Retrospective

It's hard to believe that June is over. (Well, in an hour or so) Which means that half of the year is over. Time really does fly! I have been pondering this week. Pondering and little more. The photo was taken earlier this year at "Northern Lights". (See more here if you are interested by this snippet.) This projection shows our state's floral emblem - Sturt's desert pea. Beautiful flowers!

I am hoping to get some sewing done this end of the week. I have a couple of table runners I want to finish! I was hoping to finish them in June in order to boost my OPAM finishes! It was not to be, but I am getting excited now thinking that I will be able to add them to my July OPAM score! Lol. I'm a hopeless case! Goodbye June 2010 - Hello July!

Self (and not)

Lol! I finally did it! A self portrait for the snappy friends challenge self. I think this is one of very few photos of me on the net. Oh! And blogger doesn't know what to make of it cause it has me sideways! (I think it's saying, "Really, should there be photos of fat white haired women on the net? I think not!") Couldn't resist adding the photo below. Miss 24 with her niece. Both sleeping peacefully yesterday. Granddaughter was just doing the 4 month old nap thing, but Miss 24 wasn't feeling well and had a nanna nap!

Yesterday's project.

My new favourite tool is our staple gun. I have been using it to attach fabric to the inside of our glass cupboard doors. I loved my Ikea Billys before, but now they are so much more beautiful!

So nice not to see the stuff in the cupboard! As you can see I haven't finished them yet. (Mr 16 doing the teenaged veg thing!)

Grandson hanging out with his uncle. He loves his boys! We had a great day with Mrs 25 and grandson and granddaughter yesterday. They are so much fun to hang out with.

Here is granddaughter in Miss 24's arms. She was pretty tired by this stage! So, a zombie but a really cute zombie! Hope your weekend was fun.

Hexie table runner finished!

Finished! And I love it. It looks pretty good on my table outside, but is destined for a sewing table. Which is a tad messy at the moment, because I have been sewing table runners. You know how sewing rooms go! So here it is outside. This afternoon has been very sunshiney, which is nice after the cold, grey, wet morning we had. I am very happy with this finish. Now for the other two table runners I started whilst dreaming about this one!

Table Runners

I seem to have caught a table runner bug. Just finished the hexie table runner top (above) tonight.

Whilst I was working on the hexie table runner I started thinking about this one. It's using French General's new range "Rural Jardine" This one needs some more. Not sure what yet. I'm thinking about it.

And then whilst working on table runners 1 and 2 this one popped into my head. Blogger prefers it portrait. I however prefer it landscape. (Always seem to be having trouble with blogger and photos!) Off hand I can't remember the name of this Moda range. Something french? This one needs more work on the top too. I have this one all planned out in my head. Just need to get to it! I guess if I was just working on one table runner at a time I would be finished one by now. But that's just not how I work, lol! I am hopeful of finishing one of them this week. The end of the month is nigh and I am thinking about OPAM finishes. Not sure why I wait till this late in the month to think about it, but I do! Not sure just how much time I will have before June 30. We have family from Brisbane staying with us next week and I am trying to get the house clean and straight in preparation. As you can see, it's not going so well! The sewing room keeps winning out to any cleaning. *sigh* Wish me luck! (Not sure if I mean for the table runners or the cleaning. Lol!)

Sit and Sew at the Patchwork Apple

Friday afternoon saw me at the Patchwork Apple for sit and sew. I sat and sewed my Marg Low red club hexies. Aren't they looking great? My little hexie quilt has morphed into a table runner which I am making for one of my sewing tables. I am loving it and can't wait to finish it and get it on the table!

My view to the front of the shop from my sit and sew chair. I have been going to the Patchwork Apple for the last 16 years and it is one of my favourite places in Adelaide. Being a Patchwork Apple customer has been a lot of fun! The photo below is Jean getting started on her redwork. Jean and I were the first ones there on Friday afternoon. We are keen! I spent a happy four hours stitching and had a lovely drive home. The drive from Woodside to Hahndorf is just beautiful. The day was grey and rainy and there were autumnal trees all the way along. The freeway was pretty too with a light fog making everything look magical! A great day!

Happy Birthday!

An old photo of some of my kids. Left to right: Miss 23, nephew, Mr 21, Miss 19, and Mrs 25. The long weekend saw the birthdays of Miss 19 (she's 20 now!) and Miss 23 (she's 24!). I feel so old! All these adults for children! Miss 24 and Miss 13 were away for the weekend at a basketball carnival and Miss 18 spent the weekend "out" so there were only 4 of us at home. Very strange. I didn't actually get any sewing done (what's with that?) and this week has been the same. I did sew some curtains, but that doesn't count to me. Perhaps I will change the week's history and go sew!

Inspiration

Gardens are magical. (This photo is taken in the Bicentennial Conservatory in the Adelaide Botanical Gardens) Plants are just so beautiful! I have had the opportunity to drive in the hills quite a bit recently and enjoy the colourful autumn trees and falling leaves. So inspiring!

I have been sewing another shaggy flannel quilt this week. I am about halfway through a quilt for Miss 18 and have spent time planning one for Mr 9. It seems that everyone wants one! It has been chilly the last couple of weeks which has increased the value of flannel quilts at our house. We have a long weekend this weekend and I plan to sew!

And the winner is........

Jill!!!

500 posts that's amazing! Hope I will reach that milestone one day. There are no excuses for not doing homework now with such a vibrant table to work on. Cheers

Had the random number generator help me out with this one! Send me your snail mail addy Jill and I will send your goodies off to you.

Aquisitions.....

Ignore the out of focus photos. I got new (old) books! Miss 23 and I went to the patchwork apple yesterday in Woodside and went for a walk up the street too. We visited some of our favourite Woodside shops. "The Boys From The Bush" (secondhand shop) and "Country Elegance" (decorating/furniture shop). I am looking forward to studying these books at length later today!

Paper Bag Swap

Edit: For those of you wondering about my giveaway, I am leaving the comments open until Tuesday night now and will be drawing the winner on Tuesday night.
I have been working on a paperbag swap this year. I haven't posted about it much because I keep forgetting to take any photos of the quilt tops I have worked on! Not sure why. Maybe because I know the quilt is not for me? Not sure. This was the kind of paperbag swap that you start yourself. Then others work on it and it finally comes back to you! We started out by making a 15 and a half inch square doing anything we liked. (I think I did post this square.) Next we had to frame the square. (On the quilt we received, not ours) Then add some triangles. Next was applique. And finally we had to add squares and or rectangles. Of course, when we had finished a section we took the quilt back to Jane (or Sara) at the patchwork apple and swapped for a different paperbag! This swap has been an interesting ride. Sometimes I have received quilt tops that are just so far from what I usually do that I have felt that I couldn't possibly even work on them. I have felt lost and not sure what to do just about everytime I have received a new paperbag to work on! I think swaps are good for us creatively because we are usually stretched beyond what we would choose for ourselves and I was stretched with this swap! Today I took my last quilt up to the patchwork apple and my finished quilt was there waiting for me! (Photos below.) I also bumped into Loz which was fun! She was there collecting her paperbag quilt top too! I did know she was in the area, but hadn't planned to bump into her so it was a lovely surprise. We chatted as we both bought fabric. (I know! Who would believe that of Loz and myself? We are both usually so restrained in that department. NOT!!!)

This photo was taken outside this afternoon. This is a pretty good representation of the colours. I really love my quilt top. I am going to add some more to it myself and then quilt it. I'm thinking of turning it into a rectangle. Not sure what I am going to add to it. I'll have to think about it for a bit!

Here it is inside on my sewing room floor. The colours not quite right, but you are better able to see it all!


Another shot of it. (Can you tell I really like it?) Jane plans to have an exhibition for all those that finish these paperbag quilts sometime next year. I almost can't wait. I really want to see how the quilt tops I worked on have turned out and what their owners think of them. It must be the nosey-parker in me coming out! Can't wait!!!

It's June!

The view from my front door.......... It's winter here, but it still seems like autumn! June is one of my favourite months. I love the cooler weather. I am not a fan of summer. It just gets too hot here and we are blessed to have relatively mild winters so it's not like it gets really cold! I have been sewing this week, but haven't finished anything. I have been working on my red club little quilt and enjoying it very much. Sewing the tiny hexagons seemed so fiddly at first, but now they just seem so quick! Must go sew!!!

Postcard swap

Just saw this over at Sarah's blog and joined up. Click on the button on the sidebar to sign up. Quickly! Sign up closes today! (June 2)

500th post and giveaway

This is what I did today. I covered my boring white Ikea table with some oilcloth. I have been planning to do this for ages. I am finally getting organised! As you can see the table now works so well you (or Miss 13) can even do homework on it. I am absolutely crazy for red, white and aqua so I decided to combine these two fabrics (sewed them together even) and staple them to the table. I like it a lot. So, this is where I will be sewing the giveaway this week. Leave a comment on my 500th post and I will draw a winner on Friday. And the prize? It's good. Handmade by me on my new, bright table.

Red Club No. 2

Marg Low's Red Club today at the Patchwork Apple! It was such a beautiful day. It rained. And you know how much we South Australian's love rain! It was a truly lovely day. I went early and had lunch at the bakery. I sat in the bakery and watched autumn. Lots of red, brown and gold leaves falling and everything was grey. Then we stitched. The hexagon flower above is Prue's. She got hers appliqued onto the block! She was speedy gonzales! My hexagon flower is below. Not appliqued to the block!

Tomorrow is meant to be another rainy day here, just the kind of day to spend inside sewing I think.

Shaggy quilt finished!

Yes! It's finished! So pleased to have it done. I went to my quilt group, "Pink Ladies" at the Patchwork Apple today and finished the clipping. Mr 16 is pleased in a teenaged boy grunt kind of way. I am pleased because it's done, and because it will keep him warm now. Quilts are beautiful and I love to look at them, but it's very satisfying being able to warm someone too. Hmm....... next project please!

A quilt almost finished, and some pies.

Still working on Mr 16's shaggy flannel quilt. All the sewing is done, just clipping! (And clipping, and clipping!) Three more pies finished. (Can you tell I got sick of the clipping?) Off to the Patchwork Apple tomorrow. Can't wait!!!

More pies..........

I have been working on Mr 16s quilt, but I'm not finished yet. However, some handstitching has been happening. Pies in fact. These are the latest. The pies no longer seem overwhelming and I am enjoying working with the different fabrics. I am off to Marg Low's red club at the Patchwork Apple this week. I saw Granny Loz's red club report and can't wait to go do the same thing myself! Good week coming up!!!

Today's Sewing

Remember this from March? Mr 16 and I sewing shaggy flannel quilts? I finished mine. His is much bigger than mine was. (He is 6ft 3. Try fitting that under your usual shaggy flannel quilt!) He did all the cutting out and then all the quilting. He even had the first two rows of the quilt together. Then it turned into a UFO. We all know how that happens! So today I thought I would work on his quilt because it is cool here in Adelaide now and he wants his quilt. I will be working on it again tomorrow. Maybe I will even finish it!

A Crocheted Scarf

I crocheted a scarf on the weekend, I love to crochet! So much fun. It was a welcome distraction because I was unwell and had to spend the weekend in bed. I used Cleckheaton's 8 ply country wool doubled and a 10mm hook. This has made the scarf so thick and soft. Miss 18 has already claimed the scarf, but I am thinking I might list it in my etsy shop. I often think about my etsy shop. It has been inactive all this year. Partly because I haven't made much lately and partly because I really haven't had much success with it. I'm thinking though that I might give it another go. I am really wanting to pursue my art goals at the moment and stocking an etsy shop might just be the motivation I need. I love to paint, but haven't done any painting for quite some time now. I am also interested in art quilts, but have turned very few of the ideas I have into tangible quilts. Of course, I love traditional quilts as well and even "home sewing".

(Here I have to admit that I am a Project Runway tragic. I love everything about that show. Heidi, Tim, the whole shebang! The contestants are always fantastic. There are a few I haven't liked much, but mostly I like them all. Especially the girl who was the first eliminated in the current series on Arena (Foxtel). She was a conceptual designer and she explained the way she liked to work by describing her approach to fabric. She approaches the fabric and then asks, "Hello fabric. What would you like me to turn you into today?". How could you not love that!!! The only thing I have a problem with on the whole show is when the judges criticise a designer by saying that their outfit looks "home sewn". Yeah. Thanks for that Michael Kors. I don't mind if they say it looks badly done, but the euphamism of "home sewn" for badly done rubs me the wrong way. When did this cringe start? This is part of the handmade cringe which is being overcome in some places now. (handmade=badly done) Nowadays you just have to look at factory produced clothing to see bad work. Maybe what the critics are saying is that the design itself is amateurish. No matter. I <3 Project Runway anyway!!! Even though most of what I make is "home sewn"!)

That brings me to the ultimate question. Is what I do art or craft? Or do I do both? For me the answer is that it doesn't really matter. Making is what matters to me. Creating is what I am all about. So, I'm looking forward to more making and creating. Keep a look out for my revamped etsy shop too. Coming soon.......