New beginnings

So time has passed and things have changed.  Since we last spoke (nearly a year!) I thought my broken molar was the cause of my misery..... turns out it wasn't.  In July, and after breaking down in the doctors office, I was sent off to pathology for a full blood workup.  Turns out my thyroid is badly underactive.  My GP was very excited because "this can easily be fixed!", which it has.  Although just as I was getting my spring back into my step and started to get stuck into the garden I got a cold, a very nasty chest cold that lasted for weeks.  Maybe it was whooping cough, maybe it was bronchitis, but as a reluctant doctors patient (plus it's difficult to get early appointments with him) I knew I had to take it slow and look after myself.  When I came good it was nearly Christmas and too hot to work in the garden, and that's what I've been doing this long hot summer - staying cool indoors, keeping my children entertained, knitting, crocheting and sometimes sewing.

So for a while there I didn't see the necessity of maintaining a blog.  It's not like I've got wares to sell, which in a lot of ways I feel blogs are perfect for.  I just kept the old thing open so I could leave comments on my friends blogs, when and where I could.  I'm on Intagram, Pinterest and Facebook (oh and Ravelry too) so really, why did I need a blog?

But then a few days ago I whipped up a quick table runner,

and started a new quilt (see top photo).  I thought this was worth blogging about.  More of that next time...

Although the main reason why I've started again is because we recently bought an old caravan.

Thankfully a lot of it's original features are still intact, but I wanted to document it's restoration before (and after) it goes to Bruny Island as our lodgings at the oyster farm.  It's got a lot of potential and the children love it.

I also bought this book for inspiration.

Here's hoping I can keep this going!

Counting

 Counting two, yes two quilts finished this year already.  I can't actually say they were started this year but that's beside the point, getting two quilts finished within two weeks of each other has been a great boost to the spirits.  (and yes, I made a matching hat for Tamsyn's dress)

This first one is Angus' cot quilt, which I started while still pregnant with him.  Thank goodness I finished it before he grew out of the cot.....  It's made from some Heather Ross 'Far far away' fabric (the Owl and the Pussycat is the print in the centre panel).  Being a lovely sturdy cotton linen blend I'm hoping it will withstand some of the treatment that my little bulldozer can inflict.

 Some of you may remember the hexagon star quilt I began way long ago, before children were even a twinkle in our eyes.  So it hardly seems real that I've finished it.  Mostly hand sewn (I only used the machine for adding the border and binding), I wanted to hand paper piece it and use fabrics purely from my stash - some of which would be over 20 years old now.

I also hand quilted it, which is so very satisfying but virtually impossible to do while pregnant.  Hence the delay with completion.  Tamsyn doesn't seem to mind, and has requested it on her bed every night since.  So I'm guessing it's hers now.  Still haven't come up with a name for it either, it's always been called the Hexagon Star quilt....

Also counting: 200 posts!  I know this isn't much of a milestone for a lot of bloggers but for someone who seriously considered to stop blogging altogether mid last year it means something to me.  I want to do a giveaway but haven't quite decided what yet, as the idea is still brewing......

A small diversion

I needed to do something fun and for me, well, mostly for the wee girlie.  I've admired what this talented lady does for a while and thought why not?  A lovely simple square patch quilt in fun bright spring colours.

 Just a small quilt, using fabrics only from my stash and simply quilted in the ditch.


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... and then I cut it....


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Five times in fact...



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....

 But for good purposes.

 You see it's an old pram (made when 3 wheelers were a new thing), a hand-me-down that has been oh so useful but in desperate need of jazzing up.  In winter it has a sleeping bag (which can be seen here, gosh wasn't she small back then!) for keeping little bodies very warm and snug, but it's spring and I wanted to capture it in quilt form.  So to speak.

And the quilt-as-you-go dream?  It's still there, and I'm going to make a start.... soon.... honest....
(Tamsyn's hat is from Foal Design)

A quilt for a little man called Felix

I meant to post this last week and not have so big a gap between posts.  But hey, I'm just over 6 months pregnant and baby brain has been quite intense this time, not to mention the tiredness and just plain laziness...  I seem to reserve most of my strength for Tamsyn and the bare minimum of housewifery.  Even though I make sure I read (almost) everyone's blog each day, comments may be brief.  I think "cool!" has been all I can manage some days.  :/

I don't altogether see this as a bad thing, my body is working hard at growing a little person and apart from the occasional meltdown things have been pretty cruisey.

Felix's sock monkey quilt was the first I've ever made where I didn't have a plan other than doing a whole heap of bias squares, and the width of the fabric (all half yard cuts) dictated the size of those squares.  I thought I'd leave the Brady Bunch style fabric whole which would be good for alternating blocks.  When it came to laying out the blocks on the lounge room floor after Tamsyn had gone to bed one night I had come up with a star style.  Ant looked at it, screwed up his nose a bit and said "how about this instead".

I knew he was right.

It's the first quilt I've made purely out of flannel: front, back and binding.  I made sure there was enough fabric left over for a very scrappy back and did some basic machine quilting.  I'm never going to do a purely flannel quilt again, it's so much more temperamental than quilting cotton - it seems to give/stretch more, but I'll continue to use it as a backing fabric.  That works well.

Next up, I want to try my hand at some 'quilt as you go'.  I've been quilting for over 20 years and have never tried it.  I've also been inspired by what this talented lady can do here and here. Oh and here too.  ♥

It's been a long time between quilts...

But I'm getting there, and it probably means that Felix should receive it before his first birthday.  That has to be a big fat tick on the To Do List.

I shall reveal all once it's quilted.

in my invalid state

I laid aside my knitting....

..... and picked up my hand quilting....

Some of you may remember this quilt, and I'm ashamed to say that it had been neglected for a looooong time.  But hey, I've done a truck load of other stuff in the mean time!  I may get this quilt done in time for Tamsyn's birthday which is in 2 months time, can you believe it?  My girl is nearly one year old!!!  (and not far from walking either....)

My foot is mending nicely.  I went back to the surgeon on Wednesday and he took the plaster 'splint' off the side of my foot, which was wonderful as the thing was really starting to annoy me.  Each day it's getting better and better, although I still have to wear that daggy boot and have to walk on the heal of my foot.

Have a great weekend everyone.

on a roll

The backing fabric made me do it. I was in one of my locals a couple of weeks ago and came across this gorgeous flannel: Urban Flannel by Valori Wells for Free Spirit. This fabric reminded me that I had some Kaffe Fassett fabric that I could use for piecing with different coloured solids. I also had some raw linen, something that I'd been wanting to use in a quilt for a while but wasn't sure how, so this has become the alternating blocks. I found some variegated thread that matched for the machine quilting.

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and will be the type of quilt I can just chuck in the washing machine after baby has leaked on it in some way...

Some other little things to share. I found the hat pattern through Ravelry, very simple and quick to knit up. The darker colour is left over from the jumper I made for Ant, it's an undyed wool/alpaca blend and is lovely and soft. Sorry for the shabby photo quality, I'm still using the camera phone. Hopefully we'll have a new camera soon.

Yesterday I stopped at my local Windmill shop and picked up these wooden rattles. Apparently I'm quite weird for not wanting plastic toys. I know we'll probably be given plastic toys but hey, a girl can but try. When baby is older I really really want to get it a Wheely Bug, who wouldn't?

Note: I'm using a computer at the moment that doesn't have Firefox, and are finding it difficult only using Explorer - it won't do what I want it to do! So sorry if this post looks a bit odd.

scratching that itch

The quilting itch that is.

Since I made those Bushfire blocks a couple of weeks ago it made me realise how much I've been missing simple patchwork and quilting. So..... despite the list of 'to do's' I started cutting out a new quilt, that is, another baby quilt. I know, I can't help myself.

You see this is the thing. I'm in the middle of hand quilting the hexagon stars quilt for baby but I have the embryo of a feeling at the back of my mind that I'll run out of time. It may be a different story once I finish work (3rd April) but I don't want to take that chance, and like I said, I wanted to do some new quilting.

I remember quite a few years ago when I was living in Smithton and was a member of the local quilt group. I had taken part in a few of their shows and at one I was part of the 'working display', hand quilting a saw tooth star quilt that we still use on our bed. One clever bloke asked me what was the attraction of cutting up fabric just to sew it together again. Well it's true isn't it, when you break it down to base elements like that. However if that's how we only thought about quilts then we'd never make them, and buy a blanket instead.

But thankfully we don't think of quilts that way. We revel in the creative process. We love choosing just the right fabrics, either new or from our stash, that will make the quilt sing. Cutting and piecing may get a bit monotonous but we keep plodding along (or else it ends up in the UFO pile.....), and start to feel the first tinglings of joy at seeing the top finished. Then the fun of deciding which quilting pattern will complement the piecing. The neck ache from machine quilting or the long winter evenings hand quilting in front of the telly, and finally the race to get that binding on. Of course these days the process isn't complete unless we take copious photos of the finished product and share them on our blogs, and hey, why shouldn't we? We're proud of our little creations and want to share them with the world.

So, I'm hand stitching down the binding at the moment, and once finished I'll post the proper photo or 2 and gloat over my little creation.

Oh and I haven't forgotten about the nappies, I'll post a photo of a finished one that's all ready for a wee botty to fill it..... literally.

my blocks

It was nice to dip into the scrap boxes and come up with this effort. I've never made this block before and I love the simplicity of it. Also, Victoria has an excellent tutorial which made my job so much easier.

It's been so long since I've done 'traditional' patchwork, and it was a lovely little break from making all this baby stuff. It's not that I don't want to do the baby stuff, but when you've got a gazillion nappies to make it does help to have to odd diversion - and for a very worthy cause too.

sew choice

My apologies for being so tardy on the blog front. I had a nasty little head cold all last week which really knocked the stuffing out of me. I've never had so many colds in one year, should have gotten stuck into the vitamin C early on.....

So anyway, I found out about this English mag through the Prints Charming blog and the website allowed for pre-ordering using Paypal. The opportunity seemed too good to refuse. So I was naturally expecting a Prints Charming item in the issue, and was very impressed to see it made the front cover. Although more goodies were to be had, a the flick of a page....

Alicia Paulson is amazing, terribly creative and writes a beautiful blog about life, pets and crafty stuff. So it was a lovely surprise to see her featured also.

More Prints Charming goodness.

And even an article about Amy Butler! Awesome...

This little scamp is a great idea, designed to make use of left over fabric scraps - perfect!

I think it's wonderful that they're showcasing crafty talent from all over the world. My only hope is that this magazine will continue to live up to the standard it has set, and I look forward to seeing what the next issue will be like.

stitch 'n bitch

Well, not that much bitching which is nice. You see I've finally found a lovely little stitching group that meets at different members houses. This is Leanne merrily sewing away, she's a stitchery power house this woman - which is pretty impressive considering she's got 3 young boys!

I must confess I'm not all that into this latest stitchery craze (although it is very sweet), so I've been taking my quilting instead - which is about the only time I get to work on it. Just as well I've joined the group then.

On the sewing machine front, I've made another top for myself which I'm really really pleased with. I'll have to organise myself and take a photo. I don't have any sewing to do for Tara at the moment as she's in Paris, house sitting amongst other things. Lucky cow.

chain piecing is nice

From the moment I learnt chain piecing I never looked back, it made the building of a quilt so much more achievable and in a shorter space of time. I remember the first course I went to (all those years ago!) which was organised by my quilt group and being told off because I reversed at the start and finish of every seam!

The baby quilt I'm making at the moment has more information here and is a great simple quilt to make, so far at least. I'd love to hand quilt this one but it would be third in line in that department so machine quilting it is, again using the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid!)How's this for pretty groovy. Ant has been keeping an eye on Ebay to see what else can be bought for a Featherweight and maybe build up a little stock pile for my birthday (bless him). He showed me this last night and it nearly blew me away. As most of us would know the older machines only do a straight stitch, so this attachment actually grips the fabric and moves it from side to side - thus creating a small satin stitch. So cool. There's also a similar type of attachment for zig zag. How's that for lateral sewing!

she said she wanted aqua

Here's Rosie's bag (crappy photo though I know). Very *her* especially with the frangipani's as this is her favourite flower. I made the straps adjustable and even found some aqua gingham for the lining. Let's wait and see what she thinks of it.

I never thought I'd find myself buying aqua cotton drill, and I even bought pink drill at the same time because I'm sure there will be times when pink drill is just what's required - almost scary in some ways.....

On the quilting scene I don't have a lot to report except that I have done a bit on the hexagon stars while watching telly of an evening. I'm itching to quilt though but are waiting on a text to say that the baby is born so I know what colours to use in it's quilt. Good friends are expecting their first any minute now (literally!) and I really want to make a quilt for them and it. At breakfast this morning Ant received a text and I automatically started to get excited, then disappointed when it was only one of his employees wanting to 'chuck a sickie', grrr.

Amazingly, I've only just discovered Gee's Bends quilts. I love the rough simplicity of them, reminds me of the Australian wagga quilts. This one in particular has really grabbed my attention and I'd like to try something similar for the baby quilt. Asymmetrical me is growing in strength!!



I've been smacked on the gob by Aurillia, which is so very kind of her!

In the words from "the original smoocheree":

So, the point (and I do have one) to this post is motivated by my desire to hand some of that love and kindness back around to those who have been so very, very, very good to me in this bloggy world. My hope is that those who receive this award will pass it on to those who have been very, very, very good to them as well. It's a big kiss, of the chaste platonic kind, from me to you with the underlying 'thanks' message implied. I really do appreciate your support and your friendship and yes, your comments. ... Mwah!

So here's the people I'd like to share the blogging love with -

Tales of the Travelling Teacosy*
BCquilter
Deck the Halls with Vows of Folly (sorry Mum, but you'll only have to pass it on once!)
Nanette (she's got a blog somewhere but I'm not sure of the title - bad me!)
Sipiweske Quilt Designs ('cause she welcomed me so nicely when I first became a blogger and she has lovely quilts)

So there you go. One day when I'm a grown up blogger I'd like to think that there'd be more. In the mean time I'll keep eating my greens and continue to endeavour.

happy new year

I've probably had enough of break now so I should be pulling my finger out and doing stuff. I hope everyone else had a good one too!

So the start of a new year has brought with it a new Canon printer/scanner/copier, and very pleased I am about it too (I got a nice little Christmas bonus from my boss!). The above picture is scanned from Quilts of Provence by Kathryn Berenson . I love this dress, it's actually inside out deliberately to show how the lining was pieced together. One day I'll make a quilted winter skirt ........

The picture quality isn't too good as I had to reduce it a lot. It came up on the computer at 7.8mb! So I have to fiddle with the settings, sounds like a challenge!

Tony's 'Pirates & Wenches' party is this Saturday. I've made the dodice for my wench outfit and have started the dress. I also have to fix up Ant but I'm hoping that won't be too hard, just wish he won't be too fussy about what he wears.

book review

The book I ended up having to buy through American Ebay finally came yesterday (I'm sorry that it was faster and cheaper than ordering it through Fullers). Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. Yes I know I've been harping on about the angry chicken blog but it was the breath of fresh air I needed and I just wanted to share some chicken love with everyone else. So I'm also sorry to those who thought of buying this for my birthday/Christmas, I couldn't wait till then. But if you want other ideas then send Ant a line, as he's started to build a little list, bless him.

Back to the review. This book is aimed at the beginner but also to the more experienced who want to approach our sewing from a different perspective, you might call it lateral sewing but I suppose we can all get bogged down with our sewing routines no matter what creative gems we can come up with. Does that make sense? Amy tries to encourage beginners not to give up just because what you made wasn't what you envisaged, whether by multiple mistakes or it just didn't work. This doesn't mean it's crap and if you're prepared to take the time to either make corrections or adapt the piece then you can come away with something usable.

There's lots of things to make too. From totes and aprons to tea cozies and coasters, even a lap quilt. I love the apron made from a groovy tea towel, so simple and it looks great. Amy also has a flikr group where anyone can contribute photos of what they've made from the book, brilliant idea.

Basic instructions and patterns at the back with the % you need to enlarge them on the photocopier also makes this a very user friendly book. Now, let's see what I can come up with .....

Oh and here's the quilt for F Mum. I posted it on my APQ blog but I want to record it on this one also.

the ford quilt

Photo taken amid tacking of the 'sandwich'. It's nice when a quilt top is dated before it's quilted, I know that this was assembled in October 2003. Just a small lap quilt which I found the pattern for in the October 2003 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting, made pre-Anthony and when all I seemed to do was sew. I don't know what inspired me but it ended up being a Ford family signature quilt, with a little note or picture and signed by each family member on the blank blocks - plus date of course. So here I am back again and was in need of a new hand quilting project, and something to take to my stitching group on Tuesday nights as I needed a change from the hexagon stars.

Received my Anthropologie e-newsletter today, I want this dress!! Shirt dresses really seem to suit me and that skivvy underneath, just makes a skivvy girl so happy. Perfect for early Tasmanian spring/summers and then when it gets hotter I can wear the dress on it's own - too easy!

The next stage in the plan is to find a pattern close enough and adapt if necessary. Don't know it I'll do the belt though, they've never really been my thing even though I'd love to wear them. I find that it can emphasize my short waist and make my boobs look bigger, men might not see a problem with that but i do!! The other problem that I've discovered is that Spotlight doesn't have any linen. They have 'Shantung Linen', which is 100% synthetic - and doesn't crease. Made me want to vomit over the entire range. This is one of the beauties of linen! It gets that lovely crumple feel to it which makes it hang so nicely and feel so good. Melbourne in a couple of weeks, Clegs here I come!

Bruny Island tomorrow night. We'll try for the last ferry at 7.30pm and treat ourselves to a pizza at the Smokehouse (tried to find some photo links but to no avail - I'll have to take some myself). The place is perched on the hillside about 1.5km from the ferry terminal and Matt makes a great pizza. I think they're the only place that sells Bruny Island stout, one even I can drink, they also have a bottle shop licence so Ant usually takes a 6 pack away with him. Yum-o times ahead.... This makes up for getting down and dirty on the oyster farm over the weekend.