05.31.08
Less Funky
I was thinking today about what is making me feel “blah” about my patchwork and I realised it is a couple of things.
1. Is that I’ve yet to label my brother’s quilt. I kind of wanted to put a label on it that wished him the best for the future and all that but in words that aren’t common these days. It was so much easier saying the sort of stuff that I want to say before it became “common”. That and he doesn’t really want a quilt cause his room is ridiculously messy – to the point where his girlfriend refuses to go to his apartment – and he is scared that he is going to wreck it. But, it’s kind of ok, cause I knew this before I made it which is why I didn’t put super dooper effort in. So, I’ll think of something, stick the label on, wrap it up, give it to him and just let him know that if he doesn’t want it (now or later) then I’ll look after it until he does.
2. Is the baby quilt that I finished the top for. I had bought some fabric to cut up into 10.5′ squares and then sew back together again but I realised today that I just couldn’t be bothered doing that. So instead I went to Spotlight and bought a piece of fabric big enough to fit. Along with some blue for a quilt of Tara’s that I want to do and some cool multicoloured white circles which I think I’ll use as binding on something. $10 in total. Bargain!
3. Although I want Memories of Spring finished and done, I really can’t be bothered sitting down to do the butterflies and I just don’t want to! So I’ve decided to just do them when I feel like it and perhaps just take it with me to the next quilt class and do another one there. That would then leave 2 to go. Not sure. I’m also dragging my feet cause I have to cut the backing fabric in half and sew it together (and also wash it first) but I can’t be bothered. Hmm….
So, when I got home from Spotlight I put the fabric that I’d bought in the wash, sat down, had dinner, caught up with my blogs and once the fabric was finished drying I pinned the baby quilt. It took me a little longer than I wanted cause I hadn’t placed it right and had to do it again. It’s now in the bag waiting for Thursday.
I then made these cute blocks. They are from Tara’s “Galaxy of Stars” pattern from last months AP&Q that has grown on me the more times I’ve looked at it. The blue is the fabric that I bought today. I had another blue already that was perfect but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough of it. I’m thinking a purple fabric for the setting triangle (it’s on point).
I’m going to do mine slightly different. My squares are 2′ and instead of the longest line being 7 blocks, mine will be 5 so hopefully when it is all done it’s not quite as big as the one that Tara made.
In other news:
*My iron is trying to kill me. Whenever I go to use it when it’s been on for a while it leaks water onto the ironing board and creates a big mess. I’ve bought another iron but I’ve been to slack to take it out of the box. I’ll do that tomorrow.
*I have the biggest most impressive bruise on the back of my left leg just above my knee from where I hit myself on the bus chair yesterday morning. I took photos but they show a bit more than I want everyone on the internet able to see! Trust me, it’s impressive!
*I tried out black nail polish yesterday on one finger and I quite like it. It certainly looks different. I’m not sure I would like it so much if I did my whole hand though…
*I have tomorrow off. Yay!!! *happy dance* So, I’m going to sleep in, clean the house, take Grandma food shopping, tidy my room, catch up with a friend over icecream (yum!) and then I’m not sure. Probably do a bit more sewing on the gazillion projects I have going 
Have a good Sunday everyone!
05.30.08
Quilting Funk
Hi Claire! It was a busy day wasn’t it? Trouble is, then, when I slow down and have a not so busy day I feel like a slacker!
Hi Amy! He is gorgeous. He’s being a bit of a brat at the moment though cause all he wants to do is bite me and Grandma!
***
So what’s been happening with everyone?
Me? Well, I seem to be in a bit of a quilting funk.
I went to quilt class last week and pretty much forced myself to sew one butterfly onto Memories of Spring and then I just sewed pieces together.
I bought a little bit of fabric and some thread and wadding but other than that, I was quite good 
But, I haven’t touched any of my quilting stuff in the past 8 days. I have moved some stuff around in the sewing room to tidy it up and I think that I should do some but then it just doesn’t interest or excite me so I haven’t been doing anything.
Well, except for going to the gym and work….
I was just reading Crazy Aunt Pearl’s blog about how she is not going to buy anything inessential (is that a word?) for the rest of the year as she feels that she buys too much stuff and to be honest I also feel like that too sometimes.
So, part of what I’m working on is not to buy “stuff and things” cause I have a whole house full of it! And also to stop buying as much quilting items. I think I’ll just buy what I have to to finish off all the ones that I have planned and then go from there cause really I do have more than enough to keep me occupied for a gazillion years a while.
Well, except for Butterfly Garden cause I’ve wanted to do that since I saw it being made. I still haven’t received my first month’s block even though I’ve tried numerous times to contact the store (not happy about the very poor customer service) so I have now contacted another store and pretty soon I’ll be all set
Oh and I wouldn’t mind a pair of black winter boots… just kidding!
I’ve only got 2 more weeks of TAFE left this semester and then I won’t have to go back until August apparently. I had an assessment Tuesday so I spent all afternoon studying and then in the test it wasn’t like any of them! But I managed to pull it together, although, for some reason I decided to label a creditor as an asset instead of a liability! Whoops!!! Still managed to get a credit though
My brother’s 21st party is Saturday week so I’m looking forward to it cause I have put off having my hair done and my eyebrows waxed for quite a few weeks so it will be nice to look all tidied up and out of my gym clothes. I’m also going for a spray tan the night before so I should look nicely sunkissed.
And now I’m just rambling so I’ll stop it here and wish you all a safe, happy and productive weekend.
05.20.08
Hmmmm……
Thanks for the comment Helen! I’m loving the colours myself and now just want to make more!
***
Today I took the doll quilt with me to work so that I could get some of the hand stitching on the binding done so that Grandma can give it to her neice’s granddaughter (which makes her something 4th, 5th cousin? to me) as it is her 2nd birthday at the end of the month.
I’m totally loving it though and on the back I put 5′ squares so it also became a mini ‘eyespy’ quilt.
Although I did use the fabrics more than once so I’m not sure if it really is a traditional eyespy quilt. It has my favourite monsters fabric in it
I so want to make some more but then the practical side of me says “well, what are you going to do with them then?” and usually that doesn’t deter me but in this case….
I have a friend who is newly pregnant and I’m thinking she is going to have a girl so I’m thinking I might make this pattern in pink for her but do it 2 x 2 blocks or there is another pattern that is pink and yellow that I also want to make that I could also do (either or, not both though).
On another thought…..
I have quilt class on Thursday and don’t really have anything specific to take. I mean I could take Memories of Spring to hand stitch the butterflies on but I don’t think I can stand sitting down and hand stitching for 3 hours. But I don’t really have anything in particular that is calling me.
If I had of had wadding and been able to pin the baby quilt I would have taken that to quilt but as it is still a flimsy I can’t do much with that on Thursday (mental note: must remember to take a photo and post it!).
And then I have Doreen’s/Kelly’s Hearts which I also need to applique down but it seems a waste of a class.
I could also take along fabric to make another baby quilt or one of the pink quilts or the blue pinwheels or even one of the quilts that I have cut up but haven’t made yet but I just don’t know.
And then I do have 4 Xmas Placemats that I forgot that I promised Grandma that I’d make so that she has a set of 10 instead of the current 6……
So, at this point I think I’ll take Memories of Spring anyways and do one butterfly but I think I need to take one more project, cause heaven forbid I only take one thing to work on! 
Hmmm….. I think I’m going to have to think about it some more and perhaps make a decision on the day!
Any thoughts or ideas will be gladly accepted
Meanwhile, I’ll leave you a pic of Ginger as I haven’t posted one lately.
05.18.08
Making Progress
Hi Emma. I have been thinking about joining a doll quilt swap however, I’m not sure if I can create something for a specific person. I’m more of a make a quilt and hey! it’s xxx’s b’day, I can give them this…. I do enjoy seeing the beautiful quilts that are made.
Hi Kathleen. I was tired just doing and writing about what I did! I had been looking forward to my cake all week and it certainly kept me on track! I only start the day early cause I have to. If I had my way my day wouldn’t start till at least 10am everyday
***
How did the list go? Well, without looking at it I feel that I got a lot accomplished however, let’s go through it…
- pedicure – done
- manicure – done
- facial – kind of
- clean the house – nope, leaving it till Friday
- label Blue + Tan – nope
- assignment – half of it, just have to write the report which shouldn’t take long
- homework – nope, going to be done Friday with this week’s homework
- write an upper body weights program – nope
- tidy study – done
- organise hearts – i did 6 which is enough to get me through a few days
- finish baby quilt to flimsy stage – done. just waiting on batting and backing now
- do backing for baby quilt – nope, although I did thing about it
- cut 1800 2′ black squares – nope, but I did do 224, just 1600 left (approx)
- tidy room – done
So I did get quite a bit done. The major thing that I got done that wasn’t on the list was the doll quilt that I made (picture above). It’s the same pattern as Blue + Tan but just one block. It measures 24.5′ square and is very pretty.
I finished all the units and put them together last night. Today I made the backing (49 5′ squares) and sewed some left over batting together, sandwhiched it, quilted it and machine stitched the binding on!
Phew!
So now it is ready to travel with me to get the binding stitched down on the back.
My sewing room is now looking very messy and I have fabric everywhere that I started cutting up for the quilt that I now need to cut up into either 3.5′ or 2′ squares.
Perhaps I’ll cut the bigger pink squares up into 4.5′ in case I decide to make another one
But it can all wait till another day now cause it’s bed time with work tomorrow.
05.16.08
A Day In My Life: 16 May 2008
Well, here we are once again on the 16th of the month – although this month I am writing this the day after cause I was waaaayyy too tired to write it out last night. Slacker!
So here I am, writing this out now and watching the Vicar of Dibley. It is the funniest show ever and I’m so putting the box set on my Xmas list.
Yesterday I was at work, then I went to the gym and then I went out for coffee and cake so it was a busy day.
So without further ado, here is what I did on the 16th May 2008:
4.50am – hit the snooze button and again at 4.55am
5.00am – bugga, better get up then. Hang on… I don’t have to get up ’til 5.20am. Bonus! Reset the alarm for 5.15am.
5.15am – hit the snooze button yet again and also again at 5.20am.
5.25am – hit the snooze button and turn it off. It really is time to get up 
Cuddle Ginger and then get up.
6.40am – leave the house and start driving to my friends house close to the city where I’ll catch the bus from.
6.50am – listen to the radio and am reminded that we are supposed to have a massive storm with hail, rain, thunder, lightening and if you are lucky, floods and decide to be paranoid about trees falling on my car and change where I’m going to park. Take a left and drive straight into the city to park in a car park for the day.
7.10am – stop at the cafe near work to grab a coffee. My first for the week. It’s been a long week and today is day 7 out of 7 with most spare time spent at the gym or tafe. TGIF!!!
7.30am – there’s no sugar in the kitchen so I decide to try honey and milo on my porridge and hope that it will taste good. Eat my breakfast and decide that honey and milo and porridge just don’t go and I will not be recommending it to anyone. Wash my bowl out and look out the window at the world. It still looks pretty nice out there. Wonder if I should be annoyed that the weather is fine and I have paid for parking or that I should be thankful that the weather is fine and then there won’t be any problems.
7.45am – start work and answer some calls.
9.50am – log out late for my first break, go have a snack, check my emails and bloglines.
10.10am – find out that I didn’t log out and realise that I’ll now have to do more work today than I was anticipating to be able to meet my daily targets
12.00noon – log out for lunch and get a piece of pizza and sushi so that I can keep my sandwhich for dinner. Ring Grandma to check in on her. Find out that the freezer is ok and we won’t need to buy another fridge, thankfully. Get back to work and check my emails and bloglines again.
12.30pm – log back in to the phones.
14.15pm – log out for my last break. Talk to my desk buddy who I’m going out for coffee with later and have a hilarious conversation with her cause she thought we were going to Spatz and I thought we were going to the Elephant Walk. As she isn’t fond of the Elephant Walk we confirm to meet at Spatz.
15.35pm – log out for the last time and I’m freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to start my weekend. Hip hip hooray…….
16.00pm – leave the car park feeling like a drowned rat and madly try to keep the windows from fogging up so that I can see where I’m going.
16.30pm – pop into Quiltaholics to buy some wadding for the baby quilt that I’m making. Only problem is is that Cheryl has a customer already and she seems to be buying all the pink fabric in the shop. It looks like it will be a pretty quilt. Tell Cheryl I’ll get the wadding on Thursday when I’m in for quilt class. Cause really there is no rush and I’ll be busy enough this weekend doing my assignment and homework due Tuesday.
16.40pm – get to the gym and change. Get to the room and wait for the class to start.
17.00pm – start the class. It’s Attack tonight, my second for the week. Feel like death warmed over and really sore from all the other exercise I’ve done during the week. Wonder what I’m doing there but just keep moving…
18.00pm – finish the class and feel very proud that I finished it!
18.10pm – start walking on the treadmill and get the ipod sorted to listen to Week 2 of the Couch to 5km Podcast.
18.20pm – Friends is on the tv in front of the treadmill and although there is no sound and I’m listening to my ipod I remember the episode and am laughing whilst I’m running. Wonder what everyone else thinks of the strange girl at the end who is laughing for no reason whilst she is running. Decide I don’t care and keep laughing cause it makes me happy.
18.40pm – finish the podcast, refill my water bottle and go get changed back into my clothes, ready to go out for coffee and cake. Yum. Get in the car, eat my sandwhich and drive to Spats.
19.00pm – arrive at Spats, ring my friend and find out she is minutes away so I go on in and get a table and peruse the menu to work out what I’m going to have.
19.05pm – my friend arrives, she and her friend sit down, we order and enjoy our desserts. We talk for a while and enjoy just being somewhere other than work, the gym, tafe or home.
21.00pm – I am nearly falling asleep, it is so comfy there! We decide that it’s time to leave so we pay the bill, collect our coats and walk outside to our cars.
21.30pm – get home. Way too tired to take anything other than my handbag inside so leave everything else in the car.
21.40pm – write yesterday’s post, check emails and bloglines, chat to Grandma and watch the end of the football.
22.00pm – bedtime! I am sooo looking forward to getting a good restful sleep and being able to sleep in in the morning*
*little do I know that I won’t be able to get to sleep for ages and then will wake up every other hour, hear the pouring rain and start worrying (irrationally) about trees falling on the roof or the roof caving in due to excess water and I’ll be up at 8.30am.
