Good and not so good day.

I spent most of today at the Embroiderers Guild exhibition, selling raffle tickets and chatting with other Guild members. I was wondering if any of my blog readers would turn up and say hi, and guess what - Tannia did. It is such fun to meet my cyberspace friends - thanks, Tannia! Unfortunately the Guild doesn't allow anyone to take photos of their exhibitions, so I don't have any to put on my blog to show you. But I can show you what I bought from the Gift Shop. This is a plain old Spirex ruled notepad, made special with a calico cover appliqued with a cupcake! Couldn't leave this behind - what a great notebook to write recipes in.
As you might remember, I have a growing collection of pincushions of all shapes and sizes, and the Guild always have heaps of them for sale in their Gift Shop. I allowed myself just one today - this square shape is new to me. And I adore that elephant design.
Tonight I received an email from Cheryl, who alerted me to an item on the Needlework News website. They had discovered my Peacocks blog and given it a nice write up. Thanks Lakshmi, for telling them about me!
The bad news is that I smashed my car up on the way home from the Guild, so I'm grounded for a few weeks at the least, I guess. The upside is that because I'm forced to stay home, I'll have lots of time to stitch - lol!

How do you know what to do next??

Some stitchers have a rotation system, where they line up all their works in progress, and work on one for a set period (ie. one night) before going on to another. I've thought about this, but don't think it would work for me, because so many of my projects have time frames that mean I have to stay on one thing until it is finished. At the moment, I've caught up with my Stitchin Fingers exchanges (FPCs, ATCs and round robin), and am looking at my next patchwork block to be cut out. Our tutor isn't running classes in school holidays, so I haven't had anything to do this week or next week, although J. did give me the patterns for the next two blocks, so I could start making the templates and cutting out the fabrics.
But I have an Assisi project which was started early this year, and meant to be finished by May, for a friend's 60th birthday. She went overseas in the meantime, so I figured there was no rush for the Assisi job to be finished. I have two crazy patchwork blocks almost finished (Teacup and Peacock themes) which I had intended to finish in time to enter them in the Whittlesea Show. I also have the Black Cats on Brick Wall patchwork wall hanging to finish off with a border.
None of these will take a lot of time, but I think I'll finish off the Assisi work, as it is for someone else after all, and I'm not really fussed about entering stuff in the Show this year. There is always next year. Speaking of shows, I forgot to mention earlier the Embroidery Guild's annual exhibition, which started on 12th September and finishes this Sunday 27th! So if you are in Melbourne and want to do something other than watch the Grand Final on Saturday, do drop into the Guild at 170 Wattletree Road, Malvern, between 10 am and 6 pm. I will be there all day on Sunday, as a gallery hostess and manning the gift shop, so if you come in on Sunday, come over and say hi!

Two more Fabric Postcards.

Tonight I finished off these two FPCs. The one with the Dalmation among the red and white fabric is for one of the ladies in my Patchwork class. She used the red and white fabrics for her blocks and the completed quilt is lovely. She gave me some of the scraps of fabric that were left over, and when I told her I would use them to make postcards, she looked a bit sceptical, so I decided to make one up straight away so I can show her at the next class!
The other one with the gold butterfly is for a Stitchin Fingers exchange, and will be posted off to Mary Lou in the USA on Monday.

Magic Mushroom ATC

Remember the mushroom ATC that I posted a photo of here recently? Well, I received my partner's ATC today - isn't it beautiful! Many thanks, 'Michelle Mermaid'!

Op (thrift) shop treasures.

I am shocked by some of the embroidered items I find in opshops. Some things such as long stitch pictures are not such a rarity, as they are generally done from kits that were sold by the thousands. However, I could not leave these behind at Savers in Greensborough today. I'm sorry the photos are not as clear as they could be, but I'm sure you can see the potential. May Gibbs designs are usually found in books and charts, and I believe this one would be from a book as it is beautifully worked on 32ct fabric, and mounted carefully on acid free board - $4. But then it has been jammed into this cheap frame, with no backing and no glass. It was on the bottom shelf under a heap of other frames and I rescued it immediately I saw it! This exquisite piece of hardanger was one of four, similar designs, different colours, all framed the same way. They were $15 each, which is peanuts when you think about the work that went into them, but I just couldn't afford to spend $60 to take them all, so it was with great regret I left the others. At least they had glass in the frame to protect them from dust and dirt, and I hope that they will find a good home with someone else who will appreciate them. If you want to see what else I bought on my opshop spree today, go here.

Card Tricks

The fourth block in our patchwork class is a design I have seen many times at exhibitions and on blogs, and wondered how it was done. Now I know! Here is my completed block:
The MOTH had a close look at this and said "I can see mistakes. The material isn't lined up correctly". "Oh?" I replied, and waited for his explanation. "The dots on that material aren't matching properly. And the cup cakes are facing in different directions." "I know, dear. That's not actually a mistake, it is the way I've laid the templates on the fabrics to cut them out. The important thing is that the seams and corners are matching. If I do this design again, I'll use plain fabrics, or at least a fabric with a random non-directional design printed on it". He didn't understand of course, but he eventually admitted that it looked nice. Hmmph! When I showed his Mum today, she thought it was lovely!

Another fabric postcard for my collection.

At Stitchin Fingers we had a Textile postcard exchange this month. I still have one to make and send, but Judy in South Australia was much quicker, and sent hers to me within a week. I saw some of her FPCs on her blog, with cupcakes as the theme, and asked if she would make me one. She did - isn't it cute! Thanks Judy (and thanks also for your concern about my hubby - much appreciated).

Third patchwork block complete.

The third block design we had to do in my patchwork class is called Drunkards Path. I finished it last night, and am looking forward to showing J. tomorrow at the class. I'm quite proud of my work in matching up all the seams and corners nicely! The next design I'll be doing is called 'Card Tricks', which I've been dying to learn, ever since I saw a photo of a completed block on someone's blog a while ago. I made the templates and cut out my fabrics today, so J. can get me started straight away tomorrow. The following two weeks are school holidays, during which time J. will be taking a break, so she will be giving us two more block designs to work on, one of which is the 'Dresden Plate' - another patchwork design that I just love!

Australian Fairy Wren in cross stitch.

This is my final piece for our Stitchin' Fingers Cross stitch round robin. It is for Jane in the U.K., who had asked for birds to be stitched on her RR. I chose the Splendid Fairy Wren for several reasons. I've got several patterns in books for this beautiful little bird, and have been waiting for an opportunity to stitch one of them. So when Jane nominated birds for her RR, I immediately decided on the Fairy Wren. It includes a DMC floss called "Electric Blue" which I had bought on a whim ages ago, simply because I love the colour. I hadn't found anything to use it on until now, so I was pleased to see it listed on the threads for my pattern!

A new ATC finish.

This is an ATC for our monthly Stitchin Fingers ATC swap. Cobi suggested the theme Magic Mushrooms. I was a bit suspicious at first, being an 'oldie' and thinking magic mushrooms meant an illegal substance. But Cobi explained that it was just another name for a fantasy concept of what I know as toadstools. OK then!
This pic is completely unrelated to my stitching, but I just took it a few hours ago, and couldn't resist posting it here. This cute Kookaburra just sat and gazed at me while I took dozens of photos! You can see the rest of them on one of my other blogs here.

My Teapots round robin is home!

My Teapots Stitchin Fingers Round Robin is finished, and arrived home today! Two of the six ladies are very fast stitchers, and they finished their piece on my RR in record time. Because mine took the form of an oblong table runner instead of a square or circular panel, I had to take two photos - one of each end, to show you how it looks. The colour is really 'off' in these photos - I took them in the kitchen under fluro. light and it looks much darker than the actual colour. It is 14ct cream toned Aida, and to finish off, I plan to put a border of fabric around it. I need to ask a few friends for their advice on which fabric to use, as I have several gorgeous fabrics to choose from! Left side:
Right side:

A Calf for a Cows round robin.

I do hope Lynne will like this calf I've stitched for her Cross Stitchin Fingers round robin. She nominated Cows as the theme, and I thought this dear little calf was so cute!

Surprise package from a cyberspace friend!

It is such a delight to 'meet' people around the world via the internet, and share your interests with them on the various websites and forums dedicated to hobbies and crafts. I've made a whole lot of new friends through Stitchin Fingers, one of whom is Judy B. who lives in South Australia. Having discovered my passion for vintage linens of all kinds, she emailed me last week to say she was sending me some stuff that I might like. It is from a deceased estate of a lady who belonged to Judy's quilting group. Judy's parcel arrived today, and in addition to the items below, it contained three children's aprons which can be seen on my apron blog. A charming little blue bird in cross stitch. My first thought was to put it in a card to send someone, but then I decided I would rather keep it, so it may end up as part of something else, such as a Crazy patch block.
I believe this is an example of 'shadow work' - beautifully done, and it may also end up as part of something larger. I'm really not sure what this was going to be...it is hand stitched through several layers of cotton and padding.
Transfers!! This envelope contains several large sheets of a variety of transfer designs - what fun!
These three doilies will be passed on to somebody else who likes to embroider vintage linen; I already have so much in my stash, I cannot justify keeping these. If you are the first person to post a comment on here expressing interest in having these three to play with - they're yours! Judy used this cute card to write her explanation of how she got these items. Thanks again Judy - everything is much appreciated!!

Second patchwork block completed.

Yesterday I attended my second Patchwork class. J. taught us how to make a pattern called "Churn Dash"(?). Here is mine:
I've continued my Tea Party theme with this one, but each week I'll decide whether to use another fabric unrelated to that theme. For instance, the third class we'll be learning the "Drunkards Path" (??) pattern, and I'm thinking of using some Aboriginal art fabric, because I think it would look fabulous in that design of swirls. I won't be at the class next Tuesday (it is my Guild day), so J. has given me the pattern so I can make my templates and cut out the fabrics ready for the following week, which will save a lot of time. Drunkards Path looks complicated, so if I can have the fabric ready, I can sail straight into learning how to put it together.
As well as doing Patchwork, I've been working on an ATC and a Round Robin - both in Cross stitch and both nearly finished, so I'll probably post photos of them in the next day or so.

Patchwork Class.

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a small advert. in the "What's New" section of our local paper. It was advertising Patchwork classes being held in Greensborough, a suburb near me. I called the number given, and spoke to J, a lady with a charming New Zealand accent. She explained that she conducted the classes from her home, during the day or at night, whichever was more convenient. J. said she only had four or five girls in a class at one time, so she could give more one-to-one help than if there were a lot of people. Her course goes for 10 weeks, during which time she teaches us a different technique each week, so by the end of 9 weeks, we should have 9 blocks with a variety of patterns, i.e. Dresden Plate, Fan, Amish, and so on. On the 10th week, she would show us how to apply the sashing, padding and backing. The beauty of her course is that she is very flexible; if you can't come for a class, you just pick it up the next time, so your 10 weeks might not run concurrent with the other students. She is planning to conduct another workshop in the future on how to quilt your patchwork.
I booked myself in for the Tuesday class for 10 weeks, starting this week. J. had given me a list of supplies, and I had great fun going through my stash of fabrics and deciding which ones to use! Over the time I've accumulated fabrics, I didn't have anything particular in mind - I just bought stuff because I liked it (or as S. would say, it "called to me"). Now it has a purpose!
On Tuesday afternoon I set out for J's house, and was introduced to the other three girls who were in varying stages of their blocks. There was one other beginner like me, so J. got us cutting out plastic templates for our first block - "Amish Diamond". She helped us select which fabrics to use from the ones we'd brought, and then we cut out the shapes. After that, she explained the order of piecing them together (hand piecing, no machining in this course), and showed us what to do. In the meantime, one of the other students had brought the block she'd started in the previous week, and asked J. why the fabric was distorted. J. pointed out what was wrong, and advised the girl to unpick it and start again, so that kept her busy for an hour!
J's method is to get her students to finish half of the block under her guidance, then take it home and finish it on our own - which I think is excellent teaching, as we have to think for ourselves instead of asking her help. If we mess it up, or don't finish the block, we just carry it over the next week. I finished mine, and am quite happy with it. The other girls loved the chocolate cake in the centre! Depending on what I do with it at the end, I may embroider or applique some small motif on the white homespun fabric, as it looks a bit empty. What do you think?

Patchwork cards

Apropos my post last week on the tutorials I found, I have just finished three cards using bits of the block of fabric scraps. The original idea was to iron fusible webbing on to each piece, and stick it on the front of a card. I did that with one piece, cut into a heart shape as the tutorial suggested. Here is my version, complete with dotted line around the heart in pen as she has done. Then I decided to play around with card stock that I have had for ages. I went mad a few years ago and bought heaps of them, thinking I would do lots of hand made cards and cross stitch motifs in the 'picture frame' ones, but I only do them occasionally. I stuck one of my mini patchworks inside a frame card as shown, and again, drew a line around the edge. The third card is using a slightly different technique. I ironed the fabric on to the plain card stock, then glued the frame over the top.

Aren't they neat? I'd like to make some for Christmas, as I have heaps of Christmas fabrics to choose from. Once the block is made, shapes like stars, Xmas trees, or other Christmas icons could be cut out from the block.

A new ATC and the Cat framed.

Juliette in the U.K. sent me this gorgeous ATC for our "Jade" Stitchin' Fingers exchange. Isn't that pretty? I found this handpainted frame in an opshop yesterday and decided it was perfect for my "Cat Stretching". A bit way out? Maybe, but I think it looks cute.

Playing with fabrics

The MOTH went out without me on Saturday night - to his chook club meeting. I'd been to the first three and was bored out of my mind, so I said he could go out in the cold on his own. I'm staying put! Was I sad and lonely? No way! I had my night planned, playing uninterrupted with my stash! For a start, I was itching to make some of the items I mentioned on the previous post, and I started with the pincushion. I pulled out my bags of fabric scraps, instead of cutting up fat quarters or larger pieces, and found some nicely co-ordinating pieces - two different floral, and one plain which matched them both. Here is the result: I even found buttons which matched each side, instead of using the same button on both sides. These are rather conservative colours, but I plan to do more of these and use brighter colours, and perhaps add lace or trim as well.
Next, again looking through my scrap bags, I pulled out all the really small bits and machine-stitched them together in rows at random. Then I stitched the rows together to make this block: Using a template of a heart from a magazine pattern, I drew hearts over this block and will eventually cut them out to use on cards as per the article in my previous post.
Finally, I extracted this apron from a pile of unfinished aprons, and finished it off with bias binding. That is all it needed when I bought it years ago, and it's taken me all this time to do that! However, it was not as easy as I thought it would be. I learnt several lessons while doing this. Distant memories flooded back, of my tech.school sewing teacher, insisting that we press the bias binding before we attach it. Now I remember why. Now I also know why she instructed us to tack it on to our calico aprons after we'd pinned it, before we machined it on. I didn't do any of these things, and now I know why I failed Needlecraft at school...don't look too closely at the edges of the apron in this photo!
Topsy didn't care that Ken was out either. She had something to eat, then curled up in front of the gas fire and went to sleep.

Terrific Tutorials!

One of the many things I love to do on the internet is browse through other blogs. OK, what's new - you all do that, right? But there are so many great things to be found, that I decided to post links to some of my latest finds, in case you haven't yet found them. Jocelyn at Happy Cottage Quilter has some excellent tutorials, including one for using up all your little scraps of fabric that just might come in handy one day. You machine them all together and made cards! True!! Go here for the tutorial.
Over at Quilts & ATCs, Helen has a beaut tutorial on "Disappearing Nine Patch Blocks" I don't know why they are called disappearing, but it's another great tutorial!
Now, this one is on a blog called paper.string.cloth which has since been superseded by Hyena In Petticoats. But the original is still out there in cyberspace, and you can still read it. I don't know how long that will continue though, so if you want to see a tute for a really neat little patchwork pincushion, go here very soon!
Go forth and have fun!

Caught up with my exchanges.

Like many of you, I enjoy participating in swaps/exchanges and other activities where you send your work to other people, and receive theirs in return. The "Stitchin' Fingers" site has many groups, and the members of some of the groups have individual swaps on the go. For instance, the Cross Stitchin' Fingers group present has a Round Robin in process. The Textile Artists Trading Cards Group has a monthly exchange, where someone chooses a theme, and members sign up to go in that month. This month the theme is the colour Jade, and my contribution to be posted to Marja in The Netherlands is this: I've taken a few liberties with this; the theme is actually Jade + 2, meaning we are supposed to stick to the theme colour, but add two more colours. There are more than two colours in the peacock fabric, but gosh, I don't think the ATC Police will hunt me down, do you?
This ATC is a one-to-one swap with Cobi, also in the Netherlands. She was offering to swap one of her ATCs with anyone who was interested, and as I liked what she had to offer, I emailed her, and we arranged to trade. She said she likes lace and embroidery among other things, so I'm hoping this will appeal to her. I used the corner of an old embroidered handkie, which was damaged beyond repair, and added the gingham fabric, lace, and pink beads.
Finally, the Fabric Postcard below is destined for Brazil. On the Stitchin Fingers Fabric Postcard Group, we are running a birthday exchange. I hold the list of nine people, with their birthdates and addresses. When someone has a birthday coming up, I email the other members on the first day of the month to remind them to do a FPC for the birthday person. My FPC for Heloise uses a piece of a necktie (the floral bit), surrounded by scraps in matching colours, with a button, sequins and beads on one space. The stitches I've used to embellish the seams are cretan (over the ricrac), buttonhole, fly, feather and herringbone. I really enjoy these little projects; they give me the opportunity to practice embroidery stitches that I would otherwise not be using on a day to day basis.