much more fun...having every piece of a fabric range at your fingertips is great, not to mention the decorator appeal of a jelly roll :) Pre-cuts have certainly revived my passion for quilting!

If you've never visited the Moda Bake Shop...you really should! Lots of inspiration, all available for free and in an instant. Gotta love that! For me though, a new quilting book is always irresistable :)

Off to do a little reading...and a little dreaming...

TTFN xxx

Light at the end of the tunnel.

There's no doubting it...there have been times this year when I felt like I would never feel like myself again. There have been many changes, adjustments and re-adjustments going on all around me, and to be quite honest, I was becoming resigned to the sad reality that sewing, and baking, and cardmaking, and scrapbooking were things that would have to take a MAJOR backseat in my busy life.

And for a few months now, they have.

Gone are the days when I could scrap every day, and bake when I felt like it, maintain a tidy house and take my time with things. Being a working Mum-to-three and wife-to-one is hectic! I've quickly come to the conclusion that working 5 days per week is not for me...and that slipping back to my original 3 days per week is much much better :)

Today, for the first time in ages...I am feeling a little bit more like the old me. The aromas of fresh-baked cookies (and slices) are filling my house, dinner is bubbling away in the slow cooker, I've seen the bottom of my ironing basket (just briefly, but it was there!) and I've even done a little crafting.


This card was inspired by one in Cards January 2011 issue by Lea Lawson. I love it's simplicity. I love it's red polkadots. And I love that I could just play around without the pressure of having to make a card because the recipients birthday is today! (or even yesterday...gulp) This one is for my sweet niece, and her birthday isn't for a couple of weeks yet!

I've completed another stitchery for my Tis The Season Stitch-a-long too...this little quilt is coming together quite easily, as the blocks only take a night or two to complete.

So it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel...and I don't have to pack away my cup measures and double-sided tape just yet.

And that, my dear bloggy friends, is a very big relief :)

TTFN xxx

Persistence.

So...sometimes it isn't love at first sight :)

Sometimes you have to work through those initial feelings of blah when you first see the big picture...and go for cute touches that will (hopefully) inspire feelings of love.

Touches like cute silver earrings...




...and whole turkey complete with leg :) , and cute little girls with pigtails...

...and satin-stitched cherries atop giant-sized cakes.

And slowly...after many stitches...that little seed of love might start to sprout :)

If you have no idea what I am babbling on about...scroll down a few posts and all will be explained :)

And if you commented on that particular post...

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT!

TTFN xxx

Is that what I think it is?

A card? A hand made card?

Why yes...it is!

OK...to be fair...it is a "lift" of a card featured in the January 2011 issue of Cards magazine by Courtney Kelley. I love stars on boy cards, and you all know how much I love red polka dots and turquoise and lime green :) so I thought it would be a good starting point to get back into cardmaking (it's been a while, huh?)

Might have to make a couple more of these...my card stash could use a boost!

Happy Saturday!

TTFN xxx

Spoiled!

Spoiled...with a beautiful, delicious to-die-for cupcake which was almost too good to eat.

Spoiled...with a great new camera which unfortunately ran out of battery...which meant I had to use my old point-and-shoot to take the photos of the cupcake.

Will you laugh at me if I admit that I was so keen to eat that cupcake that I took my first bite before I checked the photos that I had taken...and then it was too late!

Note to self...always check the photo quality before you consume the photo subject.

LOL

TTFN xxx

P.S. Long weekend here in Perth...I see some sewing in my future ;)

Little pleasures.

A hot cup of tea, a piece of store-bought mud cake :) and this....


...little pleasures are sometimes the nicest!

What little pleasure have you indulged in today?


TTFN xxx