A Very Quick Check In

To wish you all a very Happy, Healthy,Creative 2012
I have been on holiday since 23rd December and I am still on holiday until mid next week, it is going to be very hard to get dressed in office attire after nearly a month of very casual summer dressing.

I have managed to fit in a little stitching time but just enough to feed the addiction for paper piecing.

This time it is octagons not hexagons. I am going to use these for a border on a quilt that isn't even made yet, I cannot sit with idle hands, these little beauties don't take much brain power. Just lovely to use scraps of favourite pieces of fabric.

Just prior to Christmas I had a trip to Melbourne to visit the divine Miss Lizzie and Co. It was a really wonderful time catching up with the Melbourne girls. I did come home with a new project though, as if I need another one. Those of you that read Lizzie's blog will have seen her blooms quilt. It is even better in real life so onto the quilt bucket list it went. The blocks are really large and showcase some gorgeous fabrics, it is hand pieced and yes I know some of you will look at it and think 'Machine Piecing' but I am not a fan of machine piecing and sometimes it is just nice to sit and sew and not have to think too hard , this is one of those quilts.

I call this my 'B' quilt, Blooms, Bees and Butterfly

I have managed to get 6 rows together and it is only 11 rows by 11 blocks although I may add another couple of rows depending on how it fits on the bed.
I will sandwich it with quiltlite, it will be one of those quilts to snuggle under when I have a little afternoon nap. Nothing too heavy.

I am still working on my basket quilt and my sheet with the appliqued shapes, I will show you those next time.

 I was very spoilt at Christmas, this little pile of books will keep me busy for some hours, so maybe not too much sewing will get done.

I had a very busy end to 2011 , in October I celebrated 25 years service for the company I work for, it was lovely to arrive at work on the anniversary to find my office totally decorated with balloons and streamers

I was treated to a wonderful morning tea and received some beautiful flowers and a very generous contribution to a new computer.

Many of you that read my blog will know that I have done a lot of travelling in my job, this has been to train a lot of the staff member to use SAP. SAP is the software system our company uses now worldwide. I have used this system since 1999 when our company here in Australia and New Zealand needed to update in order to be compliant for the year 2000, remember  we were going to self destruct lol. In 2010 I was part of the project team that implemented the upgrade to our German parent company platform. I had previously completed a 'Train the Trainer course at AIM but felt if I wanted to take this any further I needed to be more qualified so last year I sat my Cert 4 in Training and assessment, I got my results in December and passed so now I can train people using SAP (SD ) officially. So who knows where this may lead.

It has been many years since I left school but I rather enjoyed this further education.

I think I said this was just a quick visit so it is time I left, hopefully I will have more time to blog this year.

I will leave you with this lovely picture of the beach we use during our stay at our holiday home.I took this picture yesterday, the water was almost turquoise and it was so warm, Mr L & R had to drag me from the water. This pic is more for those of you on the other side of the world that could be shivering through cooler weather. Not to worry summer will be around all too soon.

 Happy Sewing

j