Craft The Final Frontier

Falling Into Some Theme-a-liscious March Madness

2012-03-01T21:28:00.000+08:00

"Ohhhhhhhhh!" she says ".....It's the end of the month already!" Falalala (Lizzie Kate) still looks like a demented Easter egg.....which is fine because I have until the end of the year to finish and it can always go on the Wipocalypse list. Hee heee!

Oops! Almost forgot.....the floss I used was left over Cresent Colours Hand Dyed Floss. The label says they are not colour fast, so it will be used for ornaments only. Anything bigger than an ornament gets a gentle bath before it is finished. That is only a minor inconvenience. The colours more than make up for it.

This is the other project I worked on in the latter half of February. It is a 2x2 rib scarf for DS's birthday in Cleckheaton Country 8ply. I love this stuff. It is machine washable, easy to knit and cheap.

It is my main March Madness project. I'm working on Gonna Projects.....You know the ones I mean....The ones I am gonna work on for years and never get to! I've been gonna make this scarf for about three years now. DS's birthday is at the end of April and I have another four balls to knit, wash, dry and post off the finished scarf.

At first I was gonna work on just the scarf until The Missus pointed out that I would probably end up staring into the mouth of madness trying to work on just one project......not a good look! So a bit of lateral thinking was needed. It took me until the 28th (glad it was a leap year this year heehee) to figure out what else I'm gonna do.

I'll also be diving into my complimentary stash of cross stitch designs and popping a few stitches into a mini project or three. They don't need to be finished.....just started, as I know if they are started, they will be finished.....eventually. The list (which is liable to change at any time) is
- Here Lies My Sleeping Body....... (mystery designer circa 2008)
- Providence (another mystery designer circa 2008)
- Bee Mine (Barbara Ana)
- Cozy Christmas Wishes (another mystery designer circa 2008)
- Waiting For Santa (Helga Mandl)
- I Love Thee (surprise, surprise...another mystery designer)
- Swirlygig (Bent Creek)

I'm off to check out how everyone else fared for the latter half of the month over at the delightful SAL host Geeky Heather's blog. Why not join us?

The Leisurely Wife

2012-02-28T22:22:00.006+08:00

On Friday I was mooching around the LQS when I came across this book. I've been curious about it for a while, as I've seen lots of lovely blocks and quilts in Blogland which were inspired by this book. I gave in to quilty curiosity and thought I'd have a flick through it. Being a leftie, I started flicking from the back of the book. By the time I had reached the front I was totally hooked. A CD of all the templates, clear diagrams of how to put the blocks together and *gasp* the realisation that I can foundation piece these blocks and last but not least a little peek into the history of the 1920's in the USA. 101 traditional quilt blocks.....what a great resource!

Some of the weekend was spent browsing through the book and reading select passages out loud to The Missus. We are both Art Deco fans and the letters are a window into an era we are both interested in. There was a lot of thinking, wondering and dreaming about the Farmer's Wife quilt to be over the weekend....fabrics, size, hand sewing, foundation piecing, plain piecing....The possibilities were endless. Ideas bounced back and forth between The Missus and I. The time it would take wasn't considered, apart from the thought that it would take A LONG TIME.

One thing led to another, and the idea of a QAL for quilters who walk to the beat of their own drum, want to be free of obligation, but would like the friendship, camaraderie and sense of community that is part of it began to grow.................

http://leisurelywifeqal.blogspot.com.au/

..................A new collaborative blog is born. It is a blog for slow quilters who have a shared interest in The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book. It is a place for us to share our successes, frogging, swaps, general chat about the book and anything else we want it to be. There are no time lines or deadlines, just enjoying the quilt making process together.

If you would like to join me, please let me know on this blog or over at the The Leisurely Wife.

Flying In......

2012-02-26T21:01:00.000+08:00

.....to say I have a flimsy! Not saying that I'm short but......I am behind it somewhere! Next weekend I'll be quilting it in the ditch, machine sewing the front of the binding and begin hand sewing it onto the back of the quilt. It may even get *gasp* finished! Three afternoons sewing....not bad considering the book said it could be made in an afternoon.....I'll be keeping my Slow Poke Quilter status I think! lol

Have a crafty week.

Relllllllllaaaaaaaaaaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

2012-02-25T22:28:00.001+08:00

Like this afternoon, Lestat often joins me when I am sewing......and as you can see he likes to "help". His quilt (his tail is on it) is a Chook Shed design and one of the first quilts I ever made. Even though it is hard to believe looking at this picture, he does quite often sit there as I'm sewing. I coax him onto there with scratches and pats. Once he is settled, he sits there for quite a while and often doses off as I talk to him. The snaplock bags have the Leader and Ender pieces in separate bags. They are divided into dark and light 1 1/2 inch squares, three block strips which are separated into two bags - light or dark in the middle. There is also one solitary nine patch. When it is not being critiqued by Lestat, (He often makes a bee line for it when he jumps up on the table and manages to sit on all of the bags at once.) it lives in the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers under the desk on the bottom left of the picture.

This is my progress on The Two of Us. I've cut out all the pieces and am half way through the piecing. I plan on working on it a bit more tomorrow. I may even get the top finished. I'm planning on quilting it in the ditch, using bamboo wadding and binding it with the blue fabric that is in the bottom right hand corner. It is one of those patterns which the blurb says can be finished in an afternoon, but I would be at risk of losing my Slow Poke Quilter status if I did that! lol That's the tablecloth I finished recently on the back of the chair at the top of the picture. I have a ~~personal craft shop~~ study where I keep all my craft supplies, but prefer to spread myself out in the family room to quilt.

February TUSAL

2012-02-22T21:07:00.001+08:00

I must admit, I was surprised that I filled as much of the TUSAL jar that I did. This month was a bit of hand stitching, some frogging on the machine and the top multicoloured part was some acrylic yarn holding together yarn I dyed before I wound it using my "toy of the moment". The results for that will be on my next post.

This is my second completed crochet dishcloth. I'm really pleased with my progress as I feel like I am really beginning to get the hang of it. It is beginning to make sense now!

Grecturoveril

2012-02-20T20:30:00.000+08:00

This is as far as I got making the mug rugs last weekend. I used the Sizzix Bigz Die Decorative Accent # 11 and backed the fabric with a fusible webbing sheet and it worked really well. I *coff* forgot to take a bit of fabric with me to find matching thread on Saturday.....Perfect excuse to go on Friday after work instead. Heeheehee! Not that I need an excuse.

All the fabric for the quilt is cut out and labelled. I ended up going back to the LQS twice on Saturday. Firstly for what I talked about in my last post and the second time because I had to finally admit that one of the fabrics I chose did not go.

These are the fabrics I've chosen for the back of the quilt. It is going to be a lap quilt for The Missus and I to snuggle under in the cool weather....or when we have the air conditioning turned down low. lolol The quilt whispered its name to me this morning....The Two of Us.

This is Come Lately Ladybugs from the Debbie Mumm book which followed me home last week. I LOVE LOVE LOVE (I don't heart anything lol) Debbie Mumm's designs and think this will look lovely in some of the leftover William Morris fabric. A match made in heaven!

This is Paisley on Point by Jean-Anne Sharrai from the other book which matter transported into my bag last week. Instead of using four patches, I'll be putting my leaders and enders nine patches to good use. Until I clapped my eyes on this pattern I had NO idea what I was going to do with the little buggas!

Oops I Did It Again

2012-02-18T06:35:00.000+08:00

During the week The Missus and I both had a little retail therapy. I'm sure you are not surprised that I headed straight for the craft section of the book shop. Easy Quilts, Best of Fonts and Porter and 25 Years of Quilts by Debbie Mumm (I almost fainted with excitement when I saw that one. I've liked Debbie Mumm designs and fabric ever since I started quilting.) rustled their pages at me and pleaded to be given a loving home. How could I say no?

Serendipity by Cindy Hathaway from Easy Quilts shrieked the loudest (quilt patterns are such attention seekers) when I was deciding which to make. I'm in the very rare mood for a fast finish. The blurb in the book states "This quilt is so simple, yet so charming. All you need is five of your favourite fabrics and you're ready to go. It will be done in an afternoon!" Perfect! Not quite an afternoon job for me, but I could see myself finishing it in a week or two. Maybe even this weekend! There is a freakish weather pattern at the moment which has led to a big chunk of the South West to be covered in a thick haze of smoke from bush fires for most of the week....and it continues today. That combined with the air conditioner in my classroom being broken for a week means I'm ready to hibernate for the weekend!

I sighed and dreamed over the photos and the layout, fondling my stash, until I found the perfect choice in fabrics. (I knew which fabric I was going to use as soon as I clapped eyes on the pattern, but these things can't be rushed!) I just needed a quick trip to my LQS to pick up the blue fabric on the right for the binding.

Yep, yep, yep.....A, B, C.............that is all I need.....three fabrics for the body of the quilt.....a quick scan of the yardage......yep, yep, yep....enough fabric....just need a contrasting one for the binding. All was honky dory until this morning. I got up at 5am because I couldn't sleep and decided to read through the instructions. Read the instructions......just like I'd been emphasising with the kids in my class yesterday before I took them through how to complete an origami following instructions on the Smartboard. Apart from scanning the yardage, I was reading the instructions for the FIRST time this morning! I'd not taken any notice of how many fabrics there were!

It was about this time that I heard the kookaburras at the end of my street laughing. I must admit I had to join them, having a chuckle at being one fabric short because I had not read the instructions properly! I'd just looked at the diagram, seen A, B and C in the layout, completely overlooking the fact that there are five different colours! It is an easy fix, though.....A trip to the LQS for another metre of fabric and to make it worthwhile going, pick up some of those other William Morris fabrics I've had my eye on!

Theme-a-licious Fangirl February Check-in

2012-02-15T21:15:00.000+08:00

Every year I make a Christmassy something or three. Last year there was no new cross stitch, so this year I thought I'd better start early on the Christmas ornament making. Lizzie Kate has been a favourite designer for a few years. I found some leftover threads from another project (I can't remember the name of it.......I'll post it on the 29th.) Falalalala has been sitting in my stash for a while now and it just seemed like the right time to pull it out. At the moment it looks a bit like Easter vs Edvard Munch. I'm hoping to have at least the stitching finished by the end of the month.

This n That

2012-02-12T07:43:00.000+08:00

There are no progress piccies today, as I’m sitting outsidewith the budgies catching a bit of early morning breeze. It is going to be hot, humid and stormy today…..soI’m making the most of it before it gets too hot to be comfortableoutside.

It’s been hot and humid all week, so by the time I sit downat night I’m pretty done for, which means stitchy progress is sllloowwwww. I’ve stitched a little on Fa La La La La andit is looking like some kind of pink, blobby version of The Scream. No definition at all! lol

The crochet is coming along slowly…..The dishcloth I wasworking on had to be ripped back, as it had curled up into a tube……It isamazing what can be ignored when I don’t want to stop doing something! lol I think that was a case of “It’s not possibleto cast on with a size 7 hook, then keep going with a size 5 hook withouthaving difficulties!”. Like most things,I get impatient with myself and want to be an expert at it RIGHT NOW! lol

I’m still suffering horribly from Startitis. Yesterday I started a couple of mug rugs forThe Missus and I. I used my Big Shot tocut out a couple of doohickies (I can’t remember what the doohickies are called…..andI’m out the back catching a bit of early morning breeze with the budgies….toocomfy to go back in the house and checklol). This was down from the eightprojects I had decided to start earlier on in the day yesterday….I think I wasdelirious with the heat and humidity! lol I’d been sorting out craft magazines for passing on to the Home Ec.section of a nearby high school and I had reduced the pile down to the few thathad projects I want to make……It made perfect sense at the time to do a littlebit of them all! lolol

I don’t have the right coloured thread for the applique for eithermug rug, so last night I leafed through Simple Graces, Charming Quilts andCompanion Projects by Kim Diehl looking for another project to start today….completelyignoring Holiday Morning which is sitting on top of the sewing machine all readyto do a bit more quilting! This one hasbeen floating around for three years and is my oldest UFO.

I found a cute little project called Yesterday Remembered….Perfectfor some William Morris Fabric I picked up recently…..another applique which Ihave no thread for! lol It has also spawned an idea I have for using anotherSizzix doohickie using a FQ pack I’ve had in my stash for a while……You guessedit…..with NO matching thread! This one is a Valentine design…..no hope of itbeing finished by Tuesday…..but do you think that will stop me? lololol What is another WIP or four? Besides, it is motivation for cleaning outthe freezer. Freezer first…..sew later.

I’ll be starting a list of all my craft books today in thememo on my phone, as I’m not sure if I have

another Kim Diehl book calledSimple Seasons. I’ve picked it up andput it down at the LQS quite a few times and I have no idea if I have it or not…..Thatcould start a whole new lot of WIPS! lolol

WIPocalypse Update #2

2012-02-07T20:34:00.000+08:00

I'm pleased with the progress I've made on Like Home by La De Da. This one will be finished by the end of the year and I'm quite happy chipping away at it.

I used the bottom half of Christmas Joy Needlecase from JCS 2009 Christmas Ornament mag. It is on its way to becoming a pin cushion. The front and back border will create a checkerboard effect (I hope lol). We'll have to wait and see what happens by the next WIPocalypse!

To find out what WIPocalypse is all about or to see some WIPocalypse goodness click on the link in the sidebar or here.

A Lil Bit of This, A Lil Bit of That

2012-02-05T20:21:00.000+08:00

This is my first finished crochet piece. You may be surprised to find out that it isnot a piece of modern art, but a cloth for cleaning the budgie cage. It works better than any other cleaningimplement I’ve used on the cage and just needs a soak in good old Napisan eachday after use. I’m pleased that I notonly managed to teach myself how to crochet a little, but that I’ve madesomething usable!

lol Not like my first knitting project, which wasa scarf. Unbeknown to me, I was addingstitches. I thought the knitted fabric wasstretching “a bit”. Much to my horrorwhen I checked to see how I was going (when it was almost falling off theneedles it had grown so wide lol) it looked like an extremely jagged shawl!lolol It immediately went in the bin andI started on another scarf. I can seemany laundry and dishcloths in my immediate crocheting future…..and I’mcompletely happy about that.

This was a must buy at a recent trip to Spotlight. The Missus commented that it looked like oneof Shaun Tan’s creatures….I agree with her.

It’s a ball winder for yarn. It is simple to use and works efficiently and safely. The first thing I wound was some cotton forcrochet. Then The Missus and I squeezedand played with it…..and it didn’t collapse!

Another dishcloth in the making all ready to go.

As we watched Tour Down Under and cheered on our newAustralian Green Edge cycling team, I remembered all the hexies I made lastyear for a pair of le Tour de France placemats and coasters. They have sat slowly fermenting for a fewmonths, in true Slow Poke Quilter style. I’d whip stitched a couple together a while ago and wasn’t happy withthe result, did a quick search and found this tutorial (badskirt.com). The outer hexies are stitched to the innerone first, rather than stitching the outer hexies together first. I’ll be giving both methods a go to see whichI like best.

Then it was time to have a bit of a play withthe layout. I’d not touched my hexiesfor so long it took a few minutes to figure out what the half hexies were for!lol Oops, almost forgot…..red, black andwhite are BMC’s colours….Cadel Evan’s team. We’ve been following his career for a few years now and are hoping tosee him win le Tour for the second year in July. So for a change, I have a deadline!

Textile Traders have extended their buy two get one freesale. Their 1 ½ metre remnants sell for$7.50 and may not always be in colours or styles I’d use on the front of aquilt, but are perfect for backs. Mysupply had run low, so I’ve been stocking up. I’m also planning on cutting some up using Bonnie’s scrap method to addto my scrappy stash. Plus, some charmsquares from each colour to add to the next rag quilt. After I made the second one I said “NO MORE!”,but this one has managed to snuggle its way onto my to WIP list.

I have a decent stack of scrappy charm squares already cutout and other scraps which could be utilised this way, too. Hhhhmmmmmmmm……a stack of charm squares? Picking out other scraps to cut out? I think it is already started and needs to beadded to the WIP list……lol

This tablecloth is off the WIP list and on the table. I didn’t follow a pattern or draft one, Iused the serendipity method (made it up as I went along lol) and I am reallypleased with the result. The next WIP inmy sights is Holiday Morning. It is*coff* three years and one week old! Nuffsaid! lololol

Themeliscious - Out With The Old, In With The New

2012-01-31T20:31:00.000+08:00

The tree these little birds are nesting in is no longerfrozen in time. The leaves are slowlyunfurling and the branches are stretching out. The mother bird will be on her way soon to feed her hungryfledglings. It is time to leave off thebird watching for now, as February floats into the room on a cloud of perfumedlove hearts.

It’s new project time! February’s Themealiscious theme is Fan Girl February…..stitch somethingfrom a designer we love. After teeteringon the edge of possibility I held my breath, dived in and came up with not one,but two designers…..

TeresaWentzler…….

……….and Lizzie Kate.

After fierce negotiation with the two sides of myself (I’m aGemini with leanings towards multiplepersonality, so it can take time to reach consensus) over the merits of oldschool vs new school, it was decided Lizzie Kate is to get an airing thismonth. I can always save Teresa forAmazon Apri. Then it was onagain……restitch an old favourite? Pick anew design? Decisions! Decisions!

More discussions, more debating the merits of eachdesign….Until both halves of myself were shot by Cupid’s arrow…..Love birdsfilled the air, cherubs warbelled and I knew there could be no other design besidesFa La La for February. Then it startedall over again….aida vs linen, colour vs neutral….DMC vs other threads……….

lol You’ll need tocome back on the 15^th to see what I decided!

Favourite Things Friday

2012-01-27T09:15:00.000+08:00

It's time for Favourite Thing Friday again. Shay runs it every week, with a little help from Mr Linky. It is dead easy.....blog about something you like and link up. Then the fun really begins......everyone visits everyone elses blogs. Smiles all round. You can join in any Friday you like....go on, you know you want to.

A mug of hot Jarrah coffee sitting in air conditioned comfort.......

........in matching Dr Who mugs as we watch David Tennant as Dr Who fight the cybermen (my favourite baddies along with the Daleks and The Master....both regenerations)..........what can I say except it is a double whammy Favourite Things Friday?

Australia Day 2012

2012-01-26T05:30:00.000+08:00

Today we celebrate as a nation who we are and what is great about Australia. It is a day for reflection on all our achievements and for being proud of our remarkable nation. It is a day where we re-affirm our commitment to continue making Australia an even better place for the future.

Australia Day would not be the same without Sam Kekovich addressing the nation.

Now he has gone viral.

On a more serious note, you know you're Australian if …

1. You know the meaning of the word"girt".

2. You believe that stubbies can be either drunkor worn.

3. You think it's normal to have a leader calledKevin.

4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expiredpetrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.

5. You've made a bong out of your garden hoserather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.

6. You understand that the phrase "a groupof women wearing black thongs" refers to footwear and may be less alluringthan it sounds.

7. You pronounce Melbourne as"Mel-bin".

8. You pronounce Penrith as "Pen-riff".

9. You believe the "l" in the word"Australia" is optional.

10. You can translate: "Dazza and Shazzaplayed Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas."

11. You believe it makes perfect sense for anation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns andsheep.

12. You call your best friend "a totalbastard" but someone you really, truly despise is just "a bit of abastard".

13. You think "Woolloomooloo" is aperfectly reasonable name for a place.

14. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.

15. You believe it makes sense for a country tohave a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.

16. You understand that "Wagga Wagga"can be abbreviated to "Wagga" but "Woy Woy" can't be called"Woy".

17. You believe that cooked-down axlegrease makesa good breakfast spread.

18. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.

10. You know that certain words must, by law, beshouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again.

20. You believe, as an article of faith, that theconfectionary known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passingyear.

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!!!!

January TUSAL

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000+08:00

January was a good month to TUSAL.

The Startitis Continues

2012-01-22T22:18:00.000+08:00

I still have a case of Startitis which I'm happy about, as it leaves plenty of WIPs for when I have Finishitis. I'm sure it exists.....I've heard rumours. lol These are the backs of a couple of rotary cutter pouches. I keep one just for cutting quilt fabric and the other for cutting other quilty related bits and pieces. I made sure to write the word "fabric" on the inside of one and the word "other" on the inside of the second in permanent pen, so I won't mix them up. Previously, I'd had a scrap of fabric in the handle of the quilt fabric only cutter, so I didn't confuse the two. Murphy's Law kicked in seconds before I took the photo. That was when I took the rotary cutters out of the pouches......then promptly forgot which was which! I have a rotary blade sharpener which is going to get a real workout in the morning! lol

I can't remember the name of the book I got the tulip pics from, but will post it when I find out.

I had a lot of fun machine appliqueing the pouches, so I decided to start Love Cats by Natalie Ross. (That makes much more sense than appliqueing something I already have in my stash that is ready to go, doesn't it? lol) I'm making all three in the same fabric for Valentine's. I'm hoping to get them finished by the end of the week. They are a lot of fun to sew and incredibly cute!

Our box of cards is empty, so I decided to make a few each week until we have a bit of choice again for different celebrations and some blank ones, too.

Theme-a-licious Jardin January Check-in

2012-01-17T13:56:00.001+08:00

I was starting to think I was not going to be able to post for Jardin January. Blogger had a hissy and locked me out of my whole account. I would have been lost in cyberspace still if Sharon hadn't lent a hand. Thank you, Sharon!

I've been stitching on Like Home by La De Da. It is one of my WIPs, but that is not the reason I chose it. I decided to stitch this one for Jardin January because it is so moreish! Originally, I thought it was going to be a Halloween project, but it reminds me of Prim, which is a style I am rather partial to, with its muted colours and the slightly grungy look of the linen. Stitching it is a bit of a paradox, as I want to see it finished, framed and up on the wall, but at the same time I don't want to stop stitching it! The only possible solution is to enjoy every stitch and savour it between times.

I'm off to visit the other Theme-a-liciousers.

It's A Cricket Kind Of Day

2012-01-13T14:41:00.001+08:00

This is what I envisioned Lestat’s lap quilt before the last one grew uncontrollably.......a square quilt which fits on my lap with a bit of an overhang. lol It has been a roaring success. My knees are intact and Lestat finds it very snuggly. It has two layers of bamboo wadding, which works well.

I pinned it to death, quilted it along the join lines of the top fabric, then UNPINNED it before starting to add the binding. That was when I found out how slippery two lots of bamboo wadding are together and how much the top one can bunch up! This led to a healthy addition to the ORT jar. lol

In typical cat fashion, Lestat is investigating the "lap quilt that grew" on the exercise bike. It is much better looking than the towel that was on it previously. It met Lestat's approval. ;)

I’d thought about folding the quilt into four and using it on my lap, then decided this was a better option…..It was a case of serendipity, as I’d been thinking about making a snowball quilt or something similar with cat fabric to cover it. The bike is in the family room and I walk past it many times in a day, so I can admire it!

I felt like I was on a roll yesterday with two finishes in two days, so decided to dig out a UFO and make it three. I’d started one of the Homespun magazine BOMs a couple/few???? years ago and decided not to continue on with it. I decided to repurpose this block as a cover for my 24 inch quilting ruler.

It is my first quilting ruler and I want to look after it. It’s travelled around with me for over ten years and has cut a heck of a lot of fabric!

There was a bit of fabric repurposing in there, too. The first three reds from top to bottom on the back were black and white prints originally. The blue in the applique on the front and the surrounds were unfortunate fabric choices which were lurking in my stash. A bit of Dylon dye gave them all new life.

Yesterday saw me take a pilgrimage to one of my favourite yarn stores. Depending on the traffic, it can take up to forty five minutes to get there and even longer on the way back if it is peak hour! That combined with rubbish parking means I don’t go all that often. Which is probably a good thing, as I could see myself going the same way as the Yarn Harlot, stuffing yarn behind books, into seldom used pots and pans and down the arms of winter coats in summer!

As I was on the way out, The Missus told me to close my eyes and put my hand out as she had a present for me. It was cash to spend at the yarn store on something nice for myself. I think I covered it very nicely with this hank of Ella Rae Lace Merino. It was love at first sight. One of the first things I did when I got home was pick out a project for it. I'm adapting the sock pattern Almondie by Anne Hanson from the book Sock Knitting Master Class (edited by Ann Budd) It was hot early this morning and 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) now, so I'm sitting in air conditioned comfort, winding the yarn into a ball and watching the cricket.

This just appeared in my bag.

The colour of it reminds me of the flowers on the grevillia bushes we have in the back garden. I took this photo at 6.30am with the long range lens…..There were too many bees to get close!

There must have been a ripple in the space time continum, as this hank mysteriously ended up in my bag as well. It puts me in mind of The Pilbara where I lived for a few years when I was a kid.

A set of Knit Pro 2.00mm and 2.5mm Knit Pro dpns appeared in my bag, too.

I found this copyright free chart at Fiber Gypsy, which could come in handy if there is no Ravelry access.

Yarn Type	Typical Gauge	Wraps/Inch	Yards/Pound*	Recommended Needle Size
Ultrafine (Lace or Baby Weight)	8+/inch 32+/10cm	18 or more	2600	00 - 2 2 - 3mm
Fine (Fingering Weight)	6-8/inch 24-32/10cm	16	1900-2400	2 - 4 3 - 3.75mm
Medium (Sport Weight)	5-6/inch 20-24/10cm	14	1200-1800	4 - 6 3.75 - 4.5 mm
Heavy (Worsted Weight)	4-5/inch 16-20/10cm	12	900-1200	7 - 9 5 - 6mm
Bulky	3-4/inch 12-16/10cm	10	600-800	10 - 10 1/2 6.5 - 7.5mm
Very Bulky	2-3/inch 8-12/10cm	8 or fewer	400-500	13 - 15 9 - 10mm

I only have about five metres left to wind......WOOHOO!

WIPocalypse Check-in Post #1

2012-01-10T11:38:00.003+08:00

I have my WIPocalypse projects all sorted. Like Home is at the top of the list. I'm really enjoying this one. Last year my cross stitch and embroidery was taken over by knitting. It wasn't a bad thing. I had a big knitting learning curve last year. It is common when we are learning something new for something we are good at goes on the back burner. For me, that "something" was stitching! Between WIPocalypse, Geeky Heather's 2012 Theme-a-licious and Sharon's TUSAL I'll be immersed in stitchy goodness all through 2012.

Snow Happy by Glory Bee was started at the end of November last year and ended up being sucked into the end of year black hole. I'd like to make a few Christmas ornaments this year and there is a possibility that this will be the first one.

This one just needs a little frogging at the top.....and hour at the most and then it will be ready to be made into an ornament for Halloween this year.

Last year when I started the embroidery on Tis The Season I knew that it wouldn't be finished unless I rushed it.....which is no fun....so it is back on the WIP list. Including this block, there are another seven to stitch before it can be put together as a wall hanging. Each year I like to have a new Christmas wall hanging. Tis The Season is in the running for being the one for 2012.

This morning I spent some time organising my WIPs. I have a few of these TYPO Lap It Up cases for storing projects. (The Missus and I are ~~seriously obsessed with~~ TYPO.)

It is perfect for keeping my WIPocalypse projects together.

Just like this TYPO Spinout case, which The Missus gave me as one of my Christmas pressies is perfect for keeping all the DMC threads (in tiny snaplock bags) for the projects on one side and needles, threaders and scissors in a tin on the other! I'm all sorted and ready to go! *Raising my needle* Here's to a year of stitching together.

Princely Treasures

2012-01-09T18:45:00.002+08:00

The Missus and I both love visiting the West Australian Art Gallery and today we were not disappointed. It was the last day of Princely Treasures European Masterpieces 1600 – 1800, which was an exhibition covering all sorts of amazing pieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum in Britain. It took us three and a half hours to get around the whole exhibition. My favourites were mostly textile related….I know you are surprised about that! lolol

This quilt is almost three hundred years old. I was so excited about having my nose so close to the oldest quilt I’ve ever seen without setting the alarms off. It is 3.35m x 2.17m. Imagine how vibrant the red would have been when it was new! It was from the Coromandel Coast and was created using resist and mordent-dyed cotton.

This silk winder or spinning wheel was made about 1740 - 50, probably by Pietro Piffetti in Turin. It's 56cm high, 53cm wide and 25cm deep. Ladies of leisure would get together for many hours spinning silk and embroidering with it. The original Stitch and Bitch.

These gauntlets from about 1614 in Madrid were for the "see and be seen" crowd. There is chainmail under the fingers....I did all sorts of contortions to see that....and looked about the same thickness as fingering weight yarn....and so even!

How would you like to keep your pins in this snuff box? It was made in Berlin about 1765 from chrysoprase, gold, foiled carnelians and foiled diamonds. I think it would look fabulous on my sewing desk!

This is part of a brocade panel made of silk and silver which took my breath away. It shimmered!

Due to the lighting in the art gallery my photos don't do justice to any of the pieces, so I borrowed the images from http://media.vam.ac.uk

Startitis

2012-01-07T23:01:00.000+08:00

Each January I get a case of Startitis. I'm on holiday and my brain is clear to ~~obsess~~ think about craftt, start new projects and join fun SALs such as TUSAL and Theme-a-liscious. Previously, just for the fun of it, I'd have a mad race with myself to see how many WISPs and UFOs I could finish before the New Year. This time around it happened differently. There was no finishing. Instead there was a lot of sorting and fondling of my stash. It all needed a bit of a tidy up. As I folded, fondled and frogged knitting UFOs, I started bookmarking projects in my books and setting fabric and yarn to one side. All this free brain time partnered with tidying and browsing through craft books led to a huge case of Startitis! This isn't a bad thing. I like starting projects and having WIPs to dip into when I want to make "something", but don't know what I want to make......I enjoy the variety.

This is a Startitis project. In the cat fabric part of my stash was The Cat's Meow panel by Bella Lu Studio and a metre of I Love Cats by Timeless Treasures Fabric which I decided were perfect for one of the ideas that had been burbling around in my head.

Lestat has always been a cuddly cat and likes to sit on my lap. Which I think is lovely…..except as an older cat he is using his claws a lot more to steady himself……which isn’t a problem until he is steadying himself on my knees! I came up with three solutions…..I could knit myself some chainmail. The drawbacks to this are the clanking will scare the budgies as well as Lestat and it’d be rather weighty to knit, even on circular needles. The second solution is not to let Lestat sit on my lap. I’d be grumpy, Lestat would be grumpy and spend his time indulging in antisocial behaviour and being an outright pest. The third solution was the one that seemed most practical…..Make a little cat throw for on my lap. With a bit of encouragement from the feathered cheer squad and some consultation with The Missus for placement of the panels I was off and running…..After much frogging and adding to my ORT jar (The panels were being completely antisocial and refused to line up properly.) the top came together.

The only drawback with this project was the length of it! In the picture The Missus is holding the top and I'd need to be a six metre tall (approximately twenty feet) woman with an extremely willowy physique for it to be practical as a lap quilt for Lestat. I didn't measure or plan, just cut and sewed, enjoying the process, not even thinking about the size of it until I saw it held up in front of me.lolol All was not lost, as one of the other projects I had in mind was to make a cover for the exercise bike.....Problem solved. There is a tenth cat panel, which has been matched up with some different cat fabric for Lestat's lap quilt over the next few days.

I was digging through my cross stitch pattern stash last night looking for a project to start for Jardin January when I came across Like Home. A perfect project! This is one of those projects that the stitches just seems to float off the needles and even the frogging isn't a hassle. The flowers remind me of space invaders which always makes me smile.

Happy New Year from The Missus and I

2011-12-31T23:45:00.002+08:00

6 in '12

2011-12-28T16:20:00.001+08:00

One of the groups I belong to on Ravelry is called underachievers: 6 in '12. For those of us who can't face 12 (of anything) in 2012. The group details are: Wondering how far the # in 20## trend will go? We’re taking the trend a step backward. In this group the goal is to make just 6 of any one category (shawls, socks, sweaters, your choice) during 2012. We’ll cast on in January and finish up in December.

Six projects in 12 months is just my speed. I spent a very pleasant few hours this morning picking out patterns from my books and picking the yarns from my stash. My stash would easily fit into a 55 litre crate with wriggle room, which may not seem like a lot. It is more than enough for a Slow Poke knitter like me. ;) For some of the handwarmers I'm having a go at adapting the leg part of some sock patterns. I think it will be a lot of fun. The patterns are:

Pattern - Spatterdash Wristwarmers by Dagmar Mora (Knitty)
Yarn - On Line
Supersock Cotton
Colour – Beach Top middle in the piccie.

Pattern – Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers
Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation p198
Author: Debbie Stoller
Yarn – Noro Silk Garden Sock Yarn Bottom middle in the piccie.

Pattern – Own pattern using Vandyke Lace Panel II
From lace & eyelet stitches; The Harmony Guides p101;
Edited by Erika Knight
Yarn – Sublime Top left in the piccie.

Pattern – Own pattern adapting the leg of Zigzag Socks
p105 Vogue Knitting The Ultimate Sock Book
Author – Christine Walter
Yarn – Zara Top right in the piccie.

Pattern – Own pattern adapting the leg of Flow Motion Socks
p 113 Vogue Knitting The Ultimate Sock Book
Author – Cat Bordhi
Yarn – Alpaca Silk Georgette (Jo Sharp) Bottom left in the piccie.

Pattern – Own pattern adapting the leg of Barvarian Socks
p 131 Vogue Knitting The Ultimate Sock Book
Author – Candice Eisner Strick
Yarn – Silkroad DK Tweed (Jo Sharp) Bottom right in the piccie.

Organising this today was an excellent excuse NOT to work on tidying The Den of Inequity aka my craft room. No such luck tomorrow! lol

Two Days, Two Finishes

2011-12-27T18:29:00.003+08:00

This little square of cotton has set me off on a face cloth knitting jag. I started it yesterday watching the Boxing Day test (cricket) and finished it watching the Dr Who Christmas special…..which had at least three knit cardigans and a beret. lol I have enough cotton in my stash to make at least half a dozen face cloths. I’ve queued the stitch patterns for five in Ravelry. I think it will keep me quiet for a while. lol

The Missus thought I might find putting this cute rabbit together fun…..which I did on Christmas Day. I decided to call it Enchanted Bunny.

Banzinga!

Random Ramblings

2011-12-21T15:47:00.000+08:00

Isn’t this just the picture of relaxation? Lestat is in his favourite spot on the back of the settee where he sits behind my head. He can peek out of the blinds and survey his “territory” (He is an indoor cat and considers anything he can see is within his territory) or have a lazy doze, like he was doing before I took out the camera.

Jethro is feeling a bit shy and is not quite ready to meet the world. This was a failed attempt at one of his feet which ended up as a cat toy for a short while. Lestat doesn’t play much with toys…..most toys frighten him, but he thought this was a pretty good one until he started to chew on it, when it went in the bin.

As I was passing a costume jewellery shop this week I spotted a stand with (cheap….yay!) jewellery rolls which I thought with a bit of unpicking along the sectioned plastic pockets, it would be the perfect storage solution for my bamboo circular needles and knitting paraphernalia. It did and I like it so much that I’m going back for another to use as an organiser for my double pointed needles. Having a hanger means they are out of the drawer and there is more room for yarn! ;)

What do you get when you overheat the chocolate for Oreo Balls? You end up with moon rocks instead! The chocolate coating is a bit grainy, but they taste just as good and the red edible glitter just adds a bit of Christmas sparkle.

This morning on the news we saw footage of the snow storms, which made me think hot Australian summers aren’t too bad! I spent four Christmases in England before we came out to Australia, but can’t remember anything but hot Christmases. One thought led to another and I started thinking about the differences at Christmas between the Southern and Northern Hemisphere, including our Christmas songs. So, get yourself comfy and let's have a sing-along………Aussie Jingle Bells and Six White Boomers.

From The Missus, the childerbeasts and I.............a very safe and happy Christmas.

Bird On A Wire

2011-12-16T10:59:00.002+08:00

When I saw these cute little robins last Christmas at Spotlight, I couldn’t resist buying a metre of fabric to tuck away for when I knew what I wanted to make with it.

A whole year passed and I still had no idea what to do with it until I had a light bulb moment. The small table in the lounge where the Tim Birdton and Wanda Wigglebottom sit was absolutely perfect. I was looking for something that would show off the pattern to its best advantage. I hadn’t noticed the adult robins lined up diagonally until The Missus held the quilt up for me.

The quilting is really simple……It just meanders along the “wire” the birds are sitting on and really sets it off. Most of the quilts I make have a contrasting binding, but this one is different. I used the same fabric as the main quilt and I think it suits. I’m really pleased with it and have enough fabric left to make a couple of mug rugs. A relaxing Sunday afternoon project, perhaps....Or anytime over the next few weeks while I'm on holiday. ;)

This is what happens when I am tired, plus get distracted using dpns. lol It is on the way to becoming the very cute Frank by Katie Boyette. My knitting muse tells me he is not happy with that name and prefers to be called Jethro. So, Jethro he is (or will soon be)! He is my first knitted monster from the book KnitWit and I do not think he will be the last!

It Only Took One.....

2011-12-11T13:06:00.000+08:00

Between running out to look at the lunar eclipse last night and having Big Bang Theory marathon, I finished the binding on Geese Around The World from Sarah Fielke's book Quilting from little things...

It is a doll quilt and measures 30cmx30cm (12inx12in). I've earmarked Fanfare from the same book for my next dolly quilt......scrappy blue and cream.....but Diamond Chips would look lovely and Christmassy in the striped fabric.....and Rebel With A Rotary looks good too........That is it, I will just have to make them all! I am well and truly hooked and it only took one dolly quilt. lolol

WoW!

2011-12-08T20:41:00.000+08:00

Victory is mine! My WoW scarf is finished. All I can show you is this section. It is a Christmas pressie for The Missus and she reads my blog. Hand dyed, 1x1 rib.....It is lovely and in the double blue of her football team. It is even wrapped and put away.....along with her other pressies. This is a HIGHLY unusual occurance, as I can usually be found making cards, finishing and wrapping pressies into the wee hours of Christmas morning.

Now I will need to rummage in the depth of my yarn stash to find any other old yarn I have forgotten about. :)

Gotta Love A String-A-Thon

2011-12-04T17:54:00.003+08:00

It all started out in an organised fashion today....Lestat was helping by putting all the rubbish, little triangle pieces for those funny little ends of the string blocks and scraps for crumb quilts in nice little piles. It was going like clockwork. Until.........

I ran out of strings and needed cut some more..........before I knew it, the rotary cutter was flying like I was chanelling Edward Scissorhands............freehand slicing and dicing.............

Before I knew it, there were bags and bags of mixed strings......

All ready to join the twelve string blocks I've made.....I'm having a ball making these and keeping my Slow Poke Quilter card at the same time. ;)

My First Quilt

2011-11-27T17:20:00.002+08:00

Bonnie over at Quiltville is linking quilter's posts about their first quilts. Here's mine...........

I've been a mad keen Chook Shed fan ever since I started quilting in 1999. I didn't know how to sew and had no sewing machine, but that wasn't going to stop me! I still have all my Chook Shed patterns and treasure each one. The Missus fixed the no sewing machine problem when she bought me a Brother sewing machine. Oh wow! That certainly set me free.....along with the stitch unpicker. lol

This was the first one I tackled (from the pattern above). There was no stopping me when I realised which way the fusible webbing went.....I got as far as blanket stitching the applique onto the calico background, then hand quilting around the applique. It also happened to be my first UFO as I couldn't figure out the instructions for sewing on the binding! So, it sat and matured for a while.

The toaster fabric on the chook is one of Debbie Mumm's. I still like her fabric very much. There is also a scrap going in my Orca Bay quilt.

One chicken led to another.....

Then two more! By now I was well and truly hooked on Chook Shed Designs. All three still hang on the walls in my laundry. They all received their bindings a lllllllooooonnnnnggggggg time after I sewed them.

The bottom design of Angels Sing looked much simpler....and how could I resist the flowers and bird? Besides that I didn't have enough variety in my stash to do justice to the top quilt.

So the bottom angel it was. I still didn't know how to do mitred corners on a binding.....so bagged it instead.

Here's a close up of my hand quilting in the ditch of the blanket stitch applique. I had no problems with matching embroidery thread to fabric, as I'd been an embroiderer for about twenty years. The fabric on the right is (you guessed it) a Debbie Mumm and the one on the right is a William Morris design. This one I gave to The Missus as a gift. It was the first quilt I sewed on a machine.

I still have a bit of the red fabric.....also going in my Orca Bay quilt. It is funny how I can remember where most of my fabric came from, but can't always remember where it ended up! I used to belong to a couple of Yahoo quilting groups when I first started quilting. One of them had a Debbie Mumm charm square swap and as soon as I found out what a charm square was, I joined. It was a heck of a lot of fun. I didn't have a rotary cutter then, so cut all my swap fabrics by hand and a little bit larger than a charm square.

I also joined the Stash Busters Yahoo group. That was an awesome group. The quilters were always helpful, encouraging and inspirational. I learned an incredible amount about quilting from them and I still appreciate the time they spent helping me, which nurtured the seed of passion I have for quilting today. There was one quilter I remember in particular. She blew me away with her knowledge, enthusiasm, stash, kindness, generosity and ability to explain "how-to-do" so many things quilt related simply and succinctly. She STILL all those things for many quilters all over the world, not just me. I have grown in leaps and bounds since those days I asked her for help as a newbie quilter who was learning how to use a sewing machine. Thank you, Bonnie Hunter for all the tips you generously shared all those years ago and everything you share with all of us in Quiltland today!

No Time Like The Present

2011-11-26T17:31:00.003+08:00

It’s time to get serious.

No more monkeying around.

Forget about Nanna Naps in the afternoon.

Green has been exchanged for red.

Red has been exchanged for blue.

The neutrals are being sorted.

Blacks need a bit of a top up.

What is all the fuss about you ask? It’s time I joined the Queen of Scraps BonnieHunter in the 2011 Mystery QAL Orca Bay! Bonnie has added a Mystery Monday Link Up so we can see how everyone is going and cheer each other on. It is like A Left Handed Quilter said to me during the week....."What is one more WIP?" How could I argue with logic like that?

Updated Monday night:
I spent part of the weekend pressing my scraps getting them ready to be used. It is going to be 37 degrees C on Saturday.....I'll be having a string-along in the airconditioning!

My Price Is 35% Off!

2011-11-20T20:43:00.001+08:00

(The top fabric is the pic is dark green, not black....)

Quintessential Quilts had a sale last Saturday......35% off everything from 7.30 am to 8.30am and 25% off everything for the next hour today.....if you wore your pj's. Since my pj's look like they belong in the rag and bone bag, I borrowed The Missus' Superman pj's and headed off wearing my purple fluffy slippers and a plan......

It all started a couple of Saturday afternoons ago when the weather turned nasty and it was too cold and blustery to sit outside and ~~doze away the afternoon~~ do some hand sewing or knitting. I decided instead to spend a bit of time mooching around on The Quilter's Cache. I'd had a vague idea burbling about in the back of my mind for a while now that I'd like to make a sampler quilt....a wall hanging.....9 x12 inch blocks with a bit of sashing and a fairly plain border to show off the blocks......That all went out the window when I started wandering around The Quilter's Cache. I had an idea that I could make a quilt with twenty six twelve inch traditional blocks, all starting with a different letter of the alphabet. After a while that did not seem practical, so it morphed into an idea for a bed sized quilt instead (with the same vague ideas about the borders and sashing in black).....Just a slight deviation from my original idea.

As you know, I'm rather partial to Fossil Fern fabric......so is The Missus. Over a cup of tea or two, we worked out the blocks we would like to be included and how long it would take to sew the quilt. A rough estimate was two years. There was no planned start date.....that would be dependent on when there was a sale at a quilt shop. I couldn't have timed it better if I had tried! The fabric in the piccie is what I eventually chose.

The plan is to split making each block over four weeks. That way there is always something on the go with it and I leave myself enough room for working on other projects. Week 1 - draw and colour the block on graph paper. That way I get a clear idea in my head what it looks like. Week 2 - cutting pieces for the block. Week 3 - sewing each individual section. Week 4 - sewing the block together. It will be interesting to look back at this post in a few months time to see what modifications I've made!

I've joined up to the 2012 Totally Useless SAL. I have my jar picked out already. Don't know what a Totally Useless SAL is? Click on the link and check it out!

I was itching to start stitching a Christmas ornament and picked out Christmas Joy from JCS's 2009 mag.I'm stitching it on 20 count pearle linen.....with a lot of reinforcement around the edges, as it frays as soon as you look at it!

I think the gremlins were hiding in my phone today....not the best photos, but you get the general idea! I've finished the Geese Around The World block. I was really happy with the way it looked, so decided to add the border. Six hours later.........after much sewing, ripping and resewing.....

it still ripples! I'll be unpicking it....permanently.....during the week and going back to my original idea of hand quilting it....same as in Sarah Fielke's book.

Remembrance Day

2011-11-11T21:37:00.001+08:00

In Flanders Fields

by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Old and New

2011-11-06T08:25:00.001+08:00

I've just been over to Kim's blog where she and Mr Linky are co-hosting a fun competition which gives us an excuse to fondle our stash…..Not that we really need one! ;) She’s asking us to show our oldest and newest fabrics in our stash.

My oldest fabric is some Debbie Mumm fabric I bought about 10 years ago when I first started quilting and sewing. I bought them because ~~I am obsessive about Debbie Mumm fabrics and I must buy a metre of every one I see~~ simply because I liked them, not having any project in mind…..Does that sound familiar? lol There are some things that never change. It’s rare for me not to remember where I bought fabric from…..I think it is a quilter’s superpower, which we all seem to share.

My newest fabrics are a couple of ½ metres of fossil fern. When I first laid eyes on fossil fern fabric it was a case of love at first sight, which was unrequited for quite a while, as I was on an extremely tight budget and could not afford quilt shop prices. It did not stop me going to the quilt shop sighing over and fondling the fossil fern until I had put aside enough sheckles to make my first purchase. I was swooning the first time I walked into one of my favourite quilt shops to see they stock the whole range of fossil fern…..I regularly take ~~a pilgrimage~~ trip to fondle and drool.

Sumkinda Saturday

2011-11-05T16:36:00.003+08:00

The year seems to be flying past.

Before I know it, the weather will be so hot, I will feel like I am melting day and night. But……

It all seems so far away when having a quiet stroll by the water……

Followed by a quiet drink……..

Enjoying the spring sunshine and scent of lavender in the garden, or………..

Having a doze in the shade……..

Then a cuppa with something sweet to eat……….

Plus a bit of time for some quiet contemplation……….

With a classic movie in the evening………..

Whatever I do, I will remember …………Time I enjoyed wasting is not lost.

Squishies

2011-10-23T20:23:00.000+08:00

Instead of picking up the usual bills from the Post Office this week I was lucky enough to have two squishies waiting for me.

The first was this wonderful table topper from Jane. She recently had a giveaway on her blog and I was lucky enough to win. It is absolutely lovely. Her tiny hand stitching on the binding is totally perfect.

It takes pride of place under my favourite Depression Glass vase on the dining room table.

Plus a copy of this magazine. It is a great and is keeping me quiet. ;) Thank you so much, Jane, for the table topper and the magazine.

A while ago I sent The Delusional Knitter my unfinished Halloween Fairy cross stitch. She sent me a hank of her lovely hand dyed yarn....The colour is Jack 'O Lantern.....It is divine! Psssttt! She also sells her hand dyed yarn.....and has a sale on at the moment.....Go check it out.....You know you want to!

and some Halloween goodies. Thank you so much!

I've got the cross stitch bug again. This is Like Home by La De Da. I've had it in my stash for a while with the DMC cotton all ready to go. The colours make me think of Halloween.....though I can see it being hung all year round! The little blue flowers make me think of Space Invaders. What do you think?

All the separate foundation pieced blocks for Sarah Fielke's Geese Around The World (from Quilting: From Little Things) are finished and ready to join. Foundation piecing is my favourite piecing technique. I like how precise it is. I finished trimming them earlier on today, but I'm leaving it until next weekend to start joining all the pieces. I was just about cross eyed when I finished, so don't want to make any daft mistakes. Instead of making a Dolly Quilt like in the book, I'm going to add a border of the reindeer fabric. But.....even as I typed that sentence, I was wondering how it would look with a thinnish reindeer inner border, a thinnish border using the other fabric, then a wider outer reindeer border.....It could be something completely different, too!

I recently grabbed coloured pencils and some graph paper and fudged around with an idea I had burbling in the back of my mind. As you can see, Lestat was there being ~~an outright pest~~ totally supportive and helpful.

I'd seen a screen divider in a room on a tv programme which reminded me of a variation on a log cabin block. So Lestat and I (with encouragement from the birds) sat, drew, rubbed out and coloured to our heart's content until we came up with the design in the above piccie. I'm thinking about adding a wider border, french knots or beading and goodness knows what else! lol

This is as far as I've got.....part way through the first block.....~~Other projects keep distracting me.~~ Think time is important, isn't it? When it is done, I'll post a pattern. I tried writing one as I was drafting it, but I confused myself as I fiddled about with it! lol

The fabric in the middle of the block was maturing in my stash. I'd tried to think of something to do with it that had largish sections to highlight the pattern, but couldn't find the right pattern. I was part way through drawing the outline of the quilt (with no particular fabric in mind) when I had one of those "aha!" moments. I'd found the perfect centre. The two solids in the picture are a lot brighter than they look. The "purple" is a lovely pinky puce and the green is a dark lime green.

One of my LQS's has an awesome range of solids, so it was a lot of fun pulling out bolts of solids until I found a couple which were a match. They also have every single colour of Fossil Fern. *swoons* I've been in fabric love with Fossil Fern fabric ever since I first saw it over a decade ago. It is like black and calico...I always have some in my stash. It is something that is cross craft for me....I always have Cleckheaton 8 ply wool in my yarn stash. Plus white, black and ecru DMC cotton. Is there anything like that in your stash?

After I priesed Lestat from my Halloween target quilt, The Missus cut a piece of dowel and I hung it in the kitchen. It was interesting trying to get a photo. I had to sit on the kitchen bench and lean back against the blinds to get it all in the shot! It's 85cm square, so it's not that big....We have a small kitchen. ;) It looks fabulous there....Including in the dark, as the light from the next room hits the sparkly bits on the pumpkins and gives it a lovely eerie shimmer.

The Missus and I have been busy establishing an Australian native garden. I snapped this pic of our favourite plant in the garden.....A black Kangaroo Paw. Mind you, after planting its forty sisters in the following day....nothing was my favourite! lol

I'd been stuck and clueless when it came to finishing the Halloween Is A Hoot cross stitch until this afternoon when the idea just popped into my head. So of course I had to immediately raid the stash and found a fq of some Moda Halloween fabric. Before you could say "witches britches" it was finished!

Craft long and prosper.

War of WIPS

2011-10-06T22:09:00.000+08:00

The Delusional Knitter has sent out another Call To Arms in the War Of WIPS. I raise my needles in glorious battle.

This is the giant ball of hand dyed wool I told you about last Thursday. It is five balls of six ply wool. I dyed it as one large hank. To keep the continuity of the dye, I wound it all into one ball. I'm glad I did.

I was surprised and delighted when the stripes started appearing. This yarn has been resting in my stash for about five years and has matured very nicely. It also had a short rest for a few months as a tangled mess before transforming.

The Delusional Knitter has sent out an additional challenge which is to pair our knitting queues with our yarn stash. I’m being creative about that, as I still can’t get into Ravelry! So, instead I’ve been thinking, pondering, browsing knitting books and stitch dictionaries, skimming Knitty, plus other sites and fondling stash to come up with a loose list.

In the picture:

The top three balls of yarn are Jawoll Magic Superwash and are going to become Starter Stockingette, Classy Slip-Up and You've Got Rhythm. All from the book Knit Socks! By Betsy Lee McCarthy.

Bottom right: Self striping sock yarn (along with the other three or four balls lurking in my stash) - plain socks.

Bottom middle: This ball of Noro yarn (and its two sisters in my stash) will become a scarf with a plain pattern.

Bottom left: This hank of hand painted Misti Alpaca will join its fawn coloured cousin, which is wearing Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility, somewhere in the stash. Both will transform into floating, lacy shawls.

Not in the picture:

Various bits of balls of mostly 8ply wool in primary and secondary colours – arigumi.

Black 8 ply wool – scarf and or beanie for DS.

Hand dyed orange wool – Boneyard shawl.

Various part balls of cotton yarn – face cloths. (We can’t get enough of them!)

Various single and twin balls of yarns – hats, fingerless mittens.

Hanks of sari silk (They have been busy breeding) – knitted totes in wonderful cacophony of colour for The Missus and I.

Two hanks of breathlessly soft merino – something special for The Missus. I can’t say any more than that, as she reads my blog and I want what I make to be a surprise.

Right On Target

2011-10-05T21:41:00.001+08:00

Halloween Is A Hoot is all ready to put in a little frame. The border is different than in the pattern, as I prefer a plain border with a frame.

I've put together my first block of An Angels Story ready to applique. Instead of stitching flowers, I'll be using some of the buttons that I showed you in my last post.

The target log cabin wall hanging was arranged and pinned, all ready to take a photo of, when out of nowhere (I'm sure cats have perfected matter transportation or have access to a Tardis), Lestat was making a beeline towards it.....All in the time it took me to walk into the next room and return with my camera.....Just in time to get a photo of him getting comfy! lol

When it is up on the wall I will post a pic....minus Lestat....Unless he has Spidercat super powers! lol

This is the fifth block I've finished of Natalie Bird's Tis The Season wall hanging. The one I've just put a few stitches in is "Christmas has a special magic all of its own" and has a very cute reindeer. I'm currently thinking about hand quilting the wall hanging when it is finished with pearle cotton to match the red and green fabric. I'm not rushing to get it finished by this Christmas. I did that with a wall hanging you can see in this post a couple of years ago. I couldn't really appreciate it until the following year.

PS If you like making bags, you will like this link...... http://frugalandthriving.com.au/2009/45-awesome-free-bag-making-tutorials/

Craft long and prosper

Bling A Ding Ding!!!!!!

2011-10-03T21:40:00.000+08:00

I recently started teaching myself to knit socks. …..Or to be exact a single sock. It is my practise sock, so is intentionally on its own. ….not an orphan sock. The yarn is the first that was not eyelash yarn…..Which gives you an idea when I started knitting! lol……It is nylon, non-splitty and perfect for practise…..

Each project has to have its own bag, but………as you can see by the way the dpns are sticking out of the top of the bag that there is a bit of a problem. I like to look after my craft tools, so needed to find a solution!

I’m sure that I could have rearranged other bags and projects, but what would be the fun in that? My Muse must have been watching and waiting for an opportunity, as a metre of fabric in a colour I’d normally go past, which had been fermenting in my stash for a couple of months, a small completed Lizzie Kate cross stitch which I was clueless about how to finish and a big, blingy button, that had, much to my bewilderment, found its way home with me one afternoon all worked together and morphed into my sock knitting bag.

The excitement of successfully sewing my FIRST buttonhole ever made sewing on a button with a hank (blech!) almost painless. There is an advantage to disliking sewing buttons……….they NEVER fall off!

Craft long and prosper.

Happy Dancing

2011-10-02T21:35:00.001+08:00

One of the first blogs I ever read was Loopy Lou's Adventures Into Handicraft and was one of the first blogs I ever put on my blogroll. She had a giveaway of two lovely table toppers and I was lucky enough to win one! I'm happy dancing!

Do you remember this fabric I showed you recently paired up with the pink?

Last weekend I made it up into a tablecloth for the small table in the lounge where we sit Tim Birdton and Wanda Wigglebottom. I had a vague idea of what I wanted, so made it up as I went along. I decided not to use wadding in it, as I thought it might not drape. I'm glad I left it out, as it has a nice drape as it is. The upshot is....I like it, The Missus likes it (she says it brightens up the room) and it works perfectly!

Last week my brain turned to mush and I felt too tired to do any craft, but I still wanted to do something crafty. So I pulled out Kaffe Fasset's Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts and looked at the pictures. During the week I had a vague idea floating around in the back of my mind, just out of reach, something about a target log cabin and Halloween fabric. As the week went on, I "remembered" a Kaffe Fasset quilt which was made up of an ever increasing single target log cabin block.

After much fondling of and talking to my Halloween fabric stash, I pulled out the two in the pic above. I sketched out a rough diagram of a couple of log cabin rounds in my quilting journal with "All strips 4 1/2in wide. Fabric 90cm wide.", took a deep breath and started cutting. I cut a couple of strips from selvedge to selvedge, sewed and cut, sewed and cut.

Log cabin is my favourite block and this was the first one I'd ever made that was not foundation pieced. I started with the centre block, then added one side at a time, cutting the excess fabric as I went. I kept cutting strips, sewing them to the block, then trimming until the fabric wasn't long enough to complete another round.

My favourite way of quilting log cabin quilts is to tie them. This quilt didn't look right after I tied some of it, so started sewing small mismatched orange buttons on the corners of each round. Half of the buttons are sewn on and I expect to have the wall hanging finished (including the hanger) in the next couple of days. I like the way buttons look on quilts, but don't like sewing them on, but I really want to get the quilt finished, so I'm using that to get through the button sewing. lol

It's funny how we remember things differently than they actually are. Even though I've drooled over Kaffe Fasset's book many times, I "remembered" the quilt as being made of just one block. That was completely different than reality, which had quite a few blocks, sashing and a border!

Oops, almost forgot..........I used interfacing in the middle of the quilt instead of wadding. I've not used it like that before, so will be interested to see how it hangs and whether it needs to be weighted down on the bottom.

I finished The Cat's Whiskers - Itty Bitty Krazy Kitties - Halloween Kitty this afternoon.

I think it looks great with Jack.

Even though I don't like sewing on buttons, I didn't hesitate when I saw these at the LQS last week.

They look marvellous next to this stack of fabric I've had tucked away to use as my holiday project - An Angels Story by Hatched and Patched. I'm off to pick out my first block and choose the fabric for it.....plus the buttons. Maybe I should sew them on first? lol

Boxed in Quilt is also on the books for the holiday. It just wouldn't be me if I stuck to one project!

Craft long and prosper.

Favourite Things Friday

2011-09-30T20:38:00.000+08:00

I've not written a Favourite Things Friday for a few weeks. This week's FTF is something simple, but absolutely delightful to me.............

It's school holidays and I'm a teacher............Need I say more??

War of WIPS

2011-09-29T21:10:00.001+08:00

The WIP I've been working on this week's WOW is the tangled mess of hand dyed yarn I posted a couple of weeks ago. It's been wound....all five tangled hanks of it into a gigantic ball and is morphing into a 1 x 1 rib scarf for The Missus. She said the colours are like the double blue of her favourite football team. She says there is a flow in the colours. How could I resist?

I've decided my WOW is going to be on the yarn that's been fermenting in my stash; also a bit of detangling and more dyeing. I'm using my oldest yarn to teach myself how to crochet and the blue hand dyed yarn fermented in my stash for a few years, too. Even after I dyed it, it was "maturing" as it sat all in a tangle.

The next quest which has been set for the WOWers is to pair the knitting queue with the yarn stash. This runs until 9th October and I can see it being a lot of fun.....fondling yarn and dreaming about possibilities.......

"In life, many thoughts are born in the course of a moment, an hour, a day. Some are dreams, some visions. Often, we are unable to distinguish between them. To some, they are the same; however, not all dreams are visions. Much energy is lost in fanciful dreams that never bear fruit. But visions are messages from the Great Spirit, each for a different purpose in life. Consequently, one person's vision may not be that of another. To have a vision, one must be prepared to receive it, and when it comes, to accept it. Thus when these inner urges become reality, only then can visions be fulfilled. The spiritual side of life knows everyone's heart and who to trust. How could a vision ever be given to someone to harbor if that person could not be trusted to carry it out. The message is simple: commitment precedes vision." High Eagle

I wish you all craft dreams and visions.

Oodles Of Fun

2011-09-18T19:10:00.003+08:00

The Sentinel tirelessly guards the sacred book.

This weekend’s weather has been blustery and rainy…..perfect for staying inside and crafting! I knew I wanted to sew “something”, but didn’t quite know what, so on Friday night I curled up on the settee with a cup of tea and Sarah Fielke’s Quilting From Little Things. I’ve been a fan of Sarah’s ever since I saw her on a sewing DVD a few years ago. I have both the Material Obsession books she co-authored and picked up this book two hours after it hit the local book store. I was so excited, I was at the counter before I even opened it! lol I get it out every so often, fondle it and sigh over the lovely photos/projects/fabric.

In this book, she pairs her projects – a dolly quilt and a larger quilt, both different but using the same technique. A clever idea, which leads to many possibilities, such as making a stack of dolly quilts and joining them to make a larger quilt, as well as downsizing the larger quilts to wall hanging size.

Cross stitch is currently whetting my appetite for Halloween projects (it could change at any time, though……..my eye is beginning to wander! lol) I had my eye on Geese Around The World from Sarah’s book and a some fabric in mind. As I dived into my stash and pulled out the fabric, I realised it wasn’t right for the project, so it went back in and was exchanged for …….

Christmas Magic by Lynette Anderson for Henry Glass and Co.

and Nordic Christmas by STOF.

Both those fabrics are a much better match for the project. There is plenty going on in both fabrics design-wise, so I think two is enough. I’m thinking about perhaps adding a border of the reindeer fabric. I’ve not decided yet….I’ll see when I have finished it.

The project combines two of my quilty favourites….foundation piecing and flying geese. I usually trace the foundation onto interfacing and sew it that way, but have decided to leave it on paper this time. I’m considering hand quilting it, so no interfacing will make things much easier! I’ve got plenty of time to think about it, though, as I’m half way through making the blocks and haven’t joined any of them yet. I've not hand quilted anything for a few years and is a manageable size.

Not that I need any more hand projects……especially since I’ve added teaching myself how to crochet to the list. Teaching myself how to crochet has been on the list for a while now, but after seeing the Ood last weekend, that was it! I searched for a tutorial I could follow, whipped out the very first yarn I purchased when I decided to reteach myself how to knit (I hadn’t knit anything for twenty four years. I know exactly how long it was, because what I was knitting last time around was baby related, when I was expecting with my lovely son) five years ago, a crochet hook and I was off!

What I lack in technique, I make up with enthusiasm! I’m having a whale of a time going backwards and forwards getting the hang of single crochet. The stringy looking piece at the top of the picture came about because I was so excited that I remembered how to make a foundation chain. The three in the middle are what I made during the week. I’m still learning how to get tension, so changed to a size 10 hook on the bottom picture. It hasn’t helped much with my tension (as you can see by the curve lol), but it means I can get the hook through and I am getting a better understanding of how a single crochet stitch goes together. I have yet to figure out which is the front and back! lolol I know what it is technically, but I can’t tell which is which just by looking…….yet.

Does anyone know what is going on with Ravelry? I’ve not been able to get on for over a week now.

Craft long and prosper.

Today Was A Good Day To........

2011-09-10T20:20:00.001+08:00

........spent some time in the garden with the budgies, stitching, listening to Knit Picks podcasts and soaking up the spring sunshine. The air was warm, still and filled with the perfume of freesias, the buzz of bees, bugs and squawking of a couple of New Holland Honey Eaters.

While out there, I finished the back of Halloween Kitty. I changed colours of the pumpkin for cotton I had in my stash. (The orange is verigated cotton.) The two sides just need to be joined together and some filling added. I'll probably fill it with bear stuffing pellets to give it a bit of weight. I'll do that during the week.

I'm on a Halloween jag, so the next cross stitch project is Halloween Is A Hoot by Heart In Hand Needleart. I'm going to stitch it 2x2 on Cashel (colour - Vintage). I got it in my head that I wanted to use some green linenfor the background, even though I knew it didn't look right. The Missus has a good eye for colour, so she saved the day!

Craft long and prosper!

Here A Stitch, There A Stitch

2011-09-04T18:33:00.000+08:00

I think this says it all for me......lol I've been stitching this on and off for a few weeks and managed to get it finished on Friday night. I'm thinking about putting it in a little frame.....A good excuse to go to Ikea when we get the new catalogue. lol I like Lizzie Kate designs and have a few in my stash.

I was in a cross stitching mood again yesterday. It was nice to have something which I could finish so quickly. I was all for instant gratification! I was sent running to my stash, as I was using some leftover brown threads from another project and didn't think to check how much I had. Fortunately I had a green in my stash which matched. The design is Boo To You by Homespun Elegance. Besides being in the mood to cross stitch, I've also been attacked by the Halloween bug. As I was pondering what I was going to stitch, I glanced at the calender, then thought HALLOWEEN!!!! Halloween Kitty by The Cats Whiskers is next.

This tangled mess is five balls of yarn I dyed a while back. I used a method I read about on Knitty (I'll post the direct link when I can find it) which is dead simple, but you end up with lovely verigated yarn. I made a strong solution of blue greek egg food dye (with the usual slurp of vinegar); joined five balls of wool together into a very long hank; then dunked the yarn in the (hot) dye. I pulled about 10cm of the yarn out immediately, draped it over the outside of the crockpot and continued to do that whenever I liked the depth of the colour. I did it outside, so was in and out all day.....which is no different than any other time I am dyeing in the crockpot, as I like to check it regularly! It goes from alight blue to almost navy.

I was wandering around detangling it (now you know how it got knotted up in the first place lol) yesterday when The Missus spotted it. She immediately said it would make an awesome Sturt double blue scarf. I had NO idea what I was going to make until then. Now it will become (or some of it at least) a k1, p1 scarf for The Missus. It will be all ready and waiting for next winter.

There isn't a piccie yet of the yarn from last weekend. I can't get the colour right....gggrrrrr. It will be something for me to work on for my next post.

Craft long and prosper.

PS If you follow the British series Being Human.......The readings for series four start this week! WOOHOOO!

Favourite Things Friday

2011-09-02T07:00:00.000+08:00

For this week's.......

Favourite Thing Friday....

I'd like to share......

some of the photos I took.....

last Saturday afternoon.....

as I spent an hour or so........

soaking up the sun during the last days of winter.....

marvelling at.......

and relaxing in.....

My Secret Garden

Click on each photo to enlarge it and marvel with me.

Click on the Favourite Things Friday button on the right of my blog to see more FTFs.

Always With Love

2011-08-28T18:17:00.004+08:00

No, it’s not tonight’s tea….but it does look a lot like a bucketful of soba noodles. It is some wheat coloured yarn I’ve had sitting in my stash doing nothing for months. I whipped it out last night and gave it a soaking in a bucket of water overnight.

After mixing in a couple of large jars of water and a decent size slurp of vinegar, I slid a concoction of five packets of yellow Greek Easter egg dye down the left of the slow cooker, then the same with red, down the right side of it. It sat steaming away all day…..Now it just needs to be rinsed and dried. (I don't usually leave the elastic bands in, but didn't notice I'd not changed them for yarn until I had dunked ALL the hanks in water).

This is an image I’ve liked ever since The Missus sent me the link (we were living in different states, then) eleven or twelve years ago on http://sappho.com/. It appears to be from the 1920’s. It says on the site “This photograph is from a family album I purchased. Most of the photographs appear to be from 1900-1930. This surprising image--taken on an outing to Callomer that included Edith, Hilda, and Linnie--was simply labeled "Mildred & Cecile." A photograph next to it showed the two shyly holding hands, and another shows Cecile pretending to pour the contents of a bucket into Mildred's open mouth. Very sweet.” I used to wonder if The Missus and I would ever meet and kiss like the two women in the picture. Weeeeellllllll........we did! (http://www.sappho.com/vintage/MildredNCecile.html)

I printed the photo, sponged it with StazOn Olive Green and Sepia Archival Ink, did the same thing with the inside of a small canvas (6cm x 8cm; 2 ½ in x 3 in approx), then stamped ‘’always with love” using gold ink. I sprayed it with a permanent mat finish and when it stops stinking to high heaven I will give it to The Missus, because everything I make for her, whether it is simply a cup of tea, a quilt or an art piece is always with love.

Something Little This Way Comes

2011-08-27T16:54:00.002+08:00

This afternoon The Missus and I were auditioning fabric. I desperately wanted to use a brown as a background fabric, even though I knew in my heart of quilty hearts that it did not go.

The brights came next. Nothing seemed quite right until the.......

HOT PINK!

It is a great match for this lovely Birdie (Me and My Sister for Moda) fabric. I'll be looking through my Kaffe Fassett books tonight to find the perfect design to make a small fjehtrfegvfhgrfrf. Goodness me! The keys just don't seem to be working correctly..............I will have to tell you more next time!

Favourite Things Friday

2011-08-26T20:15:00.002+08:00

It doesn't seem a week since my first Favourite Things Friday. Tonight I'm going to keep it short and sweet! I love my Roc boots! I'm also looking forward to wearing them on the weekend.

WoW Call To Arms #6

2011-08-25T14:38:00.003+08:00

The Delusional Knitter has once again sent out a call to arms for anyone who is braving their WISPS. I've put Holiday Morning Quilt away for now, until Vivian has been for an exorcism, as it is too awkward to try to fit under Priscilla. Instead, in between starting a new knitting project and making the mixed media piece with The Missus I squeezed in a bit of time to do a little sewing on my skinny table runner.

I was so intent on getting the writing on the fabric the right way up I forgot to applique the flowers on! lol I'm using raw edge applique, so it is not a big drama. It will be an easy fix this weekend. I can't even remember why I put it to one side as it is fun to sew.

I didn't even get any clues when I went back to my old blog to see if there were any clues there....Not one! I did find out that I started it on 29th August last year! I didn't realise it had been floating around for quite that long!

Is anyone having trouble getting into Ravelry? I've tried a couple of search engines, since yesterday, with no luck.

Meet The Missus, My Guest Blogger

2011-08-21T16:49:00.001+08:00

I never said I was an artistic type of person...my Missus (Sue) has tried for years to peek my interest in things like quilting, sewing, papercraft, rubberstamping...you name it...I just never took to it. From time to time however she sees a crack in my veneer of “eeeewwwwwwwww that means I have to be creative” and she finds her own nefarious way of firstly suggesting something creative and then actually carrying it out. My Missus’ sneak attacks are legend in our home when it comes to wild thoughts and then wild artistic thoughts.....

It’s not like I hate art or craft I love going to galleries and seeing art in many forms, it’s just that I never felt confident in attempting it myself...my snail for sculpture in high school art classes would attest to that STRONG non-creative streak...the clay began life as a lump and by some miracle managed to evolve into a snail...one step ahead of a single-celled organism as far as I was concerned at the time....and it was marked with single-celled enthusiasm by the art teacher I am sure.

That was when my creative streak stopped DEAD!

As luck would have it however, someone in a chatroom once told me it would be good if I could take up an art or craft...it would add dimensions to the topics I could talk about in a chatroom.

And with that, I took up drawing, not knowing that all the contour maps and landscape drawings that I had done on geography field trips were actually creative and artistic in some basic sort of way.

Since those early days I am self-taught and can basically pick up a pencil and my drawings almost even resemble what I see...I like to draw off pictures rather than from 3 dimensional objects or scenes. My favourite drawing includes landscapes and those related to architecture, especially gothic.

Anyway...I was once again ambushed by the Missus about a week ago...”What would I like to do next Saturday?... how would you like to do this and that art stuff with me next Saturday?...it will be fun won’t it?....we can do it together and make a day of it”... (she knows I love her to bits and any opportunity to spend with her is like having pure heaven in my life)...so of course I said YES...not knowing what the hell I was getting myself into this time...

For a start I was awoken with...”it’s time to get out of bed”... I HATE THOSE WORDS WITH A PASSION...and then it was, “how about toast for breakfast instead of a smoothie?”...this was Missus code for, “I want to get to be creative NOW!!!...rather than...let’s sit down, have a lovely home-made smoothie and kick a few minutes around, idly on the couch...........NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....not that lucky!

Anyway....instead we have spent a leisurely day working on our first major collaborative piece of mixed media art...da Missus and I have quite a stash of goodies when it comes to artistic material and so this time the canvas was from my supply and da Missus supplied the rest....yes I know..I can imagine, that by now, I have all these readers saying...”what you actually own canvas??”...

Well yes....as a matter of fact I have lots of it...I just don’t parade it around like Leonardo...

I have learnt a lot today...

1 When the Missus suggests something, she is right

2 Refer back to 1 for all queries

Oops she’s looking.....just joking honey....

ANYWAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY...

We did the background first and I was introduced to Gesso and what it does and that it could be used in unison with paint colour to make the background of an artwork. We were able to give it some texture and some sense of 3 dimensions as we both had a different way of applying the gesso and colour...

We then used a stencil with keys and some writing on it...spraying it lightly with a red mist and also wiping it on the canvas in parts...da Missus tells me I had a look of absolute horror on my face when she began to wipe the stencil, wet with red mist over the canvas...but as she later explained the stencil on the canvas had been looking too square so she wanted to break it up....that was the big picture....poor me...I was still stuck in the small picture...and then OMG!!!!...she’s taking away a few of those pretty letters that I like...I loved the words and keys...they looked awesome...

After that, we used another stencil and using gold paint and sponging it through the pattern looked rather like a nautilus shell...da Missus once again using her superior artistic talent improving upon it by using the edge of the sponge to have the lines moving further out from the centre...it looked really good too!

What went by the wayside however, was da Missus’ use of charcoal in our attempt to give our ‘person’ a frame for their body...after discussion we mutually decided that charcoal wasn’t doing it for us and that the person’s dress would just be a contrasting material without the charcoal border.

It took a little while but we found some good material for our person’s dress...I liked it because it was a contrast of bluish-green (green is my favourite colour) in contrast to the warmer colours of the background and the gold of the halo...da Missus cut out the fabric and ironed it. When she finished it she stuck it on and we had a much needed cuppa.

After the best cup of tea all day, (always those da Missus makes) we used a white gel pen to go around the dress material in dots. It looks effective but doesn’t overtake the fabric...I spotted the short side and the right side...so if there are any mistakes...it’s ALL da Missus’ fault!!!..lol

I also heard mumblings about “graffiti”...da Missus had scrawled our message on the canvas, it literally paints (in words) how we both feel about art...you readers will have to enlarge the pic to see it..hehehe

Next...three letters...A ... R ... T....we used gold paint on them...then the red spray mist...looked bloody but took the edge off the gold...when they had dried da Missus stuck material to back the inside shape of the three letters and now...we await daylight in the morning to attach the letters to the canvas.

More to follow later...

Well... later came sooner than I expected, much sooner, actually middle of the night type sooner...for the first time in nearly ten years together something happened in the middle of the night....OMG...there it was...I had woken up with an artistic idea...just one word..RIBBON...

RIBBON...must have meant something and because it was such a shock to the system, I was lucid for long enough to realise that it had to be something to do with our piece of art...it was in fact to join our letters together...

Ummmm errrrr and of course I have the nasty habit of forgetting my dreams and that kind of thing so I took the major step of waking up da Missus and telling her I had an idea for the artwork...the conversation went something like this...”Honey....wake up...I thought of something we need to add to the art work...RIBBON”,(in the vain hope that at least if both of us heard the word one of us would remember it next morning). The sleepy response to my word was...”That’s nice, can I go to sleep now?”

I reckon if I hadn’t been so tired myself I would have laughed out loud but we both turned over and just went back to sleep as if nothing had happened.

This morning da Missus informed me that ribbon was a good idea to link our word together and also that the gold of our halo was too light now that everything had dried properly so da Missus “stippled it to within an inch of it’s life” (her words).

I found some ribbon after only a small search, da Missus had a huge plastic bag full of the stuff. It was a good compliment to the colour of our letters. We decided to hot glue the ribbon to the back of the letters and I held the ribbon down as da Missus got busy with gloves and glue gun...my hands were very careful not to stay in her way as she glued happily...I was hoping she wouldn’t get carried away with the glue gun and glue my fingers together or something silly like that...but I survived....after all I’m typing this somewhat lengthy explanation now aren’t I???

Finally we glued the word ART to our canvas and all there was left to do was take a piccie....it took me only six shots to get one da Missus liked...thank the Goddess for digital cameras...lol

We hope you like our piece of collaborative ART as much as we do...we’re doing canvas zombie dolls next weekend....hehehe

Chaos J

Favourite Things Friday

2011-08-19T22:06:00.000+08:00

Shay is hosting Favourite Things Friday. Mr Linky helps her out with his Magical Widgets. Bless his little cotton socks!

A while back Sharon sent me a link for this very cute cat piccie....and that was it....I was totally hooked! (Pardon the crochet pun.) Most days I Google (in images) lolcats. I always find something that makes me laugh out loud. Most days I email The Missus one of the pics which have had me laughing to her work.....so she can laugh out loud, too.

A Second WoW Victory

2011-08-18T11:50:00.002+08:00

This is Stark by Kai Mistry. It is my second WoW finish. I spent Sunday afternoon curled up on the settee and finished it then. The colour is not right in the picture. I've taken photos of the hat oodles of times in all kinds of lighting, but it just does not come out right on either picture! I totally give up. lololol If you imagine the colour of my glasses and added some yellow to make a dark orange, then you would have a close approximation of what colour the beanie is. I dyed it myself and love the colour. I love the beanie! I love it so much I spent a couple of hours on and off running and dancing round the house shouting "I made a beanie! WOOHOO!" lol

I'm really excited about it. Firstly, because it is finished! It was frogged many, many times since I started in in March this year. Secondly, it was the first thing I have every knitted in the round. Thirdly, I finished it using dpns, which I have never used before. I am rather chuffed with myself and now I have a "fishing" beanie. I'm NOT going fishing....The Missus will be and I'll be sitting next to her......knitting her fishing beanie in the same yarn in hand dyed dark green.

This leaves the following WoW WIPs:

Holiday Morning quilt

applique 24 inch acrylic ruler cover

Sing, Choir of Dark Angels applique wall hanging

skinny table runner

LHQ - International Left-Handed Quilters Anonymous - 08/13/11

2011-08-13T23:31:00.001+08:00

MY NAME IS SUE. I'M A LEFT HANDED QUILTER AND PROUD OF IT! No, I've not lost the plot.....Today is International Left Handed Day and Kitty is hosting the very first Annual International LEFT-HANDED Quilters Anonymous Online Quilt Show. My contribution for my best quilt was a gift for The Missus. It is also my favourite quilt and is very special to both of us.

So gather round for a piece of damper fresh out of the oven (there's butter, vegemite, jam, some lovely lavender honey or golden syrup) to have with your cup of tea......

or you could join The Missus and I with some tomato soup as I tell my story....

I wanted to make something special for The Missus, had a love for log cabin quilts that verged on obsession, desperately wanted to make one and had been reading about foundation piecing. This led to an idea burbling around in my head that just wouldn’t go away……..I was going to design and make a foundation pieced log cabin in the Pride colours.

Having very little coordination due to being in the recovery process from operations on both my hands for carpel tunnel, no design experience, all the quilts I had made were not even a quarter of the size of the one I had planned and had been hand appliqued and quilted, I’d never made anything foundation pieced and my machine sewing experience was very limited did not faze me in the slightest. I was going to make the quilt and that was that!

I started out with a couple of sheets of 1cm graph paper, a pencil, eraser and some acrylic paints. My progress was slow not only because of my hands, but also because I was using nothing but memory for reference. I had a picture in my head of how it was to look and I didn’t want any outside influence. I painted the colours on graph paper for the strips because my coordination was better holding a paint brush than a pencil. The photos are some of my plans. I’ve kept notebooks with my plans, ideas and inspirational piccies from all kinds of sources for many years and these are my original plans for the quilt, which was going to have three panels…..and be small.

The nearest shop that sold fabric was an (almost) two hour drive away, which gave me plenty of time to work on my design and work out how much fabric I needed, as I’m sure you understand, it was not at all practical to duck down to the LQS or the discount fabric store. I took a guesstimate on how much fabric I would need, then added a little more for rotary cutter slippage.

The next thing I tackled was how to foundation piece. Our internet connection was horribly slow and timed out regularly on anything that was graphic heavy so finding a tutorial was time consuming. I eventually found one of a tiny little tree. It was made of three triangles and three rectangles. It took me a couple of afternoons to even begin to get my head around the idea of how to foundation piece. I didn’t have a lot of fabric then, so there was a lot of unpicking of small pieces! When it was finished, I gave it to The Missus as a kind of down payment on her quilt…..plus I was so proud and excited that I had managed to foundation piece something!

When it came time to draw up the blocks, I made the foundations out of interfacing. I learned a lot of lessons…..including if you are going to spray a block with water make sure the pen you use on the interfacing is waterproof….especially on the YELLOW strips. The quilt took a lot longer than I expected, months rather than weeks. As it grew, so did my confidence and my skills. A lot of unpicking was involved and a lot of patience, as I was frustrated with my slow progress and lack of coordination. The Missus kept encouraging me and showed a heck of a lot of patience too, as she was forever rescuing my tapestry needle as I dropped it and couldn't pick it up again (I was also reteaching myself how to cross stitch and the floss always seemed to manage to fall off the needle!).

I was so pleased and quite amazed that all the points matched and how big it was (80cm square). The Missus was over the moon when I gave it to her and it is still her favourite. The symbolism in it also makes it special to us.

It is my interpretation of the flag Gilbert Baker created in 1978. The Pride flag is sometimes called the Freedom flag and is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trangender (LGBT) pride and diversity. My quilt symbolises our pride in being part of the diversity LGBT community and more. It symbolises my strong sense of social justice and how important it is not to be complacent, but to speak out against discrimination.

The black represents the abuses and discrimination towards the LGBT community in the past and present. The past includes lesbians being in concentration camps during WWII. Lesbians were deemed ''asocial'' or ''arbeitsscheu'' (work-shy) and wore black triangles to categorise them according to ''their kind''. When I made the quilt the black represented institutionalised and societal discrimination against the LGBT community and The Missus and I on a personal level from our own experiences. It still holds the same meaning for me today. The institutionalised discrimination has mutated. Lebian and gay relationships are recognised by our government for taxation purposes only. We are not deemed fit to marry.

MY NAME IS SUE. I'M A LEFT HANDED QUILTER AND PROUD OF IT! Oh, I'm also a militant lesbian feminist and make a mean round of damper, too! ;)

Craft long and prosper!!!!!

WoW Call To Arms #4

2011-08-11T19:08:00.001+08:00

Vivian (my Janome) was possessed by evil daemons a week or two ago and started running....by herself....when I was in the next room.....So it was her little sister, Priscilla (my titchy Brother, which I use for mixed media sewing projects) to the rescue....31 raw edge applique leaves later (I think....either that or it is 31 altogether lol) and there are only 9 leaves, 10 birds, 20 wings, some filler quilting and a binding to go before it is finished. Not a lot really, if I get a few free weekend afternoons and don't get distracted by other projects.

Lazy Sunday

2011-08-07T19:30:00.000+08:00

I’ve had a very lazy Sunday. One of the stalls at this weekend’s craft fair had loads of cross stitch patterns for prices such as $5 each and 3 for $5. I stocked up on a few. One of them is Lizzie Kate’s Snippet Stitching Forever. I’ve started it on 18 count Aida.

I’ve been having a play around with a die I picked up for my Big Shot. This one is Weathered Clock by Tim Holtz. I am rather partial to his designs. I started with some plain white cardex; dabbed on Sepia Archival Ink and Olive Green StazOn to give it an old weathered kinda look; then gave it a good squirt or three with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Red Velvet. That gives it a lovely glimmer. Pity it doesn’t do the same thing for the concrete slab out in the back garden…lol It means I will remember to put it on newspaper next time, as it didn’t wash out!

It is destined for a series of layouts The Missus and I are collaborating on for next year’s Tour de France. We thought it would be fun to scrap next year’s Tour and its history, too. This clock will be going on the page which is going to be about the first Tour. We both find the development of the Tour from the beginning to current times fascinating.

I'll post some quilt pics from the craft show when I finish downloading the necessary software to my computer. Until then..............

Craft long and prosper!

It Is Who I Am Prime Minister Gillard....Who Are YOU?

2011-08-07T01:12:00.003+08:00

I am the boy who never finished high school, because I got called a fag everyday.

I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.

I am the prostitute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman.

I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.

We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.

I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room.

I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me. I am not one of the lucky ones.

I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear.

We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.

I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the management called on me.

I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.

I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men. I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that.

I am the woman who died when the EMTs stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was transsexual.

I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didnt have to always deal with society hating me.

I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my kind.

I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love.

I am the person ashamed to tell my own friends I'm a lesbian, because they constantly make fun of them.

I am the boy tied to a fence, beaten to a bloody pulp and left to die because two straight men wanted to "teach me a lesson"

---IF YOU BELIEVE THAT HOMOPHOBIA IS WRONG... Pass this note on.

https://www.facebook.com/WHOF1

This is what hope looks like.............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDLCrvVFEcw

Wow Call to Arms #3

2011-08-04T07:00:00.008+08:00

Victory is mine! My first finish in the WoW is a cross stitch needle case for Halloween.

We put up decorations in the house for the month of October every year. I'm sllllooowwwwllllllyyyyy adding crafty bits and pieces. This will be the needlecase I will be using for October. The next WoW WIP I'll be tackling is Sing Choir of Dark Angels....a Halloween wall hanging.

Answering the Wow Call To Arms #2

2011-07-29T21:42:00.001+08:00

The Delusional Knitter has declared a War of WIPs. I've answered the call to arms....Why not pop over to check it out and be inspired to tackle an old WIP or two?

I tackled the Halloween needlecase WIP with great gusto this week....It's almost ready to make as a needlecase. I finished the moon and added most of the pumpkin before deciding I didn't like it....so have a date with the frog over the weekend. It was a case of ignoring my inner quilter, as the two cats are out of whack, which I don't have a problem with....but it does mean a pumpkin doesn't look right. There may even be a small victorious finish over the weekend!

Viva le Finishes....

2011-07-24T21:54:00.001+08:00

......and Viva Cadel for winning this year's le Tour de France!!!! The Missus and I have been watching le Tour de France for over ten years.....three weeks each year of sleep deprivation, but worth it all.....as we have enjoyed every minute of it. For the past five years or so we have been cheering on Cadel Evans.....through good and bad times for him.....Now we are watching him wearing the maillot jaune (winner's jersey) and I'm beside myself with excitement! Fortunately for me, I finished le Tour de Scarf on Thursday....as by the time Cadel was racing in the time trial last night I was so excited I'd forgotten how to knit!

I had just cast off this face cloth for the Christmas goodies bag and was trying to cast on another one. I had to laugh at myself as I looked down at the needles and had NO idea what to do! Tonight is the final stage and there is a gentleman's agreement that nobody takes on the maillot jaune. I had planned on doing some stitching for the Halloween needle case, but I am STILL too excited to do anything needle related, especially something as small and pointy as a cross stitch needle! lol

I was sorting through my WIPs on Friday when I came across a cushion insert and had one of those light bulb moments.....I had an orphan block which would be absolutely perfect for a cushion. I finished this one yesterday afternoon.

I've liked Debbie Mumm fabrics ever since I've been quilting....and think the angels on this one are cuter than cute. I have a "thing" about fabric with swirls, too....I think there is more than a bit of influence from Tim Burton there!

Flora (left) has been lurking around for ages as a WIP. All she needed was turning out the right way and stuffing, which I did this morning....She and Olly (right) look lovely together and they look like they have been caught out on a wild girl's night out in this piccie.

I have no idea what happened to the bottom of this piccie....It is The Missus' rag quilt. It had a couple of rounds in the washing machine last night and is fraying nicely. The Missus loves it. It is the second rag quilt I've made....and when I have found the right fabric I will make one for DS.....longer and wider, though, as he is 7 inches taller than me.

This is as far as I have got with my hexies for the Hex-A-Long. After tonight I'll be safe around small, sharp pointy objects and am looking forward to starting! I have a project bag all packed and ready to go. I like to have everything I need in a bag, so I don't have to go looking for bits and pieces. I'm always telling The Missus that my tape measures (I like to collect the decorated ones) get sucked in to a black hole on a regular basis....She saw exactly what I meant the other night, as a couple of hours after I'd had three on hand I couldn't find one! lolol My theory is, it is the same black hole where our progress disappears when we are sewing/stitching/knitting and we seem to be making no progress!

This tangled mess is my first practice on the Sweet 16. Lestat looks like he is thinking I need more practice. Im getting much better......especially when I realised that I'd threaded the bottom bobbin backwards....I'm blaming that one on being a leftie!

Craft long and prosper

Guest Post From Melka The Far-Travelled

2011-07-21T19:45:00.001+08:00

Dost thou feel accursed by the weight of overmany olde WIPS? Dost thou hath olde WIPS from yore? Dost thou hear their plaintif cries to be completed? Art thou feeling weighted down by thy olde WIPS? If thou hath answered verily yay, henceforth tarry no longer and raise your splendid naedl in a huzzah and join arms with the fair Lady The Delusional Knitter to rid thyself of the scourge of Ye Olde WIPS.

Sit not weeping over thou tankard of metheglin, but rise up with thy fellow naedlmakers and fere in triumph as me and thee stand rotary cutter to circular needle to splendid naedl in glorious victory! To arms, fellow crafters, to arms! Raise thou voice in our joyous battlecry....TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO WIP!!!!

WIPS

nettgearn (knitting) WIP - penguin egg cosy, cotton hat and mysterious piece of purple knitting .....ripped or tossed in the midden.

feðergeweorc (embroidery) WIP - Halloween needlecase. Due date - Halloween.

feðergeweorc(embroidery) WIP - Halloween Fairy. Due date - Halloween.

stræl (quilt) WIP - Holiday Morning from the book Material Obsession by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielkes. (birds, leaves and flowers - raw edge applique, binding)

stræl (quilt) WIP - Sing All Ye Angels daemon style. Due date - Halloween. No pic....hidden in the dungeon guarded by a fiery dragon.

Hex-A-Long, Sew-A-Long and a War of WIPs!

2011-07-19T16:55:00.001+08:00

I'm not hexactly sure how long I've had this stack of hexagon templates sitting in my drawers. It would not be a hexaggeration if I said it was a few years. I sometimes drag them out for a hexamination and wonder what I will do with them, which I find quite hexasperating. I received them as a freebie for a magazine I used to subscribe to and was quite hexcited when they arrived. Soon after this I had hexausted all ideas about how I would use them, as I mostly found patterns and ideas for Granny's Garden or similar....I started to think nothing else hexisted in the realm of hexis. When I least hexpected it, I came across a Hexalong with hexplicit instructions on how to create and sew hexies. I decided it would be hexpidient to make a Flickr account and join up.

At first I thought I'd hexperiment with some scraps, but then decided to become a hexpert, I'd rather hexpress myself with some hextraordianry fabric from my LQS. So yesterday afternoon The Missus and I stroked, compared and discussed with great hexuberance the different fabrics in the store. With great hexultation, I decided on these two hexceptional fabrics. After hexamining The Clear Grip and the Add A Quarter, I decided to hexit the LQS before hexceeding my budget.

As you can see, Lestat was hextremely hexcited about me joining the Hex-A-Long.

I'd been sewing my crumbs together with NO idea what I was going to do with them.....Until I came across a 15 Minute Sew-A-long. Then the ideas really started ticking over.

I pulled out this book and wondered, dreamed and pondered until I found.....

.....this block. When I have enough "made fabric", I'll be making some blocks with a black background (the greyed out area in the block). It'll eventually be made into a throw for the bed....for those cold "three quilt nights".

The Delusional Knitter is having a War of WIPs where I've joined her on a quest to conquer some of our old WIPs by the end of the year. She says, "We will join forces to demolish the evil WIP Empire and restore peace to demolish the evil WIP Empire and restore peace to our land."

As a Slow Poke Quilter all three of these "alongs" suit me down to the ground. No "alongs" for me with weekly, fortnightly or monthly deadlines, which send my brain to the same consistency as refried beans quicker than you can say "There's a 30% sale on at the LQS", but a slow, leisurely, enjoyable meander through growth, change and creativity.

Getting Our Backs Into It

2011-07-12T22:29:00.000+08:00

Designed by a Quilter, for Quilters…….with Herculean strength! Today I picked up my Sweet Sixteen quilting machine and had an informative lesson on how to use it. Brilliant! Getting it all out of the car and into the house was interesting to say the least…..and involved a lot of cooperation, a fridge trolly and a car sun visor. It is HEAVY!!!

I came into the house with the small box Letstat is sitting on tucked under my arm and a bag with some fabric and a book….Nothing unusual there….It’s in THE RULES that whenever I go to a quilt shop I must come back with at least one metre of fabric. The Missus asked what the box was.....and the look of disbelief threw me for a second…..Until I realised what I had said….It is the box for the bobbin winder…..I had to laugh when I realised that she was wondering if he bobbin winder was THAT big, how big was the Sweet 16????

After that, it all came to a grinding halt very quickly…..I popped one leg up on the table, then couldn’t budge the other….neither of us could, individually or together…..I spent the next little while giving the table black looks and muttering about its lineage….Mainly about its woodworm riddled mother coming from illegal logging in Borneo. The Missus was much more rationale.....she was looking at it, figuring a way to MacGyver it. Tomorrow is another day. ;)

It's not that long until Christmas! With that in mind, I couldn't resist this month's Homespun. I picked out this project by Natalie Bird while I was in the newsagent as a holiday project.

By the time I got home I'd decided to make it a scrappy quilt.....Then dived straight in sorting piles of red, green and blue scraps.

I found the perfect background in my stash. Lestat auditioned it for me.

As I was tracing out the pattern for the Snow Buddies block I was planning what scraps I would use in the background. Then I started to get a very familiar itch in the back of my mind....Maybe I could change the background blocks. Once I started thinking about it consciously, I realised that I wanted to use some elements of the wall hanging, but not make the whole thing. I had one of those AHA! moments and knew exactly how I was going to turn the block into a small wall hanging......

After sewing four strips on, I showed it to The Missus who said straight away that it would make a fantastic bag. She is uber supportive of all my crafting adventures, but has never "seen" what a block could possibly be made into before. I was thrilled to bits that she told me and we spent the next little while planning how I could turn it into a bag. It was great fun planning it out with her. She's asked for it to be lined in black, with the green starry fabric on the back. I suggested some pockets on the inside, then thought of covering a notebook with fabric to go inside one of the pockets and matching sunglasses case.

I've still got a bit more to do on it before I can make it into a bag, but it is adding buttons and embroidery. I was going to do some beading (when it was a wall hanging in the making) but it needs something more sturdy now.

Craft long and prosper.

2011-07-10T19:55:00.000+08:00

The wait is over………Le Tour de France is on! Each year I cast on a garter stitch scarf as the competitors start the race. I get so excited I’m not capable of knitting anything BUT garter stitch……I don’t need to follow a pattern or look at my fingers….but do need to put it down when the peloton is hurtling round hair raising bends….Or Cavendish and The Mighty Thor are battling it out for a stage finish. My stitches get so tight then that I often have a fight getting the needle through….wavy edged scarf anyone?

This is my progress up to now. The yarn is king cole’s Mirage. If all goes to plan I’ll be finished by the end of the school holidays…just in time for middle of winter playground duty @ work.

I’ve been stitched a few of Natalie Bird’s Tis The Season stitcheries. These are fun to stitch and are turning out cuter than cute. I’m using 3363 DMC cotton. The Missus is picking the order I stitch them in, which is fun…plus it means I don’t spend hour trying to decide, then changing my mind. lol The fabric they are sitting on is what I will make the blocks with when the stitcheries are finished. I decided to leave this until last as The Missus and I are
not sure what layout we want.

I’d been keeping a stitching kit with blocks from A Gardener’s Journal (Hatched and Patched) in the cupboard at work for breaks…..and that is where it stayed for most of the year! It now sits on my desk….so a lot more progress is made. This is the block I finished on the last day of the semester. I’ve decided to do redwork in orange and the patchwork blocks in green and purple. I’ve stitched a few blocks from this book previously and made them into other things…..Not this time….I expect the stitcheries to take a year or more to make, between playground duties etc. The time doesn’t matter, enjoying my breaks does! A little bit here and there adds up.

I’ve been playing around with some fancy stitches on my sewing machine around applique pieces. I was so much more successful after I got out the instruction book and found out there is a SEE-THROUGH foot! lolol It is a WIP and will be made into a cover for my 24 inch quilting ruler.

I've been sewing between downloading bits 'n'pieces for this post....In that time the sewing machine has become possessed be demons....I'm going to watch Master Chef! lolol

Ohhh….almost forgot…..The “What Am I” quilt is a rag quilt. Top marks to Vickie for guessing what it is. I’ll take a progress piccie in the daylight and post it soon. J

Craft long and prosper.

Any guesses on my current project?

2011-07-02T16:27:00.000+08:00

My wadding is often flannel.

The more you wash me, the better I get.

My blocks are sandwiched before being joined.

I wear my one inch seams proudly on the outside.

There’s a lot of snipping involved after quilting, but it is all worthwhile to get the ruffle!

I am a _______________ quilt.

Hamburger With Bradbury

2011-06-18T19:44:00.002+08:00

He looked…..faded. Like a stamp in a pre-decimal collection. For Bradbury it had been a lifetime. He seemed so…..old! It is one of those things I can never quite get my head around. Humans are just so fragile…..They barrel along their whole lives ignoring their frailties…I looked closer and realised that this was different. It was like the faded look humans get when they are away from Earth too long. They see themselves as great intergalactic swashbucklers, but reality is, the further they are away from Earth, the more faded they get. They just don’t realise how strong the bond is or the meaning of the phrase Mother Earth.

He smiled and greeted us with his familiar drawl. “You two haven’t changed a day.” “The equivalent of a few days, actually” joked Chronomage, dryly.

“Well, Bradbury? What time do you fancy? How far in the future do you want to go?” The words tumbled out of my mouth, trying to push away the slow march of time on him. “It’ll only be a few minutes here and, well, you know how long it can seem in a Tardis.” There was a pause. Chronomage and I both held our breath.

“A hamburger with fries. No, no! Those fat English chips. You KNOW when.” His laugh was dry, dusty, fractured and underused. My brow furrowed as we escorted Bradbury to our Tardis. One on either side, arms looped through his, as though to stop him escaping. Not that I thought there was much chance of that happening, as he had been the most adventurous of the humans, the one who revered and revelled in The Human Condition more than any other human we had known….and we had known quite a few!

As we stepped over the threshold of our Tardis, she rumbled a soft greeting to Bradbury. She had noticed, too.

Huddled together, we dangled our legs over the end of the pier, in coats, long scarves and beanies, trying desperately to keep out the biting cold. The wind reddened our cheeks as the sun set, snatching our voices away and flinging them out to sea, to be chased by seals and gulls. The visitors slowly drifted away with the sun. We sat there, mesmerised by the slow, rhythmic slapping of a lone seal’s flipper slapping against a pylon.

Bradbury and Chronomage soon had their heads together, breath fogging as they whispered philosophical conundrums together. Feeling restless, I leapt up and thudded down the jetty, racing the seal, feeling the air bite into my lungs. My two hearts thudded strongly, rhythmically within my chest. I reached the van, panting and sweating, fumbling in my pockets for the right currency. Which is it? No! No! No! No! No! I sighed in resignation. Chronomage was right….I SHOULD empty my pockets more often…..Ahhhh! That is it….I pulled a couple of crumpled notes out and passed them to Beryl in exchange for a bag bursting with steaming hot burgers and chips and our favourite beverages.

I thanked her, then walked back, slowly, carefully balancing the packages, lost in memories of the three of us together. I learnt a lot about humans from Bradbury. I learnt a lot about collecting, too! We have his collections tucked away safely in our Tardis…..Collections of things the Earth is not quite ready to see.

Chronomage and Bradbury’s voices carried towards me. I heard snatches of their conversation. The things we saw, the adventures we had together which filled him to exploding point with inspiration. The hot summer night we went walking in THAT small town in the not so distant future became The Pedestrian. The mournful sound of our Tardis as she whisked us through the cosmos was inspiration for the train in Something Wicked This Way Comes. His heartbreak at seeing how humans had torn themselves apart can be seen in The Martian Chronicles.

So much for one human to comprehend. He soaked it all up and turned it into many wonderful pieces of writing. There were always hints in his writing. Teasers. It COULD be true….

We hugged Bradbury. He told us goodbye, then laughed, knowing there was no such thing as a last goodbye for Timelords.

Hiatus

2011-06-09T17:32:00.000+08:00

I'm having a break from writing posts. I'm writing reports....The last thing I want to do is spend more time typing! lol It's not stopping me from reading blogs, though.....:):) CUSoon!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-25T18:00:00.001+08:00

I Stole A Time Lord and Ran Away............

2011-05-21T22:48:00.008+08:00

I don't actually know any Time Lords or a Tadis, but wanted an interesting title and beginning for my post and a line from the Doctor Who episode The Missus and I are watching made me smile and think....that is it!!!

Each year about this time The Missus and I visit the (I've completely forgotten the name of it lol) craft fair. It is the biggest one that comes to Perth and the date always falls around my birthday. The Missus spoils me rotten with pressies from the craft fair.

Before she hid the pressies away until my birthday, I took a piccie or two of them. I've been admiring Tis The Season on the SAL since it started and the needle case was made up on Natalie Bird's stall. When we got to the stall it was quiet and we were the only people at the stall. I was showing The Missus (and raving about) all the samples and products on the stall I thought were wonderful, when I saw one of the women on the stall grinning from ear to ear.....I thought she was hoping that I would hand over a goodly amount of dosh. It was only when we were leaving the stall that I realised it was Natalie Bird.

The Missus found this one on one of my favourite stalls.........It sells ONLY craft and art books. There are all sorts of cute egg cosies in this one......not one of which I can remember! lol I don't think it will be long before I start knitting them up, though.

I see lots of scrappy potential with this one.....I have some Halloween bits and pieces I've been wanting to try out. For one, it will make a great background for this year's Halloween menu.

Each year at this craft fair I stock up on my quilty patterns.......especially the ones that I've been drooling over in the craft mag ads. This year there were a lot of stalls which had BOMs and kits for sale, but not many patterns. The Missus and I were both admiring these two and when she said Patchwork Cow Design and Christmas project in the same sentence, they both matter transported into the stash bag.

So did this one. I've not made any dolls for donkey's yonks and I thought they were cuter than cute.

When we were at THAT stall, I treated myself to Nuno Nouveau, which has an awesome section on felting techniques....which is just what I've been looking for. I'd like to increase the felting techniques I know. I've been a fan of Tilda Finnanger and have her other books. When I saw Tilda's Christmas it found its way into the stash bag.....By this time I was convinced I had been affected by book fumes.

As for The Artful Bird by Abigail Patner Glassenberg I was absolutely delighted. We had seen some lovely softie owl designs earlier in the day, but the designs were similar to what I have made already. These caught my eye because the designs are much more sculpted and the instructions are very explicit with pictures....which always helps. Between that and you tube Tim Birdton and Wanda Wigglebottom with be part of a very colourful flock.

I felt like I hit the jackpot at Punch With Judy's stall. I am rather partial to gadgety things and this was gadgety thing heaven! I thought the fabric glue stick would be handy for when I only want a dot of glue.....It would have come in handy last weekend when I used spray adhesive on the coasters a couple of piccies down....outside...on a windy afternoon....with no gloves. I had NO idea how sticky that stuff was! lol

Finding the tub of Udderly Smooth was a bonus. Normally I can only find it in small (expensive) tubes. It is my preferred handcream as it soaks in and is not greasy at all. I will keep the warning about using it on parts affected by cowpox if I ever decide to take up milking cows as a hobby or a career.

The pounce will allow me to be more creative with how I quilt.....

especially when combined with these templates. The hearts I am going to use on The Missus' quilt tomorrow and the stipple template soon afterwards on the coffee machine topper. I'm looking forward to adding variety to how I quilt.

The printable fabric is something fairly new to me. I started using it recently on an art quilt I'm making for The Missus for a few months. I'd run out and now there will be no stopping me!

Who said advertising doesn't work? lol I spotted the 4 in 1 tool doo-hicky in a quilting mag a while ago (the one Ricky Timms runs)....drooled lots and then forgot about it until today. I can see myself using that tool each time I sew for something.

Last weekend I fell in love with a coaster tutorial on one of the blogs on my blog roll.....Only problem is at the moment I can't find it. When I do find it I will post a link, as it is a great tutorial. In my excitement at making the coasters, I cut both without a seam allowance! I intend making some more....following the instructions very carefully!

STOP PRESS: The link is CHASING COTTONS.

I took some photos at the craft show today.....which won't budge off my phone! Hopefully it will stop being tempermental by the next time I blog.

Stitch long and prosper.

Happy Mothers' Day

2011-05-08T15:32:00.002+08:00

Serendipity

2011-05-02T21:20:00.000+08:00

Have you ever had one of those quilting experiences where everything went right, the blue bird of happiness was flying around your head, filling the room with joy? Well.......making this block was not one of those experiences. lol It started life as a block with flying geese and cute little checkerboard squares.

The Missus and I were at our favourite bookshop when all my crafty Christmases came at once....All these books (and more) were being sold for less than a quarter of the price. These books followed me home.

The block in the top picture started its life as a block for the quilt Flying Home From Bali Bali, from the book Nickel Quilts by Pat Speth and Charlene Thode and finished up as the first block in All That Glitters. Following a few hours of butchering fabric, making blocks with no points (so many I was considering putting them together in a small quilt and naming it The Pointless Quilt), I finally came up with this block. The fabric with the green background is by Debbie Mumm and some mysterious swirly fabric. I have three more blocks to make, plus a thin black border and an outer green border.

When I pulled out the grey wool again for the Boneyard Shawl, I made a sacrifice to the Kniting Fates and a few changes to the pattern, hoping that would be the end of the crazy mistakes. I left out the outside YOs (I wanted a pointy triangular shawl) and changed the ridges to every six rows instead of twelve.

It worked! A lot of counting, double and triple checking worked really well, too! The beanie I was knitting is having a vacation as a giant wool ball. When I changed it to the double pointed needles I kept dropping stitches. It got to the stage where I was adding stitches which didn't need to be added!

This was my Christmas present for The Missus....Peaceful Forest by Bent Creek. It sat in a safe place for a couple of years before I had it framed. The Missus loved it and was very surprised when she received it, as she had forgotten about it, too!

Well, that's yer lot for the week! Craft long and prosper.

ANZAC Day

2011-04-25T06:44:00.001+08:00

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T07:00:00.001+08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-20T19:02:00.000+08:00