1st Postcard

I have made my first postcard - here it is. Not too special, but I thought I'd have a go. I have been trying to post this photo for about 24 hrs. It was taken side on then flipped, which is why it looks kinda funny.

I posted it to my 7 yo nephew Daniel, who is into art. He takes an art class one afternoon a week, so I am trying to turn him into a fibre artist! I have a sneaky plan to snare him - there is a house here on the island which is known as The Bum House. The roof is very funny - it has 2 humps on it like the cheeks of a bum. Being 7, and very amused by toilet humour, Daniel finds the Bum House very funny. So my next postcard will be of said house - see how he likes that in his letterbox!

I haven't been doing too much else quilty as I have been working nights and have been very tired. I slept right through the night after sleeping in the day yesterday, so of course I woke up at 03.30 this morning. I got up before dawn and caught up on my bloglines. I also made some HS Triangles with Triangles on a Roll. I have only used Thangles before. Heavens to Bettsy - they are 1 1/2 " finished, not 3", so they won't be much help to you for your project.
I made them out of black and white prints so that I can do a border ala Collaborative Quilting.

Then I made some scones, and went to the Craft Group. I know - shocking isn't it to have done all that before 09.00hrs! Did some hexagon work at the Craft Group, then have been over on Russell Island this arvo looking at land to buy, with a friend. Busy busy busy. I know I will sleep well tonight.

As for the Aqua, Lime and Orange quilt, it is still up on the wall. I have made a few changes to the blue and green to lighten it up a bit, and I think it is ready to go. I have bought some batting and plain white fabric for the back, so will get onto it soon. The way I'm supposed to be constructing it is a little different from a normal quilt. I will lay the squares on the batting and backing, then apply the strips over the top as cover strips. My main concern is getting the strips straight, so I think I will draw some sort of grid on the batting first. Maybe later in the week LOL!

Which One?

Thin strips and 2 different fabrics, or thick strips? A poll will be conducted - no fence sitting please!

Happy Dance!

It's a Happy Day. Not only am I on days off, it is pay day (makes it all worthwhile), and this big blue bag was waiting for me when I got home this morning! Could it be my parcel of Kaffe Fassett fabrics from Hancocks...?? Never before has it arrived in a big blue bag - usually in cardboard envelopes.

Maybe the edges have split really badly this time and some considerate French post master has put it in a LA POSTE AVON bag for me. Nice man.It has left Kentucky with a blue tag on it
saying DOUANE Peut etre ouvert D'office,
described as Printed Matters (Imprimes) worth $5-00. Then on the 12 October it was in France, PRIORITARE France La Poste. Then on the 19th October I think it departed from ROISSY CI (Date de la depeche) bound for SYDNEY (AUSTRALIE). Finally it arrives here today on the 25th. My fabric has been on a world tour.

Perhaps it was placed in the blue bag by the nice French Post Master as it looks like a couple of kilos of heroin, not fabric.

Then...ooh lucky lucky me! Kaffe, Kaffe and MORE Kaffe. And a couple of reproductions I couldn't resist that Blogger won't let me post. Maybe later. Now I am off to fondle my fabric instead of going to bed.

I have had a rethink of the other WIP - I am in the process of making the pink and orange strips thinner, which might lessen the impact a bit (see last blog entry). I think they might be a bit too overpowering. I might also take out the big flower in the middle and replace it with the same thing but in a different colourway, which has a white background. Lighten it up a bit. Watch this space...

Cutting and Pinning, Not Sewing

I have been cutting and pinning on the design wall (bed sheet) this morning trying to make this quilt happen. I decided that today was the day and I wasn't going to think about it anymore, just DO IT. I spent 5 minutes trying to plan it on a piece of paper, then thought "stuff it", and just went for it. I was quite ruthless and ended up using the scissors in the end. I played around with it then took the first photo and went away for a while.

I was fairly happy with it when I came back to it, so I started cutting random strips for the ...well... strips! I just cut a bit off here, and stuck a bit up there, and this is the final layout still up on the wall. That bit up the top is for something else.

I think it is going to be ok - don't the pink and orange strips change the look of it? I think (or hope) that when it is all together and bound with more pink and orange, it will look better. I started off with the idea that it would be about 36 in x 48 in, but I think it will be a bit smaller in the end. I'm going to hang it on the wall above the computer if it looks ok.

I'm quite exhausted by the burst of energy, so I think that will be enough for today. I'll have to recut that piece 2nd from the left on the bottom to make it a bit longer. The bottom right hand fabric came out of the reject pile for that spot - hopefully it balances it a bit.

Any suggestions anyone? It's still on the wall....

63 out of 150

Not having been to the States puts me behind to start with, so it is lucky I had a bit of fun when I was young...

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa - closed for a wedding that day
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Collaborative Quilting Style

I read a fair bit of the Collaborative Quilting book last night in bed, and I was struck by the similarity to the syle of 2 Australian quilters. You may or may not know of them in the States, but Judy Hooworth and Jan Mullen both work in a similar style.
I have the Judy Hooworth book out from the library at the moment. Listen to this quote in her 2001 book entitled Razzle Dazzle Quilts (That Patchwork Place, ISBN 1-56477-322-1).

In Exercise 3 she says... "Now let's add a zinger. Black-and-white fabrics contain the two extremes of contrast - the lightest light next to the darkest dark. Used in small amounts, black-and-white prints sparkle and add movement and rhythm to the quilt surface. Choose a variety of black-and-white prints, and cut them into 2 1/2 inch squares. Arrange them with the colour squares and rectangles as shown in the photo on p18. These black-and-white squares provide a place for the eye to rest, although it doesn't linger because all the squares are different."

Also have a look at Jan Mullens patterns from Stargazey Quilts Stargazey Quilts . Interesting isn't it?

When I posted that photo (of the scraps from the quilt I haven't made yet!), with the black and white centre, someone mentioned that it reminded them of Collaborative Quilting style - I was thinking more along the lines of a log cabin with stripes or a string pieced block inspired by Judy Hooworth.

It is likely that they have all drawn inspiration from the scrappy blocks or the 1930s, but isn't it interesting to see how they have all developed along similar lines?

Fun at the Fair

Well I obviously need saving from myself, as I have come home from the Craft Show with some Japanese fabric! Do you believe it? I can't. It is only a small piece with these animals on them though, which will keep, I'm sure. I also bought a pale pink stencilled sashiko piece with cherry blossoms on it. I had a bit of a brain snap - it was very late in the day. There was a fantastic panel with the Japanese alphabet on it in a sort of vintage style - I would have loved it, and 'nearly' bought it, but held back. What would I do with it?

Otherwise, I was VERY GOOD. I did not buy any other fabric, but I did buy some books, and the latest Japanese Patchwork Tsushin magazine, which features hexagons. I bought the Collaborative Quilting one, and some Fast2Fuse as I am going to try some postcards. I bought a few little things ie snips, scissors, hexagon papers, and a present for my sister Helen (won't tell you what in case she is listening...) I also got a brochure for a sock knitting class.

I will show you some photos of the books and stuff tomorrow - too dark now to take photos of books.


I had coffee with Heavens to Bettsy which was fun, and also ran into my Mother (you can't go anywhere). My Mother's favourite saying is "My eyes and ears are to the ground, and my spies are all around". Truer words have never been spoken.

Anyway 'tis after midnight so I had better go to bed, especially as Simon and Swampy have a date with Neddie and Lucy at the dog park at 10am. Sadly I am required to attend, or else I could sleep late.

Waaaay Too Far Ahead of Myself

I wish I could actually do some sewing. I think about quilts & fabric ALL the time, but do I sew? Not much. Here is my next idea - I thought I would use the scraps from the Aqua and Lime quilt to make something for my niece Alex (she is 12). I thought I would do a string pieced block on the diagonal with the black and white in the centres. It is one of those prints that makes your eyes go funny. Then I could sash it with a different black and white or something...

Q. Now can anyone see the problem here?

A. Yes, correct. I have yet to make the other quilt so as to generate scraps to make this quilt.

I really must crack on with something. I think the thought of the 500 or so 3 inch blocks required for the 4 patch has taken the wind out of my sails for the moment. Well, that's my excuse anyway. My other current excuse is that the Craft Fair is on this week, and what if I start something now, then see a better idea on Wednesday, and get all cranky that I've already started?

It happens...

The other good news is that I am planning to meet up with Heavens to Bettsy for a coffee while I am there. She has emailed me and is going on the same day, so that should be fun. Now I don't actually know H to B, but she knows my sister Helen, so it is a small world. I'm sure we will be face to face friends as well as blogger friends. We can encourage each other to max out our credit cards!

Friday the 13th

And not a black cat to be seen.

You've all seen far too many hexagons, and that is mainly what I have been working on. The other thing I've been doing is reading my EQ5 book. I've had the program for a while, but I never seem to use it. Why, I wonder?

Maybe 'cos I do a lot of my quilt planning while lying in bed? Plus I'm a bit into making things up, and I haven't got to that bit in the book yet. But I thought I would see if it could help me figure out the number of blocks I will need for the 4patch quilt, and how much fabric I might need for the plain alternate squares.

Well I had a play with it, and finally worked out that I need 224 x plain squares (I don't know if that includes the half triangles around the edge. Probably). So that means I am over half way there with my 4 patches. I have done 140+. As for yardage, I made the outer border the same as the plain squares, so that gives me nearly 6.5 yds of that fabric. But apparently that is enough to do the borders without joining them anywhere. Maybe I should recolour the border so that I can work out the yardage required for the plain squares, then work out the borders separately. Hmmm.

I really must get into the program and use it more. The instruction book doesn't seem very logical to me, so I will have to go through it from beginning to end. I'm not really into that - too boring. I prefer to look up the bits I want to know, get started, then learn the rest as I need to know it. What does that say about my learning style?

Got night duty over the weekend so will be laying low. My bloglines is telling me I have 109 items to read - it can't be so!

What Next?

I can show my laundry without too much stress, as it is too small to collect much mess. It is really just a corridor - the back door is at the right (where I took the photo of the bulldozer from), the living area is in the distance then the front deck, and I am actually standing inside the door of the downstairs toilet to get this photo! I just have a tub, washing machine and a freezer. The dog water bowl lives on the floor, and the dog door is directly opposite the freezer.

This house is 15 months old, and I still haven't even put up a shelf in the laundry. The detergent just sits in the tub.

The real mess is in the bathroom where the dirty laundry basket is!

Orange, Lime and Aqua?

Here are the lime and aqua fabrics that are most likely to get into the quilt, with a few orange and pinks as a trial for the strips. I just remembered the yellow and orange fabric that came from Hancocks recently - that could go in maybe?

I also took a photo of the "instructions" so you can see the method of construction. A few people said it sounded like a Quilt as You Go, which it sort of is, but the way they have done it is to have the batting and backing cut to the finished size before you start. Then you just lay the rectangles or squares onto the batting and move them around. I suppose you could even spray glue them onto the batting (I'm starting to like this idea even more!), then pin the strips on and sew them on. In fact you could just slap some fabric down any which way and then put the strips on! But then it might get crooked...

When you think about it, it should be quite a quick project. Deciding where to put things would be where the time comes in.

As you can see I'm from the "Work Smart Not Hard" School of Life, so this kind of appeals to me! Any thoughts or ideas?

Aqua and Lime?

This is the photo of the quilt I like in the Japanese Patchwork Quilt tsushin magazine that I thought I might make in aqua and lime. But then I quite like it in the retro florals too. The way it seems to be constructed (my Japanese isn't too good LOL), is that the rectangles are cut out and tacked to the batting and backing fabric. The the thin strips are put on as cover strips to cover the gaps between the rectangles. The blocks are then quilted, using the flowers as a guide. The thin strips also have sewing/quilting on them - mainly fancy stitches sewn down the centre of the strip. There is also some blanket stitch on the edges of some of the strips. So you could adapt it to anything, which is my kind of sewing! These are the fabrics I am considering for this project. Some probably won't make it in, if it all goes ahead. I have all these Amy Butler fabrics that I bought so cheap with some birthday money, with the idea of making a quilt for me. But I think I will only use the pink and brown ones in the quilt I was thinking of, so all the green and orange ones are still available. I could even use the orangey ones for the strips on this - too out there? But definately a summer quilt...
















As for the rest of my weekend, this is the progress on the new house next door that was made with a bulldozer, between the hours of 10am and 3pm yesterday. This photo is taken from my back landing which is under my bedroom window. Sleeping on night duty is a challenge... When that tree went over I thought it had crashed into the house it was so loud!

Quilt Group Experience

I went to the quilt group meeting on Friday - nice ladies, but I wish I could find some quilters around my own age. Well not even my age, just middle aged. Most of the ladies that go to quilt groups are 'older' it seems. A very few groups have 'younger' women, but all they seem to want to talk about is their young children. Most of the older ladies seem to only want to talk about their health. I don't think there is any risk of the quilt ladies from Friday reading this - if I turned the conversation back to sewing once (as a safe topic that didn't involve talking about what I have to deal with at work), I changed the topic 10 times!

Oh well. I will go again next month and give them another go. Lucky I took the hexagons, as they were hand sewing too. Not really a place to take the machine. Sigh...

Otherwise I have been working this weekend, so not much to report. I did make this little bag to take my hand-sewing in though. I couldn't sleep so I thought the process through while in bed, then got up and made it before I went to work on Friday night. It's very bright, but I like it!

Sob, sob, sob...

I still blame it on the hexagons, but OTOH I can 'do' the hexagons now, as I can actually see them. Here are my new glasses with some of the offending hexagons. They are not all sewn together - just sewn in big groups so that I can distribute the fabrics a bit better.

It is funny having reading glasses - I put them on coming home in the ferry and did some hand sewing. No problems. But every time I looked up to see where we were, or whether the ticket man was getting close, I felt a bit sick as I was looking through them still. I just tried them for the computer - good with the screen, but not so good when looking at the keyboard (I'm not a great typist). But then I like to work in half light when on the computer, so that makes it funny too. The eye guy confirmed my feeling that I am very sensitive to glare - he said my pupils don't contract down as much as most people's in the light, hence my preference for 40W lightbulbs, most of which are turned off, and my reliance on the sunnies.

I tend to wear my sunnies on my head (something that made me cringe as a child when my Mother did it), so I can't do that with the new specs. Maybe a string around the neck? But will they end up in the soup? How long til I lose them? Oh the dramas, the dramas!

Anyway, enough about all that - I'm sure you're sick to death of it all.

I am off to my first meeting of the Offshore Quilters tomorrow at the crack of dawn. Again a morning meeting. I will have to get the 08.30 waterbus as it is the latest one that will get me there by 9. I will also have to be picked up which is a drag - to them and me. I like to be independent. I was going to take the machine and work on the 4 patches, but until I see what the setup is and suss the whole thing out, I might take the hexagons and crack on with that. The lady that I have spoken to on the phone is very friendly (ex-nurse - we nurses are everywhere), so I'm sure it will be fine. New people I don't know, but maybe some new friends!

Otherwise not much quiltiness going on. I've got some ideas for things I might or might not do, and I'm even considering a BOM, which will be a first for me. I read that many bloggers do them, and I have also noted that many bloggers get behind on them(!), but as they say "you'll never never know, if you never never go". I can't quite shake reading BOM as the Bureau of Meteorology though, so that could be a sign...

I'm thinking of something with these fabrics - I have another cherry one somewhere. I'm not really a table cloth girl, or even a table runner type - I like to eat straight off the old pine table. 'Maybe' a table runner, or maybe some placemats... Not sure. My head is in the weirdest place thinking about all these autumn quilts that I keep seeing on blogs, when summer is arriving with a bang in this part of the world. I need to think cool quilt thoughts.

There is also the lime and aqua quilt idea lurking around too. I saw an idea in one of the japanese quilt mags, but can't quite get it to the point of making up my mind what to do so I can start it. Next time I will post the pic - can't really take a photo from a book at night as the flash shows up on the page. Yes it's night-time here. Better go and get something to eat (where's Jeanne when you need her?) and sew some hexagons with my glasses on!

Beautiful Day

I sat down at the computer yesterday thinking that after reading the new blog entries I would do some sewing, when I looked out the window. Such a beautiful day. Spring has sprung, and although it is already feeling hot, it isn't 'too' hot yet. Soon it will be, so we went for a walk down to the point. The tide was out, but a nice northerly was blowing, and Swampy had a swim. We also found a crab trap which Swampy guarded in her usual manner - if only she was a bit smarter she would have realised that Simon IN the crabtrap would solve a lot of her problems! When we were kids Dad always called our cat Crab Bait, which was a bit mean we thought. He was always threatening to put her in the crab pot if she played up.

But, all is not lost, as in the afternoon I had to cross to the 'Big Smoke' where I managed to buy a little bit of fabric. I'm trying to buy some summery fabric, but couldn't resist the Latte Spot.
As for today, I have to work tonight, but have most of the day free. I feel a bit uninspired about the projects I have on the go, except for the hexagons, but I'm holding off on those a bit til I get my glasses, as my eyes are feeling the strain. I have a few potential projects that I could start, but they all seem to be missing one vital ingredient. I could try and work out how many 4 patches I need and how much other fabric for in between, but that sounds a bit hard. I'm going to set the patches on point, which challenges my little brain. I've been looking for a nice soft double pink for the setting squares, but I really do need to know how much to buy.

Is there a magic formula for working these things out anyone? I might just have to go back to bed to ponder this mystery.