Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Stash Enhancement and November Goals

Well, the craft fair is over for another year!  I had a great time working there, as well as shopping there ;)  I also loved the quilt exhibition-no photos were allowed but I got lots of inspiration from seeing the quilts.  Here's a picture of some of my stash enhancement efforts:


I picked up a couple of other things (thimble, hexagon papers, small couple of kits) on some of the other days, but no cross stitch or knitting as I have more than enough stash in those crafts!  Some of these purchases I have plans for, and some are waiting for inspiration.

I mentioned in October that I wanted to set myself some goals for November, and even though it's over a week into the month, I'm still going to set some, just for some focus.  I have an exam on the 22nd, so that will be a priority, but I will still be making time for some craft.

November Craft Goals

  1. Finish stitcheries for my 'Tis The Season' quilt
  2. (Re)start this cross stitch 
  3. Finish knitting second sock of pair for Caitlin
  4. Start my Favourite Things blocks (maybe 2?)
  5. Dig out some finished cross stitch Christmas ornaments & make them up as ornaments
  6. Sew/piece quilt top using jelly roll from craft fair
  7. Sew up one of the small kits/patterns from craft fair   
Also a few family updates-Ron is participating in 'Movember'-I'll upload some pictures soon. I think he's going for something like this ;) (this is actually pretty close to what he's started-not sure it'll be quite as bushy....)
 

After enrolling Caitlin in the same high school as Luke for next year (it was her second choice), she was offered a place yesterday in her first choice.  We thought it might cause a bit of a dilemma as it is the school a lot of her friends will attend, but she has stuck with the same school as Luke as she feels it will be better for her academically.  We're proud of her mature decision making, and relieved it didn't cause too much anguish!

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Craft Fair

Just popping in for a quick post.  It's craft fair time here in Adelaide, and I'm going to be there for all four days working at the Stitchabout stand.  I'll only be there until 2pm each day, so I'll get lots of time to wander the rest of the stalls.  I've got a list of a few things I'm looking for , and I'm sure there'll be things I 'need' that I haven't discovered yet. 

I participated in my first Fat Quarter Swap in October and my partner was Barb.  The theme was 'swapper's choice', and I let Barb surprise me-and she picked beautifully!  The fat quarters were from Riley Blake, and I also got two skeins of Cosmo Seasons floss-I will be keeping these in mind when I tour the craft fair to find a pattern to use them with.  Thanks Barb :)  I'll also be able to look for fat quarters for my swap partner for November's swap.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

We apologise for the break in transmission.......

Nearly a month since my last post!  Oops.....  What's been happening? Frankly, it's a bit of a blur-there was school holidays, and then the assignment from hell.  Not sure what else really.  I only have one more week of uni, and then it's swot vac before by exam and it's over for the year-yay!  I have so many blogs to read-I didn't finish my assignment until Friday night, and then the weekend was filled with family catch-ups (my sister from Mt Gambier came up to stay also) and a school barbeque.  Thanks for all the comments also. 


I forgot to post any of the details relating to my stitchery last post-it's a design by Bronwyn Hayes from Australian Homespun magazine No. 62 (Vol. 9.7).  I stitched it using DMC 115 which is a great variegated thread-it's one of the 'normal' line, and so is the same price as usual DMC cotton.  I have no idea about the fabric-something from my stash that I picked up somewhere, sometime.....

I don't have any craft progress to show at the moment, and need to get my craft area and room sorted, because I feel disorganised.  I'll be making some goals for November so I can see some progress too.  In other craft related news, I'll be working at the craft fair here in Adelaide at the beginning of November-I'll be helping at the Stitchabout stand, which stocks, cross stitch kits, patterns, q-snaps, etc.  I helped out there last year for one day, but this year I'll be there for all four days!  I also attended a 'sit and stitch' afternoon earlier this month at the Patchwork Apple which was lovely.  The ladies were gearing up for an exhibition at Woodside, and I got to see some amazing quilts!  I plan to pop back there next week-the 'sit and sew' afternoons are held monthly.


To finish up, we welcomed some new additions to our backyard since the last post-two new chooks 'Rose' and 'Lily' (named by Caitlin).  They settled in extremely quickly, and our older chook 'Copper' had adapted to the new youngsters fairly well too.  I tried to take a photo, and it's not that clear, as they don't stay still-like most youngsters ;)

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

What a month!

It's been a busy time since my last post.  Everything we are involved in seemed to happen in late August/September.  I completed my 1/2 marathon-not in a fast time, but my main goal was to finish it, which I did!  We also had Tournament of Minds for Caitlin, Ron had training for work in Sydney, the 24 hour Pedal  Prix race in Murray Bridge (including all the co-ordination/preparation for this), and then last Friday we had the school's biennial Long Walk which replicates the walk pioneer women did each week to sell goods at market.  I also had an assignment to hand up somewhere along the line.  Last weekend we had our first free weekend for a long time, and were able to get into the jungle garden and tame the weeds and growth that have flourished while we were busy.  

I have managed to get some crafting done, and even finished a couple of things.  I finished up the frilly scarf, but am undecided whether I will keep this for myself-I think it might be a bit too frilly for me.  





I also finished up the Santa stitchery, and stitched it into a wall hanging.


 I have been working on a few other things, but I might save those details until another post.

I've joined the Australian Fat Quarter Swap, and since it only involves shopping (from the stash or the shop) it should be great fun, and no stress from having to get things stitched by a particular date.


I do have another assignment due in about a month(ish), and school holidays start next week, but I'm hoping to blog more regularly (really, I promise!) now that other things have settled down somewhat.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Progress

I thought I'd take the opportunity to write a blog post as it's quiet here at the moment-Ron and Caitlin are at Pedal Prix practice, Luke is in his room, and I have got a chance to sit down and have a coffee while I catch up on reading blogs.

I've made some progress on a few craft projects.  My Christmas stitchery  got some time.


I started my hexagon quilt-I'm still experimenting to find my preferred thread/needle combination, but I've got one 'flower' done.  I'm going to prepare more hexagons so I can pick up this project and stitch a little on it each week.  This will be a long-term project I think.


Finally, I started knitting on a scarf.  I picked up this yarn from my local yarn store.  They don't have a huge stock as it's more of a small town craft/haberdashery/school uniform shop but I try and meet up with a local knitting group there each week.  The yarn is Panda Sashay and you can see a picture of the pattern I'm knitting on this page-you just need to scroll down a little and look on the right hand side. 






I also added a couple of things to the stash.  I picked up a fat quarter from Spotlight, and also nabbed a ball of Patons Jet from an op shop.


I must apologise for the pictures-they're taken with my iPod Touch so they're not the best-I will get the camera out next time.

It's one week until the 1/2 marathon, and I only have a couple of smaller runs to do before then-here's hoping we get lovely weather like today-but maybe with just a little bit of cloud cover in the morning.