Sunday Stash - The Magazine Edition

A few years back, a friend's Mum de-stashed a huge amount of sewing goods.  Part of that stash was a big old pile of quilting magazines.  At the time, I was not a quilter, so had absolutely no use whatsoever for them!  A lady from an online sewing group came past and picked them all up happily.  Then, once she found out I was quilting, she dropped a bunch back in to me.....

Where they have happily sat atop my shelves in my sewing room.  Without being opened.  Ummmmm.......

So why am I telling you all of this?  Wellllllll.......... Something very exciting is happening in the quilting world, and I just happen to be playing a part in it.  You see, the first and only Australian online quilting magazine will be released tomorrow!!  And I was asked if I would like to be a contributor!  Ahhhhh, yeh!!!

Make Modern is - well, let them tell you what they are:

MAKE MODERN: An online quilt magazine for quilters, by quilters.

We strive to inspire, motivate and enable quilters around the world! The Make Modern team is passionate about modern quilting and sewing - and we know we're not alone in this. So if you're looking for your next project (despite the fact you may have 15 projects already on the go), then you have come to the right place. Our magazine has projects for those new to sewing, as well as advanced projects for those sewists looking for a challenge. Let us unite in our love of cutting up perfectly good fabric and sewing it back together again!

Let's Make Modern.

Doesn't that sound perfect?

So I decided on my project, completed it and sent some delightful photos to the team.  Just so excited to be a part of something so fabulous, and it turns out they liked my project so much - they asked if they could feature it on THE COVER!!!  Whattttt????

Needless to say, I answered with a resounding YES.  I was so excited, I nearly wet my pants when they released the cover photo last week.

The Make Modern team released a preview of the magazine today, to entice you with its fabulousness before it's big debut tomorrow.  You can check it out HERE.

Now, given I have just confessed to NOT reading quilting magazines (OK, I bought one a few weeks ago, and actually read it from cover to cover. But it was because I had a little spot in it with artist trading cards!) why would I be gushing about a quilting magazine and telling you all how much I love it?  Well, I'm an "online quilter".  I have learnt to quilt through the online community.  I share my quilting through this here blog.  I spend a hell of a lot of my time online.  It is only fitting that my first magazine feature and quilt pattern would be in an online magazine!  Yes?  

As you can tell, by all of my babble, I am incredibly excited.  I am incredibly proud.  And I am incredibly terrified!  There are so many amazing and talented artists in the first edition, you HAVE to get yourself a copy and share in the excitement.

Make Modern have a wonderful Blog Hop lined up to celebrate the release, and I will be sharing more about my quilt and the pattern with you on the 23rd of September.  Be sure to subscribe to their newsletter, so you can stay up to speed with all things MM.

And just because I love you all so much - here's a little out take from the photo shoot I did.  This gorgeous girl was ever SO helpful during the process ;)

I'm linking up - You can too!

TGIFF #4 A FMQ Debut!

Just over a week ago, I had this quilt top finished, but wasn't really a "fan" of it!  I kept looking at it and thinking it had no personality.  Then my random visit to Spotlight lead me to finding and purchasing the gorgeous bright, lime green leaf fabric for the binding, and I was egged on to get it finished.  It also helped that a lovely lady was holding a Very Hungry Caterpillar inspired market night on her FB page Lil' Miss!

Once I had this little baby basted, I wondered how on earth I was going to quilt it?  I ended up biting the bullet and googled "free motion quilting".  I found the Oh Frannson! blog, and her posts on "basics" were really helpful.  So I built up some dutch courage and got my Free Motion on!

I was REALLY worried that I would end up with a really bad end result, but was completely thrilled as I made my way around the quilt, firstly in big squiggle shapes (I have no proper terminology here!) to "frame" the beautiful big pictures.

And then moved on to doing some smaller squiggles around the food prints on the top and bottom borders.

But I have to admit - I then got a little carried away!  Free motion quilting, it turns out, is just a tad bit addictive.......I was going to stop there, but couldn't.....

So I've basically squiggled myself silly over the entire quilt, except for the food prints and the big prints on the panel!

To say I'm happy with the end result would be yet another understatement!  I love the way the prints that haven't been attacked by me quilted sort of pop out!  And the binding just brought the whole thing together.

To shake my life up a little, I've actually listed this cot quilt in my MadeIt Store in the hope that someone will fall in love with it and snap it up!  Otherwise, some lucky friend of mine will score it for one of their babies!

And that is ALL I've finished this week - but it's a pretty good one even if I do say so myself!  I'm looking forward to next Friday when I WILL have another quilt finished to show you all! 

Addicted much?

I'm linking up with Quokka Quilts today!

W.I.P. Wednesday - Another Debut!

Now that I'm a Quilter, I have been learning about all of these wonderful linked up bloggy posts!  And today's is brought to you by Freshly Pieced!

This past week has been fabulous sewing wise.  I finished up all of my custom orders for Ms Midge, so was able to find a couple of things to sew for Christmas, which I will share here on Friday - cos they're finished!  But what surprised me most was my strange gravitation towards a project I started a couple of months ago, and had shelved in the "too hard shelf".

I made a rag quilt for my eldest daughter earlier this year, and ever since, my youngest son (8) has been asking me when he's getting a quilt.  So I did quite a bit of homework trying to find the perfect fabric prints and was wrapt when I found the Quilt Blocks range from Moda.  I also added some grey chevron - because I just loved them.  I emailed Julie at The Intrepid Thread and asked her to put a bundle together for me, and she very helpfully took a photo for me and emailed it back to see if I liked it!  Which is extremely helpful when she is on the other side of the world!

When it arrived, I found a pattern I liked that didn't look too hard (and I can't find now!), started following it, and then veered off track quite quickly!  Seems I am not one to follow patterns so well.....

I cut lots of rectangles out, not really knowing how I would piece it all together, and then as I started to piece it, worked out what I thought would look good.  I asked for a bit of advice from my quilting friend Gemma, and got some great tips.  Then shelved it.

When I finished my first real quilt the other week, I guess it gave me the confidence required to start this project up again.  So when I took it off the shelf on Saturday, I gave it a red hot crack, and actually finished the top!  Gained some more advice and tips from Gemma, and stunned myself when I actually unpicked a whole row because it just didn't look right.  So. Unlike. Me.

I also decided that I would switch the direction of the quilt.  That is, have the rows going long ways opposed to cross ways.  Mainly because it would have ended up being a bloody king size quilt - and that is so not happening!!!  But then I added the white strips to the top and bottom and it's sort of almost square now - so I guess the recipient can work out which way he likes it best?

I have now ordered a yard of the darkest blue print to make the binding, and am going to use quite a bit of all the leftover rectangle and strips to do something tricky with the back!

I just have to get through the whole basting stage, quilting stage and binding stage - and will have another quilt!  Yay me!

So - whatcha think???

Sunday Stash Debut

Today I'm doing something NEW and joining in on Sunday Stash at Finding Fifth - which is actually being hosted by my friend Gemma at Pretty Bobbins this week!  Often I forget what I have sitting on my fabric shelves, even though I look at them each and every day - so it was good this afternoon to REALLY look at it and find some goodies, and think about what on earth I am going to do with them.

I bought these Verona prints early this year with the intention of making something lovely for my girls.  Forgot it was there!  I have a bit of a thing for greys....

This is Cocoon by Valori Wells.  I fell in love with it and HAD to have it.  I am yet to find the patterns I want to use to make a little collection of dresses.  It's been on the shelf for quite a few months now.

Serenade by Kate Spain.  These prints were bought with a big order of something, and I needed to top up my package to make the most of shipping!  My youngest daughter LOVES purple, so it was bought for her.  I have no idea what I will do with it yet!

I bought all of the above three from the lovely Jewel over at The Intrepid Thread.  She is a wonderful fabric store, and will bend over backwards to help me out when I'm floundering over fabric choices.  So if you're looking for a fabulous fabric store - head over and tell her I sent you!

I believe these prints are all from the Nest range by Valori Wells.  I bought these from a seller on a Facebook marketplace.  Impulse buy, basically because I LOVE Valori Wells.  All sorts of lengths and widths here, and again, no idea what i will ever do with them!

So there you have it!  A very small section of what is sitting on my shelves.

Do you collect fabric?  And then forget you have it?

Sweating my way to Health

Yesterday, I finally took the plunge and committed to doing a Bikram Yoga class.  I took the commitment one step further, and posted on Facebook my intention, so that I could not back out of it, and would have to answer to lots of people if I did!  Including the instructor, whom I happen to be friends with.  For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, here's the dictionary.com explanation.....

This would also be classed as the 

BIGGEST UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY.  

I leapt crawled out of bed at 6.40am and dragged on some of my gym gear from years gone by.  Put a couple of extra layers on because I knew I would freeze my arse off.  Jumped in the car and made the 20 minute drive to get to a 7.30 class on time.

Was greeted by the lovely Mish (instructor) who was impressed to see I had kept my word and actually turned up.  She gave me some quick instructions and directed me in to the class room.

BANG - smacked in the face by the 39 degree heatwave.  And fear.

Took my place at the back of the room, and was pleased to see that I was joined by another first timer - Matthew - who was a rather "burly" looking bloke, who had a strange look of fear on his face also...

Next thing i knew, it was show time!  I somehow managed to remember to breath, and managed to get through the first few poses (DON'T think Madonna).  Then my body starting reacting to numerous factors:  

1.  It was early morning and I had not eaten breakfast - I am a creature of habit and usually eat as soon as I wake up.

2.  I had clearly not drunk even close to enough fluids yesterday to have any sort of decent hydration.

3.  I was just a widdle widdle bit out of my depth!

But I DID soldier on.  Whenever I felt the need to pass out, I just quietly slid to the floor and sat for a minute.  Whenever I felt the need to throw up, I just quietly slid to the floor and sat for a minute.  Paints a pretty picture yes?

Ninety minutes later -  I was done.  I survived.  And I felt pretty bloody proud of myself!!  I looked over to my new mate Matthew and said if I could actually move I would hi-five him.  He retorted that he would cut his hand off and throw it in my direction....

I have thought about doing Bikram Yoga for a few years now.  Have spoken to a few people about it, but never got the feeling it was something I wouldn't be able to manage.  Now that I have conquered that first class, I know what will work better for me next time.  I know, I know - I'm a nut bag for even talking about the next time...

Next time, I will go to a day time or evening class - when I have had plenty of energy food throughout the day and plenty of fluids.  And next time, I will be better prepared - mentally.  Because I will know what to expect.

Why am I doing this?  Well, the medication I was prescribed by my lovely neurologist, to help my daily headaches and regular migraines, worked wonders.  BUT (pardon the pun) it also helped to increase the size of my arse.  So I am trying to find a better, healthier option to managing and hopefully eliminating the pain that is my head.  Fingers crossed that all the pain I am going to put myself through, sweating like mad, will be beneficial for not only my head, but everywhere else!

Have you done Bikram Yoga?  Have I convinced you that it could be a good thing?

To Medicate or Not to Medicate - THAT is the Question.

I have thought about writing this post for a few weeks now.  Sort of mentioned it here, but something always stops me.  I'm going to try.

When I started blogging, way back here, my little "tag line" was - "From One Un-medicated Mummy to Another."  Back then I WAS un-medicated, and still am.  But it hasn't always been that way....

I was told by my GP back in 1999 that I was depressed.  I was 24 years old and had a little baby boy who depended on me.  I can still very clearly remember returning home to my then husband and telling him that "The Dr says I am depressed".  His response?  "You're not depressed".  This pretty much summed up the support system I had at the time.  Zilch.  I soldiered on for a while longer until I decided I should fill the script for medication I was given.  It was only a year or so later that I realised I wasn't really depressed - I was really unhappy.  In the boldest move I would ever make in my life (I am was a chronic people pleaser) I decided I would take control, and left my husband.  Strangely enough - my depression left.  And so did the medication.

I was lucky enough to meet my fabulous husband - Andrew - about 14 months after that.  Bliss.  We have now shared over ten years together, and that unhappiness that weighed heavily on me has never shown its ugly face again.  For that I am grateful.

Regardless of my giddy happiness, and complete and utter fulfilment family wise, my dear old brain and its battle with serotonin have led me to medication a few times.  Well, three times to be exact!  It seems one of the downfalls for me whilst being pregnant, was that I felt like a crazed woman.  I couldn't control my temper, my emotions, my anxiety.  I had no control.  Over anything.  I was in the fortunate position of having a wonderful obstetrician when pregnant with Chelsea, and he suggested anti-depressants could possibly help.  And he was right.  They did.

I always made a point of explaining to people that I was NOT depressed.  Anti-depressants, for me, level me out.  They lessen my stress levels, my anxiety, and make me a little more "zen".  Throughout my last two pregnancies, a point would come where Andrew and I would have a conversation that went something like this....

Andrew - "I think maybe you might need to go and see the Dr?"

Me - "I think maybe you're right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I wish I had of had such insight back when I was pregnant with Lochie.  I was the same anxious, stressed ball of emotion back then - but did not have the support or type of relationship where it was acknowledged.  There were warning signs.  Like the time we got in to a fight (I was probably 7/8 months pregnant) and he locked me out of the house to calm down.  In the rain.  Not a good idea.  Let's just say I ended up kicking a glass door in.  Hmmmmm......should have taken that warning sign and run with it!?!

Anyway.......... The reason I am writing about this NOW is that over the past few weeks, well months really, I have admitted to myself - and Andrew, that I'm struggling.  Struggling with everything.  And unfortunately I take my frustration and lack of control out on my beautiful kiddies.  I've always been a bit of a "yeller".  Not something I'm proud of, but it's me.  When I feel like I have been feeling, I lose control, and I can scream like a banshee.  I hate it.  I hate myself when I'm doing it.  I hate myself after doing it.  

I'm super aware of the fact that mental illness is part of my family.  It's part of my genetic make-up. I figure I shouldn't put it off, so it's off to the Doctors again.

I have a LOT of people ask me how I do it all?  How do I have four kids, work, run a small home business and still have it all together?  I generally laugh it off and joke about how I manage.  I look like someone who has it together, but THIS is the truth.  I don't!  I'm not worried about it.  My darling friend at work reassured me that sometimes we just need a little help.  SO I'm going to get it.

My question to you - How do you do it all?

My debut

I have finally bitten the proverbial bullet and am officially diving in to the world of the ''blog''. This is unheralded territory for me - but something I have been urged to do by many who seem to ''enjoy'' my daily rantings on my facebook page...

So where do I begin? I am thinking you (now i say ''you'' in the wonderful anticipation that there may be many you's in the near future) may want to know more about me? Well, I try really hard not to pigeon hole myself in to one category ie. mother, wife. But to be quite honest - being a wife and mother is truly my greatest achievement in life, so I have to bring them up first!

My four beautiful children are Lochie 11/98, Chelsea 5/03, Cadyn 9/04 and Chloe 08/08. They are probably the main reason for me to get up in the morning - believe me, if they weren't here I would sleep all day! All four of them give me joy, heartache, pain, laughter, tears and unbelievable pride. Most days it's only one or two of those things, but there's also days when all of those feelings are rolled in to a 12 hour period, and I repeat to myself ''I chose to have them, I chose to have them, I chose to have them''!

I'm sure as I get in to the swing of blogging, you will put many a puzzle together. You see, my life has been a mosaic of family and friends, life choices that have changed unexpectantly, and decisions that have changed the path of my wonderful life for better, and sometimes unfortunately - for worse! But I will keep it simple for my first blog....best not to make you run!

The other wonderful reason for my waking every morning, is my ever patient and delightful husband/soul mate/friend - Andrew. I met Andrew at a time in my life that I truly started to believe I would not meet anyone like him. He burst on to my computer screen just when I had begun to give up hope.....and has every day since given me reason to smile and be grateful for the unexpected in life!

I guess the other ''big part'' of my life is my job. Job - noun - anything a person is expected or obliged to do; duty; responsibility. Looking up the dictionary for the ''official'' description has led me to finally believe that my job is more than just a job! I have been a disability carer for twelve years. It is an occupation I sort of fell in to. I know that sounds odd......but one does not go from one day working in an office to the next day caring for people with a disability without a bit of falling! But amongst all the falling, tripping and potential stuff-ups along the way, I have managed to thoroughly enjoy myself and find something that makes me feel like I'm making a difference in the world, albeit a small one.

So, that's a really, really quick rundown on what I'm about. My hope for this blog is to really just share my daily thoughts, tears and triumphs......and hopefully to make someone out there smile and understand ''it's not just them'' on this journey we call life.

And for today's favourite quote ''Mork calling Orson, come in Orson''.........from the hilarious 80's sitcom ''Mork & Mindy''. I find myself using this quote from time to time - mostly to try and catch my children's attention! Usually all it achieves is a strange look and a ''whatchutalkinboutwillis'' kind of feeling!

Have a wonderful day! x