Just before midnight?

I am making the mad dash to finish my "Lil and Will" quilt before midnight!  I have only 24 squares to quilt double lines around and then I am done!

I love the respite between Christmas and New Years.  It feels like the old year has gone and the new one yet to begin so there is time for self-reflection and dreaming (in between yelling at my kids to pick up their stuff and play nicely together LOL)

I went back and looked at my New Years List from last year and was pretty chuffed to note that I have learnt how to Navaho ply, and to knit socks on one circular needle, and to pin on pinterest (oh what a dangerous thing that was!) and to use social media more for my business.

Knitting wise I have finished the GG shrug and a Kina cardigan for Maddie, and Shalom for me, and no end of beanies and hats and socks and my first ever Baby Surprise jacket and a little baby jumper.
I have really enjoyed spinning this year and have also become a bit of a Ravelry addict - I have a very pleasant group of online friends who aid and abet my fibre fetishes.

Quilt wise I have finished 3 cot quilts, and 2 charity quilts, and my string piecing experiment, and the ticker tape dolls quilt and, fingers crossed,  I will add "Lil and Will" to that list tonight.

Along the way there have also been a few dresses and skirts for the girls, jammie bottoms for the boy, swimming bags and cushions and table runners and humbug bags.

All in all, craftwise, it has been a good year and I feel especially spoilt to have added a Ron Doley spinning wheel and a Quilt Expression 4.0 to my collection.  Our saturday Apple Piecers have spun off into a delightful Tuesday night group "The Night Owls" and I took great delight in watching my friends Chris and Yvonne rediscover the joys of spinning from our get-togethers too!

I feel like not much has happened on the scrapping front lately but working so much at kindy meant not a lot of free time.

So looking ahead to 2013: I would really like to finish the rest of the WIPS (especially my Patchwork Apple BOM, the needleturn applique, Maddie's strippy, and Emmy Lou's Braids)  I want to make Dr Seuss by October for Dan and an owl strippy for my niece by her birthday in April.  I've also been told that I have another niece or nephew arriving next September so there will be another cot quilt for then.  I really want to concentrate on doing lots more sewing for the girls (especially now that the new-fangled machine will make life easier!)

I really want to focus on a better balance of kindy and CM and life - hopefully 2013 will be about more quality time!

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing to celebrate the New Year, may peace be with you.
Here's to 2013!
Nell
xxxx

A Special Christmas

If you don't want to be bored with photos of family and more family then look away now.
We had a glorious Queensland Christmas (the first time in over a decade that all four of us Cox siblings have been home with our respective partners and kids!)

I think I must have consumed almost my body weight in mangoes.  I ate fresh crab sandwiches. We fished. We rode in Gumpy's boat.  We drank moscato by the dam.  The kids went horse riding everyday.  The kids went swimming every day. We met new cousins and reacquainted ourselves with old ones.  We hugged those precious great-grandies and were thankful for just one more visit.  It was soooo good to just be simple and unburdened by all the craziness we left behind.  It was the perfect downtime.
It was a VERY special Christmas.
Belated Christmas Blessings to you all,
Nell
xxxx
p.s. Highlight of James' holiday was running into Mark Webber in a cafe in Noosa.  We were straightaway those abnoxious star-struck fans who had to get a photo but he was very gracious and photogenic about it!

November WIP finish

Finally a finish!!! This was a ridiculous experiment foundation pieced onto A4 paper (some crazy recycling idea in the days when I was sleep-deprived with Hannah as a newborn and I saw Alex Anderson's take on "Depression Era Newspaper Quilts")  You would not believe how often these blocks have been shuffled from place to place and how many times they ALMOST ended up in the bin.  What a relief to finally have them finished.  This quilt actually gave me the chance to really play with my new machine and I have to say that I have totally fallen in love!  No more cussing while quilting! No more losing the needle thread, or having stitches unravel, or even searching for the scissors.  I LOVE IT!!!

I love the 3 million fancy pants stitches (especially the one that looks like hand quilting) and I love the inbuilt walking foot.  It has totally re-jigged my sewing mojo (which is why you see that I've started my Lil and Will quilt!)

Maybe that will be my December finish?

Have a great week!