Sewing Again

I've dusted off the sewing machine and started to sew. I had in mind I would make this for my nephew Daniel, but first I will see how it turns out, I think. If it isn't too girly I'll give it to him. I have a lot more blues and yellows and greens to go in it, so maybe it will be ok.

This is Bricks and Stones from the Quiltville site and as you can see I have only just started really. But I plan to not muck around with it and get it finished without delay. On that note though, I have 2 nights of work now, so next week I will finish it, I SWEAR.

Hope you all had a nice Christmas - I had a low key day which was very nice. Caught up with all the rellies over the break. Mum and Dad gave me a $50 voucher for my favourite quilt store, so that will be fun to spend.

Otherwise nothing to report - the weather has been quite pleasant, not too hot for a change. We have also had some rain, thrashed the Poms at cricket, and I am still plodding on with the hexagons...

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas from Australia - here is a shot of the weather taken at o7.30 - it is going to be hot and fine with a storm this afternoon.

I am off to my Sister's place on the 08.30 Waterbus, so the fun hasn't started yet. I can hear some kids screeching with delight down the road - obviously getting some good stuff! It was very windy here last night, but Santa obviously didn't get blown off course.

Hope you all have a nice day, and just know we are dreaming of snow here!

Cane Toads

Well, somebody asked to see one... They are awful looking things, and so well camoflagued that you almost step on them before you see them. Shudder shudder.

I'll put the link only so you don't have to look if you don't want to. Cane toad.

Otherwise on I plug with my hexagons. I'm getting there. I have my 7 yo nephew staying the night tonight for the first time, so I have been busy keeping him busy. I have never had any kids so it is all a bit different for me. As for when I was a kid, all I remember is Mum getting on with whatever she had to do and we kids amusing ourselves. It isn't quite the same these days.

We have been for a quick dip in the sea - the tide was going out - had his alloted 1 hr on the computer, been for a walk with the dogs, eaten morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, had a bit of tv time, and then it was bed time at 7.30pm. I'm going to go to bed early too, as apparently it all starts again at the crack of dawn. Much smarter to have a nice beagle I think, but we are having a good time.

Sanity has prevailed re the birthday quilts - I'll do it in my own time, not for the Jan 8 deadline. And Daniel, bless his little heart, told me today that he really likes my hexagons, especially all the nice patterns on the fabric. He told me he thinks it is my best quilt yet! I might make his quilt first just for that comment, sweet child. I asked him what colour he would like, and he said he would have anything as long as it wasn't pink. So I asked him what his favourite colour is, and he said he likes lots of colours. Red, blue, yellow, green - primary colours. But did I know that green isn't a primary colour, as of course you use blue and yellow to make green? Yes he is 7.

Non Quilty Stuff

Today I plan to watch the cricket and do more hexagons - I'm on a roll. But before I sat on the couch and stayed there all day, I thought we would go outside, fiddle in the garden and go for a walk. I started planting this bit of front garden 12 months ago, and it is starting to get going now. The purple cordyline in the front of the photo has about tripled in size. That's a 5 foot fence.


We had storms and lots of rain yesterday and overnight, so there will be more new growth in a week or so. I have just put my little pond in, so I will get some little White Cloud fish to eat the mosquito larvae. The first day I filled it up I came home to find a cane toad relaxing in there, unable to get out, so now that I have put some plants in there, I will plant tall grassy plants around it too, to try and keep them out. Horrible things.




See the Crow's Nest going yellow in the centre of the leaves - it really needs more shade. Hopefully next summer the surrounding plants will have grown up enough to shade it. Last summer when it went in it had a chair over it draped with shade cloth.



Then we went for our walk... This is Swampy who jumped in the mud today. The mud around here is very black and sticky, and does not come off. As children when we spent a lot of time in the Bay on a boat, our Mother spent half her life (or so it seemed) saying "don't get your clothes covered in Moreton Bay Mud, as it won't come out". It doesn't. We would head off with Dad to the nearest mud bank to pump yabbies, stand in the wrong spot and next minute would have our t-shirts covered in black mud. Oh and it smells too.



Swampy has had a wash under the hose but it has only half come off. She is currently outside with her bone and bowl of water. And there she will stay. I'll have to try and find some dog shampoo somewhere, or she will be an outside dog til it all falls off.


Yes, she looks very proud of herself. She must have been in full flight with her tail in the air when she went in, as her tail is clean.

Anxieties

Check this block out. Don't you like the name? As good as Death Penalty from my last post. Anxieties are what I'll be having working this one out. Those stripes are very thin. It's a 6 inch block.

As for Blogger, I tried a number of times to do the word verification thing and it still wouldn't come up. I don't know if you've noticed, but Quilt Junkie has gone over to Typepad under a new name Thee Handworks, so I'll be watching with interest. I also notice that some of the really nice blogs I look at are Typepad blogs, like Soulemama and Posy Gets Cosy, and you never see them complaining about blog problems. I had a look and it's US$50 per year...

Otherwise, off to bed for me. The aircon man came and fixed the machine. At 4 pm I went to turn it on and grab a few hours sleep before work, and guess what? The power went out! Aah you gotta laugh!

Blogger on Blink

I have just been trying to visit some blogs, but on many of them Blogger won't show me the letters to type for the verification! Hopeless - I give up. We might go for a walk if I can wake the dogs up.

Gift from the States

My friend Di has just been to the USA on a short holiday (with her husband on a business trip). She knows of my fabric obsession and asked if she could bring me something home. What do you say to that? Di is not a quilter, but one of the friends she stays with in Oregan is a quilter. Where to begin? So I asked her if she would get me this book which I haven't found here, and it would be much better value for money if she bought it, then there would be no postage to pay.


I am very lucky to have such a nice friend. Here it is. I have been looking at it, and realise that some of the blocks look quite complicated (to me), and it looks like I will have to have a go at foundation piecing eeeek! Look at this block which is 6 inches finished. What you see here is the sum total of the instructions
I have discovered a Yahoo group run by the author, who each week gives advice on the order of sewing a block using the foundation method. There is also a CD which will run on EQ5 which I suppose would allow me to print out a foundation sheet? Of course it is US$10 for the CD and US$9 for the postage! I know it isn't that much money, but it really irks me to pay that much for postage. Then there is the exchange rate..


In fact it is quite an expensive business living on an island - postage from the only place that has any exciting quilting stuff (US) to this island (Australia), and the $220 I will be paying the aircon man tomorrow for coming to 'this' island to fix my broken aircon which is UNDER WARRANTY! Oh yes, I have to pay for the barge, then compensate him for the time he has to spend while sitting in the fresh air on the barge reading the paper. The I have to pay for the time he spends driving from the factory to the barge and home again. And all of this is contingent on whether or not his girlfriend has a baby today!

Sorry to whinge, but to me the bottom line is that if their inferior product didn't break down less than 12 months after being installed, there would be no need to come out at all.

Back to the quilting... Any advice on foundation piecing? I was interested to read about Tazzie's post about freezer paper templates. The link she gave was good too. Maybe this would work. All experiences gratefully received. I imagine the Dear Jane-ers would know too?

Hexagon Photos

Here are the photos I tried to post yesterday that blogger wouldn't allow. I think there is a bit of a hexagon trend rippling around the world. The latest Patchwork Tsushin magazine that I have features hexagons, so the Japanese are into it too. These photos are from that magazine. Isn't the bag nice with the hexagon quilting and then what looks like the hexagons sewn on with raw edges? The quilt is pretty amazing too - I like how the centre section is a big hexagon.

I buy my hexagon papers too as I would rather spend the time sewing. They are quite cheap really, so I'm quite happy with that. I do recycle them sometimes too.

I have been out nearly all day today "doing lunch with the girls". I have one friend on the island here who I see a few times a week - we walk the dogs together and talk about gardens and work and stuff (she is also a nurse). I went to her place today and she invited 2 other women who I don't really know. One lady I had never even seen, and the other I say hello to when I see her, but haven't been introduced to. We had a lovely afternoon sitting on the deck eating beautiful Lebanese food and talking about all and sundry. I was there for over 5 hours! The dogs came too and cruised around with Neddy and Lucy.


We all have an interest in trees and plants and not cutting down every tree on the island, and the lady I've never met before was an art teacher and has a lot of arty crafty interests. She told me today she is interested in antique/vintage fabrics which was cool. So we talked about fabric for a while and both agreed that the internet was going to be our downfall! She is a bit scared to start looking on ebay for more fabrics as she is worried she won't stop. She doesn't really sew, but just likes to have them - I can relate to that. I feel the same way about buying antique quilt tops - I'd love to own some, but fear that once I started I wouldn't stop.

The other lady lives a simple life with no electricity and is a vegetarian. How could you manage? No internet or sewing machine? I think she plays the guitar and listens to the radio a fair bit. She also has a kayak. So, it is taking a while, but I am meeting some interesting women here, which is nice. But I would still like to meet some quilters.

Anyway enough rambling. I did some hexagons while I was there, so some sewing was done these days off!

More Hexagons

Sadly blogger isn't playing tonight, as I was going to put up some hexagon photos I took from the latest Patchwork Tsushin Magazine. I'll try again tomorrow.

As for the hexagons, they are quite large ones - I thought I would get too discouraged if I started with tiny ones. They are 1 1/2 inches along each straight side. I have a template that is just a bit bigger so as to add seam allowance. It can be used with the rotary cutter, but I find I just trace around the template with a pen onto the wrong side of the fabric, cut it out and then tack it to the paper. I have tried to tack it so that the needle and thread don't go through the paper, but I can't seem to get it straight.

I don't have a method as such, it depends on where I am. I will often cut out fabric and baste while watching TV at night as this requires less precision. Sometimes I will cut out and baste, then sew the hexagons one by one. I usually only cut a couple of each colour as I go. This is a slow way for sure, but I think the whole method is slow, so what the hell? Anyway, this is the first time I have done them, so as usual I am just making it up as I go along.

I am quite surprised that so many people said 'no border'. You know - I have never made a quilt without a border! What a thought. I take the point about not having too stark a border against the mellow repro colours. I was thinking of a dull purple, but maybe a 'natural' looking border by just gradually sewing random colours getting darker as they go out? Or I could break with tradition and have no border. The problem with this house is that it is very 'casual', and if I draped the quilt over the couch the dog would sit on it, so we can't have that. It is pretty silly really making these lovely things that either won't get used, or will get abused. I've been thinking of getting a glass front cabinet to store quilts in.

As for Alex's quilt, I bought 6m of lime green plain for the sashing today - just because I bought it doesn't mean I have to make it asap. This is what I tell myself. I could have it done in a flash if only I applied myself to it...

Ruth - have you tried to email from the profile page?

Hexagons

I haven't posted much lately - been a bit slack. But I 'have' been sewing hexagons. I have been glued to the TV the last few days watching Australia THRASH the Poms in the 2nd match of the Ashes Series (that's the cricket for those who don't know). So I have managed a few hexagons while on the couch. I have about 6 or 7 big groups sewn together, but they are all uneven around the edges, so I have been trying to square them up for joining together. Probably next time I will make more of an effort to keep them organised as I go. Anyway, this is a photo I just took (had to use the flash) of the groups layed out on the table. The table is 35 inches wide, and the hexagons stretch 60 inches up the table.

I started sewing the hexagons with no real plan, or even confidence that I would get the bug, so now I have to decide where to go from here. Maybe make a square quilt that would just sit on top of a queen sized bed. Or maybe just make a quilt with no intention to use it for anything in particular?

The other thing is borders - originally I thought about a plain straight border, but now I am thinking a dark one colour hexagon border with a single different colour hexagon evenly placed (separated by a hexagon of the dark colour) in the centre of the border. Does that make sense? It would look like a coloured spot border all the way around in the centre of the dark border. But then how long would this take? Long long time. Hmmm. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I have to stop trying to make huge quilts all the time (or aiming to make huge quilts). This is why I don't get much finished, then feel like I am not accomplishing anything much.

I might go back downstairs and rearrange them to make something more square, then rethink the idea. I would have to buy more fabric from the States to have enough of one colour for the border, as all the fabrics are 1800s repros, and I wouldn't be able to afford the fabric if I bought it here. It would probably take a long time to arrive at this time of the year. Or I could make a border of random fabrics, but making them all dark fabrics...

As for everything else, I am a bit stalled. I have been toying with the idea of making a quilt for each of my 4 nieces and nephew for their birthdays in 2007. The only problem is that Alex will be 14 in the first week in January. I know what I would make for her if I decide to go for it, but this is probably a silly thing to start now. I could probably make the top pretty quickly, but then I would have to quilt it, which would be the problem. The thing is I have to decide pretty quickly as I would need to buy the sashing fabric tomorrow. Decisions decisions!

More Things Japanese

My Mum recently went to Japan for a holiday - she is into Ikebana (Japanese Flower Arranging), but can be relied upon to look out for interesting fabric. These are some of the pieces she brought home. There were a few others, but I seem to have left them at her place.

Mum went to a Shibori factory, where the 4 blue and white pieces and the red and white piece came from. The solid red piece seems to be quite large - I just love the way the Japanese package things, so I haven't undone the thread to see how big it is.


The metallic pieces are scraps from Obi, I think. So beautiful, but what to do with them all?

I think I will just own them for a while, and see what comes to mind. I love the pack of small striped fabrics in the top photo too. I folded the top ones under so all the colours are visible. The texture is like that of a fine seersucker.

Feeling a bit more with it now. I will work a short shift tonight which is a pretty easy one, then I have about 5 days off, so hopefully I will get some sewing done. As my airconditioner in my bedroom has broken down again and won't be looked at for another 2 weeks, I have moved into the spare room. I have my old bed in here, plus the sewing machine and computer, so I lie in bed right beside the design wall. I have been looking up at the Aqua and Lime wallhanging, and have been thinking about it again. I will tackle that this week I hope.

I have also been having network problems with my laptop, but I think I've sorted that out today by disconnecting everything, turning everything off, and starting again from the router up. It seems to be ok now, so fingers crossed.

I miss blogging, so have to get going again.

So Boring

I have been very boring and slack this week. I had a lazy day today, the only major thing was changing to BetaBlogging, so no-one is probably reading this anyway! I expect I've dropped off Bloglines, so I can probably have another week off before anyone notices.

I won't ramble on - next week some definate sewing (promise to self). I'll just do some vicarious sewing instead while sitting on the front deck with the laptop. To those of you on the other side of the world, have a great weekend and Thanksgiving Holiday.

Kids have Germs

So much for my days off spent in the sewing room - so far I have spent them in bed with some vicious stomach bug, no doubt picked up from one of the vomiting children at work on Sunday night. Little wretch. My hands are nearly raw from washing them, but that doesn't seem to help. They have their dirty little mits all over everything...

Sorry to those that have kids, but I've been really crook the last 24 hrs. It isn't too easy to get to a doctor from here, plus I tend to just ride it out. But at 8.30 this morning I got the most excruciating pain in my chest and and stomach that I broke out into a cold sweat, and nearly passed out! But anyway, it went away totally after about an hour, and apart from a temperature, I'm fine now. Made me think about hiding a key somewhere, because if they had to come and cart me off to hospital they wouldn't have been able to get in.

But I'm good now. Thanks for the tip on the .jpg resizer Ms Jan - hopefully my little Fairybread photo is there for all to see. As for you Tracey, I'm SHOCKED that you would make fairybread in such a haphazard way. Pizza cutter? Have you no respect? Jodie isn't quite so bad, but still...
The FBPolice will be on their way if you're not careful.

No photos I'm afraid - if I'm well I will be going to the local Craft Group Christmas lunch tomorrow - it can't be Christmas yet, surely?

Look What I've Got

Hey, it's not much of a photo - the blurry shot goes with the blurry eyes - but this is my latest arrival from Hancocks. It was on backorder for a while and I sort of forgot about it. It is a sample colour card of all 169 Kona Cottons. Perfect for the internet fabric shopper.

All the little squares are actual fabric, and there is a larger piece on the back that you can feel. So many colours to choose from...

Glad you enjoyed the Fairybread Tutorial. There were a few questions:
No we don't tend to put 100s and 1000s on icecream here, but they do go onto icing on little cakes. They are also on Freckles, which is a whole other story.

I would call the long skinny coloured one Sprinkles, but when I was a kid all we knew was 100s and 1000s.

I quite like the way they taste - they are sweet.

I tried to put the last photo as my ID photo, but Blogger won't take it as it is too big. It will only take a file below 50, and it is 60 odd. This is already the reduced size for emailing. I must confess I don't know how to make it any smaller. Suggestions gratefully received.

As for the mini disaster day last week, all is well now. Except for the aircon man though. He was to come on Friday, but got a better offer, and is now supposed to be coming in the morning. We'll see. So I'd better go to bed so I can get up in the morning. I have 4 days off now, and I am determined to get some sewing done, so watch this space. I also plan to do my tax this week which is overdue, so that should be a good incentive to sit at the sewing machine!

Fairybread Tutorial

A few people have asked lately "What IS fairybread?"
I think it's time for a tutorial. Aussies and Kiwis can look away now.

Fairybread is traditionally eaten at childrens' partys, however I don't know a single adult that will knock back a piece of fairybread. Now while we all know that there really aren't any Quilt Police, there are, I'm sure, Fairybread Police. Therefore strict rules apply when making it.

I have been meaning to have a little fairybread photo as my ID photo, but I have been reluctant to do so, as I usually don't have one of the main ingredients in the house, and didn't want to risk a visit from the FBP. I would like to make it quite clear that what you are about to see is not "real" fairybread, as a result.

INGREDIENTS:
White bread, preferably from a square loaf
100s and 1000s
soft butter

In this photo we have a piece of multigrain bread. This is not allowed, ok?

METHOD:
Cut off the crusts, making the bread square. Then liberally butter the bread, as close to the edges as possible. Cut the bread into triangles. At this point, I would recommend transferring the bread to the serving plate. This is traditionally a white paper plate.

Sprinkle the 100s and 1000s over the buttered bread, using a clean finger to gently press the 100s and 1000s into the layer of butter. This is an important step, as when you pick it up you want to minimise the number of 100s and 1000s falling off.Try to get as close to the edge as possible.

Once ready, artfully arrange the Fairybread triangles on the plate, ready to be eaten.

Don't they remind you of little flying geese, or star points?

When a Slump is Not a Slump

I'm not in a slump, per se, but I don't seem to be getting much done. I think it is work's fault - work seems to take up a lot of my spare time! Then there is the sleeping getting over work. Then a day or two to re-decide what I'm going to do with the UFO's, and suddenly it's time to go back to work again.

But, the good news is that I'm still sewing hexagons in stolen moments, and while sitting and waiting. Sometimes even while at work. I'm getting quite a bit of it done actually. Soon it will be time to start thinking about how to finish the quilt off. Plain borders? An inner hexagon border? Try to hand quilt for the first time? Do another class on 'how' to hand quilt?

It all seems too hard to think about at the moment. I have come home today after being away for 2 days working. I stayed at Shane's in the city and he stayed here and spent some quality time with the dogs. The morning staff was late this morning, so I got off late, which meant that I didn't get to go to the shop before getting on the ferry. I was nearly home when Shane rings and says the island car has a flat tyre. So I started walking while he changed it, then I got a lift for the rest of the way. Then he lost his sunglasses - left on the grass while changing the tyre? He couldn't find them. Meanwhile it is getting very hot and muggy as a big storm was coming down the coast. The dogs were in the car, and Simon was shedding white hairs all over my navy uniform. Then Shane missed the boat to go and pick up the lawnmower which broke last week, so we come home here to a house FULL of dog hair that hadn't seen a vaccuum cleaner since before I left. Then I had to drive him back to the boat with the tyre to get fixed.

Now I should really be in bed, but the aircon is broken!! I rang the man who installed it today, and he will come on Friday, but he is already trying to say it isn't his fault, when the man from the Aircon company said it sounds like he has not tightened it up properly and its gas has escaped.

And so it goes on. On a positive note the storm has gone around and out to sea, as it had strong wind warnings with large hailstones! Enough of everyday life, I think! If you have read this far you must have too much time on your hands!

The Bum House Postcard

Here is the Bum House Postcard underway. A fair bit of the background will be trimmed away at the end. I have to tell you that it is giving me plenty of entertainment, so even if Daniel doesn't laugh, it has worked it's magic. Did you all notice the black circle between the cheeks?

I used a scrap of fusible web I got from Helen, and have done a little bit of top stitching so far. I learnt from my first card to do all the top first before getting excited and fusing it all together before I was finished. However, I am still not able to get the mirror image fusible web thing. Luckily the letters are all able to be turned upside down or over. The green bit of the house had to be cut and pasted to get the shape though.

Speaking of Helen, she has started her cross-stitch, which is the main thing. She'll get into it I know. It is light-hearted pestering, so don't worry. She won her old-fashioned mother and daughter apron pattern on ebay, so that will be fun.

I'm on my way, Helen...

I'm going over to see my sister Helen this afternoon to check on the progress of her cross- stitch. She is in a crafting slump, due to feeling like she has to make things to sell, thereby not having any FUN. I bought her a little cross-stitch at the Craft Show last month to try and guilt her into doing something for herself and getting back into it.

She told me on the phone yesterday that she had started it finally, so I'm going over to check the progress - look out Helen! I will take my camera to take a photo - maybe it will give her some Blog-type incentive to crack on with it. I will also see Daniel, who was shocked to see a photo of the Bum House on my blog. Apparently he said " That's the Bum House! What's it doing on there??" Wait til it arrives in the letterbox! I'll get some fusible web today to try and get it done.

Heavens to Bettsy knows Helen, so I'll get her to email Helen and give her a hard time .. sorry I meant "some encouragement". Look out Helen I'm on my way!!

NEWS FLASH! Blogger uploads 3 photos!

Shock Horror! Blogger plays nice today. Here are my HSTs that I made last week from the Triangles on a Roll. I have used Thangles before which I like, but this method was good for making a big heap of triangles from the same fabric. From this piece of triangle paper I made this many HSTs. They are 1 1/2" finished. See them all sewn together on the wall - that's about 3 yards of border. In the Collaborative Quilting Style I was very casual with the seams etc, and they didn't turn out too bad.


This many triangles came from 2 pieces of fabric, each 22 x 10" - that's the size of a fat eighth isn't it? There are all these arrows on the paper telling you which way to sew, but of course I didn't bother with that. I think next time I will bother, as they seem to be there for a reason (grin)!

See also the bright coloured blocks and strips I found when sorting my bright fabrics recently. I remember making them now. I bought a pattern (only one in my life) to make the star blocks - it was one of those ones where you stack up all the squares of fabric then cut the pieces using a paper pattern on top, then shuffle the pieces and sew them all back together. I only got these ones done, as I found it surprisingly difficult to get them all back together accurately. The pieces for the other blocks are floating around the place and pop up all the time.

Then I remember thinking that I would do some strip piecing with the left overs and make a quilt out of the parts, but obviously didn't ever get around to finishing it. So it is up on the wall, and I plan to use them all, along with some extra parts to make something.

Quick Post

This is my first post from my new baby - it isn't that easy typing while lying on your stomach in bed I've discovered! Here's hoping it works. I have had some technical support from the router people today and all is well I think.

Heavens to Bettsy emailed me and said she couldn't leave a comment on my last post - I went in and had a look and found that I couldn't either, but that I had also had the same error message yesterday when trying to post a comment on someone else's blog. Is it me or Blogger? One wonders whether blogger is not coping and worse is to come.

At work last night I discovered 2 quilters - quite exciting. Monique said she is a fairly new quilter but just loves the fabric and would like to be a fabric designer (she'll do), and Helen the ward clerk is right into it. So we are doing a bit of show and tell tonight and each taking in some books for the others to look at. Quilters are lurking everywhere. We need a secret handshake I think.

Otherwise the only exciting thing that has happened here is that we have had some good rain, which if you are an Aussie you will know how big that is. In some neaby rural areas it is the first good rain since 1999, and has probably saved a lot of stock, farms and farmers.

Better go back to bed and try and catch a bit more sleep for tonight. Days off after tonight so hopefully I will get some sewing done.