Printer's / Typesetter's Tray

We have a couple of little nooks in our lounge room - one houses the TV and the other is home to the "doiley cupboard". It's a little cabinet that I inherited from my Nan . . . and it was filled with doileys!



Hanging above the doiley cupboard is a typesetter's or printer's tray. In its previous life it was filled with Helvetica Bold 24 typsetting sorts, but now it's filled with the faces of the ones I love! It's a bit of fun to see these little snippets of reminders of our family hanging on our wall. I was inspired to create this a couple of years ago after seeing a project by Ali Edwards. The whole process was enjoyable for me - starting with scouring antique shops to find a suitable tray, to sorting through and reminiscing about 10os of photos to the actual "cutting and pasting".  There are still a few blank spots, but we've still got a whole lot of life left yet to fill it! I love that this is such a novel way to display not only photos, but other little pieces of memorabilia too.



And then there's the wall! There's been some discussion in our house this week of ideas for re-decorating and "the wall" was on the list. I should point out that this was an already existing feature of our house when we bought it - and it's quite a polarising aspect of the room. Some people like (don't really know about love) it and some people definitely don't (the word hate may have been bandied about!). It's a silver wallpaper, chosen many years ago by the daughter of the previous owner. I actually don't mind it (it's not particularly well hung, with joins overlapping etc) or at least the essence of it - it reflects light nicely and I don't find it that offensive, but the ideas man is in no way enamoured by it! I suspect, in the end, that it will go, but for now it's the backdrop to some of may favourite furniture/decorating pieces.

What corner of your home is making your heart sing today?

Things I'm noticing . . .

As I've been all over the internet checking out so many fantastic quilts as part of the Blogger's Quilt Festival, I'm noticing things . . .

Grab yourself one of these . . .



and settle in for some fantastic viewing . . . (I'm not keen to grab photos off other peoples blogs, so just click on the links to see for yourself).

** Warning - viewing these blogs may inspire you to add new projects to your list of things to do! You may find yourself reaching for needle and thread as you read. Don't say you weren't warned! **



White backgounds are great - they seem to make for really fresh looking quilts.

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Neutrals are everywhere too, and for good reason - they give a very elegant look to a quilt.

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A few people seem to have a bit of circle thing going on, like I do.

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Quilts with sentimental meaning are beautiful.

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There are so, so many people just jumping in and taking on projects out of the comfort zones - and coming out the other end richer for it!

There are some fantastic quilt backs out there as quilters are endeavoring to use up there scraps and trim down their stashes.

Art quilts are beautiful.

Quilters all over the world put pieces of themselves into quilts for others - and it lifts the spirits of everyone . . . giver and receiver.

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Oranges are definitely on my list of "I love these". . .

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Funky IS FUN!

There are quilts which you can't help but admire - even when you know that you don't have it in yourself to even think about attempting it.

There are all sorts of ways to include your family in your quilts!

You can be VERY creative with selveges.

Pinwheels always look great.

Hope you have as much fun checking out these blogs as I did!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - The Mystery Quilt

This is one of my favourite quilts.

It's not the most perfect.

It's not been the most technically challenging.

But it's special because it holds some pretty precious memories . . .

Our craft group booked a quilting retreat a few years back to celebrate the 10 years that we had been getting together to craft. While we had turned our hands to lots of different crafts over the years, and a couple of us had had a go at some patchwork, it wasn't something that all of us had done. But none the less, we booked the weekend! We had a choice of a couple of different projects, but in the end settled on a Mystery Quilt (the pattern's by Lessa Siegele). This project took us out of our comfort zone on so many levels . . . first there was the choosing of the fabric - 5 lights and 5 darks. For novice quilters, not knowing what the end product is going to look like can be quite daunting. Do we choose different colours? What about the colour value? So many questions. So many nerves.

But you know how it goes - when the going gets tough, the quilters go shopping!

We were given instructions for a little bit of preparation before the weekend, but we still didn't have any clue what we were going to end up with!



Even though we were all making the same basic quilt, at a certain point in the construction process we had to draw a number each out of a hat, which gave us all different setting out directions. Needless to say, although we all had the same pieces (and a couple of the girls even had the same fabrics) the end result was a group of totally different and yet equally beautiful quilts.



I found it a real challenge to let go of being "in control" of the process and just have fun with it.

I found it a real challenge to choose fabric for a specific project and not know what the project was (which is funny really because I don't generally have trouble buying fabric for no reason at all!!!).

I found that I really loved the fabrics I'd chosen.

I found that quilting with friends is such good fun.

I found that I should have made the quilt bigger if I wanted to use it on a bed.

I found a new passion.

Oh, and I found that I just love how this quilt looks hanging on my wall!

And that, my friends, is the story of my Mystery Quilt.

I'd like to say a huge THANKS to Amy from "Amy's Creative Side" for organising this little get together and enabling us to "show and tell"! And now, why don't you click back over to Amy's blog and check out some more quilts as part of this wonderful BLOGGER'S QUILT FESTIVAL.

Catalicious Block 4 Complete!

Block 4 stitched - tick.

Block 4 pressed - tick.

Block 4 pieced - tick.



Block 4 of Bronywn Hayes' Catalicious BOM is called "Brutus with Sue and Cynthia". This photo doesn't show the colour very well, but the dark fabric is an aubergine colour, with the other print a buttercup-y sort of colour.



I thought this was going to pretty quick to stitch, but it seemed to take me a little longer than I estimated. But not to worry . . . I'm enjoying seeing all the blocks come together . And I think I'm enjoying satin stitch! If you're like me and struggle a bit with this stitch and you haven't seen this tutorial from Melly, check it out and give her technique a try - it worked for me!

So, that's Block 1 - Brutus The Cat

Block 2 - Friends

and Block 3 - Sisters

I'm trying to use supplies on hand for this project, which is pretty satisfying. These Sawtooth Star blocks will be 18 1/2" square (finished).  I don't usually work with large blocks, so this is a bit of a change for me and I must say, I like seeing progress in the large sizes!

Lavender Bag

I found this little lavender bag in the linen cupboard the other day - I'd forgotten all about it and was pleasantly surprised to see it. It's filled with lavender grown by a friend of my mum.



I remember I loved doing the monogram on this, and did one like it for my great aunt who shares the "S" with me.  I must say that although I had forgotten about it, I was surprised to see "2006" stitched into it. How time flies (I do actually remember making it) - just goes to show the importance of dating our projects - like quilts. In the blink of an eye years pass and before you know it, the details you thought you'd always remember are just a little hazy . . .

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Have you heard about the Blogger's Quilt Festival?

Click here to find out about this Quilt Festival that Amy's hosting - and we can all be part of it!

Tell us about YOUR favourite quilt - and I'll tell you about MINE!

My New Lunch Bag . . .

Or breakfast bag, really.

I've been taking my brekkie to work in this same poor old plastic bag for quite a while now, and it's well and truly served its purpose and is a bit past its prime, so I thought it was time for a change . . .



So my new model is just little and light - no lining or padding - I just wanted something very simple to throw in my bag. It usually holds a small container each of muesli and yoghurt, so it didn't need to be too big.



I really love the Rural Jardin range of fabrics and this little piece was just right for my bag! Breakfast doesn't need to be boring, you know . . .

Catalicious Continues . . .

Well, I was slightly lagging behind, but have now finished Block 3 of Bronwyn Hayes' Catalicious stitcheries  "Sisters (featuring Brutus the Cat)" . . .





This block had plenty of satin stitch, which usually leaves me feeling a little anxious . . . but then I came across this tutuorial  by Melly & Me which really helped me A LOT!!! So now I am boldly approaching satin stitch without hesitation!

The stitching on the next block is under way . . . more to come on that later. If you want to get in on this block of the month stitching, it's not too late. Click on the Catalicious button on my sidebar  . . . and start stitching.