It's been a while...

 ... and rather than beat myself up about the 7 months gap in blogging, I'll just take it easy and see where blogging takes me next:) I have posted more regular updates on Instagram, feel free to check them out here.

So what am I up to at the moment? The house has become rather quiet, the oldest DS who is 20 returned to university for Trimester B last year, then straight to an internship only to return from there to uni for Trimester A in February, so we only had him home for a fortnight or so over Christmas. His next younger brother (who is 18) left for his own study in a different city at the end of February, so we now only have the youngest boy left at home who at age 16 is in his second to last year at school. 

Summer came and went, New Zealand continues to do very well in regards to battling COVID-19 in comparison to other places around the world. It helps when you are an island nation and can lock down your borders tightly - not saying that business are not struggling, especially those largely relying on overseas tourists (like my work). After an uneventful summer gardening season, autumn has brought some goodies, so I have been preserving homegrown bananas, feijoas and chillies:

I'm still using monthly goals, and with Suz's encouragement I have also looked a annual goals to help put the monthly goals in perspective. Over the last month I have (once again) realised how bored I get when I make a gazillion blocks of the same pattern - those projects just seem to drag their feet... With an annual goals they might just pull through... maybe...

My annual goals for 2021:

Continue piecing:

• Finish piecing all blocks for Rainbow at Sea
• Complete Line Dried top (blocks, borders)
• Piece two blocks per month for Stained Glass
• Continue Summer Sampler 2017 (piece one block / month, then turn into flimsy)

New projects:

• Cadence Court - piece two blocks per month

Quilting +:

• Finish Cogs and Thistles
• Finish Patchwork City 2018
• Finish Twisted Star baby quilt
• Finish Paperlanterns EPP quilt
• Finish Whirlygig - DONE

EPP:

• Butterfly effect

I have bought a few new PDF patterns, but I am yet to commit to any of these; I am always torn between starting an exciting new project and the guilt of having unfinished projects sitting in a pile. There are a couple of distinct possibilities I have on my radar, one the #Berninaoldblocksampler, tempting because the blocks are all different and not commonly used. Maybe a way to use some curated scraps?

As in previous years, I am still practising my ruler quilting. @nataliabonner is one of my more recent discoveries, and I have subscribed to her 9 patch ruler quilting class, so I will need to piece myself a 9 patch top to practice (one of these days..). Last year I bought a number of Glide 60 cones, and I am starting to learn how to use these. Currently I am SIDing in black around the blocks of my Patchwork City 2018 top, then I will fill in the blocks with a creamy Glide so I can minimise thread changes. I had trouble with shredding thread the other day, so chances are that I end up with a gazillion thread ends anyway.

One of the unexpected learnings from 2020 is that I enjoy EPP! I completed the Paperlanterns top, and I have started a new project:

There were a few pesky y-seams when I added the borders,
but I am happy with the finished result. Now to sandwich and quilt it...

My super-sized version of the pattern by Nicole | @lillyellastitchery

After a busy long weekend with a trip to 'the big smoke' to see the big boys, today is my sewing day, so I better get into my sewing room now - Happy Sewing!!!