Wish the Sun would Shine

Some progress has been had over the past few days, but unfortunately not a lot. Just a small portion of the overall block - the rosebud.

It's been raining since Wednesday, I think. Steadily. Everything is soggy and muggy and currently I have to choose how I can use my electricity as the air-con, washing machine, dryer and fridge all share the same circuit. Which I've just found out as I've been using the air-con to reduce the moisture in the house. However needing to have clean clothes is a little more important so I've chosen the dryer and w/machine over keeping cool and comfortable.

It's been a dim day, and weirdly the afternoon the sun has come out but the lights have been on in the house all day. I've been playing ac/dc in the sewing room all afternoon to keep me on the go so I can finish these blocks. Otherwise this project is in danger of stagnating.

Here we Go, Here we Go for one more turn ..

So it's been a stinking hot humid Australia Day here in Brisvegas and the sweat has been dripping off my brow which is why I haven't been in the sewing room as much as I wish. Well to tell the truth I'm having a little trouble getting enthusiastic finishing off the last 16 blocks for Aunt M's rose quilt.

After a week of slowly piecing together the first four blocks of my first batch of dark rose blocks, I've finally finished the middle of the block this afternoon.

It's looking good, which I'm happy about, however, it's taking forever to get together.

I'm hoping that I will be able to move faster on getting these together after tomorrow when I won't have a job to worry about until I can find another.

The weather isn't helping much neither being as it hasn't stopped raining for a few days and the humidity is in the high 80's which makes it hard to keep in the sewing room with a hot iron going all day. The trials of having patchwork for your hobby in Brisbane Queensland.

So, anyways, Happy Australia Day to all out there.

Elle

All in the name of Liberty ...

I've been having a difficult day. The AC/DC music came out in the sewing room tonight, not surprising.

I have been doing some archealogical research on my old laptop for all the pictures I've taken or had taken of the quilts that I've created over the past 11 years. And sadly there are some quilts that I have never had photographed. I will have to work this year to rectify that issue. It's a short list, but as I had not taken photos of them, my memory and recollection of their creation has grown fuzzy if not completely blank.

So, with that in mind I've decided to upload some pictures of quilts that I do have photographs of for display online and to remember what I've made over the years. It's true; I forget!

Oldest quilt I have a picture of is the second quilt I made which is a double Irish chain quilt that I gave to my maternal grandmother Margaret.

The pink centre chain fabric was chosen by my sister K the first, and possibly last time, she ever accompanied me at a fabric store. It was in the Christmas fabric section and I just had to find a use for it though I despised the idea of using a pink fabric. My mother brought her daughters up to eschew pink!

Sister K also found the delightful sea green and gold print background fabric in the store we were browsing, which I couldn't have found without her.

I adore this fabric and unfortunately all that I was able to purchase was enough for the quilt you see with no leftovers. Pity. It was lovely.

The next eldest quilt in my gallery was the first and I think the only time I've attended a quilt block "class". I went with my Godmother J and it was a Stack 'n Slash block which I hadn't heard of before, but I was game as it sounded easy and quick to construct. These would still be considered the "Prime Directive" for considering a new quilt project for me : How easy it is to assemble and how quickly it can be assembled. I'm not drawn to fuss.

So, like I said, a Stack 'n Slash quilt block. Using 9 different fabrics we stacked and slashed our way through cutting and rotating and re-sewing them fat quarters we'd brought along, until we had 9 blocks of a somewhat crazy patch pattern. I chose to join all 9 of my blocks together, thereby making a single crazy patch quilt which I think was very effective in a modernist -Kandinsky sense.

Incidentally, this is the only quilt I've sold. A friend of my mother's husband purchased it from me when he heard how much she admired it. So this is the only picture I have of this quilt. I have made this type of quilt again since, but this was the first.

I will have to get a photo of the second Stack 'n Slash quilt I made. I made it for my Goddaughter's Christening present in lovely dusty pinks and greens. I love green.

The last quilt I have a picture of is the quilt I made with fabrics that I had purchased randomly but didn't know how to combine. It was some of the first fabric I went out and consciously purchased with the intent to turn into a quilt. Previous to this I haunted Lincraft and Spotlight purchasing dress fabric which I found I couldn't turn into the patterns and dresses that I wanted and admired. Much to my frustration and limited storage space.

So, this was a pattern called Hidden Wells. And the quilt store I was affiliated with at the time, Mad About Quilting, had several on their walls as examples. But I couldn't see how the fabrics that I had unwittingly purchased could be made to combine into something clever and wonderful like theirs had.

I might also point out at this stage, that my Hidden Wells quilt is one of my favourites and is also admired often when it's on display around the house.

I often think about medieval garden pictures when I see this quilt and I would love to have another go at making this pattern to see if I can make another just as visually effective. However much I'm tempted I haven't tried a second run at the fence, fearful that the result will be disappointing with comparison.

So, quilts I'm missing full pictures of are;

• The purple quilt I made my sister K for Christmas.
  
• My first Bargello quilt I made on commission for my Paternal grandmother to my cousin A.
• A pink fat quarter quilt again made on commission for Nana to my cousin E.
• The pink Christening quilt I made for my adorable Goddaughter.
• The T Shirt patchwork quilt I made for sister V.
• The Butterfly wall hanging that my Aunt M has, but was made for Aunt E who has passed on.
• The purple and green rail fence and nine patch quilt Mum received for Mother's Day last year. (This I covet and wish I had kept for myself. But don't tell her!)
• The pink and green rail fence quilt I made as a wedding present for someone who isn't a friend anymore. I should have taken a photo of that quilt! The pink fabric I used was a 60s vintage fabric given to me by my Aunt J years ago. I dread to think what happened to the quilt, so I can't dwell on the idea.
• A red patchwork quilt-as-you-go experiment that my Cat loves to rest on.
• The first quilt I made - a green and black rail fence that lives on my sofa.
  

So, that's a lot of quilts I don't have pictures available for, and luckily some are easily fixed. Have to get cracking to get the pictures taken.

A little less conversation, a little more action ...

So, I found some stuff this evening.

I've been going through a massive pile of craft and quilting magazines that a friend gave to me over the past year; cutting out patterns and pictures of things that should inspire me to utilize my stash of fabrics.

It's nice to have ideas to start with. Most of the time my ideas for quilts are based upon something someone else has created, with my own specific twist. A lot of the time my quilts start at a gallop when I've found some new fabric to play with and then quickly everything stalls as it becomes all too hard.

I'm a lazy quilter. I like the easy and quick to assemble patterns. That's why I'm not a fan of applique or hand piecing and quilting. I like to see the effect quickly. Strip piecing works for me in this respect. Also there is usually less un-picking when it's strip piecing. But the fabric is the first draw for me. Fabric is the first reason why I love quilting.

That's my frustration with my current project for Aunt M, the fact that it's taking so long to get to the whole picture. I have at the moment finished half the blocks required and now just have another 16 blocks to go. And now I know that I have until the end of January to make the rest of the quilt so I can assemble the quilt top to present to my Aunt M.

So, I'm looking at new project ideas and patterns. Obviously. This is what I should be doing.
And if I had the opportunity tomorrow, I would hit the nearest quilt fabric store and buy a bunch of fabrics that have no relation to any project currently underway, and start something new.

Seriously, I have a problem. This is how a Quilter procrastinates!! And how we get to have gargantuan stashes and towering piles of fabric that take over homes and small towns.

So, with that in mind, lets have a look at this blog - Millie's Quilting : Spring Quilting

I like this .... it's simple and sweet and quite elegant in it's sparse style and contrasting neutral background with the bright and patterned scrappy blocks. I love it! I just wish I had the space in my sewing room and life at the moment to contemplate working on a quilt like this one.

Which is why I have an inspiration book - an art diary of quilt pictures to trigger creative urges.

I have massacred lots of craft magazines this week to glue pictures into my quilt book and I feel like I've created something great. I'm happy with it and I hope it will work this year to help me start new projects with some plan and design that will sustain me throughout a project.

My New Year's Resolution for my sewing is to finish all my UFO's this year by either piecing or quilting them to finish. I would also like to create at least four new quilts this year with a quilt a quarter the goal.

Cue the music of doom!!!!

Working Hard for the Money ...

So, since last post I was working hard to get through the final week at work before the Christmas break closure and getting myself organised for Christmas celebrations, so I didn't get a lot of sewing time in on the Rose Quilt. But since Boxing Day I have been working hard to get blocks completed towards Aunt M's quilt.

(You can see to the left the baggies of fabric pieces that I'm using to keep organised as there are 45 blocks that go into making the whole Rose block.)

As of ... well, now today, I've got the last four pale rose blocks underway. I timed myself tonight and it takes about three hours to piece together all the pink fabric blocks. As I'm using a dark blue background fabric I'm using two colours of thread to complete the blocks. Blue for all the pieces that are blue and green fabric, and pink thread for all the pieces that are pink fabric or pink with blue or green. So I've been swapping back and forth the bobbin and top thread until with the last batch of blocks I decided to save myself a little aggravation and make up all the pieces that use the pink thread first.

So now my sewing desk looks like this:















And the floor beneath the sewing desk looks like this from all the little triangle offcuts. I'm debating whether to keep them all and see if I can sew them all together in some way. But I'm not a big fan of miniature quilting.















But last night I entertained myself with laying out the pale rose blocks that I have completed so far to see how the quilt is beginning to look like. And I am very pleased so far.


It's a good feeling when you can get to this stage and see that the vision you had in your head before you even bought fabric is coming together as expected. I'm glad that the blocks are looking good and the colours and textures are working as I wanted them.

Even though there aren't a lot of reproduction or vintage 1930s prints as I'd first envisaged, the patterns and colours are resembling the Arts & Crafts style rose as I had hoped they would.

Big Smile.

Current Major Project : Pink Roses for Aunt M

The main reason this blog is important is to help me chart my progress with my current WIP, which is a 60th birthday present for my Mum's older sister M. I might add that at this point in time Aunt M's birthday has come been and gone for a few weeks, but as she lives in another state and at the current time is overseas enjoying a snowy Northern Hemisphere Christmas, I can get away with some latitude in the promptness of her gift.

So, several, several months ago my Mum approached me with the idea of a quilt for M. I agreed for two reasons; one being that M has in the past remarked on my ability to match colours and patterns so I know that I can hit the right high points for her aesthetically speaking. We speaka da same language! The second reason was that I felt I needed a challenge, something to push me past my current projects. I was picking easy projects that didn't require a lot of thought and I know I needed to improve my quilting skills. How else to do that than plunge in the deep end!

So I had a plan. Aunt M's middle name is Rose and she loves the dusty rose pink colour in many things. (Just like the pinks of Phrynne's tunic as she's riding the horse in the above bookcover)

Find a Rose pattern and then make it up in lots of different rose-pink fabrics, preferably 30's reproduction prints for that nice vintage pastel feel and Bob's your uncle, Sam's your aunt - I was in business! (I think I'd read too many Phrynne Fisher books, and I was being subconsciously influenced by all the flapper fashion and 20's culture. I needed the outlet!)

One night I did a search online for Rose quilt patterns. And found this!

Oh My Goodness! It was perfect! I could easily substitute pinks for the yellow and find a similar blue and it would be perfect for Aunt M.

And to add to it's wonderfulness it was totally machine pieced and rotary cut, which to someone who abhors applique (i know, it's such a shame, i do!) it was a god-send.

Thank the wonderful Pam Bono and her wonderful rotary pieced designs.

I could see each rose as a magical blend of 4 different 30's period fabrics swirling happily on a dusty blue batik background, dropping the white lattice work for a simple pink on blue theme.

Can you see how I not only take a leap off the block into the deep end, I take a running jump at it. With springs attached to my feet!

Late May I found the pattern: early June I hit the fabrics stores hunting colours. I bought about 30 different pink fabrics that were of light, medium, bold and dark values that I thought would work together in various different combinations. I also found a terrific blue that was a Civil War reproduction print from Windham Fabrics that was an almost exact match for the blue of Aunt M's lounge room.

I gathered my pretties and washed and pressed them and admired them, but couldn't cut them, for you see, I'd started to read the pattern ...

Oy Vey!!

But that's a story for another time ...

ElleKay

First Day. First Post. Introduction.

Well hello,

The intention of this blog is to give me a place to record the craft and textile projects that I begin and sometimes complete successfully, to be used as an archive and reference for myself and other interested sewers and crafty people.

I have been addicted to fabric since I don't know when. My Mum was a quintessential Australian 70s domestic goddess and a small family gave her plenty of scope to exercise her considerable artistic and craft abilities. Cane weaving, cloth doll making, smocking, dressmaking, window treatments, macrame (it couldn't be the 70s without macrame) along with the whipping up astounding culinary feasts for all occasions.

So I've always been surrounded by hand-made objects, worn hand-made clothes, and thought it was the norm to spend hours in Drapers and Homewares stores and to collect trimmings and fabric and notions with the intention to use in future projects around the house and body. And by the time I was earning my own money I had my own collection on the go, and being a thrifty body I sourced alternative and creative ways to build it quickly. Thrift stores and flea markets were regular haunts for me and I developed a consuming desire to help friends and relatives unearth possible treasure in their junk rooms and under beds with the zeal and industry of a shipwreck salvor bent on Spanish gold.

I now have a dedicated sewing room in my post-war Queenslander, filled with lots of wheelie boxes of fabric sorted by colour hues a dressmaker's dummy whose name is Ruth, boxes of buttons/ribbons/broken old jewellery, Patterns and books of quilting designs and sewing ideas. Glue, glitter, beads: You name it, I have it somewhere in a box or jar hidden away. I've kept anything that I can use to create something unique, colourful and purposeful.

And I know there are other people out there who do this too. I've seen blogs showing pics of craft rooms that have made me swoon in envy! This will be my contribution to sewing posterity. Small and inconsiderable though it may be.

This blog will be infrequently updated. I admit that now. But I hope that it will over time, teach me some discipline by keeping it maintained for myself, if for no other.

So, that done; it's back to bed for a lounge with coffee and an unread Julia Ross book for me.

See you anon,
ElleKay