Irons Do Have Feelings

My iron is one of those ones that turns itself off if you have not used it for 20 mins. I have always liked this feature in an iron, as not only am I forgetful, but I have also had my fair share of Obsessive Compulsive behaviour. This way, half way to work, I don't have to suddenly think "OMG did I turn off the iron??" Then have a panic filled day imaging everything I own smouldering away, about to grace the front page of the local paper.

When the last iron died, I bought this new iron, carefully reading the box, making sure it had the 20min turn off feature. I get it home, turn it on, and then after 20 mins it DID turn itself off, but it also started beeping! Beeping wasn't on the side of the box.

You can imagine how irritating this is when sewing, as everytime you ignore it, it starts to BEEP. It drives me nuts. The last few days while sewing nonstop, the thing kept going off, and I was getting pretty cranky. I even started to yell at it (now I know this is irrational - it is an inanimate object - apart from the beeping that is). Tonight I turned it on to iron some clothes to wear in the morning, and guess what? It's Stuffed. It won't heat up, all the water came out on my natural coloured linen shirt, but Guess What? It's still beeping.

So the moral of this story is? Irons do have feelings, and they get the last laugh. *I'm* sure going to feel it when I have to shell out the cash tomorrow for a new iron...

A bit of Australiana

I was in the Thrift shop this week looking for a pillowcase to make my niece Laura a pillowcase dress, when I saw this. The Aussie girls will have seen similar in the past - it is like something your Nanna would have owned. It is a tablecloth about 32 inches square, and is made of a fabric that feels a bit like barkcloth, but isn't.

I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I just liked it and it was $4.50. As the animals and birds are in the corners I was thinking I could cut it up and make 5 creature blocks, then there are the 4 smaller native flower motifs as well. Or I could leave it as is, but I don't know what else to do with it. Any ideas?

The kookaburras are my favourite. There are a lot around here and they start just before dawn with their crazy chorus. I found a feather from one recently which is cool.

Here are the Koalas, Mum and Baby, in their tree, and also the Kangaroos. Then there are the emus and cockatoos but I won't photograph them.

Thanks for the comments on the Japanese Quilt, I am having a day or 2 off from it. I felt I really had to keep going, because if I stopped....

I'm Not Making Any More (fullstop)

Ok, that's it. I promise not to go on about it any more. I have just finished the 90th 8 inch block, and I'm done. Here it is up on the wall, but there are 2 rows down below the top of the spare bed which can just be seen in the left corner. I got to the last block, and for the first time I had to put the same blue fabric twice in one block. I told Simon (Quilt Tester) that it was Too Bad, So Sad! and he totally agreed.

So now it is 80 x 72 inches or 182 x 203 cm, or it will be when done. I will have to square up the blocks as the 'scantness' (is that a word?) of my seams has changed over the last 2 or 3 years since I started it. Then sew it together. Then most likely pay someone to quilt it - but I will wait and see if I get over today's trauma first - I might change my mind. It would be a good one to try some FMQ as it is so dark.

So, a milestone for me - finishing the total number of blocks of my first UFO, even if there is still a way to go. I put it all down to Blog Inspiration - thanks Girls!

Please welcome...

...my new design wall! My $20 design wall. The question on everyone's lips is "will it stay up?" Time will tell.

I bought a $12 double bed white flannelette sheet at Kmart (on sale as it is the end of winter), and 4 of those 3M Command strong sticky hooks that are supposed to come off without damaging the wall ($8), then added 4 safety pins (taken out of a quilt). Each hook is supposed to hold 1 kg or 3 lb. See my hooks and pins at the top of the sheet? Isn't it amazing how the blocks just stay up there?

This is the NEARLY FINISHED (do you hear those words echo across the world?) Japanese Quilt. Its size changes every day. Especially after I worked out that to have it 80 inches by 64 inches I need 80 blocks. At that point in time I had made 42. Now I have nearly finished 54, so I am thinking maybe 7 blocks x 9 blocks, which will equal 56 inches x 72. That means I have to make another 9 blocks. MORE cutting...

Will that be big enough? What size is that officially? Double bed maybe? I have a queen size. Maybe I should persevere. Hmm... The thing is that the quilt is looking quite dark. The 9 blocks that are nearly finished all have the lightest centres I could make, but I wonder if maybe I should press on and make the 80, adding more light centres. I would have to duplicate the light centres quite few times though. Or buy more fabric of course.

Oh well, I'll finish the last few that are nearly done, arrange them all up on the "design wall" and see if it is too dark. Then I will decide.

See how motivating blogging is? When I built this house in the first half of last year, I had thought about a design wall. I planned the paint job in this room and where the spare bed was going to go - around the Great Wall of Design. It didn't ever get done. But now it has. It probably took 15 mins to do. I always make a mountain out of a mole hill.

My 2nd & 3rd Quilts

This is the second quilt I made. As you can see it is not bound in the photo - I must get a photo of it finished. I made it for my niece Laura who was just a baby. I was off work for a month at the time with a mystery virus, and would get out of my bed for 30 mins and sew a bit, then go back to bed. But I got it finished pretty quickly.

My sister Helen chose the fabric - she didn't want it too girly, but the pink sections you can see are flowers. I only quilted it in the ditch (extent of my FMQ talents), but I was quite happy with it. I saw something similar in a magazine ad, and made it from that idea.

So then I thought I'd better make something for my nephew Daniel who was 4 at the time so he didn't feel left out. I made the bright flannel quilt for him. I kept running out of fabrics, so had to make do. The squares in the border - ran out of border fabric. There is also a couple of inches of border sewn on as an extra piece at one end to make it fit. I used the left overs to make a scrappy binding. I use polyester batting anticipating lots of washing, and it is holding up ok. I had used cotton batting in the first two. It is a strippy quilt I suppose.

Where I Spend my Time

After seeing Tazzies sewing spot, I thought about it a bit and realised that apart from my bed, this corner of the house is where I spend most of my time. Note computer to the right - very heavy use - and sewing machine. The other photo is the view from the window behind my sewing machine. To the left opposite the computer is another table which I do my cutting on (see first blog post), then opposite the sewing machine table is the ironing board and the spare bed is behind that (see wagga post). Also note the dog bed. Either dog could be here, or on the bed.

The block of land next to me is not built on, so one day I may have someone's roof to look at out the window, but I will still have views from my front decks. It is a lovely day here today. It is still winter, but it is tshirt and shorts weather, with a nice wind blowing. It has that high fire danger feel about it.

My indigo fabrics are on the line flapping in the breeze, and I am going to do some work on my 4 patches while I wait for them to dry. Til next time!

I've actually done some Cutting

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I know it's not much of a photo, but it shows that I have, in fact, been cutting fabric for my new leader ender project (JapaneseUFO). I don't really like cutting I've decided. I think that is part of what stalls my projects too. I don't want to cut everything out near the start - too boring - so when I start to slow down with something, I think about getting out the fabric and doing more cutting, and that's that.

The bright pieces are pairs of rectangles pinned face together for the block centres, and the blue to the left are for the outsides.

Thanks for all your comments on prewashing - I like that a lot of people only wash 'high-risk' fabrics, as lately I have just been using everything and anything. The indigo fabrics at the back of the photo have been deemed high risk, so I will wash them tomorrow before cutting them.

I took the plunge tonight and rang the contact person for one of the 2 local quilt groups - she was a very nice lady, but didn't exactly know when the group is meeting next as they have just changed the day. So, what I thought would be every 2nd Wed, now turns out to be 1 Fri a month. That is the Russell Island group, but there is the Macleay Island group as well. The lady I spoke to will give me their number when she rings back tomorrow. My problem is shift work, and having a regular day off each fortnight so I can participate properly. The rostering can be being planned up to 2 months ahead, so it isn't easy to just change. Hopefully one of the 2 groups will suit, or else it just isn't meant to be.

Blogging is just as much fun. I have also started cutting a big piece of thinish navy linen into strips tonight, and I'm going to have a go at crocheting a rug for in front of the kitchen sink. Better go to bed as it is after Pumpkin Time.

Pre-wash System Anyone?

Well my cold is pretty well gone, and I've been back at work this weekend on night duty, so there hasn't been any sewing for the last few days. I love my sleep too much.
What has been on my mind since opening up my stash again, is - what has been pre-washed and what hasn't? I have tried various methods in the past to keep track of what has been washed, but they never seem to last.
I suppose I could just wash everything that I buy as soon as I buy it, but I'm just not that organised. I really do prefer to see my fabric fresh and crisp and new when it is just sitting there, waiting to 'be chosen'.

Has anyone got any advice or a great system to share? When I get inspired, the last thing I want to do is go downstairs, wash all these little bits of fabric, wait while they dry on the line, iron them and then start. What if it's night-time, as it so often is?

Thanks to everyone who has visited my new blog - I really appreciate the comments and interest. I feel really motivated since I've started blogging, and sewing is much higher on my priority list now. I've started a book with my UFOs and thoughts for what I would like to do next, and any ideas that have just been floating around up there.
Don't you just love your computer?

I'm SO Ashamed...

Shelina asked me about my Japanese Quilt (UFO - fancy that). So I thought I'll find the blocks and the stash and I'll take photos, so that all these unfinished quilts will be REAL, and I will have to finish them.
I got out the Japanese section of the stash (under subsection Asia-Pacific), and for the first time I felt ashamed! All that beautiful fabric, hidden away, forgotten, unloved and unused. Some of the stuff I had actually forgotten that I had. Oh the shame...

Is this a common feeling amongst Those Who Stash? Here I am thinking I'm NOwhere near as bad as some of you ladies (no offense intended - if anything I am in awe), and here is all this beautiful forgotten fabric.


I have made 26 of these blocks, and when I look at the photo of the quilt there are only 30. But I'm nowhere near finished - I always have to make it bigger - always straight to the big quilt that will never get finished.

This is the book that the photo is in. I might make this quilt into my leader ender quilt so that I get started on it again. It's a very easy design. Judy Turner says in the book that she based it (and all the quilts in the book) on the idea of tatami mats that are a basic rectangle. In Japan they build rooms around arrangements of them on the floor. The room size depends on how many mats there are. Thanks Shelina for making me get it out!

Simon, Quilt Tester

This is Simon, my quilt tester. Here he is testing out my half assembled modern wagga, covering it with dog hair at the same time. Thanks Simon.
I bought these wool remnants while on holiday down south in May, with the idea of making a wagga . Have a look at the link, but a wagga is an Australian bush quilt often made out of wool suiting samples, old clothes or whatever fabric was available. The middle was often a hessian sack or old warm clothes or jumpers sewn together.

I will tie it, and I have a big piece of navy large gingham check flannelette, which I will use as the back. I bought some crochet cotton in yellow and purple which I plan to tie it with, and maybe do some extra decorative stitching (this will be a first). It is hard to see in the photos, but there are yellow and purple threads running through the wool.

I need to crack on with it, as winter is rapidly coming to a close. I plan to use it while watching TV. Simon has plans for it too, I suspect.

Switcheroo

What happens when your Leader Ender project becomes more exciting than the one you are supposed to be working on? In fact, what was I working on??

These little 4 patches have taken over. I thought I'd get in on this great idea and make a big 4 patch quilt. While lying in bed "too sick to do anything but look at quilt books and magazines", I made my decision. I have a photo of an old 4 patch set on point with a double pink square from this book , so I thought "that's it" (even though I've gone a bit off pink at the moment).

The worst offender in my stash is the 1800s Reproduction Fabric, which has been located lurking in all manner of nook and cranny, so why not? I don't have many scraps (that would mean I would have been using the fabric), so it's cool, I'll cut strips and do it that way at the end of the chains. All random strips, light and dark, then cut them and sew them together.

Now I don't want to do anything else. I tell myself not to worry - at least I'm sewing, and, keep going while you're into it because *you might just finish it*! So, I'm going to get off my own back and keep going, and if I get bored with it again, I'll just turn it back into the original Leader and Ender project. Right?

Isn't patchwork great?

Denim Quilt (UFO)

Having just read about Shelina's denim quilt, I thought it would be timely to start offering up my UFOs.
This quilt was started about 3 years ago, and was intended as a gift for someone. Yes there is a story there, but maybe I'll tell it when I finish it. It is nearly done, just have to add the top and bottom borders, then bind.
It is made out of old jeans and my sister Helen's denim maternity skirt which she willingly offered at the quilting alter, as she was sick to death of it, some bought flannelette and some flannelette shirts. I made it after a class in Quilt as You Go, and made each block individually. It is quite heavy, and the back has different blue, red and plaid squares. I used mustard thread for quilting.

I quite like it and would like to finish it, but I have the guilts about what to do with it when it's finished, so if I don't finish it, I don't have to worry, right?

Go Slow

Still feeling under the weather, so mode is 'go slow' - what's new? I have been fiddling with this pile of fabric for some weeks now in an idle attempt to make a final decision, so that I might make this bag. I have just spent ages looking around on the web trying to find a link to the book it is from, but it is out of stock where I bought it, and all that Japanese on Amazon Japan is a bit too much for me. So I thought I'll try and take a photo, thinking it wouldn't work, and what d'ya know? It worked.
I bought some light weight denim for the sides, and a bit of iron-on thin batting-stuff to go between the layers, so I hope that will work. I'm a bit perplexed about the handles though - they seem to be on the wrong way round to me, but maybe I just need to try it and see. Because I haven't actually started, it isn't a UFO, is it?

Crook as Rookwood

Yes, I'm crook as. I realise now that I started this blog in a feverish state on Day 1 of the Nasty Bug. Was this a good idea? Well time will tell I expect.
As noone much will be reading it but me for a while, I'll just see how it goes.
As I am feeling terrible, and there is a bulldozer digging a trench next door keeping me awake, I will not write much.
I have only been quilting for nearly 4 years, and in that time have developed a great love of fabric and fabric designs. I admit to being more into the fabric than sewing the quilts at times, and my tastes in fabric have changed and expanded incredibly in this time.
Once upon a time... 1930s prints? No way! Now I love them. Florals? Cack. I'm quite into them now, too. I luurve 1800s reproductions and really enjoy reading about the history of fabric and quilts.
This is my first quilt made during a set of classes at a Patchwork shop. An Irish Chain in the obligatory closeline shot, complete with extra arm and the dogs! In the beginning my taste was for lots of dark and gloomy fabrics - I think that is why I love the 1800s reproductions so much.
Since then I have made other quilts in brighter colours. I'll put them up another day. Back to bed I think.

Officially Inspired

Well, it's official - I'm inspired. After many months of *not* sewing, only looking at my fabric and fabric stores on the internet, I'm in the mood.
I've been reading lots of quilt blogs over the last few days, notably the Stash Quilt Web Ring, and have decided to let go of the guilt and denial that hovers around my stash.
Fabric is coming out from under the bed, is being moved from one plastic storage box to the next, and I have started cutting up strips.
The idea from Quiltville about using the little starting and ending bits of fabric when chain piecing has made a big impact on me. When I scrolled down and saw the blue quilt and the red and yellow Nine Patch quilt, I sucked in my breath with excitement!