Currently reading...

My Life Among the Serial Killers by Helen Morrison M.D and Harold Goldberg.

I've read less of this stuff this year than I normally do -  only three others I can see as I peruse my list. It's not a matter of losing interest, more of finding it harder and harder to find good stuff. I find Helen Morrison a little arrogant and condescending not only of her readers, but her peers. She has a theory, it's the right theory and everyone else is wrong. Most probably not what she means to portray, but the way it comes across. She is very willing to completely discount the effect of childhood experiences on these depraved killers, which is something I don't think is correct. Then again, I'm not the trained forensic psychiatrist who has spent countless hours interviewing and studying serial killers.

During our trip away I also managed to read a few other books. Apart from finishing off Eclipse before we left, I finished the series, reading

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer 

and

Fever of the Bone by Val McDermid (the most recent Tony Hill/ Wire in the Blood book)

I've really enjoyed keeping track of all these books this year and plan to do so again next year. Any one else interested in keeping track of their reading? No target, just a way to share what you are reading. Let me know, I love to see what others are getting into - lots of good ideas!

And the Winner is... (Finally!!)

So sorry for the delay! As I should have predicted, things got way to manic towards the end to even think about drawing the prize! We got back yesterday (2 days later than planned, but we were having such a good time!) and I've finally had time to sit down and do the draw.

I took the highly scientific approach of writing down everyone's name and assigning them numbers before heading to random.org to generate three winners

Which came up with:

27 - Becanne (who gets the FQ's)
22 - Amummy (who takes home the scraps)
5 - Jazzyjaes (who scores the strips.)

So thank you for taking part. Hope you had fun!

Inspiration

y but I have been a busy blogger today! I've just finished fixing this bag for a friend.

Can you see what it's made out of??

Yep! Buttons - the whole bag!! The handle had broken so I sewed it back together and now I am all inspired. I'm thinking boxes....

Please travel safe these holidays.

This video celebrates the 20 years of Australian Transport Accident Commission  commercials. Please be warned the video is graphic. I flinched several times while watching it. This is a link to an article about it as well. It is, however, a timely reminder. If you are traveling this holiday period, please do so safely.

Nanna's nameplate

When we were in Newcastle the other week, we went to visit my grandmother. She is in a nursing home and I noticed that all the other residents had lovely name plates on their doors. Nanna hasn't been there long and doesn't have one, so I decided to make her one.

It's my first attempt at applique and I must thank Barbara Brandeburg for this super simple tutorial!

This is the back.

I took the opportunity (given the back is not likely to be seen by many!) to quilt it using a contrasting colour. I'll take it down to mums at Christmas as I know she will be seeing her shortly after.

Time for a Giveaway!

So in celebration of me finishing my November challenge I thought a giveaway was in order. In fact, I'm having three! Rules are simple:

1. Post a comment here giving the prizes a preference of 1, 2 and 3 (gets you one entry)
2. Tell me which of the four I made you like best and why (two entries)
3.  Link it to your blog (three entries)

First, a picture of each of the quilts.

1. The red border

2. The yellow border

3. The blue border

4. The on point quilt

Highly original names I know! They were actually named after the people who received them, don't worry!

Second, the prizes!! As I said, I have three different things to give away.

First off, three fat quarters and one 10x42 inch strip. The fat quarters and the strip are of the backing fabric I used on the quilts.

Fat quarters

and the 10x42 inch strip

Second is ten 5x42 inch strips left over from a jelly roll I used.

Finally there is a bag of scraps from the quilts

We leave on holidays on the 21st so I plan to draw the winners on December 20. They won't be posted until we get back on the 28th.

Good luck!

Finished!!!

Woohoo!!! I've finished the remaining three quilts!!

I knew two were going to be for Kira's current carers at daycare, but wasn't sure about the last. Then it occurred to me that Kira changed rooms half way through the year. Problem is, there are two carers in that room and only one spare quilt. Then I remembered this quilt

which I finished back in July! For various reasons, it never made it to who it was suppose to go to, so I have decided to give it to one of Kira's carers.

So, finished, and pretty close to deadline! I think the sewing mojo is back. I put the machine in for a service when I finished the machine stuff the other day, and got a call last night to say it was ready so I'll go pick it up today. Have a few ideas of what to do. I'm also still planning that giveaway, so keep an eye out in the next day or two for that!

Lastly, thanks for all the comments and encouragement! It really has helped to keep me on track.