Let's Get Acquainted!

Hi! Today's my turn to "Get Acquainted" with you all in the Plum & June "Let's Get Acquainted!" blog hop. I'm sharing today with Megan from City Stitches, so don't forget to pop over and get acquainted with her too! 

My name is Tracey and I'm from Perth, Western Australia. I'm a stay at home mother of two great kids who never cease to bring me joy and frustration in equal measure ;) I love to quilt, embroider, crochet and bake (fortunately the first 3 are calorie free!). I love to be crafty in general and I've tried most things along the way. I'm really lucky to have a great group of crafty girlfriends (we all met through playgroup when our kids were tiny) and even though our kids are now going to different schools we catch up atleast once a week to sew, craft, eat and chat!

Here are a few "fun facts" about me..

How long have you been quilting

I've been sewing for as long as I can remember, but I only started quilting 5 years ago.. I made 2 quilts, and then had a 3 year break before taking it back up again last year. Now I've got a project list long enough to last me until I die! (It gets longer every day!)

Favorite quilting tip(s)

People always say to measure twice, cut once. I cannot emphasise enough how important that is! But I also love spray starch. I discovered starch a couple of months ago and it has improved my accuracy quite a bit! And it smells pretty.

Favorite blogging tip(s)

Have fun and stay true to who you are. Don't write what you think people want to read. Write what you'd want to read.

Favorite fabric (or wish list fabric)

I am a huge fan of Kate Spain and Bonnie & Camille. I've always coveted "Terrain", but I don't actually have any in my stash - I only "discovered" designer fabrics as "Good Fortune" was being released. 

Favorite craft book

I love Joanna Figueroa's "With Fabric & Thread", although I've made quite a few quilts from Pam & Nicky Lintott's "Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls and Charm Quilts" book.

Favorite book

My favourite authors include Diana Gabaldon, Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn. But I'll read virtually anything, and I practically devour books! I'm currently reading "The Scarpetta Factor" by Patricia Cornwell.

Favorite children's book

I love Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway tree books. I have two of them from when I was little that I read to my children. They love to hear about the Land of Presents, the Land of Goodies and the Land of Take What You Want the best!

Favorite quilting tool

Of course my sewing machine would have to be my favourite quilting tool of all time.. but my Accuquilt GO! cutter is pretty high up on my list!

Favorite music to listen to while quilting

I don't often listen to anything while I'm in my sewing room as I need to get some portable speakers.. occasionally I'll remember to take headphones in with me, but I'm usually too lazy! This last week I've been using my sewing machine on the dining room table so I could have the quilt top laid out on the floor as I put it together, and it was so nice to sew with the TV on, or the radio. I think I need to ask Santa to bring me some speakers for Christmas! I love to listen to Pat Sloan's APQ Radio podcasts in the car though.

Binding - by hand or by machine?
My first two quilts were done by hand, but when I got back into quilting last year I saw a fab tutorial for machine binding using a decorative stitch (sew binding to back of quilt, then fold to front and secure with a pretty stitch) and that's how I do all my quilts now.

If I'd only known - what you wish you knew about blogging before you started your blog

I've noticed that a lot of people have said they wish they'd known more about Blogger vs Wordpress, but to be honest, I still don't really get the difference. I mean, I understand that Wordpress has more customisable functionality.. and I'll confess that I actually signed up for both. And I think I even posted my first couple of posts on both. (Although that might have been for my other blog, Needles in the Haystack) But I found Blogger easier to wrangle, and I don't have any plans to change (at this time). 

I wish I'd known that there was this awesome quilting blog world earlier. Like when I first started quilting. I've had other blogs in the past, but I never knew how much great stuff was out there. I wish I'd had more of a clue!

I'll have a brand new tutorial for you in a couple of days - it'll be my turn to show you my paper pieced block in the "Something Wicked This Way Comes" blog hop on Friday! I'm pretty excited to do the whole big reveal.. so stay tuned! In the mean time, there are a few tutorials on my Tutorials page to keep you busy ;)

Don't forget to check out the other blogs that are participating in the "Let's Get Acquainted" blog hop - this week we have:

Oct 23
         Tracey from The Peony Teacup (you are here!)
         Megan from City Stitches

Oct 25
        Kerstin from Sunset Sewing
        Jenniffier from Jenniffier's Sometimes Creative Life

Thanks for stopping by xx