A finish!

When I went on the Sew Craft Retreat I bought a second embroidery from Kirsten Doran Designs. I had intended on giving it for Christmas but Amelia having a migraine and throwing up in the car the night before my last sewing lesson of the year put an end to those plans. Yes, I could have finished it on my own but you know what, I would never have got it looking the way Chris has.

In November I was up to this so it really was very nearly finished!

Tah dah!

Hidden zip, gee I love the way Chris puts zips in... she is amazing!

And the piping... oh that pipping. So hard to sew close to the edge even with the zipper foot on it and the piping foot wasn't big enough to go over the cord. But we got there in the end!

Was given as an early birthday present today as AMV's son is visiting shortly and if it is destined to go to Scotland there should be room in his (or his girfriends) luggage. But I was told today, he will take it to London and use it himeself so shall reside in Newport until trustworthy sources can deliver. The irony, my initials are on the front SCO 12 and Scotland's country code is... yep... SCO...!

Another happy feeling and because I have ticked something off my to do list I can sew something new... which is just as well because I have just signed up for this!

Goodness me, that's 4 quilts this year, yikes!

Dresden progress

On our weekend away I was on a mission - sew as many dresdens as I could onto backing squares and work out how long it was going to take me to see some results!

I went away with 24 wheels sewn, leaving 18 left of the 42 to sew together. Friday night, even though it was a STINKY hotter than the face of the sun 47.6 degrees, bedrooms were claimed, bags unpacked, sewing machines were set up, champagne was uncorked, cheese platters were put out and we all sat down to get some stitchin' done!

One nicely pressed wheel... one down 41 to go...

I gave up at 11.30 with my eyes hanging out of my head leaving 7 to be done which I knocked over first thing Saturday morning.

DONE!

So so pretty and so so happy they were all done!

Realising the next stage was going to need thread I didn't have with me one of the lovely ladies, Sally, very kindly took me into town. Coming away with 3 reels of cotton (I was being optimistic at getting some sewing done) we headed back to camp.

I didn't like the assembly instructions in the book so I closed it once I had my backing fabric measurements and did it my way... the book said to applique the wheel on then hand sew the centre circle on once you have put freezer paper on the middle and finger pressed the seam allowance in, blah blah. Then once stitched cut the back of the fabric behind the circle to remove the freezer paper... um, not going to happen on my watch! I don't like the idea of cutting the fabric and leaving it flapping, although I am sure it wouldn't but still... So I proceeded after a brief discussion with the room and the consensus was not to cut and did it my way and I am pretty happy with the results!

And done

Even the back is pretty!

I have all 42 but we think 7 across and 6 down is going to make this too big and too heavy so we might just do a 6x6 instead, meaning I have 7 wheeels too many! Oh well, I am sure I will find something to make them into :-)

A Retreat - Monestary in Stroud

The Rainbow group I am in on Facebook if just full to bursting with lovely ladies and Molli. There has been chat and talk about a weekend away which I wanted to go to, not to have a weekend to myself but to meet some of the girls I have interacted with the past 12 months and thank them for all their hard work.

The weekend was put up, Stef's roster was checked, no clashes, I was IN! Then we got a new roster, there was a clash, I was out... I was rather miffed and upset then I had a thought, as yet another version of the roster replaced the previous one due to some peope swapping shifts, if some people were swapping then what was stopping me asking Stef to swap? I worked out who and what weekend would work best for us (and the swappee - helped that I remembered his wife's birthday was near the weekend that would work best - win win!). Shift swap arranged and I was back IN, happy dances all round!

Head retreat organiser Helen, arranged for us to stay at a Monestary in Stroud which her sister in law had stayed at previously through a yoga retreat and it was perfect. Almost half way between Sydney and Armidale (where the Rainbow Queen and her helpers live their normal lives) we were all travelling similar distances. The Monestary was just divine. Brick floors, a kitchen to die for (size and layout not the actual kitchen!!), it was basic, rustic, charming and so simple it made me realise just how little you need to be happy! There was a large warning on the table about a snake we nicknamed Monty (python) and with the temperatures hitting 47 degrees the day we arrived we were all a little anxious that Monty would make an appearance!

Here is the Monestary...

The Hall looking towards the chapel/sleeping quarters

The hallway towards the sleeping quarters just past the chapel

The Chapel Door

The 'library'/drawing room - some amazing books on the shelves. This room is apparently really nice in winter with the fire going. I wonder if the next retreat will be in winter....

My room... A bed (wire frame and a wee bit noisy!), a bedside table, desk and chair and wardrobe.

Looking towards the front entrance

Some of the gals... this was the room we sewed in...

The 'pantry' amazing! all the crockery and glassware was in here. It was awesome!

Cooker and our new potholders we left as a 'donation'. The front one has a rainbow snake on it 'our mascot' Monty...

Island in the middle and 2 more gals!

Love the bench tops and the pot shelf above.

The drawer handles were fabulous, just branches.

Not far from the kitchen we came across this 'drying rack'... apparently this is the summers offenders... there are 3 so far...

Pretty but scary...

There was 9 of us on the retreat (and when Sally posts a pic I will borrow it and add it in here too) and it worked well. Thermi (my Thermomix) came with us. Thermi was the easiest way to be able to make something I could safely eat (self catering is so boring!) in a quantity that could be shared and it and still have plenty of time for sewing. There was another GF girl on the trip so we had a feast.

Of course, the object of the weekend was to sew... and sew I did (more on the main sewing project in another post). Being this was a rainbow weekend I thought I would have something ready to take to do something I had seen a link to a tutorial courtesy of Sally ( here is the tutorial) and decided this WOF swap would become suitably stripped and flipped. I whipped this up in about half an hour (ironing the seams took another 30 minutes...) and was totally blown away by the brightness and appeal of all the colours together, it's just lovely...

 Then I stripped and flipped and boarded it. WOW. So simple, yet... Sensational. Love love love!

Now to pop into CA Boyle and pick up a back for it, decide how to quilt it... I could give it a go and stitch in the ditch, I could try stippling or I could send it to Ellie-Mae... hmm...

Stats for the weekend away from the group...
Bottles of champagne/wine consumed - 3 bottles
Bourbon consumed - 1 bottle
Coke/diet coke/coke zero consumed - about 15 ltrs!
Kilo's of cheese eaten - about 5!!!
Cracker and chip packets emptied - loads
Lollipops consumed - 20
Chocolate consumed - loads!

And my own...
Injuries - 1 - me & a rotary cutter, rotary cutter won
Broken needles - 1 - again me, can't sew pins
Quilt tops done - 1
Dresden Wheels completed - the last of my 42 finished - 17...
Dresden Wheels on backing squares - 7
Reels of cotton sewn - 3 - 2x 800m and 1x 1000m

2013 sewing list...

As 2012 comes to a close albeit too quickly for my liking it's time to turn thoughts to projects for next year and write my UFO list for this year to knock them over quick smart or do one old/one new to keep things interesting.

So left from 2012 I have

Blossom Creek complete block 2 (oh so close), then 3, 4 and do the log cabining
Make some fabric table runners to sell in the 'shop'
Placemats to go with the cushions I made  for Coral's b'day
Blouse for me
Over skirt for my sari skirt so I will wear the skirt and it won't sit in the wardrobe...
Fabric placemats for us for outside
Apron for Katie

And the things I know are on the list for 2013

Stitch in the ditch the jelly roll quilt
Make my Material Obsession Dotty for Dresden quilt
Do something with all fabric that I have got back from the rainbow swaps I was in in 2012!
A beach bag from a charm swap
A table runner from the Christmas swap
Christmas placemats
A replacement ironing board cover for Laura I think with the charm squares (I mean I have 4 of each swap to play with, there will be no shortage of rianbows in our house!)
Have come up with some other goodies to sell in the shop as well - keeping those under wraps fro the time being.
A couple of loose tops to wear in Raro in March
Winter nighties for Missy
Another full circle skirt/dress for Missy and one for her friend MMV

So far this seems managable!


The biggest thing on the list is a graduation quilt for Mrs C at the end of this year and no doubt the other class will want to make one as well. We have the same teacher for 3 years (kindy, year 1 na dyear 2) then the same teacher for the next 4 years (years 3-6). Some people may object to this system but we are quite embracing of it! Our much loved Mrs C knows these kids SO well and will know them even better than we do by the end of year 2. The primary years teacher is someone the kids have in their lives long after they have let school. Even at speech night this year there were so many past students it was refreshing, and a lot of them didn't have younger siblings at the school this year.

This quilt will have a 'cartoon' type character of each child she has taught (we have had 3 children leave since we started school). I am not sure how they will be placed but I will chat with my partner in crime and we will come up with something.



Clearly it looks like a quilting year!! Hmm Maybe I will have to look for a quilting class in my area or join Irene's class at Hobbysew...

And some other things will no doubt be more some clothes for Amelia. She surely will stop growing soon but while she is happy to wear home made I am happy to make them!

I also bought some new patterns for me this week. I will get a feel for them and then commit to what I will make from them :-)

Christmas Secret Santa

Ages ago, when I was involved with a stash, one of the organisers thought it would be fun to organise a Kris Kringle for those who wanted to be a part of it, with the ladies who were in the swap.

I received my gift a few weeks ago but knowing Christmas Day was going to be a bit of fizzer because Stef was working, it was the only gift under the tree for me so I deciced to wait and open it Christmas Day.

This is what was inside...

Gorgeous handmade card, teatowel with hand appliqued trees on it, a handmade tissue case, tea sachets, an erasable pen (which Miss 7 has her eye on - um no!) all in a gorgeous bag with bells on it. Thank you Carol, I hope your Christmas was happy!

I had Cass and this is what I sent her, she seemed very happy with it! All I had to go on was that she was a sewer, a quilter and a knitter and I knew she was pregnant and loves all things Christmas.

Cass orgainsed the original travelling stash and I had added the licence plate into it but sadly it wasn't put in on of the parcels carfully and it broke. I knew how devastated Cass was as she liked it so when I was given her, it seemed fitting I replace the broken product. I also added the reindeer (who is wearing a knitted jacket), a large quick unpick and an 'add a 1.4" ' ruler. I liked the idea of these so much I bought 3! I am not a fan of wrapping paper, I use it and I will make it look pretty but for a crafter, a fat quarter seemed fitting (and not a lot more expensive in the grand scheme of things!)

I do love swaps, I was burnt a little with the content of the one I was in but it would seem someone else also hasn't been happy with the replacements that have been added to one that is in circulation so hopefully the quality of the ones that follow will be higher.

Dotty for Dresden

I have a thing for Dresden Wheels, I am not sure why or how but I do, I love them. I have many a quilt in my head with ideas to try just frustrated by lack of time, something I intend on changing in the New Year!

Anyway, I bought this book ages ago just to have, no specific reason. Ideas, patterns, instructions all in one place. I have flicked through it countless times and keep coming back to the one quilt. While I am not keen on the fabrics used on the quilt in the book I love the wheels. Then I saw this collection in a newsletter from Hawthorne Threads and I fell in love. It is the exact palet of the colours in our bedroom... then a plan started hatching...

I spent hours on the Hawthorne website, I love that all the co-ordinating fabrics are listed under the individual fabric and I love that down the bottom of the listing you can click on a colour and there is a selection of toned fabrics in othe collections as well. So thoughtful (and so easy to spend a fortune!).

I spent hours with fabric swatches printed out moving them this way and that.

I spent hours working out how to increase the size to fit us and our bed, my specifications not just a 'queen' or 'king' quilt, I have a definate idea of how I want it to come together.

Then I bit the bullet, took the plunge and placed my order! An anxious 2 weeks later my parcel was delivered! Poor Karen our postie, she was quite shocked at my enthusiasm for the parcel she brought to the front door! I have to say, I am very happy with the service from Hawthorne, they were quick to respond to questions and the parcel was beautifully packaged!

I whipped the camera out and took a few pictures before I put the fabric in the machine to be ready to hang out in the sunshine when I got back from school drop off and a coffee with my fellow quilter in crime Cherry!

The pale turquoise at the back is the backing and sashing fabric, the purple 4 in is for the circles and the other 6 are for the wheels. I am sure I had a different configuration in my head when I ordered them but it's all good and will work out fine!

 Then we worked out how many wedges of each I would need to cut out, thank goodness Mr O is a maths' nerd! 112 of each of the 6 fabrics = 672 wedges! Croikey!

It really didn't take very long at all and the yellow fabric I wasn't so sure about isn't actually too bad!

Then I chain pieced them all! A bit of a mission but it took about 3 hours of solid sewing to do it all.

A big mass of eek!

 Little Miss was in charge of 'cutting at 16' which was a good help, she wanted to do something and this was the 'easiest' job she could do. She was folding the wedges for me but got horribly bored and out of order so a change was good.

Then to 'make it click to husband, who couldn't see how it was going to come together, I made a wheel... So pretty! I actually pushed my luck and made 4 because I knew I wouldn't get to do a whole lot more when I got home. I had planned to snip and turn out the wedges in the car but it was raining so hard and the road wasn't straight I felt a bit ill doing it so I now have a pile of fabric tormenting me but too much work to catch up with of an evening!

So this will be my project for summer. A LOT of hand sewing unfortunately but the satisfaction will be worth it. Stay tuned! I won't update every time I do something but will give progress reports along the way.

2012 project list update

And a list of the projects to complete for 2012...

Finish the Polar Fleece jackets I cut out in 2004 (*embarrassed much!!)
Blossom Creek complete block 2 (oh so close), then 3, 4 and do the log cabining
Make the Toofies up to sell in my store Belles Familles
Make some fabric table runners to sell in the 'shop' too
Placemats or cushions for Coral's b'day CUSHIONS COMPLETED, placemats to follow maybe!
Saving pouches for squirreling money for stuff like a holiday we bought a large money tin and that is a safer way to save we all think!
2x winter night dresses for Amelia
2 skirts for sisters - Rachel and Sarah
Blouse for me (fabric and pattern on their way)
Raincoat for Amelia (fabric on its way) STARTED COMPLETED
Over skirt for my sari skirt so I will wear the skirt and it won't sit in the wardrobe...
Another skirt like this one  for me (fabric on its way) COMPLETED
Cushion for my Goddaughters brother at the request of his mum
Fabric placemats for us for outside
Fabric napkins in a pretty floral for afternoon tea parties - no idea why... COMPLETED
Apron for Katie

Blossom Creek will come away with us next week
Table Runners - yeah, about those... one day!
Blouse for me, I may need to loose a few inches!
Overskirt - Not convinced I will wear it... but I could have my opinion swayed...
Fabric placemats for us, I'll probably do them over the Xmas break
And Katie's apron, well, Katie went and had a baby so cooking is important but not a priority!