Val Spiers Sews

1 Christmas Item a Month

2012-02-25T09:00:00.000+10:00

I needed something quick and easy this month so I made a few coasters to go with the place mats I made last year. I used the big baubles printed on the fabric and put in a bit of wadding. I also interfaced the top fabric. I made a jigsaw wadding piece from my scraps and did the same with my interfacing scraps. They probably wouldn't withstand machine washing but that is OK.

Raw edge. Wadding can be seen.

No turning. Just sew around the rough cut pieces then trim close to the stitching.

You can see what others are making over at Narelle's blog Pins and Whiskers.

This is an automated post while I am away. I will enjoy reading your comments but I won't be able to reply this time. I am just trying to cut down on the emailing while I am busy touring :)

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tuesday Treasures

2012-02-21T10:38:00.000+10:00

I pulled out a few more of my favorite children's books when I put the others away. Both the girls loved these books. The first is Winifred's Bed by Lynn and Richard Howell.

As you can see on the cover she has a cot that is too small.

It has beautiful end papers

As you turn each page another toy hops off the shelf and into her new bed.

They push her over each time.

Until finally her cat gets in and she falls on the floor.

The second is There Was an Old Woman by Stephen Wyllie and Maureen Roffey.They are both great books to encourage young readers to join in.

All the things have flaps ...

with cute pictures underneath.

She buys all sorts of animals to stop the noise that is keeping her awake.

Why not share some treasures. Link up at The House on the Side of the Hill with the lovely Melody.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Trying to blog on my iPad

2012-02-21T10:04:00.001+10:00

, a photo by valspiers on Flickr.

I can share a photo through Flickr directly to my blog but I can't just add photos to a normal post.

Tea and books

2012-02-16T19:22:00.000+10:00

I made a little tea time wallet a while back but it is only big enough for about 4 wrapped tea bags. Since I want to take a few more with me on my trip I used up some scraps to make another teabag holder for the extras.

I also saw the tutorials on Polka dots and Rick rack and couldn't resist immediately making a tissue pocket. Trouble is I was being so careful to put the backing right side in that I forgot that the folded pieces would be turned as well and lined up the nicest bits of the pattern facing me instead of facing down. Ah well. It still looks OK and does the job. I think I will have time to make a few of them for my Christmas club. I still have to make something Christmassy. I need some new coasters and hey! I can use the tissue pocket design to make them. I just thought of that as I was writing and it will be perfect.
I finished two more books. Once I get reading I tend to have 2 or 3 going at once so I finished all three this week. I have plenty on my iPad for the trip as well as two Stitch magazines.

I love all the Judge Knott books. Nice murder mysteries with a bit of romance.

I have read this one a long time ago and couldn't remember most of it. It is a good crime story. Suspenseful and good characters.

I will do a post on Tuesday for Tuesday Treasures and then I am going to turn off the send comments to email function. While I am away I will make some posts and comment on blogs but I am not going to try to reply to comments.
I just got news that one of our US tour party had to opt out this week because she broke her upper arm a little while ago and it is in a splint that makes it impossible for her to do things for herself. 3 months she will have the splint on! Everything is go for me - touch wood.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tuesday Treasures

2012-02-14T16:24:00.000+10:00

I went looking for The Patchwork Cat because I wanted to see what her quilt was like. It is kept in a box of my favourite story books from when the girls were little plus a few of my childhood favourites. If you have never read Knock Three Times I can highly recommend it for adults and children alike. We always called it The Rolling Pumpkin :) I still have the one I read as a child. DD2 bought her own paperback when she was a teenager.
I had seen it was Tuesday Treasure day on blogger and wondered what I could post about. When I saw the books in the box I just had to pull some out and I knew I had found my treasures to post about. Which ones to show? I love them all. Here are just three.

Keep You Mouth Closed, Dear by Aliki.
The little crocodile accidently swallows things that he gets close to and his mother is afraid for his safety. It all ends happily when he swallows the vacuum cleaner hose and all the things are sucked out.

Down in the Woods by Nicola Smee
The toy bear always has muddy feet in the morning so the little boy follows him and sees that he is having a teddy bear picnic in the woods. The little boy dresses up like a bear and joins the party. When his mask comes off he is concerned he will scare them all but his teddy bear vouches for him and they all have a good time. DD1 liked this one because her bunyip would have dirty feet sometimes and this explained it.

The Patchwork Cat by Nicola Bayley and William Mayne.
Because the quilt is dirty and torn it gets thrown away. The cat follows it to the tip then on her way home the milko sees her and recognising her he takes her home with her quilt. Realising how important the quilt is her owner washes and mends it.

Melody is the host for Tuesday Treasures. Why not find a treasure and join in or just check out all the treasures in the linky.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Card case design and free pattern

2012-02-12T14:43:00.001+10:00

On my US tour I am going to collect business cards from each place we visit and from the vendors at the sewing expo. On previous shopping tours I have tried to collect some cards but when I got home they were in various parcels and got put onto various tables. I had no plan for them. This time I have made a special card case to keep them together and when I get home I will put them in a folder page to keep in my sewing room. I also want to write on the back of each card as I get it the item or items I might want to buy or top up at a later date.

I drew up a design and made it up in some cute postcard fabric I recently bought. The fabric is Christmas fabric but the post cards are so cute and perfect for a card case. The size of the pockets is a bit bigger than ones I have seen online. They are deep enough to completely cover the card and enough ease in the width to hold a decent pile of cards. The tab is long and has extra loop velcro so it can expand with the case.

I made one for myself and it was so easy I decided to make 5 more for my traveling buddies. There are only six of us on the tour. I played around with my signature bird and made some special tags for them.

When I get back I will use the case for all my loyalty cards and library card etc. All those cards that just won't fit in the purse. I have had a separate card case for more than a year now and it works really well. Time for a nice new one though :)

I have a photo tutorial and pattern to cut out with instructions in Googledocs. Feel free to download it.

Card Case Pattern

While you are in the mood to download why not download my yoga basic routine and my special hip exercises. No matter how stiff you are you can approximate the positions til you get more flexible. You will be surprised how much tension you hold in your hips and it affects the circulation in your legs. Two reasons I added the hip exercises - I had pain in my hips like arthritis and it is now gone, I was getting clots in my calves that were inflamed and very painful, none since I have been stretching my hips.

Check out the cute zippy purse links in my side bar. I love the macaroon. Not very useful but very cute.

50 books in 50 weeks
Nearly forgot to add that I have finished another book. Another cosy mystery but it has both quilts and cats this time. The main character is 41 and recently widowed after she moves to a small town. I enjoyed it. The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse by Leann Sweeney. There are two others in the series I think. I have read 5 books this year.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Round up

2012-02-04T12:39:00.000+10:00

I have been doing quite a few things this last week.
I had a play in google+ which is a bit like facebook.
I saw Stitched Around the Block on Pins and Whiskers and added the link to my side bar. It is finished now but Helen at Hugs'n'Kisses has kindly left the design up still. I like the look of it and have printed it out ready to start :)
I made myself a mug bag to take my mug to the quilting group.

I had a play with some tiny squares that I got from the group. There are hundreds of them all a bit bigger than 1 1/2 inches so they need to be trimmed first. I am making another kitchen mat.

I have finalised the planning for the US trip. Now all I have to do is finish my blazer and trousers. I have only cut the trousers out and I have to put the lining in the blazer.

I finished a light knit top to take as well.

I made another book mark and finished another book.

I am making another book mark with a teapot at one end and a mug at the other. Just a bit more to do on that one.
Don't forget to have a look at the links in my side bar. There may just be something you can't live without. The miniature knits are just so cute and the quick table runner looks great. I will have to send the picture of the owl cupcakes to DD2. She likes making cup cakes and I thought the year of the dragon stitchery was something I might have a go at. Maybe put it on a notebook.
Everything that makes it to the side bar gets archived in the Favourite Finds page. I haven't bothered putting in the pictures just the links and a title.
I am sure you have seen this page before but just in case you haven't it is a great long list of free patterns for all sorts of things. Have a look at Think Liz - free sewing patterns.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend and get lots of sewing done.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Book bag with teacher angel

2012-01-28T11:27:00.000+10:00

I was scared I would lose the quilting club books if they didn't have a special bag and I didn't want to get on the wrong side of the librarian.
Owls are very bookish so my Christmas gift from mum was perfect. Then I received the Teacher Angel from Helena and thought she was lovely. It think this stitchery means 'Once a teacher, always a teacher'.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Christmas through the year

2012-01-27T09:00:00.000+10:00

I have made a couple of triangle containers. I thought they would be good to put on the bedside table to hold jewellery or coins. I have lost quite a few single ear rings when the cat has jumped up and things have rolled off or they just get pushed under things and I never see them again. So I have one for myself and two for gifts.
I showed my mum the first one I made and she was happy to take it home. I showed the ladies at the quilting group the second one I made. They liked it a lot so I offered it to one of them who said to her friend 'It's your birthday today. Why don't you take it' and she did. So it seems they are quite a hit. Mainly for their cuteness rather than their practical value :)
I found two sites that had photo tutorials and one is in my side bar. I don't think this is a pattern that anyone owns so I have drawn up a page of basic instructions and the triangle shape to print out. I used a layer of wadding in mine so it doesn't fold up and it is probably a bit smaller than just an interfaced one but I like it.

I was able to borrow a couple of cute applique books from the quilt group library on Wednesday and when I put them down at home I thought that I really needed a dedicated quilt library bag otherwise I would lose them.
I pulled out some owl fabric that mum had given me for Christmas and the tote bag pattern piece that just sits in my bookshelf for a quick make and started cutting out. I am a bit crazy I think because my half finished pure wool blazer and pieces were spread on the table and I was just cutting my bag on top of them. I did make an effort to clear a space when I put up the wadding or I would definitely have had a blazer jig saw.
I wanted to put some stitchery on the front but had no real idea of what to use so I was pleasantly surprised when Helena of Crazy Cats BoM fame sent me a cute teacher angel. I thought it would be perfect and started stitching immediately. I only half finished and left it out overnight. It is so humid here that my soluble pen lines have disappeared. I have to pop up to the sewing room and redraw the lines and this time get it finished quick.

Only half done. I will show the bag when I finish it.

Happy Quilting,
Val

1 xmas item a month

2012-01-25T18:35:00.000+10:00

I have been concentrating on getting some little gifts ready. Playing with a few designs. Many years ago I was given a shop made book page weight. It is like a mini pyramid doorstop. It has dried lavender in it so it males reading a more relaxing past time. It is used to stop the pages turning while the book is on the table. Very useful for reading hands free. You can hold your cake plate and read at the same time :)
It would also make a nice nice little paper weight for the desk. I have finished one but I would like to make at least two more. I have to get some more tassels.
Narelle at Pins and Whiskers is the lovely host for this group. She has a list of all those joining in on her side bar. There are usually lots of great ideas.
I have made a little pattern for my pyramid. Click on the image then download it.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Book mark

2012-01-23T14:22:00.000+10:00

I had the urge to make a book mark.
Probably all those book challenges I am doing :D
I needed some gross grain ribbon and what do you know? Mum had wrapped her Christmas present to me in gross grain ribbon which I naturally kept for a rainy day. Putting a little thing at each end lends itself to all sorts of cute pairs. I had the bird and the flower on a card that was sitting on my sewing table so I used that this time. I think and owl and a book or an apple (see purl bee apple coasters) and a worm. If I use a little book I could stitch my name on it. I also made a little lavender scented book page weight. But I will show that on the 25th. I am slowly working on my blazer for my trip and knitting a big scarf hood as well.
I will be back with my Christmas items on the 25th.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Scrappy squares method

2012-01-22T09:08:00.001+10:00

I have been surfing the web the last few days following links on people's blogs. I discovered a tutorial for making blocks of small squares using iron on interfacing. It is really easy and works well too.

http://www.pleasant-home.com/2012/01/scrappy-mug-mat-tutorial.html

I made a little mug mat with bits I had hanging around.

A few other things I looked at:

Here is a simple baby bib pattern.
http://chickpeastudio.typepad.com/chickpea_sewing_studio/2008/01/chickpea-infant.html

I love this stay put kitchen towel tutorial.
http://pin-sew-press.blogspot.com/2010/05/tutorial-stay-put-kitchen-towel.html

So many nice blogs to visit in the slow poke quilt group
http://mommamadethis.blogspot.com/2010/05/im-slow-poke-quilter.html

I am doing a 50 books in 50 weeks challenge and manged to get to the library and get half a dozen books out. I don't want to get behind. I am also doing the What's in a name no5 challenge. I got a book called Cat Sitter Amoung the Pigeons by Blaize Clement. I think 'pigeons' will qualify for something you would see in the sky. The book I have started reading is An Ominous Death by Annette Mahon. It is about the adventures of a quilting bee. One of them is an amateur sleuth and in this book one of their casual members is murdered. It seems to be a good read so far.
I liked the cover :)

I nearly forgot! Tracee at Quiltkitty Loves Life said that the latest Homespun magazine has her quilt and my quilt in the readers show case.

Happy Quilting (and associated activities like cat patting, tea drinking and cosy mystery reading),
Val

New Fabric and another book

2012-01-20T10:07:00.000+10:00

I was very excited today because I got my parcel from eQuilter. com. They had a sale and I got 4 yards of lovely fabric and four panels for only AU$44 including the postage. I signed up for their newsletter so I won't miss any sales they have. Even their full price fabrics are sometimes $2 cheaper than other online stores.
I have wanted to buy more Mrs Greenthumbs before it disappears so I bought 2 yards of the hats at US$3.58 a yd and 1 yard of the seed packets at full price of US$8.95. The panels were US$2.60 each. There was so much there that I wanted to buy but I have to save my money for my trip. Funny isn't it! I will be so glad when my trips are over so I can start spending my pocket money on a whim. Not really. But it is hard to keep my money for things I haven't seen yet. I didn't think $44 would blow the budget and it was for things that I have wanted for a while.

The post cards were too nice to resist :)

One of the blocks on the Mrs Greenthumbs panel

Another panel that I couldn't resist!

I have been playing with the little triangular thread catcher pattern. I put the link to the tutorial in my sidebar. I didn't read the instructions very closely so I made 3 big triangles with wadding in them and thought 'How is this going to work?'. I need another triangle. So now I have 4 sewn big triangles and I thought it was time to check the tutorial. Well, what do you know! You only need one triangle to make the thread catcher. It is very tiny. I don't think it will be suitable for me to throw threads in but it would make a great container for loose change or ear rings on the bedside table. I have several that I will show for Christmas through the year. I also finished another item for 1 Xmas item a month.

I took my sewing machine and overlocker up to the quilting group so I could make a pair of trousers. I classified them as quilting because I need them to wear on my trip to buy fabric. I nearly finished them and now all I have to do is the hems. I will do pictures of my travel clothes later. Today I have to work on the woolen blazer.

Yesterday DH thought it would be nice to take me to a fabric shop that he learnt about from a lady he sat next to while he was waiting for me at the post office the other day. It is called East Coast Fabrics.
This will really only interest the Brisbane ladies.

Springwood Warehouse
Unit 3B, Pacific Place
10 Old Chatswood Rd
Springwood Q 4127
(Next to Tender Disposals)

Phone: 07 3208 1930
You have to get onto the service road from Chatswood Rd.
They had a large range of quilting fabrics at $5.99/m and lots of dress making fabrics. Some lovely silks for $7.95/m.

I have joined up two book clubs online. One requires the 6 titles to have particular words in them and the other is 50 books in 50 weeks. I have just finished my second book this year. Even Money fits the 'something carried in your purse' criteria. I picked it by running my eye along the library shelf til I found one of the key words. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. It was a bit humorous as well as being a murder mystery and the characters were very likeable. A great read if you like coffee table mysteries.
I think I will have to get more than one book out on my next library visit and because I have to do a bit of catchup I might also have to get some shorter books :)

Finally, I have another pattern that I will share on the 25th. I made it up when I discovered that the triangle thread catcher was a bit small. I may even tizzy it up a bit with some stitchery.

Happy Quilting,
Val

A new tote

2012-01-17T08:30:00.000+10:00

I have discovered that if I eat cheese around tea time before bed I will lie awake for hours with a kind of hyperactivity in my head. It happened not so long ago and I told myself not to eat cheese at night but I forgot and paid the price. However, I did think up the design for my new tote bag while I was lying there. I have called it the Tote-All because I think it will hold whatever you are able to lift. I put 10kg (22lbs) in no problem. Well, the only problem was I don't think I would be able to carry it very far :D
Rather than write up a pattern I have listed its features and put the measurements I used on a diagram. It takes a metre or yard of fabric plus the decorative fabrics.

No good having a bag that will carry anything if the base board is flimsy so I cut off some of an old cutting mat. This won't fold it only bends and it won't crack or break. I did have to use two hands to close the scissors at each snip. I will probably have a sore hand or two tomorrow :(

While at the post office yesterday I found some Christmas specials. I couldn't resist this set of boxes for $6.99. I will use them in my sewing room. The lid is attached to the handle loop.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Quick Organza Bunny Bag

2012-01-14T08:59:00.000+10:00

I discovered this basic bag design and it is perfect for a drawstring look without all the fiddling required to make the drawstring. It lends itself to all sorts of uses but here I have made it into an Easter bag to fill with Easter eggs.
I didn't actually take the photos as I constructed it because I hadn't really planned to give instructions but I am sure you can get the gist of it with the see through fabric.

You start with a rectangle of fabric 11 inches wide and 12 inches high. You can adjust the size of the rectangle for a bigger or smaller bag but this size is probably as small as you want to go for sewing ease. I used some organza I had from way back. The opening of the bag was just a fraction too small for me to use my free arm so I will probably use a 12 inch square next time to make it even easier.

You can download the bunny on PDF from my google docs.
I can already see where I wrote 12 inches on the left of the diagram even though it actually points to the finished height of 10 inches. But with the bagged corners the finished height will be less than 10 inches. I would also start with a 12 inch square now. Oh my! Pattern writing is a nightmare. If there is something you can't work out just email me.

Make your bunny using fusible applique webbing and felt and fuse it onto your rectangle 2 1/4 inches from the bottom and in the centre. I sewed around my bunny because I thought it looked better but the fusible webbing does the job. Stitch his face with 3 strands of embroidery thread. I used French knots for the eyes and backstitch for the rest in black.

I stitched the bunny but not the pink bits. I only have finished photos.

Seam allowances are 1/4 inch.

Fold 24 inches of ribbon in half and pin it 4 inches from the top. With right sides together and keeping the ribbon tails on the inside sew the cenre back seam.

This is turned right side out after finishing but you can see how the ribbon is sewn in the seam.

Arrange the tube so the seam is at the centre back then sew across the bottom.
Pinch the corners to bag the bottom slightly and sew across about 1/2 inch from the point. Trim.

Fold the top down level with the ribbon and stitch around to catch the edge 2 inches from the top. It helps if this edge is a selvedge.

Turn and you are done. Well almost done. You still need to fill it with eggs :)

I didn't have any eggs so it is filled with Christmas baubles.

Happy Quilting,
Val

A home for the needle book

2012-01-13T18:03:00.000+10:00

I did a draw out of the martini glass on the bar and drew out Sheila's name of Sheila's Quilt World. Congrats Sheila. I will post it as soon as I get your address.

I don't have any pictures of anything new but I have been working on some more turtle doves and my scenic applique wall hanging is coming together really well. I am also using some of my stash to make a little bag for Easter eggs. I will share the design soon.

Happy Quilting,
Val

The Beenleigh Quilters

2012-01-12T19:22:00.000+10:00

I had such a lovely time at my area quilting and craft group on Wednesday morning. I was lucky that I happened to turn up on birthday day and several birthday ladies had brought along cake for morning tea. Since it was my first time I thought it would be easier if I just took along some stitching. I was warmly welcomed as I walked in and when I said I had some stitching I was directed to take a seat with Betty 'n' Betty. They were a couple of lovely characters and so the tone was set for a funny, relaxed and gossipy session. I had a little visit with all the groups and hardly got any sewing done.
The hall was built just for the quilters by the show society and it is a lovely space. I took a few pictures as I walked around.

I need to make a name tag for the birthday board but it won't be put up for quite a while.

One of the lovely group quilts around the walls.

Magazine heaven for a coin donation.

One side of the library cupboard. Can't wait to get my hands on these.

Ruby sits at the door.

I have been wanting to buy a Jean Greenhowe knitted doll book for a while and with my purse quite a bit lighter I am knitting a soft doll with a lovely body shape, a pretty face and great hair that I can put my hand made doll clothes on. I couldn't believe my luck when I scored a pattern book with basic patterns for 5 different doll sizes and how to make lots and lots of different looks and garments. It was on the 'For Free' table.
I needed an instant gift today so I knitted the tiny teddy included in the knitting book. He is so cute and only 2 1/2 inches high. His name is Beary Small. I bought some new sewing needles and to make the little bear I used my bodkin, my curved fine fabric needle and my short doll needle. I can't understand how I survived without all these needles in the past!

I hope you are all having fun making things.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tuesday Treasures

2012-01-10T07:29:00.000+10:00

I spotted Melody's Tuesday Treasure post while looking through my reading list and thought it would be nice to join in that again. I keep looking at the buttons on my sidebar and thinking I should get back into the swing of some weekly posts. I have just spent 20 mins or so writing in my weight loss journal and I felt really happy that I have found a lovely blogger friend who inspires me not only to write my journal but to keep making positive steps forward with my health. She is very good at making regular posts about her progress and I find this a great help to me because I tend to forget about updating my journal. It feels like she is there when I need her to keep me focused.
So thank you Annie of the ruby slipperz. You are a treasure.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Valentine's doves to stitch

2012-01-09T18:43:00.000+10:00

I can't believe I am back to stitching since my sewing machine is taking another break. It seems the globe blows then nothing works. It is very frustrating since I have been working on my first scenic applique. Anyway, it gave me a chance to play with the little doves I had ready to go. I am not quite sure what I want to make them into. The square is 7 inches. I might cut it out in a heart shape and put it on a little bag to put jewellery in. If you click on the drawing and save it, it should print out at the right size. Sorry I forgot to rub out the pencil lines and I also forgot to put my name on it. I am not in the mood to rescan it. It is just too hot. Maybe later.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Busy designing

2012-01-07T15:17:00.000+10:00

I have been having a lovely time designing lots of applique scenes and little stitchery pictures. I really like the applique scenes of farms and farm houses and animals. I also like the little shops that were part of the My Town BoM and I think I would like to make some fancy houses.

Working on the drawings is quite time consuming so I don't think I want to just publish them for free. Anything I draw will be to suit me since I can't find exactly what I want. Many things come close but I figure if I have to customize it anyway I may as well make what I want to start with rather than buy it and change it. I would like to make them available because there may be people out there who want the same as me but I think I will be putting a price on them.

I am not thinking of doing it like a business. Just when I make something I can put the design drawing in my Etsy shop for automatic PDF download. I have no desire to write step by step instructions or teach people how to sew. Just some photos of projects I made with the design and the design drawing. It is just so easy to open up shop these days I think it is worth trying.

I made a little needle book. I don't pretend to be a very good stitcher. I tend to fudge the details and go for overall look :D

If anyone would like to give my sample a good home and get the design drawing PDF just let me know in your comment and I will draw out a name on Friday.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Not too early for bunnies?

2012-01-01T19:52:00.001+10:00

The beautiful mild morning and the promise of beginnings gave me the urge to make something Spring related. I have made several scissor keeps and thought it wouldn't take much to make a carrot one.
The pattern for this little one is the original. I had to make it a slightly different shape to make it more carroty.

The original pattern


Transformed into a carrot

You can download and print out the pattern below. If you would like some explanation I have done a basic tutorial that you can download from Google docs.

I made the carrot today but over the past week I have practiced my free motion quilting and played with the cake design I got from the Fresh magazine. I made a kitchen counter mat and a wool wadded hot mat. This is the hot mat.

I also finished an owly sewing kit that I started when I was making birdie tree decorations. The idea for the kit is from a magazine. It has a thimble pouch, a pin wheel, a needle book and a scissor keep.

I did little free motion flowers behind the owl.

The little bird design is from Wee Folk Art

While looking for the link to the little bird pattern I saw this cute pattern for a cat door stop.

I haven't given up on quilts. I plan to buy quilt fabric on my overseas trips. At present I only have small amounts to make small things. I have big plans to make at least two big quilts after July.

Have just found a great giveaway at Just One More Stitch. The Fort Worth Fabric shop is great too.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Happy New Year (only 7 weeks til my USA trip)

2011-12-31T16:42:00.000+10:00

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. It always feels good to make plans for the new year. However, most of my plans for 2012 were made months ago. I am starting to get excited about visiting the Stitch and Craft Expo in Puyallup Oregon. I leave end of February.
I have finished my travel bag and a few extras.
I will be testing it out on the US trip to make sure it works. If it is as convenient as I hope it will be going with me to Italy and the UK and finally Melbourne in July. It may have to go into mothballs for a while after that :) At least if I can't afford to keep traveling I will have more time to sew.

One side has two pockets.

The other side has a zipper pocket.

Two big zipper pockets in the lining and a divided insert.

I want to experiment with hanging the insert on the tray table somehow.

There is a handy shoulder strap.

The strap tucks into the pocket on the end.

Keeping up the bird theme I made a folder and wallet.

Room for all my travel information and passport and money.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tuxedo Cat - no.4

2011-12-23T13:34:00.000+10:00

I managed to finish putting Tuxedo Cat on a t-shirt for DH for his Christmas present. I enlarged it a bit but I can't lay my hand on the enlargement at present so I am just putting up the 100% pattern. To make it easier to stitch onto the t-shirt I ironed a big piece of freezer paper onto the back to stabilize it then I tore it off after I had stitched. I also washed the t-shirt first thinking it might shrink a bit.

Just click the image and save it to your computer. Look in the My Designs page for the other three.

I also finished the shopping bag for DD1. She has a cat that is grey with a bit of a white chest. I thought grey would be a bit boring so he is grey with pink flowers :)

I have had fun wrapping the presents adapting some of the ideas I found on the web. The gold one on the right DH wrapped. It is for me. The neighbours and their four kids have theirs wrapped with ribbons and stars as well but I put them in a bag with initials for the name tags. We will probably carry them next door so I thought the bag was a good idea.

We will also give the girls some cash so I made little LV hand bags. I printed the paper myself using the LV pattern I found somewhere on line last year.

I still haven't put the tree up but at least the box is in the lounge room now.

I have invented the jug wrap!

Merry Christmas to All,
Val

Using up my old Christmas fabrics

2011-12-21T12:08:00.000+10:00

I went to Spotlight the other day and bought some new Christmas fabrics at half price. I have put them away and will make some things later for next year. I decided that I needed to use up the old fabrics. I have only been patch working with effort for this one year and I have found Christmas fabrics that I am sure my mum gave me years ago and I also had to buy some for the Christmas quilt I made earlier this year so they just have to go so there is room for more new ones.
I have half finished a runner with strippy blocks and made some little bags with the left over blocks and borders. They will go in the little stockings that I won't let anyone take away. They can take the little bags this year.

I have decorated some hand towels. I started with pleats, then tried pleats with ribbon then just a strip with ribbon. I thought the plain strip with ribbon looked the best. They all have only a few rows of sewing so I can take it off after Christmas.

I tried the paper ball. It was a bit fiddly but kept my brain busy for a 1/2 hour. It would be much easier with four hands!

The little stars are much less trouble and turn out very cute. I think I will make some red ones as well and string them all together to make a garland for the tree.

I also tried to stitch a paper bird. That too is a four hand task. I sewed on one side then realized I had cut the other side back to front so the music was on the inside. So that is waiting beside the knitted pigeon body to be finished off once I untie the knots in my fingers :)

This morning I had to drop everything to work out what workshops and talks I want to do at the Puyallup Stitch and Craft Expo next year. I am starting to get a tad excited about the Oregon trip. It is only 2 months away now.
I am also having fun looking at what everyone is doing for Christmas gifts, decorations and wrapping. There is so much creative work going on out there.

You might still have time to stitch this cute design from Gail Pan.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Just some cool patterns

2011-12-17T09:26:00.000+10:00

I have been sewing little things and working on the knitted pigeon and surfing around. Here are some of the things I have found latley:
The bird card in the side bar was just beautiful and could probably be used for applique too.
http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2011/05/make-momma-bird-card-or-two.html

She also has the most amazing 3D owl.
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/06/20/3d-paper-owl-from-mmmcrafts/

Then I found the fabulous paper snow flakes. You have to print them out then fold and cut. The cutting is surprising easy compared to the lovely pattern you get. mmmcrafts links to the patterns but she also has a good tutorial on how to do it and a blank snowflake fold pattern so you can make your own designs.
http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/12/snowflakery.html

There is a felt or paper flower template with several layers of petals and a stuffed toy monkey...
Have a look at all her things. And the lizard is really cute too.
http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/p/free-patterns-and-tutorials.html

There is a cute chicken stitchery here. Click Freebie in the menu.
http://www.memesquilts.com/memeindex2.htm

There are some lovely stitchery patterns and applique ideas here. The menu on the right has all the categories.
http://www.french-knots.com/page/4/

There are some nice stitchery patterns here.
http://zuill.us/andreablog/category/embroidery/free-patterns/

There is a cool pieced pumpkin pattern here.
http://www.fvqg.org/05archiv/1005.htm

There are some cute doll patterns to buy here. I like Hattie and Homer Hobart :)
http://www.amongcountryfriends.com/patchwork.htm

I came across this site while trying to find where I got something else from and found the cutest scottie dog mini quilt. The site is about the history of quilting and is very interesting.
http://www.allcrafts.net/fjs.htm?url=www.womenfolk.com/baby_quilts/american-girl-dolls.htm

I liked this cute set of cat blocks.
http://www.allcrafts.net/fjs.htm?url=web.archive.org/web/20080116230112/http://quiltmaker.com/patterns/patt2/

I imagine that this site is not new to most but I found it had some good patterns. This is where I got the link to the cat pattern above.
http://www.allcrafts.net/quilting.htm#Pieced

I also had time to follow the Moda Blog hop that I found links to on Sharon's blog. I printed out a few on card, cut them in half and sewed the block and recipe back to back. I need to get some more card now to do the rest.

I found a different looking little bag pattern here.
http://quiltworld2.blogspot.com/p/instructions-for-quilts-crafts.html

I know you all have plenty of time to play on the computer so I hope you enjoy collecting some of these patterns.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Using free patterns

2011-12-13T15:17:00.000+10:00

I found the tutorial for fabric boxes ( I think there are several out there) and had to make two - with two more cut out. I would add that it was easier to construct when I pressed the seams open after attaching the front and back to the base. I also used the one sew binding method as I did for the plastic purse. Cut a strip 2" or 2 1/4 ", press in half then press the raw edges to the centre and fold.
I was going to leave out the pocket but found that it was handy to place an item to identify what was in the box.

I also knitted the little mouse. Lots of fiddly bits but the pattern was easy to follow. Not for the faint hearted though :)

Another favourite is the Christmas chickens. I have finished one. I might make the others and use them as present tags.

Links to all three free patterns are in the right side bar.
Thanks to Anita at Hayestackhayes for finding the mouse.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Festive Feline

2011-12-12T08:18:00.001+10:00

Since the unofficial theme for Christmas dinner is "Garnish/Embellishment" I wanted a fancy centre piece. I love all those twiggy things. There are lots at our Christmas Shack shop but they are quite expensive. I was looking through my Christmas craft books and came across this cute kitty by Mary-Anne Hogan.
I am trying to use what I have in my stash so I pulled out the blanket I got from the op shop for $3 and found an old scarf that I could cut down and also use to make the hat.
Since cats are not traditional Christmas fare I didn't think it would hurt to add a sewing theme with some of the embellishments. He is not quite as 'primitive' as the one in the pattern but he looks cute on the table.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Christmas past

2011-12-11T10:36:00.001+10:00

I just happened to have this photo on the computer and thought I would join in with Tracee at Quilt Kitty. This was taken in 1960. I don't remember anything about it but I am pretty sure the outfit was made by mum.

Happy Christmas,
Val

Obsessed with the quick finish

2011-12-10T11:09:00.001+10:00

You may have noticed that I have been making all sorts of little things lately. My big star quilt is lying idle and my new Nanna's Farm quilt is still a pile of fabrics.
Yesterday I finished four Christmas cookie decorations made from felt...

They are only little.

...then last night I made the little stuffed bird I got from Cookies and Cream. Little stuffed toys are not high on my list of quick finishes. They are way too fiddly. Then ...

...this morning I was browsing around and found a tutorial for a zipper bag at Joypatch. It is a basic pattern and I have made it before but looking at the construction triggered a need to make it out of plastic. The bound edges were perfect for plastic. I folded the raw edges in on the binding then folded it in half as described in the pattern. However, I placed it over the edges of the plastic and sewed both front and back edges at once. I didn't bother with a zipper gusset. I just sewed it straight into the binding then put the end tabs on. The construction is similar to the felt tea bag I made before. Though felt doesn't need the binding. I can see some more plastic things in the near future. Maybe even today :)

Here are the cookies. The small ones were a bit too small I thought so I have included 120% cookies as well. Click on the image, save it then print it.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Would you believe 'More Christmas Sewing' :)

2011-12-09T08:57:00.001+10:00

I have been busy sewing and playing. I loved the look of some of the cakes in the Woolworths Fresh magazine so I have traced them to make into fabric things at some point.

And then I saw what Teje was doing on Nero's Post and Patch. She is making fabric cards by just sewing around shapes and trimming them close to the stitching. I have been meaning to try this method for a while. Obviously it is not a good plan for things that have to be washed but I thought if I made some coasters like this they could be soaked carefully if need be. So I cut out some teapot shapes roughly, interfaced them and cut wadding and backing. I then sewed around the outline and cut them out. They look really cute. I will have to make a set.

I managed to finish the last three of my place mats and I made a magpie tree decoration. I added some bells to jazz him up a bit.

My desk was a mess with 5 or 6 projects in various stages so I got out another folder and put all my drawings and interfacing pieces and flosses and even a tea towel into plastic sleeves and I feel so much happier.

If you click on these drawings you can save them print them full size.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Little birds

2011-12-05T15:24:00.001+10:00

I have had a lot of fun making little birds to hang on the tree. I used the bird designs I found on the web to get the shapes then made them all from felt. They are not heirloom items and will probably be good for next year too but not much more. I have decided not to buy any more tree decorations. I will just make what ever takes my fancy. Last year I had paper houses and handbags. I still have those and will put them on this year too. I threw away the paper hearts I made with beady dangles as I took them off the tree. They were quick and easy to make so I had no problem discarding them. I have to have room for all the new things I have made.

I have started on the tea cloth and love it so far. It won't take too long to finish.

You may have noticed that I have borrowed some pictures of free patterns and linked them to the site with the pattern. These are on the top right of my blog. There are the strippy triangle blocks, the apron with the built in pot holders and the fabulous crochet hat and some others.

Lastly but not least, a big hello to my new followers. I love it when new people find my blog.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tabby

2011-12-02T12:27:00.001+10:00

I stitched 'Tabby' and put her on my travel diary.

I have made a PDF with the basics of what I did to make the diary cover. I have included the 100% cat and the 80% cat I used for the stitchery.

I would have loved to use some nice travel fabric but I had to stick to the stash though I did lash out this week and bought a few patterns from Cookies and Cream.

While I have been making small things and felt things my new best friends are freezer paper and 505 basting glue. The freezer paper makes it easy to cut out fiddly felt pieces because it irons onto the felt. Cause the felt is fuzzy you can only make it stick once but I have a whole role so there is a bit to spare.

You can download the directions and cat patterns from my Google docs.

Happy Quilting,
Val

What does a retired teacher do with all those plastic pockets?

2011-11-29T10:54:00.001+10:00

She files everything that isn't bolted down :)

After buying new embroidery cottons I needed to put order into all of them so this morning I sewed little pockets into my plastic pockets. I drew guide lines on the paper and slipped it inside and sewed along the lines then slit the pockets open with my pointy scissors. Now all the colours are sorted and even the left over lengths are filed behind the matching hanks. Much better than the tumble weed of thread I had before.

Yesterday I filed my tea cup collection and my bird collection. The cups are drawn from photos of cups and saucers I found on the web and since I am not trying to make them into tea cups I figure it will be alright to share them as stitchery designs as I make my tea cloth.

Earlier this year I filed all my patterns and drawings in two big folders.

I also put the magazines I had taken projects out of into folders with any tracings or patterns I had made up and I keep photocopies of interesting sewing articles and projects sheets in there too.

The magazine

The pattern sheet

My tracings

The plan for the tea cloth is checkerboard with white squares for the stitchery. This is just the floral squares on my design board with some thread choices.

Happy Quilting,
Val

1 xmas item a month and Christmas through the year

2011-11-28T13:55:00.001+10:00

I joined up these two clubs at the beginning of the year in the hope that I would be motivated to make some Christmas decorations and a few gifts during the year. You know what? It really worked! I have made quite a few bits and pieces through the year and really enjoyed it. There are so many ideas out there and everyone is happy to show and share :)

A big thank you to Narelle at Pins and Whiskers for hosting 1 Xmas Item a Month and also to Allie of Allie-oops Sweet Happy Life for hosting Christmas Through the Year. You have both done a wonderful job of motivating me and many others to make Christmas preparations a bit easier.

This month I have made a few things. My place mats are well under way and I made a tote bag for DD2 and two pot holders for my mum.

I usually make something crafty for place names at the Christmas table and this year I have started making some birds out of spare Christmas cards. I have lots of the background cards and they even have a little space to write the name.

While I was at the computer before lunch Tommy made his presence felt. He meows pitifully and when that doesn't work he taps me on the leg. How could I ignore such a plaintive look. Well I just couldn't and he got a nice tin for lunch :)

Happy Quilting,
Val

Small projects

2011-11-27T16:54:00.001+10:00

I have been making lots of little things. I just pop upstairs to my sewing room and think of something to make. I also have a few things that I have to make multiples of so they are cut out ready to go.
First I just want to tell you that I bought a bunch of DMC stranded cottons from Lincraft today. I went in to buy one - normally $2.99 and found them on special at 99cents. I don't know when this sale finishes but I thought it was a real bargain.
I usually pay $2.70 at my local quilt shop.
While writing this I have looked up the Lincraft online store and have found the same threads for 89 cents each - this looks like the usual price. I put 10 in my basket and found with postage it costs $15.85 or $1.60 each. I think I might be buying online next time.

I love drawing with my free motion foot and quilted this mug rug using flowers. The design matches my mug.

I made two more table mats.

Wanting to play with the free motion some more I made a tea bag holder to take away with me. I like to have my chamomile tea with me.

My drawing is a bit rough but I thought the writing turned out good.

I will buy single sachets to take away

Another drawing on the back

I am stitching no. 3 in the cat collection and preparing my tea cup drawings to put online probably middle of next week.

Happy Quilting,
Val

"Black and White" no.2 in the Cat Collection

2011-11-22T18:36:00.000+10:00

Here is the second of my four cats. I wanted to play with my felt but had to think hard of something that I would look at or use everyday but wouldn't need to be wash. I had been noticing the sad sight my tea bags make in my pantry. I have tea tins but it is too hard to find the right tea since the tins are all identical.
I reduced the original cat design to 80%.
The felt bag was easy to make. I cut the wide sides to include a 3cm base section and added on another 1/2cm for a seam. I did the applique, sewed the base seam and pressed the base crease, sewed the sides onto the base then sewed up each side seam. I did a bit of buttonhole stitch around the top and added the tie.

Doesn't she brighten up the pantry!

You can download some basic instructions and the cat pattern from my Google docs.

I have also finished the second pot holder.

Happy appliqueing,
Val

"Ginger"

2011-11-20T16:05:00.001+10:00

I thought it was such a good idea of Allie's to give a design as a gift for friends. I take so many ideas from my blog friends I thought it would be nice to share something. I haven't done any original designs for a while so I have made a cat for applique. This first one is a ginger cat. I have made four the same shape and given them different colourings. I am going to try to make something with each one before posting it cause I know it really helps if someone gives you an idea how to use things. Though applique has endless possibilites. I thought the designs might also make nice stitcheries.
I have made this tote bag as a Christmas gift for DD2.

You can download the design and some basic instructions/ideas to make the tote bag form my Google docs

Happy Appliquing,
Val

Selvedges again

2011-11-19T14:04:00.001+10:00

I have been putting more selvedges together. It is quite fun. I played around with the tea cups. I didn't like the dark brown satin stitch I started with so I just continued with different thread. I can do what ever I like with things for me.

Since the backing was one piece I thought it would look good with some meandering quilting. I have never tried it before. I was quite happy with it the result. Some of the stitches were a bit uneven but I only got one crossover.
The tea cup mat is for my sink. It has an old hand towel on the back.

Today I made a pot holder that I will give to mum for Christmas. I will make a pair. I saw one with the glove pocket on the back at a craft shop and thought it was a good idea to stop the edges of fingers touching the hot part. I use pure wool blanket pieces inside. Last winter I bought a single bed wool blanket for $3 at the op shop.

Happy quilting,
Val

Selvedge applique

2011-11-18T12:55:00.001+10:00

I put the cat on a tea towel and then I got busy and made the 'ribbon' tree.

I think I will make 6 for the Christmas table. Not all with trees. Maybe some curved decoration shapes and a dove and a gingerbread man. I have just made some tea cups with selvedges I was given. I will put them on a counter mat for the kitchen.

Edit
Couldn't for the life of me remember where I had seen the ribbon tree - til Karen commented from Sunburnt Quilts

Happy quilting,
Val

sewing strips

2011-11-16T09:25:00.001+10:00

I saw a pattern for a folded pouch made from 1 1/2" strips and I just got the urge to sew strips. So I put together 10 width of fabric strips in Christmas fabric. I didn't really want a Christmas pouch so I cut it into 4 squares and made a table topper. So I could use it all year I made the backing with some of my NZ fabrics - the Tui's and matchng green.
My travel bag sits very patiently while I play.

I also saw that someone had done a lovely ribbon tree and thought that idea would be perfect for selvedges. I have drawn it up ready to do. I got side tracked with a stripy cat that just had to go first. I think it will go on a tea towel.

I drew the pattern on thin interfacing sewed on the strips then stay stitched around the outline and cut it out. I will use a bit of spray basting to hold it on while I stitch it on the tea towel. There is a tail and a stitched face to complete it.

Mum and I had time to go and have morning tea up at Mt Tamborine at the Polish Gallery. There is a lovely view down the valley. It was a bit hot so not a good place to go in summer.

And finally here is the garden progress. When the cucumbers grow big I will train them back over the bed to keep the sun off the lettuce and maybe a capsicum. The sun is so fierce here all the veges can do with some shade.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Past and present garden

2011-11-08T16:14:00.000+10:00

Lots of quilters seem to have lovely gardens. After quite a few years of no vege garden I have finally made minimum effort to get something going. It feels really good and I am very pleased with the progress of the little seedlings. I have planted lettuce and little cucumbers and some parsley.

I just tore the bag open and planted.

Unfortunately I am a little ashamed of how minimal it is so I have included some pictures of the garden I used to have. It was based on the mandala method with a chicken dome to nourish each of six beds. I would plant 3 beds in winter and three beds in summer. I had quite a seed sowing thing going, a worm farm and compost piles. I think I kept it going for about 4 years.

One side

Close up of the chickens

The other side

I have plans to start up my vege garden with new energy late next year after all my traveling has finished. It never works to leave someone else in charge of sensitive vegetables. Funily enough I have noticed that keeping up a vege garden is quite a drain on the finances. It is lovely to have fresh veges but having the garden doesn't seem to save money. I may have to sacrifice some of my fabric money to keep it going but since I am traveling in search of fabrics I should have a pretty good stash by then.

My travel bag is coming along nicely. Instead of making pockets for my passport, phone and purse I am going to make a special wallet to keep them all together in the inside zipper pocket. I have experienced losing a pair of expensive glasses as I rummaged in my bag before boarding once so I think a wrap up wallet will keep things more safe. I plan to have only that wallet in the zipper pocket so I won't be rummaging for anything else in that pocket. I have made the tote quite deep to try to stop things overflowing and the top is narrower than the bottom also to discourage overflow. It is becoming quite a work of art :)

Happy quilting,
Val

My new tote, some sewing tips and scrapbooking

2011-11-05T11:57:00.000+10:00

Scrapbooking

I was going to post about the progress of my tote bag and ended up taking pictures of my sewing room and my light box set up and then I checked my email and found a nice reply from Vanessa at Whirling Butterfly. She is into scrapbooking and pointed me to her guest spot at Tamar's blog. She has included lots of links to free scrapbooking related things. I can see myself spending hours looking around those sites.

Back to the tote.
It is from this pattern. I like the separate inner concept.

I put my patterns in A4 envelopes. I also write the year I bought it and an alphabet letter referring to what part of my pattern box it came from.

I made it to the pattern a while back and it was just a bit too wide for comfort so I narrowed the ends by nearly half. I put a zipper in the side pocket and divided the pocket on the other side.

The end pockets would be too narrow if you follow the instructions. I could only fix one end because I had to have it flat to sew the stitching that divides up the pockets. The other end has two skinny pen pockets but they will need to be long pens so I don't lose them into the pocket :)

I want to add a shoulder strap as well as the tote handles so I can have hands free for check in. I thought it lent itself to folding the top down (if it is not packed too full) and I have a magnetic clasp that I will use to keep it folded. I will attach the shoulder strap just below the fold line. I will also put a zipper across the top opening. It stops things falling out when it goes through customs.

The lining is dark green and I plan to put a big zipper pocket on each side. One side to put the ipad and one side will have slip in pockets inside the zipper pocket to hold my passport and purse and phone while my travel jacket is in the overhead locker. I plan to keep this tote under the seat.

I think I will also make the inner bag with a magazine or ipad slot and pockets on one side only (since the bag is narrower now). I think if I put tape loops on the back I might be able to attach it to the tray table to have my stuff easily accessible during the flight. Elastic might be too thick to fit behind the tray when it is closed.

Magnetic scissor keep
I found this in Ikea and it is perfect for holding my scissors within reach and out of the way while I am at the ironing board. It is also close enough for me to reach them while I am sitting at the sewing table. Now they don't get lost under fabric or pattern pieces.

My blue screen
In order to make my scrapbooking elements from my own tea cups etc I needed a blue screen so I could remove the background. I do this in Fireworks on my Mac.
The screen is just some blue fabric - you know I have just realised where my light blue homespun is. I was looking for it earlier this week :D
It is long enough to flow onto the table and under the item I am photographing.
It is just tacked to the window sill.

You can see the pillowslip I am working on and the green tote bag lining.

My light box
I have a little glass top coffee table that also came from Ikea a while back. At some point I realised it would be good for tracing patterns because I had the goose neck lamp that fitted underneath.
I sit on a little stool or just bend over from the lounge chair. It would be possible to do it on the glass doors during the day but the big sheets from the quilting books are a bit awkward to hold up. It is easier to do sitting down.

Just a goose neck lamp that I can twist over.

When it is pressed flat it is easy to trace.

Something I traced the patterns for. A 36" diameter table topper.

Crickey! It is lunch time already and I haven't even looked at any of Vanessa's links. When will I get time to sew :)

Happy quilting,
Val

Pleased with some finishes

2011-11-02T14:08:00.001+10:00

Even though I wanted to make my travel jacket it was a 'have to make it' item with a deadline. It feels good to just make something for fun.
I have one sock. It turned out perfectly. I love the way the yarn just knits into those fancy stripes. Knitting is an evening craft so I hope to get the second one done soon while I watch some Star Trek Voyager DVD's.

I have had pillowslips on the list for a while so I made one up. I have started a second one that will have a floral border on one side and dark brown paw prints across it. I think I will give them to my DD1 for her birthday. She likes cats.

The final thing is a place mat for the kitchen counter. I made one a while back and it is nice to have a soft surface to put my teapots on while I make tea. When it goes in the wash I miss the soft surface. This second one is mostly scraps. The cat is made of crazy scraps and the binding is the crazy binding I made a while back. As with the first one I used an old hand towel for the backing.

My DH's new (well old now) jeans are still sitting next to the sewing machine with the hems turned up. When I finished the cat mat I moved the jeans a bit closer. Maybe tomorrow :)

Happy Quilting,
Val

Trip to Dunedin

2011-10-30T10:19:00.000+10:00

I spent a lovely week in Dunedin NZ visiting gardens museums and eco centres. I also managed to buy a gorgeous tea mug and nut bowl from Glenfalloch Woodland Gardens Artisans Gallery. I was starting to wonder if I would find a nice souvenir mug. All the usual ones had quite ugly pictures on them.

Of course we found our way to a quilting shop and I bought a few NZ fabrics and I just had to have this little owl. It is about 4cm high and looks really cute in the cupboard.

I thought the Otago Museum was fabulous. It has a live butterfly forest. We also did a tour to look at seals and albatrosses. We were really lucky and had almost fine weather for the whole week.
All the places we visited are on the My Maps I made in Google maps. Well worth a look if you plan to visit Dunedin.
I wore my travel jacket the whole time. It was great to have the pockets in the lining.


Zipper pockets for my purse and extra money. Button pocket for my passport and a pen pocket.

A big deep pocket. It was handy for my keys and is big enough for a rolled up tote bag. I even put a rolled up magazine in it.

Since being back home I have started knitting a pair of socks on 4 needles with special wool that makes a nice stripy pattern as you knit. When I finish one I will post a picture.

Happy quilting,
Val

Got my Postcard Swap Card

2011-09-24T10:02:00.000+10:00

What a beautiful postcard I got from Dianne! I just love the colours and the scene looks so realistic. Thank you very much Dianne. She also included a lovely centre piece mat and a bookmark. The mat goes on my table perfectly.

Don't you just love the little quilting note card and envelope. I haven't seen anything like that in my travels. But I will be looking out for it now :)

I was asked to review some digital scrap booking software recently. I decided I didn't want to and went looking for free digital scrap booking kits to use with my Fireworks software instead. There are some lovely free papers and embellishments out there. I was just going to put up a picture of Dianne's handywork but decided to add it to some of the free scrap booking files I found. The paper and embellishments I have used are from Shabby Princess - harvest spice. She has quite a few beautiful kits for free

Update: I am so excited to have made this tea cup element. If you right click and 'save as link' you get the transparent background. On my Mac I just 'option click' to download.

Happy Quilting (and now scrap booking)
Val

Oh Dear! No sewing for a week :)

2011-09-22T12:10:00.000+10:00

I have been a bit remiss with keeping up with my online friends. I have spent all my spare time booking things for my trip next year and we bought a new toy - an iPad 2. It has neat templates for putting in my trip info. DH complained I was hogging the iPad and the laptop last night. I needed to check a flight itinerary online so I could fill in the form on the iPad.
Here I am with my laptop, the iPad and my hard copy of receipts in the folder next to me.

We had a bit of excitement the other day. DH opened the front door and jumped back and closed it to stop the big python from coming inside. He crawled away and looked like it was going to go under the car so I poked it with the broom handle to make it change direction. It moves surprisingly fast when it is poked (so does DH) :D

Happy sewing,
Val

Pincushion Sewalong Returns

2011-09-13T09:38:00.003+10:00

I was very excited to find my pincushion in the mail yesterday. It has been to Fiona in Toowoomba which is just over the mountain from me then to Sheila in Nova Scotia Canada then I think it went to Dee Dee in Texas then all the way to Sandi in Florida and back home to me in Brisbane. I love it and might keep it in my coffee table with the photo albums rather than upstairs in my sewing room.

Thank you so much ladies for doing such a lovely job of it.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Crazy binding, a bag and an apple pie

2011-09-10T09:56:00.000+10:00

I have been sorting through my scraps in between sets with my weights. It seemed such a waste of time to stand there for a minute between sets so I dragged my scrap box into the gym and sorted into colours. Took me a couple of days but I felt like I was getting something done.

I wanted to make crazy binding and use my bigger pieces to make the project instead of making a crazy block and using the big piece for the binding. I think the binding turned out OK. I made a metre and will use it to bind an appliqued mug rug. I have a design in mind but I just have to get going with my travel jacket. I cut out several pieces of it this morning. This is the pattern. It is from Safe-T-Pockets.

Here is the crazy binding.

And here is the string bag I knitted. I put in a few oranges to stretch it a bit.

I also found a nice recipe for apple cake on one of the sites I found in my list. The blog is called Linden Grove and is just a nice blog with some cats and chickens and trees and some crafting. She has a recipe blog as well with the cake. Cake recipe.

Later in the afternoon...
I found a Moda Blog Hop on Sharon's blog post and promptly went for a look. At the first site I found a cute soap bottle apron pattern and just had to make it immediately. I used a little spray of basting glue to hold the layers together and free motion outlined the tea cup.

Happy Crafting,
Val

Sunday into Monday Show and Tell

2011-09-04T12:28:00.000+10:00

Someone was doing a string bag which reminded me that I wanted to do one too. (Edit - Of course, it was Creative Kate) I had a pattern in the knitting desk calendar that DD1 bought me for Christmas and some cotton blended with acrylic to knit it out of. I am making it fairly small but it is very stretchy.

I just had to make the Lazy Lemon Pie from Bev's blog . I made a half quantity and put it into single serves. I put things in the jug in no particular order since you just mix it all together. I popped out and picked a couple of lemons then juiced them in the electric juicer on the other counter. I put the filled dishes in the oven and turned around to see the lemon juice sitting in the juicer. I pulled out the dishes and divied up the juice and stirred each dish with a spoon.
Can't believe I nearly had Lazy Pie :D
(Edit - They taste and feel delicious. Good job DH doesn't like them much :)

I wanted to make a little album of my Morpeth trip so I made a crazy block cover for it. I used Keynote to make slides and printed them off 2 to a page and cut them in half to make my album pages. I called it a mission because on the day if I thought of it as a mission I didn't feel so nervous about the trip. I tend to stress out whenever I do something new. I had never done a plane day trip before and was worried about getting back to the airport on time. I had never hired a car before or driven in and out of an airport before so I was stressed about that too. I found that if I pretended to be on a mission like Mrs Pollifax - If she can do it, I can do it - I felt adventurous rather than nervous. I know Mrs Pollifax isn't a real person but what the heck, it seemed to work :)

I used my teapot fabric for the inside

Not quite finished

I haven't quite finished the album. I will punch two holes in the pages and use a needle to thread a ribbon in the covers to tie it together.

Today I thought I might just go through every blog I follow and leave a comment. I follow quite a few more than I have included in my side bar so I thought it might be nice to visit them all and remember why I followed them in the first place or maybe even strike them off the list.
I will be linking up with Monday Show and Tell on Sandy's blog tomorrow.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Fun Creating

2011-08-31T17:15:00.001+10:00

I have had an urge to make things. Not necessary things but things that require me to work out how to do them. I have wanted to make something with clear pockets for a while so I used a plush curtain sample, a hand towel and some strips from the lining I bought for my jacket to make a toiletries pouch to take on the plane. I have three trips in the works. It is not super light or stream lined but I like the look of it.

After seeing the luggage tags Simone had on her post I just had to try making some. I tried one with binding that was OK but I didn't like it so I made one that is sewn and turned. The tails of the tie extend all along the tag and are sewn the length of the tag so there is no chance of it being torn off without the fabric tearing. I also wanted to decorate it with applique and since I had a likeness of myself from another project I put me on it in felt with a narrow zig zag to hold it on. It has stiff hand bag wadding inside. I laughed as I attached it to my bag. It is just like photo ID.

The other thing I made was a sponge cake with lots of egg yolks and no butter. I had yolks left over from making pikelets with egg whites. I know the idea is not to eat the yolks but it seems such a waste to throw them away.

I made a few adjustments to the recipe and it turned out yummy. A lot of butter in cakes brings out my dairy intolerance a bit so it was nice to have no butter in the cake.

Egg yolk Sponge

Ingredients

3/4 cup SR flour or make up to 3/4 with 1 1/2 tbsp of cocoa
1/2 cup caster sugar
5 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg
6 tbsp hot water (85 degrees C)

Method

Sift flour and cocoa and set aside.
Use elecric mixer or mix master to beat eggs for 3 mins
Add hot water gradually while beating then beat for 10 mins til thick and creamy
Add sugar gradually while beating and beat for 3 mins to dissolve sugar
Fold in the flour in 4 steps. I use a hand whisk to stir in the flour gently
Pour into a large cake tin
Bake at 180 C or 375 F for 30 mins. The cake should shrink away from the tin a bit
Turn out and cool completely. I found the top stuck to the cooling rack a bit. Maybe spray the rack before using.

The cake nearly didn't make it to the photo shoot :)

The pikelet recipe is interesting too. It is from the Oxygen magazine. I was a bit skeptical but they rise and they taste great. They even passed the husband test :)
I adjusted this recipe a bit too because it is a pain to clean out the blender. If you use oat bran instead of rolled oats you can make it with a bamix or electric beaters. I also used almond meal as an alternative to flax seeds and protein powder.

High Protein Pikelets

Ingredients
1/2 cup oat bran (or rolled oats if using the blender)
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 scoop protein powder
I had no flax seeds or protein powder so I used 3 tbsp almond meal
2 fresh egg whites
1/3 cup low fat cottage cheese

Method

Mix all ingredients or blend if using rolled oats.
Also once I had made it once I just put in rough amounts. It is pretty hard to wreck it.
If it is a bit thick I added another egg white one time and some rice milk another time.
Cook like pikelets

This amount is supposed to be for one but it makes about 6 small pikelets that are very filling and would possibly feed two with some yoghurt and berries on top. It was enough for the two of us.

I am looking forward to the beginning of spring tomorrow. The sun has that lovely warm feel to it now - not too cold, not to hot.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Crazy Quilting Friday

2011-08-27T14:48:00.000+10:00

On Friday I was busy finishing a handbag. I really like the Birds Home stitchery so I made block 2. I don't want to make the wall hanging so I used lots of scraps and followed the design Diane had for the block but cut the pieces as big as I could. I added a bit on one side to make it even bigger and made it into a hand bag. Even the lining is some scraps. It has lots of pockets and a zip. It is not exactly crazy quilting but I did try to fit the scraps together.

Happy Quilting,
Val

My Visit to Morpeth

2011-08-25T15:05:00.001+10:00

I had a lovely time in Morpeth on Tuesday. Mum and I caught the 6am flight to Newcastle. It only took a bit over an hour. We picked up the hire car and drove the 40 mins to Morpeth where we looked around a bit then had a hearty breakfast at Crisadas Riverview Cafe.

The Hunter River, Morpeth , NSW

The main street - Swan St, Morpeth, NSW

By the time we had finished it was nearly 10 so we headed up to the Morpeth Gallery to see the teapots and find my tea cosy entry. I didn't win but my owl looked very respectable next to all the other entries. The winner of the birds section had a nest with chicks in it on top. I will have to work on increasing the cuteness factor for next year :)

A few of the tea pots

That's my owl in the bottom left corner :)

We had a leisurely lunch then back to the airport for the 4:30 flight home. A wonderful DH picked us up and we could relax on the way home. The weather was a bit cloudy in the morning fining up to quite sunny in the afternoon. DH said it had been rainy and windy at home.

I chose a handsome chicken tea pot to buy and mum very kindly bought it for me.

Happy Days
Val,

Quilt bag finish

2011-08-20T10:32:00.001+10:00

I discovered that there was such a thing as a storage bag for a quilt and decided to make one for the Christmas quilt. Being new to stitchery I made the stitched block and didn't like it so I did it over using my new skills. I don't know what to do with the first one. It is finished. Maybe I will make it into a block holder cover to make use of the fabric. I need a smaller block holder.
The rest of this post is just some journaling. I put headings so you can read or skip.

Travel News
DD2 is in New York at present on holiday. She has skyped us a few times. I think it is much nicer than just talking like a phone call. She plans to visit Niagara Falls, Washington DC and Boston then back to NY for a few more weeks.
On Tuesday Mum and I are flying to Newcastle to spend the day at Morpeth for the teapot and tea cosy exhibition. I have hired a car to drive to Morpeth. We fly home in the afternoon. It is the first time I will have flown somewhere just for the day. I feel very jetsetting :)

Diet News
My DH and I are trying to live without biscuits, crackers, cakes, chocolates, lollies, ice cream, softdrink, cordial, hot chocolate....so many things! We have managed 2 weeks so far and lost a bit of weight. We snack on the plethora of mandarins we get from my mum's tree. There are still a few weeks worth left. After that we will have to find something else to snack on. Maybe by then we will have lost our desire for chocolate....yeah sure :)

Housework News
This month I changed the housework routine around a bit. July was a bit of a break month. I only did essential vacuuming and washing. A change is as good as a holiday so I reviewed the routine to try to make is easier. In the beginning I would vacuum the whole house twice a week. Then I changed that to bedrooms/kitchen and kitchen/lounge so only the kitchen dining area got twice a week. Now I vacuum three times a week and only do one area at a time so the whole house is only vacuumed once a week. I used to have two free days but decided it would be better to reduce the time of the chores and only have one day free. Seems to be working so far.

Exercise News
This month I also added more to my exercise routine. Every morning after the usual yoga, stretching or weights I go for a 10 min walk/jog/walk/jog to the end of the street and back. I have been wanting to buy heavier dumb bells for a while but they are quite expensive. So I have have just been doing the same thing each time with the weights. I knew I needed to get some change there to keep moving forward so I bought an Oxygen magazine just for a look. They had a home routine that was perfect for me. Well maybe a bit too intense because I now have sore arms and shoulders and sore hamstrings and calves. Tomorrow I will also have sore back and abs! Maybe I will reduce the number of reps this time. Next time I do the other exercises I will definitely reduce the reps by a third - 12 to 8 and 15 to 10 so I don't over do it.
I have been doing the yoga, stretching and weights 6 days a week for 12 months in July. I felt I was ready for something more. When I added the 10 mins walking and jogging I felt really good. It warms me up and seems to give me more energy for the day.
This week I alternated the yoga/stretching with the weights. Next week I plan to do the yoga/stretching before the weights then do the walk/jog after for three days (the weights routines are divided into three body areas) then have a free day then do it again for three days and have a free day. Depending on how I feel I might have to do a week or so alternating the yoga/stretching and weights again.
I copied a picture of the cover girl - a 55 year old lady who enters physique competitions - and have it displayed in the gym room. My goal is to look like her one day.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Monday's Show and Tell

2011-08-15T16:08:00.000+10:00

A few months ago one of the ladies on a blog that I follow posted that she found a giraffe tea pot in a second hand shop. I told her that I had seen kettles like that several years ago but not recently. While in Brisbane last week I saw this lovely window display in The Tea Centre shop in Brisbane Arcade. Seems they are back in fashion!

I have been working hard on the Christmas quilt and have finally finished it. All the blocks are quilt as you go. Same with the outer border which I appliqued, stem stitched and then quilted before applying. I used 505 glue to attach the back. It made the final quilting and binding really easy. I used a flannelette sheet and a few pins to hold the quilt up while I sprayed the glue and smoothed on the backing half at a time. I will definitely be be using this method again.

Gluing the back on.

Sandy from Cookies and Cream Craft hosts Monday's Show and Tell. Pop on over and join in.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Jhoos social networking scam

2011-08-11T17:00:00.000+10:00

Today I got an invitation to join up Jhoos from a blogging friend I would say that I could trust. I clicked yes and was taken to the window that asks you to sign up. Before giving out any info about myself I googled the Jhoos name and came up with quite a few blog posts about a scam. Apparently people are giving out their email address and their email password! and consequently the site uses your password to send emails to everyone in your contact list as though you are inviting them to sign up. The problem is it disables your pop up window blocker and you keep getting adds you don't want. I have only read all this on other peoples blogs so it may or may not be true. Needless to say I did not bother to sign up.

Safe blogging,
Val

Monday's Show and Tell

2011-08-08T10:15:00.001+10:00

I have really enjoyed trying to do the stitchery with Helen. It is not all that different to reading it in a book but I think Helen makes it sound easy and also look easy. I wanted to practice so I found the lovely kit that I won along with lots of other things in the June Christmas Through the Year with Allie. I was sticking the big pins (also part of the prize) in my regular pin cushion and I could see that I needed a cushion just for these pins. Luckily Stitched Sunday was up to satin stitch so I could make a fair effort with that. There was a lot of backstitch in this piece and I was very pleased with how it turned out. It will make a decent sized pin cushion for the large pins.
Stitched Sunday and Christmas Through the Year are in the right side bar.

Sandy from Cookies and Cream Craft hosts Monday's Show and Tell. Pop on over and join in.

Happy Quilting and Stitching,
Val

Monday's Show and Tell

2011-08-01T10:34:00.001+10:00

I was very excited to receive a parcel of selvedges in the mail this morning. Lyn of http://bluebirdquilts-lyn.blogspot.com/ very kindly sent me her selvedges from her hexies and she also put in a lovely reel of silver grey silk thread. I can't wait to get upstairs and sew something with them. They would be perfect for a zippy bag or the outside of a wallet style keeper.
Thank you so much Lyn. I love them.

Sandy from Cookies and Cream Craft hosts Monday's Show and Tell. Pop on over and join in.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Christmas through the year and a few projects

2011-07-30T13:59:00.000+10:00

I have made a little gift this time. I tiny quilt block fridge magnet. Very fiddly and took as long as making a big block! I had planned to make a few but that will have to wait. Christmas Through the Year is hosted by Allie of Allie-oops Sweet Happy Life. On Allie's post Mr Linky has links to those who have joined in for July.

I have a few projects on the go or nearly finished. I made another pair of arm warmers for DD1. She liked the first pair so much. I just have to sew up the wrists and the thread ends.

I am more than half way through my lacy scarf using the alpaca wool I bought in Adelaide. It feels so soft and I love this pattern. It is the same row over and over. The label recommended no. 4 needles but I have used no. 5 to make it a bit looser. The pattern is here:
http://home.online.no/~tu-mell/onerowlacescarf.cfm

I made a crazy block using a different pattern and I will make it into a heat pad/mug rug by using blanket to pad it. I want to make the book shelf block as well.
These are designs from Don't Call Me Betsy.
She has a tutorial page link along the top. Her latest post is the book shelf block that she made for a friend's birthday present.

Lastly, I have been working on the Christmas quilt and have just finished one side of the final border. I should finish it in a couple of weeks without pushing too hard.

Happy Quilting,
Val

1 Xmas item a month

2011-07-26T13:37:00.001+10:00

Nearly the end of the month and I was looking at all the nice Christmas things so many of you were making and remembered that I joined the Christmas clubs so I would be more inclined to make something. So this morning I got up and went up to my sewing room to make something. I was pulling out a few books when some bags of scraps and loose Christmas scraps fell all over the place. There was also a ready cut wadding square for a crazy block. My pot holder / teapot stand kind of evolved. It needed to be bigger so I added a border. I put woollen blanket inside. One piece a bit smaller than the other so the binding would go on easier. That's why there are stitching lines on the back. I sewed the smaller piece to the back first then sewed it all together. I love the button but it doesn't really go. At least it is finished and can wait til I get a Christmas button. I still have lots of pink scraps so I will make a pink pot holder for the teapot button.
Visit Narelle at Pins and Whiskers and see who has commented. Most will be part of 1 Xmas item a month and have posted about their project.

I made a useful discovery at Lincraft the other day. The fabric I bought had no tag on it and the girl said no problem she would look up the care instructions. Funny how some things just never occur to me. Of course most stores have inventory software on their cash register computer. I would always forget to write down the care instructions and when I got home I would promise myself that I would take my little note book next time. But now I will ask if they can print them out for me.

I have been pretty conservative with my clothes lately. Trying to get away from fussy patterns and multiple colours but I figured I could use what ever took my fancy for the lining of my camel coloured jacket so I bought leopard print :)

Also, the other night, instead of visiting all my blog friends I played with my header picture. I have a few Nitwit collections with lots of background fabrics and notions that are used for digital scrapbooking and after seeing someone's header I stopped blog surfing and made my own header.
I have nearly visited all the blogs in my list. It feels like I have missed so much over the last few weeks.
Thanks for all the lovely responses to Running Stitch Tommy. I feel inspired to make some more cat designs.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Running Stitch

2011-07-25T12:53:00.001+10:00

I love making things that are special to me so a stitch sampler designed by somebody else to show off my work did not appeal to me. I had to think of some way to use running stitch on my kind of project. I have designed my book cover with Tommy on the front attached with running stitch and inside the flaps are decorated with lines of running stitch. I have used the ribbon from some Haigh's chocolates that I bought in Adelaide as the book mark. The fabric is stuck onto fairly stiff hand bag pellon.
My next project has to showcase back stitch. Not sure what I will make yet. If you hadn't already guessed I am following Helen's lessons in stitchery. So far she has covered running stitch, back stitch, stem stitch and lazy daisy stitch. I was never big on stitchery and I have learnt all sorts of things I didn't know before. Stitched Sunday is well worth a look.

Happy Stitching,
Val

Crazy Quilting Friday

2011-07-23T08:19:00.000+10:00

I made time for my crazy block yesterday. The teacup was trimmed right up to the left edge when I made my table cloth and I didn't know how it would go lopsided but I think it turned out OK. I used some of my free trim to finish it off.

Happy Quilting,
Val

A Gift from Fiona and More Adelaide

2011-07-22T16:37:00.001+10:00

Fiona has done a marvelous job of keeping track of all the pincushions and I was surprised that she sent a gift thanking me for being involved. Thank YOU Fiona for organising the sew along and thanks for the lovely key keeper. I put it straight onto my hand bag. I normally hang it to the inside.

I think I said I didn't buy much in Adelaide but it seems to have made quite a pile on the ironing board.

I bought a few notions. I paid $2 each for the open ended zippers. I want to try using them on tote bags so the end of the zip doesn't restrict getting into the bag. Melann's Sewing World had lots of zipper pulls. I love the little panda one I got. We had a demonstration of how easy it is to sew on stretch binding. It looked great on all sorts of knit tops. I haven't seen it before but she will post it if I can't find it. I also bought leather needles for my lamb skin leather. Horne Leather gave us 20% discount and I only paid $16 for the skin. I want to make a wallet. I finally bought a water soluble pen for tracing my stitchery patterns onto fabric. I used to use lead pencil and try to sew to cover it up.

The ribby edge is the stretch binding. It folds over like bias binding.


This is my leather. It is fairly thin so shouldn't be too hard to sew.

We got lots of free things in little gift bags at most of the shops. Sewing kit, ribbons and laces, embroidery threads, pin cushion, note pads, sewing books, thread cutter, mini cutting mat.

I bought three lots of fabric to make jackets.

Two suede look polyesters with shiny backs. Camel and burgundy.

A lovely wool with lining fabric and dark brown polyester for trousers.

And two blouse fabrics. One white in 100% cotton with a pretty flower self pattern and the other is a cotton poly mix giving it a nice sheen. They were a bit hard to photograph.

I also bought some harmony. I just love the feel of it. It is 100% polyester and drapes beautifully. I plan to make a short sleeved jacket and capri pants with a floral shell top.

I bought some quilting fabrics and shiny oriental fabric to make some zippy purses. We visited several quilting shops. The tea pots and tea cups look lovely on the black background. The roll with orange spots is little pumpkins and the pale roll has little white tea cups on it.

I love the tea pot fabric in the back.

I also love to knit so I couldn't resist some cream alpaca to make a loose knit scarf and a ball of Jigsaw that knits up into fair isle. I have been wanting to try some socks and the jigsaw looks fascinating.

I wanted a panda mug from the zoo but they looked pretty ugly so I bought some playing cards in a nice tin. I loved seeing the pandas.

Funi

Wang Wang

Now I can play solitaire like Mrs Pollifax :)

We visited the Botanical Gardens and I was fascinated by the lily pads. These are a giant African variety and I didn't know they had such mean spikes underneath! The stems were all spiky too.

The edge is just turning up and you can see the spikes.

Inside the Museum of Economic Botany (MEB) we found the most interesting work of art by Fiona Hall Grove . It included a peep hole with a beautiful light show on animal and plant shapes. It is hard to describe but it went for several minutes changing colours and positions of the lighting. It was past all the dried seeds in long glass cabinets so unless you liked that sort of thing you wouldn't walk in and see this magical peep hole. It is part of a larger timber art work.

I left this as a big file so if you click on it you will see it better.

Funny how the birds in the south are the same but different. This White-Backed magpie is only found in the SE of Australia. We have Black-Backed magpies here in Qld. They are almost the same but ours only have a white collar on the back of their neck. The picture shows the white going right down the back. This sort of thing interests me.

White-Backed magpie from South Australia.

Nearly forgot to show me having high tea at Newman's Nursery. I am wearing the coat I made for the trip.

I have definitely used up my Friday post quota so I will post my crazy block tomorrow.

Happy Sewing,
Val

Adelaide trip

2011-07-21T11:49:00.000+10:00

I had a wonderful time in Adelaide last week. The weather was cloudy and cold but quite easy to handle with my big coat. 22 ladies hit the town and bought up pretty big in all the wonderful fabric shops we visited. We also had some time for wine tasting and site seeing visiting McLaren Vale, Hahndorf, Haigh's Chocolate fatory and Rundle Mall.
Mum and I took some extra time to visit the pandas at Adelaide Zoo, the Botanic Gardens and the Central Markets.
I recommend the tours as a fun way to meet people and find great fabrics. The price of the Australian tours is only about $1500 plus your air fare to the location. Next July is Melbourne. Keep an eye on Sue Neall's site or the ASG site.

We stayed at serviced apartments in the old Treasury Building. The rooms were very comfortable.

Adelaide was planned on a grid pattern and has lovely wide streets. About 4 blocks down this street is the main shopping precinct Rundle Mall.

I took this photo from the bus. It shows the Adelaide skyline and you can see that the city itself is not really very big. I left this one full size so if you click on it you get a better look.

Country Bumpkin embroidery shop. Sold lots of kits and threads and embellishments.

Ferriers Fashion Fabrics. It had a wide variety of fabrics. Mostly natural fibres and quite expensive.

There are only a few more photos but unfortunatly Flickr just disappears when I try to find a photo. At least I got these ones in today. Yesterday I manged to upload them all and then couldn't do anything with them. I clicked on the Flickr home button and was taken to Google home! Hope it settles down soon.

I am in the process of making a list of the stores we visited with addresses and phone numbers. I will post it shortly. I only bought a few things and I will also show them next post.

Happy Sewing
Val

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up AND Tea cup challenge

2011-07-05T14:25:00.001+10:00

I found some posts of teacups and something about a challenge so I thought it was time to show my crazy tea set. These are cup, saucer, plate sets that I was given by my mum for birthdays a long time ago.
I get them out occasionally when I have tea and bickies with several friends.
I think the tea cup challenge started at http://teddlywinksdesigns.blogspot.com/ with Liz then was taken up by Chris at http://tagalongteddies.blogspot.com/2011/06/teacup-challenge-lost-found-new-fabric.html
I actually found it at Michelle's site http://michelleridgwaydesigns1.blogspot.com/ on the post before her Tuesday Treasures.
I treasure these tea cups because they are gifts from my mum. I have to say my favourite is the dark blue one. I have the plate for the Lavender Rose set but it is in two neat pieces at present :(
What tickles me about them is that I never tire of looking at them.

Royal Tuscan set

Dimity Rose set

Heirloom set

Serena set

Lavender Rose set

Interested in Tuesday Treasures? Visit Melody's House on the Side of the Hill to link up to other treasure posts.
Allie-oops and Polka Dots and Rick Rack will have what is Tickling them when the calender rolls over to Tuesday in their neck of the woods.
Maybe you could pull out your best teacup set as well.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Monday's Show and Tell

2011-07-04T17:30:00.004+10:00

Not much patchwork happening here but my daughter came to visit and took these lovely photos out the back this morning.

If you click on this one to enlarge it you can see the individual droplets

Sandy at Cookies and Cream hosts Monday's Show and Tell. Sandy has has a daily surprise happening for July and a bloggiversary give away.

Happy Sewing,
Val

1 Xmas item a month

2011-06-25T10:51:00.003+10:00

I have been trying to find something to do with these hankies I bought a while back (years ago). I was playing around with one and had an inspiration to make a triangle pouch. Turning it into a lavender sachet was the next logical step. Everyone can use a lavender sachet in their clothes or hall cupboard or fabric stash. I made two for today and think I will make some more for Christmas through the year. I cut the hankie in half then put bias binding at an angle. I did a narrow french seam on the raw edge side and threaded in the ribbon.

1 Xmas item a month is hosted by Narelle at Pins and Whiskers . Why not see what others are doing and maybe join in with the linky.

Narelle had a link to Stitched Sunday which sounds really good. Learn to stitch from scratch every Sunday starting tomorrow with some pre-lesson info.

Happy Sewing,
Val

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up

2011-06-21T16:31:00.002+10:00

Some things are treasures without me realizing it. I love having my daughters' art works on my walls. (A mix of the 2 daughter's works. They are both very artistic.) I look at them all the time and think how nice it is to have original drawings and paintings done by them over the years. I also have some family photos hung where I walk past all day. It is nice to stop and look sometimes.

Family links are always a treasure :)

Interested in Tuesday Treasures? Visit Melody's House on the Side of the Hill to link up to other treasure posts.
Allie-oops and Polka Dots and Rick Rack will have what is Tickling them when the calender rolls over to Tuesday in their neck of the woods.

Happy Blogging,
Val

Beenleigh Quilt Show

2011-06-19T11:12:00.001+10:00

Luckily I managed to remember that the quilt show was this weekend. I was sitting outside sunning myself when it just came to me. I picked up the phone and spoke to mum. She said she had seen it advertised and was going to ask me if I wanted to go but she had forgotten all about it. Between the two of us we manage to get things done :)
Before I rung mum I had checked if it was really on and wound up at Joy's Joypatch blog. She had a picture of her stand and some of the comments were from friends of mine. It never ceases to amaze me how intertwined the blogs are.
Anyway, we had a lovely couple of hours looking at all the quilts and tote bags and I chose some fat quarters and buttons. The buttons were on Joy's stall. They are designed by Nikki from www.handcraftedbuttons.com. Nikki also has a blog: http://nikkitervodesigns.blogspot.com

Here are my fabrics and buttons.

These are plastic ones from America. 2 sets here $5 each.

These ones are Nikki's made from porcelain about $4 each.

They are very detailed and so cute. I would have liked lots of others.

I nearly forgot - we bought three bundles of pre-loved craft magazines for $5.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Crazy Quilting Friday

2011-06-17T11:08:00.000+10:00

I have three blocks to show today. The first one is made from strips I had left over from my Christmas quilt and I just placed them on the diagonal.

The second one is also Christmas fabrics but I bought these in a scraps bag. I love all these traditional style fabrics with gold highlights rather than the Moda style brights and cartoons.

It is actually square!

My third one is also from a scraps bag. Some of the pieces are excess partially made blocks. The two triangles in the middle were already sewn together.

I have a good collection of scraps from my own projects now so I am going to start using them to make some blocks. I don't know whether I am patient enough to wait till I have enough blocks to make a quilt. I might start making some place mats or pot holders just to have some fun sewing.

This week coming I am determined to finish my overcoat. I am thinking positive thoughts about flying to Adelaide in three weeks time. I want clear skies!

It is fun to find out that many quilters are also tea enthusiasts. I am going to try some Rooibos tea now. Especially after reading all the health benefits it has. The site I found expounding its virtues also sells it but I figure some of the blurb is likely to be true.
http://www.teabenefits.com/rooibos-tea-benefits.html

I am also going to buy some Turkish Apple tea. The Tea Centre shop I frequent stocks this. You can also make your own. Here is some info from the tea benefits site on apple tea:
http://www.teabenefits.com/flavored-tea-benefits/apple-tea-benefits.html

It says it is popular in Turkey and even sold in carpet shops :).

I love being part of Crazy Quilting Friday
You can see who is making blocks over at Quilting Fiesta.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up

2011-06-14T17:31:00.001+10:00

Today I want to make a cup Darjeeling tea. This tea is delicate and has a lovely colour.

The more letters describing your tea the better quality it is.
Generally the FTGF refers to the quality and OP refers to the size of the leaf. You can actually see the leaves easily after it is brewed. Tea bags are generally made from tea dust!

From Wikipedia:
FTGF OP - Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe - Highest quality grade (Note: "Special" is occasionally substituted for "Finest", with a number 1 at the end to indicate the very finest) . Often hand processed and produced at only the best plantations. Roughly one quarter tips.

The tea industry uses the term Orange Pekoe to describe a basic, medium-grade black tea consisting of many whole tea leaves of a specific size

Flowery - A large leaf, typically plucked in the second or third flush with an abundance of tips.
Golden Flowery - Tea that includes very young tips or buds (usually golden in colour) that were picked early in the season.
Tippy - Tea that includes an abundance of tips.

The first flush is more delicate and just a little less fruity than the second flush.

You need to boil the water for this tea. Warm the pot and quickly add the leaves. You can clearly see the size of the leaves in the dry tea. The paler pieces are the tips or buds.

Steep for 2 to 5 minutes. I prefer less time than more. The flavour doesn't just increase it becomes bitter.
I have used my little one cup pot from Somerton -Green. It has a charming scene on the sides. I think I bought this one in Maclean near Yamba in northern NSW.

I don't have a matching cup so I have used my Seyei Fine China cup with a wooden saucer. Seyei was a Japanese company but I don't think they are in business any more.

I started a Tea Journal a while back and first recorded drinking this tea in 2006.
The cover has coffee pictures on it since I couldn't find any tea fabric at the time.

This is a single estate tea from the Goomtee Estate in NE India.

I laughed when I inspected the photos and saw I had spilt rice on the bench at lunch time. Never mind.
I left my cat board on the bench. I love all the cute cats. My big board on the other bench has dogs.
This afternoon when I came into my sunny room I found these two arch enemies sleeping almost nose to nose in the sun. Even when they noticed each other Blacky just rolled over and went back to sleep. Seeing them this close together is very unusual!

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up

2011-06-09T14:07:00.000+10:00

Here I am a bit late for Tuesday again! But it doesn't lesson the treasuriness of my treasure.
Today I am sharing my green tea making process. I get a lot of satisfaction from following the correct procedure. It just makes you feel good as well as giving you a lovely cup of tea.
I chose my Japanese green tea with lime peel and lemongrass. $6.50 per 50g. I open the container (it is still in the shop bag since I only bought it yesterday) and smell it - mmmm delicious.

I measure out a spoonful with my lovely tea spoon and place it in a dish.

I heat the water to 85 degrees C and put a bit in the teapot to warm it.

Tip out the water then quickly add the tea (this is why it is ready in the little dish) and put the lid on for 30 secs to steam the leaves.

Pour in the hot water, put the tea cosy on and steep for 5 mins by the oven timer.

Give it a quick stir then strain it into the cup. It is a lovely golden colour and you can see how the leaves have unfurled. Some of them are almost whole.

Because it is so damn cold here today I keep the lid on my cup between sips.
The brew is soft and smooth with a hint of lime and lemongrass. A perfect cuppa.

I found this bit of info at this site:
http://www.thefragrantleaf.com/brewingtips.html

Why are green teas better at lower temperature?

A number of substances in the leaf contribute to the flavor and aroma of green tea. The overall flavor and sweetness of green tea is determined by a variety of amino acids and natural sugars. Bitterness and astringency are contributed by polyphenols ("tannins"). Amino acids dissolve at 140°F (60 °C) while tannins dissolve at 176°F (80°C). Therefore, brewing green tea at lower temperatures will ensure that its sweet and complex flavors will not be overpowered by the bitter-tasting flavors.

Interested in Tuesday Treasures? Visit Melody's House on the Side of the Hill to link up to other treasure posts.
Allie-oops and Polka Dots and Rick Rack will have what is Tickling them when the calender rolls over to Tuesday in their neck of the woods.

Happy Winter Days,
Val

Pincushion sew along

2011-06-06T11:50:00.000+10:00

I put the finishing touches on Sandi's pincushion this morning. I took some artistic license with the kangaroo since I only had dark brown felt. I tried to make the existing greyish band look like a tree and put a cockatoo next to its nesting hole and a bit of bougainvillea on the country fence. It is off to DeeDee now for the final addition. They must be all quite close to home now!

Happy Stitching,
Val

Self Absorbed

2011-06-05T12:14:00.001+10:00

I have been a bit self absorbed this last week. I have done a bit more on the second border of the Christmas quilt and twiddled a bit with Sandi's pincushion. Just a few more stitches for the pincushion and I will send it off to DeeDee.

I have about a month before I visit Adelaide for the Australian Sewing Guild shopping and sight seeing tour and I want to make a new outdoor coat and a dress up coat/jacket. This means I will have to put away all my patchwork things to make room for cutting out.

I felt a bit stressed because I was checking the ASG site for information on the Northern Italy tour and casually mentioned to my husband that they were doing the American tour again next February. He said why don't I go on that as well. So within a few days I had found a good flight, spoken to the organiser several times, sorted out the Portland Oregon flight and visited the travel agent twice and now I am the proud holder of tickets to San Francisco with extra days each side of the tour for Feb next year. I was a little bit stressed because it was the Italy trip that I had my mind on. That will be in May next year. My mum and I will do the 18 day tour with ASG then stay on for another 20 days of Italy, Amsterdam, Paris, London and surrounds. It is too early to book the flight but I have noticed that the accommodation around London is going fast. Apparently the first week in June is the Queens Jubilee anniversary.

I believe the Puyallup craft show tour in America will be offered to Americans as well. I don't know who through though. For us Aussies we have to be members of the Australian Sewing Guild. I highly recommend the tours. I have done one to Sydney last year and I had a great time. Next year is Melbourne so mum and I have decided to do that in July next year.
Have a look at the ASG site. The travel page has links to the brochures for America and Italy.

Nothing much happening now,
Val

Christmas through the year

2011-05-30T16:19:00.001+10:00

Sorry I messed up the Tuesday Treasures link. Click here to go there.

After seeing Allie's lovely little basket I had to make one too. I found six blocks that had come in a scrap bag I bought recently and I had a matching yellow fabric and it went together really quick. I have put the other couple of things I have made in the basket and put it in the cupboard safely.

I also made a couple of churndash blocks to send to Christine. She is in Brisbane so these should get to her in a day or two. She wants to make a quilt for a good friend's husband who has been very ill. She has asked people to help by sending one block by 10th June.
Hope these colours are OK :)

Happy Sewing,
Val

Crazy Quilting Friday

2011-05-29T15:46:00.000+10:00

I know, I know, it's Sunday but I forgot about my crazy block. So here it is.

I have 4 all up now!
So what! you say.
Well I have just discovered crazy blocks and I love them. I was thrilled to discover that there was a crazy block club called Crazy Quilting Friday that would help motivate me to make enough for a quilt eventually. So this is my first week to be involved. Hopefully it gets easier to remember :)

You can see who is making blocks over at Quilting Fiesta.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Bag Makeover

2011-05-27T17:50:00.001+10:00

I managed to get a bit of sewing done today. I took my old tote bag and made it into a knitting bag or as my husband suggested a thief proof shopping bag :)

I sewed the corners a bit deeper to lessen the height then added the draw string top. I cut a 30cm (12 inch) strip width of fabric, folded it lengthwise and interfaced half. I made buttonholes for the draw string and stitched a casing then sewed gathering rows along the raw edge. I gathered the strip onto the bag so I could open it right up easily with the extra width. I stitched two lengths of brown ribbon together, I got them off things I bought, and the new length just fit nicely.

Opens right up because the drawstring strip is a bit wider than the bag.

I popped onto the computer about lunch time with the intention of visiting all the blogs in my sidebar and leave comments. Strangely, I visited Chasing Cottons, the first in the list and checked out the tutorial on how to put numbers onto comments. Then I thought I should visit my new follower Jenni and just loved the quilt on her header. I looked about a bit then visited some of the blogs on her list. The second one I looked at, Bejewelled quilts by Barb, had a pieced cat pattern she was giving away and also 8 cats made up that she didn't want anymore. If you like cats you should have a look. She will email the pattern if you ask but she will do a draw for the made cats. Probably tomorrow.

Well, needless to say I didn't get very far down my blog list. I hope I get a bit further this time.

Happy Sewing,
Val

Salute to the Sun

2011-05-27T09:29:00.001+10:00

I was sick yesterday and the night before. Unfortunately I think it was the highly refined crumpets :(
So when nothing to post, post a kitty.

Edit - forgot to say I am good today :)
Happy Sewing,
Val

1 Xmas item a month

2011-05-25T16:59:00.002+10:00

I couldn't believe it was the 25th already!
I had been planning to make a little hanging heart decoration. Every time I used the computer the book lay next to me open at the picture and I kept thinking "Plenty of time". Lucky I picked something quick and easy :)
I made this one into a lavender sachet to hang in the wardrobe.

I also made a phone pouch out of selvedges and put it in 'My Designs' page with a tutorial pdf. But this is for me, not a gift.

Happy Scrapping,
Val

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up

2011-05-24T09:17:00.001+10:00

I have another teapot and cup to show today. I just don't know why I bought it except that the dragonfly looked cute. It is a Franz creation. I used it twice and put it away because it just felt too delicate. Dragged it out today and had to search everywhere for the saucer. Funnily enough it didn't feel as delicate anymore. It pours well and the cup handle fits my fingers nicely. It doesn't seem to bad now. I think it only seems delicate because it is just a bit unstable feeling. The base of the teapot is quite small and there is no really flat part of the saucer for the cup. I will use this set a bit more now :)
The tea set wasn't going to be my actual treasure today (but I think it deserves that status now). My real treasure for today is fussing with breakfast and setting it out nicely and sitting in my nice sunny room to savour my tea and toast and look at the pleasant scenery. I just feel so lucky that I can do this at 8:30 in the morning and not have to rush out somewhere.

Breakfast today is soy and linseed toast with a few drops of rice oil instead of butter (for some reason I can't enjoy dry toast) topped with Rose's blood orange marmalade and good old Vegemite. My tea is an organic black tea bag from Aldi.

I am feeling tickled pink because my husband and I seem to have finally got back on the diet wagon since we fell off at Christmas. We have started writing down the kJ value of everything we eat. This seems to be the only way to keep it under control.
toast - 915kJ
jam - 150kJ
vegemite - 40kJ
oil - about 100kJ
Total = 1205kJ

Lunch and dinner is a large chicken leg, carrot, beans and gravy - 1500kJ each
I usually have a smoothie for afternoon tea but since breakfast and dinner are quite high I will have to have a small bowl of cereal with rice milk to get my calcium dose. ( dairy products don't agree with me). 5000kJ for the day. I drink hot water with a squeeze of lemon juice for inbetweens.
I do go on a bit sometimes :)

Head on over to Melody's House on the Side of the Hill to link up to other treasure posts.
Allie-oops and Polka Dots and Rick Rack will have what is Tickling them when the calender rolls over to Tuesday in their neck of the woods.

Happy Days,
Val

Monday's Show and Tell

2011-05-23T12:05:00.001+10:00

A couple of things today. Firstly The Pincushion Sewalong has moved along to DeeDee. This is what I did with Fiona's pincushion.

Then there are the butcher birds. Our neighbour usually feeds them on her back balcony but she has gone away for a few weeks. They figure I am a bit of a softy so they come and look in my kitchen window and back door. Sometimes they sing beautifully. I fed them a few cat bickies this day.
They are not actually cute birds I suppose. They have a nasty hook at the end of their beak for killing little animals and they have a reputation for swooping during nesting season. These ones are quite friendly all the time and I have never actually seen them kill anything.

I was ironing the interfacing onto the back of the second border of my Christmas quilt and smiled at the sorry state of my ironing cloth. It is a piece of lawn. It used to be twice as wide but I hacked off half to line something then I ironed an applique paper piece upside down and when the paper fell off I had to cut out the gluey section. I think it is time for a new cloth :)

Then there are the kitty pictures. Kitty swooped into the spare room as soon as I opened the door and made herself comfortable on my pile of acrylic wadding. Her little black tail is cute.


You can see the Easter left overs waiting to go in the cupboard.

And lastly, I have seen a few posts about feedsacks and couldn't understand why they would be made out of quilting fabric. I finally had to find out. I found a lovely story at this site:
http://www.womenfolk.com/quilting_history/feedsacks.htm

Sandy at Cookies and Cream Crafts hosts Monday Show and Tell. So pop over and see what others have to show and join in.
Happy Quilting,
Val

Fiona's pincushion

2011-05-22T14:57:00.003+10:00

If you are looking for my FNSI post it is here.

I don't think I can do any more swap or share work. It is ridiculous I know, but I have had a headache for a week because I hadn't finished my bit on this pincushion. I felt pinned down by the external deadline and I wanted to do other things like my selvedge tote and I felt guilty because I wasn't doing the pincushion.
When I was working on the pincushions I was enjoying it. I loved trying to design something that fitted and then stitching it so it looked the way I wanted so I assure you they are all stitched with love and care. I had just forgotten why I had to retire in the first place. My ability to handle stress is greatly diminished and this is very obvious to me after being retired for a while. Appointments and deadlines and events cause me to tense up noticeably because in between I am quite relaxed unlike when I was working. I guess I was just stressed all the time then, sometimes worse than others.
Any way, enough moaning. I have a teaser for Fiona. She has to guess what I put on her pincushion before I show it all.

No pressure Fiona. I will show it all tomorrow anyway :)

May your sewing be stress free,
Val

Friday Night Sew In

2011-05-21T15:59:00.002+10:00

I didn't sign up for FNSI this month because I forgot basically. I made crazy blocks for a while ( I have 4 now) and then I discovered 'selvedge projects'. I had lots of lovely selvedges from my latest fabrics. I cut off a 1 inch strip which is only a bit more than I would normally cut off and throw away. I got such satisfaction out of sewing together my own fabric. I stitched the selvedge strips onto the non-glue side of some interfacing cut to the tote bag pattern. When covered I ironed it onto a piece of cotton wadding cut to the same size. I interfaced the lining and inserted a base piece of stiffer bag wadding. I made the pussy cats from the catnip quilt pattern. I just reduced the cat face on the copier.

Don't you just love this fabric!

Here is the finished article. It is slightly different colours on each side.

My posts don't seem complete without a pussy cat photo :) Stumpy loves his tummy tickled.

Click on the FNSI button down the right hand side bar to see who signed up and visit some to see what they made. Edit - It seems I am not as late as I thought so I signed up.

Happy Scrap Sewing,
Val

Monday's Show and Tell

2011-05-16T13:47:00.002+10:00

I have a winner! Vanessa R of Whirling Butterfly. Congratulations Vanessa.

I also have two more lovely followers that brings me up to 50.

I have been playing with my scraps and have made three crazy blocks. I like the crazy block concept. It is quite therapeutic to sort and iron the scraps. I made three different coloured piles from a bag of scraps that I bought - pink, brown and green. Then I made some 7 inch squares of wadding by zig zagging the edges together of my wadding scraps. I sorted the pink pile into small, medium and large pieces and started sewing. By the second block I was starting to get the hang of how the pieces should go together. It takes quite a lot of thought and concentration.

I came into my sun room to use the laptop and found my trusty friend on the princess cushion. Usually Kitty is on the cushion looking like a princess.

Yesterday Blacky was on my breakfast chair so I pulled up a chair for her and moved her over. She still had some lovely sun.

Sandy at Cookies and Cream hosts Monday's Show and Tell. You can join in with Mr Linky.

Happy Quilting,
Val

Another bag!

2011-05-14T14:53:00.000+10:00

Some of you may know I am making a Christmas quilt for mum's birthday. Sort of an easy to put up Christmas decoration. I picked up another craft book from the Lifeline shop and found a pattern for a quilt bag to give and store a gift quilt in. Cool I thought and started to whip one up for the Christmas quilt. I used pieces of the fabrics in the quilt and I love the sentiment square on the front. Just like a wrapping and card in one. I noticed the one in the book had alternate dark and light squares so I tried to do that with the fabrics I had. I am busy stitching the front square now.

This is the back

The squares are 3 1/2 inches

This square is cut down to 9 1/2 inches after stitching

There were some cute labels too.

Issue No. 2

I thought the bag for a quilt idea was good but Nova has taken it a step further with a pillow-bag-quilt. Have a look at her blog. She also had a good idea to wrap up a little shopping bag. I know it is obvious to do this but I didn't think of it. I just role my bag up and squish it in the handbag. So I might put the extra strap on it now.

Make sure you enter my giveaway here. It closes midday Monday Brisbane time. I lost a few comments but put them back in their right place. I have the auto emails so I know who enters but I didn't want the positions to get mucked up.

Also have a look at my photo of the confluence of planets the other morning. I think the photo is pretty good, if I say so myself :)

Happy Quilting,
Val

Planet Alignment

2011-05-13T05:59:00.000+10:00

I took this photo on the fireworks setting and propped the camera on the binoculars on the fence. When I held it I got a really cool heart beat line with the star light. Mars is a tiny speck above the tallest tree.

5:30 am Brisbane

Happy star gazing,
Val

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up

2011-05-10T12:50:00.004+10:00

Hi everyone, I am very excited about the new fabric that has just arrived. Look how fat the parcel is!

Now I mentioned to a few friends that I was going to have a giveaway. Today I am going to give some of my fabric treasure away. I bought lots of different pieces to go towards my Nanna's Farm project. It has lots of little squares and lots of applique and I think it suggests using about 30 different fabrics so I still have to get some more. (This giveaway has been drawn Mon 16th May)

The giveaway is for my friends who visit and encourage me with nice comments. I really enjoy being part of the blog community. However, everyone is welcome to enter. I often visit sites once just to enter their giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment. I will choose a winner randomly. Just one winner but they can choose what cut they would like. The choices are:
4 fat quarters of these fabrics -

OR 8 fat eighths of these fabrics -

OR 14 21/2" strips of these fabrics -

I am tickled pink to be having a giveaway!
I will do the draw next Monday afternoon Brisbane time. There is no need to blog about the giveaway just quietly let your friends know if you like and I will make sure my friends know.

Head on over to Melody's House on the Side of the Hill to link up to other treasure posts.
Allie-oops and Polka Dots and Rick Rack will have what is Tickling them when the calender rolls over to Tuesday in their neck of the woods.
The giveaway has been drawn Mon 16th May
Happy Days,
Val

Pincushion update

2011-05-07T18:00:00.001+10:00

I received Sheila's pincushion the other day and very quickly worked out what I would do on it. It already had some whimsical looking things and I liked the idea of a pumpkin. Instead of the usual crow I added an Australian magpie. I still need to add a few bits to Sandi's pincushion. It is coming together nicely. Here is Sheila's. After I chose the pumpkin I thought it looked a bit like spring, summer, autumn.

Happy Stitching,
Val

Some Mail

2011-05-04T13:30:00.002+10:00

I got a lovely parcel of charm squares yesterday in the mail from my friend Suz of Patchwork and Play . I was lucky enough to win her giveaway the other day. As well I got a great patchwork projects book in the mail from my friend Jude at My Quilt Creations . It was also a win from her giveaway. I love all the cute projects like pot holders and lavender sachets. When I uploaded the fabric pics I found one of Stumpy I took while I was in my sunny room yesterday.

I love the little wren card.

I have been working on the quilt for my mum. I am up to the outer border applique now. I have also been doing my star quilt and working on Sandi's pincushion. The pincushion is pretty fiddly so I have to stop often to rest my eyes a bit. I think it is looking good. There is a country fence and a kangaroo so far.
This morning I downloaded some nice stitchery drawings from Stitch, Stitch, Stitch. They were baby type things but I only downloaded the teapot page and the lady bug page.

Happy Sewing,
Val

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up

2011-05-03T12:51:00.003+10:00

Pets are wonderful family and friends. We can't help treating them like people because most days they act like people! My little cats like to follow me around as I move from the kitchen to the lounge room to the sewing room. I always seem to have at least one of them in the room with me. We have started having three on the bed as it cools off. They get a bit peeved if I shut the door. Tommy meows constantly and even scrabbles on the door. He reminds me of Simon's Cat. In the morning when he gets on the bed he marches right up to my face and stares at me then reaches out his paw and taps me on the face or shoulder asking for his breakfast.
If Kitty finds the door shut at night she goes outside and claws on the window screen.
In winter my back parlour is their favourite place during the day. I like to sit in there and read or have a nap.
Here they are in my parlour. Blacky is a bit of a loner so she is on the lounge in the lounge room.

Blacky on the lounge.

Blacky is my daughter's cat. She came from the pet shop 19 years ago.

Kitty prefers my good cushion to the cat blanket.

Kitty was a stray that my husband found at a car yard one day about 16 years ago. He spent hours trying to catch her. He just had to bring her home cause she had a stumpy tail like my Stumpy. Stumpy is a pet shop baby that I bought for myself.

Stumpy likes the chair. I made a double sided cushion cover so I can flip it
over if I want to sit there.


Tommy has a special pillow under the other chair. He will sleep on the tiles if he gets too warm. Tommy is the kitten of a stray that came by and stayed.

You can just see them all here. Isn't my room lovely!

Head on over to Melody's House on the Side of the Hill to link up to other treasure posts.
Allie-oops and Polka Dots and Rick Rack will have what is Tickling them when the calender rolls over to Tuesday in their neck of the woods.

Happy Families,
Val

Vote for Semelia's Mum

2011-05-02T09:24:00.000+10:00

My friend Samelia's Mum from the craft forum has entered her gorgeous quilt in the Weekly Contest over HERE....

and her quilt

is gorgeous and it would be great if you all could go on over and vote for her quilt. Its called Fresh Diamonds and made with Bliss fabrics. If she wins she will be the proud owner of some fabulous fabrics....so please hop on over and vote for her. Thanks heaps.

I just copied this off Vicki's blog. Hope that is OK. I went and voted and saw that the quilt with the most votes isn't half as nice as Semelia's mum's quilt. I think you can vote each day til Sunday.

Happy Quilting,

Val

Christmas through the year and a couple of winter UFO's

2011-04-28T15:08:00.001+10:00

I don't have any Christmas gifts finished this month because I felt that if I sewed I should be working on the Christmas quilt I want to give my mum on her birthday. Since I took this photo the other day I have quilted around the four appliques with gold thread and sewed in the ditch and sewed the four blocks together to make the first row. I have also glued on all but three of the 16 appliques and finished stitching 2 more. I am using cotton wadding and sewing the squares together wadding and top with a 1/4" seem that I pressed open. Once all the squares are sewn together there will be 1 1/2 inches of wadding protruding all around ready to sew on the first border.

I pulled out 2 UFO's that I started last winter. One is a fuzzy scarf that needs a fringe on the other end and one is a cable vest. I have only done the back. It is fairly tricky to get started but I need to be in the mood so the front gets finished without too many interruptions cause you have to get into the rhythm. Maybe when I finish the quilt.

Allie of Allie-oops hosts Christmas through the Year so head on over and join in.

Happy Quilting,
Val

A New Tote Bag

2011-04-27T09:05:00.000+10:00

I was very pleased with the tote bag I designed with a bit of inspiration from a magazine. I was making it for my mum and I was going to play with needle turn applique for the petals but my freezer paper didn't turn up (and still hasn't turned up even though I was assured it would be on its way immediately). When I finally decided to do buttonhole stitch it was so close to Mothers' Day that it became a gift for that day. Luckily the visiting daughter couldn't visit til yesterday so I just got it finished in time. She made me a lovely chocolate cake for a present. My mum loved the bag.

Front. The rick rack was a gift from Michelle
and the petals were the charm squares from Suz

Back. Again the petals were the charm squares from Suz

Happy Appliquing,
Val

Tickled Pink Tuesday and Tuesday Treasures Double Up

2011-04-27T08:51:00.001+10:00

I know, I know. It's not Tuesday here anymore but I have noticed I am not the only one a bit behind this week. Must be the Easter holidays slowing everyone down.

My Treasures this week are my Delft Blue set and my Old Country Roses mug.
As with all my teapots I adore my Delft set and think of Holland each time I use it. I bought it in Amsterdam in 2000 while on a tour of Europe.

The little mug is a design that I hadn't seen in Australia so it was a nice find in London. It was on sale in Harrods and still cost me quite a few pounds but it also is a lovely souvenir of my first trip to England.

What tickles me about them is that I bought them in their country of origin.
There might still be some treasures around if you visit Melody at The House on the Side of the Hill.
Happy Days,
Val

1 Xmas item a month

2011-04-26T10:36:00.001+10:00

Feeling a bit lazy today so just a short post to display my newest Christmas tree decorations for the 1 Xmas Item a Month Club. This is hosted by Narelle at Nell's Notions. Why not see what others are doing and maybe join in with the linky.

Happy Crocheting,
Val

Monday's Show and Tell

2011-04-25T08:27:00.001+10:00

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. It is a nice time for family to get together.
This week I have chosen my front door to show. I was cleaning it the other day and it still makes me happy to look at it.
Not long after we moved here we did some renovating and the door company had some beautiful stained glass doors on display. Before we moved here I had been making things with applique Australian animals on them and thought that the designs would lend themselves well to making a stained glass window. So I drew up a design and had the door people make me a custom door. It was difficult to photograph.
We also had some inside doors made with Cooktown orchids and cockatoos but we have made more changes and they are in the garage to use again later.

Probably a few too many pictures, but I do love them.

And here are the cute egg cups I bought for Easter.

Sandy at Cookies and Cream Crafts hosts Monday Show and Tell. So pop over and see what others have to show and join in.

Happy Appliqueing,
Val