It's Friday... or perhaps I should say, Fri-yay! Only one more week of school before the end of term break and I really must admit that the school holidays cannot come quickly enough. Some parents dislike the school breaks, but I'm the opposite. I love having the kids home and hanging out with them.
I thought I'd start a little weekly catch-up post here on my blog. I share a lot of "everyday stuff" over on Instagram and Facebook and then don't bother coming back here to the blog to repeat it. I thought this would be a fun way to do a little re-cap, to share with you, and to keep a bit of a diary for me.
Sewing: I've mentioned it before, but it's Christmas time at my house. I'm busy creating Christmas projects for the magazines and thinking up tutorials to share here on Samelia's Mum. I will show you these projects... eventually.
This past week, it's been all about the pincushions! I used up scraps from my quilted book cover, to create scrappy a scrappy pincushion. The strips were very small, but small can be good too, right?
I created some EPP Flower Pincushions for Penny Rose Fabrics. These were such fun to make, and if you would like to create your own, visit the Penny Rose Blog to download and print up my pattern. So easy, and a lot of fun.
I've had a couple of projects appear in Australian publications recently too. Handmade Magazine has my Extravaganza Pillow. It was created with the Extravaganza range of fabric by Lila Tueller for Riley Blake Designs. I enjoyed making this pillow and it's now living at it's new home - I sent it to Julie of Patchwork Gecko as part of her birthday parcel. She loves purple, so I thought this was just perfect for her.
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| Photo Courtesy of Express Publications |
Patchwork and Stitching magazine has my Ophelia's Bloom Quilt project - created with Bloom & Bliss by Nadra Ridgeway of Ellis & Higgs for Riley Blake Designs. This issue of PWS magazine also has an interview, with me! It's a fun interview and I love how it was written up. Thank you to the lovely editors over at Express Publications for this opportunity.
Cooking & Baking: Winter is here and it's cold. We've had a lot of rain lately, and this weekend it's meant to get super windy (I hate, HATE the wind) and colder. The best thing about this time of year is that it's perfect cooking and baking weather.
It was hubby's birthday last week, so I made him his favourite foods, plus a honeycomb cheese cake with a tim-tam base and topped with maltesers and melted chocolate. Honestly, I was proud. It may not have looked like it was bought from The Cheesecake Shop, but it tasted so good! My secret ingredient was to blitz up half a packet of that chocolate covered honeycomb you can buy at the grocery store and then mix it through the cream cheese and cream mixture. So good!
Oh yes, and brownies. I've made quite a few batches lately, trying to get that perfect crispy top and gooey (but not too gooey) centre. Everyone at home is cheering on my efforts... while eating them.
Watching: Game of Thrones. Oh my gosh!!! Only one more episode to go in this season and it's building up to some very exciting viewing. There are so many fan theories all over the internet and so not only is it fun to watch the show on a Monday, but then spend the rest of the week seeing what the fans think will come next.
I don't have fan theories... I just create craft projects to do with GOT - like embroider a dire wolf.
I've watched way too much Netflix this past week. It's set up here in my sewing studio, so while I've been working, I've watched the new season of Orange is the New Black. I won't give anything away, but oh my gosh, get your tissues ready for the last few episodes of the season. So sad!!
Rake is another fantastic show which I've only just discovered. The current season is on the ABC or iView, but Season 1-3 is on Netflix too. That's one great thing I've been enjoying about Netflix, discovering Aussie shows which I wouldn't normally know about.
I'm a fan of The Voice and the kids and I love to get ourselves fed, showered and in our PJ's, ready for the show on a Sunday evening. I've even had a few tweets appear on the screen, which is exciting. Oh the squeals when we see mum on the television.
Reading: I'm determined to read more. Rather than spend time playing with my phone before sleep, I'm going to go back to reading more. I used to read, at minimum, a book each week and really enjoyed it. Technology has just gotten in the way of me reading. If I'm going to be a good influence on the kids and inspiring them to read for pleasure, rather than because they have to read for school, then I'm going to have to change my ways too.
This week, I finished reading a book called The Teacher's Secret.
It was an odd story, set in a small Australian town. It has suspense, a little romance and friendships. It's one of those novels, where each chapter is about one of the characters and their continuing story. Most of the characters are likable, though one of the characters in the book made me quite uncomfortable - which I guess is what the author was going for. If you're looking for something new to read, you might like "The Teacher's Secret". If you do read it, please let me know what you think.
Next book on my bedside table is a Nicholas Sparks novel, 'The Guardian'. I do love reading Nicholas Sparks novels - they're easy to get into and you can then go and see if they've been made into a film.
I've received a couple of lovely message from people, who have found some of my patterns on Fave Quilts and created my quilts.
This one is by Giulia Faeta, who sent me this picture of her beautiful quilt. Isn't it bright and fun!?! It's based on my Baby's Day Out Quilt Pattern.
Barbara R created this lovely quilt with my Fresh Diamonds pattern. It's an old pattern (my first ever), but it's probably the most popular. The brown in the outer triangles is so effective and gives the appearance of a border. Great, don't you think?
This is my this week. I hope you've had a lovely week too and that your weekend is very enjoyable. I'm hoping to get to the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair this weekend, so keep an eye on Instagram, because I'll be sharing it all as I go.
You were one busy Las! I'm new to your blog but glad I found you. I have a blog but due to health issues I've not been very active since Oct. I have a condition called narcolepsy where I fall asleep at inopportune times which means I can be quilting or sewing and 30 min-1hr.later wake up to find myself slumped over the sewing machine. It keeps the output to a minimum I must say. Frustrating to say the least. I'm a retired special ed. Teacher who lives in the southern state of Alabama,USA. It is summer here and temps over 100...yuck!
ReplyDeleteI live on a small farm close to my 3 children and 6 grandchildren.
Blessings
Gmama Jane
(Jane Hillis)
Alabama, USA
You were one busy Las! I'm new to your blog but glad I found you. I have a blog but due to health issues I've not been very active since Oct. I have a condition called narcolepsy where I fall asleep at inopportune times which means I can be quilting or sewing and 30 min-1hr.later wake up to find myself slumped over the sewing machine. It keeps the output to a minimum I must say. Frustrating to say the least. I'm a retired special ed. Teacher who lives in the southern state of Alabama,USA. It is summer here and temps over 100...yuck!
ReplyDeleteI live on a small farm close to my 3 children and 6 grandchildren.
Blessings
Gmama Jane
(Jane Hillis)
Alabama, USA