omg - a calamity.....

My new Janome Horizon 7700 has returned an F1 error - which according to the instruction manual, there's thread caught around the automatic cutter - and when I went to clear it, the automatic plate thingy fell apart - all bent out of shape it was - explains the grinding noise I heard seconds before the error came up - what a disaster.....off to the sewing centre after school tomorrow - hope it's not terminal.....

Finally - sewing

After spending a couple of weeks drawing, with very limited success, we finally got the chance to start some sewing.

One of our assignments is to make a folio cover using one of our drawings as inspiration....now, as I've mentioned before, I'm a rotten drawer, but I did find something I liked the look of..

Not the whole thing - it's pretty grim!....but I do like the look of those flowers on the left hand side, so I uploaded it into Picnic (which is closing down soon - damn - it's a great photoshop site), cropped it, 'thermal heat'ed it, then pixellated and cropped again...we have to show our process...

then yesterday, my bff and I spent the morning at Spotlight (big 30% off everything) and the afternoon sewing....

I drew a grid of 1 1/2" squares on iron on vylene and placed the 1 1/2" squares on top, in the same order as my pixellated picture - and voila....now to sew the flower on the top - not sure how though...

Wild Waves Tute

Specifically for the lovely ladies of the Cherish Circle of Do.Good stitches for our April quilt - but obviously, anyone can have a go at this block - it's very pretty - and made in bright, saturated fabrics, looks a bit like bunting twirling in the breeze....

this is 2 blocks, side by side.....

Okey dokey, to make 2 x 12" finished blocks, you'll need the following....

from the white fabric - 8 x 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" squares, plus
                                     16 x 4" x 4" squares
n.b. - you can use any white

from your scrap box - 1 x 4 1/4" square of 8 bright, saturated fabrics - any colour and you can use a mix of prints and solids.

Method:

1.  With a pencil and a ruler, mark each of the white squares, on the wrong side, with 2 diagonal lines, 1/4" away from the centre diagonal (fig 1)

fig 1

2.  Pick up one white 4 1/4" square and place it on top of one of your bright 4 1/4" squares, right sides together, then sew down the inside of the drawn lines (fig 2)

fig 2

3.  Cut apart down the centre of the sewn lines.  Set the seams with the iron then press the seams open (fig 3)

fig 3 (showing wrong side uppermost)

4.  Repeat with remaining coloured squares and 4 1/4" white square until you have 16 HST's
5.  Pick up one HST and lay a white 4" square on top, right sides together - make sure the diagonal of the HST is NOT aligned to the diagonal lines drawn on the 4" white square - it should be opposite (fig 4)

fig 4

6.  Sew down the inside of each drawn line, cut apart and press the seam open as before (fig 5)

fig 5 (showing wrong side uppermost)

7.  Continue until you have used all the 4" white squares - you'll now have 32 small 1/4sq patches.
8.  Trim all of these patches to 3 1/2" square (fig 6)

fig 6 - I used a JT ruler to square these up, but you can do it just as successfully with a regular cutting ruler

9.  Using the following guide (to ensure the patches are oriented the same way - this is a little trickier than it looks - and please make sure the first column has the triangles pointing up :-)), layout your patches in 2 blocks of 4 x 4 patches 

please note the direction of the diagonals - your 2 blocks will be mirror images

10.  Sew 16 patches together to make a 1 block
11.  Repeat with remaining 16 patches
12. Send blocks to me (but only if you're a Cherish Circle member....)

There you go - please let me know if you have any questions - have fun....

Class Mug Bag

I teach sewing/patchwork at 2 local Community Houses and we have a project every month - we've actually just kicked it off and the very first project was a little bag to hold your mug - it protects the mug when you take it to class.  I don't know where the pattern originated - I just rejigged the instructions (which were simply typed on a piece of A4 paper) to make them a little easier to understand.  Well, my gorgeous ladies have been beavering away at their mug bags and they've created a riot of colour...

a couple of these weren't quite finished when I took the photo - but they all are now and they're fantastic.  The blue/purple bag on the right has a beautifully embroidered cup of coffee on the front - unfortunately it's obscured by the handle - sorry Barb!

Some opted for a pieced centre - and there was a lot of vintage buttons used - sensational

One lady supersized the dimensions to make a tote bag - the original size is on the right - way to go Mary!

The ladies did a wonderful job - and we're now onto our second project.

The second project takes the dilly bag created by Jeni of In Color Order (and generously shared by her through a tute on her blog) and I've added a foundation pieced panel - the ladies wanted to have a go at foundation pieceing on a small project...

I'm really enjoying the classes - the ladies are wonderfully enthusiastic - and they're very forgiving if how I teach something doesn't work for them - I'm actually searching out all my notes made when learning all about adult education (it was soooo long ago!) so that I can incorporate new methods.  I'm loving my new life!

Farmers Wife Frenzy

Using fabric scraps I received from the gorgeous Shay I went on a bit of a sewing frenzy given I haven't made any for over a month........my fave is the Silver Light and I have to say I detested making Shooting Star - it was a bugger to do even though it was foundation pieced - never, ever making one again...

silver lane

seasons

rosebud

sawtooth

ribbons

shooting star

so that's 79 down - only 32 to go.......

Look what arrived from the Netherlands....

It's been 2 weeks since I last blogged - I have been seriously busy and completely aware of how hopeless I am when I get online - time wasting research tends to eat up my time and I am finding my time is at a premium these days so I banned myself from induging - we'll see if I can be a little more disciplined so that I can view a few blogs I love to read, and comment where appropriate.......

....and I just had to get online today because I received a wonderful gift from Eva-Marie in the Netherlands - my Mouthy Stitches pouch was stuffed into my post box today....

It's roomy - holds all my hand sewing things - it's beautifully finished with hand quilting, zip ends and a zip pull, it's got pockets inside, it's perfect for me and it's ALL mine...

I've sent an email off to Eva-Marie to say thank you - I'm very, very happy with this pouch........and a big thank you to Susan, Hadley and Cindy for organising the swap - excellent Mama's....

Drawing and other random stuff

1.  My Diploma of Textile Arts course started a couple of weeks ago and one of the first things we've been doing is to learn how to draw - we'll need this skill to visually communicate an idea without actually making the idea up in fabric (or whatever medium we choose).

My eldest son has awesome drawing skills, but I've never classified myself as being able to draw.  As our teacher says, everything improves with practice and a little know how - so we have to practice everyday....

First page of my new visual diary - oh dear!!

My Doc Martins - the left boot looks like it would fit an ogre!

Doodling - zentangle style

My coffee 'table' - actually it's 2 stacked boxes  - and Picasso's Don Quixote is riding on in...

I'm quite enjoying the drawing - and try to draw something every day as instructed - and concentrate hard on getting perspective right - it is hard though!

2.  I'm actually supposed to be writing an Occupational Health and Safety report on my workplace/sewing room - but I'm bored already......

Garden Path block

Across the Sea blocks

3. I sewed a little yesterday and got blocks made for my Quilt Australia sewing bee and for do.Good Stitches.  I also repurposed a gigantor bag I made months ago which was too big to be practical - it's now a smaller tote bag, with lots of pockets, a pencil roll and a boxy pouch - I've made these to carry things to and from school and I don't have pictures as it's all a bit naff!

4.  My vegie patch is producing copious amounts of eggplant (and I'm the only one in the house that eats it) and purple beans - my freezer is FULL of purple beans.  There's also about 20 pumpkins (butternut and queensland grey varieties) and watermelon meandering all over the place - can't wait for these to ripen!

5.  My youngest son and his girlfriend have found a place and will be moving out this week - I have mixed feelings about this....

Now I really must go - only so many hours in the day and I have got soooooooooo much to do.  Arrivederci!