Some Finishes

With the weather improving - we actually had a stunning summer day here yesterday - the kids are entertaining themselves more which suits me fine thank you. Happy for every cent of mortgage interest we are paying for the pool when it keeps the boys and friends occupied, and now that they all swim really well, mama bear doesn't have to stand next to the pool for the whole time. Saying that, I had to have a word with them today about NOT holding others under water....

I have been mightly annoyed with my various attempts of using the iPad to blog; I donwloaded a blogger app which obviously is designed for the iPod but functional, but when it isn't the camera it's the internet connection and what have you. So for now I give up on the idea of using it (unless someone can give me a crash course?!?!) and return to my trusty work computer that won't read the camera memory card - but I have found a way around this as my new phone (see December) has 5Mp camera and takes alright photographs (well, as good as you get when you are obviously photographically challenged lol).

A lot of my time has been spent feeding the beasts boys, doing the dishes, the washing etc. but I am utterly ignoring need for weeding, washing the windows and exercise and concentrate on getting some of my projects finished:

Completed Crazy Quilt

Completed Pinwheel Table Cloth - big enough to fit in the middle of our humongous outside table

I practiced my FMQ with some pinwheels

I don't like handstitching the binding but my machine stitching does not always come out pretty, so I tried this ric-rac stitch instead and was quite pleased with the result - it hides little imperfections and adds a touch of colour to the border where before I had been tossing up if to quilt on it or not.

Binding from the back

Reversible with a tie dyed back, originally bought as border but once at home it didn't seem to go with it. I added some purple as border and voila it works! Note to self: Need to work on my accuracy for cutting backing and backing when trying to make things reversible / piece a backing.

My husbands just sighs when he gets home after 5 and again catches me sitting at my machine, but there is still a bit of work I want to get through before I have to go back to work 1 (!) month from today. Here is how far the Dinosaur Quilt has now progressed:

Top is pieced, some of the applique is fused. Size is approx. 40 x 74", enough to go on top of his bed (he has a semi-raised bed with rails around it, and tucking-in does not really happen in our house).

Detail of some of the dinos

Now I am on the lookout for just the right size wool batting at a prize I can afford.  I have also done a bit of research on trapunto, I want to 'stuff' some of the dino features.I have dyed a brushed cotton sheet (it was pink - who needs pink in a house with 3 boys?!) with Dylon from the supermarket to a dark green, so I can't wait to get the batting issue sorted so I can get to quilt! That could become no.3 of 10 WIP done??? And not started a new one yet though Suz and I drooled over some nice looking quilt pics today... (heaps of ideas what we could be doing - not that she hasn't enough lovely things on the go yet, if you haven't been there, check out her blog http://suz-allthegoodonesaretaken.blogspot.com/).

Just one more pic of the (almost) finished Mortimer:

I made a bit of a mess with the binding and have decided to take it off and put in on by hand instead

Lastly, I have been watching with interest Leah Day's new Free Motion Quilt along - I would really like to work on my FMQ, and hopefully I will pick up useful tips and tricks from here:  http://www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/

Let's see what the weather gods bring tomorrow, there was some rumour about another bout of rains....

2012 - tying up loose ends...

Happy New Year to everyone!

I hope that everyone made it safely into the New Year, our celebrations were not specatcular though the boys and a friend on sleepover enjoyed the sparklers and were calling various magical spells to no avail - the weather has hardly improved and so I feel like I am keeping caged animals rather than children at the moment...

 



"2012" - the first thing that came to mind was the round birthday coming up this year - I am getting old... Anyway, that's still quite some time off. 2011 was a year of many changes, oldest son started at another school in Y7, he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in March, I changed jobs after Easter and was luckily offered permanency from 2012. The work is rather challenging, but less time consuming than my last position, so I hope that overall our family (and my quilting!) will benefit from more free time. 2011 was also the year I ventured more into 'home making' things. When were we convinced and by who that we had to buy everything at the shops? We have been baking our own sourdough bread for 9 years now, and I ventured more into making preserves last summer. Cheese making has been on my to-do list for at least a year, and in 2011 I learnt from books how to make Mascarpone, Ricotta, Mozzarella and Gouda:

Sourdough Starter - looks, smells and tastes yuck but helps make nice bread:-)

Curdled Milk for Mozzarella

The finished product - 350g Mozzarella from 3.8l milk, and it took less than an hour

I also ventured into cleaners, made my own dishwash powder and my own woolwash (and in the process of using it clogged up my washing machine...). Most my recipes come from other people's blogs and I keep on loosing the addresses and recipes, so I have decided I will add another page to this blog to keep track of them there from 2012 (resolution no. 1?).

As the weather has been so sh... and due to some new purchases and presents we have done various furniture re-arranging and shuffling. As part of this I tidied the wardrobe in my sewing room and discoverd that I have 10 projects in varying stages of completion. I have already reduced this to 9 (handstitching the binding does not count, does it?) and worked on two more, so I can tie these loose ends up (resolution no.2!). These are some of the things I have been working on over the last little while:

A couple of my little bookcovers I made follwoing Ms Lottie's tutorial - by far not as decorated as hers as I simply fuzzy cut motives I liked

Had to make another doorstop, our house has polished concrete flooring and a large gap between floor and bottom end of door so I needed to make a bigger one (the other one went to my sister for xmas :-). The weight of the gravel would have been too much for the bag, so I added some styrofoam packing chips as well, they keep the pyramid tip up. Works well, though I could imagine adding some rubber to the bottom to keep from slipping should the wind blow harder.

My first ever quilting project - a crazy quilt kit from Spotlight in Hamilton. Very cheap, and very poorly done by me. Might have been cut with scissors, seam allowances are all over the place, but I managed to complete it, use 34 of the originally 40 blocks and cut them 1/4' smaller. Sashing some Moda I had in my stash, and the backing is an old sarong - not ideal but the quality goes with the rest of the fabrics. Was fun to get it done after 6 years; will live in the lounge as lap quilt. Will post another photo once the binding is done.

Pinwheel Table cloth - started last summer and planned as seat cushions for the deck. However, Northland sun is too harsh and despite applying a sunscreen-like product the matching table runner faded. Yet to back and quilt.

Mortimer has been completed an now lives in DS' bed with the three other turtles. Dino Quilt has the remaining 5 LCBs cut and will get pieced soon (tomorrow?). Now I just need to keep that momentum going...

Just to keep myself on track here: Resolutions for 2012 are to keep a decent record of my home made recipes, probably on this blog, to tie up loose ends = finish WIPs before strting (too many) new projects. Sounds doable?!

Happy New Year to everyone!

Introducing Mortimer

Not a stack'n'whack but still a fairly (...) straightforward project - phewww! The worst problem was using Mystifuse without the right tools I believe. I started fusing it between two sheets of baking paper but found it hard to peel one of them off to fuse to the fabric, so Instead I fused Mystifuse to the fabric with baking paper backing - duh, now I had trouble tracing the template through (bulb in light box broken, haven't found a replacement when I last looked at the shops...). Photocopied the template, cut and taped the 'bits', attached to baking paper side of fabric - this was now ready to cleanly come off the fabric (could have done wihtout that...). Got there in the end, as a result have heaps of fabric backed with Mystifuse left over, but now I have it all fused to the background and appliqued. I decided for raw edge for the turtle itself in the end, I found the original blanketstitch too - hmmm fuzzy?? Kept that for the corals though. Now I have to get rid of a million thread ends, add a few decorative lines in the water and the corals and bond it - voila one very quick project :-) I hope he'll like it in the end! Photos will be uploaded asap. Might have to make another one to use up that leftover fabric??? Oldest DS suggested to turn it into centre for a maritime quilt...
QUESTION: Why does Mystifuse not come paper backed? What do I need to use it like paper backed fusible web? Does a teflon sheet help????? Any advice much appreciated, I really like the feel of it but I wish I would have had less hassle and waste!!!!

Isn't he adorable? I will tend to those thread tails soon

Close up after fusing before quilting

Couldn't help myself...

I spent the day in the next city today, a good 80km south, home of the most northern traffic lights in New Zealand (the country does continue for a few hundred kms north - but hey, who needs traffic lights or even round-abouts when your biggest traffic jam is caused by moving stock lol). Talked to the specialist about oldest DS's Diabetes (type 1), went to numerous shops for birthday and advent calendar presents, spent an unbelievable amount of money on a glorified mp3 player (speak iPod Touch) on request of the boys (push-over mother...) and on the way home I made a quick stop at Bramble Cottage because I wanted to get some black-on-black fabric - LQS didn't have any last weekend. There I cam across "Mortimer" by Castilleja Cotton, check it out on www.castillejacottom.com/xcart/Mortimer-Quilt-Pattern.html (copy and paste in your browser window, I tried linking it but at least in the preview it didn't work).
I had not wanted to buy any mo kits, feels a bit like painting by numbers, but this one was just too cute, and Julie had done a great job quilting it! For just under $50 for the kit of top and binding, I took it and now plan to secretely put it together for christmas for my middle DS who already has three cuddly turtles and knowing him would just absolutely adore Mortimer. Another WIP, but it won't be able to go on the design wall except wehen he is on camp with DH later this week. Might have to get fastfood to feed the other two DSs in the meantime...