This week...

This was the entrance to Lily's party on Friday night. Through the Tardis door into our house. (And yes, it was bigger on the inside.) The party was a success I think and the best bit about it for me? It's over. I'm not much into parties!

This week I have a raft of goals I want to accomplish. Anything seems possible the day or two after an all-encompassing event! When you have been sooooo busy concentrating on one thing that you have to curtail other activities, you feel so free when it's over. That's how I feel right now. Better get and do something!

2011 in review.....

.....it's been a good year.

1. We moved to Melbourne, and survived. 
2. I drove to Adelaide and back too many times to count, and survived.
3. We lived withoutout our *stuff for 6 months, and survived.

*furniture and things

Are you sensing a theme here? Yep. We survived! Survival is important. Certainly basic, but neccessary. I am hoping for a little more from 2012. I have done a little blog hopping today and already there are people in blogland flagging their 2012 goals, and ticking off their 2011 goals. Sometimes I marvel at bloggers' bravery in putting themselves out there, but if you don't aim high I guess you may never get off the ground. (Gosh this post is hard to write! So many edits. So many cliches!!! I wonder if I really talk like that in real life?)

So, goals for 2012

1. Blog more often. (I love this record of my life and what I'm doing! I loved blogtober and the challenge to blog daily, I learnt quite a bit from doing it. I would like to blog every day, but don't think I will be able to do that. Couldn't even do it in October! Ideally I'd like to blog more each month than I did in that month in 2011.)
2. Finish the quilt tops I have lying around.
3. Make six quilts. (This year I made 3, so double that would be good.)
4. Make things for my home and family. I really want to have a handmade Christmas in 2012. I got close this year. I'd like to get closer next year!

Four goals, enough I think. I have lots more ideas in my head and also more personal goals that I will record elsewhere. Roll on 2012! Let's get started!!!

Oh. And Happy New Year to you all!

I made a bag.

I made a few bags similar to this. Ikea fabric, with great things in it. I think I need more cloth bags in my life. In fact I will go as far as saying that I need more purpose-sewn cloth bags in my life. Obviously that's why I sewed them for others for Christmas, because they are necessary and wonderful! Expect to see more purpose-sewn cloth bags from me in 2012. Amongst other things of course! (Goal setting happening here people!)

I finished something!

A table runner for a round table

 I had a goal this week to finish something, and I did! This table runner is something I started last December. In fact I had nearly finished it, but then I made a mistake. I layered my top, batting, and back in the wrong order. (I was just sewing it around the edge and then turning it through. No binding.) I didn't discover this mistake until I had clipped all the corners and trimmed all the seams and was actually turning it through. Of course, I couldn't simply unpick it and carry on. It just made me mad and I was completely over it. Then we moved and my sewing things went in to storage for six months. I was sooooo glad to see it when I unpacked it at the end of July! So this week I unpicked it, repinned it, sewed it again, and then today I quilted it. I'm pretty happy with it.

Up close

 This was made completely with scraps and there was no rotary cutting involved. I just used scissors to cut up the fabric and I just kept sewing strips on until the blocks were about the right size. I did trim them a bit to get them together (with the scissors). Do you have problems layering things? I often do. I'm at my worst with bags. Linings are a nightmare, but I have trouble working out where and how to put pockets and handles as well. I often get muddled and then have to unpick. I'm sure I have quite a few projects in this muddled and needing unpicking state. (I get too mad to work with them!) Of course, after being separated from my sewing stuff for six months I have had time to cool down and may even finish some more things next week.

On our letterbox

I am not yet finished unpacking or sorting out the sewing room. It seems that this may never happen, so I have finally begun to sew in the middle of the mess! (The best alternative I thought!) I haven't done any sewing since the end of July when I altered Miss 14's new school skirt. And that hardly counts as sewing! After today's quilting I can tell you without hesitation that my sewing machine is just perfect (I love to use it so much) and I have many, many good things that enable me to sew with ease. Gosh I missed my stuff!

Yesterday at the Patchwork Apple (It's June!)

Yesterday was my first trip to the new (old) Patchwork Apple. Living in Melbourne now would have something to do with that. Jane shut her shop in Woodside in February and has moved it to her home on Tiers Road Lenswood where she is open two days a week, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 9:30am to 6pm. The path above is the path to her shop. This is where the Patchwork Apple started out 17 years ago and where I used to visit Jane regularly all that time ago! Jane and I marvelled that it was so long ago! The first time I walked this path I was carrying my tiny little son (now 6'4") and yesterday I carried my tiny little granddaughter. Then, just as we were leaving, Jane's tiny little granddaughter arrived with her Mummy! Gosh time flies.

This is the door of the new shop. Jane (and her able-bodied helpers) has built a new shop on the side of her house. In true Jane style it is very pretty. (She has such a talent for making everything look beautiful!) Lots of windows too - light is so important!

A peek into the shop. Picklesticks and I managed to have a lovely time looking at all Jane's fabrics and even managed to buy some to take home with us!

Oh. And it's June. Ready or not, it's June. Goals for this month? To sew clothes and finish off a couple of quilts. And I want to stitch. Do-able? I think so!

Goals

One of my goals for 2010 was to make some things for myself, and for my family. If you came into my house before then you wouldn't necessarily know that I was a quilter. I had made a lot of things, but had mostly given them away. Not like Loz's house and Claire's house. They have the most beautiful quilty homes. I'm sure most of you do because I see your homes on your blogs. As I was busy considering some goals for 2011 (a bit slow I know, but I will get there) I came across this photo. I love it! My table with the runner I made and the china I use every day that I collected from three different op shops! It makes me so happy to use this china every day. I had to convince my Bradley that it was a good idea. He was worried that since I love it so much it was too precious to use every day. We even put it in the dishwasher! So, some of my goals of 2010 were accomplished. It must have been a pretty good year!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! This is a shaggy quilt I made for Christmas. That Australian sun is awfully bright. The colours don't look anywhere as rich in this photo as they do in real life. I just love these quick shaggy quilts. The one I made a couple of years ago is pressed into service almost every day - even in summer. I would like to make a bunch more for my house one day. This one went off to Christmas at Mum's house, which we always celebrate on Christmas eve. I wasn't able to go because I woke up in the middle of the night last night with a tummy bug. I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow. Grandson started the tummy bug earlier this week and he is an excellent sharer because his Mum and Dad have both had it as well as Mr 9 and myself.

This year has really rushed by, but I am really glad that it is nearly over. I love the whole ending and beginning thing. The whole new start thing. I never really made any goals for 2009, just couldn't get my head around it last year, but I feel that 2010 will be different. So, I have a week or so to ponder about and set some goals for 2010. Enjoy your Christmas break!

Happy New Year

Well, 2008 is almost over. It has been a good year, but I am more than ready for it to finish. I guess I am looking forward to the next thing in my life. I made a bunch of goals for 2008, none of which I completely achieved, but I am very happy with the progress I made. I think setting goals is a very worthwhile activity, because even if you don't achieve the goal, getting part way there is usually better than you would have done without the goal! So, here's the goal review.

• 52 articles of clothing in 2008. Didn't get there, despite the birth of the grandson (small clothes!). I ended up with a tally somewhere between 35 and 40. Not bad.
• 6 knitted articles in 2008. Got there with this one, thanks to the grandson!
• 6 quilts finished. Okay, this is one of the saddest ones because I only finished 3 quilts this year. I'm keen to improve in this area next year.
• Set up an etsy shop. No, didn't get anywhere with this one! Maybe next year.
• Participate in a swap. Did this one. 2008 saw me complete three swaps and I am already signed up for my first in 2009. I loved the swaps. I made some excellent friends I wouldn't have otherwise met and I got brave enough to do some sewing I never would have done for myself. Swaps are brilliant!

I am still pondering my goals for 2009. I see now how goal setting can help change your life so I am thinking seriously about where I would like to be this time next year. Hmm..... stay tuned!