"Man Craft"

I share my life with a man who has about as many "gadgets" for his craft as I do for mine! He works with timber . . . creating beautiful heirloom pieces - and lots of them are for me. Click here to see some of his handiwork. He uses all this gear when he's creating . . .


Lots of bits and pieces in here . . . see it's not just "girly" crafts that have lots of accessories!


So when he asks if I'll do him a favour, what's a girl to do? So what is the favour?

To make covers for his tool chests, of course! And could they have a monogram, too?

So a trip to the fabric store and a few hours later, he has covers for the tool chests . . . and monogrammed as well.


He already gets lots of comments when he takes his tool chests to site. It's amazing how many people stop and admire his kit. His tools are his livelihood, so he takes them pretty seriously. He likes to work with good quality, well maintained tools. And vintage tools and heirloom tools, too (see any similiarities to a lot of quilters here? Did I mention how I like to sew with Francene?) So he takes good care of his stuff. And it looks lovely all nicely fitted into these gorgeous tool chests. It will be interesting to see what sort of comments he gets now . . .



And true to form, Squeaker had to get in on the act - quilt, tool chest cover - it's all the same to her!

The one that went astray . . .

This is a little heart that I made for a friend for Christmas, but it seems it went astray in the mail . . .


But if life is really about the journey and not the destination, then I guess having made the heart is the main thing!

I made a heart, as my friend has a "heart thing" going on. And I wanted to try my hand at tiny little cross stitches, so I worked this on quite a fine linen using a single strand of DMC thread. My Luxo magnifying lamp was my best friend while stitching this!

So, while the little heart didn't make its intended destination, I hope the good thoughts I had for my friend while stitching traveled across the miles. Anyway, there's always next Christmas . . .


Pattern: One of the hearts from the European Cushion Cover
Designer: Agnes Delage-Calvet, Anne Sohier-Fournel
Publication: Made In France - Cross Stitch and Embroidery in Red, White and Blue

Civil War Quilts - Block 6

This block is #6 and it's called "Richmond". It's a block which was published about 1915 by the magazine Hearth and Home. They asked readers to send in patchwork patterns for the state capitals. Richmond, Virginia, became the capital of the Confederacy in the spring of 1861.

I really enjoyed making this block. It incorporates my favourite star . . .



And the little 4-patches are really cute, too.



It's amazing how different this block looks in different colour ways. With some blocks I see the star very clearly, with others a cross, some a diamond. Check out the Flickr Group to see what I mean . . .



Pattern: Civil War Quilts - Block 6 - Richmond
Designer: Barbara Brackman
Publication: http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/

Civil War Quilts - Block 5

Well, this is block 5 done - Kansas Troubles.

The background fabric is quite orange and vibrant in "real life". It's been a while since I've pieced little tiny triangles, and I'd forgotten just how much a little stretch can throw a whole block out!

Note to self: be very, very careful when piecing tiny pieces on the bias.


Pattern: Civil War Quilts - Block 5 - Kansas Troubles
Designer: Barbara Brackman
Publication: http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/

Heartsong Stitchery (the Christmas Version) Finished!

I have put the finishing stitches in this Heartsong Stitchery (the Christmas Version) by Rosalie Quinlan . . . and I'm very happy with how it turned out.

It's stitched on linen, using DMC Blanc (3 threads). The stitchery is about 12'' x 8 1/2". Rosalie's pattern was stitched on red linen with white thread, which looks really good. But I was having a bit of a "Scandinavian Moment" when I started this.


I decided to go with a chain stitch on the hear border, rather than satin stitch . . . and I'm really happy with the lacy effect.


I was planning to "frame" this by stretching it around a canvas frame, but "he who sits on the lounge offering advice" thinks that a pair of pillow cases would be good. He's yet to pick up a needle and thread and make a start on the second one!


Pattern: Heartsong Stitchery
Designer: Rosalie Quinlan

Civil War Quilts - Block 4

Block 4 - Texas Tears - is done. It may end up requiring some persuasion to be just the right size, but we'll see when the whole quilt goes together. I'm not sure that I love this block, but I'm suspending my judgment until I've done all the blocks. In a quilt with 56 blocks, not all of them need to be the "star of the show", in my opinion.

If you're interested in seeing what others are doing with their blocks for this Block Of The Week project, check out the Flickr Group - there's certainly plenty of variety and inspiration! And if you're not already full to the brim with projects on the go, have a think about joining in. It's a great way to use your stash and the weekly blocks are pretty achievable. Go on . . . have a go . . . what's stopping you?


Pattern: Civil War Quilts - Block 4 - Texas Tears
Designer: Barbara Brackman
Publication: http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/

Australia Day 2011

This is my Australia!

My family.
The beach.
The bush.
The heat.
The rain.

Today, January 26th, we celebrate Australia Day - being Australian, no matter where we are from, in all its richness and diversity. We are a nation of many cultures. Of many traditions. We are a nation that comes together in triumph and tragedy in equal measure. We are tough when we need to be, gentle when it counts. We know when to lend a hand and we can laugh at ourselves. We truly do live in . . . "the lucky country".

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

By Dorothea Mackellar

To find out a little bit more about Australia Day, click here.

A Spot of Shopping . . . and Owls

We took a little drive to do a bit of antique shopping . . . we didn't come home with much, but had a lovely day out just the same.


What I did bring home are these gorgeous threads to do a little cross stitch. I love the colours of the Simply Shaker Sampler Threads . . . and I love the names of them - "Fragrant Cloves", "Shutter Green", "Cranberry". How can you go wrong?


And then, at the last stop of the day I picked up this little doiley. It's sandwich tray size. And it looked so cheery to me in the red stitching. I may use it for its intended purpose, or it may make its way into a project down the track. Who knows?


And if you have a thing for owls, and you haven't organised a calendar for this year (or even if you have), this site has the cutest little owl calendar that you can create yourself and print out. The artwork is wonderful. This is the one I made for myself . . .

Civil War Quilts - Block 3

Block 3 of Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilts is "Seven Sisters"

It's been a while since I've done any needleturn, so I found these stars a bit of a challenge. I can needleturn circles till the cows come home, but my stars may have a slight starfishy-ness about them on this block! Still, Block 3 done! There's a flickr group going with lots of these blocks being added all the time. So if you're thinking of making a start on this block of the week, or you just want to see what others are doing with their blocks, it's well worth a look.

If you get a chance, click on over to Fiona's Blog - Peaceful Threads by Fiona. She's celebrating her 2nd Blogging Anniversary today. Fiona always has something on her blog to inspire and motivate, whether it's a glorious piece of stitching or wonderful pictures of her pretty special part of the world. Well done Fiona . . . and thanks for sharing!


Pattern: Civil War Quilts - Seven Sisters
Designer: Barbara Brackman
Publication: http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/

Alison's Puzzle

I started this quilt back in 2008 on a quilt retreat with a group of friends. At a retreat 6 months earlier, we were talking about things we'd like to do . . . and my friend Alison talked about how she wanted to try things that were a bit 'outside the square', or outside of her comfort zone. One of those things was learning needle turn applique. While we were there for the weekend, our hostess/tutor, Carol, designed the centre panel and made it up for us to see if we would like to work on it as project on our next retreat.

And we did.

And it was named "Alison's Puzzle".



The centre panel hung for a long time on the design wall (well, actually it was pinned on the top of another quilt that I could see every time I sat down to sew) until I made up my mind what I wanted to do with it.

Would it be an enormous cushion?

Or a small wall hanging?

A bed quilt?

I decided not to make a full size quilt, but rather I added pin wheels and a plain border to make a wall quilt, which is 50 inches square. I've used a striped binding, the same fabric as the inner border.

I'm glad to see this one finished and hanging on the wall. And I'm also glad to say that Alison finished hers into a single bed size quilt. It's in wonderful blues and browns. And it looks fantastic.

So thanks Alison for being willing to challenge yourself, and taking us along on the journey with you!


Pattern: Alison's Puzzle
Designer: Carol Pasfield
Quilted by: Quilts With Attitude

Snowbound . . . Finished!

I've put the finishing touches on my "Snowbound" mini quilt. I decided to do stitcheries rather than applique as it was in the original pattern for this 2010 BOM. My blocks are only 4 1/2 inches square, making this a cute little quilt to add to our Christmas decorating bits and pieces.

I pieced the 9 patches on my treadle sewing machine earlier in the year and put all the blocks together on Francene this week. I then did simple quilting using the same vintage silk thread that I used for the stitcheries.
I did put the last stitch in the stitchery on New Year's Eve, so 2010 is the date on the block (even though, technically, I didn't finish the quilt until 2011 - but I feel a bit of creative license is OK!!).
I am happy to have this little quilt all bound and labelled, ready to be hung up at Christmas.

Thanks so much to Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs for creating this lovely project . . . and check out her blog to see this year's new BOM.

Pattern: Snowbound - 2010 BOM
Designer: Anne Sutton (Bunny Hill Designs)
Publication: http://bunnyhillblog.com

Civil War Quilts - Block 2

This week's block is the North Star. It's known as many names including Aunt Eliza’s Star, Variable Star, and Sawtooth Star.

This is one of my favourite star blocks. It goes together really quickly and I think it always looks great. This week's block was inspired by this crib quilt in the collection of Historic New England. This could work in a monotone scheme or a great way to dip into your stash for a lovely scrappy look. Aah, the possibilities!

Pattern: Civil War Quilts - North Star
Designer: Barbara Brackman
Publication: http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/

Little Pretties Quilt . . . Finished!

At last I finished the "Little Pretties Quilt" . . . in time for Christmas as a gift to our daughter.

This quilt was quilted by Terina Walton from Quilts With Attitude, who I always trust to do a fantastic job.
And I've even added a label to this quilt (something I'm determined to do with all my quilts now).
And now that this quilt is complete, one of these project boxes . . .

is, at last, now this - an empty project box. A sign of progress and achievement . . . and a sign of new possibilities.

Pattern: Little Pretties
Designer: Dianne Neumann (Truly Lois)
Publication: Patchwork & Quilting Magazine (Australia)

Civil War Quilts

Well, I've made a start on 2011 . . . with the first block from Barbara Brackman's new blog "Civil War Quilts". In commemorating the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War, Barbara is going to present "a true story each week about the people who lived at the time of the Civil War. Read their words from their diaries, letters and memoirs as you make a quilt block".

The first block is called "Catch Me If You Can" (or "Winding Blades", "Devil's Puzzle" or "Flyfoot"). I hand pieced this block, but I suspect that Francene may be pressed into service in the future. I enjoyed the hand stitching, but I think if I'm going to keep up with these blocks (and life in general), that the machine is going to be the way to go for me.

I had decided that this year I would finish off some of the projects I've had partially completed for a while before I started anything new. Then I spent some time on the computer . . . and now I have a new project! So much for my resolve . . .

Pattern: Civil War Quilts - Catch Me If You Can Block
Designer: Barbara Brackman
Publication: http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas

From my family to yours . . .

Wishing you a safe and happy Christmas! I hope your day is filled with good company, good food, love and laughter.