After the rain.......the rainbow.

this was taken outside my backdoor during the week, we are heading into Spring and we are getting some topsy turvy days.

Which may explain my headspace, not really I can be pretty topsy turvy whatever the season!

After my exercise in fiddly blocks with precision sewing and the clothes making stint, I turned my attention to a simple and quick project just to blow out the cobwebs.
I bought this charm pack of vintage sheets from Deb at Fabrichicks, now I am going to attempt a link here, so hold on......
Fabrichicks.

Check it out, there are some lovely packs, I am currently waiting for a scrap pack so I can start another project.....more on that when I start.

I was thinking about what to do with these lovely fabrics, and then it just hit me, I got them on my design wall and just stared playing just as imagined Deb would. I love her colour sense and straight talking quilting......just do. So I did.

Then I wanted it bigger so when I was potting around Spotlight as you do when you want to have some escape, I saw Denyse Schmidt on SALE, $8 a meter and this is what I found.

I really could not believe my luck, her fabrics were made for vintage sheet sewing.

Two inch, inner border, 4 inch outer border and the binding. I am very happy with this one, it makes me smile.
I may have to fight number one daughter for this, but she will win because she does love my quilts and that makes me smile a lot harder.

And vintage sheet found at Vinnies for the backing......happier still.

I have found such a wealth of inspiration and hints since finding out about craft blogs, and for that I would have to thank my friends Debbie and Tracey. 
I met these wonderful ladies because I hung around their place of work buying and dropping off op shop goodies, I had just been through a really rough time in my family life, it was hard, people I thought were reliable just drifted away in my hour of need, but after the rain the rainbow........
So I am grateful for the chance I had to meet you all, real and virtual, and the shared inspiration.

Still plugging away, happy about this too.

PS. Do you like my new layout?

Feeling quite productive 

Compared to my previous dilemma about the number of projects I had piling up, I feel very productive now.

Maybe because I have finally finished those blocks

YEAH HARRR!

20 of the little B%%'s finished.

If this project has taught me anything, it is I really do not like lots of repetitive complex fiddly blocks, so after I stumbled across the line I did a quick clothes sewing binge.

Meet my other friend in the sewing room, her name is Diana, and she is a recent addition to my life. 
Because I am a size utterly amazing, I have found that sewing at home enables me to sew clothes that are not made to make me look like a refrigerator. I have curves and damn it I will wear a red polka dot dress if I so desire...and I do. But do the chain stores make them for amazing woman....nope.

Ta Dah.....

I love Diana because initially I had to try and fit and alter this dress on me, and there are only so many times your teenage daughter will zip you up and pin you. Son just runs screaming from the house and husband disappears to the shed.
When Diana came to stay, I thought I may be a little confronted to see my amazing size replicated...but hey I am not so bad. My tummy is a little bigger but this pattern skims over the belly and I feel very pretty in it.

 This pattern is very versatile, and I have made another dress with out sleeves which I wear a top under.

So that is what I do when I am not patchworking.

Now before I go I must show you some amazing fabric I found in my local Spotlight store.

It looks like rows of ruffly crochet, and it was stretchy and colourful. Bought a meter and whipped this up, tube skirt, elastic in waist and didn't even need to hem it due to the fabric construction.
Done in 20 mins tops!

 I wear it under a big black loose tunic top and have already received a few compliments, I must say!

Got to love the sewing, just not the fiddly blocks, did I mention that?

A Little Trip to Town

During the week number one daughter and I took a little trip to town, mixing a little chore with some pleasure.

We have done this on a regular basis over the years and we have a real girly time together, usually with me paying....but this time as she is a working girl, she got to spend her own money. I did pay for lunch!

As we sat down in the food hall for said meal, I looked up and saw this.

So I whipped out the trusty mobile phone, and snapped away, and so did a few others I noticed.

Tis lovely and cheery.

Then I persuaded number one daughter to shop upstairs in Morris and Co, a cute little wool shop, where I saw this.

This bicycle is being lovingly yarned, I got permission to snap these, and the artist responsible told me she still has things to further do. I think I should pop back later and witness the progress. 

This shop is a gem for wool lovers, and it is arty as well.

Not hugely practical but I dont think that was the point, so pretty.

I apologise for the blur, it was my mobile phone, and I was giddy with excitement. 

This is the back view, I forgot to get shots from the front as daughter was very embarrassed by her mum at that stage.

I just love the thought and work that has gone into this.

We continued the day with me turning my focus on number one daughter and her needs. 

She was persuaded by me to finally buy the shoes she had been talking about for a long time now. 

 

Pretty cool huh?

Sadly I remember Doc Martins the first time around, but they only came in black.......do you think a woman of a certain age could revisit her lost youth? 

Somehow, I think I will stick to my more appropriate orthotic friendly sensible shoes......for now.........maybe.

THANKS NOW I FEEL BETTER!!!

I really do appreciate the comments that fellow bloggers have taken the time to leave me. It is the sharing of these little crafty moments that make me glad we have such interests that keep us sane.

Because sometimes I can be a little

(not the fat free part....the 2 minute part)

When I want to be more

the slow and steady part....not the old crock part! 

But I did manage a small project finish...well two actually and that made me feel a little better....cos I do love a finish.

A little kit from an English cross stitch mag, designed by Emily Peacock......check out her website she has more wonderful designs, and she was the designer of my HUG tapestry also. 

...and a small pin cushion from Robyn Rich, the photo doesn't show all the detail, but thems all french knots.

I also kept up my goal to chip away at the nosegay blocks, and they are coming along....only 3 to go...yay.

I kept a photo of the finished quilt near my sewing machine to also keep me motivated, I have had this on my list since 1993! so you can see why I got impatient a little.

Anyway, this blogging has caused me to meet some wonderful crafty souls out there , and I have never met a crafter I did not like.

Oh and I just couldn't resist this either

   

I need some bloggy encouragement, at this point I feel a little overwhelmed and distracted by the vast number of projects that I have taken on in my creative life.

It is all my own fault, I blame no one but myself, but now I need to at least complete something before I move on to yet another.

 It takes me an hour to go from this to.......

As well as a lot of pressing and easing and trying to make the block sit flat. Luckily I am not a perfectionist and I know the quilting will take care of some of the wobbles.

It is just that I have 20 of these to complete and I am running out of steam, I want to finish them I really really do, but then I want to do this as well

Really I just need to stop fretting and just do, so I have set myself a goal of one a night, and at that rate I should finish this week, cos as we speak I have whittled it down to 8.

I have a project in every room of the house, sewing machine work, hand work, day work and tv work.....I know I am not alone in this.

Maybe this blog will keep me honest, or maybe it will make me try to overachieve, really  I should get off the computer and get cracking but I do like a little chat to distract me.......aaaaarrrrgghhh.......alright, alright I will get back to that block.

Really just chatting has helped, Thank you.

CONTRAST

I have actually finished something this week. These are the tale of two quilts that hung around my sewing room for a looooong time. 

One I thought would be the ONE, the one for me, girly and pink and rosey and all good things for me. And I ended up not liking it one bit.

I fussed and fussed getting the right fabrics, I even tea dyed the strips to get the right tones, I hunted high and low for the border and waited to learn how to do a scallop edge.

When it was completed as a top I hated it, after that I showed it no love, I backed it with some fabric I had lying around, I patched up old batting scraps and told the long arm quilter lady, she could do as she saw fit. Cheryl from CA Quilter, did a wonderful job, but I am still ambivalent about it. 

Hold on here it is..........

This is my number one daughter modelling said quilt, if you are observant you will see at this stage I hadn't actually finished the binding, it took me a long time because it wasn't a quilt I loved so much.

The puppy boys on the other hand deem it good enough, could be they are just camera hogs. Meet Maxy and Bailey. Maxy is the long hair, Bailey the short. I adore these munchkins as they came to us when we needed love and distractions. Yes they are yappy at times, but at others they are loving and snuggly, think of them as a catdog, small enough to curl up on your lap yet you can take them for walks. They really motor along. Enough of the gushing.

Sorry another cheesy shot just snuck by me.

This on the other hand I am much more happy about. I made it from a charm pack bought years ago, called Chloe's closet, and I modified a pattern I found in a Patchwork and Quilting magazine.

It demanded some precision cutting and accurate seams but I didnt find it too stressful. The star in the middle is created by sewing small squares to each corner of the white rectangle across the diagonal, then flipping and cutting. The rest is all done by the placement of the blocks and small blue squares, and like magic it comes together.

Up close the square blocks appear to float over a background trellis. Well to me they do.

What this tale of two quilts has taught me? I love contrast in my quilts, no soft dreamy neutral colours for me. 

That is not to say that I still dream of these but I am not always happy with the results.

What do you prefer?