shopping

I have tried two new Australian stores and am very impressed. I ordered fabric from one and a pattern from the other on a Sunday and received both within a week. This is very good as we live in a coastal town not a city.

 The first purchase was a layer cake from Cotton Factory. It is a Carolyn Friedlander Carikai layer cake. I will be using it to make outhouse for a friend.

I bought the Outhouse pattern from Clairs fabrics. I wanted the pattern instead of the PDF which I usually buy as it is paper piecing and I wanted to make sure I had the size exactly right with no printer modifications. A lovely bonus was two charm square size swatches of Carolyn Frienlander fabric. I have already used one in an outhouse!

I would recommend both of these shops to fellow Australians. The prices are very good for Australia (which is very expensive compared to the US) and the service is excellent.

One Monthly Goal

 I did it. I finished my goal for this month! I wanted to try this courthouse steps pattern and I find table runners are perfect for testing patterns. I would love a quilt using this. I am not sure what to pick for next month.

Linking to Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal.

New Projects instead of WIPs

 I have wanted to do the sliced coin quilt at Don't Call Me Betsy for a while now and have decided to make one using this fabric. It is strips of fabric about 8 inches wide so have to modify the coins. I have been reading a lot about finishing WIPs and printed off a page designed for listing them. I filled it with new projects I want to make instead. It was fun and this quilt is top of the list.

Top done

Now I need to work out how to quilt it.

One Monthly Goal

I have decided to join Elm Street Quilts one monthly goal. My plan is to make 5 of these courthouse step blocks and make a runner. I want to finish it including binding. The pattern I used is Neutral Courthouse Steps, a freebie at the Robert Kaufman site.

Christmas and New Year

 This was our first Christmas in our new house. The dog has the run of the house here so most presents were put up high out of reach. We had Christmas day here with family and friends on Christmas Eve and got up at 2.30 am Christmas day to drive to Sydney and fly to Perth. Perth is 3 hours behind so we arrived in Perth at 10 am and had Christmas day with family in Perth. It was exhausting but fantastic. We had a great week with lots of time spent with family and friends.

We arrived back on New Years eve and watched fireworks in the bay from our house.

I am going to sew more this year and started with a WIP. I have a lot of WIPs but cant bring myself to list them. I have listed all the new projects I want to do and then started this courthouse steps block which is not on the list and I don't know where it came from. I love it. I think I will make a runner for the buffet but really want to make a quilt one day.