Preparing for a great 2015

I still feel in holiday mode but next month all the groups I belong to will start and I will be back into the thick of it again.

I don't make New Year resolutions but I often think of a word as inspiration for the coming year. The word that keeps popping into my head is Preparation.

I am a morning person and often feel as if I am the only person who loves Mondays. I love the feeling that I have a new blank page in front of me just waiting for me to fill. So a new year is like all the mornings and Mondays rolled into one, instead of a blank page, I have a whole new book to fill.

So I have been writing lists and planning my year ahead. I am in the middle of a new crazy quilt with a seasons theme and I would love to be able to finish it this year. The trouble with hand embroidery is that it takes so long.

Autumn block

I haven't done any quilting for a while so I thought I would get some blocks basted together and put them next to the machine for some occasional quilting practice. I found some fabric in the cupboard that I will probably never use in a quilt that will be perfect for practice.

The floral fabric on the left will be sashing and the plain in the middle will be the quilting squares and the one on the right will be the backing fabric.

I think I will put some crazy blocks together for some embroidery practice as well.

At the moment I am doing an online camera course but the more I find out about photography the more I realise how much there is to learn.

The other thing occupying my time at the moment is a Photoshop course that I am doing online with Pixeladies. I already use Photoshop to re-size my photos and do some other things so luckily I am not a complete beginner but I am still picking up lots of tips and tricks. You can print out the lessons but the really good thing is all the lessons are on video and I find it so much easier to learn that way.

The Waverley Art Quilters start again next month and our holiday homework was to make a sketch book with painted pages and inspirational photos and I still haven't started that.

Two years ago I designed a miniature applique quilt and I haven't started it yet, maybe this year?

So you can see I have plenty to do and it will be interesting to look back at the end of this year and see what I managed to get done.

You may wonder why I am trying so hard to be prepared and the reason is that from Easter onward I will be minding my granddaughter 5 days a week! It's is only for this year but I am starting to realise what a big commitment it will be.

Roll on 2015 because I feel ready.

Bye for now,
Linda