Flowers

Even though I've had a break from blogging, I haven't had a break from sewing. While watching TV coverage of the natural disasters occurring around the world, I was busy with a needle and thread. Various things have been worked upon...

This pic I took in February - the last "official" border on the Patchwork Posse round robin. I've actually added another border of my own devising since then. I'll show you that in a day or so.

Border of flowers, embroidered and appliqued

Pretty cool huh? Each flower centre is unique, and all made from leftovers of other fabrics used in the quilt.

Yellow flower on the left will have a button in the centre, after quilting.

What I've learned today:

It's not always a good idea to work on more than one project at the same time.

There is the above quilt, which I'm itching to get quilted (first have to get/make the backing). And there is also a quilt I began early last year, which my daughter was going to have to keep warm with last winter (i.e. June - August). Then, the goal was for xmas. Now, the goal is her birthday - which is in one month.

I'm trying, I really am. (In case you're wondering, I've yet to show any pics of it.)

It doesn't help that I've "misplaced" two blocks. Instead of wasting time looking, I've decided I'll make a couple of replacement blocks.

That's bound to make them turn up.

The first on the last

Well, my self-imposed hiatus is over.

I'm back.

Yes, I've been away. Not away away, just... away, as in not online. Much.

But now I've found my way back to my blog, and I intend to visit on a much more regular basis. It is too easy to just let things go. Bad habits are naughty.

So now it's time to start some good habits. I plan to post lots in April.

Unlike March - do you get my cryptic post title? If you do - yay for you! If you don't - I guess I can say goodbye to a career in cryptic crossword clue compiling. hahaha. ha.

(That hahaha-ing is slightly sarcastic, as I wouldn't mind having a job of creating crosswords - and getting paid for it.)

What I've learned today: How to search for files in Windows 7.

(I'm doing a computer course - the first session I attended finished less than an hour before our Feb 22 quake. So understandably, they've been out of action for a while. The classes have been back on as of this week.)

22 Feb 2011

Yesterday, I was standing waiting to catch a bus home after a morning in town. I was feeling good about the computer course I'd just started, and I'd treated myself to a quilt magazine, which I was looking forward to reading. I was composing in my head a blog post about why I haven't posted lately - like how I was getting overload from having to write every single day (for NaBloPoMo), which is not easy for me as knowing I have to do something sucks all the fun out of it; or how I was getting so sick and tired of the way my computer shuts down and/or reboots itself at random times, whether I'm using it or not; or how I decided to take a break and just not use the darned thing for several days, which I thought I'd regret, but actually found rather liberating, despite the thought of all the unread emails piling up.

But just as my bus pulled up, the ground shook so bad I had to grab hold of the bus shelter to steady myself, and looked up at the two storey concrete wall beside me, wondering if I should get away from it, or just wait until this aftershock wore itself out, as so many had done already. Had I known what was happening in the centre of the city (9 km away), I would've been across the road in a shot.

But at the time, I assumed this was yet another aftershock from the 7.1 earthquake that hit us on September 4. We'd had hundreds thousands of those, and we hadn't felt a strong one in several weeks.

Long story short: the bus took me home (we live outside the city, in a satellite town), I collected my girls from school (now closed until at least Monday), and hubby arrived a few minutes later. We've been watching TV ever since, stunned at the devastation of so many familiar landmarks and historic buildings. But by far the worst of it is the fatalities - something we miraculously didn't see in September's quake. My heart goes out to those people, their families and friends.

... and it's midnight.

Just been online shopping. Just grocery shopping, nothing exciting!

I had to get the order in before midnight.

No, the pumpkins don't change then... I would just miss out on delivery tomorrow.

I've decided to make tomorrow The Day that I catch up on emails and messages and replying to people. So if you're waiting to hear from me, tomorrow will be the day.

Today was just no good for anything.

What I've learned today:

If I need to get something done and I write it down, I'm more likely to do it. And if it's in a public place where the whole world can potentially see it, then it's gotta happen.

Or else.