Welcome to November! Want to see what I’ve been up to?

After 3 years maternity leave having to return to “full time” work the past fortnight to help my work team has been a complete shock to the system. I seriously don’t know how I managed to clock up 5 days a week at the desk job before. I normally work 3 full days a week to help subsidise my fabric addiction pay the household bills and it’s enough to make me appreciate the fact that the other 4 days of the week I get to be a Mother, Wife and work on my passion. On top of working more all 3 of us have been struck down by some viral cold going around which is being compounded by the unusually high pollen count we’re experiencing.

To say I’m looking forward to our Christmas holidays this year is a massive understatement. The luxury of having 2 whole weeks where the 3 of us can just hang out without the pressure of having to be somewhere at a set time is going to be fabulous. I’m working really hard behind the scenes to be able to have those 2 weeks off without having to do anything I don’t want to do. It’s going to be a push, but if I can pull it off it’ll be so worth it. I haven’t had “free time” in I don’t know how long and the allure of it is proving to be a great motivator.

In other news I had a rather surreal experience in the wee hours of one morning this week when I was surfing the #quiltmarket hashtag on Instagram and saw that Tula Pink has released a new line of sewing hardware. In August when I got my latest tattoo I had no idea that Tula Pink would be releasing these scissors, but the resemblance to my tattoo is so uncanny and freaky that I’m totally claiming a mind meld with Tula Pink. I am totally asking Santa for a pair of these scissors for Christmas.

A few months back Janome and Michael Miller Cotton Couture asked me if I would like to design some blocks for them to help celebrate Janome’s 100th Birthday. I jumped at the chance and designed 4 blocks that I’m really proud to say are in the Janome 100 Quilt Blocks in 50 Days challenge. Find out how you can win and get the free instructions to make all the blocks by clicking here. (I’m also a little bit chuffed that the image of the block that they’ve used for “download blocks” is my split nine patch block!)

I’ve been working on a fun Christmas project for Brother which you can either make for yourself or as a gift. It’s a real step out of my normal sewing comfort zone and I had such fun putting it together. All will be revealed on November 7! I’m off to Sydney on Thursday to help judge the 15th Brother International Quilt Contest Australian entries. I’m really honoured to have been asked, but completely pooping my pants over the responsibility. The quilts are going to be amazing and the thought of not being able to pick them all saddens me a little. I’ll be revealing my version of an entry this week and I have to say it’s one o my all-time favourite quilts I’ve made to date.

But before I can get to all of that I have a mountain of work to do and I can hear the fabric calling my name. I wish you a most fabulously happy Monday!

FUN THINGS TO CLICK ON

• Abby at Things for Boys has opened up the Holiday Edition of The Selfish Swap. Click here to sign up and hopefully you’ll get a really awesome partner to swap with!
• Looking for a fun sewing themed foundation paper pieced quilt to make then check out the Fresh Spool Series by clicking here.
• If you love Cotton + Steel you’re about to lose your proverbial over this little video… click to see the Fall 2015 Collection.
• I’ve been craving a good book to read lately so I’m jumping on the Sew Delicious Bookclub for this month, click here to find out what we’re reading. You can buy the book by clicking here.
• Looking to add a little sparkle to your Christmas festivities then check out this tutorial from Sweet Little Pretties on how to customise a Marquee light.
• I love this rainbow painter’s palette fun desktop wall paper from Elise Joy, click here to download.

COMMUNITY CORK BOARD

• Tiny Sparks WA are looking to provide 200 Christmas quilts to neonatal nurseries right across Western Australia and need your help! Quilts measure 16″ x 24″ so perfect size to master the art of the mini quilt. Click here to find out more.
• If you are a “modern quilter” located in South Australia, please join this new facebook group where we are working to arrange regular sewing days and coffee meetups for members. Country members are very welcome, although currently we are only planning Adelaide meetups. Click here to join SA Modern Quilters.
• Jackie Gillies (@jackiegillies) is asking those who can (and want to) to make and donate Tic Tac Toe blocks to help make quilts for women’s refuges in Australia. You can find out more by clicking here.

Want something included on the Community Cork Board, then why not drop me an email and if it’s applicable to the GnomeAngel community I’ll share it. It can be anything from a local fate, a charity raffle, a class you’re teaching, a pattern you’ve released, a sew-a-long you’re involved in to a community event that’s happening. Be sure to send me as much detail as you can and links to any applicable websites.  Click here to email me.

SPONSOR MESSAGES

• If you’d like to take a class with me, then why not check out my class list by clicking here or maybe you’d like to work with me to help promote your brand/business/store/product, click here to find out more about partnering with me.