Ink Fortnight

 Soma has the first weeks prompts up on her blog, nope it came in an email...woops  😀

Everything you need to get ready

InkFortNight Small Pages, Stolen Moments Hi everyone! InkFortnight starts September 17th! Here is your exclusive look at the first set of prompts and how to prepare. Remember, you don't need any drawing skills to participate. It's about making room for the small pages that don't usually get filled.   The Essentials • Theme - Quiet Earth: small, unhurried things. • Dates - 14 days, September 17–30. Wrap-up blog post Oct 1st. • Prompts - 14 prompts built around Quiet Earth. Follow them, go freestyle, or mix it up. Any medium you like. • The one rule - Size: 2″ to 3″, no larger. That's it. • Who this is for - A gentle, low-pressure challenge for beginners or anyone wanting a daily practice without the fear of perfection. And this isn't only for those who draw or paint — if you sew or stitch, small embroidery work is just as welcome here as ink or watercolor.   Prompts for the First Week   1 Low Hill and Tree Copse 2 Wild Mushroom 3 Floating Leaves 4 Mug & Thermos 5 Polaroid — 2 or 3 small things 6 Wooden Sign — give it a fictional name 7 Rolling Hills with a Couple of Trees Use them in order, or skip around. Interpret them however inspires you.   How to Prepare To help you make the most of the next two weeks without feeling overwhelmed, here are a few ways to prepare your creative space: Basic supplies - You don't need anything fancy. A simple pencil, eraser, pen and a few pieces of paper or a small sketchbook will do. Color - Use whatever you have at hand. Set yourself a small palette to keep things coherent, or change it up daily. Either way works. Paper - A smaller space feels far less intimidating than a blank page. Cut one 8.5″x11” sheet into many 2″–3″ pieces, or mark out 14 boxes in a sketchbook — just make sure the paper suits your medium. Give yourself 15 minutes - Carve out a tiny window for this. Don't worry about creating a masterpiece. Enjoy the feeling of ink on paper, and embrace the messy lines. Drop the perfectionism - I really want us to focus on sketching and community over flawless masterpieces. Give yourself permission to create messy lines and mistakes. Think sit down and unwind, not sit down and draw.   Share Your Work & See the Gallery Everything is happening directly on the website, making this a focused, cozy space for us to build a daily creative habit together. On September 17th, the official launch post will go live. It will include a dedicated community upload page where you can post photos of your daily sketches, browse the gallery, and connect with everyone else. I want to see what you make, and your fellow creators do too! (Note: If you do choose to share on social media, feel free to use #inkfortnight so we can find each other there, too!)   Grab your pens, and let's begin. I cannot wait to see what you create. It will be a lot of fun to do this together! Happy inking, -Soma I am off to get some things together ready to start tomorrow. Ink Torrents  I am sure there will be a link here tomorrow. Happy sitiching.

Progress and an outing

I spent some time last Monday on the back deck sandwiching two quilts

The wisteria is just coming into Bloom

Such a beautiful perfume wafts around  when the breeze blows.

Tuesday I was up early an off to South Geelong where I got the train into the city (Melbourne) to go to the Craft and Quilt fair. 

I had to do duty on the Guild table in the afternoon but in the morning was lucky enough to meet up with these lovely ladies

Over from NZ for the fair. It was wonderful to spend some time with Julie and her crafty ladies. We had a wander around,  sat and listened to the Ninja man giving a talk

I came away wanting to but everything he talked about but then calmed down and realised I really need to finish things I have here not start new things, even though they looked really interesting.

I took loads of photos of quilts, here are a few 

this looks amazing up close

Then I started my duty at the Guild table,I spoke to several people about the Guild and about my cropped diamonds sewing, the general consensus was that I was mad 🙄 ah well it helped pass the time. Hopefully we will have two or three people interested in coming to have a look at the Guild and several people took the info for the bellarine Quilters quilt show in October. 

My ruby celebration once again

Love the ants

General view from where I was sitting.

Friday we went into Geelong, I watched a seal swim along the foreshore,  I wondered if it was the one that often rests on the floating walk way near by.

Water front in Geelong.

I am off to attempt some foundation  paper  piecing...it would not cooperate last night, maybe today, but first the washing calls.

Happy stitching.

How time flies

Time seems to be constantly getting  away from me. Last weekend I went with Adam, Beth Finn and Beth's parents to Winter Glow at the Adventure Park in Wallington  near Geelong. We arrived about 4pm and had a look around,  Finn  tried out toasted marshmallows

And enjoyed them!

He had some rides

Finn  is in there with his parents!

Played mini golf

and then as the sun set the lights came on

I forgot this ride!

Finn loved that he has some control!

The water was so calm and the reflections  amazing!

I will get onto the laptop later and turn all the photos around  the right way 😁

By about 6.30 Fin  was fast approaching his use by date, so we headed home. It was also getting cold.

I had a walk over at Portarlington and saw the resting seal near the ferry dock.

Sleeping and ignoring this tourist 😅

I have also completed two more blocks for the Rainbow Connection Quilters and sent them on their way

Two bears paws. I did have to do a little unsewing as I managed to do this

Luckily it was quickly fixed.

Betty has been putting the previous blocks together into a quilt top

My block is bottom left, I need to be more careful with choosing colours and following the photo I was sent.

Another local walk one tree was full of corellas

Last Tuesday we met up with Barry and Judy and had lunch at Van Loons, they were staying at Barwon Heads before heading back home. It was wonderful to be able to meet up and have a chat and enjoy the nursery, shame Judy couldn't take plants back over the border. 🌳

I have quilted two cot sized quilts, they need to be trimmed and bound, hopefully today.

The dog quilt is finished and sent to its new owners, sadly I forgot to take a photo!

I am off to do some sewing and trimming.

Happy stitching.