Dyeing and Stitching

Watch out all of you flower children ..... it's the age of Aquarius again!!!! I've been dyeing preparing for some School Holiday Workshops coming up .....

I've been using the Liquid Radiance Colours that I've talked about before ......

Here are the results .... groovy!

What's that Rolling Stones song? ..... ".... like a rainbow..." ?

OK, so here's the cushion - very simple...

And the back ....
Also a simple bag shape - with raw edges cut to be raggy .... this is before the washing machine ..
And this is after a wash and tumble dry ... all fluffy!

Add some cute little yo yos .... Liquid Radiance even dyes the elastic to match!
Voila! Anyone know when the next Woodstock is on???

Two Quilts

As previously mentioned, in 2008 I learnt how to make patchwork quilts. Here are two more quilts ... photographed under our Tibouchina Tree in flower ..... The first was for my son, I used the pattern from "Last Minute Patchwork Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson. I can't remember what it's called ...?..... "Six of one ..." rings a bell...?

I really like the simplicity of the design and the highlight bits are fun ..

This was the first quilt that I machined quilted - I didn't enjoy it - way too much fabric to get under that needle ....

Next is one that I made for my daughter, the pattern was from Better Homes and Garden, I think the design is called "Squares and Hourglasses" - it was quick to make up ... in fact, I think this is my favourite quilt to date, because the colours and designs in the fabrics are so happy ... This one was machine quilted by Barry & Jane (local quilters) and they did a fab job ...
Tha backing is a fabric SHIKI by Kumiko Sudo - it is one complete piece, with some more Kumiko for the border .... I love the back as much as the front ...

I free motion embroidered the label ...

Thanks to my son and his friend for holding the quilts to be photographed ... all they wanted to do was to kick the ball around .... and they end up being quilt models!

Quillow Talk

I am organising some School Holiday Sewing Workshops for the April school hols. One of the projects is a Quillow ....... This is a Quillow .... It's a quilt that folds into a pillow!

More Prints Charming ..... Just love it - not only visually but tactilly (if that's a word?) - this fabric is soft and lovely - no other way to describe it - a couple of the pieces I used are their hand printed panels that I bought at the Finders Keepers Markets in Sydney - the rocket on the pillow is one such panel ....

So, here is how it folds - this green fabric is the backing ... I quilt tied the layers altogether ...

That funny shape is the running stitch around the "pillow" - so you place the quilt on a flat surface, with the pillow opening "up" - that's where the handles are ... you then fold the quilt longways to the middle and tuck the first bit into the pillow - oh dear, I knew this would be complicated, and I think another photo of that stage may help - but stay with me ...

Fold the remaining length into thirds ... heading down to the pillow ... and tuck it into the pillow.

Here is a close up of the groovy rocket - you can't really see the running stitch, (because I'm so perfectly neat) because it's dark blue on black ...
I followed the instructions from here ..... (I did alter the dimensions and attached the handles) go on, give it a go! When it's unfolded you can slip your footsies into the pillow for some extra cosy warmth.

Two Flat Feet

It all started with an impulse purchase whilst waiting in line at Spotlight. My poor suffering children are used to the Spotlight routine..... hold my place in the line .... whilst I forage for the fabric. From time to time I have to buy the fabric for school, that is a mammoth task, I've even borrowed my mum's Granny Trolley to manage that one! Anyway, waiting in line we spot this lovely Broderie Anglaise with a hibiscus print in a light aqua blue .... that will make a nice summer dress, so we grab it. I used Simplicity 5681, without the assymmetrical hemline, fully lined it - don't want those Broderie holes revealing anything! I used some cotton lace for detail at the centre front of the bodice.

So that was well and good, but I had some fabric leftover ......... enough for a hat I think!

I've had this hat pattern for a while from NicoleM Design. So off I went ....

Now, that was easy - hmmm...... more leftovers .... such as waste .... No! I need to try out this Beach Bag pattern that I bought at the 2008 Stitches & Craft in Sydney from the lady in person!

Well, all was going well, until I hit a crisis. See the photo below - I was TWO FLAT FEET short for the base .... grrhh. So lovely Leah sends me a lovely package with "YAY" stuck on it ...
YAY! is right! Feet for many a bag in store.....

I love a happy ending. I used the Broderie leftover form the dress with some Duck Indian Cloth (also from Spotty) in white and aqua to coordinate the whole thing. It's a sturdy and good lookin bag ....

Now everything is overly coordinated and photographed.....but ... I think we can do better ...... let's liven things up with a photo shoot at MY beach ......

And sew it seams that day is done ....

Covered Journals

I made some little covered journals for a couple of special girls ....

I followed this tutorial ......

I used my lovely linen from Prints Charming....

Absolute Beginners

And sew it seams that finishing one's first sewing project is an extremely proud moment ...

Two of my first Absolute Beginner students have completed their first cushion! Here is my Sweet Pea's dolphin cushion (age 12) complete with patchwork, applique and embroidery stitches.

and even buttons and a monogram!
Another Absolute Beginner, Nicole, also proudly finished her first cushion ...

This one is fresh and extremely neat! Featuring a Prints Charming applique and emboidery, and an invisible zipper at the back ...

Congratulations!

A Little of Everything

I love the title of this book, AND the sub-title ...In true Anna Maria style, the book is filled with some great projects in fab fabric. The first cab off the rank for me was this "I'll Have One of Everything Bag".

I made it in a mixture of Japanese prints and some lovely silks ...

The handles are really interesting - they are 6 strips of fabric plaited together- giving a wonderful texture ...

I found the instructions fairly easy to follow ...

The end result is an interesting shape and a great way to showcase smallish pieces of fabric - lots of possibilities with this one .....

I'm a Finalist!

I recently entered the Amitie / Living Creatively Circles Competition ...

I made a duffle bag called 'SAIL AWAY".. The brief was to use quilting and the theme of circles to come up with a modern item ....

I quilted a denim base to make a circle ...

Then built the bag up from there - lots of red piping and white cotton herringbone tape ..

I quilted the amitie black and white ball fabric with the same design as the base...

Here is the ever faithful Clover Bias tape tool in action ...

I then joined my left over bits of amitie fabric with some red & white dots, and quilted that with a twin needle ....

I cut that piece of quilting into circles ...

I took all of my bits and pieces to a local sailmaker to put some jumbo eyelets in more tape for the top of the bag and for the little circles ....

I then appliqued those circles onto another piece of denim ...

Adding the final top layer of tape ...

Here is the lining - oops - photo not corrected - you get the idea....

Then we went to Lake MacQuarie Yacht CLub for the photo shoot - here is my son retrieving the lens cover from the lake ...

And here is the bag - and I'm a finalist!!! So exciting!

My bag is now living the high life in Melbourne at the Stitches and Craft Show - so if you see it - please check that it is behaving itself - and send me a photo if you can! It will then do Sydney and Brisbane later in the year - next time I'll make a bag big enough to put ME inside!