Happy New Year!

image from:  dreamstime.com

My wish for 2023 is peace, love, happiness and finding the joy in all that you do.

For the first time in a few years, I am feeling good and positive about the year that is ahead of us.  I have some goals that I know can achieve and; for the first time in a long, long time, my DH and I have a common goal to achieve.

First up on my NYE resolutions is to get this blog up and running again.  2022 seemed to have "sucked everything out of me" with excess paid working hours, 2 bouts of sickness and some awful family injuries/illness.  Now, the time has come to leave all of that behind and begin again - A Fresh New Start.

I have some travel planned; reduced my contracted work hours and have a goal to get some of my gorgeous projects out of their containers/zip loc baggies and see them come to fruition.

I have so many things I want to finish:  cross-stitch, knitting, quilting - piecing and actual quilting; as well as creative writing - I need my groove back!

With all that said, I am signing off now with the most heartfelt New Year wishes to all.  May 2023 bring everything that your heart desires.

Much love,

Andrea xxx

Coming Back....

Today I sat down at the PC for the first time in many months to actually read yahoo group e-mails and not just check for my spot on the UFO Queens List.  It was like running into an old friend.  I have had a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours catching up with everyone.

I also watched some fantastic you-tube quilting videos.  I had forgotten that there is so much talent out there in quilty land and how simple techniques provide for 'light-bulb' moments in my head!  "Why didn't I think of that?"  :) 

Yes, I have had some finishes in the past few months, which I have not posted to yet.  I hope to rectify that tomorrow when I catch up on finish photos.

Before I sat down today to contemplate quilt and craft happenings (avoidance of dealing with tax papers), I felt like I was drowning in my stuff and lack of time due to the hours my new job demands.  But, then reality hit, as long as I go back to what I was doing at the start of the year, which was a little bit every day, then pieces get sewn together.  15 minutes a day - (I had forgotten that tip) - I know I can do that. 

I like to work on two things at once, a new start (for an exhibition, needs applique border and quilting) and I am deciding what to do next from the UFO list, having recently lost my momentum after finishing a King Size quilt.  Although I am very tempted by a video I watched today from Fat Quarter Shop where they used up fat quarters to make a quilt top quickly - and - oh dear running off on a tangent now - I have a pack of 30FQs in my cupboard which I bought in 2007 that I think will work really well for this.  I will test a bit of fabric for colour run in a glass of hot water first, lots of red and navy.

Off I go, to my sewing room, to tidy up the sewing table, ponder my many project boxes for the next project and  decide if I want to cut into my precious FQ pack!

Thank you all for just being there and for 'listening'.

Hugs,

Andrea

And so it begins......

... my first post to my blog! This is my new journal about life, the universe and everything, as an Australian expat living in Germany. I am a Quilter and budding Writer.

The lists off to the side are my "helpers". Recently I joined the Stashbusters yahoo quilters group. One focus of the group is to get your UFOs (un-finished objects) finished. If you do not have one finish per quarter, then you risk being crowned the UFO Queen. To help myself, I made the list on the left. It's been a great feeling to complete a few projects and use them. Because this is not the total list of projects, I have found that I can stay focussed and not get lost in the myriad of choices in my sewing room.

I have also added my list of Creative Writing items that I want to stop being UFOs. The pieces have come about from my fabulous writing group - Writing Women. We meet regularly to discuss and critique each others work, as well as looking at publication options, helpful hints, query letters and all of things required to "make it" in the tough world out there.

I have a lot of great quilt projects started and some first drafts of short stories, so I want to get total completion and have the pleasure of the finished item whether it's for reading or show!