Author! Author!

My daughter convinced me to have a go at writing a novel during National Novel Writing Month in November. This is an international challenge for all budding writers, to write 50,000 words in one month.

As a teenager, I thought I would always write a book one day. Now I can say I have! Yes, I have written 50,000 words in a novel with characters and plot and chapters and scenes! It even has an ending!

This is my "winner's certificate"! YAY!

In other news, my quick and easy Christmas quilt is nearing completion- I just have to put the binding on.


I have also got my blue-and-green quilt back from the Long Arm Quilters and I am in love with the chain of hearts quilting pattern on the solids!

AND the bathroom demolition has started. Hopefully by Christmas we will have a shiny new bathroom in this space. Meantime it is looking decisively ugly!

Time to say goodbye

Eighteen months ago we said goodbye to DH's mother, today we say goodbye to his father.

You can read the lovely words my DH will read today at

http://thewildflowerarcade.blogspot.com/2011/11/interlude-tribute-to-fine-man.html

New project ideas

I have been planning some new quilting projects, now that my blue-and-green quilt is at the Long Arm quilters. It all started with this collection of music fabrics. A young quilting friend had seen a quilt made with this panel and knew of our family's link to music so she directed me to the place where I could order it.

You can see I have quite a good collection of music prints now - even a little bit of a choir dressed for Church singing!

I am thinking of this with some words -Sing to the Lord, or perhaps "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs"

Anyway, it seemed silly to buy $6 worth of fabric and have it posted all the way from the US to Perth Western Australia, so I also bought these panels below.
This one makes me think of all the happy days my DH and I have spent in the Swan Valley, or around the Porongorups, visiting wineries.
I can see this one -quite a large panel-surrounded with cream and blue windmill blocks for a singe bed sized quilt.
This one is just asking to be made into something for Christmas.
But this set of naive images of Christmas scenes I like even more! I am thinking of adding some words to this too, to make a banner.
This one is very pretty, but I am thinking of just using the centre blue and white panel with some pretty blue and white fabrics, and saving the green squares for another quilt.

So, with all these things to get started on, what do you think I am doing?

Taking part in National Novel Writing Month of course! Not much quilting is going to happen, I fear, until November is over!