Patra's Place of Stitching and Vintage Linens

Have I got many tablecloths?

2012-01-23T19:23:00.000+11:00

Yep. Quite a few....hundred.. I took this pile (32 cloths) of some of my favourites to the Boronia Probus Club last week, to give a talk about them to about 40 ladies (mostly 60 plus age group). They just loved my cloths, and enjoyed my enthusiastic talk about why I collect them, and why they should care for their own family linens.

This is the cupboard before I'd put that pile back in there. It was hard to find space, even though there were no more put back in than came out the week before!

Remember those leaves I messed up last week? I found a way to use them - here are two, appliqued on to an old cotton tote bag, which I was going to throw out, but I'll probably use it now!

Annie, this is for you!

2012-01-16T18:33:00.000+11:00

Thank you to everyone who has left compliments on here regarding my Rainbow kittens and Memories wall hanging. Annie wanted to know the story behind the picture of Ken and I, done up to look like it was taken 100 years ago. It was taken 33 years ago actually, just before we got married. We were visiting the Sovereign Hill outdoor museum in Ballarat (you have heaps of these museums in the USA!), and decided to have our photo taken by their photographer, who has a range of costumes that you can try on for your photo. It came out so well we kidded people that it was our wedding photo! I thought it was a good one to include on my memory quilt because it fits in with the era of the other genuinely old photos.

Messing around and messed up!

2012-01-16T18:12:00.000+11:00

At Skill Builder Samplers, Leila has moved on to teaching how to do curves when patchworking. When I was learning Patchwork from a local tutor, I managed to complete a Drunkards Path block. With Jude's help, it was successful, but I haven't made anything with curves since then (apart from applique). But I figured it is like riding a bike - once you've done it, you don't forget. HA! Right. So why did my sample of curves using Leila's tutorial turn out like this??

EEEEK!! I was so careful tracing and cutting those templates. I don't think I'll do curves any more... Maybe I was just having a bad night. These leaves are the second project from my library book, and I stuffed them up too. I traced the templates and cut out the leaf shape, but that wasn't right. It was supposed to be done another way, which would ensure the fabric prints all lined up the same way instead of in different directions like mine! The two on the right hand side are the correct alignment, which was just a fluke considering what I'd done. But once I re-read the instructions, I realised, so next time I do them (I think they would look great using Japanese print fabric), it will look much better. Still, these leaves are rather nice, don't you think? Especially on the black background.

I found this at Savers in Mill Park today along with a lot of other non-linen goodies. This little cloth is done in cross stitch. I love lady bugs!

Messing around...

2012-01-14T22:47:00.000+11:00

There are many other things I could/should be working on, such as finishing the Memories mini quilt, finishing some more UFOs, and making the next two blocks in Leila's Skill Builder Samplers class, but...I borrowed a stack of books from the Eltham Library a few weeks ago, and they are all due back next week. I've already renewed some of them twice, and I can't do it again so I had a close look at them to see if there was any projects I want to do before returning the books. One of the books is this one "Whip Up Mini Quilts" which I was tempted to order from Amazon, but I decided there are only three projects I REALLY wanted to do, and it wouldn't be worth buying the book for myself, so I'm doing them this weekend.

The first one I've done (just has to have backing and binding to finish it off) is this neat little mat. It is so easy, just cutting oblong pieces and fitting them together to make a 'frame' for a picture of some sort.

In the book they have used a photograph printed on cotton, but I fussy-cut a teacup from some patchwork fabric for mine, and added some lace. I might make some more of these for friends if they ask - using their photos. Make a nice gift!

Memories quilted wall hanging.

2012-01-06T23:11:00.016+11:00

I've been flat out like a lizard drinking on this one. I wanted to finish it for our wedding anniversary (today) as a surprise for Ken, but I was still working on it tonight, and haven't done the backing and hand quilting. But the most part, it is finished, and I was able to show Ken just as our anniversary was drawing to a close. This pic is a bit washed out, as I laid the quilt on the floor to photograph it, and between fluro. light and the flash, it looks a bit insipid. Anyway, I'm pleased with the final result, as I've been wanting to make one ever since I cut the pattern out of a magazine a few years ago. It took ages to find the fabric printed with the woodgrain, but I finally found some on good old eBay.
The photos are of Ken and me on the top row, his great aunt Emily, and my Mum and her mother on the second row, and my great-grandmother on the third row.
The beautiful lace around the picture on the top row, and at the foot of the third row, are from one of my generous bloggy friends in the USA. The rest are damaged doilies that I've cut up, and patchwork fabric scraps.

Another Skill Builder block completed.

2012-01-04T11:37:00.000+11:00

This is the last applique technique Leila discussed on her Skill Builder blog. I've always admired the Baltimore-style quilts, but have no ambition to make one, so it was satisfying to make just one simple block along those lines.

I am now working on another memory mini quilt - for me, not a gift for anyone this time. I've had this in the WIP basket for the past year, and after the success of the table mat I did for SIL, it has spurred me on to get going with the original project.

Rainbow Kittens wall hanging finished.

2012-01-02T23:50:00.000+11:00

Anyone would think I was trying to set some kind of record - two projects finished in two days! No, it is just coincidence. I had done a lot of work on both of these before New Year's Day, and as it has been so hot here in the first two days of the year, it is much more comfortable to stay inside with the air conditioners going, and concentrate on some stitching.

Skill Builder sampler block, needleturn applique.

2012-01-01T18:17:00.000+11:00

My first finish for the New Year is this block for the Skill Builder sampler. Leila posted links on her blog to a number of You Tube videos, demonstrating different techniques for applique, other than fusing fabric pieces on to a background fabric, then stitching around the edges. It was interesting to have a go at them all, but I think I'll stick to fusible webbing! I couldn't find the required freezer paper in any supermarket around here, but finally got a piece at Darn Cheap Fabrics in Heidelberg. The salesgirl told me they imported a roll of it from the USA and sell it here by the metre. I paid $1.10 for a metre. If I ever need a lot of it, I'll ask one of my kind bloggy friends in the USA if they would like to swap a roll of their freezer paper for a box of Tim Tams! Any takers??

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T21:40:00.000+11:00

to all my blog friends. Best wishes for 2012, and may all your projects be finished!

My patchwork gifts are appreciated!

2011-12-28T10:22:00.001+11:00

Thank you to those who commmented on the memory table runner in my previous post. My SIL absolutely loved it. When she unwrapped it, her face was at first mildly interested as she unfolded the fabric, but when she opened it up and looked at the photos, her mouth dropped and she said "Oooooh!" Looked over at me, then came around the table and hugged me, saying "It's beautiful, I love it! I will hang it up", and when I said it was just a mat or runner, she said "I'm not going to put anything on top of that!"
Remember the My Pantry project I made for Ken's niece's daughters? The one I was going to keep? Well, I took it over to show them on Xmas Day, just to see their reaction. They LOVED it! Started playing with it straight away, ignoring their other gifts, re-arranging the items on the shelves. I said "Mummy said not to give you this yet because you won't look after it" and two little faces looked up at me and said in unison "Yes we will!" I showed it to their Mum and she thought it was really cute. I reminded her of what she said when I told her I was making it, and she said "Oh no, I won't let them wreck it. We'll hang it on the wall and they can play with it from there". So it is going to be where it was meant for in the first place, and I'm happy about that. We haven't got any more room on our walls here to hang it, so I'd rather it be somewhere that it can be seen and played with!
Addition to original post: I forgot to mention above that I also gave the kiddies the rug mugs/placemats that I made for them months ago. They liked those too, and when I explained the mats are to go on the table for their bowls and plates, Olivia (the older girl) said "No, I want it on the wall above my bed". She must have been thinking about it and the Pantry hanging, because later on she came up to me and said "Auntie Gina, did you make all those things?" When I said yes, she said "You are a good sewer" {soh-er, not sue-wer as in sewerage!}. If we lived closer to them, I would start teaching her some stitching, but they are an hour's drive from our place, so that is not going to happen any time soon.

Memory Quilt table runner.

2011-12-25T03:15:00.001+11:00

My SIL gave me a book on making memorabilia Quilts, and I have been playing around with a few ideas ever since. SIL was impressed with my experiments, so I decided to make her something for Christmas this year.

The photo of the left is of SIL's great aunt Emily who was on the stage, and is still talked about by younger members of the family, even though not many of them ever met her. The other pic is of Ken and his sister with their Dad. I'm not really sure if I like the lace around the photos, although everyone I've shown it to assures me that it adds that 'olde world' touch. I added it because the whole thing looked unfinished without something around the edge of them. Incidentally, I put the runner on the carpeted floor to take this picture; the dark orange/brown edge is the carpet, not the border of the runner.

'Mollie Makes' cute craft!

2011-12-12T21:59:00.001+11:00

The English magazine 'Mollie Makes' has taken off here - according to my local newsagent, they sell them the minute they are on display. I've been able to snap up a few after the first two issues that Jane kindly sent me, and one of them had the instructions for making this cute penholder. Here she is outside for her first photo.

I took her inside to take a more intimate picture with her knickers showing!

This is what she looks like from the back - a pocket sewn on for a pen or pencil to slip in to, and perched in a cotton reel.

She is made entirely from felt, except for the knickers. I used the colours I had on hand, but if I make more of these, I'll buy some different colours. The 'blonde' hair looks all wrong to me. Maybe next time I'll give her black hair and a yellow dress!

Skills Sampler Block 19

2011-12-08T00:27:00.001+11:00

I didn't do the previous four blocks because I wasn't keen on the designs or the method used to make them (paper piecing). But now we are working with applique, and that is right up my alley. Leila has named this block "Orange Windows" - probably because her example had more orange than other colours. I used up odd scraps of any coloured fabric that I had in my stash, so I can't call it Orange Windows! I'm sure I've seen this pattern elsewhere, but I don't know what the name of it is.

Rainbow kittens layout - please advise!

2011-12-07T12:55:00.000+11:00

I have finally finished the blanket stitching around all six Rainbow kittens, and they ready to have the borders attached, and made up into a small quilt/wall hanging. I've taken photos of them in various positions, but can't made up my mind which looks the best! Any comments would be greatly appreciated :-)
(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

Yo Yos (or Suffolk Puffs)

2011-12-07T12:32:00.001+11:00

Julia has posted a pic of a cushion which she has decorated with yo-yos, and it reminded me of a little job I did a few weeks ago. Like most of us, I've accumulated a stash of 'supermarket green bags' in different colours depending on where they originated. This black one called out to be decorated in some way, so I made some yo-yos and used buttons to secure them to the bag. They look a bit lonely, so I might eventually add some more.

New additions to the Collection.

2011-12-07T12:02:00.000+11:00

One of my colleagues at the Embroiderers Guild gave me some pretty linens yesterday - a crocheted doiley, an unfinished supper cloth and a Duchess set.

Lilydale Show results.

2011-11-21T00:13:00.000+11:00

After visiting the Lilydale Show today, I decided that I would only enter my craft work in that show from now on, and not bother with Whittlesea any more. Lilydale is closer to my home, and is a smaller show by comparison, but very well organised, and the Homecrafts display was so much more professional than at Whittlesea. Winning more prizes at Lilydale doesn't come into my decision - truly!

My "Owls" won second prize in its category. It was on the floor with several others, but they were laid out properly so you could see them, not just dumped there without thought.

The Iris quilt didn't win anything, but I didn't think it would.

My Halloween Witch was 'Highly Commended'. Have a look at the fabulous applique picture next to it!

Suffolk Puffs Flowers was 'Commended' as was the I Love Patchwork block which I forgot to photograh. 'My Pantry' won a third prize.

This one was a real surprise - I only entered it at the last minute, and it won a second prize! Just goes to show you can never be a good judge of your own work.

Mini Christmas stockings, and WHIJD??

2011-11-20T14:14:00.000+11:00

I've completed seven of these little patchwork stockings now that I've got my sewing machine back, and they will be in the mail to Jan on Monday.

WHIJD?? What Have I Just Done? Signed my life away, that's what! Well, a proportion of my time next year anyway. In the past couple of years I have been admiring group projects of all kinds online, where people make a block per month and post the pictures to a central blog. When I saw the write up for next year's Crazy Quilt Journal Project, I knew I wanted to be in it. I've already got ideas buzzing around in my brain, and am looking forward to creating 12 blocks, and maybe making them into some kind of quilt at the end of the year, depending on how many blocks I achieve, what they look like, and whether I can find someone who is willing to assist me with the end product (are you reading this Connie?)!

Vintage linens found at antique bazaar.

2011-11-16T00:39:00.000+11:00

Today I visited the Waverly Antique Bazaar, and found some lovely linens at very reasonable prices. I've posted more about the bazaar on my other blog, but the linens are here:

Tray cloth. Nothing startling about the stitching, but the design is cute, and one that I didn't have in my collection.

Kingfisher beautifully stitched on this doiley.

Sandwich tray doiley featuring a penguin - another first for me! I don't have anything else with embroidered penguins.

Suppercloth - $3! Lovely stitching, but with a small hole, which I can easily fix.

I try not to buy too many teatowels, but I love the designs on some of them, and figure I can always cut them up and use them in a future patchwork project. There are some gorgeous chook towels like this; they would make a cute display all sewn together.

It's all happening!

2011-11-14T00:11:00.001+11:00

It has been a busy few weeks. I've got my exhibits in the car ready to go to Lilydale tomorrow. Bundoora Art Centre has asked me if I would do a talk on my linens while they are on display, and I said yes, I'd love to. Then they asked me to write up two introduction paragraphs on myself for their 2012 brochure - one for the display, and one for the talk. When I told the co-ordinator about my blogs, she asked if they could use that in the brochure as well, but I didn't think it would be appropriate. However, I offered to create a new blog specifically for the Homestead exhibition, with just my Australian linens on it, and she said that would be great. So I spent today ironing cloths, pegging them on the clothesline, taking a photo, then running back inside for the next lot! You can see this new blog here, but it's got a lot to be added to it, so you will have to come back later on to see the finished blog.
Statewide Sewing Centre left a message on my phone. My machine is fixable, at a cost of $185 which includes a full service. Apparently a 'key' was broken. Ken knew what that meant, and seemed to think it was a reasonable price to pay. They promised it would be ready this coming week. I hope so; I feel like I've lost an arm without it on the table in my sewing room!

Dates confirmed for my linen show.

2011-11-09T23:50:00.002+11:00

Today I received a letter from the Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, confirming the dates for their exhibition of my linen collection. It will start on Wednesday 29th August, and run until Sunday 16th September. They suggested "Early Australian Linen" as a title for the exhibition and asked if I approved. I phoned the exhibitions co-ordinator and said yes, I was very happy with that, as it sets parameters to help me select what items to show from the collection. She said they will come over here and check out what I choose, to see if there is enough (or too much) for their show space. It is almost a year away, and I'm already excited!
On a sadder note, my trusty old Singer machine had a hiccup this week. I was doing an alteration on a pair of Ken's jeans (taking in a seam) and all was going smoothly until it suddenly made a rattling sound and stopped. Ah, said I - cotton jammed in the bobbin case. Took it all apart, but no sign of thread, lint, fluff or anything else to cause the jam. After carefully moving the needle up and down, I noticed the feed wasn't working, and as I know nothing about how that works, the next thing to do was phone the nearest sewing machine shop, which happens to be Statewide Sewing machines, who have been in Greensborough for yonks (many years). They said bring it in, and we'll have a look at it on Thursday. I said they may as well do a full service while it's there, as it has never had one in it's life of 50 plus years. I asked anxiously if their repair man had experience with old machines, and the lady said he is nearly 70, and has worked on sewing machines all his working life, so yes - he knows what he is doing on the older machines!

Whittlesea Show

2011-11-06T22:29:00.006+11:00

Out of my five entries into the Show this year, I scored a third prize for one item - the Owls wall hanging. I felt sorry for the lady who had done an almost identical Owls wall hanging to mine, but didn't get a prize. (You can see the corner of hers at the top left corner of this photo). Possibly because I'd put more work into mine with beads and trapunto. I was happy with third prize, but Ken was disappointed. When we visited the show today and were looking at the Homecrafts Pavilion, he looked at the quilts next to my Iris quilt and demanded to know why they got prizes and I didn't! I explained to him that the quilt (below)was placed probably because of the amount of beautiful hand stitching on it which would have take a long time. Whereas mine is mostly machine done in a couple of weeks. I don't think he understood, but I'm sure my blog readers will!
On a negative note, I was quite disgusted with the way the smaller entries were displayed in the show cases. I know they have limited room, but with a bit of effort they could have been much tidier. One of our Guild members had entered some of her work in a show for the first time, and she phoned me last night after visiting the show, to say although she saw the tag saying one of her patchworks had won a prize, it was lying underneath a whole lot of other things and couldn't be seen. I looked in vain for it today, and couldn't find it at all! There was no excuse for this - she'd put a hanging rod sleeve on the back, and there was a rod and wire to hang it up. My "Pantry" wall hanging below wasn't hung either even though there is a rod sleeve on the back. It was just shoved into the display case with other items on top of it, included other people's prize cards. Unless you could read the cards, you would never know who won and what they'd won it for. The same with my Churn Dash patchwork block: And my Suffolk Puffs flowers. It wasn't just my work that was treated like this; this afternoon I expressed my opinion to the stewards who were bringing the items to the front to be picked up. They didn't say anything. It has never been that bad before, so maybe they have new volunteers setting the show up, and they need to be trained a bit better. We'll see what happens at Lilydale in two weeks time. I've always found the Lilydale show to be better set out than Whittlesea, and if they are as good as ever, I shall compliment them!

Stash from Paddy's Market.

2011-11-05T23:35:00.006+11:00

If you ignored my notice here last week, or forgot about the Embroiderers Guild Paddy's Market today, you missed out on a rare opportunity to add to your stash of any kind of textile craft you could imagine! The Guild receives hundreds of donations every year of books, fabrics, wool, cottons, lace, beads and other embellishments, from deceased estates, or people who want to get rid of their own stash for some reason. One whole side of the large gallery was taken up with tables brimming with 'stuff' donated to the Guild.
The other side of the gallery was taken up with members like me who each had a card table brimming over with our own unwanted stash. We all look at each other's goodies before the market opens so we have first choice if we see something we like. The same comment was heard all up and down the room "I'm not buying anything this year - I'm here to sell, and that's that!" Ha. Famous last words...Once you have sold some of your own stuff, the cash in your hand soon ends up in someone else's hand! I took about half of what I had in my cupboard at home, leaving this pile still to be worked on 'one day'. I came home with nearly $100 in my purse, and two bags of linens that I didn't sell. But I went with three bags, so I guess I sold about a third of what I took, and I was happy with that. I've decided to put some of it here on my blog and if any readers see something they like, we can work out a price and delivery. I might put some on eBay, and the rest will go to our opshop.
But here is what I bought: A selection of cotton fabrics for my stash - about $4 overall. A bag of Xmas cotton fabrics - $5. I needed this for those mini Xmas stockings I'm making. Two bags of laces - $3 for the lot! I know, I know, I KNOW! I was supposed to be selling off my cross stitch kits! But that was the big kits. I still like these little ones on hand to make cards and little gifts for friends. And that baby elephant is soooo cute :-) This cross stitched picture was part of a deceased estate lot; it caught my eye in the pile of other items done by the same person. I'm planning to add it to the quilt I'm doing, using other people's work. This bag of red ribbons was $2. I mentioned to the Guild member whose table it was on, that it was just what I needed for the loops on my Xmas stockings. She said "In that case you'll need the bag of green ribbons too". I held out another $2 but she said no - $2 for the lot!
As I said, you missed a great day....

Halloween stitchery.

2011-10-30T22:20:00.002+11:00

With the Owls wall panel finished, and no chance of the Rainbow Kittens being finished in time for the Whittlesea Show, I decided to have a little break from all that, and stitch a cute witch in time for Halloween. It is not a big deal in Australia, although it has been heavily marketed in recent years, and there is lots of Halloween gear in the shops. But I saw this pattern somewhere last year and thought it was so cute, I just had to do it! It only took a few days to stitch the witch and sew a border, thin wadding and backing to it. Today I added gold beads to the stars and the black cat button, which had a dual purpose in holding the layers of backing and top together. This photo was taken before the final embellishments were done, and shows the true colours of the fabrics. I took this a couple of hours later when the panel was complete, but I could not get the colour right! This is the back.

My linen collection to go on public display next year.

2011-10-28T00:33:00.005+11:00

Followers of this blog living in Melbourne may have heard of the historic Bundoora Homestead, but I doubt if interstate and overseas readers will know of it. The Darebin Council own and administer this lovely old home, and they display the council art collection there, as well as other exhibitions from time to time. There is a new annexe added to the original building, where they have other exhibitions during the year. I was talking to the manager last year about my linen collection, and she wasn't interested in exhibiting any of it. But there is a new manager now and she is very interested! They are drawing up a contract for me to agree to show my linens there in August 2012.
I am over the proverbial moon!! How often have I said that I would love to put my collection on show to the public? Now it is going to happen, and I don't have to do anything myself - they have their own team of people who will put up the display. The manager and her assistant will come to our home to see what I have, and between us we will select what to include. I will be there while they organise the display and can put my own ideas forward, but I don't feel qualified to say much. I'll just be happy to see what people think of it when they visit!

New additions to the collection.

2011-10-28T00:15:00.004+11:00

One of my blog/opshopping friends gave me a bag of goodies the other day. Included in the bag was this tin of buttons, which I gratefully accepted, as I didn't have a lot of buttons in my stash. I've never gone out and bought ordinary buttons (just the novelty ones from craft shows), so this lot has been sorted into colours and put into containers ready to embellish some future project. Lyndel also gave me these two vintage shelf trims. I love the way they were used to decorate kitchen shelves decades ago. The longer one of these is just the right length for one of my shelves, but there is no blue in our kitchen decor, so I don't know if I will use it there or not. Suppose I could put it up for a while and think about it!
I found these items in the Vinnies opshop in Ashburton earlier this week. It's been a while since I've found anything of this quality in opshops. Goes to show it is worth checking them whenever you pass one!
This is obviously not embroidered linen - it is a Thai Silk scarf, but I thought it is pretty enough to show on here. Cost $3.
These four napkins are hand embroidered. I was so excited when I found one under some tablecloths, so I kept looking, and found two more. I figured there had to be four, so I pulled everything off the shelf and sure enough, found the last one. $1 each. It took another 10 minutes to carefully fold and replace everything I'd taken down, but I didn't mind, especially when I discovered the supper cloth underneath for $3!

Paddy's Market at the Embroiderers Guild.

2011-10-26T23:34:00.001+11:00

Paddy’s Market
Saturday November 5, 2011 10am to 1pm
The cupboards of Embroidery House are full to explosion point with donated goods that will be moved on at bargain prices. Our members have been busy cleaning out their sewing rooms as well as producing fantastic products to sell. Books, fabric, canvas, threads, hoops and frames, wools, notions and more. Be early to search for that fantastic find at The Embroiderers Guild, Victoria. 170 Wattletree Road, Malvern. 3144

Crazy patchwork block

2011-10-24T22:17:00.004+11:00

For the Skill Builder Samplers last week, Leila asked us to make a crazy patchwork block. I was happy to do it, as I love this technique. I used some of my opshop ties to make this block. The photo does not do it justice however; the colours are much more 'purple' than what they look here. Additional comment Thanks to all who commented on this block. I don't plan to embellish it in any way at this stage, but I am thinking of making some more blocks with the ties, perhaps a different colour scheme for each block. Goodness only knows I've got enough differently coloured ties to do another 10 blocks!

Photos of quilt show on other blog.

2011-10-22T21:15:00.003+11:00

The quilt show at Nunawading was great! I've just posted my photos on my Quilt Show Blog here. I would really appreciate it if you would leave a comment on there if you have a look at it. That blog only had two visitors when I posted the last lot of photos from the NOTY quilt show at Eltham Community Centre. At least, only two bloggers kindly left a comment to let me know they had stopped by! I just want to know if it is worthwhile continuing to do this; if not, I won't bother any more, as it takes a while to transfer the photos from my camera to the computer, then on to the blog. I do know how much I enjoy seeing photos of quilt and craft shows in other states of Australia, and around the world, that I would never see if people didn't post photos on their blogs.

Another Quilt show in Melbourne suburbs this week.

2011-10-19T23:17:00.002+11:00

Eastern Palliative Care is holding its inaugural quilt show on Friday 21 October and Saturday 22 October at the Nunawading Uniting Church 355 – 357 Whitehorse Road Nunawading from 10 am – 4.30 p. Beautiful quilts, some never seen in public before are coming from metro and regional Victoria, interstate and overseas. Retailers will be in attendance, there will be demonstrations and fabulous refreshments. All proceeds will support Eastern Palliative Care in the provision of its free, specialist in-home palliative care service.

How to make mini Christmas stockings.

2011-10-17T23:29:00.004+11:00

Last week I posted a photo of some mini Christmas stockings I'd made for a charity group. I made some more this weekend, and took a couple of photos as I went along, as a few people have asked me how I made them. First step is to cut strips of Xmas themed fabric and sew them on to calico or other foundation fabric on the angle as shown here. (I'm sure most of you would know what to do here - the first strip is face up, sew the next strip face down on the first, press back, and so on). Next step is to make a template of the stocking, and cut out two from the strips, remembering to reverse the template for the second cut. Sew bias binding across the top of each piece, lay them right sides together, sew up all around to the top, and turn right side out. The first time I did this, I sewed the bias binding to the top after I'd stitched the stocking pieces together, but it was so fiddly, I did it the easy way this time. It probably isn't as neat as some people would like, but hey, they are going to be filled with candy and given to underpriviledged children - do you think they will care about a bit of untidy binding?? I nearly forgot - add a piece of ribbon or ric rac to the stocking somewhere, so it can be hung from a Xmas tree or whatever.

Owls and Pussy Cats.

2011-10-15T01:46:00.004+11:00

Thank you to those who left comments on the previous post about the Owls. I have decided to leave the metallic running stitch around the owls, but I removed what I'd done from the feet, as it really looked 'clunky' because they are small in comparison to the rest of the design. I re-stitched them in the same gold thread that I've used to backstitch around the moon, and they (feet) look heaps better. I've got a few small finishing touches to add, and when it's all done, I'll post a final photo.
I probably won't be posting anything here for a few days now, as I am going to get stuck into the Rainbow Kittens to try and finish them for the Whittlesea Show in the first week of November.

Owls wall hanging just about finished.

2011-10-10T21:35:00.003+11:00

I was determined to finish this today, and it is all done apart from the final hand quilting of the border, and the moon and stars. I am going to place a gold bead in the centre of each star as well as stitch around them, as I saw something similar at the Quilt show on the weekend, and it looked lovely. I'm not 100% happy with the trapunto work; the padding itself looks good, but I've used a metallic thread to quilt the owls, and it looks too hard. You can't really tell from this photo, but close up...I'll see how I go for time, I might pull it out and redo it in gold stranded cotton, which I will be using on the moon and stars.

NOTYQ Exhibition at Eltham Community Centre today.

2011-10-08T23:33:00.003+11:00

NOTYQ stands for North Of The Yarra Quilters, who put on a display of their members' quilts every two years, and it is always a fabulous exhibition. I took 38 photos, and have posted them all on this blog for anyone to look at. I keep that blog just for my photos of the quilt and needlecraft shows that I go to, so that I can delete each show when I post photos of a new one. If you happen to visit the blog, please leave a comment so I know you've been there; there are never any comments on it, so I have no idea if it is worthwhile posting all those photos!

Quilt UFO at opshop.

2011-10-07T23:23:00.003+11:00

I have volunteered to work at our Brotherhood Of St Lawrence opshop for two half days a week, and am thoroughly enjoying the experience of helping to sort out all the stuff that people donate every day. This morning I found this unfinished quilt, and asked the manager to price it so I could buy it. She said she didn't really know what they would put on it, and asked me to suggest an amount. I said $10, and she was happy with that, as most of the goods in the shop are under $10. It has the batting and backing, and has been partially hand quilted, so that needs to be finished off, and the binding added. I've brought it home so I can send it to Jan, to finish off and add to her next shipment of OzComfort Quilts. I hoping she will be able to finish off the quilting by machine, as it would take ages to finish by hand, and Jan does so many quilts for her OzComfort Quilts, I hate to think I might have given her an extra workload! Tiger kept on strolling in front of the quilt every time I tried to take a photo, so after three attempts, I just left him there!

Mini Xmas stockings, mug rugs and coasters

2011-10-06T00:46:00.002+11:00

Jan over at Oz Comfort Quilts has asked her followers if they would make some little Xmas stockings to be distributed to needy children via various charities. I have had a pattern for these for a while now, and was glad to use it for one of Jan's charity projects. I'm sending them on to her with my recently completed quilt top. I exchanged mug rugs with Jean in New Zealand a while ago, but have only just got around to photographing the rug she did for me. We had a giggle over the size of hers - it was the first one she'd done, and when she received mine, she realised hers was a tad large! But I assured her it didn't matter - mats of any size are useful on coffee tables - our remote control caddy sits nicely on this.
This mug rug is from Wendy in the USA - another exchange partner. I sent her a mug rug, tea towel, napkins and Tim Tams, and in return she sent me this lovely mat, two sets of beautiful coasters, and a packet of chocolate flavoured licorice. I'm afraid I wasn't too keen on that, so I shared it with my American friend here, and Ken has scoffed the rest of it!

Progress report on my current projects.

2011-10-04T23:18:00.004+11:00

I have started the Trapunto stitching on the Owls wallhanging. It is slow going, because I am using gold thread, to blend with the gold printed outline of the owls.
The Rainbow Kittens haven't been pushed to one side. The blanket stitching around the cat has been completed on three blocks, and there are three to go. I half finished one today while I was at the Guild.
All the pieces are ready to attach to the background fabric for my 'Abandoned At The Opshop' project, and I will probably work on this next week.

Showing off my work!

2011-10-04T23:02:00.003+11:00

The Embroiderers' Guild change their gallery display once a month, and invite members to submit their work according to the theme selected for the month. For October, the theme is 'Flowers', so I submitted my Iris wallhanging and the smaller YoYo flowers hanging. When I arrived for my volunteer duty today, I was tickled pink to see them hanging up with all the other beautiful embroideries! When you enter the Gallery, this is on the left side (the tables and chairs are there because there was a class on before I took the pictures): And these are on the right: My small floral hanging is under the larger quilted item on the left. The Iris quilt is at the end of the row. The Guild members there today said it really made a statement with those purple fabrics! They were surprised when I told them the centrepiece was a tea towel.
They stay here for the month of October, then I'll be taking them to Whittlesea, and later on to Lilydale for the Homecraft shows.

Grand Final Day.

2011-10-02T00:23:00.003+10:00

I had a most productive day - my Grand Final was the completion of my second 'charity quilt' top for Oz Comfort Quilts. I added the border to finish it off, and it is ready to send to Jan to make up into a quilt. The colours of the border fabric don't look much in this photo; they actually match the brown blocks rather well. With the two four patch squares and patterned fabric left over, I made a little block for myself as a memento of this quilt! While I was looking in my books for instructions for Trapunto, I came across instructions for 'reverse applique', in my old book Reader's Digest Book of Needlecraft. I haven't looked at this book for years, but I can't bring myself to part with it, as it does give very detailed instructions for many kinds of needlework. I did find a kind of Trapunto, but not quite what I want, and while I was flipping through the pages I came across a chapter on Reverse Applique. I'd seen this on a few blogs, and wondered briefly what it was all about. Now I know! I did a quick trial run, using three fabrics. They are stacked on top of each other, tacked together, and pieces cut from each top layer to show the layers beneath. In my case I used a piece of patchwork fabric with sun and stars as the bottom piece. On top of that is a piece of fawn colour, then the green floral. A square piece was cut away from the green, then a circle cut from the fawn, to show the sun. At the last moment I cut a bit more to show one star! Before the pieces are cut, the edge is machine stitched to hold the fabric while you cut. A very interesting exercise!

Progress on my Owls.

2011-10-01T01:00:00.002+10:00

The border is done. I took this idea from the many quilts and wall hangings I've seen at craft shows and in magazines - so quick and easy. Just sew strips of fabric together, then cross-cut them to make new strips with little blocks of each fabric! My next step with this is to add the batting, backing and binding, but this won't be as easy. I want to do the owls in trapunto, which I've never done before. But I've been shown how to do it, and have instructions both on the Net and in books and mags. Don't hold your breath watching for the final result! Although it would be nice if it was ready to go in one of the Shows coming up.

Skill Builder sampler block.

2011-09-29T21:44:00.002+10:00

Last week, Leila wanted her online students to make a block at random, a picture of a house or other scene. I scribbled a few designs on paper, but nothing looked any good, so I chose this design from Susan Briscoe's book "Japanese Quilt Blocks". The colours are all wrong in this photo, but hopefully you get the gist of it: A house on a base of flowers, with a background of earthy colour, then blue mountains and sky. It didn't take long to do, and has inspired me to have a closer look at this book, which I've had for a while, but not yet made anything from it. Only lack of spare time has prevented me! So this little House was the perfect opportunity to play.

Owls Wall hanging.

2011-09-28T01:31:00.003+10:00

A couple of years ago, my generous buddy Sharon gave me a beautiful Japanese style piece of fabric with owls on it, knowing how much I love the little critters. I've had plans for it ever since, but as we all know, when you have too many projects to do, some get overlooked in the passage of time. Yesterday I was searching for some material to make the border for my Oz Comfort quilt top, and found a nice shade of red in my stash, that I thought might suit. When I put it against the browns, it didn't really 'go', so I put it aside. Later I was fossicking among my Japanese fabric stash and pulled out the owl fabric to think about it again. It sat on top of the red fabric and 'spoke to me' - perfect for the inner border! The next wide border will be squares of various Japanese fabrics joined together in a row, and that in turn will be edged by another red tone for the binding.
So here it is with the red border, which will be narrower than this once I add the next border. I was busy with other things today - putting my name and rod sleeves on two of my wall hangings, which are going to the Guild on Thursday, to be hung in the October display of members' work. But I still had time to put this red border on my Owls!

Skill Builder Block Sampler No.11

2011-09-25T23:28:00.004+10:00

This isn't really what I wanted to learn when I joined Leila's group, as it is more like a version of crazy patchwork cut into triangles and rejoined. Interesting but not terribly educational. Leila called it "Beacon Light", whatever that means.
I've added another three rows of blocks to my Brown charity quilt, and am satisfied that it will be big enough to cover a single bed. All I have to do now is sew a border, but I haven't got enough of the right colour fabric to do that, so it will have to wait for a few days to be finished.

Some old fancy work completed.

2011-09-25T22:47:00.008+10:00

Today was the final day of the Embroiderers' Guild annual exhibition. I should have posted something here earlier to remind Melbourne readers of this blog to visit the exhibition if they could, as it was a fabulous display this year. Sadly they have a policy of 'no photos allowed', otherwise I would have taken a heap of pictures to post here. My favourite exhibit was a spectacular Crazy Patchwork quilt - one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.
I worked in the Gift Shop two days last week, and today I was on duty as a 'demonstrator'. The Guild asks members to spend half a day (or a full day) in the Gallery, stitching one of their projects, so visitors to the exhibition can see how some of the works on show are actually created. Before the exhibition opened a few weeks ago, I noticed on the roster that there was no Demonstration stitcher on the last day, so I offered my time. I said that it would only be 'ordinary traditional embroidery' - not anything special like hardanger, drawn thread work, tatting, etc. and the person I spoke to said it would be a nice change for visitors to see someone working on 'ordinary stuff' that they would more likely to have done themselves.
So I brought along Ken's mum's 70 year old Semco stamped linen tablecloth, and assorted UFO vintage 'fancy work' which I thought would appeal to the old ladies (80+) who attend the exhibition every year. I was right! Most of the people my age and younger smiled politely at me and moved on, but the older ladies came up and said things like "Oh I did so much of that when I was young" and "I've still got all my unfinished doilies and cloths!" One lady who looked to be in her 40's came over and chatted for a while, saying she had her grandmother's UFOs in a cupboard, and had intended finishing them one day, but decided she probably never would as her eyesight wasn't as good as it used to be. I showed her the magnifing glass I have hanging around my neck, to magnify my work while stitching, and she thought that was a great idea. She wandered off to look at the rest of the display, but came back some time later, and said "You've inspired me. I'm going to buy one of those magnifying glass things, and get out Grandma's embroidery and start working on it. Thank you so much!" Isn't that lovely?
Here is what I achieved today. It doesn't look like much, but I was chatting to people inbetween stitching, so it wasn't non-stop work. I've had these pieces for so long, and they only needed about 10 or 15 minutes of work on each to finish them off. I can't remember if this was one of MIL's, or one of my former Home Care clients' work. It is very old, and has obviously been well used, as the fabric is soft from washing, and the colours faded. The original pattern stamped on it has faded to almost nothing, so I had to improvise and stitch where I thought flowers etc. might have been. It's finished for me now - not going to search for any more faded marks! This art deco style linen tea cosy attracted a few comments today. I can't remember where I got this one either - could have been eBay, an opshop find, or somebody at the Guild may have given it to me. It only need some stem stitching and satin stitch in black thread to complete it on both sides, so it is now ready for a soak in Napisan to get rid of the stains, and then I'll find someone to crochet around the edge. This is one of a pair of doilies that I have been carting around with me to hospital waiting rooms for years! I finished the other one last year, so I was pleased to get this one done today. This peacock duchess set centrepiece is another one I've been working on for years. I've been determined to finish it for once and for all, but didn't quite get there today either. But there's not much to do now, and it will be great to clean it up and display it on my dressing table with the matching doilies!
These two doilies (pictures above and below) came along for the ride today, but I didn't do anything on them because I didn't have the appropriate stranded cottons with me. So they just sat on the table to be commented on by the passing parade!

Quilt top in brown tones.

2011-09-19T00:22:00.002+10:00

Here is what I've done so far with those brown tone fabrics. I haven't had enough experience yet to work out accurately how much fabric I need to make a whole (single bed) quilt, so I just made up a bunch of four patch squares, cut an equal number of the dark pattern fabric and joined them up. Looks like I'll need to make the same again to be big enough for a bed, but at least this time I've been making notes as I go, so if I want to do this again, I've got it all written down. Great learning curve, I really enjoyed doing this.

It's non stop sewing here lately!

2011-09-17T00:06:00.005+10:00

Between kitten blocks, skill builder sample blocks, and other WIPs, my dear old sewing machine has been getting quite a work out. By the way, I took Doreen's advice and bought some Jeans needles to replace the Universal needle in my machine. The Singer is now singing much more smoothly, lol! Jan from Oz Comfort Quilts has been overseas on a well-deserved holiday, and I promised her I would have another quilt top for her to make into a quilt by the time she got back. She's back home now, and looking for work (ha ha!) so I spent today making four patch blocks in three shades of brown plus white, to match this fabric I found at the opshop recently. All I need to do now is to cut enough squares of that to match the number of four patch blocks, sew them together, add a border, and voila! another quilt top for Jan to play with.

Skill Builder Sampler, Block No.10

2011-09-16T00:36:00.002+10:00

Taking a break from the rainbow kittens, I caught up with the weekly Skill Builder Sampler blocks and completed an Ohio Star tonight within about 2 hours. I'm still not keen on triangles, but my blocks are now neater, and I'm quicker than I was a month ago.

Progress on Rainbow Kittens, quickie patchwork mat.

2011-09-14T00:33:00.004+10:00

I've been working almost non stop on these kittens. These two are now completely finished with the blanket stitch done, which can be seen more clearly if you click on the photo to enlarge it. These three still need the blanket stitch done, and there is one more block with a darker blue face and paws still to be finished off.
The Mystery Quilt project turned out to be a bit of a fizzer as far as I was concerned. It didn't really lead up to anything major; nothing that I could build on. After the four patch blocks had been cut diagonally and sewn together again, the instructions were to just "join the blocks together any way you like and make it into anything you like!" To get it done and off my list of WIPs, I simply added interfacing, backing and a binding, and it will be placed around the house anywhere I see fit to put it from time to time. The backing fabric is a piece from the length I found in the opshop recently. I knew it would come in handy soon!

More about my Rainbow Kittens.

2011-09-08T23:17:00.002+10:00

I grinned to myself when I saw all the comments on my last post, knowing how many cat lovers are also quilters! It really is a simple pattern - I would never have been able to do it so quickly otherwise. The pattern provides templates of the cat's body, head, paws, etc. and all you do is trace the pattern on to fusible webbing, iron them onto the appropriate fabrics, and fuse them to the background. Just the usual applique! The cats bodies are the striped fabric that I mentioned, and the paws and head are solid colour fabrics.

Rainbow Kittens.

2011-09-08T01:56:00.004+10:00

When I first saw this project a year or so ago in Patchwork & Stitching magazine, I knew I just had to do it. I've been searching for multistriped fabric ever since, and finally found what I wanted on eBay. I bid for and won a fat quarter for $5.50 and it arrived yesterday. Everything else was immediately put on hold until I'd made up four blocks of this cute design! It only took me about 2 hours. I'm not going to make any more blocks because I don't have enough fabric, but at least I've satisfied my yearnings to make this pattern. I still have to hand stitch the details whiskers etc. on their faces, and put a yellow sashing and border around them.

Quilt shows galore!

2011-09-03T21:58:00.005+10:00

It must be the onset of Spring - there are quilt shows all over the place this weekend and last weekend! Today I visited Quilts In The Barn at Wonga Park, which is about 20 minutes drive from home. Ken had to go to Ringwood, and on the way there we passed the turn-off to Wonga Park. I dropped a hint about the quilt show, and darling man that he is, on the way home he said "I suppose you want to go to that quilt show?" so off we went.
Quilts In The Barn is an annual event, and although I'd heard of it before, this year is the first time I've been. It is only a small exhibition compared to most others around, but a very high standard of quilting, and worth seeing. The quilts were all based on traditional American vintage quilts, which doesn't appeal to me, as I prefer bright colours to browns, but they were still gorgeous. Ken loved them and kept saying how good they would look in our house, because our house was built in the seventies, all brick and mission brown, and we haven't changed anything!
There was one 'shop' at the exhibition, selling those 'vintage look' fabrics, so I wasn't tempted to buy any of those, but I did buy this: Sharon had one of these (not sure if it was the same brand) last time we did some stitching together, and at the time, I thought "I'd rather stitch than glue fabrics" but now I'm working on my 'found at the opshop' wall hanging, and all the embroideries have a black border which has to be hemmed before I sew them to the backing. I was just looking at them this morning thinking 'that's going to take quite a while to hem those', but when I saw this glue stick I immediately decided it was a much better way to go! (Thanks Sharon!)

More done with the Mystery Monday project.

2011-09-01T23:30:00.003+10:00

Today I continued working with the scrappy squares and triangles that I'm keeping up with for this Mystery Monday project. Here are some of my scrap squares sewn together in little 4 patch blocks. And here they are, after they have all been sewn together diagonally then cut in half to make new squares. By now they are looking really scrappy, but I'm not going to trim any of them until I see next week's instructions.

Today's stitching.

2011-08-30T01:32:00.005+10:00

I didn't leave the house today except for a quick trip to the shops to pick up my mail and buy some fruit and vegies. Then it was back to work...or should I say 'play'. I completed the ninth block in Leila's Skill Builder series - this one is called Double Star. As I said before, I'm not really keen on these flying geese patterns, as I have trouble getting all the points where they should be, and today was no different. But it's my third attempt, and I don't feel so uneasy about starting them now, even if they don't end up perfect! Leila showed two examples of the layout and I tried them both before deciding on the second one, and stitching it up.
My other task today was to get all my 2-1/2 inch fabric squares out, sort them into darks and lights, and then sew them into four patch blocks. Jane over at Loopy Lou's Adventures is always finding neat stuff to do on the internet, and I find myself following her down the track of many of her projects! This one is called "Mystery Monday" and is on Chris & Barbara Quilts blog I have seen Mystery Quilts on many blogs, but until now have never wanted to get involved, as I didn't want any more quilting projects! But this one is fun, and a great way to use up scraps in one's stash. I've just had a look at this week's instructions, and we have to cut all those blocks in half diagonally, then resew them together, combining light and dark triangles. What fun!

Quilt Show at Hurstbridge.

2011-08-28T23:27:00.003+10:00

Today, Ken and I went to the annual Wattle Festival at Hurstbridge. I've posted more detail on my other blog, so I won't go into any more descriptions here, except to say that there was a small quilt show there, and I took a few photos. The quilts were made by the Essendon Quilters Group (I don't know why the Hurstbridge Patchworkers were not exhibiting, but it doesn't really matter). I've posted my photos at my Quilt Show blog here if you want to see them.
Oh I nearly forgot! While we were at the Festival, we walked pass a house where the owners were having a garage sale, so we wandered in. Among all the other stuff, there were some bundles of fabric, and I found this gorgeous length of cotton for $5! 44" wide and just over 2 yards long. Nice addition to my stash. Even Ken liked it!

Message to my American friends:

2011-08-28T01:52:00.002+10:00

I don't know how many of you are on the East coast, but if you are, please stay safe. My thoughts are with you, remembering how worried all Australians were when Cyclone Yasi was approaching our east coast not so long ago.

Today's finishes.

2011-08-26T19:05:00.003+10:00

This block was one of the Skill Builder samplers, and when I saw the same block in the same colours in a magazine, made into a little wall hanging, I thought "I can do that!" It was sheer coincidence that I'd chosen these colours for my sample block; I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the project in a recent "Quick Patchwork" magazine.
This Flying Geese block is the eighth sample block in the Skills Builder series. I'm not really keen on piecing triangles; I can never get the corners to match up properly, but it's all a learning process, and I'm certainly learning a lot from Leila's tutorials.

The Right Stuff!

2011-08-25T22:25:00.006+10:00

I found the right fabric to use for my opshop finds quilt. You'd never guess where I bought it....at the opshop! As soon as I saw it in their remnants box I pounced. For $3.50 I got a 74" (180cm) length of matrial 35" wide - plenty and more to spare for something else. Here it is, and there are a few of my embroideries laid out on it. What do you think of that? The fabric has to be washed and ironed first of course, but I couldn't wait to see if my initial instinct was right.
Dianne over at Beach Textiles also collects linens, but she 'upcycles' (is that the right term?) some of her finds into other objects. This beautiful doiley was included in one of her blog photos, and I commented on it. She said I could have it, as it was too nice to cut up - you bet it was! It arrived in the mail yesterday; I am always gobsmacked at the generosity of our blogging community. Thanks again Dianne!

More layouts for opshop finds.

2011-08-23T23:12:00.005+10:00

One of my blogger buddies and fellow quilt enthusiasts came over for lunch yesterday. I haven't seen Connie for a while, so it was great to catch up on our news, and share lots of show and tell with our patchwork and quilt projects. I wanted Connie's advice on how I could lay out this opshop finds wall hanging I want to do, and we laid out the embroideries on various pieces of fabric from my stash. A blue background, a blue/green background and a roses 'wallpaper style' background. We agreed the roses didn't work at all, and the blue backgrounds were okay, but neither of us were wildly enthusiastic about any of them. Connie suggested a red background might look good (but not the gingham I had on here on an earlier post), and another blogger suggested to me elsewhere that I should try black and white striped fabric. I think that sounds rather good, so I might lash out and buy a metre of cheap fabric just to see how it looks. In the meantime, I've made two more mug rugs - these are for exchanges. Mine will be coming from New Zealand and country Victoria. Looking forward to adding to my growing collection of these little rugs!
These are the fronts: and here are the backs. Yes I know - one is a bit smaller. Luck of the draw, or should I say of my scrap stash!

Who changes the needles in their sewing machine?

2011-08-20T22:14:00.003+10:00

I'm ashamed to say that I don't. The only time I used to (40 years ago), is when I was making my own clothes from stretch fabric (remember those "Knit-wit" classes and patterns?). We were taught to use the needles with a rounded point so they wouldn't tear the stretch fabric. If I have to alter a hem or seam on a pair of track pants or other stretchy material, I will hunt for my special needle to do the job, but other than that....I haven't changed the needle in my machine for years. I think the last time I did was when it broke! Had no choice that time!
The reason this subject came to mind was when I was reading Mary's blog Molly Flanders, and she posted an item about some new cotton she was using, and the special needle to go with it. I wondered what she would think of me using the same needle for years on everything I sew! I did post a comment to that effect on her blog, but as there were 150 other comments, mine will probably get lost in the crush, lol! She is hosting a giveaway of those new cottons, hence the heap of comments.

"Mollie Makes"

2011-08-18T21:40:00.003+10:00

Craft bloggers all over the world are raving about this new magazine published in England. "Mollie Makes" is quite simply - delicious! Full of projects and ideas, articles and photos of crafty people, their homes and their work, it is unlike any other craft magazine I've seen. The nearest to it in Australia would be "Homespun" which is also dedicated to home made crafts, but the format is quite different. Jane - one of my dear blogger buddies was happy to send me the first two issues in exchange for a couple of Aussie craft mags. They arrived this week, and I have them on our coffee table so I can pick them up and drool every time I sit down for a break :-)

Unusual fabric, and a doiley.

2011-08-18T21:23:00.003+10:00

I found these at Janet's Jumble, the Collectables store in Eltham. It is not an opshop, but it is more interesting to fossick around there than it is in Savers! This photo of the doiley is far too dark; I should have taken another shot. The embroidery is in various shades of brown and cream, and is very pretty.
I couldn't resist this piece of fabric; it looks French, or at least Continental. Who knows what I'll use it for? I'll find inspiration one day in one of my magazines or books!

Bow tie blocks.

2011-08-17T01:19:00.003+10:00

In my stash I have a swatch of curtain fabrics that I picked up somewhere ages ago. I put them through the washing machine last week to see how they would come out, and to my surprise, they didn't shrink or fade at all, despite the label advising to 'dry clean only'! I had a few ideas in my head about what I would do with them, but made a sudden decision tonight to use them as the base for my Bow Tie blocks. I'd pulled out all the ties that had been deconstructed, and had been looking through my stash for a suitable background fabric. This curtain fabric is ideal - the swatches are solid colours, but with a design woven through the fabric, and the sheen on the fabric complements the sheen on my ties. Here is what I did tonight: I got some more ties out to match up with the swatches - won't they look great! And there are masses of ties still to sort out and deconstruct...

Two patchwork blocks.

2011-08-16T00:21:00.002+10:00

I'm improving my skills! It took me about an hour to complete this "Virginia Star" block - the seventh block in the Skills Builder Sampler lessons. I had an hour to spare after I finished the above block, so I decided to make another Sunbonnet Sue block. I'd had the elements traced on to the fusible web paper for ages, so all I had to do was find some fabric scraps and fuse them to the pattern bits, then iron them onto the background. I've decided what I'm going to do with these blocks; I saw a Sunbonnet Sue Sampler quilt in a book, where the Sue blocks are alternating with the sample blocks that I'm doing with Leila's tutorials. Coincidentally, pink is the main colour throughout all my blocks, so I thought I may as well join them all up in the end! The ric rac is only pinned to the hat - I haven't started the hand stitching yet. I've drawn the cat's face in permanent fabric pen, as I'm too lazy to stitch such tiny bits. I've also drawn a line around the cat so it shows up in this photo, although I will be stitching around it along with the rest of the applique at a later stage.

"Abandoned at the Op Shop" project.

2011-08-15T02:05:00.002+10:00

This photo is of some of the unframed cross stitch and embroidered items I've collected at opshops. I have just finished sewing a black border around each one, and now I want incorporate them into a quilt/wall hanging. I can't make up my mind what kind of fabric to use as the background - plain or patterned? In this picture they are lying on the piece of gingham I bought recently. I don't want the background fabric to detract from the individual pieces, but a plain colour might be too simple. Any ideas?

Two lovely doilies.

2011-08-13T22:54:00.002+10:00

Discovered these beauties this morning at the Vinnies Opshop in Briar Hill. This one was $3.00. And this was only $2.50!

Opshop finds.

2011-08-12T00:21:00.002+10:00

I found these little gems at the Brotherhood opshop in Eltham today. A lovely big piece of red gingham for $4 - I can always use gingham in my patchwork projects!
A cute little pincushion worked in petit point - 50 cents
And a nicely worked doiley for $1 to add to the hundreds in my collection...

Mug Rug

2011-08-09T21:37:00.001+10:00

My Tea Party swap partner loves Peacocks, so it was easy for me as another Peacock adorer, to make a mug rug for her, as I already have a nice stash of peacock fabrics!

Friday is Play Day at my house!

2011-08-05T23:09:00.006+10:00

I've had a busy week, running around most days, so I decided to stay at home today, instead of going out with friends or opshopping (saved money too!). I borrowed a couple of books on quilting from our Guild when I was there on Tuesday, and have been looking through them. One of the projects was completely different from anything I'd ever seen on a quilt, so I made a sample block for my collection of blocks. It is called "Sword Dance". The book is called "Quick Quilts To Make In A Weekend", edited by Rosemary Wilkinson. There are five contributors whose designs are featured, and it doesn't say who made up this one, but I love it! It required four pieces of tartan/plaid fabrics which I just happened to have in my stash, and a background of calico, of which I have heaps. The picture of the completed quilt in the book looks great! One day I might make a mini quilt or wall hanging using this pattern.
The next thing I did was applique a tea towel with a teapot, for an exchange I'm in this month. It is called a Tea Party exchange, and we swap a number of items with our partner, including a hand made teatowel or teacosy (I opted for the easy one), two Tea Party themed items (mine are pretty paper napkins and a mug rug), a tea party recipe, and a sweet treat. My partner loves dark chocolate, so I'm going to send her a pack of dark chocolate Tim Tams - YUM! The swap organiser wanted everyone to use one of two templates she provided, and I chose the teapot. I transferred the shape on to green gingham, zigzag stitched around the edges, appliqued the heart onto the centre, cut the teapot out and fused it on to the teatowel. Then I added a bit of green ricrac at the top, and fused half of an old doiley underneath, with a length of lace to finish it off.
Now all I have to make is the mug rug, and I've already started that, so it will be the next post on my blog in the next few days.

Batting tape review.

2011-08-04T23:42:00.004+10:00

Tonight I finally got around to doing a test run on the batting tape I bought at the Quilt & Craft Fair last week. For those of you who want to know what to look for, this is the packet it comes in. And this is what the tape looks like - very thin, with a rough side that is the side you iron on to your batting pieces. A bit like fusible interfacing really. I had this long strip which wasn't going to be good for much until I cut it in half.. and joined the two long bits to make a small oblong. Just right for a mug rug! Aha! Just found another useless long bit, which I shall now join to the first two, to make a slightly bigger piece. I think I'm going to like this stuff!
Joy suggested joining bits of batting by joining them together with zig zag stitch. I tried that, and it was a bit lumpy. The batting tape is so thin that it doesn't make any difference to the thickness of the batting, unless you overlap the bits of batting that you are joining. There is one aspect of the tape that isn't mentioned in the brief instructions, but I thought of it because I made this mistake once before. I used an applique mat underneath the pieces I was joining, and a piece of Gladbake on top. Some batting can melt with the heat of an iron, especially when it is held down for 10 seconds to fuse the tape. I used several types of batting, and none of it melted while I used the applique mat and paper on top, but I wouldn't like to hold my iron on top of it without that protection.

Skill Builder Sampler block No.6

2011-08-03T18:44:00.004+10:00

This design (called Bow Ties for obvious reasons) is something I have been wanting to do for ages, and although I've got instructions in piles of books and magazines, it wasn't until now that I was motivated to do it - thanks to dear Leila in the USA and her Skill Sampler tutorials. She posts heaps of photos, and clear concise instructions, and she is happy to reply to emails if you have a problem. So! Here is my Bow Tie block - done in about two hours. Up to now I've been using pink and brown matching fabrics that I had in my stash, but I've run out of them, so this block is completely different. They are all cotton except the orange which is satin - hard to sew with, but provides a bit of a shock difference to this block!
And now that I have learnt how to do this pattern, I am itching to pull my collection of neckties out of the stash cupboard and make a wallhanging/quilt from them! That will be an explosion of colours, and I have a problem to solve before I start - what should I use for the background? Black? White? (The background is the lime green in my block here)
By the way, I haven't forgotten about the five people who asked for more information about the batting tape. I'll write more about that tomorrow.

Skills Builder Sampler Block No.5

2011-08-03T00:12:00.002+10:00

This was supposed to be completed a week ago, but I had a few hiccups with this design! It's not that easy to align all those triangles and I had to unpick quite a few rows before I was satisfied with the block. It still isn't perfect but I don't worry about perfection. I'm more concerned with getting the technique right so if I do it again, I won't make the same mistakes. The lesson learned from this block is to make sure those quarter inch seams are actually a quarter inch!

Craft & Quilt Fair Melbourne.

2011-07-30T22:10:00.005+10:00

Last Thursday I attended the Craft & Quilt Fair with Cheryl - one of my stitching buddies. One could say 'same old stall holders, same old quilt show', but the same old stall holders always have lovely new stuff! And the Quilt display does feature quite a few of the quilts that were on show at the Quilt Convention earlier this year, but they are all so stunning, they are worth a second look. I took about 60 photos, and have posted most of them on my special "Quilt Shows" blog, so if you want to have a look, click on the link.
I was quite restrained in my spending for a change. I went with a small shopping list and found most of what I was after, but only bought one of those, and a couple of extras. I was looking for a new plastic ruler for cutting and squaring quilt blocks, but there were so many variations, I decided not to bother buying any of them, as they were all rather expensive. I'll stick to my mat and ordinary plastic ruler! But I did buy something I saw on somebody's blog - "batting seam tape", which enables you to stick all those small bits of batting together to make a usable size, instead of throwing them out.
My 'impulse buys' were this book on using paper napkins to decorate stuff - I bought the special napkin craft glue earlier this year, and this book provides heaps of ideas to put it to use.
And some fabrics. The coloured paw prints are a substitute for something I was looking for to use in a particular project, but I don't think it is going to work, so I'll find another use for it. The peacock feathers fabric came in two colour ranges, but it was $27 a metre, so I just bought half a metre of this one. The blue fabric with Asian writing on it was too beautiful to pass up, and the Aussie sunset fabric is for another specific project I want to do. The one fabric I was looking for, asking at every stall that sold fabric, was Raindrops. I need a fabric printed with raindrops for a cute wallhanging which has brightly coloured umbrellas against a background of rain. Nobody had ever seen or heard of it! But a few stalls did have fabric with sky and clouds, so I might have to settle for that.

Opshop finds, and completed quilt top.

2011-07-25T01:27:00.004+10:00

It is increasingly rare to find good linens at the big opshops these days, so I was pleased to find these little gems at Savers in Greensborough last week. The first photo is of one corner of a small white cloth, plain except for Edinburgh Castle beautifully stitched in each corner. This is special to me because I have had the matching napkins in my collection for a few years. Never thought I'd find the tablecloth for $5!
The next is a Semco cloth. I have several of these cloths with the woven borders and embroidered centres, and I probably should not have bought this, but it is so neatly stitched, and at only $2.99 it was a bargain!
A very unusual Art Deco style doiley; possibly made to be used as a teacosy, but I've got my doubts about that. It is lovely just as a centrepiece, and a treasure for 99 cents.
***************************** Probably should have started a new post here, but it's late... Today I finished my scrappy quilt top to go to Oz Quilts. After I'd put the blue sashing around it, I decided it needs to be longer, if it is to go on a bed, even a child's bed. So I found some fabric that seems to fit in with the patchwork look, and added a bit to each end.
For the final border, I tried a few different looks, and ended up using black gingham. The original quilt in this style that I'd seen on Freda's Hive used red gingham, and it looked good. With so many fabrics in this, it had to be either plain or near enough to plain.
I am not up to putting it together with batting, backing and binding, so I've donated funds to Jan's account to go towards the cost of that, and she is okay with it. I've had fun doing this, and as usual with all my patchwork ventures, I've learnt a few lessons along the way. AND it has used up a lot of fabrics in my stash that would otherwise have sat in the cupboard for a very long time! There is plenty more where that came from, so when I've caught up with a few other projects I've been playing with, I may make another quilt top for Jan. It is such a good cause...

A surprise gift!

2011-07-21T23:42:00.006+10:00

Anne over at Feather Stitching is a prolific embroiderer, and not only is she prolific, her work is exquisite. I am always ooohing and aaahing over her blog! Sharon and I were lucky enough to be invited to her home while she was living in Melbourne a few years ago. Anne showed us all the beautiful work she had done, and the files of projects that she wanted to do in the future. We were gobsmacked!
She is in many swaps and exchanges with other stitchers via blogs and websites, and she also gives away her work to friends. I was privileged to receive these little gifts of Anne's work in the mail this week. She knows my passion for peacocks, and that my favourite colour range is aqua/turquoise/teal. There'll be no pins stuck in this cushion! I have a couple of beaded scissor fobs, but so far haven't used them for that purpose. I just might change my mind with this fob though :-) Accompanying the pincushion and fob was this beautiful handcrafted card. Anne says she bought it in Tilba while she was on holidays there some time ago. She said she thought of me when she saw it - Japanese paper craft, turquoise colours! What a sweetie.

Small scrappy quilt progress.

2011-07-19T23:16:00.005+10:00

A few days ago, I posted a brief write up about a tutorial I found on Freda's Hive, for a quilt using small squares of fabric. I've had my pile of squares sitting on my table for almost a week, waiting until I'd finished the coffee cosy and the pinwheel block. Today was cold and wet, so after the housework was done, I set to work on my scrappy squares. I sewed two small squares to one big one as per the tutorial, then spread them all out to see if I could make any sense from them. After moving them all around for half an hour or so, and photographing each layout, I ended up sewing them in rows, and rather than sewing the rows together like the tutorial, I chose to put a row of sashing between each row. I did this for two reasons: firstly, I'd used up most of my small scraps and didn't feel like pulling larger pieces of fabric out of my stash just to cut up into bits! Secondly, although I realise that scrappy quilts are meant to look like a jumble of colours and patterns, I still can't bring myself to have the whole lot in a mish mash like that! Hence the sashing. Now I just need to do a border in the same width in that blue, then I'll add one or more wider borders to it, to make it a reasonable size. I'm going to donate it to Jan Mac, who organises distribution of quilts to needy people both here in Australia and overseas.

Pinwheel Block

2011-07-18T23:42:00.003+10:00

The fourth Sampler in Leila's Skills Builder online course is the Pinwheel design. It can be in two colours, or a mixture. I was going to go for a mixture, but decided it would be quicker to just have one colour with white. I haven't been buying any new fabric for this course; it seems silly to buy more when I can just use what is in my mish mash stash of fabrics. The problem is that they are not all 100% cotton - some are not cotton at all! I've picked them up at opshops, Guild remnant bins, and so on.
The white fabric I used to make this block is a mystery to me. I don't think it is cotton because the weave is very wide (is that the right word) and it frays very easily. But I have a heap of it, so I figured I may as well use it. Not a good idea! But I got there in the end. The blue floral fabric was definitely cotton and much easier to worth. Ah well, as I've said before, it is all a learning process. You may notice in the photo that I machined a zig zag edge around the block - this is to stop it fraying any more. My white squares blocks ended up being a bit smaller than the pinwheels because threads kept peeling off the edge every time I handled them!
All in all, I'm rather pleased with my first Pinwheel effort. Oh I know the corners and things don't match perfectly, but it only took me one afternoon to make it from start to finish, and it was fun. Mind you, I don't know that I would care to make a whole quilt out of Pinwheel blocks - that would be asking too much, even if I used the correct cotton fabric!

Coffee Cosy.

2011-07-16T15:03:00.003+10:00

My friend Helen asked me if I could make a wrap for her coffee plunger, and I said "No problem! I'll make it to match the mug rug". I started by sewing three strips of fabric together. Next, I layed the lining (green), padding, and top piece on top of each other, sewed them together leaving one end open. I attached two bits of velcro to each end, sewed it all up and voila! The cosy is standing next to my coffee plunger for this pic. Helen's coffee plunger is the larger version.

Yet another way to use up scraps of fabric.

2011-07-12T23:26:00.004+10:00

Like most of you, I spend a lot of time surfing other blogs, admiring the work and looking for new ways of doing things for myself. Clicking on other people's side bar links is time consuming, but great fun! So there I was tonight happily surfing, and I discovered a really neat tutorial on Freda's Hive blog. She shows how to make 2.5" squares and 4.5" squares into a quilt. Having just cut up a large proportion of my scraps into those sizes (or close enough) I was delighted to find this tutorial! Watch this space!!

Experiments with patchwork triangles, and a cleanup.

2011-07-11T16:50:00.003+10:00

For the fourth week of Leila's skills sampler workshop, she invited us to make up a design of our own using the skills she has taught us so far. At first I said no, I'm not creative enough - I can follow directions, but I'm not imaginative. Then I thought 'don't be a wimp', so I got some scraps of fabric out, cut them into triangles, joined them up into squares, and played around with them. I placed them into all sorts of combinations.. And this is what I settled on to stitch up. I didn't copy anything from a book or magazine, but I'm sure it's been done before. I just don't know what it is called! This is a failed experiment. Leila had provided a link to a video for us to try out if we wanted to. Instead of the traditional way of making triangle squares, this technique was a short cut. You place two squares of fabric face to face, sew them all around the edge, cut it in half diagonally, then cut diagonally again, and voila! four squares of triangles! Sounds great, doesn't it. But one has to be VERY careful with measuring, stitching and cutting, or one ends up with squares of different sizes like this!
While I was looking in my scrap stash for fabrics to play with, it was driving me crazy, because the box was just full of untrimmed bits. So I emptied the whole lot on the table and taking one piece at a time, cut them all into squares or rectangles, depending on the size of the piece. Then I sorted everything into sizes and colour ranges - bags of 2", 2-1/2", 5" and 6" squares. A bag of strips, and a pile of larger pieces which I didn't want to cute down too small in case they came in useful for something one day (like rug mugs or fabric postcards). A lot of fabric went into the bin and on the floor, but at least I now have USEFUL bits and not just tiny bits of rubbish!

More opshop goodies!

2011-07-09T00:24:00.004+10:00

I just posted these photos on the opshop blog so if you've visited that blog, you will have seen these. But if you haven't - read on. I was driving around the eastern suburbs today, on various messages, and took advantage of visiting opshops in places I hadn't been for a while. I struck gold! I'm not usually keen on long stitch, but this steam train is so beautifully done and well framed, that for $5, I had to buy it for Ken. He loves it! There is some writing on the back "From Grandma, 1999". How could anyone throw out a gift like this??
This very old card table cloth was just $2. It will come up well with a soak in Napisan. Don't you love that cute design of cards on the windmills!
Five large pieces of fabric for $3! That's what the friendly lady at the Rotary shop was going to charge me, but I told her that wasn't enough, and gave her $5. I still got the better end of that deal!
As if I haven't got enough Chicken Scratch in my collection...but not in this shade of gingham and not six lovely napkins - all for $3.

Skill Builder Sampler Block No.3

2011-07-09T00:20:00.003+10:00

The third block in Leila's tutorials was Churn Dash. I have already made one of these when I did the patchwork course a few years ago, and I wasn't going make another one. But Leila showed us different techniques, so I thought it would be a good learning curve to have a go at them, and I'm glad I made the effort. Much easier the second time around!

Opshop goodies.

2011-07-08T09:52:00.002+10:00

I don't find much GOOD linen at opshops these days, so when I saw this beautiful centrepiece at Vinnies yesterday for $4, I snapped it up. The magazines were 50 cents each, so I grabbed those too. The third item I bought for 50 cents was a bag of quilt wadding (half metre) for 50 cents - now that was a bargain! When I buy a stack of craft magazines for such a low price, I look through them all over the next few days, decide which ones I want to keep, and return the rest to an opshop. I was just wondering if any of my overseas readers would like them? I've heard that our Aussie patchwork mags are very popular overseas, so I'm happy to send them on. Perhaps a swap with your local mags, or some fabric? Leave a reply here, or email me direct if you are interested.

Lovely vintage White work and lacey doilies.

2011-07-06T21:48:00.006+10:00

After an absence of four months while I was looking after Ken, I returned to the Embroiderers' Guild yesterday, in my volunteer role. One of the members had left a surprise for me - a big bag full of linens that she rescued from the bin at the opshop where she works. She'd told me about them some time ago, and explained that they were stained, torn, worn and so on, but I've heard that before, and know by experience that one person's concept of rubbish can be treasure for me! The two colour floral centrepieces are certainly worse for wear, but the others are mostly in good enough condition to use or recycle in some way.
I photographed them all when I got home yesterday, soaked them overnight, and hung them outside today to be blown dry. Now I'm about to spend a blissful half hour ironing them. Yes - blissful! I don't mind ironing at any time, but ironing beautiful embroidered linens is sheer joy. Sorry about Tiger appearing in the middle of all that. He kept on sitting on everything as I was taking photos, and I had to keep deleted snaps when his head or a paw would appear at the side of them! But I thought this one was cute enough to leave.

Corner Store block from "Pretty Little Mini Quilts"

2011-07-03T21:33:00.005+10:00

In my post of 20th June, I mentioned at the end that I was planning to do some projects from the book Pretty Little Mini Quilts. I did the first one on Saturday night, while the kids next door kept everyone awake with a party in their back yard :-( I took myself up to my sewing room at the front of our house where the noise wasn't so loud, and made a 10 inch block of Lynn's pattern which she calls "Corner Store". The pattern is for a 17" x 22" quilt, but I always like to make one block of a pattern just to see how it looks. Lynn's quilt used red as the background, which was a bit strong for my taste, so I chose light blue. It was very easy - just cut 3" squares of back ground fabric, stitch bits on two corners, trim them back to 3" and join together! (That is a very simple explanation - it is a bit more involved than that!) Here are my 16 squares before I joined them.
I tried several combinations before I decided on the final one.

I'm not into beading, but...

2011-06-28T23:52:00.005+10:00

The Lone Beader blog on my sidebar is a blog that I have been following since I first started blogging myself. Diana is a bead artist, and she creates the most unique and beautiful works of art with her beading techniques. I just dropped over there a minute ago to catch up with her, and found her latest finish - a sparrow. Now you might think a sparrow is a such a drab ordinary little bird, but go and see what Diana has done - made a little sparrow into a sparkling beauty! While you are there, check out the rest of her blog. And take a cuppa with you, you won't be able to tear yourself away once you start looking at her fabulous work.

Skill Builder Sampler blocks

2011-06-28T00:10:00.006+10:00

While reading Jane's blog over the weekend, I was admiring her photos of two patchwork blocks she had just completed. She explained that she had followed the tutorials on a blog called "Sewn by Leila", whose creator had recently introduced online tutorials for quilt blocks. So I jumped over to have a look, and decided immediately I would join this group, as I am still very much a novice in the field of quilting, especially when it comes to those intricate blocks! Jane had done her blocks over a few days, so I thought I would try to do the same. Thanks to Leila's excellent Skill Builder Sampler tutorials, it took me just 24 hours to complete these two blocks! If you are reading this and you are an experienced quilter, you probably won't be interested in all this, but if you are a novice like me, go over to my sidebar and click on Leila's Skill Builder button. It's well worth a visit!
As always for me, there were lessons to be learned: again, the importance of measuring and cutting accurately, pressing as you go, and trimming the small blocks as you go. But what I learnt this time around was not in the instructions; indeed, it was a matter of my own stupidity. I learned NOT to combine stretchy fabrics with non-stretch cottons! Duh, I know...common sense, right? But when I am using whatever is in my stash, I don't look too closely at the fabric, other than to check if the colours don't clash. Well, that light pink gingham was just a little stretchy. Enough to pull the other pieces out of line. Ah well, I'm not making a quilt, so I've left it alone, but it was another one of those senior blonde moments that I will put down to experience ;-) Other than that, I am very happy with my first Nine patch block and Log cabin block.

This weekend's work.

2011-06-27T00:16:00.002+10:00

My Japanese friend Aiko has a birthday coming up, and she loves handmade craft, so I decided to make her one of my mug rugs. Do you think she will like it? The border looks a bit wonky in this photo, but once I'd given it a good press it looked better.
It is one thing to do a workshop at a craft fair, and go home all enthused about the new technique you have learnt, but it is quite another thing to actually continue making items using that new skill! A few years ago, I did a class on making hexagons, and afterwards I bought a cute little set of template, mini cutting board and small rotary cutter, just for hexagons. Did I do anything with it when I got home, or in the weeks afterwards? No, of course not! But if you've been following this blog, you may have noticed that I am on a roll of trying new things, and last week I decided it was time to dust off the little kit and make some hexagons. The fabrics are what was given to us in the workshop, so I thought I may as well use them for this practice session. Now I know how easy it is (fiddly but easy), I've earmarked some little projects in my patchwork magazines and books. Stay tuned for further developments, lol!

Finished projects, and info on fusible layout grid.

2011-06-23T18:09:00.004+10:00

I'm surprised that some of you hadn't heard of the Fusible layout grid that I mentioned in my previous post. I googled "Fusible non-woven Layout grid" and came up with the usual ten thousand links! Here is one that provides a good explanation. Depending on where you are, I should think if you can't buy it at your local shop, you would be able to purchase it online. Darn Cheap Fabrics sell it for $13.80 a metre.
I finished binding my Suffolk Puff flower picture, and am very happy with it. I've also made another mug rug - and actually have ORDERS for more!! My friends who aren't into crafts like this are all delighted with my mug rugs and have been offering to pay me to make more for them! It is embarrassing - they only take an hour to do, and I'm not buying any extra supplies, as I'm just using my stash.
That reminds me - I forgot to post a picture of this mini quilt last week. It was in our local collectables shop for $10, so I grabbed it. It is only small - 40cm by 30cm, but so cute!

Shopping for patchwork supplies.

2011-06-22T03:39:00.002+10:00

I needed some more batting for my patchwork projects, so I headed over to "Darned Cheap Fabrics" at Heidelberg. They might not have the range of Spotlight, Lincraft, or other specialist patchwork shops, but they have the essentials, and what I think is a good range of fabrics. I've been reading about the new bamboo batting, and decided to give it a try. I used it for my Sweet Inspirations block (see previous post) and found it very easy to work with.
This cute little machine embroidered patch was hanging on the wall, so I added one of them to my purchases, as it will go perfectly with one of my planned wallhangings.
Another product I've seen written up in various craft mags is this gridded quilt fusible fabric. I asked the salesgirl if they stocked it and she wasn't sure, so she asked an older lady, who pointed her to where they had it. When she was measuring it out for me, a few ladies came over to ask my advice on how to use it. All I could tell them was what I'd read in magazines, but that was good enough for them, as they could see the advantages of using it for some projects. I have nearly finished my vase of yo yo flowers - just need to hand stitch the binding, and I'm done! I should have a photo here tomorrow. Thanks to all who commented on it - interesting to see people's experiences with yo-yo/suffolk puffs!

Suffolk Puffs (otherwise known as Yo Yo's)

2011-06-20T01:22:00.004+10:00

I've been seeing Suffolk Puffs everywhere lately - in books and magazines as well as on blogs. I figured there was a message in there somewhere for me, so today I pulled out a Homespun magazine from my shelves, and made a cute picture. But not having made Suffolk puffs before, I had a little practice run. Just as well I did! The first few I did, I didn't turn the edge in for the hem, and they were a bit messy. I experimented with several kinds of fabric, and quickly learnt that a softer cotton is easier to work with than a linen or heavy cotton. I discovered that I do not have a great range of buttons! So I had to make do. But it was a good learning experience. This is the project in Homespun Magazine No.11 (about 10 years old).
And here is what I achieved today. I used a piece of hand dyed fabric for the background - I'd found it in the Guild's remnant bin last year, and knew it would come in handy for something! The other materials are just from my scrap box. I fused the vase and leaves to the background, and attached the yo-yo flowers after embroidering the stems. I'll finish off the borders etc. over the next few days. This is NOT going to be a UFO!
I'm planning my next project from this little book, which I won from Lynn Harris over at The Little Red Hen. She has a couple of designs in it, and had a giveaway on her blog when it was published. I'm sure she thinks I'll never use it. Well, I will. And soon!

A new ATC.

2011-06-18T22:38:00.003+10:00

A year or so ago, I went through a stage of making heaps of ATCs to swap, but haven't done any since then. But when Doreen gave me one last week while she was in Melbourne, I figured I had to reciprocate. After all, they are called Artists TRADING cards for a reason! It didn't take me long to whip up this one today. Now I just have to find Doreen's address again...

Lacemaking - a dying art.

2011-06-18T01:04:00.001+10:00

I discovered this little video clip on Anna Maria Horner's blog, and thought it would be of interest to my readers. http://vimeo.com/24025625

Lacemaking in Lefkara, Cyprus from Etsy on Vimeo.

Meeting another Blogger friend!

2011-06-16T21:40:00.000+10:00

I spent a most enjoyable day today, with Doreen Grey of "Creative Meanderings". Doreen was in Melbourne this week with her hubby and grand daughter, so we'd arranged for me to meet her in the city at the apartment where they were staying. I had asked Doreen if she would bring some of her embroidered work to show me, and she was happy to oblige. I took photos of everything. If my readers are also readers of Doreen's blog, you may have seen these before. But even so, they are worth another look! Stunning crazy patchwork blocks, made up into book form. There were 12 blocks altogether but I only photographed six.
This fabulous creation has been made using an old book as the base. The inside consists of handmade paper, painted and embellished with a myriad of craft fabrics and papers! Such creativity leaves me speechless in admiration! There was one more book, but my photo didn't do it justice, so I haven't posted it. We spent some time setting our respective cameras up to take photos of ourselves together, using the delayed timer, most of which I had to delete until I got what I thought was a reasonable photo of us both. Doreen looks a bit terse here, which is a pity, because she is not terse at all! A very friendly lady in fact. We visited some craft shops, then had lunch at Australia on Collins, talking non-stop between mouthfuls of food. We spent the first few minutes getting to know each other, doing some show and tell, and swapping a few goodies. I came off better in the goodies department! I brought some of my mug rugs in and offered Doreen a choice of them. But look what she had for me! A duchess set that she had started on a long time ago, but never finished, and she thought I would appreciate it. She was 100% right! Her stitching on the centrepiece is exquisite, so I'll have to do my bit on the doilies very carefully to match her work! Next is an ATC, and an embroidered brooch. Doreen had brought a dozen of them with her, and invited me to choose one. It was very hard to choose; they were all so gorgeous. And some craft magazines she'd finished with.

I made a complete fool of myself by offering to take Doreen to the Morris & Sons shop in Collins Street. When I mentioned this to her on the phone the previous night, I said "Do you want to go to the William Morris shop here?" There was silence for a minute, and she said "I didn't know that was in Melbourne". "Oh yes - it is across the road from where you are staying" said I. Some time after I hung up the phone, I realised my mistake in the name of the shop....but as if that wasn't enough. Today, I led the way into Australia On Collins - almost to the door of Lincraft. Looking desperately for Morris & Sons, I had to give up because nobody in the other shops knew what I was talking about. When I got home, I found the bit of paper I'd written their address on - No.234 Collins Street...a few doors up from Australia On Collins }:-( Sorry, Doreen! Next time!!

Shopping in Melbourne with Doreen G.

2011-06-16T21:37:00.002+10:00

We strolled down to the Nicholas Building to visit some of the beautiful craft shops in there - L'ucellos, Button Mania, and Kimono House. I took a few photos at L'ucellos. The owner (Kim) is used to bloggers coming in and introducing themselves, as she has her own blog, and follows many herself. Her stock is constantly changing with shipments of goodies arriving often. I resisted temptations, and only bought a couple of things: A book/pad of iron-on stitchery transfers - very cute! A short length of exquisite lace which Kim informed us was from the time of King George VI. (Sylvia, if you want some of this, let me know! I had you in mind when I bought it ;-) The two dear little buttons are from Button Mania.

Quilters Tote Bag

2011-06-13T23:02:00.005+10:00

I've spent the weekend making two bags. The first one is something I've been thinking about doing ever since I started accumulating quilting and patchwork paraphernalia. Everything was in a big plastic bag, and we all know what that's like - a big jumble of stuff that doesn't fit nicely anywhere you want to store it. I'd seen a few tutorials on the net for quilters bags, but they weren't quite what I wanted, so I decided to do my own thing. I needed a bag big enough to keep my cutting mat, two quilters rulers, assorted plastic templates, and rotary cutters. A few years ago, the local Riot Art & Craft shop had a selection of plain calico bags, ready for embroidery or fabric painting projects. I bought two or three different sizes, including a library bag which I still hadn't done anything with. Perfect size - big enough to accomodate a larger cutting mat if I needed to buy one at a later stage! The first job was to make some pockets for the inside, to put my things in. The mat didn't need a pocket, but the quilting rulers, Dresden templates, and rotary cutters did. I cut out and hemmed three pieces of calico to suit, and machined them inside the library bag (it was a bit difficult, as my machine doesn't have one of those extra long bits where you can machine sleeves etc. on garments, but I managed it) Drawstring tops are okay for library bags, but I needed handles, so I made them from two strips of calico. Finally, thinking it looked a bit plain (and wanting to cover up the area where I had machined the pockets to the inside), I found a piece of furnishing fabric someone had given me, that was exactly the right size. So I used fusible webbing to attach it, and stitched running stitch around the edges. Voila!

Handbag organiser.

2011-06-13T22:32:00.006+10:00

Don't you just hate fumbling in your handbag/purse/totebag for the fiddly things that rattle around at the bottom on the bag? In March 2009, Cindy posted a photo on her blog of a handbag organiser that she'd made for her daughter. She called it a "What's In the Bottom Of Your Purse Holder". I thought it was a super idea, and filed it away in my head for future reference. Since then I've seen bag organisers in shops, and tutorials for similar things in books and on the net. Today I decided to make my own. It is best to do it that way, because every lady's handbag is unique, as far as what goes in it. Here is what lives in mine when I take everything with me. (If I'm only zipping down to the shops to do some shopping, I only take a small shoulder bag with my purse, keys, and mobile phone.) I started by laying everything out on a piece of fabric to see how big I would need to cut it. I then cut a piece for the outer fabric, and another piece the same size for the lining. Then I found a third piece to make the pockets. But instead of making individual pockets, I lay the one piece across the lining over my bag contents, and pinned it over each item, allowing enough fabric to slip it in easily. Took the contents away and machined the pocket fabric where I'd pinned. Here they are all laying on their individual pockets. And here is everything in the pockets. Finally I added a length of green ribbon to one end, so when I rolled the organiser up, it could be tied up neatly and placed in my hand bag. I showed Ken, saying "This is a girl thing. I don't expect you to understand." He looked at it for a minute and said "You should make one for your car". I said "Oh, yes, I have a pattern for a glove box organiser somewhere!" He replied "I'm not talking about the glovebox. I'm talking about the boot (trunk to Americans). It's a mess with all the stuff you've got in there". Ah well, can't blame a girl for trying, can you?

All rugged out!

2011-06-10T01:30:00.003+10:00

I'm done with mug rugs! Well, for the time being. I've done enough to give to a few friends that I will be dining with on Friday night, and there will be a few spares to give to other friends if they like them. I've had great fun doing these, but other projects are calling me, so I've tidied up the mess in my craft room, and will start on my next project in a day or so. These two are made from the fabrics I used to make my Iris quilt. They are both backed with a plain light mauve fabric.
This one is made from fabrics from a variety of sources. The back is from a fat quarter that I bought somewhere. The front uses the teacups material that I used for the border of a table runner, and the gold coloured stuff was a tie. The brown border is from my stash.
Everyone seems to liked chooks and roosters, so I used some of my stash of rooster fabrics for these. The smaller one has a red gingham backing. The larger one is the result of a series of blunders on my part! I used the ric rac to cover uneven stitching, and then I sewed the back and front together the wrong way (not the way I had intended). So I was left with an unhemmed border, which I've covered with good old bias binding! The back is plain green.

Today's projects.

2011-06-05T00:52:00.003+10:00

I'm still playing with Mug Rugs! But the first two turned into placemats, due to my miscalculation of the width of the borders. Ken's great-nieces will still like them though, and at their ages (8 and 5) they are a bit young for mugs of coffee anyway. I started with a piece of fabric which had two Sunbonnet Sue characters printed on it. I cut that in half, embroidered the names in chain stitch, and joined each one to scraps of children's fabric from my stash. If they were to be mug rugs, they wouldn't have to be much larger, but by the time I'd stitched the red polkadot fabric border on, it was too late, so I backed them both with red gingham, and placemats they shall be!
These two are definitely mug rugs. The coloured cats fabric was left over from the Black Cat wall hanging I did a few years ago. I matched it up with pieces from my scrap box, and backed them both with gingham. I've got heaps of gingham in my stash - it is so useful for all kinds of projects. I used to think I'd do Chicken Scratch embroidery or at least cross stitch on some of it, but as life rolls on, I don't think I'll even bother. Too much else to do.

A very kind and generous lady.

2011-06-02T23:23:00.002+10:00

I had a stroke of good luck today, which doesn't need to be written about here, but I've been comparing my luck to those less fortunate in places like Queensland, Japan and New Zealand, who are struggling to survive after natural disasters. Most of us bloggers click on links on other blogs when we have time to surf, just to see what else is out there. So I wonder if any of my readers have clicked on my links lately. If you haven't, let me bring this one to your attention: Oz Comfort Quilts Jan MacFadyen is the angel right here in Victoria who manages Oz Comfort Quilts. She co-ordinates the trucking or shipping of quilts and other clothing items to places where people are in desperate need. Not only does she dispatch the ready made quilts, she also makes them up herself from fabrics and blocks that are sent to her. Whenever I read her blog, I feel a bit selfish, being so proud of the patchwork I do for my own pleasure. I have a cupboard full of fabrics - far too much for my own use now or in the future, but I do have good intentions. With my new experiences in patchwork and quilting, I'm gathering the confidence to make up a stack of blocks and send them to Jan. Perhaps some of my readers could think of doing the same?

Time to relax with some small stuff.

2011-06-02T21:46:00.003+10:00

Now that those two big projects are finished...don't laugh, they were big by my standards!! (And thank you to all who left such complimentary comments). Ever since I made my first mug rug, I've been itching to do some more. So today I pulled out my box of fabric scraps and made two with a Japanese theme, for friends who like me, love anything Japanese. I've got another four pieced and ready to be sewn up, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Here are the first two. I used this Asian calligraphy print as the backing for both of them.