blue, blue, blue

No, I’m not suffering from depression; I have three projects to talk about and they’re all blue.

The first is my blue scraps project, Crumbed Churn Dash, for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over at SoScrappy blog.

In this post, I talked about the twenty-two 4” crumb blocks I made on 3 January.

Before I could proceed, I had to choose the fabric for the churn dash motif. I had thought I would use solid black but, in my eyes, it didn’t enhance the colours in the crumb blocks, and I thought it made the blocks seem flat and lifeless. (I’ve changed my opinion now that it’s too late!)

Then I thought I’d try a pale blue background, even though I was pretty sure I knew what the outcome would be!

I needed quite a large amount of a darkish fabric to make those medium blues stand out. This was the only blue I could find that served my purposes (I tried others but they really didn’t work!). 

I thought it looked good and I had an adequate amount of fabric but I just wasn’t sure… working with checks can be a problem – one needs to keep them straight to look good and there 160 units in the quilt!

I wonder what you would have chosen? I had decided to go with the solid black but was still restless – I have a philosophy that I live by: “if in doubt, don’t!” I really didn’t want to use the black but what could I do? Then I had a brain-wave!

Brown, being a shade of orange, adds some warmth to the quilt and I quite like the combination of chocolate brown and medium blue so I went with that. Of course, I wasn’t going to cut 160 pieces in case it didn’t work so I did four of each unit to begin with; enough to make one block! (The brown is actually much darker than this photo shows)

I was hoping that I’d be able to tell you today that I had finished making all 160 sub-units for twenty churn dash blocks.

But, I was wrong.

On Friday, I finished all twenty blocks! I started the day with eight done, worked consistently all day, and finished all twenty around 4pm.

I love how the brown churn dashes make a grid for the large blue diamonds to hang off!

As you can see, it’s planned scrappiness. I spent quite a bit of time determining the placement of each piece of ‘rag’ (as my teacher calls them)! I’m looking forward to having a ‘proper’ design wall soon so I don’t have to keep working on the floor in another room.

I pressed away from the centre but I think I’ll have to go back and press all the seams joining the top and bottom rows to the centre rows of each block; in this way, I’m hoping I’ll avoid the problems of too much bulk where the blocks meet. It’s a hassle but better than the alternative!

Yesterday, WM and I discussed possibilities for basting. We have carpet throughout the house. I’ve tried basting on carpet and usually end up pinning my project to it! Besides, it’s too hard on my knees and back. Our dining table is timber so I can’t use that for fear of scratching the surface with pins. WM told me that I could use the kitchen bench/breakfast bar  so I tried it out with the Bargello table runner. The bench-top is Caesar-stone so it will be interesting to see how it stands up whilst having pins pushed against it. When I removed the table runner, the bench-top didn’t seem any worse for wear – I was very careful not to push the pins too hard! The only marks I can see are from the masking tape and I’m assuming they will wash off.

Not only did I get the table runner basted, I also got it quilted, trimmed and bound. Woo-hoo! This is the fifth finish of 2015 and the first of five of my own projects that I had waiting to baste, quilt and finish.

There will probably be another post for this project: I wanted to say more but this post is already quite long enough!

With all those to-be-quilted projects, I need another scrap piecing project so I’m joining Sharon’s Let’s Book It challenge this month. 

While I had my blue scraps out, I started a quilt based on a pattern called “Slices” from the book Scrap Republic by Emily Cier. That quilt is only 30” square; I need to make mine 48” x 64” so there’ll be twelve triangles of most colours not the four shown here.

It’s a new project but it will take me all year to complete given that the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is one colour a month. Interestingly, Emily Cier recommends making one triangle at a time; I’m thinking it might be easier to sew a whole lot of scraps together then cut the triangles from the resulting fabric. Of course, doing it Ms Cier’s way means that every scrap is followed by a different scrap; doing it my way, while possibly faster and with less wastage, will result in the same scrap combination over and over. I’ll have to think on it some more. Here is the first ‘triangle’ I made. I’m not cutting the triangle properly until I have all the triangles for a row – bias edges are tricky things!

If you’ve got a few minutes, why not drop into Angela’s blog to see what people have been doing with their blue scraps; and/or Sharon’s blog to see what projects people are making from the long neglected patterns in the books on their shelves?

Also, I’ve now edited my previous post and linked it to JulieK’s Binding Blitz link-up. Please check out that link too; and if you’ve bound a quilt this month, add yours to the party! You know what they say, ‘the more the merrier’!

Time for pink – the colour of February… stay tuned! ;-)

gifts and give-aways

Before the year closes, I’d like to show you some of the quilt-related things I have received in the last few weeks.

You may remember that, in November, I joined the linky party over at Vrooman’s Quilts called “Let’s Book It!”. This was the first time I had joined the party and, much to my surprise, I won that month’s give-away: a beautiful little quilt barn pin and a quilt charm to attach to it. So cute! Thanks so much, Sharon.

Sharon was one of the most regular followers of my now-defunct linky party, “Something Old, Something New” and her blog inspires me with quilting ideas and links to other “scrappy quilters” that it should be me sending her a gift not the other way around!

Christmas has been and gone for another year (although in my family tradition, Christmas begins on 25 December and ends on the Feast of the Epiphany, 6 January, so our lights, decorations and tree are still up. That may change this weekend!). It’s time to show you the quilt-related gifts I received (exactly when did this blog stop being primarily about knitting? LOL) :

Firstly, my mum gave me a book called Scrap Quilt Sensations by Kim Brackett.

I first saw this book on Sharon’s blog and fell in love with this quilt called “Island Chain”.

Sharon made hers in a very different (and prettier IMHO) colour combination. I just had to have the book so that I could make my scrappy version. I would have been happy to find one pattern that I liked; there are several so that’s a bonus. You can expect to see quilts made from patterns in this book (or at least inspired by them) over the next couple of years.

Then WM surprised me with EQ7 software – since I am an inveterate computer-user (DD says I am not a nerd but I love computers and my iPad; I have to force myself to stay away from them to do other things, even the things I love – luckily my sewing machine is also a form of computer! LOL) and like to design my own quilts, this is a perfect gift for me (when I make the time to read the 250+ pages of the manual!) I am looking forward to playing with it but first I have projects I need to bring to completion. (No, I didn’t get a design wall but I have a birthday in April – if I can wait that long!)

DD bought WM and I Lindt Lindor chocolate balls packaged in a giant Lindor shaped container. To give you some idea of scale, I have photographed it with my 4” red-work pin-cushion (made by Anorina who blogs at Samelia’s Mum – another give-away win! I love it and use it a lot, Anorina – thanks heaps! BTW, Anorina has made the pattern for this embroidery available on her blog)

DD also gave each of us a class from Craftsy – WM got a photography-related one, I got Art Quilting 101. I can’t show you a photo because the picture on Craftsy is a hyperlink to my class!

If you’ve never tried Craftsy and you’re into Sewing, Quilting, Knitting, Drawing, Photography, Gardening, Woodwork or Cooking (to name a few) you really should have a look. There are many free mini-classes to whet your appetite; they are always available after you enrol and Craftsy has some great sale prices at frequent intervals! They also do patterns (both free and available for purchase), kits and supplies, as well as showing projects and having their own blog. And, as a disclaimer, I am not being paid for this, I have no affiliation with Craftsy except as a very happy consumer. I have had reason to experience their customer service (I ordered a class for WM and it ended up on my classes because I pressed the wrong purchase button) and it was unbelievably fast and excellent!

We spent Christmas Day with SIL’s parents. They gave me six fat quarters of Christmas fabric – what a lovely, thoughtful present for a quilter. Thank you, J&A.

Finally, a Christmas present from “Santa”; an item that has been on my Book Depository wishlist for quite some time: Connecting Quilts, Art & Textiles by M. Joan Lintault. This only arrived yesterday so I haven’t even opened it yet!

I believe in shopping locally where possible but sometimes I can get books from The Book Depository for almost half of what I would pay for them in Australia. The Book Depository has free shipping worldwide so there is a great saving to made. Plus books are delivered right to my door!

So, I’m set with quilting-related material for the New Year. (Speaking of the new year, I hope you’re all enjoying my new blog header – that view was taken from my deck! Gotta love those trees!)

Knitting? What’s that? LOL

Did you receive any books or other items related to your hobbies recently?

PS Thanks, WM, for the photos!

new quilting books

Given that Christmas was five weeks ago, I guess it's time for me to show my new books!

They are all very different and each will challenge me in different ways as I work through my "new" skills challenge for Something Old, Something New during the year.

To expand my skills in free motion quilting, I have First Steps to Free Motion Quilting by Christine Cameli, recommended by Deb at a simple life quilts. I haven't even opened the book yet, I'm waiting until it's time to add FMQ to my challenge. If I open it now, I may want to get stuck into it!

To introduce me to the techniques of trapunto, I have Shadow Trapunto Quilts by Geta Grama. I have followed Geta's blog for a few years now and the work she does in trapunto always amazes me. Again, I have not yet opened this book -- I will wait until the month comes to try this technique.

My quilting class begins next Monday after a seven-week Christmas/summer break. We are going to learn foundation (or paper) piecing and this book will help with that. I have admired the work of Mary Lou Weidman for a couple of years and this book brings my collection of her books to four. I am looking forward to trying a couple of the blocks in Out of the Box with Easy Blocks.

That reminds me, I haven't showed you another of her books that I bought from eBay. I think it was her very first book. It is called Whimsies and Whynots. I love the whole concept of a "story" quilt although they don't seem like the thing I would do for our charity quilting group due to the time and amount of work involved.

I've had Log Cabins Today in my collection for a while but I can't see that I've posted about it. Log cabin blocks are so versatile but what got my attention was the setting of the one on the cover.

What about you?

Have you added any new books to your crafting library lately?

the joy of belonging to a local library

Having access to free books from the local library is such a blessing! I have borrowed from a local library since my earliest school days and I tend to take it for granted.

Now, in this wonderful age of the internet, I can (and do) borrow audio-books, ebooks and print books. In this way, I get to read books that I would otherwise never knew existed.

This month, I have borrowed the following from the library:

• the books in print

• I have yet to open The Quilt: a history and a celebration of an American art form
• I really liked Cut the Scraps – in fact, I might even put it on my wish-list (I have a birthday in April)
• The book about Kaffe Fassett’s V&A Quilts was interesting but I won’t be adding to to my collection
• I have yet to open Kaffe Knits Again
• Prayer Shawl Companion has some interesting patterns (including one by Kaffe Fassett) but I won’t be adding it to my collection; readers who consider “prayer shawls” a peculiarly Christian expression may be surprised by the inclusion of all faiths and eastern mysticisms

For entertainment, I have a tendency to gravitate towards mysteries and romance novels, as well as biographies and non-fiction books on subjects that interest me – e.g. history, culture.
I have borrowed this digital media (listed alphabetically by title for convenience):

• A Lady of Expectations by Stephanie Laurens (e-book) -- finished
  - Jack Lester has to find a bride but where can he find the perfect woman?
• A Man’s Heart by Lori Copeland (audiobook) -- finished
  - after the death of her father and her best friend, a young woman struggles to salvage the farm, honour a promise and win back the man whose heart she broke
• Captain Thunderbolt and His Lady by Carol Baxter (e-book) -- slowly reading
  - the story of Australian bushrangers Frederick Ward and Mary Ann Bugg; I’ve only read a couple of chapters and am finding it fairly dry
• Old Tokyo by Sumiko Enbutso (e-book) -- so far I have only read the introduction
  - a walking tour of Tokyo’s old downtown
• The Golden Mountain by Irene Kai (audiobook) -- reading
  - the story of four generations of Chinese women and their relationship to USA (the “golden mountain”)
• Town in a Blueberry Jam by B.B. Haywood -- finished
  the first book in a mystery series featuring amateur sleuth, Candy Holliday
• Under the Summer Sky by Lori Copeland (e-book) -- finished
  - a romance set in North Dakota in the late 1800s; written by a Christian author, there is a list of discussion questions at the end of the book

What have you been reading lately?

I've been reading

Because I mostly read ebooks, I don't have photos of book covers and don't want to take them from other locations on the web without permission. I apologise for the lack of pictures but it is, after all, a post about reading! LOL

 The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society is the one fiction book that I have read lately which stands out; not because the writing was particularly brilliant, but because it is set in post-war, previously German-occupied Guernsey -- something I've not thought about before. It's a simple story, told well enough to become compulsive but easy reading.

The book is obviously popular, over 10,000 people on LibraryThing have read The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society. The book was written by Mary Ann Schaffer, a retired librarian in her seventies who died before the book was published. The revisions were done by her niece, Annie Barrows. Written in the format of letters, it is an unusual format but works well in this case.

While travelling to my mother’s earlier this month, I finished the first section of Mao’s Last Dancer (by Li Cunxin), the autobiography of a poor Chinese boy who became a famous classical ballet dancer. I have not seen the movie and probably never will now that I am reading the book. I am actually reading this book in print format; perhaps that's why it's taking me so long to get through it! ;-0

While sitting around the motel room in Moree after mum's surgery, I read Head Over Heels (by Sam and Jenny Bailey). It is the biography of an Australian country boy who dreamed of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a farmer – and how he reached his goal despite becoming a quadriplegic in a dreadful car accident when he was just nineteen.

Currently I’m reading another Australian book: In Search of A Wild Brumby by Michael Keenan. Brumbies are wild horses, introduced to Australia and considered by some as pests.

I also have in my pile of non-fiction books, Life at the Edge and Beyond: Living with ADHD and Asperger Syndrome (Jan Greenman) -- this directly impacts on my family and I really need to take the time to read this carefully.

But wait .... there's more!

How can one go to the library and not borrow craft books, more specifically books related to stitching! At the moment I am being inspired by these four:

• French Girl Knits (Kristen Griffen-Grimes) -- a book of patterns, two of which I would like to knit
• Design Your Own Knits in 5 easy steps (Debbie Abrahams) -- I need more time to take this one in!
• Long and Short Stitch Embroidery (Trish Burr) -- also known as needle painting, thread painting or silk painting; I would love to learn how to do this but not right now!
• Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again (Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston) -- a book written by two well known quilters with two very different styles; I love it and have added it and its predecessor to my wishlist!

 If you're over at LibraryThing and want to take a look at my whole book-list (I am adding to it slowly), I am, not surprisingly, ellebee57.

What are you reading?
Did anyone give you books this Christmas? 

I have been remiss

Several weeks ago, Vicki of The Accidental Crafter, sent me a pair of shorts for Younger Grandson. She had made them for her son but they were too small. As yet, they are too big for YG but he’ll grown into them soon enough.

I didn’t take a photo of the shorts but I did take a photo of the lovely surprise that came with the shorts. Because I read and comment on Vicki’s blog on a regular basis, she made me a cover for my Kindle.

The cable to connect it to my computer lives in the pocket but it looked a bit bulky so I took it out for the photograph.

Vicki also sent some fabric scraps to add to my collection.

Thank you so much Vicki; you shouldn’t have but I’m so glad you did.

And thank you, too, to Rosalin from the BM knitters’ group, for this gift: DD and I appreciate it and can assure you that it will have a good home.

Once again, thank you both.

reality check

It's my own fault really. Not understanding the technology, I shouldn't have assumed; I should have checked the list of devices that I could use to read ebooks from my local library.

Kindle, my Christmas gift from my husband, is not one of them!

The Book Depository, my favourite online bookstore (because it has free shipping to Australia), also does not sell ebooks that can be read on Kindle.

I rarely buy books - the exceptions to this are gifts and craft books: I prefer those in printed versions so I can look at them over and over, in colour. Yes, I got one craft ebook for Christmas - I read that on my PC because the screen is larger so I could see the images in full colour but I would have preferred a "real" edition! (BTW, I'm not being ungrateful - I chose all four of those Christmas gifts myself and the ebook was the only format I could get of that particular book)

I had pictured being able to carry several books when I travel without the bulk of actual books. But I never planned on buying them: that's what my library membership is for, especially now I can download both audio books and ebooks (without leaving home).


So, what will I do with my Kindle?

family news

WM and I celebrated out 34th anniversary yesterday. He gave me these (which I pre-bought in the book sale I mentioned in a previous post):

I gave him a clock movement (the clock I bought him many years ago had stopped working) and a book (bought in the same sale):

In not so happy news, Younger Grandson was rushed to the Emergency Room yesterday afternoon and was admitted to hospital for observation and tests late last night. It appears he had a "fit" (febrile convulsion) the cause of which may never be known. The most common reason is infection but all the blood tests show that he has none! 

We are hoping he will be released tomorrow. DD is, of course, staying at the hospital; at the moment we have Older Grandson - his daddy will collect him some time this evening so Grandad can get some sleep before starting work at 6am tomorrow!

If you are the praying kind, we would very much appreciate your prayers. The doctor says that one possibility is "epilepsy" so we are standing united against this prognosis.

I will keep you informed as we get further news.

don't let me near the discount book store

Yesterday, DD and I had "high tea" for lunch. I won't go into the details - it is sufficient to say that it was basically the same as when I took mum in September. You can read about that on this post.

After lunch, we had to pass the discount bookstore to return to the car.

Well, when I say "pass", I mean, we had to go into the book store.

And I came out with a few books (as you do).

If you read Quilting Arts magazine, you'll recognise this one; the author of the book, Robbi Joy Eklow, writes an essay for each edition of the magazine under the same title.

I nearly didn't buy the next one except for the second sentence in the introduction:

The concepts presented also apply to quilting on a short arm machine or a domestic machine using a quilting frame.

A quick flick through the book convinced me I wanted to own this one.

  

I bought a few others but they're for Christmas presents so I can't show them here!

Are you giving books as gifts this Christmas?

an interruption to the quilting

Yesterday, this came by postal delivery.


It interrupted my quilting time!

But it was fun! There are some great ideas and beautiful quilts inside.

I have long been a fan of Kaffe Fassett - he has inspired my knitting and now my quilt making!

I'm a winner

Recently, the very popular and oh so crafty Jodie, of Ric Rac, had a give away on her blog.

I didn't mean to enter; I left a comment for Jodie telling her to have a good weekend at Sewjourn. My comment ended up in the Random Generator and I won this:

Published by ABC Books here in Australia, it is full of hints and tips to make me a better sewer!

Did you know, for example, that there is a difference between stitch rippers? Some are sharper than others and are therefore better. I didn't know that; I thought the one that came with the sewing machine was the same as any other!

Nikki, the author of the book, has a blog called, oddly enough, you Sew girl. And you know what?

... she may be a 'real' published author but she's normal, just like us!

the last birthday books

Now, my crochet library has enough books and we're back to a wishlist of knitting books!

Thanks WM for caring enough to buy what you thought I'd like and not asking me to buy my own gifts!

two more books came yesterday

My extended birthday continues:

Aren't the colours in that bedspread amazing?

An Australian book which will require a few hours of reading followed by a few more hours of playing!!

birthday gifts 2009

It was my birthday on Saturday and WM was a bit disappointed. He had been late in ordering books from the Book Depository in the United Kingdom and only one had arrived.

I think I'd like to make the wrap in the top left corner. It's done in filet crochet [a technique I've never tried]. You can see a bigger picture here; look under the "book" for the word copyright and click, you should get the page with the wrap.

Apparently I have three more books to wait for - my birthday will extend over several days I think!

Stitches and Craft Show

DD and I had a wonderful day at the Show yesterday despite the coooooold weather!

The day started slowly for us - the free shuttle bus from Parramatta station kept us waiting in the rain quite a while but we arrived at Rosehill Race Course in plenty of time for the first fashion parade which we really wanted to see. Biggan Designs had a lovely range of knitwear on show, everything from beanies to skirts, mostly knitted on circular needles in their range of 8ply merino. I was impressed by some of the designs but I didn't think the yarn [$8.95 per 50g] was any better than Bendigo 8ply; mind you, I didn't rub it against my skin and I didn't have any Bendi yarn with me to compare.

We then visited the Make and Take stage where we saw a demonstration of wet-felting [by Colours of Australia], something DD and I have wanted to try since it was demonstrated at the Knitters' Guild more than 12 months ago! This demonstration spurred us on to give it a try [maybe next holidays!!]. DD made a tiny wet-felted ball about the size of a large pea; I think she prefers dry felting for ball-making.

Time for lunch then we made our way over to the main hall to check out all the exhibitors. We skipped all the quilting suppliers and scrapbooking suppliers so there wasn't much of interest to us - we did find a few stalls where we slowed down and three where we actually stopped [Threads and More, Dolls and Doilies and Yarns Galore]. DD was looking for yarn to knit stoles for her bridesmaids - with the dearth of yarn suppliers at the Show we came away empty handed. She sighed that she hadn't thought of knitting stoles before we went to Bendigo!

Upstairs for a seminar on colouring on fabric with Prisma pencils by Karlene Atkins of Katkins Designs. Not really relevant to what we do now but still very interesting and well presented. Karlene inspired DD enough to want a full set of pencils [$250] which she didn't get! I want to try doll making at some time but I don't really like sewing so what's a girl to do? Read on and the solution will present itself!

We went back to "The Pavilion" to see the Make and Take Demonstration of dry [needle] felting by Living Ideas [no website yet]. I found this demonstration badly put together and quite dry but I did have an "ah-ah moment" - I could try needle felting faces on knitted teddies instead of embroidering them. Stay tuned for the results of my first test teddy - I only started knitting her last night [more on that later – I’m experimenting with knitting teddy in the round]. Because this demonstration took only 20 minutes, I dashed upstairs again to see the seminar I should have gone to in the first place: criss-cross felting with Anne Huntley of Room for Threads. Wow! Now I really was inspired. The works she created by Nuno felting were simply amazing! I couldn't wait to go home and get started with my crafting!

But first, back to the Pavilion one more time. All the demonstrations/seminars/parades we had seen were by exhibitors in the Pavilion. We had one last look around and I did it - I bought the book I had looked at longingly every time I past the Colours of Australia stand. I first saw the 'sister' books at Bendigo Wool and Sheep Show and I really wanted this one. It was $79. Could I justify such a price for a single craft book? Yes, I could. I work very hard and earn good money and I really wanted this book. I had walked away from it three times already but I still really wanted it. The first time there was a total of fifteen copies of the three books; now there were only four. It seemed it was a case of “do it or go without”! I bought it and drooled over it late last night [after watching a repeat of Hercule Poirot on ABC]. I went to bed so inspired - here was my answer to doll making without sewing! The book is called New Felt by Birgitte Krag Hansen [of Denmark]. These beautiful, character filled faces are made without a single stitch of sewing thread! Can't wait to try it!

Gotta go - I have an experimental teddy on the needles, a book to drool over, needle felting to try, yarn to buy for stole knitting and, alas, lessons to prepare for the coming week. As is often the case: the last shall be first in my list of priorities!

Come back soon and see what I've been up to!