Creativity

I have been practicing my machine quilting, following along with Leah Day's blog The Freemotion Quilting Project. The first project I did was a huge learning curve. In Leah's words, I quilted "the snot" out of this quilt. I started doing a bubble pattern and did it on a very small scale which meant the rest of the quilt had to be quilted on a similar scale. I do love the finished product but boy! It took forever!!

The finished Project!

Detail of the quilting - it is quilted about 1/8 to 1/4" apart! Madness!

I got a little wider on the borders.

This week, I picked up my copy of Quilters Companion Magazine. (no affiliations) and it had a free dvd on how to machine quilt "zentangle style" with quilter and Zentangle teacher, Jane Monk. The method of quilting is similar to Leah Day but the inspiration comes from Zentangle patterns. So last night, instead of sewing or crocheting blankets for charity, I 'zentangled'! This is the result. I couldn't believe how quickly the time passed! I started about 7.30 pm and all of a sudden I couldn't keep my eyes open. No wonder! It was 11pm!!

I have also been enticed to turn my hand to baking sour dough bread from scratch by my bestie, Gilly. I am actually really enjoying the challenge - Yes! Terri is enjoying cooking!! Don't faint! Here is my first attempt which I photographed and messaged to Gilly to show off!

Hello 2012!

Lets hope I get a bit better at blogging this year!

A great start to the new year. Up at 5.05am to be at the Lakes Roadhouse before 6.30am. Why? I hear you ask. Because I love my husband and he has asked me to help out at the registration desk for ATTA (Australian Time Trials Association). So there I was! Thankfully today has been decidedly cooler than the last couple of days. It was a fun morning and we were home again by 11am.

Jeff didn't beat his personal best but he said he didn't do too badly. The course was 41kms and he rode it in 1 hour, 21 minutes and 10 seconds. The course record was broken today by a young rider named Cameron Meyer (he has ridden in the Tour de France for team Garmin). Cameron did the course in 58 minutes and 42 seconds. Personally, I think the lot of them are crazy!!

One of my goals for 2012 is to complete the Project 365 photo challenge. This is my contribution for today:

The idea is to take a photo with your iPhone everyday for a year. I forgot while I was at the time trials but snapped this as I got out of the car when I got home.

Jeff bought me a new Canon 60D EOS digital camera for Christmas so my goal this year is to learn to use it well. I had a play with it after my morning walk yesterday and came home with these photos. Not brilliant but a start. I have posted a couple of these on Facebook and was told by a US friend (hi Janet!) that the duck and duckling look quiet impressionistic! What a compliment!! I did play with it a bit in Aperture but not much. The water was so still and clear that the reflections were gorgeous. I didn't realise how good until I got the pictures on the computer.

I love the leaf detail in this one.

The feathers on mummy duck blew out a bit but I love the colours in the water!

The flour mill.

Pesky seagulls do not belong in Northam! (but it was nice of him to pose for me!)