New Pattern Release - High Tea

I am pleased to present my latest pattern release High Tea.  It features stitchery and paper piecing.  If you would like your local quilt shop to stock this pattern please have them contact me.  

15 Minute Challenge

I did pretty good this week I think there was only one day where I didn't sew.

I have started working on the Starburst Quilt from Kathy's book as well as nearly finished the hand quilting and I am hoping to have that finished by the weekend.  It has been humid here the last few days and the quilting is at a stage where I need the whole quilt on my lap to finish which isn't very comfortable so it has slowed up a pace, however it will be cooler today and I am hoping tonight will be better.

Can't believe it is the end of February already, I'll have a pattern release at the end of the month so pop back and have a look around Thursday.  It might be the only one for a while as I am taking a bit of a forced break while I am studying (passed my first subject so yeah me).

I have 6 of the starburst blocks cut out all except the outer edge, I think I will get the centres all done and then work out what to use to pull the blocks all together with the backgrounds.

I think it is going to end up being very yellow/orange in the end which is a big departure for me but I have decided this quilt is not going to be safe.

Down to the run down the week went like this:

Wednesday:  Coffee with the girls (no sew)
Thursday: quilting
Friday: quilting
Saturday: quilting
Sunday: starburst blocks cut out
Monday: quilting and more fabric came in the post and I cut out the blue block in the first photo.
Tuesday: quilting but not much because it was just too hot.

How'd you go this week.  Kate has a wrap of the month today.

Favourite Things Friday

Ok this one is a bit weird but my favourite thing for weeks now has been this ever decreasing ball of pearl cotton.  The picture is probably at a point when it was past its cuteness, but once I got passed the bit when the cardboard fell out of the top I've been admiring its petite perfection.  Very sad I know, but it also means I have done lots and lots of quilting and my quilting is almost at an end. I think I am going to have to start on a new ball soon because there isn't much left now I might even get to have another perfect small ball to admire again.

Head to Mrs P who is loving the weekends at the moment and the thrill of starting something new.  

15 Minute Challenge

 Last week there was lots of heavy lifting, lots of out with the old and just plain getting rid of stuff that in a lifetime of sewing I'm not going to get to.  There have been a few sales on ebay and I have a bag hanging from the back of the sewing room door with a few more selected items.  But the room is pretty much tidied and ready for me to get back into sewing and creating.  Here is the before shot it was about at the halfway mark.

On Saturday afternoon I opened my first Mixed Media Kit for the year and actually finished the project (in the last picture it is sitting on the centre of the 2 draws).    All the while seated at my sewing table without having to move my spinning storage which is now pretty full so I really don't want to do it.

I now have my 2 rotating storage on the sewing table, the sewing one is next to the sewing machine and the mixed media one is on the other side of the table.  I have moved the iron station to the other end of the table simply because when Squid comes out to sit with me and play in the sewing room I would always have to get her to move out of the way when I wanted to iron.  I think this set up is more workable.  

I even escaped on Sunday to write a paper the last assignment for my current subject in the course that I am studying and I was able to get it all done quite successfully from the sewing table with no noise apart from itunes from the ipod dock.  The final paper was to write a business case for a piece of equipment  for the organisation that I work for.  To be honest we don't need another piece of equipment in our office, so I had the idea to do a business case to purchase a Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen for Seabreeze Quilts now all I have to do is leave it around for hubby to check out and we might be able to add it to the loan for the Kitchen Reno (mind you I probably don't have a hope in hell of either happening after we got the first quote yesterday).

Better get on with the challenge the week went like this:

Wednesday: Hand Quilting
Thursday: Nadda but I did do a load of unloading on the sewing room reorg.
Friday: Hand Quilting
Saturday: Mixed Media Project
Sunday: Final touches to mixed media project and business case for Sweet Sixteen (I'm counting that)
Monday: hand quilting
Tuesday: hand quilting

Head on over to Kate's to see who else met the challenge this week.

Favourite Thing Friday

I was going to do a different FTF this week but because it is a bit late and I wasn't organised I will leave it for another week... when I will probably be less organised.

The great sewing room cleanup is complete and I can now go back to creating in there more than just a mess.  The one thing this week that has got me through all the clean up is my Favourite Thing this week.  It was a birthday present.

I have been wanting to get a digital radio for a while now and hubby and I went shopping to look for one and then I saw one with an ipod dock and I thought I would get the best of both worlds.  I found this little Sony number in a few shops but I decided I didn't quite like the price tag, it was around $200.  I said to DH before we jump in let me do a little research online. I ended up finding it for sale for $118 with free shipping.

It is now sitting pride of place on the cupboards in my sewing room, and I have the choice of radio stations or listing to my music collection.  Today I downloaded Lisa Mitchell's and Sarah Blasko's latest albums and I mixed them into a playlist with Babel and Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons.  Out in my sewing room there is no one to complain about my selection of music and if I want to listen to Triple J or Triple J Unearthed I can.

The Boss texted me this afternoon to say the wheels had fallen off at work and I had better bring a hip flask to get me through Monday OH WHAT JOY, glad I am feeling relaxed today.

Head on over to Mrs P to see what her favourite for the week is.

15 Minute Challenge

I'm a bit late this week.  Yesterday it was my birthday and I had to go to lunch with a friend down at Glenelg (hard life I know but someone has to do it), take Maestro to footy practice (what the! we are still at tennis 4 times a week) and then the family went out for tea.

Here we are walking off tea.  It was lovely down the beach the air was quite balmy, this picture was taken just after 8pm.  

I have made lots of inroads into the quilting of Squids quilt this week and the end in sight for the great sewing room clean up.  There have been a couple of loads of magazines sent to various locations and I have cancelled a couple of subscriptions, patterns have gone to the op shop and I have a pile of fabric to go to local patchwork group at the church.  There is also a heap of stuff to go to a dogs home for bedding.  I can just about walk freely round the sewing table, and I can even see some of the table now that will be my task tomorrow morning.  And I might even be able to show a photo next week.  

So the week went like this:

Wednesday: Hand quilting

Thursday: Hand Quilting / sewing room tidy up

Friday: HandQuilting

Saturday: Hand Quilting / sewing room tidy up

Sunday: Hand Quilting / sewing room tidy up

Monday: sewing room tidy up

Tuesday: sewing room tidy up.  

Head on over to Kate's to see who else met the challenge this week.  

Favourite Things Friday

Every year I a plan to have a week off in February when the kids go back to school, and every year I decide that work is too busy and it will probably just take me a month to catch up.  This time I got the boss to pencil it into his calendar to make sure that he didn't have to go interstate and then when he came back from leave I put in my leave form.  He approved my leave and within days he was told he had to fly to Sydney for a couple of days but he still let me have the week off.  So my favourite thing friday this week is Holidays.  The kids are back at school, DH is back at work and I have a week (5 x 6 hours) of my time well not quite because I have to take Maestro to the Orthodontist on Thursday.  

The to do list goes like this:

The big sewing room clean out is getting finished so I can actually do some sewing

There will be an outing on my birthday

I have 3 assignments to finish on my current subject 

A Chiro visit because of No 1 on the list

Coco is going to get a few trips down the beach for a nice long walk

and if all goes well I will be able to do the first project on this years Mixed Media Kit.

I leave you with a picture of Coco.  This is actually the best picture we have ever taken of her as she just doesn't have any contrast and until now none of our camera's have managed it.   Squid got a new Nixon camera for her birthday and it takes a really good shot I might be borrowing it when she is not around.  

Head over to Mrs P to see who else has a favourite thing this friday.

15 Minute Challenge

Here we are again another week has whizzed by.  It has been pretty boring picture wise on the challenge front, I can't give you another snap of the quilt in the frame.

Weekend sport started this week, and with the kids going back to school my son is already asking if he can do school footy this winter as well as club footy on top of Karate.  As my daughter is looking forward to winter tennis we are going to be busy from next term on.  Club footy practice is bound to start in March.

Today I off loaded some of my off casts from the sewing room.  A heap of magazines and dress patterns went to the op shop.  Leanne took possession of a couple of bags of wool and I am trying to off load some kits and books on Ebay.  A heap of novels went to the Rotary book shop on the weekend.  The sad thing is I still can't see my sewing table it is under a big pile of shifted stuff.

I'm on leave next week and I am hoping that I can get it all organised by mid next week (it is probably wishful thinking.  I did take a panoramic picture on my phone mid chaos but I am too ashamed to show that to anyone lol.

The challenge went like this:

Wednesday - hand quilting
Thursday - hand quilting
Friday - hand quilting
Saturday - hand quilting - destashing
Sunday - hand quilting - destashing
Monday - nothing I needed a rest
Tuesday - I'm hoping to get to the frame soon if I don't fall asleep.

Head on over to Kate's to see who else met the challenge this week.

Favourite Thing Friday

My favourite thing is simply this.

THE KIDS ARE BACK AT SCHOOL

Yesterday was my first day on my own for a whole 6 or was it 7 weeks.  I really didn't know what to do with myself for the first 20 minutes, hubby decided to do the housework on Wednesday and he really does a better job than me.  The next thought was that I probably could get some study done as the computer is free there is no Minecraft being played or FaceTime happening.  So some uninterrupted study happened then I went to the fruit and veg shop to restock, headed home and picked up a DVD (The Awakening) sat and did some hand quilting watch a bit of the DVD waiting for a Kitchen Guy  come over to measure up the kitchen to see how much we need to contribute to world debt to get that done and then I finished the DVD and it was time to pick the kids up again.

Head over to Mrs P who has a very sophisticated FTF.