Happy New Year 2011

Wow I can't believe I have not been onto my own blog since April!
Well I am all set for 2011 and determined to make this year a productive one in patchworking. Today I have joined an online block swap based in the USA and am waiting to here how to join one in good old Oz.
I have been in my sewing room today sorting and tidying my stash cupboards and digging out my UFO's (of which there are just too many). I am determined to work on a UFO ech month at least to stop myself feeling guilty about starting any new projects.
I have a photo memory quilt to make for my Mum for Mothers Day and an Oriental themed quilt I have promised my daughter for her birthday in June, so I need to get cracking as I haven't yet worked out the patterns I will be using for either! I think my daughters quilt will be appliqued Kanji symbols, which should be interesting.
Anyway, I have to stop getting side-tracked. As I said earlier I am waiting to hear from Sue about joining QUILTING BLOCK SWAPS - AUSTRALIA. I love the idea of making blocks for others to enjoy and of course receiving blocks from others! I look forward to making new online friends too.
Whilst checking out the Aussie swapping site I have found Leona's Quilting Adventure (http://oneygirl-myquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/12/lets-ring-in-2011-with-new-bloggy.html) and she is offering some great give aways, so check out her site.
Meanwhile I have to try and figure out how to add my link to a message on her site!

On another note entirely I am going to post a photo of my little man Ollie. I have seen lots of photos of people who have their cats and dogs with them in their sewing rooms but I have yet to see anyone who has a kangaroo! My daughter first got Ollie about 7 months ago I think, but had to fly off to work so he came to stay with me. He follows me around the house and stays close while I am sewing.

As I work in a primary school I was lucky enough to be able to take him into work with me every day and we visited the classrooms and the kids came into my office to visit with him. I got quite used to playing second fiddle to Ollie! I used to get a good morning as an after thought - everyone came in to say hello to the little fellow. What originally was only supposed to be 3 weeks turned into 11 and he spent the whole term at school with me and I know I will miss having him with me when I go back to work in a few weeks.

He is getting quite big now - from weighing about 1kg when we first got him he now weighs about 10kg! and is too heavy for me to carry around now. If I had to go to the shops after work I would take him in with me in his pouch and he would cause quite a stir. It would take me twice as long to shop because everyone wanted to take his picture and pat him. He had an accident before we got him and he has half an ear and part of his tail missing, but is still the cutest thing.

He loves our cat, but she is too old to bother with him and keeps her distance. Our two dogs on the other hand like to lick and sniff him which he is not too happy about as they are quite big!

Anyway, see what I mean about getting side-tracked! I have to get back to Leona's site and figure out how to post a link, then upload a pic of Ollie. Then it is back into my sewing room for some serious planning and maybe some cutting out.

Happy New Year to everyone in Blog Land and happy quilting!!