Sunday, planning.

It has been a very quiet week, blogging-wise, and I apologize, but my life has actually been very quiet as well! I have been trying (and not quite succeeding) at getting a few projects completed, but after last week (which was very full on) we all took a step back and just inhaled...exhaled..collapsed in a heap!

That isn't to say I did nothing all week. On the contrary. I got a shedload of grocery shopping done. I found time to write another 20,000 words. (What! CRAZY.) I cooked almost every night this week, no ordering in, which has been a bad habit left over from a) the baby being born and b) living on take-out during the renovation and our 18 hour working days. I even found time to scootch over to The Fabric Cave and Needlecraft Emporium and buy myself some vintage children's clothing patterns. (PS. I am not even kidding, but I got 20 patterns and four spools of thread for less than $15. If you don't know about Needlecraft Emporium/Fabric Cave and you live in Sydney, take heed, and get yourself down there. Good thrifting, good cause, and I always leave feeling chuffed!)

I did not have time to work on any of my projects that currently need working on. Instead I started a new one. (Nerrrr.) I began idly playing around with my 60º triangle ruler and some fabric I loved. I added a few more, and then a few more, until I had a stack I liked. Then bang, out came the rotary cutter. Whizz, slice, and voila: a whole new project to add to my list.

I have been organising and focusing a lot on my stash this past year, as you guys know, and I was surprised to see that I have mostly blue and green fabric. I was convinced I had no green, no orange, and mostly pink, but what I didn't have any of and hadn't even thought about was red.

I asked Mr Poppleton for some "me time" this weekend, as I'm feeling quite overwhelmed, and he happily pushed me out the door in the direction of Craft Depot, so I cruised the aisles feeling very loved. I found some reds I adored and brought them back to be part of my stash!

I make it a point to only buy fabric I REALLY love, and I REALLY love all of those scarlets!

Well, Miss Piper is not letting me finish this so I will conclude here...but stay tuned for a hopeful little plan of the week!

Cheers, Penny xx

sunday night plan #3

This week was busy in strange bursts, so I managed to squeeze in bits of sewing here and there. I have to admit, I thought babies napped a lot more than this...but Piper likes to condense her sleeps into the evenings, leaving the day with just a few grizzly short naps. Yikes. But I can't complain too much. She's so gorgeous and bright, always looking around and taking everything in.

I didn't get very much done this weekend, owing to aforementioned Miss Grizzles, but we did manage to finally buy a pram this week! I am looking forward to walking in fine weather. We took the inaugural walk to our favorite café and it felt amazing to stretch my legs. I forsee many hours out and about in our future!

A quick look at this past week before I get down to the nitty-gritty plans!

An explosion took place, and my goodness, the amount of Napisan it took to get that out! Of course I think all of this is hilarious. For someone so tiny, she can make a LOT of mess!

That picture is definitely going in the "21st Birthday Party Slideshow" file!

We caught up with Ellen and Joel. Ellen and I were pregnant together! They have a brand new baby girl, Olive (she's not even a week old!) who is eight weeks younger than Piper. Ellen is my age-ish and it is so nice having a friend close in age who is also a new mum. Where we live, the mums we encounter are mostly post-career women, in their mid- to late-thirties. This is Ellen, Joel, and Olive (in the sling).

Mr Poppleton's school friend Aaron and his wife Floss were up this weekend from Melbourne, so we took Piper to meet them. She especially liked Aaron and didn't complain once while he held her! But then he's always been charming to the ladies.

And of course, we distracted Elle. She is always sneaking off to have a hold of Piper, and always gets in trouble at work! Shame shame.

So we have been very social, and as a result I had a very cranky, overtired baby on Saturday afternoon and most of today. But she is happily sleeping now, so I can plan my week!

Sewing projects:

x sew J3's quilt top (still, I know I know, I'm SO slack)
x sew J5's quilt top (which I cut and pinned last week)
x design, work up, and cut out 2 cot quilts
x finish Happy Camper quilt top
x finish wrap shirt
x finish hand sewing last three curved hexagon blocks

Writing projects:

x diagram story
x write something every evening (even if it only 100 words)
x structure story toward a finish line

I have a few other things to do this week, in the "life projects" pile. We're considering a new dining table & chairs, so I'd like to sell my existing set. I also have four chairs I bought and reupholstered, and I just need to give them another coat of paint (or five!) to make them worth selling. I'm also converting all our media from physical to electronic, with a view of having a less-plastic lifestyle in the near future. So that's an ongoing set of projects to keep me busy. For now, I'm going to watch an episode of Gossip Girl and finish sewing this curved hexagon block. Maybe if I am really clever, I can get two blocks sewn before the end of the show! A worthy goal.

PS I read a fantastic book and I am going to write a review of it, so keep your eyes peeled!

sunday night plan #2

Okay, okay, so technically this is a Monday morning update, but shhh. It'll be our little secret.

From last week's list I managed to finish a few key projects, but the one I am the most excited about is George's quilt. Honestly I'd been hemming and hawing (or perhaps hawing and NOT hemming) about stitching just three feet of hand-quilting, so tonight I finally just rolled my eyes at myself and finished it. YAY!

Another accomplishment? Finishing the quilt for my niece Sissy. I machine quilted it, but I hated it pretty much the entire time. Even with a walking foot I felt like the stitches were uneven and bodgy. I love hand-quilting so much. For J3's quilt top (67" square) I am probably going to spring for professional machine quilting. Tonight for Sissy's quilt I finally chose the binding and attached it, and except for four lines more of stitching it is DONE! I'll be able to post it on Friday to my tiny, excited niece! This is what it looked like all taped, but not yet basted or quilted.

Also I made her a matching Viewfinder bag! She specially requested one just like mine. I was only too happy to oblige!

I'm feeling obviously super chuffed.

I'm sad to say I got very little writing done. I need a good nap day so I can sit down and diagram the story. I used to go through phases, where I'd write a lot, then I'd stop almost completely and sew a lot...I think I'm on a sewing upswing at the moment. But I need to get back to writing. Boo for me.

So for this week, my sewing projects are:

x finish J3's quilt top
x cut out J5's quilt blocks
x design & start two new cot quilts
x sew wrap shirt

And my writing goals:

x 500 words per day
x diagram the story on index cards

I'm going to spend a bit of time working out my new cot quilt designs, and it's really exciting because, well, I SOLD ONE THIS WEEK! I'm so proud that my efforts have been rewarded! It is always really great to make something new and beautiful but for a complete stranger to love it enough to pay hard-earned dollars for my creations is just the best feeling ever. Seriously, best best best. This is the quilt I sold, the Cotton Candy Kaleidoscope Quilt:

Please go visit my store for updates, and I will try and include new stuff every couple weeks.

Here's to a happy, busy week!

sunday night plan #1

Sundays are the planning evening in our house. We do all the ironing, I try in vain to finish up whatever lingering sewing projects I have, and we tidy the house for the week. I'm carrying that over to this space so I can keep myself accountable, or at least keep track of my myriad projects!

I found some time to work on my sister's quilt this weekend, and I realized after how I needed the sewing time. I feel more centered, more like myself, when I find the time to sew. Now I just need to carve out the time to write so I can be balanced on all three points: mother, writer, and crafter! The magical tripod of my sanity. I am armed this week to hunker down and do some serious work, though, Piper-permitting; I have index cards, new Sharpie Pens, and a burning desire to finish this story so I can turn it into a manuscript, then pitch it and try to get it published.

(Wow, okay, that is the first time I have written that, or even said it. Yes, this is the one I hope to publish. The last five completed novels were just practice. And that is A-OK.)

This week's upcoming sewing projects are:

x finish the "walk in the woods" quilt top
x baste Sissy's quilt
x decide on and cut piecework for j5's quilt
x finish the dang "happy camper" quilt top
x make a new sling for warmer weather
x finish georgie's quilt (two lines of quilting left, yeah!)

This week's upcoming writing projects are:

x diagram the novel
x 1500 words by friday

And hopefully my little mini-me will behave this week...she has grown to an astounding 5.27kg and finally we got past the awful Miss Grizzle week! She looks pretty sweet and innocent here!

My favorite time to sew. Too bad I miss her when she sleeps and I end up wanting to cuddle her...and then I wake her up. New momma fail!