Decluttering.

It is nice to have my missing mojo back.  When I was so indecisive about what to do with the Japanese materials, everything else went on hold too.  One of the things that was really bugging me was the mess my little craft room had got into.  It is only a small bedroom, but I have four bookcases, a filing cabinet, a cabinet holding art stuff, a desk and a cutting table crammed into it, along with boxes of fabric and other craft on the floor because the wardrobe (which has shelves added into it) is crammed with fabrics and sewing notions.

Fabric was spilling out of boxes and the cupboard bulged.  I completely lost track of what I had, and instead of searching for a suitable material for a project, I would simply buy more (great for the Quilt Shop, not so good for my credit card...).  So I decided it was time to declutter.  When surfing Pinterest one day I found a great way of folding any size fabric so it all ended up the same size and could be stacked into a neat pile.  You just cut a template out of cardboard, the size of the box or shelf where you store your fabric, and wind each piece of fabric around it until it fits the template.  I spent nearly a week unfolding, ironing, and trimming boxes of fabrics, and refolding them, and what a difference!  I think I've deleted the "before"photos, but this is what two of  my boxes look like now.
The reason the first lot are in plastic bags is because they are different 'themed' fabrics, ie chooks, cats, teacups, Australiana, etc. and I want to keep them separated so I can pull out a collection without disturbing the rest.

I am so pleased to have my solid colours sorted out!  I didn't realise how many different colours I had, they were in such a mess!

I have two more tidy boxes as well as these, but still have the wardrobe stash to sort out, which is going to be a big job, as the fabrics in there are yardage, not small pieces like fat quarters or half yards.

Japanese fabric Quilt top

Back in April, I wrote a post here about my plans for the fabric my Japanese friend sent me last year.  I had finally got around to cutting them into the sizes I needed to make the blocks, and last Thursday night I took them to the Quilt Shop class, and with the help of our tutor Leanne, and the other people who were there, I moved the pieces around on the design wall until we were all satisfied with the way it looked.  When I got home I couldn't wait to start joining them up, but had to cut the black sashing first, so contented myself with doing that, otherwise I would have been up all night!   The next day I sewed it all together, and am delighted with the result :-)

My next question was whether or not to add a border using the scraps left over from the coloured fabrics, but after discussing it with Ken, several quilter friends, and looking on Pinterest at what others have done, I decided to leave it as it is.  I bought some backing fabric at the Quilt Shop today, and phoned Jenny at Sunrise Quilts, the lady who did such a wonderful job quilting my handkerchief quilt.  I am taking it to her on Thursday, and am looking forward to seeing what she does, as my limited quilting skills (mostly ''in the ditch") won't do those beautiful fabrics justice.

Folded Patchwork coasters

There is a new forum up and running on the internet, called The Home Makers' Forum.  It is basically  about making our houses homely, via cooking, sewing, gardening, and looking after our health.  The members post ideas and opinions on the various categories so we can all share in each other's knowledge and tips.  One of the members challenged us to make these folded patchwork coasters, and posted this link to get us started:
Craft Genie's coasters
We were only supposed to make the initial square coaster, but when I looked further in to the Youtube site and saw all those cute coasters, I had to try them all, didn't I?!
They've been around a long time; in fact I've had some given to me in the past and wondered how they were made.  Well, now that I know, guess what I will be making closer to Christmas?
These are the front:

And this is the back.

Making a start on Japanese fabric quilt.

No, I haven't actually started it yet.  But with the help of my tutor Leanne at The Quilt Shop here in Eltham, I've decided on the pattern I will use to cut out and make up my beautiful fabrics.  It is based on a photo I saved on my Pinterest account, and Leanne spent a lot of time trying to figure out the measurements based on the photo, as of course, there was no pattern!  She concluded that it would be easier if we adjusted the pattern slightly to  suit what I wanted to do with my fabrics, then she worked out the measurements.  She suggested that I make templates, and cut out the shapes from other fabric in my stash, then sew them together to make sure I've got it right, rather than cut the Japanese fabrics and risk making a mistake. I'm so glad I did this, because even though I cut the square and rectangles correctly, I cut the sashing too narrow (1" instead of 1.5"), which meant  I had to cut the whole lot back half an inch all round to make it work!  There will be four blocks like this, although depending on how they look when I line them up, if I have enough fabric, I might make a fifth block to make the quilt a bit longer.

I think it looks good, and am now looking forward to cutting the "real thing"  next week at the Quilt Shop. I could do it at home, but there is so much more room to spread everything out there, instead of the small folding table I use at home.

Mini quilt and mini cross stitch finished.

I haven't done much at all this year really.  Not as much as I'd like to have, considering the amount of fabric and embroidery kits etc. in my stash.  But I got around to finishing my Owl Tree mini quilt, which may end up hanging on a wall some day.  For the moment it is tucked away in the cabinet where I now keep all my finished patchwork projects.  At least they have a home and I can find them quickly if I want to show anyone.

My friend Val suggested recently that we should get together and do some cross stitching, as it has been ages since either of us did that.  So I rummaged around in my UFO cross stitches box and found something that I figured I would be able to complete.  I will be showing Val this when we meet up next week, and I have made her promise to show me the cross stitch item she started :-)

Gallery of photos blog.

I have long wanted to have a blog or website of some kind with photos of my patchwork and stitching.  No comments or anything else, just a gallery.  Kathleen at Yesteryear Embroideries  recently started a gallery blog of her own work and when I emailed her she explained how she set it up on Blogger.  So I have started one for my work, but it isn't quite what I want yet, as I want to put captions on each photo and haven't been able to figure out how to do that yet.  I thought I had, but when I'd finished typing, I refreshed the page and it still appeared with no text..grrr.
Anyway if you want to have a look, here is the link.
http://patracatstitchingallery.blogspot.com.au/
 There is nothing there that you haven't seen before on this blog, but it is condensed down to simple pictures.

Stitching sampler started.

On Thursday it was so hot, it was impossible to get anything done outside apart from hanging a load of washing on the line (sheets) which were dry in about an hour!  So I decided it was the perfect day to sit inside in airconditioned comfort, and got all my supplies together to start my basic stitching sampler.   Funny to think that I did a very similar project at the Embroiderers Guild just a few years ago, and have the sample pieces in a neat folder, but barely look at them...

I have a number of hardback books on embroidery stitches, but I love these vintage leaflets put out by Semco, Anchor and Clarks so long ago, and decided to make use of them. Scissors, needles, and floss, and I cut five pieces of fabric into 10" squares - one Aida and the rest evenweave.  Then I marked a border and lines half an inch apart with removable blue pencil.  However after I had done four rows of stitching on the evenweave, it just wasn't working, so I pulled it out, and re did it on calico, which was much more suitable to those particular stitches.  I will use the evenweave for the stitches that suit that counted thread type fabric.

On the calico I worked Stem stitch, straight stitch, looped straight stitch, back stitch and whipped back stitch.

On the evenweave, I did Back stitch with twists, which was easier to do on that as I could count the threads to make the stitches even.  I've never done that with back stitch before, so I learnt something from this.
The second stitch is cable stitch, one that I have never done before, and found that it was better done in six strands of floss instead of two because the cable effect was more visible.  And again, much easier on the even weave.

So there we are.  Surprised?  I am!  Given that I am allowing myself to do one row of a new stitch per week, I have completed the first six weeks of this year :-)

My 2017 Challenge.

I don't usually make new year resolutions, strive to achieve goals, or set challenges for myself.   I just go with the flow most of the time, because I know that life can get in the way, or sometimes I just lose my mojo for a while.   Ä few years ago I did set myself a goal - to work exclusively on my UFOs all year, and I was very pleased with myself at the end of that year to have finished most of the UFOs that I had lying around.  The exercise proved to me that I was capable of finishing projects if I set my mind to it, and since then, I have strived to keep working on my projects until they are finished, without getting sidetracked on other things.  There are still a few large cross stitch projects unfinished, but I will do them in time.  And a few patchwork projects that are barely started, but again, long term items that I am happy to pick up now and then and play with.

One of my long time favourite bloggers, Lyn at The Little Red Hen - wrote a post on her blog in January, saying that she and her daughter are going to try to learn a new stitch every day, from one of Lyn's embroidery books.  I thought this was an admirable challenge, but knew that I would fall short of stitching something 365 days in a row!  But as Lyn says, when you do a lot of embroidery, you tend to fall back on the same old half a dozen stitches because you know them so well.  When I was actively involved with the Embroiderers Guild (attending classes) I learnt an enormous amount of different ways to use stitches, but as I've done more patchwork in recent years, my stitching skills have fallen by the wayside.

So I have been thinking about Lyn's challenge, and how I can suit it to myself.  Instead of a stitch a day, which I know I would NOT be able to keep up with! I am going to attempt one stitch per week.  I looked through all my books and booklets on stitching tutorials, and decided to use one that has 50 stitches in it, which I think is more than enough for the average stitcher.  I will do one a week, and by the end of the year, I should have worked my way through that book and have something to show for it! I have found some even weave fabric in my stash, got out floss, needles, and scissors, and have put them all in a needlework roll so I don't have to go looking for anything when I want to work on my stitches.  So I have six weeks to catch up on, and hope to have them done tomorrow, as realistically a line of basic stitching doesn't take that long...we'll see!  I will post photos of my progress here.

Vintage Semco design embroidery patterns

Sometimes I get emails completely out of the blue about linens, and I am careful to check that they are not spam or other sinister stuff. Most times they have been genuine inquiries from people who have read my stitching and linens blog, and want my advice on a vintage pattern, or have something they want to get rid of, but don't want to throw in a bin. A few weeks ago, I received such an email, from a lady whose mum did a lot of embroidery, and had kept all the patterns that came with the linens. She was reluctant to throw them away, thinking that somebody might be able to use them, and when she read my blog she thought I might be able to use the patterns or pass them on to someone else. I emailed back, saying I would be delighted to take them off her hands, and if I didn't have a use for them, I knew people who would. I offered to pay her but she said no, she was just happy they wouldn't be thrown out. So last week, this is what arrived in my mail box - a padded envelope with 35 Semco embroidery pattern sheets! I was gobsmacked to say the least!

Oh I wish I'd had these a few years ago...I have had many emails from ladies around Australia, who have inherited unfinished doilies and cloths from deceased relatives, or found linens in opshops with no instructions, and they have asked me if it was possible to find the patterns anywhere.  I usually suggest they contact the Embroiderers Guild in their state, because the Guilds sometimes have a collection of patterns in their possession.  I thought about donating these to the Vic. Guild, but I'm not sure if they would want them, as when I was a volunteer there, I remember they already had a lot.  So I have decided to keep them, and I'm going to make up some kind of file or folder to keep them in, along with the patterns that I have done myself, and been unwilling to throw away.

First finish for the year.

 The finished throw using all four animal prints.

 For the back, I used an idea I'd seen on Pinterest where someone had made a table runner from strips and I have been wanting to do the same thing with all the black and white offcuts I have from previous projects, and some that have been given to me (waving at Cheryl).  So instead of a runner, I used them for the back, and threw in a turquoise strip to make it pop :-)

I had just enough turquoise fabric left to make random borders for two cushions, so in a very random way, I have a small fox cushion, a larger owl cushion, and a piece of fabric with a bear that has gone into the stash until I meet someone who likes bears!

Happy New Year - what are your goals this year?

My goals haven't changed much in the past few years - I just want to try and use up my stash!  And now I have more...is that good or bad?
My penpal in Japan sent me these stunning fat quarters in Japanese fabrics, for Christmas.  They arrived last Friday and I have been fondling them ever since :-)   in between surfing Google and Pinterest for ideas on how to use them.

Here are some photos from Pinterest that I have in mind for my fabrics.  I don't do complex designs as my readers know!  Especially when each piece of fabric deserves to be showcased, and not cut up into small bits.  Some people can do that extremely well, but I'm not one of them.

Black and white animal quilt front

Remember this cushion?  The rabbit is one of four animals on this particular fabric design.  I bought two complete panels, to make my friend a rabbit cushion, and three cushions for myself using the other three animals.  Glenda adores her rabbit cushion, but I haven't made up the other three for myself yet.  But using the other complete panel, I have made up the top for a couch throw, adding turquoise solid fabric to lift the stark black and white.  I am still working on the backing, and of course the matching cushions, which haven't been started yet :-(

A variety of projects.

I have made this table runner for the Avicultural Society Xmas raffle next week. I used what was left of the Aussie bird fabric that I used in the quilt for the society raffle last year.

Ken's niece mentioned recently that she is a Dog Person rather than a Cat Person, and I remembered that I had this scrap of doggie fabric in my stash. So this will be her Xmas present.

I finished the mediaeval fabric runner, but am not happy with it. I chose the yellow fabric for the border, thinking it would match the yellow tones in the feature fabric, but it doesn't do much for the runner at all. Somebody suggested I used lace to embellish it, so I put a row of lace with blue ribbon threaded through, down the middle. Then I added another lace to the border, trying to sew it between the front and the backing fabrics, but I stuffed up the corners and had to cut them. AAAAAGH what a mess! Oh well, the whole thing was just a way to used up some stash in a hurry, so it's not going anywhere out of this house. It will probably be folded up and put at the bottom of a pile of other experiments which never see the light of day! Do you have many any of those?

Hoping this project will be more successful than the runner. I bought this cute fabric at one of the stitches and craft shows a year or so ago. It can be used in several ways, making up a picture by joining up the individual owl groups, or making separate place mats, mug rugs, etc.

I chose to make up a picture using them all. Next thing is to add a border or two, and backing, and ta da! Another wall hanging.

Rabbit cushion finished.

I think my friend will be pleased with this cushion.  I'm glad I got two lots of this fabric, as I fancy a couple of cushions like this on our couch!

Remember the odd medieval design fabric I pulled out of my stash a few weeks ago, after I was inspired by a table runner that I saw on Pinterest?  I happened to have just the right coloured fabrics in my stash to add some borders and make up a runner in a similar style.
This is a closeup of the fabric so you can see the detail, and understand why I chose the deep pink and blue solids for the borders - it matches the clothes worn by most of the people in the pictures.

Here is what I have done so far.  Now I need to decide whether to add another border, or simply quilt and bind it as is.  What do you think?   Hmmm,. now I see it on my screen, I am thinking I should have done this a bit differently.  I should have used the pink right around the picture fabric as well as the centre and sides, and added the blue as a complete border.  Might have to do some unpicking here!

A week later.

Well, I'm rolling along nicely.  In fits and starts as always though - depending on what is planned (or not) as each day dawns.  Some days there is nothing in the diary, and I think YES!  A day of crafts.  But there may be a surprise phone call, or the Man Of The House decides that we need to go somewhere...Ah well, there is always the night time when he has gone to bed and all is quiet.
Today was quiet though, because he hasn't been well, and stayed in bed all day which left me free to work and play to my heart's content (after I'd tended to his needs, of course).

So I was able to cut out and made four more teacup coasters, although one turned into a teapot coaster, because I cut the teacup fabric the wrong way up and it would have looked all wrong with the cups design upside down.  I think it looks quite cute though, so I might make some more like that.
The two on the right hand side are made from plain red and dark green (not black as it looks here) Xmas fabrics with a gold printed star design.

In my last post here I mentioned making a cushion for my friend Glenda, using some rabbit fabrics.
I was intending to use this as the front, and another rabbit fabric on the back, but it would have been wasted on the back, so I called Glenda to see what she would like me to make this up as, and she decided she would like it as a cushion.  So I will be making it up with a plain homespun backing, and the other bunny fabric will be used to make another cushion also with a plain back.  She loves bunnies!

The rabbit on this fabric is one of a set of four of these unusual designs on fabric that is available at our Quilt Shop.  There is a rabbit, fox, bear and owl.  I have added the black and white border from my stash.  Still thinking about what to made with the other animals.  Not keen on foxes or bears, so I might make them into placemats or something, and give them away, but the owl will be made up into something for me of course :-)

Halloween tomorrow!

I finished my table centre today, and have put it on the kitchen table ready for tomorrow's Halloween.  Not that we do anything different, apart from have a bag of sweets to give to any passing witches or wizards, but we never know if anybody is going to turn up, so I don't go overboard with that because we have to eat them if they aren't given away!
I used black to bind the mat, and used an orange and black fabric from my stash for the backing.

Right....what is next on my sewing agenda?  Well, I made a couple of coasters with cat fabric, and gave them to my niece's teenage daughters yesterday, and they loved them.  Their Mum is more of a Dog Person, so I have decided to use some more of the doggie fabric in my stash and make her a table centre for Christmas.  
I want to make more of the Teacup Coasters in Christmas fabric to have on hand for little extras in the coming months, and I've promised my friend Glenda that I would make her a cushion with the rabbit fabric she gave me some time ago.  I also have the Pacific Rim silhouette wall hanger to finish, but that's going to be a long term project I think.  Well, at least put off until next year when I have more time.  It won't be a UFO - I really do want to have it finished and up on a wall somewhere!  But there is a lot of stitching to do, and if I get going on that now, it will mean that all the other gifts and things I want to do before December will be delayed.

Simple Living Forum Xmas swaps.

On the Down To Earth Simple Living forum, there is always something happening!  At the moment many of the members are exchanging handmade gifts for Christmas.  I received this lovely tote bag from V. in Qld.

In return, I have made for her these items:  a plain tea towel (or hand towel) embellished with a scalloped edge and ric rac, and a Teacup coaster using the same fabric that I use for the scalloped edging.

"Making The Australian Quilt" exhibition.

So many exhibitions come and go, and I miss out on them by procrastinating about when to go, but I was determined not to miss this one of a kind exhibition at Federation Square in Melbourne.  So I asked my dear friend Sharon if she would like to go (silly question - of course she did!), and we drove in last Tuesday 18th October.  We spent nearly three hours looking at the quilts, then had some lunch, and visited the gallery bookshop to buy a copy of the book about the exhibition.

We both took heaps of photos, but I haven't got around to doing anything with mine, as to be honest, there are just too many, and I don't know where to start.   I was impressed by the write up that Linda Steele posted on her blog about the exhibition, so rather than duplicate her, I am inviting my readers to visit Linda's lovely blog and have a look at the photos and description.   She knows a lot more about the subject than me, so  it is very worthwhile reading.
https://lindasteelequilts.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/making-australian-quilt-exhibition.html

Inspired by Pinterest

I spend a lot of time (an hour or more most days) surfing Pinterest.  My Pinterest account grew so rapidly when I first started it, that it got to the stage I couldn't find what I was looking for, which defeats the whole purpose of having a Pinterest account!  So I set up categories for my various interest (cats, peacocks, mermaids, embroidery, patchwork, paper crafts, calligraphy, etc. etc.) and as time went on I subdivided those categories even further to narrow down the variations.
 The patchwork and quilting category has now been divided into Batiks, Panels, Mug Rugs, Table Runners and anything else relating to quilting.

One of the benefits to me of having hundreds of photos to look at, is that they give me ideas on what to do with my stash.  How often do you buy some fabric because you like it, but don't have any purpose in mind at the time?  It is how I acquire most of my fabric - just because I like it.  I rarely buy fabric for a specific pattern because I try to use what I have.  But I have got to the stage of being cross with myself for having so much fabric sitting there without a purpose, and I find that going through my saved photos on Pinterest provides ideas.  I see a finished product, and I can picture it made up with my own fabrics.  I don't consider this stealing patterns, as what I do is very simple stuff, based on the basic quilting concepts of rows, four square patches, etc. and there is no copyright to worry about.   It just gives me a starting point to use my fabrics.

For instance, I have had this scrap of Xmas fabric in my stash for a couple of years.  Can't even remember where I got it - maybe from the opshop, or the remnants bin at the Guild.  Anyway, it was too pretty to leave lying around, so I took it home.

Every Christmas I have dug it out with all the other themed fabrics, and thought What can I do with this?  One of the photos I recently saved on my Pinterest account was a table runner, with a border design fabric similar to this, running the full length of a runner, with another fabric along each side.  Ah ha!  Just the thing.  My piece of fabric was obviously left over from a border fabric of some kind, so I had to add a bit to each end to tidy it up.  Then I surrounded it with the green and gold fabric I had left over from something else, and backed it with another Xmas fabric which was exactly the right size.  Black binding to finish it off, and tra la - a nice little runner for this year's festive season!

I have had this particular piece of material for years,buried at the bottom of my stash.  Everytime I had a cleanout, I would think I should get rid of it, I'll never use it.

 But again on Pinterest, I saw a table cloth that someone had made using  a similar design of fabric, with a scene running along the edge and plain colours to divide the blocks.  Hard to describe, but as soon as I saw it I dragged out my fabric and after I'd taken this photo, I cut the scenes into four separate pieces,   That will be my next project after a Xmas swap item that I must do next :-)

Two wall hangings.

In my previous post, I wrote about buying patterns that I later regretted, because they looked too complicated for me!  But with the help of Leanne at The Quilt Shop in Eltham, I have been able to achieve so much that I wouldn't have tried on my own.  I bought these two patterns at a suburban quilt shop a few years ago, thinking they would be quite easy to do - "Two Fabric Applique" patterns by the Pacific Rim Quilt company.

They look quite small, don't they?  When I opened the pack, I discovered that the actual size is 24"x 36" - which is clearly shown on the packet, but I didn't think too much about it when I saw that.  It is only when I had to transfer the pattern onto two pieces of fabric that I started to wonder if I'd taken on too much..  Once the pattern has been traced onto the fabrics, one fabric is laid over the other, and the pattern is cut away to reveal the fabric underneath.  I have done this technique once or twice, but on a MUCH smaller scale!  However, after seeing the finished project on display elsewhere, I felt I had to have a go, and with Leanne's help, this is what I achieved last night at her class:

The dark fabric is fused (with fusible webbing) to the light fabric, and next job is to stitch around all the edges.  I'm not going to hand stitch it - that would take me forever, so I'll be machine stitching it.  Then the backing and quilting.  So quite a bit of work still to be done, but I am very pleased to have got this far!  I would liked to have been able to use a pink, blue and yellow fabric like the original pattern photo, but I couldn't find anything like it, so I settled for this cloudy blue, which is prettier than what it looks here.

And, to end the week, I finally finished the batik Seascape I have been messing around with for some time.   Once I finished the backing and binding, I added a few embellishments such as a little white plastic seahorse brooch up near the mermaid, added sequins on the mermaid's body, sewed some shells on the sand, and an orange Xmas star that looks enough like a starfish for me to add!