A creative January round-up...

Well I stuck to my New Year's Resolution for the whole of January (yes, I know there are two days to go), so I thought I'd let you see what I've been doing.

Firstly I finished the New Year's Eve mystery quilt - I've called mine "Butterflies in my Garden"...

Yes it does look a little different from my original picture.  Something about it was bugging me and I was determined that it was not going to finish as a UFO.  So I took the blocks apart and sashed them, adding cornerstones of the red.  And VOILA!  It worked.

I also finished my darling nephew's snuggle quilt...

Notice how the top and bottom rows are upside down?  I swear this quilt had gremlins...or maybe it's the fault of these little guys...

Then I made a beach tote bag as a very late Chrissie present for a beloved sister...

I also made a quilt for Miss 12 from a beautiful pattern by Erica Spinks called "Sunshine on Roses".  Miss 12 decided to claim this one very soon after I started laying out the blocks.

And finally, I added the next border to my challenge quilt, with lots of colour advice from my children.  I loved the idea of Miss Lottie's to turn the quilt on point, it solved a real dilemma for me.  So here it is, ready to be posted...

And yes, Miss Lottie, I have put another border around your challenge quilt, I'm just not going to show you - it's a surprise.  Let's just say the next row is...Flying Geese!

Oh, and check out this picture of a thunderstorm approaching today...

Didn't do much to us, but we are waiting with baited breath for the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Bianca some time tomorrow.

An unselfish heart

That would be my Blondie.  She has been worrying about her grandparents in Queensland all day, as the news reports got worse and worse.

At dinner time she came up to me and said, "Mummy, can I donate my pocket money this week to the people in the Queensland floods?"

We butt heads so often, her and I, that I forget just what a beautiful little person she is - and I love her dearly.

Thank you Blondie.

Could that be...?

Could that possibly be Lou running?

Hubby was so surprised he snapped off this shot for posterity. I haven't run in ages, but it was just so beautiful at the beach I couldn't help myself - and I took Miss 12 with me. This was in the morning. That afternoon we went back to the beach again and I went for another run, this time with FJ. Meanwhile...

Blondie and FJ had fun with the tinsy waves...

And then they built the palace! This was one of our 38 degree days. Today however is only 27 and raining - YAY!! And I truly mean that. Unlike the rest of Australia, Perth is in drought and definitely needs the rain.

Now the promised photos of the art folder - the outside...

The inside front...

The inside back...

No - I don't know why the photo turned sideways - SIGH.  And it will not turn around.  Oh well.  The art folder is made from this tutorial - so easy, I can see myself making more. Needless to say all mine want one.

New Years Resolutions...

...only one this year - Be Creative Every Day.  Doesn't matter how small or big the project - even five minutes will count.  So in order to break the creativity drought I joined in a New Years Eve mystery quilt that is put on every year by one of the Yahoo groups that I belong to.

And this is the result:

The fabrics are all from my stash with all but the purple being Japanese butterfly prints given to me for Christmas 2009.  It is crib size (didn't want to tackle anything bigger) but is still lacking borders.  I am contemplating using the offcut triangles to do something for the borders?

So that was creativity taken care of for 31 December and 1 January.

January 2 was taken up with creating an art folder for my second to youngest nephew for Christmas - I would post a picture but since my camera battery is still charging that can wait for another post.  And I then posted said art folder, plus other goodies off in a late Christmas parcel.  So Auntie Cat, watch your mailbox.  Other family - I will post your parcels soon - I promise.

So far so good - hope your New Year is turning out well for you too.