hope valley, monsters and feel good songs

There's nothing quite like that feeling of accomplishment you get when you finish a project. I'm still amazed that I actually do finish these things. I remember sewing classes at school. I loved them. The boys would all go off to woodwork (or wherever - I could never be bothered to find out) and the girls all sat and sewed little crosses on pieces of red or blue gingham and chattered about ...stuff...the most recent episode of Magnum maybe. I loved it! But I never, EVER finished any of my needlework projects. The knitted Boogaloo? Nope. The hessian wall hanging? Uh uh. The simple skirt in high school? No way.  How the hell did I get to this point then? Well, my parents must have blithely ignored all signs of needle impairedness 'cause they got me a sewing machine for my 21st birthday. I taught myself to sew T-shirts and skirts using a kindly neighbour's Burda magazines and sewed my own clothes through college and the first few years of teaching when money was tough and the dress code more formal than it is now. I still miss my long, swishy four panel skirts - wish I hadn't thrown the pattern away! So I'm always especially chuffed and not a little surprised when I get to complete a quilt.

 This is my Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley fabric quilt. The design is mine but heavily influenced by her modern strips of random lengths. I tried a reversible backing effect but won't do anything as detailed next time as sometimes there are four layers of material to stitch through- too thick for neat, tiny stitches. And bloody painful on the fingers!

 I love it. 

The other project finished and klaar is a little family I grew rather fond of. And I wasn't the only one.

These guys are now happily settled into their new home but don't be too surprised if there are new additions to the family- They are too much fun to make! Rebecca Danger designed the patterns and the one I used can be found here if the spirit moves you. Incredibly easy but don't over stuff as the final crotch sewing bit is not.fun. And practice your satin stitch first.

 In the spirit of NPR's All Songs Considered blog's latest theme of Songs that Make you Feel Good here are some of mine. And what are your favourite feelgood songs?

 Give It- Lambchop
 
 Radio King - Golden Smog  
Magic - Pilot  
Livin' Thing- ELO
 Late in the Evening- Paul Simon  
Bennie and the Jets - Elton John

magpies of the world unite!

My lounge (and a part of the kitchen) is strewn with pieces of material.


Bits from my quilt, bits for monster toys and a crib quilt for baby Tester, bits from my scarf and other odds and ends that I might need...just in case. The magpie in me is in heaven (as are the cats) - the more responsible me is thinking about the mess some might call it...and the inevitability of having to clean it up at some stage.

 I'm very inspired by all things Denyse Schmidt at the moment. Her prints are pretty awesome and I lurve, lurve lurve her quilts. I love her colour combinations and the designs themselves are modern - nothing fussy and garish.

 I'm working on a quilt based on her Hope Valley range. I loved the greens and yellows and didn't want to mix them with the pinks and oranges so I tried a reversible effect.
Now I know why it's not done more often--in some places it's too bloody thick to sew teeny tiny stitches!  Doh.

The other Denyse Schmidt project I've been working on is the scarf from her book. Not using any of her fabrics- just bits of tweed and herringbone (surprisingly soft!) and silks and cottons pieced any which way. I'd love to try cushion covers like this.

 Oh lordy..this photoshoot was interesting.

Dolorean - Country Clutter


The Nu Page- A Heart is a House

sew what?

I might have mentioned a while ago that one of the few things on my bucket list ( I really must work on that at some stage- yawn) is a quilt. Making my own one. Yes, snigger all you like... I just don't see how being yanked, upside down, on a big piece of elastic over a river and under a bridge can be fun, okay? 

I had ordered a simple pattern online and bought the material so when I happened to be stranded without a car a few weekends ago I decided to make a go of it. It was  a soggy long weekend, raining non-stop,perfect for hours and hours of measuring and cutting......and more measuring.....and more cutting. Endless measuring and cutting. You get the picture.
But it wasn't that bad, somehow. I put a chilled out compilation on the iPod and sort of went into the Zone.

By day three the top was finished and klaar.
As you can see, the cats showed remarkable restraint during the whole process.
Not much of this sort of behaviour this time. Aw look how cute they were! 

But every time I put pieces down on the floor to look at certain colour combinations or to see what textures worked best together (I love this part and will happily go through hours and hours of measuring and cutting to get to it!!) they plonked themselves down on the fabric. As if to say, " Yes. We approve."
 As if they suspect it will become their blankie. Hmmph! How could they think such a thing!? ;-P

Oh yes...he's trying to eat the pins. 

Yep. Quilting. My kind of adventure sport.

  

Ok, so it's not quite finished yet. It's now been sandwiched - that means the batting's in place, the top and bottom layer are where they should be and everything's secured with lots and lots of safety pins.

And now......now I have to sew the bloody thing!!

With fancy stitches and patterns and stuff and I have no idea if a.) my machine can handle it and b.) I can handle it. 

Lol.

Watch this space.

Odyssey-"Our lives are shaped by what we love" - Gotta love chilled out retro quilt-making tunes : )

frick and frack and other people's junk

I went meadering down the road yesterday and found a car boot sale in full swing. Or, put it this way, it was as swingin' as a car boot sale on a hot, January Saturday can ever be.

God, just look at this piece of retro gorgeousness.There's something about household appliances from the fifties and sixties...the huge knobs, that very specific shade of green. I almost wish I'd bought it.

 If you take out the 'i' and replace it with 'a' you have Frack. Which is probably not the curse word I'll be using when I start sewing my first quilt. The pattern has arrived. And I'm accumulating a stash.

Meanwhile, back at the boot sale....

 

 
 

 Another retro thingie. The lady tried to sell it to me for R900. Lol.

If you look carefully you can see the big red battery that's supposed to power the thing.

Not this lady. This one didn't try and sell me anything. She just let me take her photo with her little girl. I love it when people are up for it.

More pics in Flickr.


Andrew Bird- 'Oh No' (also not the words I'll use when I start my first quilt but his new album is luverly- so is he)

all that i want

 So. A week of my holidays has passed and what have I done with my time?

I've read. Tons.

 

I've tried not to eat too much shit..and largely failed.

 

I've shopped.

And I made some bags.

 

  

  

It's been good. : )

 You see paw pads, I see chocolate coated raisins. 

And, lastly, two little bits of festive spirit.

The first is the most chilled out and gorgeous rendition of Silent Night I've ever heard. Mahalia Jackson remixed by King Kooba.

The Weepies' All That I Want...

..and what is it that makes you scream?

 

This morning I was inspired by Jocelyn's post to try and do some macro shots and thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and do some sewing at the same time. Hey, I've managed driving a car while shooting, this should have been a piece of cake. Should have been.

So while the kitties slept, I quickly packed out the gorgeous material I'd bought ages ago and set out the pattern pieces for some tote bags. I love the way these swatches look together. My swatch admiration did not last long.

What the hell was I thinking? I swear they have some kind of radar. This is the look I have come to fear...

 

...see the wild glint in her eye? It's Minnie in fucking kamikaze mode.

 

Here's another face that has me casting a quick panicked glance around the room.  She looks like one of those demons in Supernatural when, up until a second ago, they looked completely normal and then all of a sudden their eyes go totally black. God, I should have named her Ruby.

 

 

I managed to cut out my pattern pieces but by then I'd had enough.

 

This project is going to take longer than expected.

And while we're on the subject of the little shits fuckers...damage count is now:

• One floor lamp (sob)
• One glass
• Two picture frames
• One cushion (snivel)
• and a lounge that looks like a ...well, like a couple of demon kitties just escaped through the Devil's Gate...man, I'm missing that show