doing good - again

At the beginning of the year, I had to resign as the Cherish do.Good Stitches mama due to lack of time - it's quite a feat putting quilts together from blocks made by different people and then quilting them - especially in the time frames.  So, reluctantly, I resigned.......but, I couldn't really stay away.

I stalked what the girls were up to and saw what beautiful quilts they made and gifted to people who otherwise might not have had such a wonderful gift.

So last month I rejoined - not as the mama, and not as a 'quilter' - I rejoined as a 'stitcher' which means all I have to do is make two blocks each month and post them off.  This fits in with the workload from my Diploma and I still feel great about contributing...win/win :)

I've made two months worth of blocks and the October request has just gone up (AMH feathers....hmmmm)

september - cream and green - any block

august - warm and cool - scrap vomit style

It feels good to be doing good again................

Quick make......all about procrastination.....

I've been doing lots of reports and project plans and stuff in readiness for two exhibitions myself and my fellow textile artist students are going to hold in January 2014 and May 2014.  Seems like miles away but it's about now that publications need information for magazines coming our around that time, not to mention I have at least 6 pieces to make......and......sometimes, you just have to stop, get up, plant some veggies (which I have done - love Spring - and the Fat Bastard purple asparagus I thought I'd killed has popped up everywhere - bliss!) and sew something simple.

I was with my sister the other day, in Ikea, and she mentioned she needed a make-up bag.  The one's at Ikea were quite cute and very cheap, but she didn't want hot pink (the only one in that size) so of course I said, "You're kidding, that's what I do...." (well, they're cute, but not cheap and I can make one that's not hot pink)

So, instead of writing a magazine article and updating my project plan (and 50,000,000 other things), I made a little pouch for my sister.  A little Echino, some Kona and a pretty zip.  Done...

Right, back to it then......

Custom made templates

Long time ago, when I was, Pinteresting, as you do, I saw a gorgeous cushion at Cut to Pieces - and thought I'd have a crack.  I made a template from an old piece of Xray film and have to say, it was not the most accurate one I've made - I did a few blocks but because my template was so crappy, they didn't turn out so well and I stuck them in the UFO pile......(it was a considered choice not to include photos of the crappy blocks)

but THEN, I heard about someone who custom makes templates, and she lives in Melbourne and she was so lovely to deal with and TODAY - look what arrived at my house...

the grey templates are my homemade ones and the shiny green ones are the new ones

Lisa, of Sunset Seams, accurately laser cuts the perspex and puts in the 1/4" seam allowance and connection dots/holes - if you want them all - and then sends them to you in the mail - all for a VERY reasonable sum...have a look at how inaccurate my template is - the grey template is way too big at the bottom - oh dear -  no wonder my blocks didn't sit well!!

So now I'm off to do some marking, cutting and sewing with my new, shiny, accurate templates.....

So - if you want perspex templates, send an email to Lisa (info on her blog) - you won't be sorry.

Thanks Lisa -I'm rapt :)

A new tool.....picture heavy post tute

I don't know about you, but binding to finish off the quilt has always been a bit of a chore for me: miles of fabric that gets tangled in the ironing cord, round my legs, the sewing machine etc etc, unpicking dodgy joins and faffing about big time with pins (and usually some reverse sewing) to join the 2 ends once the rest is on the quilt.

With this in mind, when I went to the Quilt Show, here in Melbourne recently, I went looking for a binding tool I'd seen on Pinterest.  I found the tool, but the helpful assistant said she used a different one which she preferred and would I like that one instead.  "OK" says I, and I bought the Westalee "Bound to Fit" tool (it's designed and made in Oz)

Well, let me tell you - it's BRILLIANT!!

You can cut your binding strips with a 45 degree angle which are easily aligned and then, the ease at which you join them at the end is just fabulous, sweetie darling.  Let me show you......

First up you cut your binding strips, then, you line the 'Bound to Fit' along the bottom edge - the black part provides a ridge that helps you line up the binding strip more easily

I cut my binding at 2.25" wide - and obviously usually longer than this piece - it's just so you can see

Then you cut it, including the little straight bit on the bottom right there - this is what helps you join the strips together with more accuracy

Then, you turn your strip around (or turn the tool around - but not upside down) to create angles all going the same way - they'll be parallelogram shaped for those geometrically inclined

obviously way smaller than required!

To join your binding strips, you simply line up the edges and the little straight bit you cut means you don't have to try and gauge there the 1/4" seam will be

Then you sew - and I like to press the seam open to reduce more bulk, but I know some people prefer to press to the side

seam pressed open

binding folded in half lengthwise and pressed ready to attach to the quilt

Look at that - perfick!  and just wait til you see how easy it is to join the binding strips together once it's on the quilt..

So now I have a real quilt and I did all of the above to join my binding strips.  I left a 'tail' of about 8 inches before I started sewing the binding on as normal, then once round to the end, I left another 'tail' to give me enough room to maneuver..

Next you need to make a mark where the 2 'tails' have to join - simply fold the binding back on itself, opposite ways, and finger press (or iron) to create a crease - make sure your 2 folded 'tails' are touching each other..

Then, whip out your tool and align the white 'to fold' line with the crease - I've chalked the crease line in so you can see it better..then cut off the tail..

Next step is the other 'tail' - but remember to turn the tool around - and cut that tail off too..

You'll be left with this..

Pin them right sides together and stitch..

Finger press the seam as before, refold the binding and stitch into place..

BRILLIANT!!

This is the quilt completed after I stitched down the binding (by machine and using my trusty Clover binding clips - love them) - this will be for sale at Red Hill Market.

Westalee have a very helpful video tutorial.

I hope to stock these wonderful tools for resale - let me know if you'd like one :)

Moving right along.....

There's a sniff of Spring in the air, which means Red Hill Market is almost upon us - the first market this season is 7th September and I've been busy creating some new stock - I reviewed what I made last year and decided I'd been making things to sell, as opposed to making things I would want to buy - make sense????

So, I decided things needed a bit of a change up.......

I've been hand dyeing fabric, choosing my most favourite commercial fabrics, embroidering a little and obviously missed photo lessons (really MUST do something about that...).  I've got screen printed fabric drying ready to make up into some ipad covers, pouches and journal covers.

It's going to be difficult to let these makes go.....

ps - check out the awesome changes on Picmonkey - there's new features and I have to say, it's a lot more user friendly than Photoshop (which I also think is awesome, but it takes a bit of getting used to)

pps - England has retained the Ashes, so I'm pretty happy about that - good old Manchester rain!!

A new month....

So just got in before the end of this month and updating my endeavours - apart from not blogging I really have been quite busy with school and teaching and quilting and book binding and.......(trying to justify my complete slackness on the blogging front here)

There's been quite a bit of creativity here at Shocking Hocking - we've got a couple of assignments due for school so there's been lots of dyeing, and comparing and experimenting and sewing.

The first assignment due is a piece for our local coffee shop - every Friday at about 10.30 we gather at the coffee shop for a chat or a moan - and sometimes both.  There has been a recent change of ownership of said coffee shop and the new owner commissioned our class to make appropriate art for one of her walls. As is usual for school assignments, there was a lot of journalling and experimentation which had to be recorded and included for assessment.  I played around with used and dried teabags (a fabulous medium - love the variation in colour - Twinings Assam Bold provide the best depth) and on one of my visual art journal pages, I included some shapes which reminded me of Alice in Wonderland - so I included a pair of ears representing the White Rabbit.   This thought moved along, as it does, and I decided to also reference the Mad Hatter (this may, or may not, have anything to do with the fact that I have a thing for Johnnny Depp!).

So, this is the result...

The '10/6' sign is from the Mad Hatters hat and the pocket watch and the words, "Don't be late" reference the White Rabbit scurrying to the Tea Party (which in turn references my classmates and I on a Friday morning in our bid to get our caffeine fix! - even though the time is wrong - as mentioned, we gather at about 10.30am and the Tea Party occurred at 6pm every day).  There was a slight change before I submitted the piece - one of my classmates loves to play with words and mentioned the admonishment should have said, "Don't be latte" - much better - so I added another 'T' and the piece was handed over today. (thanks Truda)

The theme for the other piece for exhibition is 'The Sojourner' (one who takes a sojourn, or a short break) and for this one I got to thinking of 'going to the seaside', a great British tradition - and then I got to thinking about the 'naughty' postcards that are available in places like Blackpool and Morecambe (I went to school in Morecambe - West End Primary School, where I passed my 11+, then on to Morecambe Grammar.....  Jumbled into my thoughts was the bathing boxes at Mornington here in Victoria and a fabulous statuette I have a woman in a stripey cossie with a very large bum - I love this figurine - the expression on her face is just fabulous - she really doesn't care that she has a very large bum - her face reflects the confidence in herself and it's what I love about it - she really couldn't give a fat rats bottom - I'm sure we could get all Freudian here but I won't!

Anyway, so I dyed some 'sand' and 'sky', dipped into my stash for previously dyed hand dyes for the bathing boxes, as well as some I'd bought (including commercially dyed and patterned fabric) and came up with this idea...

There's still a huge amount of work to do on the piece - and she's now got a change of cossie too - and her friend in the bottom right corner still needs to be dressed - but she's getting there.

During the month I also attended a class with a book binder - who showed us how to make a book using 2 different binding methods - Coptic and Case.....here's my efforts...

OMG - I LOVE book binding - I've saved papers and similar for years - so I'll be doing  lot more of this.  So tactile and so rewarding.....

Lastly, the wonderful ladies who attend my classes have been busy....singling out a couple here (not sure if that's really allowed!).....one, Joan,  made the most wonderful Golly...

and another, Barb, completed her VERY FIRST project, so we had to record it for posterity......

Barb's from 'Oop North' and makes me laugh every week - thanks Barb!

That's all I can think of - I'm off to the Quilt Show on Sunday, a hairy tomorrow and a client quilt to complete.  Coupled with a family dinner on Saturday night the weekend is just about over!....looking forward to the 3rd Test starting next week (very late in Oz, but sooooo worth watching - go England!) and continuing effort on the Sojourner piece.......

over a month ago.....really????

Oh dear - what a slacker - just haven't got round to creating new blog posts - I've Instagrammed a few times and been up to all sorts, just never blogged about it.....but I promised my Wednesday ladies that I'd blog about their gorgeous journal covers they made in class....so here they are......

This project was a lot of fun - I sorted out my 2" squares into colour order and put them into brown paper bags.  Each of the ladies had to randomly choose a colour then they made the centre panel using the colours from that bag only.  The surrounding borders were chosen from their own stashes and added to the backing fabric and quilted.  They then created the journal cover - some made one and some made several and they all did a fabulous job - unfortunately I didn't photograph all the journal covers, but you get the idea :)

Other than teaching classes, I've been quilting for clients...

here's a client quilt I actually remembered to take a photo of !!

Finishing socks...

Putting together some quilt tops...

this has since been sashed with a soft grey and a border added in green - ready for quilting now

memory quilt for a client - please ignore the feet!!

Stitching for school...

and making a knitting needle holder - I've also knitted a couple of hats but I don't have any photos of them yet...

I know there's lots more (like market stalls and weekends away) but I think that's enough for now - well done for getting this far in this photo heavy post!!

It's time for me to hit the sack - we're experiencing a cold snap - expected overnight low is 3c - and I don't think tomorrow is going to be much warmer - oh well, will just have to light the fire and snuggle in with my stitching.

Cheers