More DJ blocks

Yesterday morning's pictures were so appalling, so I decided to take a decent photo of those DJ blocks along with the ones I made yesterday afternoon. The two on the right are the new ones, on top is K4 - Thea's Turn. On the bottom is L8 - Box Kite. I'm seriously loving piecing with freezer paper, and I wish I'd been brave enough to try it before now.

I counted up, and I have a total now of 57 DJ blocks. That means I'm one third the way through! How wonderful! The two blocks I made yesterday also mean I have made my 12 DJ blocks for this month, so I can cross that goal off my list. I have only today left to achieve any of the other goals ... can I do it?? I'll let you know tomorrow :-)

Mrs Moody asked yesterday about what was at the top left of the picture of my cutting table. It's not a block ... it's too 'papery' for that ... it's actually the colour layout and progress chart for my DJ quilt.

I wanted to do 30's prints in a trip around the world colourway, so I inventoried all the colours I have and planned this colour chart to suit. I'm also marking off the blocks as I make them. I'm also thinking I may cut a small piece of each fabric and stick it over the corresponding square as I make it, so that way I won't end up with the same fabrics abutting each other. I'll see how organised I get for that one.

The last picture for today is some fabric I found on my cutting table while I was tidying it up. I got these fabrics at my fave quilt store a couple of weeks ago. The panel with the hearts is super cute and Amy chose it. She wants to make something sweet for her Godmother. I got the red print with the little gold hearts to go with it. The other three are reproductions I just love. The large floral is one of my favourites, and I used all I had on the quilt I gave to my Mum, so I just had to have a little more. The two others are half metre pieces of ones I don't already have.

I've been really good with my fabric purchased for the past few months, so I don't feel any guilt at a little stash enhancement. I also need to get some of the white Osnaburg that Cheryl got in specially for me. I love using it with feedsacks, it's more loosely woven fabric and goes perfectly.

That's it from me today. Tonight is New Years, so it's bound to be a big night, we're off to a party at Deb's house. We were out very late last night too, so I predict there will be no early risers in this house tomorrow.

Have a great day! x o x

The Holiday

Last night I went out to dinner with five of my girlfriends and then saw a movie - The Holiday. It was a fun movie, and all the way thru the movie I was wondering how they could possibly end it in a way that would suit everyone ... I'm not going to give anything away so no need for a spoiler alert. If you enjoy movies like Bridget Jones Diary etc, then definitely go see it. Pet decided she'd like to go again and take hubby to see it ... Sharon, Jane, Deb, Paula and myself decided it was definitely one for the girls only!

It was quite a stormy night last night, and I got home at midnight to find everyone asleep, and Cam had climbed in bed with his sister because of the thunder. He's always been nervous of storms. He's such a little cutie. He can't have slept well the honey, he was still asleep when I started this post this morning.

Yesterday during the day, I completed two more DJ blocks. On the left is C2 - Streak of Lightning. On the right is C4 - Tic Tac Toe. I don't mind confessing that I really did not like making the centre part of C4. It was evil. Those little white lines are 1/4" finished. But it's done now, and I never have to do it again *yay*. Those of you who have made or making the DJ will see that on C2 I added some seams in so I didn't have to applique those outer diamonds in place. I like the way this block looks compared to the block in my other DJ.

Sincere apologies for the quality of my pictures. I really have to stop using the camera phone - I'm just so darned lazy.

After the frenzy of finishing up all the Christmas gifts (which I managed with a day to spare) I really need to tidy up my cutting table. It's now getting to that point that when I want to work on something I can't concentrate because of all the clutter.

I can handle a little mess - after all, I have kids - but this kind of clutter messes with my head. I hope to get to it today. We have another dinner to go to tonight, so I'll see how many chores I get thru first.

Have a great day everyone!

Normality sets in ...

Wow! Christmas has just flown by! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We sure did. It all began on the Saturday evening before Xmas, we had some friends over for Christmas dinner, which was entirely wonderful. We've known them forever and always spend time together during the festive season. And they entirely loved their gifts, one of which was the 'bar runner'. Pet messaged me later and told me it was the nicest present she'd ever received. What a wonderful compliment.

Christmas Eve was spent with Marty's family with lunch at a lovely hotel, with the exchange of gifts in a nearby park with a wonderful playground for the kids.

Christmas day was spent with my family, too much food, lots of merriment and wonderful gifts. Mum absolutely adores her quilt, so I'm sorry to say it won't be put up for adoption. Maybe next year? I received so many lovely gifts, I won't list them all for you, but here are a few ... pictured, a wonderful #57 foot for Bernie. I have heard so many good things about it, I gave hubby specific details about where one could be located ... surprise!! One of my fave perfumes (Red Door), the Devil Wears Prada book (which I've entirely read now!!), gift certificates to my fave homewares store ... a cute purse ... I won't go on ... I was lucky to receive such wonderful things. Of course, the kids were showered entirely, and my lounge still looks like a toy battle-zone!

Some other friends of ours had their annual Boxing Day party, which lived up to the expectations of past years. Much merriment, probably a little too much alcohol, and many good friends meant a wonderful time was had by all. A very late night, and some very tired people the next day, so we had a low key Wednesday. Yesterday Amy and I hit the post Xmas sales, and spend some of our vouchers. The stores were busy, and we had a great time.

I have done very little sewing, just a couple of DJ blocks last night ... and here they are ... G11 - Decisions Decisions, and G12 - Gloriae.

Both machine pieced with an applique component. I've altered G12 a little from the one in the book. I have added seams in the border area of mine to make it a little more like the block in the photograph. The line drawing has no seams in the border and I guess it would have to be appliqued. I think my block count now would be around 53 or so.

I'm all set to make C2 - Streak of Lightning today. I've prepared the freezer paper pieces already. I'm altering that one too. I'm piecing the whole thing rather than add appliqued diamonds at the edge, and I've changed those extra two diamonds to make them the same size as the others. Can't help it I'm afraid ... I'm a symmetry girl!

I'm also hopelessly overwhelmed with the amount of blog reading I need to do. I logged into bloglines this morning and saw hundreds of unread, and logged out again. I don't think I'm ready to focus just yet ... don't give up on me ... I'll be visiting with you soon!

Once again, I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas ... I look forward to reading all about them! x o x

It's almost time ...

Here are the Christmas Table mats I've been working on, as of about 1am this morning. I'm just getting ready to sew the binding down on seven of them. Why seven? Ohhh, because I ran one 2" strip short of binding at about quarter to one this morning. It's no biggie, I'll just run out and get a little more fabric in a minute. I will start stressing if they don't have any left, but I only got the binding fabric a couple days ago ... so it shouldn't be a problem ... *fingers crossed* Apologies for the blurry picture - late nights and cameras don't mix :-)

Last night Marty and I went out to dinner by ourselves for the first time in a looooong time. I actually can't remember the last time. It was so nice ... a local Italian restaurant ... a little red wine. It was like pre-children days. You know what, I kept feeling like I was forgetting something ... and I realised I was subconsciously looking about for the kids. I'm sure they've had a wonderful time with my Mum and Dad. I hope Cam was okay with the storms last night, he's so scared of them.

This is likely to be the last post I'll have a chance to put up until after Boxing Day, so please everyone have a safe and wonderful holiday with your family and friends.

x o x

Mats on the move

Here are two of the Christmas mats that are soooo close to being finished. They just need the binding now. Only six more to quilt (they're made already)! I'm finding it a little tough to get moving on these, for two reasons.

The first is because I'm quilting them using a really cute thread with a metallic strand running thru it. The thread is cute ... but it misbehaves terribly. Under the best of circumstances it has a tendency for the metallic strand to break, even with a metafil needle. It's hot here at the moment (about 37c or 100f) and that doesn't help with the snapping either. Sooooo, I'm sewing along slowly, which is mind numbing.

The second reason I'm finding it tough is because I keep seeing gorgeous projects on other peoples blogs I want to try. I think the amount we want to work on something else is directly proportionate to how fast the deadline is approaching.

And on the topic of other blogs, please forgive me for not leaving more comments and catching up at the moment. I'm stopping by when I can, but I'm feeling horribly behind. I promise to catch up properly ASAP!

Mum's quilt is finished, save for sewing down the binding on the back. While I'm doing that I'll snip off any little fuzzies I find. I tidied them away on the front of the quilt while I was quilting it, but the back is going to be another story!

I promise you all, should my Mum not care for it (and I feel sure the chances are slim at best) that I will let one of you give it a good home. You've all been so kind offering to take it in *smiles* should it find itself oprhaned!

Almost done

Last night I worked away at the Atlantic Jewels quilt, and I'm happy to report I'm almost done! I have only to quilt the outer border, and then I can get to the binding. It's looking really nice, and I know Mum is going to love it.

I need to get to the supermarket today, and then I'll finish up the quilting. I really thought I had so much time to work on my Christmas gifts, given that I had started a couple of months ago, but I still have two things to finish up - the sets of placemats. I know I'll finish them in time, but I'm always amazed at my ability to stretch out my projects right to the deadline!

Weekends are for parties!

Last night Amy had her bestie's birthday party to go to, so while I had a few hours up my sleeve, I canned another 5kgs (about 11lbs) of apricots. I would have made more jam, but I was low on sugar, and now that the fruit is in jars, if I want to make jam later I can. Here you see the 12 jars, they're 1 litre jars, which is about 1 quart. I still have about one more kg of apricots, but I think we'll keep them for eating. Our apricot and peach trees have quite a bit of fruit too, but they're still ripening. It's been a bumper year for stone fruit!

Today was Marty's work Xmas picnic. We had a great day in a park which is quite close to the quilt store. It was super fun, with a huge adventure playground for the kids, tennis courts, lots of shady grass and BBQ's. We all had a wonderful shared lunch, and after lunch, one of the bosses disappeared ... and magically, Santa arrived! There were wonderful gifts for all the kids, and then as it was a hot day, water pistol and water balloon fun! Such a great afternoon.

We then had to race home, as Amy has her friends over this evening for her belated birthday party. We'd had the celebration already with family, but this is the night where her friends come over and have fun. I'm manning the kitchen and helping them out, and leaving them to the run of the lounge and dining room. I've included a picture of a few of the 'lolly bags' I made last night after I finished canning. We wanted to make them a little special, so they're actually plastic tumblers, filled with sweets, and I purchased some fabric flowers on wire and wrapped them around the tumbler, like a potted plant, and they're finished with cellophane and curling ribbon. A fun idea and a nice treat to take home.

I have no plans for tomorrow at this stage, and to be honest, I'm looking forward to having a little down time. I can quilt, and the kids can relax a bit.

And it begins ...

Last night I basted (well, pinned actually) the Atlantic Jewels quilt. It's the one I'm going to give my Mum for Christmas. Thank heavens I haven't given this blog address to anyone in my family! My gift list would be a bust!

After I pinned the quilt, I couldn't help but start quilting just for a little. I am doing a swirly border thing in the sashing strips, and small filler stippling in the outer parts of the stars, and outlining the star points to make them pop up. My picture is not so great, I've been so lazy lately, I'm using the camera phone all the time. I just don't have to play with cables etc with it, it's just so much easier.

It's going to be really hard to give this quilt away as I really love it, and had originally planned to use it on my table. But I know my Mum will love it too, so that will make it worthwhile.

Jammin' again

Ohhh look, some more jam! We do love Apricot Jam in this house, and there will be more made. Hopefully we won't run out this time. This time last year I wasn't able to get any Apricots, so there were scenes of devastation when we ran out of the home-made stuff. Store bought just isn't the same.

Here you see another 6 pint jars, and 8 jars that are ummm ... I guess a bit more than half a pint. I'm just not sure, and too lazy right now to get up and work it out :-) The smaller of the jars I'm happy to give away as I don't mind if the jars don't come home. I've already given two jars to Cam's day care lady, and one to our friend the Cabinet Maker.

Susan asked about the covers I'm using on the jars. They're by Fowlers Vacola (sorry, they don't have a website). They're kind of like thicker cellophane, and especially for jam making. While the jars are still warm, you wet the covers and put them on the jar smoothly with the rubber band. As they dry they crackle and pop and make an airtight seal. They go tight like a drum and my hubby always delights in tapping them to check the seal. If they sound drum-like, all is well.

I have been quilting just a little, sewing down bindings and stuff. Tonight before I go to bed, I plan to baste the Atlantic Jewels quilt so I can start quilting over the weekend. Today's big accomplishment was to have entirely finished gift shopping. I now only have to finish the quilted gifts and I can relax.

Also, I keep meaning to mention that Grandpa Pearce was fine about the interruption to his schedule the other day. He was disappointed not to have seen Amy, but pleased that she'd have her gift in time for her birthday. Thank you all for your concern *hugs*. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll have something quilty to share with you! Have a great day!

Jammin'

Yesterday was Amy's birthday. It was also her first day of Summer school holidays. A double celebration! My little honey turned 12, she's such a grown up, and it won't be long before she's a teenager. It's just terrifying how time flies.

It was a busy day for us, we shared her gifts in the morning, and then took Cameron off to his day care lady. We then went off to purchase her cake. Her favourite cake is called 'the ugly cake' by our family. Many years ago I purchased a 'Continental Apple Cake' for Amy's birthday, and when she saw it, she was sad, because she thought it was ugly. It's large, has rings of apples and a jam glaze on top, and it's sliced through the centre with a layer of cheesecake. Well, when she tasted it, she declared it the yummiest thing ever, and wanted to have one for her birthday forever, so it's been known ever since ... as the ugly cake!

While we were getting the cake, we stumbled upon a toy shop called 'The Toy Corner' and went in ... Ohhh my goodness, it was a Lego lovers haven. Cam is just getting into Lego, so we did a little Secret Santa business while we were in there.

Next was the final day teaching at the quilt store for the year. It was more like a little party really. Fun for me, but less fun for Amy on her special day, but I think she had an okay time. Cheryl's daughter was there too, so they were able to spend some time together.

Next we had to race home to make Apricot jam before we picked up Cameron. Here is our result for the day. These are pint jars, so we've made 14 pints of jam so far. We cut up 4kgs of fruit yesterday and I have about the same to do today. See me slide effortlessly between imperial and metric measurements there *s*. We have more apricots to pick up after Marty gets home from work today, and our fruit hasn't even begun to ripen yet! Lucky I love to be jammin'

We had our family birthday gathering for Amy last night which was really lovely. We slept in a little this morning, but it's holidays ... so it's okay. Cam's last day of Kindy is today, so we know Santa is not far away ...

Have a great day everyone!

Time machine anyone?

First up, here's a link to another post about freezer paper piecing from a Queen of hand piecing, Linda Franz:

http://www.geocities.com/homebays/handpiece.html

Linda and I go way back, back to when we were first working on our first DJ quilts together, I guess in around 1998. This link is to her old website, not the lindafranz.com one. Her techniques describe hand piecing, but they are perfect for machine piecers too. I had forgotten about this website until I saw it mentioned in an old email from her. Have fun with it.

And if you don't want to read about my stressful day yesterday ... look away now ... if you wanna hear whiny Tazzie ... read on ...

I really don't like to be whiny, so I'll try not to be ... but heavens, I sure could have used a couple of extra hours yesterday. You see, I lost some of them!

I had a lot of running around to do yesterday, but first of all, I had to wait for the appliance man to come. You wouldn't believe it, but the rangehood that went into the new part of the kitchen broke! Well, okay, it happens, and we were happy to get someone to come over so fast. The thing with the appliance guys is that they tell you they're coming on a certain day, but won't give you an afternoon or morning ... just a day. I needed to post the quilt off to the magazine yesterday so really had to go to the post office, so called to find out approximately how he was positioned timewise, and found we were 9th on the list, and he'd definitely be after lunch. So Cam and I dashed to the post at around 11am and were there only a few minutes and back to the car again.

Of course, as I was starting the car, I got a call from the appliance guy telling me he'd called by and found we weren't home and left a note on my door to make another appt. Well, I was only 5 mins down the road, so he told me he'd go to the next job and come back again. Very kind of him I thought. He was only at our house for 5mins and let us know it can't be fixed, needs to be replaced. All is well.

Next, I needed to visit a quilting friend to drop off my gift for the group Xmas dinner. I can't make it as I'm working at the quilt store. As I'm getting Cam ready with his lunch etc, the cell phone rings and the doorbell rings all at once. At the door is my friend Jane dropping in for a coffee and bringing presents for Amy's birthday, and on the phone is Amy's school letting me know that there had been an accident on the class excursion and they'd be late getting back ... around 4.30. Amy was fine they assured me, but they couldn't chat, they had 30 parents to call. Oh my, I was starting to get that tight feeling in the chest ... like things were starting to go awry ... I had to rethink plans. I was 'booked' to take Amy to visit Grandpa at 4.30 to collect her birthday present, and if I got there at 5.00 he'd be edgy because it would be too close to his dinnertime, and at 95 they don't like their routine interrupted ... he's the kind of guy that you make an appt. to see and then he will tell you it's 'carriages' at whatever time, meaning you need to leave at ... in the nicest possible way of course :-)

So, after Jane left, we dashed to my quilting friend's house, and then to Grandpa's over the other side of town and got back by 4.30 to school. Where we waited for Amy ... and waited ... and waited ... and waited. Until 6.00pm!! There were a lot of panicked parents around, and they finally all got back. They had gone to an adventure playground for the day for school breakup and one of the boys had fallen and hurt himself and had to be taken to hospital to have his neck x-rayed. I understand everything is fine ... and of course I was concerned for the boy ... but Amy had her dance concert/presentation last night, and I had to have her dressed/fed/at the venue, and my parents picked up by 7.00 OMG!! Well, we all made it thru, but I was frazzled.

Today is a busy day too, but a much more reasonable sort of busy, with so many fewer variables. I feel sure I'll be able to do something quilty today too!

Checking them off ...

Two of the last three Christmas gift projects are well underway. I have only to stitch the binding down on the 'bar' runner for our friends, so I'll finish that tonight while watching TV. I'm also working on the Christmas placemats you can just see in the background there. I'm making eight of them, and I'll give four to my SIL and her husband, and four to my brother and his wife, in addition to some other gifties. Maybe in future years I'll add to their collection. I have a LOT of the Xmas print fabric.

I decided earlier this month that the Atlantic Jewels quilt I was making could be a gift for my Mum for Xmas, so I just need to quilt it up for her.

This is the first item to be placed under the tree, but it won't stay there too long. This is a little giftie for Amy's school teacher. My standard mug mat and cute mug. I had plans to perhaps make her a holly table runner, but I just can't face all that machine blanket stitch again, so maybe next year ... although next year her teacher is a man, so I may have to think differently.

Yesterday afternoon I made myseslf a quick coffee and settled in by the laptop to have a quick read of a few blogs. I logged into bloglines and horrors, it indicated I had over 300 new feeds to have a look at! OMG, my mind was reeling as to how I'd get thru that many, but soon discovered a whole lot of blogs had been refreshed, so they were at 25 posts. Thank heavens. I knew I was a little behind on my reading, but that would have been a new low for me!

Well now ... I'm off to play with Bernie for a little, we've got some placemats to put together. Have a great day!

Freezer Paper Piecing

I keep forgetting to write about this, but a few days ago I made up some DJ blocks and mentioned that I'd made them using freezer paper templates. I had a few comments asking about this technique, and one from KJ quilts specifically asking if I knew about any directions on the web. I'm sorry KJ quilts, I didn't get your email addy, or see it on your profile, so I can't reply personally.

I have done a little looking around and have found this tutorial:

http://www.quiltmag.com/proj-tips-piecing.php

No affiliations etc ... just googled it. The only comment I would make is that in Step 4, I use 1/4" seams and not 1/2" like she mentions. It may be a typo.

Next time I do some freezer paper piecing, I'll try to take some pictures as I go ... hopefully I remember, it would require me to be organised *lol*

Tree's Up

We've finally put up the Christmas tree. We'd normally have it up a little earlier in December, but while Cameron is little we've been putting it up a little later. He has a bit of a tendency to play with the decorations, and some have been known to turn up in the backyard. I figure a little less time to play with them means hopefully they'll survive longer!

Decorating the tree is fun, I can be a little anal about it, but I like it to look nice. I am so looking forward to next year when we'll have nice curtains as a backdrop. The icky grey blinds are among the last things for us to replace that the previous owners decorated with. I think their style was 80's office decor. Amy made the decoration on the coffee table at school this week. It smells just lovely with cloves pressed into fruit. Doesn't Christmas just have the very best aromas!

Here is a picture of our Christmas tree skirt. It's a pattern from American Patchwork and Quilting magazine in 1997 sometime. I loved it from the first moment I saw it. Actually, I should fish out the magazine again, it was a great one, and I've made a number of projects from it. I have also made a tree skirt of my own design from Thimbleberries fabrics, but that one lives at the quilt store selling patterns.

I'll be back into stitching this afternoon. I'm making great progress with my shopping and gift making. I will definitely have everything done in time! Have a great weekend everyone!

A day in Paradise

Yesterday I worked from 9.30 until 5.00 in the quilt store. It was super fun and the morning was quite busy. I have only really filled in before, never worked a whole day from start to finish, so by the end of the day I felt worn out. I haven't really worked since I was expecting Cameron, so I've really got out of the zone. My hat is off to those ladies that run a family and head out to work each day too, you must have amazing energy!

As the afternoon was quiet, I was able to do quite a bit of my own work. I managed to finish the first sock!

Here you see it modelled somewhat by me ... who knew how hard it would be to take a picture of yourself wearing a sock, you almost have to turn yourself inside out! Hubby was investigating this wool so carefully the other day, he just couldn't understand how the wool knew to change colour every two rows ... and I must say, it's a mystery to me too, as I used a different brand pattern to the wool!

... and then modelled by Cameron with his darling little legs! The sock is not perfect, but it was a wonderful learning experience, socks that are in my future will be much better now that I know what I'm up against. I know that when I'm ready to knit some socks for Cameron, they will knit up so much quicker than mine, and I'm really looking forward to it. On the other hand, they will have a much shorter life-span, as he is growing soooo fast!

Here is a picture of the little pile of blocks I was able to also put together while at the store. They are for a 'bar runner' for our friends to go in their Christmas gift. I had the pieces all cut out and in a baggie ready to piece. I didn't manage to sew the binding down on the mug mat I showed you the other day, so I completed that yesterday too.

Lastly in the picture is the Yarn Harlot's book ... okay, so maybe that was me at the book shop the other day ... They told me it would take up to a month to come in ... Well now, I thought a month would look a little more like a month than say ... three days! Well done to Angus & Robertson for getting it in so fast!

Tuesday's work ...

I had such a great day yesterday. Not so many things to do in the chores department, so plenty of time for playing in the sewing room.

I finished up a bag for my MIL which is part of her Christmas present. Thank you to Kathie for sending me the pattern a while ago, which was the basis for this bag. My MIL loves to spend time at the library, so my hope is that this could be her new library bag.

Also, you see there a little mug mat. For Amy's Godmother, I have purchased a really cute mug which comes with a matching tray for cookies etc. I always love to add a little personal touch, so this mug mat will go along with it. I just have to hand stitch down the binding, and I'll do that this afternoon at the quilt store.

While Cameron was at kindy, I managed to get about two thirds of the directions written for the Winchester Weave quilt. I just have to make up a diagram of how to construct the middle of the quilt and write that up next, and lastly make up a couple of 'demonstration blocks'. Then I'll be all ready to put it in the mail on Monday. The Winchester quilt is scheduled to be in the magazine around April. I'm so thrilled you've been able to see that quilt already, as it was commissioned after I'd posted the pictures. You got a sneak peek!

Last of all, at around 10.30pm last night I sat down and did a little knitting. I managed to get more of the foot done on the sock, and now I'm ready to commence shaping the toe. Thank you so much to Ruth, your link to the sock tutorial will be very helpful.

Tomorrow I'll be working all day at the quilt store, opening and closing it, so it's unlikely you'll see anything of me. I'll probably be kind of frazzled after trying to remember how to work the till and stuff ... so think of me ... I hope you all have a great day!

Nov/Dec Goals

How did I go with my November goals?

November Goals

• Mark and pin Winnie the Pooh quilt
  
• Make three gifts for Xmas
  
• Piece 60 blue and cream blocks
  
• Make four DJ blocks
  
• Complete one quilt to binding
  
• No fabric purchases other than Osnaburg or fabric to complete a quilt

All done, but for the poor Winnie the Pooh quilt. As I mentioned a few days ago, the WTP quilt has had some work done on it, so all is not lost. I wanted to have a think for a few days before I set my new goals, so here goes:

December Goals

• Start quilting Winnie the Pooh quilt
  
• Finish up gifts for Xmas
  
• Write directions and send off Winchester quilt
  
• Make twelve DJ blocks
  
• Start assembling zig zag nine patch blocks

Not a lot of goals, but could still be tricky to get through. Especially if I'm diverted by socks ... I know I'll get the Christmas gifts done, the rest is anyones guess. I've got my fingers crossed, so wish me luck my friends!

Somebody stop me!

Ohhh my, could you call it a form of substance abuse?? Well, I'm certainly abusing the 'ole bank account, I'm gripped by sock addiction. See these two vintage pattern books I 'acquired' with a little help from Ebay. In my defence, I really like the little turn down ladies socks on the older of the two patterns, and who could resist all those tiny kids socks there??

All this, and I've yet to finish ONE sock! It will happen, I promise you that. I swear it has nothing to do with toe terror, life has just gotten in the way. Honestly! Ohhh yes ... and today that definitely was not me in Angus and Robertson ordering a copy of the Yarn Harlot's latest book. Truly, you can't prove anything ... unless you have access to A&R's computer ...

On to another addiction, my DJ blocks. Here are two I completed last night. On the left, H1 Peek-a-Boo. On the right, F4 Old Windmill. I used freezer paper templates again to make these two, I can't even imagine how much faster I would have made the original quilt if I'd tried this technique earlier!

Even though you haven't asked, I thought I'd share that I've mapped out a trip around the world colourway with 30's prints for this version of the quilt, so even though it seems I'm just making random coloured blocks, I actually have a plan!

DJ'in along!

I'm on a DJ roll! Yesterday I made four more DJ blocks.

Top left: A4 Courtney's Stethoscope. Top right: G2 Mohawk Trail. Bottom left: K13 Brandon's Star. Bottom right: D1 Alison's Guiding Light.

A couple of them are slightly more complex than the last four I made, but still not too bad. I tried a technique I've never used before with the two red ones. I used freezer paper templates. Ohhh my, if I had only tried it when I made the last DJ, the process would have been so much easier! I love it, and will make so many more using freezer paper.

I'm going to make a few more blocks this afternoon, and I really can't wait!

This morning Amy and I took Cameron to his playgroup Christmas party. It was at a local recreation centre, and they had all sorts of fun things to do, like tunnels, foam shapes for them to climb over, cubby houses, a trampoline ... ohhh, just so much stuff! Cam had a super time, and then Santa came out and had gifts for all the kids. When we got home and were having lunch, I asked Cam if he had fun and did he like Santa's gift. He told me "It was fun, but can we go and see the real Santa? That Santa wasn't the real one, he was Elijah's Dad"

I had to giggle ... you sure can't fool kids!

Shopping Money

My friend Natalie and I share a healthy interest (honestly, it's healthy) in shoes. She came over for lunch yesterday, and the darling friend that she is, had this little birthday gift for me. My lack of photography skills mean you can't read all the writing, it says 'Shopping Money'. How cute is it? And I love the earrings too, and wore them the rest of the day.

Thank you Natalie!

After the kids got to bed last night I got a little stitching done. I achieved one more of my goals for the month. Four Dear Jane blocks.

As you can see, none of them are hard blocks, but it's four more done. I have made 45 now, that's 45 of 169 blocks. What was I thinking making this quilt again??

The block at top left is: H10 Ben's Bowtie. Top right: M12 Hopscotch. Bottom left: J6 Granny Weaver. Bottom right: L7 Town Square.

Sadly for the Winne the Pooh quilt, it didn't make it off the goals list this month, but I did manage to get some work done on it. At the beginning of the month the top was incomplete, needing the final side borders added. That is done now, and I have marked a little of the quilting. Hopefully this month I'll be able to get it done completely!

I managed to achieve my no fabric purchasing goal for another month too! Way to go! I'll write up some new goals soon, just as soon as I've had a bit of a think about what I'd like to achieve.