760 something patches.

It's been a very busy week. Lots of new work coming in. Started back teaching. But amid the chaos, I've had quilting on my mind.

I know quilting sounds really nanna but around this time last year a friend got me into it and I became quite obsessed. I dreamt of quilts for months and had rather grand plans. However, after many hours of sewing to complete my first quilt, my back was so sore I had to give it a rest (and that was only a baby quilt!).



So, a year later, I'm finally attempting another quilt. It may be suicidal but it's a queen size. I've calculated that I need to sew together over 760 of these small squares. So far I've cut out about 200 which alone took most of an afternoon... I don't expect this to be a short term project so stay tuned for progress reports. These are some shots of my first patches and colours.



Since I took these photos I've been thinking about incorporating some solid colours - maybe some linen to continue my theme...not sure. It might be nice to have some different textures among the patches - or maybe that will be too scratchy. I'll let you know!

Gocco love.

I'm always sorry to see Monday morning roll around once again...

Fortunately, I did manage to cross off one thing that has been on my list for ages – I bought a gocco printer!! I've wanted one for ages but couldn't decide which one would be the best to buy. Really I just procrastinated for far to long and wasted lots of gocco time. I ended up buying the PG-11 which is apparently great for registration when printing with multiple colours. I had been looking around on ebay but when I finally came to buy I couldn't find the one I wanted. (Isn't that always the way!) Eventually I found the same model on etsy. Woo hoo.




For those that don't know, a gocco is like a mini screen printer where you can expose your own screen with a little lamp. You can use it to print on paper, fabric (which is my eventual plan), and other random surfaces . I also bought a stamp kit which means you can do multiple prints at a time like the very creative Lara Cameron has been doing over at Kirin Notebook. See below for her lovely wrapping paper design. (photo by Lara)



I was lying in bed this morning wondering how long it will take to arrive as I can't remember checking any boxes that indicated method of delivery... probably snail mail. I'll keep you posted.

Friday.

Beautiful. Inspiring. Amazing colours. Lo Fi. Love it.

Friday is my new inspiration day. I found this image while noodling around on the web, as you do, but unfortunately couldn't find the artist's name. Have a nice weekend.

'Bucket' bag?

So, I've got this little problem where I buy lots of fabric without a goal in mind of what to make...

In any case, my next project for Tolka is a range of really simple bags made from quality materials. I've started off by combining that beautiful linen I bought the other week with cotton lining.

I've designed one 'bucket' shaped bag in both small and large...





Above is my favourite so far (shame I already gave it away).

I did found when sewing these bags that the linen tended to stretch and slip around, so I put an extra layer of interfacing in between to help it hold its shape a bit better. There is also a little detail pic of the lining as I LOVE this pattern – very Japanese.



This bag used a more natural linen which was quite coarse and as you can tell from the photo it really likes to wrinkle. (Believe it or not I did iron this bag before I took the photo!) I think I like the linen with a bit more colour and variation in texture... not sure.

Oh yeh, can anyone think of a better name than 'the bucket bag' for this shape of bag...

Camping & Calico

Here's a little pic of my recent camping trip to NSW. It was a little soggy and windy but we did get one amazing day at Wonboyn National Park – see below. One of the most beautiful places in the world... ahh.




While in the rush leaving for our trip, I managed to drag one of my fellow campers along to the closing down sale of Calico & Chintz in Auburn Rd, Hawthorn VIC. Although I got some some great bargains (see below) is was a sad day to see such a beautiful shop close. The shop mainly sold quilting fabrics but they also ran quilting classes. I'll definitely miss it... (I think the shop is still open till the 23rd of Feb with 50% of all printed fabric in case anyone is interested.)



How great is that fabric with the little green dots!!

Anyway, I did spend my weekend sewing up some bags – combining both my stash of linen and quilting fabric. I should have some pics up to show by tomorrow!

Finally, the pot holder. It looks okay from afar but the top stitching went a stray due to the bulk of the 3 layers of wadding I used on the inside plus the two outer layers of material... I used the same linen and red striped cotton material as the oven mitt so I now have a little set. I'm slightly regretting the little strip of yellow. Hmmm – thoughts?


I sewed the pot holder with all of the layers wrong way facing and then turned it out to top stitch around the edge. However, I think sewing everything together right sides facing out and then using some bias binding around the edge would help finish it off. This will hopefully also avoid the big gaping whole you are left with when sewing inside out...


Hopefully with the next version I can post some step by step instructions instead of my vague descriptions!


Here's a little pic of the mitt and pot holder set together. (I really need some posh product photography.)

New Linen. New Camera.

Last week was a big week. New blog, new camera and a stack of new linen. The shot above is taken with my great new camera (I'm a little obsessed by it at the moment) and shows a pile of beautiful linen that I recently ordered from www.fabrics-store.com. I was really having trouble trying to find quality linen that wasn't too expensive around Melbourne so had to resort to ordering online. This website has some great products at good prices but watch out for the shipping costs - ouch!



Close up of the linen - love that macro lens! How beautiful is the red colour. I'll have to think of something great for that piece....