{ONE} Blogtoberfest

Hello

Well here goes my first blogtoberfest post.  I have a flexible plan for this month.  Some things I have been meaning to post about for sometime and just never quite got round to it and then of course those things that might just pop up (or be finished) during the month.

To start I am gong to introduce myself as some of you may be new to the blog and for those of you who have been here before well you can always skip this post and come back tomorrow for post 2.

I am Shirley.  Mother to Jot (4) and CT (9 months) and wife to R (R has asked that I don't disclose the kids names on here).  We live in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne.  I am a sewer, quilter, knitter and beginner crocheter.  I love crafting with Jot (although she is still to impatient to sit for long) but with CT arrival most of our crafting things have been put on the back burner while we enjoy having a baby in the house again.

My interests (and therefore what you might see on this blog) are very diverse.  You can expect to see posts on my crafty pursuits as well as on living simply, budgeting and food among others.

I am currently unemployed after being made redundant while on maternity leave.  I am also an independent trader for Phoenix Trading.

I realise I have been really slack in posting this year (sleep deprivation will do that to you) but as mentioned earlier I have a plan for this month and WILL get back to regular posting.

See you tomorrow.

Blogtoberfest

OK I have signed up for Blogtoberfest again this year.  Hopefully I can do better than last year.

Check out the button - its so cute this year:



Come join at I saw you Dancing.

See you back here tomorrow as I kick off Day 1 (although I have no idea what I am going to say :) )

Catch up

I have got seriously out of the habit of blogging.  Teething baby, cranky toddler, sleepless nights, visitors, holidays and redundancy all take their toll and my alone time has been spent either trying to sleep or trying to figure out where I go from here work wise.  Neither of which inspires much blog post ideas that wouldn't bore you all to death so I have been in a blog waste land.  I have been reading other blogs though and after a weeks break came back to 400 posts on my reader.  I didn't realise I followed that many blogs :).

So what has got me back here well I saw a 20 Day Challenge on The Organised Housewife Blog actually I think I saw it on a lot of blogs recently and decided to get on the bandwagon with the hope of having a tidy and clean house as well as getting back into blogging.

So I signed up today and have been downloading the pre-challenge checklists to print tonight and put into my binder.  I am also setting aside time tomorrow when R has both kids at swimming to set up my cleaning caddy etc.

Then it is back to the homework that the career transition people have me doing to get myself ready for the job market again.

However I have had some sewing time.  I know its a shock isn't it.  I finished the Mondrian quilt back (athough have yet to sandwich them) All my photos are on my other pc but I really will get a photo of it up soon.

I have also made a pair of dungarees for CT from the worst pattern I have ever tried so although I like them I will be hunting for a better pattern for the next pair.

Also went off to the Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild Sit and Sew day in August and managed to finish another Swoon Block and a half so we are now half way through the top.

Oh yes and I made a birthday present for my Mum (which I love so much I had to be persuaded to wrap it up and gift it)  She hasn't opened it yet so no picture (even if I had one on this computer).

It doesn't sound like I have achieved much but if you add in the baby and toddler I feel like I have been climbing Mt Everest and still have a long way to the top.

I really want to get back into blogging so am hoping that the 20 Day Challenge and Blogtoberfest (I hope it is running again this year) will help me get back into the habit.

Doh moments

I had another Doh moment last week.  I got all my bits and pieces to put together the back of my Mondrian Quilt (my blocks from the Melbourne Modern Quilt 2011 Bee) and took the time to draw it out and measure all the black sashing bits needed and work out how to put them together and then I cut.

That was my Doh moment I forgot to add the seam allowance.  So each time I add a new bit of black to the blocks I have to trim down.  I am therefore feeling particularly blah about it right now and want to just put it away BUT I promised R a quilt for our sitting room this winter so I guess I need to push through my blah moment and get it finished.

I have reviewed my WIP List though from earlier in the year and discovered that I might have a slight WIP problem

Genuine WIPs

Laras Quilt - - Finished and Gifted
Mondrian Quilt - Top complete
Fandango Quilt - blocks complete - am likely to split this into two smaller quilts, just need to lay it out and have a look.

WIPs in Planning stage

Central Park Quilt - 24 hour quilt complete
Quilt for Nephew O
Ruby Wedding Quilt for M&D - Swoon Along -  4 out of 9 blocks complete

CT Quilt - blocks complete

New WIPS started or planned since January
Jot Car quilt - needs to be sandwiched, quilted and bound
Big Bed Quilt for Niece A - 2012 - I think I might use one of the Fandango quilts for Niece A
Baby Quilt for Baby B - 2012 (baby due Jan 2013 but I want this to be in the UK before Baby arrives) - currently choosing fabrics
Jot Big Girl Bed Quilt (5th birhtday) 2013
C & K10th Anniversary Quilt - 2014
A & J 10th anniversary Quilt - 2016
CT Big Boy Quilt (5th birhtday) - 2016

As you can see I am looking ahead but it tooke me two years to get my sisters wedding quilt to her so I think starting most of these soon is a good idea.  I already have a deisgn and fabric picked out for C&K 10th anniversary quilt (fabric doesn't come out till October 2012) and also for Jots big girl quilt so the main decision I have to make in the near future is for Baby B who is due in January.  Do I wait till i know if it will be pink or blue or make both and then send the right colour :)

So now I am going to have a quick look at baby fabric and then I will be off to bed but tomorrow I have great plans to finish the Mondrian back (after a nap to catch up on sleepless baby nights).

Top Post

You know it is funny. 

According to the Blogger Stats for this little Blog my Kids Tool belt tutorial has received 344 page views since I wrote it in September 2010 (making it my Top Post) which is an average of 18 hits per month and yet not one comment.

I would just like to know if anyone has used the tutorial to make a toolbelt.

24 hour quilt

My very supportive online quilt group of quilters from around Australia had a challenge over Anzac day to complete a quilt (or another project) in 24 hours. I wasn't able to take part on the day due to a number of reasons so the following week after a frustrating walk with CT I decided to see if I could rise to the challenge.
And so my personal 24 hour quilt challenge was born.

CT has a habit of kicking off his blankets in the pushchair and after rescuing or from a puddle for the third time in an hour I knew what to make. A pram quilt that can be tied on to the pram.

I made it in 22 hours (it would have been less but R decided I was being antisocial) from start to finish.

Jot likes it so much she wants one for her car seat. So that has become my next project.

Doh

I had a Doh moment the other day when I finally finished Jots winter nighties and to make it worse it wasn't just on one nightie but two out of three.  Luckily she doesn't seem to mind and who is going to be seeing them anyway other than family :)

Can you see it?  Yes in both the pink and blue nighties I cut the body so the print is upside down.  Doh!

Anothe Doh moment occured while putting together my first Swoon block.  I managed (and I am still not quite sure how) to end up with flying geese that were shorter than they were meant to be.  So some unpicking, a fair amount of swearing and solution g finding later (Thank you CT for staying asleep through all this) my first Swoon block is finished.  I love it and am looking forward to seeing how the rest turn out (without the Doh moment).

Anyway this is who I am blaming for my Doh moments.  The lack of sleep is taking its toll on me.

But he is so cute I forgive him.  Pictured above with R on Easter Monday.