Wednesday 30 October 2013

Work in Progress: Oct 30th - Oink-a-Doodle Moo

Hey everyone, Thanks for stopping by to see what I have been up to. It has been a slow month for sewing. I have been distracted by many many things (other than my children and their less than ideal nap/sleep schedules). Like getting engaged, and deciding I need more income to help pay for the wedding (if you are in Canada and need toys for gifts this season, check out my Discovery Toys page through the button on the side bar).

As for sewing, I have been slowing plugging basting white on white hexies for my hexagon quilt. I now have 975 white on whites to go with the 364 colored ones already sewn into flowers. Here is what ~900 basted hexies looks like:



I am running out of storage space for these basted hexies, and I need to do roughly 450 more. But first I need to decided on 1.8m more white on white prints to use. 

I have been slowing piecing blocks together for my Oink-a-Doodle Moo quilt too. I have decided on a layout, picked sashing and am ready to piece the front together. Here is a sneak peak:

I have a few more blocks made that will go on the back because I hadn't figured out a layout before I got fussy cutting and making the blocks and I have tons of 2.5 inch squares left that I think are going to be turned into a scrappy binding. 

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday. 
Thanks for checking in, have a great week.

GeoMama


Monday 28 October 2013

New Business Venture: Discovery Toys

Last week after GeoDad proposed to me and we talked budget for life + planning a wedding I thought it would be wise to find a few more ways to bring home some money. Ideally I would be back doing some geophysics work, but my experience is in hardrock mineral exploration and I am living in an oil and gas city. So while I have the education to work oil and gas, my experience and time at home with the kids is making it a harder to get a job in the industry.

So fast forward to the last week. Putting the kids in daycare for a job in my field makes sense, working evenings and weekends when Shawn can be home and we don't pay for child care makes sense. Working at something full time during the week where I make just enough to cover the childcare expenses does not make sense. We discussed the ways I could make more without full-time child care. And came to the conclusion that a stay at home business would be a viable and probably a very good option.

The big names that came to mind were Avon, Mary Kay, etc. Now this is where I need to admit that I rarely wear make up, I don't take any health supplements and I don't have much interest in changing all these things to be a successful business person. The next ideas were more kitchen related, Pampered Chef (I have some of their products and I love them) and similar products, but the reality is that I have 2 small kids that would make prepping for parties in the kitchen way more challenging. Plus GeoDad and I have tons of kitchen stuff that I don't want to be replacing just yet.

When I ran the idea past my mom of doing a party based business she suggested Discovery Toys. I checked out their info and remembered how much fun my brother and I had with some of their products when I was little. I think it is a great company and I love educational toys.

So I am excited to announce that as of yesterday I am an Educational Consultant with Discovery Toys and I am ready to take your orders, host parties (both in Calgary and online), and maybe get you started on your own home based business too.

I doubt Monkey and LB will mind as I will be getting great discounts and free toys. Here are some of the cool toys I can get for them (and your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc). I played with Marbleworks growing up and it was lots of fun for my brother and I for many many years.
Thanks for checking in and if you are shopping for toys this holiday season please come see what I can offer you here on my personal Discovery Toys Website. Today I am going to work on getting a button for my sidebar for anyone looking to purchase or check out the products without having to scroll through all my posts.

Thanks
GeoMama PS. I figured out the button for the sidebar. It takes you right to my Independant Discovery Toys Webstore

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Exciting things that aren't sewing related

I haven't sewn much for the last 2 weeks. I had a week of LB waking me up at 4:30 in the morning and Monkey waking up occasionally in the night, so I was too tired to do anything other than baste hexies. Then this last weekend I thought I would get tons of sewing done on my Oink-a-Doodle Moo quilt, but instead had a date night with GeoDad and spent all day Sunday on the phone with family letting them know some good news.

Can I give you a hint?

Yep, thats right. GeoDad popped the question Saturday evening while we were out for dinner. 

We have had a date picked to get married since I was pregnant with LB, but due to the calender (the specific date not falling on a weekend), and other commitments the date is still a year and a bit away. I think I will be posting pictures of wedding dresses to my fridge to try and avoid snacking. 

Happy happy week!! Maybe once I am a little less excited I will get back to work on my sewing projects.
GeoMama

Wednesday 9 October 2013

Work In Progress: Oct 9 - Something new

Good day everyone,
 It has been an exciting week in my sewing room. I now have 1100 total hexies basted on my hexagon quilt. That is 736 white on whites and the 52 flowers. I figured that I needed about 1800, so I am well over half way there!!

 I also finished 4 more Farmer's Wife blocks, and used up the last of my Triangulations paper and cutting instructions I got from the teacher at my local quilt store. I have 27 blocks and am waiting patiently for the next month's class.
Block 73 - Rainbow Flowers
Block 92 - Streak of Lightning
Block 98 - Waterwheel
Block 102 - Whirlpool

All 27 together:


Lastly I started a new project with the generous gifted fabric I got last week. Here is the first block of my Oink-a-Doodle-Moo quilt: 

I don't have a clear plan yet, or any idea how big this will be, but I know I will be fussy cutting a fair bit and using 2.5 inch squares to frame the fussy cuts. 

Linking up with Freshly Pieced.

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Thanks for checking in and have a great week.
GeoMama

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Work in Progress: Oct 2: Quilting is...

"Quilting is the crack cocaine of hobbies" - An awesome coworker
I chose to start this post by quoting a coworker who generously gave me a bundle of Oink A Doodle Moo fabric that she was not going to use any more of (she made 3 quilts out of what she had and wants to work with something new). And I have been pondering/planning/wishing to start making some baby quilts as I have 3 friends due to have their babies within the first couple weeks of 2014. My grandma was also digging through her stash and found a alphabet panel that she doesn't think she will use. So I think between these 2 awesome fabric shares, I should be able to get started on 2 more projects!!

One Oink A Doodle Moo Fabric
Alphabet Panel
This last week I took a wee break and did a ton of filing (which covered my cutting table for a couple days), and only did 4 more Farmer's Wife Blocks.
Block 48 - Homeward Bound
Block 68 - Postage Stamp
Block 103 - Whirlwind
Block 107 - Windblown Square
All 23 blocks together. 
I am running out of blocks to do without getting into quarter-square-triangles, paper-piecing and more complicated stuff, so a bit of time to work on baby quilts will be nice. I am signed up for the Farmer's Wife Class at the store I work at so I am waiting for the next month's worth of blocks to keep going.

Linking up with Freshly Pieced again this week.
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Thanks for stopping by to read about my very addictive hobby. Hope everyone got their fabric fix this week.

GeoMama