busy month.

I can hardly believe how quickly January has gone by.

For example, this one started school.

I've heard surprise from a few people - as the Tiny Blonde One is only 4 in July it seems like "school" is the wrong word. It's pre-primary at a nearby Montessori school, and she goes 5 days a week, all morning. So this is it, for us. There's no "proper school" starting moment beyond this one. Her first day she wore a handmade dress and cried on the way home from school. She didn't want it to end. I am so glad this is where she's going! It is wonderful how much she loves it!

Meanwhile, the Little Fellow is a bit bereft at the loss of his only playmate. He's extra cuddly these days. Not that I'm complaining, but I utter the phrase "please give Mama some personal space please!" an awful lot. Daddy loves cuddles though!

And for some crazy reason (teaching!) I've committed to teaching a class on the Aviatrix Medallion. I needed a class sample, of course...so I started another one. (Heaven help me!) I'm up to Border 3.

School gives us a good routine, and I do my shopping on the same day each week...it feels like things are levelling out. I'm involving the Tiny Blonde One in more of the food preparation at home. She helped me stir the salt into the yoghurt and spoon it into the strainer to make labneh.

And she is a pro at making "chocolate cakes". She gets so excited to help stir! Maybe because I let her lick the spoon after. :)

I'm also keeping up with my book pledge this year. You can check out my Goodreads here. This is the series that has caught me the most. I kind of knew it would. Ugh, I just love it so much. Ronan is my bby.

I am still stitching away on my original Aviatrix Medallion. We have been watching The 100. I am up to episode 5 of season 2, and I love it. It reminds me of The Vampire Diaries but less about romance, more about the uncovering of the plot twists and the things people will do to survive.

I get a lot of quilting done while I'm watching TV!

And the back of this quilt is looking wonderful too. I love how soft this is.

Finally, I have been working on a La Passacaglia quilt. This is a lot of fun. I got my copy of the book from Busyfingers Patchwork and they sell starter packs as well (note: you'll need extra triangles!).

I think that's about it for January and early February!

a new year.

The general consensus is that 2014 was a hard year. So let's put it to bed and move on.

I do like this holiday; there's something a bit nice about the idea of starting fresh. And of course we can do that every day or week or month, but it's nice to have the prospect of such a large chunk of time devoted to getting a bit better. I like to choose resolutions that focus on growth (as opposed to those that focus on whittling down; you all know what I'm talking about). Though I rarely do resolutions myself, to be honest.

I started this year with a freshly organized stash.

(Trust me, it needed it!)

I started this year with the cutest babies on the planet. They even play together nicely sometimes.

I started this year with this great guy by my side. Every step we take, we take together.

I started this year off with a finished group quilt top, ready to be quilted by yours truly. It's a stunning top and Tash did so much work to make it happen.

And another long term WIP just about finished. So far 48/64 blocks are done; the last sixteen are just waiting to get started.

A good start to 2015.

My husband and I usually drive the babies to sleep. We talk in the car, and listen to music, and it's actually time for us to reconnect as partners, not just be parents. Sometimes we drive to a nearby hill we call the Sunset Spot. Tonight, on the first day of the new year, it did not disappoint.

My friend Amy chooses a word every year, and I think that's a good idea.

I don't know if I have a word. More like a set of ideas. Scaling back my involvements (no blog hops, swaps, bees, or running anything) was a hard but important decision. Piper starts preschool and the parental involvement is really high at her school; I want to be present for that.

I want to write every day. I did this for 2.5 years and it was amazing. (I write probably 27 days a month, so this isn't a stretch for me. Sometimes it's ten words, sometimes it's ten thousand.)

I want to connect more. I'm anxious, introverted, and naturally a homebody, so eye contact and learning names is terrifying. (I tend to put on this bright, false face and just talk the whole time.) So working on that would be a step in the right direction.

I want to sew almost exclusively from my stash.

I want to keep thinking critically and increase my knowledge.

I want to read more books (and mostly books by female authors). I want to seek out points of view of people that aren't already represented in my life, to gain better understanding and insight. I want to act with intelligence but more than that, compassion.

I want to do no harm, but take no crap.

There's a lot more, but that's just what's at the top of the pile right now.

Happy New Year, everyone. x

busy girl

I often remember to blog as soon as I'm tucked up in bed, and by that point it just seems too hard to get out of bed again and find my camera! Ugh at myself. I'll do a quick update and then talk about something that is very dear to my heart which will get me back on track for blogging!

Picture time. :) (These are all from my Instagram which is where you'll find me these days!)

I joined Hive 2 of the Aussie Instabee and this is my test block for my quilt - rainbow brights and low-volume fabrics for the Trellis block. It's a bit fiddly to make but I'm excited about making my 18 and getting 12 more in the post!

On the last day of "summer" (aka neverending overwarm hell season) it was chilly enough I felt I could bust out my winter hat. GLORY BE!

I cut out a HST quilt I've been dying to make for ages. Now to sew and slice and press and trim and sew again! No big deal or anything. *cries*

AND! The Sydney Modern Quilt Guild group quilt is looking FABULOUS. This is just a corner of it. We used the Kaffe Fassett Pickle Dish pattern from Quilt Romance. Please buy the book if you're after the pattern - it's the easiest pickle dish pattern I've ever seen and totally machine pieced! I'll talk more about the variations we did over on the Sydney Modern Quilt Guild blog in a few days. :)

This is the stack for one of my show quilts. I am loving it. It's all Michael Miller Cotton Couture and very simple with only five colors (including white) and the pattern itself just sings. I designed it myself and I can't wait to show it off. But for now, a teaser!

In the midst of having to get these quilts done to submit to show, I procrastinated and made a bag. This is a 241 Tote (the third one I've ever made) and it's upsized by 150%. This bag is ENORMOUS. I might try a 125% scaled 241 Tote next time! I will properly blog about this soon, too.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this but a few weekends ago I made an enormous quilt top by accident. I had the best AMH fabric, and some Pearl Bracelets and some of Tula Pink's meteors (from Birds and Bees) in blue, and they were stacked up waiting to become skirts. And oh they looked SO good together I made just one block...then another...then ten more...voila, quilt! I used the Hand Drawn Garden gold rose print (Social Climber) as a wide border to frame it, and perfection. Anyway I love it so much I decided it's for me. So I'm backing it with my carefully hoarded Mendocino Kelp Stripe in blush.

Just as I finished that quilt, a roll of batting arrived! That'll do me for a while. :)

For my second personal show quilt I'm entering in the modern category. I pulled out scraps and yardage and began making piles...sorting of course by color...

And I picked up my copy of the delectable Quilt Improv by Lucie Summers, gritted my teeth, and began doing something very foreign with my sewing: letting it get a bit crazy. No structure. No plan. Just color, and working in at least half of my color piles. I have three blocks to complete today (purple, green, red) and then I can measure, add the borders, and put it up on the design wall to photograph to submit. Whew.

Meanwhile, I have finished quilting my hexagon mini quilt. I love this thing so much. I finished up the straight line quilting last night and thought, hmm, how do I do those centres? I thought of hexagons...honeybees...beautiful flowers! I didn't bother sticking this on the frame, just FMQ on my Bernina. It's only 31" square and was eminently manageable. :)

So that's me all caught up! So far in this post I've promised to blog about the Ten Gallon 241 Tote! I must get tidying the house though, and myself...I just rubbed my ear to find it covered in biscuit. That would be my son, whose kisses are often open mouthed and full of food. But he's so lovely I can't help but kiss him back.

Oh and just as an aside, we have put Piper into speech therapy and I will probaby talk about that a bit. She needs weekly therapy to start but even after one day (and a few tips) I've noticed a positive change. Here's hoping we stay on a good trajectory!

Finally, I am hoping to begin a series on sewing notions and starter skills: what I use, why, where to find it, how it works, and ways to expedite the trickier parts of some techniques. It won't be too fancy, but perfect for beginners - stay tuned! I am hoping to have a weekly update!

Cheers,

Penny x