The Hiatus Continues

I seem to have lost my will to blog... not my will to live but my will to blog. I can't believe that in 2 months this is only my 2nd blog post. Not sure why and I am sorry for my loyal followers who will now have given up on me and gone to places else where for their blog fix. 

In the month since I last wrote my main creative input has been in scanning, editing, labelling and posting on Facebook my mother's negatives. She was an avid photographer although not necessarily proficient she was prolific. We children were the main subject for her photography as she documented our growing up.

My Uncle's family (on left) and our family on right. I am the little one in the pram near my dad. Its my siblings up to the tallest girl and the other side is my Uncle Jack's family. They lived a hour or so away from us at this time. 

I have now scanned all the negatives. It was quite a process. The 35mm ones were simple enough as I had a small scanner, given to me by my daughter several years ago. It scanned the photo and converted it to a positive digital image that I was able to edit quite easily. The black and white negatives from before she acquired the 35mm camera were harder. I had to scan them on our flat bed scanner, then use another program to convert the negative scan to a positive image, and then edit and enhance the picture using one of a number of programs. The flat bed scanner didn't always do a great job and I am seriously considering getting a special photographic scanner to redo the negatives to get a clearer image. but that won't be till Christmas. Anyway - its been an interesting going over the photos and trying to work out where they were taken and why and sometimes who.

My dad and me. I was named after him so it Philipa and Philip

My main way of identify the people and the occassion has to been to put them on facebook where my siblings and cousins can see them and work with me. I am the youngest in my family of 8 children as well as being  the youngest of the cousins on Dad's side and the 4th youngest on mum's. 

This photo really amused our family. Its the 5 youngest children. There was obviously a litter of kittens and puppies at this point on the farm but some how my youngest brother (near dad) only got a cut apple to hold. He looks somewhat bemused by this

It has illicted a lot of discussion amongst us all which has been great.

Our small community used to have a Fancy Dress ball for the kids each year. With very little money but lots of imagination mum would manufacture costumes for us all. This year (the earliest one I can find photos for) I was about 3 and went as Old King Cole. One of my sisters was  the pipers that he called for (mum didn't realise that the pipe he called for was his smoking pipe.)

Old King Cole was a merry old soul
And a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl and
he called for his fiddlers three

This has taken up a lot of my time - time I would usually spend sewing. I haven't missed my sewing time which is really weird for me. I feel like I am still in a bit of a hiatus or waiting time. I wonder if my excessive sewing over the last year or so has burnt me out. I have finished off a lot of quilts and other projects and thoroughly enjoyed my time. Now might be just a time of rest and recuperation.

My 2nd eldest sister Joy holding me when I was about 5 months old

I have done some projects. The Twilter group (on Facebook and Twitter) has been working on a QAL using a pattern called Layer Cake Explosion by Angela Gross from Quilts Bayou. The pattern is a free one from Craftsy but the instructions are fairly minimal as it was designed to be a class pattern, that she explained in the lesson. Daisy (from Laisy Daisy Quilts and Reads blog and podcast) is running the QAL on Facebook and she is writing the more detailed instructions for us. I happened to go on a retreat a couple of weeks ago and took it with me. I hadn't really started the QAL up till then and went from the beginning right through all the steps, using the pattern and managed to get in a muddle at one point as... well I was ahead of the game. Daisy kindly helped me along but the putting together clue is not being explained till the proper time.

So yes... I went on a retreat. I have been going to this particular retreat since 2002 (I think it is) I've missed a couple of years for various reason but have attended 11 or 12 times by my reckoning. The retreat itself celebrated its 30th birthday this year. Our theme was Pearls (for 30th anniversary) and the dinner theme was Pearls or T for thirty. This is the first year I have taken a friend with me and it was extra fun because of that. In the past, whilst people are always friendly and many of them I have known for the 15 years I have been going and some from before that even, it was nice to have someone who was MINE so to speak. We shared our accommodation, shared the same table group, sat together at meals mostly etc. It was lovely.

I made a couple of mug rugs for the swap we did on the weekend, worked on the mystery quilt and made a heap of hanging towels for Handmade With Love. It was productive.

I really need to get on with my Comic Con sewing as I have just over a month till we leave home to go on our trip to Japan, Europe and the UK. Once back from there it is just 10 days till the event. (I thought it was going to be 3 days and had timed it perfectly but Comic Con is a week later than I thought. Glad its not a week earlier) So I will have a bit of time to sew once we get back but not much.

Since the retreat I have cut out about 25 Easy Cosmetic zipper bags (from the pattern by So Sew Easy) The stiffening has been ironed on and I have started inserting the zips. Hopefully I will get them all done in the next few weeks. I have scraps and can sew more of the ear bud pounches and the teeny tiny zipper bags too. I am not sure if I will make any more of the laptop or iPad bags at this point. Will see.

I am sorry that I have been missing in action. I am trying to get myself motivated and back on track but its a bit of a hard slog. When I am travelling I will try to use my blog as my travel diary and so will be more prolific... which is great if you like travel stuff but for those looking for Sewing inspiration... yeah not so great.

WIP Wednesday written on Wednesday but posted Friday

What a busy week of sewing I have had working on lots of different projects.

Being at a Patchwork retreat for 5 days gave me lots of sewing opportunities and also walks with views!

Sparkle Quilts. I made 27 blocks for 3 baby quilts. Since I got home I have put the centre of one of them together. This quilt is based on the Sparkle Quilt by Missouri Star Quilt Company pattern. In instead of 5 coordinating coloured squares I put a picture fabric in the centre. Some of these were embroidered teddy bears that my mother stitched. At 94 she no longer embroiders so the squares I have left have to be used sparingly. 2 of these quilts are for her great grandchildren so they will have some of the special stars.

I used a smaller sashing than recommended. At Patchwork today I laid out the next one with the wider sashing and feel it looks better. I'm not planning on unpicking the one that is done but will make the next 2 as per directions (I reduced it cause I felt I was running out of the fabric. I have since found the rest of it so have enough to do the wider sashing.) I deliberately put the embroideries facing into the centre and the other centre pictures going different ways so the baby quilts wouldn't have a right or wrong way.

 

 

Amy Gibson 2012 BOM Craftsy Class Quilt. At the retreat I got the last 2 blocks for this quilt made and today at patchwork I got the blocks put together. I sashed them in grey and put white corner stones. 

Summer Reading QAL. I got all 16 blocks for this made and put together. I was on a roll. I really only needed to make 5 to get up to date. The QAL is being run Pam and Lynn from The Stitch TV Show 

Today I had planned to pin out "Onya Bike" up at Patchwork, taking advantage of the great pinning out table and the assistance of some of the women up there. (My friend Lindy is usually willing to help me and some of the others also help out too on occasions) I was just getting my stuff together to take up - checked I had enough batting (I am down to the last of my roll) picked up my tin of pins and thought... that's a bit light. And then I remembered I have 2 quilts pinned ready to be quilted so wouldn't have anywhere near enough pins to pin out this monster quilt. Sigh. However at our group meeting today I was reminded that our group has recently received a grant to cover the cost of a long arm machine. It is already ordered and should be here in a few weeks and I will have time (I hope) to get it quilted on that before the special birthday it is a gift for. 

WiP Wednesday

I am writing this early as I will be travelling on Wednesday so will write this now and schedule it to go up tomorrow.

I have been busy in my sewing room this week. Early on I was busy making the hanging towels and Pencil Pencil cases that I blogged about on Sunday in my stash report. 

Since then I have been busy getting ready for my quilting retreat that starts tomorrow. I have been busily prepping projects to take with me.

I have sewn some more "pencils" to make more pencil cases... 6 more in fact. I have prepped all the rest of the materials for them too and have them in one box to work on over the 5 days of the retreat (4.5 days actually... how much fun we will have)

I have also prepped the last 2 blocks in the Amy Gibson 2012 BOM Craftsy class to make and the fabric for the sashing as well. I haven't taken fabric to do a border with should I decide I need to add one but I can do that at home if necessary.

I have to make 2  quilts for my nephews' babies. One is due this month and one was due the month after that but came almost 15 weeks early at the beginning of April. Good news is that last week he turned 2 months old and graduated out of his humidcrib to a regular cot in the NICU and is breathing on his own with just some extra oxygen under his nose. Yay. (he's now -5wks corrected time). 

Anyway I am making both babies quits using some of the embroideries that my mum did for me a year or 2 ago when she was still stitching. I am adapting the latest video tutorial put out by Missouri Star Quilting company. Its called the Sparkle Quilt

I am not using a packet of charm squares but selecting from my trimmed up scraps. The centre of the blocks will either be my mum's embroider or a picture fabric. Given that my mum is no longer embroidering (she's 94 and eyesight and the shakes have put paid to that) I am being very careful with the remaining emboideries. Mum has lots of grandchildren and my intention was that one baby from each grandchild would get a quilt featuring some of her work. The rest will still get a quilt but without her embroidery in it. So... only 4 in each of the quilts from now on.

I have the pattern printed out for Reading Challenge being run by The Stitch Tv Show. The pattern is by Daisy of Lazy Daisy Quilts and Reads. Fittingly it is a bookshelf quilt. I have put in a heap of my 1.5" strip scraps and hope that they will be suitable for all the blocks.

I have other projects ready to go as well... backing to make for My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes, some more casserole covers and  other stuff too I am sure. I have each project in its own clip top box which will make it easy for me to find... or at least that is the plan.

I still have to pack my clothes. The sewing stuff is all packed up in the car ready to go... priorities you know.

Crop Circles - Mystery Quilt finished

At this year's  Patch n Peace, ( annual quilt retreat I go on) Betty, one of the organisers ran a Mystery quilt. Early on in the year she sent out a list of the fabric requirements for the quilt and I got mine organised really early.

The quilt had been featured in a magazine and was called Fooled By Thelma by Karen Cunningham

One of the steps involved making circles. There were collective moans when this was revealed. We had the choice to make them raw edge applique or to turn the edges. I went for raw edge as I wanted to get it finished as quickly as possible. Usually I use iron on stuff when doing applique and then button hole stitch around the fabric by hand but this time, in the interest of speed I glue basted the circles to the background fabric and then straight stitched around the edge. This was a new technique for me and worked well.

I was pleased to get all 9 blocks completed by the end of the weekend. I didn't get a lot else done but they were finished

The pattern didn't have borders with it. We could finish it off however we pleased. Betty had with her another quilt pattern which showed the half circle motif that we had on the edges of our quilts finished off in the border. I really liked this idea so back home I made more circles for the border and put them on. I wanted the quilt to be rectangular rather than square and to be a size to fit a single beds in the spare room.

I played around with the borders for a bit till I was happy with the result. An extra row of circles on the ends to give it length and using up the half square triangles down the side. These were from the flying geese units in the blocks. I can never just cut those suckers off and throw them away... I always make them into hst and this time I used them up in the same quilt... bonus.



For the backing I used some string blocks that I had foundation pieced a good few years ago. I had pieced them into a rectangular piece that I had never finished off. The colours went well with the leftover purple linen I had (left over from another backing I had made recently). I had some pieced circles, a few more hst and various other orphan blocks and scraps in the right hues.

Kym from PQS long armed it for me. After some messaging back and forth re appropriate motifs we chose Circle Swirl which continued the circle theme into the negative space with a bit of extra added interest. I loved how it came out. I was initially a bit concerned that the extra white at the top and bottom of the quilt was too much and sat oddly but Kym's work meant it wasn't at odds with the rest of the quilt and in fact added a bubbly mix to the whole thing.

I am not 100 percent sure that the binding I chose was the best I could have gone for - not sure if the mustardy yellow was quite right but I loved the pinky flower like circle motif on it and that ties it in. Sometimes I a a bit too matchy matchy so I have been adventurous in this quilt.

I used an old circular doily for the label. Initially this was because I couldn't find the commercial labels I have stashed somewhere but then I decided I really liked the look of it. Its circular with circular flowers on it. The doily is stained but that doesn't matter to me and in fact ties in with the name. Crop Circles. Crops grow in soil so its ok that the label is soiled.

The name came from the fact that the quilt was a mystery quilt involving circles. Crop circles are also a mystery... so Crop Circles it was.

Thursday Thoughts

Today was a tough day It was the funeral for our friend Steve. He was only 50, husband of my dear friend A, father of 4 adult children, grandfather to 2 munchkins. He was a much loved son, brother, brother-law, uncle, friend and work colleague

It was a long service because there were 6 eulogies/tributes. They were all well done, a mixture of humour, pathos coming from family - daughter, brother, sister and sister-in-law, an old school friend and a work mate. It was great to get such an all round picture of this bloke who was universally loved and respected.

At the moment our congregation is without a minister and my husband was asked to take care of getting the church ready for the funeral. This was a pretty mammoth undertaking as it was expected to be a huge funeral (and it lived up to expectations) We borrowed chairs from the catholic church and also from the Neighbourhood Centre. These had to be picked up and set out... as well as every chair and pew in the church and manse. FG also had to work on the speaker system. We had to set these up so the people outside could here what was going on inside. We were up at the church not long after 9 getting things organised. The service wasn't till 11 and then it went for almost an hour and a half. Afterwards we didn't get to the grave as we had to pack up the church - just getting it to a lock up stage meant that we were going to be too late for the grave side service which made me rather sad. We did go to the gathering afterwards and that was a chance to talk to various old friends and family.

It was 3 by the time I got home and FG wasn't home till after 4.30 as he and a friend returned the chairs to where they had been borrowed from. 

I didn't make the day any easier for myself by staying up very late last night finishing a project (that I kept stuffing up because it was late and I was tired. Then I stayed up even later to write my blog post. Yeah so I started a really hard day on limited sleep.

Now I am trying to get organised to go away for the weekend. I have managed to lose all my enthusiasm. I am not as organised as I would like to be... I got the mystery quilt prep done and I have other projects paced up to take... but I haven't made the blocks for the swaps or exchanges that I would have liked to have done and I don't have an outfit for our special themed dinner. To be honest I can't even remember what the theme for the dinner is. I know that part of the theme for the weekend is the Centenary of Anzac. We have incorporated the Make do and Mend theme of the war in as well...  I have found something for the gift exchange. I just got swamped at the end.

Anyway - I will report back on my progress after the weekend

And cause I don't have a photo for this here are my bougainvilleas. I have never had them put on a display like this

And then we need a couple of cat pictures just because.

FG lay down for an afternoon snooze. I joined him and then the 2 cats moved in as well. Tibbs (B&W cat) is giving Pippin the evil eye. Pippin is studiously ignoring him

and in case you missed it, here it is again.

I reckon Mr Tibbs looks like he went on a Buck's night and someone shaved off half his moustache

V is for Variations

Only 4 more posts after this in the Blogging A to Z challenge. I'm so proud of myself for having made it through. Going to Malaysia in the middle of the month actually was a great help as I knew I had to get myself organised ahead of time and I actually had all of my blogs written before I left. I have done a bit of editing of them as they have gone up... sometimes after the fact when I have seen them "live" and realised that some were a bit clunky. My daughter Fangirl has read them each time and has alerted me (via text) of any spelling errors or typos or other errors that have needed to be edited. I've done the same with her blog. If you haven't read hers please do. She writes a geeky cross stitch blog...you can find her here at Fangirl Stitches



Variation is the spice of life.

Really there are only so many ways to cut up and rearrange fabric and sew them together again to make a quilt. Well really there are only so many patterns in the world but, because of the choices that the patchworker makes with regards to fabric, arrangement, and size of blocks and quilts, it does seem that the choices in patchwork are endless.

Since I got into patchworking in a big way... well bigger way, I have rarely been known to repeat a pattern. As a newbie quilter though I joined in a monthly block swap. They were all nine patch blocks but each month the theme for the fabrics used would change. I am not sure for how long I participated in these monthly swaps but it was for well over a year... perhaps 2. Each month I would make a number of sets of blocks (there were 5 blocks per set I think ... or maybe more. Can't remember now... too long ago) They would all be the same. I'd send them in to the co-ordinator and at the end of the swap I would get that same number of blocks back - blocks made by other participants so they would all be different.

Eventually I had to do something with those blocks. I was so busy making the blocks for the swap that I didn't get around to making any quilts from the sets I got back. I had gone from being a finisher of quilts to a maker of UFOs (Unfinished Objects. Projects begun but not completed and not currently being worked on.) Ultimately I  I dropped out of the swap and made myself work on getting those blocks I had already collected made into quilts

9-patch block named because it is made from 9 units sewn together in the basic 3x3 format.

I made in these swaps.They have been put together in different ways and combined with other blocks and so create a wide variation of quilt tops

One place I see a lot of variation is when our group has a block of the month project where we have a set pattern and colour scheme but participants are free to choose their own fabrics. We get some really interesting blocks then. Sometimes there is a bit of variation in size too which can cause some headaches for the person who puts the quilt together.

Currently I am putting together a quilt for our group made from blocks made by various members. Its been quite challenging!! you can see the same block made in lots of different colour ways in this quilt.

Pinwheel block

The back is made from some "Bonus blocks" These were other blocks we made for other months that were made in the wrong colour. (by me... oops)

At a retreat I attended a few years ago we had a shirt challenge. Participants bought men's cotton shirts from 2nd had shops and these were cut up into 5 pieces. We were put into groups and swapped the shirt fabric between us so that we all ended up with a piece of every shirt in our group. We then had a year to make a quilt from the fabric. We were allowed to use other fabric as well but the idea was to use a piece of every shirt in our quilt. I called mine the Shirt off my Back series and ended up making 4 quilts. The fabric I added was all recycled fabric - lots of it was sheets and other linen from my Aunts estate. We had a reveal the following year at our retreat and it is amazing to see the huge variation of quilts made from the same fabric.

I took photos of the quilts but have to admit that I can't remember which quilts were from my group and which were from other groups. It doesn't really matter though. You can just enjoy them

First of all - my 4 quilts. I called these
1. Sombre Brown

I gave it to my brother in law for his 70th birthday (it was only a year or two late)

2 Sombre Blue. 

This was also a gift for another brother in law, also for his 70th birthday. I was only 6 months late with this one!

 3 Not so Sombre Stars for Derek. This was made for a friend who was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma last year. He had a pretty rough trot and I made the quilt for him.

The back of the quilt was signature squares - messages from family and friends with in our church. The surrounding fish fabric was significant as Derek loves fishing. Again all the fabric in ths quilt was either recycled or came from my scrap basket

4.Sombrero Stars. This quilt went into my cupboard for 6 months and then in February this year I gave it to the minister of a church that is in a community that was hit hard by a cyclone. I have told her to use it however she likes - give it to a needy family, sell it, raffle it... whatever. I am not sure what its final home is yet

The quilts below were made from the shirt fabrics. I am not sure which ones were in my group - at least some of them were :)