Fabric ATC from Israel!

Check this out!! Isn't it gorgeous? Ira in Israel sent this to me for an exchange on Stitchin Fingers. The little crocheted motif was a surprise extra, and I'm planning to use it in a future CQ block - one that I will keep for myself!

E.G.V. October Exhibition.

I mentioned a week ago that the EGV has a lovely display on this month, titled Past, Present And Future. Sharon and I visited it last Friday and I was able to snap a good amount of photos to show my blog readers. The photos and descriptions are on my Flickr account which you can find here.
But before you go there, stop and smell the roses. Ok, you can't smell them, but you can look! They are in Sharon's front garden and I had to take a photo!

Latest eBay wins.

These three items arrived last week from interstate. Two centrepieces and a sweet huckabuck hand towel.

Random photos.

This is where I am up to on my friend's 50th birthday gift. You can see where I have just started on the cat at the bottom. Hope to finish this by early November at the latest!
This little cherries design is the fourth in a set of jam jar covers I've been doing as "waiting room" projects. They have been small enough to fit in my handbag, and easy to stitch when I don't want to concentrate too hard! I've given the others away to friends, but I might keep this one for myself. It just has to have bias binding around the edge and I can use it to dress up a jar if I have someone over for scones and tea.
This will be made into an ornament to hang on a tree (or anywhere for that matter). It is for a Christmas ornie swap on Stitchin Fingers.
I received this gorgeous fabric postcard from Wendy in the U.S.A. as an exchange for the one I did (with the lady bug) for her. She sent it as is, just addressed and stamped on the back, and it arrived intact, fortunately!

Needlework Display at Box Hill, (Vic., Aust.)

Today (Friday) Sharon and I went to see the exhibition put on by the Needlework Tapestry Guild of Victoria. It was a relatively small exhibition by some standards, as they only have limited space for display, and all the work was done by the members of this Guild. But the quality of the stitching was incredible - I asked if I could take photos and they were happy for me to do so. I didn't know where to start and stop, there were so many I wanted to capture on film. I took 25 pics - too many to put on my blog, so I've put them on my Flickr album - you can see them here. Unfortunately the exhibition was only on for a week, and finishes on Saturday 18th October. I would have posted a reminder on my blog last week if I'd remembered to do so, as I know my Melbourne readers would have enjoyed it very much indeed.

Visitors to my blog from around the world!

For the first time since I installed it on my blog, I had a closer look at the Feedjit Traffic feed on the side bar. I was astonished to find that in the last hour, I've had visitors from a dozen countries! I don't get many comments on here, but I am aware that there are a lot of people out in cyberspace who read my blog to see my linens, and that's what it is here for after all. If you're in one of these countries and are still here - welcome, and thanks for stopping by! U.S.A. (Georgia, Nth Dakota, Michigan, Ohio) France Kuala Lumpur Spain The Philippines Romania Saudi Arabia Canada U.K. Taiwan Czech Republic Australia (Qld, NSW, Vic.)

A great show at the Embroidery Guild of Vic.

The EVG has a wonderful display on this month, which I'm sure most of my readers would really appreciate if they got the chance to visit. I was there today in my volunteer role and spent a lot of time in the Gallery, admiring each individual piece on show. The display is titled "Past, Present and Future" and features items that have been stitched a long time ago (by EGV members' mums or grandmothers in some cases); more recently by EGV members; and by children (members' daughters). I asked the display co-ordinator if I could take photos for my blog and she doesn't have any objections, so I'm planning to go back next week and get some pics.
As usual I had a rummage around in the remnants bin and found these fabrics: I'm not sure what I'll do with this, but I love the 70's look of this fabric.
This is so pretty! I couldn't go past these roses!
This scrap of woollen fabric will go well in the Peacock block I am planning. I love this colour combination.
This is a huge piece of fabric - enough to make a tablecloth out of it! I can't believe someone meant this for the remnant bin, and I asked everyone in the building today, but nobody knew anything about it and they said "Take it, Gina. It's been left there, so it is first come, first served". I'm going to keep it complete (not cut it up) for a while, just in case someone else did want it and just hadn't picked it up. If nobody at the Guild claims it, well - there's enough to share around! This is a closeup of the above fabric. Speaking of Peacocks (well I did mention the word somewhere above) I have a new embroidered peacock in my collection. It arrived today from the USA and I'm 'over the moon' with delight!! You can see it here.

Stitchin Fingers fabric ATC swap arrived today.

I had just posted my Red Buttons fabric ATC off to my swap partner at our post office, and went to the post office box room to check my mail. There was a little packet from England waiting for me - Di had beaten me to it! Here is what she sent me - her gorgeous fabric ATC, and some lovely extras: two skeins of metallic embroidery floss, a beautiful piece of floral fabric and a cute Xmas themed cross stitch kit. Thank you VERY much, Di! I already know what I'll be using the metallic thread for - spider webs on my CQs - it is just what I needed!

Fantastic book of iron-on transfers

I spent today with a friend, visiting opshops on our side of town. Along the way I found a secondhand bookshop, and of course, had to have a look in there too! Here is what I found, for $20 - a bit on the expensive side I thought, but on the other hand it is highly unlikely I'd ever find another copy, so I bought it. What a collection of transfers!!!! Every imaginable subject, and only a few cut out by the look of it. I've scanned three pages to give you an idea of what is there.

Finished postcard and two new fabric ATCs

I finished off my postcard not long after posting the previous photo - knew I should have waited! I was in the mood today to play with some more of these mini crazy patchworks, so I made two textile ATCs. I tried to photograph them, then tried scanning them, but neither turned out very well, so I settled for the scanned version. I learnt three valuable lessons today, about making textile ATCs:
1. Remove all tacking before ironing interfacing on the back.
2. Do not sew buttons and other 3D trims too close to the edge.
3. Check the width of the stitch on the sewing machine before starting to stitch.
It's just as well these ATCs aren't for an exchange...I'd be embarrassed to send them to anyone!

Update on my textile postcard.

There were some lovely comments on my last few posts - thank you everyone who left a comment, I do enjoy reading them, and will visit you all in return shortly, if I haven't already done so. Isn't the Internet great for finding people with a common interest - especially blogging - just love it! Here is a picture of my fabric CQ postcard...actually, I shouldn't call it CQ, as that stands for Crazy Quilting, and none of my patchwork is 'quilted' - it is just patchwork. Anyway, here is my postcard up until today: Ugh - okay, it isn't quite finished, but the scanner doesn't do it justice. The colours are much more vibrant than this pic. shows. As you can see if you compare this to the photo I posted a week or so ago, I've made a few improvements/changes. I changed the herringbone stitch from green to red, and I've moved the gold ric rac closer to the seam. I have a few more beads to add to the feather stitching at the bottom, and I'm not happy with the leaves on the right hand side, so I may fill them in with button hole or satin stitch yet.

ATCs

On August 30th I posted some photos of ATCs (Artists Trading Cards) I had just made. Some were textiles and the others were paper. As I'm trying to keep this blog for embroidered stuff, I've decided I'll post future paper ATCs to my Swap Card Blog. That was created for my swap/playing card collection, but it will do for the time being, to house my ATC collection as well!!
If you are new to ATCs, go here or here to find out about them.

Crazy about Crazy Quilting!

I just love messing around with little blocks of fabric that I've pieced together in CQ fashion. I have no intention of making a full size quilt - not even a wall hanging or lap rug. I simply enjoy doing a variety of stitches and beading to embellish the blocks. One of the Groups on Stitchin Fingers are making fabric postcards to swap with each other, so I jumped in there to join the swap. The theme for the postcard is 'Fall' (it was suggested by an American - surprise, surprise!) and I emailed her that Spring has just begun Down Under, and it feels like forever since we had our Autumn, but I didn't mind thinking about Autumn next year! Here is what I have done so far....actually I've done a bit more since I took this photo, but you may be able to see where I'm heading. The green Herringbone stitch will have small gold cross stitches on top of the green, and the ric rac will have another stitch, and possibly some beads worked on or around it. The red and green plain fabrics will have some other kind of embellishment, and there will be some stitching along the borders of those fabrics.
Here is another little block I made up when I was teaching myself the technique of "foundation piecing" from some CQ books I've borrowed from the library. There is no immediate purpose for this one, although a couple of friends have admired it and said they would like to see it in a little frame, so somebody may end up with this for Xmas!
For those who are interested, there are two new aprons on this blog.

Some additions to my collection.

I met my friend J. for coffee this afternoon at the Diamond Valley Antique centre here in Eltham. There was HEAPS of linen there, but I resisted temptation until I discovered this charming little supper cloth...a bit on the expensive side at $45, but I love this design! Unfortunately the colour in the first photo is all out of kilter, but the second closeup pic is better.
After J. left, I drove around the corner to investigate the shops in the next street, and discovered another antique store! I couldn't believe it - two in Eltham! So in I went, and while they didn't have a big range of linen, I purchased these two for $5. A simple elegant tray cloth on cream linen with nice crocheted edge. Close up of motif and crochet.
Another simple item that most people might not have looked twice at, but the stitching is just a bit different, and very neat.

Embroiderers Guild Annual exhibition

The Embroiderers Guild of Victoria is currently hosting their annual exhibition of members' work. Open 7 days a week from September 6th to 21st, it is at Embroidery House, 170 Wattletree Road, Malvern. Click here for more information, or go to the link on my sidebar on this blog. I'll be there as a volunteer gallery hostess on one or two days, so if you are in Melbourne and have a free day, drop in and say hello - and admire the fantastic stitching of our members. My Assisi Leaf coaster is on display with the other entries in the Guild Challenge; I didn't win an award, but I'm tickled pink to just be on show! Don't forget to visit the Gift Shop - all items are hand made by the Guild members. I couldn't resist buying this gorgeous little Teapot pincushion!

Friday's mail and Friday's stitching.

I only had an hour's work yesterday morning, so had the rest of the day to myself. When this happens, I usually ring around all the friends who I know might be home, and see who wants to go for a walk/do some stitching/catch up for a cuppa...So my backlog of housework and stitching doesn't usually get done.
Today, most of the people I called didn't answer their phone, or were doing something else. So I figured there had to be a message here somewhere! I told myself to stay home and catch up on the essential things needing to be done. So I defrosted the fridge (LONG overdue), made a pot of chicken stock (I'd just used my last lot in the freezer this week) and did some stitching on my friend's 50th birthday picture. I didn't bother photographing the fridge or the chicken stock (duh..) but here is where I'm up to with Louise's cottage:
These are two fabrics I received in the mail - aren't they delightful! And here is my second fabric completed ATC

Vintage Transfer book.

When I saw this on eBay from a lady in Tasmania who's eBay store name is "Gina's Fabrics" - well, I just had to bid, didn't I! It arrived today and I am so pleased I won it; whether or not I will ever actually use the transfers is debatable but hey, it's great stash.. Going by the information inside the cover, it is a reprint of an old McCalls magazine, as the last printing date listed is 1977. Here are just a few of the transfers inside:
Oh by the way, there is a new apron in my collection. You can see it here.

Eye candy.

I pass a large Salvation Army op-shop three days a week, but rarely stop to go in, as they never seem to have anything that appeals to me. But occasionally I just get a 'feeling'...and today I felt it, so in I went, and came out with these two beauties: Nice centrepiece:
And a very nice teacosy - it is stitched in only two or three basic stitches (laisy daisy and cross stitch) but the design and use of variegated thread make it so attractive.

Oh dear...what have I got myself in for now??

The Stitchin Fingers website has got so many fascinating groups, I just have to look at most of them several times a week, to see what everyone is working on. Members of the website can join any group they like, and I joined about a dozen, but cut back on some when I realised that I just was not going to have time to participate in every activity that appealed to me. I moderate the Cross Stitchin Fingers Group, and I'm taking part in exchanges for the ATC Group and the Fabric Post cards Group. ATC stands for Artists Trading Cards, and they can be made from paper, textiles or any other media as long as it conforms to the one size - 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Here is what I've done so far: The top one with red buttons is completed, and will be on its way to someone as soon as she sends me her address! She will be sending me one of hers in return. The green ATC below that was just a WIP when this was taken, but I finished it tonight, so will take another photo. These three are paper ATCs, with some material trimming to add interest. ******************************************************************************* But not only am I working on ATCs and fabric postcards (no photo of those yet), I am seriously keen on CQ blocks, and have hundreds of ideas buzzing around in my head. All that I need is more fabrics, and here is what I bought on eBay this week: Several pieces of Japanese-style fabrics,
These two cute fabrics with sewing machines and other sewing notions, followed by matching plain fabrics.
And more teapots - aren't these gorgeous? There used to be a lot of fabrics around with teacups and teapots but it is getting harder to find, so I was delighted to find this one.