EPP anyone?

I was wondering what to post about today so I had a look through my Instagram posts for this past week and it became apparent!

I appear to have done a fair bit of EPP this week!

The top photo is the beginnings of my #ukminiswap quilt, which is a mini quilt swap that's been run over on Instagram.

The bottom hexies are a project I've had on the go for a few weeks now and I think I'll turn them into a cushion eventually. Looking at them like this I'm not liking the yellow flower, it's lost against the background print don't you think?

I've also been working on some comissioned pieces this week so can only show you sneak peeks! 

There have been some magic moments with the kiddos this past week too!

Jett had his eight week check and now weighs a whopping 13lb 8oz! He's also enjoying more awake time and some tummy time here and there.

 Holly's teacher sent a copy of this writing home on Friday after calling me to let me know how well Holly is doing at school! I'm so proud of Holly for this, she's pretty much cracked Hunter hasn't she? She could barely write her name in September and declared writing too hard, now she's wanting to write - this list was initiated by Holly herself!

This and that!

There has been a little bit of everything going on around these parts this last week. 

I've managed a fair bit of sewing even though little baby Jett has left me totally sleep deprived!

Apologies for the truly shocking photo, I think this was taken in the wee small hours as I was trying to meet the deadline! This is half of the paper pieced star I made as my centre block for the Leeds Modern Quilt Guild Round Robin.

I used a template from here for the block and it went together pretty easily, it would have been smoother if I hadn't been so tired trust me!

I'm really excited by the round robin, so much so I never photographed my finished block and it will be a whole year before I get it back! When it returns it will be as part of a quilt that all the other members have contributed toward, cool right? To find out more about how the round robin works just click the link above.

I've also managed to get half the quilting done on the economy block quilt I started this time last year! Shameful I know! 

I had a little helper whilst I was quilting on Sunday, he loves been with me whilst I sew and is very interested in how the magic works! He likes to talk about what he can see on all the fabrics we use.

Aside from sewing, I went to my SIL baby shower this past weekend, it's the 1st baby shower I've ever been to and was lots of fun.

She got lots of lovely presents for her and the baby, the funniest one was a huge basket that looked like it had loads in it but when she removed the top layer of baby clothes it was full of alcohol underneath!!

 I've spent lots of time with two fellas during the week

James the cat is so naughty and is forever climbing into Jett's bouncy chair for a snooze! Jett on the other hand prefers to be a little more upright when he's awake, just look at those chubby cheeks! I've been feeling a little sad that he's growing way too fast, he's already coming out of size 0-3 months clothing and he's only 7 weeks old!

This week also saw me trying to maintain the momentum with my reading and I'm pleased to report I've finished my first book of the year {The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith} and have moved onto this one

I have a feeling its going to terrify me as it's about a stalker, I've read the first 30 pages this evening and will be reading more in bed tonight. With the light on!

I had my first personal training session at the gym this weekend too. Those of you who know me personally will remember I was getting into some serious weight lifting and crossfit before I got pregnant with Jett and my aim for this year is to get my strength and fitness back. Katy sent me this photo of us from Summer 2013 to spur me on as I'm looking super slim and toned!

Look at those collar bones and shoulders and how thin my face is! Woop!

Finally I saw this on Instagram this week and it really resonated with me

I think I'm going to get this printed out for my inspiration wall at home

New Year, New Blog!

So 2015 has arrived and with it my new shiny blog look! I've been thinking for a while I needed a makeover to try and give me some blogging spark and I just love my blog's new look!

2014 was a sometimes tough yet happy year for me. My beloved Nan passed away, my 4th baby, Jett, was born and my business Simply Solids is going from strength to strength. I'm feeling good moving forward and wanted to share with you a few things that might help focus your year as they are going to mine.

#onelittleword

This is a great idea, my word is:

I need to nurture my family as we readjust to been a family of 6, I want to nurture my hubby as he needs to reconnect with his friends and hobbies after spending much of 2014 looking after a grumpy, pregnant me! I also believe that if I nurture my business it will continue to grow in the direction I'm aiming for.

2015 Sewing Bucket List

I'm looking forward to taking part in this over on Instagram. There are 17 prompts to guide you with your 2015 sewing, check them out over on Deborah's blog. If you'd like to follow me on Instagram to see my progress my tag is @sewjustinesew I will document my makes here too of course!

26 Books to read in 2015

 

Again this is similar to the Sewing Bucket list as in there are prompts to guide your reading. I'm looking forward to this one, I read around 30 books last year so this is achieveable I'm sure.  To find out more head to the BringingUpBurns blog

I've got lots of sewing planned and am going to bust some WIPs this year too! Yeah Yeah, you've heard it all before but seriously, this is THE year.