Mug Rug Swap

I was recently involved in a mug rug swap with my online quilting group.  I was lucky enough to recieve this gorgeous mug rug from Bec . I love the little bunny and the tents, so cute, thanks Bec!

This is the one I made for Rachel.  I forgot to take a photo of it finished so have grabbed this one from Rachels blog...hope thats ok Rach!    Pop over there if you would like to see some photos of it in action...her stunning photgraphs and captivating writing make it a lovely place to visit!

I really enjoyed the process of making such a small manageable project, so when it was my good friend Nells birthday this week, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for her - A mug rug of course!  I grabbed a pile of scraps in her favourite colour combo, and this is the result.  I love the effect of the echo quilting around the hand pieced star.  Happy Birthday Nell!

A finish for February - 12 WIP's in 2012

After failing to finish any thing for January, I'm excited to say I did get a finish for this month. "Sweet Dreams" is the quilt I made for Jacintas 4th birthday. It is a single bed size and she loves it <3

Partially quilted...

 Drying on the line...

She slept under it that night...

a beach holiday

Last week was spent relaxing at the beach house at Pt Elliott.  We all went down on the Saturday and Sunday, then because Craig had to work all week, he and Caleb came back home Monday.  I had a couple of very relaxing days with Nathn, Isaac & Jacinta and then met a friend a Strath and picked Caleb back up Wednesday afternoon.  Thursday Ali and the kids arrived, Friday night Craig returned and Saturday morning Peter finally made it.  I had lots of photos to share, but blogger wont play nice, so if you would like to see waht we got upto then here is a link to an album Ive upoaded to facebook - enjoy!!!
CLICK HERE to see the photos.

12 WIPs in 2012

WIP challenge 2012...getting some things finished.



AJ is hosting a challenge through her blog to get a some of our unfinished items done - one a month for this year - I'm up for the challenge. Click on the button above to get all the details on how to join up from her blog.

* Nathans train and animal quilt, top completed (was supposed to be for his 5th birthday...mmmmm he is now 13 oops!)
* Scrap bag quilt, top completed.
* Purple quilt, add borders to top (was destined for Quilts for QLD, so hurry up and finish and send it, or finish and donate it somewhere else)
* Hunky Dory D9P blocks to make into a quilt top
* Dark country fabric blocks (which I no longer like) - do something with!
* Jacinta's single bed quilt - already cut (try and finish for her birthday)
* Isaac's single bed quilt - designed and waiting for the final cutting to be done
* Crochet blanket...keep on slogging away!

edited to add
* Lily & Will charm square quilt - top needs borders added

I will add to this list as I come across more WIP !

One little word

Ive been thinking for days about which word to choose as my 'one little word' for 2012.   I'd almost decided to bring Balance through to this year, I still don't feel like Ive achieved what I set out to last year in regards to this word.  This morning I commented on another blog about her choice of word and joked that I was sure my word would probably find me.  Only a few hours later it did. My word for 2012 is
EXPLORE
ex·plore

   /ɪkˈsplɔr, -ˈsploʊr/ Show Spelled [ik-splawr, -splohr] 

verb 

1. to traverse or range over (a region, area, etc.) for the purpose of discovery: to explore the island.

2. to look into closely; scrutinize; examine: Let us explore the possibilities for improvement.

2012 will see Jacinta start at Kindergarten 2 full days a week, Isaac will be in year one, and both Caleb & Nathan will be at high school.  It will be the year I need to begin thinking about my transition from being a SAHM to eventually returning to some form of employment outside of my home.  It will be a year with big changes to my routines, and to those of the kids.

My intentions for 2012...

To explore ME...  To look at ways of being a better person - a wife, mother, friend and putting these into action.  Further building my relationships with family and friends - including taking part in '40 days of love' later this year with the group we did the very rewarding 'One month to live' with in 2011.
I want to put more of my thoughts into actions, things like actually making that meal and dropping it off to a friend having a busy week instead of just thinking about it!
To explore my future work opportunities by beginning some volunteer work at the kindy, and maybe even the school (I do have a bachelor of Teaching which I should eventually make use of again!)

To explore ways of organising myself better so that all that paperwork gets attended too, and that crafty time with friends gets made, and the kids all get the time they each need, and i get the time i need for me to keep going.

i quilt

 Ive been busy at the sewing machine this week, and finally have something crafty to share.  The past few years I have joined in with a group of quilty friends and taken part in a dolls quilt swap, so on Friday (and only 2 days late!) I posted this little quilt off to its new home.  I will share the quilt once it arrives.

 I'm return we received this quilt from Rachel. 

I wanted a quilt for Isaac for his Teddy, as all the previous quilts have been for Jacinta and he dolls. Isaac was thrilled, and it s just perfect. the piecing and quilting are really well done - great job Rachel, Thank You so much.  As you can see, its the perfect size, and there has been lots of play with it already!

Obviously my quilting mojo must have returned with the dolls quilt - it was the first thing i had finished all year!  Today I spend the whole afternoon at the machine, and finished this quilt top.  Its for Nathans teacher for Christmas.  She had Caleb for two years, and then Nathan for the last two, so I wanted to make her something a little special.  I'm hoping to get it quilted in the next week.  I'm still not sure about the little red square in the top corner, but i had to add it as i was running desperately short of the white homespun, and then cut the border strip about 1/2" short - grrrrrrrrr.  Any thoughts on what to bind it with - red or black ?

im still here

...for any one that still bothers popping by!  Ive been really slack with my blogging for the past few months.  Ive had a few posts that have stayed in draft form, and blogger no longer lists them with their original date once they are posted...hence my birthday post which is dated way after the actual day.  This frustrates me to no end!!!  Blogger has also been giving me grief with uploading photos for some reason - makes popping up a quick blog post about something a time consuming and frustrating experience!  But Im still around and still taking photos and planning on finishing off my monthly photo collages - interestingly enough, late September is as far as I got last year with the editing of my photo a day shots...must be something about this time of year that saps my creativity mojo. 

My little princess will start her pre entry sessions at kindy this term, so there is much excitement in the house about that! Here are a few photos I snapped of her yesterday (straight from the camera...cant edit them on this computer!) ....love my girl... (YAY the upload worked first time!!!)

41

Im am so much more comfortable behind he camera than in front of it, but I know that one day I will wish there were more photos of me to look back on, and Im sure my children and hopefully grandchildren will love to look back (and probably laugh) at them. 

Since yesterday was my birthday, it seemed the perfect time for a few self portraits of me and the little ones, and then I handed over the camera to Nath to take a few shots of me to record the day.

I spent a lovely day with a couple of special friends, my sort of day...nothing fussy, just time spent with people who always make me smile....ok usually laugh till it hurts may be a better description!   I was inundated with facebook messages, texts, phone calls and a few visitors and then had a lovely dinner with Craig and the kids.  Its days like that which remind me how truly blessed I am to have such wonderful family and friends.  Now Im officially in my 40s, rather than just being 40.  Life is good.   I hope and pray that the next year is just as happy as my year of being 40 has been.