Quilting Day!

Its national quilting day!!!

What am I up to? Well, I have orders for 2 quilts that I am currently working on!~

But there's something else that I'm doing too...

But I wont tell you that!




Why would I tell you a way to win a lot of prizes???

And even if I did, you will surely not believe me that you only have to open this link and enter to win!

(Prizes could or couldn't include some awesome stuff from companies we know and love like Bernina, GAmmill, Superior Threads, AccuQuilt, C&T Publishing, RJR Fabric.

Ricky and Alex could have gift baskets to give away too.  

and the grand prize is surely not a new Bernina 550QE sewing machine!

I'd better enter the giveaway myself so that I have less competition!!!

So DONT, I repeat, DONT visit The Quilt Show and enter the competition!

 Have fun!!!

Keep Quilting!!!

The year that was!!! And the year that will be!

I can say that the year has been that of learning...

Here are a few things hat I learnt...

1. Trust people with caution. I do not say that do not trust them at all, you'll never make friends that way. But know them better before you trust them! I learnt it the hard way...

2. Believe in yourself! No matter what others say. You will be able to do things if you believe in yourself! Trust yourself, be a little more lenient... Overlook small flaws and work on the major ones!

3. Explore, experiment & experience! Explore new avenues, new areas that you never did before. Experiment with your skills, you'll be amazed at your results! And Experience the wonders of life when you do these things!

4. Forgive & Forget! Learn to forgive people and forget the bad things they said/did to you! Look for the good in mankind. And you'll be much happier! Everybody deserves a second chance!

5. Smile - a lot! When you're feeling low - Smile. When somebody hurts you - Smile. when you feel defeated - Smile! Know what??? Its infectious! It can even stop an argument!!!

6. Spend more time with your children! Listen to the little things they tell you. Its fun. I make Aadi stand in front of me, facing me - hugging me - on the scooter when I drop him off to his class. We talk about his day for the journey and we both love those 15 mins!

7. Have a long term goal and break it into smaller ones! Breaking up your long term goal into smaller ones will make it easy to achieve! It will also give you a sense of completion!

 2012 also saw me emerge as a better quilter, I believe. I have tackled stuff that would have scared me. And conquered my fears!

It is also the year of my biggest achievement so far! My portrait Quilt!!!

 I'm really looking forward to 2013!

Why? Its "MY" year! 2013 @ 13 Woodhouse Road!!!

What are my plans for the new year?

I have a simple three-point plan for the new year!

Grow. Reduce. Maintain.

I would like my skills and abilities to grow.
You will see quite a lot of this on the blog!

I want to work on reducing my stress as well as my weight! (I guess weight reduction is on my perpetual to-do list!)

I want to maintain what I have achieved on my home front! I am currently at a "happy" stage as a wife as well as a mother! And I would like to work on maintaining it!

I'm taking the first step towards growing!
I'm hosting a "Self Portrait Quilt Along" right at the beginning of the new year.
Here's the form to fill to sign up.

Fill the form and then join the Facebook group.

I will be posting the general instructions for the quilt on my blog. And I will be emailing specific instructions to all the individual users depending on the method they choose to use and the photos they select.

Find it intimidating? We are going to be a huge support group cheering on each other as we work. There will be lots of help. And I'm working on having prizes in the end too!

Join in!!!

What are your plans for the new year? Start by selecting a photo you want to immortalize and hop on the ride. We'll all help each other to stay afloat!

Here's the schedule.

1. Sign ups and Picture Selection - up to 31st Dec

2. List of supplies - 1st Jan

3. Picture Preparation - 7th Jan to 12th Jan

4. Fabric Selection - 14th Jan to 19th Jan

5. Fusing - 21st Jan to 31st Jan

6. Sewing - 1st Feb - 9th Feb

7. Quilting -11th Feb - 23rd Feb

8. Finish & Show off! - 25th Feb - 28th Feb



Hop on, join the fun!

Cheers!!!

Inspiration!!!

I was going through my blog archives for the past few days... (Now you know what I was up to)
And I came across my Bella Solids posts...

I realized that it was a lot of fun, wasn't it?



The old posts are so inspiring... They gave me a lot of new ideas...

This is what I'm thinking of right now...

2012 Bella Solids Bundle

Do the colors call you???

They sure are luring me...

Want to have some more fun???

Gear up for having a blast once again!!!

Get your cameras serviced.... And this time, your quotes book too... (I'll soon tell you why...)

Get ready for a blast of colors this spring!

Cheers!!!

True Beauty

Let me clear this right in the beginning that this post has been written for the Yahoo! Real Beauty Contest by Indiblogger. Indiblogger is a group for Indian Bloggers...

Today in my Inbox I got a mail from Indiblogger - their newsletter announcing the contest. And the title got me thinking...

What is real beauty?

I have never been "beautiful" myself... I was always a plump kiddo next to my lovely cousin, Kshama. For me, she was the ultimate in beauty! I adored her. I tried to copy her, but being the tomboy that I was, I rarely managed it...

Even today, at 34, she look gorgeous!

Thats the two of us in Goa last year!

As I grew up, my face was covered in pimples! I hated the way I look. But after my graduation, when I started my own practice... I started thinking different... I was a 22 yr old architect, handling 12 projects at a time, creating what I feel - beautiful buildings!

 I spent hours on site, understanding every part of the process of construction so that I think of those details while designing... I spent nights working away on my PC trying to make my work look beautiful...

It was then that I realized what real beauty was... I always strived to make my buildings functional... If my client is spending a 1000 bucks (rupees) on a square foot of that "home" of his, then every square foot wasted is a direct loss of 1000 bucks for my client!

I realized that when I designed buildings with the optimum space utilization, they did not need any special elevation treatment! They already looked beautiful... 

Human Beauty is like that... When you have a firm purpose in life, and you tirelessly work towards that purpose, it shows on your face... You look beautiful...

For me the most beautiful woman is Mother Theresa...

The compassion, the love that she has shown is unmatched!

Behind those wrinkles lies a satisfaction that she has been able to do what she started out to do...

For me, Hellen Keller is beautiful...

She went beyond her physical capabilities and conquered the world...

For me, Kalpana Chawla is beautiful...

For she went beyond what other Indian Women have dreamt of!

And among the women I have met, these two are the most beautiful ones...

They both had an aim in life... After the early deaths of their respective husbands (who were brothers by the way), they both lived only for their kids... And today, their kids are successful people... In times when women in India did not work, my grandmother (right) ran my grandfather's shop! And Kakau-aaji (left) worked as a nurse to support and educate their children... I'm so proud of these two beautiful women! I just hope I can be at least 1% of what they were...

All these women were strong, focused and hence beautiful... Don't their faces look beautiful to you?

What you can see here is much more than cosmetics can bring out!

This beauty is unmatched!

"True beauty is in the way she laughs
True beauty is in her eyes
True beauty is how she acts
True beauty is inside
True beauty is unseen
True beauty is only felt
True beauty is not mean
True beauty is herself
True beauty can't be cruel
True beauty is bare
True beauty within you
True beauty is always there
True Beauty can't be covered with makeup
True beauty means true love
True beauty can't be baked up
True beauty is the flight of a dove
True beauty has no flaws
For True beauty is all that matters after all... "

~Jean Pullman

What does real beauty mean to you???

Leave a comment and tell me about it...

I shop... you can win!!!

What do most women do when they are in a bad mood... when things just are not going right... 

...you're right... they shop...

I did the same. I discovered a departmental store where I avoided going because I preferred to shop from smaller stores. And just have a look at what I found...

If any one of you can guess the total amount that I spent on these, I'll give them a prize... 

These are some beautiful linen kitchen towels... I loved the colors. I will be using them in my kitchen, but only after propping them up! Right now I'm really working on organizing my kitchen...

The rest are pillow covers that I picked up. Since I do not get quilting fabric here and these are the perfect thread count (wow!) I'll be using them as fabrics... Also the edges I cut, I'll use in making binding!!! So little will go to the trash bin...

Look I'm saving money again!!! Did you see that Mr. 13?

Aqua & Limes

Yellow & Aqua!

These are really girlish...

Some Red & Blue stripes...

Cream and Black with a textured weave!

Some purples ( I had none when I had to use them for my bee blocks, I thought I should stock them)

Some really sweet crinkly colorful stuff

Some Neutrals...

Doesn't the pile look yummy???

Now guess how much I spent on them And you'll win one of these as a prize. Entries close Wednesday, 4th August 00.00 hrs. 

You have to tell me the EXACT amount ( Round it off to the nearest integer, no fractions / decimals) One who makes the right guess will win one of the pillow covers as her prize!!!