365: August & September 2012
In August/September I:
- Worked on my Dear Jane
- Finished some bee blocks
- Spent some quiet time carving stamps
- Healthy baking
- Stepping out of my comfort zone & journalling with 30 days of lists
DUDQS3 received
There is something exciting about participating in a swap. The nervousness of making something for someone you (usually) haven’t met before. Will they like it? Is it their taste? And then the excited wait for your own package in the mail.
Recently I participated in the Down Under Doll Quilt Swap (round 3, hosted by the ever-lovely Quilted Tortoise this year) and boy did I get spoilt!
I can’t believe this quilt is really mine! It was made just for me by Cathy of Cabbage Quilts, and I feel very very spoilt. How amazing is it! It’s all of my favourite things in one mini quilt just for me – gorgeous linen, paper piecing, stars, greys and yellows, and mustard yellow binding. Eek!
Usually I hang my minis in my craft room, but this one is going to go in the lounge room so everyone can see it! Thank you so much for this perfect mini quilt, Cathy. I still can’t believe it’s mine!
And the best thing about the DUDQS – meeting fellow crafty Aussies!
(also how amazing is this backing fabric?! yes please!)
August’s Far Flung Bee blocks
August was my month to make two blocks for Essie, and you know I think these are my favourites that I’ve made so far! That wasn’t a surprise to me as Es and I have similar tastes in colours, styles and fabrics, so I didn’t really have to stray far from my comfort zone. Although I quickly realised my stash is very short on brown!
I can’t decide which is my favourite of these two blocks (I keep changing my mind), but I do really want to make my own bear’s paw quilt one day! (If you want to make your own, there is a fantastic tutorial over on Essie’s blog.)
This month’s blocks also let me further indulge my current obsession: scrappy white-on-cream prints. I can’t get enough of this look right now, and I’m desperately scouring patchwork stores for more because I’ve gone through the tiny bit I had squirrelled away and I just want to add this look to Everything right now!
Right now it is ever-so-slowly warming up, although it is still chilly this past week, and I am trying to enjoy the mild days before the full force of summer hits and then we slide back down into a long winter again.
On the go right now:
Mini quilt for DUDQS3 (due out the 8th – oops, I thought the email said the 18th!)
September’s Far Flung Bee blocks
Designing my own cross stitch & stitching up a test version
Finishing up another sweater softie
Stamp dreaming
July has been a good month for stamps, and I’m really enjoying the quiet time spent with a hunk of white rubber and my concentration.
I’m currently working on three stamps (a business card, a save-the-date, and possibly the coolest: a stamp to stamp into fondant icing on a cake for a dear friend) but here is my latest finish.
I feel like my carving ability has taken a big step forward lately, and that’s pretty exciting to me as I’ve been doing this for a long while now and sometimes it just feels like you get stuck in progression. It’s a horrible state where you can see where you want to be, where you think you should reach to, but your ability just isn’t ready to take you there yet. You just gotta keep pushing and pushing and have faith that you’ll get there, and after 4 years of carving I think I’m getting there.
I kind of wish I’d taken an imprint of each stamp I’ve made, and journalled them. I think that’s something I should start in the future. Then I can look back and see where I’ve been when I’m thinking about where I’m going.
365: July 2012
The start of July was great for me. I knit a beanie (knitting in the round!), I started eating better and really experimenting in the kitchen, and I started working out.
The end of July wasn’t so great for me. I think trying to do All The Things and starting back at work burnt me out. I guess I needed that break. I slept a lot, I hung out with Mr Cheese and the pups on the couch, and I watched some Olympics. I think sometimes we all need a little break.
My name is Holly. I live in Australia with Mr. Cheese and our 2 dogs and 1 criminally insane cat. This is where I blog about the stuff I make (mostly quilts, stamps & plushies). Sometimes I also write about things that inspire me. Thanks for stopping by!
