Advent Blog-along Day 24

So the journey is over for this year I managed 16 out of 24 posts which is a vast improvement from last years 6 posts.

Today I started a new christmas tradition of baking cookies for Santa which didn't turn out quite as planned due to the weather being so warm. I have got photos to add but will have to come back and add them at a later time.

Anyway Merry Christmas to all and a safe and Happy New Year

Advent Blog-along - Day 22

I am been a very very bad blogger, had a few personal things come up and I have not been feeling the best but all sorted now. I finally got time to upload the photos that I wanted to share with you all

This is the result from out christmas paper art session, and as you can see Bastian had a ball

and the finished paper in action, so to speak

I also managed to get to two handmade items finished in time for the christmas party on Sunday

 

 

I actually finished stuffing the dolphin at about  midnight Saturday night and sewed up the last seam 1 hr before we had to leave.

Advent Blog-along - Day 16

I have decided lists are a good thing, that being that I actually got most of the things of today's list done all bar starting writing in christmas cards and start wrapping presents. So both of those as well as some appointments scheduled for tomorrow are on my list for tomorrow.

I actually got some christmas sewing done today but it is late and time for bed was along time ago so I shall have to leave it there and promise a more exciting post with pictures for you all tomorrow. That is if there is anyone still out there, if I have not bored to peices :)

Advent Blog-along - Day 15

Today started out with lots of plans, of which none got done :(

But the good news is that tomorrow is a new day so here is my to-do list for tomorrow

Choose pictures for Christmas cards and print out - done
Start writing Christmas cards  done
Make Wrapping paper with DS done
Start at least on of the 2 presents needed for Sunday all done and gifted
Start wrapping presents done
Try to do at least 2 hrs work, done

Well tomorrow is going to be a hot one so I had better get this little black duck off to bed and make sure I get up nice and early to go through my list. Hopefully tomorrows post will have some progress pics of our efforts

Advent Blog-along - Day 14

A few people have joined in on this

so I figured I should as well, not sure if I made the cut off in time or if it even open to international players but it is a bit of fun.

My chosen words are

1. Advent
2. Angel
3. Candle
4. Carols
5. Chocolate
6. Christmas Eve
7. Figgy Pudding
8. Frosty the Snowman
9. Mistletoe
10. Ornaments
11. Plum Pudding
12. Presents
13. Quilts
14. Rudolph
15. Silver Bells
16. Sleigh Bells
17. Sparkle
18. Sugar Plums
19. Table Runners
20. Tinsel
21. Traditions
22. Tree
23. Turkey
24. White Christmas
25. Winter Wonderland

Thought I would post them here so I can come back and mark them off when they are drawn out. Wish me luck

Advent Blog-along - Day 13

Yes you did read correctly. I have missed Day 11 & 12, my excuse is pretty lame as well. Friday I was working all day as I hadn't done much earlier in the week due to Wiggles concert and Christmas tree decorating, I did have grand plans to make up for it yesterday but while I was making a fruit salad for dinner at friends place I had a mishap with a vegetable peeler that result in a fair amount of pain and blood so now I am having to type with limited fingers.

Tonight Andrew, Bastian and I went to our local Carols by Candlelight, we were lucky in that Bastian has a long long (4-5hrs) sleep during the day so he was in a fantastic mood even though he has just gone to bed now. Anyway being at the Carols got me thinking one of the reasons I love Christmas so much is it is a chance to remember years gone by and things you use to do as a child I can now do with my child, or even start new traditions. Also if it has been a crap year (eg as 2008 was for me) it is a celebration of the end of that year and a start of new one, in fact my father pointed out to me what I had written on my christmas card to them last year "Thank you for all your help and support this year and lets all hope for next year to be very uneventful"

I have to admit compared to 2008, 2009 has been a dream and very uneventful. 2010 will be a challenge but I believe in a good way.

So why do you love Christmas, assuming you do?

Advent Blog-along - Day 10

Introducing my next WIP, expected to be completed for cuddles and kisses mid April

Do I need to say more?

Advent Blog-along Day 9

Oops I am a day late with this one Telstra has been giving me grief with my ADSL connection so didn't get a chance yesterday.

What did I do yesterday well you will have to pop over here to see. That is all I can say about that for now more pics to come at a later date.

I promise to have something more exciting for todays propert post, a sneek peek of a different kind.

Advent Blog-along - Day 8

Today I was able to open the parcel I received from my EB Newbie Quilters SS.

I got a lovely assortment of goodies

There was chocolates, a panel to make a soft book, some lovely blue material with trucks on it, some white baby print material and christmas tree ornament, and a beautifully made little purse that contained quilting pins, thread, chalk and soap. I already have some projects in mind for some of the peices.

Also today we went and got our christmas tree from the local christmas tree farm, I am being brave and putting out all my breakable christmas decorations as well, just need to teach Bastian to not touch or be gentle. Will see how we go

Advent Blog-along - Day 7

As mention in previous post today we went and saw...


The Wiggles



and there friends

We also went to Santaland at Myer in the city and Bastian got to ride a train


Do you think he enjoyed?



And finally this image is for a friends little girl who I happen to know has a soft spot for a certain dinosaur and will be going see her herself very soon

Advent Blog-along - Day 6

Today we tagged along to a Christmas party with my parents, there boat club one. Bastian was the only child there but he had fun, I can't believe how sure of himself my little boy is. No shyness from this one at all. Santa came with a special little gift for him and he was happy to even have a semi cuddle with him, as long as mummy was holding him at the same time. So that is a improvement from last week.

Tomorrow is a big day, up at 6 to head into the city to see

I hope he enjoys it as much as he did last time, then we are going to have a look at these, visit this and maybe even have a train ride this year (was too little last year) and have a look at display here.

It is going to be a busy day so Mummy better head on and get some rest.

(This post was done last night but I realised this morning that I had forgotten to hit publish)

Advent Blog-along - Day 5

Oops almost missed this one it is 11:45 pm and I should be in bed.

The concert went well except we were really late getting there so Bastian only got to do 2 of his three songs. I had major Mummy guilt's for the rest of the day before realising that he is 2 he is not going to remember in 20 years that Mummy got him to his concert late.

The quilt shop party was good, there are some lovely projects for next year however I was a very good girl and did not sign for any year long ones due to my own little "project" which is due to be finished baking Mid April :)

Tomorrow, or almost today we are off to my parents yacht clubs Christmas party (only going as kids get a present from Santa) and then hopefully a quite afternoon sewing, have not made any more progress on Day 1 list, except to delete some items and add some new.

I promise to try and make tomorrow post more interesting and Christmassy (is that even a word)

Advent Blog-along - Day 4

Only a short one today as today was our semi rest day in a week of craziness. We have Mini Maestro concert and LQS Christmas party tomorrow, a family Christmas party on Sunday and then Wiggles concert and in to the see the Myer Windows, Crown Christmas display and look at the Santa things at DJ and Myers on Monday.

Today was meant to be a full rest day but had to drive Andrew to the train station as his car is in being fixed, final rehersal for tomorrow Mini Maestro concert (still praying that Bastian does not get stage fright, but I think he will) and then a trip to the hairdresser for both Bastian and Mummy.

No sewing at all today but did spend some time dreaming about how I will use the Jelly Roll of Odyssea that I recently put on layby at my LQS

Oh and I finished uploading all Mum's Christmas CD on to I-Tunes so I have plenty of Christmas music to listen while I work at the moment

Tonight there was only two books

Mummy was a bit naughty and hid the "That's not my" books as I didn't want to read them again tonight, maybe next week

Hopefully tomorrow I will have some pictures (and maybe even a small video) from the concert

Advent Blog-along - Day 3

Every year my LQS puts on a Christmas Workshop as a thank you to their loyal customers that attend weekly classes or monthly clubs during the year. I have been lucky enough to be invited to 3 of them over the last 4 years (the year Bastian was born I did not attend enough classes to be included) This years one was today and we got to make a journal to hold some quilting bits and pieces and a notepad. We are provided with the main material necessary and given a list of other items required.

Here is a picture of the front of the journal

The inside, and

the back.

Sorry about the picture quality I ran out of time to take them in daylight will retake them tomorrow and repost

I have to admit I was very proud of myself today as not only did I manage to get the project completed on the day (something that has never happened before) but I was the second one finished, an hr before the classes ended.

Anyway it is just quick post tonight as it is late, but before I go I suppose I should let you know about tonight bedtime reading

 

This was what was chosen by Mummy to read to Bastian tonight

but of course he wanted That's not my Santa and That's not my Reindeer(again), so we compromised. He danced and played in his room while Mummy read her pick and he sat on my knee and we cuddled while we read his two. Mem Fox would be proud three books tonight :)

Advent Blog-along - Day 2

What did the second day of December bring us, well it was a lovely warm day spent shopping at a local street market with Bastian and my parents. I was finally able to find two of my favourite Christmas Books that I had been hunting for everywhere

as well as bought a new tin Christmas train to fill with sweets for the table

We read the The Christmas Book tonight, and the two "That's not my" Christmas books must of been a hit as they were requested as well.

As for sewing, well my to-do list most of worked as I got my Secret Santa item finished last night and put the rest together today, so that is one item down and also made a start finishing my last Round Robin Blocks, they have to be finished over the weekend.

Tomorrow I have a workshop at my local quilt shop which they put on for there regular customers as a thank you for there patronage during the year. They provide about 50% of the material and the class for free you just buy the rest of the material and arrange your own lunch, we are doing a journal this year so hopefully I will have photos to share tomorrow.

Advent Blog-along - Day 1

As it is now December, I was excited to read Bastian the first of main Christmas theme books over the next couple of weeks, tonight before bed we had three

Tomorrow I am planning to go to one of my favourite local bookshops so I am sure there will be many more Christmas books to read after then (not that we don't have heaps already :) )

I thought I should start this off with a list of projects that I have to get finished between now and not only Christmas by when the baby comes in April

Finish Secret Santa item - over 50% done, need to assemble all together - Due today (opps),DONE
Finish remaining Round Robin blocks - Due this weekend
Presents for Bastian's Mini Maestro and swimming teachers - Not started - Due 11 & 14 Dec respectively decided to not do them due to time constraints

Make Crayon Roll and softie Dolphin as gifts -  DONE

Make Crayon Roll for Bastian to take Sailing - DONE
Make Lazy Day's Hat for me to take Sailing - Due 3 Jan, decided to not do one as my Mum has a hat I can borrow
Make Versatile Wrap for me at least one by sailing trip, have material for two, one done

Items to finish before the baby comes
Finish C Cot quilt - was meant to be a birth present C is now 8 months old (oops) quilt top done
Quilt C's Quilt

Make Bastian cuddle quilt
Make Bastian big boy bed quilt
Make Bunting for Bastian new room
Finish Cross Stitch ABC Sampler for baby's room - 80% complete
Make Dilly bag for LQS Christmas Challenge - due 17 April
Quilt for K's baby - due 27 April
Pram quilts for my baby and K's Baby with left over material, if have time - due 27 April

I think that will be plenty for me to do between now and then and I am sure that I will add some extra things along the way and of course I have DJ blocks to complete along they way as well as the binding for a quilt that was quilted back in May

Portabellopixie - Twelve Days of Christmas

Check out the giveaways over at this site, there is (or will) be twelve all up, but be quick they are all drawn on the 1 December. My two favourite ones are the two fat quarter baskets of her own material.

Actually maybe I should not tell you all about it as I want to win them all

30 days to Christmas

As a Christmas present to all of my loyal blog readers (I am sure there should be at least one of you out there) I am going to join in with Car on her

Advent Blog~a~long

Come back for my first on many (24 to be exact) posts in Dec

Round Robin Block Swap

I just realised that I have not been posting any sneek peeks of my Round Robin Blocks, a bit slack of me seeing that I have be organising it.

Anyway here are the pics of the 8 completed ones so far, the other 4 are still a WIP, 2 are cut out and the other two still to be done. They will be this weeks project

Doll Quilt Swap - Take 2

The wall hanging that I sent as part of the 3rd Annual EB Doll Quilt Swap has now been received so I can now show you some photos.

My partner requested a wall hanging in bright (no dirty) colours and listed these as her favourites. So with this in mind I sat down at EQ5 and found a block called Rainbow Logs that I used as a basis for the block. My next dilemma came in the fabric choice as I had recently found out at a workshop I attended, that what I call bright colours are in fact dirty, so I enlisted the help of a friend and fellow EB Newbie Quilter and made a trip to Amitie to buy the required bright rainbow colours.

And here is the finished result

Sorry for the dodgy photo I was in a rush to get to the post office to make sure it arrived in time for the grand opening day.

There is a better, clearer photo over at the receiptants blog

You can check out some of the other quilts sent and received at our flickr group 

Opening Day

Today was the day that we were able to open our Doll Quilts received in the 3rd EB Doll Quilt swap, I had requested a doll quilt for my little boy or wall hanging for his new room, which will have a transport theme in nautical/primary colors. This is the lovely quilt that was made for my beautiful boy by Dani



And the back of the block



And most importantly a photo of Sebastian who was very excited about his new quilt



My quilt has arrived at its destination but is still waiting to be picked up from the post box. I will blog a photo once it has been received. I hope they are as happy with it as I am with this one.

Sneak Peek of recent sewing

I have not been doing any sewing for a while, just to much going on in life or lack of time and energy. However the one thing I have been working on is a wallhanging for a swap I am involved in on EB. Here is a sneek peek of the completed quilt top, sorry for the blurry arty shot but if I showed much more it would give it away



Anyway had better get back to it and get it quilted and bind, it has to be in the mail by Monday at the latest

Long time no post

To my two or three loyal blog readers, sorry for the length between posts, much has been going on and time just hasn't been around to post.

So what has happened since my last post,

I went to the Don't Look Now workshop at The Patchwork House, have got lots of homework to do from that, there is a picture of my practice piece over at me flickr account here

Then I spent a week at the in-laws at South West Rocks which was lovely, I am very jealous of the lovely location they live in, was able to spend a couple of days at the beach and visiting the local tourist locations.

We then drove up and spent a week with my parents at Twin Towns resort, Tweed Heads. This is the view from our room


We also went to Movieworld, SeaWorld and Currimbum wildlife sanctuary. Bastian loved all three, at Currimbum he got to pat a possum, feed a kangaroo and have his photo taken next to a wedge tail eagle and a koala

Here he is on a train ride at Movieworld



and meeting Cookie Monster at SeaWorld,



Then not long after we returned my little baby boy turned 2. We had planned a day at Puffing Billy but due to icy cold winds and rain we changed it to a afternoon tea at Grandma's


His cake was nothing special as I thought I would have to transport it on a train, I was planning on making a actual train cake but thought it might be to hard to transport, oh well there is always next year.

Well what is next, well that is a very good question just before our holiday we decided that it was time to extend our little family of three and well before we new it, I am pregnant, #2 will be making a arrival towards the end of April next year.

I will be back later for a quilting update of what I have been doing, which is not much really

Sweet Little Garden

I was lucky enough to secure a spot, along with a couple of my friends, to a two day workshop to be held at The Patchwork House that is talked about here. We are making the Sweet Little Garden cushion.

The requirements ask for 30cm in total of a variety of scraps in pink, orange, mauve, yellow, green and aqua.


I think I have the Pink and


green sorted,


as well as some extra bits for the centre of the flowers, now I just get some orange, mauve, yellow and aqua as well as the background fabric. Luckily I have a craft fair coming up.

I don't normally pre wash my quilting fabric, but seeing this is going on stark white and it will be a cushion that may need to be wash at some stage during its life. I think I might make an exception.

50 books in 52 weeks - yeah right

Who was I kidding, while I love to read in between work, sewing, being a Mum and general life my reading time is normally a couple of pages a night to send me to sleep.

I have been seeing everyone else reading list growing and growing, while mine is just plodding along, currently at 15.

So this morning I had a looksie at everyones list and made my own reading To-do list and went down to the local library to see what they had.

I was able to get

Friday Night Knitting Club
The Undomesticated Goddess (large print version :) that was all the had available)

I have also placed reserves on

Twilight - 13 people in front of me
Knit Two
Eat Pray Love - 2 people in front of me

I also have these three on my list which I will try to get next or place reserves on once I read the other two.

Biting the Big Apple
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The Bronze Horseman

I have a bad habit of taking out too many books at once and not reading them all and not returning them on time, so I am planning to try and limit how many I take out and then I will have to take them back to pick up new ones.

Mother's Love

I keep on meaning to show you all this beautiful quit that I am lucky enough to own. Now before you think I am becoming a bit full of myself talking about something I made that way, I didn't make it. It was a wedding present for Andrew and myself from my Mum. It is all hand pieced there are 25 rings in all it is massive it hangs down almost a ring each side of our queen bed.

My engagement was not that much of a surprise to my family, so much so that my Mum actually started working on this 6 mths before we got engaged. My parents do the grey nomad thing and head north each winter, so she took the quilt with her and did all the piecing while traveling along the west cost of Australia.



Here is a close up of one of the rings so you can see the material used it is Gerdas collection from Elm Creek range, (as in the books)



It has gone on to be a running joke that my mother starts quilts for me before the event. She did the stitchery for Bastian cot quilt on there travels winter 2006. I didn't fall pregnant till Jan 07, and they are currently on there way up to Cape York, and she is doing the stitchery for #2 cot quit, and we are not even TTC, well not just yet anyway. I will have to remember to take a picture of Bastian cot quilt and show you all that as well