Secret Sewing

Quiltaid, Brenda Ryan

Quiltaid, Natalie Bird

These two blocks are the secret sewing I was doing this month. They are part of the Quiltaid quilt. If you want to see the other ten blocks go here. I sewed them for Sarah from Quilt Fabric Delights and Janelle Wind is busy turning the twelve blocks into a quilt for Sarah. Quiltaid is for an excellent cause so make sure you go check out the Quiltaid website!

In other news, I got the back for my Tis The Season quilt pieced today! Much excitement. I was determined not to buy more fabric and it turns out the leftovers were more than I needed even. So tomorrow the plan is to stretch the quilt and start some quilting. I might just make that September 30 deadline!

Another month...

... that I have struggled to post on this blog. Just been busy? Or unproductive? Not sure what. Perhaps I am just uninspired at the moment.

Melbourne, from a bridge.

Had a great afternoon today catching up with Loz and Gail at my local shopping center food court. There's nothing like meeting up with fellow stitchers! (We're an extremely wonderful bunch of people!) I have projects on the go. Chookyblue is encouraging me to finish my "Tis The Season" quilt by the September 30 deadline. (So far it's not happening.) I have also found (whilst unpacking) a bunch of tops, along with their corresponding battings and backings that just need stretching and quilting. So I could finish something, I just haven't yet. It could happen. Stay tuned to see if I make Chookyblue crack her whip at me. (Or not.)

Rainbow

This rainbow was so brilliantly coloured I just HAD to take a photo of it. The photo is somewhat disappointing, but take my word for it, this was the biggest, brightest most irridescent rainbow I have ever seen.  Not a beautiful scene, but I was driving at the time!

We heard late last night that our fickle landlord has changed his mind and will not be selling our house. (His mind has been backwards and forwards on the issue several times over the last three weeks or so.) Apparently this is the final decision. (Uh-huh!) Part of me is outraged that he just can't make up his mind and leave it at that, and part of me is happy not to move. (After all, the sewing room is nearly finished!)

I am busy stitching here on a secret project I can't show you. (See, that's why I needed the pretty rainbow!) I am almost done and itching to get to my tts and finish it! And to get some progress on the pies and tarts happening!

We are also having an invasion from Adelaide later this week. Some of our favourite people are coming for a holiday. Can't wait!!!

Favourite Things Friday

Just went to Amanda's blog and read her ftf post. (See it here.) I know her beach and I miss it now that we have moved interstate. I thought I would post about Amanda's beach (I have photos of it!), but then I thought to post something I like here in Victoria. And here it is.

Tall Trees

Tall trees. We have trees in South Australia, but none like this. I love to drive in the Dandenong Ranges and see tall trees. (Brings to mind a Crowded House song actually!) Maybe I'll go do that right now.


Catch up with all the other FTF posts from here, on Shay's blog.

My sewing room...

 ... has been in use today. It's not completely finished, but is set up enough for me to use it. I have been working on my Tis The Season quilt top which you can look at here. My sewing room is technically the dining room in this house. It has two eating areas though and we eat in the meals area next to our kitchen which leaves the dining room free for me to use.

Of course, the photo above shows just one side of the room. The other side is in the photo below.

Yep. It's a mess! The last few things to sort out. To find a home for. On Thursday I had the great idea of dealing with 5 items each morning before I start sewing, and had I done that the pile would be much shorter than it is. As it is... Perhaps I will start tomorrow morning! 

In less than perfect news, we found out last week that our house is to be sold and we will have to move. (Whaaaaat??? I just got the sewing room set up! *sigh*) 

I won a give away!

the sweet package Marg sent me

The other day I had a dream that I had won a blog give away, so I woke up all expectant. I am an eternal pessimist (We really are happy people. We spend most of our time being right, and the rest of the time being pleasantly surprised!) and dismissed the dream as soon as I was truly conscious. Later that morning as I checked my favourite blogs, there was my name! I won two patterns in a Marg Low give away! (Check out Marg's blog and all of her pretty things here.) Today I received them, along with a couple of trinkets to use with the "Festive Trinkets" pattern. I am looking forward to using that pattern. I did a class with Marg in Adelaide last year and had a wonderful time making a bookmark for my daughter. I am planning to make Christmassy stuff in October and November, so look out for my trinkets!

two patterns, as well as the trinkets on the ribbon

In other news, I seem to be distracting myself from finishing the sewing room (Visits to Ikea... blogging... ). Must. Go. Finish.

First hexie!

I finished my first hexie from the new block of the month "This Goes With That" today. I was quite surprised when I received the BOM because the finished hexies are bigger than I had realised from seeing them on Hettie's website. (You can see a reference for size below) This one has been fussy cut. The instructions tell you not to fussy cut too many, because "less is more". I love that whole cliche thing. Cliches must have started somewhere. I wonder just who was the first person to say "less is more" and what situation was it first uttered in? (On the whole "less is more" tangent, I love the quote from the modern Sabrina: "More isn't neccessarily better Linus. Sometimes it's just more.") I started thinking about this whole cliche thing after reading Loz's latest post here. Her son has been "calling" football for the local radio station and he has been nicknamed "Captain Cliche". I think that must mean he is doing a good job because most professional sports commentators are full of cliches! Anyway, back to the hexies. I have no idea how many I "have to" make each month. I think that the idea is to be fairly flexible so that you can come up with a design and possibly even a size that suits you. (Unless I have missed something, which could well be the case!) I think that probably you are supposed to make many more than one hexie per month, so it's not like I am close to exceeding my limit or anything! I will just keep plodding along I guess! The sewing room is still in disarray, but I am inching closer to the finish! Wish me luck!

So you can judge the size. They're quite big really.

Little Birds (make me happy)

 I am still sorting through my sewing room. I emptied the last box today. I am getting pretty excited about the room and about all the projects I have started and can start! I came across this book today. It was gifted to me by the lovely Loz when I visited her in July. (I had the best time hanging out with her! She is one of my favourite people. That's the only downer about our move to Melbourne. I see some of my favourite people less now.) I love that she knew just how much I would love this book. I still claim to all and sundry that I am actually not that crazy for birds, but I must be because this book is just divine. Full of inspiration! Check out some of my favourite pages...

Love this sweetie and her shopping

A journal cover (love journal covers!). Absolutely love this applique.

Love, love, love this guy. Love also the gone over a lot lines. That's my kind of quilting!

I'm not that into the current owl craze (yeah, denial again lol) but who wouldn't love these guys? Owls with attitude!

So, will there be some birds featuring soon on my blog? Probably not (yeah, denial!) but will I be reading this book over and over? Yep. It makes me feel so happy! Hope it made you feel happy too!

Mail, it's a new Block of the Month!

Mail from Hettie!

So I guess I am a little crazy, but I have signed up to a new BOM from Sue Daley. (She is the pies and tarts designer) Here it is newly arrived from Hettie's Patch. It is more English paper piecing and is another one of those long term projects I am sure. It's called "This Goes with That" and involves fussy cutting, hexies, and (for me) contemporary fabrics. (There is a reproduction option too!) I am itching to get started on it and am hoping that it will complement the pies and tarts. (You know, when I am sick of the pies and tarts out will come the hexies!)

Pies and Tarts (an update)

Tarts at the top, pies newly appliqued in the middle and pies waiting to be appliqued at the bottom.

It turns out I am still doing the pies and tarts quilt. (See posts in 2009 and 2010 to see my previous struggles!) My excuse for not having finished it is an interesting one. I lost them. In April 2010, I think. The pies and tarts that is. I took them away with me and promptly lost them when I returned home. I searched high and low for them (A little frantically at times! I had spent so much time on them!) but to no avail. Then, in January 2011, as we packed for the big move to Melbourne, I found them in the bottom of a bag I was sure I had searched a million times. (I am nothing if not an exaggerator!) Phew! What a relief! Then I packed them, little knowing that I wouldn't see them again until July 2011 when I finally unpacked them in Melbourne. I am not quite halfway there yet with the pies, and as for the tarts, I am barely started. So this really is a long term project. L  O  N  G    T  E  R  M!!!!!!! Anyway, I took heart from all those people doing the 15minute per day sewing challenge and other such similar schemes and thought, "You know what? I CAN finish this!" Of course, I have set no date. (I am still me you know) My goal though is to work on them a little each week. I have set up a stitching basket which lives in my bedside table and I am ready to go! I'm sure I will do more some weeks than others, but my plan is just to plod along. I will update you with my progress as I make some!

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

Captured!

  Look what Miss 14 caught tonight. Yep. Cookie Monster! One of her school friends is selling cupcakes at school tomorrow to raise money for the RSPCA and Miss 14 promised to make cupcakes to help out. She announced her intention just as I was looking at Pinterest. (What's the odds of that happening? I'm hardly ever on Pinterest! Lol!) So I showed her some Cookie Monster cupcakes and she went for it!

Aren't they cute?

See, who says nothing good comes from surfing Pinterest?

I finished something!

A table runner for a round table

 I had a goal this week to finish something, and I did! This table runner is something I started last December. In fact I had nearly finished it, but then I made a mistake. I layered my top, batting, and back in the wrong order. (I was just sewing it around the edge and then turning it through. No binding.) I didn't discover this mistake until I had clipped all the corners and trimmed all the seams and was actually turning it through. Of course, I couldn't simply unpick it and carry on. It just made me mad and I was completely over it. Then we moved and my sewing things went in to storage for six months. I was sooooo glad to see it when I unpacked it at the end of July! So this week I unpicked it, repinned it, sewed it again, and then today I quilted it. I'm pretty happy with it.

Up close

 This was made completely with scraps and there was no rotary cutting involved. I just used scissors to cut up the fabric and I just kept sewing strips on until the blocks were about the right size. I did trim them a bit to get them together (with the scissors). Do you have problems layering things? I often do. I'm at my worst with bags. Linings are a nightmare, but I have trouble working out where and how to put pockets and handles as well. I often get muddled and then have to unpick. I'm sure I have quite a few projects in this muddled and needing unpicking state. (I get too mad to work with them!) Of course, after being separated from my sewing stuff for six months I have had time to cool down and may even finish some more things next week.

On our letterbox

I am not yet finished unpacking or sorting out the sewing room. It seems that this may never happen, so I have finally begun to sew in the middle of the mess! (The best alternative I thought!) I haven't done any sewing since the end of July when I altered Miss 14's new school skirt. And that hardly counts as sewing! After today's quilting I can tell you without hesitation that my sewing machine is just perfect (I love to use it so much) and I have many, many good things that enable me to sew with ease. Gosh I missed my stuff!

Hahndorf - Battle of the bands

Saturday, whilst we were in Adelaide, my Bradley and I wandered up to Hahndorf with grandson to check out the battle of the bands. That title makes it sound just a tad more adventurous than it was, because they were brass bands, not rock bands. It was a really fun family day with free face painting and balloon animals. The local school was open and the kids had a wonderful time in the playground there. Of course, the bands were in competition and took it seriously, but we had a lovely time.

Balhannah Road, closed for the bands to march later in the day and the results of the free chalk!

Grandson once he had warmed to the idea of drawing on the road.

Drawing!

We met up with my Bradley's sister and our niece and nephew.

A band marching (they were judged in lots of situations)

It's August?

Mr 10 with his new niece. His first cuddle with her.

If I have seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth, I must have landed in Adelaide. I have made a couple of trips there so far this August. The first trip was to visit my new granddaughter. She is so sweet and lovely (Of course! That's the way of newborns.) We spent a hectic week cuddling a newborn, carrying a one year old and playing with a three year old. (It's all go at their house!)

The playground at Keith

The second trip was to be a helper to my grandson as he underwent his first general anesthetic. This trip was a surprise as he got his hospital date the day before he was due to be admitted. Of course, his Mum was there too along with his baby sister and we actually had a lovely day. All is well with him and he is fully recovered now. So much so, that when my Bradley and I drove home to Melbourne yesterday we brought him with us for a little holiday. So it is all go here now! Plans for today include making some playdough because this three year old loves to play playdough!

I still have boxes to unpack and cupboards to organise. (Which will get done eventually!) And I am dying to get to my Tis the Season quilt to quilt it! Perhaps I will fit that in somewhere!

Favourite Things Friday

This little treasure is the result of unpacking. (I have found soooo many things that could qualify as a FTF item!) I went to a punch needle embroidery class sometime (I have no idea when!) and I made this. I love it. I have done two other embroideries (both have been made up into something) and that's all. I really like the whole process of punch needle and the finished product. I really must do more!

Edited to add: Forgot to say, if you want to see who else is playing "Favourite Things Friday go here!

Treasure!

A co-operative quilt top by picklesticks and me designed by Christine Book.

I have been discovering all sorts of treasures as I unpack. The storage spaces I have here are different so I need to go through most of my boxes in order to get the storage right. It has been a lot of fun because I keep discovering treasure. This lovely little quilt was started many years ago by a teenaged Mrs 27 (picklesticks). It is from a Christine Book book of patterns. She progressed so far with it and then gave it to me saying she had no desire to ever finish it, so I finished off a little of the stitching and sewed the buttons on. The next step is to quilt it I think. This is where lots of my quilt tops get stuck. I really loathe the basting process and until recently was not confident with quilting at all. I have become more confident with my quilting, but still have to improve or 'get over' the basting side of things! I really like this little quilt and intend to finish it soon! (As soon as I finish this unpacking and setting up! And finish my Tis the Season quilt too of course!)

So pretty!

Ikea and thinking.

An Ikea room from the 2011 catalogue

I went to Ikea today. Since moving to Melbourne I haven't been as regular a visitor to Ikea as I was in Adelaide. Not sure why. Certainly I live much further away than our last house, (It's pretty hard to get closer than across the road!) but it's probably not further than the house before that. Some people assert that I have been to Ikea far too many times already and therefore extra visits are not only not required, but superfluous. This is possibly because they have been to my house. On admittance to my house some think they have somehow travelled through a wormhole into Ikea. Yes, some claim that it looks like an Ikea showroom. I like it. And I guess that proves that I like Ikea.

So today I went to Ikea. I had a list of items I needed and I was ready to spend! Unfortunately, most of the items were not there. (Despite my Bradley being told last week that the most important one would be there this week.) This is where the interesting thought I had today comes in. In Adelaide they have a system of placing a card on the shelf telling you when the out of stock item is expected in. Now I am sure they don't do this for every out of stock item, but I have seen it many times there. I thought, "If only they did that in Melbourne!" I decided to line up to enquire about my desired items, but gave up after 15 minutes of fruitless waiting. (I'm not very good at queueing, or waiting.) I had places to be you know. As I drove off I pondered on what a great store Adelaide is and how frustrating Melbourne's Ikea is. And then it dawned on me. All I was doing was championing the familiar. I think this is a thoroughly human trait and all the great advances in science and thinking that we have had have only come from people who were brave enough to step away from the familiar. For some of us the phrase "Familiarity breeds contempt" is incorrect and should read, "Familiarity makes us really comfy".

The moral of this story? We should all try to be as unprejudiced as possible and take each new experience on it's own terms, rather than comparing it to what may have happened before. Oh. And Melbourne Ikea should really put some notes up as to when out of stock items are expected in.

Do you love precuts?

I think Honey Buns are possibly my favourite precut. Of course, I like them all!

My last post, which showed some of my precuts in my fabric cupboard, started me thinking. Do you love precuts? I am crazy for them (obviously). Which got me wondering why. Of course I have always loved the feel of Moda fabric and when they introduced precuts I was easily sold, but I do have precuts from other fabric manufacturers in the cupboard too. For me I think it is something to do with the fact that there is a full range in the precut pack. A little piece of everything the designer was thinking! The only thing better than that would be a big piece of everything. (Oh how I love the sight of bolts of fabric lined up in a fabric shop.) And maybe that's all there is to my precut love.

When you first hear of and think about precuts they seem to be such a great idea because they are precut! Who doesn't love fabric already cut out and ready to go? When it comes down to reality though, how many of us sew precut squares or strips together and leave it at that? I know I cut and sew, or sew and cut, sometimes multiple times. There is a little less work in a precut than a piece of fabric, but usually you still have to do some cutting.

Maybe it's the fact that precuts are just so attractive. So pretty. So cute. So enticing. (As if quilting fabric needs extra lovability!) You don't have to pick up a huge bolt and take it to the counter. It's just a tiny little package that makes you feel like you are hardly buying anything at all. (I remember being very surprised the first time I worked out just how much fabric was in a jelly roll if every strip was laid side by side. So that's why they seem to last forever!) Perhaps precuts are just an excellent marketing gimmick.

No matter what it is about precuts, I love them for their ability to give me a whole range that fits within my budget and I will keep buying them. (And hopefully using them! I am more determined than ever to make the most of my stash and to use it. That is it's primary purpose, after all.) So, do you love precuts?

Still unpacking here...

Still boxy and messy, but worth every messy moment as I discover long forgotten treasures! (It has been 6 months people and I am getting old. - refer to previous proof of my elderly status in the grandmother post below if you are a doubter!)

Things I should be sewing being rapidly covered by newly discovered projects!

Ahh... a fabric cupboard. Oh how I have missed you fabric!

... and it's still a mess, but I am feeling happier about the mess as I discover all my best things and empty and flatten those ugly cardboard boxes. Why do they make them so brown and ugly? Oh. Yep. Cause it would really take me forever to unpack them if they looked good. Good thinking cardboard box company!

I'm a Grandmother again!

This afternoon Mrs 27 (picklesticks) gave birth to a darling little granddaughter in Adelaide. Both are doing well and were able to come home this evening to newly enraptured siblings. Her timing was perfect because they came home at bedtime, so after everyone had a little cuddle they were all off to bed. Sleep tight family!

Two granddaughters on their Mummy's lap
Captured by a doting Aunty