Autumn is Here!

Hooray! Autumn is here, which is probably my favourite season. There's still a little warm weather around-low 30s tomorrow with a fire ban. Hopefully, a last hurrah before some cooler temperatures.

Family-wise, it's been busy-ish. Luke has started uni, and seems to be enjoying it. He also turned 18 which he celebrated quietly-a family dinner, and dinner with his friends. Dell has started year ten at OAC (Open Access College) which in on line study. Work has been ongoing as usual for Ron and me. We celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary last week, which coincided with the arrival of our new car. It's a Holden Calais, replacing our other car for towing. Ron's softball team made it to the grand final last Saturday, but unfortunately didn't win this year. We have decided not to head to Barmera in the Riverland for Easter this year. It should be a good break as Ron has taken time off between Easter and Anzac Day.

I also got to meet up with a new on line friend Cassie who loves quilting, which was great as we have quite a lot in common. More meet-ups are planned!

On the crafting front-I finished something-I know it's been a while, but this was cross stitch, which can be on the slower side. It's 'The 12 Days of Christmas' by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.

I haven't framed (or ironed in this picture!) it yet but Christmas is a long way off ;) This is the only item I've got for this month of OPAM but I'm glad to have it done. 

I've received my first quilt block for the Modern InstaBee-it's from Letitia, and I love it-it should be a colourful quilt when it's finished.

I can't show you the block I made yet, as the recipient wants a surprise. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, although because I didn't read the instructions properly, some of my seams are extremely bulky, and a few of the points don't line up as well as I would like, so I may end up making another one for my partner.

I've got a few things on the go, or in the pipeline, but I'll talk about those another time. The rest of this week will include some costume sewing as Dell has plans for a new costume for Comic-con. I'm sure it will be a challenge as garment sewing isn't my forte and it tends to be sewing without a set pattern-definitely a challenge!

To finish, here's another cute cat photo ;)

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New year, new post

I've been reassessing my blog recently, after neglecting it for another six months or so. We have been struggling and working to cope with our youngest's mental health, and many things we once took for granted have been affected. At this stage, I don't want to go into too much detail, as this is a public forum, and I don't think it is fair on our child to put it all 'out there'. It's a hard decision, as so much about mental health is not talked about, and I may talk more about it in the future. At the moment, we are waiting for our appointment with a specialist psychiatrist which will have taken five months when we get to see him. We are still going with Open Access College, possibly with a reduced subject load-we will play it by ear. 

In other family news, Luke has completed Year 12-he was doing the International Baccalaureate, and did exceptionally well- ATAR of 97.9 out of a maximum of 99.95. He's been accepted into the courses he applied for- Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Bachelor of Computer and Mathematical Sciences at Adelaide University.

My plan for the blog will mainly focus on my craft, with a bit of family updates here and there. I'm starting with an initial plan of a weekly post at this stage. I've had some finishes and progress, but I'll have to go back over my photos for the last six months to find them all. 

Halloween Sampler by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

Finished Jelly Roll Race quilt-first finished quilt, hand quilted

Finished charm square quilt-hand quilted.

Jelly Roll race quilt-fabric Boho

Jelly Roll Race quilt, basted ready for quilting

'Old Yella' ready to head off in the Bay to Birdwood Rally-car restored by Ron

 Finally, I'd like to introduce the newest member of the family, my birthday gift, secretly bought by my lovely husband.

 It's not the best picture, but it's the Janome 6600P-I'm loving it so far, and have started quilting the above quilt on it.

Hopefully, I'll have some more craft progress in a week's time-we have another hot week ahead of us, so there should be plenty of quiet time near the air-conditioner.

July wrap up

It's only been about a month since my last post, which is pretty good compared to some of my recent efforts :)

Things are going fairly smoothly on the family front-nothing major to report which is good. It's nice to have stability sometimes!

Crafting wise, I've made some progress with a couple of finishes. I finished the binding of the jelly roll quilt. I didn't actually take any photos of the finished item before I took it to it's new home with my in-laws, but I do have a couple of in-progress shots while I was working on the label.

I also finished our July project for the SAL, which was a bag from 'Tis the Season' book. I chose to use the 'Scrumptious' line of fabric by Bonnie & Camille, along with some stash pieces.

As far as WIPs go, I'm finishing off a simple charms square lap quilt, and working on my hexagon quilt at the moment. I'm planning on making up a goals list for August for craft and may even put that here on the blog.

I've also signed up for an online class to extend my quilting skills- it's The Penny Sampler quilt class and should be lots of fun.

A few months, a few finishes

Just a quick post to update what's been happening. Ron's work has been busy, maybe more than usual, with challenges that come with managing strong personalities in the IT world. My work has been busy with one new system to get the hang of in the library, and another for the council to start next week. Luke is in the midst of mid-year exams. Caitlin has continued with Open Access College which we will stick with for the moment. We've had a bit of a hurdle with our psychiatrist  having to retire suddenly (as in, two days after we last saw him) due to extreme ill health. It has taken some time for us to find someone else, and then to get an appointment, but next week we finally get to see someone.

Craft-wise I haven't done a huge amount, but I have had a few finishes with the SAL. Here's the last few month's finishes.

I'm currently working on getting the binding ready to apply to the jelly roll quilt, so I may have another finish soon? We'll see ;)

Good Mail

I don't know about you, but for me, there's a few different types of mail-junk, bad/boring, and good. As I've shown previously, each month I get two fat quarters of fabric from a swap partner as part of the Fat Quarter Swap, which means I get at least one lot of good mail each month. This month my swap partner was Arlene and our theme this month was 'lucky dip'. These are the fat quarters I received-they will be great additions to my stash!

The other 'good mail' I received recently was a prize I won on Samelias Mum blog. I was thrilled to win as I love a good period drama/crime and this series was a favourite. I've also been enjoying 'Call the Midwife', 'The Dr Blake Mysteries' and of course 'Downton Abbey'.

In other news, Ron had his softball club presentation last night, and won 'best team man' for his team. We have two weeks of school holidays now-we don't have anything specific planned, but will be out and about although Ron and I will still be working.

I have finished all the stitchery parts of my wall hanging, so I'm now onto the construction phase. I also finished the hand quilting on this jellyroll quilt (finally).

I don't have anything planned for at least tomorrow (although that could change) so I'm hoping to get some crafting done in between the usual tasks.

March, Easter, and a Finish

So-it's April already! March is usually a busy month anyhow, with Luke's birthday (he'll officially be an adult this time next year-yikes) and our wedding anniversary (21 this year) but with an early Easter thrown in, it's just flashed by.

We travelled to Lake Bonney at Barmera as we've been doing for...22 years-with only 2 of those missed, but it was only a short visit as it doesn't fall in with school holidays this year. I don't have any pictures for this post as they are still on the camera.

Before we left, I finished my SAL 2013 March pincushion from Anni Down's 'Some Kind of Wonderful' book. It turned out quite well, and I was very pleased to make the deadline amongst packing.

I did get a little stitching and knitting done while we were away (especially during the car journey) but I admit I did spend a fair bit of my down time reading too.

The SAL project for April is a Christmas wall hanging and it uses the same stitcheries for the quilt from the same book ('Tis The Season by Natalie Bird) which I started some time ago and has been languishing in my WIP/UFO pile. I made an executive decision to use the stitcheries I've done-I just need to finish off one. Here's what I've got so far.

 Hopefully this means that not only do I get a good start on this month's project, I'll get rid of a UFO as well. I'm also hoping to get caught up with my cross stitch SAL this month, so when I've got some decent progress on that one I'll take a picture.

February catch up (better late than never)

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Now that Google Reader is on the way out, I'm using Bloglovin' to keep track of blogs I follow. It's a bit different, but not so you can't work out what you're doing. I've had to put that link at the top of my post to claim my blog with Bloglovin' apparently, although I'm not entirely sure what that means...

Family wise we are doing OK. We are trialling Open Access College for our daughter which is basically schooling online with lessons live via the Internet. Year 12 continues for our son-I think the formal is next term?! Time really does fly! Ron won his softball grand final last weekend in a close (8-7) match. I am still getting some work shifts at the weekends (to fit in with being there for Caitlin) which I am still enjoying-we have some systems changes coming up in a few months so that should be interesting.

Craft wise, February was not particularly productive. Until we got things settled with school, things were very disrupted and I found it hard to get much done. I decided to use my 'pass' for the Stitch-A-Long for February but am planning to finish the bag in my own time. I also didn't complete my planned motif for the cross stitch SAL but I'm planning to catch up with that too. We are heading away to the Riverland for Easter as usual, so I'm hoping to get some crafting done then, although as it's not part of the school holidays, we won't be there for long.

I've got pictures of the FQ swaps I received last month and this month. Firstly, for February from Heather-you can see on her blog what I sent her, as I never remember to take a photo before I post.

My swap partner for March was Claire and it was a purple extravaganza!

 I think my next post will be after Easter-hope you get a nice break (if you can) and stay safe!

Stash enhancement & general catch up

Firstly, thanks for everyone's comments. There has been some progress on the health front for my daughter, but it does seem slow some days, and we are still working out the best plan of attack.

Just a quick catchup post today so that I get back into the habit of blogging.  I picked up a couple of fat quarter bundles the other day from Spotlight-Sarah Fielke's new range called 'On the Pond'. I don't have specific plans yet for them, but I coincidentally received a few more of the same range from a swap so I may grab a couple more so I can make a good sized quilt.

We had some cooler weather a few weeks ago (I think one morning I even put the heater on-in February!-in Adelaide!) and consequently got my hand-quilting out, and am almost done. I don't have any pictures at this stage, but will try and finish it up on the next cool day, and then take one. Then it will be the binding, and finished-hooray!

I'm at various stages with my stitch-a-longs so I'll wait until I finish February's progress before I post pictures of those.

And to finish, here's another picture of the new kitten, Archie.

Is that a pulse?

Yes-the blog is alive (barely), but they say that if there's life, there's hope ;)

It has been an eventful 6-7 months since my last post. Without going into lots of detail, I've re-entered the paid workforce after an absence of 16-17 years (customer service officer at my local library/council), and we have also been dealing with our youngest child's onset of depression and anxiety. This hasn't left me with time and/or inclination to blog over the last half of 2012.

I've decided that I need to try craft more (and blog) this year as it's a great for de-stressing, as well as something I can have control over and can see progress, when other things seem to be way out of my control.

I did  refrain from joining all the stitch-a-longs, knit-a-longs, quilt-a-longs and craft-a-longs that were around at the beginning of 2013. I did sign up for one Stitch-a-Long that uses books I already own to make a small item each month. I finished the first item (thread catcher) in January as required so a good start.

I also signed up for a Facebook stitch-a-long with a group of Australian stitchers. The design we are stitching this year is here. We plan to stitch one small square each month, and the centre design as we go.  I stitched my first section in January on a Stitches and Spice fabric with DMC 4240.

I've signed up for the HAED BB stitch-a-long but haven't made a start on it yet. Another thing I could have started this month, but will leave until later in the year is Sew School.

I also have some WIPs I want to finish, and of course new projects, but I'm not making any specific plans for any of those at the moment.

I should be back soon with some more updates but here's picture of our newest family member-Archimedes-usually known as Archie.

I finish something, and a weather report

 

I finished something! I need to start using my sewing machine on a regular basis, as I need the practice to improve my skills. This pattern is called 'Little Wallet' by Valori Wells Designs (I bought it from Ballarat Patchwork) and it turned out well-even for a novice like me. I used fabric from my stash and even used some vintage snaps I picked up somewhere. The pictures aren't the best, but winter really isn't the best for taking photos, and I invariably decide to take pictures when it's dark! I have other small patterns stashed away, as well as ones earmarked on the Internet, and I plan to start trying them out on a regular basis.

Today was strange weather, with the temperature up here getting to over 20C, before thunderstorms, rain and hail moved in. I managed to get into the garden before the weather changed (and the temperature dropped 10C).

A 'helper' in the garden

The change moving in

I have other WIPs on the go, but I'll update those another day when I can get better photos-and maybe have another finish to report. I'm enjoying watching the Tour de France, although I usually watch a lot of it the next day when I watch my recording. We've had a fairly quiet school holidays-only a few days to go, and Caitlin and I are planning to head to the city tomorrow. 

Late April Wipocalypse Update

Well, March seems to have slipped by... We have had a busy time, including Luke's 16th(!) birthday (he's going to take his driving learners permit test tomorrow), our Tasmania trip, our 20th wedding anniversary, and our long weekend trip away for Easter. It's currently school holidays and just the perfect Autumn weather-mild, sunny days and cool, crisp evenings with the wood fire. I'll do some other posts with holiday pictures another day, but for now will just do some craft updating.

Here's the socks I finished earlier in the year-finally a photo! The pattern I used is a free one from Ravelry called Charade, using a self striping yarn from Spotlight, I think.

I took The Bramble and the Rose with me to Tasmania, and did work on it a little as well as when I got home.

 I've also made a little bit of progress on the Wiehenburg Mystery Quaker Sampler:

 Here's my few hexie flowers-I do have lots of hexagons ready to sew though so I hope to get more done on those soon too.

I also got some (not many) into my Chatelaine's Medieval Town Mandala-I really need to get stuck into these leaves and gates so I can get to the next, less fiddly part!

I have also started a pair of socks for Luke-they were ideal car/plane knitting while we've been travelling. I've finished the leg and heel flap on the first sock so far-no pictures though.

I've got a new start planned-it's Lizzie*Kate's Less=More sampler and as it comes out in parts it's a kind of monthly stitch-a-long.  I'm using Butter Creme 32ct Lugana from Stitches and Spice and Naomi will send me new patterns each month. Here's the fabric, first pattern, and most of the threads (a couple are on backorder).

I think I'm going to have to come up with some kind of rotation or plan as I seem to flail around deciding what to work on instead of having more progress. The cooler weather is also giving me the urge to knit more, and I want to get some quilting done too... I think a craft room sort out is on the cards too! School holidays should be the perfect time to get organised, right? ;)

Time Marches On

It's been another hectic couple of months. Our trip to the South-East went very well. The weather was perfect and it was great to catch up with some family members; some of whom I haven't seen for a long time. We also had time to make a trip down to Mt Gambier to visit my Nanna-she can't travel any more so it was good to be able to see her. The rest of January was filled with preparations for the new school year. We also made it to the Adelaide Oval on Australia Day to see Australia and India play test cricket. Caitlin has settled into high school quite well. It's been a big challenge for her as it is very different to primary school, and only one other kid from her school started there this year, and he is in a different class. Luke has started year 11 well-he is doing IB and seems to have himself well organised.

Ron and I are coming up to our 20th wedding anniversary in March, and are going to have a 'second honeymoon' in Tasmania in a few weeks time. We have managed to book into a few of the colonial/cottage accommodation that we stayed in 20 years ago.  We will be away for a week, and the kids will be staying with Ron's parents. It will be lovely to go back, and spend time doing things that might be considered 'boring' by the younger members of our family ;)

Now, to craft. Even though there's been no Wipocalypse updates from me (oops, sorry), I have made a bit of progress, but today I'm going to post a few pictures I took late January so when I do an update (in about a week I think) we can see the progress (or lack of progress...).

The Bramble and the Rose-Ink Circles

2008 Wiehenburg Quaker Mystery Sampler

Fred & Albert (HAED)

I finished knitting the socks for Caitlin but don't have a picture, so I'll have to take one for the next post. I have more hexagon flowers made, and a new HAED start as well. I should be back in a few days with more pictures and my Wipocalypse progress report.

Happy New Year!

Well, December seems to have come and gone without a post, but as it tends to be for many of us a hectic time of the year, I'll let myself off the hook ;) 

Some of the highlights since I last posted include the end of the school year including the end of primary school for Caitlin and our official association with the school, and Christmas day which included all of Ron's family here in the evening (I think the count is currently 32!).  We had a quiet new year, and next weekend we are off to the South East (of South Australia) for a family get-together with my side of the family.  Luckily the weather looks like it will be kind to us-we had a nasty heat wave last week with temperatures peaking around 42C (108F). 

Looking at my craft goals in my last post-I did actually work on a few of the things on the list.  I restarted the cross stitch, worked a bit more on the sock, and I did piece the jelly roll quilt top.  I got as far as trying to quilt it, but my basting wasn't up to scratch, so that's on the to-do list.  The 'Favourite Things' quilt has been put on the back burner-I've pulled out of the quilt-a-long, but I did try needleturn applique and was quite happy with it.

I know that many people make resolutions at the beginning of the year, but I prefer to make goals and plans ;)  To help me with my crafting, I'm joining the 2012 Wipocalypse.  I'll be working on some older WIPs and I'm sure there'll be new starts as well.  I'm still working on balancing stitching, knitting and now quilting but some of that will happen naturally as I'm not going to be knitting on big garments in summer, even with airconditioning! 

For the moment (i.e. until I change my mind) the three stitching projects I'll be focussing on will be Fred & Albert (HAED), The Bramble and the Rose (Ink Circles), and 2008 Wiehenburg Quaker Mystery Sampler.  I have quite a few other WIPs and I'd like to get back to working on one (or more) of my Chatelaine WIPs and perhaps to add some Christmas ornaments along the way as well.

At the moment for quilting I want to work on my Tis The Season quilt, the hexagon quilt, and to finish the quilting and binding of the jellyroll quilt.  I don't plan to do a lot of knitting during the summer, but the socks I'm working on at the moment are my travel project, and when they are done I may start another pair.  When the weather cools down, I'll come up with a list I want to work on.

Just to liven up all this writing, and because I need to take some photos of my WIPs, here's a picture from a recent beach visit.