Almost Enough

I started quilting the Tall Boy Runner last night. I trimmed.

Then I had some original binding left over from the Astor Manor quilt. Score!

Darn!

Modern Sliced Scrappy Block

This block design comes from Elizabeth at Don't Call Me Betsy.

'To Do First' November

This month I hope to get 2 quilts finished and a new one started. I am also hoping to borrow my mum's Janome embroidery machine because it has a longer arm which makes quilting so much easier.

Quilts to do


'Mystery Quilt' - make back, baste and quilt
'Katie Jump Kites' - baste and quilt
 'Sherbert Dreams' quilt - start

Blog Hop

I am on in early December.

Blocks to do

Sew Seasonal 'Ornamental' blocks
QCA November block
Wombat Stew November block

Sewing to do

Embroidery tree ornaments
Needle case

Home Organising 101 - with A Bowl Full of Lemons

Master Bedroom
Master Closet
2 Children's bedrooms
2 Children's closets
Garage continued
Office
Family room
Dining room
Lounge room


Purging

Garage
closets

Packing - We are moving in mid-December to our first non-rental home.

Books
dvds
cds
office
Garage
linen
clothing
LEGO
toys
games and puzzles
kitchen appliances, plasticware, recipe books


OK now I feel overwhelmed.

Stars on the 4th

We Australians have our own 'Australia Day' to celebrate the foundation of European settlement of Australia in 1788 - it is a bit controversial these days because of our acknowledgement of the aboriginal custodians of this continent - but we do not celebrate to the same extent as American Independence Day. We never went to war with England over sovereignty of rule. 

I am happy to finally share a great USA patriotic project that my 'Handmade Swap' partner, Jodie, got on Monday of this week - just in time for 4th of July celebrations.

I was excited to make this for Jodie after I saw her post about wanting a red,white and blue runner for her dresser. I have been stashing a small quantity of RWB fabric for just such a project (my nephew is US born). I made myself a great runner earlier this year and I wanted to do something similar.

So I called on my quilty friend Kristy from Quiet Play for suggestions of patterns that included stars and a charm pack. She came up with a brilliant link to a pattern called 'Charming Stars' in the Moda Bakeshop. It was easy to put together. The charm pack came from Keepsake Quilting and I used Kona snow for the stars. I used simple lines about 1" width for the quilting and hand quilted the squares of the stars. And you gotta love a stripey Seussical border!

I also wanted to make the runner double sided to take advantage of the situation and some great leftover pieces. I used French General's textured solid for the rest.

Then I had leftover small triangles from the cutting process and had to make something with them - perfect enough to make a RWB mug rug.

Also double sided. "Coffee Up" is an expression used by writer and swordboat captain Linda Greenlaw, in her book 'The Hungry Ocean'. My current reading book in my car.

Kristy was again helpful in sending me some Hershey chocolate bars to send as an extra sweetener. So this is the package that Jodie received - sort of two parcels in one really!

I am linking up with....

The Great South (flooded) Land

Well the flood crisis in Victoria and the south west slopes, Riverina and plains of NSW continues.  On the weekend, parts of Gundagai were well underwater as the Murrumbidgee River swelled to near 1974 record levels. 

Sheahan Bridge crossing the flooded Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai - Monday 5th March 2012

My husband worked as an engineer on the duplication of the Sheahan Bridge, across the floodplain, in 2007-2008. So a second of his flood evacuation bridges came under pressure to perform in the same week. It held up swimmingly. See video here.

Even the spiders had to head to higher ground as the floods rose.

Last night the Murrumbidgee River came about 10-20cm short of breaching the levies around the city of Wagga Wagga. 9 000 people had been forced to evacuate the night before. 

And as the floodwaters spread out and isolate farms, livestock, roads and properties, the towns further west are also bracing for their inundation. We pray for mercy on Forbes, Griffth and Leeton.

WiP Wednesday


Meanwhile back at the ranch....


the dolly quilts were feeling very neglected so their creator selected some vintage sheet fabric. 

Cut and taped it to the tiled floor.

Threw down some batting and laid on the quilt top.

Then pinned away watching 'Deadliest Catch' reruns. Sig made his crew do a 40 hour grind to make the quota, Keith lost his temper with another greenhorn, Jonathon was on the crab again and Phil was recovering in hospital after a blood clot in the lungs.

And so Dolly Quilt #2 & #3 were basted.

The creator then  used a 'King Tut' variegated thread in pale green, yellow, pink and blue and shadowed the ditch in SLQ - Straight Line Quilting.

She tossed up the idea of quilting on the diagonals but the centre squares were already appliqued and she wanted to keep it simple.

Now the Dolly Quilts #2 & #3 were quilted.

And happy because they looked very matchy matchy...

on the front and on the back.

After much agonising, she decided on another vintage sheet to make binding. And that's as far as the dolly quilts got.

Notebook #4

I did have a bit of fun making another notebook cover though. This time I used 4" squares that were from a scrap bag.

Here they all are looking delicious together.

This week's stats:
Completed projects - 2 notebook covers
                                            2 Craftsy March blocks
                                            6 'garden gate' blocks in grey and gold for QCA March Bee

New projects - 1 = baste and quilt 'HR Far Far Away 2&3 Fussy Fairytales' quilt

On Hold - 1 = Feb  scrappy log cabin quilt - once all the blocks come in

Currently in progress - 1 dolly quilt to be basted
                                             - 2 dolly quilts - basted, quilted and ready to be bound.

I am linking up with WiP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced....come and check some other blogs out.

2012 Challenge to Myself

"Aim at nothing and you are sure to hit it"

Now Australians are not, by nature, over achievers. Our mantra is more "stay modest and try your best" than "You are a winner!". But I do think that setting some goals is helpful in life. So I have set myself some goals to achieve in 2012. And here is the list:

Quilting

1. Participate in a 'block swap". I have already signed up with 12 ladies from my online 'Quilt Club Australia' group. My block is slated for February, and I plan to do a scrappy log cabin. 
2. Participate in a 'BOM - Block of the Month'. Again there is a great online one with video tutorials from Craftsy.
3. Make a few quilts using real patterns. Including a 'Civil War' churn-dash, a traditional 'Star' block, and a 'Fussy Fairytales' one with my '1001 Peeps' fabrics.

Sewing

4. Learn how to sew in a zipper and then make many many pouches.
5. Make a layered skirt using an Amy Butler pattern.
6. Make a few pillow cases and cushions.

Organisation

7. Write and stick to a family budget.
8. Establish a working and practical Household Notebook that has easy access to important information.
9. Sort through the moving boxes in the garage that have not been touched since we moved in 2 years ago.

Computing 

10. Learn to use my Creative Memories computer programs and templates to create pages. 11. Learn some blogging tips. 

12. Get back into photography now that I have a new digital SLR camera.

That's all I can think of for now...but 12 seems achievable. I am sure there are many sub-goals that will be reached along the way.

Writing them down is a start at least...and it will help me to stay accountable by making them public.