Motivation Mayhem Monthly Muster! Come join the party May 2014

Okay folks! Time is here to lay it on the table. 

 Lets be honest with ourselves, we all need to find a few spare hours in the day if you are like me.

So this is how I am trying to find those extra minutes in my day!

• I am going to make a list even if it is long of all the things I would like to complete in the coming month.   Then take a second look at it your list -  is this really possible to complete?  
• If this list is huge, like mine,  then we need to ask ourselves what is really achievable? 
• Ok so there are a few things you know you will not be able to complete in this time. So we break down that chore or project and ask what is achievable for this project.  If you can complete to a certain point make that your focus! Do this for all items on your list. 
• After doing this rewrite your list and prioritise the things on your list, sometimes I actually think of this and put in weekly allotments. 
• We all know days do not go always go to plan and other things crop up. But if a plan is in place it does help to make this come together very quickly. 
• Then as the month comes progresses consult your list in the mornings and have a look and see where you can fit these projects into your day. Make a plan and try and stick to it. I have so many quilts I want to make I figure the only way I can do it is to be organised and create as much as possible time where I can. This monthly list will help, I may actually have a rough yearly list with rough times when I would like to start some of my new quilts...etc

Ok so who is with me?  

Who of you are going to write a blog post and link with us for this monthly party adventure?  If you don't write a blog please make a comment that you are joining in your own way, I will have an offer for you in a couple of weeks to make it worth your while!  So come on in write the post with your list and how you are going to write a list, check it off and then party with your completed projects.

So here is My List for June!

1. Complete Quilting my Love Calms the Sea Quilt
2. Moulin Rouge challenge art quilt entry
3. Complete piecing Celtic Solstice Quilt
4. Become up to date with Delightful Stars Quilt Along
5. Start finishing Quilting Facebook group BOM 2013 quilt top
6. Organise my three boxes of Scraps into a neat tidy box
7. Have all of my housework up to date and everything in its rightful place
8. My Star Bee Buzz Block
9. Find time to make items for sale
10. Coasters for someone special

Love calms the Seas

My boxes of Scraps

Three of the quilts for tops

So I have this out there and it is quite a lot but I figure I can get a lot of it done.  If i can complete most and have some started that is a bonus!  Every item ticked off will be a good thing.  I plan on adding this list onto the side of my blog and ticking off items as they become complete.

So let the excitement and party begin, so pick up a link and join Kathi and Myself on this new little venture! And for all who join with us I have a little giveaway of a pre cut wall hanging top plus two hand quilting cottons for you! So what is stopping you now?

Remember to,  make a list, tick it off, and party with us!

Wendy.

Surprise in the Post

Contents of my surprise parcel

Remember a little while ago I posted about how I made my coasters and how I had sent them to my swap buddy.  Well the deadline had passed when I should have received mine but my buddy had contacted me and said they were being done and would arrive.

You can imagine my delight when opening this box to find these beauties!  And some of them were done with her left hand as she couldn't use her right! They are downright gorgeous!

All four of them right side

One turned over so you can see the reverse

On a different note I am gradually organising my scraps.  A lot of the scraps look like this in there boxes and this makes it very difficult to find anything quickly.  So I have started working on them a little bit each day.

this is the pile before 

This is the same amount after pressing

So I figure that the three boxes of scraps could come back down to one in the next week as i do a bit more each day.  

Exciting News for Tomorrow!

Just a reminder that tomorrow I will be linking with Kathi for our Motivation Mayhem Monthly Muster!

I am offering a Giveaway!  So remember to come back tomorrow and have your blog ready on your goals for next month, and if you had a goal for this month how did you go?  I have quite a few from this month complete and quite a few still happening.  And for next month well just come on in for a cuppa tomoz and bring a bit of chocolate cake and enjoy the party!  The giveaway is for someone who joins in our blog link party.

So Until tomorrow, have a great day!

Wendy

My 3D Heart Block

My 3D Heart Block

As Promised I designed a new block for me today.  I found these lovely fabrics in my stash and decided to do a block which could be used on its own or in a sampler block quilt.  A little while ago I was asked by a former teacher Cheryl Billings Smith to come up with a block for a sampler quilt.  So this is it.  

These are the fabrics out to the box

You can check out Cheryl's page on sampler quilts here at Chebbies Sampler Quilts Australia

My new sewing caddy

Today saw the first trip to sewing with my new toolbox! It was the centre of attention and Masters may have to order more in as a few of the ladies were ready to go and buy one.  I fitted my machine and my iron in plus other things and I still had room to fit more.

I have been in an apron swap and I got a lovely lady from USA.  Her request was blues, and she would like a bib and a longer apron, she liked roses and frills.  I had this gorgeous fabric with roses and cup cakes and teapots and sugar bowls on it, so it seemed the best option.  I then teamed it with some blues and one of them was a rose print.  I was then package and sent off overseas.   

A little over a week later a surprise arrived in her mailbox and she now has my apron to wear whilst she is cooking.  Oh by the way she says she loves it!  I am now just waiting for my apron to arrive in the mailbox for me.

this is my finished apron before it left

This is Gelato

Don't forget to visit the Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival and vote for your favourite quilts.  I have entered Gelato in the Hand quilting sections of Amy's creative side blog.  Just click on the heart which is located on the thumbnails in each section.  You can vote for two quilts in each section each day of the festival.  I would like to thank everyone who has been visiting my blog,  also many thanks to all who have left comments and thanks to all who have voted. If you have a few moment click on here and vote now

Have a fantastic day everyone and I will share some of my morrow with you tomorrow!

Wendy

Saturday moves into a slow stitching Sunday

My frame in its new position

I spent time on Saturday tidying up my craft area and managed to change the orientation of my quilt frame around.  I normally sat between the window and the frame to quilt.  I now can look out of the window as I quilt.

this is the centre looking toward my desk area

This became a wonderful achievement as I have been planning this move for awhile but never quite had the time or the helping hands since I have the largest size of poles in the frame at the moment.

On Sunday I was able to do some slow stitching to my Love Calms the Seas quilt and as you can see I have started to make some progress.  I am hoping to be able to move the quilt on the rods to a new section by the end of the week.

Just a few shots of Love Calms the Seas progress.  This week I am linking to Kathy's Quilts for a Slow Stitching Sunday and to My go go life for Sewjo Saturday

Motivation Mayhem Monthly Muster!

My exciting news is that I will be teaming up with my friend Kathi from Designs Originals by KC to host a link party.  We are calling it Motivation Mayhem Monthly Muster!  Our aim is to set goals and be accountable for them and we plan on  blogging  about them.  They will be for the month approaching and accounting for our goals from the past month.  We are hoping that you will join in with us and write a blog about your goals.  These are not necessarily quilting goals.  

We plan for this to occur on the last Friday of every month,  the link will be open for the weekend.  Both Kathi and I are ecstatic about this link and we would love you all to joint us.  Let us see how many goals we can achieve for the year!  So grab our button from the side bar and get your blog ready for Friday!

Just a little reminder that Gelato is featuring in the Hand quilt section of the Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival, I would appreciate your vote if you can spare a couple of minutes by clicking on the heart of the thumbnail of the quilt and voting, Thank You

Why not sign up and follow me, tomorrow I will be posting a new block I have designed and made so stay tuned for my reveal.

Have a great day,

Wendy

Lang Lang Quilt show 2014

The first weekend of May was the annual Lang Lang Quilt show,  I thought I would

share some of the beauty which was displayed there over the weekend.

Along with the quilts were quite a few shops and stalls sewing their goodies.

One of the highlights is the Scones, Jam and Cream for afternoon tea

Each year there is a challenge and this year we were given a 3" orange square and had to use only white or green and no more orange.  The block was to be a 10" finished block.  Unfortunately i got distracted and forgot to take a photo of all of the blocks.  The one above was my entry.  This show is a judged by the viewers and tallied at the end of the last day.  For all of the challenge blocks and more details visit the Lang Lang Quilt Show Facebook page

Whilst we are speaking of Quilt shows be sure to visit the Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amy's Blog, I have entered my Gelato in the Hand Quilted Section and would love your vote, so come over and have a look at vote for your favourite

this is Gelato

So until next time, have a wonderful weekend and recharge for the coming week.

Keep Smiling,

Wendy

Friday's Happy Dance (Whoop Whoop)

my latest Whoop!

What a wonderful Friday it was, hubby and I went and did our usual weekly grocery shop but before that we decided to stop at a couple of hardware Stores.  This is where my Whoop Whoop started!

I had wanted a mobile box to put my sewing machine and tools in to take to class and i decided that maybe a toolbox would be a great thing rather than the soft boxes that are sold for this purpose and of course these are normally a third of the price of the official sewing machine caddies on wheels.

this is it! Whoop

Imagine my delight when the box I thought would work was on sale for $50.  So we decided to give it a try!  As we were leaving the store the sales assistant told us if it doesn't work bring it back!  Another whoop! This wouldn't be a waste of money if it didn't work

So after putting the groceries away we went to try and fit the machine in knowing that it was going to be a tight fit.  First owe thought this was going to be returned,  then we realised that i could take of the cotton reel to make it work for me.  I was all prepared construct a little pocked with velcro attached to the handle to hold it.  Then the real WHOOP WHOOP happy dance happened as we realised that the underneath of the trays could be trimmed! 

Like This, Whoop!

Now my machine fits perfectly and I have plenty of room for all sorts of things. I have lovely little boxes which can be filled with cotton, scissors, jack the rippers and lots of fabrics.  With my ruler and other things snug in the bottom I will now be able to go to craft groups easy with just one walk into class without a juggling act!

Next Week will be a fun trip to classes and groups!  Whoop Whoop!

My other Whoop for Friday is that I have entered Gelato into the Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival in the Hand Quilting Section and would love it if you could  find a couple of minutes to go and vote for me here at Amy's blog, thank you!

this is my entry! whoop whoop!

So this is my whoop and I am linking today with Confessions of a Fabric Addict,

I hope you are having a fabulous time and doing the happy dance with me.

I would love to hear what is making you go Whoop Whoop for a happy dance.

So until next time, enjoy life,

Wendy

Gelato for the Spring Bloggers Festival

quilt measures 21.5"

This is Gelato my most recent quilt finished.  I really enjoyed creating this quilt and thought I would share it here in the Quilt Bloggers Spring Festival.

This is the back of the quilt.
I think it is just as fun as the front!

 This is my first ever Bloggers quilt festival entry.  I have been quilting for about 16 years and have fallen in love with hand quilting.  I try and do some each day.  I live on the outskirts of a small country town in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.  I belong to a wonderful group on Facebook called Celebrate Hand Quilting, it is worthwhile joining if you are interested in hand quilting

This is the start of the making of Gelato

The Centre of this Quilt was inspired by an unusual flower which i came across in my newsfeed on my Facebook page

This is the basting and the initial quilt design being drawn

Here is the flower

Aurifil Thread auditioning

I love to get my Aurifil Thread in Australia from Always Quilting

A feather template I made for the border

I have a very detailed blog on how i make my templates from freezer paper and if you would like to read more about it you can here.

just a fun shot of the texture i achieve with the quilt

I had so much fun using the Emma Louise Fabric with the Hobbs Tuscany Wool Wadding, it became a dream to quilt such a fun design onto. Such a fun quilt with the name of Gelato needs a fun label and with these beautiful colours i couldn't help myself. So I decided to make a label in the shape of a Gelato in a cone.

so here is the finished cone

I initially was thinking of making an Amish Bar Quilt so it seemed fitting to do a backing in this style

Thank You for viewing and voting for my quilt

I would like to thank Amy for hosting this on her blog.

Thank you for taking time to read over my post.  Until next time I trust you will enjoy the festival,

Wendy

Special Sunday!

What a wonderful day I have had.  This morning started with a wonderful breakfast of  French toast with fried bananas drizzled with maple syrup and a good cup of coffee.

I then returned to do some more tidying in my sewing area before going for a motorbike ride to Phillip Island Race Track Cafe for Lunch.  It was a perfect autumn day and a wonderful ride following a few bike lengths behind hubby.

Now that I have finished tidying the sewing area and am sitting for the evening watching the Motogp racing from Le Mans it is perfect to be Slow stitching with Kathy on Sunday

On my love calms the seas quilt, I am excited as I am about to change colour threads again and I will be rolling the rods on the frame so that I can reach a bit further into the quilt.  I really want to get a lot of this quilt done this week and I am sure I can.  I seem to have a lot of my work caught up and am making lots of progress.  I really would like this quilt finished by the end of this month.  So that is my goal for this month and I hope for my linky that I can blog about how I have achieved this goal.  I would love you to be able to link with me and I hope you are thinking about your blog for this.  Please leave me a comment to let me know you are thinking of joining me in this setting of goals for the month.

Until next blog have a great time and enjoy your slow stitching Sunday and I hope it is as special as mine has been.

Wendy