a handy tip, and an amazing product.....

A few months ago, I was ironing fusible web onto some fabric, when the tip of the iron caught the fusible web flipped it over, and the whole sheet stuck to the bottom of my iron.  Although I forgot to take a picture of it, it was something like this.....

 

 

only worse (and not coloured) - the whole base was pretty much covered.

 

I tried four or five different things to try and get the fusbile web off but to no avail, so I put the iron aside and forgot about it.

 

A few days ago, whilst doing some tidying up and cleaning, I came across the iron and was going to throw it out.  And then I remembered I had these....

 

 

A package of 'purple rags', or 'rags in a bag' from Flylady, a American company.  I personally think Flylady is an amazing resource, and know that they research their products thoroughly, only selling the best they can find. 

 

I have often read emails about these purple rags, and all the amazing things they can do, and so decided to give them a try.  Only 30 seconds and some elbow grease later, all the fusible web was gone, every single bit!  It looks like a new iron!

 

So, if you have this problem sometime, it may work out cheaper to buy a package of these from Flylady, rather than having to go and buy a new and possibly expensive iron!

 

xx

soooo frustrating.....

Hello!  Once again I have been a remiss blogger - my last post was in June?!  Really?!? Time does fly....

But, all of a sudden I have lots I want to post about, and my home internet has suddenly died.  Which means I can write posts on my computer at work, but cannot upload any photos.  And I have so many photos to share, and currently no way to upload them until I can get my home internet fixed - hopefully soon.

I have been a busy little bee these past couple of months - some quilt classes and workshops, an amazing weekend retreat with art quilter extraordinaire Helen Godden, an extra long weekend spent in Canberra which I had never visited before, and some craftiness to share....

Hopefully I will see you all again very soon - photos in tow!

T xxx

monday musings.....

You may know, if you have read older posts on my blog, that I had a part time job at one of my local quilt shops, one of the two in my town. Sadly, the shop has now closed down, closing it's doors for the last time yesterday. I am happy to have my weekends free again, but I will also miss the fun I had with my wonderful co-workers, the lovely customers, and of course playing with all the beautiful, colourful, much coveted fabrics that I loved each week!

Strangely, although I still work 3.5 days at my office job, I feel like I am actually on holidays - suddenly it seems as though I have so much free time. The reality is that I will need to try and pick up some extra hours somewhere but in the meantime, I mean to enjoy my weekends. Free weekends = lots of sewing time = a very excited Tania!

And Ollie is very excited to have his Mum home on weekends too, instead of being left at home on his own.

So, where to start with my sewing?? There is SOOOO much I want to do, but for the moment my priorities are my Round Robin centre medallion block, and my niece's birthday quilt - her 'Americana' quilt. Watch this space for some new sewing soon!

a bit of kaffe love

where does the time go?!?

Firstly, a belated Happy New Year!! I hope it is a wonderful year for you all.

Doesn't the time just seem to be flying by again! One of my personal challenges/goals for this year is to build some routines into my days so that things - such as my blog - don't get left behind. Hopefully my neglected little blog will get a lot more attention from now on!

On the subject of goals, have you read the book 'The Happiness Project' by Gretchen Rubin? I read this for a second time over the holidays. I love this book; obviously it is about Gretchen working on her own level of happiness, and I love the way she listed her resolutions/goals which she believed would create a happier life, and then broke each one down into smaller steps to achieve them. It's something I am trying to do myself more often so that some aspects of life (even the enjoyable ones sometimes!) don't seem so overwhelming.

Gretchen has a great blog, and you can sign up to do your own 'Happiness Project' for the year, if you are so inclined. I have signed up, as I have some very definite goals that I want to achieve for this year. Nothing the least bit lofty mind you; just homey, crafty, health and financial goals - just kind of going back to basics in a lot of things and building routines and plans into my everyday life, and just being a LOT more organised and focused.

I guess I feel like I just didn't achieve very much last year. In fact, I felt like I achieved very little at all, and I don't want to finish 2012 with the same feelings of discontent and disappointment, and such an overwhelming feeling of being disorganised with so many things.

So, onward and upward!

Firstly, just a quick Christmas run down. Here is Ollie with a pressie he got from his 'aunty' & 'canine stylist' (my sister) - a box full of yummy doggy treats. Lucky Ollie. His 'mum' was very remiss and didn't get him anything (except lots of kisses and cuddles of course; he is a very cuddly little doggie)!



I received some beautiful gifts, and it was 'Cath Kidston' time again - see my previous post here. This time, a Cath Kidston purse which I love from my gorgeous niece, some really pretty CK soaps from her boyfriend, and some CK mugs from a friend.



I also received, among other things, some cute tartan slippers (have always had a thing for tartan and all things Scottish), some movie tickets, yummy chocolates, a cute little Christmas wreath made by my niece, a diary, and some money to buy - you guessed it - fabric! Lucky Tania too!!

I also did make some Christmas gifts which were given away to friends, but in the Christmas rush neglected to take any photos, although my gift to Ms Kylie, a cushion cover, is here.

Now, onto 2012. You may recall my list below, and my plan to complete "12 in '12".

:: Machine pieced sampler quilt - to be quilted and bound
:: Hand pieced sampler quilt - to be quilted and bound
:: 'Persian Tiles' quilt - to be quilted and bound
:: A quilt for my niece's birthday in March - not yet started
:: A quilt for my nephew's birthday in May - not yet started
:: Finishing my 'French Braid' quilt - currently a WIP
:: 'Pinwheel' sampler quilt - a 2012 challenge
:: 'BBQ' quilt - a 2012 challenge
:: Round Robin - a 2012 challenge/quilt-along
:: Irish Chain quilt - currently a UFO
:: my Lori Smith applique - currently a WIP
:: Lumiere de Noel charm square quilt - not yet started

I might tweak this list yet - my 'Persian Tiles' quilt is not really a priority at the moment - but the goal remains to complete 12 quilts in 2012. Pushing it? Possibly; but even half that many would be more than I completed last year! Still, it is a goal I would love to achieve and I will be doing my best to rise to the challenge!

In my next post, sewing so far for 2012.

Love
Ollie & T xxx

still here......

I'm still here, but still having a few issues with uploading photos - namely, that I have a second hand older digital camera, but no USB cord to upload photos to my computer, and it seems that the USB I need is specific this particular model. I had the last lot put on to a CD, but (as I'm pretty new to this stuff, sadly) it seems that the easiest thing to do will be for me to track down a USB cord to buy (or maybe just buy a new camera....). So, I hope to be posting with lots more photos soon!

Edited to add :: Yay! Success! A new USB cord is on it's way.....

sleep (or, the joys of being a fledgling blogger)

It's such a yearning-ful (I think I just made that up!) word.

SLEEEEEEEP. Not a lot of which is happening here just now.

I didn't think when I started my little bloglet, that I would find it to suddenly be such an exciting thing. I feel like a whole new world has suddenly opened up and now it is 3:00am and my mind is still a-whirring away, composing blog posts, thinking of topics to post about, photos to take, people to talk to, crafty bits and bobs to share..... I kind of feel like I really am seeing the world through new eyes.

Of course, I realise it has something of a novelty value at the moment, that the dizzying thrill will soon wear off, and it will become an enjoyable, pleasant but not hugely exciting thing to do.

Which will be great, 'cos right now the nights are hell.

Valium, anyone?

me...........

So, maybe I should tell you a little bit about myself. I am a forty-something woman and I live alone with my little dog Ollie (or, as my sister would say, Oliver aka Sir Oliver or Master Oliver!). Ollie has been a part of my life for only the past seven months, but has brought so much joy and fun into my days.

I work at two part time jobs, one as an Office Manager 3.5 days a week, and the other in retail at a patchwork/quilting shop which I love, for 3 days a fortnight. I am very fortunate in that both jobs are within 5 minutes drive from home. As I am the quintessential homebody, the more time I get to spend at home the better. I really do count myself as incredibly lucky to live and work in such close proximity.

I love working at the quilt shop - the girls I work with (women actually; I tend to call all my female friends girls) are great fun and it is so enjoyable to get to know the regular customers, and to see them bring their projects in to share. Sometimes when I am in a bit of slump creatively and crafting-wise, this gives me the inspiration to get on and make, or work on, something myself. Unfortunately, I am wonderful at starting things but not always finishing them - I do have a few(!) UFOs around the house, but hopefully they will all get completed at some stage and I am so looking forward to sharing some photos of my projects with you.

I love to potter about at home and love interior decorating books and magazines. I have to confess though, it has been quite some while since I have done much at home - sometimes in life I guess we lose our momentum or feel a bit overwhelmed in some areas and this is how I have felt at home lately. However, I do love to try and make a lovely home for myself and between now and Christmas I am hoping to do some decorating. As I am a renter for the moment, rather than a homeowner, my decorating is along the lines of rearranging furniture, making some soft furnishings such as cushions and table runners, and I plan to make a new quilt for my bed. So we shall see how all of that goes! I would love to be a good gardener too, but my thumbs sadly do not seem to be very green.

That's about it for now, look forward to seeing you soon

Love
Ollie and Tania xxx

hi there!

Hi all! This is my new blog. More to come soon!